Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Sharpandpointies]

My housemate has been playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey lately so I did this at his request:

Great animation! Love it.

While I have no real interest in playing the game myself, the shift to RPG mechanics in a Screed game seems like a good move. Makes gameplay feel more open, makes the player feel more empowered, combat is definitely more engaging. Housemate was playing AC: Syndicate recently and that game was just... a bit of a dirge mechanically.

Also, the plot seems a lot better thought out in this one. We've been pleasantly surprised by the directions it's been going.

Thanks mate, much appreciate.

So, is it actually an RPG? Because I tried playing Syndicate and it was exactly what you say. Lather, rinse, repeat. And dull. Story? Not so much.

[Nik Hasta]

So, is it actually an RPG? Because I tried playing Syndicate and it was exactly what you say. Lather, rinse, repeat. And dull. Story? Not so much.

It kind of is. Stats and gear matter a lot more now, you have active skills with cooldowns and the like. There's also a game mode which specifically eschews minimaps and most forms of markers and requires you to read the main map and learn locations better.

It's pretty well designed it seems.

You can also switch between two weapon loadouts on the fly to tailor your approach and stuff. Further to that, you have skills across three archtypes (Hunter/Warrior/Assassin) and you can level them up how you like and get different abilities and so forth. It's a lot more open than previous Screed games I've seen.

[Sharpandpointies]

It kind of is. Stats and gear matter a lot more now, you have active skills with cooldowns and the like. There's also a game mode which specifically eschews minimaps and most forms of markers and requires you to read the main map and learn locations better.

It's pretty well designed it seems.

You can also switch between two weapon loadouts on the fly to tailor your approach and stuff. Further to that, you have skills across three archtypes (Hunter/Warrior/Assassin) and you can level them up how you like and get different abilities and so forth. It's a lot more open than previous Screed games I've seen.

Interesting. Is there any actual story, or is it on the level of Syndicate? Are the missions different, or is it like Syndicate, which was 'city divided into areas, go into area, carry out the same stuff you did in the previous area only slightly more difficult, Boss Fight, end, Latherrinserepeat'?

[Nik Hasta]

Interesting. Is there any actual story, or is it on the level of Syndicate? Are the missions different, or is it like Syndicate, which was 'city divided into areas, go into area, carry out the same stuff you did in the previous area only slightly more difficult, Boss Fight, end, Latherrinserepeat'?

The story so far seems more engaging than most other Screed games I've seen.

Lead character, in our case Kassandra, is well written and likeable and you have dialogue options depending on how you want to play things which can influence story stuff.

You have access to the whole Greek islands for the most part from the outset, once you get a ship. Missions are fairly run of the mill, go here, find this, fight that, etc.

There's also the bounty hunter system, wherein if you commit crimes you get a bounty placed on you which makes it possible for hunters to turn up at any time.

There's a ton of interlocking systems that can make things very chaotic. NPCs will aggro on you and even each other.

It's fun, at least to watch.

[Nik Hasta]

I think Writing on Games had an accurate take on both the merits and flaws of the game in his review:

[Sharpandpointies]

The story so far seems more engaging than most other Screed games I've seen.

Lead character, in our case Kassandra, is well written and likeable and you have dialogue options depending on how you want to play things which can influence story stuff.

You have access to the whole Greek islands for the most part from the outset, once you get a ship. Missions are fairly run of the mill, go here, find this, fight that, etc.

There's also the bounty hunter system, wherein if you commit crimes you get a bounty placed on you which makes it possible for hunters to turn up at any time.

There's a ton of interlocking systems that can make things very chaotic. NPCs will aggro on you and even each other.

It's fun, at least to watch.

Hmmm, sounds interesting. Is there a linear story, or are we talking 'open world'? Or a mishmash of each? I'm guessing it's some version of Open World.

I admit, I'm partial to the linear story, kind of 'early Dragon Age' or 'Original Trilogy Mass Effect', or 'FF 7, FF 13' kind of thing.

I'll have a look at the video when I can actually hear stuff (ie, not at work).

[Nik Hasta]

Hmmm, sounds interesting. Is there a linear story, or are we talking 'open world'? Or a mishmash of each? I'm guessing it's some version of Open World.

I admit, I'm partial to the linear story, kind of 'early Dragon Age' or 'Original Trilogy Mass Effect', or 'FF 7, FF 13' kind of thing.

I'll have a look at the video when I can actually hear stuff (ie, not at work).

It's open world albeit there is the core story.

The main form of progression once you come up against the central conflict is that you have a number of targets hidden around the island that you need to them hunt down to get to the actual antagonists. It's a pretty open setup all things considered.

[Sharpandpointies]

Hmmm...

I'm moving away from video games these days due to the lack of serious story-focus. This trend toward open-world stuff is less-interesting (for me, I know other people love it). I mean, one of my favourite games of all time was Final Fantasy 13 (the first one, not II or III), and that one was bitterly criticized by a lot of people because it was totally linear...but for me, it was so loaded with a really engaging story (and characters!) that I adored it.

Will probably pass. Thanks, man. ^_^

[Nik Hasta]

Hmmm...

