Well, it's been quite some time since I posted here and in fact I didn't realize it had been so long. Time just got away from me I suppose and then at other times I intended to write something but never got around to it. Plus, I wanted to change the look of the Blog and since I have no HTML skills I need to use the supplied formats, which isn't that bad.
It seems my last post was about Tropical Skyrim, but I was sure I had posted some things since then. Maybe my mind is playing tricks as I haven't even viewed my Blog for ages. It's been a very long time since I used that mod because I removed it while waiting for updates that as far as I know haven't happened.
Anyway, I've pretty much given up on Skyrim and the rest of the TES series. As far as Skyrim is concerned I'm sick of the bugs and the save corruption issues, but more than that the fact that it's just a shallow game without consequences or soul. I've done a lot of complaining about the game on this Blog so I'm not going to add to it except to say if they use the same game engine for TES6 disguised as something else they won't get my money. Suffice to say it's life didn't extend as far as Morrowind and Oblivion for me.
I still like Fallout:New Vegas though and will probably play it for awhile longer. It at least has a decent story with branching quest lines, factions and other things that should be in a real RPG.
I recently purcheased THIEF (2014) and to say that is a train wreck of a game is an understatement. For a game that's supposed to be primarily stealth based, the AI is absolutely stupid, it's virtually on rails and the sounds...oh! the sounds. One of the most basic requirements of a stealth game is directional sound. Being able to hear which direction an NPC is walking and talking, guards patrolling etc is fundamental to stealth. That doesn't exist in this game. Then there are mismatched subtitles, missing sounds and a plethora of other sound related issues.
Some of the sound bugs have been addressed in the latest patch (1.4 at time of writing,) but the biggest issue facing players at the moment is save looping which is causing the inability to progress, and has not been fixed satisfactorily. A massive list of bugs, some game breaking can be found on the Eidos Forums:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=317
I personally stopped playing at the end of the 1st Chapter and intend to wait until the game is fully patched or as much as the devs intend to before I play again, if I can find the desire by then. I'm so disappointed as the THIEF series is one of my favourites.
I paid $70 Australian for this game and once again players get shafted by AAA companies who ship their games to a static deadline, don't thoroughly test (ie the sound and crashing bugs) and forget that the PC is NOT a console. I have nothing against consoles as such, I don't own one, but if developers can't program effectively for the PC then don't release games in a half done state. There's not even a jump key for goodness sake, hence no free jumping, and there are several actions that rely on one key.
This video is a good description of the broken AI issues. Stepping on broken glass does nothing as far as being detected, a sleeping guard doesn't wake when there's a furor going on right next to him, guards go back to their routines within 30 seconds as if nothing had happened. Admittedly, this is in the 2nd chapter and some people say it gets better...BUT this is meant to be a first impression of the game, so to speak. I wouldn't be expecting any better or wanting to play further if things are this bad so early. Maybe some people don't have high expectations, but to be immersed in a stealth game, there needs to actually be stealth elements that work....as in the earlier games of the series.
I think it probably takes a heck of a lot for Gopher to be this angry and disappointed with a game and not continue playing or at least uploading videos of the game.
Players who want a real THIEF experience however might want to give The Dark Mod a try. It's FREE and has all of the elements (and more) of the original games. I downloaded it today but haven't got as far as playing, but I have watched some videos and it looks to be very good indeed.
THE DARK MOD
http://www.thedarkmod.com/main/
Anyhow, at least I've found my gaming niche for the foreseeable future. I'm playing Dark Souls again and totally enjoying it. I am eagerly waiting for the 25th of April for Dark Souls 2, but I'll talk about those games in their own post.
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Tropical Skyrim - Run Through The Jungle
Well, this is something I never expected to see. Tropical Skyrim - A Climate Overhaul by Soolie.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33017/
It's a massive download at 897mb but worth every byte in my opinion. This mod bought me back to Skyrim after not playing for nearly 6 months and has given the game new life. In fact it's like a totally new game in many respects. Note that Soolie doesn't have any of the DLC's, and I don't either and don't care much, so I couldn't tell you how they may be affected.
There is now a high resolution texture pack by another author, however my PC would never manage it so apologies for what some would call crappy screenshots. Click to enlarge for a better view.
Sandstorm
This screenshot was taken somewhere east of Solitude at sunset.
I'm not going to go into other mod compatibility or such, but I have a lot of intense mods, some I removed for this, and I'll never go back now to the icy, snowy grey landscape. The main mods I removed were other weather overhauls and lighting otherwise everything works. Info can be found on the download page.
I must admit I was one of those Lore freaks when it came to Skyrim, but I've played it to death and eventually got bored with the same things over and over. Now I'm enjoying myself immensely playing a full mage, no armour, which I've never done before either. Usually I play warrior types exclusively.
I'm not bothered by NPC comments re the weather and things like that at this point nearly 2 years down the track. New players or stricter lore adherents than myself may be, but then it's their choice to install mods and accept the consequences of those choices. Realize that this is a huge overhaul so the changes are immense.
It also makes more sense now considering that the NPC's of Skyrim wear clothes and armour unsuited to a freezing environment....no pants on leather armour and short sleeves on guard armour when they have full face helmets?? which looks ridiculous, for example.
Riverwood
Some creatures have been changed. Raptors replace wolves which I wasn't entirely happy with at first, but now I don't miss wolves. Trolls are now apes which look very good and some bears have been changed to pandas which is OK except I find it odd that pandas to be aggressive but that's the default AI. Horkers are now seals and there are tigers and other animals, some I haven't yet seen.
I love the jungle look, but I think my favourite landscape is the deserts around Whiterun, Rorikstead and environs. They remind me of the Elsweyr - Deserts of Anequina mod for Oblivion which I loved.
There are some issues, a few of which have been fixed in the first update, but none of these makes the mod unplayable in my opinion. In fact my game runs better than it ever did now. Soolie is working on another big update which I hope resolves the issues of extremely loud bird sounds, trees blocking access in caves and dungeons (can be console fixed as a temp measure), optional load screen replacers, and generally thinning out the jungle around Riverwood and Falkreath etc which often obscures roads and buildings.
I can't imagine how long this mod took to create, but again, in my opinion, it's like a revelation and the only reason I'm now back playing the game.
There are some complimentary mods also made for this overhaul and others that will go well with it. The ones I'm using are:
Tropical Skyrim - Mod More textures. However, I'm only using the retex for Forsworn armour at the moment.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33263
Tropical Animals - Horse and Zebras.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33466
Prides of Skyrim. Adds lion, tigers, panthers and a semi hidden boss named Scar. Awesome mod.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/12647
Finally, a shot of one of the moons over the desert at night.
