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I still stand by that silenced nailgun smg is way better than the pistol for stealth.
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Mar 22, 2018 13:19
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| # ? May 8, 2024 12:10 |
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 I hope everyone's excited to be back in the main playthrough now that Wyatt's all caught up. I think we can start discussing which character and experience they liked better overall without too many issues, as there's only the party scene and the immediate aftermath to really show on the Wyatt stuff before the last few minutes of the game. Anyway, something I keep trying and failing to talk about in this video is the turn Sigrun takes here. It's pretty great to see her assert herself and not be a complete joke. One of the things I think MachineGames does a decent job of establishing throughout the game is that poo poo does not stay static forever. The whole tone of the game changing after BJ gets a new body is the biggest indication of that, but it would have been pretty easy to just let Sigrun be a one note side character and instead she loving steps up here. One other thing I do want to talk about is one of the faults the game has in that for the most part it is pretty linear and so you know where to go next. The real problem with that isn't that the game is too linear, its that when you are required to look around and figure things out you can easily get lost and the hint/direction system is kind of terrible for directing you onward if you are like me and can't figure things out. Therefore, like five minutes of video are dedicated to me bumbling around trying to find the next set piece area. I appreciate that they didn't fill your HUD with direction markers the way some titles do, but when I hit the button I should get something big and clear instead of a dinky arrow that shows up for a second or two in the direction of my ultimate destination instead of where I need to go to get there.
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Mar 23, 2018 02:21
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Aw, Sigrun, I love how you point out Grace's hypocrisy in such a subtle, refined and dignified manner. 
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Mar 23, 2018 03:22
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berryjon posted:Aw, Sigrun, I love how you point out Grace's hypocrisy in such a subtle, refined and dignified manner. I mean, to be fair, that's probably exactly what Grace wanted her to do. Maybe not without the choking, but still.
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Mar 23, 2018 03:46
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Yeah, didn't Grace respond to Fergus trading insults with her in a similar way? And speaking of Fergus, did I miss an update or are we yet to see what Wyatt gets up to at the party? And I don't blame you for getting lost on the Ausmerzer, everywhere does look pretty samey. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't put up signs and lines on the walls/floor to indicate how to get around the ship - would have made sense from the point of view of the crew as well as gameplay.
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Mar 23, 2018 22:28
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It's weird to get lost this easily, because Machine Games have previously been very good about signposting where you're supposed to go, especially in TNO but also here.
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Mar 23, 2018 22:38
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I figured I'd plot out on a map where Lazyfire got stuck and where he should've gone to figure out what went awry, but apparently the map isn't on the internet? What kind of FPS doesn't have people uploading level maps half an hour after the game comes out? Am I some old fuddy-duddy and walls of text with ambiguous screenshots are "in" now?
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Mar 23, 2018 22:53
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Okay, I like the Sigrun turn there but can we just talk for a moment about Anya? I mean what the christ. She's like eight months pregnant with twins. Not only is she on the combat arm of a commando raid like that, but in the first sixty seconds of the attack she 1) goes through multiple high-G maneuvers, 2) jumps out of a somersaulting helicopter without any sort of assistance, and then 3) does a pull-up faster than most people could and rolls herself through that closing gangplank like it was nothing. And that's before holding the HUGIN station all by herself against all Nazi comers. I've known a significant number of women at that stage of pregnancy who have trouble walking at a brisk pace. Forget BJ, she's a goddamn superhuman.
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Mar 23, 2018 23:37
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Even funnier: back in the first game she did very little action stuff, being mostly mission control and doing intelligence work for the Kreisau circle. Somehow she becomes a more powerful fighter when she should become less physically capable.
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Mar 24, 2018 00:16
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Kopijeger posted:Even funnier: back in the first game she did very little action stuff, being mostly mission control and doing intelligence work for the Kreisau circle. Somehow she becomes a more powerful fighter when she should become less physically capable. They did mention she was training for a combat role all through the first game and she's an experienced assassin already, from her serial killing.
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Mar 24, 2018 00:25
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Kopijeger posted:Even funnier: back in the first game she did very little action stuff, being mostly mission control and doing intelligence work for the Kreisau circle. Somehow she becomes a more powerful fighter when she should become less physically capable. She's killing for three now.
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Mar 24, 2018 02:15
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Well yeah, she's got the Nazi-killing power of her unborn children to support her.
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Mar 24, 2018 06:06
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Reinbach posted:She's killing for three now. loving strap in. This poo poo goes to its illogical conclusion next episode.
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Mar 25, 2018 11:38
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Calling it now: Terror Billy's spawn are born, mid battle, gun in each hand and shooting nazi's. Their first words are 'nazi scum'.
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Mar 26, 2018 05:47
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Lazyfire posted:loving strap in. This poo poo goes to its illogical conclusion next episode. Having seen the clip in question, it's so over the top that it goes straight past "awesome", doesn't stop as it blows a hole directly through "cringeworthy" without slowing down and keeps going until it overshoots "awesome" again having circumnavigated the globe, before finally coming to rest at "hilarious".
