OT: The All-Purpose Video Game Thread: Part III

[Crease]

It literally causes me anxiety when it takes that long to beat something. Invariably something new and interesting comes out, or something happens in my life where I can't really play for a month, or whatever. I mean Horizon Forbidden West probably took me 2 months to beat, and then another month-ish to platinum. If I didn't absolutely love that universe and fall in with the Discord server I don't think I could have done it.

I mean I know it's all in my head. I just grew up where you could beat a game 100% in one playthrough and it didn't feel like you had to commit a substantial chunk of your life to it. Even though I've been playing for well over three decades now, I have never adjusted.

This is sort of how I feel. I want to play Cyberpunk and Red Dead 2 but I paid for Elden Ring and feel I need to finish it before justifying a new purchase. And that’s months away. I’d almost rather studios build half the game for half the price. But this is the market now.

 

[nyr2k2]

This is sort of how I feel. I want to play Cyberpunk and Red Dead 2 but I paid for Elden Ring and feel I need to finish it before justifying a new purchase. And that’s months away. I’d almost rather studios build half the game for half the price. But this is the market now.

I'm looking forward to Stellar Blade. I like the whole aesthetic, the combat looks interesting, it's apparently pretty linear, etc. Only problem is I don't think I can find a community for that game that isn't primarily interested in the T&A component.

 

[Leonardo87]

Finally started to plan FF 7 Rebirth. Yeah I know I’m slow to the party. My goal was to start mid summer and Be finished by the time camp starts for hockey.

Only on chapter 2 and have already played 6 hours. It has a Zelda Bow/FF 15 feel to it. Really like it so far. I know some people said it’s not as good as the first one but got to finally play as Red XIII and he’s bad ass with his abilities. So I’m happy. lol

 

[nyr2k2]

Finally started to plan FF 7 Rebirth. Yeah I know I’m slow to the party. My goal was to start mid summer and Be finished by the time camp starts for hockey.

Only on chapter 2 and have already played 6 hours. It has a Zelda Bow/FF 15 feel to it. Really like it so far. I know some people said it’s not as good as the first one but got to finally play as Red XIII and he’s bad ass with his abilities. So I’m happy. lol

It just had wayyyy too much stuff in it for me. As I said earlier, it feels like it doesn't respect your time. Yes yes, I don't have to complete all the side content, but...I do. And there's just too damn much. Remake was good in that the side content was reasonable other than having to save scum for stupid dresses. There's a large segment of players like me who can't move on until they've cleared everything in an area and that not realistic here, and if you try you'll never finish. That's compounded by having limited time to play each week.

It is objectively an excellent game, no doubt, but for the players like me it's unmanageable.

I actually just picked up Atlas Fallen with the new DLC/expansion as it was on sale for $30. I know it was considered pretty mediocre but it looked interesting and the DLC supposedly had a lot of QoL improvements, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I miss playing Horizon and I've finished everything in Stellar Blade so I need to move on.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Finally started to plan FF 7 Rebirth. Yeah I know I’m slow to the party. My goal was to start mid summer and Be finished by the time camp starts for hockey.

Only on chapter 2 and have already played 6 hours. It has a Zelda Bow/FF 15 feel to it. Really like it so far. I know some people said it’s not as good as the first one but got to finally play as Red XIII and he’s bad ass with his abilities. So I’m happy. lol

It's way more overwhelming than the 1st game.

It's objectively a better game it just... as @nyr2k2 throws a lot at you.

My suggestion to anyone making their initial run is don't get held up on doing all of the side content in every region. If you think something sounds cool or fun, do it, but other wise move on because you'll get the opportunity to come back to it later. Some of the side stuff is legitimately hard and will take time to get through and the burn out is real.

Do play as much queens blood as possible though. It's awesome.

 

[Leonardo87]

It's way more overwhelming than the 1st game.

It's objectively a better game it just... as @nyr2k2 throws a lot at you.

My suggestion to anyone making their initial run is don't get held up on doing all of the side content in every region. If you think something sounds cool or fun, do it, but other wise move on because you'll get the opportunity to come back to it later. Some of the side stuff is legitimately hard and will take time to get through and the burn out is real.

Do play as much queens blood as possible though. It's awesome.

Yeah chapter 1 was pretty quick but then they drop all these side quests and whatnot in Chapter 2, some look cool and like to level up and find the best equipment for my characters. I think I’ll do a few and then go back, want to progress the story also.