You may never see this although I did endorse, comment and vote on Nexus, but thanks Soolie for breathing new life into Skyrim.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33017/
It's a massive download at 897mb but worth every byte in my opinion. This mod bought me back to Skyrim after not playing for nearly 6 months and has given the game new life. In fact it's like a totally new game in many respects. Note that Soolie doesn't have any of the DLC's, and I don't either and don't care much, so I couldn't tell you how they may be affected.
There is now a high resolution texture pack by another author, however my PC would never manage it so apologies for what some would call crappy screenshots. Click to enlarge for a better view.
Sandstorm
This screenshot was taken somewhere east of Solitude at sunset.
I'm not going to go into other mod compatibility or such, but I have a lot of intense mods, some I removed for this, and I'll never go back now to the icy, snowy grey landscape. The main mods I removed were other weather overhauls and lighting otherwise everything works. Info can be found on the download page.
I must admit I was one of those Lore freaks when it came to Skyrim, but I've played it to death and eventually got bored with the same things over and over. Now I'm enjoying myself immensely playing a full mage, no armour, which I've never done before either. Usually I play warrior types exclusively.
I'm not bothered by NPC comments re the weather and things like that at this point nearly 2 years down the track. New players or stricter lore adherents than myself may be, but then it's their choice to install mods and accept the consequences of those choices. Realize that this is a huge overhaul so the changes are immense.
It also makes more sense now considering that the NPC's of Skyrim wear clothes and armour unsuited to a freezing environment....no pants on leather armour and short sleeves on guard armour when they have full face helmets?? which looks ridiculous, for example.
Riverwood
Some creatures have been changed. Raptors replace wolves which I wasn't entirely happy with at first, but now I don't miss wolves. Trolls are now apes which look very good and some bears have been changed to pandas which is OK except I find it odd that pandas to be aggressive but that's the default AI. Horkers are now seals and there are tigers and other animals, some I haven't yet seen.
I love the jungle look, but I think my favourite landscape is the deserts around Whiterun, Rorikstead and environs. They remind me of the Elsweyr - Deserts of Anequina mod for Oblivion which I loved.
There are some issues, a few of which have been fixed in the first update, but none of these makes the mod unplayable in my opinion. In fact my game runs better than it ever did now. Soolie is working on another big update which I hope resolves the issues of extremely loud bird sounds, trees blocking access in caves and dungeons (can be console fixed as a temp measure), optional load screen replacers, and generally thinning out the jungle around Riverwood and Falkreath etc which often obscures roads and buildings.
I can't imagine how long this mod took to create, but again, in my opinion, it's like a revelation and the only reason I'm now back playing the game.
There are some complimentary mods also made for this overhaul and others that will go well with it. The ones I'm using are:
Tropical Skyrim - Mod More textures. However, I'm only using the retex for Forsworn armour at the moment.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33263
Tropical Animals - Horse and Zebras.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33466
Prides of Skyrim. Adds lion, tigers, panthers and a semi hidden boss named Scar. Awesome mod.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/12647
Finally, a shot of one of the moons over the desert at night.
You may never see this although I did endorse, comment and vote on Nexus, but thanks Soolie for breathing new life into Skyrim.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Two Worlds 2 - My Impressions
Two Worlds 2. A game that is very underrated and has given me more enjoyment and infinitely less frustration than a more AAA title like Skyrim which I have to force myself to play nowadays, if at all. My views are my own though so I don't care if people disagree with what I have to say below. I take a game on more than face value and as far as I'm concerned Two Worlds 2 delivered, especially since I'm playing it all over again.
It may not seem like it but I'm very picky about which games I play and to me are worth replaying, which is why I don't play everything that's released, and because I can't afford to do so. A lot of games that are popular either don't interest me, have game mechanics I don't like (turn based combat being one) or I played for awhile and lost interest. I'm also not an apologist for any game or it's developers. There are enough of those. I just tell it like it is in my eyes, like it or not.
I'm on my second playthrough of Two Worlds 2 in as many months and I have to say this game is very good. After the debacle when the game was first released and never made it to my country which I was more than a little peeved about, I'm happy to be able to play it now.
Yes, there are flaws as with pretty much any game these days, but the positives more than make up for it. A huge consideration here, for me, is that Reality Pump who developed the game, are not a multi million dollar company and yet they can still produce a game of, in my opinion, good quality. There will be some comparisons with the TES games here, in particular Skyrim and how I think Two Worlds 2 does a lot of things much better. So much so that I've lost nearly all interest in Skyrim, even with the plethora of mods available.
As I said I'm on my second playthrough of the Two Worlds 2 Game of the Year Edition which includes the excellent Pirates of the Flying Fortress Expansion which is a whole game in itself. First playthrough was around 60+ hours and this will be many more I imagine. This time I'm playing with the awesome Worldmerge (overhaul and balancing, plus much more) mod by Youngneil1. As much as I would like to thank him on the forums I'm not registering just for that, plus he hasn't been active for over a year and the forums themselves are very quiet. So, I will say a big thank you here. This mod makes a good game even better, not to mention it was all done without a proper SDK so the amount of work must have been tremendous.
More on that later. One thing I will say here is the way this game and others like it are compared negatively to TES Oblivion or even Skyrim is very unfair considering the difference in experience and resources art Bethesda's disposal. Oblivion was a very poor game without mods and Skyrim at it's base isn't much better. As much as I did like Skyrim for a good while, it has no depth, no real choices, is railroaded and lacks emotion and coherence. It's pretty, but that's about it. Most of my vanilla playing time was sorting out bugs and retreiving corrupt save games from broken patches and that was before I used any mods. It was only mods that kept me playing especially the ones that fix things Bethedsa won't fix. Suffice to say I don't care about any of the DLC's and the bugs that will never be fixed by Bethesda and won't buy them unless it's in a Game of the Year Edition on DVD some time in the future. By that time since they've taken so long, and dragged out the Microsoft exclusive crap, not to mention the PS3 fiasco I doubt I'll care as more and better (one hopes) open world games are coming. Competition Bethesda. Watch out.
Now to Two Worlds 2 and the positive things I like about it.
Two Worlds 2 has a sense of wit, irony and humour and even sarcasm at times. It's not all doom and gloom. The main story isn't particularly startling in originality, but then I have yet to come across true originality in a modern RPG, or at least the ones that interest me. It does the job though and there are plenty of good twists and turns to keep me interested.
