General gaming discussion

johnny_ultimate

Also worth noting we’re in something of a golden age for storytelling in the indie space. Last year alone we had games like Norco, Citizen Sleeper, Pentiment, Immortality… Obviously walking sims did a lot of important ground work in establishing how games could focus more on story, but it’s been great in recent years seeing how designers have made more mechanically robust games that nonetheless have rich storytelling and intelligent writing. It’s also great to see games like Disco Elysium taking well established genre formulas but doing something entirely different and interesting with them.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120499547#Comment_120499547

The difference being with the great indie games you've listed is that the story IS the game. Your choices map a route through the story, your decisions are part of the story.

With AAA open world games you have tasks that are part of the main story but really all they do is unlock the next cut scene. Someone already mentioned, your choices progress your character in different ways but not the story. You might get different endings based on how you have developed your character, but it's a very superficial experience.

Grumpypants

Codex or audio logs are a giant pain, only made worse when they play and the characters also start talking and you've no idea what anyone is saying.

I do like when lore is part of a puzzle. Finding something on a note and then linking it together with the story a little later on to give you that oh **** moment.

Retr0gamer

I wrote the code on the chalkboard in the research area.

Me: goes to research area and finds code

Walks up to door. Looks up code on gamefaqs because I forgot it.

And yet I still feel incredibly satisfied. It is a good mechanic.

recyclops

Audio logs were the protagonist slows down and walks while listening are the absolute worst.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120501717#Comment_120501717

Gears of War introduced them as a loading zone but I get the feeling lesser developers didn't get that they were used to mask loading.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120502026#Comment_120502026

More interesting than "Just gotta slowly squeeze through this long narrow gap for a few seconds" at least.

SuperBowserWorld

I wish those pop up hints during loading screens had a "press X to continue" or "hold X to pause button" so I could read them in time on remasters/upgrades on the new consoles. I notice it now, again, in Mass Effect 2 legendary edition. Surely it's easier than adding 4K or 60 FPS 😁

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504192#Comment_120504192

I remember watching gameplay footage of Elden Ring last year and seeing tips on the loading screen and thinking to myself that I didn't remember there ever being any tips on my loading screens. Turned out to be PS4 gameplay. The PS5 loading is that much quicker that they didn't bother with tips on the loading screen.

CastorTroy

Wasn't it Ghost of Tsushima where they said they purposely made the load screens longer on PS5 to give people time to read the tips?

Might be old news to some on here, but the Unreal Engine 5 stuff is looking ridiculously good......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK76q13Aqt0

johnny_ultimate

It's undoubtedly an impressive technological showcase, assuming it's somewhat accurate to what the final game will look like.

It's a shame about the edgelord / tone-deaf use of the aesthetics of police body cam footage in the clip though (the blurred faces... oof), and the laughably bad final exchange in the clip doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Still, I'll be impressed if they manage to pull of a game that looks anywhere near that... doubly so if they manage it in a way that doesn't cause instant motion sickness!

Cordell

Control looks really weird. I remember a FPS from the 90s where you were able to control the target and camera separately and it was something no one ever tried it again.

Found it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U0egQsgz2o

SuperBowserWorld

In 2040 Nintendo will produce a great game with this technology. In the meantime it'll be used for highly realistic FPSs 😁😁😁

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504344#Comment_120504344

Is the 480p quality video a bit sus?

Antipathetic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504669#Comment_120504669

That could just be the limitations of twitters inbuilt video player at the moment.

Anyway, here is the video proving that the footage is not fake and is indeed computer-generated at first I thought what I was looking at was augmented reality, but after watching the video closely can definitely see signs in areas that it is computer-generated. It definitely is an impressive demonstration of new game engines when it comes to rendering realistic environments.

https://twitter.com/esankiy/status/1649104852704690178?t=9bEN5wcS0Tdy4WkfsrPG2A&s=34

PopePalpatine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504276#Comment_120504276

On a similar note, PD implemented random delays in installing parts in GT4, because apparently a few seconds is a great way to simulate spending a whole day changing the suspension on your Micra.

https://twitter.com/Nenkaai/status/1648771248980197377

Well i went and got Cyberpunk 2077. It's definitely Impressive and i will give it some time, but man that screen is busy and is an assault on the senses.

