Video Games

[mbenigni]

It kind of boggles my mind that Nintendo manages to sell us the exact same game(s) over and over and over again, and somehow these persist as the hottest IP's in the industry.

...but I have to admit, I'm having a hard time ignoring the re-release of Super Mario RPG, etc. I don't think I ever played this one, but I loved the Paper Mario RPG games, especially Thousand Year Door (which I played first, on GameCube.)

 

[hemmelight]

Hahaha I had no idea this was an option in TotK, and the only way I could cope with the aiming was to turn the controller sensitivity down so low that it takes 5 minutes to turn around.

OMG, it's a total game changer! Definitely worth giving it a try and sticking with it for like half an hour at least. It feels completely natural after you get used to it.

Here's the Horizon story video I watched. It's long at just under an hour, but it's certainly quicker than playing the first game if you want to go straight to FW and have a good grasp of things:

 

[mbenigni]

I've still got to finish Hollow Knight (which I've been playing on and off for like 3 years ) but I'm now waist deep into the original Grandia. Always loved it as one of my fav JRPGs, but I never finished it back in the day.

Hollow Knight is such a terrific game, but I finally had to drop it because of the difficulty spikes. The bosses (Hornet, argh) were one thing, but it was the incredibly demanding insta-death platforming sections that finally did me in.

Anyway, if you're into this sort of game (indie, side-scrolling, RPG elements, etc.) give Rogue Legacy 2 a go. It's got a bit of DNA in common with Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Salt & Sanctuary, etc. It was free on PS+ for a while; might still be. It really got its hooks in me.

I was really turned off by the increase to PS+ prices. I only use PS+ sporadically to play online, but I tend to just play solo 99% of the time in every game so not really worth it at this point. MH has such a multiplayer focus so I feel like my cheapskate-ness would be a hindrance to really enjoying MH fully? I could skip all that and just use the PC and it's a non-issue.

Yeah, it's an unfortunate split: I prefer the Playstation hardware (especially the controllers; XBox controllers are so LOUD) and OS, but GamePass is a great value whereas PS+ is a lot of money for... meh? I don't really do the multiplayer thing (except to summon randos to help me kill Demon's Souls bosses lol), so it is a really tedious expense sometimes.

 

[mbenigni]

OMG, it's a total game changer! Definitely worth giving it a try and sticking with it for like half an hour at least. It feels completely natural after you get used to it.

Here's the Horizon story video I watched. It's long at just under an hour, but it's certainly quicker than playing the first game if you want to go straight to FW and have a good grasp of things:

Thank you!

And re: the game changer... a new FM3 to explore and improved TotK controls, all in the same week? I'll sleep when I'm dead, I guess.

 

[laxu]

I'm still having a blast with Cyberpunk 2077. It's a gorgeous, but janky game. It honestly could still probably use half a year of polishing to avoid the worst pop-in issues and oddball bugs here and there, but mostly it now runs fine (on my top tier hardware at least...) and I've had a lot of fun playing it.

Once I finish that, the monstrously named Like A Dragon Gaiden - The Man Who Erased His Name aka yet another Yakuza spinoff, is on the list. It's on Gamepass too and apparently not that long.

 

[Whizzinby]

Been playing The Quarry with my son. About 4 chapters in, pretty cool, more like a movie than a game. Curious to see what happens.

Sidebar, I despise how you can no longer just play a game. Fired up Diablo 4 with my son. Log in to MS account. Son fires up controller, ok we need him to have an MS account. Ok. Launch Diablo. Oh great I need a Battlenet account with Blizzard. Fine. Oh instead of captcha they use some obnoxious find the picture of dice adding up to this number method. (One is correct out of TWENTY pictures) Oh you don’t do it once, you have to complete the dice game 6 times. Brilliant. Ok, got a Battlenet account. Son tries to join game. SHIT. He needs a Battlenet account. Go through that signup. Count the dice anti robot prevention again. Oh snap, it won’t authenticate me as a human on my other email addresses. FUCK. Recruit wife to signup! Great. Wife has a Battlenet account. Son signs in with her account. Email verification! Verified. Logged in ready to start now, and we no longer want to play any more. Maybe tomorrow!

It’s so stupid. You can count on every fucking new game you want to play requiring some 50gb update and/or some other third party account required before you can press a single button to play. It’s so ridiculous.

 

[Whizzinby]

Maybe now that I've decided I hate Baldur's Gate 3 lol, I should go back and give Starfield another shot.

May have helped me nix BG3 from my list.

