The Video Game Thread

[Self]

Free weekend for Diablo 4 on Xbox, so I'm going to see what the fuss is all about.

Just finished with Arkham Knight and Lamplighter's League. I thought Arkham Knight was awesome. I tried playing it last year but hated the Batmobile so much I quickly gave up. What a fool I was. Really fun time. I can see myself going back to it or looking into the previous games in the franchise. Anyone know if they hold up, or if they're too dated for modern consoles?

Lamplighter's League was unfortunate. I love X-Com style games, and this is a good twist on that, but the bugs were piling up. I was stuck on one level, purely due to crashes. It crashed when I tried to save. It crashed when I threw a smoke bomb while graphics were already stuttering. Finally, I beat the level, it faded to black... and never came back. I've uninstalled, but maybe I'll go back to it if it's fixed, or if I upgrade my Series S. 

Tried Starfield. Not my cup of tea. Not a NASA-core kinda guy. Story didn't grab me. 

[Sisma]

3 hours ago, Kubikiri Asa said:

Looking forward playing the new FM game.

I still play Champioship Manager 2001. 😆

[Jaysin]

7 hours ago, Self said:

Free weekend for Diablo 4 on Xbox, so I'm going to see what the fuss is all about.

Just finished with Arkham Knight and Lamplighter's League. I thought Arkham Knight was awesome. I tried playing it last year but hated the Batmobile so much I quickly gave up. What a fool I was. Really fun time. I can see myself going back to it or looking into the previous games in the franchise. Anyone know if they hold up, or if they're too dated for modern consoles?

Lamplighter's League was unfortunate. I love X-Com style games, and this is a good twist on that, but the bugs were piling up. I was stuck on one level, purely due to crashes. It crashed when I tried to save. It crashed when I threw a smoke bomb while graphics were already stuttering. Finally, I beat the level, it faded to black... and never came back. I've uninstalled, but maybe I'll go back to it if it's fixed, or if I upgrade my Series S. 

Tried Starfield. Not my cup of tea. Not a NASA-core kinda guy. Story didn't grab me. 

Arkham City is still one of my favorite gaming experiences. One of the few games I've gotten 100% completion on more than once and when the trilogy comes to Switch, I'll 100% it again. I hated the Batmobile missions in Knight though. Especially the Riddler missions. Making them a mandatory part of the game was infuriating. My ADHD wasn't medicated when I tried to play it though, so I'm going to give it another shot on Switch when it drops. 

[Kubikiri Asa]

18 hours ago, Sisma said:

I still play Champioship Manager 2001. 😆

I do as well, I even mod and run a CM01/02 diary.

[Sisma]

44 minutes ago, Kubikiri Asa said:

I do as well, I even mod and run a CM01/02 diary.

tapani iodine 4-1-4-1 FTW

[Kubikiri Asa]

On 10/21/2023 at 6:13 PM, Sisma said:

tapani iodine 4-1-4-1 FTW

I'm more into different types of 343 or 433 tactics, since I use wingers.

[The Swanton825]

On 10/20/2023 at 4:37 PM, Self said:

Free weekend for Diablo 4 on Xbox, so I'm going to see what the fuss is all about.

Just finished with Arkham Knight and Lamplighter's League. I thought Arkham Knight was awesome. I tried playing it last year but hated the Batmobile so much I quickly gave up. What a fool I was. Really fun time. I can see myself going back to it or looking into the previous games in the franchise. Anyone know if they hold up, or if they're too dated for modern consoles?

Lamplighter's League was unfortunate. I love X-Com style games, and this is a good twist on that, but the bugs were piling up. I was stuck on one level, purely due to crashes. It crashed when I tried to save. It crashed when I threw a smoke bomb while graphics were already stuttering. Finally, I beat the level, it faded to black... and never came back. I've uninstalled, but maybe I'll go back to it if it's fixed, or if I upgrade my Series S. 

Tried Starfield. Not my cup of tea. Not a NASA-core kinda guy. Story didn't grab me. 

Gonna second Jaysin on Arkham City being amazing. 10/10. Would 100% again. Really, the only outright bad game in the series IMO is Arkham Origins - Blackgate. The Arkham formula does not work in 2.5D.