Maybe I'm just getting old and maybe it's because I'm a parent now and can't spend a Saturday playing a game, but a game like this is something I'd maybe struggle to play while tired.

Think I'll maybe end up giving it a break while having small kids.

Potential-Monke

I was gonna mention the Codex in Mass Effect, I'm pretty sure I read every single bit and would have spent big monies on a physical edition of it if it was around at the time. I thought the ME lore/codex built an amazing world. Or at least my memory of it does.

From reading all the comments on the last page, it still all boils down to personal preference. Those mentioned story driven games, Pentiment et al, I have zero interest in. They're basically interactive books, not a game imo. But that's personal preference. Having just finished Horizon FW, there was definitely too much unnecessary "lore", but there were some good bits in there too. But it didn't make me want to find them all, unlike ME or GoW. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1, 2 and Defiance are still the games I hold at the top of gaming storytelling. Let's just hope Embracer don't mess it up!

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120509615#Comment_120509615

I love the ME world, story and characters. I'm now working through the 2nd game slowly. I like being able to dip into the codex to find out bits I've missed and filling in the blanks. I'm in no hurry. (Legendary edition)

Even though I'm playing on GamePass I still bough a cheap physical 2nd hand copy in perfect condition ... I won't finish the trilogy by the time my sub expires and I'll dip in again to complete side quests and play with different roles.

I'm a soldier paragon with a high powered sniper rifle. 🤔

Retr0gamer

The god of war series just highlights that abrahamic religions are the most boring religions.

Potential-Monke

I didn't get that from them. I did get hours of enjoyable gory dismemberment of the Greek Pantheon with a "T'will do" story to tie it all together. It was angry, violent and fun. Which is why they're better than the recent 2, which while excellent games they are not as good as the straight up fun original trilogy. Introducing heartsy feels and children usually ruins a game for me. I don't want real life. The last 2 GoW's just about managed to pull it off, the first more so than the second.

Unlike the LoK series, which while it had emotion, it was all about the story with no love interest or children taking up space. And before someone says it, no, the original GoW trilogy button bashing experiences were not love stories! It's why I kinda appreciate Horizon to a degree, insofar as it basically just skirts over any potential romantic arc and gets back to business. Until the most recent DLC apparantly. But if people didn't see that coming, they haven't played the 2 games.

Retr0gamer

I think you misunderstood what abrahamic religions are as you just kind of disagreed with me and then to back it up agreed with me. 😂

The Raging Bile Duct

I see the Horizon dlc is being review bombed by a load of man babies.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513373#Comment_120513373

Ah gamers. I'd say never change but actually please do change.

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513381#Comment_120513381

It also has the unfortunate side effect of implying anything to do with Horizon might possibly be interesting.

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513373#Comment_120513373

Is this similar to the time some nerds lost the plot when they found out that women also get hairs on their faces? 😂 Or what are they whinging about this time?

What's the difference between a "review bomb" and just having an overall majority of bad reviews?

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514700#Comment_120514700

Review bombing is usually an organized action by people who in most cases didn't even play the game, but they are bothered by various aspects of the game, real or imagined. In this particular example there are PS4 owners leaving a bad review because the DLC is PS5 only - clearly they haven't played the game. And of course there is the special short bus brigade who leave a bad review for political reasons, they have not played the game, they have no intention of playing the game, but they heard that this and that is happening in a game they don't want to play, so neither should others.

On the opposite end of the spectrum we had Hogwarts Legacy, in which various game journalists and publications played the manbaby role and either ignored a game who turned out to be extremely popular, or straight up gave it bad reviews without even playing it.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514700#Comment_120514700

Review bombing is where people deliberately give bad (think 0/10) reviews to sink it's metascore to try to harm it's popularity/appeal based on nonsense or some pathetic reason. These reviewers are generally people who haven't used/played the product.