General gaming discussion

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.