My son got a Series X over the holidays and I repurposed his One for me, and I’ve been gaming a bit at nights. Was thinking of starting a slow burn game like BG3 or Elden Ring. But I’m not sure about either. Diablo 4 has refreshed my memory of why I hate those style of games. We are getting our asses handed to us, and then having to google optimal builds per class to figure out we need the Golden Chalice of Doom that serves no purpose other than to upgrade our character which will then auto upgrade all the enemies, because it’s all setup to have you get your ass handed to you until you get the next Golden Widet of Destruction, so it can all start back over again.

I’ve read Elden Ring is brutally difficult, so that’s making me hesitant, but the Diablo styled -button mash - melee brawler - optimized build class - upgrade Your leather pants bruh - games, I’m about out on.

 

[Mongillo19]

May have helped me nix BG3 from my list.

My son got a Series X over the holidays and I repurposed his One for me, and I’ve been gaming a bit at nights. Was thinking of starting a slow burn game like BG3 or Elden Ring. But I’m not sure about either. Diablo 4 has refreshed my memory of why I hate those style of games. We are getting our asses handed to us, and then having to google optimal builds per class to figure out we need the Golden Chalice of Doom that serves no purpose other than to upgrade our character which will then auto upgrade all the enemies because it’s all setup to have you get your ass handed to you until you get the next Golden Widet of Destruction so it can all start back over again.

I’ve read Elden Ring is brutally difficult, so that’s making me hesitant, but the Diablo styled -button mash-melee brawler-optimized build class-leather pants upgrading games, I’m about out on.

BG3 is one of the best games I've ever played so there's the devil's advocate.

However, it's very reminiscent of DnD and has its janky moments. But it's one of the most in depth games I've played in quite some time. It's certainly a slow burn but one that you can put 100+ hours in or much less if you just focus on the main quest.

 

[Whizzinby]

BG3 is one of the best games I've ever played so there's the devil's advocate.

However, it's very reminiscent of DnD and has its janky moments. But it's one of the most in depth games I've played in quite some time. It's certainly a slow burn but one that you can put 100+ hours in or much less if you just focus on the main quest.

How would you compare it to Diablo 4 gameplay wise?

BG3 looks badass, but I think Diablo is souring me. lol

 

[Mongillo19]

How would you compare it to Diablo 4 gameplay wise?

BG3 looks badass, but I think Diablo is souring me. lol

Oh man it's not comparable at all gameplay wise....or in any manner imo.

Maybe check out a few videos! It's turned base battle system with dialogue options as deep as the good ol RPGs.

It's a wonderful game

I have Diablo 4 as well, played it for 15 hours with my buddy and we haven't touched it in months. We have about 80 hours into BG3 together and every session is a blast

 

[Whizzinby]

Oh man it's not comparable at all gameplay wise....or in any manner imo.

Maybe check out a few videos! It's turned base battle system with dialogue options as deep as the good ol RPGs.

It's a wonderful game

I have Diablo 4 as well, played it for 15 hours with my buddy and we haven't touched it in months. We have about 80 hours into BG3 together and every session is a blast

You play Elden Ring?

 

[Mongillo19]

You play Elden Ring?

Very briefly. Great game I'm sure but I don't find enjoyment in dying 10000 times and getting frustrated

Imo BG3 has a nice mix of difficulty and fun. You work together with your group of characters and the different classes, exploiting unique weaknesses and the environment to defeat enemies or talk your way out of it all together.

 

[DrewJD82]

I'm still having a blast with Cyberpunk 2077. It's a gorgeous, but janky game. It honestly could still probably use half a year of polishing to avoid the worst pop-in issues and oddball bugs here and there, but mostly it now runs fine (on my top tier hardware at least...) and I've had a lot of fun playing it.

Once I finish that, the monstrously named Like A Dragon Gaiden - The Man Who Erased His Name aka yet another Yakuza spinoff, is on the list. It's on Gamepass too and apparently not that long.

I'm surprised I didn't see this when you posted it as I was going nuts over it around the same time. That was the 3rd or 4th time I picked the game up, I'm still on a PS4, the bugs were game breaking enough for me the first couple attempts I got maybe an hour into, max. I still had a ton of bugs this time around and man, maybe it's just a PS4 thing, but it's really a disservice to the game to have it run like that, because the game is really outstanding.

Because I had such a disjointed introduction to it, I missed the whole part about quick hacks and what you can do with that, so I shotgunned my way through about half the game before one of the missions had me using a quick hack, that's when I fell in love with it. The side missions are just as fun as the story line and I crack up at how powerful you can make some of the weapons. I've got a sniper rifle where I can just shoot the ground around 3 people and kill them.

