Various video game stuff not deserving its own thread

[rusty_shackleford]

In Gothic 4 you learn that the Nameless Hero from Gothic 1/2/3 is King Rhobar III, the son of King Rhobar II AKA King Rhobar.
I hope this spoiled the game for everyone who didn't play it, you're welcome.

If you don't believe me, the Gothic wiki even redirects it: https://gothic.fandom.com/wiki/Rhobar_III

[Vergil]

I remember refusing to play Jedi Academy because it either didn't have the g_saberrealisticcombat 1 command or it did but the limbs were bloody which is NOT CANON.

It has the command but a toned down version of it compared to Jedi Knight II .

[Vergil]

In Gothic 4 you learn that the Nameless Hero from Gothic 1/2/3 is King Rhobar III, the son of King Rhobar II AKA King Rhobar.
I hope this spoiled the game for everyone who didn't play it, you're welcome.

If you don't believe me, the Gothic wiki even redirects it: https://gothic.fandom.com/wiki/Rhobar_III

I had no clue there was a Gothic 4. Very weird naming convention. Why have a spin off and then make the subtitle a numbered sequel? That's like if they called it New Vegas: Fallout 4

[rusty_shackleford]

In Gothic 4 you learn that the Nameless Hero from Gothic 1/2/3 is King Rhobar III, the son of King Rhobar II AKA King Rhobar.
I hope this spoiled the game for everyone who didn't play it, you're welcome.

If you don't believe me, the Gothic wiki even redirects it: https://gothic.fandom.com/wiki/Rhobar_III

I had no clue there was a Gothic 4. Very weird naming convention. Why have a spin off and then make the subtitle a numbered sequel? That's like if they called it New Vegas: Fallout 4

It would be more like having Brotherhood of Steel: Fallout 3.
Insist on it being called Gothic 4 whenever you can, btw.

[revenant]

Arcania: gothic 4 does not exist

[KnightoftheWind]

This channel has some of the best Oblivion videos.

[Wretch]

rather preferred the way games used to look before they started hiring pajeets to fill every room with random garbage
There's a certain quality to idtech and idtech-style games that is hard to describe. Utilitarian doesn't quite hit it, as the games often look good too.

I think it might have to do with tools being taken away from level designers such that the design flow is now that level designers create blockouts rather than something closer to the finished product.

Basically I want this with higher quality textures

Was just thinking about these games, the original battlefront games, and this era of rpgs and how they were the perfect mix of aesthetics and gameplay. Dev studios could reliably crank out classics in a year or two with little experience. Wonder if it would be possible to go back to this era design philosophy.

[Vergil]

I tire of the "le wacky funny Oblivion" meme and how much it's done to introduce more annoying tourists into the fan base.

[Wretch]

I tire of the "le wacky funny Oblivion" meme and how much it's done to introduce more annoying tourists into the fan base.

Unfortunately reddit and other updoot harvesting internet hangouts always force these awful memes. Fandoms in general on the internet ruin the source material. Star Wars is a good example.

Oblivion is one of the last actually good RPGs and is actually unmatched as far as AI goes. It also has a truly unique whimsical tone to it that matches old folk tales and works perfectly as a fantasy game. It’s sad to see it remembered exclusively as funny voice wacky xD randumb game.

[KnightoftheWind]

These videos are funny, though. And it's not as if the series can get any more mainstream than it already is, it's plateaud at this point, and will only be going downhill from here. I'd imagine a small fraction of Skyrim's playerbase even pay attention to Oblivion, and only for curiosity's sake. They probably couldn't get over the graphics and gameplay quirk, and lack of mods by comparison.

It's easy to make fun of Oblivion because of it's shortcomings, and the hilarious things that can happen with it's buggy AI and physics. It's not something you can find in most games, and it works to complement it's whimsical charm.

[Wretch]

These videos are funny, though. And it's not as if the series can get any more mainstream than it already is, it's plateaud at this point, and will only be going downhill from here. I'd imagine a small fraction of Skyrim's playerbase even pay attention to Oblivion, and only for curiosity's sake. They probably couldn't get over the graphics and gameplay quirk, and lack of mods by comparison.

It's easy to make fun of Oblivion because of it's shortcomings, and the hilarious things that can happen with it's buggy AI and physics. It's not something you can find in most games, and it works to complement it's whimsical charm.

I completely agree the minor AI bugs work to complement the whimsical charm. I also think they and the occasional video of them can be funny.

Sadly they’re brought up and parroted with the same frequency and fervor by their communities as autistic fortnite kids do with tiktok trends.

[DagothGeas5]

This channel has some of the best Oblivion videos.

I highly recommend this seires as well. He begins to mod it as time goes by, but he also just goes around explaining stuff and tips and tricks about Oblivion which I still use to this day (for example the multiplication glitch, which I can confirm is great fun and still works)

[Vergil]

We used to be a real country

[Wretch]

Jak 2 and Jak 3 were great games. Really wish they were on pc.

[Vergil]

Jak 2 and Jak 3 were great games. Really wish they were on pc.

I have extremely good news for you if you weren't already aware.
https://opengoal.dev/
Jak 1 is already fully playable. Jak II is largely feature complete with some bugs but it's playable now.

[Wretch]

Jak 2 and Jak 3 were great games. Really wish they were on pc.

I have extremely good news for you if you weren't already aware.
https://opengoal.dev/
Jak 1 is already fully playable. Jak II is largely feature complete with some bugs but it's playable now.

I never liked jak 1 much but I’m pretty sure that’s because I was like 7 and didn’t have the motor control to actually beat the game. Is it any good?

[Vergil]

Jak 2 and Jak 3 were great games. Really wish they were on pc.

