Key

I'd like to continue on with my "steam library" reviews, so here's a new entry.


Fallout: New Vegas

I've always found it somewhat difficult to talk about Fallout: New Vegas because I didn't really playthrough for the first time years after it was released. I knew of its existence, but I was far too preoccupied with Fallout 3 to even give Fallout: New Vegas a shot. But man, when I did, my whole entire perspective shifted. I mean, undoubtedly Fallout 3 is definitely still in my top 5 favorite games of all time, but Fallout: New Vegas definitely makes the top 10. I played through the main story pretty normally give or take a few things. Ended up siding with the Yes Man and killing Mr House. The story is pretty good, I admit. Much more interesting than what Fallout 3 had going for it, but Fallout 3 wasn't really all about the story in the first place. At least in my opinion.

As far as graphics go, well...they've got the Bethesda charm. I like them. I think they've always fit these games really well. Adds a bit of "age" to a destroyed world. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for Fallout 76, and Fallout 4 was absolutely beautiful. But there's definitely nothing wrong with the graphics of Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas.

I guess the one argument I could bring up is the fact of whether or not I think this game is better than Fallout 3, from a purely game vs game perspective. In terms of story and overall gameplay, Fallout: New Vegas definitely takes it. As far as environment and overall dread feel, Fallout 3 takes it 100%. If I were to recommend one over the other however, I'd probably say Fallout 3. If I'm completely honest, Fallout: New Vegas was really really good, and I enjoyed my time with it. But I felt like it had more civilization than Fallout 3 did. And part of what I love about Fallout 3 is the felling of being alone in this dead world.

I mean, it's tough to beat sights like this:



But I will admit, there's a lot of great things about Fallout: New Vegas aesthetically.



Please don't get me wrong though. I would definitely playthrough Fallout: New Vegas again and again to try out the different factions etc. I've already started my 2nd playthrough, but I just need the motivation to get back to it. I think Fallout: New Vegas is fantastic and it's worthy of the praise. It's just...nothing can beat my first Fallout experience, which is indeed Fallout 3.

Key

Every now and again, I will take a stroll through my Steam queue to see what might pop out as something I'd like to play. The nice thing about owning a lot of games on Steam is the fact that my queue is always filled with so many interesting and different titles that there's usually always one thing that I find that I want. I do this every now and again, and right now I've sifted through about 191 different games that have come through my queue, probably 1 or 2 of which I've actually played. Which is unfortunate since the only reason I don't buy more is because I'm usually already in the middle of a game while I look through the queue. So it never feels justified.

The queue does change each time you look through it, and I think it's a daily thing? I'm not sure. But if you're curious about what Steam might want to recommend, definitely check out your queue.

Currently as of 8/11/2018, this is what my queue brought up that I found interesting. Not necessarily played yet, but they're interesting enough to make my wishlist:


Astroneer

I've seen a lot of gameplay of this game, and unfortunately it doesn't really seem like my kind of thing. The reason I'm posting about it though is because the game does have a lot to offer for those that are heavily into the space exploration thing. Besides, I already have No Man's Sky, so I don't need a downgrade at the moment. Not that Astroneer is bad. No Man's Sky is just infinitely better.


TerraTech

Yet another game I've not bothered to play, but a game that piqued my interest when it showed up on Youtube from several Youtubers. I'm not too sure what the whole point of the game is, but apparently if you love lego style games with guns, this is the game for you. I'll probably check it out. It'll make my wishlist for sure.


Rend

Didn't even know this game existed until it just showed up in my queue. To me, Rend looks like just another team survival or solo survival game. However, based on the screenshots, the game looks pretty neat. And perhaps fun. I'll add this to my wishlist as well. I may actually buy it at some point.


Morrowind [Game of the Year Edition]

Believe it or not, I've never had this show up on my queue. I may just have to get it. But again, I've already got a game that I'm putting a lot of time into so this would just be gathering dust. I'll add it to my wishlist though because maybe it's time to complete the entire Elder Scrolls series before the next one comes out. Maybe. We'll see.

That's it for the queue today. I'll post about the queue again once it refreshes and has a ton of other games for me to look into. But yeah, that was actually a ton of fun. Allows me to potentially see a new game I'd like to play.

But anyway, back to Monster Hunter World.

Key

Monster Hunter World

I've been talking about this game a lot lately, and that's due to the fact that not only did it just come out for PC, I've also been playing nothing but this game since it came out. I've already accumulated 10 hours of actual playtime in the game already. I've upgraded my equipment several times, and I've learned more and more of the mechanics and everything that goes into a Monster Hunter game. I gotta say, I'm impressed.

Let's preface this by saying that I have actually never played a Monster Hunter game before this one, and I know the developers were trying to make this one as accessible as they could while also maintaining the Monster Hunter magic. Well, from what I can tell, I've not only been able to learn the games mechanics over time, the game really does feel like what it's going for. Just head to head monster fighting action. I know there are a lot of die hard fans out there that have been on the fence with this game. Fair enough, I know how that feels, for sure. However, for a first timer to the series, Monster Hunter World delivers everything it needs to deliver in order to occupy my time and mind.

Something I've really grown attached to right away is the sense of progression every single time you play. I've done about 10 or so sessions of a few hours at a time of this game, and each time, I feel like I accomplished something. Whether it's just going out and collection items on an expedition, or just taking a quest to fight two Great Jagras, the thrill is there either way. It never seems to run stale, and each time you take a quest, you discover something new. And of course, you're probably wondering about the combat in the game, right? Well yeah, I was curious about how I would get used to the combat especially since I'd never played any game before it before. I have to say, not only is the combat super responsive, it gives you the sense of impact that you want to feel when fighting monsters this big. Sure there are a few times where you get caught off guard and you get hit a few times, but I've never once felt like it was the games fault. It's got that Dark Souls combat style to it, where dodge rolling is essential. I love that since that's a style of combat that I've been getting used to more and more.

While the combat and quest lines are fun, I think one of the most amazing things about this game is the world building. Man, when you're dropped into this game for the first time, you can already tell this game is expansive. And each cutscene brings you to yet another humongous city or world for you to explore. So far, each time I've played, even though I do quests in the same areas right now, I've never felt like the area was repeating itself. Mix that with the quick loading times and never having to go through a loading screen except for when you start your quest. The entire island is open to you and there are literally no cut scenes or loading times in between areas. I've legit spent about 2 or 3 hours just running around the areas that are available and it's so much fun.

Here's an idea of what I'm talking about. This is one of the first places you get to in the game. It becomes sort of like your HUB area. Has a smithy and everything. I was thrown back in awe when I saw this for the first time. I had seen it in Twitch streams etc, but to experience it for yourself in ultra high graphics. It's something else. It's known as Astera. Like I said, it acts as a sort of main HUB for the first part of the game. I've loved just wandering around in it. It's like a huge city almost.:



Anyway, to end this off on a high note. I mean, literally. I'm high as ****. But, I'm enjoying my time with Monster Hunter World. For a first timer to the series, I think the game delivers in the best way it can. Sure some of the dialogue and voice acting is not great. But I just turn the voice settings off and it fixes it right away. The equipment system and upgrade system are both fantastic and I can see how people will spend hours grinding to get the better weapons. I love a good grind though. It's not always a bad thing to grind in a game. Especially when both the weapons and armor look dope as ****. It's very stylish and works very well with the overall theme of the game.

So yeah, it's good.

Key

Grinding in Video Games

No I'm not talking about jumping onto the rails in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, I'm talking about the kind of grinding in video games that people don't seem to enjoy as much as other people do. Hell, there seems to be a bit of a stigma revolving around grinding. Lots of games do it. Lots of games do it well. And lots of games don't do it particularly well. However in this case, I felt that talking about the games that either do it well or not well wouldn't be as productive as talking about my personal thoughts about grinding in video games as a whole, and not try to sugarcoat it with game titles.

So, yeah. Grinding. What do I think of it? How do I feel about it? Well, for me it depends on the game. Like I said earlier, some games have done it well, some haven't. What exactly do I mean? Well, some games require you to grind by killing monsters in certain areas and working your way up a skill tree be it with weapons, armor, etc. That's what Monster Hunter World does. That's what Skyrim does. That's what Middle Earth: Shadow of War does. The more you do it, the stronger you get. That's how it should be in my opinion. Grdinging shouldn't be all about levels and getting everything to the highest level you can. Now, that's also a really great concept as well and it's used usually alongside the grind for better equipment. But, still. A lot of games decide that the leveling system is the way to go. That's not always the case. Skyrim for example. Instead of being held down by a certain level, you are instead able to just take on as many dragons you want, grind your smithing levels, and get better equipment while doing so. That's a perfect example of a game using both in the best ways. Monster Hunter World, while it does have a hunter level etc, it doesn't keep you from getting better equipment. Hell, if you think you're good enough, you can straight up fight the tougher monsters to get the better loot. That's what I did once or twice. I've killed monsters in the tougher parts of the game, and yes, they are ****ing difficult. Sometimes I just get really lucky. That, and certain weapons are really good. I use the Insect Glaive more than anything, but the hammer weapons are also really good.



Probably my favorite weapon right now to be honest. It's really good and allows for some awesome packed combos.

I've trailed off a little bit, so what's my whole point? Well, grinding in video games really shouldn't always be seen as a negative thing. In some cases, it's actually a lot of fun. I personally enjoy a good grind in a video games. Because not only does it allow me to spend more time in the game that I like, it also lets me discover more things while I grind for the weapon or armor that I'm trying to get. And it pushes exploration as well. You wouldn't really have the urge to explore an open world unless there was a reason to do it. Certain kinds of grinding benefit an open world. For instance, fighting the tougher and tougher monsters in Monster Hunter World push you to explore the entire island, and not just stay where you are comfortable. I guess you could even put the Fallout games in this category as they do the same thing in some cases. Maybe not as evident, but its there.

I don't know. It's always seemed silly to me that people don't like grinding in video games. Why would you not want to spend many hours pushing to get better at the game? Why would you not want to spend as much time in the game that you like as much as possible? I always love putting many hours into video games that I play, and a good grind is very much welcome in those cases.

Oh, Warframe is also the God of grinding and I love it.

Key

At this point, this is like the...5th or 6th installment of this part in my journal. I think. I don't remember where I'm at. But the point of these is to just track through time what my most played games are. It's interesting to look back at the others and see what I was really into at the time. And this is also awesome because I started doing this journal several years ago, so seeing my interest through time is really interesting.

Anyway, as time goes on, obviously the list gets longer and longer. So here's my current lineup of games that I have put a ton of time into over the past couple months. So here we go:

Team Fortress 2: 301 Hours.
This game continues to be the most played game in my library, and I don't think that'll come to an end any time soon unless I really dedicate my time to Rocket League again. Which is possible in the near future.

Rocket League: 215 Hours.
Not entirely surprising as this game is still one of my all time favorites in my entire library. As mentioned before, I haven't really been playing it much these days. But I will probably pick it up again soon.

Divinity Original Sin 2: 81 Hours.
One of the best gaming experiences I've ever had with a game. I played through it twice, and both times I had an absolute blast. The story is unique, the characters are awesome, and there's just so much to do that you can literally get lost for hours and not even care. Definitely one of my favorite games now.

Dead Cells: 57 Hours.
Perhaps one of the best side scrolling roguelikes released in a long time. This game continues to be updated, and it's a passion project for the developers, and man it works so well together. I highly recommend this if you're wanting some high action combat mixed with roguelike elements.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War: 36 Hours.
I'm surprised that this number is so low considering I fully 100% completed this game. But I guess that's also due to the fact that I played nothing but this game for several weeks and got a lot of **** done every time I played. So maybe I did beat it too quickly. Either way, I enjoyed my time with it and I think it's definitely superior to Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition: 24 Hours.
Again, not entirely surprising given the name of the game. Beat this one too. Great fun and really cool story.

Slay The Spire: 19 Hours.
I went through a phase where I just played nothing but Slay The Spire, and man do I miss it. I'd play it more but I have so many other games to play that it just doesn't fit the bill right now. However, I'm keeping it installed because I know I will have a hinkering to play this game, and I'll want it available right away.

Monster Hunter World: 14 Hours.
I've said plenty about this game already, so if you're interested, just look at my previous posts in my journal.

I didn't mention every single one that went from highest to lowest because some I haven't even touched since the last time I included them on these lists, so including them again seems rather pointless. Anyway, this one was fun. I've been playing a **** ton of games lately and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

Key

One of my favorite things about video game releases, and especially one as big as this one, is the hype. I've always enjoyed checking daily on different sites to see if there's any new confirmed information about the game we are going to receive in the coming months. Whether it's the story, how the game will play, or even a little bit of gameplay to get an idea of what we're getting into. Well, there's been no shortage of info regarding Fallout 76 since Quakecon 2018 was a unanimous success for them and this game.

I'd like to touch on a couple of things because maybe not everybody, but I know a lot of people are very excited about Fallout 76, myself included. I mean, a full on multiplayer Fallout game? That's dope. Anyway...

Multiplayer in Fallout 76: I know, the big concern over this one is whether or not the game is still going to feel like a traditional Fallout game. And yes, from what I understand it's going to feel like nothing different except for the fact that the other players on the map will act as your NPC's. It's a neat idea and it'll be even more interesting to see it in practice. The other concern over this was whether or not the game is just going to be filled with tons of people and it'll ruin the sense of being alone. Well, Bethesda has that covered as well since they've announced and they had announced this before that the servers are not going to allow for a lot of people. They're quoting maybe dozens of players in a server at a single time. They've stated that they understand that they want players to still feel like they're in a single player Fallout experience. The multiplayer is just meant as an additional perk. So I'm glad they're not just already dead set on making it multiplayer and multiplayer only. They actually think about the player base too. I'm excited to be able to at least see other players playing. Seems cool to watch them experience it too.

PvP: Another thing a lot of people were worried about, and myself included, is the addition of PvP in a Fallout setting. Once they announced that the game would be multiplayer, they also added onto the fact that there will also be full on Player vs Player combat. However, the big concern over that was whether or not that was going to ruin the players experience because they were getting killed all the time. Well, Bethesda have of course put certain rules and restrictions in place to allow the player to continuously enjoy playing. Basically what they've done is a bounty system, which I think works extraordinarily well in this case. So say you see a player on the map and you want to walk past them. In this case, the other player may choose to shoot at you and eventually kill you. However that doesn't come with consequences. When you kill somebody in Fallout 76 and the other people didn't engage, if you kill the player that didn't engage, you'll get a bounty on your head. Not only that, but on the games main map, you'll be pointed out with a red star, and everybody who's currently on the map will be able to see you. The other thing is that if you're the player with the bounty, your map will go black and you can't see any other players on the map. So if you're planning on killing someone in Fallout 76, you best be prepared.

Quest / Story: This is one that I actually think is really interesting and somewhat of an original idea when it comes to a multiplayer game of sorts. Instead of the game having NPC after NPC with quests and story, instead you'll rely on terminals and other assorted forms of reading etc to give you the story and the quests that you can embark on. Pretty interesting idea because not only does it mean you don't have to deal with annoying NPC's, but it also gives you more reason to explore the world. You wanna find more terminals etc. Cool idea, and again, it'll be cool to see it in practice.

Other things that got mentioned were things like the perk system, which will work in a card based way that you can collect throughout the world and apply it to your character. Really cool idea. Excited for that. They also mentioned you can get mutations, and they can be cured or kept. Whatever you decide.

Anyway, as the release date gets closer, I'm getting more and more excited. Bethesda really do seem like they're trying to ensure that they keep this a typical Fallout game, and not lose sight of what they're attempting to do. Will be really cool to see how it turns out.

Key

I've been playing a lot of Fallout 4 recently because of two reasons: one, I finally decided to get my old save file off my other PC and put it on my new PC. The transfer worked flawlessly and now I have the very first Fallout 4 character I ever made. And the one that I got the furthest with. All my rare items and **** are back. It's awesome. On top of that, I've decided that since I already beat the main story, I'm going to throw on some mods. I've got several different types of power armor mods to be specific. And then to lead all the way back to the point I was initially trying to make. I played for about 2 hours just now fixing up how my power armor is setup in Fallout 4. I had them encased in a little shed in Sanctuary and that didn't feel right. Then for some reason it glitched and deleted all the floors, so I figured it's time to rethink this.

This is what I've come up with. It's nothing spectacular and it's nothing fancy, but it puts all the power armor that I've collected in one place and in the open. The two that are on the grass are both from power armor mods. One of them I forget the name of but the other one is a Liberty Prime power armor set. This is one of my favorite things about this game so I love making it look certain ways.


