Wasteland 2

[Lantyssa]

To be fair, the original Wasteland was pretty brutal early on.  It took several play throughs to get a party to the point they weren't seriously threatened by any encounters.  Through the entire length of the game.

Whether it's good design or not I'm not arguing, just that it is in the spirit of the original.

[Jeff Kelly]

I watched the Giantbomb quick look for the game and a few other videos on the web and it has turned me off that game for the time being. It feels like most of the time and effort went into exposition, text and dialogue because just the first 20 minutes give you the mother of all wall of texts and exposition but actual very little game. It also seems to be pretty bland and humorless.

I'm all for nostalgia and back to the roots but the combat and game mechanics barely reach Fallout parity which is too little for a game that was released 15 years later and could draw from a lot more inspirations. At least Fallout had its sense of humor and the engrossing world going for it to offset the game mechanics. In a world where I've seen old and new X-Com, Fallout and Jagged Alliance what Wasteland offers seems to be lacking though.

Maybe when it's $15 at a steam sale but for now I think I'll pass.

[rk47]

Yep. When I look at this game, it felt like a generic tactical squad shooter instead of a wacky wasteland adventure of post-apoc.
People said I'm wrong cause the good stuff comes 5 hours in, but what can you do? People aren't going to stick around 20 mins to look for 'fun' when there are other games that just slap that in right within 10.

Recall Jagged Alliance 2. Yes. That game took less that 10 mins to hook me in with the wide array of personalities for hire.
And they didn't spend 10 minutes introducing the rebellion leader and his posse of misfits.

[Falconeer]

For fairness, Jagged Alliance 2 was a masterpiece and it's a legendary game.

[Yegolev]

Seems like I already own Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, but maybe I should drop $10 on Jagged Alliance 2?

[Rasix]

It's worth it. You can probably get it for $5 if you're patient enough.  

I want to like this game.  I'll probably just keep playing to justify the purchase. D:OS had a rough start to the game as well, but at least the combat system showed a lot more promise.  And it wasn't so fucking ugly.

- Slight reduction to jam rates for large offenders

Yay?  My modified sniper rifle with a massive 2% to jam seemed to jam around 20% of the time.

[Yegolev]

Turns out GOG let me have Jagged Alliance 1+2 for $7.27 to "round out" my collection.

[Rasix]

You hit an absolutely absurd power spike after getting access to the Citadel.  I don't know if you just have to do one part of the quest or both, but the weapons you get are 2-4x as powerful in some cases.  Assault rifle goes from being a waste of space to a killing machine.

[shiznitz]

I think this thread is old enough to ask for skill planning advice now.

I see the above comment on Assault Rifles.  Do handguns become useless in comparison?  I hate to keep investing in them if so.

[Zetor]

Handguns get a bit better, but they're nowhere the power of ARs. Only advantage of handguns is low AP cost per shot, ie dealing with lots of weak enemies.

[Furiously]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

[rk47]

Because if you don't I'll eat your dog.

[Ginaz]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

Because you will save me from having to: a) wait months before it goes on sale and b) it prevents me from saying "Fuck it, I'm not waiting for a sale!" and buying it on a whim anyway.

[jakonovski]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

Because I want it.

[rk47]

21.4 GB (22,996,738,048 bytes) - Wasteland 2


15.1 GB (16,249,175,574 bytes) - Skyrim


 9.22 GB (9,908,183,040 bytes) - New Vegas


  Unity Engine

[Rendakor]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

Because I'm swamped with other great games to play, and won't even get around to installing it until long after it's gone on sale for 75% off.

[Signe]

I don't want your stupid key.

[Furiously]

I don't want your stupid key.

Good, cause your feminine wiles wouldn't work on me cause there is no dancing in the wasteland!

[Strazos]

[snip]

FFS Unity Engine.

[Sky]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

Oh, now I understand what you were saying 

[Lucas]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

If you show me your Wasteland, I'll show you my Sin. Don't you want to see my Sin, babe?

[rk47]

Annoyed to keep repeating the same ritual of:
1. Walk Perception Guy over to Box: Confirm There is no Trap. If there is a demo trap, go to 2. If there is an Alarm go to 3. If it's locked, go to 4. If not, go to 5.
2. Disarm Trap with Demo Guy. 3 seconds.
3. Disarm Alarm with Alarm Guy. 3 seconds.
4. Lockpick / Brute force with Lockpick / Brute Force guy. 3 seconds.
5. Open the damn box.

Why not just add in a right click context menu where you can 'Use highest Demo Guy' / 'Use Highest Lockpicking Guy'.
I do recall having to do the same in JA2, but the whole 'locked container' occurs much less in that game. In WL2 it seems like there are more than a dozen in every map.
And the 'use shovel' to dig is hilarious. Why can't there just be a simple inventory check for a shovel? Why so anal about it?

[Strazos]

Agreed.

Also, is it me, or are the early stat checks obscenely difficult? I finished the first area, and had my choice of either Hightower or Ag Center. I found the Ag Center first, so I went there.

