Video Games - Sequels of Dread and Anticipation

[Caligula_K3]

I remember a few years ago when a Last of Us movie was in the air and Maisie Williams was a big contender to play Ellie. Kind of funny that Bella Ramsey ended up with the role. I've never played either of the games (only because I've never owned a Playstation) but am really interested in this show. I'm also excited to see Pedro Pascal in a role that will hopefully be more demanding of him as an actor than The Mandalorian 95% of the time.

I'm still playing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. It's a game I can't put more than an hour at a time into; it's just too hectic and frantic and too many levels feel similar. I got it as a gift and I'm not unhappy I played it, but I think at this point it's pretty safe to say these Warriors games just aren't for me.

[Werthead]

7 minutes ago, Caligula_K3 said:

I remember a few years ago when a Last of Us movie was in the air and Maisie Williams was a big contender to play Ellie. Kind of funny that Bella Ramsey ended up with the role. I've never played either of the games (only because I've never owned a Playstation) but am really interested in this show. I'm also excited to see Pedro Pascal in a role that will hopefully be more demanding of him as an actor than The Mandalorian 95% of the time.

Yeah, people kept being proposed but then aged out of the role (even Ramsey is three years older than Ellie in the first game).

I started an Age of Empires replay. The "definitive edition" remaster is absolutely fantastic to look at. Shame the AI is still dogshit.

[Toth]

Uhuhu, looks neat:

 

[Werthead]

11 minutes ago, Toth said:

Uhuhu, looks neat:

 

Looks excellent, although 1:11 did trigger major, major trauma flashbacks.

Combining New Vegas's vastly superior dialogue and quest design with FO4's visual design and UI improvements should make for a really solid game.

Also looked like they kept the Deathclaw Quarry - which you can very easily stumble across at Level 1, about twenty minutes into the game, which is suboptimal - intact, which I'm sure will satisfy gluttons for punishment.

Removing the brown filter from the game also makes it look much better by itself (like the green filter on FO3).

[Fez]

So, this is kinda weird...

This is a 2009 Konami game that was quietly cancelled, apparently resurrected by a new-ish studio (they've made a PSVR game already) of ex-Bungie devs. I assume the game was very close to completion, otherwise I can't imagine it would be worth finishing up the work now. But it just seems like such an odd choice.

[Rhom]

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

Mando III has been pushed back because of the Boba Fett show (which is in production now), although assuming that Last of Us starts shooting imminently (which I'd expect based on the timeline), it does look like there'd be an overlap, unless Mando III is going to debut later than expected (as in, late 2022).

I suspect that with Pascal becoming more of a hot ticket, there was a decision reached that he could do more stuff and they will use doubles more often, or they might be planning for Mando III to be the last season (despite reports of a four-year arc being planned). Or they're just no longer wedded to bringing the show out ASAP and are willing to have longer gaps between seasons, filled in by the spin-offs.

Lets be honest... Pascal could do virtually all his Mando work as a voice over artist.

[Ran]

2 hours ago, Rhom said:

Lets be honest... Pascal could do virtually all his Mando work as a voice over artist.

Yes, but there's something to be said for two actors being in a scene together, playing off the subtlety of one another's body language, delivery, etc. Lots of animated films will have the performers recording dialog together because of the energy and nuance it lends to performances.

I do gather that his character is pretty laconic (still haven't watched it) so maybe that sort of dialog is rare.

[The Anti-Targ]

I imagine it would cause a shitstorm among gamers of a certain type, but I really hope they let Pedro use his natural accent in the TLOU TV rather than get him to use a Texan(?) accent. As a somewhat more flexibly minded person and a big fan of the games I am fully on board with Pedro playing as a Latinex character.

Spoiler I guess:

Spoiler

I am sure they can cast someone Latinex to play Sarah. Though I would really like for Tommy to be Joel's non-Latinex white brother-in-law+best friend and business partner (my head cannon being Joel married his best friend's sister and they are true brothers in every way except parentage), so Sarah is actually ethnically mixed.

Hopefully the release of the TV show will coincide with a release of the original game on PC. We have precedent with Horizon Zero Dawn, and that was a PS4 original whereas TLOU was a PS3 original. Though I hope they do a better technical job than they did with Horizon.

Speaking of releasing PS 1st party exclusives on PC, I think this has maybe a 0.01% chance of happening, but I would love to see The Order: 1886 somewhat re-imagined and re-released for PS5 and PC. The bones of the game were great, it just failed on a number of aspects of execution, and it really deserves resurrection. Putting it on PC as well as PS5 would bring it to a whole new audience and make it more likely to bring a financial return.

