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

[ErHaO]

I can deal with 30 fps, but it is not ideal. Do keep in mind that instantly switching is not really representative of the 30 fps experience. At least, my brain does get used to it after a while, making it completely fine to play.

Yeah, I would as well in most games and I was fine with 30fps on last gen for the most part as long as it was stable. Guess I've been spoiled a bit by the new gen  I was a bit bothered by 30fps games with sluggish controls though, like Red Dead Redemption 2 - I'd love to see how much more responsive that would feel at a higher frame rate.

Red Dead 2 on consoles had almost half a second of input latency for many moves (like 13-17 frames or so depending on the action), which is exceptionally high. And a heavy animation priority overall. That had little to do with 30 fps, more with Rockstar. The PC version was improved but still pretty bad compared to most games actually (Digital Foundry and others made vids on it).

[krands85]

I hope they don't go the same way with GTA6 

[Dublagent66]

Just passed the 100 hr mark on Dragon Quest XI and still going.  Amazing gameplay and story. 

[Cool Chris]

Just finished a fun little game called Firewatch. A surprising amount of depth and feeling for a short, linear, straightforward game. The best voice acting I've heard in a long time.

[ReaperKK]

Just finished a fun little game called Firewatch. A surprising amount of depth and feeling for a short, linear, straightforward game. The best voice acting I've heard in a long time.

I really enjoyed Firewatch, I think it was one my favorite games the year it came out. I should replay it sometime soon.

[Chino]

I leave for vacation tomorrow and decided to pick up Pokemon Snap for the Switch for the flight. I'm hoping it doesn't suck.

The game doesn't suck at all.

[cramx3]

Started played the COD MW2 campaign since you can play it  a week early before the full release of the game if you pre-purchased. I haven't played a COD campaign in many many years, but it's amazing how it's basically the same as I remember them  Granted, it actually looks really great. I'm pretty excited for the full game release next week.

I played the Amsterdam mission that I see being talked about a lot on social media.  Having recently been there, I can say it looks soooo spot on and I showed a picture in game to my coworker and he said if I didn't tell him it was a game he would have thought it was legit.  Even down to the outdoor urinals they have  ErHao, you are dutch right?  Here's a video of that mission if you were curious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_LlSR6-ibA&feature=youtu.be

[Skeever]

Last night I was playing Final Fantasy XIV on Steam Deck while watching MNF. Life is good 

[chknptpie]

I'm doing a run through of Ocarina of Time again. 199 days until the new one!

[Dublagent66]

God of War Ragnorak 2 weeks and counting!

[Phoenix87x]

I'm hearing that Gotham Knights is somewhat underwhelming.

Which breaks my heart since I truly love the Arkham series.

[cramx3]

I'm hearing that Gotham Knights is somewhat underwhelming.

Which breaks my heart since I truly love the Arkham series.

Wasn't the last one a huge bust? 

[ErHaO]

I was wrong about Plague Tale Requiem in my first impression. The game is absolutely gorgeous and rivals the best AAA games at this point in time on that front. I wasn't expecting so many larger levels and such a sheer variety of locales and assets. Many beautiful towns, camps, buildings, and locales. Some of which seem quite elaborate for a level you are in just for a couple of minutes. Every chapter offers something new. It is truly amazing that this was made by a team of 70 at a way lower budget. On the Series X the framerate seems to hold 40 fps fairly consistent and I haven't run into any major bugs or anything.

The action gameplay is a bit janky and not always satisfying to be honest, I preferred the original over this (though Requiem does offer more variety/tools). But this game is also very much a walking sim for many stretches (and I mean that in a good way, I love games like that). What works in it's favour is that new mechanics are introduced at a good pace. The game knows when to switch from walking sim/puzzle to stealth to action gameplay.

The main storyline seems solid enough, the tension is great. But the characters, that is where the heart of the game lies, I am very much into it. Many great interactions and emotional moments. I recall finding Hugo a bit annoying in 1, but the kid is great in Requiem.

Game seems to offer a good amount of content as well. It is supposedly 16 hours long, which seems to hold true based on my chapter progression.

People who enjoyed the first should have a great time with this.

Started played the COD MW2 campaign since you can play it  a week early before the full release of the game if you pre-purchased. I haven't played a COD campaign in many many years, but it's amazing how it's basically the same as I remember them  Granted, it actually looks really great. I'm pretty excited for the full game release next week.

I played the Amsterdam mission that I see being talked about a lot on social media.  Having recently been there, I can say it looks soooo spot on and I showed a picture in game to my coworker and he said if I didn't tell him it was a game he would have thought it was legit.  Even down to the outdoor urinals they have  ErHao, you are dutch right?  Here's a video of that mission if you were curious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_LlSR6-ibA&feature=youtu.be

I just looked and damn they indeed nailed Amsterdam! I work/live in Amsterdam area and if nobody had told me it was Amsterdam I would have recognised it in seconds.

