TallGuyCalif's Computer Gaming and Entertainment Site

Tag: RPG

  • Elden Ring: Malenia is done, but I’m not proud of it

    In Elden Ring, you can summon another player to help in most boss fights. I tried many times, probably hundreds to battle Malenia, claimed to be the hardest boss, and never succeeded. Many times, I summoned helpful players, only to die when my spells attracted Malenia’s attention and she whacked me with her special “waterfowl” move that I’ve only avoided a few times. Other times, she’d smack down the helper, then kill me as I threw spell after spell her way. Doing it by myself with the Black Knife Tiche ash, I could regularly get to the 2nd phase, but Malenia would kill Tiche right before or right after the transition, then I didn’t last too long without someone else taking the aggro.

    On Reddit, a player named “Let me solo her” has become a famous hero for being able to help players and defeat Malenia. I happened to run into his summon sign last night, and I am amazing by his ability, not just to damage her, but also to avoid her nasty attacks. Near the end of the fight, he made a callout to me, so I fired the spell I’d been saving in case I needed to help, so presumably I participated. The video shows “Let me solo her” making use of his great skill and me running around trying not to die. Don’t watch me, watch him!

  • Elden Ring: My Battle with Dragon Lord Placidusax

    This is my successful fight against this optional boss. Multiplayer is not permitted for this one, but I was able to summon Tiche. The path to this somewhat hidden battle is shown at the start of the video. I skipped the cutscene for time, but it is worth watching when you enter this fight.

  • Finished Horizon Zero Dawn DLC and loved it!

    Though I bought the Horizon Zero Dawn DLC Frozen Wilds as soon as it came out, I didn’t play it, because the drive in the PS4 Pro failed (there’s a subject for another post sometime!). I absolutely loved Horizon Zero Dawn, so much so that it was the first game I ever earned a Platinum Trophy for. On a PS4 Pro with a 4K HDR TV, it looks spectacular and is super fun to play.

    The Frozen Wilds DLC is a great addition. While the area is much smaller than the full game’s map, it is still huge with tons to do. The story is pretty compelling, too, though I was in no hurry to complete it. I did all the side quests I could and completely levelled up before entering the path to the final story missions.

    One of the amazing things with the Frozen Wilds is that they made it a challenge, even for those of us that finished the main game. At the end of Horizon Zero Dawn, you can solve a few puzzles to get a really nifty armor set that has a shield that regenerates over time. With this armor, I could take down a Thunderjaw without losing any health. Yet the devs found a way to nullify the huge advantage of the armor in the DLC (at least sometimes). Also, the new machine enemies are pretty great and can be quite a challenge. That damn final boss fight was so challenging that I nearly smashed my controller – the thing just didn’t let up attacking me during the fight. I felt a serious sense of accomplishment after that!

    Having been to the real-world places in the main game and in the DLC, I really enjoyed seeing sights I knew and loved, even if they are rusting or destroyed in the game world. The game’s setting and environment is top notch and worth the price of admission alone. The gameplay is also great fun – I loved pretty much every aspect of it. The story, while maybe somewhat stolen from mediocre science fiction, offered surprises and was quite compelling. All the little goodies left around the world told a very human story of the people around before…

    Horizon Zero Dawn is pretty unique in how it makes me feel. By the end of the story, my Aloy was quite the badass, yet I still felt anxious wherever I went, because the machines were always watching and I didn’t want them to attack me. It felt right that I wasn’t able to walk anywhere with impunity in this harsh, but beautiful world.

    If you haven’t played Horizon Zero Dawn, I highly recommend it. It is a reason to buy a PS4 if you don’t have one. And if you have a 4K HDR TV, get a PS4 Pro to play this beautiful game.

  • I’m playing Skyrim again, and it is because of Skyrim VR

    After not playing Skyrim for years, I’m back at it and having a great time, and it is all because of Skyrim VR. I bought Skyrim VR for my PSVR and think it is great fun (see previous comments about it)! After playing a good few hours of it, I realized that Skyrim VR is absolutely the best way to experience Skyrim, but it isn’t the best way to actually play Skyrim.

