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

[ErHaO]

This year is kinda insane. Thus far my favourites are Zelda TotK, Pikmin 4, and Hi-Fi Rush.

But I have yet to play Resident Evil 4 remake, Jedi Survivor, Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Hogwarts Legacy. And then later this year Baldur's Gate 3 (PS5), Starfield, Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty, Armored Core VI, Forza Racing, Mario Bros Wonder, Spider-Man 2, and Alan Wake 2.

Furthermore, Lies of P and Lords of the Fallen show a lot of promise. Actually did the demo of Lies of P. If that is representative of the whole thing, it is an excellent Bloodborne "clone". I loved the setting and atmosphere. Seems like Bloodborne with a dash of Bioshock.

I am not sure what to expect of Armored Core VI though. The combat looks great, but I wonder how engaging the mission structure will be and how the story will work.

Even if some end up worse than expected, this year is very prolific to me. And as I said before, I think FFXVI kinda sucks, unfortunately, but the game has it's fans for sure.

I ultimately bought the Steelseries Nova 7x wireless during black friday, as that one works with PC, Switch, Xbox, and Playstation. And also on basically all other devices I own via bluetooth. Even at the same time, I can put on music via my phone (bleutooth) while shooting stuff on my PS5 (wifi). The Steelseries Nova 7p is better integrated with Playstation though (but does not work on Xbox). If you equalise it on PC it will remember that profile, that way I finetuned the sound to my liking and it works well with Sony's 3D audio algorithms. It is a solid all performer for it's pricerange, with a mic that has a noise cancelling mic pointing outwards.


I briefly had the Turtlebeach 700 something, but I returned it as it felt crummy to my hands. And it had a lot of issues with connections. I have broken enough headphones to know that one had a very limited lifespan in my hands. It also looked ridiculous on my head. I don't have a small head, but they made me look like I was a baby wearing adult headphones or something

Pictures or it didn't happen!!!  HAHAHA.

I actually did search for it because I know I sent someone a pic, but it has been erased from history it seems, haha. Anyways. it was the most clearly "gamer tech" thing I ever (briefly) owned.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

This year is kinda insane. Thus far my favourites are Zelda TotK, Pikmin 4, and Hi-Fi Rush.

But I have yet to play Resident Evil 4 remake, Jedi Survivor, Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Hogwarts Legacy. And then later this year Baldur's Gate 3 (PS5), Starfield, Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty, Armored Core VI, Forza Racing, Mario Bros Wonder, Spider-Man 2, and Alan Wake 2.

Furthermore, Lies of P and Lords of the Fallen show a lot of promise. Actually did the demo of Lies of P. If that is representative of the whole thing, it is an excellent Bloodborne "clone". I loved the setting and atmosphere. Seems like Bloodborne with a dash of Bioshock.

I am not sure what to expect of Armored Core VI though. The combat looks great, but I wonder how engaging the mission structure will be and how the story will work.

Even if some end up worse than expected, this year is very prolific to me. And as I said before, I think FFXVI kinda sucks, unfortunately, but the game has it's fans for sure.

Yeah, this year is pretty stacked for games.

[cramx3]

I've only bought switch games this year  so not such a great year for myself in terms of new games, but I am looking forward to digging into Starfield and giving myself a break from COD. (although I definitely have hit the breaks on playing COD since I've just been too busy to game at home)

I brought my switch with me on my eurotrip and been playing the new AEW wrestling game.  It's amazing how the N64 version just feels so much less clunky.  The controls are terrible for some reason and don't seem to work quite right.  Maybe I go back to playing Mario.

[ErHaO]

Seems like Armored Core is very good. Given that most mech games (including Armored Core) reviewed middling and were very niche, this seems nice. I remember playing some back in the day and always wondered where the genre went.

I've only bought switch games this year  so not such a great year for myself in terms of new games, but I am looking forward to digging into Starfield and giving myself a break from COD. (although I definitely have hit the breaks on playing COD since I've just been too busy to game at home)

I brought my switch with me on my eurotrip and been playing the new AEW wrestling game.  It's amazing how the N64 version just feels so much less clunky.  The controls are terrible for some reason and don't seem to work quite right.  Maybe I go back to playing Mario.

