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

[ReaperKK]

WTF did Halo do with their battlepass system?  It's like the worst decision for progression I've seen in any FPS game. 

Oh yea it's absolutely horrendous. I read on Reddit that they are working on getting it unfucked.

[cramx3]

WTF did Halo do with their battlepass system?  It's like the worst decision for progression I've seen in any FPS game. 

Oh yea it's absolutely horrendous. I read on Reddit that they are working on getting it unfucked.

Yeah, it seems they are listening to the feedback.  I'm probably not going to play until it's fixed.  No point in playing if leveling up is insanely difficult.

[ErHaO]

Sooo, I felt like doing some online shooting. And I used the EA play trail that was included with gamepass to check out Battlefield 2042.

I haven't really followed the game, but there seems something really wrong with Battlefield 2042 on the Series X. Not only does it not look even remotely as good as Battlefield One and Battlefront 2 (never played V), it plays way worse than any other entry I have played. It just feels off and stiff compared to 4/Hardline/One. And I immediately encountered many bugs in just a single match. But still, my biggest surprise are the graphics, I legit initially thought it took some time to load in, but it never did. Not sure which maps, but both looked really bad. I hope they will be able to fix it, but I deleted it and turned to Halo, unfortunately. It just did not feel even remotely finished to me.

[cramx3]

Sooo, I felt like doing some online shooting. And I used the EA play trail that was included with gamepass to check out Battlefield 2042.

I haven't really followed the game, but there seems something really wrong with Battlefield 2042 on the Series X. Not only does it not look even remotely as good as Battlefield One and Battlefront 2 (never played V), it plays way worse than any other entry I have played. It just feels off and stiff compared to 4/Hardline/One. And I immediately encountered many bugs in just a single match. But still, my biggest surprise are the graphics, I legit initially thought it took some time to load in, but it never did. Not sure which maps, but both looked really bad. I hope they will be able to fix it, but I deleted it and turned to Halo, unfortunately. It just did not feel even remotely finished to me.

I don't have an xbox to compare, but I've read a lot of people on twitter complaining about xbox performance and the game basically being unplayable. Also, did you try Portal or Hazard zone?  If you only tried All out Warfare, I think that sounds about right.  That's the only mode that really struggles and I personally think it has to do with the game not optimized enough to handle 128 players and all the vehicles on the large maps.  It runs well enough on my PC to not be an issue overall, but I can't touch 60fps in that mode.  I've had no issues like that with Portal or Hazard Zone. 

But honestly, you probably should have waited to try until tomorrow when the Day 1 patch goes live for the official full release.  They did a small patch today, but that wasn't supposed to fix the issues you are encountering it seems. 

If people want to complain about releasing a game for beta testing under "early access" I think that's a legit complaint and really seems to be the case here.  But I feel a lot of the negativity should wait until the full release tomorrow.  (and I expect there to be a lot of issues tomorrow tbh when more players start to play)

[ErHaO]

Sooo, I felt like doing some online shooting. And I used the EA play trail that was included with gamepass to check out Battlefield 2042.

I haven't really followed the game, but there seems something really wrong with Battlefield 2042 on the Series X. Not only does it not look even remotely as good as Battlefield One and Battlefront 2 (never played V), it plays way worse than any other entry I have played. It just feels off and stiff compared to 4/Hardline/One. And I immediately encountered many bugs in just a single match. But still, my biggest surprise are the graphics, I legit initially thought it took some time to load in, but it never did. Not sure which maps, but both looked really bad. I hope they will be able to fix it, but I deleted it and turned to Halo, unfortunately. It just did not feel even remotely finished to me.

I don't have an xbox to compare, but I've read a lot of people on twitter complaining about xbox performance and the game basically being unplayable. Also, did you try Portal or Hazard zone?  If you only tried All out Warfare, I think that sounds about right.  That's the only mode that really struggles and I personally think it has to do with the game not optimized enough to handle 128 players and all the vehicles on the large maps.  It runs well enough on my PC to not be an issue overall, but I can't touch 60fps in that mode.  I've had no issues like that with Portal or Hazard Zone. 

