The Video Game Thread

[Jaysin]

Have you heard about RAID: Shadow Legends? It's the hit mobile- Nope, can't do it.

 

In all seriousness, SWTOR is the best if you prefer story in your RPGs and the only current gen Star Wars game better than it is Jedi: Fallen Order. Elder Scrolls Online has gotten really good in the past couple years and is now the best when it comes to combat and a sense of adventure IMO. I'm also weird and have a thing for playing solo, especially in dead or dying MMOs so I've got quite a few hours in games like Age of Conan, The Secret World (now only playable if you owned a copy of the original version, otherwise you have to play the awful Legends relaunch. Thanks, Funcom) and both EverQuests. Though I can't exactly recommend them to anyone but antisocial weirdos like me lol.

 

If you've never played it and don't mind spending a bit during a sale, the original Guild Wars is still excellent. With all the instances, it's more an RPG with online features than a full-fledged MMO but you can still tell ArenaNet's founders were ex-WoW devs.

 

Speaking of, WoW has basically been steadily destroyed from within by Blizzard in the past few years. Instead of adding new content, they've been cutting out older parts and replacing them with stuff for the expansions. I don't mind world-changing events, but I would much rather they happen when I reach a certain level or story point rather than replacing the noob areas (I restart a lot) and more so they "gel" with events of the expansion. ESO does this a bit too, but you can still access the starting areas and even the original tutorial zone with all the quests and stories intact. Hopefully Microsoft buying Activision will be a net positive, though after Microsoft did Asheron's Call dirty, I'm not holding my breath.

 

I'm also weird. I prefer soloing and story based stuff. Only reason I chose SWTOR was because I am dying for a Star Wars story I haven't played and Fallen Order is too resource heavy for my laptop. I'm considering buying a PS4 with my tax return, so might pick up Fallen Order then, but I'm really craving a Switch. I've been itching for some Pokemon.

 

You've talked me out of WoW.

 

According to the spec requirements, I should be able to play ESO. How does gameplay compare to Skyrim? I know a lot of people bag on Skyrim, but I have put more hours into Skyrim and almost any other game except Chrono Trigger and TEW.

 

Also, if anyone knows of any good 8 bit or 16 bit looking games for PC, throw out the names please!

[Blackman]

Freedom Force! That was the name I was looking for that the gameplay vid reminded me of. Guess I'm not alone. That game was pretty kewl.

 

That cardgame Adam recommended, Sentinels of the Multiverse, also came close to that feel. But I only had one short play session of FF so can't really speak much about it.

[The Swanton825]

I'm also weird. I prefer soloing and story based stuff. Only reason I chose SWTOR was because I am dying for a Star Wars story I haven't played and Fallen Order is too resource heavy for my laptop. I'm considering buying a PS4 with my tax return, so might pick up Fallen Order then, but I'm really craving a Switch. I've been itching for some Pokemon.

 

You've talked me out of WoW.

 

According to the spec requirements, I should be able to play ESO. How does gameplay compare to Skyrim? I know a lot of people bag on Skyrim, but I have put more hours into Skyrim and almost any other game except Chrono Trigger and TEW.

 

Also, if anyone knows of any good 8 bit or 16 bit looking games for PC, throw out the names please!

A Switch is way more worth the money anyways IMO.

 

It's very similar to Skyrim's combat. Light attack, heavy attack, block, etc. The main differences are that you pick a class with three exclusive ability trees and you cast spells and use skills from a hotbar like other MMOs. The neat thing is that every skill tree besides the class ones are open to everyone so you can play a sorcerer in heavy armor with no real issue. The only thing I'm not fond of is that you have to commit to either improving magicka or stamina if you want to stay effective at later levels which means you either use a staff if you focus on magicka or any other weapon if you go stamina because that's what the damage scales with. They try to balance this by letting you "morph" certain spells into ones that scale with stamina but it is kind of a buzzkill that I can't play a sword and shield battlemage with a focus on magic spells without massively weakening my effectiveness.

