OT: Video Game Talk (oh, also the Week before the All-Star Break Pre-Game Talk "archive")

[GeoRox89]

If you're going to play FFXVI you need to play all of the others first or you won't be able to follow the story.

Who would even have time for this if you hadn’t already played them? Couldn’t you just read the plots of the others? That’s a quite the commitment to play one game

 

[sethro109]

Who would even have time for this if you hadn’t already played them? Couldn’t you just read the plots of the others? That’s a quite the commitment to play one game

If you're just doing the main stories and not any side quests with the MMO stories included roughly 722 hours. So 30 days.

Luckily other than some deep lore crystal stuff I don't understand. The final fantasy games are self contained stories. Other than the direct sequels to 10 and 13.

 

[henchman21]

I wanna see someone speed run all final fantasy games in a row… without speed.

 

[MacKaRant]

Who would even have time for this if you hadn’t already played them? Couldn’t you just read the plots of the others? That’s a quite the commitment to play one game

The original poster wasn't serious. Each game stands on its own.

 

[GeoRox89]

If you're just doing the main stories and not any side quests with the MMO stories included roughly 722 hours. So 30 days.

Luckily other than some deep lore crystal stuff I don't understand. The final fantasy games are self contained stories. Other than the direct sequels to 10 and 13.

30 days worth of time sounds like a totally reasonable amount to dedicate to playing one series of games. I wonder how many someone would get through before dying if they tried to do it as one continuous run

 

[The Merchant]

I've always wanted to get into FF but never really knew where to start. I did play FFIX I think it was, the one with Vivi the black mage and found it really fun back in the day.

I really want to get Cyberpunk next, but am thinking of going back to try another FF game after. Would y'all recommend jumping to 16, or should I try something else from the library first?

I second FF7R for being the first one to play. Great graphics, fantastic voice acting and like SEPH said it has one of the most enjoyable, satisfying combat systems of literally any game in the entire genre. It also set the bar as far as remakes are concerned, being an immaculate love letter to the original while also introducing some really interesting new building blocks. I haven't dug into 16 yet, but really enjoyed the demo so I'd recommend playing that at least. And if you're looking for a more classic JRPG feel that also doesn't feel completely dated I'd recommend FFX or FFXII.

 

[sethro109]

I don't know about playing the remake of 7 first. I feel like a lot is lost unless you've played the original first. It's also not a complete story since they decided to split it into 3 games.

 

[Mooserton]

Seems like the Activision-Blizzard deal will go through for Microsoft. So much concern was focused on CoD but you can't really maintain yearly releases developed by 10 studios without being on every platform imaginable. I'm more curious to see what happens with Blizzard exclusivity, battle.net and whatnot. Obviously everything will stay on PC as well as Xbox but I wonder if say Starcraft 3 would skip Playstation.

 

[Avsboy]

Seems like the Activision-Blizzard deal will go through for Microsoft. So much concern was focused on CoD but you can't really maintain yearly releases developed by 10 studios without being on every platform imaginable. I'm more curious to see what happens with Blizzard exclusivity, battle.net and whatnot. Obviously everything will stay on PC as well as Xbox but I wonder if say Starcraft 3 would skip Playstation.

Im guessing only CoD is on PlayStation since they signed a separate binding agreement for it

 

[missionAvs]

AMD 3700x paired with a 2080 Super good enough?

I have a 12700k and 2080ti with 32gbs RAM and Cyberpunk still sucks. I would wait for the DLC coming out and see if that actually helps. I really wanted to love Cyberpunk but holy cow what a swing and a miss that one was.

 

[RockLobster]

Seems like the Activision-Blizzard deal will go through for Microsoft. So much concern was focused on CoD but you can't really maintain yearly releases developed by 10 studios without being on every platform imaginable. I'm more curious to see what happens with Blizzard exclusivity, battle.net and whatnot. Obviously everything will stay on PC as well as Xbox but I wonder if say Starcraft 3 would skip Playstation.

The FTC, during the Preliminary Injunction trial at the end of last month, made total fools of themselves in how they went about trying to block this. There well may be legitimate antitrust/anticompetitive reasons to block this, but they just did not go about it the right way. They came off looking more like defense attorneys for Sony rather than a consumer watchdog group.

And the CMA in UK is blocking it on the grounds of...cloud gaming being a separate market? lol It really isn't, and I believe that all the relevant cloud gaming companies have said as such. Cloud gaming is, as it currently stands, in such an infancy that no one knows how it'll shape over the next decade+.

So yeah, I expect MS will close it, and maybe after this they'll actually start getting some of their own published games released and showing us gamers the fruits of these acquisitions.

I NEVER expected CoD to become an exclusive. They'll slap it on Game Pass as a Day 1 release to try and entice Sony-only gamers over, but they'll keep publishing it on PlayStation because to do otherwise they'll be foregoing all of that revenue.

 

[The Merchant]

Finally got around to trying out Inscryption after it was added to PS+ and man, what a game. At its core is a fun, addictive card game with rougelite elements, but what makes it special is its approach to storytelling. The way it's told through the environment, puzzles and ARG moments made it a truly unique experience. I'd recommend it to anyone craving something that feels fresh, even if you're not into card games.

I've also been putting a bunch time into Halls of Torment, which is essentially a Vampire Survivors clone, but with a heavy Diablo II influence on the visuals. It's in early access and dirt cheap, so if you like VS you'll have a blast with it. It's awesome.

