What is the last video game you played?

[Quintus 5,399]

I was toying with the idea of starting up TLOU2 again, but then I think about that absolutely massive (and massively pointless) hospital excursion side quest in the second half of the game, and it puts me right off. Yeah yeah, I know it's integral to the overarching narrative of Abby blah blah blah, but that don't make it satisfying or worthwhile to play (PJ and Boyens said King Kong's third hour and their gross expanding of The Hobbit was also for narrative depth purposes, so bollocks to that). In games, just like with films, good pacing is V. important. 

 

I'll probably never get around a second playthough, then. I went through the first game three times. 

[Edmilson 7,388]

So, I just finished Cyberpunk 2077. And you know what? I really liked it! 

 

The game is certainly not perfect, but to be honest I encountered very few bugs and crashes during the time I played. And I played it on my good ol' PS4. So I managed to focus on the best things the game has to offer.

 

Firstly, the dystopian atmosphere of Night City is really well done. The neon-lit graphics, the amazing sound design and the haunting electronic score will make you feel you're in a technological dystopia, one where the mixing between men and machines have gone too far, corporations rule every aspect of life, crime is everywhere and there's no hope besides joining a gang and trying to become an underground legend. The worldbuilding is surprisingly immersive, and makes you really feel what is like to live in a future where, despite the technological advancements, human race doesn't have many days left.

 

The main plot of the game is mesmerizing and has a great script, filled with plot twists. Also, I won't spoil anything (the more unspoiled you approach this game, the better), but the main story is very Cyberpunk-esque. This means it asks philosophical questions about what it means to be human in amidst a sci-fi story set in a dystopian futuristic city. It's very The Matrix/Blade Runner/Ghost in the Shell/etc.

 

But, if the main campaign is a little short, the side quests are as good as the main story, and sometimes they're even better. They are also very in this same dystopian atmosphere, but it's not like they're all depressingly nihilistic as the Cyberpunk genre can be. Some are fun, others have happy endings, a few of them are wholesome, etc. My favorites were "Dream On" (in which you investigate a creepy conspiracy involving a politician), "The Hunt" (you and River have to rescue a group of teenage boys from a serial killer), "Don't loose your Mind" (you'll be faced with an ethical dilemma involving an A.I.) and "The Beast in Me" (the obligatory "race mission", but more dramatically satisfying).

 

During the game, you'll encounter memorable, well written and performed side characters that will leave a mark on your character. People like Panam Palmer, Jackie Welles, Judy Alvarez, Goro Takemura, Claire, among others, are some of the best side characters I've ever seen in an open world videogame.

 

And then there's the man himself: Keanu Reeves. His character, Johnny Silverhand, has the typical Keanu performance, but it's a more complex and interesting character than John Wick or Neo or other heroes he portrayed. The relationship you'll have with him will be tumultuous, but you can decide how much by choosing the right dialogue.

 

Of course, many people were expecting the most amazing game of all time, and honestly Cyberpunk 2077 is just your typical open world game that you played on GTA, Far Cry, Fallout, etc. The game design and gameplay are not exactly ground breaking, and the RPG elements are a little tiresome (there's a lot of skill trees).

 

Many people say the game was lacking a lot of content. But I was satisfied with all I got. I recommend you all to wait until the game is 100% done and then get it, because once you get past all the negativity, it's a really fine game.

[Quintus 5,399]

Plenty of people have liked it; again, don't believe everything you read on social media echo chambers. Even Eurogamer said something to the effect of they'd have probably given it a 10, had it not been for all the launch bugs. 

 

I'm going to continue to wait. Got plenty to be getting on with while they sort their shit out. 

[Nick Parker 3,040]

 

[Quintus 5,399]

Today I impulse bought an Oculus Quest 2, it arrives tomorrow (thanks Amazon). 