 

As for 8 and 16-bit games, I had a lot of fun with Flynn, Son of Crimson. It feels a lot like the kind of sidescrolling platformers I played all time on GBA when I was a kid. That might be a bit newer than what you're looking for but I just had to mention it.

[The Swanton825]

In case anyone missed it, they added all three of the newest Hitman games to Game Pass as an all-in-one release with the missions from the first two retouched to take advantage of Hitman 3's features. All three are a must for anyone who enjoys stealth games and with the botched, price gouging Steam release of 3, it's the best and cheapest way to play it.

[dvdWarrior]

So... I have officially pre-ordered WWE 2K22: The nWo 4-Life Edition. Next up: MLB The Show 22.

 

That... should just about do it for my video game budget for the year.

 

:cool:

[Self]

I may pick up the WWE game this year. After the early reviews come in. and maybe a price drop.

 

I bought an Xbox Series S last month, after finally finding out what Game Pass actually is and figuring I could get good value for money from it. Spent February playing

 

• Mass Effect Andromeda - Not without its flaws, but I liked it.
  
• FIFA 2k20 - Feels just like the 2010-ish version I last played, so the muscle memory still works.
  
• NBA 2k19 - I used to love basketball games as a kid, but I think I'm just not familiar enough with the sport to get the most out of it. Modern intricacies.
  
• Yakuza Like a Dragon - The cut-scenes are a chore to get through, but the game itself is fun. I'm maybe half way through and determined to finish it.
  
• Evil Genius 2 - This has been on my Steam wishlist for ages. Definitely feels like it would play better with a mouse, but a wacky, light base builder.
  
• Overcooked 2 - A delightful co-op. I love this game and pester my wife daily to play it with me.
  
• Stardew Valley - Yep, I get a current gen console and use it to play a pixel graphic game. Liked Harvest Moon as a kid, so this works for me.
  

 

I also tried Burnout Paradise, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Empire of Sin, Jedi Fallen Order, Streets of Rage... Hot Take; Game Pass idea might be a good way to try out games.

 

That was my £1 trial. It was good enough to buy a month of Ultimate, although the temptation was real to drop to the lower tier (I think I'd only lose EA games and Cloud gaming) and save £3. Because I'm a cheap guy when I want to be. Maybe next month.

[Big Roguey]

Heavily on board with Stardew Valley on any platform, it's one of my go to games to just zone out from the real world for a while. A lovely little escape.

[crownsy]

Heavily on board with Stardew Valley on any platform, it's one of my go to games to just zone out from the real world for a while. A lovely little escape.

 

Agreed, though Valhiem has taken it's spot for the last few months.

 

Both great games.

[Blackman]

That was my £1 trial.

 

I've had several 1€ trials over the years, and it always boiled down to me forgetting to play it. Last time I tried Avengers and Forza Horizon 3.

 

Most fun I had was in the latter watching my character with protheses arms who talked like a girl. It's like they're making a mockery out of "wokeness". I'm baffled neither the handicapped nor the LGBTQ-community called it out. The gameplay is still great, but I just don't care anymore after a handful of races.

 

Surprisingly I also had some fun with Avengers, despite all the critisisms. It was honestly a good game, but the enemies are all robots and it becomes very boring very quickly. So I guess that doesn't really make it a good game, right?

 

The third game I tried was Dark Alliance. I used to be a great Forgotten Realms and massive Drizzt fan, but this game is just mediocre in everything. I couldn't even get past the second level. The characters also don't quite hit the spot (except Bruenor), which is a big thing for me personally.

[Jaysin]

Broke down and bought a Switch yesterday. So far I have LoZ: Breath of the Wild and Metroid Dread. Hopefully picking up Outer Worlds today as well.

[dvdWarrior]

For my money, WWE 2k22 has been nothing short of amazing thus far. I have friggin' loved it. I had planned to do this, and planned to do that... but once I got started in MyRise... I can't barely pull myself away from it.

