General gaming discussion

Retr0gamer

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Also good to hear about Dark Souls 2. The worst Souls game (not including Sekiro) but still a good game.

:mad:

Azza

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd love to see them return to the exploration focus of the first game. I played through a few of the Tomb Raiders recently and the first despite the dodgy graphics still holds up. It's you versus the environment and it's just a joy to overcome it. The sequels got worse as the focus turned to action and ultimately I stopped at TR3 (which is a pity as I hear Last Revelation is a brilliant return to form and I've never played it). The only recent games that emulate that you versus the environment feeling have been La Mulana and BotW to a certain extent.

The world doesn't need another Uncharted clone but it would be great to see a Tomb Raider game about raiding actual tombs and solving rube goldberg machine puzzles. The series just feels like it's treading water and following industry trends rather than being the trendsetter the original was.

I think such a Tomb Raider could be popular enough to be a viable franchise from a financial perspective in that it can receive critical acclaim and have enough of a fan turn a profit, the problem is I don't think that type of Tomb Raider will ever turn enough of a financial profit for publishers to try it. Publishers want the next big blockbuster that will make them massive profits and preferably something they can milk with annual installments. Being merely successful doesn't interest them, they want to be the next Call of Duty or Assassins Creed (at least like those games when they where at the height of their popularity).

Zero-Cool

Retr0gamer wrote: »

:mad:

Only because i list Sekiro bottom of the Souls list which i know is wildly in the minority but the fact is i enjoyed dark souls 2 more than sekiro.

gimli2112

TR1 was mind blowing for me at the time. I couldn't get over the graphics. The sounds in the cave at the very start, her footsteps were like fish being slapped off concrete but I thought it was amazing. I had only recently gotten over seeing cgi in RE1. What a time to be alive.
Games now are a relative disappointment, the cost of raised expectations.

Gamer Bhoy 89

I've given up on the search/wait for a PS5. I spent some of the money I had saved for it on other things I wanted. Bought myself a new "gaming" computer desk. Sick of feeling like I'm in a little corner using this one;


It's old, it's dirty, it's worn, it's claustrophobic, and I hate sitting at it.

Since I've grown to love playing PC games with the mouse/kb lately I figured I might as well get something to make the experience more enjoyable.

Went and ordered this;



I opted to go for an all-black look rather than the red accents, which I found to be rather juvenile. Also childish is the inclusion of the headset rack and cup holder but sure I may eat those words and actually use them. But it's the space I'm getting it for.

J. Marston

Dark Souls 2 SoTFS is the best Souls game and I'll die on that hill.

+ Best PVP.

+ Huge variety of builds.

+ Powerstancing

+ Best DLC in the series with some of the best areas and bosses in the series. (Eleum Loyce is the best area and has the best boss in the entire series for me)

+ Best NG+. Loads of changes and new weapons, spells etc.

+ Bone Fist.

+ Best hub in Majula.

- Shrine of Amana.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Gamer Bhoy 89 wrote: »

I've given up on the search/wait for a PS5. I spent some of the money I had saved for it on other things I wanted. Bought myself a new "gaming" computer desk. Sick of feeling like I'm in a little corner using this one;


Went and ordered this;

My current set up in the man cave working from home cave. I'd thoroughly recommend investing in a duronic mount if using 2 screens, looking at this I need to get my finger out and sort out the cabling here.

Jordan 199

^ Is that an XBOX 360S in the shelving unit to the right? I still have one of those consoles that I use the odd time.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Jordan 199 wrote: »

^ Is that an XBOX 360S in the shelving unit to the right? I still have one of those consoles that I use the odd time.

Yeah it is. It belongs to my brother. He let me have it as he has little use for it anymore now that he has a Series X, and I still play a few 360 games that are only available on that console and didn't get the backwards compatibility treatment for the XB1. It's much slower than I remember, I dunno if it's the latest OS that's a reason for it or if it's just overused.

Sorry I thought you were replying to me - I thought that was my picture above :pac: I also happen to have another desk to my right with a 32" TV on it. :pac::pac:

The placement of my own 360 is actually somewhere else, though, so I dunno why I thought it was there.

---

Deleted User wrote: »

My current set up in the man cave working from home cave. I'd thoroughly recommend investing in a duronic mount if using 2 screens, looking at this I need to get my finger out and sort out the cabling here.

