I’m glad you made it through Halo 2 okay. I think I mentioned it a few weeks back but I definitely found 2 to be the hardest in the series on higher difficulties. Most of my love for Halo 2 came from the multiplayer actually. Dual wielding SMGs on Bloodgultch was peak video gaming for me. I still think CE is overall my favourite Halo game but 2 has always held a special place in my heart.
Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week?
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Halo 2: Anniversary
I’m gonna be honest, “Gravemind” broke me, I wasn’t able to finish the game on Heroic. It just made me miserable and not wanting to play at that point - I like challenge but this ain’t it.
This sucks because Normal was both too easy and the unnecessary tip pop-ups often showed up in the middle of combat, blocking anything in the centre of the screen.
Outside of difficulty, this level, as well as the rest of the game, was really cool. Infighting was a nice mix-up of the usual game flow, Covenant city (both versions) looks great, though that’s pretty much a given. All in all a solid experience, even if I’m kinda meh on the story (and I definitely could not care less about Gravemind itself).
The ending was as sudden as I’ve heard, I’d probably be pretty annoyed if I wasn’t able to jump straight into 3.
I appreciate them doing something new with switching between the Chief and Arbiter but It feels like they could do more to differentiate the two, if only gameplay wise.
Anniversary soundtrack is a bit more of a mixed bag compared to H1A. I find myself more prone to switching to the old style just due to music - something that didn’t really happened before. It’s not bad but there are times where it’s noticeably worse than classic.
One thing that caught my attention when flipping between the new and remastered presentation was the art styles, specifically Cortana’s. I finally had a chance to take a closer look thanks to her showing up as a decently sized hologram and all I can say is: something about her face just looks off.
All in all, it was an enjoyable experience but also my least favourite one among the four games I played so far.
Halo 3
Just started the game so things will probably change but so far playing on Heroic feels way better than anywhere in H2. Lets hope it stays that way. As for the game, it started rather weirdly if taken in context of H2’s ending. Dunno if this will be explained or not but it gave me a bit of a whiplash. It looks really good though. I’ll write a bit more once I get a bit further into the game.
Stardew Valley
I decided to check out the game on a whim and haven’t really spent too much time with it but so far my main takeaway is “man, this music makes me want to play The Sims”, which is exactly what I did (I went with TS3 this time). I mean… it nice, I guess?
I like my cosy vibes as much as anyone but SV doesn’t really do it for me. I have no idea why but something just doesn’t gel with me in this game.
What I do know is that I hate games that make me feel like I need to constantly be on the move and trying to “catch up” due to time speed - SV’s time scale does exactly that. Thankfully this issue was easily resolved since there’s a mod that let you control this part of the game in a pretty granular fashion. I’d say this should be a basic option in every single game with day/night cycle but people (especially devs) can be really touchy about giving players the ability to customise their experience so I’ll take what I can get.
I want to like it and I do think it’s a good game so I’ll give it a bit more time. Maybe it’ll work out once the early game adjustment passes.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Yeah, you certainly did. It’s not a huge issue honestly - difficulty was high? That sucks but I simply lowered it, whatever.
My main problem, which isn’t even a real problem, has to do with the atmosphere. Playing MCC made me realise that I simply prefer the (early?) book and Reach approach of subdued, bittersweet and somewhat tragic tone over the “action hero saves the day” of the mainline games. That’s just personal preference though.Overall, my issues with the game aren’t with its quality, it’s more of a “me” thing.
I have no doubt multiplayer, whether co-op or versus, would be a good fun, it’s just not something I can comment on. I have no one to play with in co-op and I don’t really care about PvP any more. Gameplay does feel like it would work great in that environment and the nostalgia factor can not be understated - I also have plenty of games that might not be my favourites (or the best at what they do) but my memories with them leave me with a soft spot that doesn’t care about objective facts.
It was an engaging experience and that’s exactly what I hoped for when starting MCC for the first time.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
Fair enough. Nostalgia is definitely a huge part of why I love the Halo so much. I still think I’d like them if I tried them today for the first time, but my history playing the game for so long definitely improves my opinion on it for sure. I’m glad people like you are still able to enjoy the game without the decades of nostalgia for the series to sway you. The early games are fantastic.
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 3 days ago
The fact these games hold up as well as they do is a testament to their quality. There’s plenty of even newer titles which can’t boast about similar results.
Also, I’m a bit “specific” (well… weird) in terms of what does or doesn’t gel with me and I often tend to prefer less popular or worse options. Going back to hugely successful titles can be a rather unique experience for me - every game is a surprise in that way, I guess.
BreakerSwitch@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Seeing these remarks on the H2A soundtrack after having previously gone back and forth a bit on it makes me feel guilty, hopefully the callout of the difference didn’t lessen the experience. I don’t know about you, but I’m often blissfully ignorant until something just slightly negative is pointed out and then it becomes a bother. Glad you enjoyed it, either way! The H3 start was jarring for everyone though. I think one of the books gets into the details for what happens between 2 and 3, but not any of the ones I read. The short version is “Chief really wanted to go home to earth, so he got on a covenant ship going home. When they didn’t go straight to the surface, he tried to do the sonic adventure 2 opening and surfed on a door from orbit down to the ground”
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 3 days ago
No worries, it’s not your fault - I simply found the tracks in the second half of the game to be weaker than the early ones. If anything I’m the opposite and tend to be way more critical about stuff that gets hyped up by everyone while trying to keep an open mind about things others complain about.
I remember surfing from one of the trailers, I think, I just hoped there’d be at least a short sequence on the ship and that surfing itself would be a part of the game (I expected a cutscene honestly). As good as these games are there are still some parts that feel a bit rough and unplanned. Oh well, it’s not a huge issue.