Yeah, in terms of large multiplayer focused titles the year is not that notable. That is typically what you are most interested in right?

I do wonder how many large multiplayer titles will remain focussing on pay to play on release. The quality and amount of free to play games has increased a lot over the last years. And most of the money seems to come from skins and battlepassess. The next major release is I think Counter Strike 2? (also f2p).

[Metro]

Ok I kinda like Elden Ring now. It only took a year and a half.

I still suck at it though.

[cramx3]

I've only bought switch games this year  so not such a great year for myself in terms of new games, but I am looking forward to digging into Starfield and giving myself a break from COD. (although I definitely have hit the breaks on playing COD since I've just been too busy to game at home)

I brought my switch with me on my eurotrip and been playing the new AEW wrestling game.  It's amazing how the N64 version just feels so much less clunky.  The controls are terrible for some reason and don't seem to work quite right.  Maybe I go back to playing Mario.

Yeah, in terms of large multiplayer focused titles the year is not that notable. That is typically what you are most interested in right?

I do wonder how many large multiplayer titles will remain focussing on pay to play on release. The quality and amount of free to play games has increased a lot over the last years. And most of the money seems to come from skins and battlepassess. The next major release is I think Counter Strike 2? (also f2p).

Yeah, I'm more into these kind of games the last few years (almost exclusively).  I'd imagine it's mostly going to be F2P as like you said, the money made from battlepasses and skins easily funds these kind of games.  I'm proud to say I have not yet put a single dollar into any F2P game.  While COD itself is not F2P, the Warzone mode is and that's where all the action is anyway.  I'd love to see a new game come into the space and really take over, but I just don't see it.  There's a couple new FPS games coming out soon by smaller studios that have potential, but I really don't think they are going to change the FPS space at all.

[Metro]

Ok I kinda like Elden Ring now.

Liar.

[nobloodyname]

Ok I kinda like Elden Ring now.

Liar.

I think I played for about 30 hours on release but most of that involved killing one Giant Ogre Thing (tm) so I could level up. I've tried a number of From games, get so far into them and then... just lose interest. They just don't feel like they're worth my time. And my lack of agility with a controller these days (gaming since 1984) would appear to support my assertion. Just funner ways to, uh... have fun. For me, anyway.

I'm gradually chomping my way through Baldur's Gate 3. Just reached the second act after about 25 hours. I could have sworn BG and BG2 both looked like this game on release. Interesting how perception changes, isn't it?

Was playing Aliens The Dark Descent and rather enjoying it until BG3 was released. Dave the Diver, too.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Ok I kinda like Elden Ring now.

Liar.

I think I played for about 30 hours on release but most of that involved killing one Giant Ogre Thing (tm) so I could level up. I've tried a number of From games, get so far into them and then... just lose interest. They just don't feel like they're worth my time. And my lack of agility with a controller these days (gaming since 1984) would appear to support my assertion. Just funner ways to, uh... have fun. For me, anyway.

I'm gradually chomping my way through Baldur's Gate 3. Just reached the second act after about 25 hours. I could have sworn BG and BG2 both looked like this game on release. Interesting how perception changes, isn't it?

Was playing Aliens The Dark Descent and rather enjoying it until BG3 was released. Dave the Diver, too.

Yeah, I've tried several From Software games and came to the conclusion that they are just not for me. I don't find enjoyment it the game being ultra hard all the time. Too stressful for me these days. I play games to relax and enjoy a good story or gameplay mechanics. Which leads me to....

Baldurs Gate 3, which is still taking up all my time. I actually spent 50 hours in the game before starting Act II. There is so much more to explore in the game than is immediately obvious. I'm finding myself constantly wondering where the story is going to lead to next and each of the characters backstories and quests are interesting too. I'm trying to finish before Starfield releases, but I don't see that happening...

[Dublagent66]

Ok I kinda like Elden Ring now.

Liar.