The quests are well thought out and in general well written, although some of the translation to English, particularly in the subtitles could have been better. That's neither here nor there really. It's something that should have had more attention, but it's a minor issue at best overall.
A big consideration for me is the choices you have, and their consequences in many quests. A number of side quests are quite detailed in themselves. There are "fetch" quests, however most are interesting and are not all they seem when accepting them. They are more than "go here and kill this person or fetch this item" and return to quest giver. Many of these are on bounty boards with a story given as to why this or that NPC wants something done.
There is a large variety of animals, monsters and other assorted enemies all with their own resistances and combat techniques. One may not think so in the first chapter (the Savannah) which is more of a lead up to the real danger and challenge, but the things change in following chapters. This is why it's so important to plan your character and ensure you play to his strengths.
On the subject of planning the player character, if you feel you've put points into skills that aren't working for you or you've spread your skills too thin for survivability, you can go to a Soul Patcher and respec, for a price. I've always liked the way European RPG's (like Two World 2 and the Gothic series),use the XP system where you get XP for doing things and solving quests instead of the way it's done in TES games. Solving a quest should mean more than receiving a purse of gold and maybe a thank you if you're lucky. There's more satisfaction in getting XP for a job well done and using those points to improve the character over time. Once again it's my opinion but increasing skills by using them, especially the skills you don't want increased leading to leveling up, is flawed. In the case of Skyrim, smithing and enchanting in particular are exploits that lead to artificial leveling and potentially weak characters. Then there's the Perk system. Suddenly you apply a few Perks and you're an amazing sneak thief, warrior or marksman and even a master blacksmith, but you didn't actually train or work for it except to grind those skills ad infinitum.
Many Skill require Skill Books gained either via quest progression or buying them which is very expensive in the beginning. However, later money becomes easier to get although there is plenty to spend it on and everything is expensive until you gain reputation in the Guilds.
The Alchemy system is good, however, at least in the first chapter one can find a lot of common potions so there's not a lot of need to make them. However, later it can become a necessity and special potions can be made to overcome some situations. The layout of the alchemy screen is a bit of a mess though as ingredients aren't labeled accordinng to type or usage and it gets to be a drag hovering the curosr over each one to see what it does which can be annoying when you need a potion immediately. Experimenting can lead to very potent potions though, so it's worth it most of the time.
The magic system is the best I've seen in a game. Some very imaginative and powerful spells can be made using a spellcard and amulet system which does take some getting used to, but pays off immensely. With experimentation the types of spells that can be created is incredible. Basically, if you can imagine it, you can probably make it, up to a point of course. You can choose cards for homing missile spells that chase the target, have them richochet and spray or use AOE effects. The defensive spells actually work and summoning...my favourite at the moment and totally necessary for my mage with the Worldmerge mod.
There's no restriction on numbers of summons except that you put skill points into it which isn't necessarily as easy as it seems because there are several other factors to take into account as with all schools of magic.
My summoned werebeasts. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of all of these and that's only a few I can summon. Fighting the actual beasts as an enemy is difficult as they are very agile and hit hard.
Crafting. You can break down weapons and armour and use those resources, ie steel, fabric, wood, iron etc to improve others you want to use. However, something that I think should have been impelented is being able to buy them at vendors even if only rarely. Some things like chainmail are almost impossible to obtain without buying the armour pieces and breaking them down or finding them in loot by a roll of the dice. Buying pieces to break down, especially armour is an expensive and redundant way to do it really.
You can socket armour, clothing, rings, amulets and weapons with gems which range from skill increases, to protective and damage. Gems of the same strength and level can be melded to make stronger ones and you can also use a Sealing Gem which increases the benefits of the originals. However, once a weapon or whatever is sealed the gems can't be removed. Items have to impoved however to use gems and that depends on crafting skills so it has to be worked for.
There are no annoying and overbearing NPC's wanting to tell you about their day and pushing quests on you, or more importantly for me, no jabbering every time you get in their range. I choose who I talk to not the other way round, except in main quest situations and some side ones. The cities and towns are populated with generic NPC's to give the illusion of actual living towns. They have basic schedules and go home at night, actually shop and look at wares at the markets and even berate you if you bump into them, which is tied to the crime sytem which I mention further down.
Other activities you can take part in are playing instruments in real time in the town square and if the crowd likes it they will pay you. Not easy though as it takes dexterity I don't have these days. You can play dice, listen to Town Criers, go sailing with your own boat in real time, and horse riding. Sailing your boat is awesome and is an easy way to get from island to island, you can take part in horse races, albeit not with other NPC's. One quest related to this gains you a house as a prize. It's a dilapidated old ruin, but it has storage. You can also buy a mansion in the main city and later another house to store gear.
As far as I'm aware all containers are safe though so the expense isn't really necessary unless you have money to burn.
This game also has a good lock picking system and you can actually bash open a chest with your weapon risking the weapon breaking though. I suppose a way out of that is to keep a crap weapon to use for this and not good ones.
I nearly forgot to mention combat which is pretty good overall. Weapon animations are excellent. Each different type of weapon has it's own animation from two handed to maces and daggers. Combat is OK, not ground breaking but not awful, and stands out a bit more with the extra skills that can be used, ie Dirty Trick where you kick dirt in the opponents face, or Block Breaker where you can break an enemies block. These are active skills and not all apply to all weapons. Some things like Dirty Trick don't work on creatures and monsters though.
The graphics are beautiful. The game has god rays, grasses and bushes that move when you pass through them, sound effects that are very immersive and fitting to a situation. You can fail quests, important NPC's can be killed and choices and consequences are very important.
As far as I'm concerned there are more positives than negatives, but I don't usually nitpick games over minor things, unless there are other glaring and annoying issues that are the straw that breaks the camel's back. Like crashing and corrupt saves, instability and other staples of the TES games that just make me want to pull my hair out. Two Worlds 2 has none of these.
Now to the negatives.
In general the voice acting is faily Ok, but some is atrocious using strange accents that don't fit well, volume levels from one to another vary drastically in a few instances and sometimes subtitles don't match what's being said. However, in the Pirates expansion it's improved immensely as with a lot of other things from the base game. The main character is sarcastic and droll and I quite like that, but at times he sounds uninterested in what's happening. Overall it's not that bad considering the huge content of the game and something I can forgive. There's also the fact that the game wasn't English to start with and had to be translated. Not justifying it, just giving a possible reason.
