General gaming discussion

Retr0gamer

Eurogamer review in: 3/5

Reading it it sounds like style over substance and a hell over a lot of modern game padding ruining the experience.

Sony really are banking on this game being big since all they have this year is this and Spiderman 2.

RedXIV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120745290#Comment_120745290

Done my bit, pre-order I got for fathers day is on the way :)

I'm not surprised by the 3/5, hoping the brand loyalty might get me up to a cheery 4/5

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120745369#Comment_120745369

Honestly it doesn't sound bad, I just feel a lot of reviewers probably have less tolerance for triple A guff these days especially with TotK just released.

Metacritic was 88 when I checked up most metacritic sites are hacks.

The sites I'd trust, Polygon have a pretty damning review. Gamespot gave it 90. The rest I wouldn't trust.

Metro game central have no review yet

McFly85

Enjoyed the demo and looking forward to playing it tomorrow!

Reviews I reckon will put it between 7-8.

Dull side quests though is disappointing. FF7R was the same, sounds like something square need to sort out.

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120744041#Comment_120744041

I'd absolutely love another NSMB game, NSMBWii and NSMBWiiu were superb, Mario maker 2 isn't as good as those. The Wii was one of the best consoles ever.

EoinMcLovin

I've added all reviews I could find to the FF XVI Thread (copied most of if from review thread on resetera)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120746219/#Comment_120746219

JimBurnley

With the MGS collection and new Super Mario release dates given earlier today, October is looking pretty packed...

Assassin's Creed Mirage. Oct 12th 

Alan Wake 2. Oct 17th 

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2. Oct 19th 

Spiderman 2. Oct 20th

Super Mario Bros Wonder. Oct 20th

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1. Oct 24th

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120746321#Comment_120746321

All those can take a hike, Just Dance 2024 out in October as well.

There's rumours of spiderman 2 being delayed so it doesn't have to compete.

J. Marston

Playing Horizon: Forbidden West (Don't know why at this point, I'm not enjoying it but I'm pot committed, I suppose).

Anyway, a side quest late on has you needing a door code. It's on a text log right beside the computer. The "clue" is the date a company was founded, October 2023. So the code is 102023. I made a typo putting in the code which prompts the game to immediately go into googoo gaga baba needs a hinty winty mode.

Aloy: "Hmm, the company was founded in October 2023"

Most annoying character in the game, who is accompanying you on this mission: "And October is the 10th month of the year!"

I'm so sick of this shít in games.

The Raging Bile Duct

I enjoyed the first game but I only lasted about 5 hours into Forbidden West. It's a particularly unenjoyable poo sandwich.

J. Marston

Possibly the most disappointing sequel I've played. Gameplay is still good, although worse than the first game, but my God, the characters are absolute cack. The late Lance Reddick being the only exception and he's not in it much, unfortunately.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120746479#Comment_120746479

The Horizon devs when seeing the metrics from your run through:

"Wow, our users can't even solve this puzzle, maybe we made them too hard?"

"Hmmm, in our next game, let's have Aloy explain more! Let's get her to narrate how to use the controller, so everyone has a fighting chance."

Yeah, you've just made things worse Marston.

Cordell

It their effort to make it accesibile to anyone they are ruining it for everyone.

I just finished System Shock remake, well, there is no hand holding, no objective marker, no active and side missions. And it was the best game I've played since Elden Ring.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120746479#Comment_120746479

That is just enraging. I think I'd stop playing if a game did that to me. Compare that with TOTK that often, openly gives you abstracted clues about new destinations or where to go for certain puzzles.

Mind you: to play devil's advocate, if you have a AAA game costing millions, with every set-piece and "cinematic" moment crafted to the Nth degree, I imagine the Creative Directors are terrified all the content wouldn't get experienced by all - so dumb the puzzles down to infantilised levels.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120747723#Comment_120747723

All it takes is an accessibility option, its so easy to solve so it's infuriating when it's locked in.

Am playing Jedi Survivor (and absolutely loving it) and at the first puzzle there's a prompt on whether you want BD-1 to help you. I selected no and since then I've had to figure everything out on my own. Much preferable.

