u/AmoebaDue2149

Before I played I heard that this game has bad combat, and given my experience with Banishers ghost of New Eden, another game by the same dev, I could see why.

Now, after having played it, while combat isnt on the same caliber as some of the best combats in video games (Souls games, Modern Doom, DMC, Arkham series, Mordor series, etc.) it is still pretty enjoyable, and Id even say its better than many other games I love. Dodging feels good. Most abilities feel great to use, and makes me feel like a proper vampire. Enemies variety is good. As long as your Jonathan are neither too underleveled or overleveled Id say combat feels pretty fun. Alongside with the excellent embracing system the combat makes this game a true vampire power fantasy to me.

So I just started the game for the first time this week. I have not embraced anyone yet (I do however have my sight on at least 2 people I would love to see dead), and have generally only slept at mandatory points in the tutorial. For the majority of last week I have been playing at level 5. It seems to me that the most enjoyable battles I have had so far was with enemies at around level 9-14. Any opponents below that would be too easy, and any enemies above that level would start too feel a bit too spongy. Fighting enemies at level 9-14 however were a pretty enjoyable, almost soulslike dance. Enemies hit hard, but not to the point of being unfair, and after a while I become reasonably good at dodging while watching out for my stamina, coming in for a few hits, taking a bite, then using an ability for a big hit, rinse and repeat, etc. it felt pretty great and made me feel like a fragile but skillful newborn vampire, using his martial arts rather than raw power to overcome his enemies.

I was able to push it until the majority of enemies I face were of level 16 or above, at which point fights started to drag, and I decided to take a nap and level up to 14. But now fights have become too easy. My Jonathan mowed through groups of enemies like they were nothing, and attacks that used to be dangerous before now barely hurt. At first it felt awesome, like a true vampire power fantasy. However after a while I started to care less and less about being hit, and I noticed I became more and more clumsy. Now I have hit a point when combat becomes a bit boring, so I am hoping to reach a point when the game will scale up enemy levels again.

So that is a quick summary of how I feel about combat so far. I am curious as to if others have the same sweet spot as I do?

I just started the game. With all the atmosphere & especially the sounds, a lot of time I I actually felt a bit creeped out just walking around, almost forgot I was a vampire lol.

Overall, Id give it 6/10.

-World & exploration (3/10): Overall worst part of the game for me. Places dont feel alive, long corridor with invisible walls everywhere. Makes the world feel very artificial.

-Combat (4/10): Does not feel good to play, but on low difficulty can be a decent power fantasy with all the things Antea can do.

-Investigation (4/10): Nothing spectacular but it works.

-Main story (8/10): Best aspect of the game. Pretty interesting story with great characters throughout, and it got better the more into the story we went.

-Side quests (7/10): Some good stories, but the majority of them were kinda one noted. I kinda wish they had more light hearted, or even comedic cases, or more bizarre cases.

So I swore and oath to help my gf/master ascend, and I have just finished the main story at Fort Jericho. So far I for most of the main & side cases I have chosen the option to help the ghosts ascend, and most of them have not been a difficult choice at all. In most cases all people involved shared the blame to some extend, and even if someone is to blame I cant see any of them being evil enough to justify the kind of fate that would befall them should I have chosen to banish the ghost or blame the living.

This is a little bit of a disappointment for me, since I bought this game in the premise that it is full of excruciating moral choices. I kinda wish the game had given me more different ways to punish people and ghost, but so far they have all been like "Sure that guys bad, but a prison sentence should be appropriate, not eternal damnation" kind of situation.

I guess I am just curious. I remember playing 2016 a while ago and thought it was a pretty good game, but it did not actually wow me. I have since then played Eternal, The Dark Ages, and have just finished Revelations.

I came back to 2016 to try again and immediately noticed now slow it was. Compared to the insanity of Eternal or Dark Ages 2016 felt almost like a standard shooter. Guns do feel great but perhaps aside from the Gauss cannon for all other guns Eternal and The Dark Ages versions feel better to shoot.

So if you prefer 2016 to the other two, especially with regards to combat, what maybe the reasons?

What games have you played where either the linear story, or at least one of the possible endings make you feel like the ultimate good person? That makes you feel really proud of your protagonist for all the good deeds they did throughout the game? That almost brought a tear to your eyes at the end?

Im not talking about games where you can choose to simply ignore doing immortal things, but where your protagonist can actively choose go out of their way to help others. Big plus if that requires significant sacrifices by the protagonist.

Obviously games with great story, that can deliver emotional impacts are preferable. I want to be able to feel it in my bones at the end.

My clearest example would be Bioshock 1. That line "They offered you the city, and you refused it" hit me hard the first time I played. I cant think of another clear example.

So I beat the game a while ago, and now I just installed it again to try NG+, but I could not find the option to open it.

How does it change gameplay? You can explore everywhere from the start?

I am at the beginning trying to find the missing son of a local gang leader. So far I enjoy the detective work and the atmosphere. However, there is something with the visual that is hurting my eyes, to the point that I have had to stop playing several times now. If this persists I may have to drop this game. Did anyone have the same problem and know how to fix?

Update: It seems that I dont have the same problem with the Original version of the game, so I guess thats what I will be playing. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Witcher 3 was one of the earlier games that I played, and once I finished it instantly became my favorite game ever.

Ever since then I have been playing lots of games, good and bad. And I have always hoped that one game will finally surpass Witcher 3 to become my new favorite. Yet few games came close to it, and those that did, including the likes of RDR2, Elden Ring, Sekiro, New Vegas, Cyberpunk, Dishonored, Outer Wild, KCD2, etc. still failed to dethrone it. While many of those are all-time classics themselves, each time I finish these there was no doubt in my mind that Witcher 3 remains my favorite.

My next attempt will be with Stalker 2, let's see if it can do it. Otherwise, I probably will have to wait till Witcher 4.

Base game KCD2 is an absolute masterpiece of a game. However, majority of the DLCs have been a disappointment for me. They are not bad, but nowhere near the quality of base game.

-Brushes with death: Perhaps one of the weakest DLCs among otherwise great games Ive played. Gameplay is kinda tedious, with Henry just running around the map doing a bunch of fetch quests. Story isnt all that interesting either. It started off strong, but then it kinda dragged, and fizzled out by the end. Once the truth was revealed I was like "thats it?". Only saving grace for this DLC was the hilarious side quest with the bailiff and the lady.

-Legacy of the forge: Perhaps the strongest DLC among the 3. Story was nothing interesting, but adding the forge as a permanent base is nice. Still, it feels very mechanical and gamy.

-Mysteria ecclesiae: I had such high hope for this one, but left underwhelmed by the end. I love stealth, so gameplay is fun for me. The story however is a bit meh. The villain is obvious from the start. The investigation aspect is disappointingly linear, and for a DLC called "Mysteria" there are very few secrets to be found in the monastery overall.

Like I said, base game is a masterpiece, but none of the DLCs are on the same level of the likes of Witcher 3, Elden Ring, or Fallout 4.

Such a fun quest with so many different ways to solve an open problem. Last time I played an RPG quest this good was perhaps Beyond the Beef (from Fallout New Vegas). It almost gave me the same feeling as playing some of those great ImSim levels.