General gaming discussion

Grumpypants · 14-09-2023 8:12pm

That's sad to see, especially since it's actually a really well made game. I finished it the other day and enjoyed it. It's pretty big in scale and pretty well executed too so I can imagine it was expensive to make for an independent studio.

Retr0gamer · 14-09-2023 10:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121110632#Comment_121110632

Doesn't matter if it makes sense. It's so generic that i usually can't remember it and it loves in my head as the game with immortal in the name that isnt the Ubisoft BotW rip off.

It's really not a good place to be with marketing.

Potential-Monke · 14-09-2023 10:35pm

But you haven't played the game? If you played it, you'd remember it. I don't get that complaint tbh because it's a new IP and it fits/suits and is nothing like Immortals: Fenyx Rising. What's more generic than Starfield? Seems like a you issue!

Anyway, State of Play was meh. Only announcement that was different were the 3 new PS5 covers/controllers for Deep Earth Collection. Silver looks nice, sorry about the twixter, can't find an imagine otherwise:

https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1702431760334942567?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Potential-Monke · 15-09-2023 5:29am

Just finished IoA, thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. Even went and chanced one of the Six, the Den of Lucretius. Tough battle. Area is filled with raised cubes creating corridors with a main higher platform in the middle. He was a green sigil user, and I just about managed to beat him with a sliver of health from 5+3 health crystals used. Was summoning Archons, the fecker! I may just try to beat them all. More people need to at least try this. It's not perfect, and it doesn't break any achievements, but it's a fun action game to play at least. They just aimed too high.

I see some negative reviews calling it woke, with one pointing out that the female character Kirkham with she/her pronouns was being called Sir by Jak (you) the whole campaign. Completely ignoring Kirkham is his commanding officer, same as Zendara. Dopes.

Retr0gamer · 15-09-2023 6:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121111382#Comment_121111382

You aren't selling a game to people that haven't played it yet so it's actually a perfect example of why it's so bad

Penn · 15-09-2023 8:10am

Played the first few chapters of the MK1 story last night. Gameplay feels great, though for the opening chapters for storyline reasons, some of the characters you're playing as don't have their special moves, so you're a bit limited.

The Kameo system works well, when it works. The timing of it can feel a bit off at times.

But man, I tried a match last night as my MK11 main Shao Kahn, and they've completely changed him up. Going to need to tease out who my main will be for MK1.

Mostly though, I just want to get through the story so I can get back to Baldur's Gate 3. If someone told me even a month ago I'd be more excited to play BG3 than a new MK game I'd have said they were Krazy.

Potential-Monke · 15-09-2023 4:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121111782#Comment_121111782

Are you not the same person who gives out when someone says something bad about a game they haven't played yet?

It was a great game that didn't do antrhing new but done everything pretty well for a first time big budget studio attempt. Even reviews are being nice about it, but just because it's a 7 people are ignoring it. Starfield is a 7.

Retr0gamer · 15-09-2023 4:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121114335#Comment_121114335

Yes but you don't have to play a game to know that name of the game is just bad marketing and too generic.

I mean you have to play the game to supposedly realise it's a good name but what does that matter when they customer hasn't gotten over the first hurdle, buying it.

johnny_ultimate · 15-09-2023 4:34pm

Maybe it's just me, but 'Immortals of Aveum' is the sort of title that immediately makes my eyes glaze over by throwing in a random, made-up proper noun. Ditto 'Kingdoms of Amalur'.

Absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the games, it's just titles like that yell 'generic sci-fi / fantasy title' to me. It's only a title at the end of the day, but they lack the catchy, roll-of-the-tongue immediacy of many other titles. Which surely makes them a lot more difficult to market.

Potential-Monke · 15-09-2023 5:55pm

I don't get it. A name is just a name. What's so great about Starfield? Or Devil May Cry (which is literally full or cheese). Kingdoms of Amalur was also a good game. I just think it's a weird one to get hung up on. I'd love more IoA, it sets a great world with decent lore. The characters are Marvel-ish but not as annoying and the gameplay is very fun. I just find it very strange to judge a game by its name alone. Its far better than Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139.

