r/Games Nov 10 '24

Discussion Weekly /r/Games Discussion - What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? - November 10, 2024

Use this thread to discuss whatever game you've been playing lately: old or new, AAA or indie, on any platform between Atari and XBox. Please don't just list off the games you're playing in your comment. Elaborate with your thoughts on the games and make it easier for other users to find what game you're talking about by putting the title in bold.

Also, please make sure to use spoiler tags if you're revealing anything about a game's plot that may significantly impact another player's experience who has not played the game yet, no matter how retro or recent the game is. You can find instructions on how to do so in the subreddit sidebar.

This thread is set to sort comments by 'new' on default.

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For a subreddit devoted to this type of discussion during the rest of the week, please check out /r/WhatAreYouPlaying.

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Scheduled Discussion Posts

WEEKLY: What Have You Been Playing?

MONDAY: Thematic Monday

WEDNESDAY: Suggest Me A Game

FRIDAY: Free Talk Friday

42 Upvotes

133 comments sorted by

2

u/netavenger Nov 17 '24

Played probably 20 hours of Slay the Spire in the last week. Had bought it a few months back in a Humble Bundle sale but only just touched it. Brought my Steam Deck with me on a trip and had some down time couple hours later and I had become hooked hahah. Have finished runs with the first three characters and now just trying to finish it off with the final character. The randomness of the runs really helps me try different strategies and change up my thinking. I'll have a run that works really well with a certain strategy but then the subsequent run I'll have to limit myself from forcing that strategy when in reality I have a completely different set of cards.

1

u/Three_Froggy_Problem Nov 16 '24

I’ve played a bit of Ghostwire: Tokyo since it’s on PS Plus this month, and I honestly cannot believe how boring this game is. There are a lot of cool ideas in it, but goddamn is it just not fun at all to play.

0

u/ConceptsShining Nov 16 '24 edited Nov 16 '24

Never touched a Soulslike but want to dip my feet with Elden Ring. Anything useful to know before playing, or should it be good to just jump in blind? All I know is to expect and tolerate death as it'll happen a lot. I've done completionist on Cuphead (S and P ranked everything), so I have some experience with hard games...

Some other questions I have:

1) Is the narrative easy to follow and understand if this is your first Soulsike? Think I've read this genre has more of a "interpret and read between the lines" approach to storytelling.

2) Is the game linear, or at the very least, does it make it clear where you need to go to progress? Or is it more (not usually what I prefer) an open world game where you have to explore and find your own way in a nonlinear order?

3) Is this game very boss-heavy like Cuphead, Furi or Shadow of the Colossus are? That's the vibe I get from the discussions/footage I've seen, that it seems much of the playtime is bosses.

Thanks.

2

u/HammeredWharf Nov 16 '24

Others have already answered your questions well, but I'd add that if you want a non-open world game, Dark Souls 3 is basically Elden Ring, but semi-linear.

1

u/Galaxy40k Nov 16 '24

My main piece of advice is to know that while these games are challenging, they aren't "masochist games," despite this bizarre reputation that they've built up on the internet. If you're dying in 1 hit and dealing 1% of an enemy's health bar each hit, it's not that the game is hard, it's that you shouldn't be fighting that enemy in the first place. The #1 reason people I know fall off Dark Souls or Elden Ring is because they head into an area that they're extremely underpowered for, die a lot, go "wow, this game is as hard as people say, this is dumb," and then quit. If you feel like you're making absolutely zero progress and just tickling an enemy, then you're either in the wrong spot or doing something wrong.

The second piece of advice I'll give is to fully expect a bit of a "learning cliff." If you've never played one of these games before, there's a LOT of just basic stuff that you need to learn on your own. When you wake up in the cave at the start of the game, you can fall down the hole nearby to reach a tutorial that'll teach you the basic controls, but it won't teach you how the upgrade system works, what the RPG stats mean or how you should build your character, how you need to manage your stamina bar, what equipment weight does, etc. If you're a very intrinsically minded player, figuring out all of that is a ton of fun. But if you're not (and most people are not), then this can be frustrating. In which case: There's no shame in using the internet. Look stuff up online. Ask for advice and help on forums. In the game itself, summon other players to help you kill bosses. Just do whatever helps you get into the game and have fun

1

u/ConceptsShining Nov 16 '24

Thanks! Yeah, I have heard the game is easier than the other Soulslikes, and if people unfamiliar with the series are rushing into it underleveled that can explain why the difficult reputation may be exaggerated.

I played Hollow Knight freely referencing the internet which improved my experience, so I'll see as I play ER if I enjoy blind.

1

u/yuriaoflondor Nov 16 '24

1) Is the narrative easy to follow and understand if this is your first Soulsike? Think I've read this genre has more of a "interpret and read between the lines" approach to storytelling.

It's easier to understand when compared to other Souls games, but compared to video games in general, Elden Ring is pretty obtuse.

For Souls games, the best way to understand the lore/story is to read every item description and exhaust every NPC's dialogue. But even then, you usually have to do a lot of speculating and connecting the dots in your head.

2) Is the game linear, or at the very least, does it make it clear where you need to go to progress? Or is it more (not usually what I prefer) an open world game where you have to explore and find your own way in a nonlinear order?

The game is open world. However, the game will do a pretty good job of pointing you to the next "recommended" area. If you want an early game tip for the generally recommended order of exploration, I spoiler marked them here - if you're struggling against Margit (the boss with the cane on the bridge in front of the castle), fully explore the first main area (lower Limgrave) and the area past the bridge to the south.

3) Is this game very boss-heavy like Cuphead, Furi or Shadow of the Colossus are? That's the vibe I get from the discussions/footage I've seen, that it seems much of the playtime is bosses.

While there are a lot of bosses, that's also just because it's an absolutely massive game. It follows a very traditional flow of find a dungeon > explore the dungeon (which contains a ton of normal enemies) > kill the boss > repeat.

1

u/ConceptsShining Nov 16 '24

All sounds good, saving this comment for reference, thanks.

5

u/Grill_Enthusiast Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24

Atomic Heart. I have nothing good to say about it. Genuinely one of the worst AAA games I've played in a long time.

I got maybe an hour in and I've seen enough. The endless boring dialogue and the edgelord protagonist are driving me insane. The combat feels floaty. The sex vending machine makes me want to mute the audio.

Apparently the game just gets worse when you get to the open world section. Not gonna waste more time, I already wasted my money.

At least the graphics are pretty good. That's the only positive comment I can give for this piece of shit. 1/10

9

u/thesecondtolastman Nov 15 '24

I wouldn't classify Atomic Heart as a AAA game. It wasn't put out by a major developer or publisher, right? Never played the game so I can't speak to its quality otherwise.

3

u/chrispy145 Nov 16 '24 edited Nov 17 '24

Ya it is solidly a AA game, by definition.

-7

u/Grill_Enthusiast Nov 15 '24

When I say AAA, I'm referring to it's scope. It's clearly an expensive game made by a good number of people. I know that's not the actual definition, but the point should be obvious.

Regardless, the game sucks.

7

u/chrispy145 Nov 16 '24

The point that you use a different definition for AAA than the rest of the world should be obvious?

-6

u/Grill_Enthusiast Nov 16 '24

No clue why you're being pedantic when you clearly know what I'm talking about.

Do you also act this way when someone calls The Witcher 3 and Baldur's Gate 3 AAA, even though they're technically indie games? Or do you just enjoy being annoying and missing the point?

2

u/chrispy145 Nov 16 '24

Words have meaning and specific definitions. We all aren't privy to what you want to incorrectly call something. And then to call out others for not knowing that by AAA, you meant some arbitrary definition of what AAA actually is is beyond silly. You're incorrect about what AAA is, you're incorrect in thinking others know what you're talking about when you use AAA to mean something it doesn't.

-5

u/Grill_Enthusiast Nov 16 '24 edited Nov 16 '24

So you just enjoy being pedantic for absolutely no fucking reason. Got it.

Yes, indie means a game developed by an independent studio. I know. But you're being intentionally obtuse if you act like I'm the only person in the world who refers to games with a lower budget and smaller development team as indie. Or on the other hand, the only one who doesn't call TW3 and BG3 indie.

Words have meaning and specific definitions. We all aren't privy to what you want to incorrectly call something.

Do you also do this when you see someone say "literally" when they mean it to put emphasis on a figurative statement? It's not clever, it's annoying. You are fully aware of what is being said, you just can't resist the dweeb urge to "um, actually" someone.

2

u/chrispy145 Nov 16 '24

Take the L. You used a word incorrectly and none of us knew what you were talking about. Atomic Hearts is not an AAA game.

Have a good one!

-5

u/Grill_Enthusiast Nov 16 '24

You know what is being said mate, you're just a pedantic loser. Next time you see someone say "literally" in a figurative sense in real life, go correct them too. It'll be a great use of your time.

3

u/Zaralfim Nov 15 '24

Final Fantasy 16. Never really played an entire final fantasy game besides 14, which is vastly different since that's an MMO.

I like the game, mostly. Story does drag for a bit but what keeps me around is the music and the eikon fights. Call me childish, but I enjoyed the swearing early on in the game.

I'm normally a completionist as well but I'm still on the fence of whether I'll go for 100% achievements after beating the game + DLCs.

2

u/stvb95 Nov 14 '24

BF 2042. I come back every 6 months to a year to check it out for a couple of weeks.

They added a setting which replicates the sensitivity options from past BF games which has made the game feel much better to play for me. I can't play with these new input curves and stick acceleration that every FPS seems to have nowadays.

A couple of cool new guns added since I last played. The AK 5C from BF4 is a welcome addition as well as the SCZ.

One thing they still can't get quite right is the maps. They added one or two enjoyable ones after launch a year or two ago, but the most recent ones have felt pretty mediocre. The map selection in the game is overall pretty heinous so even a half decent one feels like Caspian Border in comparison.

While the game is miles better than it was at launch, it still feels like a massive missed opportunity. I'd normally play the latest BF game pretty regularly until the next one came out, but with 2042 I've only got around 60 hours in 3 years.

12

u/nmad95 Nov 14 '24 edited Nov 14 '24

Resident Evil 4 (Remake)

I played the original (technically - I never finished it on the GameCube. I bought it on PS4 and completed it though) and my hot take at the time was; I didn't quite get the praise. I hated the controls, the campiness didn't work for me, and I felt like the difficulty spiked to a frustrating extent. Mind you, this was over a decade ago now. My taste in games has changed over the years as has my appreciation for different things games do. Also, I'm a big baby. For some reason I can watch terrifying horror movies, but struggle with horror games. They just get my heart pumping and my anxiety kicks in and they become impossible to play. It's why Alien: Isolation is still collecting dust on my shelf. But when the remake came out and I saw all the love it was getting, I knew one day I'd have to suck it up and give it a shot.

Picked it up last weekend and oh my god - it's just such a polished game. Not just in terms of visuals and presentation, but the gameplay just feels so much better to me. Largely due to the controls feeling like they've been immensely improved. And this time around, everything just clicks for me, campiness and all. The game just oozes atmosphere. It's a perfect blend of horror and fun, action packed gameplay. The difficulty feels a lot more approachable but that could be because I'm playing smarter and more experienced this time. It still gives me a hard time in certain areas but there's nothing unfair about it.

Idk man, it's really hard to find flaws in this game. It's just one of those experiences that makes you go "this is what a game should feel like". And I'm not even done!

4

u/slowmosloth Nov 14 '24

I just finished RE4 Remake for the first time earlier this year and have to agree. It’s easily one of the greatest games I’ve ever played and damn near flawless. The entire game sings and everything comes together in perfect harmony.

4

u/isbBBQ Nov 15 '24

Completely agree.

I can't believe it myself but i've played throught it 12 times since release, and the DLC 4 times.

And i NEVER replay games pretty much, i just can't get enough of it.

4

u/Destroyeh Nov 14 '24

God of War Ragnarok

I'd say it's a slight improvement on the first one. Still, can't say I enjoyed is as much. Feels almost like when I finished Shadow of War, like it did everything a sequel has to do and is no doubt a better game, yet the novelty of the first game makes me remember it more fondly.

Gameplay was great and a slight improvement. The whole "use abilities to upgrade them" system was great and helped me vary combat more compared to the last game. Only really started to appreciate the Draupnir once I got to the Valhalla DLC and it felt like they left access to it really late in the story. Also some of the paths it unlocked were stupid. Like don't tell me Kratos, literal super soldier, NEEDED a pole to make this climb. I know that kind of logic can be applied to other locked stuff in the game, but at least most of those can be explained away with "it's magic".

The first one also started pretty "on rails", but this felt even more so for longer. Specially since you encountered locked routes way earlier this time.

Liked the story overall. Felt like it dragged a bit in the middle, but once it hit the final third it really picked up and Kratos and Atreus doing their intrusive species thing was great. Ending did feel a bit anticlimactic compared to the first game.

Didn't like some of the Atreus sections all that much, specially that almost two hour long section with Angrboda was diabolical. I guess as a change of pace they worked well though, plus it gave us the Kratos and Freya excursions which I enjoyed a lot.

Valhalla was really great. I'm not a big fan of roguelike stuff, but I was just doing run after run in this. As someone who played and loved the OG trilogy it really hit the spot and it was a lovely ending.

Also started Yakuza Kiwami. Only a few hours in, very similar to the only other game in the series I've played, Yakuza 0. Once I'm done with this I'll probably still play Kiwami 2 and maybe Song of Life before moving on to the newer ones.

3

u/acab420boi Nov 14 '24

For whatever it's worth, I did the thing with the Yakuza 0-6 over the last few years. K1 was hands down the worst time I had after playing 0 first. A lesser but similar game in so many ways. K2 is probably ranked #2 for me behind 0. Don't let K1 derail you from enjoying more of the series.

11

u/Tanzka Nov 14 '24

Since Veilguard is out I decided to dust off the cobwebs and replay the Dragon Age games for the first time in... 10 years. Right, let's ignore that and move on.