I have extremely good news for you if you weren't already aware.
https://opengoal.dev/
Jak 1 is already fully playable. Jak II is largely feature complete with some bugs but it's playable now.

I never liked jak 1 much but I’m pretty sure that’s because I was like 7 and didn’t have the motor control to actually beat the game. Is it any good?

If you enjoy collectathon platformers it's one of the best. I go through and 100% it every so often from time to time. I have an extreme nostalgia for the entire franchise though so I am beyond biased.
The whole series is a pretty great example of managing to do new things with each installment while also iterating on what came before.

[KnightoftheWind]

The series went downhill after The Precursor Legacy. The first game was solid platforming fun, but then GTA III was a smash hit and the devs chose to follow trends rather than do what was right. As a result, Jak II is a very below average experience for me. I'm hoping Jak 3 does a better job, once it gets ported as well.

[Wretch]

The series went downhill after The Precursor Legacy. The first game was solid platforming fun, but then GTA III was a smash hit and the devs chose to follow trends rather than do what was right. As a result, Jak II is a very below average experience for me. I'm hoping Jak 3 does a better job, once it gets ported as well.

Jak 2 is objectively a better game in every regard than gta3.

[KnightoftheWind]

The series went downhill after The Precursor Legacy. The first game was solid platforming fun, but then GTA III was a smash hit and the devs chose to follow trends rather than do what was right. As a result, Jak II is a very below average experience for me. I'm hoping Jak 3 does a better job, once it gets ported as well.

Jak 2 is objectively a better game in every regard than gta3.

Not even if you were 13 years old.

[Vergil]

I'm hoping Jak 3 does a better job, once it gets ported as well.

I still like Jak 3 but it's definitely the least interesting. There's not a lot of iteration and there's nothing really done to rebalance the game for all the new guns and powers they give you. Jak II gets a lot of flack for it's difficulty but Jak 3 I could probably beat in my sleep except maybe a handful of sections. Lots of missed opportunities in the gameplay and story as well. Feels like a DLC for Jak II.

[Wretch]

I'm hoping Jak 3 does a better job, once it gets ported as well.

I still like Jak 3 but it's definitely the least interesting. There's not a lot of iteration and there's nothing really done to rebalance the game for all the new guns and powers they give you. Jak II gets a lot of flack for it's difficulty but Jak 3 I could probably beat in my sleep except maybe a handful of sections. Lots of missed opportunities in the gameplay and story as well. Feels like a DLC for Jak II.

Jak 3 is enjoyable but lacking the same level of charm and atmosphere of jak 2. Haven’s oppressive dystopia and the future hover bikes and cars are some genuinely inspired art design.

The dunes and buggies in jak 3 aren’t bad and while the mechanics are arguably better it has lost the tone and balance. There’s a mixture of too much downtime in jak 3 and not enough tension. Lots of new mechanics and guns but little to show for them.

The game needed to be a lot longer and have a pretty serious difficulty spike. The buggies should have been hover or flying too to match the tone.

[Vergil]

The dunes would be perfectly justified if they actually had something going on in them besides brainless respawning car enemies in a vast empty world. Would make up for the city being extremely cut down compared to II as well. Could have chucked a lot more precursor ruins in that desert for some Jak 1 style platforming focused sections in contrast to the mostly combat city sections.

[Wretch]

The dunes would be perfectly justified if they actually had something going on in them besides brainless respawning car enemies in a vast empty world. Would make up for the city being extremely cut down compared to II as well. Could have chucked a lot more precursor ruins in that desert for some Jak 1 style platforming focused sections in contrast to the mostly combat city sections.

Throw in some dungeons and a giant monster or two hunting you across the dunes and it would be pretty good. I still wish they kept the hover vehicles even in the desert.

[KnightoftheWind]

My ideal "Jak 2" would've been set in the same world established in The Precursor Legacy, and be a pseudo homage to Lunar: Silver Star Story. Have you branch out and see the world beyond the islands. You would encounter fantastic locales, large cities, and new races. It could have even been an open world game, but at least it would've kept the original vision intact.

[rusty_shackleford]

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla mostly sucked, but one story mechanic I rather liked was that everything supernatural was being shaped by the person who saw it. That is, they might not have actually been supernatural, but it's presented to the player as such because the person's memories couldn't comprehend what it was.

[Vergil]

My ideal "Jak 2" would've been set in the same world established in The Precursor Legacy, and be a pseudo homage to Lunar: Silver Star Story. Have you branch out and see the world beyond the islands. You would encounter fantastic locales, large cities, and new races. It could have even been an open world game, but at least it would've kept the original vision intact.

The problem is not only were those games basically entirely out of style by that point the dev team also had zero interest in making another one of those kind of games. Yea Jak II was based around a lot of popular trends at the time but the difference is it was based around contemporary games the devs were interested in and wanted to make instead of it being a top down directive to change things for the sake of it. Plus Jak was a middling success compared to the cultural icon that Crash Bandicoot became which is what they were gunning for. Frankly without the change giving the team passion to make the project I doubt there would even be a Jak II at all.

[rusty_shackleford]

The game Shadow Hearts has two endings, good and bad. The canonical ending is the bad ending, which leads to Shadow Hearts 2 which uses time travel to loop back to the start of Shadow Hearts to make the canonical ending the good ending.
That is… pretty good.

[Rand]

In Gothic 4 you learn that the Nameless Hero from Gothic 1/2/3 is King Rhobar III, the son of King Rhobar II AKA King Rhobar.
I hope this spoiled the game for everyone who didn't play it, you're welcome.

If you don't believe me, the Gothic wiki even redirects it: https://gothic.fandom.com/wiki/Rhobar_III

"Gothic 4" is not Gothic 4, so IDGAF what's in it.

[wndrbr]

No such thing as Gothic 4. The game is called Arc*nia - a Gothic tale.