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

[ErHaO]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

[Herrick]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

I don't have a problem with the difficulty. I just hate having to run back to a boss. After I finished the first Dark Souls I said, "Never again, Herrick". Then I bought Dark Souls 2, Sekiro, Bloodbourne & that other game where you play as the dude that looks like Geralt The Witcher    Oh and I also bought that sci-fi game where you attach weapons to this harness-type thing that's attached to the player's body. I haven't finished any of those games.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend learning mechanics that are super hard and frustrating. I play games for the interactive story. And open world games like Witcher 3 or RDR2 are perfect, because I can play at my own pace and take in the sights/explore without worrying about being pounded face first into the dirt around every corner.

[Herrick]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend learning mechanics that are super hard and frustrating. I play games for the interactive story. And open world games like Witcher 3 or RDR2 are perfect, because I can play at my own pace and take in the sights/explore without worrying about being pounded face first into the dirt around every corner.

I remember The Witcher 3's combat being kind of challenging in the beginning.

I'd like to play a game where I die in a few hits but so does every enemy. No bullet sponges. Fuck that. I'm playing a game called The Technomancer right now (well not right this minute as I'm at work) and the enemies are spongey as hell and I die in 3 to 4 hits. God of War was like that on Hard difficulty at least in the very early part of the game. I moved it to Normal and left it that way for the rest of the game. It felt balanced to me.

[ErHaO]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend learning mechanics that are super hard and frustrating. I play games for the interactive story. And open world games like Witcher 3 or RDR2 are perfect, because I can play at my own pace and take in the sights/explore without worrying about being pounded face first into the dirt around every corner.

Yeah I get that. I don't think Elden Ring will be for you.

And while FromSoft games have amazing lore and writing with great art direction, one of the main attractions is the methodical gameplay and the addiction to overcome the (fair) challenges. They are not immersive narrative RPG's or open world games in the sense the games you mention are.

Though I think The Witcher 3 is not easy on normal, especially Blood and Wine.

[Melphina]

I just finished up my first playthrough of RDR2 and Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern is my favorite cinematic like mission I've ever played in a video game. The atmosphere, the music, that moment at the beginning when you realize the whole gang is going out was just something special.

That's a great one. Since I only beat the story once, I'm having difficulty remembering if they were actually cutscenes or just highly stylized in-game moments, but whenever they used actual songs they wrote for the game, it resonated with me. "Unshaken" playing I think after Guarma, that gave me goosebumps. "Cruel World" when the epilogue starts and John and his family are riding through the country - the simplicity of that really got me. And Arthur's last ride, with "That's The Way It Is" playing and quotes from various characters throughout the story actually made me shed a few tears. I think that might be my single favorite moment in the game, it's an extraordinarily moving scene and I can't wait to get to that point again.

I think if I had to pick out a weak spot in the game, one thing that comes to mind is Guarma. It's not bad, but I remember thinking it just wasn't that necessary in the long run, that it was too different. I wonder if I'll feel the same way this time. I was perfectly happy staying in the old west, and was kind of annoyed there are animals there that you can't see anywhere else, if I remember correctly, so I was never going to see them again. I don't like missable content especially in games of this size so I've also been carefully paying attention to what I might be missing before I move on to major story beats.

[Dublagent66]

Really enjoying HFW.  The video is fantastic and there is never a shortage of things to do in this game. 

[Destiny Of Chaos]

If anyone is into retro games, I highly recommend Infernax, which is basically a love letter to Castlevania 2 with elements of other games such as Zelda 2 and Fable.

Available on PS4, Switch and XBOX (free with GamePass)

[Herrick]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend learning mechanics that are super hard and frustrating. I play games for the interactive story. And open world games like Witcher 3 or RDR2 are perfect, because I can play at my own pace and take in the sights/explore without worrying about being pounded face first into the dirt around every corner.

Yeah I get that. I don't think Elden Ring will be for you.

And while FromSoft games have amazing lore and writing with great art direction, one of the main attractions is the methodical gameplay and the addiction to overcome the (fair) challenges. They are not immersive narrative RPG's or open world games in the sense the games you mention are.

Though I think The Witcher 3 is not easy on normal, especially Blood and Wine.

