Video Game Thread v. Series Xbox One X Series Switch S 5

[Herrick]

Started the Witcher 3 this weekend, a mere 7 years after buying it.

Possibly my favorite game ever. It's such an emotional experience, the kind of story where it ends and you don't know what you're going to do with your life afterwards.

I hope you end up enjoying it!

I love that feeling.  System Shock, Bioshock, Theif... all made me feel that way.

Bioshock is a good call!

For me, Outer Wilds would certainly fit the bill. Man, I was empty after binging that game for hours on end. One of my favourite games ever.
Two other ones that left me with a similar feeling were Hollow Knight (another fantastic game!) and Subnautica.

I loved BioShock when it came out. I replayed it a few years ago and really didn't like it. I thought the combat was not good for an FPS with all those spastic idiots running around. I couldn't stand their old-timey voices. I get that the craziness was right for the setting and story but I don't know...

BioShock 2 was the same experience for me unfortunately. I finished it though. And the last game I just couldn't get into at all :/

Hopefully the System Shock remake will be good. I've never played the original. I played and beat the sequel once and I really enjoyed it.

[faizoff]

I made a short clip of the LEGO game, it looks so amazing at 4k with ray tracing, the photo realism is something else.

https://youtu.be/_d4MpdAbHEo



Here's another screenshot of the creative mode where you can build whatever you want

[Melphina]

God, I have such a ridiculous backlog right now and I'm afraid of what's gonna happen as the year progresses. I'm guaranteed to put everything on hold once Mario Rabbids 2 comes out.

Just beat Kirby and the Forgotten Land today - found all the upgrade blueprints, all 300 Waddle Dees, beat every bonus level, and found all 300 fragments of Leon's soul. The only things I haven't done are upgrade every ability's attack power and get the big fish in the fishing minigame. And I have maybe 5 figurines left to get. All in all a fantastic game, absolute joy to play. I hope they take everything here and build on it for a sequel and hopefully it comes out sooner than it took for Forgotten Land to arrive after Star Allies. I also like that Dedede and Meta Knight took a backseat for the most part but would like to see them return in a bigger role next time. Maybe next time they can bring back combo abilities from Kirby 64.

Anyway that's one game down. I also got obsessed with F-Zero X again and ran through all 4 cups on all 4 difficulties and Death Race with every machine.

Back to Horizon finally 

[Podaar]

Exactly, and at this point, I need about 9 Frost Claw Sac Webbings for the upgrades I'm doing.  Still have a bunch of hunting grounds and melee pits to complete too.

Seriously, use the braced shot skill, with standard impact arrows, and hit them directly in the face. Two direct hits should be enough to put one down without bursting the elemental sack. A fully upgraded Glowblast Sharp Shot bow is what I use.

While this recommended tactic works great on Frost Claw's, it's no bueno for Fire Claws.

In the past week (when I play at all) I've been upgrading legendary weapons. Every single one of them (and I think I have five at this point) needs 2-3 Fire Claw Sac Webbing's to advance beyond level 3... Great Odin, it's terrifying, difficult, frustrating, and fun as hell to kill Fire Claws without making them go boom. I've literally never seen a standard Fire Claw in this game, there are only two on the entire map, and both are Apex. I've tried several approaches to killing them, and the best approach I've found is to keep them at long range for a Hunter Bow, quickly get them frozen with frost arrows (the elemental Valor Surge is great for this and it keeps the costs down), and shoot them with high impact arrows anywhere but the torso. Legs, head, and especially backside or tooshie are the best. The designers at Guerilla have a real masterpiece with the Fire Claw, what a work of art! It's mannerisms are spot on for an apex predator bear that fears nothing. It's amazing and terrifying how aggressively violent it is at close range. At long range, if you hurt it enough, it will actually, move away from you to get away from harm...then as you close in on it, it will go berserk when cornered. haha.  Then there's it's attack arsenal. Two types of long range attack, one is fairly easy to dodge, but it's primary one has just enough AOE to make it difficult to avoid harm. Medium range it can do everything from throw a giant rock at you, to just get pissed and charge--sweeping it's claws in a wide arc. Sometimes it will charge, jump, roll along its axis while in the air, in an attempt try to crush you against its back when it comes down! IT would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying.