 

[nyr2k2]

I'm at a point where I want my games to take 25-40 hours to play, maybe 50 for a completionist run, with another 20 for a NG+ run to clean things up or grab whatever is new. That's kind of my bread and butter when it comes to length. When I go in knowing my first playthrough will need to be 80 hours or more, that's just too intimidating to me and I feel like I can't commit to it.

 

[RempireStateBuilding]

I can't wait until these companies realize that console exclusives severely cut into their profits and kill the practice off. Do they really think making something a console exclusive will "force" people's hand into buying a ~$800 console? It makes me purposefully wait until things come out on Steam at a 60% discount.

And (maybe this isn't recent, but I've played a handful of games recently with this design choice) this obsession with having ~3 different 'Interact' keys. There's one button to interact with things but only certain things, there's another button to pick up/take things but only certain things, and another button to confirm/interact with other things. Wtf? Why do I have to spam E/F/Mouse1 because they have to program 30 individual item interaction types or some shit? Why can't it just be 'Press E to talk/interact/take/hold item" anymore? I think Red Dead Redemption 2 or Witcher 3 had something like this and I couldn't make it more than an hour in to either game because it's so cumbersome fighting against enemies AND the game's controls at the same time.

It's really no surprise why AAA games are selling less and less and live service games are being shut down. No one wants any of this shit these companies are trying to push. No one wants a live service game. People want a completed project. I don't have the time to wait 4 years in the hopes that a game will get good, especially when the game's first iteration isn't good. Companies are hoping IP recognition will keep people hooked for the journey - I can't tell you how fast I uninstalled Diablo 4 after the string of initial nerfs and never looked back. I still play D2 regularly.

These companies saw a couple games labeled as "live service" earn huge money and said "We do same thing, get lot money." People don't want "expansive, sprawling, never-ending" worlds in EVERY single game. Give me a finite space for once, again. I'll take branching paths, I'll take some dead ends, I very much want secret areas to explore..but that doesn't mean I want to run for 45 minutes across a barren, empty, completely lifeless field for the sake of an "open world." When I go outside, the world feels populated. These games are never populated (because of course everything has to be set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is dead..except you), never feel lived in, and never feel alive anymore. "Oh here's some ancient ruins." Cool, but like..so everyone and everything except 1 flock of birds and a rogue outpost of 4 NPCs is dead? In EVERY single game world?

I've started playing Civ6 lately and been having a lot of fun with it. Pretty difficult game for a newbie, and just as difficult to find beginner guides that don't also delve into very complex systems, a lot of which need tons of micromanagement.

 

[Ruggs225]

I can't wait until these companies realize that console exclusives severely cut into their profits and kill the practice off. Do they really think making something a console exclusive will "force" people's hand into buying a ~$800 console? It makes me purposefully wait until things come out on Steam at a 60% discount.

While i do hope they kill the exclusives. It does make some people switch consoles.

It made me switch from PS 4to Xbox Series X bc of bethesda games and the fact that xbox looks to be wanting more RPG games which i play.

I was going to get PS5 originally but as soon as starfield was xbox exclusive and most likely other best buy games i immediately changed my mind and went for xbox.

 

[nyr2k2]

I don't really mind the exclusives. It's been that way for as long as I've been playing games. I guess Sony and particularly Microsoft are more aggressive now in snapping up third party devs, but I don't even think it has that much of an impact.

As a PlayStation gamer I can't really think of many games that I really wanted to play that were exclusive to Microsoft. I've always been more into the single player experiences which Sony specializes in, and not really into the big online shooters and things that seemed to thrive in Microsoft's ecosystem.

I think it's a good idea for Sony to continue releasing their big IPs to PC after a year or two because that revenue can only help them. I wouldn't expect them to release to Microsoft and honestly with the install base of that system now I don't think it would really be moving any needles.

I do hope Sony can hit on a couple live service games soon. I won't ever play those, but I know they're a huge revenue generator and can find the games I'd rather be playing.

 

[RempireStateBuilding]

While i do hope they kill the exclusives. It does make some people switch consoles.

It made me switch from PS 4to Xbox Series X bc of bethesda games and the fact that xbox looks to be wanting more RPG games which i play.

I was going to get PS5 originally but as soon as starfield was xbox exclusive and most likely other best buy games i immediately changed my mind and went for xbox.

