laxu
Rock Star
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There's rumors of a PS5 Pro coming this year so I'd wait for that to either buy a PS5 cheaper or to buy the Pro.
Video Games
- Thread starter metropolis_4
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Oof. “We realize the majority of the public has only been able to buy a PS5 at normal prices for about a year, but here, buy the upgrade!”
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It’s to the point where I have to temper my son’s enthusiasm when he gets a new game because I know we won’t just get home, put the disc in and start. Conservatively we are going to have to wait on some 20gb update to complete, and worst case you’ll get into some Blizzard hell of needing third party accounts. The chances of actually playing within a half hour of putting the disc in are slim.
Then you start to sound like your dad when you explain “In my day you put a cartridge in and hit the start button”.
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I think it was Gran Tourismo 4 that took 5 hours to install?It’s to the point where I have to temper my son’s enthusiasm when he gets a new game because I know we won’t just get home, put the disc in and start. Conservatively we are going to have to wait on some 20gb update to complete, and worst case you’ll get into some Blizzard hell of needing third party accounts. The chances of actually playing within a half hour of putting the disc in are slim.
Then you start to sound like your dad when you explain “In my day you put a cartridge in and hit the start button”.
megametal7
Roadie
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His pretty cool but prefer MK Scorpion…At first glance I thought you said, "my favorite Scorpion character" LOL.
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Once again, one track mind. I was trying to figure out MJ? (Jabbs.) MS? (Schenker.) Etc.
In my defense, I've never played Devil May Cry.
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I don't think it will be a Pro. I think they're planning a PS5 "Slim" or whatever. Which may still be worth waiting for. The OG PS5 is a big obnoxious surfboard.
(Although last I checked, the Slim was looking like a not as big, obnoxious surf board. Somewhere along the way, Sony decided they were too hip for pedestrian things such right angles and flat surfaces. Even though these are the only things that are compatible with the rest of your furniture. And fucking gravity.)
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Don't even get me started re: Microsoft's 20 layers of Hell Windows/ XBox/ GamePass/ Minecraft/ Would You Like a Side of Fries With That account madness. I might hurt someone.It’s to the point where I have to temper my son’s enthusiasm when he gets a new game because I know we won’t just get home, put the disc in and start. Conservatively we are going to have to wait on some 20gb update to complete, and worst case you’ll get into some Blizzard hell of needing third party accounts. The chances of actually playing within a half hour of putting the disc in are slim.
Then you start to sound like your dad when you explain “In my day you put a cartridge in and hit the start button”.
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No, this is completely helping. I don’t know that exhaustive inventory management or google fu on D&D rules is going to be my thing.
I don’t mind character trees and upgrades, so long as they don’t require me to invest significant amounts of time doing inventory management or having to do some sort of “optimized” build approach to keep me from getting destroyed and otherwise enjoying the game.
I’m not too sure how far Elden Ring goes down those paths, (I realize you do have level up to face some bosses etc) but from what I’ve researched the character classes seem relatively even and I’ve read you can respec as the game progresses. I think the combat type looks more enjoyable than say Diablo, (button mash) or BG3 (turn based) albeit more difficult.
laxu
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Many end up banging their head on the first Elden Ring boss instead of venturing elsewhere to gain levels, better weapons and so on. Similarly one of the first enemies you encounter is a pretty tough overworld mini-boss that you are supposed to avoid until you are good enough to challenge him. These things can make the game seem really difficult.
To make Elden Ring tougher for veteran Souls players like me, they've made many of the boss fights so that the boss has a lot of delayed attacks so you can't dodge on instinct as much as you can in earlier games. Similarly the bosses tend to be very aggressive unless you utilize NPC summons to help you to get an occasional breather. So those fights are much less satisfying to me. One of the late game optional bosses having a super hard to dodge insta-kill move is also straight up bad game design.
I know a lot of people love ER but for me it's one of the more disappointing games in the series. It has a lot of recycling of enemies, mini-bosses and more. The open world is largely devoid of anything to do other than ride from set piece to set piece. Combat is barely different from Dark Souls 3, so I call ER more like DS3.5 for better or worse.
I'll still buy the upcoming DLC for it and probably both like and hate it same as I do the base game.
Don't let this discourage you, remember that this is the opinion of someone who has played literally all of these games, so it's more like a movie critic tired of summer blockbusters.
Bloodborne is for real absolutely brutal to start, with a gauntlet of deadly enemies before you can unlock even the first shortcut. It's still my absolute favorite Souls game tho and recommend it to anyone who has a PS4/5. It's downright criminal that there is no PC or PS5 remaster version of it.
I'd rank Souls style games like this:
- Bloodborne. Cosmic horror in a Gothic Victorian setting with the greatest boss designs of all time? Hell yeah!
- Nioh 2. Extremely deep combat mechanics paired with Diablo style loot system, fighting Japanese demons and samurais. The only non-From Software game on the list, and for good reason. No need to play Nioh 1 - it's much worse and totally unrelated.
- Dark Souls 3. Linear, but with great bosses and levels. This is almost like a comfort game for me at this point because it doesn't take a ton of time for an experienced player to play through.
- Dark Souls 1. The OG, janky and ugly but still great gameplay and levels.
- Sekiro. Changes things up in a good way and is more like a rhythm game. One of the best final bosses.
- Elden Ring. Open world feels redundant, but it has a ton of content to explore and combat as good as DS3.
- Demon's Souls Remake. This remake by Bluepoint Games looks better than most of the others and is the template for all the other Souls games. Highly recommended for PS5 owners.