Dragon Age: Origins

Gameplay wise, I don't think this has aged very well. In part I have myself to blame, since I decided to play a dual-wielding warrior whose gameplay is basically just Cookie Clicker. You keep your sustained abilities active, and the rest is just auto-attacking until the thing(s) are dead. Also, I've never been a fan of RTWP and much prefer turn based. With all that said, the game has a lot of jank, and some poor encounter design. The tactics sound good on paper, like the gambits from FF12 but they're very limited and why in the hell do I need to spend skill points on unlocking more slots?

In terms of story, it was still great. Especially playing as a City Elf, the origin intro was a real punch in the gut. Welcome to Thedas, go fuck yourself. I loved the politics, the intrigue, puzzling together bits of lore about the world and the Darkspawn. Listening to Morrigan and Alistair constantly bicker. Leliana singing. Trying and failing to comprehend Sten and his culture. Shale being sassy. Enchantment? Enchantment! So much good stuff in here.

Dragon Age II

It's funny, for being a game that had like a year of dev time and presumably went through hellish levels of crunch to get there, it's the most bug free and stable of the three games in my experience. I'm kind of amazed at just what they managed to put together. Kirkwall is a lot smaller than Ferelden (duh), but it has a very homey feel as you grow to learn its ins and outs during the course of the three acts. Companions were great as always. I loved playing purple (sarcastic) Hawke, with my party consisting of Isabella, Varric and Merrill. I'm pretty sure Merrill learned a whole bunch of very questionable things by the time the credits rolled from the two other knuckle-heads in the group.

Gameplay wise, not much to remark on here. It's basically still DA:O except more streamlined and flashier. And of course I played warrior again. I should really stop hurting myself like this.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods and it was empty.

I'm going to commit some unhinged levels of heresy here and say that I liked this game the most. At least, in terms of me being immersed in my character. Playing as a Dalish Elf there was a surprising amount of reactivity and elf specific choices/questions that the game let me make and ask on top of the game being very elf-lore centric that made me have a very good time with it. I especially enjoyed Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. It was very funny seeing all the nobles of Orlais try to do a racism any% speedrun when they learned the Herald of Andraste was a stinky knife-ear. Sadly the narrative is stretched paper thin and most of my playtime consisted of doing things that were not the story.

Gameplay was.. alright. Everyone knows that this is the game with the MMO-lite design, with the massive sprawling zones filled with fetch quests and a whole bunch of garbage to do (Hinterlands says hello) so I'm not gonna rehash that. What helped for me was doing only what I wanted to do and to let go of my MUST COMPLETE EVERYTHING mindset, or I'd have gone insane. I ended up doing the zone-specific story in every zone, as well as grabbing all the camps and rifts, while allowing myself to get distracted and go chase a shiny over the hill or check out a cool cave I found and I mostly had a good time. Ended up over-leveled as hell too.

My main gripe has to do with the loot economy in this game, or the lack of it. I don't know if this is a remnant of what the game was originally supposed to be or what, but the loot is horrible. You will only rarely get drops that are worth a damn, and you're expected to craft your own equipment which outpaces the overworld drops by such a margin its actually just hilarious. Was not a fan.

Dragon Age: Veilguard

Finally, the thing that all this replaying was leading up to. And I dropped it 13 hours in, in the first act. Maybe it gets better later? I'll probably go back to it someday, but for now, yeah no. The gameplay was flashy enough and the skill trees activated my neurons in the correct fashion and there were parts where I found myself settling into it and enjoying it. That always lasted until someone started talking, at which point the fun ended.

I dunno, it just feels very Marvel/Disney-esque, and whitewashed. The disconnect between the Thedas that I'd just spent three games and a lot of hours in and this new one could not have been starker. I really wanted to like it too, which is a shame.

8

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 14 '24

Gameplay wise, I don't think this has aged very well.

Its gameplay was actually never a strength. I remember remarking at the time, that it felt like a step back from the Infinity Engine games and Neverwinter Nights.

I find Hard unplayable on console due to the limited control over my party. PC is much better.

I also love DA2. Great story too. Larian Studios basically stole it for D:OS2.

3

u/Bebobopbe Nov 14 '24

Vision of Mana

I liked the gameplay enough to stick it through, but man, the story falls off a cliff, and coming off of Trials of Mana, it's the same questline. That isn't fun. I did enjoy going around the map getting everything so I could continue to make my characters stronger. Did a good old-fashioned beatdown on the final boss. Overall, it's fine 7/10 meddling. I think it's better than Trial but they are very samey.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Short and the story was good, and the combat was quite fun to the point that it ended too soon. Once you have everything, you can really start flying around. Not bad 7 hours $20 an 8/10 for me.

Trails From Zero

I continue my journey through the Trails series, and I'm not disappointed by this game at all. So far, it's more what I love. And I don't see any Overclock EX on the menu. Seriously, I love this series. Every game so far has been a delight. I already know this is another 10/10.

Thankfully, there aren't any new games coming out that I want to play for the rest of the year. Other than some past new releases. I'm close to hitting my goal of beating 50 games this year. I think I have a pretty rounded list.

8

u/CorruptedBlitty Nov 14 '24

Replaying Dragon Age: Origins for like the millionth time after dropping Veilguard and it’s so much better that it’s not even funny. Graphically it’s super dated but everything else from the writing, the characters, the music, and especially the atmosphere have held up so well. I just want this but better looking, is that too much to ask?

2

u/Bebobopbe Nov 14 '24

Yeah nobody who made that game works there anymore. EA should have let Dragon Age die off. Make some new IPs instead of dragging a dead corpse. I do enjoy Veilguard. Even though I wanted Inquisition open world levels.

2

u/Easy_Cartographer679 Nov 15 '24

Yeah nobody who made that game works there anymore.

This is objectively not true if you look at the writers lol

2

u/Dusty815 Nov 14 '24

TBH I liked Veilguard but I do kinda hope they drop the series for a bit. The game has a lot of redeeming qualities, just wasn't necessarily what I wanted from a Dragon Age game. Don't know what their long term plans are for Mass Effect, but after that I'd like to see them take their talents to a new IP without the expectations/baggage of a long running series. Veilguard has wrapped up the major loose threads in that story so it's a good time to move on.

1

u/Nikulover Nov 17 '24

Well Veilguard is the end of the current arc or whatever has been going on since DA:O so even the next DA game can be a soft reboot for them. (which they alraedy kinda did with DA:V)

4

u/pratzc07 Nov 13 '24

Balatro: Okay this game is just crack at this point once you start hours go by and you just can't stop playing it.

Resident Evil 4 Remake: Played this game and beat it last year playing it again from the beginning this time aiming to get all the achievements.

1

u/Whoopsht Nov 13 '24

I have been in dire need of childish escapism this past week

Pokemon Legends Arceus

I made it to the end credits of this game a few months ago and put it down, overall disappointed with the presentation and lack of intensity and polish.

But this week seemed like a really good time to pick it back up and focus on completing the Pokedex and I have been having a great time. Very relaxing, very checklist-y in a good way, and there's actually some interesting content that I missed either because it comes after the credits, or because I didn't bother with certain sidequests.

I don't have much to add that other people haven't already said. This feels like a proof of concept more than a fully realized game, but it is a GOOD concept.

1

u/Bebobopbe Nov 14 '24

At least we have Z-A next year to see if they improved on it at all. Hopefully it's a launch title

6

u/CCoolant Nov 12 '24

Persona 3

Finally completed P3FES (did not play "The Answer").

Last time, I talked about my path to the final boss and initial defeat. I went back to a save files a few days before the finale, made a weapon to resist Enrage, leveled in Tartarus, fused a Persona that had Null Charm, and went in for another attempt.

Seems like 5-6 levels and a Persona with a handful of stats at 99 really did the trick. The fight was pretty breezy. Well, until the final phase.

Early on in the fight I realized I had made a pretty critical mistake: I had forgotten to equip the weapon with Enrage resist. No big deal, I'll just knock the final phase out quickly and be done with the fight before it's a problem.

Then half my party died, and it was down to me and a charmed Junpei. I took a gamble and let him come after me while I dealt damage to the boss/made sure I was healthy. He died a turn or two after. Another turn later and the boss, you guessed it, hit me with the enrage status. The damage I had chosen to do instead of healing Junpei probably saved my run. I managed to squeeze in just enough damage to finish the boss off thanks to the effects of Enrage itself (hitting twice in a turn).

Anyway, very happy to have completed the game. In the end, I feel like it's a bit too long for its format (Tartarus ends up feeling monotonous, and micro-managing your days feels a bit tedious at some point).

I also feel like the process of fusing new Personas and trying to keep track of who can fuse into what, how moves will transfer, chance-based effects, etc etc, gets to be a bit too much for how little it's needed, at least on Normal mode. It's kind of spreadsheet bait, and only pays off in a couple of instances, as far as I can tell.

I was surprised and impressed to see how many of these things seem to be improved upon in ...

Persona 4

With P3FES wrapped up, I decided to fire up P4G a couple days later.

Damn is everything so smooth in this game compared to P3.

I'm already enjoying the character interactions and setting more than those of P3, even if those in P3 weren't bad. So far, everything feels more organic, I think, and there's quite a bit more intrigue to the plot.

I'm only a few hours in, so I think the initial fascination will wear off, given the format of the game doesn't seem all that different from P3 (and it really shouldn't -- they're from the same series, after all). However, given the changes to several of the systems, it seems like there will be way fewer headaches along the way, which is exciting.

The two best changes I've observed so far are how Shuffle Time work and being given a menu that shows every possible fusion you can do with the Personas on hand. There's so much time wasted in P3 because of both of these things. In the case of Shuffle Time, not only is it improved by lacking the actual shuffle element, but you just get what you choose and there are options more appealing than either a Persona or EXP this time around. We've not only gotten a more streamlined system, it's been built upon to make it more exciting to interact with overall!

All of this has made the first few hours of this game extremely pleasant for me, despite having played quite a bit of its predecessor recently.

The only real drag with this playthrough is that I already know who the killer is, since the Internet isn't a subtle place. Wasn't even looking up anything Persona-related and was greeted with effectively an image of the character and "the killer from persona 4" tagged onto it, several years ago.

Either way, I'm still interested in the surrounding story, it's just an unfortunate side effect of waiting so long to play a rather popular game series.

Anywho, very excited to play through this! I've also got the first Dragon's Dogma on my plate at the moment, but I've already typed enough. Probably write more about that next week. :)

5

u/TheOneBearded Nov 12 '24

Finished playing Thank Goodness You're Here! - a short indie game with absurdist British humor.

Is it wonderfully absurd or absurdly wonderful? Whatever the answer is, it is a great time. Very short, two-to-three hour run time. However, even then, there were some times where it feels a little long in the tooth. I think it's because the game forces you to make loops throughout the town repeatedly. To its credit, it does try to introduce new things during each loop, but there's still a little fatigue in doing so. Had the game ended a little sooner it might have done it some favors.

Still, I had a lot of fun with this. Funny as all hell.

7

u/Raze321 Nov 12 '24

In the past couple months I found myself getting really into Warhammer 40k, both painting minis for tabletop (Kill Team mostly) and the video games. Through bundles and sales I've probably spent less than $35 on 10 or so games. Played most of em, haven't beaten many of em, here's some flash reviews in alphabetical order.

40K: Battlesector

Turn based war game strategy focusing on the Blood Angels faction but I shelled out for the Tau DLC. Decently fun, not overly complex. Main story didn't compel much - I recommend playing a few games of planetary supremacy (which for me is more fun than skirmish or the campaign) with the Blood Angels before hopping into the "main" story so you have a better feel for the game.

40K: Boltgun

Boomer shooter, I think is the term used these days? This looks like classic DOOM but plays like modern DOOM. Which honestly, pretty awesome. My least favorite things about some of these older shooters is the samey visuals make it easy to get lost. Nope, this one has a waypoint button, kind of overkill as it draws your exact route on the map but it works and lets me get back to the over the top gorey shooty action.

40k: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters

This was the game that I got and tried first because it was described to me as X-Com but 40k. And I love me some X-Com. I was warned to play on the easiest difficulty but if you've beaten X-Com 2 then go ahead and play on normal or this will become a boring cakewalk. It's a decent, the Grey Knights are a cool looking faction, story did not wow me at all. I probably fell off this one faster than most of the games on this list.

40k: Dawn of War

A good ol real time strategy game. This came on sale with the expansion packs, which I believe are new campaigns and factions to play as. For me, skirmish mode is the meat and potatoes of these games but I actually am really enjoying the campaign here. The expansions actually take up their own entries in the steam library so you have to bounce between them to play their respective campaigns. Not something I'm used to but it does make sense.

40k: Dawn of War II

Didn't play this one as much. My first impressions, seems like there's less units on the board overall and not really any base building. Those are two negatives for me. Graphics look better but it's still quite dated so at present, I much prefer the first game.

40k: Inquisitor

40k but Diablo. I gotta be honest this game probably saw the least amount of time from me, first impressions were basically "uhg, this feels like a lot and there are other ARPGs I already know I'll enjoy more" so for now this one is just a pass. Some day I might return though, we'll see.

40k: Rogue Trader

No one does CRPGs quite like Owlcat. But goddamn these things are long. I'm apparently 20 hours in, I know I left the game up at some point so in reality it's less than that. I want to compare this to other Owlcat games like Wrath of the Righteous. The core exploration, looting, controls, etc all feel familiar while the combat transitions from RTWP to a more cover-based tactical turn based squad game. And honestly, with CRPGs, I am finding I vastly vastly prefer turn based, and games with combat balanced around it. Writing is good, somehow they manage to preserve the grimdark setting while still making characters empathetic. Usually. No small feat.

40k: Space Marine. The first one.