This is somewhat of an aerial view.


^These are the two I was referring to earlier. Those are both from mods and they look ****ing fantastic. The ones behind it are the ones on the right side when you're looking at the aerial view.


And this is on the left side of the little subpar no roof shed I made for these things.

So yeah, figured it was worth putting here. I'm loving Fallout 4 right now and the more I play it, the more I love it. Still discovering new things. And it's getting me so pumped for Fallout 76.

Key

I don't believe I've done this in this journal yet. It's been on my mind since I created the thread exactly like what I'm going to talk about here. However, I figured since I'm talking about Fallout anyway, I may as well give my thoughts on this particular topic. So...


I know, I've been talking about Fallout a lot recently in this journal, but how can I not? I'm putting more time into Fallout 4 recently than I have in a while. Fallout 76 is on the horizon and I'm very excited for that. And, I have the MB Video Game Classics threads going on and that constantly reminds me of games that I love to death. And speaking of which, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are two treasures in the Fallout franchise that can never be forgotten or mislead.

The thing about these two games is the fact that you are some random lone wanderer, and you're wandering around the post-nuclear war world, be it in Washington D.C. or Las Vegas. What both of these games do exceptionally well is the sense of open-ness, dread, and depression mixed with the technicality of leveling up your character and finding rare weapons. As time progresses, and you play more and more, you start to feel like a super badass. It's genuinely a really fun experience finding all the cool weapons and taking on super mutants and other factions in the process.

On the other hand, both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas have always been the center point of debate in regards to which one is better. Now, there's a lot of ways you could go about this. You can base your opinion on your own experience, or you can base it on how you feel the developers deliver when it comes to how the game is as a whole. I'll probably be going with the former as I always love talking about my own personal experience. A lot of people tend to face these two games off against each other and it's pretty interesting since they are two completely different games. While they've both got the same basic idea and framework, both go about it very differently, and I want to discuss some points.

So starting off with Fallout 3, the minute you drop in, your met with a lot of familiar faces and while the tutorial for this game may not be it's strong suit, the real game starts once you leave your vault. The first time I ever played this game, I had no idea what to expect when I go out into the open world, but god damn was I taken back instantly. I remember vividly that there was a small city near where I exited and I could just tell that everything was completely destroyed by the nuclear bomb. The landscapes and all the beaten down buildings really makes for a depressing but invigorating experience. Then you get to the main attraction, the Washington D.C. Mall. I've been to Washington D.C. before so this one really stuck with me throughout the entire game. The subtle soundtrack they have going here really works with the "you're alone in this world and everything is gone" aspect. I love it. Gives me chills every time I talk about it. It's certainly one of my all time favorite "main attractions" in a game. Has the Lincoln Memorial is bad shape, the Washington Memorial same thing, and just a ton of buildings that looked like they could have been flourishing, but instead were taken out by a nuclear bomb. Then you find the White House, or...what's left of it. Which...is nothing. But that's a cool experience in and of itself. Just getting a sort of sense of what it might be life to live in a post-war Washington D.C. really really stuck with me. It filled my entire body with dread but at the same time, filled it with many hours of enjoyment. I love Fallout 3 for everything that it does right, and it truly made for a remarkable first experience.

Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again, while I love Fallout 3 to death, I do agree with a lot of other people that Fallout: New Vegas is simply the better game in a lot of ways. Let's just start off right away with it's location. Las Vegas. That's ****ing awesome. I love the whole concept of having a post-war sub par Las Vegas filled with casinos run by different kinds of groups of people. Makes for an interesting set of dialogue between you and them. Plus, I just enjoy exploring all the casinos because there is a lot to explore, and a lot to find. Putting that aside for a second, Fallout: New Vegas also feels quite a bit more complete. But that's not necessarily meant to put down Fallout 3. Fallout 3 had everything it needed to have based on the story etc. However, Fallout: New Vegas has a much more in depth story to rely on, and several factions to also explore, so there's much more to do as a compliment to the game. It's doubly interesting because Fallout: New Vegas was the 2nd game I played in the Fallout series. I started with Fallout 3, and yeah, I still admit that Fallout: New Vegas felt like a much more rich and interesting story. Lots of quests to do as well. And, it is kind of nice to not really feel like you're the only person left on earth. Fallout 3 had that but for good reason. I just love finding people in Fallout: New Vegas because they all have their own little quirks. All the little cities like Goodsprings etc really makes for an interesting overall atmosphere with these other people who are fighting to survive just like you. And also, the Kings. So yeah, great game.