 

Been dying to play Half-Life: Alyx. 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

13 hours ago, Quintus said:

I was toying with the idea of starting up TLOU2 again, but then I think about that absolutely massive (and massively pointless) hospital excursion side quest in the second half of the game, and it puts me right off. Yeah yeah, I know it's integral to the overarching narrative of Abby blah blah blah, but that don't make it satisfying or worthwhile to play (PJ and Boyens said King Kong's third hour and their gross expanding of The Hobbit was also for narrative depth purposes, so bollocks to that). In games, just like with films, good pacing is V. important. 

 

I'll probably never get around a second playthough, then. I went through the first game three times. 

It’s worth it for the Rat King. The game is comprised of several fantastic set pieces and levels. Just doesn’t work well when strung all together. A case where the whole isn’t greater than the sum of its parts. 
 

I started a second playthrough shortly after beating it but stopped around Day 2 or 3 of Ellie’s journey. They announced new difficulty modes and other updates and I decided to just wait for an inevitable PS5 patch with the launch of Factions. 

[King Mark 3,625]

Still playing Genshin Impact every day! But I finished all the story contents so it's just building my characters until the next new region update

 

And I'm deciding what to play for my next main game now

[Jay 37,285]

Anyone here checked out "Amazon Games"?  I assume you have to be a Prime subscriber to even use it, but I saw them hawking it on their home page and saw Metal Slug in the artwork so got curious and clicked it.  Ended up being a Windows 10 app and from within it you can install a ton of games for completely free (since I'm a Prime subscriber).  It didn't even list any games you could buy, only the free ones.

So I figured what the hell, and grabbed Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug 3, and Overcooked.  Well, it let me "Install" the Metal Slug games, but then when I click "Play" on either, nothing happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Quintus 5,399]

I checked out their offerings a couple of weeks back funnily enough, but I found the choice borderline insulting. 

[Jay 37,285]

I wasn't surprised they didn't have the most exciting games available for free, but I was surprised there was no store at all with a full library and sales to watch every week, etc, making it another platform to track next to steam and gog and epic and whatever else

But I was more curious if anybody actually got a game to launch, since I have no clue why when I click Play just nothing happens at all

 

I was mostly curious to try to see about using a console controller to play a game on my PC, and even got my Switch Pro Controller all connected up, but then couldn't actually play a game to get a real trial run.  Oh well

[Nick Parker 3,040]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Anyone here checked out "Amazon Games"?  I assume you have to be a Prime subscriber to even use it, but I saw them hawking it on their home page and saw Metal Slug in the artwork so got curious and clicked it.  Ended up being a Windows 10 app and from within it you can install a ton of games for completely free (since I'm a Prime subscriber).  It didn't even list any games you could buy, only the free ones.

So I figured what the hell, and grabbed Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug 3, and Overcooked.  Well, it let me "Install" the Metal Slug games, but then when I click "Play" on either, nothing happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Well there is Amazon Luna that started up a few months ago. I had no idea it existed until my friend told me he's interviewing for a spot on their team this week. He was told it's a very small team at the moment, and they're really trying to build it up.

[Jay 37,285]

Haven't heard of that one

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Oh huh, it's still in early access:

 

https://www.amazon.com/luna/landing-page

 

[Jay 37,285]

Some people think cloud gaming is the future.  I am not convinced

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I don't know how much that'll catch on unless major players such as Microsoft decide to adopt a similar model in the future.

 

But gaming subscription services (assuming that it's a different thing), I can see that becoming the primary model of gaming. I don't know if that would benefit developers, or make things even worse.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eurogamer.net/amp/2019-07-05-xbox-game-pass-developers

 

What would concern me is if it puts pressure on developers to create longer, more nebulous gaming experiences.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Microsoft is already in that space with Xcloud. Sony has been in that boat for 7 years with PlayStation Now.

 

Google attempted to go all in with Stadia, but it’s too early. Internet speeds nationally aren’t up to par to get the quality needed to make it viable to gamers.

 

Gaming will eventually go the way of subscription models and streaming just like our movies and TV. 