I think I played for about 30 hours on release but most of that involved killing one Giant Ogre Thing (tm) so I could level up. I've tried a number of From games, get so far into them and then... just lose interest. They just don't feel like they're worth my time. And my lack of agility with a controller these days (gaming since 1984) would appear to support my assertion. Just funner ways to, uh... have fun. For me, anyway.

My sentiments also pretty much.  Tried Dark Souls and didn't get far.  Same with Demon's Souls and got a little further but not by much.  Elden Ring didn't last long either but has the most potential for a revisit (if I'm not actually playing something better) lol.  If I want to die a bunch of times and still have fun, I'll play Destiny 2. lol

[nobloodyname]

Baldurs Gate 3, which is still taking up all my time. I actually spent 50 hours in the game before starting Act II. There is so much more to explore in the game than is immediately obvious. I'm finding myself constantly wondering where the story is going to lead to next and each of the characters backstories and quests are interesting too. I'm trying to finish before Starfield releases, but I don't see that happening...

I thought 25 hours was a decent chunk of time but hearing 50 hours makes me wonder what I've missed! The only reason I *think* I've started Act II is because I got some sort of achievement pop-up. But it doesn't really *feel* like a different Act. So lemme just check: did Act II begin when you get in the lift from the Grymdark? Or through the mountain pass, I guess? Actually, that makes me wonder if the mountain pass takes you to a different place? Anyway, 50 hours in Act I! Yeah, would love to know if I've missed an area somewhere.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Baldurs Gate 3, which is still taking up all my time. I actually spent 50 hours in the game before starting Act II. There is so much more to explore in the game than is immediately obvious. I'm finding myself constantly wondering where the story is going to lead to next and each of the characters backstories and quests are interesting too. I'm trying to finish before Starfield releases, but I don't see that happening...

I thought 25 hours was a decent chunk of time but hearing 50 hours makes me wonder what I've missed! The only reason I *think* I've started Act II is because I got some sort of achievement pop-up. But it doesn't really *feel* like a different Act. So lemme just check: did Act II begin when you get in the lift from the Grymdark? Or through the mountain pass, I guess? Actually, that makes me wonder if the mountain pass takes you to a different place? Anyway, 50 hours in Act I! Yeah, would love to know if I've missed an area somewhere.

Spoilers ahead....
You are correct. That is the start of Act II. Both areas, Grymdark and the mountain pass, take you to roughly the same area. Sort of.

[nobloodyname]

Good to know - thanks for that

Was looking forward to playing more later but I've got a second date, alas. What can a man do?

(That might be a humble brag.)

[ErHaO]

Played Armored Core VI, really enjoyed it. Defeated the second boss, thus far it is far more accomodating than other From games. Customization is awesome and accessible without much grinding (or paying for skins). Customization is actually really recommended by the game and you can even completely redo you entire mech mid mission just before the boss to change tactics.

Glad From branched out and made another great game, showing they are not a one trick pony.

I am sure I will hit a wall soon, as it is From Software, but the first hour was far easier than any of their other titles.

[nobloodyname]

Re BG3, can confirm I was indeed missing a whole area in Act 1

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Re BG3, can confirm I was indeed missing a whole area in Act 1

It's easy to do. I went through 90% of act 2 and realized there was a whole area I had missed there.

[jokifoter]

what do you think of wow classic? i think it is much nicer and more comfortable than the previous parts if you need help, you can come here, I didn't have a gap with that. but all at your own risk!

[nobloodyname]

Well, here's my pithy one word review: boring.

Shame, 'cos I certainly enjoyed Diablo, Diablo 2 and even Diablo 3 on release. But Diablo 4? I just find it an absolute chore to play and I haven't even finished the campaign yet.

[ReaperKK]

I was really enjoying Diablo 4 but kind of fell off it when BG3 came out. I also rebooted WoW to play hardcore and I've been having a blast. Stakes are much, much higher

[ErHaO]

I played Diablo 3 and never got the appeal at all. It looked visually mediocre, the story was straight up bad, and the gameplay barely had anything to it. I don't think I am the target audience, as I really don't get how it is appealing to replay levels. It seems people have been endlessly grinding the same maps for many years.