I have never gotten much of a use using 2 screens. I used to use two monitors before, but I found myself rarely ever using the 2nd monitor for much of anything. Multitasking has become the thing of me just using my phone if I want to look something up quick, or if I'm playing something on Steam I just Shift-Tab and use the built-in browser, as shyte as it is.

Zero-Cool

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Bought Metro Redux for a tenner on Amazon, looking forward to giving that a lash.

Also good to hear about Dark Souls 2. The worst Souls game (not including Sekiro) but still a good game.

Metro Exodus on sale again on psn for 14 euro if anyone is interested in the upcoming current gen patch. It's on sale until 4th march so i should have redux by then and will hopefully have an idea if i fancy Exodus but some mixed reviews on here.

McFly85

Dark Souls is €12 on the PSN store so thought I'd give it a go. The early part of the game is certainly more forgiving than Demons Souls or Bloodborne, being able to start levelling pretty much from the off. I doubt it will stay as straightforward!

The Raging Bile Duct

Semi-games related. The daughter got a €25 Smyths gift card for Christmas and decided to use it towards buying a pro-controller for her Switch. It developed unbelievably bad drift on the thumb sticks after a couple of weeks so we decided to return it and get a refund. Bought on the 29th Dec, returned on the 28th Jan and refunded yesterday. While the process has been slow enough they have been decent in terms of getting back to me and answering queries when I contacted them through facebook. The problem I'm having now is that I'm after realising that the €25 has been refunded back to the gift card - the gift card that got fooked into the bin straight after we used it to pay for the controller. I'm trying to get them to issue us with a new card but I haven't heard back from them yet. It's a pretty frustrating experience - one that would have taken 5 minutes to sort out if we were able to go into a shop and talk to someone but it's taking weeks to sort out online.

I suppose it's a cautionary tale - if you've bought anything online with a Smyths gift card, don't fook it out like we did just in case you need to get a refund.

Gamer Bhoy 89

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

Semi-games related. The daughter got a €25 Smyths gift card for Christmas and decided to use it towards buying a pro-controller for her Switch. It developed unbelievably bad drift on the thumb sticks after a couple of weeks so we decided to return it and get a refund. Bought on the 29th Dec, returned on the 28th Jan and refunded yesterday. While the process has been slow enough they have been decent in terms of getting back to me and answering queries when I contacted them through facebook. The problem I'm having now is that I'm after realising that the €25 has been refunded back to the gift card - the gift card that got fooked into the bin straight after we used it to pay for the controller. I'm trying to get them to issue us with a new card but I haven't heard back from them yet. It's a pretty frustrating experience - one that would have taken 5 minutes to sort out if we were able to go into a shop and talk to someone but it's taking weeks to sort out online.

I suppose it's a cautionary tale - if you've bought anything online with a Smyths gift card, don't fook it out like we did just in case you need to get a refund.

I always take a photo of any digital gift cards I buy; be it product keys or otherwise, for this very reason.

Thargor

Was not expecting to see this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2QR2XuYRk

Mr Crispy

Thargor wrote: »

Was not expecting to see this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2QR2XuYRk

There's a full thread over in PC Gaming.

The Raging Bile Duct

Gamer Bhoy 89 wrote: »

I always take a photo of any digital gift cards I buy; be it product keys or otherwise, for this very reason.

Update to the story - they got in contact with me today with a new e-card. It's been a bit of a pain in the arse because of Covid restrictions and dealing with them through facebook and gmail but I can't fault Smyth's customer service.

Parsnips

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

Update to the story - they got in contact with me today with a new e-card. It's been a bit of a pain in the arse because of Covid restrictions and dealing with them through facebook and gmail but I can't fault Smyth's customer service.

I deal with Smyths as much as possible for gaming stuff.
they are much better at dealing with custmers than most other relatable shops.
That is pretty poor about refunding the original voucher.
99% of people would throw these away.

Gamer Bhoy 89

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

Update to the story - they got in contact with me today with a new e-card. It's been a bit of a pain in the arse because of Covid restrictions and dealing with them through facebook and gmail but I can't fault Smyth's customer service.

Ah good stuff, glad it worked out in the end

YoshiSays

Parsnips wrote: »

I deal with Smyths as much as possible for gaming stuff.
they are much better at dealing with custmers than most other relatable shops.
That is pretty poor about refunding the original voucher.
99% of people would throw these away.