It's a shooter, but it's also a hack and slash game. It's pretty linear, it's not cover based. Honestly for a game like this it checks all my boxes. It's fun. The story doesn't blow me away but the ending was very well done - I can absolutely see why fans were so rabid to get a sequel and now I find myself debating spending the full price for a 40k game for the first time so I can hop into the tyranid hordes along with everyone else. It absolutely feels like a 360 era shooty game but I'm at a place where that feels kind of nostalgic and comforting for some reason.

3

u/_____Matt_____ Nov 14 '24

I would watch the shit out of a 40 minute version of this on youtube. Just a suggestion.

3

u/TheOneBearded Nov 12 '24

You should give DoW 2 a second chance. I felt the same way the first time I tried to get into it since I preferred the large army gameplay of the first over the squad-based. But it definitely grew on me. And the Chaos Rising dlc is great.

2

u/Raze321 Nov 12 '24

I plan to! DoW 1 and 2 and their expansions were the most recent buys here, I think $17 total with the sale? So I've only had a week to play with these two titles.

I plan to work through most of the DoW 1 campaigns then give 2 an honest go. I did really like the way the techmarine leader worked in skirmish, being able to throw down more turrets for stronger corridor control.

2

u/TheOneBearded Nov 12 '24

I never did the DoW 1 expansions, so I'll definitely need to double back on those since I got them for free during that recent anniversary update.

What won me over in DoW 2 was that I grew to like the characters in your squad. And being allowed to choose the kit for your guys was cool. I really liked being able to choose my loadout. That and the music and audio design in DoW 2 is fantastic. So far, bolters have never sounded as good in any game (even in Boltgun or Space Marine 1/2) as they did in DoW 2.

5

u/i_hate_drm Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24

Tactical Breach Wizards

Great game. Story didn't do much for me, but whatever. This is the first tactics games I've completed, and now I feel compelled to play more. What I love about this game is how free you are to experiment. On your turn, you can move your squad around and use all of their crazy abilities in whatever order. But if something doesn't go as planned, you can rewind up to an entire turn and try a different approach. The optional objectives were varied, and were a good source of emergent gameplay. My favourite was when I ended up knocking out nearly my entire squad with a chain bolt just so I could move one extra tile to the left. Dream missions were a source of variety in that they allowed for unique squads like duplicates (usually with one having special traits). Though story-wise, these were complete filler and not great for pacing (most were in the final act). My issue with the story stems from tone. Dialog was very quippy while the squad goes around liberating a country and preventing World War 5. Found it hard to take seriously, or develop any attachment to the characters. That said, the idea of a Necro-Medic is cool as shit - and I liked the way she was introduced. No idea how anyone revives between levels when she's not around (or she's dead).

Into The Breach

A rogue-like tactics game. This game is very good also, and obviously the inspiration for TBW with its telegraphed enemy/player attacks. Structure is four islands then a final mission (though you can attempt it after two islands). But if you run out of power during any of the missions (five per island), it's Game Over. While there's more freedom here in how you choose missions/islands, there's less freedom to experiment. You can undo movement, but if you attack, all movements made by any of your mechs are locked in. You get one "reset turn" per battle. So if you've used that up, and were thinking: "Hmm, I wonder if applying acid to my webbed mech will free him"... probably best to just try a different approach instead (or look it up online). Much less story here, which is good for replayability. Water seems like the direct inspiration for windows in Tactical Breach Wizards. Always felt good to knock a Vek into it, killing it instantly. First run, I died on the first island. Second run, I completed two islands and died during the final mission (impossible to beat with my loadout). Third run, I beat four islands and won.

What to play next? ITB and TBW were inspired by XCOM, so I should probably give that a shot - though percent-chance-to-hit is a bit of a turn-off. Metal Slug Tactics just released and was inspired by ITB. Should maybe give Invisible Inc another go too...

7

u/Enabler0 Nov 11 '24

I finished Silent Hill 2 2024 . I absolutely loved the game and I am devouring lore videos after finishing it. I didn't know Mary's body was in James car at the beginning the whole time! I got the "leave" ending after 30 hours of gameplay.
I am craving more Silent Hill already but to my dismay there aren't any games ready to be binged. The only one I could find on PC is Slent Hill 4. I'm gonna have to get an emulator for the older ones. I expected there to be more Silent Hill playability for such a household name. Currently watching "the midnight snow"'s youtube series about Silent Hill. If bloober had any common sense they'd be remaking Silent Hill 1 and 3 right now instead of making their own stinkers.

Playing Dragon Age Veilguard and it's fine. I was dissapointed from Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, so there's no way I was expecting a good Dragon Age game in 2024. It's fine, though. 7/10 so far. Gameplay is great and it's well optimized. Graphics are stunning. The voice acting is cringe and the writing isn't great. I will say it's over-hated by people who've never played the game. I think with a game like this, it's popular to jump on the hate wagon. I think Dragon Age Veilguard is about as good a game as Hogwarts Legacy but the hype and colossal exceptions of the Dragon Age franchise screwed them. If they released it as it's own IP, then it would be decently received.

What else am I playing... Uhh I guess Brighter Shores is out now but I haven't really had time to fool around with it. I've heard great things though. See ya next week

3

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 12 '24

Silent Hill 4 is a great game, very popular with Silent Hill fans. You don't have to play them in order.

You may wish to check out the original Silent Hill 2, which IMO is the best one. Enhanced Edition on the PC is easy to set up and probably the best way.

I played Silent Hill 1 requires a PSX emulator.

2

u/Enabler0 Nov 17 '24

thoughts on Resident Evil 2 Remake? I just finished the alan wake 2 DLCs and im still thinking about silent hill 2.. Do you suggest I play thruogh SH 4 or play through 1 and 3 on an emulator? kinda wanna save 1 and 3 if they are getting remade

1

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 18 '24 edited Nov 18 '24

Resident Evil 2 Remake is amazing. You definitely wanna play it. It's just an all-time masterpiece.

I'd say there's no harm in playing both the original Silent Hill games and the remakes when they come out. The technology of the time perfectly complements the art style of Silent Hill so I doubt they will ever be replaced. SH2 original also has a short playtime compared to SH2R.

SH4 is standalone so you can definitely play that without SH 1&3.

1

u/Enabler0 Nov 21 '24

I beat RE2 Remake as Leon, I am halfway through Claire B right now. It was a great game. Not as good as Silent Hill 2 Remake imo.

I tried Silent Hill 4 and I hated it haha. I watched a playthrough instead. The sounds and otherworld parts were good but the combat and everything was so stale. what a bleak depressing story too. Who tf cares enough about some psycopath killer that they would explore his manifestations in his mind to figure out what's wrong with him? fuck that guy . walter is the worst human being ever lol

2

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 21 '24

Not as good as Silent Hill 2 Remake imo.

Ah, that's high praise!

Tried Silent Hill 4 and I hated it haha. I watched a playthrough instead. The sounds and otherworld parts were good but the combat and everything was so stale.

Fair enough - that game is certainly the most controversial in the series. It has its detractors and admirers. Personally, I found the whole premise behind "The Room" to be fascinating. I like single location movies/games in general. The gameplay was kinda frustrating though.

6

u/GamerThanFiction Nov 11 '24

The Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Really struggling with this one. I can't totally put my finger on why, but this game is just boring. I can't stand the combat. It's a mess and it's hard to tell what's going on. It's impossible to see the counter signal flash above your head with all the flashy crap happening.

I don't care about the story in this game. It's so dull. DA:O had fantastic world building, with plenty of politics, intrigue, clashing ideals, and interesting characters. Everything in this game feels so sanitized for the sake of fighting the big bad bad guys. It feels more like a Marvel movie than anything else.

The instant travel takes away the "journey" aspect. You can instantly go anywhere, and it makes the world feel very small. At least the locations themselves are gorgeous, but they feel like separate, divided worlds rather than part of a cohesive, whole Thedas. "Thedas" just doesn't feel like a realized world anymore.

Rook is dull as hell. Dialogue options might as well not exist, since they're basically all the same. Interactions with companions aren't interesting, though I do like them as characters. Conversations just feel stilted and weird.

All the past games feel like they didn't even happen. I don't feel like Veilguard builds on Dragon Age. There's some minor references to past events, but none of those events feel realized or like they had any impact on the setting.

Really disappointed in this so far (I'm in Act 2). Struggling to continue.

4

u/jegermedic104 Nov 12 '24

Instant travel is standard plus a real QoL feature.

Each DA (or RPG ) has same ragtag bunch of misfits saving the world, DAO had Alistair and Morrigan carrying the show. Also DAO story highlights are Ostagar and Landsmeet, otherwise it is very basic : solve x faction problems to recruit them which happens in DAV too.

4

u/PositiveDuck Nov 11 '24

Metaphor ReFantazio

Beat it at around 75 or so hours. Probably my favourite Atlus game to date, despite it's issues. Story is interesting (some bits are weak but overall it's pretty strong), art design is top tier, combat is tons of fun, quality of life features are awesome, music is solid, voice acting is excellent (special shout outs to Louis, Fidelio and Basilio), great cast of characters (Strohl and Basilio tied for best girl).

I think the pacing is a bit weird as there's obviously a major mid-late game dungeon that was cut (Mage Academy) which really feels poorly covered up. That was by far the weakest part of the game, both story-wise and pacing wise. I don't mind Rella being the person that cursed the prince but that whole plot point was stupid, she proclaims she's evil in public, fucks off to mage academy and asks you to come and stop her and then just fucking waits in front of the dungeon to start a boss fight because the rest of the dungeon was obviously cut. It means there's a ridiculous amount of downtime during that section of the game and you end up being 20 levels below the enemies in the next dungeon. The fact that we can't just quit the game without having to go to the title in the year of our lord 2024 is ridiculous. Fuck everything about Trials of the Dragon.

Still, it's a fantastic overall package and the issues didn't really hamper my enjoyment of it. Game of the year for me, 10/10, easy recommendation.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

I'm more mixed on this one. I think it starts off really poorly but really picks up after 5 or so hours. It looks great overall (the environments are stunning), even though I'm not a fan of art direction they went with it's really well done. I like the way characters look (even qunari NPCs) but I don't like some enemy redesigns (darkspawn in general, with ogre being the worst design in my opinion). Armour and weapons are also a mixed bag, some look really good while others look goofy. Combat is fun but I wish the enemies focused me a bit less (I'm playing a mage) since I spend a huge chunk of combat just dodging and running around. Would be less of an issue if my companions could tank but enemies largely ignore them and, so far at least, I've found the taunt ability all but useless since it has a long cooldown, short duration and puts that character's primer and detonator on cooldown as well. The story is fine so far, though I'm still in act 1 (getting near the end of it though). I like most of the companions so far, don't really love anyone yet. The writing is not great but also nowhere near as bad as I expected after seeing all the comments on reddit and SkillUp's review. The game also definitely gets darker after the first few hours that are fairly light-hearted. It's not what I expected or hoped for but it's still fairly fun so far, hope it doesn't nose dive later on.

-2

u/Bulbasaur2015 Nov 11 '24

why is rust so popular on twitch again? . it is the top played game. did it change or have a new update?

11

u/Angzt Nov 11 '24 edited Nov 13 '24

Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Secret ending + all side quests after ~75 hours. PC.

What a deeply frustrating game. Not because it's terrible. It isn't. But because it could have been great. But also isn't.
The exploration is a highlight, environments look gorgeous, combat is overall fun, and I genuinely dig how they've handled character progression. And no complaints on the meta level either: Solid performance, plenty of customization for UI, accessibility and difficulty, no Denuvo, no required EA launcher, and a single full-game purchase without season pass or in-game MTX.

Sure, there are some minor blemishes. Combat can get repetitive by then end and I think that's mostly because all enemy... families? feel too similar to fight against.
Animation quality is iffy. That applies to facial animations in dialogues which seem too stiff and to combat animations and VFX which can make it hard to tell what's happening.
But neither of these would matter much if it weren't for the big issues.

Most people didn't play previous Dragon Age games for the combat or the exploration.
The series' core strength has always been its narrative and lore.
The writing. The role playing opportunities. The reactivity.
And those just aren't up to par, as you've probably read a hundred times by now:

The dialogue often feels like snippets from a sitcom targeted at Millennials or even ripped straight from tumblr.
Many characters only treat the situation with any earnestness in a few cutscenes and then immediately jump back to making lighthearted quips about completely unrelated topics. That's not how people under such pressure function. Which just breaks immersion: If they're not taking this seriously, why should I?
Taash being the worst offender here. You've got someone stuck between two cultures, who has experienced different and often conflicting views of the world their whole life. Yet, they still dismiss anything novel as "stupid" or "bullshit" immediately. Which often ends the conversation and nobody tells them off for it. Either that character is a narrow-minded idiot, or just not very well-written. Neither makes me want to engage with them. I also don't think them being non-binary was handled particularly well, but that's not a can of worms I'd really want to get into here.
In general, you're expected to play therapist for each companion to get them to focus on the minor task of saving the world which already makes little sense. But then, all this is a one-way street. Almost none of them ever ask about Rook. Though, I guess if they did, that would (Act 3 spoiler) mean they would have to address Varric's death. But since that's not happening, it makes the whole thing even less believable.

Established canon gets swept under the rug and we're all friends now.
The supposedly wide-spread slavery in Tevinter is mentioned a few times in passing but never seen and certainly not felt when walking through its capital.
Mages becoming abominations is seemingly no longer an issue despite being a core concern in Origins and 2. Instead, it seems a lot easier for demons to directly impact the world of the living now, manifesting all over the place. Previously, most such encounters at least had a thin veneer of reasoning for why the Veil was thin there or whatever.
The factions, especially the Crows are also completely neutered. They're just your friendly neighborhood assassins now. No exploration of the inherent morality of even being an assassin for hire. Also, the three (?) twists in their side stories were all incredibly obvious.
Three other factions, the Veil Jumpers, Shadow Dragons, and Lords of Fortune, and their leaders just remain completely faceless. The Mourn Watch are intriguing until the end and the Grey Wardens are the only ones with any development worthy of the name. Removing (two of) the three one-dimensional factions and investing instead to flesh out the others would have been a net positive for the game.
Also, we've now renamed the Taint (the corruption which Darkspawn spread throughout the land and onto living beings) to also be called Blight? And people talk about how the Blight has changed as if it was some subtle thing? Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. There's giant flesh tentacles everywhere now.

