Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

[Rumpy]

Yeah, same. Many of them are franchise reboots that I have no interest in.

[Max Peck]

The Witcher 4 trailer made the event for me, even if I don't care about the awards or most of the other announcements. Now I just need to forget that it's coming for a few more years.

[Rumpy]

Even the Witcher 4 trailer didn't do all that much for me, to be honest. It felt very similar to the trailer for the very first Witcher game.

To be honest, I think the best trailer I've seen out of the bunch was the trailer for The Outer Worlds 2.

[Dramatist]

I watched a YouTube video on PlayStation 5 games that are on sale for less than $2. I bought Nexomon for $.99. It’s a Pokémon clone and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. I would have never even given this a 2nd look at without watching the video.

Great use of $.99.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Max Peck]

One entirely predictable reaction to the Witcher IV trailer that I've seen (not here, thankfully, but elsewhere on the intertubes) is that a certain set of people have summarily decided that the game is hot woke garbage because everyone knows that girls can't be witchers.

[Rumpy]

Yeah, that certainly is predictable and it's sad to see people have that reaction these days, instead of playing a game and judging them on their own merits.

[Smoove_B]

One entirely predictable reaction to the Witcher IV trailer that I've seen (not here, thankfully, but elsewhere on the intertubes) is that a certain set of people have summarily decided that the game is hot woke garbage because everyone knows that girls can't be witchers.

What's hilarious is that there's a story reason there aren't any female Witchers; there's nothing "mechanically" prohibiting it - unless the book author changed something that I didn't see/read.

[Daehawk]

I follow the games story and go with the ending I got in 3..she is presumed dead or gone and she joins Geralt to be a Witcher but never went through the trials or potion changed. She is a child of the gods and has her own powers and abilities and one seems to be the ability to use witcher potions and benefit from their effects without harm. So in one way she is not a Witcher but for all other intent and purpose she is a Witcher....and I love it. I think she is great and I look forward to playing her story out with Geralt and he mentor in the game.

[Daehawk]

I woke up to an error box today saying something about Steam being bad and needed to be reinstalled. Thats a first. I clicked the X to exit instead of the exit button thing it may be malware or something else bad. Then I clicked steam to open it and got a blue screen of death. After the PC rebooted Steam started updating itself then it started. I opened it and al seems ok. But that was all weird.

[Rumpy]

Bad, Steam, Bad! Go sit in the corner!

Sounds like it might have glitched. I've had it happen. I'm guessing it tried to update itself but ran into an error hence the message you got.

[Daehawk]

I downloaded The Elder Scrolls: Castles to my phone. Its pretty fun. Its like Fallout Shelter but you're building and running a castle. The trouble Im having is where I live my cell phone signal is BAD..like 1 bar..sometimes no bars. Ive seen my neighbor have to walk out into his front yard to get a signal. So its losing connection a LOT and reconnecting a LOT. Pretty much ruins the game for me. Cant get a flow going.

And I had to put it on my samsung phone because it said my samsung tablet wasn't supported..that makes no sense. Both Samsung both Android.

[Blackhawk]

Android devices have specs, just like PCs.

[GreenGoo]

You guys will be excited to know that after nearly 750 hours on PC (and likely 200+ more on switch) I have finally, finally decided to finish Dark Souls. All DLC bosses and all Vanilla bosses. Completed 2 days ago. I followed it up with 2 more characters in rapid succession.

I could go on a long explanation of why it took so long (7-8 years after my first achievement in the game) but in the end it was the result of playing many, many different builds and eventual gaming fatigue leading me to start and stop playing many times over the years.

There is one or two more things I want to do before I shelve it forever, but it feels mostly like relief. This was one of those games for me where you just "had to" finish. And it's finally done.

Phew.

[hitbyambulance]

You guys will be excited to know that after nearly 750 hours on PC (and likely 200+ more on switch) I have finally, finally decided to finish Dark Souls. All DLC bosses and all Vanilla bosses. Completed 2 days ago. I followed it up with 2 more characters in rapid succession.

I could go on a long explanation of why it took so long (7-8 years after my first achievement in the game) but in the end it was the result of playing many, many different builds and eventual gaming fatigue leading me to start and stop playing many times over the years.

There is one or two more things I want to do before I shelve it forever, but it feels mostly like relief. This was one of those games for me where you just "had to" finish. And it's finally done.

Phew.

original or remaster?

[jztemple2]

Just FYI, I was trying to find some game to spend time on for the next month or so till the 1.0 release of Foundation. I have... 259 items on my wishlist. Only one of them is a full release game . The rest are early access or not yet released at all.

[LordMortis]

I think EA games (of which I bought Foundation forever ago as example) really tempered my enthusiasm for new games over time. I was lured into EA gaming by things like Don't Starve who made such a brilliant production of their... production... and then I got stuck with a lot incomplete games after that I wandered away from and just never returned to for games that are development for years and then go off to DLC land soon after release.