The Before you Buy review nails it. It's a great game at what it does and we need more like it.

Grumpypants · 15-09-2023 6:11pm

What's in a name?. 😂

Breath of the wild, Tears of the kingdom, Elden ring all shite names.

What's sad is that it's a new studio, building a new IP, on new tech and the response from gamers has been meh I've never heard of it.

They end up having to sack half the studio. Other studios are watching it and thinking f' that let's stick to the safe sequel and keep people employed.

McFly85 · 15-09-2023 6:52pm

Immortals of Aveum just sounds like bargain bin stuff to me. I don’t know why but it does! Like I think Baldurs Gate is fine but if it was called Clerics of Baldurs Gate it would sound naff.

I know it’s sort of judging a book by its cover but it sounds so bland that I’d feel like I’d just scroll by if I was looking for something in the store. And considering how much choice there is a name is important too to try and hook potential buyers in, especially after the initial release period.

Grumpypants · 15-09-2023 7:02pm

But that's the fantasy genre. All the names are bananas. Look at game of thrones. A feast for crows, a knight of the seven kingdoms, dance with dragons. Wtf is he on.

johnny_ultimate · 15-09-2023 8:03pm

Funny, I think A Feast for Crows and Dance With Dragons are really evocative and effective titles 😅

TBH there’s lots of fantasy with bad titles, and lots of video games with bad titles. It was hardly the only issue facing this game, just probably didn’t help. I’d say the mediocre to bad reviews, the insane PC system requirements, and a busy release window were more obstacles to its success. But I don’t think a quippy Call of Duty style shooter, just with magic instead of guns, is an easy sell either, as it seems to be shooting for a few too many markets all at once. I also think the ‘we’re going to make a AAA game!’ is a very risky manoeuvre for a new independent studio - not a creative risk necessarily, but more just hard to compete with the big boys in that particular market.

Still, undeniably awful that people had to lose their jobs mere weeks after the game came out - especially for a game that had the financial support of one of the big publishers.

Grumpypants · 15-09-2023 9:29pm

It's less call of duty and more Doom with magic.

Mr.Saturn · 15-09-2023 9:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121115294#Comment_121115294

Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring even more so, though evoking only contempt

Retr0gamer · 16-09-2023 5:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121115033#Comment_121115033

Yep, it's my issue with it. It's a name that evokes 'i'll consider it when it's a tenner in a steam sale next year.

McDermotX · 16-09-2023 8:40am

Sounds like a mobile 'free-to-play game' with ads blasted at you on your browser, or with some celebrity nobody doing a voiceover on TV.

Could easily be a good game, and worth someone's time, but being honest, I've not even fully read a review let alone bothered to EA Play it.

Grumpypants · 16-09-2023 11:51am

It's good. Solid single player campaign around 25 hours, no live service, no micro transactions. Gameplay is like the old school shooters like Doom. But with an added layer of complexity needed to pull off the combos. Reminds me of singularly or bulletstorm at times where you have the gun in the right hand but another set of systems on the left that you need to combine to be effective.

You have 4 options on the left, a whip that can pull people towards you or swing across gaps. A laser that can break enemy attacks, another that will slow fast enemies. And finally heal yourself.

The three guns on the right hand offer a decent amount of configuration as you can swap out wrist thing to have more damage or capacity.

And then the 4 face buttons offer 4 more power moves when you press R1.

They all have to work together. If you look at a video it looks like madness on screen but you learn to follow it as it is colour based. For example you could be faced with a red enemy charging you, a green enemy healing them and a blue guy with a shield. So you need to hit right on the dpad then L2 to break the red guy charging so he stumbles and hit him with the red shot gun, switch to green to take out the healer, quickly press R1 and square to break the blue guys shield then switch to your blue gun to kill him. All the time you are blocking incoming shots with your shield with L1 and swinging around to get up on ledges.

And that's just 3 enemies, you are normally faced with loads more.

There is a good balance to upgrading too. None of the god of war +2 damage stuff. If you unlock something it's a good boost and simple to follow. Common, rare, epic, legendary etc. You can further upgrade in between.