 

My character is a former actor turned wrestler, and was designed to be so much of a heel that he'd make The Miz and MJF look and each other and go... Good Lord, what an *******... and boy, did he pull it off!

 

He had a heck of a time at the Performance Center, and really made a splash when he went to NXT, (he chose NXT over Raw or SmackDown), but after a hellacious feud with Damian Priest, he won the North American championship...

 

And then had a fun storyline with one of his training partner from the PC... the one guy I'd chosen not to alienate, so... he ... liked my dude. For a while, he was the only one. This storyline led to my guy SHOCKINGLY becoming a babyface, and making it a whole new ballgame.

 

 

Anywho...

 

I like it.

[Blake Trask]

do you still have to get specific match 'grades' and pull off specific scenarios midmatch because that made me put down 2k...19? and never come back.

[dvdWarrior]

do you still have to get specific match 'grades' and pull off specific scenarios midmatch because that made me put down 2k...19? and never come back.

 

That's... the reason I haven't been able to unlock '97 Rey and Eddie. I have to specific things in a match, and I couldn't figure out how to get Eddie on the ropes for the backflip DDT. I was able to win, so I did get the Halloween Havoc arena, but not Rey and Eddie, so that stinks.

 

In MYRise, haven't seen much of that, aside from one match where my guy had to be the one that scored the pin in a tag team match, which I did.

 

Having to get specific grades? I haven't seen that, so I don't think it's a thing anymore. COuld be wrong.

[VBigB]

For my money, WWE 2k22 has been nothing short of amazing thus far. I have friggin' loved it. I had planned to do this, and planned to do that... but once I got started in MyRise... I can't barely pull myself away from it.

 

My character is a former actor turned wrestler, and was designed to be so much of a heel that he'd make The Miz and MJF look and each other and go... Good Lord, what an *******... and boy, did he pull it off!

 

He had a heck of a time at the Performance Center, and really made a splash when he went to NXT, (he chose NXT over Raw or SmackDown), but after a hellacious feud with Damian Priest, he won the North American championship...

 

And then had a fun storyline with one of his training partner from the PC... the one guy I'd chosen not to alienate, so... he ... liked my dude. For a while, he was the only one. This storyline led to my guy SHOCKINGLY becoming a babyface, and making it a whole new ballgame.

 

 

Anywho...

 

I like it.

 

What system are you playing on? I pre-ordered on steam so I could be playing now but the forums are currently flooded with bug posts so I’m not wasting my 2 hours until the day 1 patch drops.

 

2K does not have my trust after 2k20 and if the PC version is a poor port I may just refund without even playing.

[Blackman]

So you don't trust 2K but still preordered the game anyway?

 

Honestly i'm baffled at the reasoning of some ppl. Everyone is obv free to do whatever they want, but after all signs pointed out that WWE2k20 was gonna be crap (no gameplay vids, even paid streamers had to admit the game was bad, and they were sponsored), ppl still ignore the signs and preordered. Why are ppl surpised the game has sucked the last few years? If ppl buy it regardless of effort, why improve your game at all?

 

Didnt know it was out but saw some gameplay and it didnt seem bad at all. So here's hoping it's good. I will wait until it's 30$ before buying though

[Blake Trask]

That's... the reason I haven't been able to unlock '97 Rey and Eddie. I have to specific things in a match, and I couldn't figure out how to get Eddie on the ropes for the backflip DDT. I was able to win, so I did get the Halloween Havoc arena, but not Rey and Eddie, so that stinks.

 

In MYRise, haven't seen much of that, aside from one match where my guy had to be the one that scored the pin in a tag team match, which I did.

 

Having to get specific grades? I haven't seen that, so I don't think it's a thing anymore. COuld be wrong.

 

Yeah it drove me insane because to have a good exciting match you had to make it competitive, but your dude completely sucked because you hadn't had the chance to build up your stats yet. so it's this knife edge of having a 'good match' by the game's standards and not just losing to stat disadvantage.

