Watch Dogs Legion

Kind of interested. First game was better than the 2nd, IMO. Although the 2nd did grow on me more as I played it. Not too sure about less combat though. If it relies too much on hacking I can't help but feel it will become stale as the hacking is essentially mini games and small puzzles which are fun in short bursts.

And I don't see how you can make the hacking anything other than that.
 
Kind of interested. First game was better than the 2nd, IMO. Although the 2nd did grow on me more as I played it. Not too sure about less combat though. If it relies too much on hacking I can't help but feel it will become stale as the hacking is essentially mini games and small puzzles which are fun in short bursts.

And I don't see how you can make the hacking anything other than that.

How did you find the first game better? Setting aside the game's abysmal PC port, it really did a bad job utilizing the setting and mechanics. 2 did a much better job at presenting a believable world, better written characters, improved gameplay mechanics, more combat options, and so on. I found literally every single thing about 2 better than the 1st.
 
2 was better than it had any right to be, I'd be down a 3rd.

I have only managed about 6 hours of WD2 because it is just such a poor man's GTA V clone. Everything about it is medicore and the hacking mechanic is mostly a gimmick. I will probably get around to playing it again but I am expecting it to be a tedious slog to finish given the crap plot, uninteresting characters and generic gameplay.
 
How did you find the first game better? Setting aside the game's abysmal PC port, it really did a bad job utilizing the setting and mechanics. 2 did a much better job at presenting a believable world, better written characters, improved gameplay mechanics, more combat options, and so on. I found literally every single thing about 2 better than the 1st.

I played the first one on PC and found the game pretty decent, the 2nd one I tried on PS4 and found it terrible, the driving alone was enough to make me quit the game, even at medium speed no way to take a turn without crashing the car.

Maybe it's the PS4 version that has these issues, but I found the controls to be pretty bad (I can only describe it as "floaty") and the bit of the story I saw was not doing it for me either.
 
WD2 was a pleasant surprise for me. My only real quibble with it is that I understand you're a hacker and not a combatant but if you can 3D print everything under the sun... a "little" more protection would have been nice.
 
Can play as any Non-Player Controlled character? How does that make sense? :p
 
I STILL think this one is the best of the bunch.... o_O

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If the pattern holds I expect this game to really be pretty damned good. Each one has gotten progressively better.
 
If the pattern holds I expect this game to really be pretty damned good. Each one has gotten progressively better.

I thought the 2nd one was a lot crappier then the 1st one wich I enjoyed quite a bit. I do add that I only played the 2nd one on PS4 but it played like crap. Controls were all over the place.
 
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I thought the 2nd one was a lot crappier then the 1st one wich I enjoyed quite a bit. I do add that I only played the 2nd one on PS4 but it played like crap. Controls were all over the place.

It was patched and helped out. I can't speak to the console but I can guarantee the PC version would have been and definitely would be superior now. If you ever see it for chump change on the PC consider it. :)
 
I'm glad they didn't kill the series off after two rough launches, I enjoyed both but I think the first was a little better. The hacking theme was used a bit better and the puzzles were more interesting and fun in the second but the first game was more challenging and had better stealth/gadget gameplay, I disliked how easy it was shoot my way out of a tough spot in the second game.

I really disliked the protagonist in both games but the first game had some interesting secondary characters and the bad guy wasn't as much of a cartoon super villain, I mean the manbun is practically the modern equivalent of a handlebar mustache even if it can't be twirled.

WD2 ran so poorly on my old i7 920 that it was unplayable(mainly driving) so it wouldn't surprise me at all if the console versions struggled to perform at a playable level.

I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for this but I hope they make the game more challenging again, especially the combat.
 
Cool, I can play this game for about a month before Cyberpunk comes out. :p

Looks cool, though. I liked both WD games, 2 moreso than 1 (Aiden Pierce sucked as a protag) but the idea behind the series is solid.
 
seems like they changed the tone of the series drastically...first game seemed very serious while this looks all goofy
 
seems like they changed the tone of the series drastically...first game seemed very serious while this looks all goofy

It was goofy in WD2, I think they realized the Aiden Pierce emo stuff wasn't really appealing.
 
This game looking fucking awesome. Stealth granny is the best character they showed.
 
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I hope this concept is on enough rails to keep things coherent and cohesive.

Stealthy granny needs to be the mascot for this game post haste! If watching her take care of business doesn't sell you on this nothing will! ;)
 
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I liked both W_D games. 1 was the GenX edition. 2 was the Millenials edition. Maybe 3 is the Populists edition. Or the Brexit Edition.
 
In traditional [H]uge backlog fashion, I'm just now getting around to playing the first Watch_Dogs. I like open world games but I hadn't rushed to play it due to other games and because of the mixed reviews on Steam. It sometimes goes on sale for $2.99 on Steam and I've gotta say I've been having a ton of fun with it for that price! I don't understand why Derangel referred to it as an abysmal PC port above...I've played abysmal PC ports and this definitely doesn't feel like one of them. Was it terrible at launch or something? I've not encountered many bugs at all, and it runs fabulously at 4K maxed (not terribly surprising for a game that's 5 years old).

Aside from that, it definitely fits the Ubisoft open world game mold...so yeah, it's somewhat formulaic in that it kind of feels like Assassin's Creed or Far Cry in a different setting, but that's a formula that I enjoy in moderation (I powered through AC1/2/Brotherhood/Revelations/III and then got kind of burned out playing them back to back to back like that). As I mentioned in the [H] Discord, the hacking mechanic isn't terribly enjoyable, but that's often the case with hacking mechanics in games and there's some of the usual repetition if you're a completionist but the whole concept of exploiting devices to essentially collect information and spy on people feels especially relevant in today's world of everything being connected.

I was looking forward to playing the second one because I heard that it was the better game, but the comments above about it being the "Millennial/emo" version of the game are a little off-putting. I'll give it a chance though and see what I think.

So yeah, I'd say this one has potential at the very least.
 
The original Watch Dogs wasn't bad (and had multiplayer co op + competition in world) but it came at a time when Ubi's open world titles were "samey", so it didn't stand out as much. These days Ubi has figured out how to iterate on and mix up its open world titles, differentiating them while also giving them really solid post-launch support - Notably Assassin's Creed Odyssey (and Origins before that), Far Cry 5 + New Dawn, and The Division 2. I didn't play Watch Dogs 2 either, but I am interested in giving it a shot if I can find a complete edition for cheap; I did hear it was superior to the first significantly but not quite at the same level as more recent titles I mentioned above.

Watch Dogs Legion however looks quite interesting if they can make it work in a meaningful way. Being able to play nearly any character with their own special traits atop general progression/equipment is neat, balancing against a permadeath issue where if you die that particular character is gone for good. I'm wondering how they'll weave that into the story and progression elements, along with hopefully letting you set up an "army" of various recruited characters to switch between once you've recruited them. I can see how this mechanic could be used in interesting ways to say...turn an enemy into an ally, or by recruiting certain "special" characters you'll unlock extra paths/content. THey also mentioned a serious non-lethal option (which may have to do with capturing/turning others), which also plays into the threats your character faces. Non lethal attacks may mean that enemies will try the same on you, giving you a chance to survive even if you lose as opposed to if you go into any circumstance guns blazing and are met with similar return fire. I'm interested to see how things evolve as we get closer to release.
 
The original Watch Dogs wasn't bad (and had multiplayer co op + competition in world) but it came at a time when Ubi's open world titles were "samey", so it didn't stand out as much. These days Ubi has figured out how to iterate on and mix up its open world titles, differentiating them while also giving them really solid post-launch support - Notably Assassin's Creed Odyssey (and Origins before that), Far Cry 5 + New Dawn, and The Division 2. I didn't play Watch Dogs 2 either, but I am interested in giving it a shot if I can find a complete edition for cheap; I did hear it was superior to the first significantly but not quite at the same level as more recent titles I mentioned above.