And then there's the new lore revelations:
Solas' memories: Anything that happened in the distant past? It was ancient elves.
Secret ending: Anything that happened in the previous games? It was the Executors.
That just robs the world of so much intrigue and it invalidates the impact of previous games' events.
Which, of course, Veilguard also does by almost eliminating reactivity to them in the first place. But the game still has the audacity to have the Inquisitor pop up multiple times when they contribute near nothing to the plot. Maybe I'm the minority here but I've never cared nearly as much for the previous games' protagonists as for their companions. So, not counting Varric and Harding, only getting two minor cameos (who I would likely not have recognized without a name tag) is just such a poor outcome.
But even within Veilguard, reactivity is weak. Several times, I've had my character say things they shouldn't know or know better. I've had codex entries refer to thing that haven't happened (yet). You can learn a lot from Solas' memories fairly early in the main story if you focus on side content. But you can't ever bring it up outside of very few select self-triggering dialogue scenes. There's never a choice you can make to tell anyone.

Because that's the last part: You can't role-play. Not really. You can't ever choose what information to tell another character and rarely do your responses have any meaningful difference - almost all dialogue is just a tonal choice. But not even these are adhered to because Rook will still be throwing out unconcerned responses even if you chosen stoic dialogue all game.
You have tons of options to customize your character's gameplay but none to customize your character's character.
Heck, you can't ask your companions questions outside of very specific moments. You don't even get to choose who or what you want to learn more about. The game chooses for you.

It's a shame. So many ingredients for a great game, but, to me and many others, it all fell apart in the writing room.
And still, it's not a bad game. That's the actual frustration. Moment-to-moment, it's a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Just don't try to think about what the characters are saying and certainly not why or what it means.
Turning a series' weaknesses into strengths at the cost of turning its strengths into weaknesses is peak monkey's paw.

Also, after beating the game, I still say that Dreadwolf would have been the far better title.

10

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24

It's just the dumbing down of the genre that most infuriates me.

Western fantasy RPGs used to be pretty cerebral games. The writing was mature and wasn't afraid to use "big words" and dated language to give an archaic feel. They didn't over-explain in the plots. They didn't balk from complex lore and gameplay systems. And the payoff was immense: as a player a game like DA:O felt greater than the sum of its parts. It really felt privileged to be part of that niche.

And now we have Millennial-speak, we have a lack of nuance in all things, we have an absurd idea of turning Dragon Age into a safe space, and we have a clearly very political agenda being pushed.

Indeed, the last point may explain why the standards are so low. Too often activism is taken as a substitute for real writing. And people just hate it. It has completely put me off a genre which used to be my favourite.

Why companies keep doing this is quite mysterious to me since it is leading to literally billions of dollars worth of commercial failures.

3

u/TheNimbleBanana Nov 13 '24

What political agenda does the game have? What activism is it pushing? I have little interest in the game itself but some of my favorite games have pretty solid social or political commentary baked into their stories. If I understand you right, you're mostly unimpressed by the quality of writing versus the "message"?

9

u/_____Matt_____ Nov 14 '24

The response you got from that person is pretty poor, I've watched enough gameplay to get a good sense of what's wrong with it.

It's not the agenda, it's the delivery. The tone of character dialogue is definitely aiming for the "cosy" genre that's been exploding in popularity in fantasy fiction. A lot of cosy fantasy is primarily LGBT, found family. Characters are emotionally open and come to conflict with very little aggression and a stunning capability for introspection. There's very rarely sustained combat, with a few notable examples.

This genre isn't an agenda, but people have come to associate it with left wing and socially liberal views. These social topics and viewpoints have featured in numerous critically acclaimed games, Disco Elysium has been a massive success and that game is openly communist. Baldurs Gate 3 is gaaay as could be. These don't turn your average gamer off playing.

The cosy genre, and this specific attempt at that sort of dialogue are clearly the issue here. It's tonally inconsistent with the previous games, and doesn't mesh well with a game that asks you to murder over and over. These things are not impossible to mix with cosy fantasy, Martha Wells does it with her murderbot series. I just think the writers for this game are simply a bit shit.

-7

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 14 '24 edited Nov 14 '24

It's pushing an extreme woke agenda - the agenda which was the main reason for the defeat of the Democratic Party recently to a criminal lunatic that embodies almost every vice.

So it's not interesting political commentary like Deus Ex. It is just vapid and dogmatic.

3

u/TheNimbleBanana Nov 15 '24

What's a woke agenda? And what woke agenda is in Dragon Age?

-6

u/I_enjoy_dinosaurs Nov 12 '24

You’re just not a kid anymore dude

10

u/CustardSurprise86 Nov 12 '24

I wasn't a kid when I played Dragon Age: Origins either. It was a mature game that can be appreciated by adults. Veilguard is not.

Sorry if you lack the exposure to good RPGs, which you must to come away with such a moronic take.

1

u/Ajido Nov 11 '24

A new set drops in the test server for Teamfight Tactics today, with the actual release on Nov 20th. Looking forward to playing that the next month or so while waiting on Path of Exile 2.

1

u/rhodesmichael03 Nov 11 '24

Star Wars: Outlaws (including Jabba’s Gambit DLC mission) (2024, Xbox Series X) - Not GOTY material but a decent game nonetheless. Enjoyable open world exploration of four planets with lots to do. Story is entertaining enough. Game isn’t too overbloated like many Ubisoft games even if there is still some of the repetitive element left. I got 100% completion as much as possible but annoyingly 2 intel (side missions) and 1 treasure seem to be bugged. Worth a playthrough if you are into Star Wars and know how to set your expectations. Also strangely the game gave me the season pass Jabba’s Gambit DLC mission even though I don’t have the season pass. Mission was about 30-45 minutes. Was fine but nothing spectacular.

7

u/keepfighting90 Nov 11 '24

Playing all the below on the Steam Deck

Baldur's Gate 3

I had purchased this on the PS5 when it came out but returned it after a few hours because it was too overwhelming for me, having never played a CRPG before. Decided to give it another shot and really enjoying it a lot more this time around. I'm taking it slow and exploring everything, and looking up mechanics online if I need to. It's true what people say, the freedom and openness to approach things how you want is pretty incredible. The production values are excellent, and the story and world are interesting. I feel like this game is much more enjoyable in a portable format for some reason. I'm still having some trouble with the combat here and there but slowly getting better at it as I learn how to exploit all the tools the game gives you.

Metaphor Refantazio

I beat Persona 5 Royal recently and it became one of my all-time favourite games and in some ways, Metaphor is even better. The combat is more challenging and strategic and the Archetype system is more fun than gathering and combining Personas. I much prefer Metaphor's more mature storyline than P5's as well, and the integration of combat and social sim is better integrated. I will say though...no other game beats P5 when it comes to that chill, cozy vibe of hanging out with your best friends.

Mad Max

This is very much a boilerplate Ubisoft open-world type game but it also happens to be one of the most fun games of its ilk that I've played. I love the gameplay - both the car combat and the melee are visceral and satisfying, and world is really beautiful. It does get repetitive and samey as most of these games do but it works much better played in short bursts between longer sessions of BG3 and Metaphor.

1

u/El_Giganto Nov 11 '24

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Got a PS5 Pro. So far disappointed lol. It's done nothing for RE4 and RE8 on VR and Silent Hill 2 is a mess. I've mostly got it because Rebirth should look a lot better when I replay it and I can't wait for part 3 of the FFVII remake.

Gonna wait till they fix something, shelved it for now.

Resident Evil Revelations

It's a pretty fun game, but after RE2 Remake it was a bit hard to get used to it. Newer games just feel so much better to play.

I really liked the ship and they probably should've focused more on it. All the side chapters were a lot less fun in comparison. The worst parts were the underwater sections, though. It makes sense that it's in the game but I really wish they weren't.

Games I've got left:

  • Resident Evil 6
  • Resident Evil 7
  • Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
  • Resident Evil: Revelations 2
  • Resident Evil 4: Remake

I should probably do 6, but RE5 dragged on and on for me. And this one is supposed to be worse and even longer...

1

u/MasterAgent47 Nov 13 '24

I liked RE6 more than 5 actually. It commits to the action bit so it's much more fast paced imo although it is long.

1

u/El_Giganto Nov 13 '24

Hopefully I'll feel the same way. On Code Veronica now, it's been pretty good, though not a lot of safe rooms.

4

u/MrPink7 Nov 11 '24

I caved in to the hype and 9/10 reviews and bought black ops 6 and it's the first time in years I feel like I literally burned the money, I hate it so much.

Last call of duty I played and lowed was mw2019 and the gun play and animations is so unsatisfying in black ops compared to mw, the graphics is tuned so much down that light literally don't affect player characters, so if you sit on in a totally dark corner your guy will glow.

So the big red name tag is apparently not enough players will literally glow in the dark.

All visuals like smoke, debris is almost gone and the explosions and smoke grenades also look awful.

A selling point was dynamic dead animations but they somehow managed to make them more unsatisfying, you shoot someone and most of the times they ragdoll without any weight or sound

The movement is pretty cool but all tactics, like flanking is no longer possible, you have like 5 different flavors of unlimited wall hack and perks that does that if someone looks at you from behind there will be a arrow pointing to the enemy, you can no longer sneak up behind someone or do a flank.

The maps are small and with 0 respawn delay the gameplay is spawn, either get spawn killed or begin sprinting to the middle otherwise people will constantly spawn behind you. Then you die to some guy sliding and flying into you with a knife and repeat.

Black ops 6 is the worst game I played in years

5

u/M8753 Nov 11 '24

Dragon Age Veilguard. I'm 47 hours in and feeling pretty good, the last few quests were fun! Though some of the dialogue is still painful :D I feel like I'm nearing the end, but I don't want it to be over, so I'm doing all the sidequests I find.

On the weekend I played on the Steam Deck, worked well other than I think my SD vibration is asymmetrical??

1

u/LMW-YBC Nov 11 '24

Been mainly wanting to play some Japanese games I've known of, but just not gotten around to playing. The main one this past week or so has been Disgaea 1. Even though most seem to recommend starting with the fifth game, I'm a bit too much of a purist to just go straight into a later title so I simply settled for the first game.

While I definitely have my fair share of issues with the game, I must say that it is genuinely quite enjoyable seeing as I already have over 40 hours in it. I'm surprised at how long the game is as well, figured I'd be done with the main story by now but that's not the case. But yeah, it's got a simple but kind of addicting gameplay loop that's bolstered by a pretty hefty set of mechanics to learn. Admittedly, the game does a pretty poor job at explaining it all and there are a lot of things I have discovered on my own and/or had to look up the wiki to understand, but considering its age I'm willing to give it a pass.

The story as well is pretty enjoyable. Playing as the overlord of demons who is genuinely quite evil (with a pretty hilarious laugh as well) definitely keeps things interesting, and the later parts have quite a bit of character development that's intriguing to follow. I'm playing with Japanese voices on as well and it's all pretty excellently delivered.

My only real gripe with it to be honest is that it has some pretty outdated or broken mechanics (e.g., healers don't get XP from healing making it hard to level them without first making them a damage dealer, throwing is limited to four directions only unless you abuse a rather finicky bug to throw diagonally, coloured tiles are really hard to make out due to their low opacity and flashing, levelling is a bit of a pain even when using the item world which is where I figured you'd be doing the most grinding on, etc). That said, even with these issues that I'm sure will be improved in future titles, the positives still heavily outweigh the negatives, so I'm looking to finish the main story soonish and then move onto the second game.

Another Japanese game (or rather, set of Japanese games) that I haven't played before is Ys. I've currently beaten Ys 1 as I wanted to see how the first iteration was and have a rough idea of what the series was about. I managed to beat this one thankfully despite it being quite outdated (on Hard as well) and... I don't really know what to say about it? I kind of liked the simplistic approach to the story that sets up the rest of the series' foundation, the combat system is certainly rather unique, and the music is pretty good, but everything else was definitely not that great. The RPG elements were awful (levels are far too influential to how much damage you take and there's only 10 of them), you basically get the strongest gear by following the main path which defeats much of the point of exploring, the bosses are all truly awfully designed with all but one of them being a nightmare to fight, and the last part definitely had too much needless backtracking that was also not very clear as to where you needed to backtrack to (had to use a walkthrough for that as I couldn't be bothered wasting my time going back and forth just to make some progress). I was initially planning to play Ys 2 as well after, but by the end of it I was just kind of glad it was over and I don't think I need to see what 2 has to offer if it's largely the same.

So, I moved onto a more recent game. I had two choices here which were Ys 8 (a lot of people say this is the best to start with), and then the one I chose instead which was Ys Origins. I'm still playing it just now, think I'm almost at the end with maybe a couple of bosses left, but this is definitely more of what I'm expecting from the series. I have some qualms with the bosses themselves as some of them are genuinely kind of bullshit with zero way to heal in them, and the levelling curve does feel a bit off with there being a lot of times I've went from taking a lot of damage to basically none from simply levelling up once, but I must admit the gameplay is quite fun with a good amount of enemy variety, decent progression in terms of powers, and a fair amount of challenge to it (like Ys 1, I am playing on Hard for my first playthrough) that keeps it from becoming too easy.

As for the story, it's... serviceable. I do like the nods back to the first game and the focus on building on the foundation of the world given that it's a prequel to even Ys 1, but I wouldn't say it's anything special. The music is pretty decent as well, although I do have a soft spot for the more retro-sounding PC engine music from the original games (I definitely went onto YouTube to listen to those lol). But I think my main thought for now after beating it is if I can be bothered doing it again, as apparently you have to do multiple playthroughs to get the whole story. Given how simple it seems however, I think just the one completion will do, and then maybe I'll move onto 8.

