The Video Game Thread

[Blackman]

<p>The time of gamemags has gone, I'm afraid. Used to love buying one particular one that was popular at these parts (so localised). Nowadays you can find some decent reviews still at gamespot and IGN, which used to be my go-to's ever since 2000. But even on those sites you get people nowadays that can yap about meaningless stuff that has nothing to do with gameplay and seem to give random scores. It's hard to take them seriously anymore.</p><p> </p><p>

The new exclusivelygames site showed promise with some nice user interaction, but that got put on hold. Lots of others force you to use ads and though that has been a thing for like forever (mags had ads obviously), they've never forced it down your throat like now, plus back in the day you couldn't click on it. </p><p> </p><p>

Most people nowadays seem to favor vids so will watch video reviews from random guys on the internet. I tend to like short and concise user reviews like on Steam. Once you see that it comes from people with experience in certain genres, a couple of sentences can often give you all the info you need.</p>

[Sco xY2Jx]

Anyone on the forums well versed in the ways of Rocket League?

 

It's about the only thing my attention span holds these days but would be nice to find fellow fans to play with. I'm 4 years in and am still decidedly average... About a High Plat/Low Diamond level.

[Kijar]

Anyone on the forums well versed in the ways of Rocket League?

 

It's about the only thing my attention span holds these days but would be nice to find fellow fans to play with. I'm 4 years in and am still decidedly average... About a High Plat/Low Diamond level.

 

Part of me wants to get better at this game, but another part of me spent too many years at college losing to dudes playing this while out of their minds on.. erm.. hard drugs?

 

Helps me feel better about losing though, so I'll let you know if I do start to play again.

 

What else has everyone been into? Finally getting around to Shadow of War, what a blast.. slaying Uruks as much as I want.

[The Swanton825]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Kijar" data-cite="Kijar" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>What else has everyone been into? Finally getting around to Shadow of War, what a blast.. slaying Uruks as much as I want.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I've been on a retro games kick, mostly bouncing between FPSes like Blake Stone and action RPGs like Sacred. Hot take: Sacred is better than Diablo.</p>

[BHK1978]

What else has everyone been into? Finally getting around to Shadow of War, what a blast.. slaying Uruks as much as I want.

 

RDR II. Sure have beaten it a couple of times but I really enjoy the game up until the Saint Denis bank job mission. After that, I lose interest.

 

This site used to have a big Crusader King II fandom, has anyone played part III yet? I have not heard anything about it be it negative or positive.

[VBigB]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="BHK1978" data-cite="BHK1978" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>RDR II. Sure have beaten it a couple of times but I really enjoy the game up until the Saint Denis bank job mission. After that, I lose interest.<p> </p><p> This site used to have a big Crusader King II fandom, has anyone played part III yet? I have not heard anything about it be it negative or positive.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Apparently I have 267 hours into Crusader Kings III so I must be enjoying it. It seems like it's more accessible than CK2 and I don't think it has as much of a learning curve. Although it may still be hard for those that have never played the series...I have a lot of time in CK2 as well.</p><p> </p><p> It's currently not as complex as CK2 with all the expansions but it's a very solid base and they kept some really good things from CK2 (like being able to form your own religion - which if I remember correctly was an expansion for CK2). The ruler designer was recently added as a free update.</p>

[Blackman]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="BHK1978" data-cite="BHK1978" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This site used to have a big Crusader King II fandom, has anyone played part III yet? I have not heard anything about it be it negative or positive.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Didn't I post about it? I don't recall. Anyhow, the game is inherently more...simple, but imho that's not a negative. Gfx have never been a main point of these games, but I do appreciate the 3D models. Gives them more charm. Complaints of vets are that the 'micromanagement' has been toned down, but I chuckle at these complaints as mostly there was a 'formula' that was optimal and people just drifted towards that. The absence of 'ships' is a godsend. Often, I'd just refrain from crusading as an emperor because of the hassle of the logistics. Now you pay money for that. In short: most of the changes all make sense and it cuts down on the boring aspects of its predecessor. Lots of the 'DLC' features have already been implemented, save the 'OP' ones like the relics etc. I play it sometimes, but honestly have just too much mileage of CK2 to get superhyped about it. But a really good game with few bugs (afaik).</p><p> </p><p> Other game I'm playing are AC:Valhalla. Some glitches here and there but it's playable. Too soon after Odyssey to truly have fun, but a solid title for sure and worth your money. The atmosphere is even better than Odyssey, if that was possible.</p><p> </p><p> Then there's MK11 that I put on a few times. The 'komplete' version was 40$ and though I'm not interested in much of the 'kontent', it's all very well designed and presented. But you can probably just check it all out for free on youtube, which is what I should've done as I absolutely suck at the game.</p><p> </p><p> And finally, as CV97 has released, I'll be playing TEW20 mostly.</p>

[Jaysin]

I was looking at stuff for the new Intellivision and I am pumped. A new Earthworm Jim game, ToeJam and Earl, and a fun looking Dracula game are worth it, but there's quite a lot of games announced so far and they're all going to be $9.99 or cheaper.