I got to the last mission and when I realized it was the end I just started doing all the side missions and jobs. I know I started the last mission last week but I think I fell asleep. I was going to snag a PS5 around the holidays, but uh....amps are cooler and my PS4 still works fine.

 

[megametal7]

MK my fav game with Scorpion character and Devil may cry.

 

[laxu]

I'm surprised I didn't see this when you posted it as I was going nuts over it around the same time. That was the 3rd or 4th time I picked the game up, I'm still on a PS4, the bugs were game breaking enough for me the first couple attempts I got maybe an hour into, max. I still had a ton of bugs this time around and man, maybe it's just a PS4 thing, but it's really a disservice to the game to have it run like that, because the game is really outstanding.

Because I had such a disjointed introduction to it, I missed the whole part about quick hacks and what you can do with that, so I shotgunned my way through about half the game before one of the missions had me using a quick hack, that's when I fell in love with it. The side missions are just as fun as the story line and I crack up at how powerful you can make some of the weapons. I've got a sniper rifle where I can just shoot the ground around 3 people and kill them.

I got to the last mission and when I realized it was the end I just started doing all the side missions and jobs. I know I started the last mission last week but I think I fell asleep. I was going to snag a PS5 around the holidays, but uh....amps are cooler and my PS4 still works fine.

I'm playing on PC with literally all the bells and whistles, plus some mods and it's a gorgeous game, but it's also so, so janky and buggy even now. I can't imagine how bad it was at release.

I've put a ton of hours in and had a really good time with it, but it's a shame that it doesn't have more polish in many basic areas. Audio mixing is often completely messed up, there's no blocks for "no messages/overlapping talk etc if someone is talking during a mission briefing" and a lot of things seem half-baked. Lack of car customization, there's not enough different quickhacks to allow for particularly varied playstyles, the "braindance" thing is barely used in the game. It's like they had a lot more features planned but didn't get the time to implement them.

I wouldn't be surprised if this game eventually became like Skyrim that there's a lot of ambitious mods for it on PC that fix a bunch of issues and add new things.

If you don't have it already, the Phantom Liberty DLC is well worth playing.

 

[DrewJD82]

I'm playing on PC with literally all the bells and whistles, plus some mods and it's a gorgeous game, but it's also so, so janky and buggy even now. I can't imagine how bad it was at release.

I've put a ton of hours in and had a really good time with it, but it's a shame that it doesn't have more polish in many basic areas. Audio mixing is often completely messed up, there's no blocks for "no messages/overlapping talk etc if someone is talking during a mission briefing" and a lot of things seem half-baked. Lack of car customization, there's not enough different quickhacks to allow for particularly varied playstyles, the "braindance" thing is barely used in the game. It's like they had a lot more features planned but didn't get the time to implement them.

I wouldn't be surprised if this game eventually became like Skyrim that there's a lot of ambitious mods for it on PC that fix a bunch of issues and add new things.

If you don't have it already, the Phantom Liberty DLC is well worth playing.

I’ve gotta wait to get a PS5 before I can get the DLC, it’s not available on PS4. It gives me more incentive to buy a PS5, really.

How Drew Thinks- ‘Hmm, the PS5 is $450, I use it for all my entertainment/TV viewing, on a daily basis and have almost 10 years on my PS4 but I really want to run the PS4 into the ground before I buy a PS5. Oh, look, a guitar pedal for $300 that’s going to sit in the corner unused 11 months of the year, I’m buying it”

 

[mbenigni]

Been playing The Quarry with my son. About 4 chapters in, pretty cool, more like a movie than a game. Curious to see what happens.

Sidebar, I despise how you can no longer just play a game. Fired up Diablo 4 with my son. Log in to MS account. Son fires up controller, ok we need him to have an MS account. Ok. Launch Diablo. Oh great I need a Battlenet account with Blizzard. Fine. Oh instead of captcha they use some obnoxious find the picture of dice adding up to this number method. (One is correct out of TWENTY pictures) Oh you don’t do it once, you have to complete the dice game 6 times. Brilliant. Ok, got a Battlenet account. Son tries to join game. SHIT. He needs a Battlenet account. Go through that signup. Count the dice anti robot prevention again. Oh snap, it won’t authenticate me as a human on my other email addresses. FUCK. Recruit wife to signup! Great. Wife has a Battlenet account. Son signs in with her account. Email verification! Verified. Logged in ready to start now, and we no longer want to play any more. Maybe tomorrow!