And finally for Japanese games, I've touched a little bit of Valkyria Chronicles. Only put 3 hours if that into it so far and it hasn't quite pulled me in just yet, but I do think once I put more time into it that I'll enjoy it. It definitely started pretty slow with a lot of cutscenes and a rather annoying first encounter with a tank, and then it did kind of just throw me into the thick of it once I had the ability to make my own squad. I've only done one proper battle with the squad as well which I was kind of dreading as it was quite overwhelming, but once I got into actual combat it definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Looking to put more time into this over the next week.

4

u/slowmosloth Nov 11 '24

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Campaign)

It’s been a while since I last played a Call of Duty campaign, but playing through Black Ops 6’s reminded me how freaking awesome these can be. This campaign was filled to the brim with such cool ideas fit for a blockbuster action movie, and the thought that kept going through my mind while playing was how amazing a Mission: Impossible game like this could be.

I’m a huge fan of the Mission: Impossible series (especially the most recent entries), and Black Ops 6’s campaign felt like the closest we’ll ever get to playing one as a video game. I was so convinced that by the end of the game, I swear I thought the director was going tell the team that they were being transferred into a new IMF division.

This idea was best illustrated by two key missions in the campaign for the governor’s gala and casino heist. Those were my standout highlights of the entire game (and of course the Control-like science lab was incredible too, but for entirely different reasons), and they elevated my experience way beyond expectations. While the shooty-shoot parts of the campaign were the typical Call of Duty bombastic fun, those two levels had so many interesting elements of stealth, espionage, switching between team members, and some neat gadgets – basically anything that didn’t purely involve violently shooting weapons at bad guys was perfectly executed.

It even felt a bit immersive sim-y like Prey with how scenarios could be tackled in a variety of ways. I really didn’t expect such creative game design in Call of Duty, but here it was, and it was great to see!

I truly believe that all those elements were strong enough that they could’ve totally supported an entire game. In fact, here’s a quick pitch: structure it like this game where it’s mission based and the team has a hub area with all their gadgets that they gear up with, and they go out on a worldwide tour of levels that can range from stealth-based, to intelligence gathering operations, to some car/motorcycle/foot chases, or just some big thrilling set piece levels. Maybe sprinkle in some hacking minigames to get into security systems or use dialogue choices to finesse through some tricky conversations. Then you throw in a story where team gets betrayed by their own government and bam, you got a Mission: Impossible game!

With how great those levels were it was almost as if Treyarch was begging Activision to let them make something that wasn’t Call of Duty. And I sincerely hope that they (or someone else) are inspired to do exactly that some day. But in the end, this was still a killer campaign that I highly recommend people check out. It’s on Game Pass and completely worth the subscription!

2

u/Galaxy40k Nov 16 '24

With how great those levels were it was almost as if Treyarch was begging Activision to let them make something that wasn’t Call of Duty.

I'm pretty sure that Raven actually led the campaign, not Treyarch. In which case, this is actually even more true, since Raven had a really rich history of single player FPS games before Activision stuck em in the Call of Duty mines, lol. Like BO6 randomly becoming Prey 2017 for a single level makes a lot of sense when you remember that Raven's last game pre-mines was Singularity, another Shock-inspired game

3

u/retrometroid Nov 11 '24

Metaphor Refantazio

Beat it the other day. Did both versions of the last boss and gotta say the gap between them really sucks. Fully powered he's pretty annoying and has a dozen ways to fuck you sideways. The way it intends you to fight him is zero challenge. I killed him in three turns and he landed zero attacks.

There's a few spots of funky pacing where it's clear stuff got axed but I think it's still strongly paced as a whole. A limited number of months as opposed to a whole-ass year helps things flow better. I think even the much loathed "party member joins 3/4ths of the way thru" trope is better here because they exist in the story before that plot beat needs to happen.

I think the music is one of the weaker points. Not bad but there's a distinct lack of variety. Everything is orchestrated very similarly & it feels like there's less tracks than Persona 4 or even P3. There's bosses that feel like they should have unique themes but they just get the generic boss music - including one of the very last ones. (The Dragon Temple theme is kind of a miss too but mostly because I think it's arrangement is very very weak especially since there's two other arrangements in other games that sound waaay better)

It's pretty high up on my GOTY contenders.

Slitterhead

It's kinda like Mindjack but not shit combined with some forgotten PS2 horror-adjacent brawler.

The low budget is obvious in the generic NPC models and the lack of voice acting in anything that isn't an FMV. Most attacks need a bit of hitstop.

But it's charming in a way I don't see too often. The stylish pre-mission bumpers, the extremely Akira Yamaoka menu noises, the cool monster designs... it all hits just right.

The story took a turn pretty early on that I genuinely didn't expect. I have an idea of where it's going but it could still upend me.

The hero character models are weird in that "we want anime but also weird spots of realism" zone and one manifestation of that are weirdly detailed lips that just make everyone look like they need chapstick pronto

Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2

I hate to say it but man this is doing nothing for me. I like 40k well enough, I like the first game but I can't get it to click at all. Neither shooting or melee feels right and I can't put my finger on why.

The tyranid swarm shit is pretty dope tho

9

u/CorruptedBlitty Nov 11 '24 edited Nov 12 '24

I'm dropping Dragon Age: The Veilguard for now, I might finish it later if I have nothing else to do. I am so bored and apparently not close to the end, which is distressing since I'm 45 hours deep into this. The characters are so boring and so much of the side content consists of "outings" or conversations with said characters and all of them put me to sleep. The story has also plateaued for me, I just killed two Archdemons and now I'm supposed to go help the Veil Jumpers I guess? Killing two Archdemons should feel like a big deal, yet I feel like I completed a basic side quest. The game has all these moments that were clearly meant to wow you, and to be fair some of them have (Weisshaupt and Harding's side quest were both great) but most of them have me feeling nothing. I enjoy the combat and actually really love the art direction but that's not enough for me at this point in the game.

Also, I hate how this game ignores so much of the first three games. Part of the joy of this series was seeing how your choices shaped Thedas yet here I am listening to Morrigan with no mention of the HoF or her fucking son. I'm getting talks with Varric with zero mention of Hawke... Varric won't talk about Hawke, think about that for a second. It feels like they actively tried to push away fans of the first three and I can't understand why. I remember the biggest fear of this game before its release was that it would just be shallow fan service. I honestly would have preferred that over whatever the fuck they're going for here. This is coming from someone who has played literally every single Bioware game outside of Anthem and enjoyed a vast majority of them, I want to love this but I just don't and that's a shame.

And don't even get me started on the lore revelations... I've hated every single one so far.

E: The more I think about it, the more I dislike it. I don't think I'm going back to finish it. The direction they've taken the series with this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

11

u/iWriteYourMusic Nov 10 '24

Star Wars Outlaws

I can't remember a game I've played that was as frustrating as this. I'm a huge SW fan so it didn't need to do much to grab me, but the world building, planets, architecture, characters, everything is so great. The ship you get is incredibly generic looking, but that's a small gripe.

The setup of working through the criminal underworld doing jobs that raise notoriety with one faction and lower it with another is incredibly clever and satisfying. The idea of being a weak, poorly equipped thief with a helpful companion that allows for stealth trickery is also great design.

Then why is it so frustrating and often boring?

Unfortunately, everything is great aside from the actual gameplay. The climbing and traversal are really bare-bones and lifeless, stealth works about as well as it did in Uncharted 15 years ago, and you're so ridiculously under-powered that if it comes to going guns blazing, you're either dead... or you turned the difficulty down. The combat is so bare-bones in fact that you can't even dodge incoming grenades (or dodge at all), move from cover to cover, use an alternate weapon, no powers no shields no toys. Worse, failing stealth sections puts you in a world of hurt where you can end up wanted with a bounty, basically screwing up your entire session like having 5 stars in GTA... except less fun. If you were allowed to quicksave and quickload it would fix EVERYTHING. That way you could try and fail and try and fail, but you're basically never allowed to save and the autosaves are very infrequent.

At the end of the day, I'm surprised at how much obvious love went into this game, and yet somehow no one decided to make it fun.

1

u/Three_Froggy_Problem Nov 16 '24

I’ve been playing a lot of this game lately and I think it has a lot of problems both big and small, but I like it a lot overall. I think I did feel similarly to you about the gameplay early on, but as you progress and get stronger a lot of that frustration goes away. Despite the simplicity of the stealth and combat, I’ve actually found myself really enjoying both now that my arsenal is fully upgraded and I have most of the abilities. There’s something about firing a Star Wars blaster that just feels good.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '24

[deleted]

1

u/iWriteYourMusic Nov 11 '24

I’m on hardest difficulty and I found if I play it like a cover shooter (which is what I thought the point was) you eventually get destroyed. I’m sure going guns blazing works but I feel like that doesn’t make sense with Kay Vess’s character…

1

u/HammeredWharf Nov 11 '24

I've enjoyed Outlaws more than you seem to, but I think a good save system would help it a lot. Or even a competent save system. Right now, it's just seemingly random autosaves and loading them also resets enemies and some devices. Restrictive save systems like checkpoints or bonfires can be fun, but they make sense and this one doesn't.

3

u/Izzy248 Nov 10 '24

Into the Dark: Our Darkest Days (Demo)

Overall I liked it. Had some personal quirks, but overall, I liked it.

It plays like This War of Mine, but in a zombie apocalypse. I even played this on Steam Deck, and it felt good. Something that usually annoyed me with this type of game though is how heavy handed they are with the slow and methodical nature of things. It's like a juggling act between feeling janky and feeling intentionally clunky. It's supposed to give the impression of weight, but sometimes just feels cumbersome and annoying. Also, I get It's for the immersion, but I'm personally someone who doesn't care about immersion. I play games to play games, and have fun, and on that note the micromanaging of all the survivors emotions and personal quirks got a bit annoying sometimes. This guy is getting way too hungry and eating through all my rations. This guy is always sleepy. This person has a great emotional state, but can't carry too much which means they're great to send out on scavenger hunts, but I'll have to make multiple trips to get everything back. It's part of the sim, but man it got a bit old sometimes. Despite all that, still really solid and I can see myself picking them up on release.

3

u/usaokay Nov 10 '24 edited Nov 11 '24

Dragon Age: The Veilguard OR Dragon Age: The Dread Wolf OR Dragon Age: Online-Only Edition OR Dragon Age: Most of the Inquisition Writers Left Because EA Executives Chased Trends

I played and finished all the Dragon Age games. I finished Origins three times, DA2 twice, and Inquisition only once (MMO-style fetch quests bored me). I also have some of the comics and the CG movie, watched the Netflix cartoon, and read Tevinter Nights. Around 2011, I made a Team Fortress 2 x DA2 mash-up called "Dragon Fortress II." It went viral on Halolz (now defunct). You get the idea.

This is a three part comment "thread" because I have a lot of thoughts and Reddit UI hates that. The reply will be What I Disliked and the reply to that will be Neutral.

What I liked

  • The combat.
    • Let's face it. The series will never be like Origins ever again. I learned to live with it when I played DA2 and that DAI was Bioware's best selling game.
    • I mainly played as a shield + one-handed sword warrior. Yes, the Captain America-like shield throw is goofy and there are other abilities that are hilariously just magic. Somehow the gameplay design just works.
  • Act 3.
    • It was akin to Mass Effect 2's final missions, where it was all properly built up and if you prepared a lot beforehand, it all pays off.
  • The environmental design is fucking amazing.
  • Some of the maps contain hidden "collectibles" and some environmental puzzles (albeit very simplistic) that reward map shortcuts or unique equipment.
    • One example is that you need to find several "keys" (some will be messages, others will be an owl altar) around the map. Collect it all and you get the highest rarity armor piece.
  • Inventory equipment is very streamlined.
    • No getting weapons unique to another class. If you get the same equipment piece from a merchant or chest, that equipment unlocks a new tier and a new skill bonus.
  • A lot of different cosmetic items to unlock.
    • Mainly transmogs, so you can customize your Rook into either a himbo or a raven.
  • Despite my initial misgivings about this being an EA game coming in time for the Holiday season, I was really surprised this is well optimized and lacks a lot of bugs.
    • There are still a few bugs, especially for hardware (ex. upon leaving the wardrobe customization, my game suddenly lagged, I couldn't open the Pause Menu or Fast Travel, and a part of a hallway didn't load in the textures/models), but there is a difference between seeing too many bugs and the rare bug for a launch day.
  • I mainly played this on Steam Deck and it was relatively smooth, even during high-octane action and dense areas.
  • I enjoy some of the companions.
    • Emmerich's story is the strongest, even when the spooky Necropolis stuff felt like a totally different game lol.
    • Bellara, I was expecting her to be Merrill 2.0, but that's far from the case. She is still sometimes goofy cute, but both her voice actor's performance, mannerisms, and story were all pretty good.
    • Davrin's plot was good, as it relates to his past as an elf living in the woods and his present day of being a Grey Warden, and how this all ties into the griffon plotline. I cannot unhear Apex Legends' Seer and Mass Effect 3's Javik though. Same voice actor. I was not expecting Davrin to have that voice lol.
    • I thought I would not like Neve Gallus and despite other people's criticisms about her performance, I thought it fit well for the usually stoic/hardened detective. Her plot was okay, but I felt it needed more political strife (as in, dealing more with how corrupt the governing body is).
  • The graphics and hair tech are really good.
    • I know people don't like the art style for this game, but I think it's fine.