Watch Dogs Legion however looks quite interesting if they can make it work in a meaningful way. Being able to play nearly any character with their own special traits atop general progression/equipment is neat, balancing against a permadeath issue where if you die that particular character is gone for good. I'm wondering how they'll weave that into the story and progression elements, along with hopefully letting you set up an "army" of various recruited characters to switch between once you've recruited them. I can see how this mechanic could be used in interesting ways to say...turn an enemy into an ally, or by recruiting certain "special" characters you'll unlock extra paths/content. THey also mentioned a serious non-lethal option (which may have to do with capturing/turning others), which also plays into the threats your character faces. Non lethal attacks may mean that enemies will try the same on you, giving you a chance to survive even if you lose as opposed to if you go into any circumstance guns blazing and are met with similar return fire. I'm interested to see how things evolve as we get closer to release.

My guess is the story is paper thin. There is simply no way you can have a strong story if you can choose from hundreds, if not thousands and randomized characters. It will likely fall to grindy progression mechanics with repeating tasks that give you deja vu, similar to Assassin's Creed Odyssey. They will simply forgo a strong narrative and cheap out on attempting to create a theme, setting or mood and instead opt for the cartoon approach seen in Far Cry 5, New Dawn, Siege and to a lesser extend, Odyssey. That seems to be the trend of Ubisoft and the game industry as of late. Suck out any identity the game may have, and make it as generic as humanly possible in both gameplay and setting.

Just take a look at Far Cry 3 to 5. You went from a character, while not very developed, to a damn mute that stands around being talked to but can't speak back. Montana didn't have any unique feel to it. Black and Asians running around in a state that is pretty much 95% white. RPGs, full auto weapons galore. Southern accents everywhere (WTF?). Compare that to Max Payne 3 where they put the effort into making the place feel a bit like Brazil (accent, demographics, look). Hell, they even bothered to fill the game will Brazilian weapons commonly found in the hands of police and criminals there. Ubisoft and much of the game industry seems to be headed down a hole of bland, copy paste game design.

I was fairly excited for this (I liked the darker tone of WD1) but the more I read and the more I recall from their recent games I can't help but feel Ubisoft is lining up for yet another disappointment.
 
You can still have a non-protagonist driven story. If it focuses on DedSec (the organization itself & your group) and enemy organizations. It's also possible there are a few main members in DedSec that you interact with, like the crew from the last game, but just imagine Marcus didn't exist and you play as random NPCs.

Far Cry 5's "story" was bad for a lot of reasons. Silent protag is not one of them. Gordon Freeman was a silent protag with no development, and I don't see anyone up in arms about Half-Life's narrative. I'd also add Link to the list.

It'll be different but that doesn't mean it's inherently bad.

Ubisoft is not known for their strong stories these days. It will be mediocre, at best, because that's just what they do.
 
I see a game that will be fun with some experimental ideas and likely pretty thin on any "character and narrative" by its nature. Not like we were looking at Shakespeare to begin with of course.
 
I played the first one on PC and found the game pretty decent, the 2nd one I tried on PS4 and found it terrible, the driving alone was enough to make me quit the game, even at medium speed no way to take a turn without crashing the car.

Maybe it's the PS4 version that has these issues, but I found the controls to be pretty bad (I can only describe it as "floaty") and the bit of the story I saw was not doing it for me either.

My experience was the opposite, I played WD1 for like 40 minutes, when they did the introduction to driving mission I got so frustrated with the car physics being absolute trash that I immediately uninstalled it and never looked back. WD2 on the other hand I had a blast and they fixed everything wrong with the first, completion ed that bitch and even had a great deal of fun in its multiplayer elements.

Car physics are a hard stop for me these days, same with crappy mandatory mini-games.
 
I see a game that will be fun with some experimental ideas and likely pretty thin on any "character and narrative" by its nature. Not like we were looking at Shakespeare to begin with of course.

This is my concern. Watch Dogs 1/2 didn't have stellar stories but they were convincing enough and video game standard. Sufficient to carry the game. This seems like it will be far weaker and will likely fall back onto copy/paste missions and fetching things to make up for it. Not a trend I like but that seems to be the Ubisoft direction. They seem to be adding more fluff, making every game feel the same as the next, killing individual game identity and making everything as mass appeal as possible on a scale even previously unseen. And I don't think a weaker story and less unique setting will help the game.

Watch Dogs might not have been great, but you did get a good feel for the setting.
 
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