Game News 2.0

Grumpypants

I'm the same, I have on occasion started a new game + just to be more powerful and have the good guns etc but usually bounced off it very fast as it is rare I can just replay a game right away. And if I come back after a few years I kinda like to start again and build up.

recyclops

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436685#Comment_121436685

Yeah I think thats the clincher the game needs to be quick and snappy for this to work, I know people are looking at the player count and comparison to Skyrim but Skyrim mods have been around over a decade, in 10 years time Starfield will probably still be getting played in some form or another.

They probably didn't expect someone to get to that point in the game that quick.

Penn

Most of the time there's a NG+ in a game I want to replay, I usually just start a new save instead and just experience the full game again. If I'm playing it again chances are I'm doing so for the story or something, so starting again with all weapons or powers but with harder enemies etc just usually doesn't appeal to me.

Retr0gamer

A lot of new game + modes are just starting the game with stuff carried over and I usually ignore these. The exception are Atelier games with time limits because I'm so bad at them I always get the bad ending. The items that carry over help immensely and it helps they are 15 hour RPGs.

If I enjoy the game and there's new content I'll usually go for the new game + mode. Chrono Trigger was the first game with it and it added dozens of new endings.

From Software games are excellent examples of how to do New Game +. The increased difficulty is nice but since the game is skill based the 40 hour run time is down to about 10. Theres lots of new challenges added. Dark Souls 2 in particular added a huge amount and it's frustrating no other From game has had as good a new game plus.

Armoured Core 6 had a particularly good new game plus with two loops netting you two new endings, new missions on each loop and some really fun changes to mission structure. Apparently From Software have had excellent new game plus modes since their early AC games.

I think the king of new game plus are the Yoko Taro games like Nier where if you don't play new game plus cycles you are effectively not seeing the whole game. Nier's cycle put you at the halfway point and cleverly managed to change the player's entire perception of the storyline. Nier automata's first loop start off feeling like the same thing with a slightly different character before changing the narrative of the game through gameplay. The two subsequent loops can't even really be called new game plus as they were both entirely new sections of gameplay.

I'm currently playing the new game plus mode of mister mosquito that is basically the same game but the dialogue has changed. It's worth it because the dialogue is quite amusing.

Zero-Cool

Interesting about going straight into NG+, I've only done it with a handful of games and only ones I've absolutely loved. The Last of Us Remastered, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, The Witcher 3 (Thinking back that was a mental game to go straight into ng+ on). I'm sure there are more but not many.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436685#Comment_121436685

I started NG+ but having lost all my weapons, all my money, and my ships.... I just didn't care enought to build that all back up again. It immediately turned me off the game.

Stone Deaf 4evr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436706#Comment_121436706

I'm one run and done also. I MIGHT reload an earlier save if theres an alternative ending, but 99% of the time i'd just look it up on youtube.

There was a period where I had an on/off relationship with Destiny and Destiny2 or The Division, but the idea of running story missions for doodads just doesnt appeal to me at all. Even the raids, which to be fair, made for some of the best mulitplayer activities I've ever done, felt a bit stale after a while.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121437204#Comment_121437204

Bloodborne. I played through it about 5 times in NG.

PixelPlayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121437211#Comment_121437211

I did the same and almost immediately reverted back to a save before NG+

I put so much work into my outpost and ship and I have no interest in starting over on it.

I'm waiting for some DLC and improvements that make outposts and ship building worthwhile. The game (or maybe just me) is screaming out for Elite style trading routes to make any of it worthwhile.

Its all fun, but has absolutely no meaning or purpose to it. I don't agree this is the game they always intended. It is very obviously missing some core functionality which I hope with time they will complete.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121437264#Comment_121437264

Yeah, same. If I get the impression from the ending I do get that there's a "true ending", I'll YouTube it; TBH Hollow Knight was the game that as much as I loved it to bits, the fussing and counter-intuitive nonsense you had to do to get the "true ending" just put me off the whole completionist mentality for good.

johnny_ultimate

It's cool for developers to put interesting NG+ modes in there for players who are interested IMO. That shouldn't amount to locking good content behind multiple playthroughs though, which is honestly just bad, user-hostile design. From what I've read about Starfield, it does seem to strike a nice balance - something fun for those who do want to revisit it, but nothing transformative enough to make others feel like they're massively missing out (and I'm in that camp). But I also immediately get put off a game when I hear the game only really begins in NG+ - I mean, if I have to play through a whole bloody game to get to the good stuff, that's **** awful design! With Starfield, I heard several people suggest 'rush through the campaign to get to your real playthrough' - nah, thanks!