[King Mark 3,625]

Playing this .Shiness, the Lightning Kingdom

 

 

[Quintus 5,399]

Been exploring the Oculus spaces (I don't know what else to call 'em), which are a series of seemingly endless rooms, interactive experiences and store front sub menus. It's a rabbit hole equivalent to a game in itself, or that's how it feels to a newb like me. Every new doorway or setting seems to open up yet more surprises and stuff to find - and I still haven't even bought anything yet. I'm literally just in the dashboard settings, but it's a whole other world. 

 

Things have REALLY come along with VR since the last time I briefly tried it a few years ago. You know how Nintendo make settings toggles and general setup processes feel like a fun and intuitive experience? Well that's where the Oculus designers are with their VR. Every single act is a joy to carry out, from configuring one's virtual avatar to effortlessly drawing out your safe playable area, it's all a tactile pleasure to do. It just works.

 

I reckon any gamer who is yet to try proper VR would be pretty much immediately converted by the stuff these guys have been working on. It feels futuristic. 

 

I also like that I can still sit on my arse for a lot of it. 

[Bilbo 3,709]

16 hours ago, Jay said:

Some people think cloud gaming is the future.  I am not convinced

If it is the future it’s still a long long long long way off. 

[Holko 9,499]

Just finished Immortals: Fenyx Rising after I've seen Stu mention it, I've been itching for something new like it to jump into or to pick something older to replay. As Ubi has visited Ancient Greece before, I was expecting it to be like Odyssey, but it has sooo much more depth to the gameplay by including elements ripped off fro other stuff too and combining them nicely with lovely visuals. What could make or break it for people is the "modern" writing, the dialogue, which after a short time I did start (half-ironically) enjoying, but I could see it really being offputting.

[King Mark 3,625]

it looks like Genshin Impact!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Yeah, because Genshin Impact stole the template that Ubisoft singlehandedly ushered in, the hacks!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

KM would never dare admit that a Nintendo game is influencing games on other platforms.

[Quintus 5,399]

He likes what he likes, but KM's not delusional, is he? 

[Sweeping Strings 2,344]

Bought the remastered Uncharted 1-3 collection from eBay yesterday. They were amongst the most gaming fun I had on PS3, so looking forward to PS4-playing the upgraded versions.    

[Jay 37,285]

Anybody here play the game The Wonderful 101 by PlatinumGames?

 

It was an old Wii U exclusive beat em up that used the tablet touch screen to draw symbols for special moves, but since last year it's now out on multiple platforms where you instead use the right stick to stimulate drawing the symbols

 

I played the free demo last night on Switch and um, it was fun and funny, but not for me.  This fast paced, button mashing, gotta learn combos style gameplay doesn't suit me.

 

But I was curious if anybody else here has played it?

[Edmilson 7,388]

Started playing Cyberpunk 2077 for the second time, now with a female character and a different background. It's good because certain details about the story I missed in the first time are now being clarified.

 

It's funny how the game begins like your typical GTA: you're a bandit who gets hired to do a job, etc. But then there's a plot twist that pushes the game into a pretty bleak, dystopian and pessimistic sci-fi setting - and that's when the game starts to get interesting.

 

I recommend you all to give it a chance someday, specially if you like open world games like GTA and RDR, once they fix all the problems.

 

Oh, and the electronic score is fantastic. I specially liked Tina Guo's electric cello solos

[Jay 37,285]

Anybody here play the 2019 game CONTROL, which won a bunch of awards and stuff?

 

They dropped a free demo on Switch a few months back and checked it out, and ending up liking it a lot, but the demo cut off right when things got really interesting so I feel like I barely scratched the surface of it

 

One interesting thing about the Switch version is its one of those Cloud Service games, where the game is actually running on some high end PC and just streaming the video to me.  I was as curious to try out playing a cloud game as I was this particular game, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by both: While it did take forever from the moment I launched the app off the home screen until I was finally playing, once I was playing, I literally never once saw a single bit of lag, stutter, lower res - not a single dip in any quality at all.  And I was just playing in my bedroom, portably, off the wifi in my house.  I was super impressed by how well this whole cloud gaming thing worked, especially since it meant I got PS4+ fidelity on my Switch console.