But honestly, you probably should have waited to try until tomorrow when the Day 1 patch goes live for the official full release.  They did a small patch today, but that wasn't supposed to fix the issues you are encountering it seems. 

If people want to complain about releasing a game for beta testing under "early access" I think that's a legit complaint and really seems to be the case here.  But I feel a lot of the negativity should wait until the full release tomorrow.  (and I expect there to be a lot of issues tomorrow tbh when more players start to play)

I tried the gamemode that was on the left on the menu, one of the maps was a big one with skyscrapers, the other one a nightscape with some smaller house-like buildings. The skyscraper one is one of the ugliest multiplayer maps I have seen in a good while. In my first shootout I was basically immortal. I just ran on a street straight into a group of like 7 enemy players and I legit killed them all. And not because I am good at aiming, lol. I would not blame them if they reported me for cheating. Then a moment later I emptied an entire magazine in someones back at close range and it did nothing, halfway my second magazine the guy turned around and killed me in two shots. My ping and internet connection are great btw (I tested it right after this match, ping 11 ms, download 130 mb, upload 15 mb).

Also, I hope you are right, but not once in my gaming life has a day one patch that fans were holding onto as hope actually made a major difference. Dice is a talented studio and their games usually look amazing, I feel this game did not get the time it needed. If I read about major changes, especially on Xbox, I might try again this weekend.

[Dublagent66]

I've never been a fan of multiplayer modes.  They just don't perform as well as single player campaign.  However, multiplayer for Destiny on PlayStation was probably the most seamless I've ever seen.

[cramx3]

Yeah, the left mode is All out Warfare which is conquest or breakthrough game modes.  Those modes are struggling. And your two bugs (being invincible and poor hit detection) are known issues and quite important for a FPS game.  I actually also don't expect the day 1 patch to fix a lot of this.  I believe the day 10 patch is the one expected to, but even then, will it actually fix it?  Who knows.  It's definitely been a poor launch. Sucks.  I think the game is so much fun and the potential for portal is huge.

I posted a full video of a conguest game in my review of BF2042 the other day, if your game doesn't look anything like that, yeah, i would be pissed and uninterested in the game as well.

I've been able to pump out daily tiktok content from this game because it's been so intriguing to me, but I've got a lot of bug videos to make as well 

Oh and as for Halo, they updated the Battlepass already! ALthough it's not the greatest fix, they admit it's just the start.  Wow though, now that is how you release and update a game.

[ErHaO]

Yeah, the left mode is All out Warfare which is conquest or breakthrough game modes.  Those modes are struggling. And your two bugs (being invincible and poor hit detection) are known issues and quite important for a FPS game.  I actually also don't expect the day 1 patch to fix a lot of this.  I believe the day 10 patch is the one expected to, but even then, will it actually fix it?  Who knows.  It's definitely been a poor launch. Sucks.  I think the game is so much fun and the potential for portal is huge.

I posted a full video of a conguest game in my review of BF2042 the other day, if your game doesn't look anything like that, yeah, i would be pissed and uninterested in the game as well.

I've been able to pump out daily tiktok content from this game because it's been so intriguing to me, but I've got a lot of bug videos to make as well 

Oh and as for Halo, they updated the Battlepass already! ALthough it's not the greatest fix, they admit it's just the start.  Wow though, now that is how you release and update a game.

I am expecting those hit issues to be fixed soon for sure, because that is just fundamentally broken. I saw some online compilations and it seems kinda widespread at this moment. Anyways, hopefully it will reach a decent state soon.

Halo feels polished and made a great impression on me, and I am not a Halo guy at all. Offcourse, 343 and Microsoft made the hard but right decision to delay it for almost an entire year and skip the Xbox launch entirely, but it shows. Other studios have done big delays too recently, I think covid has had a major impact on development.

[cramx3]

The Halo beta was an amazingly smooth and polished game a couple months ago.  I was not surprised the official launch was also mostly a huge success even a month early.  They clearly had a day 0 ready game compared to BF which is unfortunate. 

[ganpondorodf]

Either the menus are far too confusing or Halo doesn't have an option to just search for Slayer games. Either way that's a problem. I'm not interested in CTF or the like, just wanna play standard deathmatches. Hopefully that option gets included.