    What the heck do I mean by that kind of crazy statement? Well, in Skyrim VR, the experience is top notch. Aiming and looking are perfect, and the visceral feeling of being there is completely engrossing. But, you’re playing with a scuba mask on your face, which gets uncomfortable after hours and hours. The scuba mask, err… VR headset, also interferes with some important things while playing Skyrim: you can’t see the wiki or game guide to help with the puzzles or some of the less-clear quests and choices. Having to remove the VR headset to check the wiki on an iPad is annoying (this could be solved by adding a context-sensitive lookup/hint capability in-game – and I know I can open a browser within the VR environment, but that’s unwieldy). The other thing the VR headset eliminates is snacking and drinking, which may be good for us slightly overweight gamers, but is annoying nonetheless.

    So my thorough enjoyment of the first few hours of Skyrim VR prompted me to get Skyrim Special Edition working on my PC. I had bought all the DLCs for the original Skyrim, but stopped playing before they came out (I finished the main campaign, though). Then, because I bought it on Steam, I got Skyrim SE for free (which is still one of the coolest moves in the game industry, so thanks Bethesda and Valve). Now I’ve got my character storming through the Dawnguard quest line after finishing the Dragonborn DLC and having a great time. Since I’m on the PC, I’m using a few mods to: (1) keep my follower alive – I’m sick of having to reload after my follower gets killed, and (2) let me carry more weight, since I’m a loot-hound and want pick up anything worthwhile and sell it. Skyrim VR rekindled my love for Skyrim!

    If you have a VR headset, I strongly recommend Skyrim VR – it is amazing. And Skyrim in general is such a lot of fun, so I’m glad I came back to it.

  • Skyrim VR is better than it looks!

    Well, there’s a backhanded compliment if I’ve ever written one. The implication is that Skyrim VR doesn’t look good, but as a game, it is better than it looks. Yep, that’s exactly right. It looks surprisingly bad on my PS4 Pro and PSVR system. Like 640×480 bad. Well, maybe 1024×768 bad. Everything is jaggy, seemingly with low polygon count and low-res textures. The lighting is pretty bad too, with horrible shadows obscuring faces, for example. It’s also really cool and I highly recommend it.

    I played (and loved) Skyrim on PC with a few mods to make it look even better, but even vanilla Skyrim from ages ago when it was released looks better than Skyrim VR. It looks like they must have needed to dumb down the graphics so it would work on the original PS4. It really does look like it is running on a low-spec machine at 1024×768 resolution. That is, until you realize that the world revolves around you smoothly as you move your head.

    As a VR gameplay experience, Skyrim VR is excellent. The VR headset tracking is perfect, and the control scheme I’m using (using the Dualshock 4 rather than dual Move controllers) is intuitive and outstanding. I haven’t played too far, but because of the VR view, I felt much more connected to the gameplay than playing normal Skyrim. I’m using the Dualshock 4 controller scheme because it makes movement simple and doesn’t require lots of flailing around in my limited space to swing weapons. I will try the Move controller mode sometime so I can figure out which I prefer. The right stick on the Dualshock controller is normally the camera control, but you’d think that would work poorly with headset tracking and induce nausea. It is still camera control, but it does a quick rotation of maybe 45 degrees, so all finer look/aim is done with the headset tracking. This makes gameplay easy, because turning around just requires a few taps on the right stick rather than turning my body and head around or however else it could be done. I applaud the control scheme that I’ve used so far.

    The game is just like I remember it, but aiming is precise and looking around is very immersive. If you have a PSVR and any fond memories of Skyrim, get Skyrim VR – so far, it is very cool!

    My only concern is that I will really miss the mod that prevents my follower from being permanently killed. Since they’re so stupid and just run into battle without any thought to their own welfare, things could get ugly.

  • Star Trek Online for PS4 is pretty good!

    Star Trek Online for PS4 is Star Trek Online. Sure, the controls are different from the PC version, and it’s a little dumbed down, but the basics of the game is still there and it is still fun. It also looks pretty good, so they’re taking good advantage of the PS4’s graphics capabilities. There were a few bugs that I ran into, but none game-breaking, and I can’t link my Arc account for some reason (perhaps because I have a lifetime subscription on the PC version), but the game was entirely playable. If I didn’t have so many hours invested (is that the right word for a game?) in the PC version, I’d play it more in a heartbeat.