I had gotten my level ups, but god damn I could hardly open any doors or boxes due to the checks. Yeesh.

[Zetor]

[snip]

FFS Unity Engine.

Looks like you aren't the only ones 

[rk47]

Agreed.

Also, is it me, or are the early stat checks obscenely difficult? I finished the first area, and had my choice of either Hightower or Ag Center. I found the Ag Center first, so I went there.

I had gotten my level ups, but god damn I could hardly open any doors or boxes due to the checks. Yeesh.

Did you get Angela from Citadel? She can brute force most things.
Also, maps with objectives should have been marked by now, so you can select it and autotravel to plot a course in the world map.
It's not really a 'discovery' game. Though there are certain places where you can only discover by exploring the specific areas.
Overall, I'm not finding the fun here. Will push through just because.

[Cyrrex]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

A)  Because whoever else you send the key to, I will murder a puppy in their name.
B)  If you like murdered puppies, I will murder one in YOUR name.
C)  Please?

[lamaros]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

A)  Because whoever else you send the key to, I will murder a puppy in their name.
B)  If you like murdered puppies, I will murder one in YOUR name.
C)  Please?

You're only going to be let down. Better to not get one and live the dream a little longer.

[amiable]

If you are going to play an old school CRPG its all about entering min-max heaven and this game has that aplenty.  I'm one of those folks who will crank the diffiuclty up to crazy and then restart a bunch of times until I tweak my party to the point that I feel that i have fully optimized everything.  This game really scratches that itch.

My issues are:

1.  As described above why can't it just do party checks for particular skills instead of making me cycle through all my characters.
2.  Camera control is wonky as fuck, especially in small areas.

I have found a party/startup that pretty much rolls through the early part of SJ difficulty and should only get better.  Also, this game does reward flavor skill development, some quests and encounters are much, much easier and you get better loot if you take some of the talking skills.

Edit:  Also one HUGE annoyance:  Why bother implementing a cover system when every enemy in the game, no matter how well armored or slow can literally run across the entire map in one turn?  I can't even count the number of times a mob has moved from off camera to run directly past my lines to attack my sniper in melee.  It is insane.  It smacks a bit of a last minute balance change to counteract the overwhelming advantages of sniper rifles/assault rifles (when a more reasonable response would be simple to tone down those weapons).

[shiznitz]

Agreed.

Also, is it me, or are the early stat checks obscenely difficult? I finished the first area, and had my choice of either Hightower or Ag Center. I found the Ag Center first, so I went there.

I had gotten my level ups, but god damn I could hardly open any doors or boxes due to the checks. Yeesh.

Ag Center was my first area (unless you count starting Citadel, which I don't).  What was yours? By the time I got to Hightower I was level 5 and killed all the wreckers with ease.

[Furiously]

CONTEST TIME!

Why should I give you the extra key I have?

If you show me your Wasteland, I'll show you my Sin. Don't you want to see my Sin, babe?

Winner so far....

[Zetor]

Finished the game -- admittedly I got a bit of a headstart by playing it during beta and EA enough so I knew all the tricks. I was also playing on normal difficulty, which was probably a mistake! If I had to give a one-word verdict, it'd probably be "decent". Tons of content, though I probably skipped most optional stuff in the second half once my rangers were outfitted with the best gear.

Some random easter eggs below, those of you who played WL1 may get a kick out of them. No actual spoilers!

[shiznitz]

Zetor, is that an all AR team I see in the image?

[Zetor]

Zetor, is that an all AR team I see in the image?

Nah, actually everyone was using a different weapon type (AR, sniper, pistol, shotgun, energy, blunt, blades). AR guy was definitely the MVP of the team, though.

[Ingmar]

Ammo is scarce enough that going with a variety of weapons is probably for the best. Ideally you can go with 1 long range, 1 short range on everyone.

[Rasix]

So far:

Assault Rifle: awesome as soon as you get a new one.  Before then: terrible.  Range can get an issue if mobs get personal.
Pistol: OK. Not great, but at least it's usable when that wolf closes to melee range from somewhere off screen in one turn.
Sniper rifle: Godly if you can get high ground.  OK if you can still maintain range.  Shit AP costs.
Energy weapon: Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it's good. Low range, but no min range.
Heavy weapons: Chews through assault rifle ammo.  Decent early damage, but again, it'll tear through your ammo like nothing.
Bladed weapons: Great with that mod that lowers AP cost.  Kind of shitty damage until you get a combat knife, but it's nice to be able to do damage when something inevitably gets in your face.
Shotguns: OK.  I don't like them much.
Sub-machine runs: might be a better option than a pistol. Haven't used much.

Explosives: Fun if you just want to insta-win an annoying fight.

I'm only through Highpool/AG and part of the Prison.  The amount of skills I need to open all of the boxes is really annoying. I've even taken to not leveling the talking skills, because that would impede my ability to open the boxes.  Also, this means I have to fight every damn over-world encounter because I haven't leveled the ability to let me run away.