The artificial hype around exclusives turns me off, especially now that most games are half-cooked on release. Plus the second the exclusivity agreement ends after a year they release the Definitive Ultimate Gold Complete Edition(TM) on every platform and usually at heavily discounted prices. My biggest issue is that these companies purposefully release a shitty unfinished product, slyly direct you to their "Live Marketplace", and charge you for the features that make it a regular game. And it's because development costs have skyrocketed, again, because every company thinks they have to spend $500mil on every game because every game world has to be "bigger than Skyrim."

I managed to avoid Baldur's Gate 3 somehow - after a couple weeks, every article I saw was just some weird horny shit about the dating/romantic aspect of the game which I could not care less about - but everyone heaped praise on Larian for delivering a complete game. Once the next sale rolls around, I might give it a try.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Yeah chapter 1 was pretty quick but then they drop all these side quests and whatnot in Chapter 2, some look cool and like to level up and find the best equipment for my characters. I think I’ll do a few and then go back, want to progress the story also.

Yeah I think especially that early on this is the way to go.

Plus the sooner you get to chapters 4 and 5 the better. I think top to bottom those chapters are the best that the entire remake project has to offer in terms of staying faithful to the OG while making adds that all knock it out of the park.

If you are trophy hunting, just be prepared for it to take a long time. I think getting the platinum for this game is the last time I'll attempt it for something that has a base requirement of 70+hours before getting to the side stuff. I haven't touched a game since I wrapped the platinum for this one and I won't for a while because it was just so exhausting and at the end of the day, it wasn't worth it IMO.

 

[Leonardo87]

Yeah I think especially that early on this is the way to go.

Plus the sooner you get to chapters 4 and 5 the better. I think top to bottom those chapters are the best that the entire remake project has to offer in terms of staying faithful to the OG while making adds that all knock it out of the park.

If you are trophy hunting, just be prepared for it to take a long time. I think getting the platinum for this game is the last time I'll attempt it for something that has a base requirement of 70+hours before getting to the side stuff. I haven't touched a game since I wrapped the platinum for this one and I won't for a while because it was just so exhausting and at the end of the day, it wasn't worth it IMO.

Zelda ToTK took me about 100+ hours and I still didn’t get it all done. Of this game takes me 70-80 hours I’ll be happy.

I would have started when the game first came out but the playoffs forum kept me busy moderating . Damn Edmonton lol

 

[haohmaru]

Personally, I only play on consoles. Never cared for PC Gaming at all.

I'm also an all physical media customer because I'm leery of everything being up to somebody else whether I can play it or not in the distant future.

I've got an extensive blu ray collection because on my worst day I'll still have hundreds of titles to watch that I don't have to pay XYZ$/Mo. to watch in inferior quality online.

I'll support consoles until the day there aren't any that use physical media and, when that day comes, I'll just start buying old shit for all of my consoles.

I'm biased, too, because I run a "retro" (always hated this term) video game business on the side.

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

I can't wait until these companies realize that console exclusives severely cut into their profits and kill the practice off. Do they really think making something a console exclusive will "force" people's hand into buying a ~$800 console? It makes me purposefully wait until things come out on Steam at a 60% discount.

And (maybe this isn't recent, but I've played a handful of games recently with this design choice) this obsession with having ~3 different 'Interact' keys. There's one button to interact with things but only certain things, there's another button to pick up/take things but only certain things, and another button to confirm/interact with other things. Wtf? Why do I have to spam E/F/Mouse1 because they have to program 30 individual item interaction types or some shit? Why can't it just be 'Press E to talk/interact/take/hold item" anymore? I think Red Dead Redemption 2 or Witcher 3 had something like this and I couldn't make it more than an hour in to either game because it's so cumbersome fighting against enemies AND the game's controls at the same time.

It's really no surprise why AAA games are selling less and less and live service games are being shut down. No one wants any of this shit these companies are trying to push. No one wants a live service game. People want a completed project. I don't have the time to wait 4 years in the hopes that a game will get good, especially when the game's first iteration isn't good. Companies are hoping IP recognition will keep people hooked for the journey - I can't tell you how fast I uninstalled Diablo 4 after the string of initial nerfs and never looked back. I still play D2 regularly.