    The control scheme is the biggest change from the PC version. In space, it uses the gamepad sticks very intuitively for ship control and camera control. Since the gamepad only has a few buttons, we only get a few powers that we can use, but the L1 button (left bumper for you Xbox folks) can be held down to bring up a radial menu of powers, it tends to work out. R2 (right trigger) fires phasers, while R1 fires torpedoes if they’re bearing on your target. Switching energy profiles is easy with the D-Pad, as is speed control. The ground controls are similar, but it uses “shooter” mode rather than RPG mode (options in the PC version). L2 is Aim Down Sight. Overall the control scheme is simple and works well.

    I’ve been using a gamepad with STO on PC from the beginning, and I have lots of powers mapped by using triggers and bumpers as modifiers for the ABXY buttons on my Xbox 360 controller. On the PC version we’d be at a severe disadvantage if we could only access a few powers, so we’ll have to see how the console version compensates for that.

    The early missions are a bit of a mash-up of the original Borg invasion missions from the early days and the more current Star Fleet Academy stuff, but fairly well done and a nice introduction to the controls and to the game. Loot drops are auto-looted if you get close, which is a nice improvement. I’ve never spent much time in shooter mode on ground missions on the PC, but I see that works pretty well on the PS4.

    It looks like the Temporal Agent start isn’t available on the PS4 version, which is a bit of a shame, given the tie in with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, but perhaps it will come later.

    I did pick up the free (yesterday) 23rd century costume pack as well as a nifty Andorian Escort ship that was also free. That ship rocks – it’s almost unfair how quickly it stomps enemy ships to the curb. I don’t know if it was a mistake or not, but I’m happy I got it.

    My biggest disappointment is that I can’t link my Arc account to the PS4 version. I get to the Link Accounts screen, press the button, then the screen just reloads each time I press it. I’d sure like to be able to link my lifetime account and thousands of Zen to the PS4 version. I don’t actually want to play my PC characters on the PS4, but I’d sure like the unlocks I’ve earned over the years. If I can’t do that, my play time with the PS4 version may be at an end or at least very minimal, since my best experience with STO is going to be on the PC.

    If you’re an existing STO player, there probably isn’t a compelling reason to play on the console version, but the console version is probably much better for people that are new to Star Trek Online.

  • Dragon Age: Inquisition DLC was a mixed bag

    As I stated in my previous post, I was looking forward to playing the Dragon Age: Inquisition DLC. It turns out that while all three did provide added gameplay, only two of them were decent, and only one followed the open-world(ish) style of the main game.

    Jaws of Hakkon is a big, open area expansion full of exploration and fun. It follows the style of the rest of the game and, of course, ends with fighting a dragon. You make some new friends, kill lots of baddies, and overall, it’s pretty great. Even the story is good, as you follow in the footsteps of the last Inquisitor.

    The Descent is a sizeable, very linear DLC that offers very challenging enemies and a fairly OK story, though not as great as they thought it was. The final boss is surprisingly lame, and there isn’t much branching story and the side quests are minimal.

    Trespasser is a disaster. It ends the game, as it takes place well after the rest of the story, but it doesn’t end the game in a satisfying way (much like Mass Effect 3’s endings). It is very short, not overly hard, and you can see the plot a mile away. Overall, it left me very unfulfilled. When compared to Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion, this is a joke. I finished it in maybe 8 hours or less.

    I’m really glad I bought this stuff on sale. Only Jaws of Hakkon is worth playing full price for, though The Descent offers a fair bit of gameplay, though much less than Jaws of Hakkon. And Trespasser is a joke. I’m glad I played them, but if I’d paid full price, I’d be really mad.

  • Finished Witcher 3 DLC, back to Dragon Age Inquisition

    My poor non-multitasking brain can’t handle playing too many games at once, mostly because I get the controls mixed up, so I tend to try to finish a game, then move on (MMOs excepted). So I just finished the excellent Witcher 3 Blood and Wine DLC, and had to decide on a new game. Finishing the Witcher 3 missions was both good and bad. I loved the game and hated for it to end, but had played it for many, many, many hours. I was in denial for a while, so I backed up to play another ending (I was only able to produce 2 endings to Blood and Wine, so I may have to look if there are more). I found a couple of extra missions that seem to have been unlocked by the ending, but other than that, no more quests. I cleared all the “unknown” spots on the map in Toussant, then went to Velen and did the same. I had maybe 16 on Velen’s map, and cleared all but one bugged bandit camp that just won’t clear. Then I went to Skellige, and found 80 question marks on the map (the map counts them, so I didn’t have to)! And they’re all out in the ocean, so tedious to get to, kill the sirens, grab the loot, become overburdened, and repeat. So I did 4 of them and gave up. Sure, I may come back when all other games disappoint me, but for the moment, I’m done with Witcher 3.