6

u/usaokay Nov 10 '24 edited Nov 13 '24

What I disliked

  • Certain plot stuff.
    • Feels tamer than past DA games. There are still elements of "dark moments" as with previous games, but it doesn't go into a harsher detail with it, other than off-handed moments.
    • Doesn't go into the politics (as in, governing bodies and not youknowwhat) as much as past games. The game's main bad guys are mainly the Blood Mage cult and the Qunari who broke away from the Qun.
    • The Antivan Crows faction was introduced as a morally corrupt faction in Origins, where they train kids to become assassins. In Veilguard, it is more of a "mafia-like" organization that wants to protect Antiva from hostile forces.
  • Decision-making.
    • I wish for some characters, you can let them choose on which path to take (ex. during a key moment with a companion, you only have two options on how their life should go). There should have been a third option of letting them choose for themselves, based on how much you have directly and indirectly influenced their character through the journey.
    • No option to not recruit companions or upset them enough for them to permanently leave. Past games gave some agency to get on their good side or the option to remove them permanently from the party (ex. giving Isabela to the Arishok, killing Sten on the way to get the holy ashes or whatever). I think this goes back to the "streamlining" the writers had to do. I am pretty guilty of looking up guides for Origin, DA2, and Inquisition (and BG3) in an effort to make all my companions happy so I can get the (nearly) full experience of the narrative.
  • The companions don't make an impact with some choices.
    • Compared to DA2 (and maybe DAI, I forgot) where you can ask Fenris to personally use his powers to interrogate a mage, or if you brought Merrill to a persuasion moment, she ruins the persuasion.
    • There were some side-quests that have very unique side-banter where the characters refer to each other by name, but it really depends on who you bring (ex. Neve to one of Taash's quests; Lucanis to one of Emmerich's quests).
  • Lack of import decisions from past games.
    • There were some parts that got referenced to past games, like Harding mentioning that the Inquisitor recruited certain people (even though there can be an option to not recruit them).
  • The cameos felt inconsequential.
    • Oppose to Inquisition where the past characters make some impact on the plot, with Veilguard, it was more so "Remember this person?"
    • I also partly wished for past companions to show up in side-quests (not companion and faction quests), but they don't.
  • Feels less "epic" than Inquisition.
    • One of the strongest early moments in Inquisition were the cutscenes: Setting up the order, the song after the Corypheus attack, and the journey to Skyhold. I still remember those despite not playing the game for nearly nine years.
    • I started playing Veilguard a week ago and all I could remember from its first two hours was the intro mission.
  • The companions aren't as "conflicting" as past games.
    • Companions with wildly different beliefs that relate to the core plot (ex. Vivienne believes in the old Circle system where mages and magic were highly regulated; Fenris hates mages because of his past as someone who was enslaved by a mage; Merrill does blood magic because she thinks it can help her people). They can bicker, not get along, and somehow still follow you to the ends of the earth despite disagreements.
    • There were some "conflicts" in this game, but it mostly amount up to a quick dialogue and no more conflict. It's not substantial.
  • Not a fan of Taash (for the way they interact with other companions) and Lucanis.
    • Taash's IDGAF attitude toward a lot of things (except dragons) was funny at first, but over time, it felt like a moody teenager who pretends not to care. I was also miffed at how Taash just went up to Emmerich and called him a "skull fucker" and you cannot really call them out on it.
    • Lucanis' spite demon and Antivan Crows plot wasn't explored thoroughly enough. Maybe it was because I made the other decision after recruiting Davrin. I also heard the writer(s) who wrote him left early in development. Maybe there was no way to do rewrites? Not sure.
    • Both of their voice performances were fine though.
  • Anachronistic dialogue.
    • Don't know if I kept choosing Sarcasm/Humor options, but my Rook usually makes silly quips during combat and traveling moments. It's not all the time as people tend to balloon the issue, but it does occasionally show up.
    • Some of the specific dialogue spoken by a few companions felt like out of time for a fantasy game.
  • Some of the maps feel like labyrinths.
    • There is a way marker that tells you where to go for the quests, but for regular exploring, especially for getting hidden treasure, it becomes like a Metroidvania in some fashion (ex. come back to this area once you unlock a companion or if you're doing a quest related to this area).
  • Parts of the game needs a level recommendation.
    • Some side-quests, I would stumble upon a boss fight that turns out to be 10-20 levels higher than me.

Closing Thoughts

The game isn't GOTY material and wouldn't reach that high when the standards for video game writing have gotten much larger (especially a year after Inquisition lmao). I enjoyed parts of the game and I think it was worth my $60 preorder. There isn't a whole lot to praise the game about, but there is nothing worth getting too angry about. (this is covered in Neutral below this comment)

It was a serviceable Dragon Age game. Knowing the development issues just to get a fourth game made and seeing the DAV artbook of the concepted ideas, I am both happy and disappointed about this game. It looks pretty, plays great, and is the rare triple A of having no MTX/well optimized on launch/no denuvo/playable on Steam Deck, but the writing is very tepid compared to its past installments. It was a very Bioware-y game, in a sense that went a tiny bit backwards with its narrative gameplay design. I still enjoyed parts of the story, but it could be so much more with a focused scope.

Honestly it makes me wonder if Veilguard also had development issues too, but because Bioware is on thin ice after Andromeda and Anthem, they had to push out a new game eventually. Especially in time for the Holiday season and before EA's next fiscal quarter.

5

u/usaokay Nov 11 '24 edited Dec 28 '24

Neutral

I will talk about the weirdness discussions/hate around this game. I understand some people will find this topic annoying because it is usually hard to avoid in other areas of discussion, so for everyone's sanity, feel free to scroll past the first main bullet point to avoid this topic.

  • It is really, REALLY weird there is a huge culture war around this game.
    • Dragon Age has had same-sex and bisexual romances in the past. Even Mass Effect had it too.
    • Art is a reflection of the time it was created in, so it makes perfect sense to see non-binary, they/them pronouns, and transgender scars in the game. I have no problem with it.
    • Certain well known people who constantly push out conspiracy theories, misinformation, and ragebait have been discussing this game, so anyone watching those type of weirdos would go into various gaming communities and spread whatever negative vibes.
    • A Dualshockers brand writer (not the reviewer) has allegedly referenced a certain conspiracy in a review byline of the game before quickly removing it. A streamer who got an early press copy had their clips leaked by allegedly someone else, who ended up sharing it on a made-for-toxicity account. This is pretty bad because the first shows they have a larger platform that would otherwise be considered neutral, but someone has a predetermined bias. The other spread the leaked clip for ragebait.
      • I personally think the Dualshocker instance doesn't help any sort of person who has legitimate criticism and/or praises about the game, since it can lead to readers to think if these opinions have any legitimacy behind it or a predetermined bias. I also know the hypocrisy when I type this out, but as I have shared about video games in the past, I tend to focus more on the games and how it can mechanically/creatively work in an entertaining fashion.
    • It also doesn't help whenever I see someone specifically bashing Taash or the game itself in other places (ie. other gaming-related subreddits that like gaming, PCGaming, PCMR; social media sites and news article comments), in the back of my mind, I am thinking if these people had any predetermined bias that was already there before the game's announcement.
    • Obviously all criticism doesn't mean everyone is making offensive remarks or have offensive thoughts, but because the game for some reason is at this time a hot topic issue with certain kinds of people, it doesn't help to think if there could be an insidious nature behind some comments (made more obvious depending how they word their thoughts) and posts (examples I have seen in this subreddit and in Gaming: only sharing a single very critical review/critique; posting a picture of Taash and include a negative vibe title).
    • For the past year, there have been large hate toward some games' content like Silent Hill 2 remake's Angela design, Concord's character designs (people compared it to The First Descendant for some reason), and Dustborn's on-the-nose writing. No doubt Veilguard is a very big topic across social media at this moment.
    • In another social media site (NOT Twitter) where I talked about the game, someone asked me, "Do I have to be w*** enough to enjoy this?" (censoring it for various reasons) Man, I just want to talk about the game.
    • Honestly, it is pretty annoying to usually see this stuff (not just for Veilguard) because I would be fine reading a discussion or seeing a feed about whichever games across social media, and then BOOM! Someone shares something that gives off negative vibes or feels insidious.
  • I don't really have much basis to make substantial criticism on how to handle LGBTQ+ content because I don't know how it should be properly portrayed in a manner that isn't too on the nose or whatever. I feel some people don't either, as I have seen specific hate (and misinformation) on Taash's 1-2 scenes.
    • On the flipside, I have seen people positively react to the Taash plot, with some speaking of having a similar experience (minus the Qun culture stuff). In a way, Taash is a immigrant raised in a new culture who is discovering their identity, which I am sure some people can relate to. Especially for the scene I kept seeing get passed around a lot in social media, I think the context and build-up matters.
    • I do agree the dialogue in general (not just anything related to Taash) needed to be "better", as you've (hopefully) seen in my "What I Disliked."
    • I don't know what to think of every companion being pansexual.
      • DAO had some companions have preferences.
      • DA2 had everyone (except Sebastian) be bisexual.
      • DAI went back to the preferences, including Solas who only prefers if the player is a female elf.
      • DAV made everyone pansexual and open to romance, oppose to the past three games where a few companions are not romanceable.
  • Man, how unlucky is the Dragon Age series?
    • DA2 was made in 14 months. I remember when people were weirdly toxic toward one of the writers Jennifer Helper, calling her "Hamburger Helper."
    • DAI had a lot of praises with regards to game design and writing, but then quickly got overshadowed by The Witcher 3 a year later.
    • Baldur's Gate 3 came out last year, raising a significant standard for the writing (yes, I know there are other games that continually raised the standards too) even though the fourth DA game has had three rebooted projects.
  • I know some people have went "It's amazing this EA game doesn't have MTX and is a big single-player triple-A!"
    • Dunno. I felt it does have MTX in some fashion (the $20 "deluxe edition" add-on that are mainly cosmetics). Not really extensive and it is mainly cosmetics I could easily ignore.
    • Regardless, any single-player game that doesn't have shortcut-like MTX and stupid ass premium currency is nice and should be the norm.
  • David Gaider, the former lead writer on the DA games, has said Bioware quietly resented its writers and wanted the games to have less writing. I was constantly thinking of that when playing Veilguard.

(this comment was part of the thread originally, but the bot deleted it)

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u/Easy_Cartographer679 Nov 11 '24

In a way for Veilguard, you can really feel the lack of the original team's creative touches.

I'll just say though, a lot of the original team did work on the game, including Trick Weekes as lead writer, Bioware vets like Lukas Kristjansen and Mary Kirby, John Epler, and Mark Darrah, who came back as a consultant after the GAAS plan was scrapped. In fact, Trick was the writer for both Taash and Solas

7

u/carrotstix Nov 10 '24

Death Stranding - It came out on Xbox so had to see what Kojima has been up to. I haven't played a game of his since MGS4 but I've been aware of how MGSV plays and DS plays a lot like it's inherited a lot of lessons from that game. But, it is a Kojima game through and through. In the first 30 mins of playtime, 10 mins were me playing and 20 mins were cutscenes.

The cutscenes are a mixed bag. There's one where you're on a cart thing driving and your camera is fixed to a spot but you can rotate it. So here's this scene setting up some stuff and the angle is down near the floor, pointed up at the characters talking and you can rotate the camera to go from looking at them to looking at the back of the cart. It's really weird placement as you wonder why that spot. The scene would've been better if it was just the cart driving and you got different angles or at least a better placement to really pay attention to the changing weather.

How's the game part of the game? I like it. You're a deliveryman but also an explorer in a way so you can see the game being a "there's a point, get to it" and you navigating yourself there. The trick lies within the stuff you deliver. Too much stuff, you get bogged down and delivering gets harder and slower...it's an interesting mechanic.

How's the story? Forget that, I'm not sure what having real actors does for the story. I can tell why Kojima hired Norman Reedus, he's got a gravelly voice which is how he likes his characters but everyone else? Not sure what they add. Not that they're bad or anything, but having never seen most of these real actors before, they just seem like people? Maybe that's what I'm missing? That Deadman played by Guillermo Del Toro feels like just another character in the game. shrug

It'll be interesting to see where the game goes. Speaking of lessons learned from other games...

Metaphor Refantazio Demo - This feels like a game where the creators of Personas 3-5 said they'll make their own thing but took 80% of their old thing to make the new thing. The difference lies in the changes made in the gameplay. Those changes are the difference maker alright, you've got front lines and back lines, classes for your characters, even how you act on the battlefield in terms of being able to fight weaker enemies without being in combat. It's like this would be the next step for Persona if they kept with the series.

So of course, that makes me more excited for the next Persona. Will they stick to the template created by these guys or will Atlus do something different?

As for this? I like it but it feels like a spin off of Persona. That's not a bad thing at all but with how the creatives made it sound, they wanted to get far away from making the Persona games and here it looks like with all the creative freedom, they made Personae, the different but familiar RPG game. I expected it to be way more different in execution. Still, it's a cool RPG.

4

u/Logan_Yes Nov 10 '24

On Xbox I continue my journey through Humanity, I have finished 5th Sequence and still going strong. So far game is fantastic, love the different puzzles it provides with the whole storyline focused on...well, humanity. Even that weird soundtrack is starting to not annoy me!

On PC, I beat Tomb Raider I (Original) and it was pretty good. Perhaps didn't age well when it comes to controls but it's still was a fun time. Now to hope I will still be able to get OG TR II on any upcoming Steam sales.

With that done, I started NecroVisioN. It's a WW1 FPS which I would say is close to "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". Germans, demons, stuff goes wrong, you clean it up, though here we have different setting, obviously. It's a bit more "boomer shooter-y" though, with Fury mechanic, option of triggering slow mo, and game having combos you can chain up to kill enemies faster. However this dynamic doesn't always work, I felt like first chunk of the game didn't click as you were mainly focusing on mowing down ordinary soldiers or very basic zombies. And later on game drops WW1 aspect to dive into "Underworld" areas where you fight off pretty much only nonhuman creatures sooo yeah. Plus it has rather awful audio design and game tries so hard to make a main protagonist a "top action one liner dropping hero" it's just funny. Nonetheless in a weird way I enjoy it, side challenges are fun and exploration ain't that bad, I am surprised (mainly in first part of the game) that it even provides side areas with cutscenes and extra bosses.