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Mar 26, 2018 06:02
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I feel like this game reaches its peak during the start of the Roswell level all the way up to the execution: it's the perfect mix of humour, drama, shootbang, setpieces (the train, escape from the facility, courthouse) and glimpses of Nazi Americana (the walking sim intro to the level).The first quarter of the game spends too much in narrow metal corridors, with the ones set in the U-boat being the dullest and the writing being BJ's repetitive monologues about Caroline and his impending death. The level design in the NY section isn't too interesting either - being confusing at points and a mess of grey with the only standout being Grace's HQ. Later on after the execution the storyline devolves into a deus ex machina with a bunch of drunken skits that make the first half, and to a certain extent all of TOB/TNO's themes and writing, turn into a joke. BJ also turns into a pretty dull character to the point where that coupled with his clothing feel like an unintentional reference to his Wolfenstein 2009 "personality". The levels also go all in on the "metal corridors" theme outside a handful of areas in New Orleans and the very end to the point where I'd really like to read about this game's development because there's no way no one in the development team noticed how dull the environments were. Will be interesting how the third game makes me feel about this one whenever it comes out. As it stands, having played through it myself and watching your playthrough, I still think it feels like one big 10 hour "We have a franchise now!" advertisement for another game unlike the first which was mostly self-contained. At the very least it never gets old to shoot Nazis and giant robots with a shotgun in one hand and assault rifle in the other.
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Mar 26, 2018 21:45
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I still haven't heard any good villain speeches. Just some barely coherent giggling. But the endless slaughter is entertaining.
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Mar 26, 2018 22:51
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There's nothing in this game that's as tense as the train conversation in the first game, really.
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Mar 27, 2018 06:28
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Tasteful Dickpic posted:There's nothing in this game that's as tense as the train conversation in the first game, really. Oh, 100% agreed there. I think TNO was heavier on the dread and horror of being in a world run by Nazis where in TNC the resistance has established a beach head and don't need to fit in to society like BJ and Anya did at that point in the game.
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Mar 27, 2018 16:16
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 So there you have it, the end of Wolfenstein: The New Colossus. I'm interested to see what everyone thought of the end game, including the last cutscenes and, of course, the credits and the lovely music selection there. I mention it during the credits, but you should also take time to listen to History Respawned's recent Wolfenstein II episode which spends some time covering Black Power, Southern US Communist movements, and talks a bit about Nazisploitation without getting into the game mechanics too much. It's interesting stuff and I think after watching the LP some of you may find some of the stuff the brush up against here interesting. They also did one shortly after the game came out that spends more time talking about game mechanics and the story, which I think they didn't do a great job on as they clearly were bad at stealth in addition to wanting the game to remain depressing as the first act was. Overall, I think Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is a really good game. Is it better than TNO? I think on a mechanical level it adds a ton and the level design is pretty decent throughout (though the Samey-Metal-Corridor design concept does come up as was mentioned). I think the game doesn't have the high highs and the low lows of the previous game, though. The lack of story-important boss battles I think does some damage to the end game. In TNO you had the London Eye, which was great. Then you had the Fergus/Wyatt brain-bot fight and then Deathshead himself almost right after. It gave you a sense that the game was coming to a close. I can see where some people lost track of that idea in this one as you simply fight two giant robots at the same time with no context to what they are or what they are capable of in a big boss arena place. There's nothing super special about this last fight and so I think that tripped a ton of people up when the game first came out. I feel like the game ends well enough story-wise, but gameplay wise I can understand why people thought there was more hidden away somehow. Yes, as I mentioned, the game is much longer than its predecessor, but I guess people were expecting more signals that things were ending than they got.
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Mar 28, 2018 02:30
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Well then Anya 
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Mar 28, 2018 02:59
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Since it never came up in the videos (I think, admittedly I skipped the Wyatt timeline), I'd just like to take a moment to say that I feel they picked a fantastic title for a game about saving America/brutally murdering Nazis. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about : The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus posted:Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, This is the poem that's on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal, so very fitting for a  vidyagame, even if it wasn't 100% intentional (it probably was though?).
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Mar 28, 2018 04:15
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It was almost certainly 100% intentional.
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Mar 28, 2018 06:07
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Lazyfire posted:
Okay, so, I understand your frustration with that last musical choice, but it is kind of a tradition to end big-budget titles on an absurdly jarring, tonally dissonant song. That one ranks pretty high on the list of beautifully misbegotten credits songs, and I'm all the happier that it's in there. It certainly got a laugh out of me.
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Mar 28, 2018 06:09
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I guess they included the line about needing to be up close, but I was half expecting to be able to throw the axe from offscreen and then walk on with a "Hi, I'm Terror-Billy Blazkowicz". Two things are bugging me, but perhaps they come up in the postgame: who has the Ausmerzer now, and did Fergus manage to smooth things over with Maria?