[Ran]

Uh, there's a lot of Latinos with Texan accents.... They've been in the state since before it was a state and before the United States existed.

[Werthead]

2 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I imagine it would cause a shitstorm among gamers of a certain type, but I really hope they let Pedro use his natural accent in the TLOU TV rather than get him to use a Texan(?) accent. As a somewhat more flexibly minded person and a big fan of the games I am fully on board with Pedro playing as a Latinex character.

Pedro did play a real-life Texan in Narcos (with a noticeable accent), but decided to not even try to do the accent (neither did Edward James Olmos, playing his father in what is still a titan of father-son casting).

[The Anti-Targ]

6 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Pedro did play a real-life Texan in Narcos (with a noticeable accent), but decided to not even try to do the accent (neither did Edward James Olmos, playing his father in what is still a titan of father-son casting).

Did you mean for me to try to find some clear dialogue from Pedro in a 1hr long video about the show? Apologies, but I am way to lazy to do that.

But I do think I should get around to watching it (the show, not that video) some time. Hmmm, my wife is away all weekend. Maybe now would be a good time.

[Werthead]

11 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Did you mean for me to try to find some clear dialogue from Pedro in a 1hr long video about the show? Apologies, but I am way to lazy to do that.

But I do think I should get around to watching it (the show, not that video) some time. Hmmm, my wife is away all weekend. Maybe now would be a good time.

No, the real-life guy that Pedro was playing in Narcos is introduced at the start. Takes about 5 seconds to hear his accent, which is very much not Pedro's.

Narcos is good but weird. Season 1 is like a hyperfast docudrama, which is odd, but Seasons 2-3 are paced like a regular drama. I haven't seen the sequel/prequel/spin-off show yet. 

[Heartofice]

3 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Narcos is good but weird. Season 1 is like a hyperfast docudrama, which is odd, but Seasons 2-3 are paced like a regular drama. I haven't seen the sequel/prequel/spin-off show yet. 

Thats a good point that I hadn't considered till just then, but yeah, that first season really is an odd mix of documentary and drama, and the show shifts to a more classic drama as time goes on. 

Narcos Mexico is full on melodrama at times.

[The Anti-Targ]

1 minute ago, Heartofice said:

Thats a good point that I hadn't considered till just then, but yeah, that first season really is an odd mix of documentary and drama, and the show shifts to a more classic drama as time goes on. 

Narcos Mexico is full on melodrama at times.

What, so like a Telenovela?

[RumHam]

PlayStation 5 Scalpers Aren’t Happy With Their Public Image

[Rhom]

27 minutes ago, RumHam said:

PlayStation 5 Scalpers Aren’t Happy With Their Public Image

Just there to help other people make some much needed money during a pandemic.  What a heart of gold that guy has...

[Poobah]

4 hours ago, RumHam said:

PlayStation 5 Scalpers Aren’t Happy With Their Public Image

Fuck these people. When I become emperor they're all getting sent to the salt mines.

[Rhom]

My son saw me playing Miles Morales the other day and wanted to play.  So I installed the Spiderman Remastered so he could start from the beginning.  He's 10.  Other than Fortnite (which he's actually really good at), some sports games, and then stuff we used to play together like Disney Infinite; he's not really played any games on his own.  I set the difficulty to Friendly Neighborhood for the combat and he has been cruising along.  I'm having a blast watching him.

Its funny how fast he's moving since he really could care less about finding every last backpack, opening up every tower, etc.  I spent hours as soon as the city opened up finding everything I could and then going back and doing crimes and such in every borough with all the major story beats. 

[The Anti-Targ]

21 hours ago, RumHam said:

PlayStation 5 Scalpers Aren’t Happy With Their Public Image

People have to tell themself they are the hero of their own story. But that ridiculous Tesco analogy, I can't even...

But I still blame the retailers, and Sony to some extent. They will sell to whoever, so long as they make a sale. I think to stop the scalping people should be made to go pick up their purchase in person, and they can only take one PS5 at a time. They can pay online, for one PS5 per checkout, to ensure they get it before going out, but still have to pick it up.

[IlyaP]

Well, now, I vaguely recall I made some kind of promise about what I'd play after I finished Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. 

Having done exactly that tonight, I now need to figure out what the hell it was I promised to try out once I finished KoA:R. 

Total aside: terrific game. Feels very much like a single-player version of World of Warcraft, and features equally "cartoonish" (for want of a better word) designs, as well as a very accessible style of gameplay, a ludicrous amount of lore, some interesting gameplay ideas, and the ability to modify one's stats for a price in-game. And a *gorgeous* score courtesy of Grant Kirkhope and Mark Cromer.