Leveled loot. Annoying as hell but nothing new in this type of game and not exclusive here. If I open a Master chest though I want to find something more than leather gloves or other useless clutter. In the base game some items from lower levels are impossible to find particularly when they are things need for crafting, ie chainmail for example.
Probably one of the biggest flaws for me is psychic guards. I can be out of visual range behind a brick wall and if I take out my weapon or sneak with dagger in hand they seem to know and come running to warn me or attack if I'm not compliant. However for mages or alchemists that can be overcome with invisibility spells and potions as it seems guards aren't omnipresent when you're invisible, but it's still a big fault.
Caves and some of the dungeons are poorly done and there's not enough of them, however more of the same would be overkill. Lack of a proper local map without even the name of the dungeon on it, too generic cut and paste, they all look the same and most, except for quest related ones, are just full of monsters with no reward chest or loot or reason to go inside except for the XP for killing said monsters.
The main game end sequence. In my opinion that was a big failure and actually worse than psychic guards. I won't add spoilers, play if you wish or not to find out, or watch a Youtube video, however all the time I spent carefully crafting my character meant nothing in the end. It was the only time I resorted to using a cheat out of frustration because even resistance potions had no effect and there's no saving during this part, not even auto saves. It's long and annoying.
There are a few other tiny negatives that don't really rate a mention and I probably missed some positives, but I think I got the main ones.
In conclusion.
As I said I'm replaying the game with the magnificent overhaul, Worldmerge by Youngneil1. It re-balances the game, adds a new overarching quest as well as new bosses and enemies, items, locations as well as much more character customization including tattos and face and body enhancement. You can also play as female as the female armours and body models are in the game but not previously used, but the voice overs will still be male which doesn't appeal to me and would lose the whole effect of the story.
It also combines the main single player game, the Pirates of the Flying Fortress expansion and all the multiplayer maps into one huge single player experience. A massive and excellent endeavour. I'm not going to detail everything though as that would be another huge post, but you can read about it here if you're remotely interested in this game. It transforms an already good game into a great game.
http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=33839
I'm only 23 hours in and expecting at least 100 hours this time through.
Fighting the demon. A revenge fight.
At the Undead pub.
Trees attack!
I've also played a lot of Far Cry 3 which is excellent thus far although I'm not a fan of quick time events, but I'll write about this game at a later date. Also played through Dishonoured for the 4th time and probably will again. I absolutely love that game.
It may not seem like it but I'm very picky about which games I play and to me are worth replaying, which is why I don't play everything that's released, and because I can't afford to do so. A lot of games that are popular either don't interest me, have game mechanics I don't like (turn based combat being one) or I played for awhile and lost interest. I'm also not an apologist for any game or it's developers. There are enough of those. I just tell it like it is in my eyes, like it or not.
I'm on my second playthrough of Two Worlds 2 in as many months and I have to say this game is very good. After the debacle when the game was first released and never made it to my country which I was more than a little peeved about, I'm happy to be able to play it now.
Yes, there are flaws as with pretty much any game these days, but the positives more than make up for it. A huge consideration here, for me, is that Reality Pump who developed the game, are not a multi million dollar company and yet they can still produce a game of, in my opinion, good quality. There will be some comparisons with the TES games here, in particular Skyrim and how I think Two Worlds 2 does a lot of things much better. So much so that I've lost nearly all interest in Skyrim, even with the plethora of mods available.
As I said I'm on my second playthrough of the Two Worlds 2 Game of the Year Edition which includes the excellent Pirates of the Flying Fortress Expansion which is a whole game in itself. First playthrough was around 60+ hours and this will be many more I imagine. This time I'm playing with the awesome Worldmerge (overhaul and balancing, plus much more) mod by Youngneil1. As much as I would like to thank him on the forums I'm not registering just for that, plus he hasn't been active for over a year and the forums themselves are very quiet. So, I will say a big thank you here. This mod makes a good game even better, not to mention it was all done without a proper SDK so the amount of work must have been tremendous.
More on that later. One thing I will say here is the way this game and others like it are compared negatively to TES Oblivion or even Skyrim is very unfair considering the difference in experience and resources art Bethesda's disposal. Oblivion was a very poor game without mods and Skyrim at it's base isn't much better. As much as I did like Skyrim for a good while, it has no depth, no real choices, is railroaded and lacks emotion and coherence. It's pretty, but that's about it. Most of my vanilla playing time was sorting out bugs and retreiving corrupt save games from broken patches and that was before I used any mods. It was only mods that kept me playing especially the ones that fix things Bethedsa won't fix. Suffice to say I don't care about any of the DLC's and the bugs that will never be fixed by Bethesda and won't buy them unless it's in a Game of the Year Edition on DVD some time in the future. By that time since they've taken so long, and dragged out the Microsoft exclusive crap, not to mention the PS3 fiasco I doubt I'll care as more and better (one hopes) open world games are coming. Competition Bethesda. Watch out.
Now to Two Worlds 2 and the positive things I like about it.
Two Worlds 2 has a sense of wit, irony and humour and even sarcasm at times. It's not all doom and gloom. The main story isn't particularly startling in originality, but then I have yet to come across true originality in a modern RPG, or at least the ones that interest me. It does the job though and there are plenty of good twists and turns to keep me interested.
The quests are well thought out and in general well written, although some of the translation to English, particularly in the subtitles could have been better. That's neither here nor there really. It's something that should have had more attention, but it's a minor issue at best overall.
A big consideration for me is the choices you have, and their consequences in many quests. A number of side quests are quite detailed in themselves. There are "fetch" quests, however most are interesting and are not all they seem when accepting them. They are more than "go here and kill this person or fetch this item" and return to quest giver. Many of these are on bounty boards with a story given as to why this or that NPC wants something done.
There is a large variety of animals, monsters and other assorted enemies all with their own resistances and combat techniques. One may not think so in the first chapter (the Savannah) which is more of a lead up to the real danger and challenge, but the things change in following chapters. This is why it's so important to plan your character and ensure you play to his strengths.
On the subject of planning the player character, if you feel you've put points into skills that aren't working for you or you've spread your skills too thin for survivability, you can go to a Soul Patcher and respec, for a price. I've always liked the way European RPG's (like Two World 2 and the Gothic series),use the XP system where you get XP for doing things and solving quests instead of the way it's done in TES games. Solving a quest should mean more than receiving a purse of gold and maybe a thank you if you're lucky. There's more satisfaction in getting XP for a job well done and using those points to improve the character over time. Once again it's my opinion but increasing skills by using them, especially the skills you don't want increased leading to leveling up, is flawed. In the case of Skyrim, smithing and enchanting in particular are exploits that lead to artificial leveling and potentially weak characters. Then there's the Perk system. Suddenly you apply a few Perks and you're an amazing sneak thief, warrior or marksman and even a master blacksmith, but you didn't actually train or work for it except to grind those skills ad infinitum.