 

Anybody else try any cloud streaming stuff yet?  Or play Control yet?

[Quintus 5,399]

I finished it, it was decent. About as good as Alan Wake. 

 

Once you unlock all of your abilities, you get to feel quite powerful. Floating around and using the force on shit never gets old. 

 

Can't imagine how it feels to play over streaming though. I'm not a fan of none native gaming at all, due to what I consider to be unplayable latency. 

[Jay 37,285]

Well like I just said, it doesn't run on the Switch, it runs on a high end PC and streams to my house from there

[Quintus 5,399]

Yeah sorry, I replied before reading all of your post. I edited. 

[Jay 37,285]

Yea, I was shocked by how smooth it wall was.  I was completely expecting lag and latency to ruin the experience and for me to just give up, but I literally never once experienced anything and had a great experience until the demo time ran out.  I was shocked that it didn't suck, especially since I don't have top of the line speeds in my small town

[Quintus 5,399]

Well I'd love some tech firm to really nail streaming gaming, so great if they've made some gains here. By the sounds of it, even Google hasn't really made much in the way of advances, with their Stadia. 

 

The only thing that let Control down for me was its story. By that I mean I found its finale to be very disappointing - because up until that point I was quite enjoying the plot and the lore. Gameplay wise though it's pretty polished. 

[Jay 37,285]

Yea once I got to the astral plane and got the gun I was hooked

 

I doubt I'd invest in "buying" the cloud Switch version, but I'll probably pick it up for PS4 if I find it cheap enough

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I enjoyed Control a lot, but it did have performances issues when I played it on PS4. I picked up the Ultimate Edition on sale that entitles me to the PS5 upgrade that’s due out in March. I never got around to finishing up the side missions so I’ll revisit it then, and play the 2 DLC expansions. 

[Jay 37,285]

I really enjoyed the setting and world building even within the 1 hour or so I got to play in the demo version

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Been trying out the campaign on Battlefront 2 after getting it on Epic's free game promotion. I thought a lot of the negative feedback the game got was from its initial release controversies that typically haunt EA: microtransactions, lack of content on release, etc. And consequently, after three years of being available, all these were irrelevant and the result would be a good game.

 

 

.....

 

The very, very basic elements of the game--shooting people--has a nice weight to it and is pretty satisfying, so it's a shame nothing else seems to be in its corner as of yet. A major issue is the art design of the game: the graphics look absolutely phenomenal, but that doesn't amount too much in a fast paced game environment where enemies are abundant and your life is pretty fragile. Discerning characters from the environment is very difficult, almost impossible if not for a time-limited skill you have in detecting enemies and artificially placing an ugly and obtrusive outline over them. The characters just don't pop, and get swirled in this blender mess of busy scenery that results in a pretty kaleidoscope of meaningless visuals. Add this to an easily depleted life bar, and you're in frustration central, especially if you love sniper roles in shooter games like I do.

 

This really makes me appreciate games such as Halo and MGS V, with excellent visuals that aim for photorealism (moreso the latter), yet have character, environment, and gameplay designs that work beautifully simpático with other.

 

Gordy Haab's music for the most part is an immensely scatterbrained Mad-Lib of Williams impressions without any life behind the eyes or meaningful intent, and really suffers from the constant A/B comparisons you're presented with as the game. Gets the job done I guess, but if you're gonna try to stick so close to Williams, why bother having an original score at all?

 

I want to like this game and will probably give it some more chances, but I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being uninstalled sooner than later.

[Quintus 5,399]

The campaign was visually stunning but rote (of what I played). It's "fine", but I can still imagine an FPS newcomer to be blown away. Multiplayer is well worth getting into though, and is very accessible considering the scale of some of the melees. Progression is SHIT SLOW though, so you gotta be prepared to grind a bit for simple things like scope attachments. But the gameplay is generally fun enough to make the process a pleasure rather than a pain. 