I've been playing Cyberpunk 2077 as I got it for $10 a few weeks back. It's an absolute festival of jank and was clearly not ready for release, but it's very atmospheric and personally if a game gets the atmosphere right, I can overlook a lot (see also: Witcher 3, original Mass Effect, Red Dead Redemption). I'm enjoying it a lot but I wouldn't freely recommend it.

[ReaperKK]

I don't normally watch Angry Joe any more but this video does not put BF2042 in a good light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_vBMbi7qSQ

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I don't normally watch Angry Joe any more but this video does not put BF2042 in a good light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_vBMbi7qSQ

I can hear him screaming before even opening the video. 

[cramx3]

I don't normally watch Angry Joe any more but this video does not put BF2042 in a good light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_vBMbi7qSQ

I can hear him screaming before even opening the video. 

This video has blown up 

Either the menus are far too confusing or Halo doesn't have an option to just search for Slayer games. Either way that's a problem. I'm not interested in CTF or the like, just wanna play standard deathmatches. Hopefully that option gets included.

I've been playing Cyberpunk 2077 as I got it for $10 a few weeks back. It's an absolute festival of jank and was clearly not ready for release, but it's very atmospheric and personally if a game gets the atmosphere right, I can overlook a lot (see also: Witcher 3, original Mass Effect, Red Dead Redemption). I'm enjoying it a lot but I wouldn't freely recommend it.

Wait, a year later and Cyberpunk is still broken? I stopped following after playing it last year, but kind of just assumed it would at least mostly be in a good state by now.  My gf and her sister just got it for PS and are going to start soon.  Maybe I should warn them 

[ErHaO]

I think Dice has massive potential (just like so many EA studios...), but the time just was not there. Like I said, MS saw it coming and postponed Halo an entire year, which it clearly needed. This game clearly needed that as well. But this really is not a state to release a game in, at all. And people pay like a hundred bucks for early access, at this point that is a full commercial product that should be treated as one and not as some beta.

The hovercrafts are fucking funny though 
They should add a hovercraft only mode where you battle while jumping between skyscrapers.

I don't normally watch Angry Joe any more but this video does not put BF2042 in a good light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_vBMbi7qSQ

I can hear him screaming before even opening the video. 

This video has blown up 

Either the menus are far too confusing or Halo doesn't have an option to just search for Slayer games. Either way that's a problem. I'm not interested in CTF or the like, just wanna play standard deathmatches. Hopefully that option gets included.

I've been playing Cyberpunk 2077 as I got it for $10 a few weeks back. It's an absolute festival of jank and was clearly not ready for release, but it's very atmospheric and personally if a game gets the atmosphere right, I can overlook a lot (see also: Witcher 3, original Mass Effect, Red Dead Redemption). I'm enjoying it a lot but I wouldn't freely recommend it.

Wait, a year later and Cyberpunk is still broken? I stopped following after playing it last year, but kind of just assumed it would at least mostly be in a good state by now.  My gf and her sister just got it for PS and are going to start soon.  Maybe I should warn them 

I fully expect the actual next gen updates to be significant. Because no, there still aren't actual versions for the PS5 and series consoles. I am assuming they will use that as a sort of second launch.

[ReaperKK]

They should add a hovercraft only mode where you battle while jumping between skyscrapers.

This is way, way off topic but back in the day I was a big Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 player and they had a game mode called Team Aerial Combat where it flying vehicle combat. You had to control these small little towers and if you fell off and hit the ground you instantly died. To this day it was one of most consistently fun modes I've ever played. I'd love a modern game to do something similar.

[cramx3]

I finally got a breakthrough game that wasn't bugged yesterday, (and it generally seems like the day 1 patch fixed all the server related issues, but none of the gameplay issues) and it was WILD.  Speaking of hovercrafts, the last point was the oil rig on the Breakaway map which lead to a crazy amount of hovercrafts on the ice beneath it.  If you want hovercraft battles, that's the first time in BF2042 where I really saw it.  128 players trying to cap two points on the oil rig was one of the craziest things I've seen in this game so far. As for the gameplay issues, looks like they are trying to have most of those fixed for the next patch next week.