 

[The Merchant]

BG3 is consuming my life. My God it's so good

 

[henchman21]

The FTC, during the Preliminary Injunction trial at the end of last month, made total fools of themselves in how they went about trying to block this. There well may be legitimate antitrust/anticompetitive reasons to block this, but they just did not go about it the right way. They came off looking more like defense attorneys for Sony rather than a consumer watchdog group.

And the CMA in UK is blocking it on the grounds of...cloud gaming being a separate market? lol It really isn't, and I believe that all the relevant cloud gaming companies have said as such. Cloud gaming is, as it currently stands, in such an infancy that no one knows how it'll shape over the next decade+.

So yeah, I expect MS will close it, and maybe after this they'll actually start getting some of their own published games released and showing us gamers the fruits of these acquisitions.

I NEVER expected CoD to become an exclusive. They'll slap it on Game Pass as a Day 1 release to try and entice Sony-only gamers over, but they'll keep publishing it on PlayStation because to do otherwise they'll be foregoing all of that revenue.

The reason cloud was utilized in the UK is that it represented the only significant area of this being a horizontal merger. As a rule of thumb, vertical mergers are VERY hard to block via antitrust legislation in western countries... they are even harder to block when the company absorbing another is the competitor with the lowest market share. With the cloud gaming, there was a piece that was horizontal that the laws were favorable to... the problem there is structural/behavioral remedies are the common way to solve the issue. The EU already signed off on those, but even without it, divesting that portion is a pretty minor obstacle in the grand scheme. As this wraps up, we will probably see something of a small concession to keep the relationship positive with the CMA and allow them to save face.... for when Microsoft wants to buy another company.

More or less, there was never strong legal argument to block this deal via antitrust mechanisms. Anything there was grasping at straws and playing into public panic around it (take any gander around Sony fans on forums or Twitter and you'll see that was massively played up). In those, there is very little understanding how mergers and antitrust legislation actually work. Right or wrong (and that is a legitimate debate) there just wasn't a good legal standing to block the deal in western countries.

BG3 is consuming my life. My God it's so good

Lots of bear Fing going on here.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

One month until I become a full-time space pirate (until training camp).

 

[SaltySkywalker]

BG3 is consuming my life. My God it's so good

I just can't get behind turn-based games.

 

[The Moops]

I just can't get behind turn-based games.

KOTOR was the only ones I could do

 

[henchman21]

One month until I become a full-time space pirate (until training camp).

Same... I bought a prime deal on a refurb Series S (only a 1080p TV there) to upgrade the bedroom xbox just so I could play the game in bed.

And with that, the only advantage to Xbox's expansion card (and the cons are a significant list) will finally be worth it to me. The hot swapping ability. Only have to download once and can move it with ease between consoles. I know I could just have it stored on both, but that would be a waste of space and I'm completely full on the XSX.

 

[RockLobster]

Same... I bought a prime deal on a refurb Series S (only a 1080p TV there) to upgrade the bedroom xbox just so I could play the game in bed.

And with that, the only advantage to Xbox's expansion card (and the cons are a significant list) will finally be worth it to me. The hot swapping ability. Only have to download once and can move it with ease between consoles. I know I could just have it stored on both, but that would be a waste of space and I'm completely full on the XSX.

Get rid of some games, ya chode.

 

[henchman21]

Get rid of some games, ya chode.

I'm a never delete sorta guy (got burned on Scottie Pilgrim back in the day and thus have trust issues). I have an 8tb HDD hooked up that has ~6tb full. Then the internal that is always whatever game I'm playing and as many Series games as I have/want to play in the near future (only a few end up on cold storage).

Add to this... the current XSS is a joke with storage (364... so FH5, Starfield and maybe a Yakuza or two would fit ).

 

[TruePowerSlave]

BG3 is consuming my life. My God it's so good

Best game of the year so far. Absolutely fantastic and a future classic of the genre.

No microtransactions, battle basses, locked content etc. Apart from some minor bugs it's polished and plays beautifully. This is how you make and release a proper RPG.

 

[Ararana]

Best game of the year so far. Absolutely fantastic and a future classic of the genre.

No microtransactions, battle basses, locked content etc. Apart from some minor bugs it's polished and plays beautifully. This is how you make and release a proper RPG.

It's amazing. Looks like it could easily surpass Divinity II which was gold standard IMO.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

It's amazing. Looks like it could easily surpass Divinity II which was gold standard IMO.

The bar has been set pretty damn high for future RPGs, no wonder people absolutely adore it.

Really pleased that despite fairly minimal marketing the game is crushing it on Steam. Top 10 all time in peak player count for a hardcore RPG like this is a beautiful thing to see.

 

[S E P H]

After getting a PS5, I can confirm that it crushes the XBX in every single way except the resume feature. Not trying to start a console war or those stupid console "fanboys," but just from my experience. It will be interesting to see in the future because Xbox obviously has the main stay of games now that they can make exclusives somewhere down the line.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

After getting a PS5, I can confirm that it crushes the XBX in every single way except the resume feature. Not trying to start a console war or those stupid console "fanboys," but just from my experience. It will be interesting to see in the future because Xbox obviously has the main stay of games now that they can make exclusives somewhere down the line.

I don't see how a convincing argument could be made for Xbox at this point. From the superior game library on PS5, the next gen feeling controller, VR2 etc.

At this point Microsoft has to just make sure they finish strong so they aren't that far behind once next gen rolls around. The sales gap is rapidly expanding every month and it will look pretty bad if the trend doesn't end soon.

Ideally both would be fantastic as tight competition creates better products for consumers.