General gaming discussion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119806494#Comment_119806494

Yeah I agree on the accents. I actually got confused for a while, i couldnt remember the background story how all the English ended up in France.

They could at least have given them French accents.

I'm enjoying it though. I jad some tomb raider vibes too, that's no insult being compared to Tomb Raider.

I will take my time with this one, it will be my go to when I'm taking a break from MW2.

pixelburp

I'd argue it was the Captain Picard Effect: the most famous Frenchman in modern pop culture, played by noted Englishman Patrick Stewart. So definitive, even in the execrable follow-up show Picard, the characters ancestor from 202x who was very French, was played and voiced by an Englishwoman.

Mind you, famous Australian Russell Crowe played a Spaniard in Gladiator, while John Wayne once played Genghis khan fadó so pop culture has a terrible history of ignoring nationalities.

johnny_ultimate

I’m also playing A Plague Tale Innocence at the moment ahead of giving Requiem a go and I just turned on the French audio. Fixes the problem right up.

As an aside: it’s a good game that would be significantly better if there were fewer stealth combat sections.

SuperBowserWorld

They could have easily kept French accents and sayings in, it's a French company that made the game. It's like they paid extra for full on cockney 😃

I should have played Innocence when it was on GamePass. Have read the synopsis on Wikipedia instead. I am assuming the game play in the sequel is similar or better.

recyclops

It's similar but I played innocence in French with the subtitles. I am almost sure it's how it should be played. It's like dubbing in films it never looks or sounds the part and takes away from the overall product.

Perfect gamepass game the two of them are. But going straight from innocence to requiem would be a slog.

Grumpypants

I did enjoy it, took a while to get used to it and it gets more action oriented as you get stronger.

Think it being free on game pass helped.

Jordan 199

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is twenty years old today.

wotzgoingon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119810279#Comment_119810279

I remember calling over to my cousins house some Christmas and thinking there was something wrong with the screen. They didn't take it too kindly. It was probably really shít refresh rate with tearing going on due to PS2 not able to handle the game.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119810631#Comment_119810631

So did you and your cousin go bowling instead? 😀

SuperBowserWorld

...

one armed dwarf

There's no Bayonetta thread but everyone posts general impressions here so I'll share mine of Bayo. I think it's really good, it's one of those games which gets me excited about action games kinda games. I also think it's kinda bullshit, messy and badly in need of better hardware and a 2nd pass by Platinum.

It's a summoner-based stylish action game with some aspects of RPG action about it, in that it's not just high APM but also resource management, taking turns and spacing that's important. For a game all about punching things with big dinos and sexy giantesses I find it a super expressive bit of clobbering. It's not on a dmc5 level for me personally but it's close enough. But it's got a huge problem with visual clutter, bad resolution/aliasing issues, very bad attack telegraphs both audio and visual. A big thing I find wrong is something which DMC/DmC games do but this does not. In those games the enemy Ai would de-activate some of its aggressive functions if they were off screen. To avoid cheap shots hitting you when you couldn't possibly see them. Works 90 percent of the time in those games. In Bayo 3 however, fuckers are aggro 90% of the time whether you know they exist or not, and some of their projectiles are pixel thin and have little to no audio cues. It's like a literal kitchen sink being thrown at you by the game at times, and the sink is full of nails, dodge this you fecker.

I still really like it, but I think it's maybe one of the most problematic yet expressive character action games in the genre. It's got some real meat in its post game as well, here's me trying my best to get through the 2nd of 5 'trials' in the game, I died in the verse just after this one, it's messed up. Unfortunately it's a hard game to learn and get good at and I don't think it does a great job of helping players learn its systems, some of the systems feel a bit contradictory at times. A fantastic disaster of a game I think, I recommend it but also think some of it is really ****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tUFAMv_3ho

johnny_ultimate

There is a Bayo 3 thread in the Nintendo forum although not particularly active: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057817781/bayonetta-3-bayonetta-1-and-2-on-switch#latest

I have only played the first 3-4 hours so far but I love it. I think it absolutely bodies DMC5 in terms of level design and variety, and I’ve always personally preferred the Bayonetta combat to DMC (but that’s IMO). This refines and expands it in some fascinating and rewarding ways, at least so far.

It definitely has serious resolution issues, and often looks muddy and unstable as all hell. Performance I’ve found much more tolerable even with the dips, but image quality definitely is crying out for an upgrade on Switch 2. Would also agree with the occasional issue of visual overload and situational awareness: annoying to lose a Platinum medal due to a wayward arrow you didn’t even see. But the game is such a joy in action I’ve happily overlooked the obvious issues so far. Will see how the rest of the game fares.

one armed dwarf

Oh I see, oops. Things seemed way more freeform than on other forums I usually post on so apologies for the stream of consciousness lol

But yeah, it's layering on some interesting stuff on top of vanilla Bayo mechanics. Just.. put it on a ps4 or something.

SuperBowserWorld

I got Bayonetta 2 in CEX cheap for WiiU ages ago. I could not get into it at all so back to CEX it went. 🤣

Really, the Switch has probably the best variety and higest rated games of any console. But it is so underpowered now.

A Switch 2 + new versions of all Nintendo's existing franchises = 10 more years of Switch.