Many Skill require Skill Books gained either via quest progression or buying them which is very expensive in the beginning. However, later money becomes easier to get although there is plenty to spend it on and everything is expensive until you gain reputation in the Guilds.
The Alchemy system is good, however, at least in the first chapter one can find a lot of common potions so there's not a lot of need to make them. However, later it can become a necessity and special potions can be made to overcome some situations. The layout of the alchemy screen is a bit of a mess though as ingredients aren't labeled accordinng to type or usage and it gets to be a drag hovering the curosr over each one to see what it does which can be annoying when you need a potion immediately. Experimenting can lead to very potent potions though, so it's worth it most of the time.
The magic system is the best I've seen in a game. Some very imaginative and powerful spells can be made using a spellcard and amulet system which does take some getting used to, but pays off immensely. With experimentation the types of spells that can be created is incredible. Basically, if you can imagine it, you can probably make it, up to a point of course. You can choose cards for homing missile spells that chase the target, have them richochet and spray or use AOE effects. The defensive spells actually work and summoning...my favourite at the moment and totally necessary for my mage with the Worldmerge mod.
There's no restriction on numbers of summons except that you put skill points into it which isn't necessarily as easy as it seems because there are several other factors to take into account as with all schools of magic.
My summoned werebeasts. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of all of these and that's only a few I can summon. Fighting the actual beasts as an enemy is difficult as they are very agile and hit hard.
Crafting. You can break down weapons and armour and use those resources, ie steel, fabric, wood, iron etc to improve others you want to use. However, something that I think should have been impelented is being able to buy them at vendors even if only rarely. Some things like chainmail are almost impossible to obtain without buying the armour pieces and breaking them down or finding them in loot by a roll of the dice. Buying pieces to break down, especially armour is an expensive and redundant way to do it really.
You can socket armour, clothing, rings, amulets and weapons with gems which range from skill increases, to protective and damage. Gems of the same strength and level can be melded to make stronger ones and you can also use a Sealing Gem which increases the benefits of the originals. However, once a weapon or whatever is sealed the gems can't be removed. Items have to impoved however to use gems and that depends on crafting skills so it has to be worked for.
There are no annoying and overbearing NPC's wanting to tell you about their day and pushing quests on you, or more importantly for me, no jabbering every time you get in their range. I choose who I talk to not the other way round, except in main quest situations and some side ones. The cities and towns are populated with generic NPC's to give the illusion of actual living towns. They have basic schedules and go home at night, actually shop and look at wares at the markets and even berate you if you bump into them, which is tied to the crime sytem which I mention further down.
Other activities you can take part in are playing instruments in real time in the town square and if the crowd likes it they will pay you. Not easy though as it takes dexterity I don't have these days. You can play dice, listen to Town Criers, go sailing with your own boat in real time, and horse riding. Sailing your boat is awesome and is an easy way to get from island to island, you can take part in horse races, albeit not with other NPC's. One quest related to this gains you a house as a prize. It's a dilapidated old ruin, but it has storage. You can also buy a mansion in the main city and later another house to store gear.
As far as I'm aware all containers are safe though so the expense isn't really necessary unless you have money to burn.
This game also has a good lock picking system and you can actually bash open a chest with your weapon risking the weapon breaking though. I suppose a way out of that is to keep a crap weapon to use for this and not good ones.
I nearly forgot to mention combat which is pretty good overall. Weapon animations are excellent. Each different type of weapon has it's own animation from two handed to maces and daggers. Combat is OK, not ground breaking but not awful, and stands out a bit more with the extra skills that can be used, ie Dirty Trick where you kick dirt in the opponents face, or Block Breaker where you can break an enemies block. These are active skills and not all apply to all weapons. Some things like Dirty Trick don't work on creatures and monsters though.
The graphics are beautiful. The game has god rays, grasses and bushes that move when you pass through them, sound effects that are very immersive and fitting to a situation. You can fail quests, important NPC's can be killed and choices and consequences are very important.
As far as I'm concerned there are more positives than negatives, but I don't usually nitpick games over minor things, unless there are other glaring and annoying issues that are the straw that breaks the camel's back. Like crashing and corrupt saves, instability and other staples of the TES games that just make me want to pull my hair out. Two Worlds 2 has none of these.
Now to the negatives.
In general the voice acting is faily Ok, but some is atrocious using strange accents that don't fit well, volume levels from one to another vary drastically in a few instances and sometimes subtitles don't match what's being said. However, in the Pirates expansion it's improved immensely as with a lot of other things from the base game. The main character is sarcastic and droll and I quite like that, but at times he sounds uninterested in what's happening. Overall it's not that bad considering the huge content of the game and something I can forgive. There's also the fact that the game wasn't English to start with and had to be translated. Not justifying it, just giving a possible reason.
Leveled loot. Annoying as hell but nothing new in this type of game and not exclusive here. If I open a Master chest though I want to find something more than leather gloves or other useless clutter. In the base game some items from lower levels are impossible to find particularly when they are things need for crafting, ie chainmail for example.
Probably one of the biggest flaws for me is psychic guards. I can be out of visual range behind a brick wall and if I take out my weapon or sneak with dagger in hand they seem to know and come running to warn me or attack if I'm not compliant. However for mages or alchemists that can be overcome with invisibility spells and potions as it seems guards aren't omnipresent when you're invisible, but it's still a big fault.
Caves and some of the dungeons are poorly done and there's not enough of them, however more of the same would be overkill. Lack of a proper local map without even the name of the dungeon on it, too generic cut and paste, they all look the same and most, except for quest related ones, are just full of monsters with no reward chest or loot or reason to go inside except for the XP for killing said monsters.
The main game end sequence. In my opinion that was a big failure and actually worse than psychic guards. I won't add spoilers, play if you wish or not to find out, or watch a Youtube video, however all the time I spent carefully crafting my character meant nothing in the end. It was the only time I resorted to using a cheat out of frustration because even resistance potions had no effect and there's no saving during this part, not even auto saves. It's long and annoying.
There are a few other tiny negatives that don't really rate a mention and I probably missed some positives, but I think I got the main ones.
