Video Games: Mystery Box Character Creation

[Rhom]

2 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

It’s fun and feels really fluid. Kinda reminds me of an easier Sekiro, with the blocking and parrying. You don’t have to be as precise as Sekiro though. Some enemies have blockable attacks, some only dodge and some both. You start with a base stance and get different ones as the game goes on that can deal with different enemies. I just got a certain stance that deals with shielded enemies that obviously comes in handy. 

I switched it to hard and the only time I’ve had difficulty is when I get overwhelmed with enemies thus far. I try to do stealth as much as possible but sometimes you come upon a small group and I can’t resist to use the standoff option. 

Like I said before, the camera can get a little wonky sometimes during combat. 

Great!  May have to check that out!

[Fez]

As a change of pace I played Far: Lone Sails last night, which I picked up at some point in a sale. It's basically the game Inside, but in a different version of the post-apocalypse. Also the puzzles are a bit fiddlier and maybe a drop easier. And its going for a much different vibe; it's a much more meditative, wistful experience. I really liked it.

[briantw]

On 7/19/2020 at 4:55 PM, The Grey Wolf said:

Spider-Man's way tougher than I expected.

I had issues with it for a while too because I was trying to play it like the Arkham games.  You really need to use Spider-Man's airborne mobility to fly around combat arenas and constantly keep moving.  It takes some getting used to, especially since there really isn't any other came with similar combat, but once it clicks the game gets significantly easier. 

[The Grey Wolf]

@briantw

Just beat it. Died much less often after getting a few key abilities.

[The Anti-Targ]

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2020/07/video-games-do-not-cause-violence-comprehensive-new-zealand-study-finds.html

Quote

A new meta-analysis of existing studies has found there is no meaningful link between video games and real-world violence.

...

"The [study supports] the long-standing understanding of most people working in the game industry that the violence in games does not have long-term negative effects," says Dr McCallum.

"Youth violence has decreased as game playing has increased. Large groups of computer game players spend time with each other without any violence, whereas over the weekend, schoolboys were stood down for having a punch-up after a rugby game. This sort of violence is extremely rare at computer gaming events."

Did we need another study? No. But it can be helpful to point to recent academic studies when ignorant people try to claim there is a strong link.

Perhaps we need to look into physical sports as causes of societal violence?

[The Grey Wolf]

Started playing the DLC for Spider-Man today.

[Werthead]

Microsoft showcase was so-so. Didn't really care about State of Decay 3. The Fable reboot will get some people excited, but that was always a hugely overrated franchise. This one may benefit from not having Molyneux blaring ridiculous AI claims about it from a nearby mountaintop.

Halo Infinite looks like Halo doing Far Cry 1: big FPS battles in large zones with multiple objectives you can tackle however you like. Great they've caught up with game design from 16 years ago, I guess? Also, the graphics are severely underwhelming on this one.

STALKER 2 looks atmospheric and it's impressive Microsoft are taking the ultimate cult PC jank-game and trying to sell it as an AAA next-gen title. I think the chances of this being great are slim; apparently not one single person who worked on STALKER or its two stand-alone spin-offs worked on this game.

Psychonauts 2 continuing to look like it's going to be good fun for everyone who liked the first game and nobody who didn't. I don't think adding Jack Black to the game is going to help.

Getting Obsidian to reveal their first big-budget CRPG for the studio, Avowed, was a good move. A first-person fantasy CRPG set in the Pillars of Eternity world, looking like it's going to be "their" Elder Scrolls (as Outer Worlds was "their" Fallout). This could be pretty good, if it's Obsidian's reactivity and choice melded with a decent budget and modern graphics.

Crossfire X looks like Remedy doing Metal Gear Solid, which I'd be down for. It does seem multiplayer focused, so will have to see what the SP content is going to be like.

The big sleeper hit might be Grounded, which is looking like an even more accessible Subnautica with a really fun, Honey I Shrank the Kids vibe.

Kinda surprised that Microsoft didn't pay Bethesda big bucks to do anything on Starfield, although of course that wouldn't be an exclusive so that's not as valuable to them.