[GreenGoo]

original or remaster?

Prepare to Die. Edition. So Original plus DLC.

The Switch version is the Remaster.

[Daehawk]

I watched The Game Awards video on Steam. From it I installed Warframe 1999 and Steel Hunters. The latter one is from Wargaming...the guys who made World of Tanks and Ships. This is a mech battler. Its in a free week right now.

[Grifman]

Another update on Menace about the strategy later:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/heres- ... thers-devs

[Daehawk]

Amnyone tried Dark & Darker? The free EPic thing today is a upgrade for it but I dont have the base game. Its free. The steam video makes it look good..but its a Korean first person mmopvepvp thing

[hitbyambulance]

everyone playing Balatro now haha

[Max Peck]

I'm old enough that I remember when people used to talk about Steam sales. Maybe that's because Steam used to put some effort into making them into events instead of just sales, I dunno.

Anyway, this is my haul for the Winter Sale (so far):

Saints Row - Idols Anarchy Pack
Saints Row - Saints Criminal Customs
Saints Row - Merry Saintsmas Cosmetic Pack
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Digital Deluxe Edition
Metro Exodus - Gold Edition
Hardwar
Midnight Protocol
RESIDENT EVIL 2 / BIOHAZARD RE:2 Deluxe Editio
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Gorbad – Omens of Destruction
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Golgfag – Omens of Destruction
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Skulltaker – Omens of Destruction
Batman Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins - Season Pass

The Warhammer DLC wasn't on sale, but it counts for sale trading cards so it's all good.

[Isgrimnur]

Refunds ruined the Steam sales.

[jztemple2]

Refunds ruined the Steam sales.

For me it was when they eliminated the flash sales. Those were a lot of fun, checking in each day to see what was getting a red light sale.

[Blackhawk]

Steam sales in 2010 were games at 75%-90% off, especially the flash sales. Steam sales today are about a third of that discount. Steam sales were customer draws. When Steam had complete market domination, they didn't need the deep sales anymore. Add in the refund factor mentioned above, and it was curtains for the deep sales. And along with the need to bring in customers, the 'event' level stuff (community games, etc.) probably weren't worth the hassle and server load (the last 'event' I remember was when they had that monster fighting event and the entire world started using third-party programs to cheese it with massively fast inputs, which had to have been brutal for the servers.)

Not only that, when Steam was new, people were rushing to replace their physical games with digital versions, and to pick up all of the games that they'd wanted to play when they were released on disc, but they'd never gotten around to buying. When the games were suddenly all available for $5, it was a big event. Once people had their entire back list filled, they quit buying so much.

[GreenGoo]

+1.

[raydude]

From this winter Steam Sale I bought:

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Mini Metro
FAITH
Star Trek: Resurgence
Helicopter Gunship DEX

I also got Moonring but that's free (has always been free).

[Skinypupy]

I doubt I’ve bought anything from a Steam Sale for several years now. Lack of great deals, plus I have moved primary to console gaming these days. Most of the games I play are available on both eventually.

I always take a cursory glance at what’s on sale, but rarely buy anything.

[Daehawk]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress so that she can never paint death again. Explore a world of wonders inspired by Belle Époque France and battle unique enemies in this turn-based RPG with real-time mechanics.

Meet the cast

[Daehawk]

Feeling nostalgic for the old Independence War space games. Most notably the first one. It was my favorite. I remember being so excited when i heard they were making a part 2....I was a bit disappointed in it because it was totally different. But on it's own its an amazingly fun game too. And I wouldn't mind a sequel to it.

But Is MUCH rather have a true sequel to the first game, I-War. It was a true sim in most ways. It came out in 1997. The graphics were a sight to behold back then too. I finished it and waited for more. I got it in a addon or stand alone addon which i cant really remember the name of . EDIT: Defiance lol....it put you on the side of the Indie fleet..the bad guys ..mostly...of the first game.

If I could change just one thing i na true sequel it would be the controls. I-War had you using the F1 - F4 keys to switch between ship stations. It was difficult and not intuitive until you got well and good into the game.

Both games were made by Particle Systems in England. It was founded in 1993. It was bought out by someone and that company went belly up and took them with it unfortunately.

Here is the 14 minute intro to I-War. yes 14 min. I think it was some kind of record at the time but it was loved by all and was a real masterpiece at the time.

[YellowKing]

Playing Balatro (which was a lot more fun than I expected, I admit) got me in the mood for other roguelites, so I fired up Hades again since I never actually beat it. I had started it on GamePass when it came out, played it a ton, then I guess it got dropped, so I bought it on a Steam sale at some point but never really got back into it.

Figured I should give it one more solid shot before the sequel makes it out of early access.