Oh, and was thinking. Saw a lot of people mention it costing $100 to get early access.  I looked and I actually paid $76 for the gold version which included early access and all 4 battle passes that will come out in 2022.  Considering how much fun I had in the buggy early access week and how good the communication has been with making fixes, I'm actually very satisfied.  All the complaints are mostly legit, but none of it has stopped me from enjoying the game. 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Knowing that they altered the FFVII plot, I have little interest in playing it and it's sequels until it is complete and has been received well. I will be extremely surprised if the plot ends up anything better than a trainwreck. Any other story set in the FFVII universe outside of the main game has been trash and the people behind it have told some of the worst and most convoluted stories in the entire medium.

I also found the cutscene direction and acting to be really subpar for an AAA game of this caliber in the FFVII remake demo, but most people don't seem bothered by it. It does not help the characters are constantly panting and grunting to an almost comedic degree. And the timing of the dialouge and quips is super off.

It's interesting how our perspectives are shaped by our different experiences and contexts. I've heard from others who shared this opinion, but my take as someone whose first full Final Fantasy game was VII Remake is that it was an awesome game with great combat, legendary music, memorable characters, and at times stunning visuals. I thought the plot was weird but I also thought the entire game was weird and even a bit ridiculous at times. Probably easier for me to swallow the B-movie elements as someone with no expectations than a seasoned fan who played the original.

One thing I will note about VII Remake is that it probably has the widest range in terms of character model quality of any game I've ever played. On one end of the spectrum, you have characters like Aerith who look almost next-gen, but on the other end you have NPCs lifted straight out of the N64 era.

[Phoenix87x]

After finishing up with Metroid Dread and really enjoying it, I am now starting out with Metroid Prime for the first time ever.

Really regret not playing this back in the day.

[Sacul]

I replayed it some months ago and it was pretty good, but some of the backtracking was fairly annoying tbh. I really wanted to go back to Prime 2, my favorite of the trilogy, but the emulator kept crashing

[Phoenix87x]

Got Psychonauts 2. So far I am liking it.

Its rare to see a game so imaginative and inventive. And at some points its like watching a pixar movie, which is cool.

[Melphina]

Metroid Dread became my favorite side scrolling Metroid. I suck at Metroid games and two fights gave me hell but it was so satisfying from start to finish.

I got the Link's Awakening remake and played through it three times back to back, 100%ing it twice. The original was among my favorite Zeldas and this remake has officially made me love it more than I thought I possibly could.

I got Pokémon Sword last week and the DLC, so I'm excited to get to that. I already beat Shield so I know everything I'm in for up to the DLC. It'll be fun to play since I haven't played Shield since it released and I got my two weeks of fun in. I also got Brilliant Diamond, and since I tapped out of Pokémon at gen 4 (game felt super sluggish so I dropped it by the first gym), this will be awesome to finally play for the first time.

I got Super Mario 3D All Stars, too. I just 100% 64 in a couple days. Camera is still frustrating but the game still rules. I'm in the middle of Sunshine and trying to get everything is still as big a nightmare as it has always been. It's so frustrating. I've never played Galaxy, since despite camping out for a Wii, I sold it after almost a year and being thoroughly underwhelmed with Nintendo's new trend of catering to casual gaming audiences. Can't wait to check it out.

I also got back into Disgaea 5 briefly and had to teach myself the entire game again yet I'm still confused by most of it. I'll never really "get" that game.

Also this summer I almost finally 100%ed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 yet 2 blades still elude me and I have to play the DLC. I'll never get around to this before 3.

Smash hype. Although now online is nothing but Sora which is so boring.

So yeah I've been busy. 😂

[Revenge319]

Also this summer I almost finally 100%ed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 yet 2 blades still elude me and I have to play the DLC.

Did you 100% the game on New Game or New Game Plus? There's some new Blades you can obtain that are exclusive to NG+.

[orcus116]

Got Psychonauts 2. So far I am liking it.

Its rare to see a game so imaginative and inventive. And at some points its like watching a pixar movie, which is cool.

