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teaandgames · 4 years

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The Tea Times - July 2020

Well, that’s July over and done- wait, what? July is over? It’s almost August?! Whoa, whoa, whoa. If we keep going on like this I’ll be writing the Christmas article before I know what’s what. I wonder if it’s the heat, as God certainly turned up the Thermostat. Still, the troubles of the year are still carrying on so I hope everyone’s keeping safe. Things are starting to open up again but remember that no amount of alcohol or haircuts are worth more than your health.

On the game side of things, there have been quite a few announcements and interesting releases this month, spurred on by a few Expos. Let’s delve in, shall we?

At a Glance

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, Ghost of Tsushima, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE, Paper Mario: The Origami King and Carrion released.

Far Cry 6, Manor Lords, Shadow Warrior 3, The Outer Worlds - Perils in Gorgon, Fable, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, Avowed and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide announced.

Rocket League is taking off the price tag!

No Man’s Sky gets another update!

The Releases

Anyone who knows me will know that I was super pumped for Deadly Premonition 2. The initial buzz has been good so far, save for the colossal frame rate issues that have kept me from actually booting it up. Either way, patches are coming through to fix that, so I’ll hopefully be able to hit on the wonderfully surreal, tightened up bandwagon soon. For those interested, Deadly Premonition 2 came out on the Switch on July 10th.

For the more Samurai inclined, Ghost of Tsushima has been making waves. While I’ve heard opinions all over the place about it, it seems on the whole to be positive. The combat seems to get the most praise, while the open world is probably the most divisive. Either way, I’ll be damned if it doesn’t look pretty. Sadly a PlayStation 4 exclusive but if you own one, then you should know that Ghosts of Tsushima came out on July 17th.

If you prefer your combat to vary wildly in speed then you’ll probably be interested in SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE. The combat has been nicely refined too, with upgrades such as throwing weapons. In a rare instance, I’ve actually been on the ball with this one and reviewed it already. My feelings are mixed but it’s worth playing if you’re a fan of the original. MIND CONTROL DELETE, the third in the series incidentally, came out on July 16th.

On the lighter side of things, there’s Paper Mario: The Origami King. This one I’m actually in the middle of playing through and I’m enjoying it so far. The origami aesthetic is lovely and the world looks gorgeous. The combat is… divisive but it feels closer to the original than Sticker Star, so there’s that. I’ll give out my full thoughts when I’ve beaten it but so far, pretty positive! If you’re interested, it was released on July 17th.

If you’re in the market for something a bit more… icky, then you’ll be interested in Carrion. Billed as a ‘reverse’ horror game, Carrion puts you in control of a strange monster, as opposed to the angry scientist we usually play as. Your job is to go around and disembowel all the people that poked and prodded you. And their friends and relatives, probably. Apparently it can also disguise itself as human, in case you needed more nightmares. If a lack of gore is a bore, then Carrion came out on July 23rd.

The Announcements

Let’s start with one that we pretty much knew was around the corner: Far Cry 6. Quite a few videos have been released about it now in something of snowball effect. The original trailer won me over solely because it featured Giancarlo Esposito. A fantastic actor with a great voice. Far Cry 6 is set in the Cuba inspired island of Yara and, for a while, it looked like we might play as the son of this season’s dictator. Instead it seems we play as a revolutionary. Ah well. Far Cry 6 is slated to be released on February 18th 2021.

For a completely different pace, if you’re a city builder lover then you might want to look into Manor Lords. Of course, the pace does pick up a bit when you get into battles, which are large scale and depend on formations and strategy and all of those other difficult things. Above all, Manor Lords strives for medieval realism, which usually means a lot of hard work and horrible diseases. If that’s your thing, then Manor Lords should be coming to Steam Early Access in the Autumn.

If you don’t like realism and much prefer crude jokes about dicks then Shadow Warrior 3 sounds like your cup of tea. It looks very exciting, full of fluid moments and slicing people up with katanas. The original Shadow Warrior had very sexy and exciting combat and that seems to have been nicely ramped up. The sense of humour may be a little… divisive… but if you can stomach the jokes then Shadow Warrior 3 will be out next year.