Mrs. P came downstairs to read next to me while I play. She looked up at one point, hearing me swear under my breath with frustration, and said, "Why is Aloy still fighting that fucking fire bear?" I laughed so hard at that. Visnu, I love my wife. She's the best.

[Dublagent66]

That's good stuff Mr. P.  Thanks for posting some tips.  I started farming materials to upgrade outfits because it's easier than farming parts off machines.  You're right, the Fire Claw is definitely more difficult than the Frost Claws.  At this point, I'm taking a break from the game because I played it for a month straight.  However, I would like to go back and get all the equipment upgraded.

[Podaar]

I’m somewhat a completionist, I’ll keep playing until I get platinum or get bored. The good part of that is I’ll be ready for DLC’s or NG+ if they add it.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

They have really outdone themself regarding secret areas in Elden Ring, today I found a hidden illusionary wall with a chest and then behind that another hidden wall that leads to a whole new gigantic underground biome with entirely new enemies. Now way of knowning that unless you accidently trigger it or knew it beforhand. Reminds me a little of Wolfenstein 3D and it's random hidden rooms behind walls.

[Dublagent66]

I’m somewhat a completionist, I’ll keep playing until I get platinum or get bored. The good part of that is I’ll be ready for DLC’s or NG+ if they add it.

I know what you mean.  I try to get all the collectibles and complete as much as possible if it doesn't get too tedious.  I really do hope they put out some DLC's.

They have really outdone themself regarding secret areas in Elden Ring, today I found a hidden illusionary wall with a chest and then behind that another hidden wall that leads to a whole new gigantic underground biome with entirely new enemies. Now way of knowning that unless you accidently trigger it or knew it beforhand. Reminds me a little of Wolfenstein 3D and it's random hidden rooms behind walls.

Just picked up Elden Ring over the weekend.  Still trying to figure out the menus and gameplay since I'm not really a fan of these types of games.  But, regular combat does seem to be a little more forgiving than games like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls.  Looking forward to exploring the open world and staying away from large beasts.  LOL.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I’m somewhat a completionist, I’ll keep playing until I get platinum or get bored. The good part of that is I’ll be ready for DLC’s or NG+ if they add it.

I know what you mean.  I try to get all the collectibles and complete as much as possible if it doesn't get too tedious.  I really do hope they put out some DLC's.

They have really outdone themself regarding secret areas in Elden Ring, today I found a hidden illusionary wall with a chest and then behind that another hidden wall that leads to a whole new gigantic underground biome with entirely new enemies. Now way of knowning that unless you accidently trigger it or knew it beforhand. Reminds me a little of Wolfenstein 3D and it's random hidden rooms behind walls.

Just picked up Elden Ring over the weekend.  Still trying to figure out the menus and gameplay since I'm not really a fan of these types of games.  But, regular combat does seem to be a little more forgiving than games like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls.  Looking forward to exploring the open world and staying away from large beasts.  LOL.

It's funny because ER is the first game in ages that made me dust off my ol' 360 controller. Always prefered M&K but in this game a controller seems more fitting.
Have fun dude and try to have patience with some enemies. I died alot in the beginning...well I still do at times. 

[Stadler]

Quick PS4 question:   I have Resident Evil 2, and I've gotten all but I think 3 trophies and most of the records.   I bought a DLC for like $0.99, but it won't load because my disk is region 2.   I got a cheap used copy with region "all" from Gamestop, and want to transfer my saves over, so I'm right back where I left off.  I knew how to do this on a PS3, and I'm assuming I can do this on the PS4; is there anything I have to watch out for?  I assume I have to delete the game files (not the save files) from the old disk, and reinstall from the new, but I should be able to copy my saves (or at least the ones I want) over as well, no?

