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

[S E P H]

Kinda wanna get Crash Team Racing and Spyro again. I've of course had them on every previous console, but not the PS5 yet.

Also, unfortunately NHL24 is game of the month, so I've been updating the rosters. Any day now I'm ready to start being annoyed by the gameplay.

It's funny how much of a step-down every NHL game has been since NHL 2004.

 

[henchman21]

Hey! I just bought ketchup chips. Or as they're known in Finland, "chips".

Just kidding they're actually not at all popular or widely available.

How Canadian of you!

 

[UncleRisto]

It's funny how much of a step-down every NHL game has been since NHL 2004.

2005 to 06 was a step up. 08 to 09 was a step up... 10 to 14 was a gradual improvement. So at least they're sometimes better than the previous one.

 

[missionAvs]

I'm a solid 10 or so hours into Shadow of the Erdtree and so far it's exactly what you would want it to be...more Elden Ring. Some new weapons and abilities really encourage you to try new builds and experiment. It also goes without saying that the bosses, level design, music and environments continue to be top-notch. Jumping back into this world has felt so damn good.

I beat Shadow of the Erdtree like 2 days ago. I have to say, I'm usually not a huge fan of the Souls games but Elden Ring and its DLC has been one of my favorite video game experiences to date. It has also been absolutely maddening at times. It's caused me to break a few controllers lol.

 

[sethro109]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1810099795861590452

Dolphin is crazy with all the stuff it can do. Nintendo needs to stop trying to rid the world of emulators and start hiring these guys.

 

[The Moops]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1810099795861590452

Dolphin is crazy with all the stuff it can do. Nintendo needs to stop trying to rid the world of emulators and start hiring these guys.

Nintendo is so shortsighted that they'd never consider it. Idiots

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Personally Elden Ring was a step down from the usual souls formula, still a great game though. The best parts were the more traditional linear areas and not the open world. Roaming for hours on a field doesn't add much for me.

Hoping they do Sekiro 2, but not in a open world setting. Too many games add the open world element these days, often it doesn't even add much to the game it´s just there because that´s the trend.

 

[The Moops]

Personally Elden Ring was a step down from the usual souls formula, still a great game though. The best parts were the more traditional linear areas and not the open world. Roaming for hours on a field doesn't add much for me.

Hoping they do Sekiro 2, but not in a open world setting. Too many games add the open world element these days, often it doesn't even add much to the game it´s just there because that´s the trend.

I don't play souls games, but I'm sick of own world games in general. Very few open world games I've played lately are better for being open world.

I feel like Metro Exodus was about as perfect of a blend as you can have. It's all so tiring

 

[MacKaRant]

Personally Elden Ring was a step down from the usual souls formula, still a great game though. The best parts were the more traditional linear areas and not the open world. Roaming for hours on a field doesn't add much for me.

Hoping they do Sekiro 2, but not in a open world setting. Too many games add the open world element these days, often it doesn't even add much to the game it´s just there because that´s the trend.

Felt the same way. On the one hand, I admire From Software for trying something new for the second time in a row (Sekiro then Elden Ring) and not just spinning out endless clones of Dark Souls. On the other hand, I have massive open world fatigue and I find that the format of Soulsborne works best when the difficulty level can be crafted based on the player's level and item acquisition, which is something that Elden Ring can't really do.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

I don't play souls games, but I'm sick of own world games in general. Very few open world games I've played lately are better for being open world.

I feel like Metro Exodus was about as perfect of a blend as you can have. It's all so tiring

Metro Exodus was a pretty great implementation of the "open world". Some space to roam around in multiple maps to get creative, but nothing too big so that it feels empty or wastes your time.

Many studios seem to fail to understand that if you make it open world there has to be a lot interesting things to discover, random encounters to experience, hidden areas etc. A big area just for the hell of it only makes your game worse. RDR 2 is the gold standard for open world imo.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Metro Exodus was a pretty great implementation of the "open world". Some space to roam around in multiple maps to get creative, but nothing too big so that it feels empty or wastes your time.