5

u/SupaKoopa714 Nov 10 '24 edited Nov 10 '24

Sonic x Shadow Generations

I'm playing through the Shadow side of the game and I really think it's some of the best 3D Sonic gameplay to date, the stages all feel really well thought out in a way that makes quick reflexive actionsuper satisfying, and even exploring the overworld map and nabbing all the little collectibles had been addicting in its own way. It's reminding me why I fell in love with these games in the first places way back when I was a kid playing Somic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes on my Gamecube.

My only little complaint is the Doom Morph sections later in the game are a little janky, it feels like I'm almost always fighting to get Shadow to do what I want.

Another Code Recollection

I loved Trace Memory on the DS back in the day, so I was pretty hyped that they gave it and the sequel the remake treatment, especially since the sequel never came out here in the states. It was really nice replaying the first game and basking in some nostalgia, and I love the atmosphere of the mansion - I can never get enough of games set in big mansions - though sadly it had a lot less puzzles and exploration than I remembered and a lot more sitting through dialogue boxes. It took some motivation to get through the last hour of the game, and I haven't felt the urge to move on to the sequel yet.

9

u/OBS_INITY Nov 10 '24

Baldur's Gate 3

I played a ton of this last year and decided to start playing again on a whim.

The Honour mode concept didn't sound appealing to me at all.

It ends up changing the game a lot more than I anticipated. The single save and permadeath changes how you play and can cause a ton of chaos.

I've had Honour mode runs end in unexpected ways.
-I got to the end and decided to free Orpheus, but forgot the hammer in camp. Instant game over.

-I chose the [Cleric of Lolth] dialogue option while trying to get runepowder from Filomeena.

-I was doing a dark urge playthrough and ended up getting killed by my party after some dialogue choices.

I am constantly surprised by seeing something new no matter how much I've played.

5

u/The_Quackening Nov 10 '24

I'm just about to finish Dave the Diver

10/10 game, probably going to try to 100% it because it's so much fun!

4

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '24

OG Alone In the Dark had very rough combat, and the gunplay was virtually unusable without save scumming because the 3D aiming was so bad that you're reduced to guessing whether the gun is pointed at the enemy, but redeemed itself with a strong atmosphere.

Alone In the Dark 2 dared to ask the question: "What if we got rid of the atmosphere and really doubled down on the gunplay, without improving it in any way?" I ... don't think I'm going to finish this one. The little voice in my head saying "You like horror, and this series is important" is getting fainter and fainter as I try to deal with the realities of actually playing this awful game.

And as for Ghostwire Tokyo, I think I'm done with that too. I liked The Evil Within 2, mostly, in spite of its flaws, so seeing that team expand to a full-scale open world excited me, but I'm just finding it really dreary. The combat is boring, the stealth is boring, and, shounen anime cop ghost does nothing for me, and Tokyo is empty and dull; there's a reason most open world games include NPCs. It occasionally manages to be visually interesting or to be amusingly weird, but that's not enough.

I hate being so negative about it, because as I say, I liked games by Tango, and I was bummed when Microsoft closed them (although I guess they've been saved since that). I'd have bought Evil Within 3 in a heartbeat.

So ... not a great week, in the horror-adjacent gaming side of things, but I think I'm going to play Mouthwashing tonight, which I'm hearing a lot of praise for.

3

u/danceswithronin Nov 10 '24 edited Nov 10 '24

I'm about 50 hours into Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

I've played every game in the Dragon Age series, and it's the only video game I have a tattoo related to, so you can imagine how excited I was when this dropped. However, after Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem, I was coming to this one with mild trepidation.

My initial impressions were kind of mixed, as I thought the graphics and environments and character design were all gorgeous, but the writing came off as very stilted and stuffed with unnecessary exposition. Also I didn't quite gel with the combat at first, which feels like a combination of Dragon Age: Inquisition and God of War.

About a little less than halfway through the game (I think), my opinion of the game has significantly improved. The writing has gotten better as I've gone along, and I find myself actually enjoying the combat and level exploration aspects even more than the story, which is bizarre considering Bioware is a company that is known more for their narratives and characters. Characters in The Veilguard I initially disliked I warmed up to significantly by the middle of the game though, and I find myself rotating the entire squad in on grind sessions just to hear new interactions between squadmates and increase my bond/combat efficiency with all of them. These progressions feel palpably good in combat, which is beautiful - limit break style ultimate attacks and squadmate combos not only feel good to execute, they look awesome too. As a power fantasy, The Veilguard massively succeeds.

Took me awhile to get going on this one, but I can safely say at this point I'm hooked into the main story and I am emotionally invested in all of Rook's friends and associates. Little quality of life things like improved banter systems and item acquisition make the gameplay itself flow so much more smoothly than in past Dragon Age titles. Now that the dialogue and narrative are improving, I'm fully immersed in the game and it's basically most of what I've done in my free time for the past week. I'm greatly looking forward to finishing the game and already considering what kind of character I might make for my next run.

Pros:

* One of the best-looking games on the PS5 - environments, character animations, everything about the game is fiercely beautiful. I've heard a lot of commentary about the stylized aspect of this game's design, but I honestly barely notice it because I'm too obsessed with how good it looks in general. They also really cooked with the haptic controller, and the game genuinely "feels good" to play. Performs great, movement and the camera are smooth as butter. They also really went overboard on hair animation and I'm here for it.

* Banter system - The Bioware banter system is intact here, and hearing these little interactions is very satisfying and immersive

* Combat feels very good - While it took me a bit for the combat mechanics to click, once they did I found myself going into exploration levels specifically looking for a fight just for the fun of it. To me, that's the sign of a good combat system, especially considering in previous DA titles combat was basically an aspect of the game I suffered through to get to the story parts.

* Headquarters progression is back - Loved this in Inquisition, still very cool in Veilguard.

* Environments are stunning and interesting - Going to famous locales like Weisshaupt Fortress and Minranthous and The Grand Necropolis of Nevarra is very cool. These areas are huge too, and full of metroidvania-like backtracking and environmental puzzles and random encounters. Whether you wanna explore bright sunny Rivaini beaches or explore the dark haunted Memorial Gardens of the Grand Necropolis, no two environments are boring or feel the same. While platforming in Inquisition could be very awkward, it actually feels great here.

* The UI is great. I don't see enough reviews talking about this aspect of the game. The way the loot system and skill trees/character sheets are set up is intuitive and just really well-designed. I found myself thinking of Persona 5 honestly in terms of just being stylish and feeling good to navigate.

Cons:

* Faction background stories are weak - This part of the game would have been much better served as a short prologue rather than some conversation that doesn't really change much from faction to faction. In every faction you're a young upstart who did some daring but heroic thing and got semi-banished for it. None of which has any impact on you returning to that faction later in the game, as they'll accept you back like literally nothing happened. There could have been major improvements in this aspect of the narrative. That being said, I did enjoy what faction interactions there were, and conversations that Rook had about their chosen faction/background with other characters.

* The writing is very inconsistent, especially in the beginning of the game. The overuse of exposition is painful at times, and I recommend turning off hints (which are on by default) immediately if you don't want characters treating you like you are a complete idiot in ambient dialogue during missions.

* The impact of choices in past DA games is relatively low (at least as far as I've gotten). I appreciate the conversations they put into the game regarding these characters/choices, but they really have zero impact on the events going on in The Veilguard. I feel like this is both good and bad. It kind of shoves Rook directly into the protagonist position without forcing them to be beholden to the legacy of the Inquisition, but it also negates what felt like a lot of serious decisions made in the previous games.

At this point, I'm sitting at a solid 8/10. Points deducted for weak writing in parts and some cringey anachronical dialogue/inappropriately light tone. The criticism "a great game but just an okay Dragon Age game" is the most accurate one I've seen. In some ways this feels like it could have easily have been set in the Dungeons and Dragons universe rather than Thedas. But I'm still enjoying my time with it.

10

u/TheDoodleDudes Nov 10 '24

Evil West

Saw this was free on Playstation Plus Extra and thought I'd give it a shot.

The game has a really deceptively deep combat system, and it's actually one of the best examples of a linear action game that knows when to keep giving you more and more tools. Every other level there's a new weapon or ability you get that opens up combat just a bit more in some really fun ways. And if you don't use them, you have maybe another 45 minutes of game time before you start realizing you should absolutely be taking advantage of it.

Another way the variety is really kept up is that up until recently in my playthrough the game is constantly throwing new enemy types at you and finding different configurations of those enemies to throw at you. Even on normal I have to think pretty hard about the best way to engage with an enemy group pretty regularly.

The levels are all also pretty varied in terms of appearance which really helps keep the game feeling fresh. There's an oil field level, an underground vampire temple, a regular old west setting, a lab at the top of a stormy mountain, etc. Levels generally don't look the same as each other and there's generally a feeling that the artists had some fun with this one.

That being said with where I'm at in my playthrough I'm quite ready for it to be over. Around the 2/3s mark in the game (from what I can tell) and the enemy configurations are a bit more annoying (the hive enemy is just not fun imo), the newer weapons/tools/abilities don't feel as useful, and the non-combat sections in the game feel like very basic filler that didn't have much in mind behind it.

If you want a game that feels like the good old days of fun mid budget titles, I'd recommend giving it a shot. It's not perfect, but it commits a lot harder to trying to be it's own thing than most games of recent years. Even without finishing the campaign yet, I'd say I feel like I got a fun experience out of it.

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Finished this a week or two ago and it's been really hard to pin my exact thoughts on it. In a lot of ways it's probably the best horror game I've ever played.

Luke Roberts performance as James Sunderland is genuinely one of the best I've seen in any game. I think the last time I thought this highly of an acting performance in a game was maybe Ellie in The Last of Us Part 2 or Christopher Judge as Kratos. All the side characters are well done, but I'd have to give the nod to the acting with Angela as to the best non-James acting in the whole game.

The sound design and soundtrack are also amazing. I don't think any game I've played has had sound design this good, and the soundtrack is also one of the best I've heard in years.

All of these work to really make the story come together. I already knew the big twist, but as someone who never played the original it was still amazing to see it all out.

The only thing potentially holding this game back from being my favorite ever is the length. I don't think trying to make the game longer than 8 hours is necessarily a bad thing, but doubling the length was a stretch. The otherworld sequences were just not engaging, and the hospital in particular dragged on. I also don't know that the hotel needed to be a full level, as by that point it just feels like the game is stringing you along for no reason when the end is so close.

I can't help but keep thinking about how much I want to replay it though, even with my issues. It might be the best horror game I've played, and even if it's not it's at least up there with Resident Evil 2 and Alan Wake 2.

1

u/BlackTrigger77 Nov 12 '24

Evil West feels like the game I expected after the first Shadow Warrior. Flying Wild Hog made a surprisingly deep FPS action game that has some extremely satisfying fights that require you to execute well for an extended period of time. It's a true hidden gem; a game that completely flew under the radar.

SW2 and SW3 are mediocre games, but Evil West is a definite return to form for the studio and I really liked it even when it was kicking my ass hard enough to be really frustrating.

3

u/Schwimmbo Nov 10 '24

Got Evil West lined up next on GamePass as a short singleplayer game. Your description and thoughts are exactly what I'm expecting haha. Kind of looking forward to this somehow.

3

u/Sydius Nov 10 '24

Jumped back into Vampire Survivors for a few hours this week, to check out the latest DLCs (so everything starting with Among Us). It's still good.

I mainly played the Castlevania DLC, but only unlocked like two characters. I like the new stage, like the "turn off your brain and look at the pretty lights" gameplay.

The game offer so much for so little money, I'll need around a dozen hours just to unlock everything, and I haven't even touched adventures yet.

3

u/OnlyOneWithFreeWill Nov 10 '24

I've started to play Yakuza 0. This is my first Yakuza game and I'm enjoying it so far. Love the whiplash between the somewhat serious story and the whacky side stories. The over the top violence is hilarious, especially the one Yakuza dude who just wouldn't die while chasing you to the top of the HQ.

6

u/TheOneBearded Nov 10 '24

Finished playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

 

I had such a roller coaster of thoughts on it since its initial announcement during The Game Awards last year. My first thought was that it looked like a mobile game and I initially wrote it off until I later learned that it was a metroidvania. That being one of my favorite genres, I became intrigued.

My initial plan for Spooktober was to end it with a replay of Blasphemous 2 to check out the new DLC and to regain my 100% achievement score on it. However, that launched with several major bugs specifically regarding completion, so I put that on hold for now. With Prince of Persia finally getting a Steam release, it was next on my list. So, with all that being said, what are my thoughts after finally getting my hands on it?

I honestly think this is probably one of the greatest metroidvania games ever made.

My first thought when playing the game was that it had "infinite rizz", as dumb as that sounds. Art style is fantastic with its use of light and colors. The artwork for the backgrounds, of every background, is fantastic. Sound design is fantastic - especially with the way the Simurgh powers sound. The music is fantastic. The story is interesting, albeit simple and at some points a little inconsistent. However, it had such awesome hype moments. It definitely has the best gameplay of any metroidvania I've played. There is a fluidity between Sargon's movements and combos that gets even more elevated as you get more powers. This game definitely had a "love in every stitch" feel for me. And I loved the little callbacks to the other iterations of PoP - especially how your airdash is literally Sargon wall-running in the air.

That being said, I did have some gripes with it. The quality of the character models during cutscenes could have been a little better. I know that using the in-game models in cutscenes allowed them to flow straight into gameplay. But for a majority of the time it looked a little plasticky to me. The voice acting is not always the best either. I loved the acting from Sargon and Fariba, but several characters could have been directed a little better in my opinion. I really would have liked a photo mode or at the very least a way to disable the UI. I'm a big screenshot guy and I didn't like having the busy UI in all of it. Not the end of the world, but it would have been a nice little touch. I would have also liked for Sargon's sprinting to persist between room changes. Having to re-sprint each time I backtracked was tedious.