Zero-Cool

I was only rewatching Jakey's video on Rockstar games design being outdated and he brought up a great example. A side activity in GTA 4 had you steal cars but only gave you a text message with car make and location but the in game map had no names and there was no map marker. He used the physical map that came with the game and said the feeling was awesome when he found the car.

Then in RDR 2, he turned off mini map so there was just a compass but the missions were impossible to complete as the quest would be 'bring wagon to secluded spot' but nothing was happening. Turned back on minimap to see a very specific yellow dot he needed to bring it to.

That's why games like Outer Wilds, Subnautica, Obra Dinn are so **** satisfying and rewarding to play as those games let YOU play the game instead of the main character telling you what to do every 30 seconds. Yes, they do it to appeal to the masses but in turn make their game boring and ****.

https://youtu.be/MvJPKOLDSos

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120746321#Comment_120746321

if the MSG Master Collection Vol1 includes MGS1 then that sounds really interesting, but only if they modernise the controls.

I tried playing the last remake of it, it's mind blowing how awful the control scheme was back then! Hold square to aim and release to shoot.. ick.

Retr0gamer

You get used to the controls quite quickly. They make sense in the context of the game. It is strange though that controls have become so homogenized since then.

johnny_ultimate

I think the argument that games are more hand-holdy to make them more mass market friendly has been really undermined by the success of Zelda BOTW/TOTK and Elden Ring. They have handily outsold Horizon: Forbidden West (although obviously there are notable differences between console install bases) suggesting that a more player-driven design does not by any stretch turn players off.

What I find interesting though is the way a game like Horizon does have complexity and difficulty in some respects. The approach to weapons / loot in that, driven by tiny percentage tweaks, micromanagement and a big old weapon wheel, is very nitpicky and systems-heavy. I'm always surprised those sort of design choices are made in the same game where they refuse to let a player solve a straightforward puzzle on their own. The game sort of feels uneven in that sense.

Retr0gamer

I'm pretty sure those mechanics are stakeholder mandate. There's no way a game developer would handicap there game with these mechanics. Mechanics like crafting and those meaningless percentage tweaks are all taken from the latest shareholder buzzword, games as a service, and are being shoehorned in to the detriment of the overall game design. It's insane how many games they are infecting and making actively worse. GoW Ragnarok is a great example.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120747803#Comment_120747803

I'm pretty sure they're not changing controls. It's the games as is, graphics, controls and all.

McFly85

I wonder how they’ll handle the psycho mantis fight for modernised consoles then.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120748228#Comment_120748228

The integral version of the game added fixes.

I had a scenario of ps1 where it asked me to attack the statues to distract him instead of swapping controllers.

Could also be an emulation of the pc version.

SuperBowserWorld

I couldn't get into HZD. It was like a game designed by Disney. Just seemed so fake. But I only played it for a few hours.

RDR2 is a beautiful game, but the "goto the yellow cloud" gameplay is not exactly interesting. I think I enjoyed the parts where you had to find animals for the photographer to capture the most interesting. I still love the game, and the world and the atmosphere. It's like a animated painting of the past.

After all the recent AAA reveals, I'm still only interested in: Starfield. It has me intrigued. Ubisoft's 2.5D Prince of Persia game from the Rayman Devs looks excellent. If AC Mirage is not hand holdy and set in a condensed Baghdad, then it could be really enjoyable. The Star Wars Outlaws game has me interested in Star Wars for the first time in a long time. And Super Mario Wonder I'm sure will be a lot of fun, hopefully it has something new up it's sleeve.

Retr0gamer

I just saw Six Days in Fallujah appear on in early access on steam. That's a name I've not heard in a long time.

Jordan 199

The last items I got at Gamestop today:

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758907#Comment_120758907

You are missing a Nintendo one.

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120762828#Comment_120762828

There weren't any. Maybe I should have got some screws instead.

Grumpypants

After my recent Resident Evil franchise run I was in the mood to start another one so while looking through xcloud for something I decided on Gears of War.

Playing the remastered version of the first one on xcloud. Swapping between the Xbox and the steam deck. Plays really well.

Grumpypants

Finished the first Gears already. That's a really good game. For a game that's something like 17 years old it really holds up. It is the remastered 2015 version so a bit of polish but still all action. No fluff to pad it out, just constantly moving forward and blasting away.

Gears 2 started now!