The only game I did go right back to the start with this year was Hi-Fi Rush, as I found its Rhythm Master mode (where you have to sustain combos and rhythm) a very fun, challenging twist that demanded engagement with the deeper systems of the game. Honestly, before that, Bayonetta 2 might have been the last game I immediately hit NG+ for, for similar reasons. In general, I'll enjoy a mode like that if it feels like I'm engaging with the game on a deeper level - pretty rare, IMO. But if it feels like a way to simply extract more time out of a game, than I'm out.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121437518#Comment_121437518

Hollow Knight was waaaaaay too long but I didn't mind the end game stuff. Well until the final DLC. It's not often I drop a game of the difficulty is too high but the final boss rush to get the true ending in that game was complete ballocks. Artificial difficulty galore.

Retr0gamer

Platinum games are a good case for new game plus. They're usually 4-6 hours long so not a massive investment and they are games that just get better and better the more you understand the mechanics and harder difficulty levels tend to change up the AI or have gameplay changes to keep you on your toes.

Same with rhythm games. I played Osu tatake Ouendan all the way through the highest difficulty levels because it just got more and more fun as the difficulty increased but your skill increased as well.

J. Marston

Is there any games these days that put extra or "real" endings behind multiple playthroughs?

I seem to remember that was a thing when I was younger. Nier Automata also did something similar to it.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121437838#Comment_121437838

Lots. No canon ending to AC6 but the third ending is locked behind NG++. The Nier games as you said but in fairness I think new game plus is pretty much essential to play in these cases. I finished Fatal Frame 2 recently and the Canon ending was the normal ending but a non canon slightly happier ending was locked behind new game plus hard mode. Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter is more a rogue lite but new story scenes are unlocked everytime you restart after a failed run.

It's mostly Japanese games that do this and have fun with new game plus, can't think of a western game that does where it's more play from the start but keep stats and/or items.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436248#Comment_121436248

My guess is dropping player counts hits the viability of future DLCs.

DLC might bring some players back but not all of them.

CatInABox

The middle earth shadow of war game was particularly egarious, with you getting a fair standard ending, and then having to grind through some really repetitive stuff to get the real ending. Not sure that you could call that NG+ plus though, as it wasn't a full restart.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121438191#Comment_121438191

Arkham Knight did similar with the ending and true final boss hidden behind all the poxy riddle puzzles.

I prefer the nintendo approach of giving you literally a **** trophy for doing the dumbass achievement item hunting

McFly85

Took about 3 playthroughs but was the best ending ever

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121438468#Comment_121438468

Did you just leak the ending to Silent Hill Ascension where we find out it wasn't written by AI but by a doggo?

Mr Crispy

Finally, FINALLY, we have Harold Halibut news (and a new trailer). Coming "early 2024".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbTeuC3xvGk

Zero-Cool

Pacific Drive release date trailer is fantastic! Out 22nd February.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfGnxh0PNL8

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121440544#Comment_121440544

I have no idea what I just watched, but I think I love it? Is there an actual game within the narrative tho'?

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121440785#Comment_121440785

Added to my wishlist on the Playstation store.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121440544#Comment_121440544

Wonder if they made the main character look like Adrien Brody on purpose, getting a lot of Wes Anderson vibes from it.

Mr Crispy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121440837#Comment_121440837

If I remember earlier developer snippets correctly, gameplay will be more exploration and dialogue based with simple puzzles/tasks to complete. So its focus is definitely on the narrative and aesthetics.

Zero-Cool

Holstin, a game that somehow manages to look **** and class at the same time 😁

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiuedH7E-gc

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436693#Comment_121436693

Mate this is Ireland, murdering someone would get you 3 weeks at most.

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436248#Comment_121436248

You might actually like Starfield, it isn't open world. You could play it completely linearly if you wanted to.

sniper_samurai

Surprised no one has mentioned this but Steam Link is now available for the Meta Quest vr headset. This should open up a lot of vr games available on Steam for use on the headset such as Half-Life Alex.