Videogames: All Valves on Deck

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Started Prey, feels a bit low budget after dishonoured 2 but I’m digging the mimic enemy mechanics and the plot is intriguing. The Talos is also a great ship design which helps for atmosphere. 
 

Also after sinking in 30 hours into Red Dead Redemption 2 and reaching Chapter 4 at Saint Denis,I’m finally enjoying the game. The gameplay mechanics are horrible but I’m here for the story and visuals. I’m feeding Arthur a fucking deer a day and he’s still underweight for some reason (just one example of the frustrating gameplay)

But my god does this game look beautiful on the PC, it’s actually as good if not better than any 2023 game. And wipes the shit out of Starfield (the so called next gen game)  excellent 60+ fps on the rtx 3080 at 1440p/ultra as well. Gotta give it to Rockstar they know how to release polished games. 
It’s a bit sad how a game that came out nearly 6 years ago now on last Gen consoles is better looking than all the 2023 games . Shows how little we’ve progressed in this area ! 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[mcbigski]

So Steam is giving me a nasty warning that it's going to stop supporting me in 3 days or so because I'm still running Windows 7 or so on my Theseus ship of a gaming PC.  The case and the motherboard are about 14 years old but everything else has been upgraded.  

What's going to happen come January 1?  I'm assuming Steam will still take my money if I want to buy a new game and really nothing will change.  I know I can shortcut my existing games to boot without going through steam though I might have problems with saved games if they're cloud only. I figure the steam achievements wont show but that's probably a relief above all.  (Sometime achievements point you to alternate strategies that are great to learn about, but too often they're just a grind.)  I'm not a compulsive completionist, but since I tend to replay games multiple times anyway, achievement hunting does help vary the replays.

Thinking about upgrading to a new system but I also low level detest microsoft and by default assume that the next "upgrade" is going to be a cash grab that tracks me more and spends more resources on bloat that doesn't improve much.  According to the Windows Experience Index tool, my system is a 7.4 out of 7.9, with processor and memory as the lowest.  Is that a measurement that means anything?  If so, should I upgrade?  If I should, what benchmarks should I be going for?  When I've bought a new system, I usually went with state of the art 12-18 months ago and room for RAM upgrades.  Though I get the impression that video cards are a bigger bottleneck than RAM these days.  Help!

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Time to get windows 10 pirated version bro if you detest MS

Edited December 30, 2023 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[Ran]

9 hours ago, mcbigski said:

What's going to happen come January 1? 

People using Windows 7 and Windows 8 will stop receiving any updates to the client, including security updates. At some point, I assume out-of-date clients will not be able to purchase/play games, but no idea when that would be.

Hard to say whether you need to get a new system if the mobo still works and you've upgraded along the way. Do you have an SSD drive? At least 16GB of RAM?  If yes, you might just get away with simply upgrading Windows.

IIRC, there was this whole furor over Windows 11 demanding some sort of security stuff on CPUs that your computer may not have. See here to check if your current system meets requirements. And you could look around and see if there's a copy of Windows 10 available somewhere, I suppose, which I believe did not have that particular security requirement.

[Ran]

Also, picked up Red Dead Redemption 2, my first Rockstar game, via the Epic Game Store sale (sale price + their 33% discount dropped it to like ... .$14?).

I guess I'll give it a try at some point to see if it scratches the same itch as Cyberpunk 2077 for a narrative-rich game with a well-realized world.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

1 minute ago, Ran said:

Also, picked up Red Dead Redemption 2, my first Rockstar game, via the Epic Game Store sale (sale price + their 33% discount dropped it to like ... .$14?).

I guess I'll give it a try at some point to see if it scratches the same itch as Cyberpunk 2077 for a narrative-rich game with a well-realized world.

Don’t expect it to be an RPG in any way , that said it’s narrative is a nice slow burn, you have a morality system that I believe does affect the endings and the visuals are IMO as good as cyberpunk on PC.

[Ran]

Just now, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Don’t expect it to be an RPG in any way , that said it’s narrative is a nice slow burn, you have a morality system that I believe does affect the endings and the visuals are IMO as good as cyberpunk on PC.