I saw a friend play 4. I will say Diablo 4 does look great visually, but to me it seems like exactly the same experience as 3 in every other aspect.

But as I said, I don't think I am the target audience. Back in the day I was hyped to try out Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath, similar games that reviewed well. They looked great for the PS2, but I was bored very quickly.

[nobloodyname]

Oooh, Starfield not reviewing too well at this point. Explains why they literally wouldn't let the harder to please UK press anywhere near the review code.

[El Barto]

Oooh, Starfield not reviewing too well at this point. Explains why they literally wouldn't let the harder to please UK press anywhere near the review code.

The review I read was mixed. It's a standard Bethesda RPG, which is no surprise. It's apparently far more polished than you'd expect from an initial release from them. The quests seem to be hit or miss, and you never know which way they'll go until you start into them. The writing is good, and the meachinics not so much. The two things I can say about reviews at this point are: the game is apt to be absolutely massive, so it's hard to really get a feal from a few hours of play what the overall product is. Also, I think when you spend 10 years hyping something up it's necessarily going to fall short of what people want.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Oooh, Starfield not reviewing too well at this point. Explains why they literally wouldn't let the harder to please UK press anywhere near the review code.

i'll share my thoughts on starfield, i got lucky with early access and dang, i gotta say it's been a blast.

first off, let's talk gameplay. it's like a breath of fresh air in the sci-fi RPG scene. you're out there exploring the cosmos, hopping from planet to planet, and the sense of scale is something else. you can really feel the vastness of space as you cruise around in your ship. and the freedom? oh yeah, it's there. you can choose your path – trade, fight, or just be a wanderer. gotta admit, i've been doing a bit of each.

now, the music. they've really nailed the ambiance with the soundtrack. it's got this space-western vibe going on that just clicks with the setting. whether i'm dogfightin' in the void or chilling at a spaceport, the tunes are on point.

character development, they've done a solid job there too. you meet all sorts – grizzled space captains, quirky mechanics, enigmatic aliens. dialogue system's smooth, and your choices seem to matter. it's early days, but i'm already invested in some of these characters' stories.

overall, starfield's got me hooked. it's a step in a fresh direction for bethesda, and i'm digging the direction they're going here. can't wait for y'all to jump in and experience it for yourselves. alright, back to exploring the cosmos 

[El Barto]

Oooh, Starfield not reviewing too well at this point. Explains why they literally wouldn't let the harder to please UK press anywhere near the review code.

i'll share my thoughts on starfield, i got lucky with early access and dang, i gotta say it's been a blast.

first off, let's talk gameplay. it's like a breath of fresh air in the sci-fi RPG scene. you're out there exploring the cosmos, hopping from planet to planet, and the sense of scale is something else. you can really feel the vastness of space as you cruise around in your ship. and the freedom? oh yeah, it's there. you can choose your path – trade, fight, or just be a wanderer. gotta admit, i've been doing a bit of each.

now, the music. they've really nailed the ambiance with the soundtrack. it's got this space-western vibe going on that just clicks with the setting. whether i'm dogfightin' in the void or chilling at a spaceport, the tunes are on point.

character development, they've done a solid job there too. you meet all sorts – grizzled space captains, quirky mechanics, enigmatic aliens. dialogue system's smooth, and your choices seem to matter. it's early days, but i'm already invested in some of these characters' stories.

overall, starfield's got me hooked. it's a step in a fresh direction for bethesda, and i'm digging the direction they're going here. can't wait for y'all to jump in and experience it for yourselves. alright, back to exploring the cosmos 

Excellent. And I think that hints at another problem people might have with it with the sense of scale. If you're locked in on one style of gameplay it might not satisfy that itch. Hell, even if you're the world's biggest Skryim fan, or, for some reason, the world's biggest Fallout fan, this might not be what you're looking for. You were never more than ac couple of minutes from finding something to kill. Todd Howard said something that intrigued me, but concerned me for the vast game playing public. He said they wanted to incorporate periods of loneliness. I can see how some people are going to want to skip right past that without taking in the experience. Same with only 10% of the thousands of worlds being worth exploring. Something tells me that's probably a very generous creation on their part, but it's going to piss off a lot of game players.

