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

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Personally the Insomniac Spider-Man games have been ok nothing more, haven't touched the new one. Fairly standard open world busy work, the web swinging is cool though. That's how I feel about most Insomniac games anyway, good and polished but doesn't stick with me at all once the game is done.

Sunset Overdrive was incredible. If they made a sequel to that, I’d buy an ugly ass PS5.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Started Lies of P before finishing Starfield, and that may have been a mistake. It’s really good. Now I’m sidetracked.

 

[The Merchant]

Started Lies of P before finishing Starfield, and that may have been a mistake. It’s really good. Now I’m sidetracked.

I was trying to tell y'all!!

 

[JoeSakic13]

Started Callisto Protocol last night as it was a free PSN plus game.

Without getting into spoilers, why did this game get such “meh” reviews? I read one spoiler less review and it said the difficulty spikes and “death animations too long”.

 

[henchman21]

Sunset Overdrive was incredible. If they made a sequel to that, I’d buy an ugly ass PS5.

That game is so underrated. One of the best in the generation that doesn't get any love because it was right after the shitty Xbox One launch and never updated as they improved through the generation. I wish they had done an enhanced version with HDR.... game would have been perfect for it.

Playing my way through CP2077 with the 2.0 update and into the Phantom Liberty story... I thought once the bugs were cleared up and if you ran it on current generation hardware that the game was already good, but 2.0 has really made it into a great F game. All the little tweaks work very well and dramatically improved the AI. Add to that PL is fantastic. If this game launched today, it would be in contention for GoY in a stacked year. If you haven't given it a shot yet, now is certainly the time.

 

[MacKaRant]

Playing my way through CP2077 with the 2.0 update and into the Phantom Liberty story... All the little tweaks work very well and dramatically improved the AI. Add to that PL is fantastic. If this game launched today, it would be in contention for GoY in a stacked year. If you haven't given it a shot yet, now is certainly the time.

As Shigeru Miyamoto (apparently never actually) said, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

CD Projekt Red's corporate leadership really let their developers down with the rushed timeline, broken promises, and insistence on supporting aging hardware.

 

[henchman21]

As Shigeru Miyamoto (apparently never actually) said, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

CD Projekt Red's corporate leadership really let their developers down with the rushed timeline, broken promises, and insistence on supporting aging hardware.

The odd thing is they didn't even really rush it... that game was in development hell. But yeah the insistence on it being a late PS4/XO game is what really hurt it. I tried it out on my One X back in the day just to see and even that had issues. On the base systems it had to be a nightmare.

Today though, it is a fantastic game. The writing, setting, depth, etc are all incredibly good and it still is up there as one of the better looking games. People should get past what happened 3 years ago and play it for what it is today. I think people will be surprised with how good it really is.

My backlog needs to stop growing... Super Mario RPG, RoboCop Rouge City, Like a Dragon Gaiden, and Alan Wake 2 all on there with LaDIW still coming up. At least it seems like Dec-March look a bit light.

 

[UncleRisto]

Saw the physical copy of NHL 24 on sale for like 35 bucks. Tempted to get it just because Makar is on the cover. Not today, Satan.

 

[dmac7719]

Playing my way through CP2077 with the 2.0 update and into the Phantom Liberty story... I thought once the bugs were cleared up and if you ran it on current generation hardware that the game was already good, but 2.0 has really made it into a great F game. All the little tweaks work very well and dramatically improved the AI. Add to that PL is fantastic. If this game launched today, it would be in contention for GoY in a stacked year. If you haven't given it a shot yet, now is certainly the time.

Was playing CP a bit before the launch of Phantom Liberty, just to get use to it again. The changes they made since the initial release are so good. And then Phantom Liberty storyline, just reminds you of how well the initial storyline was done, but unfortunately was overshadowed by all the issues.
Also, I would 100% recommend you put your V in the path that leads down opening the new ending.

 

[The Moops]

I started playing Metro Exodus again while I was waiting around the airport last week. Some parts of that game are kind of clunky, but playing on Ranger Hardcore sucks me in like no other franchise does. Not sure why, but once I start I have a hard time stopping. But it's nice to have the Deck for being able to play on the go like that.

Had a LAN party with some of my friends last night. Played Factorio until 2am, was a rough morning when I woke up.

Sunset Overdrive was incredible. If they made a sequel to that, I’d buy an ugly ass PS5.