These companies saw a couple games labeled as "live service" earn huge money and said "We do same thing, get lot money." People don't want "expansive, sprawling, never-ending" worlds in EVERY single game. Give me a finite space for once, again. I'll take branching paths, I'll take some dead ends, I very much want secret areas to explore..but that doesn't mean I want to run for 45 minutes across a barren, empty, completely lifeless field for the sake of an "open world." When I go outside, the world feels populated. These games are never populated (because of course everything has to be set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is dead..except you), never feel lived in, and never feel alive anymore. "Oh here's some ancient ruins." Cool, but like..so everyone and everything except 1 flock of birds and a rogue outpost of 4 NPCs is dead? In EVERY single game world?

I've started playing Civ6 lately and been having a lot of fun with it. Pretty difficult game for a newbie, and just as difficult to find beginner guides that don't also delve into very complex systems, a lot of which need tons of micromanagement.

Open world game is basically synonymous with cheeks

 

[Ben Grimm]

I'm looking forward to BG3 for the PS5.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Zelda ToTK took me about 100+ hours and I still didn’t get it all done. Of this game takes me 70-80 hours I’ll be happy.

I would have started when the game first came out but the playoffs forum kept me busy moderating . Damn Edmonton lol

The base game+ a decent amount of side quests will easily take you to that.

If you really like Red, I do advise moving ahead to chapters 4-5 though for reasons I won't say but you'll know once you get there lol.

 

[Leonardo87]

The base game+ a decent amount of side quests will easily take you to that.

If you really like Red, I do advise moving ahead to chapters 4-5 though for reasons I won't say but you'll know once you get there lol.

Was always disappointed could not play Red, in the first game, but now it’s like F yeah. I love how the characters who are your back up are still part of the battle.

This is why I always appreciated FF 6, you were forced not to neglect characters since you needed at least two strong parties, 3 in the end.

 

[nyr2k2]

Personally, I only play on consoles. Never cared for PC Gaming at all.

I'm also an all physical media customer because I'm leery of everything being up to somebody else whether I can play it or not in the distant future.

I've got an extensive blu ray collection because on my worst day I'll still have hundreds of titles to watch that I don't have to pay XYZ$/Mo. to watch in inferior quality online.

I'll support consoles until the day there aren't any that use physical media and, when that day comes, I'll just start buying old shit for all of my consoles.

I'm biased, too, because I run a "retro" (always hated this term) video game business on the side.

I'm a console guy, too. I played games on the PC way back in the day. As a teenager me and a buddy would also go to the computer expos and buy discounted shit and build sweet rigs. At the same time I always had consoles. It was when I went to college and had little money to spend that I said f*** it, I can't spend all this money for a new HDD or GPU or whatever. I went back to consoles full time and a couple decades later I haven't looked back.

I think the difference between the consoles, particularly the PS5, and the PC is minimal at this point from a performance perspective. I mean I know you can have a monster rig and plays with max settings, but it's like you're taking a game that already looks amazing (like Horizon Forbidden West) and make it look 5% better. For me, that's a negligible difference.

That's cool that you run a classic video games business. What do you sell? For a long time I maintained my old consoles back to the SNES, but eventually it became too much clutter, my wife pushed me to get rid of it, and now I just run emulation on things like the PSP Classic or my PSP.

 

[haohmaru]

That's cool that you run a classic video games business. What do you sell? For a long time I maintained my old consoles back to the SNES, but eventually it became too much clutter, my wife pushed me to get rid of it, and now I just run emulation on things like the PSP Classic or my PSP.

I’ve got thousands ranging from mid 70’s to today. Lots of DS, NES, SNES, etc… large range of systems.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Open world game is basically synonymous with cheeks

only if it’s made by a Western studio

 

[CTTribe73]

I’ve got thousands ranging from mid 70’s to today. Lots of DS, NES, SNES, etc… large range of systems.

ColecoVision?
TurboGrafx 16?

 

[Raspewtin]

wanted to join in the misery here of former game collectors that liquidated their collections. my wife hated the clutter and I sold 95% of them (including some that have really rocketed in value) to pay for our engagement party. to be fair, by that point in my life I didn't have the time to really sit down and engage with consoles like that.

I don't regret it but I miss em.

 

[haohmaru]

ColecoVision?
TurboGrafx 16?

Coleco none at the moment.

Have an Express, TG16+CD, TG, and games listed on Mercari.

(Edit)

And, for reference, my greatest video game regret is selling my COMPLETE U.S. Turbografx collection. I had EVERY single U.S. release including Magical Chase. Boxed, no less.

 

[RempireStateBuilding]

ColecoVision?
TurboGrafx 16?

ColecoVision was the first console I played - QBert and Frogger. Those controllers were something else.