I wonder how the save system will work for Elden Ring. I don't think any of their previous games use autosave and I don't think bonfires or whatever will be good for a huge open world game...unless there are a lot of them around.

[ErHaO]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend learning mechanics that are super hard and frustrating. I play games for the interactive story. And open world games like Witcher 3 or RDR2 are perfect, because I can play at my own pace and take in the sights/explore without worrying about being pounded face first into the dirt around every corner.

Yeah I get that. I don't think Elden Ring will be for you.

And while FromSoft games have amazing lore and writing with great art direction, one of the main attractions is the methodical gameplay and the addiction to overcome the (fair) challenges. They are not immersive narrative RPG's or open world games in the sense the games you mention are.

Though I think The Witcher 3 is not easy on normal, especially Blood and Wine.

I wonder how the save system will work for Elden Ring. I don't think any of their previous games use autosave and I don't think bonfires or whatever will be good for a huge open world game...unless there are a lot of them around.

I haven't followed anything about the game, only saw a trailer, don't know what approach they took. But unlike you for me the boss runs were not really a problem, with few exceptions. In Sekiro all main bosses have an idol next to it (tradeoff being that the bosses are longer).

I preordered a nice steelbook version and am looking forward to checking it out. Wasn't planning to, but apparently From Soft nailed the open world approach and it scores so ridiculously high I am really curious.

[Herrick]

Now that it's been said that Elden Ring does not have annoying boss-runs, I'm starting to look forward to this game.

I'm still on the fence with this one. I don't enjoy games with the difficulty that the Souls games had, so I will wait for reviews.

I think it will review really well. But I don't think Elden Ring is going to be any different in that regard.

Anyways, as someone who often picks easy mode in games, I do prefer the From Software games like this. Overcoming the challenges and roadblocks is what made them unforgettable to me, which would not have been the case if I was allowed to select easy.

For Dark Souls 1 I remember dying super often in just the second area and said "nope, not for me". Then a year later I tried and practised a bit and it became one of my favourites. A lot of times these games are more about understanding/learning the mechanics and getting the know how. That experience translates to all the modern From Soft games (well, except Sekiro to some degree).

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend learning mechanics that are super hard and frustrating. I play games for the interactive story. And open world games like Witcher 3 or RDR2 are perfect, because I can play at my own pace and take in the sights/explore without worrying about being pounded face first into the dirt around every corner.

Yeah I get that. I don't think Elden Ring will be for you.

And while FromSoft games have amazing lore and writing with great art direction, one of the main attractions is the methodical gameplay and the addiction to overcome the (fair) challenges. They are not immersive narrative RPG's or open world games in the sense the games you mention are.

Though I think The Witcher 3 is not easy on normal, especially Blood and Wine.

I wonder how the save system will work for Elden Ring. I don't think any of their previous games use autosave and I don't think bonfires or whatever will be good for a huge open world game...unless there are a lot of them around.

I haven't followed anything about the game, only saw a trailer, don't know what approach they took. But unlike you for me the boss runs were not really a problem, with few exceptions. In Sekiro all main bosses have an idol next to it (tradeoff being that the bosses are longer).

I preordered a nice steelbook version and am looking forward to checking it out. Wasn't planning to, but apparently From Soft nailed the open world approach and it scores so ridiculously high I am really curious.

Yeah it's getting good reviews. I've watched a couple reviews but I'm still not sure if this game is for me. It looks really good though!

[Phoenix87x]

Can't wait to play elder ring. Just gotta find a PS5 first 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Well, looks like I definitely won't be getting Elden Ring on PC, at least until they fix it. Apparently it is very poorly optimized, there's a 60fps cap and no ultrawide support. All deal breakers for me.

[Podaar]

Well, looks like I definitely won't be getting Elden Ring on PC, at least until they fix it. Apparently it is very poorly optimized, there's a 60fps cap and no ultrawide support. All deal breakers for me.

That's too bad. I watched Fightncowboy's review yesterday, and you could tell that he really wanted to give the game a 10/10 (he's a mega-souls fan) but just couldn't because of the bugs, and especially because of the PC performance issues. The memory leaks would be the worst. He clocked some moments at 12 FPS!