Yeah, it's an action-adventure game with a very set character, as I understand it. My only worry is the thing people often quibble about, that Rockstar insists on just doing missions one way and one way only, and not understanding what they intend you to do can lead to failure. That sounds annoying. But we'll see.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

2 minutes ago, Ran said:

Yeah, it's an action-adventure game with a very set character, as I understand it. My only worry is the thing people often quibble about, that Rockstar insists on just doing missions one way and one way only, and not understanding what they intend you to do can lead to failure. That sounds annoying. But we'll see.

Yup the gameplay sucks, the missions are extremely restrictive and the sim aspects (constantly having to eat ) get frustrating, that said the open world aspects are amazing (hunting ,fishing,free roaming, discovering the various cities and settlements etc ) and the narrative is a good western movie level quality. 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[Heartofice]

RDR2 isn’t really an RPG, which took me a while to get my head around. It’s barely an open world game either, though you can wander around it, it’s just there doesn’t seem much point in doing so unless you want to do some pointless mini game shit. 
 

It being labelled one of the best games ever by some just seems baffling to me, and I tried for a long time to see what other people were seeing in the game.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

1 minute ago, Heartofice said:

RDR2 isn’t really an RPG, which took me a while to get my head around. It’s barely an open world game either, though you can wander around it, it’s just there doesn’t seem much point in doing so unless you want to do some pointless mini game shit. 
 

It being labelled one of the best games ever by some just seems baffling to me, and I tried for a long time to see what other people were seeing in the game.

It isn’t the best games ever made, but I think the graphics are honestly the best I’ve seen on pc.

[Werthead]

I would say the storyline and Arthur's story in particular are very good, with a lot of tragedy, hubris, friendship/fellowship and (usually bleak) humour. Rockstar seem to be at their best doing more tragic stuff, like this game, RDR1 and GTA4, rather than their zany shit (and their attempt to do both, in GTA5, was variable at best).

The very, very long epilogue is weird, though, as it seemed to be setting up something that never happened (a full remake of RDR1 in RDR2's engine, as RDR2 is a prequel to RDR1 so the story can directly continue from one into the other). When you can go down to the far southwest, it's worth doing as it's a gorgeous area and the trains look really impressive, but there's sweet FA actual story or mission content down there.

The biggest problems are the UI, which is stodgy and confusing at best, and the very restrictive mission choices (which are a bigger problem in some missions than others). The world is also incredibly gorgeous but a lot of the out-of-mission optional activities are meh at best.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Werthead

[IlyaP]

8 hours ago, Werthead said:

The world is also incredibly gorgeous but a lot of the out-of-mission optional activities are meh at best.

Open world side activities or something? I can just see it now...

"Wanna go fishing?"

"Let's go hunt some deer!"

"I've always wanted to be a lumberjack."
 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

1 hour ago, IlyaP said:

Open world side activities or something? I can just see it now...

"Wanna go fishing?"

"Let's go hunt some deer!"

"I've always wanted to be a lumberjack."
 

“Hey Niko let’s go bowling !”

[IlyaP]

Tried resuming Final Fantasy XV this morning, and got to pretty much the end of the game - which is just a non-stop corridor-cum-gauntlet of meaningless boss fights (i.e. epic trash mob fight, really) and threw my hands up at the non-stop incoherency of the plot, where random gods(?) will intervene at Some Points but Not Others. None of it makes sense, including why there's a sudden time-jump in-game (not a spoiler, it's made clear in the very first scene of the game), and the open road Bros and Their Car adventure sequence of the game is at the wildest of odds with the incredibly awkward linear corridors and *dreadful* divine right of kings garbage that comes front and center in the last quarter of the game. 

Nothing in this game makes any sense, which really hampers the theoretically fun and interesting (if goofy) road trip mechanics experiment that is the first two quarters of the game. 

From what I've also read elsewhere, to properly understand what in the hell any of this is for or about, it's necessary to watch both the movie and anime series *and* read the tie-in novel. That's too much of an ask and a project management failure around integrating story mechanics sensibly into a game. Which is kind of astonishing for an open world game, where opportunities for side-missions to frame and build out the larger narrative are readily at hand. 

It's such a frustrating mish-mash of disparate ideas and systems that never fully jell, and instead frustrate and confuse. I'm happy SquareEnix was willing to experiment with what Final Fantasy could be, especially after the disastrous responses that followed in the wake of the FFXIII trilogy (aka the Lightning Trilogy), but hopefully FF XVI came out better than XV, as this is ultimately mostly a turkey of a game. 

[Slurktan]

On 12/29/2023 at 10:48 PM, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Also after sinking in 30 hours into Red Dead Redemption 2 and reaching Chapter 4 at Saint Denis,I’m finally enjoying the game. The gameplay mechanics are horrible but I’m here for the story and visuals. I’m feeding Arthur a fucking deer a day and he’s still underweight for some reason (just one example of the frustrating gameplay)

If you have been paying attention, there's a story reason for him looking underweight.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

42 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

If you have been paying attention, there's a story reason for him looking underweight.

Still on chapter 4 but I haven’t realised it.

[Werthead]

Completed GTA5's campaign, but before diving into the (solo) online mode I decided to go through The Last of Us, as I know it's fairly linear, short(ish?) game. About 5 hours in, pretty solid stuff so far, even if the incredible linear levels are a bit of a shock after so many open to open-ish world games I've played recently. Bit of a throwback to the likes of Half-Life.

It's amusing that the game starts off with a warning you should use a gamepad, usually a sign of shitty optimisation for mouse and keyboard, but it turns out that the optimisation might have been too good, as aiming and headshots with a mouse is extremely easy. I followed some online advice when playing on PC to ramp up the difficulty to hard to ensure the game isn't a complete cakewalk and that seems to have been solid advice.

5 hours in, just met my first Bloater in the school gymnasium.

[Ser Not Appearing]

I think I'm about through Act I of BG3 but I'm not certain. I want to do everything because I don't enjoy replays but that appears impossible in general because the game is designed where some doors close depending on your actions but it also appears impossible because you have to get somewhere and there are multiple routes and, ultimately, you have to pick one.

I've done one route up until a point where it asks if I really want to continue and I backed out. I think I'm gonna try doing the other routes through that same point to see if there's anything unique leading up to their turning point. Then I'll progress.

I've avoided all spoilers so far. Once I'm done, I guess I'll either start a replay and do new choices or I'll just read up on all the variations. Oh, and I'm playing on a setting above the normal and it still feels pretty easy most of the time. Is this game viewed that way? I've never seen that discussed (though I avoid most discussions) in the same way as Starfield but it feels similar.

Side note: Nudity and sex in video games really is weird to me. Romance options are, in general, kinda weird to me but this game can get graphic with that. I don't "get" why it exists unless they're catering to people aged 13-20 and mostly boys at that.

Edited January 2 by Ser Not Appearing

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

16 minutes ago, Ser Not Appearing said:

.

Side note: Nudity and sex in video games really is weird to me. Romance options are, in general, kinda weird to me but this game can get graphic with that. I don't "get" why it exists unless they're catering to people aged 13-20 and mostly boys at that.

Umm you know this is a role playing game right and romance/sex is an aspect of that genre (as well as other narrative games), going all the way back to the old school CRPGs.Saying sex in video games is weird but not in a similar art form like movies/tv is a bit hypocritical and adding that snide comments about it being for ‘mostly boys’  just reeks of plain sexism and ignorance.Cause women clearly cannot or don’t want sex and nudity in games right ?Go see all the female gamers playing bg3 and other similar M rated RPGs and enjoying those moments on Twitch and YouTube if you want to seek validity on nudity in video games… I mean it’s not like it’s porn, the game builds up to those moments through story and character development of those relationships, like any film or novel. 

Edited January 2 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[Ser Not Appearing]

1 minute ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Umm you know this is a role playing game right and romance is an aspect of that genre (as well as other narrative games), going all the way back to the old school CRPG. Saying sex in video games is weird but not in a similar art form like movies/tv is a bit hypocritical ...

 

For a variety of reasons, I would reject this comparison and distinguish role playing any action from merely observing it portrayed. There are similarities but the distinction are significant enough and, importantly, very much the entire basis of the point made. I don't really care to argue it but I suppose I'm happy enough to note that it doesn't really move the needle for me.

But two things related to this:

1. I, personally, often object to nudity and sex as gratuitous and distracting from TV shows and movies. Even books, tbh. Fair me, personally, to step further into objection when it's role-played is simply in keeping with my own perspective.

2. Following on that, I freely admitted I don't "get" it. That's both qualified as a personal reaction (see: not an argument for objective reality) and it's couched in language that presumes my own lack of insight (see: it doesn't place my response as primary). I feel it's a rather intentionally weakly-structured observation to spark such a strong reaction and I'd hope that, upon further reflection, you find it acceptable for someone to have a different response to media than you do.