I have enjoyed the CoD campaigns that I played. Especially Infinite Warfare is kind of like The Expanse season 1 in videogame form without the space magic, which was awesome. Advanced Warfare was a satisfying experience as well.

God of War Ragnorak 2 weeks and counting!

Ooof it will be rough to make a decision between waiting until I have a PS5 or playing the PS4pro version.

The EU PS4 version is 118 GB btw  Good lord (PS5 version is smaller).

[Dublagent66]

The US PS4 version is only 107GB, while the PS5 version is 84GB.  Still smaller than my largest PS5 game file (GT7, 102GB).

[Cool Chris]

I'm doing a run through of Ocarina of Time again. 199 days until the new one!

If I were to rank my all-time favorite games, this would probably be the highest ranking game I can't imagine playing again. I've played it through maybe 3-4 times, including once through the Master Quest. I have tried to play a Randomized version of it, but I can't seem to get it to work on my desktop.

Just finished a fun little game called Firewatch. A surprising amount of depth and feeling for a short, linear, straightforward game. The best voice acting I've heard in a long time.

I really enjoyed Firewatch, I think it was one my favorite games the year it came out. I should replay it sometime soon.

I love games like this, where I just read or see a small blurb about it, and check it out with no expectations or any real knowledge going in. Prior to playing I did read something about how some players were disappointed in the ending, so I was expecting a swerve or something other than what I got. So maybe that was the swerve? Unfortunately with games like this, it feels like a one-time only experience. Maybe after a few years I will revisit. I am still hoping for some sort of amnesia so I can play Return of the Obra Dinn for the first time again.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are probably my most played games. When I was a kid and had endless free time, I probably cranked out like two playthroughs a year. Even as I've gotten over, I've returned to them every few years. I'm probably at like 20 completions a piece lol.

[Skeever]

Anyone else pick up Bayonetta 3? This is gonna be such a good time.

[Herrick]

I'm hearing that Gotham Knights is somewhat underwhelming.

Which breaks my heart since I truly love the Arkham series.

Wasn't the last one a huge bust?

I think Batmang: Arkham Night had a lot of bugs or bad performance at least when it initially released for PC. I didn't play it until a while after release and I never experienced any problems and thought it was the best Arkham game.

It's too bad Gotham Knights doesn't seem to be as good as the other games but seeing as it's not really an Arkham game, I have hope they'll make a proper sequel to Arkham series.

[cramx3]

I'm hearing that Gotham Knights is somewhat underwhelming.

Which breaks my heart since I truly love the Arkham series.

Wasn't the last one a huge bust?

I think Batmang: Arkham Night had a lot of bugs or bad performance at least when it initially released for PC. I didn't play it until a while after release and I never experienced any problems and thought it was the best Arkham game.

It's too bad Gotham Knights doesn't seem to be as good as the other games but seeing as it's not really an Arkham game, I have hope they'll make a proper sequel to Arkham series.

Yeah, I recall it not working for many people so I never bought it. I remember it being on sale for super cheap years after release and I googled and people were still saying the game was broken. I don't think I heard anyone say anything positive, but that's interesting if you liked it so much.

[Herrick]

I'm hearing that Gotham Knights is somewhat underwhelming.

Which breaks my heart since I truly love the Arkham series.

Wasn't the last one a huge bust?

I think Batmang: Arkham Night had a lot of bugs or bad performance at least when it initially released for PC. I didn't play it until a while after release and I never experienced any problems and thought it was the best Arkham game.

It's too bad Gotham Knights doesn't seem to be as good as the other games but seeing as it's not really an Arkham game, I have hope they'll make a proper sequel to Arkham series.

Yeah, I recall it not working for many people so I never bought it. I remember it being on sale for super cheap years after release and I googled and people were still saying the game was broken. I don't think I heard anyone say anything positive, but that's interesting if you liked it so much.

Hmm...I played it on two different builds and it ran fine for me. Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive if that's anything to go by. Looks like a few people are having technical problems with it but that's the case for any PC game.

[ErHaO]

Gotham Knights seems to be perfectly playable on all platforms, but is one of the most demanding games out there right now while looking waaaay worse than Arkham Knight, a 7 year old game. Not sure what happened, but it looks bland and comparison vids to Arkham Knight are a bit sad.

Not sure why WB isn't doing Batman games. These take like 5 years to make, by the time the next one hits people want one. I have little interest in Robin and other C-tier heroes. There has never been a comic, film or whatever where I found them compelling, but that is maybe just me.

Rocksteady is also not working on Batman.

