What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Nel_Annette]

It was only six gigabytes. But my internet has been reeeaaally bad all week. Hell, last night both the internet and the cable just went completely out for hours. I have no idea what's up with Time Warner Cable lately.

EDIT: And even after all that patching, it's done fuck all to keep the citizens of Paris from walking through walls, corpse-hovering, and teleporting all over the map. At least no one's shown up looking like this yet.

[talonmalon333]

I'm honestly finding MGS4 much easier than 3. I think it's because the controls are smoother. Also, the wide open environments seem to have more cover in this one than they did in the previous game; thus, hiding from the enemies is actually easier IMO. 3 is definitely the better game overall, but the core gameplay in 4 is still excellent.

I think the main thing that makes 4 easier is the camouflage. In 3 you had to strategize to pick the best clothes to wear for your environments, but in 4 your suit just automatically changes to blend in with whatever environment you're in. Especially once you get the matching mask, your camouflage percentage never needs to drop below 90%, it seems like.

[Nel_Annette]

I'm about halfway through Unity. Had two hilarious hiccups happen during the main story. A main character has been killed. When I found the body, a copy of his torso was floating above him. I was genuinely confused. I walk downstairs, as I need to investigate the manor for clues. I walk through the character's office... and he's sitting at his desk, doing paperwork. Obviously, the game has main NPCs going about their business at the Assassin HQ, and I think the game was just doing that, but it seems like the developers forgot to stop putting this character in the world after he dies in the story. So he's dead... but he'll be in his office if you need him.

Sequences in this game (think of them as "chapters" that each focus on a target) are much shorter than in previous games. Previous installments could have between 3-8 missions per sequence, with between 8-15 sequences depending on the game. Unity has 12 sequence, but I'm on 8 now and so far, each sequence has had 2-3 missions. That's fucking quick, so I'm guessing unless you're trying to clear off the map of the sheer mountain of sidequests covering it, Unity's one of the shortest games in the series.

Seriously, though, the map. At the start of the game, you can barely see the map of Paris because it is completely covered in sidequest markers, chest markers and points-of-interest markers.

Main assassination missions haven't been as strong as that first one, but they're still pretty good. They actually remind me of Dishonored in a way. I can still go about  the missions any way I please, but the game will point out things like "hey, these dude's might help you if you rescue them over here", "some idiot guard left a map of the place over here", "you can use this to smoke the target out of the building if you want" and so on.

The DLC becomes available after Sequence 4. The DLC is basically Sequence 13, taking place after the final boss, and spoils a shit-ton of the game. So it's kind of stupid that they lock it off just to have it unlock one-third of the way into the game.

On a side note, MGS: The Legacy Collection and MGR: Revengeance showed up today along with the PS4 version of GTA5. I tried to use the voucher to download Metal Gear Solid (the only game in the collection that isn't on a disc; it has to be downloaded) and the PlayStation Store doesn't seem to be working for my PS3. Bummer. Will try again in the morning.

[talonmalon333]

On a side note, MGS: The Legacy Collection and MGR: Revengeance showed up today along with the PS4 version of GTA5. I tried to use the voucher to download Metal Gear Solid (the only game in the collection that isn't on a disc; it has to be downloaded) and the PlayStation Store doesn't seem to be working for my PS3. Bummer. Will try again in the morning.

In the meantime, I recommend playing the 8-bit Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 games. Even if you manage to get the Store to work, I might still recommend playing those games first. This is one of those franchises where it makes sense to play it in release order, though you can't go wrong starting with Metal Gear Solid.

[Foggle]

I recommend trying Metal Gear first. If you don't like it, skip to Metal Gear 2. If you don't like that, skip to Metal Gear Solid. And if you also don't like that, skip to Metal Gear Solid 3. Those are the four best entry points into the series IMO.

(And even if you don't like any of them, play Metal Gear Rising and The Phantom Pain anyway. )

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Metal Gear Rising is a different beast altogether. It's really a Platinum game rather than a Kojima game. Personally I love it, though admittedly I'm not a huge MG fan. Hardcore fans despise it though because it's not a stealth game.

[Foggle]

I absolutely love the stealth genre and about half of the Metal Gear games, but Rising is still one of the series' best IMO. Don't listen to the annoying fanboys who hate it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

And don't get pissed if you don't get the mechanics at first. I didn't really understand how to pull off perfect parries and exploit i-frames in the game until my third playthrough (though, to be fair, it's a short game).

The Jetstream Sam DLC is also pretty good, but I can't speak for the Blade Wolf gameplay since I could never get that DLC to run.

[Foggle]

The mechanics may seem really difficult to learn/understand at first, but parries and such are actually pretty easy to pull off, even for someone with awful timing like me. Actually, something similar could be said for almost every Metal Gear game...

The PS3 version also has the VR Missions DLC, which is worth playing as well.

[gunswordfist]

Metal Gear Rising is a different beast altogether. It's really a Platinum game rather than a Kojima game. Personally I love it, though admittedly I'm not a huge MG fan. Hardcore fans despise it though because it's not a stealth game.

lmao, they still hate on it? I remember how stupid they looked when they flipped out on PG developing the game.

[Nel_Annette]

Ubisoft and I need to have a little fucking discussion. They put the little "fast-travel" icon for the DLC right next to the HQ. I try to fast travel to the HQ and accidentally click the other icon. I'm suddenly forced into the DLC (which, as mentioned, takes place after the main game and is quite spoilerific) and the gam,e plays the first cutscene and forces you into the first mission, with no option to quit out and no option to go back to Paris. Why, Ubisoft? Why would you make that a fast travel icon! Why would you make the DLC (which, turns out, is labeled Sequence 13 like it's a continuation of the main story) available so early. Now I'm stuck doing this shit.

[Nel_Annette]

Made a preorder for something on GameStop's site, as I was under the impression that it was GS exclusive. Turns out it's on Amazon's site and with free shipping I can save money. Try to cancel preorder on GS... there's no cancel button. How the fuck do I cancel this? HOW THE FUCK DO I CANCEL THIS AUGH

[Spark Of Spirit]

How's this?

[Nel_Annette]

Thhat's what I was using.  Turn's out I had to make an account, find a "orders I made as a guest" option while logged in, and only then did it give me a cancel option. The site doesn't let you cancel if you're just a guest. It's stupid.

[Avaitor]

I impulse bought a copy of Ocarina at a pawn shop today. I'm going home in a day or two, so I might go through it when I do.

It's been too long.