- Dark Souls 2. It's not bad, but it has too many "big humanoid with big weapon" bosses and some stupid game mechanics.
megametal7
Roadie
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First Devil May Cry is really cool…. 2, 3, 4 are shite…Once again, one track mind. I was trying to figure out MJ? (Jabbs.) MS? (Schenker.) Etc.
In my defense, I've never played Devil May Cry.
It was on ps2 back in tha days
laxu
Rock Star
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In Elden Ring it doesn't matter much which starting class you pick and you can respec multiple times as long as you find the respec items. It's easy to get at least 2-3 of those.
Pro tip is to start with the Wretch class which has no gear at all and just a shitty club for a weapon. You might think this is a "pros only" class, but this class starts with 10 in every stat and starts from level 1 - which means every extra level is cheap to upgrade at the start. Other classes get more varied stats but may start from a higher base level so even the first level upgrade you can buy is more expensive. Respec always put you back to the starting stats of the class too so 10 on everything makes it easy to go any way you like. You can get a pretty good two handed sword and some armor quite early in the game so the lack of gear is not a big issue.
Armor is mostly for fashion but weight matters because it has an effect mainly on your dodge. You never want to be above 70% weight limit (heavy with crap dodge roll), but medium (<70%) and light (<30%) are fine. Items in inventory have no weight, just what you wear and weapons in hand.
In all Souls games every weapon is viable so you can just try them based on what you like for move set and play style. Some like poking with a spear from behind a shield, others hit with a huge sword, some prefer range fighting with magic, some go fast and agile with daggers at close range etc. Different enemies are weak to different attacks and weapon types, like some might take more damage from thrust attacks or from blunt weapons like hammers and maces.
There's no need to do optimized builds but in Elden Ring you definitely want to put points in Vigor (health) more so than in other Souls games, and focus on one or two attack stats (Strength, Dexterity, Faith and Arcane (magic)) instead of trying to build a do-it-all character. Your preferred weapons determine what you should upgrade. For example I played ER first through as a battlemage type character focusing on Strength and Arcane - cast spells from a distance, bonk with a big sword.
laxu
Rock Star
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Gamepass is actually really great. I've played a lot of good games from PC Gamepass that I would have otherwise bought for more money. I don't like subscription services as a thing to pay forever, but as a "buy for a month or two, play a few games you like" they can be excellent value.
I've played several of the Yakuza games this way as well as Hifi Rush (one of my favorites from last year), Plague Tale Requiem, Forza Horizon 5 etc.
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HiFi Rush seems to be well thought of. I have that on my short list. I don’t think I’ve ever played a rhythm fighter.
Im trying to go back and find all the games of note from the last few years that I’ve missed.
I’m debating firing up RDR2. I got about halfway through that before life happened. RDR1 is probably my favorite game of all time.
laxu
Rock Star
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Last year had more good games than I had time to play. I still want to play at least these:
- Alan Wake 2. Bought it on sale so it's probably next, after I'm done with Cyberpunk 2077.
- Resident Evil 4 remake
- Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
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Oh yeah, I love GamePass itself (and it's a much better value than Playstation Plus.) It's just the configuration of all of Microsoft's semi-integrated accounts that can be a mess. If you're a single player and you manage everything from the console, pretty straightforward. But if you have a family with multiple Windows accounts each, extended family with MS employee discount benefits, kids who use your console and need restricted access, multiple versions of Minecraft each with their own primary and "realms" accounts... It can grind you down. Microsoft's maze of web pages and the XBox's own crazy menu structure don't help.
Or maybe I'm just an old man yelling at clouds.
laxu
Rock Star
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Oh yeah, MS accounts no matter the platform are a complete nightmare. I still have no idea how they've managed to make it so damn complicated where everything is a million redirects and more.Oh yeah, I love GamePass itself (and it's a much better value than Playstation Plus.) It's just the configuration of all of Microsoft's semi-integrated accounts that can be a mess. If you're a single player and you manage everything from the console, pretty straightforward. But if you have a family with multiple Windows accounts each, extended family with MS employee discount benefits, kids who use your console and need restricted access, multiple versions of Minecraft each with their own primary and "realms" accounts... It can grind you down. Microsoft's maze of web pages and the XBox's own crazy menu structure don't help.
Or maybe I'm just an old man yelling at clouds.
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The combat (meaning From Software "soulsborne" games in general) is better than anything I've ever played with the exception of Nioh and Nioh 2. (Which are very comparable, but somewhat quicker and more varied.)
Proceed cautiously, though: the From games don't present the absurd glut of loot that Diablo 4 does (or Nioh, come to think of it), but it does require considerable thought in terms of how best to spec your character. (And a respec only becomes an option very late in the game.)
The difficulty is often overstated, but the boss battles are legitimately difficult. They're actually my least favorite part of these games, because they sometimes feel like a brick wall you have to punch your way through before continuing with a game you paid for. I really like the exploration aspect more than anything else. FromSoft has the best level design in the business.
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I really loved RDR1 on XBox 360. RDR2 on PS5... many of the same concerns as with BG3. The pacing is just so. damned. slow... I was constantly self conscious about all of the things I should have been doing with my real life whilst instead shopping for an ass hairbrush for a horse, which I would subsequently use in real time. That and (as always) UI issues. On consoles, any given button did literally 3 or 4 completely different things depending on context. The "put a horse's ass hairbrush in the shopping cart" button from 2 minutes ago is all of a sudden the "punch the sheriff directly in the face" button, which has just completely altered the trajectory of the game. Huzzah!
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