WonderboyCoz

I am one of the lucky people who got FF7 Remake on Thursday so been playing a little of that while not at work and before that Doom Eternal and Nioh 2. Enjoying all 3 a lot!

Bought my partner Animal Crossing so lots of isolation video games on the go.

If Piccolo is in your party and you have a full-course meal he sits with arms folded and has a glass of water in front of him. 10/10

So far I would I agree with the more positive reviews (7.5ish ones). Its a flawed, and AA budget game in terms of tech and feel but the narrative and social things its doing are really interesting and are making me enjoy the game a fair bit.

I should note that I got this game at a decent discount but I do think that people should watch a stream/wait for a quick look if they are on the fence.

@bladededge: So far I haven't seen any non-lethal ways of dealing with enemies so the only way to avoid combat would be to run away from or bypass enemies entirely by finding an alternate route. There is an invisibility ability you can get which would make this easier.

Also, there have been at least 2 or 3 encounters which definitely couldn't be avoided as it was teaching combat and one was almost a boss-like combat that required me to kill the boss so I can only assume they don't include the combat encounters as part of the endings (but I could be wrong and just didn't realise there was another way). I think that some people may find they don't like the disconnect of the game asking you to carefully select which of the 'citizens' to feed on but at the same time have you killing a bunch of random human vampire hunters.

This doesn't bother me however and if someone does say they feel that way I feel like they would be placing a heavily artificial sense of morality onto themselves. There is a difference between leading an innocent person into a dark alley to drink their blood and having no choice but to fight for survival against an organisation built entirely around killing you and your kind. Just my thoughts though.

@poprocksandsoda: It is open world to certain extent (split into four little neighbourhoods with loading between them so not a full open world like Watch Dogs) and so far I'm liking most of the dialogue/voice acting. There are dialogue choices also.

Have learned that you get more XP for talking to the characters and learning 'secrets' about them so spent a good chunk of time in the first open area talking to everyone I could and doing side 'Investigations' to get some money and learn about people.

I am currently thinking of playing the game as a sort of vigilante, finding out stuff about people and only drinking those who I think deserve it. I did read that there are multiple endings including one for not feeding on any of the NPCs (This must not count the nameless enemies such as the vampire hunters and feral vampires you encounter and kill in combat).

@humanity: Its out on Tuesday, I got it a few days early. An hour in and I am enjoying it.

Combat feels a little weightless but hoping once I've got more weapons and abilities it will still be serviceable. The story setup and atmosphere have got me wanting to learn more.

The highlight so far seems to be the social/moral choices stuff. Seems that there are a set number of NPCs in the game all with stories and names but also a 'Blood Quality' which is essentially the XP you get for drinking their blood. You can see this and some other info by using Vampire vision in an almost Watch Dogs-like way. I'd say its kind of like a different take on a nemesis system mechanic since you have a 'Citizen' menu with everyone in the game. It seems as though you could kill all of the NPCs and get super powerful but the game is indicating that this would have consequences to deal with.

@poprocksandsoda: I will try to, dont have much time to play until Monday but should get a few hours in at least.

I have this game now, firing it up in a little while so will see how it is.

I wouldn't say its been challenging that far. The World 1 mid-boss fight I restarted because I wanted to get the perfect bonus and one of my characters died so there is that. I can see it getting more difficult as it goes especially as you can 'EASY MODE' all the fights which restores your characters to full health before the fight starts and makes it a easier I think (not tried it).

The game is basically 75% the combat which seems good and 25% exploring the world. The exploration isn't difficult at all but it looks nice and theres some light puzzle solving stuff to get chests that contain collectibles like concept art, models and music in the Museum but also new weapons. The game even has areas with collecting 8 red coins which will get you a chest and blue coin collecting within a time limit bonus areas you get to by going into tron-looking cannons.

Only played about an hour so far. Some brief impressions before I go back to it:

- Story seems about what you would expect from the Mario RPG series in terms of amount of story (maybe a little less dialogue) and lighthearted writing

- Looks and sounds great. Runs smoothly.

- Combat is as expected. A lighter, more streamlined XCOM. For example, No cover is 100% chance to hit, Half Cover is 50% chance to hit and Full Cover is 0% chance to hit. However, it does seem like the characters are pretty different and there's a decent variety of weapons, skills, enemies, etc.

- I am enjoying the dashing, jumping off allies and then shooting stuff. The pipes and other environmental items give you even more options. Makes battles feel fast paced and bitesize in a good way (especially for the switch where I want to play a battle or two on a train journey)

- Looking forward to trying whatever the Co-op is, hopefully something light that I can play with my girlfriend.

Back to playing!