It's really a shame there is no 4K 60 FPS HDR capable Nintendo home console that can make its games really shine on the latest TVs.

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828923#Comment_119828923

The Switch was underpowered when it was released. It's premier launch titles was a port from their previous 5 year-old console and it still couldn't hold 30 FPS at times.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829217#Comment_119829217

The library of exclusives still takes a massive dump all over the PS4 and PS5's library (I won't even have to say anything about Xbox). Usually the performance out of the games is great (and BOTW had some extensive post launch performance patches). I'm kind of suspicious that Bayonetta 3 was meant for a Switch 2/pro that hasn't arrived due to the stupidly high demand there still is for the platform. It's not like Platinum to drop the ball on performance. Even Astral Chain which was unusually 30 FPS on Switch was a rock solid 30 FPS.

johnny_ultimate

I think the Switch was - and often still is - a rock solid performer by 2017 standards. It was such an immediate quality leap in handheld performance compared to previous gens, and the sheer ease of the dock is still a great little magic trick. For the price, it was affordable, accessible and plenty powerful. The compromises were very much worth it for the form factor and price, and games actually designed for the system often run fantastically.

Yes, I’m looking forward to a hardware refresh, and the Steam Deck shows what can be expected from next gen hardware (albeit in a much bigger form factor and with a more cumbersome and/or expensive TV experience). Other than some of the ‘impossible ports’ which are more like glorified dares, I think most big Switch games hold up well. Bayonetta is a case of developers being unwilling to sacrifice 60 FPS (well a 60 FPS target at least) and resolution taking a big hit as a result. But it’s still perfectly playable, and I’d rather it in this form than not having it at all. It’s still easily one of my favourite games of the year despite its sometimes Vaseline sheen 😂

Hopefully with some super sampling / upscaling magic a Switch 2 will be able to offer a much more fluid experience especially on TVs. But given the Steam Deck obviously falls far short of next gen console / mid tier PC performance (triply so when boosted beyond 720p), I don’t think Switch 2 will be able to compete technically with a PS5 or XBSX. Hopefully it’ll be much closer than its predecessor, though, and I think handheld form factor is still a very, very welcome thing to have.

Greyfox

The switch has been an amazing console with loads of great games although it does also have a lot of shovelware games.

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829533#Comment_119829533

I wasn't really commenting on the software, which has been fantastic. But the hardware was always an issue and even more so considering what they are charging for it.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119832396#Comment_119832396

Is imagine when the new switch comes out the old ones will be sold for years at some deep discounts. Nintendo will lap up any recession. Maybe even a redesigned Switch 1. They really play the long game.

They are like Disney, but they have managed to maintain their integrity and love for their medium. Disney basically doing very glossy Marvel/Star Wars/Remakes shovel ware these days.

recyclops

Gamepass is onto another winner few hours into ghost song and its excellent, fine mix of metroid with dark souls elements. Challenging bit fair, this and signalis in a week.

Microsoft has us spoilt

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119832766#Comment_119832766

I'd doubt it, to be honest. The switch, even as it is, is still selling gangbusters. I'd guess that we might see €50 off the switch, and then the new switch being a more expensive, premium model to upsell everyone. Second hand ones might drop temporarily, but will settle not too far off the official RRP.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119834449#Comment_119834449

Vampire Survivors this month too, looking forward to giving that a bash.

Does anybody use boosteroid for cloud gaming? They make you sign up and provide a mobile number to see their list of.games. I've heard it has Spider-Man, God of War, MW2, Witcher 3, Elden Ring, GTA, RDR2. Pretty good if true, I'm wondering if it's worth a go but want to find out more about it before giving them my mobile number.

https://boosteroid.com/

Retr0gamer

Sonic Frontiers is getting some daycent if not stellar reviews. Surprised by the 8/10 from the usually harsh metro gamecentral.

pixelburp

Gosh I gave up keeping track of Sonic games years ago; seems like for every "good" Sonic game that nails the pretty simple concept, there are 10 pieces of total shít good for nothing but Let's Plays on YouTube.

johnny_ultimate

Eurogamer describes it as a "hot mess", which is exactly what I would have expected from every video and screenshot released thus far.

I personally can't quite get over the fact that each of the 'open zones' looks like a generic Unreal Engine fan project.

Mr.Saturn

Haven't quite forgiven Sega for going back and messing up the one latter-day Sonic that turned out decent in Sonic Colours. No idea why I keep playing these games, it's not even like I grew up with Sonic but can't help myself for some reason.

SuperBowserWorld

Poor auld Sonic. Never could keep up with the plumber.

SuperBowserWorld

Had a great time with an open world game I won't mention here. But I'm done with open world FOMO for a long while ...

Also, no time for FPS, JRPGs, janky indie games about the meaning of life, bat **** crazy Bayonetta like games, hard as nails souls like games, dark, dreary apocalyptic games, piss filter coloured games ...

Think I need to go to the video game equivalent of the Betty Ford clinic.. where I'll be put on a strict diet of fun, colourful, super playable Nintendo games.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119849240#Comment_119849240

Or just take a break. Often find I get videogame burn out and watching some TV and movies instead for a week of two helps.