It looks pretty cool and kudos to them for creating an open world game, after all the linear games they've made. I know the art direction really appeals to folks, but I've got to say, it feels a bit tired to me. I liked when they put a twist or two in with Bloodbourne and Sekiro, but this games art direction seems more like a step back to me. Either that or the whole Tim Burton having a weird nightmare aesthetic has just worn thin.

[ReaperKK]

I'm terrible at souls games but I'll probably pick it up for PC today. If I get a lot of issues I'll just refund it.

[cramx3]

Well, looks like I definitely won't be getting Elden Ring on PC, at least until they fix it. Apparently it is very poorly optimized, there's a 60fps cap and no ultrawide support. All deal breakers for me.

Ahh that probably explains why one of my PC gamer friends said he just bought a PS5 for the game.  He has an ultra wide monitor. 

Game looks pretty cool and the reviews are so good that I am tempted to check it out, but there's a big part of me that feels like the game isn't really for me.  But if it's buggy and poor performing, that's a good reason to just hold off until it's fixed/more reviewed/on sale.

[Dublagent66]

Not a Dark Souls fan.  I like the scary atmosphere and environments, but I'm just getting too old and impatient for tedious combat and trying multiple times defeating the enemy.  I'm more of a FPS guy packing some serious heat.  Don't think Elden Ring is for me.  I was watching a gameplay review on YouTube and the guy said it seems to be a really cool game, but once he starts dying a lot he'll probably start talking shit about it. 

[ErHaO]

FromSoft games have unfortunately always been kind of rough in the framerate/framepacing department. But quality mode on consoles running between 30 and 60 is wild. Closest to consistent 60 fps seems to be the PS4pro version on the PS5. And the Series X version on performance seems to be good only if you have a VRR display, thanfully I have that so I don't think I will have many problems.

[orcus116]

I've only been playing for a few hours on PC and while I have noticed some stuttering and minor lag in spots the game is running relatively well. I had to disable some Microsoft rendering software that was causing issues and it fixed a lot. We'll see what happens when I get deeper into the game but so far so good. I also just let the game auto-quality the settings for me as it goes since I'm honestly not too picky when it comes to graphical settings.

[XJDenton]

Just bought myself a 180Hz monitor in a weekend sale. Now I just need a PC that can utilise it.

And now I have a PC (on the way).

[Melphina]

One last photo for a while. Took this on the Shady Belle mission in Chapter 3 with Lenny. I have a particular fondness for piling large numbers of bodies together for silly photo ops and this turned out perfectly with the fountain and all. I really love playing pretend photographer 


full size

[Herrick]

Have you guys ever played The Technomancer? It was the RPG made before they made Greedfall.

The Technomancer is kind of a shitty game. Lots of backtracking and forcing you to fight the same group of annoying enemies over and over again. I'm pretty sure enemies scale with your level because they were pretty spongey throughout the whole game and I was pretty weak even when my weapons, armor, and powers were fully upgraded.

Now I am starting another kind of crappy RPG called Elex. The sequel came out today. I bought Elex back when it came out but I never got very far in it and gave up on it pretty quickly.

[Melphina]

Just checked my email... and my girlfriend bought me the collectors edition of Horizon Forbidden West. Which means someone is getting a PS5 soon. No way   

[MetalJunkie]

Well, looks like I definitely won't be getting Elden Ring on PC, at least until they fix it. Apparently it is very poorly optimized, there's a 60fps cap and no ultrawide support. All deal breakers for me.

Plays fine for me. I made sure to put Nvidia on performance mode. Apparently for some people it's trying to use integrated graphics rather than the GPU, but you can force it to use the GPU.

[Podaar]

Just checked my email... and my girlfriend bought me the collectors edition of Horizon Forbidden West. Which means someone is getting a PS5 soon. No way   

You’ll love it! Both the game and the PS5. Although, I do recommend sticking with the main quest mainly. If a side quest is feeling a bit too difficult, take the hint. 

[Chino]

I've been back and forth a million times about whether I want to dip my toes into the latest console war, especially seeing as I haven't played my PS4 in ages. I really want Gran Turismo 7 and the new Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. My membership rebate to Costco for 2021 was $280. I basically just check their site every day to see if they have any bundles in stock. I intend to save that $280 for that if I can. But as far as I can tell, Costco has received one shipment so far in 2022, and it was gone in about 6 minutes.   