Yup, never really have had a problem with smyths. Everything delivered on time, perfect condition. Have rung customer service recently, very helpful. Not sure why you would go through facebook to contact them. I'd say there would be very little next gen consoles in this country without them. They did a great job through covid. Like being able to go there and pick stuff up in person. disclaimer: I don't have any affiliation with them.

copperspock

The Series S is currently in stock at Gamestop & Smyths.

https://www.gamestop.ie/SearchResult/QuickSearch?q=xbox%20series&rootGenre=27

https://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/video-games-and-tablets/xbox-gaming/xbox-series-x-%7c-s/xbox-series-x-%7c-s-consoles/xbox-series-s-512gb-console/p/192247

johnny_ultimate

Playing Nioh 2 at the moment and enjoying it a lot as a refinement of the first - also a perfect fit for my current gaming mood. The only problem is I find its loot system maddening. You frequently have to go into the labyrinthine menus and sell or give away the endless amount of crap you pick up (there’s a bunch of mini, ill-explained systems for disposing of loot which makes it more convoluted). The first game had this problem too, but by god it’s an annoyance in what’s otherwise a smart, engaging action game. It’s been a while since I’ve played the first, but this also seems to fall into the sequel trap of adding more systems and menus you need to work through.

It’s the same problem I had with Cyberpunk recently, which also overloads you with mountains of crap loot. It’s such a joyless trudge IMO when these systems are in place: kills the enthusiasm for finding new stuff, because so much of it is junk.

Now obviously I see the appeal when a game has a proper, robust loot system - a Diablo or Destiny, maybe. These games feel designed around the quest for higher stats or cool new weapons. But in Cyberpunk and Nioh 2 it seems to me that they’re more of a distraction from core game mechanics that don’t need the endless loot churn.

nullObjects

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

It’s the same problem I had with Cyberpunk recently, which also overloads you with mountains of crap loot. It’s such a joyless trudge IMO when these systems are in place: kills the enthusiasm for finding new stuff, because so much of it is junk.

There's a perk that lets you automatically break down stuff that has no other purpose later in the game so it doesn't count towards your inventory.

Could definitely have a better way of stashing weapons though

The Raging Bile Duct

YoshiSays wrote: »

Yup, never really have had a problem with smyths. Everything delivered on time, perfect condition. Have rung customer service recently, very helpful. Not sure why you would go through facebook to contact them.

There's actually no phone number on their website to contact them at the moment. I would have rang them if I could find a number for them.

kearneybobs

Gamer Bhoy 89 wrote: »

I've given up on the search/wait for a PS5. I spent some of the money I had saved for it on other things I wanted. Bought myself a new "gaming" computer desk. Sick of feeling like I'm in a little corner using this one;


It's old, it's dirty, it's worn, it's claustrophobic, and I hate sitting at it.

Since I've grown to love playing PC games with the mouse/kb lately I figured I might as well get something to make the experience more enjoyable.

Went and ordered this;



I opted to go for an all-black look rather than the red accents, which I found to be rather juvenile. Also childish is the inclusion of the headset rack and cup holder but sure I may eat those words and actually use them. But it's the space I'm getting it for.

Have the same desk and it's perfect for me. Houses my PC and Ultrawide monitor. Super stable. Didn't bother with the drinks holder and charging rack for good reason. The full mouse mat is nice but a bit annoying to clean.

Potential-Monke

They could also have splashed on someone better to do the photo editing!

Gamer Bhoy 89

kearneybobs wrote: »

Have the same desk and it's perfect for me. Houses my PC and Ultrawide monitor. Super stable. Didn't bother with the drinks holder and charging rack for good reason. The full mouse mat is nice but a bit annoying to clean.

That's if I actually get the desk, at this stage. Still hasn't dispatched. Amazon says "we'll email you when we have a delivery date". That could take as long as they want from where I'm sitting.

Noting all of this for the home office I'm gonna building out later this year. Have my secret labs chair already. 😂

Markitron

Deleted User wrote: »

Noting all of this for the home office I'm gonna building out later this year. Have my secret labs chair already. ��

Google 'Reddit Ikea Battlestation' if you want some nice desk ideas

gizmo

Markitron wrote: »

Google 'Reddit Ikea Battlestation' if you want some nice desk ideas

It's spelled Ikea Karlby.