43M's Gaming Journal: Skyrim Review and God of War Ragnarok!!!

[Forge]

Couple of months late, but just popped in and started playing fallen order last week. Tonight I saw that you guys had talked about recently. All I have to say is thank God I'm not the only one with some platforming issues. I legitimately thought I was going nuts or something

[43M]

2 hours ago, Forge said:

Couple of months late, but just popped in and started playing fallen order last week. Tonight I saw that you guys had talked about recently. All I have to say is thank God I'm not the only one with some platforming issues. I legitimately thought I was going nuts or something

No...it was extremely annoying at times.    Hopefully more polished in the sequel.

[43M]

 Rapid Review

 

Im tired and I dont feel like going on and on about this game because I doubt anyone really cares much about an over 10 year old game, so Ill try to make this short and sweet.

Gameplay was much better than the first game and much more action oriented, and kinda close to 3.        It started off really difficult and I died over and over, but by mid game or so, it was WAY too easy.    I shouldve increased the difficulty. but overall, I enjoyed it.

Story was good and gave alot of backstory for the events of Witcher 3 and fleshed out alot of characters.   Hoping this gives me more appreciation for 3 when I go through it.

Graphics were excellent, especially with the graphics mod.

I hated how the changed the dice poker.   it was better in the first game, so I avoided it.    Fighting and arm wrestling were lame.

Blah blah blah....overall, a really good game.   Worth ploughing.   Would plough again.

Final Score:   8.6

Edited April 15, 2023 by 43M

[43M]

As anyone reading may have surmised, Im going to be playing Witcher 3 again.       Not sure when Ill start....but likely very soon.   

Going to get everything I can out of it, so it will likely take a few months.

[iknowcool]

3 hours ago, 43M said:

As anyone reading may have surmised, Im going to be playing Witcher 3 again.       Not sure when Ill start....but likely very soon.   

Going to get everything I can out of it, so it will likely take a few months.

Are you going to be playing the next-gen updated version?

I restarted my playthrough too and the ability to have access to all casts with RT and each casting having a button attached to it is such a great change from the original.  Doing Death's March for the first time too because the game can be far too easy otherwise once you get all your abilities.

[43M]

15 hours ago, iknowcool said:

Are you going to be playing the next-gen updated version?

I restarted my playthrough too and the ability to have access to all casts with RT and each casting having a button attached to it is such a great change from the original.  Doing Death's March for the first time too because the game can be far too easy otherwise once you get all your abilities.

Yeah.

Was contemplating whether to do it on PC or my PS5, but I decided to go with PC because of some mods I wanna try and because I have my Witcher 2 save file that transfers over to Witcher 3.    

If I end up having stability or performance issues on PC, Ill probably go to my PS5.   

Looking forward to getting into it, though!    Havent tried the next gen version yet.

[rob_shadows]

10 hours ago, 43M said:

Yeah.

Was contemplating whether to do it on PC or my PS5, but I decided to go with PC because of some mods I wanna try and because I have my Witcher 2 save file that transfers over to Witcher 3.    

If I end up having stability or performance issues on PC, Ill probably go to my PS5.   

Looking forward to getting into it, though!    Havent tried the next gen version yet.

Be honest you just wanted to play on PC so you can mod Yen and Triss to be naked all the time.

Not that I'd know that such a mod exists... But I'm sure it does.

[43M]

4 hours ago, rob_shadows said:

Be honest you just wanted to play on PC so you can mod Yen and Triss to be naked all the time.

Not that I'd know that such a mod exists... But I'm sure it does.

Thats the only mod Im aware of. 

Unfortunately, Ive only gotten cosmetic mods to work.    None of the script mods are working for me.   I really wanted the "Fast Travel from anywhere" and "Ultra Gore" mod, but cant get them to work.

I might still play on PS5.   Still not sure.

[43M]

I spent the better part of my free game time the last week adding tons of different mods to Witcher 3.    Took me awhile because some of the mods I didnt like, and some are kinda cheating mods such as the weight limit mod (basically means you can carry everything) auto loot (opening the loot boxes countless times gets old) and apply oils mod (I barely used oils the first time around, and this mod applies the best oil for whatever foe you face.      

I downloaded a few gameplay mods, but nothing that makes the game easier....just smoother with better animations.    

I also downloaded several graphics mods that make the game look so great.     One is a mod that adds better shadows and another makes the nights darker since the base game nights are pretty bright.   This actually creates the need to use Cat potions.    Witcher 1, there were several caves you absolutely needed Cat potion to see anything.   Witcher 2 and 3 you never really need it....but with these mods you do.

Speaking of which, I started off on Blood and Broken Bones difficulty, but I could see that eventually becoming too easy.   I might slide it up to Death March, but Im dying alot at certain parts right now, so Ill keep it here for the time being.

Love this game.

[43M]

Has anyone ever heard the Pulp Fiction gimp reference in Witcher 3?   I heard it last night, did a doubke take and then couldn't stop laughing.   Just came out of nowhere and I didn't know it was in the game.  

[43M]

So I have had Witcher 3 on Death March since I first arrived in Velen, and its already too easy....again.    Still die easier, and there are certain parts that get difficult, but after hitting level 10 or 12, it just hasnt been hard.    Only times Im usually dying right now is if I am barely paying attention against a group of enemies.

May have to look for a mod to increase enemy damage if it keeps getting easier.   I dont like having to nerf myself.