 

blending kayfabe match quality with arcade style winning and losing never works.

[VBigB]

So you don't trust 2K but still preordered the game anyway?

 

Basically on steam there is no risk if you are patient and know the return policy. I can preorder to get all the bonus content and still wait for reviews, return for a full refund if it sucks. I just pre-ordered on Sunday so I’m well within the 2 week steam return policy (although I don’t think that starts counting down until the release day which is the 11th).

 

I definitely was not going to pre-order on PS4.

 

I believe those who pre-ordered the digital deluxe or NWO editions get 3 days of early access.

[VBigB]

Basically on steam there is no risk if you are patient and know the return policy. I can preorder to get all the bonus content and still wait for reviews, return for a full refund if it sucks. I just pre-ordered on Sunday so I’m well within the 2 week steam return policy (although I don’t think that starts counting down until the release day which is the 11th).

 

I definitely was not going to pre-order on PS4.

 

I believe those who pre-ordered the digital deluxe or NWO editions get 3 days of early access.

 

And added benefit I can leave a review before refunding.

[dvdWarrior]

I'm on PS4, for the record.

 

And as for the things you HAVE to do in a match... I'm pretty sure it's not a "Mission Failed" thing if you lose/can't pull it off. Rather, a the story keeps on going, but now you have a loss kind of thing. Outside of the ShowCase mode, I mean. I did have consequences for not reaching all the objectives there. In MyRise, the only objective seems to be to win. Also, I haven't so far had any incidents where you trigger a cut scene, and your guy loses in the cut scene. Near as I can tell, in MyRise at least, winning and losing is on you.

 

My guy's never been pinned or submitted, but there was triple threat match where one of my opponents pinned the other, while I was outside the ring, hurt, and not able to get back in in time. In that case... my guy just missed out on an opportunity in Japan.

 

Then he picked up an even bigger opportunity in Japan later, which he took full advantage of.

 

One thing though:

 

BE CAREFUL when picking out which matches to take. You don't HAVE to do everything that's offered to you, and I just saw a live streamer have his guy accidentally turned face because of this.

 

It should give you a notification if a face/heel turn is a possibility for any given match.

 

I got really lucky with this.

 

I designed my guy to be as much of a heel as possible, but William Regal offered him a chance to compete for the North American Championship, which set off a storyline with Damian Priest that REALLY made my guy feel like a good guy. Which after the things he'd done to that point, was quite a feat. My next story opportunity, involving my former fellow PC training partner Hector Flores had two options: one the face route and one the heel route, and in that moment, the face route felt absolutely natural to me, and has only grown more exciting since.

 

It actually feels like my guys building an authentic WWE resume here.

[Blackman]

Basically on steam there is no risk if you are patient and know the return policy.

 

So the return policy is two weeks? I originally thought it was less then 2 hours of gameplay, which imo isn't quite enough. The only extra info you get is the "feel" of the controls. All other info could be deduced from the gameplay vids online.

 

If your mindset is indeed set on this, I guess it's fine. But a lot of people won't properly define "sucks" and will instead adopt a mindset of "well... they'll patch it eventually so it'll turn good" or "it's not all bad", and don't end up refunding at all.

[VBigB]

So the return policy is two weeks? I originally thought it was less then 2 hours of gameplay, which imo isn't quite enough. The only extra info you get is the "feel" of the controls. All other info could be deduced from the gameplay vids online.

 

If your mindset is indeed set on this, I guess it's fine. But a lot of people won't properly define "sucks" and will instead adopt a mindset of "well... they'll patch it eventually so it'll turn good" or "it's not all bad", and don't end up refunding at all.

 

I'm not even sure if we are arguing here, lol. I'm not waiting for patches.

