Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomsecrets2016-03-13 04:15 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2016-03-13 04:15 pm
[ SECRET POST #3357 ]
⌈ Secret Post #3357 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 078 secrets from Secret Submission Post #480.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Re: Let's have a video game thread
(Anonymous) 2016-03-13 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Let's have a video game thread
You play a master thief in a steampunkish setting, and you have a number of tools to do the job with. Water arrows put out torches, rope arrows get you into higher places as long as you have something wooden to hook into, moss arrows will soften surfaces so you don't make noise. Most levels are fairly expansive, with non-linear progression as you sneak around fat noblemen's manors or whatever. These games may be pushing 20 years old and they look it, but their level designs are among some of the greatest in the industry. The first game also plays homage to its roots in early cRPGs with more fantastical elements such as ancient underground cities and sprawling tombs filled with shambling corpses. Interestingly, these elements are almost completely excised from the sequel, which I found frustrating.
What really makes the games work though is their fantastic sound design. Sound was Looking Glass Studios' specialty (as evidenced in their other smash hit series System Shock.) It makes it really easy to listen closely for footsteps, plus does a lot to create atmosphere, particularly in the first game where the engine is a bit simpler compared to the sequel (no colored lighting, lower-quality art assets.)
If you like the last several Elder Scrolls games at all, especially playing as a thief character, you'll definitely see a lot of Thief's influence on the series. Thief was also influential on the likes of the Deus Ex series and Dishonored (which goes so far as to have a direct reference to the training level in Thief 1.)
I wouldn't consider the first two games to be clunky at all, particularly not with TFix and Tafferpatcher (for T1/Gold and T2, respectively) which improves the mantling ability, and also come with texture and model upgrades if that's your thing (I personally hate "HD texture" projects on old games, I think they destroy the aesthetic, but YMMV.)
Thief 3 is probably the unlucky middle child of the series of sorts. Its development was very troubled; it was being developed concurrently with Deus Ex Invisible War in the early days of true multiplatform development, by a primarily PC-oriented developer (Ion Storm Austin) whose project leads made the mistake of assuming all console users were morons. The lead engine programmer bailed midway through development, leaving behind no notes for the replacement to fix the mess of an engine with. The game was developed for the original XBox's specs, which meant that levels had to be split in half and made much smaller; and they couldn't figure out how to get rope arrow and water physics working so excised those completely (falling in deep water, which there is very little of thankfully, results in death now and rope arrows are replaced by climbing gloves, which as a replacement aren't so bad.) Probably the worst design decision in Thief 3 is "body awareness" -- it's very easy to knock things over and the like because the game attempts to realistically emulate what would happen with a physical body moving through a space. It's also easy to fall off narrow ledges for no good goddamn reason.
That being said, Thief 3's systems are largely untouched from its predecessors (unlike Deus Ex Invisible War which was a drastic simplification from Deus Ex 1) and the game itself presents a pretty good story that builds from its prequels. It also brings back horror elements in full force after they were missing in the 2nd game -- there's a reason Robbing The Cradle is up there with the likes of The Silent Cartographer as one of the most famous single levels from a game.
As far as Thief 4 is concerned... it's pretty much Discount Dishonored, much more streamlined and less clunky to play compared to, say, T3, but at the expense of less freedom of movement. It's not a bad game at all, though, and is something of a stealth sequel (it might seem to have nothing to do with the previous games but it's really obvious to anyone who's played it at least a third of the way that it's set in the same universe.)
The original trilogy are all on GoG, so here they are along with their respective fanpatches:
Thief: The Dark Project Gold* - TFix
* Thief Gold features three new levels over the original release as well as bug fixes and other features, and is generally regarded as the definitive version of the game.
Thief II: The Metal Age - Tafferpatcher
Thief: Deadly Shadows - Sneaky Upgrade (highly recommended)
Thief (aka Thi4f, Thief 4, Th14f, Thief 2014 -- take your pick)
Hope that helps :)
Re: Let's have a video game thread
(Anonymous) 2016-03-14 12:27 am (UTC)(link)I've been playing some older series lately, so I'm trying to be less... idk, elitist? about older games & how they play, haha. Like, the first two Persona games, Metal Gear Solid & the first two Fallout games (though, well, I started the second one last month but it feels a bit like I'm forcing myself to play it because I like the series rather than because I actually like the game itself, if you get what I mean? I'll get around to finishing it, though), etc.
Anyway, thanks again!
Re: Let's have a video game thread
While they have their own plot arcs, each sequel builds on the events of the previous games, so yeah, there's definitely an over-arching story and theme. T1 is followed by T2 followed by T3, with T4 set very distantly later with different characters, including a different Garrett who might be considered a legacy character a la Link.
(FO2 is okay but the early parts of it really fucking drag; I don't think it stops sucking until maybe Modoc. I highly suggest you get KillaP's patch if you haven't already, and refer to Per Jorner's guide.)
As long as I'm talking about Looking Glass games, I have to recommend System Shock and its sequel. There's no better time to get into the fandom for this -- the original is getting a remake soon and a sequel's been announced after 16 long years :D If you like the first two Bioshocks at all, you'll very much like this series, as BS1 was intended to be a spiritual sequel.
(Here's an SS1 Enhanced Edition thread if you have trouble -- I've not tested this particular version of the game myself. Annnd here's the big fanpatch for SS2 though it requires a mod manager, which is linked.)
And here's Deus Ex plus some info about this particular version -- all you REALLY need are steps 1, 2 and 5.)
Re: Let's have a video game thread
(Anonymous) 2016-03-14 01:29 am (UTC)(link)I have mixed feelings about Bioshock! I've only played the first game so far, which didn't completely appeal to me in the sense that is has a undeniably cool aesthetic, but I wasn't all that into the story (or how it seemed to revolve around the twist?). Also, it was totally on the verge of being almost too creepy for me, since I'm a total coward when it comes to horror, haha (I want to finish The Last of Us so badly, but it seriously creeps me out).
I appreciate all the links, too! They're really helpful.
Re: Let's have a video game thread
SS1 and 2 are pretty dogged love letters to 80s/early 90s cyberpunk.
I do recommend Deus Ex as one of my favorite series of all time (it shares a lot of the same vibe with Metal Gear Solid despite being different games, which is probably why I got so thoroughly sucked into the original about 15 years ago, as I was a big MGS fan at the time.)
You can skip Invisible War, though, it's awful. Human Revolution (which came out a few years ago) is a prequel to DX1, and Mankind Divided is a sequel to DXHR -- so it's not necessary to have played Invisible War to enjoy them.
Re: Let's have a video game thread
(Anonymous) 2016-03-14 02:07 am (UTC)(link)I'm brand new to Metal Gear Solid, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it (I actually just finished MGS3 the other day). If Deus Ex is at all similar to it, I'll probably like it a lot.
Re: Let's have a video game thread
MGS is a great series! I got into it with MGS1 oh-so-many years ago; I plan to do a series replay of it and Deus Ex this year. I've not played the new one, so it'll be interesting.
Re: Let's have a video game thread
(Anonymous) 2016-03-14 02:43 am (UTC)(link)MGS is super interesting to me because it seems so popular, but it also seems so unique? Like, usually when you're playing older games (or older media in general) you can tell how it'll go by all the more-recent stuff that's been obviously influenced by it, but I never really get that feeling when it comes to this series (which may just be because I haven't played very many games, of course). The fourth-wall stuff, especially!
Re: Let's have a video game thread