Now for one that got my heart pumping. You may remember that I enjoyed my time with The Outer Worlds. A few rough edges of course but I was left hungry for more. Seems we’re getting a second helping with the Peril on Gorgon DLC, which has us exploring an asteroid for interesting secrets. There are new characters and new weapons, like the weird spiky thing. It should be out on September 9th this year. Can’t wait!

Fable was an unexpected one. Watching the trailer, you might be forgiven for thinking it has nothing to do with the original Lionhead series but it does. It looks to be a reboot essentially, though not too many details have come out. The trailer sets up a magical fantasy land and then ends with something of a dark tone. There’s scanty details otherwise, but it looks like guns have been given the boot and Albion has been obliterated by an asteroid. The original developers aren’t connected to this one, by the way, which is quite sad really. No release date as yet.

Another unexpected, but equally exciting announcement, is S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, which is of course the fourth entry in the series. A series set in post-meltdown Chernobyl, inspired by the film of the same name which is in turn inspired by the book Roadside Picnic, which is worth a read. The Zone is full of anomalies, mutants and guitar playing nomads. Good stuff and now in higher definition. If you fancy a fourth trip into the Zone then I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until next year.

For the second Obsidian entry on this list, we have Avowed. This seems to be Obsidian’s take on the first person high-fantasy genre, which is currently dominated by the Elder Scrolls. Not too much is given away in the trailer, other than a few story notes and the fact that it’s first person with a sword in one hand and magic in the other. A lot of other things have been ‘leaked’, including the fact that it’s possibly linked to Pillars of Eternity, but for now I’m keeping my eyes open. No release date as yet.

Any fans of Vermintide out there? Want that gameplay but more grimdark and set miles in the future? If so, then Warhammer 40,000: Darktide should be up your street. You and your Imperial Guard chums have been set the mission of rooting out Chaos in the hive city of Tertium. I don’t know too much about 40k but I do know that the Imperial Guard don’t have the best survival rates so it looks like I’ll be unintentionally roleplaying when I play. If you’re interested then it’ll be out next year.

Free Footie

In an unexpected twist of events, Rocket League has gone free to play. I’m not entirely sure why, as it was always a pretty popular game but perhaps things are waning. I don’t mind that it’ll be free, to be honest, as I love Rocket League and this may attract some more casual players. I suck at football in real life and my car football isn’t much better, let’s be honest. This move to free-to-play is also coinciding with a launch on the Epic Games Store, though it’ll still be on Steam so no worries there.

Players who bought the game before it went free-to-play will get legacy status which comes with quite a few goodies, such as free access to DLCs and a lot of upgraded cosmetic items. Your inventory also won’t be affected by the move, so don’t worry about that. You may have to worry about the influx of players though, if you’re the type of person that doesn’t like new players. Ah well!

No Man’s Sky Gets Desolated

I’m not going to lie, when I saw a few images of No Man’s Sky’s Desolation update I thought I was looking at an image of Dead Space. It looks like a very exciting update because the focus has been made a little smaller. The biggest thing this update brings in is derelict freighters. These interiors are procedurally generated, each with their own little stories. It’s a smaller, tighter experience than traipsing over a planet and it looks, at times, genuinely unnerving.

Not only do you have to deal with the freighter security systems, that probably won’t take too kindly to a stranger wandering around, you also have to deal with the weird infestations that have taken over. Hope you like shooting monstrous creatures with a tool made for cutting things. Maybe my first impressions were right after all, huh?

That’s all for July, see you in August!

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rate-out-of-10 · 7 years

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DESTINY 2 REVIEW

Here we are. Three years later and Destiny 2 is finally in our hands. Bungie has put a lot of work into building Destiny into the goliath it is today. With three raids, a dozen strike missions, a bunch of DLC content, and a ton of loot, Destiny was objectively massive. Destiny 2 has a lot riding on it, with it being the sequel to a game that many thought didn’t need a sequel, just a consistent stream of DLC and updates. What exactly did Destiny 2 build on? Is it a vast improvement from the first game? What will returning players find new and exciting? Is it a big enough draw for new players, or even players that abandoned the first game?

REVIEW NOTE: This review of Destiny 2 is based off of my experiences with the game on Xbox One.