Not sure how I missed this one, just picked it up for $5 on the Steam sale

Saw the physical copy of NHL 24 on sale for like 35 bucks. Tempted to get it just because Makar is on the cover. Not today, Satan.

I'm thinking about buying an Xbox One just to play NHL. I haven't played since 15 I think? Whatever was the last one on the 360.

 

[UncleRisto]

I started playing Metro Exodus again while I was waiting around the airport last week. Some parts of that game are kind of clunky, but playing on Ranger Hardcore sucks me in like no other franchise does. Not sure why, but once I start I have a hard time stopping. But it's nice to have the Deck for being able to play on the go like that.

Had a LAN party with some of my friends last night. Played Factorio until 2am, was a rough morning when I woke up.



Not sure how I missed this one, just picked it up for $5 on the Steam sale

I'm thinking about buying an Xbox One just to play NHL. I haven't played since 15 I think? Whatever was the last one on the 360.

Yeah, I was in that boat for a long time, I had 14 on PS3. But I since got some of them on PS5. 24 doesn't really seem to have gone in a positive direction at all (from 23), so it's tough to justify getting another one just for the cover art. I only play Be a Pro now. Can't even do GM mode, really.

Honestly, 14 was a better experience than the PS5 versions.

 

[henchman21]

One of the benefits of Game Pass is you get EA Play along with it... which means you can boot up last year's NHL game for 'free' and quickly discover why it was good you didn't spend money on it.

 

[S E P H]

That game is so underrated. One of the best in the generation that doesn't get any love because it was right after the shitty Xbox One launch and never updated as they improved through the generation. I wish they had done an enhanced version with HDR.... game would have been perfect for it.

Playing my way through CP2077 with the 2.0 update and into the Phantom Liberty story... I thought once the bugs were cleared up and if you ran it on current generation hardware that the game was already good, but 2.0 has really made it into a great F game. All the little tweaks work very well and dramatically improved the AI. Add to that PL is fantastic. If this game launched today, it would be in contention for GoY in a stacked year. If you haven't given it a shot yet, now is certainly the time.

I am going to start PL when I get some free time, but the main storyline for CP2077 is insanely good. Very satisfying even though I am not a huge fan of 5+ ending games, I just love how they incorporated the dichotomy between your character and Silverhand's persona. I never had any major glitches, but I feel that game physics just doesn't really work. I might be being hypercritical because the gameplay is smooth, but it also seems off to me. Hard to point a finger exactly, but their ragdoll, in particular, is unbelievably bad. Again a super minor point, but just an example of things I've found in the game that come across not as natural as other games. Cars running into barriers or street poles that should break is another point. Driving physics are also very bland as well, I can take a street motorbike and go on dirt with no consequences whatsoever. Also, a lack of other vehicles like boats and air-related transport (give me like one helicopter) also sort of sucks.

 

[henchman21]

I am going to start PL when I get some free time, but the main storyline for CP2077 is insanely good. Very satisfying even though I am not a huge fan of 5+ ending games, I just love how they incorporated the dichotomy between your character and Silverhand's persona. I never had any major glitches, but I feel that game physics just doesn't really work. I might be being hypercritical because the gameplay is smooth, but it also seems off to me. Hard to point a finger exactly, but their ragdoll, in particular, is unbelievably bad. Again a super minor point, but just an example of things I've found in the game that come across not as natural as other games. Cars running into barriers or street poles that should break is another point. Driving physics are also very bland as well, I can take a street motorbike and go on dirt with no consequences whatsoever. Also, a lack of other vehicles like boats and air-related transport (give me like one helicopter) also sort of sucks.

The physics have improved with the 2.0 update, but I also wouldn’t say it is amazing. The driving is also worlds better than it was (also still not amazing). I’m not all the way through PL yet, but am really liking it so far. I’d say the writing is even better than the main story.

 

[sethro109]

I finished my second play through of Cyberpunk last week. I really liked the new expansion and new characters. Big, MASSIVE improvement over from when the game first launched.

Started playing Like a dragon gaiden: the man who erased his name. I'm loving it so far. Playing as Kiryu again gives off the the right nostalgic feels. (Even though I only started the series 5 years a go). Now I'm even more hyped about Infine wealth launching in a few months.