It feels so weird being seemingly one of the only people enjoying Starfield. I think I've made my hatred of Bethesda and Todd Howard clear on here, but Starfield has been a fun chillout game for me. By no means is it a great game or "the least buggy game Bethesda's ever made" like some Microsoft exec tried to claim, but it scratches some itch in my stupid ape brain that keeps me playing.

[Jaysin]

16 minutes ago, The Swanton825 said:

Gonna second Jaysin on Arkham City being amazing. 10/10. Would 100% again. Really, the only outright bad game in the series IMO is Arkham Origins - Blackgate. The Arkham formula does not work in 2.5D.

It feels so weird being seemingly one of the only people enjoying Starfield. I think I've made my hatred of Bethesda and Todd Howard clear on here, but Starfield has been a fun chillout game for me. By no means is it a great game or "the least buggy game Bethesda's ever made" like some Microsoft exec tried to claim, but it scratches some itch in my stupid ape brain that keeps me playing.

That's how I feel about Skyrim and why I've paid for it maybe five to six times on various consoles. Something about it just clicks with my brain and I lose myself in my character's life. I'm a sucker for roleplaying characters though. I'm planning a Batman inspired playthrough atm. 

[FellaLibby]

59 minutes ago, The Swanton825 said:

Gonna second Jaysin on Arkham City being amazing. 10/10. Would 100% again. Really, the only outright bad game in the series IMO is Arkham Origins - Blackgate. The Arkham formula does not work in 2.5D.

It feels so weird being seemingly one of the only people enjoying Starfield. I think I've made my hatred of Bethesda and Todd Howard clear on here, but Starfield has been a fun chillout game for me. By no means is it a great game or "the least buggy game Bethesda's ever made" like some Microsoft exec tried to claim, but it scratches some itch in my stupid ape brain that keeps me playing.

 

I love Starfield I think it's great. And the twists it actually has is pretty respectable. I however only have it on Xbox so I'm patiently waiting for mod support, which I know is already awesome, but it will make an already great game into an even better one imo.

[The Swanton825]

4 hours ago, Jaysin said:

That's how I feel about Skyrim and why I've paid for it maybe five to six times on various consoles. Something about it just clicks with my brain and I lose myself in my character's life. I'm a sucker for roleplaying characters though. I'm planning a Batman inspired playthrough atm. 

I wish I had the kind of imagination on my playthroughs of games. I'm the kind of player who always says he's going to play differently, then I wind up making a two-handed melee, heavy armor build again lol.

 

3 hours ago, FellaLibby said:

 

I love Starfield I think it's great. And the twists it actually has is pretty respectable. I however only have it on Xbox so I'm patiently waiting for mod support, which I know is already awesome, but it will make an already great game into an even better one imo.

I can't wait for the bigger mods to start popping up. If nobody makes a Star Wars total conversion at some point, I'll have lost my faith in humanity.

[Jaysin]

1 hour ago, The Swanton825 said:

I wish I had the kind of imagination on my playthroughs of games. I'm the kind of player who always says he's going to play differently, then I wind up making a two-handed melee, heavy armor build again lol.

My go to is a stealthy archer, but I'm trying to branch out. The role playing aspect is how I learn other play styles. Other than a Batman inspired character, I have a build I'm calling the Ashe King, and it's a king from a faraway land who mysteriously winds up in Skyrim with no memory of how he got there. He's a fire themed arcane warrior. I have a plan to build up destruction as high as I can and only use fire magic, conjure fire creatures, and restoration. Any weapon I yield will be enchanted with fire enchantments. 

[Fleisch]

On 10/23/2023 at 10:38 PM, Jaysin said:

That's how I feel about Skyrim and why I've paid for it maybe five to six times on various consoles. Something about it just clicks with my brain and I lose myself in my character's life. I'm a sucker for roleplaying characters though. I'm planning a Batman inspired playthrough atm. 

Agree! I am currently playing my (lost count) playthrough of Skyrim as a khajit assassin. I love just creating the characters backstory in my head and then play it out as that type of person would.

I wanted to do the same on Starfield but right now its too geared towards playing as the "good guy". Plus there's a glitch that is stopping me completing a mission so I'm annoyed with it. Might go back if Bethesda actually fix it, if not I'll delete it (gamepass version).

[Jaysin]

19 minutes ago, Fleisch said:

Agree! I am currently playing my (lost count) playthrough of Skyrim as a khajit assassin. I love just creating the characters backstory in my head and then play it out as that type of person would.