And so now at this point I imagine you're probably thinking that I'm going to go with Fallout: New Vegas on this one. However if you've been paying attention, you'd see that in the other thread, I explained the same thing. Fallout 3 takes it every time. Not only because it was my first Fallout game, but I still think it had a much deeper impact on me emotionally while playing it than Fallout: New Vegas did. Again, Fallout: New Vegas is easily the better game, but I gotta give it to Fallout 3 this time.

Key

While I already have a **** ton of games in my backlog, why don't we take a look at the queue. The first time we did this we didn't run into far too many surprises. I don't expect things to change much this time, but we'll see.


Dark Souls II: Scholar Of The First Sin

I guess this one is kind of interesting because although I do own the first Dark Souls, I really haven't put a lot of time into it. I mean, I've gotten far-ish, but nothing crazy. Kind of got tired of it to be honest. I didn't get attached to these games like other people did. Not saying they're bad though because honestly they're a lot of fun to watch. Especially when people understand the games. So yeah. Probably pass on this one.


PC Building Simulator

Not entirely surprising as I do enjoy a good simulation game. I mean, I've played Euro Truck Simulator, American Truck Simulator, Farming Simulator, and even Goat Simulator. I enjoy them for what they are. Especially when some of them are very relaxing to play while putting on some music in the background. However, I think PC Building Simulator may be a bit too involved for my liking. Looks awesome. And I've seen people play it and it looks like it could be fun. But maybe not for me.


Divinity II: Developer's Cut

Alright, so this is interesting and something I didn't even know existed. Apparently there is another Divinity II by the same developers that did the most recent Divinity games. This is actually amazing because not only does the game look kind of fun, it sells itself as a third person open world RPG. I'm shocked that I've not even heard of this until now. Immediately going onto my wishlist. I may have to buy this soon. It was recommended to me because I have both Skyrim and Fable Anniversary in my library. Ok yeah, I need this game.

Gotta say, not an overly exciting queue, but a pretty successful one at the very least. Found one game out of the rest that I think I'm actually going to buy. Maybe not right away, but I'm definitely excited about it.

Key

Dead Cells (part 2)

I recently did an entry on Dead Cells as a part of my "steam library" thing I've got going on. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about it. And I realized that back when I was talking about it before, I hadn't actually fully experienced what the full 1.0 version had to offer. All I knew is that the game was still really solid and that my time with it was going to both improve and increase. But tonight, I legitimately had a good enough run that allowed me to see so much more of what the game had to offer. And I'm assuming there's even more that I haven't seen. But this stuff is just the stuff that I've seen for the first time. And I gotta say, I'm impressed.


The Time Keeper

Something I didn't realize is the fact that they've added a whole different boss apart from the ones that I've experienced before. It's pretty crazy that they've managed to sort of just slip this by me and I hadn't even seen it until tonight. Although my run was pretty strong, this guy was pretty tough, especially once you get his health pretty low. He's got some pretty off the wall mechanics and it legitimately feels tough, but in a good way. Nice to see a whole new boss. I wonder if there's more.


Castle

They've added an entire new variant of floors. I've only seen a little bit of this one because it's ****ing tough. But I expected it to be tough considering it's pretty far into the game. Seeing it for the first time in all its glory was pretty amazing. The graphics work really well with the style they went for this floor, and I'm excited to see what comes after it. It's certainly made the runs a lot longer but was more exciting and varied. This definitely works with all the positive changes they've made to the game mechanically. Certainly a nice addition. Again, I wonder if there are other floors I have yet to see.

There may only be two things but they're 2 pretty big things in my opinion. I continue to love playing Dead Cells. It's pretty much the perfect roguelike for me because I love this sort of combat in side scrollers. Just action packed fun and such a great team behind the game. The state that the game is in now is a full on showing of how much the developers love this game.