Destiny 2 seeks to up root all that Destiny built from the get-go. The game begins with a brilliant cinematic of The Tower falling at the hands of a special Cabal force called “The Red Legion”. This was a very divisive start and I appreciated it a lot. It gave returning players a sense of loss (our loot! No!), and new players a fresh start, not feeling at all left behind from the first three years of this universe. Our Light is taken away and for the first time in centuries, humanity and the Guardians are vulnerable. I was excited to see how this new dynamic would play out through the campaign, but it only lasted a quick 2 or 3 “missions” until you are given your power back. It was a bit underwhelming. Sure, I have a lot of fun with my Super abilities, but the campaign seemed to be afraid of delving deeper into more groundbreaking territory. There is a line spoken by one of the characters in a side quest that really sums up how I feel about the campaign: “Don’t venture further than you have to, Guardian.” The encounters you’re faced with through the story feel very barren and recycled quite a bit. There are some new pieces, yes, such as the involvement of cinematic cut-scenes that fleshed out some of the returning characters, as well as the new ones a bit. But these weren’t enough to make the story feel authentic. The game often falls into the same traps the first did. Wave combat, mini bullet sponge bosses, or all too convenient plot points. It was nice to have a real villainous face to latch onto, and Dominus Ghaul was really great to look at, but he still felt bland. The final boss fight against him, where he has harnessed the power of the Light, could’ve been a spectacular one, capping the story mode off nicely. But it was short, too easy, and didn’t feel like a nice staple to this story. Throughout the story mode, the general feeling of troughing through it comes up quite often. Though, it’s not a bad campaign, I’ve played much worse before. Luckily the voice work from the cast keeps it from feeling too trivial (yes there are some annoying cheesy one-liners here and there). You can play through the campaign and get comfortable with the controls, all the new gameplay dynamics, get a feel for all the different enemy types, and also acquire some pretty nice loot (that may be the most significant draw to finishing the story mode).

Now the “end game” content is clearly the reason why we devoted players sink countless hours into the game. The loot system is very competent now, which should be a no-brainer compared to the trash heap that Destiny was at launch in 2014. By the end of the first game’s tenure it was a mammoth of content and loot and the loot system was fixed dramatically through that time, and it’s essentially moved right over into Destiny 2. This is the copy & paste stuff I don’t mind at all. The loot system needs to feel competent and rewarding and we need to feel the time invested in the game reflects back with the armor we wear and the weapons we have. Exotics don’t feel all too much locked behind closed doors as they once did. In fact you’ll snag a couple through the story mode. Destiny 2 gets players off to a fast start with acquiring some great gear early on. Some things are definitely welcome additions, like the in-game maps of the areas you can explore, lost sectors (aka mini-dungeons), and the ability to travel where you want, or from activity to activity, without having to go to orbit every single time. Thank you, Bungie, but these are things that many come to expect from exploration centric RPGs and MMOs.

The Leviathan Raid is massive and action-packed. And this is the sort of thing where Destiny 2 shines. Rewarding loot, interesting encounters with changing dynamics that stress teamwork and a game plan, and grand epic scenery and scope. It’s not my favorite Raid that we’ve seen, but it’s still jam packed with content and rewards. The strikes in Destiny 2 feel and play mostly fresh, with some new gameplay elements added to them (but that might certainly be because I haven’t played them to death yet). But my general complaint about all the “end game” is that there isn’t enough. A handful of strikes, repetitive public events, and a raid isn’t enough for me to feel the game is full. It feels much more populated than the launch of Destiny, but that’s not really saying much. Destiny 2, in terms of content doesn’t feel like a real step up. We’re given dates for the first two DLCs for year 1 of Destiny 2, but honestly it irks me to think that Bungie plans on keeping content hidden from us until they decide to sell it to us later. The micro transactions in the game are deplorable. Why do I want to pay for “Silver”? Why wouldn’t you, Bungie, just have all the content you can muster in the game at launch, and have us earn the gear through challenges and more strikes and quests? Don’t lock away stuff from the get-go and make us buy a season pass right from the start. This was one of the biggest complaints we had for the launch of Destiny.