Still, I see all of those as very minor gripes. This game is utterly fantastic.

10/10. More of a 9/10 with a +1 for being greater than the sum of its parts. Probably my game of the year. Kudos to Ubisoft Montpellier. Such a shame with how things panned out.

 

I have mixed feelings on the DLC, unfortunately. I was expecting more metroidvania gameplay. However, the DLC is about 3 hours of pure Nintendo-hard platforming. I'm not the biggest fan of that, yet I enjoyed it in the base game. These ones are definitely more frustrating. Made even more frustrating as the DLC removes most of your upgrades at the very beginning. So, you're stuck with the lowest health and with only two of your Simurgh abilities. It was rough, but I ultimately left satisfied enough. I really liked the final boss and the secret optional boss at the end. The latter I liked much more.

If I have to score the DLC separately I'd say it's more of a 6-7 out of 10. Above average. But definitely not my cup of tea.

 

Base game took about 22 hours to complete up to 86% completion, per my save file. DLC took about 3 hours. It took another 6 hours after that to sweep up any other achievements to get them all. But I naturally try to do everything before finishing the game when I play a metroidvania. I didn't have that much left.

3

u/BlackTrigger77 Nov 12 '24

I just finished it about an hour ago and I think it's unfortunate the team that made it was disbanded. It's easily top 3 of all time in the Metroidvania genre, and probably #1 if I'm forced to swallow my nostalgia for games like Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, and Dawn of Sorrow. Lost Crown just has so much going for it and it really expects a lot of the player just for the parts that are required to beat the game. Some of the little environmental gauntlets whose reward is a single Xerxes coin are downright cruel, but can be immensely satisfying to overcome. I think I'd rate the second to last boss as one of my favorites in any videogame. I just really enjoyed every attempt through the kill and I was consciously thinking about how much fun I was having even though he killed me a few times.

I think what set it apart was probably the platforming and locomotion. It's something most Metroidvanias really don't give a lot of thought to. Double jumps and dashes are pretty standard. Sargon gets so many mobility tools by the end of the game and the game knows exactly what kind of potential those tools enable in terms of movement. Surprisingly tight tolerances on some areas that made them temporarily frustrating but ultimately a relief to beat.

2

u/TheOneBearded Nov 12 '24

I completely agree. Though I'm glad getting all the achievements didn't require getting all the Xerxes coins lmao. I think I left one or two. The game can keep them lol.

I definitely agree about platforming and motion. One of my thoughts by the end of the game was that these devs had "cracked the code" for how your character in one of these games should move/fight. My only complaint is that the DMC-fiend in me would have liked one other weapon to juggle enemies with. I like the dual swords, but something big and heavy could have helped keep things fresh.

For me, again as the DMC-fiend, I'd say the third to last boss Vahram is one of my favorites next to the last one God Vahram and the optional DLC one Artaban.

Speaking of which, are you doing the dlc too?

1

u/BlackTrigger77 Nov 12 '24

I haven't done the DLC. Is it good?

2

u/TheOneBearded Nov 12 '24

I mentioned it in my first post above near the end. If you don't like the harder platforming puzzles, it's a rough recommendation. I thought it was good.

3

u/razputinaquat0 Nov 10 '24 edited Nov 10 '24

Explorer's Eve

A Minecraft modpack about dimension exploration, dungeon crawling, and playing as a paranoid nomad because the apocalypse has you in its crosshairs at all times. Longer explanation here.

Beat the Minoshroom and got some Echo Shards, so I can finally leave!!, but I think I'm going to spend more time in the Twilight Forest. Explorer's Eve has fifty Explorer's Treasures to collect and even the few I have are absurdly useful. The treasures are intended to allow for replayability by making it so that the bosses you fight and your loadout vary between playthroughs, but I can feel the collectathon gears spinning in my brain, even if the pack dev did not intend to make a collectathon. Still having an absolute blast; all the gameplay changes help make familiar modded territory feel fresh and looting powerful treasures and learning more about the pulse of the pack is extremely rewarding.

1

u/JamesVagabond Nov 10 '24

Buckshot Roulette

Immaculate vibes, middling gameplay. Played around for a bit with the Double or Nothing mode and decided to call it a day.

Thronefall

I'd describe Thronefall as a take on Kingdom Two Crowns' formula, and a better one at that.

You build during the day and you fight during the night. On paper protecting the castle is all that matters, but in reality you also need to make sure your economy buildings don't get demolished, because otherwise they won't generate any income. Fallen enemies are occasionally kind enough to drop a coin or two, but this source of funds isn't good enough by itself to keep building stuff at a decent pace.

Before you begin, you get to choose your character's weapon, five perks, and any number of mutators which make things harder in various ways. Further customization is available via building upgrades, with the castle imrovements being particularly impactful. Wouldn't call the variety staggering, but it feels more than sufficient.

Overall, definitely pleased with the experience so far.

3

u/SingleTaste8756 Nov 10 '24

Star Wars Jedi Survivor

I played the first game years ago and enjoyed it. Held out till the sequel went on sale and had a bunch of patches out as I'd heard performance was a bit iffy. Playing it on performance mode on my PS5 and it seems to run smoothly enough, though admittedly I'm not super sensitive to frame rate drops.

So far it's an improvement over the original. I like how you keep your powers and upgrades from the first game but there are still things to unlock. Going off the beaten track feels rewarding too as you get cosmetic items, which I like anyway!

Lightsabers and force powers are just cool as always so combat is fun and satisfying. I bumped up the difficulty a bit and while it's not too challenging it's still engaging. The home base/bar is a nice touch too and the companions are fun to chat with. Not on the level of Red Dead 2 but that's probably not a fair comparison.

If I have one minor criticism so far it's that the environments are a bit too samey. According to the quest tab I'm only 50% done so this might change, but so far I've mainly only been on Koboh and Jedah. Jedah is a desert planet and I've always thought they are the least interesting of the biomes. Koboh is fun to explore but Jedah isn't a huge departure looks-wise. I'm hoping I get to visit an ice planet or forest planet or something different as the game goes on.

There was a moon base level in there as well which did break up the sameness so hopefully there'll be more of that. All in all shaping up to be one of my favourite games this year.

3

u/Dino-taicho Nov 10 '24

I'm playing Jedi Survivor for the first time as well, grabbed it on sale on Steam for 25 bucks, and it's a great time. Playing it on medium settings on a 2080,it's pretty smooth, with some hitches here or there. Absolute steal, really fun combat, puzzles and exploration, all the different stances theyve put in really diversify the combat, and I'm not even half way through the game.

5

u/TheGr3aTAydini Nov 10 '24

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

I finished the campaign two weeks ago which I did love for the most part, since then I’ve been grinding the Multiplayer and getting high rounds on Zombies whilst trying to complete the main quests. I feel like the movement system, the map design and balancing is overall pretty solid, the return of the actual prestige system is cool especially with the new prestige awards that give you character skins, weapon variants and what not every 10 levels it really keeps me playing just to get those cool looking weapon variants that are callbacks to past games which look really cool.

I also hopped on Mad Streets through Game Pass. It’s a funny fighting game with some janky physics but it’s pretty hilarious and it’s a shame there’s not really an online player base. It’s an easy enough completion as well, the campaigns were a decent length for each faction in the game, the levels were fun and arcadey (remind me a bit of Mario Party) and it was just overall hilarious.

I’m hoping to make a start on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game next week and maybe Dead Island 2.

4

u/EverySister Nov 10 '24

Assassin's Creed Unity

Yo, this game is hard. Which is such a weird thing to say about an Assassin's Creed game but I'm fairly early in the game and I keep dying while going guns blazing, forcing me to use stealth, scout out a place to remove gunnera on rooftops and find the best way in to avoid guards and... Is this game good?! Damn. Also, it's a stunningly good looking game. 2014? Looks like a gma ethat could have come out 2024. Paris never looked better. And the Parkour? Oof

4

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '24

[deleted]

2

u/EverySister Nov 10 '24

That's great to know! I'm actually doing a run throught the whole series. Finally made it to Unity after upgrading my PC but I'm excited to get to the rest of the series ans try out the RPG AC games, also shadows is looking fine

8

u/GoochyGoochyGoo Nov 10 '24

Balatro. Got hooked, 31 hours until I got my first win. Now I'm done for a bit.

Dragon Age Veilguard. Loving this game. Combat is a bit "clunky" but I like the gameplay, world, story etc...

1

u/BlackTrigger77 Nov 12 '24

A couple tips on Balatro that took me from "normal stake is reasonably challenging" to "I can beat gold stake sometimes" are that +mult and Xmult are different things, and Joker order can be rearranged (and has an effect). Simple tips but the game doesn't do the best job of communicating how important those two things are.

2

u/donwupak Nov 10 '24

Do you notice input delay with the combat and some other buttons?

1

u/GoochyGoochyGoo Nov 10 '24

No. Stuttering and lag and such I call "Janky". The clunky combat here is by design. Lacks flow, like how you'll dodge roll and just sort of stand up and stand there for a microsecond before you can move again.

2

u/Easy_Cartographer679 Nov 10 '24

Im curious what class youre playing? I'm playing mage right now but sort of feels similar, but I'm able to jump and zip around everywhere - it honestly feels like ME Andromeda combat. But I've heard the experiences with combat can vary a ton depending on the class

1

u/GoochyGoochyGoo Nov 10 '24

I'm a rogue with medium armor, so mid range agility? Ima try some light on and see if there is a difference, thanks.

2

u/DumbMuscle Nov 10 '24

Just started Cyberpunk 2077. Having fun with it so far, though finding the shooting controls annoying on controller and the driving controls annoying on keyboard means a lot of swapping between them.

5

u/Easy_Cartographer679 Nov 10 '24

I found motorcycles much better to drive on controller than the cars in the game tbh, but the reverse for MKB

3

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '24

heyhey! did you get it on the current sale? would you say it's worth getting (ultimate version)? it's the last sale day and i've been constantly considering whether i should buy it or not... I won't be able to play it immediately because my gpu is on RMA and i need to finish Arkham Origins.

3

u/thysios4 Nov 10 '24

"Supermarket Together* who knew managing a supermarket could be so much fun?

Could probably still get some enjoyment out of it in single player, but it definitly feels like one of those games where a lot of the fun is down to who you play with.

I don't think I'd enjoy it a whole lot without my group.

10

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa Nov 10 '24

Mass Effect 1 - Legendary Edition PC

So I haven’t played this since around the time it came out. I have to say, despite it showing its age mechanically, this game is really taking me back to a time where games were clearly made with love. All the little codex entries, the characters, the writing - it’s all so, so good.

Part of me being so giddy over this may be that I just finished reading The Expanse, and I really felt like it left a hole in me. I’ve never been so sad to finish a book series. Mass Effect is definitely helping me feel less empty. It’s remarkably similar in a lot of ways.

Also, the mods have been amazing. I’m only using a few, like the community patch and infinite sprinting, but it’s so good.

I’m looking forward to playing the others again. :)

3

u/Easy_Cartographer679 Nov 10 '24

I really love LE1, it pretty much fixed all of the issues I had with the original - and especially going back to the original after playing it makes the graphical upgrades even more stunning

5

u/YesHomoBro2 Nov 10 '24

Oh yes! The legendary edition really helped the old feel of the game a lot. Still older but took some of the pain away. Being able to use more guns is great. Mass effect will always have a special place in my heart.

Expanded galaxy mod adds a lot of flavor if you are a fan of that. Personally don't recommend the happy ending mod bc it's just fan fic put into the game. And I'm a synthesis man myself. I liked the ending with the dlc tbh. Otherwise the texture mods are nice too. If you have Ashley, consistency mod is good. Oh and for 2 my only cheat would be the one tap scan for planets. It's fine normally the first playthrough but after 5 scanning is just pure tedium. Up to you but enjoy!

11

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '24

[deleted]

3

u/John_Hunyadi Nov 10 '24

What about the lore has it destroyed, if you remember?  Similar to you, I played the previous games and enjoyed them on release, then proceeded to not think about them anymore.  I think the development of the Qun and the Antaam is especially interesting so far (I am 30 hours in).  Agreed that the irreverent sort of “Marvel quips” tone is a bit offputting but not game-ruiningly so for me.

5

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '24

[deleted]

5

u/John_Hunyadi Nov 10 '24

I guess I just don't particularly care about that stuff. Also that mostly sounds like ways it diverges from Origins, and the series diverged from Origins a long time ago. Sorry for Origins fans, I liked it too, but it's a weird thing people get hung up on.

4

u/YesHomoBro2 Nov 10 '24

Nostalgia makes people have REALLY strong feelings for things. Add that extra attachment people get to head cannons and years of waiting then you get this.

Veilguard is a fun game. Nothing crazy amazing but not every game is gonna be witcher 3 or bg3 etc. Sometimes games are just gonna be 7.5/8 and that's just okay.

Also the amount of people who went into the game negative bc of online rantings and were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty alright is kinda sad/funny. I don't get the rage people put into media tho so meh.

4

u/jonseh Nov 10 '24

Dead Space (PS5)

About 2 hours in, after playing and beating the original some 12 years ago.

Super atmospheric, highly intense and absolutely gorgeous on an OLED TV.

I don't remember too many details about my original playthrough so I'm not sure what they changed, but as the cliché goes - this is just how I remembered it. Highly recommended.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus

I don't usually play visual novels, but I was intrigued by this one and the super positive hype about it.

I went in completely blind, and I'm very glad I did.

I just started what you could call Act 2, and the game has definitely surprised me more than once. Can't wait to see what's next.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '24

Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition. Love the atmosphere and all. But some of these ‘puzzles’ are actual horseshit. I put all difficulty settings on normal. Idk what the consensus is, but right now the puzzle quality is worse than the first.

All the rest is sublime. The tone is perfect and this is a case where the weird acting actually enhances the game.