In conclusion.
As I said I'm replaying the game with the magnificent overhaul, Worldmerge by Youngneil1. It re-balances the game, adds a new overarching quest as well as new bosses and enemies, items, locations as well as much more character customization including tattos and face and body enhancement. You can also play as female as the female armours and body models are in the game but not previously used, but the voice overs will still be male which doesn't appeal to me and would lose the whole effect of the story.
It also combines the main single player game, the Pirates of the Flying Fortress expansion and all the multiplayer maps into one huge single player experience. A massive and excellent endeavour. I'm not going to detail everything though as that would be another huge post, but you can read about it here if you're remotely interested in this game. It transforms an already good game into a great game.
http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=33839
I'm only 23 hours in and expecting at least 100 hours this time through.
Fighting the demon. A revenge fight.
At the Undead pub.
Trees attack!
I've also played a lot of Far Cry 3 which is excellent thus far although I'm not a fan of quick time events, but I'll write about this game at a later date. Also played through Dishonoured for the 4th time and probably will again. I absolutely love that game.
Lethe the Game - I'm No Longer Involved.
I've deleted all posts related to Lethe, an Indie game that I was writing for. All I have to say is there were personal and creative differences that I felt uncomfortable with and I felt unable to continue so I left the team a couple of months ago. There's nothing further I want to say about that except to wish them well and hope it's a success.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Dark Souls PTD : Had To Give Up
Sadly, I haven't played Dark Souls for a couple of months. Not because I don't want to but because I cannot get past the dragon archers, (or one of them at least) on the walls at Anor Londo.
I've tried every tip I could find, including removing all armour for faster rolling although I'm a Dex player anyway, and try to force the archer to go melee so he falls but I can't do it. After 20 or more tries I got sick of running all the way there, being invaded and back stabbed, losing all my humanity only to be knocked down and fall over and over again. I'm sorry to say I even tried a Trainer in offline mode, but that doesn't stop me dying from falls.
I've been in the Catacombs, even as far as the main Boss door which I can't enter since I don't have the Lord Vessel, and persisted through other hard levels but this defeats me I'm afraid.
Sad face....
.gif)
I've tried every tip I could find, including removing all armour for faster rolling although I'm a Dex player anyway, and try to force the archer to go melee so he falls but I can't do it. After 20 or more tries I got sick of running all the way there, being invaded and back stabbed, losing all my humanity only to be knocked down and fall over and over again. I'm sorry to say I even tried a Trainer in offline mode, but that doesn't stop me dying from falls.
I've been in the Catacombs, even as far as the main Boss door which I can't enter since I don't have the Lord Vessel, and persisted through other hard levels but this defeats me I'm afraid.
Sad face....
Dishonored - Very Excellent
Here I am back after a long hiatus of a month or so. Been busy with various things, playing games and despairing being between two sets of neighbours who are, to put it mildly, trouble. It's like a war zone with the language, boozing, mindbendingly loud and aggressive music, and general mayhem at all hours of the day and night. I feel a police presence soon although that would almost be a last resort on my part because I'm scared of retaliation. I really want to move somewhere else, but that's not going to happen unless I win the Lotto, or some long lost relative leaves me an inheritance. Both solutions are extremely remote, unfortunately.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand:
I know I complained about the possibility that Dishonored would be possibly not play well on Windows XP, that I was pissed about it and that I was going to cancel my pre-order, (which I did), but things have changed a bit since then. I've altered that complaint post a bit, but I still have no idea if it runs on XP and don't really care now, unless of course I have to go back to it....
Due to a stroke of luck I now have Windows 7 x64 which I'm finding to be very good, albeit the stifling security features which annoy me no end at times. I could have used the money for something else like updating my motherboard or CPU, (or clothes and other stuff), but they still serve me well and all I really needed extra was a couple of GB of extra RAM. So, I renewed my game order and have been extremely happy I did.
I've played through the game twice, once on high chaos which got me the worst ending, and once on low and I plan a few more playthroughs which says a lot for this game as it's not my usual style, except for RPG's. I played through on the default difficulty, but I'm going to ramp it up and "try" to go full stealth on at least "hard."
I love pretty much everything about this game. The watercolour washed style graphics, the lore, the stealth mechanics, the exploration, multiple endings and a very important factor, consequences for my actions. I could just kill, kill, kill if I wanted to but that changes the world and can be seen and experienced, not just implied, so I have to reap what I sow, so to speak.
The voice acting is excellent and not overly repetitive, the NPC's have real character, what I do matters and the game is stable as a rock. I had one CTD, but I think that was due to Windows Updates trying to shut the PC down or Flash notifying me of an update which always causes problems. I've since reconfigured things and it hasn't happened again.
Possibly the only thing I found to be odd was that guards and NPC's are vertically sight challenged, but maybe that changes on harder difficulties. This is also a console port, but one done properly and taking the PC into consideration something the publisher could take heed of with their own most recent game.
I've seen people complain about the length of Dishonored, that's it's too short, but I explored every possible corner with a fine tooth comb, because I'm a bit of a completionist and I like the Lore, and I found it to be a good length. More would be nice of course, but the coming DLC will fix that.
I could write more on how good Dishonored is but I'd rather play it. Do yourself a favour if you like stealth games and try it out. Or even if you want to just be a murderous in your face assassin. It works both ways and more.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand:
I know I complained about the possibility that Dishonored would be possibly not play well on Windows XP, that I was pissed about it and that I was going to cancel my pre-order, (which I did), but things have changed a bit since then. I've altered that complaint post a bit, but I still have no idea if it runs on XP and don't really care now, unless of course I have to go back to it....
Due to a stroke of luck I now have Windows 7 x64 which I'm finding to be very good, albeit the stifling security features which annoy me no end at times. I could have used the money for something else like updating my motherboard or CPU, (or clothes and other stuff), but they still serve me well and all I really needed extra was a couple of GB of extra RAM. So, I renewed my game order and have been extremely happy I did.
I've played through the game twice, once on high chaos which got me the worst ending, and once on low and I plan a few more playthroughs which says a lot for this game as it's not my usual style, except for RPG's. I played through on the default difficulty, but I'm going to ramp it up and "try" to go full stealth on at least "hard."
I love pretty much everything about this game. The watercolour washed style graphics, the lore, the stealth mechanics, the exploration, multiple endings and a very important factor, consequences for my actions. I could just kill, kill, kill if I wanted to but that changes the world and can be seen and experienced, not just implied, so I have to reap what I sow, so to speak.
The voice acting is excellent and not overly repetitive, the NPC's have real character, what I do matters and the game is stable as a rock. I had one CTD, but I think that was due to Windows Updates trying to shut the PC down or Flash notifying me of an update which always causes problems. I've since reconfigured things and it hasn't happened again.
Possibly the only thing I found to be odd was that guards and NPC's are vertically sight challenged, but maybe that changes on harder difficulties. This is also a console port, but one done properly and taking the PC into consideration something the publisher could take heed of with their own most recent game.
I've seen people complain about the length of Dishonored, that's it's too short, but I explored every possible corner with a fine tooth comb, because I'm a bit of a completionist and I like the Lore, and I found it to be a good length. More would be nice of course, but the coming DLC will fix that.
I could write more on how good Dishonored is but I'd rather play it. Do yourself a favour if you like stealth games and try it out. Or even if you want to just be a murderous in your face assassin. It works both ways and more.
Monday, 24 September 2012
Ah! Dark Souls: Prepare To Die. A Rare Gem.
I've finally gotten around to writing about Dark Souls: Prepare To Die and my impressions of it. I had to re-install my OS and a few other real life things so I haven't had time.
Before I start let me say I know this isn't a game for everyone's tastes. This is a hard game, but the difficulty can also be what you make it. It's not a button masher so heading straight into a fight expecting to win will get you killed 99% of the time even against the lowliest enemy. Combat is a matter of planning and strategy, watching the enemy and how they move, and then reacting accordingly.
Dark Souls requires patience and preferably low frustration levels....easy to say, not easy to do though. I've had my fair share of raging moments. Falling off cliffs to my doom would come high on that list, especially when it's my fault for not always being aware of my surroundings.
The game has a huge learning curve. There is no map, no hand holding, no quest log, one difficulty level, realistic and tactical combat, a HUGE interconnected world that opens up via exploration, and death, lots of death. There is also no pausing the game during combat so make sure you have the correct gear equipped if possible for whichever area you are in. For example, poison resistance in Blight Town, keep your weapons and armour repaired and never ever run into a new area without knowing what to expect . Well, you can actually open the inventory in an unsafe area if you wish, but that will get you killed post haste if you aggro enemies you haven't noticed or in the middle of combat.
You also cannot manually save but the game autosaves often, and this game has consequences. So if you attack and/or kill an NPC or make some other mistake you live with it. Attacking an NPC will make them permanently hostile, however, you can get absolution from a particular NPC after a certain point but it won't bring back NPC's from the dead and is expensive depending on your level. The lesson is don't attack NPC's as they may be your vendors early or later in the game, or be helpers or have quests of their own. In some cases you may as well start over if you go on a killing spree because it will adversely and permanently affect your game.
There are checkpoints throughout the game in the form of bonfires where you level up, repair and modify gear (if you buy the kits) kindle the fires which gives more healing items and to become human. The currency for all things is souls. You can't sell things until later in the game, but you can purchase a "Bottomless Box" to store excess items which is also done at the bonfire. You can also trade for items with a certain NPC, but that is limited. Players in human form can drop items they don't need for others in co-op to pick up which is nice.
Dark Souls has it's own Lore which is discovered by talking to NPC's, reading item descriptions and generally exploring the world. For more info on Lore there are some excellent videos by EpicNameBro on Youtube.
I more or less found out about this game by accident when I read about the petition to have it brought to the PC, but was too late to sign up. Ever since, after doing some research and watching videos I pre-ordered it immediately and have been very happy with the game.
Considering there was a petition by PC users and FROM Software decided to port the game, there is still the usual and expected whining and complaining from certain sectors of the PC community. FROM always said it would be a straight port as they had little experience with PC games and that's what we got, a direct port. That means console graphics, tutorial tips using the Xbox controls, a 30 fps lock and a few other things that personally don't bother me. Maybe they could have done more but the thing is they didn't even have to port it at all so those complaints are just that, more whining from the usual suspects. I wouldn't blame the developers if they said screw the PC with their next game and didn't give us a PC version at all.
There is keyboard support and many players seem to get along well with it, but since I already have a 360 controller I prefer use it.
I've been gaming for over 20 years and I've seen and played worse. This game runs smoothly, doesn't crash every five minutes, (or at all in my case), and has no loading between areas. I'm looking at you Skyrim, and while I know these are very different games, it's a huge pleasure to not have to have a loading screen every time I enter a small one room building which irritates me even more when it's such a CTD prone game. So much so that even though I installed it again after my OS I haven't bothered to play it and probably won't, but that's another story. After Dark Souls it's just boring.
There's also the fact that the PC version of DS has had improvements like stat adjustments to weapons and armour, a few bug fixes, and more importantly a complete DLC of new content which the console players will have to pay for later in the year. The game can be registered on Steam if desired, even with the retail version which I have, but I haven't seen any point in doing that as it still requires GFWL to run.
There are now mods for improved graphics and other things which can now be found at the Nexus, Reddit and I imagine other sites I don't personally know about.
I've never been a fan of online games except for when I played Age of Conan obsessively last year, but I like the online features in Dark Souls. You can summon other real players to help with bosses, play co-op or even invade other people's games in PVP. You have to be in human form to do that though as you start the game as an undead or "hollow." You can stay that way to avoid invasions or play offline if you wish.
I've read that some people have trouble summoning but I've done it successfully to defeat a boss which was much appreciated, and been invaded which didn't go well.
Unfortunately, there are trainers and hacks for the game which some people use in online play. If people want to cheat in single player only that's their business, but to spoil it for others online is just sad. I really don't know what satisfaction they get out of ruining the game for others. They are just scumbags with low self esteem trying to be superior, which is putting it nicely.
I haven't played for a week or so because I've had other things on my mind, but for people who know the locations I have reached Anor Londo after many tries getting through Sen's Fortress which was made harder by Gravelords dropping their signs. Unfortunately both times I reverted to human in Sens Fortress and Anor Londo I was invaded and immediately backstabbed by Red Phantoms before I could even get out of the way which pissed me off. One instance was when I was about to enter the boss door to fight the Iron Golem and the phantom appeared right behind me and backstabbed me, and the other was when I was in combat with the gargoyle at Arno Londo which led to me backing up and falling off the ledge. At least that one didn't actually get to kill me. Both of them were assholes and I didn't have any Indictments on me. Besides, I'm not really fully up on the system of invading and Indicting, but I do know next time I go human I'll try to watch my back a little better. I'm still new at the game in a lot of respects really.
I forgot to mention Covenants, and I'm in the Forest Hunter Covenant so maybe one day I can get my revenge. I relish a fair fight even if I lose which will probably be the case, but if you're going to invade me at least be fair about it and let me see you coming. Don't back stab me before I can even see you. Becoming human and being invaded is a risk and I don't mind that, but there are rules of etiquette that most players follow. Maybe I expect too much, after all the point of invading is to defeat the host.
Anyway, there's so much more to this game than I can write here and it's getting to be quite long, but if this game interests you I would advise getting hold of it. Just be aware it will more than likely take over your life..lol.
Before I start let me say I know this isn't a game for everyone's tastes. This is a hard game, but the difficulty can also be what you make it. It's not a button masher so heading straight into a fight expecting to win will get you killed 99% of the time even against the lowliest enemy. Combat is a matter of planning and strategy, watching the enemy and how they move, and then reacting accordingly.
Dark Souls requires patience and preferably low frustration levels....easy to say, not easy to do though. I've had my fair share of raging moments. Falling off cliffs to my doom would come high on that list, especially when it's my fault for not always being aware of my surroundings.
The game has a huge learning curve. There is no map, no hand holding, no quest log, one difficulty level, realistic and tactical combat, a HUGE interconnected world that opens up via exploration, and death, lots of death. There is also no pausing the game during combat so make sure you have the correct gear equipped if possible for whichever area you are in. For example, poison resistance in Blight Town, keep your weapons and armour repaired and never ever run into a new area without knowing what to expect . Well, you can actually open the inventory in an unsafe area if you wish, but that will get you killed post haste if you aggro enemies you haven't noticed or in the middle of combat.
You also cannot manually save but the game autosaves often, and this game has consequences. So if you attack and/or kill an NPC or make some other mistake you live with it. Attacking an NPC will make them permanently hostile, however, you can get absolution from a particular NPC after a certain point but it won't bring back NPC's from the dead and is expensive depending on your level. The lesson is don't attack NPC's as they may be your vendors early or later in the game, or be helpers or have quests of their own. In some cases you may as well start over if you go on a killing spree because it will adversely and permanently affect your game.
There are checkpoints throughout the game in the form of bonfires where you level up, repair and modify gear (if you buy the kits) kindle the fires which gives more healing items and to become human. The currency for all things is souls. You can't sell things until later in the game, but you can purchase a "Bottomless Box" to store excess items which is also done at the bonfire. You can also trade for items with a certain NPC, but that is limited. Players in human form can drop items they don't need for others in co-op to pick up which is nice.
Dark Souls has it's own Lore which is discovered by talking to NPC's, reading item descriptions and generally exploring the world. For more info on Lore there are some excellent videos by EpicNameBro on Youtube.
I more or less found out about this game by accident when I read about the petition to have it brought to the PC, but was too late to sign up. Ever since, after doing some research and watching videos I pre-ordered it immediately and have been very happy with the game.
Considering there was a petition by PC users and FROM Software decided to port the game, there is still the usual and expected whining and complaining from certain sectors of the PC community. FROM always said it would be a straight port as they had little experience with PC games and that's what we got, a direct port. That means console graphics, tutorial tips using the Xbox controls, a 30 fps lock and a few other things that personally don't bother me. Maybe they could have done more but the thing is they didn't even have to port it at all so those complaints are just that, more whining from the usual suspects. I wouldn't blame the developers if they said screw the PC with their next game and didn't give us a PC version at all.
There is keyboard support and many players seem to get along well with it, but since I already have a 360 controller I prefer use it.
I've been gaming for over 20 years and I've seen and played worse. This game runs smoothly, doesn't crash every five minutes, (or at all in my case), and has no loading between areas. I'm looking at you Skyrim, and while I know these are very different games, it's a huge pleasure to not have to have a loading screen every time I enter a small one room building which irritates me even more when it's such a CTD prone game. So much so that even though I installed it again after my OS I haven't bothered to play it and probably won't, but that's another story. After Dark Souls it's just boring.
There's also the fact that the PC version of DS has had improvements like stat adjustments to weapons and armour, a few bug fixes, and more importantly a complete DLC of new content which the console players will have to pay for later in the year. The game can be registered on Steam if desired, even with the retail version which I have, but I haven't seen any point in doing that as it still requires GFWL to run.
There are now mods for improved graphics and other things which can now be found at the Nexus, Reddit and I imagine other sites I don't personally know about.
I've never been a fan of online games except for when I played Age of Conan obsessively last year, but I like the online features in Dark Souls. You can summon other real players to help with bosses, play co-op or even invade other people's games in PVP. You have to be in human form to do that though as you start the game as an undead or "hollow." You can stay that way to avoid invasions or play offline if you wish.
I've read that some people have trouble summoning but I've done it successfully to defeat a boss which was much appreciated, and been invaded which didn't go well.
Unfortunately, there are trainers and hacks for the game which some people use in online play. If people want to cheat in single player only that's their business, but to spoil it for others online is just sad. I really don't know what satisfaction they get out of ruining the game for others. They are just scumbags with low self esteem trying to be superior, which is putting it nicely.
I haven't played for a week or so because I've had other things on my mind, but for people who know the locations I have reached Anor Londo after many tries getting through Sen's Fortress which was made harder by Gravelords dropping their signs. Unfortunately both times I reverted to human in Sens Fortress and Anor Londo I was invaded and immediately backstabbed by Red Phantoms before I could even get out of the way which pissed me off. One instance was when I was about to enter the boss door to fight the Iron Golem and the phantom appeared right behind me and backstabbed me, and the other was when I was in combat with the gargoyle at Arno Londo which led to me backing up and falling off the ledge. At least that one didn't actually get to kill me. Both of them were assholes and I didn't have any Indictments on me. Besides, I'm not really fully up on the system of invading and Indicting, but I do know next time I go human I'll try to watch my back a little better. I'm still new at the game in a lot of respects really.
I forgot to mention Covenants, and I'm in the Forest Hunter Covenant so maybe one day I can get my revenge. I relish a fair fight even if I lose which will probably be the case, but if you're going to invade me at least be fair about it and let me see you coming. Don't back stab me before I can even see you. Becoming human and being invaded is a risk and I don't mind that, but there are rules of etiquette that most players follow. Maybe I expect too much, after all the point of invading is to defeat the host.
Anyway, there's so much more to this game than I can write here and it's getting to be quite long, but if this game interests you I would advise getting hold of it. Just be aware it will more than likely take over your life..lol.
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