The the issue I have with getting into the latest race is my TV. It's all of 10 or 11 years old at this point (it's a 3D TV), and I'm sure it won't do the new consoles justice.

[XJDenton]

Last couple of generations I only bought in once there were at least 5 games I wanted to play that were exclusive to the system. Right now there is not that much for the PS5 I am interested in that I cannot buy on PC.

[ReaperKK]

I've been back and forth a million times about whether I want to dip my toes into the latest console war, especially seeing as I haven't played my PS4 in ages. I really want Gran Turismo 7 and the new Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. My membership rebate to Costco for 2021 was $280. I basically just check their site every day to see if they have any bundles in stock. I intend to save that $280 for that if I can. But as far as I can tell, Costco has received one shipment so far in 2022, and it was gone in about 6 minutes.   

The the issue I have with getting into the latest race is my TV. It's all of 10 or 11 years old at this point (it's a 3D TV), and I'm sure it won't do the new consoles justice.

I was fully intent on getting a PS5 but with PS5 games slowly trickling to the PC I decided against it. Playstation games are slowly trickling down to PC which makes it harder to justify buying a PS5 in my case. GT7 was the last game I wanted that is a a Playstation exclusive but it's also coming to the PS4 so I'll dust off my Pro and play it on there.

[faizoff]

Just bought myself a 180Hz monitor in a weekend sale. Now I just need a PC that can utilise it.

And now I have a PC (on the way).

Cool! Is it a prebuilt? (Nothing wrong with that)

[XJDenton]

Just bought myself a 180Hz monitor in a weekend sale. Now I just need a PC that can utilise it.

And now I have a PC (on the way).

Cool! Is it a prebuilt? (Nothing wrong with that)

Nope, I like building PCs. Decided on a 12700F, 3070 Ti combo.

[Stadler]

3070, 3071 whatever it takes, amirite?   

[Melphina]

Just checked my email... and my girlfriend bought me the collectors edition of Horizon Forbidden West. Which means someone is getting a PS5 soon. No way   

You’ll love it! Both the game and the PS5. Although, I do recommend sticking with the main quest mainly. If a side quest is feeling a bit too difficult, take the hint. 

I stuck with the main quest in HZD when I first got my PS4 - it came bundled with it, it was the second or third game I played - and blew through it so fast that not only do I not remember a large part of the story, but there was a massive amount of the map I hadn't even uncovered. I don't even think I found one Tallneck in my entire playthrough unless there was one that was part of the story. So I'm actually considering buying HZD on my PC to tide me over - even though I have more than enough to play in the meantime.

Speaking of, 2 years in and I just can't figure out how to rob banks and stores in Red Dead. I've even watched videos and somehow I always manage to instantly stir up a $100 bounty and can't rob the register. Not sure wtf I'm doing wrong.

[faizoff]

Just bought myself a 180Hz monitor in a weekend sale. Now I just need a PC that can utilise it.

And now I have a PC (on the way).

Cool! Is it a prebuilt? (Nothing wrong with that)

Nope, I like building PCs. Decided on a 12700F, 3070 Ti combo.

Glad you were able to get those components, did you end up going with DDR5? Those RAM modules are hard to come by and very expensive right now.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Just bought myself a 180Hz monitor in a weekend sale. Now I just need a PC that can utilise it.

And now I have a PC (on the way).

Cool! Is it a prebuilt? (Nothing wrong with that)

Nope, I like building PCs. Decided on a 12700F, 3070 Ti combo.

Glad you were able to get those components, did you end up going with DDR5? Those RAM modules are hard to come by and very expensive right now.

And not to mention, not worth the price hike.

[XJDenton]

Just bought myself a 180Hz monitor in a weekend sale. Now I just need a PC that can utilise it.

And now I have a PC (on the way).

Cool! Is it a prebuilt? (Nothing wrong with that)

Nope, I like building PCs. Decided on a 12700F, 3070 Ti combo.

Glad you were able to get those components, did you end up going with DDR5? Those RAM modules are hard to come by and very expensive right now.

I went with a DDR4 mobo.

 https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-B660M-PLUS-D4/