[Dublagent66]

No idea what you're talking about.  You should be able to play DLC without transferring memory from anywhere.  Never even heard of that problem.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Quick PS4 question:   I have Resident Evil 2, and I've gotten all but I think 3 trophies and most of the records.   I bought a DLC for like $0.99, but it won't load because my disk is region 2.   I got a cheap used copy with region "all" from Gamestop, and want to transfer my saves over, so I'm right back where I left off.  I knew how to do this on a PS3, and I'm assuming I can do this on the PS4; is there anything I have to watch out for?  I assume I have to delete the game files (not the save files) from the old disk, and reinstall from the new, but I should be able to copy my saves (or at least the ones I want) over as well, no?

I don't believe you should have to do anything to make a DLC work with a game. If it's not just magically working, then you could always contact PlayStation support. You could also try and completely delete and reinstall (which shouldn't impact your saved data because that is stored completely separately). Good luck! Sounds like a weird case.

[Stadler]

It's not the DLC; the DLC won't load/install because the region of the DLC (rather, the account I bought it from) is different than the disk.  This appears to be a known problem; it just says "Installing..." forever.   Whether that's billshot or not, I don't know, but what I'm asking is if I switch disks mid-game, will the saves automatically come over, or do I have to manually do it, like I did on the PS3?

[Dublagent66]

The account you bought it from?  What does that mean exactly?  DLC's only come from the PlayStation Store.  Since when do DLC's require you to switch discs?  There's only one disc, the game disc.

[Stadler]

I'm not doing a good enough job of explaining this.

ALL Blu-rays (and DVDs) have a region code of some kind.  There are different standards in various countries, and that's how the player knows what it is reproducing.  I know that the games work on the same "reading" technology.  From what I am told, the "regions" of the DLC (I'm in North America, so I am region 1, and so the DLC is that region) have to match the "regions" of the original game disk.  MY original RE2 game disk is region 2 so they don't match.  I bought an RE2 with a region "ALL" and will put it in the console when I get home.

My question is simple:  by switching disks, will all my save games be visible, or will I have to "transfer" them over?

[XJDenton]

My understanding is that it is game-specific, but a quick search indicates RE:2 should be cross compatible.

On a related note/rant, Sony's support for changing regions or multiple regions is a goddamn joke. 10 years after moving to Sweden I still have to use the UK store fronts because my only option for moving countries is to create an entirely new entire PS account.

[Dublagent66]

I’m somewhat a completionist, I’ll keep playing until I get platinum or get bored. The good part of that is I’ll be ready for DLC’s or NG+ if they add it.

I know what you mean.  I try to get all the collectibles and complete as much as possible if it doesn't get too tedious.  I really do hope they put out some DLC's.

They have really outdone themself regarding secret areas in Elden Ring, today I found a hidden illusionary wall with a chest and then behind that another hidden wall that leads to a whole new gigantic underground biome with entirely new enemies. Now way of knowning that unless you accidently trigger it or knew it beforhand. Reminds me a little of Wolfenstein 3D and it's random hidden rooms behind walls.

Just picked up Elden Ring over the weekend.  Still trying to figure out the menus and gameplay since I'm not really a fan of these types of games.  But, regular combat does seem to be a little more forgiving than games like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls.  Looking forward to exploring the open world and staying away from large beasts.  LOL.

It's funny because ER is the first game in ages that made me dust off my ol' 360 controller. Always prefered M&K but in this game a controller seems more fitting.
Have fun dude and try to have patience with some enemies. I died alot in the beginning...well I still do at times. 

I'm trying to have fun, but I'm like 7 hrs into the game and still 0% completed.  I have no idea what the object of this game is.  For now I've just been leveling up waiting for some kind of revelation or something exciting to happen.  This is how I typically lose interest in games and move on.

[Chino]

[cramx3]

 

[Kwyjibo]

So true 

[ErHaO]

I am glad I have a 36 hours per week job (so 40 hours and one day off every two weeks). And I never got cable tv/rarely watch sports (I do enjoy sports though, but usually only with friends). Thus, I have a good amount of time to game alongside my social life. So that part of my chilhood "dreams" actually came through 

But after the Elden Ring and Cyberpunk I will focus on smaller games for a while, because damn these are massive.

[Podaar]

I'm trying to have fun, but I'm like 7 hrs into the game and still 0% completed.  I have no idea what the object of this game is.  For now I've just been leveling up waiting for some kind of revelation or something exciting to happen.  This is how I typically lose interest in games and move on.