Now, the menu and character pages were revamped somewhat. Instead of a “Primary, Special, Heavy” load out, it’s now a “Kinetic, Energy, Power” loadout. This allows for some more varying weapon combos. For instance, I can equip a kinetic Scout Rifle, a solar damage Auto Rifle in the energy weapon spot, and one of the new grenade-launchers in the Heavy spot. It’s an interesting change of pace for the game, but not a needed change. I would’ve much rather Bungie add some of the new weapon types that they did and keep the old loadout system, and maybe focus on adding a bunch more weapons and gameplay dynamics. There are new subclasses for each character type as well, and most of the old subclasses return. I’m still a bit sad that my favorite class for Warlocks, Sunsinger, is gone. I may just go back and play the first game to relive the glory days of my self-revive. But each class now has different subsections that cater to players who are more defensive/support oriented, and others who are more offensive/attack oriented. I’m very excited to find my favorite build for all my characters. As of right now, my favorite Warlock build is Voidwalker with the Attunement of Hunger subset. The leveling system that Destiny introduced in The Taken King expansion essentially returns intact, but a few slight differences. Now, engrams drop with a set power level when they drop, so decrypting them immediately is the best way to go, rather than sitting on them until you get to a higher level and open them up to a higher level. Factions work slightly differently in Destiny 2 as well. Instead of aligning yourself with a faction and leveling up to get gear from them, there are different factions on each explorable planet and completing activities (public events, adventures, lost sectors, etc.) there grant you Tokens, for the faction of that planet, you can turn in for gear. It’s a nice change I think and gives me reason to go and patrol the planets and complete the challenges on each planet. For some reason, Bungie thought “one time use” shaders were a good idea, and it costs currency to apply them to your weapons and armor. It wasn’t a good idea.

Perhaps the most significant change to the Destiny layout is the introduction of in-game clans. Players can now form clans and keep track of their clan activity and achievements in game. This is much needed improvement to the playability of the game. Now clan members can share loot when they finish certain activities. Like if your clan mates complete the Nightfall strike without while you were at work, all you have to do is go the Tower and meet with Hawthorne and she’ll give you some loot for your clan completing that activity. It’s a nice add that promotes more people being a part of groups and playing with more people. However, solo players aren’t left out. With the addition of Guided Games, solo players can find fireteams, in the game, to help them play activities that require more than one player. How it will work with the Leviathan Raid, we will see, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless.

PvP doesn’t get much of a touch up in Destiny 2. The team sizes switch from 6v6 to 4v4. New maps and new game modes don’t really make the game standout from the previous entry. The PvP is still remarkable well-balanced, and the loot you can acquire from The Crucible can be great. It’s fun to play for a little while, but its simply not my style of play. Other PvP oriented players may find a lot to enjoy from The Crucible since it's a very easy game to pick up and learn very quickly. It also can be very rewarding as you get better and play more competitive modes and Trials makes its return.

Destiny 2 isn’t an overhaul of the universe, it’s not a giant leap forward for the series; it’s simply just another iteration in the franchise. Returning players will have enough to latch onto to keep them going for hours on end, new players will find something worthwhile here for sure, since the game feels a bit more streamlined to appeal to a wider audience, but perhaps those players who gave up on the first game at any point will feel that Destiny 2 is just more of the same. Some areas of the game shine and are spectacular, and other drag on and feel bland or precarious. Graphically, the game is one of the best looking titles right now, the same was said for the first game, and the sound system and score is impeccable. Bungie knows what they’re doing in these regards, for sure. Whether you’re a returning faithful Destiny player or a newbie, there’s a lot stuff here for everyone, however some may feel there’s more than enough, and others may feel it’s all the same and not enough.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

#destiny 2 #destiny #bungie #gaming #video game #xbox #xbox one #ps4 #playstation #review #game review #video game review

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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Warlords of New York Is a Slight But Welcome Deviation from the Original Game

February 11, 2020 2:30 PM EST

The new The Division 2 expansion, Warlords of New York, may seem great, but can it maintain an audience once it is out in the wild?

When The Division 2 launched last year, I did really enjoy it. I had some qualms with the third-person shooter, but it was such a complete experience in a landscape filled with empty live games. With some rather substantial post-release content scheduled for the low price of free (unless you paid to get it early), it was great to see Ubisoft take this approach with its DLC. But with the 3rd and final chapter just around the corner, where does the game go from here?