[King Mark 3,625]

if you want to play a SW game play Jedi Fallen Order

[Quintus 5,399]

"Video games have replaced music as the most important aspect of youth culture"

 

Probably accurate.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The Battlefront 2 campaign was terrible. 

[Jay 37,285]

39 minutes ago, Quintus said:

"Video games have replaced music as the most important aspect of youth culture"

 

Probably accurate.

 

Seems from a distance that memes are the most important aspect of youth culture

 

But yea the destruction of the album experience and transition to "just buy the single on iTunes" to "just stream whatever" has definitely lead to kids growing up with a different attachment to music than we all did, I'd have to assume

[Quintus 5,399]

Well, the memes don't exist without the media origins. 

[King Mark 3,625]

58 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

The Battlefront 2 campaign was terrible. 

 

 

i remember playing a battlefront game back in the day where it had unreleased RotS music and hated it

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

Jay, i have tried Nvidia streaming games service, GeforceNow! And i really liked it. I played jurassic world evolution in a crappy computer at full visual settings, and didnt experience any lag or disconnection.  It uses your steam, uplay and epic libraroc but only in selected titles. I tried the free version where you have to wait a qeue to enter.  

It really works if you dont have a good gaming computer...and dont want to buy one just for one or two games that interest you. 

[Bilbo 3,709]

https://www.gameawards.net/2020/09/2020.html?m=0
 

TLOU Part II is now the most awarded game of all time passing The Witcher 3.

 

 

I think I prefer the first game more than the 2nd but they’re both very different experiences. I absolutely love both and they’re probably my top two games of all time. 
 

It’s great to see the game and it’s accomplishments recognised like this though. 
 

Now bring on Part III already!!
 

[Jay 37,285]

6 hours ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Jay, i have tried Nvidia streaming games service, GeforceNow! And i really liked it. I played jurassic world evolution in a crappy computer at full visual settings, and didnt experience any lag or disconnection.  It uses your steam, uplay and epic libraroc but only in selected titles. I tried the free version where you have to wait a qeue to enter.  

It really works if you dont have a good gaming computer...and dont want to buy one just for one or two games that interest you. 

 

That's pretty cool!  Yea if you are a hobbyist who likes building good gaming PCs than streaming games is a useless world to enter or care about, but as a way to get good games out to more people it seems to be pretty cool.  I was honestly expecting it to be a choppy experience when I tried it and was surprised by how smooth it was

[King Mark 3,625]

never mind

[Quintus 5,399]

I'm playing a big Dragon's Age style PC exclusive VR adventure called Asgard's Wrath, which up until last week I'd never even heard of, but it was apparently a big deal in the high end VR world a couple of years back when it released due to it being the first big budget fully fleshed out adventure RPG on the VR platform.

 

It's a pretty overwhelming experience to enter a dungeon in this game, same as you would in any other regular RPG; but to actually be in the dungeon environment, with the cobwebs and the cobbled floors all around, the decrepit dusty walls and ornate details feeling like they're literally right there. What would be a dime a dozen generic environment in any other RPG suddenly feels like a brand new and mysterious descent into the depths. It's a truly transformative thing. And that's before the flame traps and spike pits even come into it. Oh and the tarantulas... I picked one up and gawped at it close up, it was disgusting. 

 

Progress has been very slow so far because I'm still becoming accustomed to the game's VR control systems, and just because I have to frequently stop to be able to soak up all of the visual treats. Just going into a tavern in this game is a bizarre experience: the scallywag patrons are sitting and standing about like they do in countess other titles, except here they're literally standing beside me, or getting in my way, making gruff eye contact, glaring right at me. How brilliant! 

 

Couple of reviews:

 

 

 

 

 

[SilverTrumpet 638]

19 hours ago, King Mark said:

 

 

i remember playing a battlefront game back in the day where it had unreleased RotS music and hated it

 

I played a bit of the 2005 game over the weekend. It was way more fun than the walking simulator crap from EA Battlefront 2.

 

The developers of the new one obviously never played the original if they thought people were asking for that when they were asking for a single player mode.