Interesting post.

This is the very reason I won't play Fromsoft games. It's not the combat, it's not the difficulty, it's not the graphics technology, it's only partially because of its art style, but primarily because they've never figured out how to tell a comprehensible or compelling story. The NPC's are all wooden (or should I say porcelain) and are almost universally baffling. Fromsoft's philosophy of not "holding the players hand" has been taken to extremes, IMO. I haven't found one, not one, of the glowing reviews of game critics say anything about the story.

If you don't find character creation, min/maxing their abilities, treasure hunting and looting, surviving tough combat, fun, Fromsoft games probably aren't your thing. As near as I can tell, the real fun is building a character that you can reasonably expect to survive for longer than five minutes of PVP. I'm honestly surprised at the sales figures for Elden Ring. It's an amazing achievement that so many have come around to loving this style of gaming. It used to be such a small niche.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I’m somewhat a completionist, I’ll keep playing until I get platinum or get bored. The good part of that is I’ll be ready for DLC’s or NG+ if they add it.

I know what you mean.  I try to get all the collectibles and complete as much as possible if it doesn't get too tedious.  I really do hope they put out some DLC's.

They have really outdone themself regarding secret areas in Elden Ring, today I found a hidden illusionary wall with a chest and then behind that another hidden wall that leads to a whole new gigantic underground biome with entirely new enemies. Now way of knowning that unless you accidently trigger it or knew it beforhand. Reminds me a little of Wolfenstein 3D and it's random hidden rooms behind walls.

Just picked up Elden Ring over the weekend.  Still trying to figure out the menus and gameplay since I'm not really a fan of these types of games.  But, regular combat does seem to be a little more forgiving than games like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls.  Looking forward to exploring the open world and staying away from large beasts.  LOL.

It's funny because ER is the first game in ages that made me dust off my ol' 360 controller. Always prefered M&K but in this game a controller seems more fitting.
Have fun dude and try to have patience with some enemies. I died alot in the beginning...well I still do at times. 

I'm trying to have fun, but I'm like 7 hrs into the game and still 0% completed.  I have no idea what the object of this game is.  For now I've just been leveling up waiting for some kind of revelation or something exciting to happen.  This is how I typically lose interest in games and move on.

I've only played Demon's Souls on PS5 (I plan to start Elden Ring soon) but what I got out of it was that sense of overcoming challenges and solving problems by learning the game and gradually powering up your character. Once I got the hang of it, it got to be borderline addicting. I'm not sure that any other franchise nails that sense of character progression and feeling more and more powerful like the Soulsbornes do.

Ultimately, that kind of thing isn't for everyone. I personally enjoy it but I enjoy story-driven games even more. I also heard that Elden Ring takes like 100 hours to beat, unless you rush through it, which is an insane commitment.

On a side note, I decided to play through the pre-title card chunk of Cyberpunk 2077 for Xbox Series X to see what the next-gen upgrades look like. I was honestly pretty impressed by the state the game is in at the moment. I'm almost tempted to just keep trucking on, but that's a big time commitment too.

[ErHaO]

I'm trying to have fun, but I'm like 7 hrs into the game and still 0% completed.  I have no idea what the object of this game is.  For now I've just been leveling up waiting for some kind of revelation or something exciting to happen.  This is how I typically lose interest in games and move on.

Interesting post.

This is the very reason I won't play Fromsoft games. It's not the combat, it's not the difficulty, it's not the graphics technology, it's only partially because of its art style, but primarily because they've never figured out how to tell a comprehensible or compelling story. The NPC's are all wooden (or should I say porcelain) and are almost universally baffling. Fromsoft's philosophy of not "holding the players hand" has been taken to extremes, IMO. I haven't found one, not one, of the glowing reviews of game critics say anything about the story.

If you don't find character creation, min/maxing their abilities, treasure hunting and looting, surviving tough combat, fun, Fromsoft games probably aren't your thing. As near as I can tell, the real fun is building a character that you can reasonably expect to survive for longer than five minutes of PVP. I'm honestly surprised at the sales figures for Elden Ring. It's an amazing achievement that so many have come around to loving this style of gaming. It used to be such a small niche.