The spin off series Judgement looked like it was in a lot of trouble because of the lead characters voice actor, Takuya Kimura rights are owned by a publishing group that's notorious for being hard to deal with and didn't want him doing it anymore. Despite Takuya having a great singing voice, they would never let him sing karaoke (A big staple of the Yakuza/Like a dragon franchise) in the games. But now it seems like the publishing group is in trouble and will be disbanded. Hopefully this means the games can continue with Yagami as the main character. Those are some of the best detective games around and are EXTREMELY underrated.

 

[missionAvs]

The physics have improved with the 2.0 update, but I also wouldn’t say it is amazing. The driving is also worlds better than it was (also still not amazing). I’m not all the way through PL yet, but am really liking it so far. I’d say the writing is even better than the main story.

Yep. I've been playing CP2077 for about a month now after not having touched it since it pretty much came out. The Phantom Liberty story line is phenomenal and the game feels leagues better with the 2.0 update. Huge improvement IMO. The game is really good now.

 

[AmabileCassarole]

Yeah, I was in that boat for a long time, I had 14 on PS3. But I since got some of them on PS5. 24 doesn't really seem to have gone in a positive direction at all (from 23), so it's tough to justify getting another one just for the cover art. I only play Be a Pro now. Can't even do GM mode, really.

Honestly, 14 was a better experience than the PS5 versions.

I still play 14, though the consistently repetitive questions in Live the Life aggravate me to no end. How many times do you need to tell me what a hat trick is? And why is it my yet to be drafted player can say the goal is the Stanley Cup while in juniors?

 

[UncleRisto]

I still play 14, though the consistently repetitive questions in Live the Life aggravate me to no end. How many times do you need to tell me what a hat trick is? And why is it my yet to be drafted player can say the goal is the Stanley Cup while in juniors?

Back then I just played the hell out of franchise mode and loved it. Now, the rosters and things annoy me too much, so I do Be a Pro sometimes. The conversations are still a waste of time and annoying to click through.

Honestly, the best version of that was when your GM still got emails or messages on his Blackberry.

 

[AmabileCassarole]

Back then I just played the hell out of franchise mode and loved it. Now, the rosters and things annoy me too much, so I do Be a Pro sometimes. The conversations are still a waste of time and annoying to click through.

I split things between franchise mode and BAP - I've never bothered with online. I've tried my best to cope and have fun, and a lot of times, I do, but it's shit like the silhouette players (apparently Madden could have randomly generated faces but not NHL), the repetitive conversations, and the lack of the little additions here and there in the PS4 era games and up (that they could've easily put in the PS3 games) just annoy me a lot, so it's basically 50/50 any given day whether I keep playing or play something else. I get a lot more out of playing the PS2 and earlier games, honestly. And not even just EA-made games, either. Remember Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey 98? I still have my copy. I still play the bejesus out of it. Primitive the graphics may be to most, but it's great to put it in and just have fun without noticing any glaring flaws for a change.

 

[The Merchant]

Completely obsessed with Slay the Spire rn. It's an extremely well-executed and addictive deck-builder with solid roguelike elements. I could not recommend it enough.

 

[The Merchant]

Wowowowowow

 

[henchman21]

Dumptruck.

 

[sethro109]

Wowowowowow

I just can't get exited for this. After they scrapped all the story DLC for 5 and made all those shitty GTA online expansions, I just lost faith in Rockstar. Red Dead 2 was great, but I've just seen them become way too greedy. Plus all those interviews about making the game more serious has me worried.

I'm gonna keep my expectations low, and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[The Merchant]

I just can't get exited for this. After they scrapped all the story DLC for 5 and made all those shitty GTA online expansions, I just lost faith in Rockstar. Red Dead 2 was great, but I've just seen them become way too greedy. Plus all those interviews about making the game more serious has me worried.

I'm gonna keep my expectations low, and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Looks like they're going to be taking on social media pretty heavily in terms of their social commentary, so that should be interesting at least. And say what you will about wokeism or whatever, but I'm genuinely excited to see Rockstar's first take on a female protagonist. I wasn't huge into Online, so I can't speak much to that, but I get the frustration.

 

[sethro109]

Looks like they're going to be taking on social media pretty heavily in terms of their social commentary, so that should be interesting at least. And say what you will about wokeism or whatever, but I'm genuinely excited to see Rockstar's first take on a female protagonist. I wasn't huge into Online, so I can't speak much to that, but I get the frustration.

I don't mind the female protagonist. I just don't want the game to forget its silliness. All the blind jokes with Woozie in San Andreas, all the crazy parts with Trevor in 5 and pretty much every side mission in Vice city, are some of my best memories with the series.