General gaming discussion

Retr0gamer

On another note I'm not quite ready to jump back into a big RPG so still playing a lot of smaller games (and having a RNG nightmare on the final boss of Wizardry).

I've started the add on a chapter of TR2 after watching some videos about how good these stages are and how much effort the designer put into them. I've beaten 2 of them and they've been excellent levels with some nasty surprises. The TR3 add on levels look even better.

keane2097

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123467352#Comment_123467352

Yeah I mean the part about getting the launch code and taking off 😅

Mr. CooL ICE

+1 on Outer Wilds. I find it hard to think of a game that was more immersive and satisfying.

I have friends who tried it and didn't like the run mechanics. I can see why it would annoy people initially but stick with it. Stick. With. It.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123467555#Comment_123467555

And play the DLC which is equally incredible.

johnny_ultimate

Outer Wilds and Obra Dinn are in leagues of their own IMO and always recommended, but with Blue Prince you can go down different avenues depending on what part of the game you particularly liked.

A lot of the puzzle design in BP is probably more akin to a Myst or Riven, which both have very handsome rereleases in recent years. An acquired taste still, but worth a shot. The Witness and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes are other options, though much more in the ‘puzzle sickos’ vein :)

Slay the Spire would also be a good shout if you like the deck building / drafting element of Blue Prince, or Balatro which is free on PS+ at the moment. Not puzzle games, but BP is as much a deck builder and roguelite as a puzzle game IMO.

Animal Well is another good shout if you like figuring out the rules of a mysterious world.

Penn

Oh Randy…

Randy Pitchford was asked on Twitter not to let Borderlands 4 be an $80 game, to which Randy, in all his magical genius, thought the best response would be "If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen."

https://twitter.com/DuvalMagic/status/1922454876803551555

The man doesn't need bajillions and bajillions of guns to constantly shoot himself in the foot.

Retr0gamer

The 80 dollar game thing we had at the start of the 360/PS3 era. The first year and a few months most releases were 70-75 euro. That quickly dropped once the systems reached a sustainable install base and competition between retailers set in. The difference here is that we no longer have retailers to bring the price down in a digital era.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123468010#Comment_123468010

I wouldn't mind games going to 80 at launch if it meant a rollback of so much of the forced mtx/monetisation in the games. Unfortunately, we'd be more likely to get 80euro, and also as much mtx/monetisation as they can fit in anyway.

But still, Randy very much in his "Don't you guys have phones?" phase of marketing.

Zero-Cool

Those 80 dollar games will be 90 euro though which just seems mental. We already have 80 euro games rrp which are 70 dollars in the US.

Jordan 199

Police Simulator: Patrol Officers has come to Game Pass today.

Time for me to become Garda Jordan.

Iseedeadpixels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123468069#Comment_123468069

Will download when I get home 😁

keane2097

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually just managed to find my way into Room 46 a while ago so have now fired up Outer Wilds on the PS5 determined to get off the planet this time around.

I think I'll take another swing at Obra Dinn on the Switch later on as well.

Higgo84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123468069#Comment_123468069

That's some difference going from a street thug in SA to a Garda in Police Simulator. 🤣

Mr Crispy

I remember paying £65 for Street Fighter 2 on the SNES back in 1992. That works out at over €150 today, according to an online calculator and now I feel physically sick.

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123464524#Comment_123464524

Catalina is a right psycho!

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123468965#Comment_123468965

Worth it at the time I reckon. I remember being absolutely blown away by it. First time it felt like playing a top arcade quality game at home.

Higgo84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123469145#Comment_123469145

Let's do a driveby.

Iseedeadpixels

Police Simulator is a bit buggy at times, tells me someone has commited a crime then deducts points for fining the person for said crime! One lad had someone elses I.D (different race ffs 🤣) and I got deducted points for searching him....He had a gun!

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123467984#Comment_123467984

Big "people who want to buy our PS3 will get a second job" energy.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123469403#Comment_123469403

Sounds like an accurate US cop simulator.