The real fun of a From Software game to me is discovery. And probably it's setpiece bossfights.

The From Soft games have a lot in common with older games in terms of player guidance. The most apt examples I can think of is SNES era Zelda or Metroid. And in a way Breath of the Wild has a lot of common design principles with Elden Ring (and modern From Software titles)  as well.

The games do actually give you guidance, but that is probably only apparent if you have some experience with at least one of them. The first view you have in the outside world in Elden Ring is where you will want to go, Stormveil Castle. And that strucure is often looming in the distance as you are running around in the first area. How you achieve reaching it is up to you, which is also part of the whole discovery process. There is a clear(ish) main path on the map. And if you look at your base map, there are some markers there, which will lead yo to finding the actual detailed maps. And on those maps you can see structures, which may or may not be interesting to explore. My advice is to let your curiosity lead the way, that is how you progress. You don't need to min max or anything, even starter weapons are end game worthy when upgraded.

As for their stories, they actually did find a way to tell a comprehensive story. At least to some degree. Sekiro at it's basis is straighforward and you know what you are doing and why. Elden Ring is too vague for me personally. I watched a lore vid and still do not understand what is going on  But I find Sekiro to have an amazing story, a lot of which is told by the environments and it's inhabitants. But the community aspect of finding stuff out like it is a mystery game is part of the appeal to some/many (like that mystery game DT did years ago on this forum, people find it fun).

 

[King Postwhore]

[cramx3]

  consider myself not a gamer then

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Hard pass! 

[faizoff]

This 100% applies to me

So.... I just did an official count, I have officially 257 games across three game clients (Steam, Epic & Origin) a vast majority of them are free games but still ...

[ReaperKK]

consider myself not a gamer then

Think of the stream though!

[cramx3]

consider myself not a gamer then

Think of the stream though!

  really could be a funny stream idea

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

This 100% applies to me

So.... I just did an official count, I have officially 257 games across three game clients (Steam, Epic & Origin) a vast majority of them are free games but still ...

I just checked and I have 682 games across Steam, Epic, Origin, GOG, and Playstation 4. I've probably completed less than 100 of those 

Oh and this doesn't take into account all the games I have on Switch... 

Or all the Original NES, SNES, N64, Wii, PS3, PS2, Gameboy, Sega Genesis, and Dreamcast games I have.....and I'm probably forgetting something.

[Phoenix87x]

Yeah, I buy new games and put them down after a few hours and forget about them, but
Ironically though, I do spend tons of time on youtube watching other people play games 

[Stadler]

I'm not doing a good enough job of explaining this.

ALL Blu-rays (and DVDs) have a region code of some kind.  There are different standards in various countries, and that's how the player knows what it is reproducing.  I know that the games work on the same "reading" technology.  From what I am told, the "regions" of the DLC (I'm in North America, so I am region 1, and so the DLC is that region) have to match the "regions" of the original game disk.  MY original RE2 game disk is region 2 so they don't match.  I bought an RE2 with a region "ALL" and will put it in the console when I get home.

My question is simple:  by switching disks, will all my save games be visible, or will I have to "transfer" them over?

Poor form to quote oneself, but here we are.

My fears were realized.  So, when I put the new, "ALL" region disk in the player, it automatically loads the software the first time. Good enough.  The DLC loaded, fine.   BUT... I can't get the save games to transfer over to the new game.  I'm probably going to call either Capcom or Sony today to see if they can help. This can't be the first time this has happened.  What if someone's game disk got stolen/destroyed?

[Dublagent66]

Still hanging in there with Elden Ring.  Found out that exploration and discovery are abundant without having to die all the time.  Checking out a couple of starter walkthrough YouTube videos just to get my bearings.  Very helpful and keeping me interested for the time being.

[Herrick]

I'm still not sure if I should get Elden Ring. I was waiting for a PC performance patch but even if that comes out...still not sure. Right now I am in the sad state of being game-less. Shit tons of games in my Steam & GOG libraries and I don't want to play any of them 

I don't think I've played anything in over 10 days except for a few very brief stints of Terraria.