It's going to be one of those games people pick up for years to come and post about how much fun it is and they didn't play it at launch because of the reviews.

awec · 18-09-2023 2:10pm

I've never played Skyrim.

Over the weekend I was going to give it a go, since the special edition is free on PS Plus these days. I think I lasted about 20 minutes before the jankiness of it just broke the game for me. And the combat is laughably bad.

I really wish I could like Bethesda games, getting immersed in a world and exploring sounds fun, but for whatever reason I just can't get into them. I think I got to about level 20 in Fallout4 before I hit a similar wall.

johnny_ultimate · 18-09-2023 8:58pm

One thing that I like about Baldur’s Gate 3 in comparison to most modern RPGs is how much of an event levelling up feels like. It’s a rare enough thing, and what you unlock could significantly shift the build of your character or open up some really interesting new tactical options. Obviously it’s cribbed straight from DnD and not every level will be transformative for every class, but it’s an exciting thing nonetheless.

In contrast, playing a game where the numbers creep up 1 or 2 points but is barely noticeable in game, or unlocking a measly ability point to spend in a labyrinthine mess of skill trees just isn’t particularly fun or exciting. The latter can even feel like a chore more than an opportunity.

Potential-Monke · 18-09-2023 9:37pm

Immortals of Aveum could fall into the latter, but the difference is that each one is a fairly significant improvement, such as adding corrosion to certain moves, increasing the arc of the ground spikes, adding combo options, etc. When done right, the skill tree can be brilliant. As much as I love God of War, it fell mostly into the minor stat increase category.

johnny_ultimate · 18-09-2023 9:59pm

FFXVI isn’t really an RPG in execution, but it has the remnants of one, and the way they dish out XP towards ability upgrades is particularly scabby. Can easily forget about it entirely as it takes so long to earn enough to pay for the really fun skills for so much of the game.

Grumpypants · 18-09-2023 10:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127864#Comment_121127864

I think it does both well. You have the big jumps in equipment. I think I jumped from level 9 to 20 at one point and felt unstoppable after getting one particular unlock. Then you have the tree that lets you add better moves and grow your skills.

Every unlock was a big improvement.

Grumpypants · 18-09-2023 10:28pm

In other news it looks like Titanfall 2 is up to something.

Multiplayer got an update out of nowhere so matchmaking is fixed. Jumped to 20,000 concurrent player on steam. Now I see a new game mode is being added. It just shows 3 question marks ??? and says "your rockets will blot out the sky".

https://x.com/alphaINTEL/status/1703818714670354592?s=20

Potential-Monke · 19-09-2023 8:06pm

Oh yeah, I liked that too. Weapon levels were 1, 3, 9, 16, 20, 24, 30... very unexpected when one expects a single level or two jump. Also liked that any weapon you destroy went into the crafting if you wanted it again later for some reason.

Titanfall Battle Royale I'm gonna guess. Not a hope we'll get 3 when the BR money machine is still going strong. Was the update for pc only?

Grumpypants · 19-09-2023 8:26pm

I think it was across all platforms. The game had been put on ice and wasn't getting any updates for years. Suddenly a load of things happening. Titanfall gets an update, new mode, Easter eggs in Apex.

Grumpypants · 19-09-2023 11:38pm

Yup all up and running on PS5. Played a load tonight. It was so ahead of its time. Delighted it's seeing a resurgence.

Potential-Monke · 20-09-2023 12:38am

Did anyone scour the MS docs to see if Titanfall is mentioned? Downloading now.

PixelPlayer · 20-09-2023 8:38am

Titanfall suffered unnecessarily due to being an exclusive on the most hated console in history (the Xbox One).

Titanfall 2 had all that baggage and they also released it at the same time as some major game, can't remember what game it was.

Despite it being one of the best multiplayer fps games ever (in my opinion) it simply wasn't a money earner. Roll in Apex Legends and goodnight Titanfall.

Such a shame.

Does anyone remember the 2nd Apex map and how the layout really looked like it was designed for Titans?

I'd be happy if they even brought Titans into Apex. Maybe have arena maps or something. They really are missing a trick here. Whoever is making these decisions and cannot see the value in Titans needs to be grabbed and shaken.

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