General gaming discussion

Yea! Someone I know made an app that is to automatically calculate distances when out at sea. When I looked at it one of the three options for locations was "Monkey Island". They would have played the game as a child, so sent them a message saying I loved the reference and thought he had forgotten to take it out.

Turns out, nope, it's part of a ship.

kunst nugget

So, we've made it to December and it's nearly time to vote for the Game Awards on here. It's been a pretty interesting year between the launch of the Switch, the rejuvenation of some old series like Resident Evil and decimation of others (Mass Effect), the launch of some interesting new IPs, the success of Hellblade pointing to a possible future for mid-budget, mid-priced games and the controversy surrounding Shadow of War and Battlefront and their implementation of lootboxes.

So what have been the highs and lows for all of you on here?

Zero-Cool

Yakuza 0, GOTY, Best Story, Best Character (Majima), Most Fun, WTF were they thinking (some of the side quests are bat**** crazy), Pleasant surprise (had never played the franchise before). Gonna be voting for that a lot!

gimli2112

Horizon Zero Dawn for me, first play-through was amazing, really enjoyed the story and the tall grass that made you totally invisible

Penn

Horizon Zero Dawn game of the year for me. Loved every minute of it. The gameplay is terrific, the world and graphics are spellbinding and the story was far better and deeper than I'd thought it would be. One of my favourite games in years.

Another high this year was Crash Bandicoot. I loved the original games and getting to play them again was just a lot of fun. The devs put a lot of love into the remakes and it shows. Fun and frustrating (especially relics in the older games) but enjoyed the absolute hell out of it.

Biggest low would have to be Destiny 2. The campaign was a huge improvement on D1 and there were a lot of improvements, but it again feels empty and small, and pulls you into needless grinding loops and forced multiplayer, and the reuse of so many assets from the first game, particularly enemies, was so disappointing and lazy. I might pick it up again in 2 years when they've mostly fixed everything like what happened with D1.

Billy86

Zelda BOTW, as someone who had never had much of any interest in any Zelda game, was absolutely mind-blowing for me. Have not played Mario Odyssey but I can't think of anything else that could beat it to GOTY. If they can keep it up, the re-emergence of Nintendo might well be the highest point for me, love the enthusiasm and genuine attempts to try new things (even to their own detriment) that they go for, as opposed to the safety-first approach of PS and XBox.

Biggest low point might be ME: Andromeda... I've been out of gaming for donkeys years until about last November and that game seemed like it was going to be impossibly brilliant, yet I keep hearing how much of a let down it is. That said I haven't even got around to playing it, so I'll give the 'lowest low' award to the constant d*ckign around on Star Citizen which I'm now more on the side of believing is a game that will never actually be finished.

TitianGerm

My thoughts on it

Cuphead - Indie of the Year
Zelda - Game of Year
Destiny 2 - Biggest Disappointment
Horizon Zero Dawn - Best New IP

I'm sure Mario will pick up a few awards as well though.

Retr0gamer

Can't decide between zelda and Mario for game of the year. Nintendo just knocked it out of the park with those two.

Disappointments would be horizon, I know it's a good game but it just feels so archaic when Zelda came out and shook things up for open world games. The dialogue was woeful as well.

Best soundtrack is a toss up between blue reflection and Nier automata.

Story and writing would have to go to Nier. That game has so many problems but the experience as a whole was worth it.

Didn't really play anything bad this year.

J. Marston

Horizon GOTY. Echo everything else that was said about it. It proved you don't need to innovate to make something great.

Hellblade was great too.

EA for fúckheads of the year.

wheresmahbombs

Screw EA and their pay-to-win loot box ****ery with BFII.

marcbrophy

My personal GOTY is AC Origins
Mario odyssey was great too!
Zelda was okay, but never a huge fan of that franchise anyway.