Many studios seem to fail to understand that if you make it open world there has to be a lot interesting things to discover, random encounters to experience, hidden areas etc. A big area just for the hell of it only makes your game worse. RDR 2 is the gold standard for open world imo.

As much as I like Bioware, I think their open world Star Wars MMO is the prime example of open world done wrong.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

As much as I like Bioware, I think their open world Star Wars MMO is the prime example of open world done wrong.

I have no hope for Bioware, EA killed them. Used to be the pinnacle of RPG's and now they release a bunch of meh titles.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I have no hope for Bioware, EA killed them. Used to be the pinnacle of RPG's and now they release a bunch of meh titles.

Yeah, I mean they made Knights of the Old Empire, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age which are all just major games for me. They really fell far.

As far as studios go, I feel like Naughty Dog is probably my favorite remaining. Insomniac hasn't really done anything for me lately other than continue the Ratchet and Clank series.

My wife and I really enjoyed all the platform games of the earlier console series: We just don't get many games like Jax and Daxter, Spyro the Dragon, Sly Cooper, or Psychonauts that much anymore. Lighthearted fun, done well.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Yeah, I mean they made Knights of the Old Empire, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age which are all just major games for me. They really fell far.

As far as studios go, I feel like Naughty Dog is probably my favorite remaining. Insomniac hasn't really done anything for me lately other than continue the Ratchet and Clank series.

My wife and I really enjoyed all the platform games of the earlier console series: We just don't get many games like Jax and Daxter, Spyro the Dragon, Sly Cooper, or Psychonauts that much anymore. Lighthearted fun, done well.

For me Remedy is the best. All their games are very solid and I just love the style. The weirdness mixed with serious storytelling, live action, original music etc. FromSoftware is the other banger.

Every time Naughty Dog releases a game that always deserves a look, they just don´t make that many of them tbh. The next title will be on PS6, a whole console generation of nothing else than remasters ain't good. Same thing can be said of Rockstar, give us something man.

 

[missionAvs]

Personally Elden Ring was a step down from the usual souls formula, still a great game though. The best parts were the more traditional linear areas and not the open world. Roaming for hours on a field doesn't add much for me.

Hoping they do Sekiro 2, but not in a open world setting. Too many games add the open world element these days, often it doesn't even add much to the game it´s just there because that´s the trend.

Disagree completely but I respect your opinion. The open world in Elden Ring is what makes it for me. The lore, map design, and quest progression are absolutely top notch. I'm a free roam type of guy though so I really value being able to deviate from the beaten path and do whatever for a while.

 

[henchman21]

My #1 biggest problem with Souls games is performance. Unless you are on PC, you're going to have issues... when you combine that with a game that can be brutally difficult and a heavy reliance on timing, you can get right to the edge of bad design. I love Eldin Ring and Bloodborne, but they walk a pretty fine line. On console, without VRR, Eldin Ring is not really all that great to play.

 

[missionAvs]

My #1 biggest problem with Souls games is performance. Unless you are on PC, you're going to have issues... when you combine that with a game that can be brutally difficult and a heavy reliance on timing, you can get right to the edge of bad design. I love Eldin Ring and Bloodborne, but they walk a pretty fine line. On console, without VRR, Eldin Ring is not really all that great to play.

You're gonna have to get a beefy PC if you want to run CapFriendly Premium anyways. Might as well start gaming on PC.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

My #1 biggest problem with Souls games is performance. Unless you are on PC, you're going to have issues... when you combine that with a game that can be brutally difficult and a heavy reliance on timing, you can get right to the edge of bad design. I love Eldin Ring and Bloodborne, but they walk a pretty fine line. On console, without VRR, Eldin Ring is not really all that great to play.

FromSoftware cannot be trusted to release a game in good condition day 1, which is why I often wait before buying. They don´t get nearly enough crap from the poor performance as they should. It´s not a money issue either, the games sell tons, they just do poorly in the technical part of game development.

Great art design combined with poor performance and okay graphics, the games themselves are fantastic.

 

[henchman21]

You're gonna have to get a beefy PC if you want to run CapFriendly Premium anyways. Might as well start gaming on PC.