I'm still playing Path of Exile 2, but a bit more casually.

[Skinypupy]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress so that she can never paint death again. Explore a world of wonders inspired by Belle Époque France and battle unique enemies in this turn-based RPG with real-time mechanics.

Meet the cast

This might be my most anticipated game of next year. Everything about it looks amazing…except for the awful name.

[jztemple2]

Amen!

Too many games released busted, broken, and basically in early access this year—it's time for it to stop

It's the era of the comeback. No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk 2077, Fallout 76, on and on the list goes: games that had god-awful launches but pulled it back from the brink over the course of patches and expansions. Games that started out as player-repelling PR disasters end up beloved golden boys. In some cases, the studios behind them end up with better reputations than they would have done if they'd just released a functional game at the beginning.

But I'm calling it. Enough. We're done. From now on, we're only releasing games that are actually complete. And by 'we,' I mean 'you,' the imaginary publisher reading this. The whole phenomenon has become alarmingly common, with games both big and small releasing preterm and having to be brought up to snuff long after we've already dropped $60 on them.

[Daehawk]

I have that dwarf game moria ..it lets me redefine keys but when it comes to using the arrows to move it says it lets me but its not saving them right. Sometimes it saves one. Other times its unassigned or reverts to wasd..what do i do? i cant even do the tutorial

EDIT: Found an answer on steam

https://steamcommunity.com/app/2933130/ ... 936632697/

[Kasey Chang]

Amnyone tried Dark & Darker? The free EPic thing today is a upgrade for it but I dont have the base game. Its free. The steam video makes it look good..but its a Korean first person mmopvepvp thing

It's insanely difficult, as it's first-person hack-and-slash, and shield doesn't really block sword swing. Only jumping back does. I think I just keep dying over and over and got tired of dying and quit the game after about 30 minutes.

[Daehawk]

Sounds Korean alright I remember when their games turned to pure grind fests. Ouch.

[Madmarcus]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Looks interesting! Thanks for the heads up.

So far during the sale I've purchased Hero's Adventure and Wandering Sword plus been gifted A Highland Song.

I'm a sucker for wuxia / martial arts rpgs so the first two are right up my alley. Wandering Sword gets more praise but the start was a little long and scripted. Hero's Adventure has a quicker tutorial section and starts the open world exploration faster. I'll come back to Wandering Sword but for now Hero's Adventure has pulled me in completely even if it is a little grindy at times.

A Highland Song is just a fun exploration game. Hopefully it isn't a problem that I'm terrible at the very simple rhythm game portion!. I'm not sure I'm going to feel like replaying the game to get faster and make it to the lighthouse in time or see all the peaks.

[jztemple2]

Interesting article from PC Gamer: Why do some games get a pass for jank and others don't?

The third week of November 2024 was a rough one. I was alternating between playing two different games that came out that week: Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Neither was going well.

When I say "playing" I mostly mean "staring at loading screens." Between Stalker 2's endlessly compiling shaders and Flight Sim's eternally activating packages, I spent most of the week glumly waiting for a progress meter to reach 100%. But that was just the start. Once the games actually loaded, they were janky as hell. Stalker 2 charmingly so, but Flight Sim not as much.

Jank is weird because it causes one of two diametrically opposed reactions in me: it's either "Haha, love it" or "I demand the party responsible be marched through the street and pelted with rotting vegetables while a stern-looking woman rings a large bell and chants 'Shame! Shame!'"

Why is jank forgivable, even lovable at times, and why is it infuriating at others? It all boils down to a few variables:

I also liked this:

Every game is an early access game now. Games are gonna launch with bugs and glitches and problems and jank, and then there will be post-launch patches and bug-fixes and a smoothing out of some of the bumps. How many games have we seen this year that launched into immediate "Mixed" reviews rating on Steam due to jank and leveled out to "Positive" a few days or weeks later? Plenty.

[Daehawk]

Me and my old gaming buddy are trying to find any and all coop pc games to play together. We started Wildlands last night.. I haven't laugh so hard in a decade. I was laughing so hard i couldn't breath as we road dirt bike to our mission..hahahha he was all over the place and riding off cliffs..not meaning to even. he got his bike stuck between 2 rocks and Ive never seen that happen before.

Lucky I can fly a chopper really good in Wildlands..planes not so much. I sweat that house ran out in front of me.

[Rumpy]

Part of it for me is perceived value. If I know I'm getting a lot of value out of it, I'm less likely to complain. At the same, prices are already very high here in Canada, which makes me less likely to buy games upon release. So, if I were to buy an expensive release day-one and it had lots of jank, I think I'd be super pissed as I wouldn't feel like I got my money's worth. I'm talking paying $90+.

I try to steer clear of early-access titles for similar reasons. I feel the format is often abused, with developers leaving the games abandoned, while they have high price tags just like a normal game