Video Games

[Boudoir Guitar]

Since my son plays a bunch of slow twitch borefests, (Minecraft, Roblox etc.) I think I may have the upper hand for at least a week.

My skinny ass 10 year old has converted his drum stool into a mouse pad and stolen the piano bench for a keyboard tray, sits in front of those looking like a feral AI humanoid with his headset on screaming at his friends playing Fortnite these days, but yeah, the Minecraft/Roblox phase was painful.

My favorite part of this stage was when he was searching for an expletive that he could scream; wouldn't be a "bad word"; but was still in-line with whatever filth his buddies scream into their headsets. He settled on "penis", so there was a Saturday afternoon where about every 74 seconds he shouted "PENIS!!!" in anger. I told him I'd be a lot more comfortable, and he'd be a lot less likely to get in trouble on the playground at school, if he just yelled "crap".

 

[laxu]

I'm the kind of person that replays games that I really like eventually, so it makes sense to just buy something and have it for a while.
Plus if I'm not that into a game I can just trade it in or swap it for something else if it's a physical copy.

Then you could always play them first if they are available via PS+ and then buy them cheap as physical copy when you feel like playing again.

 

[the swede]

Xbox X and Switch OLED here.

Boy is fighting himself through Tears of the Kingdom, Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask simultaneously I think he wants to play the old ones because I did… Ocarina is a pain as I recall… I hear him swear and shout sometimes haha. But he likes seeing all the stuff that comes back in the modern Zelda games.

Me, I’m playing Hellblade: Senuas Saga on Xbox . Surprised how well made it is. And very interesting lore and history about Celts, northsmen and Vikings mythology all mixed up with trauma and psychological stuff of the main character. It’s a fun gameplay when headphones is almost a vital part of the mechanic with audio queues. The sounds is fantastic in this game.

Starfield is on my next list. Thinking about the Mass Effect space opera to… the sci-fi nerd in me wants it.

 

[DrewJD82]

Finished Ghost of Tsushima plus DLC about a month ago and it's absolutely one of my favourite games ever.
Turns out after 145 hours the playtime counter gets stuck on the save-game interface and won't go any higher? lol

Now I'm playing the Spider-Mans that I missed from being PC only for a few years. Finished Spider-Man Remastered and now going through Miles Morales. These are great games, but I'm so glad they stopped doing the stealth missions for MM. Once is okay, but it got a little ridiculous after the fourth stealth-only mission as not Spider-Man.

I was watching a friend play Horizon: Forbidden West on the PS5 Share Screen thing and it actually worked super well. We were both really impressed. We just chatted about stuff while I could watch him play and it definitely sold me on the game. It looks so fucking good I just want to walk around in that world. Maybe shoot some robots now and again. Now I'm waiting for Zero Dawn to go on sale as I never played that one either. It's already $30 CAD normally, but I'm holding out for $20.

I don’t know if I said it already, but GoT can be meditative in some sections because of how amazing the scenery is along the music and mood. The only other game that set a mood for me like that was Death Stranding, for the same reasons, just a very different vibe.

I’m playing Forbidden West right now, I actually came here to post about it and saw this! It was free on the Playstation Network last month, I’m not sure if it still is. You definitely want to play Zero Dawn before West, it’s a direct continuation of the story and the story is GREAT. Side missions are even fun to play and actually help develop the story and your character instead of just being shitty tasks to fill in time. When I was playing last night I picked back up on the main story and my character was at level 28 while the main story missions were level 22, I ranked up just doing side missions and it was enjoyable!

Really can’t understate how great the story is, though. Only a couple underwater missions that are not as much fun, but nothing like steal missions that are a pain in the ass! I started Morales right before Forbidden but stopped, I was more interested in Forbidden and Morales wasn’t grabbing me fast enough. It’s been a while since I’ve played Spider-Man.

Hahahahaha I used to judge a game’s value based off how much I spent on weed; I’ve smoked $50 bags of weed in less than a day, so a game for $60 that I’ll play, prospectively for months, isn’t a bad deal at all! I still play GTAV sometimes, I’ve WAY more than gotten my money’s worth from that one!

 

[laxu]

I started Cyberpunk 2077 just to test it out before the DLC and apparently big software updates get released next month. It's such a gorgeous game (especially on a top tier PC like mine), but I can totally understand why it was a complete shit show on release. It's pretty far from a "living city sandbox" type thing they were promising before release. I think it will be more enjoyable played as a lighter action RPG.

"Best stuff I've played this year" list so far, in no particular order:

• Hifi Rush. Came out of nowhere, not too long, unique gameplay, lots of charm.
• Horizon Forbidden West's Burning Shores DLC. It's a good DLC addition to the main game.
• God of War Ragnarok. Sequel that improves on the previous game in pretty much every area.
• Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom. As above, but the ability to build stuff just makes it incredibly fun. I still haven't finished it.
• Like a Dragon: Isshin! I'm a sucker for the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series. Such an oddball series that balances between over the top yet serious crime drama and even more bonkers side content.