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Mar 28, 2018 12:05
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Really liked that final cutscene. It felt like an organic moment from each of these distinct characters saying their own piece and it all working to make a greater whole. Their final pose was pretty badass, too. But, ughh, that end song. If they couldn't find an angry anti-authoritarian song from the 70s, the era of the Vietnam war, they sure as hell didn't try very hard. "We're not gonna take it" Yeah, what the hell?
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Mar 28, 2018 12:35
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Apparently that band saved a studio member from being mugged and they felt they owed them, or so I've heard.
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Mar 28, 2018 13:23
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Strobe posted:It was almost certainly 100% intentional. Yeah Billy recites that poem over the end cinematic of TNO so I think it’s safe to say it’s intentional.
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Mar 28, 2018 13:55
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:Well then Anya Yeah, holy poo poo. That was pretty.. yeah. drat. Also the proposal as the last cutscene is pretty adorable. Gorilla Salad posted:But, ughh, that end song. If they couldn't find an angry anti-authoritarian song from the 70s, the era of the Vietnam war, they sure as hell didn't try very hard. I agree. It felt a generic choice when there was so many other options. (Also I really, really don't like that cover.)
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Mar 28, 2018 14:32
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Night10194 posted:Apparently that band saved a studio member from being mugged and they felt they owed them, or so I've heard. After hearing that song I would probably have been wishing I just got mugged instead.
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Mar 28, 2018 15:47
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Gorilla Salad posted:But, ughh, that end song. If they couldn't find an angry anti-authoritarian song from the 70s, the era of the Vietnam war, they sure as hell didn't try very hard. Not to mention that such a thing wouldn't exist in their universe. Considering the US has been under Nazi domination since 1948 and it's now 1961 in-universe, it is unlikely that any of the musical styles considered typical of the 1950s and 60 have developed at all. It seems likely that popular music existing in-universe would not have developed significantly since the 1940s, and any underground protest music would be similar to what existed in that period, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI9XjWskM0w
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Mar 28, 2018 16:13
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Yet you seem to have no trouble with the existence of Hair Metal?
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Mar 28, 2018 17:07
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Gorilla Salad posted:Yet you seem to have no trouble with the existence of Hair Metal? the secret to dealing with the existence of hair metal is to refuse to acknowledge the existence of hair metal
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Mar 28, 2018 17:28
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So I'm not the only one who finds it really weird that Billy keeps quoting his horrible eugenicist racist dad, right? How, in general, after the body switch they play up his White Texan-ness a LOT and downplay his being Jewish?
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Mar 28, 2018 17:35
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The game heavily hints through characterization that BJ was never fully free from the influence of his father - he got his violent sadism and sociopathy from him and also made him dependent on guns for safety (that childhood basement cutscene in the Mesquite level). The only reason his bigot teachings backfired spectacularly and created the ultimate antifa ubersoldat was due to his mother's compassion and Billie's friendship.
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Mar 28, 2018 18:12
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Yeah, you don't come out of the womb sounding like Set* and I doubt Billy's dad was letting Mom take him to synagogue. Jewish ethnicity, culture and religion overlap and intertwine a lot, but not exclusively and only in environments where they're allowed to do so. * speaking of which, I found it interesting that the quest for those Sumerian tablets in the postgame pronounced it "Yishud" and I wonder if that was a misreading or intentional; the 'ch' sound is difficult for some folks to replicate or even hear if they aren't familiar with a language that uses it.
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Mar 28, 2018 18:35
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Bruceski posted:* speaking of which, I found it interesting that the quest for those Sumerian tablets in the postgame pronounced it "Yishud" and I wonder if that was a misreading or intentional; the 'ch' sound is difficult for some folks to replicate or even hear if they aren't familiar with a language that uses it. It's literally a shibboleth.
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Mar 28, 2018 19:09
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Night10194 posted:Apparently that band saved a studio member from being mugged and they felt they owed them, or so I've heard. They should really stick to the vigilantism.
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Mar 28, 2018 20:15
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GUI posted:The game heavily hints through characterization that BJ was never fully free from the influence of his father - he got his violent sadism and sociopathy from him and also made him dependent on guns for safety (that childhood basement cutscene in the Mesquite level). The only reason his bigot teachings backfired spectacularly and created the ultimate antifa ubersoldat was due to his mother's compassion and Billie's friendship. I have to imagine the fact that his dad was a monster who made his 10 year old son shoot the family dog for "getting sweet on" a black girl played a part in BJ not becoming a racist shitheel. By the time the game kicks off BJ is 50, and had been away from his dad since he was 18. Even considering 14 years in a waking coma, he's had a lot of time to learn to not be a racist shitheel, and probably a lot of time to think about how crappy a person his father was.
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Mar 29, 2018 03:22
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| # ? May 8, 2024 12:10 |
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Did I miss what the box that was bugging Set did?
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Mar 29, 2018 04:19
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