[Caligula_K3]

23 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Microsoft showcase was so-so. Didn't really care about State of Decay 3. The Fable reboot will get some people excited, but that was always a hugely overrated franchise. This one may benefit from not having Molyneux blaring ridiculous AI claims about it from a nearby mountaintop.

Halo Infinite looks like Halo doing Far Cry 1: big FPS battles in large zones with multiple objectives you can tackle however you like. Great they've caught up with game design from 16 years ago, I guess? Also, the graphics are severely underwhelming on this one.

STALKER 2 looks atmospheric and it's impressive Microsoft are taking the ultimate cult PC jank-game and trying to sell it as an AAA next-gen title. I think the chances of this being great are slim; apparently not one single person who worked on STALKER or its two stand-alone spin-offs worked on this game.

Psychonauts 2 continuing to look like it's going to be good fun for everyone who liked the first game and nobody who didn't. I don't think adding Jack Black to the game is going to help.

Getting Obsidian to reveal their first big-budget CRPG for the studio, Avowed, was a good move. A first-person fantasy CRPG set in the Pillars of Eternity world, looking like it's going to be "their" Elder Scrolls (as Outer Worlds was "their" Fallout). This could be pretty good, if it's Obsidian's reactivity and choice melded with a decent budget and modern graphics.

Crossfire X looks like Remedy doing Metal Gear Solid, which I'd be down for. It does seem multiplayer focused, so will have to see what the SP content is going to be like.

The big sleeper hit might be Grounded, which is looking like an even more accessible Subnautica with a really fun, Honey I Shrank the Kids vibe.

Kinda surprised that Microsoft didn't pay Bethesda big bucks to do anything on Starfield, although of course that wouldn't be an exclusive so that's not as valuable to them.

All these games are also going to be on PC, eh? If so, I'm pretty excited for Avowed and Grounded. Avowed especially- I'm glad that even if The Elder Scrolls VI is 5-8 years away, we'll get something in that vein sooner, with hopefully with some of that great Obsidian writing. Though whether my laptop will be able to run it is another question...

 

[Werthead]

33 minutes ago, Caligula_K3 said:

All these games are also going to be on PC, eh? If so, I'm pretty excited for Avowed and Grounded. Avowed especially- I'm glad that even if The Elder Scrolls VI is 5-8 years away, we'll get something in that vein sooner, with hopefully with some of that great Obsidian writing. Though whether my laptop will be able to run it is another question...

All X-Box exclusives are going to be on PC as well on launch day. They specifically reiterated that for Avowed as well.

[Rhom]

3 hours ago, Werthead said:

All X-Box exclusives are going to be on PC as well on launch day. They specifically reiterated that for Avowed as well.

Which again makes me wonder why anyone would buy an Xbox?  

[Werthead]

31 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Which again makes me wonder why anyone would buy an Xbox?  

Especially if Sony are going to start sending over exclusives as well.

I think I said this last time out, but the tech really wasn't ready then, but it is more likely this will be the last console generation as we know it, with either streaming taking over or some kind of bizarre convergence of PC and console (which is kind of happening already). In terms of raw hardware, the PS5, XBX and modern PCs are almost indistinguishable from one another, and we're getting to the point where the only significant difference is the OS they're running.

[Rhom]

33 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Especially if Sony are going to start sending over exclusives as well.

I think I said this last time out, but the tech really wasn't ready then, but it is more likely this will be the last console generation as we know it, with either streaming taking over or some kind of bizarre convergence of PC and console (which is kind of happening already). In terms of raw hardware, the PS5, XBX and modern PCs are almost indistinguishable from one another, and we're getting to the point where the only significant difference is the OS they're running.

One thing I recently discovered still matters about consoles though is having that one consistent structure.  I still have no clue what went wrong with the Phantasy Star Online 2 that bricked my HDD and I’ve been too scared to try again.  The Windows store is a damn unwieldy mess.  I’m sure at least part of the problem is the myriad configurations of computers.  Consoles still give you that one size fits all out of the box you can rely on.

I agree that a video game version of a Roku is likely what’s up next.  I think the digital only edition of the PS5 isn’t really all that far away from it already.