When I flew out to San Francisco to check out the new content that Ubisoft had in store for The Division 2, I legitimately thought I was just seeing Chapter 3 content. I was dumb; honestly, I felt quite dumb. It turns out Massive Entertainment has been busy making the game’s expansion, Warlords of New York, which brings you back to the Big Apple with a new narrative and added gameplay features.

“I had some qualms with the third-person shooter, but it was such a complete experience in a landscape filled with empty live games.”

To be frank, I haven’t really picked up The Division 2 since I reviewed the game. I did try to return to it every once in awhile, but every time I tried to jump in, it was overwhelming and lonely. I would get loads of messages telling me of items I’ve received or missions I’ve missed, and when I’d try to matchmake for those missions, it would take way too long and I would get impatient. The Warlords of New York expansion seems to be a solid place to start, even if you haven’t played since launch. At least, it seems that way.

I say that last bit because my time with the preview was pretty brief, and much of the qualms I have with the current state of The Division 2 won’t really be answered until the game is out. If this new expansion can bring in more people to matchmake with, that will be the deciding factor for my return to Ubisoft’s third-person shooter. I already really like how The Division 2 plays, so I would love an excuse to go back to it.

With that being said, I did really enjoy my brief time with Warlords of New York. Once I was dropped into the map, the New York setting felt very familiar, but still very new with a much more vibrant environment than its predecessor. With Christmas lights still scattered around the city since the Green Poison spread on Black Friday in the first game, you realize just how much that epidemic affected New York. I mean, not a single soul had the time to take these lights down!

“With Christmas lights still scattered around the city since the Green Poison spread on Black Friday in the first game, you realize just how much that epidemic affected New York. I mean, not a single soul had the time to take these lights down!”

The main slice of the demo pinned me and another player against one of the warlords who now control New York. The main mission took me to the Tombs where the warlord Theo Parnell has set up base. Much of the mission played like anything you may have played in The Division 2: waves of enemies come crashing in, and you have to eliminate them all in order to progress to another area. It is exactly what you would expect, which is something you may or may not be into depending on your feelings on the game’s loop.

However, my partner and I could not help but feel that the spawns were a bit too wild. There were moments where I felt like enemies just appeared right behind me, which is somewhat of a problem I had with the base portion of The Division 2. However, most of those problems seemed to be in bigger areas. For this demo, this was in more close-quarters indoor combat scenarios. It never was a big problem since I had someone who could pick me up if the enemy got the better of me, but it was slightly frustrating.

This mission culminated in taking down Parnell. The “boss fights” in base The Division 2 were essentially like any other fight, but featured a spongier version of any given enemy type. In Warlords of New York, each warlord has a gadget, similar to the ones you are armed with, that they’ll use to try to defeat you. When you defeat the warlord, you earn that skill.

“I just hope it can maintain a player base so someone like me, who may not play the game on a daily basis, can get in and enjoy all the content the expansion has to offer.”

In this case, it was a decoy which creates images of its user to fool their enemies. These images would be cast in a number of towers that are scattered around the designated boss fight area. You have to find which of the images is actually Parnell and start chipping away at that health bar. After a few moments, a wall would drop down from each tower, and Parnell would change locations. Eventually, waves of enemies and auto-aiming turrets would enter into the foray to add a bit of challenge to the fight.

Compared to almost every fight before it — and I mean throughout all of The Division 2 — it deviates from what you expect. Yes, the boss is still a bit too spongy. Yes, there are still waves of enemies appearing throughout the fight. But at least it actually feels like a boss encounter. I did think the boss fight did last a bit too long. Part of it was based on our skills as a team. I’m not ashamed to say we could have done better. But even if we were performing exceptionally, it felt incredibly monotonous.

From what I played of Warlords of New York, for how small that portion was, I am really excited to see how the expansion changes The Division 2. With significant changes to its RPG systems, a level increase, new skills, a season pass, and a new story, there is certainly a reason to go back. I just hope it can maintain a player base so someone like me, who may not play the game on a daily basis, can get in and enjoy all the content the expansion has to offer.

February 11, 2020 2:30 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/warlords-of-new-york-is-a-slight-but-welcome-deviation-from-the-original-game/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=warlords-of-new-york-is-a-slight-but-welcome-deviation-from-the-original-game

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