It's amazing how after so many years it feels like the creativity never took a day off. While the original is still great the many improvements (QOL, scale, etc.) really make it feel how a sequel done correctly should feel.

[ErHaO]

Got Psychonauts 2. So far I am liking it.

Its rare to see a game so imaginative and inventive. And at some points its like watching a pixar movie, which is cool.

It is a very good game and the variety of locations is a sight to behold. For me it is easily the most engrossing colorful game of the last couple of years (mainly as an experience, not necessarily the gameplay). The hub world is one of the best in gaming. And the bossfights are great. And yeah, it really does feel like being in a good animation film at times.

I will say I do still prefer the original Psychonauts, mainly because that game has a bit more classic adventure game puzzling in it. But Psychonauts 2 brings plenty of things to the table and for sure is a good sequel.

[XJDenton]

I started to try and get into Bloodbourne again. It's clicking for me far more this time around.

[Melphina]

Also this summer I almost finally 100%ed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 yet 2 blades still elude me and I have to play the DLC.

Did you 100% the game on New Game or New Game Plus? There's some new Blades you can obtain that are exclusive to NG+.

Omg. Seriously? I haven't even done NG+ at all yet. 300 hours on my file and I'm just now finally finishing the affinity trees for the last couple of new blades.

[Revenge319]

Omg. Seriously? I haven't even done NG+ at all yet. 300 hours on my file and I'm just now finally finishing the affinity trees for the last couple of new blades.

Yeah. New Game Plus has some other pretty good new additions, too, so I'd highly recommend trying it out if/when you want to replay the game.

[cramx3]

Battlefield got a major update yesterday, over 150 fixes  which in some ways is sad to release a game so buggy, but also, great they addressed so many issues and got them fixed.  I don't care what the haters say, I'm having so much fun with this game.  The breakthrough mode is absolutely insane with the non stop crazy action.  I expect by the time season 1 starts in early 2022, the game will be mostly in great condition and then we will get a new map, specialist, and weapons.  It feels odd that a game released and the first month is basically beta testing, but it's been really fun and hard for me to complain about being a beta tester for $75 cost when I actually enjoy it.  I think a lot of the hate online for this game is from people who just aren't going to be happy regardless. "haters gonna hate"  I spent about 30 minutes in game yesterday just trying to land this shot  https://twitter.com/Cramx3/status/1466836119329329152

[Phoenix87x]

Matrix unreal engine 5 tech demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU0gvPcc3jQ

My favorite part is around 9:40, where I basically imagine I am playing GTA VI, or what I would want it to look like.

[Dublagent66]

I downloaded that on my PS5 and it looks absolutely amazing.  Unreal Engine has been around a long time. 

[cramx3]

That does look very impressive

[ReaperKK]

Man unreal 5 is such a crazy engine.

[ErHaO]

Checked it out on Series X. It's indeed super impressive, it has all the bells and whistles including ray tracing. The draw distance of the traffic and all is also insane. And the explosions/crashes are all simulated in real time and unique every time.

I love this as a marketing move. Usually with these tech demos you have people saying it is pre rendered or that some super high end (non-consumer) PC behind the scenes is running stuff. Releasing it on consoles for people to interact with it shows the huge potential of the Unreal 5 engine, for everyone (even the 300 dollar Series S runs it competently).

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I've been enjoying Ready or Not alot on steam. Very much in the same vein as the old SWAT and Rainbow Six games. It's very unforgiving and challenging, me like! 

[Herrick]

I bought a few games that were on sale.

Anthem was only $5. I figured if it's as bad as they say, at least I'm not wasting too much money. I've been pleasantly surprised by it. When I first heard about this game it looked cool to me but I immediately lost interest when I saw it was a online looter-shooter. However, the game has a great feel to it from simply walking around in a Javelin, to shooting, and flying. The flying is pretty great. I don't care at all about endgame content and multiplayer stuff. If I can get 20 to 30 fun hours out it, then that's well worth $5.

Other games I bought:
Ghostrunner for $10.
Control Ultimate Edition for $10.
Bayonetta for $4.