[RumHam]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

Which again makes me wonder why anyone would buy an Xbox?  

Because they already have a huge library of digital xbox games and a group of friends who play on xbox live. 

I'll get a PS4 before I get the new x-box. There is a lot to catch up on. But when it comes to playing the next big multiplayer thing my buddies are on x-box live and Sony has been hesitant to offer cross platform support. 

[Rhom]

9 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Because they already have a huge library of digital xbox games and a group of friends who play on xbox live. 

I'll get a PS4 before I get the new x-box. There is a lot to catch up on. But when it comes to playing the next big multiplayer thing my buddies are on x-box live and Sony has been hesitant to offer cross platform support. 

Kind of my point though was that why would you buy an XBox... which shares its XBox live accounts with Windows... when all the games are going to be on the PC?

[Kalbear]

Because a good gaming PC costs twice as much or more and is much bigger of a hassle to set up and maintain. 

[Jace, Extat]

1 hour ago, Kalbear said:

Because a good gaming PC costs twice as much or more and is much bigger of a hassle to set up and maintain. 

Yeah but those graphics everyone shits themselves over are actually impressive on PC. 

[dog-days]

8 hours ago, Werthead said:

Getting Obsidian to reveal their first big-budget CRPG for the studio, Avowed, was a good move. A first-person fantasy CRPG set in the Pillars of Eternity world, looking like it's going to be "their" Elder Scrolls (as Outer Worlds was "their" Fallout). This could be pretty good, if it's Obsidian's reactivity and choice melded with a decent budget and modern graphics.

 

That is good news. I've been playing PoE over lockdown - just acquired the expansion packs yesterday. I'm glad they're doing more with the setting. But I completely missed the news that Obsidian had been bought by Microsoft. At least it wasn't EA like poor Bioware!

[Inkdaub]

8 hours ago, Kalbear said:

Because a good gaming PC costs twice as much or more and is much bigger of a hassle to set up and maintain. 

This.  I will buy both PS5 and XBoxX which will approach a thousand dollars.  How much gaming pc can I get for a grand?

In other news...first person is trash and should be cancelled.

[Poobah]

9 hours ago, Kalbear said:

Because a good gaming PC costs twice as much or more and is much bigger of a hassle to set up and maintain. 

52 minutes ago, Inkdaub said:

This.  I will buy both PS5 and XBoxX which will approach a thousand dollars.  How much gaming pc can I get for a grand?

In other news...first person is trash and should be cancelled.

 

I mean you say that but with the ever increasing price tags on these consoles it's actually looking pretty reasonable to build a comparable or superior PC if you were gonna buy both consoles. And then you end up with a device that can do a bunch of other things as well as play games, and can be updated, has a library of games going back decades, and is far more moddable than any console, plus it'll actually keep playing games and getting new ones long after you need to buy a new console if you want to keep up. I'm gonna cut out the monitor since those consoles don't come with a screen either, and say that the PC I built in 2016 came in around £1K ish? that was all new parts and I'm fairly confident in saying that given that I've been playing PC games on ultra it's probably got a bit more horsepower than your average console. It's getting to a point now where it's not gonna be the case that I can get consistent good framerates while maxing out all the graphics settings at the highest resolution my monitor can support (noticed that with Doom Eternal) but I'm still gonna be able to play Cyberpunk and all the rest of the new fancy games without throwing down any more cash for a new device to play 'um on.

[Fez]

All of the big showcases this year have been so-so, but my video game tastes have moved pretty far away from what the big players want to talk about. Granted, I wouldn't expect most of my Steam wishlist to be showing up anywhere; it's a lot of PC only games and the ones that are coming to console are mostly AA or indie. But it just goes to show why I can't bring myself to care too much.

I do wonder though why a game like the next Hollow Night didn't get a quick spot at either Microsoft's or Sony's events, that'll be an indie darling. And games like Wasteland 3 and Crusader Kings 3 are PC only, but they are coming to PC gamepass and are likely going to be pretty big hits, seems like Microsoft would have incentive to mention them as part of their pivot more towards services. Maybe not at yesterday's event, but why not the one back in May?