I'm moving away from video games these days due to the lack of serious story-focus. This trend toward open-world stuff is less-interesting (for me, I know other people love it). I mean, one of my favourite games of all time was Final Fantasy 13 (the first one, not II or III), and that one was bitterly criticized by a lot of people because it was totally linear...but for me, it was so loaded with a really engaging story (and characters!) that I adored it.

Will probably pass. Thanks, man. ^_^

I hear you man. There's a reason why I'm watching my housemates play these games rather than playing them myself. I don't have the patience or inclination to play open world games. Too much faff and, usually, mechanics I find far too shallow.

The games I've liked the most recently have been Sekiro and Devil May Cry V, both mostly linear(or in the case of DMC; REALLY linear) games that focus on quality of mechanics and control rather than story or padding. Generally, I don't really play games for their story any more outside of a few exceptions. I play for the sensation of playing and mechanical satisfaction.

I have zero patience for padding or busywork any more or even walking to places to get to the objectives. Give me the content now damn you!

[Siriel]

I really need to do something about my bad habit of not sleeping, it feels awful every time.

[Sharpandpointies]

I hear you man. There's a reason why I'm watching my housemates play these games rather than playing them myself. I don't have the patience or inclination to play open world games. Too much faff and, usually, mechanics I find far too shallow.

The games I've liked the most recently have been Sekiro and Devil May Cry V, both mostly linear(or in the case of DMC; REALLY linear) games that focus on quality of mechanics and control rather than story or padding. Generally, I don't really play games for their story any more outside of a few exceptions. I play for the sensation of playing and mechanical satisfaction.

I have zero patience for padding or busywork any more or even walking to places to get to the objectives. Give me the content now damn you!

While I am more a story-person, I do appreciate the quality of mechanics and control as well, and from what I've seen, I'm with you regarding many Open World games being 'meh' for that. And 'busywork' (I love that, nice) and padding drive me nuts. It's what killed Dragon Age Inquisition for me.

DA:I easily had as much story and character development in terms of actual TIME as the first two games put together - some excellent stuff (also, far better mechanics than DA: II). However, the game -- due to fetch-quests, area clearing, and the like (ie Padding and Busywork, this is my new favourite phrase) -- was also EASILY longer than the first two games put together (much longer, I felt), the vast majority of which WAS the area-clearing, fetch-quests, etc. So it killed my interest, though I finished it.

BEST part of DA:I was the opening, which was largely linear and really, really beautifully done.

The last Mass Effect (Andromeda, blargh) not only had the same issues, but a host of other irritations, so I got about 2 'planets' into the game, checked to see if things changed drastically in the future ('Nope'), and just gave up.

I went through The Division and enjoyed it; crappy story, but I really liked the RPG-Lite/looter-shooter they had going, the mood was excellent, the FEEL of the game was good, and it wasn't overly plagued by Padding and Busywork (again!), and I could in the latter days of the game run around in the PvPvE area without quite so much worry about being insta-ganked by roving gangs of jerks. Division 2? Has already become stagnant for me, thanks to ...you guessed it...Padding and Busywork (the game is about 10x as big as Division, but yeeeah, getting dull as dishwater already...it doesn't help that the villains are boring as hell, or that Ubisoft is locking content behind stuff in direct contradiction to their early assertion that everything will be open to everyone...but then it's Ubisoft, they lie).

[Sharpandpointies]

I really need to do something about my bad habit of not sleeping, it feels awful every time.

...this is possibly not a good habit to have, no. We kind of need sleep.

Is it just 'not sleeping'? Or are you doing stuff and don't want to go to sleep?

Either way, it sounds like you're really hurting, man.

[The MunchKING]

I really need to do something about my bad habit of not sleeping, it feels awful every time.

Vampires can get away with Dark Meditation instead if you're cool with being REALLY hyped for 3 hours each time, and can find someone to turn you into one.

[Siriel]

...this is possibly not a good habit to have, no. We kind of need sleep.

Is it just 'not sleeping'? Or are you doing stuff and don't want to go to sleep?

Either way, it sounds like you're really hurting, man.

It's mostly just a matter that I'll do something, usually some random unimportant thing I find fun, tell myself I'll go to sleep after ONE MORE THING and then you know, tell myself the same thing again ad nauseam.

It's not to the point that my health is degrading (except for being tired when it happens, obviously), it's just a recurring thing with me and it's kind of getting in the way of getting stuff done. I'd love to blame something else, but it's really just lack of self-control and stubbornness. It doesn't help that I can still operate fine on 5-6 hours of sleep, so I tell myself I'll be okay if I just go to sleep later.

I don't spend more than one day not sleeping, so I'm not really in any danger from it. It does mean I pretty much lose the next day though since I can't think properly.

[Sharpandpointies]

It's mostly just a matter that I'll do something, usually some random unimportant thing I find fun, tell myself I'll go to sleep after ONE MORE THING and then you know, tell myself the same thing again ad nauseam.

It's not to the point that my health is degrading (except for being tired when it happens, obviously), it's just a recurring thing with me and it's kind of getting in the way of getting stuff done. I'd love to blame something else, but it's really just lack of self-control and stubbornness.

Fun stuff can be addictive. I run into similar problems from time to time. I have to FORCE myself to go to sleep at a specific time, or I really start to get behind.

Soooo...I get it.