Forza Horizon 3 is one of my most played games this year, but that released in 2016, so no one cares anymore

johnny_ultimate

Zelda was such an extraordinary reimagining and correction of the open world concept that poor old Horizon couldn't help but feel completely ordinary in comparison. I'll go back to Horizon one day, but Zelda is the first time in years I've seen a game so definitively fix and challenge so much of what other games had decided - poorly, it transpires -were 'the rules'. I loved Mario Odyssey too, but Zelda is the most important and vital franchise game in a generation.

Other highlights of the year: the criminally under appreciated Pyre, the delightful Norwood Suite, the joyously demanding Opus Magnum, the twitchy pleasures of Nex Machina. Lots of smaller games that have yet to get the attention they deserve, mind (blame the lengthy voyage to Hyrule). Biggest disappointment was Nier Automata - a game where the moments of inspiration only come amid long stretches of utter tedium.

Was going to get about Destiny 2, played the 1st one and checked out after the 1st DLC and glad I did but maybe they had learned from it and improved things.
People I'd have seen religiously play it back then got D2, some 15+ on my friends list and yet not a single one are still playing it only a few months from release. I'll take it as a sign to avoid it like the plague.

Zero-Cool

This topic reminded me to play what remains of edith Finch before the nominations kick off.

Andromeda definitely a low point, not because of all the bandwagon 'OMGZ the animations!!' but because it was just a very boring gaming with awful characters with no Quarians in sight.

Horizon ZD, I tried to play twice and just got bored, forcing my way through and had to trade twice.

kunst nugget

Zero-Cool wrote: »

This topic reminded me to play what remains of edith Finch.

It's a beautiful little experience that can be finished in one sitting if you wanted to. I found it very moving.

Stone Deaf 4evr

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Was going to get about Destiny 2, played the 1st one and checked out after the 1st DLC and glad I did but maybe they had learned from it and improved things.
People I'd have seen religiously play it back then got D2, some 15+ on my friends list and yet not a single one are still playing it only a few months from release. I'll take it as a sign to avoid it like the plague.

It's actually still a good game, that you'll easily get 70 hours of quality play out of, the big issue is once you've seen it all, well there's no replay value in doing any of it again.

SnitchenBubs

Batman return to arkham on the PSN for €20, be worth it? never played them before and no nothing about them. PSN are oing a two for thirty sale at the moment so was thinking of adding another, prey maybe.

SnitchenBubs

SnitchenBubs wrote: »

Batman return to arkham on the PSN for €20, be worth it? never played them before and no nothing about them. PSN are oing a two for thirty sale at the moment so was thinking of adding another, prey maybe.

A few weeks back I was looking at Return To Arkham too. I watched a few comparison videos and (in my opinion) these re-releases are actually graphically worse than the original releases in a lot of ways. I bought the originals when they were on sale on Steam instead. (Honestly, even a mediocre PC will play those games pretty well.) As for the gameplay, they have aged a little, but still very good to play. If you're a Batman fan at all, you'll enjoy it.

Also fyi (because you said you know nothing about these games), those two are actually the first two of a trilogy, the third game is called Arkham Knight. Upon release, that game ran like a dog on PC, so if you're thinking of getting that one, go for console version. Apparently its performance on PC has much improved.


Can't comment on Prey. There's a demo on PSN, so maybe give that a whirl?

Potential-Monke

Yeah, don't know about the remastered ones, but the originals were fantastic! Amazing story, savage gameplay, you actually feel like Batman! Plenty to do in them, and collecting everything is not too much of a chore in the first, and a bit more of a chore in the second.

eyerer

Deleted User wrote: »

Also fyi (because you said you know nothing about these games), those two are actually the first two of a trilogy, the third game is called Arkham Knight. Upon release, that game ran like a dog on PC, so if you're thinking of getting that one, go for console version.

I played Knight on PC, I got it cheap on steam because of the state it was released in. They did eventually fix it up, it was fine when I played it, so no need to get it on console now.
CD Keys also does it for very cheap.

Billy86

Yeah, Knight worked perfectly for me a few months ago too - bar the airship part, but that's very brief and it wasn't horrendous, just frequently went quite stuttery. I played it with an i5 6600K/GTX 970 with the settings all/nearly all on ultra (1080p) which is a pretty strong system, but messed about on it with a 1050TI/G4560 which is a lot lower powered (made it as a gift so wanted to see how it handled demanding games) and it also worked very well (the settings were on medium-to-high on this one if I recall).