[cramx3]

I havent read any reviews but I've seen a bunch of tiktoks, people complaining that you can't literally walk around entire planets  seriously, the game looks great (also from tiktoks, they aren't all bad, some are very positive).  And as El barto stated, it's a bethesda game so we all know what to expect other than those with ridiculous expectations.

I'm pretty excited to play, but I do wonder if my excitement will wear off more quickly as I feel like each bethesda game I've put less time into than the one before it.

[faizoff]

I was thinking of making my first day one PC Game purchase with Starfield but goddamn it's $70. I'm going to mull over it, it's something I fell I will have urge to actually play through. Kinda like Deliver Us The Moon, played that thing for hours.

[El Barto]

I was thinking of making my first day one PC Game purchase with Starfield but goddamn it's $70. I'm going to mull over it, it's something I fell I will have urge to actually play through. Kinda like Deliver Us The Moon, played that thing for hours.

My last day 1 pc game purchase was Doom3 and I hated it. That's why it was my last. I've been wary ever since. I have decided I'm buying the thing, and I won't play it until I do, but I'll give it as long as I can hold out, and maybe it'll be on sale by then. And either way I'll still be playing a pirated version of the thing, due to my ongoing hatred of Steam, earlier discussed.

Oh, and due to its size I've got a whole lot of drive shuffling to tend to before I can even think about it. Christ, that's gonna suck.

[cramx3]

I'll be playing via gamepass

[nobloodyname]

Well, I've got Starfield unencrypted and ready to go. Gotta get the food shopping done then I'll take a look.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Well, I've got Starfield unencrypted and ready to go. Gotta get the food shopping done then I'll take a look.

I've put about 4 hours into it so far. It has me intrigued so far. I curious to see where the story goes. I haven't even touched any of the side content yet or ship building or base building or planetary exploration or crafting or.....etc etc etc  Ah, it's good to have a new single player Bethesda game again.

[nobloodyname]

On PC: no HDR, no 5120x1440, no FoV slider, no brightess/contrast controls, no DLSS. We knew there'd be no DLSS because of the deal with AMD but no HDR is unforgiveable now in a AAA release. And I believe it's present on consoles. No brightness and no contrast controls - I mean, what the actual fuck? And what can you say about no FoV slider in 2023? What a lazy shitshow this is technically for PC gamers.

[soupytwist]

Alot of the reviews saying you don't really fly around in space, you can only fast travel to planets?  That's bad if that's the case.

[krands85]

Oooh, Starfield not reviewing too well at this point. Explains why they literally wouldn't let the harder to please UK press anywhere near the review code.

88 on Metacritic seems pretty good?

On PC: no HDR, no 5120x1440, no FoV slider, no brightess/contrast controls, no DLSS. We knew there'd be no DLSS because of the deal with AMD but no HDR is unforgiveable now in a AAA release. And I believe it's present on consoles. No brightness and no contrast controls - I mean, what the actual fuck? And what can you say about no FoV slider in 2023? What a lazy shitshow this is technically for PC gamers.

I saw that someone had already released a DLSS mod  Hopefully the other stuff will come soon too, but yeah it's not great to be missing those features.

[nobloodyname]

Alot of the reviews saying you don't really fly around in space, you can only fast travel to planets?  That's bad if that's the case.

Limited experience of the game so far but the first time you take off, control is taken away from you and you view the sequence from outside the ship. The first time you select a planet from the ship, you teleport there. And then when you choose to land, guess what happens? My suspicion is you don't actually fly anywhere. It's all a bit strange to me.

Edit: sorry, should say you 'fly' during space combat.

[nobloodyname]

I saw that someone had already released a DLSS mod  Hopefully the other stuff will come soon too, but yeah it's not great to be missing those features.

The DLSS mod works. There's also an ini hack now for the FoV.