It’s so stupid. You can count on every fucking new game you want to play requiring some 50gb update and/or some other third party account required before you can press a single button to play. It’s so ridiculous.

100 thousand f***ing percent. My stock response to these situations is always a deadpan, "They ruined videogames." (I'm also known to say, "They ruined television", etc.)

 

[mbenigni]

MK my fav game with Scorpion character and Devil may cry.

View attachment 16763View attachment 16764

At first glance I thought you said, "my favorite Scorpion character" LOL.

 

[mbenigni]

May have helped me nix BG3 from my list.

My son got a Series X over the holidays and I repurposed his One for me, and I’ve been gaming a bit at nights. Was thinking of starting a slow burn game like BG3 or Elden Ring. But I’m not sure about either. Diablo 4 has refreshed my memory of why I hate those style of games. We are getting our asses handed to us, and then having to google optimal builds per class to figure out we need the Golden Chalice of Doom that serves no purpose other than to upgrade our character which will then auto upgrade all the enemies, because it’s all setup to have you get your ass handed to you until you get the next Golden Widet of Destruction, so it can all start back over again.

I’ve read Elden Ring is brutally difficult, so that’s making me hesitant, but the Diablo styled -button mash - melee brawler - optimized build class - upgrade Your leather pants bruh - games, I’m about out on.

Don't skip BG3 on account of my comments. Lots of people adore it, and I certainly... respect it? I think my most fundamental problems with the game have to do with its assumption that you're already intimately familiar with 5th edition D&D rules. It's a discoverability problem, basically - expect to spend a lot of time with Google pulled up on your iPhone or whatever. By contrast, Larian's previous games (Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2) had bespoke rules and systems, and as such, they had to teach them to you as the game unfolded. I think this is very important. By this point in their evolution, video games should be essentially self-documenting (especially since a digital download doesn't come with any, you know, documentation.)

My other issues with the game center around (you'll never guess) UI. This is very specific to the console experience, so if you're on PC YMMV considerably. BG3 is constantly popping skills, items, etc. into your radial menus automatically, but it's all very inconsistent/arbitrary and results in a crazy mess you can literally spend hours maintaining. That's a meta game I just 10000000000% didn't feel like playing. (Note: I did try! For dozens of hours, in fact.) Here again, the preceding D:OS games fared much better, partly because they were much simpler. IMO those earlier games (especially the first one) struck a perfect balance (and by the way they're probably pretty cheap by now?) whereas BG3 just takes things a little too far for a console experience. (IMO. It is a very impressive technical and artistic achievement, and I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from at least trying it.)

Diablo 4 and Elden Ring are completely different games - from one another and from BG3. More on this in a separate post.

 

[mbenigni]

Diablo 4 and Elden Ring are completely different games - from one another and from BG3. More on this in a separate post.

As promised, I am back here to talk to myself.

Apart from being big, AAA RPG's with (optionally/mainly, in the case of BG3) isometric viewpoints, Diablo 4 and BG3 are almost diametrically opposed. BG3 is a slow-burn, turn-based affair with lots of dialog, a deep rule set, magic/ skill trees, etc. Diablo 4... well sure, it has classes and they have (somewhat) distinct skill trees, but at the end of the day, it's mostly "run your triangle-shaped icon to the diamond-shaped icon and press X a lot to win". There's "dialog" to dress all of that up: "Open the Demonic Hell's Anus of Disestablishmentarianism!" But this literally always translates to: "Press X". Diablo has always been, and is now more than ever, comfort food at best, junk food at its worst. I confess I've been playing it (a lot) lately, but I don't actually think it's a good game. (A friend kept talking about it and finally wore me down LOL.) I'm often not convinced it's a game at all. It's more like a toy you tinker with ("Ooh, a higher DPS number!") and look at and waste time with because you don't want to do the dishes. And because Diablo 4 is nothing if not addictive. ("Moreish" as the Brits say.) It's the classic Blizzard treadmill.

BG3 is the complete opposite of all of that; and also, everything about it takes forever. The good with the bad - pretty much enough said about BG3.

Elden Ring is one of my favorite games of all time, although if you're new to the sub-genre, I would start with something less open world (and perhaps less expensive) and pick up e.g. the PS5 Demon's Souls remake. (IMO the greatest video game of all time.) These are very deep RPGs, but they're all character optimization and action. Almost no dialog, and the "plot lines", such as they are, are told in obscure item descriptions and make no sense whatsoever; never mind what the insane FromSoft nerds on the intarwebs might try and tell you. The good news is that it doesn't matter; the gameplay itself is incredibly rewarding pretty much continuously.