I wanted to do the same on Starfield but right now its too geared towards playing as the "good guy". Plus there's a glitch that is stopping me completing a mission so I'm annoyed with it. Might go back if Bethesda actually fix it, if not I'll delete it (gamepass version).

My partner is pagan and I had the idea where I could make a character loosely based on her named Ashelin, a High Elf witch obsessed with fire. The fire part isn't a real quality of my partner 😂

[The Swanton825]

3 hours ago, Fleisch said:

I wanted to do the same on Starfield but right now its too geared towards playing as the "good guy". Plus there's a glitch that is stopping me completing a mission so I'm annoyed with it. Might go back if Bethesda actually fix it, if not I'll delete it (gamepass version).

I'm the basic boy who always plays the good guy and even I've noticed how there's really no other way to play your character in Starfield that makes sense for RPing. Constellation are too outright good for it to make sense that they tolerate an evil PC.

 

3 hours ago, Jaysin said:

My partner is pagan and I had the idea where I could make a character loosely based on her named Ashelin, a High Elf witch obsessed with fire. The fire part isn't a real quality of my partner 😂

You say that like the pyromania is a bad thing. ...I really should talk to my therapist about my taste in women.

[Blackman]

Been playing sprite-based game for the first time in years, and enjoying it. It's called Symphony of War and it's the closest thing to the old gem "Ogre Battle" for SNES/N64. Loving it so far. I guess it ressembles Fire Emblem a bit as it's a grid-based turn-based combat-like game with several RPG elements, which makes it a nice mix.

Also bought the EA UFC 5 game just to get my MMA fix in, but it's an average title so far. Not much new, even the roster is exactly the same. 😅 So not a great deal atm...

[Sisma]

59 minutes ago, Blackman said:

Been playing sprite-based game for the first time in years, and enjoying it. It's called Symphony of War and it's the closest thing to the old gem "Ogre Battle" for SNES/N64. Loving it so far. I guess it ressembles Fire Emblem a bit as it's a grid-based turn-based combat-like game with several RPG elements, which makes it a nice mix.

Also bought the EA UFC 5 game just to get my MMA fix in, but it's an average title so far. Not much new, even the roster is exactly the same. 😅 So not a great deal atm...

I'm glad I didn't buy it. I was pretty hyped when it was announced, but everything I've seen makes it look like UFC 4.5. I got Spider Man 2 and Alan Wake 2, instead and feel pretty good about it. 😛

[Dawn]

Spider-Man 2 is quite good, I even platted it a few nights ago (only deleted it for the time being bc there really isn't anything else to do until they add NG+ and I needed some space in my storage) but I felt it was disappointing compared to the first and it didn't fully live up to the hype following the setup from Miles Morales.

The first two acts are really good. I love how Kraven is portrayed, and you can really feel the struggle with the black suit from Peter up until the Venom reveal (hoping there isn't anyone here who didn't even watch a single trailer before wanting to buy SM2 as I wanted to be spoiler-free - I don't really consider these things I've talked about spoilers as they were all over trailers and ads plus I didn't really go in detail, if there's anyone who fits this criteria please tell me and I'll delete this whole part of the rant & the next)

But I felt as if they rushed through the third act. There is no time to digest any of it. It's two or three missions and that's joever. In the first game you had a much longer setup to fighting each of the Six. Even Miles Morales, a short game, had better pacing with its climax. I was left with a feeling of ''that's it?'' and just wanting more. I guess that's a good hook for the DLC and inevitable third game, but I can't help but feel that it wasn't all in a positive light. There was a ton of missed potential with the third act. I get not every game can be GTA San Andreas with 100 missions but those are my two cents as a big Spidey fan who did enjoy the game but it wasn't the classic I was hoping for.

[Fleisch]

I have been on a real nostalgia kick recently. I started playing Zombies ate my Neighbours on XBX which I owned on SNES when I was at school. I also saw that Rise of the Triads is on XB too so may buy that... all this power from XBX and all I seem to want to buy/play recently are old school games like Wolfenstein 3d, the original Doom Series and Duke Nukem 3D! 😁

Talking of games I played when younger... I just got Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos on PC again. So bad but so good!

[The Swanton825]

1 hour ago, Fleisch said:

Talking of games I played when younger... I just got Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos on PC again. So bad but so good!

I actually played Lands of Lore just a few months ago. Super fun dungeon crawler! It even beat Oblivion to the punch on shelling out for Patrick Stewart only to barely use him before the character gets taken out lol. I'm looking forward to checking out the other two games, especially Guardians of Destiny. I love me some awful live action cutscenes. Which is a bit weird seeing as how I'm too young to be nostalgic for FMV cutscenes.

EDIT: Running on very little sleep today and I almost forgot to mention that the Rise of the Triad remaster is A+ gold. They even added in cut content from beta versions as well as a whole new episode!

Edited December 1, 2023 by The Swanton825

[Jaysin]

Speaking of remasters, has anyone played the Turok remasters from Nightdive?

[Fleisch]

7 hours ago, Jaysin said:

Speaking of remasters, has anyone played the Turok remasters from Nightdive?

Not yet but they're on my list.

Ended up getting Rise of the Triad and spent an hour on that last night. Memories came flooding back from when my late Dad brought back about 20 CDs with games he'd copied from his friends at work. This was one of them. It was actually my Dad who got me into shooters, until that point I was only into the Championship Manager series and point and clicks like Monkey Island. Then it was Doom, MDK, Wolfenstein, Duke Nukem, Dark Forces, Hexen, Heretic.... the list went on!

[The Swanton825]

9 hours ago, Jaysin said:

Speaking of remasters, has anyone played the Turok remasters from Nightdive?

I've played the first two (just learned that 3 finally got one!) and they play great! Nightdive is king of remasters.

[Dave Mac]

On 11/24/2023 at 8:03 AM, Dawn said:

Spider-Man 2 is quite good, I even platted it a few nights ago (only deleted it for the time being bc there really isn't anything else to do until they add NG+ and I needed some space in my storage) but I felt it was disappointing compared to the first and it didn't fully live up to the hype following the setup from Miles Morales.

The first two acts are really good. I love how Kraven is portrayed, and you can really feel the struggle with the black suit from Peter up until the Venom reveal (hoping there isn't anyone here who didn't even watch a single trailer before wanting to buy SM2 as I wanted to be spoiler-free - I don't really consider these things I've talked about spoilers as they were all over trailers and ads plus I didn't really go in detail, if there's anyone who fits this criteria please tell me and I'll delete this whole part of the rant & the next)

But I felt as if they rushed through the third act. There is no time to digest any of it. It's two or three missions and that's joever. In the first game you had a much longer setup to fighting each of the Six. Even Miles Morales, a short game, had better pacing with its climax. I was left with a feeling of ''that's it?'' and just wanting more. I guess that's a good hook for the DLC and inevitable third game, but I can't help but feel that it wasn't all in a positive light. There was a ton of missed potential with the third act. I get not every game can be GTA San Andreas with 100 missions but those are my two cents as a big Spidey fan who did enjoy the game but it wasn't the classic I was hoping for.

My wife likes the Spiderman games and I enjoyed the first.  She recently completed the second and I was going to play through but have sat and watched her on and off playing.  I must say from what I see I agree with you.  It seemed to very quickly get tot he point of playing through to the end.  Not meaning you got the note saying you can't go back point.  But the whole storyline for the final quarter seemed to massively ramp up the pace and feel quite like you needed to start completing it.  Previously Spidey one and Miles Morales it felt like you could swing around a bit solve a few crimes etc. But felt like the last few bits were really crammed on top of each other and that was it. 

[Jaysin]

So I'm very behind on gaming, but holy moly, Ghost of Tsushima is such a treat. I think after I complete it the first time I'm going to do a New Game+ play through in the Kurosawa mode. 

[Dawn]

On 11/10/2022 at 1:45 PM, Dawn said:

COD MW2 has the best single player campaign of the series in ages. Probably since the original one, really. I'm not touching online COD ever, but I was pleasantly surprised at the offline experience and will be awaiting MW3 with hefty expectations for a followup.

I was rereading older stuff in this thread and found this gem. If anyone doesn't get the context, MW3 is a blatant repaint job of the previous game with the shortest and most haphazardly put together campaign in the series. The same friend I played MW2 with got that one and I am not touching it with the longest feet wide pole in the world. But I guess the joke's on me for having any COD related expectations in the first place.