[Herrick]

Gotham Knights seems to be perfectly playable on all platforms, but is one of the most demanding games out there right now while looking waaaay worse than Arkham Knight, a 7 year old game. Not sure what happened, but it looks bland and comparison vids to Arkham Knight are a bit sad.

Not sure why WB isn't doing Batman games. These take like 5 years to make, by the time the next one hits people want one. I have little interest in Robin and other C-tier heroes. There has never been a comic, film or whatever where I found them compelling, but that is maybe just me.

Rocksteady is also not working on Batman.

Yeah I'd much rather play as Batmang himself. However, if this game turns out to be good later on then I might get it when it's dirt fucking cheap.

[ErHaO]

I got a PS5! (in an actual store)   In time for God of War.

Horizon looks and plays great. I fiddled with the settings and the balanced (40 fps) mode is the best of both worlds to me, with motion blur set at low. I am repeating myself, but the difference between 40 and 60 to me is surprisingly smaller than 30 to 40.

I am looking forward to the new PSVR as well (hopefully a bit more convenient to use).

[Dublagent66]

Nice!  Glad you were able to pick one up.  I held out for the next gen PSVR.  Not sure when I'll give that a go.

[XJDenton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElN6kJjcMXk

And who says video games can't teach practical skills?

[Podaar]

Horizon looks and plays great. I fiddled with the settings and the balanced (40 fps) mode is the best of both worlds to me, with motion blur set at low. I am repeating myself, but the difference between 40 and 60 to me is surprisingly smaller than 30 to 40.

I played the HFW for several hundred hours in 60 fps, and it always looked breathtakingly detailed. I can't imagine any reason to play in 30 or 40 fps mode

[ErHaO]

Horizon looks and plays great. I fiddled with the settings and the balanced (40 fps) mode is the best of both worlds to me, with motion blur set at low. I am repeating myself, but the difference between 40 and 60 to me is surprisingly smaller than 30 to 40.

I played the HFW for several hundred hours in 60 fps, and it always looked breathtakingly detailed. I can't imagine any reason to play in 30 or 40 fps mode

The difference between modes is not massive visually, granted. They reworked the entire 60 fps mode a while ago and it looks clean. But the game on balanced is just razorsharp on my LG CX. I have played quite some native 4k stuff, but often games have AA solutions or filters (film grain, chromatic aberration etc.) to a degree where I don't really see a difference. But here I find the perceived difference of the visuals greater than the  40 vs 60 framerate.

If a game (or film) is a real visual treat worth the effort, I usually adjust my sitting distance from my screen based on the resolution (and framerate) of the content https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/size-to-distance-relationship. I am sitting fairly close to my screen (55") for this one.

If people have a 120hz screen, I do recommend checking it out. But by no means are the other modes second rate or anything. Simply a preference based on my setup.

[Dublagent66]

Get ready folks!  GoW Ragnorak in one week...

[cramx3]

I'm more interested in Warzone 2 / DMZ in 2 weeks.  People are just shitting on the MW2 but I'm honestly enjoying it.  They removed all the cheesy movements to make it more tactical.  It's pissing off every big streamer and I love it.  But in the end, it's just another COD with no stakes or real reason to care about winning.  People play just to level up the guns and that's what I'm doing so I can be ready to start getting wins in Warzone. I even bought a Mountain Dew yesterday with lunch for the double XP code  I felt like such a kid.

[ReaperKK]

Is warzone 2 going to be free?

[cramx3]

Is warzone 2 going to be free?

Yup, it will also come with a new mode called DMZ which is supposed to be a COD version of Escape from Tarkov.  I decided to buy the main game because they won't make another one next year and their business/gaming model incentivizes playing the main game to level up and unlock everything so you can use it in Warzone right away as leveling up in Warzone takes a lot more time. I also hadn't played a COD base game in so long, I was interested in the Ground War mode which is basically COD's version of Battlefield.  It's pretty damn good.  No destruction, but the vehicle and large map gameplay is pretty well done.  Those ground war maps are also POIs on the new Warzone map so playing them with get you familiar with the new map before it's even released. 

[ReaperKK]

That's awesome to hear, I'm looking forward to giving warzone 2 a spin. Have you ever playaed Escape From Tarkov?

[cramx3]

That's awesome to hear, I'm looking forward to giving warzone 2 a spin. Have you ever playaed Escape From Tarkov?

Nope. I've heard it's a good game but a bit of a challenge.  I considered getting it before but never did.  I'm not sure COD can capture what EFT did and I'll try out the DMZ mode, but for now, I'm more interested in the Battle Royale mode. Also the game will have proximity chat (which EFT also had) and I think that can lead to some of the funniest stuff in online gaming. 

[Dublagent66]

Can't remember the last COD game I finished.

[cramx3]

It's certainly not a game worth buying for only the single player IMO.  I think those can be completed like 6 hours.