SnitchenBubs

Its hard to decide looking to get stuck into a new game, recently finished Mafia 3, really enjoyed it even with it's flaws. I see the two Wolfenstein's there for a fiver each too.

I only play console so any PC games are out.

Potential-Monke

If you like stories, the Arkham games have a really good one imo. Well, the first 2 at least.

wotzgoingon

SnitchenBubs wrote: »

Its hard to decide looking to get stuck into a new game, recently finished Mafia 3, really enjoyed it even with it's flaws. I see the two Wolfenstein's there for a fiver each too.

I only play console so any PC games are out.

I'm playing Watch Dogs(The first one, I will pick up the second after playing this) and it is absolutely brilliant really enjoyed it. Admittedly the first mission or two are a bit of a challenge with the stealth but once you get the hang of using the hacks it is really enjoyable.

SnitchenBubs

SnitchenBubs wrote: »

Its hard to decide looking to get stuck into a new game, recently finished Mafia 3, really enjoyed it even with it's flaws. I see the two Wolfenstein's there for a fiver each too.

I only play console so any PC games are out.

Wolfenstein the New Order for €5 is a good deal , a very good deal. The other one is fine but feels like a cheap knock off.

Zero-Cool

I played the first chapter of Wolfenstein New Order and was hugely impressed. Looking forward to getting back to it, completely worth a fiver.

CatInABox

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I played the first chapter of Wolfenstein New Order and was hugely impressed. Looking forward to getting back to it, completely worth a fiver.

A lovely game, definitely worth a fiver. Really shows what a single player focused experience can be like these days.

johnpatrick81

I only played through it recently too. Definitely one of the most enjoyable games this year even! 100% worth a fiver!!

Billy86

I only went through Wolfenstein maybe a month back, would also agree - excellent for a fiver. Old Blood wasn't quite as good but still a fun romp.

CastorTroy

Was looking up Battlefront as it was asked for a a Christmas present and saw Gamestop's price. Were they seriously charging €109.99 for it?
https://www.gamestop.ie/Xbox%20One/Games/63173/star-wars-battlefront-2

K.O.Kiki

CastorTroy wrote: »

Was looking up Battlefront as it was asked for a a Christmas present and saw Gamestop's price. Were they seriously charging €109.99 for it?
https://www.gamestop.ie/Xbox%20One/Games/63173/star-wars-battlefront-2

They're just quoting the price including micro-transactions

Falthyron

CastorTroy wrote: »

Was looking up Battlefront as it was asked for a a Christmas present and saw Gamestop's price. Were they seriously charging €109.99 for it?
https://www.gamestop.ie/Xbox%20One/Games/63173/star-wars-battlefront-2

That's the 'Sense of Pride and Accomplishment' edition. Just buy the normal one. :P

Billy86

Available here for €39 - https://www.cdkeys.com/pc/games/star-wars-battlefront-ii-2-pc-origin-cd-key

This is one game where any moral quandaries about the nature of grey market sellers should fly straight out the window.

Billy86

Yet to complete it, but my god Fez really is a beautiful and immensely fun little game.

johnny_ultimate

His social media habits, ego, apparent ability to work in a team, and media manner were/are rather appalling, but Fez proved Phil Fish (with assistance from his team) could actually deliver a hell of a game. His Twitter silence is something of a blessing, but honestly I think gaming as a medium is a little bit poorer because he opted not to make a second game (whether that was the cancelled Fez sequel or something else).

Billy86

Yeah he came over as quite insufferable when I saw Indie Gamer a few years back (mind you of the other three guys covered, the Braid guy and one half of the Super Meat Boy team seemed even worse... the SMB guy with the beard struck me as very likable).

