Video Games

[Jynx]

As far as I know the rewards are the same as a "squad" battle except for the "Unscathed Triumph" bonuses.
You'll only get those in a full squad battle, so there's still one pro/con to consider there. I'm not sure if this is 100% confirmed, however.

I'd say the pros outweigh the cons here.

 

[Jarick]

Was able to find all 64 eggs in Animal Well, only had to look up a couple places where I got stuck. It's clever that between the map and other items you get, if you spend enough time exploring and problem solving, you can generally figure out everything without a walkthrough.

Need to finish the second ending, then on to the third ending which I'll almost certainly need to look up solutions. The clues are extremely cryptic and obscure.

Really glad I returned to this game to deep dive past the first ending. Game went from a solid B to an A+ for me.

 

[Jynx]

Trying not to let FOMO get the better of me. Metaphor has already sold a million copies on day one. For comparison, the previous fastest selling game, Person 3 Reload, took a week to reach that.

This has been a great year for Asian studios with some of the best rated and well recieved games coming from Japan, China, and South Korea.

 

[hemmelight]

Waiting on Amazon for my copy today.

 

[Jynx]

I already relented and bought it. I am weak.

 

[Devin]

I already relented and bought it. I am weak.

I almost bought it over the weekend myself; I had no interest in it because of the artstyle but I watched someone play like the first 20 minutes and it actually looked like something I could get in to

 

[Jarick]

Okay last Animal Well post. I got as far as my brain would allow which is through two endings and halfway through the third.

But I watched a long play video from a game developer slash twitch streamer who is extremely smart and did the whole game start to finish. The complexity and creativity of the final puzzles are insane.

There’s four endings to the game…the first one is a good puzzle platformer, the second is more of a completionist, the third is really hardcore creative thinking, and the fourth requires you to try and break the game completely.

And again the crazy thing is the whole game is 33 MB!

Again highly recommended to play through without spoilers and if interested watch some of the videos on it. Fascinating.

 

[mbenigni]

Trying not to let FOMO get the better of me. Metaphor has already sold a million copies on day one. For comparison, the previous fastest selling game, Person 3 Reload, took a week to reach that.

This has been a great year for Asian studios with some of the best rated and well recieved games coming from Japan, China, and South Korea.

I assume you mean "their previous fastest selling game?"

Anyway, I still don't get the appeal. If I make it all the way through the demo it'll be an achievement. I like the art style and the music... even the dialog is pretty good in this game. But the actual gameplay... it's almost identical to the Persona games that preceded it, and those were overlong and repetitive in their own right.

IMO, YMMV, etc.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’m pretty much just waiting for the release of-

Ghost Of Tsushima 2 (can’t remember the name)
Death Stranding 2
GTA VI

I played the last Uncharted last week again, kind of just spinning my wheels until something compelling comes out.

 

[hemmelight]

I really loved Uncharted 4, haven’t played it since it released. My launch PS4 sounded like a jet engine while struggling through it at the time. I wonder if it’s had any PS5 patches.

 

[Deadpan]

I really loved Uncharted 4, haven’t played it since it released. My launch PS4 sounded like a jet engine while struggling through it at the time. I wonder if it’s had any PS5 patches.

Think I had to pay $10 for the PS5 upgrade. Was worth it.

Dead Island 2 is on PS Plus Extra right now. The gameplay is a bit odd at first but gets better.

 

[laxu]

Finished Alan Wake 2.

Ugh, it's so annoying that its gameplay is so basic in many ways, when its presentation, story and especially music is just so very good, with a reasonably solid level design.

I really wish they had added more depth to the gameplay and made the combat play better. It desperately needed more enemy variety, combat that doesn't completely fall apart when there's more than a couple of enemies, and a detective mode with some player agency.

I think I'll watch the DLCs from YT instead of playing them.

 

[Devin]

Anyone on the Monster Hunter Wilds beta yet?

 

[Jynx]

Anyone on the Monster Hunter Wilds beta yet?

Wait! What?

 

[Aelred]

Anyone on the Monster Hunter Wilds beta yet?

I saw a YouTuber streaming it this morning and it looks great. Feb 2025 for full release... I'm still doing exotic builds in Shadow of the Erdtree.

 

[Jarick]

I've never really played a Castlevania game before even though I love Metroidvania games, so I started working through the Castlevania Advance collection. Honestly the original NES game was always too damn hard for me. I'm a good chunk of the way through the first one and it's still pretty dang tough.

 

[Devin]

Wait! What?

There's an open beta on PS5 if you have the online service


Downloaded it this morning before I left for work; hope to dive in to it this evening

 

[Devin]

I've never really played a Castlevania game before even though I love Metroidvania games, so I started working through the Castlevania Advance collection. Honestly the original NES game was always too damn hard for me. I'm a good chunk of the way through the first one and it's still pretty dang tough.

Aria of Sorrow on GBA is my favorite one next to Super Castlevania 4 and Symphony of the Night; definitely don't skip that one!

 

[Jarick]

Aria of Sorrow on GBA is my favorite one next to Super Castlevania 4 and Symphony of the Night; definitely don't skip that one!

I think SNES games may be my favorite era and I never had a GBA so there's a lot of games on that system that look worth playing!

I wish they would put out SOTN for Switch, maybe that will be a forthcoming release. I've heard that's a Mount Rushmore Metroidvania game along with Super Metroid which is one of my all time favorites.

 

[Devin]

I think SNES games may be my favorite era and I never had a GBA so there's a lot of games on that system that look worth playing!

I wish they would put out SOTN for Switch, maybe that will be a forthcoming release. I've heard that's a Mount Rushmore Metroidvania game along with Super Metroid which is one of my all time favorites.

Have you played Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night? Made by the same director who did SOTN and it is on all systems

It's essentially SOTN 2 and it's fucking awesome