I can't bring myself to build a PC and keep up with it. Expensive and too much work for something that will be obsolete in 24 months. Yeah the newest generation of consoles can't push what top end PCs do... but it is a one purchase every 3-6 years (depending on if they do mid cycles... which I'll probably skip this generation anyway) and forget.

FromSoftware cannot be trusted to release a game in good condition day 1, which is why I often wait before buying. They don´t get nearly enough crap from the poor performance as they should. It´s not a money issue either, the games sell tons, they just do poorly in the technical part of game development.

Great art design combined with poor performance and okay graphics, the games themselves are fantastic.

I'm not even sure if they even fix their games until the remasters. In the last couple generations, their 30 fps frame pacing was some of the worst in the business. Then even if it hit most of the time, the big battles almost always had slowdown at the worst times. Elden Ring is at least 60fps on the new consoles, but still has a lot of slowdown at the worst times. I'd have less of an issue with it if the games were not so based on exact timing... but with their design, they should really have flawless performance.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

I'm not even sure if they even fix their games until the remasters. In the last couple generations, their 30 fps frame pacing was some of the worst in the business. Then even if it hit most of the time, the big battles almost always had slowdown at the worst times. Elden Ring is at least 60fps on the new consoles, but still has a lot of slowdown at the worst times. I'd have less of an issue with it if the games were not so based on exact timing... but with their design, they should really have flawless performance.

They don't lol. It gets a bit better, but never is ideal. On console you would have to wait until the next console generation to get a proper 60 fps experience. Really poor especially since the games don't even look that great.

 

[missionAvs]

I can't bring myself to build a PC and keep up with it. Expensive and too much work for something that will be obsolete in 24 months. Yeah the newest generation of consoles can't push what top end PCs do... but it is a one purchase every 3-6 years (depending on if they do mid cycles... which I'll probably skip this generation anyway) and forget.


I'm not even sure if they even fix their games until the remasters. In the last couple generations, their 30 fps frame pacing was some of the worst in the business. Then even if it hit most of the time, the big battles almost always had slowdown at the worst times. Elden Ring is at least 60fps on the new consoles, but still has a lot of slowdown at the worst times. I'd have less of an issue with it if the games were not so based on exact timing... but with their design, they should really have flawless performance.

Nuke can get you a brand new gaming PC once he gives up his cocaine habit.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I can't bring myself to build a PC and keep up with it. Expensive and too much work for something that will be obsolete in 24 months. Yeah the newest generation of consoles can't push what top end PCs do... but it is a one purchase every 3-6 years (depending on if they do mid cycles... which I'll probably skip this generation anyway) and forget.


I'm not even sure if they even fix their games until the remasters. In the last couple generations, their 30 fps frame pacing was some of the worst in the business. Then even if it hit most of the time, the big battles almost always had slowdown at the worst times. Elden Ring is at least 60fps on the new consoles, but still has a lot of slowdown at the worst times. I'd have less of an issue with it if the games were not so based on exact timing... but with their design, they should really have flawless performance.

I don't know man...I just built a new PC two years ago, the one it replaced was well over 7 years old and to be honest, I probably could've gotten away with just a GPU upgrade instead of the whole kit and kaboodle. My GPU, a GTX 970, was showing it's age badly, so I needed to upgrade and went to an RTX 2080S. Surprisingly my old i7 4790K CPU was not a problem, but since I wanted to build in a smaller case, I needed a new motherboard and decided to just build a completely new unit.

The downside to the PCMR is like you said... a new fairly high-end PC is going to run ~$2,000. So significantly more than a console. Also, if you want to build a PC in a one of the smaller mITX cases or an HTPC case so it looks nice in your entertainment setup, you'll have to pay a premium for the small components. I can see how for a lot of folks that this isn't the best solution; but for anyone whose hesitation is that they are worried about "building" a PC, it's really the modern equivalent of adult Legos. Absolutely no soldering, everything is plug and play and much like anything else in the world you would like to learn how to do, you can watch a 12-year-old kid on YouTube walk you through everything step by step.