Retr0gamer

Lost a bet and now I'm playing Kingdom Hearts 2.

I remember this game having one of the worst openings of any videogame but it's worse than I remember. I played 3 hours last night and didn't even finish the opening section. It has you fannying about with a bunch of bellends talking about summer holidays and interrupted by nonsense dialogue and story stuff. You then have to do minigames to make money and they are just as much fun as you can imagine PS2 minigames could be.

What little combat there is is pretty poor. KH seems to exist in a parallel universe where devil may cry never happened and we are still stuck with awful PS1 mechanics from crap games like medieval. You just mash X. You can also cast magic but good luck doing that in a pinch with how bad the menu is. The games innovation are basically QTEs that appear sometimes in combat. It just feels really dated.

Penn

Speaking of Devil May Cry, I'm halfway through a replay of DMC4, and I still don't know why this game ranks pretty low on most people's DMC lists. Sure the level design and a lot of the enemies in DMC1 are better, but DMC4 just feels so fluid and fun to play. The backtracking through levels when you get to Dante is a bit cheap and you don't get to play as Dante for nearly long enough, but Nero's Buster arm is still fun to use, both with how different the animations are for each enemy but then also how you do stronger moves when in Devil Trigger.

The game looks fantastic with some beautiful areas and lighting (though again, it's a bit cheap that all Dante's levels are just going backwards through Nero's). Fun boss fights, decentish story (Nero's definitely cringier than Dante, but thankfully there's no "I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIIIGGGHHHHTTTT!!!!").

DMC1 obviously set the tone for the series, but I've rarely felt the urge to go back to it and would rather play DMC4 instead. So yeah, I've always enjoyed DMC4, thought it was a nice evolution from DMC3 and is a lot of fun. Playing as Vergil in the Special Edition was also brilliant. I'd give it a whirl but chances are I'm just going to do DMC5 Nero/Dante/V soon so I'll probably just do the Vergil playthrough of that game after instead of doing the Vergil run in this one.

DMC2 doesn't exist.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123470061#Comment_123470061

I think people felt it was a step down from DMC3. Nero's arm was a fantastic addition to the formula and it's telling that similar moves have been present in all DMC and Platinum games since. It's a real game changer and makes the combat a lot more fluid. The problem was that it felt very rushed and feels like half the game DMC3 was with the backtracking whereas DMC3, especially the special edition, was full of content. Still a great game just had it tough because of what it was following up.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123470139#Comment_123470139

Yeah there were definitely missed opportunities, coupled with the repeated levels and boss fights for Dante. The Exceed system for Nero's sword is also very finickity and ends up feeling wasted, and no real gun upgrades for Nero meant there was little point using it. But the game has a lot going for it that it always surprised me that it's very quickly dismissed by a lot of the audience, and especially that the reception to it took enough of a slide that Capcom decided to reboot with DmC (good core gameplay, bad DMC game).

keane2097

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123468343#Comment_123468343

So turns out I had psyched myself out on previous attempts at Outer Wilds playing with the toy ship in the village which is impossible to control. Flying the actual ship is a breeze by comparison 😅

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123470674#Comment_123470674

Come back to us when you unlock the trophy for landing the ship on a certain tricky location😂 I gave up on the platinum because of that damn trophy.

Enjoy the game man, remember to check the ship log which tracks things you have found and keys you know if there's more to find at the different locations, helps you set out a goal.

Mr. CooL ICE

And don't set out to clear an area. I made that mistake and the game doesn't work like that. I'd pick a planet and just try aimlessly to get to as many parts of it as possible. Whereas if I just got a clue that made me follow something on another planet, I'd ignore it and plough on. Don't do that. Follow the clues wherever they lead you

Iseedeadpixels

Is Star Wars Outlaws worth a punt?

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123475066#Comment_123475066

I'd say give it a few more months and it'll be on some sub service.

johnny_ultimate

TBH, if you’re ever wondering whether any given Ubisoft open world game from the last ten or so years is worth a punt, the answer is you can ALWAYS do better.