    I recently bought the Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI) Game of the Year edition on sale for $20. I already owned DAI and one of the DLCs, but buying the 2 remaining DLCs would have also cost $20, so I just bought the GOTY edition, which had a few more goodies. Origin very nicely dropped the 2 new DLCs into my existing game files, rather than making me delete it and download the whole thing, so kudos to the EA Origin team.

    I’ve now started playing DAI’s 2nd DLC, The Descent, and must admit to being a little disappointed. While the surface DAI areas are open-world-ish, this is strictly linear so far, and involves tediously looking for gears to open doors. The combat and banter is still great, but coming from Witcher 3, this feels constraining. I also miss Witcher-Sense – even though there is Inquisitor-Sense, it isn’t quite as good.

    So I’ll work through DAI’s DLCs, but I’m also busy doing Star Trek Online’s summer event activities on Risa, because I want this year’s ship! Of course, I will still occasionally pop into Destiny and The Division when friends are online.

  • Nearly done with Witcher 3, and I’m okay with that

    I’ve been playing a lot of Witcher 3 lately. A whole lot. Like to the exclusion of nearly everything other than eating, sleeping, and working. Sure, I’ve poked my nose into The Division’s business, but only a few hours.

    I’m finally closing in on the end of the plot, and I’m okay with that. I feel like I’ve had such a good experience in the game and have enjoyed the characters enough that I’m fine with getting to the end of the story. I don’t normally feel that way about great games – I don’t want them to end, and sometimes put of playing the ending for months, like I did with Dragon Age: Inquisition. But in this case, I’ve spent so many hours with Witcher 3 that I want to reach the climax. I know there will be more I can do afterwards, and I may do so once I buy the DLCs, so it isn’t like I’ll be locked out of playing anymore. And I’ll be happy to move on to something else for a while.

    That being said, someday I’m gonna have to finish Witcher 2. I’ve started it twice, then got distracted (most recently by Destiny), so stopped playing. I’ll need to start over top remember the plot, but I’m fine with that. I’m also looking forward to the Fallout 4 DLC dropping next month. Of course, I bought all the DLC for Skyrim and never played them – once I finished the story line, I stopped and always intended to go back, but never did. Maybe it is time for that too…

    My hope is that I can play more of The Division and I will check out the Destiny update coming out next month. But in the next day or two, gotta finish Witcher 3!

  • Had a much better time in The Division last night, but the checkpoint system needs work

    I gave The Division another shot last night and had a much better time. I didn’t experience any annoying glitches, and a friend helped me through that pesky Security Wing mission. That’s a pretty hard mission to solo – they’ve really ramped up the difficulty since the beta, and I’m perfectly okay with that.

    Despite having good fun, I think the checkpoint system is pretty broken. In most games, a checkpoint happens after you reach a certain milestone, but before you start the next phase of the mission or combat or whatever. In The Division, the checkpoint I was stuck at last night was when the JTF person was trying to disarm the bomb in the tunnel and the enemies were already inbound. Each time I died or the mission failed (and that happened a lot), I had just a few seconds before the enemies showed up. Well after failing so many times, I needed a biobreak, but there was no way to stop the action. So I just had to abandon my character to death as he stood there while I took a leak. This is disappointing.

    While I didn’t look for a way to abandon the mission, I did try to run out of the tunnel, but even that didn’t work, because as soon as they killed the JTF agent, the mission failed and I was dumped back to the checkpoint. At one point, I actually quit the game, then I noticed a friend was online. I asked her for help on the mission, because she’s higher level than me and obviously knows what she’s doing (and it’s way more fun playing with her than solo). When I reloaded the game, strangely enough, it put us after the checkpoint, as if the bomb was already disarmed. So I essentially skipped that part of the battle, which is somewhat disappointing.

    So I think the checkpoint design/placement should be rethought a little so checkpoints can give respite. But other than those annoyances, The Division went well last night.