MechWarrior 5: Clans Announced

[parable]

Outsider comment: I saw in one of the teasers/trailers the Clanners fighting, among other things, a Wolverine. Didn't notice that causing any specific reaction there, but it triggered a memory trace that described how the Clanfolk would go into a blind rage if they encountered one of those in the battlefield. It'd be a fun detail if that was reflected in the game as well

Only just really started playing (<10 hrs in), but the first WVR I encountered I expected one of my starmates to comment on the "New Target: Wolverine" message I got after targeting one...no love on that front, sad to say.  Dissidia: Final Fantasy Duodecim scripted Sephiroth to always stab Aerith (who was a summon) if he could; it would've been really funny if they made your starmates absolutely HATE Wolverines and go after them wholesale, but alas.

[Dragon Cat]

I suppose I'm late to the party but the voice acting is...unfortunate.  A lack of rhoticism when they say "Khan" or other Mongolian-derived terms, the artificial nature of how they eschew contractions (Peter Cullen's Optimus Prime, for example, doesn't use contractions but his speech tends to feel far more 'normal' than those in the game), and other similar "no pronunciation guide was given" occurrences have me feeling *frumple.*

Not to mention Smoke Jaguars being concerned with civilian casualties and suffering (not to mention they expected a pirate to honor zellbrigen?), the fact that the AI tends to be an "each side focus fire on problematic obstacle" rather than the Clanlike "This is my duel, I will kill you if you interfere."

Gameplay is pretty fun though, but I keep thinking "are these Clanners--?"  Does not feel like the writers had a good sense of the universe or its factions, TBH.

I think Zellbrigen is beyond the scope of a game like this and to be a commercial success it needs to be approachable for none BattleTech fans and these targets can take a lot more punishment than table top 3025 tech. Forcing you to slog it through target after target just wouldn't be fun (with the damage units can take in this)

As for the voice acting I don't find it annoying at all, they should just different enough from us regular folk that you notice the lack of contractions and when one uses them ie Liam it's more often than not intentional. Also they use the Clan wording and rank terms so it far makes up for it and sets them aside.

The Jaguar concern for civilians is a weird one but you could also explain it as the person who is most concerned is Jayden (player) he's young and inexperienced. When you look at higher level characters there's far less concern displayed they just want the missions completed

[Luciora]

I'm getting a very Verhoeven Starships Troopers vibe from the sibko.  I also think Mia had a thing for Liam as well.  Might be reading too much into her actions however. 

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I really hate Sokols.

[VanVelding]

I really hate Sokols.

I just keep repeating to myself, "Video games have bossfights. Video games have bossfights."

But getting a LAM so I can punch them in their warship-armored faces with my fist would be satisfying.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Hey, anyone else notice just how short the Gauss Rifle's range is?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

AURGH!  I'd just done the last Turtle Bay mission, the cutscene was playing, and the game crashed.  I have to do the entire mission over again!

This is a reason why I hate how long the missions are in this game compared to Mercs.

[Akamia]

I just keep repeating to myself, "Video games have bossfights. Video games have bossfights."

But getting a LAM so I can punch them in their warship-armored faces with my fist would be satisfying.

To be fair, this particular variety of boss battle is... new to this series. Historically, in a MechWarrior game, a "boss fight" would be an enforced one-on-one duel with a custom BattleMech who may or may not be a better shot than most other enemies, or an encounter with a DropShip that can shoot back.

So... Definitely an odd move, here.

[parable]

AURGH!  I'd just done the last Turtle Bay mission, the cutscene was playing, and the game crashed.  I have to do the entire mission over again!

This is a reason why I hate how long the missions are in this game compared to Mercs.

Yeah, that final Turtle Bay mission (the dropship assault, yeah?) is a bummer.  I keep getting freezes or CTDs when rotating my fire magnets.  Haven't beaten it yet because of this.

[Alan Grant]

That happened to me on the last Turtle Bay mission too. Game crash as things got very intense toward the very end. I made a point of being a little farther away from my starmates toward the end, not being crowded by everyone. Having fewer missile explosions and lasers firing in close proximity around me helped (I think).

I ran into game crash issues a few times unfortunately. Quite often it seemed to be tied to high intensity moments with lots of missile explosions, flamers and lasers going off all around me at point blank range. I'd notice a frame-rate drop, and then a crash a second or two later. I've seen others complain about crashes like this on the Steam discussion boards and reviews for the game. So, it's a known issue and hopefully they'll address it in patches.

Unfortunately that's just the state of the game right now. I'd say a handful of times throughout the campaign, I experienced a nearly identical game crash. Since there are no checkpoints that means a mission restart.

Thankfully I never ran into a truly show-stopping crash or bug that made it impossible to complete the campaign. But I did have to restart a mission over a bug a couple of times (the mission just wouldn't progress, for example unable to enter the next area where you are obviously supposed to go), and restart the game after a crash a few times (I'm talking about 5-7 incidents total across about 25 hours of total play time). The Turtle Bay one was definitely the most frustrating one just because it was an obviously important moment in the game and I was feeling very hyped to play the mission once it got underway.

I still enjoyed the game overall but those experiences were definitely infuriating.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The infuriating thing was that I'd beaten the mission and was already watching the cutscene, but the autosave didn't kick in.

[Alan Grant]

The infuriating thing was that I'd beaten the mission and was already watching the cutscene, but the autosave didn't kick in.

Oh really? Ouch. Yeah that sucks.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Well, beat the mission again and this time it didn't crash.

I have to say, I am really missing the Cauldron Born from this game.  After getting the Stormcrow, you have to wait all the way until the Timber Wolf before you get a mech that's got better armor.

[Alan Grant]

The constrained 'mech selection seems to be a frequently cited negative among the reviews. I get it.

According to the lore the Cauldron Born was first seen on Luthien. But I feel like the developers could have nudged its introduction up a tad. Given some of the other liberties they take with canon it would have been a minor point.

Of course in this game's mechbay, you can actually add additional armor. Armor chunks of various weights are in there alongside equipment like heat seaks, BAPs etc. So in theory you can beef up some of the weaker machines' armor. I only did that a tiny bit here and there. But I guess in theory you could go quite nuts with it.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Finally unlocked the Timber Wolf.  And while I could do the modular armor thing, it feels like in the attempt to make mech customization match the omnimech capabilities of the tabletop game, they've actually just make mech customization harder.

[Dragon Cat]

Finally unlocked the Timber Wolf.  And while I could do the modular armor thing, it feels like in the attempt to make mech customization match the omnimech capabilities of the tabletop game, they've actually just make mech customization harder.

Yeah I agree I think you have to unlock the pod with the hard points you want before you can add stuff I'm guessing it's due to graphics

The game is set to display lasers and missiles from a Timber Wolf Prime if you want it to fire ballistics then you need to unlock a pod that the game recognizes as having ballistics

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Yup.  And to unlock the pods you need Mech XP, only gained by using the mech and achieving milestones with it.

[parable]

Finally unlocked the Timber Wolf.  And while I could do the modular armor thing, it feels like in the attempt to make mech customization match the omnimech capabilities of the tabletop game, they've actually just make mech customization harder.

Even Mercenaries let you modify armor ratings point by point, so this feels like a major step backwards.  I guess they really wanted to tie armor more closely to your choice of omnipod.

All that aside...I'm kind of bummed about how they talk up how awesome Clan weapon ranges and even have you stand on a firing line to prove it, but I find combat outside of 500 meters to be very rare, and the AI doesn't seem to like to keep things at standoff distance.  There are niche uses but I feel like an ML/SRM boat would have enough range to take on anything but Shilones, and probably even them.  Also I find I burn through ammunition at an alarming rate considered to most other MW/BT games.  Final thought of the evening: while OmniMechs are awesome, I'd still like a Vapor Eagle or Stone Rhino in my Star just for funsies.

[Dragon Cat]

Yup.  And to unlock the pods you need Mech XP, only gained by using the mech and achieving milestones with it.

Good thing is your Starmates using it gives you xp too

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Good thing is your Starmates using it gives you xp too

Yeah.  Trying to farm XP with a Gargoyle until you could unlock something other than the Prime would be terrible.

[Wrangler]

I haven't bought the game yet, I wanted to see how the reviews were seeing how well it played out. It's interesting that you have to earn XP to get alternate configurations for your OmniMechs.

[tassa_kay]

Noticed they used the term Elstar (which is a Dark Age-specific concept of Clanners being bred to more physical/inhuman extremes) where they clearly meant ristar.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I haven't bought the game yet, I wanted to see how the reviews were seeing how well it played out. It's interesting that you have to earn XP to get alternate configurations for your OmniMechs.

It's an odd system.  You also spend Mech XP to tweak the performance of the chassis: you can boost the max speed, the acceleration/deceleration rate, and how far and how fast you can torso twist.

You also get Merit points that can be used to unlock new mechs, improve how many technicians you have and how much damage each technician can repair per "cycle" and how many scientists you have working on upgrades, the amount of research each scientist completes per cycle, and how many salvage points you earn per mission.

And Kerenskies that are used to buy more mechs and equipment, though the game throws those at you so freely that they're functionally not a limitation unless you really go nuts with spending them.

[VanVelding]

To be fair, this particular variety of boss battle is... new to this series. Historically, in a MechWarrior game, a "boss fight" would be an enforced one-on-one duel with a custom BattleMech who may or may not be a better shot than most other enemies, or an encounter with a DropShip that can shoot back.

So... Definitely an odd move, here.

Yeah, I remember. I was trying to extend some good faith towards the folks making the compromises between "game design," "doing what we've always done," and "obedience to canon"

But I'm now about 10 regiments of scrappy Kuritian guerillas past that consideration. So yes, I poop on their immersion-breaking, unfun boss fights that violate canon and don't use any of the skills learned up to that point. Just keep giving me new chassis that become obsolete before I can use your XP 'mechanics. See you in the YouTube let's play community.

Noticed they used the term Elstar (which is a Dark Age-specific concept of Clanners being bred to more physical/inhuman extremes) where they clearly meant ristar.

Ah, I caught that, but I assumed it was a Clan term I just wasn't familiar with. Bummer. They did give it the ol' college try.

[parable]

Just keep giving me new chassis that become obsolete before I can use your XP 'mechanics.

You could just play through previous missions on the sims for 10% of the XP each go-through.  That's sure not to get tedious or frustrating!

[VanVelding]

Holy cow, you can load pods by location instead of for the whole 'mech? I feel very stupid for just now realizing this, but I don't care if I'm the second-to-last person to realize this; the last person needs to know.

[Luciora]

Timber Marauder is pretty fun!

Holy cow, you can load pods by location instead of for the whole 'mech? I feel very stupid for just now realizing this, but I don't care if I'm the second-to-last person to realize this; the last person needs to know.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Do targeting computers actually do anything?  I haven't noticed a difference for having one or not.

[parable]

Holy cow, you can load pods by location instead of for the whole 'mech? I feel very stupid for just now realizing this, but I don't care if I'm the second-to-last person to realize this; the last person needs to know.

I have actually learned, forgotten and re-remembered the ability I have to do this...and yeah, I've only had the game for 6 days...which is my way of saying "it's not intuitive at all."

Do targeting computers actually do anything?  I haven't noticed a difference for having one or not.

I'm pretty sure they do as they claim: increased range/velocity/whatever it tells you, but judging from community notes and my own experience, the tonnage spent far outweighs the benefits.  More ammo or heat sinks seem the better investment.

[Wrangler]

It sounds brutal, I had watch a play through by Mage Leader on youtube. He pretty brunt about how it went; high and lows.  Use the Mech XP to buy the OmniPods first, make sure to pay attention to the Science Lab, pilot skills with exception of evade were not as important.

He ended up using Dire Wolves in end try get though later fights, which reminds me how MW1 was when you had face off against BattleMasters at the game's final scripted fight.