[Self]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Kijar" data-cite="Kijar" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>What else has everyone been into? Finally getting around to Shadow of War, what a blast.. slaying Uruks as much as I want.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I bought that on release and got a fair way through, but reinstalled it for the Christmas break and it was exactly what I needed. I mostly play turn-based games, so an all-action murder simulator was a fun change of pace.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="BHK1978" data-cite="BHK1978" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This site used to have a big Crusader King II fandom, has anyone played part III yet? I have not heard anything about it be it negative or positive.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I've played 38 hours, and I like it. I appreciate simplicity and charm and it certainly has that over II. The increased role-playing elements make the transitions from one ruler to the next a lot of fun. For a while I was delighting the wife with tales of my dynasty tree, with all of the inbreeding, brother-murdering, incest and illegitimate kids money can buy. I hope I can still remember it when I pick the game up again. There are min/max spreadsheet games I enjoy more, but it gives good stories.</p>

[BHK1978]

Anybody play AI Dungeon on here? It is sort of a video game. Basically, it is a choose your own adventure game but you are playing with a deranged AI. Some of the outcomes I have run into have been hilarious.

 

In one game I started out trying to save my kingdom, that story then someone how morphed into me and the ghost of Brian Jones (of the Rolling Stones) having a buddy cop story where we hunt down monsters. I find it to be pretty funny.

[liontamer]

Enjoyed the TV series thus far, just saw there is a Cobra Kai video game. anyone play it, how is it? looks retro as far as graphics.

[BHK1978]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Clarity" data-cite="Clarity" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>That game looks like it could be amazing with a group of friends, <strong>but frustrating as hell with randos with no mics</strong></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> You are so painfully right about this. People drop out of the game if they are not imposter, they don't talk during meetings. I kind of regret buying the game now.</p><p> </p><p> Which is funny because I never play online games. I just don't want to deal with others. For GTA and RD2, I have never played their online versions. I played WOW a long time ago and found the other players so annoying that I vowed to never play an online game again. So when I bought Among Us I went against my rule of never playing with others.</p>

[Blackman]

My 7yo cousin 'plays' that game. Realise that you're effectively playing a game against children.

 

As for good games and good deals: I wanted to link to the Humblebundle of board games I got yesterday, but apparently it's just expired. It had Blood Rage & Terraforming Mars. You should be able to get them cheap on keysites now.

[christmas_ape]

Anybody play AI Dungeon on here? It is sort of a video game. Basically, it is a choose your own adventure game but you are playing with a deranged AI. Some of the outcomes I have run into have been hilarious.

 

In one game I started out trying to save my kingdom, that story then someone how morphed into me and the ghost of Brian Jones (of the Rolling Stones) having a buddy cop story where we hunt down monsters. I find it to be pretty funny.

 

Had a look into it now from this comment, which version of the AI do you use? From what I can tell there's a free version, the griffin version or the dragon one? I do keep hearing that dragon is 10X better but it's fairly costly.

[BHK1978]

Had a look into it now from this comment, which version of the AI do you use? From what I can tell there's a free version, the griffin version or the dragon one? I do keep hearing that dragon is 10X better but it's fairly costly.

 

The free version, I would never pay for it. I mean it is something that is fun to waste time doing every now and then, but I am not sure I could ever bring myself to actually pay for it.

 

Edited to add: Wow upon reading what I just wrote it sounds like I am talking about something more illicit...I swear I was talking about AI Dungeon there.

[Jaysin]

I finally got a new laptop and I'm looking for some lower end games to play. It's a mid range laptop, so nothing too intensive.

 

I got CrossCode, Chrono Trigger(I've spent hundreds of dollars on this game over the years, it's the GOAT), and I got Alien: Isolation in hopes it'll run. According to the specs it should, but I've had bad experiences in that regard in the past.

 

I prefer RPGs, especially 16 bit and 8 bit looking games. Nothing beats beautiful sprites in my eyes.

 

Thinking of picking up Stardew Valley again, but it's very addictive and I don't know if I want to dive that far into a game again.

 

Any suggestions?

[Jaysin]

Super late to the party, but I love The Outer Worlds. Feels like the better parts of Fallout but not as buggy.