 

It is 2 weeks and less than 2 hours (which steam will sometimes waive if a game is particularly broken although you can't use the automated return system in that case). I'm summarizing here which isn't painting me in the greatest light. I'm not a person who per-orders months in advance with no information...there's no point (the times that i do pre-order games it's always when the pre-order period is virtually over and only if there seems to be enough information to do so). When I did click the per-purchase button on Sunday there was already decent information out there. It's not the wall of silence that was 2k20. And I did watch videos on the 8th that seemed to show that game-play wise it was decent this year. Anyway my plan was to boot the game up for less than 2 hours during the 3 day trial period and quickly go through the create modes as there are things in there that are problems year to year to year. I could quickly go through these to get an impression if an extra year of development resulted in any more polish and base my return decision on that. The create modes are rarely talked about in reviews (any year). Obviously I would play one match as well.

 

But I was given pause when 99% of the threads in the steam forum were crash reports, serious bug reports and very few actual impression threads. But it's steam forums so you have to take that with a grain of salt. I haven't had time to check the 2k forums yet. So I'm waiting to do my 2 hour trial until after release day.

 

I will concede though now having read through my own logic that per-ordering probably wasn't a great idea. Of the released reviews out there currently only one is PC specific. But like I said I have no problems with returning it.

[VBigB]

Anyway back on topic. Distant Worlds 2 releases today. I had lot of fun with Distant Worlds Universe so I’m looking into getting it.

[Self]

Bought WWE 2K22 a couple of days ago. Planned to wait for a sale, but couldn't help myself. I'm going to complain and moan a bit, but I'm having fun.

 

Controls feel fiddly, but that might just be because they've changed them and I haven't played a wrestling game in years. Unlike when I picked up FIFA a decade later, I have zero muscle memory here. Dragging people around and moves off of the ropes seem to require all of these extra buttons. I'll get used to it. It's far better than when I downloaded a UFC game. I couldn't do anything in that. Controllers have too many buttons and developers seem to want to use them all.

 

It's still a bit too much of a 'canned animation player' for my liking. Hit one button. 10 second animation of a backbreaker or bunch of kicks, where I can't do anything. Can't reverse. Can't do the kicks myself. I miss the old, old games where if you wanted to do a People's Elbow, you had to pose and run and do the elbow yourself. Not just watch a little movie.

 

Really liking Universe mode. Lots of options to tweak. It's a cool way to have the AI give you a bunch of matches to play. Much better than doing random 1v1 matches like normal fighting games.

 

I like the 'rollout' system for multi-man matches, where one guys gets stunned for a little while allowing everyone else to fight. Nice simulation of modern 3 or 4-way matches, where guys take it in turns to pair off and everyone else rolls outside, peeking over the apron waiting for their next spot. It's not perfect (I might turn up the duration and frequency) but it sure made the ladder match I played last night tolerable. It went 30 minutes and got 5-stars, while being an unwatchable train wreck.

 

So I'm liking it so far. Lots to do. Only one weird glitch where Paul Heyman started vibrating wildly at ringside.

[Blackman]

The rollout system has been in place for years.

 

As for the CaW mode: normally there's several vids on youtube showing all options. But it's not the same, i know.

 

Not my intent to argue. I know they have bonuses, to preorder (nwo?) but if the content is good i dont mind paying' extra' for that. I just refuse to buy into the whole: "whatever we do, its all good as the game is selling well anyway."

[Self]

The rollout system has been in place for years.

 

There's definitely a lot of extra enjoyment I'm getting out of the game, simply because it's the first one I've played in a long, long time. So much of it is new to me.

 

What is new is GM mode, and after a couple of days of playing it... I really like that too. It's absolutely not what most people wanted from a GM Mode. It's not even what I wanted. It's very restrictive. More of an optimization puzzle than a free-form fantasy booking simulator. It reminds me of a board game, where everything is abstracted down into a small amount of elements that control everything. I'm having a blast with it... although TEW has nothing to worry about in terms of competition.

 

Haven't tried MyRise yet. You don't seem to be able to import a CAW/moveset from a character you've created outside of the mode. I spent ages making the ideal evil sheep costume and can't be bothered doing it again.