On the list, haven't even bought some of these yet as I wait for sales:

• Cyberpunk 2077. Started as described above, but leaving it for later until it gets more patches.
• Witcher 3. I have played it once already, but the next gen graphics update is such a gorgeous game and I loved the game anyway so thinking of playing through it again when I have the time.
• Disco Elysium. Have had this for a while but I haven't started it because I know it will take a lot of time.
• Baldur's Gate 3. I haven't really played this series but BG3 is getting so high praise that I should give it a try.
• Resident Evil Village. Waiting for a rock bottom sales price for the main game + DLC.
• Resident Evil 4.
• Spider-Man 2.
• Armored Core 6.
• Alan Wake 2.

That's honestly a lot of games that I can probably easily be playing this list until next year.

 

[DrewJD82]

I started Cyberpunk 2077 just to test it out before the DLC and apparently big software updates get released next month. It's such a gorgeous game (especially on a top tier PC like mine), but I can totally understand why it was a complete shit show on release. It's pretty far from a "living city sandbox" type thing they were promising before release. I think it will be more enjoyable played as a lighter action RPG.

"Best stuff I've played this year" list so far, in no particular order:

• Hifi Rush. Came out of nowhere, not too long, unique gameplay, lots of charm.
• Horizon Forbidden West's Burning Shores DLC. It's a good DLC addition to the main game.
• God of War Ragnarok. Sequel that improves on the previous game in pretty much every area.
• Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom. As above, but the ability to build stuff just makes it incredibly fun. I still haven't finished it.
• Like a Dragon: Isshin! I'm a sucker for the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series. Such an oddball series that balances between over the top yet serious crime drama and even more bonkers side content.

On the list, haven't even bought some of these yet as I wait for sales:

• Cyberpunk 2077. Started as described above, but leaving it for later until it gets more patches.
• Witcher 3. I have played it once already, but the next gen graphics update is such a gorgeous game and I loved the game anyway so thinking of playing through it again when I have the time.
• Disco Elysium. Have had this for a while but I haven't started it because I know it will take a lot of time.
• Baldur's Gate 3. I haven't really played this series but BG3 is getting so high praise that I should give it a try.
• Resident Evil Village. Waiting for a rock bottom sales price for the main game + DLC.
• Resident Evil 4.
• Spider-Man 2.

That's honestly a lot of games that I can probably easily be playing this list until next year.

I started Cyberpunk 2077 after being told it was patched up to the point of being “not an issue” (on PS4) but I ended up losing interest a couple hours into it due to the glitches. Things weren’t triggering, namely exit doors, so I was just walking around endlessly not even knowing a door was supposed to present itself until I watched a walkthrough and realized what was going on. The audio kept glitching when I was in a vehicle, playing two dialogues at once, just a mess overall and I gave up.

I’ve heard it’s great from numerous people, I’m sure I’ll give it a shot again at some point.

Ragnarok was great, I’ll be re-playing both GoW’s before too long.

 

[Deadpan]

If hours of play are a judge on value of a game (I agree) then Dying Light 2 has to the best value for me.

Beat twice on the PS5. Made the switch from Mac to PC and had to have it on PC also. On my second play through on PC now. Have to build up my stats for when the next DLC comes out. Well over 300 hours in on the game.

They regularly have events with the DLC items unlockable through participation and achievements.

The first one is pretty good too.

 

[TubeStack]

Is anyone playing early-access Starfield?

I've been really enjoying it the past couple days. Playing on an Xbox Series X, which I bought pretty much for the sole purpose of playing this and future Bethesda games.

First couple hours are a little underwhelming and I was in a ”not sure about this” stage for a bit, but then I found a couple of amazing side missions and am now all-in, love it. The biggest adjustments for me were having no VATS in the fighting and that it's a lot of medium-size areas broken up by load screens/fast travel, rather than one big world you can move around in without stopping.

Overall it is a remarkable blend of Skyrim and Fallout 4 into a sci-fi, space opera type world. Feels like an instant classic. Music is amazing too, and there is a lot of depth to the characters and stories, with great voice acting.

Anyone else playing it yet?

 

[Orvillain]

I haven't properly played a game in years to be honest. The last game I remember being obsessed with was Skyrim. I had a replay daliance a few years ago with a mate when we played Diablo III to death for 4 nights in a row. But other than that, I really haven't played any games. I'd like to get back into it, but also.... kinda can't be arsed.

 

[laxu]

I haven't properly played a game in years to be honest. The last game I remember being obsessed with was Skyrim. I had a replay daliance a few years ago with a mate when we played Diablo III to death for 4 nights in a row. But other than that, I really haven't played any games. I'd like to get back into it, but also.... kinda can't be arsed.

For me it's cyclical. I might be doing music stuff for months, then playing video games for months, then doing something else and the cycle repeats.

 

[hemmelight]

I saw someone selling Horizon: FW locally for half price so I just bought that without playing the original game. YOLO. I did watch a really well-done recap video for the first game on YouTube, which ran through all of the characters and plot-relevant story bits from the first game chronologically and even included the comic books. I don't feel like I'm missing any context now, but I will absolutely play the first game eventually.

Forbidden West is ridiculously pretty. It's like going to a diner and ordering a sundae with everything on it, but when you finish the sprinkles a waiter comes by your table and dumps more on - just in-case you forget what they were like. Every possible particle effect and shiny visual thing they could have stuffed into every frame is here at all times.

It's a little overwhelming, but I'm really loving it so far. I've been obsessed for the past few days.
I can see why some people hate Aloy's constant chatting to herself, but I find it kind of endearing. All the little details make the characters feel like real people, even when the animations get a bit wonky.

My only real complaint so far is that moving around the world is a bit ropey when it comes to climbing and trying to avoid objects during combat.
Aloy doesn't always do what I expect her to do, so it's easy to accidentally walk off the side of a cliff or something while trying to aim for a specific hand-hold, etc. It doesn't feel like the rock-solid platforming of a game like Uncharted for example, which was nearly perfect all the time.

 

[laxu]

My only real complaint so far is that moving around the world is a bit ropey when it comes to climbing and trying to avoid objects during combat.
Aloy doesn't always do what I expect her to do, so it's easy to accidentally walk off the side of a cliff or something while trying to aim for a specific hand-hold, etc. It doesn't feel like the rock-solid platforming of a game like Uncharted for example, which was nearly perfect all the time.

Uncharted is very much more on rails for its climbing sections whereas Horizon is more freeform where everything that looks like a cliff is usually climbable. You generally want to spam the scanner to see where the handholds are so it's easier to figure what you can climb.

I also highly recommend enabling gyro aiming in it. The way it is meant to be used is that the analog stick is your coarse aim and motion control is your fine aim. When you get the hang of it, it becomes very intuitive and should be IMO standard on any game featuring aiming.

 

[DrewJD82]

Uncharted is very much more on rails for its climbing sections whereas Horizon is more freeform where everything that looks like a cliff is usually climbable. You generally want to spam the scanner to see where the handholds are so it's easier to figure what you can climb.

I also highly recommend enabling gyro aiming in it. The way it is meant to be used is that the analog stick is your coarse aim and motion control is your fine aim. When you get the hang of it, it becomes very intuitive and should be IMO standard on any game featuring aiming.

I need to give this a shot, hopefully it aligns with me jerking my hands around as if I already had it enabled….like when I‘m flying jets in GTA and my neck follows the jet’s movements.

 

[DrewJD82]

I got to the last mission in Forbidden West and have played so much guitar in the last 3 weeks I haven’t started it yet. I might bang it out later today. I’ve done more side missions in this game than most other games, good stuff. And yeah, I span the shit out of that spammer.

 

[hemmelight]

Oh 100%, I've been using the gyro aim the whole time - so much more natural using the sticks and gyro in tandem. I got so used to it while playing through Breath of the Wild and now Tears of the Kingdom that any shooting via controller feels wrong without it.

 

[laxu]

Oh 100%, I've been using the gyro aim the whole time - so much more natural using the sticks and gyro in tandem. I got so used to it while playing through Breath of the Wild and now Tears of the Kingdom that any shooting via controller feels wrong without it.

I was incredibly disappointed when for the Xbox Series X, Microsoft still decided to not include a gyro on their controllers. The only reason I use a PS4 controller on PC over an Xbox controller is the gyro.

 

[Deadpan]

Is anyone playing early-access Starfield?

I've been really enjoying it the past couple days. Playing on an Xbox Series X, which I bought pretty much for the sole purpose of playing this and future Bethesda games.

First couple hours are a little underwhelming and I was in a ”not sure about this” stage for a bit, but then I found a couple of amazing side missions and am now all-in, love it. The biggest adjustments for me were having no VATS in the fighting and that it's a lot of medium-size areas broken up by load screens/fast travel, rather than one big world you can move around in without stopping.

Overall it is a remarkable blend of Skyrim and Fallout 4 into a sci-fi, space opera type world. Feels like an instant classic. Music is amazing too, and there is a lot of depth to the characters and stories, with great voice acting.

Anyone else playing it yet?

On PC Pass with Starfield. I'm a bit up and down with it.

How has your opinion developed?

 

[Jarick]

I picked up The Outer Worlds on Switch and started playing that yesterday. Got several hours in on Xbox a few years back. The graphics are really bad almost like a PS2 game but I only really play handheld anymore. It’s fun but not as good as the Fallout games or Skyrim.

Waiting for one of the Zelda games to go on sale though. I haven’t really played any newer ones.

 

[Mongillo19]

Waiting for one of the Zelda games to go on sale thou

Nintendo rarely puts first party games on sale. It's dumb. I'd recommend using their game voucher if you are interested in two games. Saves you money in the long run.

 

[Jarick]

Nintendo rarely puts first party games on sale. It's dumb. I'd recommend using their game voucher if you are interested in two games. Saves you money in the long run.

Should I get the two Zelda games with the voucher?

I haven't played many first party Nintendo games. I have the Mario Odyssey one which was good.

My favorite games were the top SNES games (Super Metroid, Link to the Past, SMW) and then later FPS-RPG games like Borderlands, Fallout series, etc.