[Xmad]

23 minutes ago, 43M said:

So I have had Witcher 3 on Death March since I first arrived in Velen, and its already too easy....again.    Still die easier, and there are certain parts that get difficult, but after hitting level 10 or 12, it just hasnt been hard.    Only times Im usually dying right now is if I am barely paying attention against a group of enemies.

May have to look for a mod to increase enemy damage if it keeps getting easier.   I dont like having to nerf myself.

https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/popularalltime/?nav=1&page_size=15&page=2&BH=0

Nexus is your friend.

Just uh make sure they're compatible since the December update broke everything lmao.

[43M]

1 hour ago, Xmad said:

https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/popularalltime/?nav=1&page_size=15&page=2&BH=0

Nexus is your friend.

Just uh make sure they're compatible since the December update broke everything lmao.

I have like 80 mods installed, and while I had some issues (mostly conflicts with other mods and one that spiked my GPU) and may encounter others, its running pretty nicely.

I just downloaded two more.   One is a damage scaling mod, which allows you to set the amount of damage you do to enemies and they do to you.   Just tested it out and it works great....but keeping it on default settings for now.   If I find it getting too easy, I'll up the amount of damage enemies deal out.

The other was an aggression mod.    The enemies act too stupid in this game sometimes.  This mod makes enemies more aggressive, especially groups.   Couple with the "Random Encounters Reworked" Mod, I just got torn apart by like 8 relentless wolves. 

[43M]

  Review

 

I am still trying to finish my comprehensive Witcher 3 playthrough and I'm about halfway through the last DLC (Blood and Wine), but I needed to play something else while I finish that since I have been playing over 200 hours and I just wanted a different experience and something less "heavy" than Witcher 3.     My buddy suggested a few games, and one of them was the South Park games.    I always kinda wanted to try them being that I am a huge fan of the show, so this seemed like the perfect time.

I was always skeptical of playing this because I figured the gameplay would be weak and it would lean too heavily into relying on the comedy to get you through the game, but honestly, I probably enjoyed the gameplay more than I found the game funny.    It has an old school, turn based JRPG system, and it was a welcomed change from the action oriented Witcher 3.    I feel like my experience would have benefited much more from turning the difficulty up a notch.    After you get a hang of things, its way too easy on normal, and I hardly ever died (I had one character die, usually Butters, but rarely did both characters die).    I feel like increasing the difficulty would have made you rely on strategy more often.   I still used strategy. but eventually my power ups, skills and weapons allowed me win most battles fairly easily.  

There isnt much to say about the graphics.   If youve seen modern South Park....those are the graphics.   Its exactly like playing an episode of South Park, which was really funny and interesting.      Exploring the neighborhood was actually really fun and everything was pretty much spot on accurate to how it is on the show.     Again, it was likely getting sucked into an episode of South Park.

The story was pretty good, but its all over the place and obviously never meant to be taken too seriously.    That was welcomed, but I definitely prefer games with actual serious stories, but Im not complaining.  There were SOOOO many old references and easter eggs throughout the game....maybe even to a fault.   The fan in me loved it, but I feel like they may have OVERLY relied on old assets.   Dont get me wrong, there is alot of new content and a completely original story, but there is IMO too much "filler" content.   Im not necessarily complaining too much about this, but it did feel like they cut corners a bit because they had so many years of old content and references to cram in.

The character progression system is fun at first, but overly simple and not extremely engaging.   This is meant to be a pretty casual game that anyone can get into, even non gamers, so I get that, but it did eventually get boring to me.

I also didnt care much for the main character you play as.     Yes, there were some funny moments, and I do appreciate the fact that they poked fun of alot of JRPG tropes that were used in the game, but Im still not a huge fan of silent, unknown protagonists in videogames.     Not that a really good game cant overcome it, and this game was silly enough to allow me to ignore it, but my character wasnt interesting, and while there are some light references to your past throughout the game, you dont really find out anything until the end, and the payoff was really weak and didnt mean much of anything.

Bottom line:   I enjoyed this game as a "breather" from Witcher 3, but I wanted to like it more than I ended up liking it by the end.      Outside of the old references and a handful of original funny moments, the game wasnt nearly as funny as I hoped it'd be.   The gameplay was just alright, but the fact that it was South Park was the only thing that kept me going.    If not for that, I may have quit after the first 5 hours or so.    Not that its a bad game, but sadly, no element stood out enough to make this game much better than merely okay.    I am questioning whether or not to play the sequel, but after this, Im not rushing to play it immediately.

Gameplay:  6
Story:  6
Graphics:  5 (Just South Park animation, which is good, but doesnt deserve any special praise)
Value/Replayability:   6
Personal Enjoyment:  6

 

Final Score:   6.3

Edited July 6, 2023 by 43M

[43M]

Been awhile.     Been playing Witcher 3 for a LONG time.  Trying to get pretty much every last drop out of that game and have about 200 hours in, and the Blood and Wine DLC is pretty extensive.    Since I already did a Witcher 3 review, I will just give my random thoughts on my 2nd playthrough and give a review of the 2 DLCs, which are almost like Witcher 3.5 on their own.    I should finish sometime this month.

I am playing another "light" game on the side, and that is....

 

Always wanted to try this, and I am enjoying it so far.   Not so much a game as an interactive story, but again, just something to keep me a bit fresh while finishing Witcher.

After this......not 100% sure.      I will update my "upcoming games" list soon.   

I think I may run through the Uncharted games next.    There are several new and upcoming games I want to play, but with my backlog, Id rather just play older and cheaper games and wait for some of these other games (FF16,  God of War Ragnarok, etc....) to go on sale.

Oh, and I still gotta play the Horizon Forbidden West DLC.   🙂