But I had heard a little bit about the whole Twitter/toys out of the pram bit alright and it took about 5 minutes of playing this to notice what a shame it is. Even all the little touches like the weird way the game 'reboots' after turning everything 3D that did actually catch me out for a second. It's a bit like Ori & The Blind Forest in that I don't even want to play it too much for fear of finishing it too quickly.

gizmo

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

His social media habits, ego, apparent ability to work in a team, and media manner were/are rather appalling, but Fez proved Phil Fish (with assistance from his team) could actually deliver a hell of a game. His Twitter silence is something of a blessing, but honestly I think gaming as a medium is a little bit poorer because he opted not to make a second game (whether that was the cancelled Fez sequel or something else).

He did work on SUPERHYPERCUBE too which is a pretty ace wee puzzle game in VR.

Retr0gamer

Phil Fish is an absolute scrotum of a person who unfortunately can make excellent games.

kunst nugget

Billy86 wrote: »

Yeah he came over as quite insufferable when I saw Indie Gamer a few years back (mind you of the other three guys covered, the Braid guy and one half of the Super Meat Boy team seemed even worse... the SMB guy with the beard struck me as very likable).

Jonathan Blow came across decently in that doc I thought and the other half of Team Meat, Tommy Refenes seemed alright if a bit socially awkward - he seems to be a very generous guy from reading up on him. I didn't think Phil Fish was really all that bad in the movie apart from being very highly strung. The guy should never have been let near social media though. It did him no good at all.

I bought No Man's Sky for €12 secondhand over the weekend. It's not as bad as I had thought. Definitely worth €12. :pac:

With regards to Phil Fish -- it's a pity he was such a c*nt. Fez was actually a thoroughly enjoyable game and he could've done great things.

CastielJ

I don't have much time for playing games 'cause of work but I am a fan of escape games. Last week I encouraged my coworkers to attend one of them explained it as a team building game. So we split up to teams of 4 people and went to the Clinic quest room , https://thequestfactory.com/corporate-team-building/. The staff was great, very helpful during the game. The puzzles and and decorations were very well-made. We had a lot of fun and I think it made our collective even more friendly.

kunst nugget

CastielJ wrote: »

I don't have much time for playing games 'cause of work but I am a fan of escape games. Last week I encouraged my coworkers to attend one of them explained it as a team building game. So we splitted to a team of 4 people and went to the Clinic quest room , https://thequestfactory.com/corporate-team-building/. The staff was great, very helpful during the game. The puzzles and and decorations were very well-made. We had a lot of fun and I think it made our collective even more friendly.

Would that entail interacting with real people? I couldn't be having that…

CastielJ

kunst nugget wrote: »

CastielJ wrote: »

I don't have much time for playing games 'cause of work but I am a fan of escape games. Last week I encouraged my coworkers to attend one of them explained it as a team building game. So we splitted to a team of 4 people and went to the Clinic quest room , https://thequestfactory.com/corporate-team-building/. The staff was great, very helpful during the game. The puzzles and and decorations were very well-made. We had a lot of fun and I think it made our collective even more friendly.

Would that entail interacting with real people? I couldn't be having that…

yes it's the main point of team building games

SolvableKnave

Stone Deaf 4evr

Just in case folks don't visit other parts of the site, Boards have secured an AMA with Videogame Journalist Danny O Dwyer, formerly of Gamespot, and now out on his own making video game documentaries, he did a few great pieces on DOOM, the Witcher 3 and rocket league. the link is here
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057816793

Cocksy

I am playing now “Destiny 2”

SolvableKnave

Cocksy wrote: »

I am playing now “Destiny 2”

Zero-Cool

Looks like Horizon Zero Dawn is gonna steam roll the Boards Games Awards...Boooooorrrriinnngggg

kunst nugget

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Looks like Horizon Zero Dawn is gonna steam roll the Boards Games Awards...Boooooorrrriinnngggg

Popular Game in 'Game being Popular' shocker.

Same thing is going to happen with Zelda on the Switch.

Zero-Cool

kunst nugget wrote: »

Popular Game in 'Game being Popular' shocker.

Same thing is going to happen with Zelda on the Switch.

Ah no, I meant the game itself was boring :pac: