January 2017 Debrief
Most Satisfying Finish
Most Exciting Addition
Hello all! It's been a while. I've been pouring all my writing and web formatting energy into other endeavors (that's me!) but I've also been up to some gaming things so without further ado, here is my very late January debrief:
It's true! I finally finished the main story of Skyrim. I have played 0% of the DLC's, and I still have things I want to do in the main game (thieve's guild, more exploration, etc.) but this is a major accomplishment for me. I didn't think I would ever say it, but I'm pretty burned out on Skyrim at the moment. So I'm not moving it out of the backlog, but it will probably be a while before I revisit it.
Salt and Sanctuary gets my Most Exciting Addition award. It's my first win in Actually Playing Games. Really looking forward to it. (I'm pretending to be writing this a couple of weeks ago. If I wasn't pretending that I wasn't already playing it I'd tell you I've been playing the heck out of this thing and I love it.)
In other news, I'm afraid I finally succumbed to the Humble Monthly subscription and finished the month with a net increase of 5 games to the backlog.
/salute
What’s this group about? It’s locked and I can’t see guidelines and I’m just curious.
Oh sorry! Didn’t realize it wasn’t visible. Here’s the link to the SteamGifts recruitment thread. I changed it up above too.
Salt and Sanctuary sure looks like a brilliant game, congrats and good luck! :)
Thanks Lucky! I actually just finished a few days ago. I’m running a second character now to see what the mage class is like and trying to decide if I want to try to 100% it. It’s had some frustrating moments requiring some jumping skills that are almost too much for me, but I managed it. Easily one of my favorite games.
As a Dark Souls gamer, I’ll still play Salt and Sanctuary!! They say some much about this game and DS.. I want to check this myself.
Btw, is it that hard as people say? One thing is for sure, this game a nice looking :DD hopefully it is also good in terms of gameplay.
Congratulations finishing Skyrim… it is a looong game :o - I don’t know why, but I can’t think myself playing Skryim, it looks good, but idk, something tells me I wouldn’t enjoy D:
The combat was challenging but it’s very build-dependent. I played a 2-handed hammer/axe heavy armor strength build. A few bosses took a lot of attempts (1 or 2 took me a few dozen tries). Most bosses took several attempts. Only a couple of bosses did I manage to kill on the first try. In a couple of cases I actually took off my heavy armor and fought them naked in order to be able to dodge and roll better. Different bosses have different strong and weak resistances and it matters. They all have gimmicks to learn and figure out how to counter. Even the trash mobs often have something you have to learn about and watch for even with best gear and high levels. The only thing I didn’t like about the game was that the later you get in it the more platforming is required. Exploration which is a big part of the fun for me becomes more and more difficult and punishing. I play with keyboard and mouse and some of the later jumps require much finesse. I don’t know if it’s a keyboard vs. controller problem or what, but it was frustrating in places. The look and feel of the game is great. You’ll appreciate this - there are bottles with messages left in the world by developers and other players - here’s one I came across early on:
Most bosses took several attempts. Only a couple of bosses did I manage to kill on the first try. In a couple of cases I actually took off my heavy armor and fought them naked in order to be able to dodge and roll better.
Yep, sounds like Dark Souls, and also my preferred style. Dodge everything! :D I was almost convinced to buy it for myself but…
The only thing I didn’t like about the game was that the later you get in it the more platforming is required.
I don’t mind fighting a single boss for 7+ hours, but I just don’t have the patience for platformers. :p
PS: I’m now afraid to try Skyrim. Looks like it can be one of those addictive games.
Yeah I had to practice some relaxation techniques for the jump deaths in later levels :) Skyrim … I’m with you. It’s going to be awhile before I try any open world game. I’m an explorer and a completionist, so 2000 hours later I still feel like I’m not done with Skyrim. P.S. Thanks again for S&S - even with the platforming challenges, it’s still easily one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played, ever.
WoW This sounds sooo much Dark Souls :o
Different bosses have different strong and weak resistances and it matters.
This is something I really like in DS (one of them) and I’d love Salt and Sanctuary because of this (and for so many reasons). Is so boring when we are facing bosses in games but no matter if is first boss or last boss and all you need to do is hit him enough until he dies D: - DS has something like that too, I mean is possible to kill bosses without exploit their weakness, but lol, try to fight a, hmm, fire boss using fire.. this will take ages! haha
Even the trash mobs often have something you have to learn
Another thing similar to DS… I died so much for trash mobs because I saw them and thought “ah, look that guy, he seems to be dying already” and rushed to him just to find my death –’
Uuh, platformers huh? I like them, but I suck at them but this doesn’t make me give up anyway, so this wouldn’t be a real problem to me :D
Thanks for your explanation Thyreos and congrats, again :D
Thanks Nobody - it sounds like this would be a great game for you too :) I confess I used a guide later on to figure some stuff out. I spent a lot of time trying to hammer a boss that was totally resistant to hammers lol. S&S has given me confidence to try Dark Souls 1 which is sitting there in my backlog glaring at me.
Definetely is a game for me… fits well my taste. I’ll probably end up buying it eventually.
LOL this makes everything harder… I know the feeling of fight a boss with something that it is resistant –’ D:
Oh, you should definitely give DS1 a try (my favorite game/franchise)… awesome game, for sure. A lot of replay value, story, content, and amazing looking. If you ever go for it, and have any doubt, let me know and I’ll gladly help you :D
Congratulations on the Skyrim “achievement”! I just hope I don’t take as much time as you… because if I do, I might never end it.
Thanks Garcias :) Just resist modding and you’ll be okay. Most of my almost 2000 hours was just goofing around with new mods. In the end I stripped away most of the mods that weren’t just cosmetic so I could focus on finishing the story line.
I have a few installed but the only one that changes story line is the Alternate Start. The remaining are bug fixs, minor graphic improvements and things I wanted like being able to see your weapons in your back (i usually play in 3rd person except in dungeons/inside buildings).
Damn, I really need to get my shit together and get some free time to play Skyrim D:
Congrats on Skyrim! One of my major gaming fails is having never played it, except long enough to idle for cards and stop before getting the first achievement. I even bought the DLC which ultimately translated into the SE version. And yet I still haven’t played it.
Welcome to Actually Playing Games, and to the Humble Monthly! Two great things, IMO!
Thanks Trent. I fell down the modding hole early on when I started playing and spent nearly 2000 hours just goofing around never actually playing the main story. Glad to finally check that off my list, but I’m sad to say I had to force myself to do it - I don’t think the story is the game’s strong suit. Too much walking and listening to npc’s talk especially in the last act. And by then the combat you do encounter is too easy. But - it’s good to done and the game is still one of my all-time favorites for pure exploration. Thanks for the welcomes :)
Congrats on finishing the story in Skyrim! And you already finished Salt and Sanctuary too? Awesome! I’ve watched some gameplay videos of that game, it definitely seems like a tough game.
The Humble monthlies have been looking impressive in the last few months. It’s nice to see that it’s taking off, and they’re probably attracting more game publishers to join in. I’ve been hesitant to subscribe, there are many regular Humble bundles that I keep buying anyway and the backlog keeps growing..
Thanks Uguleley :) One of the S&S achievements looks pretty difficult, but I think I’ll try to 100% it. Like Dark Souls it definitely takes a certain personality to be able to really enjoy it.
I subscribed to Humble monthly because I was running out of games to give away, but I’ve wound up keeping most of the games two months in a row now lol. So it didn’t solve my problem and it just made my backlog problem worse! But they are such good looking games…
Skyrim is finished? Feels like the end of an era here, but I am glad your other projects are working out. I had a feeling you were a masquerading writer. :)
I’m in good company.
Ha yes :) I’m thinking about trying to prioritize the early release monthly game. I miss the days when everyone watched TV shows at the same time and then we all had something to talk about the next day. Humble monthly could have that effect.
I like how you put that - a masquerading writer - because so often feels the other way: that I am pretending to be a writer. It feels like the end of an era to me too. I’m glad to have this site to archive some of those memories.