[The Swanton825]

Outer Worlds is really underrated. The worst thing I can really say about it is that it kind of loses steam near the end, but that's true of a lot of Obsidian RPGs, even going back to their Black Isle days. I wanted to be mad that it didn't win very many awards, but it's hard to stay upset when the mind-bogglingly amazing Disco Elysium was what beat it in most categories.

[Jaysin]

Sadly my laptop just doesn't cut it for the game after awhile apparently. Despite my laptop meeting the minimum requirements and the game being at lowest settings, it started crashing quite a bit. Oh well. I'll just pick it up when I get a PS5 eventually.

[scmurph01]

Super late to the party, but I love The Outer Worlds. Feels like the better parts of Fallout but not as buggy.

 

The Outer Worlds is on my backlog list. I really enjoyed what little of it I had played. Really need to find time to dive back into it.

[Blackman]

it kind of loses steam near the end, but that's true of a lot of Obsidian RPGs, even going back to their Black Isle days.

 

Strange, I always thought they were known for the exact opposite. It's the start of their games that's always real slow. Listing KOTOR2, NWN2 & F:NV as proof. You really had to soldier through sometimes to get to the sweet, sweet insides. DS3, South Park, PoE and Pathfinder:A don't seem to suffer from that problem, though. I can't remember their endings to be particularly interesting, so that's where they might've totally switched it around.

 

Backlog is really dwindling, partly because few interesting games come along (imho). I've just finished Kingdoms of Amalur (finally), and it was surprisingly good. A true epic high fantasy game. Didn't take the time to fully immerse myself and kind of rushed it, but it was very fleshed out.

[The Swanton825]

In my experience they kind of do both where the game starts slow but builds into an epic crescendo only to fall flat on the very last note. KOTOR 2, New Vegas and Alpha Protocol were the only ones I felt really gave me a satisfying ending sequence. Even if KOTOR 2 and Alpha Protocol were still clearly rushed. If we're counting expansions then Mask of the Betrayer for NWN2 was fantastic all the way through, but vanilla NWN2 literally ends with "rocks fall, everyone dies" like how a frustrated DM would end a campaign.

[Blackman]

Oh, I see. For NWN2 I literaly didn't get past the first hour. It was not a nice experience.

 

KoA:R, which recently released a HD-version, is a really good example of both storytelling and pacing, where things stay interesting and compelling from beginning to end. Gameplay hasn't aged as well.

 

Not that I'm getting an oldies vibe, but I'm thinking of getting Mass Effect Remastered. I'm fine with replaying 2 and 3 someday, but it's the first part that's very rough anno 2021. Not that it's unplayable but it's quite... frustrating. Shelling out 60€ is a bit too much maybe, especially since I've already bought everything + DLC twice. But I'll probably crack as it was just such a great game.

 

I've slimmed my backlog down to just AC:Valhalla and Gloomhaven, but both titles are still "in development" so it shouldn't count towards backlog.

[cappyboy]

I've just finished Kingdoms of Amalur (finally), and it was surprisingly good. A true epic high fantasy game. Didn't take the time to fully immerse myself and kind of rushed it, but it was very fleshed out.

 

Finally got my hands on Amalur over the winter and my reaction to it was a mixed bag. On the one hand it is a really good game. The fights were fun and the characters felt real and alive. Great visuals and a story world that really made you want to be part of it. All the praiseworthy points you'd expect to make about an epic title worthy of being a franchise.

 

But at the same time it felt like you could have chopped that game in half, made the two halves separate games and they would have been just as good if not better experiences. By the time I shut it off, quit playing and went on to the next game, I felt overstuffed. It was like that bleck feeling you have when someone brings up dessert at Thanksgiving dinner. You've ingested so much and taken it all in and you just can't stand anymore even though you enjoyed how you built your way up to that point.

[Blackman]

I guess that's fair. As I said, I rushed it (I think 22 hours in-game clock) on "casual", especially the latter areas, so I did not experience a bunch of side missions. I felt it was just enough. I'm more of a grim fantasy fan (like Baldur's Gate or Diablo) then a high fantasy fan (like this or the Divinity series), so the game wasn't ideal for me, but technically it's just a really good game. Don't forget that they actually are planning w "Fatesworn" DLC but that won't be for me, I fear.

 

Last year I experienced during AC:Odyssey what content burnout can be after 100 hours. I didn't (and probably will never) even finish the last piece of DLC after it tasked me to 100% an area before I could continue.

 

It's crazy that lenght is somehow better rated if it's short, like the standard action games (the new Tomb Raider and Resident Evil) that you can finish in about 8 hours (of less). I remember JPRG's that were filled to the brim with content (40+ hours). Maybe people's minds have adapted, as I never felt stuffed back in the day.