 

[sethro109]

I can't bring myself to build a PC and keep up with it. Expensive and too much work for something that will be obsolete in 24 months. Yeah the newest generation of consoles can't push what top end PCs do... but it is a one purchase every 3-6 years (depending on if they do mid cycles... which I'll probably skip this generation anyway) and forget.


I'm not even sure if they even fix their games until the remasters. In the last couple generations, their 30 fps frame pacing was some of the worst in the business. Then even if it hit most of the time, the big battles almost always had slowdown at the worst times. Elden Ring is at least 60fps on the new consoles, but still has a lot of slowdown at the worst times. I'd have less of an issue with it if the games were not so based on exact timing... but with their design, they should really have flawless performance.

You know you don't have to upgrade everytime Nvidia and AMD drops a new card right? Look at the Steam data. Most PC gamers are running the RTX 2070 or the RTX 3060. Those released in 2020 and 2021.

 

[henchman21]

I don't know man...I just built a new PC two years ago, the one it replaced was well over 7 years old and to be honest, I probably could've gotten away with just a GPU upgrade instead of the whole kit and kaboodle. My GPU, a GTX 970, was showing it's age badly, so I needed to upgrade and went to an RTX 2080S. Surprisingly my old i7 4790K CPU was not a problem, but since I wanted to build in a smaller case, I needed a new motherboard and decided to just build a completely new unit.

The downside to the PCMR is like you said... a new fairly high-end PC is going to run ~$2,000. So significantly more than a console. Also, if you want to build a PC in a one of the smaller mITX cases or an HTPC case so it looks nice in your entertainment setup, you'll have to pay a premium for the small components. I can see how for a lot of folks that this isn't the best solution; but for anyone whose hesitation is that they are worried about "building" a PC, it's really the modern equivalent of adult Legos. Absolutely no soldering, everything is plug and play and much like anything else in the world you would like to learn how to do, you can watch a 12-year-old kid on YouTube walk you through everything step by step.

You know you don't have to upgrade everytime Nvidia and AMD drops a new card right? Look at the Steam data. Most PC gamers are running the RTX 2070 or the RTX 3060. Those released in 2020 and 2021.

Expensive and have to upgrade consistently. It is both. Of course you can still run games way beyond the time when they are out of date (hell they are STILL making games for PS4). But it is just a lot more in cost and more often to tweak to continue the performance.

IE if you build a PC to run 1440p 120fps gaming... in 3-4 years, you're likely to sacrifice one of those (or other graphical settings) unless you upgrade something. Yeah you can hold on and settle for 1200p 60fps, but that's not what it was originally built for. Frankly this is only getting worse with the quest for higher resolutions, frame rates and effects. So much compute is needed to hit the 4k 120fps with ray tracing... and the trend is either GAAS (that I think are trash) or enormous games that take 5-7 years to develop because they have so much complexity added in with the desire to check all the boxes.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Expensive and have to upgrade consistently. It is both. Of course you can still run games way beyond the time when they are out of date (hell they are STILL making games for PS4). But it is just a lot more in cost and more often to tweak to continue the performance.

IE if you build a PC to run 1440p 120fps gaming... in 3-4 years, you're likely to sacrifice one of those (or other graphical settings) unless you upgrade something. Yeah you can hold on and settle for 1200p 60fps, but that's not what it was originally built for. Frankly this is only getting worse with the quest for higher resolutions, frame rates and effects. So much compute is needed to hit the 4k 120fps with ray tracing... and the trend is either GAAS (that I think are trash) or enormous games that take 5-7 years to develop because they have so much complexity added in with the desire to check all the boxes.

I get it completely, the PCMR is not for everyone. My wife asked me to build her a new PC, which I did, and she hardly ever touches it. She prefers to play games on the PS5 because she is on a PC at work all day. Which also makes a ton of sense.

One last upside though...with a PC, you'll never have to repurchase a game to play it on the next or future generation(s) of consoles. With games getting more expensive, that'll be a bit more of a pain. Although, I'm not sure how many people aside from my wife actually do that.