General gaming discussion

Iseedeadpixels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123475110#Comment_123475110

Emmmmm 😅

J Mysterio

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

Yes, I enjoyed it. First game for me that lets you feel like you can freely move about a breathing star wars world. Good game.

Iseedeadpixels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123475340#Comment_123475340

Cool thanks, just seen a bit on youtube about it the other day about it failing and the various reasons, RPG burnout, Star Wars burnout, and a female lead being examples which tbh don't bother me in the slightest.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123475343#Comment_123475343

Ubisoft/Sony monogame burn out.

Tbh sometimes if you haven't played one in ten years it's nice to go and play one. A s the ten hours later you realize you made a mistake.

Retr0gamer

That Pac man metroidvania Shadow Labyrinth actually looks like a load of fun.

Jordan 199

Are the Silent Hill games more scary than the Resident Evil games?

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123481142#Comment_123481142

Resident evil isn't scary. It has some jump scares.

Silent Hill.... Silent Hill is unsettling.

Retr0gamer

Kingdom Hearts:

And then you read the important knowledge and it's just this shite:

**** this game.

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123481909#Comment_123481909

Oh dear. I think I might be way too over the 'hill' to play Silent Hill.

Higgo84

Currently playing Bully and I have sore fingers to pressing button A so many times. How it's fingers is I have to switch pressing it with other fingers after my thumb got sore. Old games love to use the A button.

And those wondering how the hell can your fingers be sore, well I have a undiagnosed condition in my hands. I have to limit holding my phone and gaming due to my hands even driving long distances holding the steering wheel is torture. But sure what can you do.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123482003#Comment_123482003

Get it checked out. GP. You may be making a problem worse by continuing like this. And you maybe able to fix it with simple physio. Just do it sooner rather than later. It may be RSI or something else.

I had a hand problem like that and simple physio (really basic stretching and simple weight exercises) and switching to a vertical mouse fixed it.

Also, I can't use the Series X XBox controller at all after a couple of years of using it, and not heavily at all. Discomfort after a short while. That's was the nail in the coffin for XBox for me. PS5 dual sense much more comfortable, no issues.

Also, holding mobile phones and typing on their hard surface all the time is not good for hands.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123482003#Comment_123482003

https://www.xbox.com/en-IE/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controller

Get an adaptive control and put the buttons under your feet. Problem mitigated somewhat.

Save an adaptive controller as well.

Penn

Have moved on to Devil May Cry 5 and I'm reminded how much I love this game. They really improved Nero's combat with the Devil Breaker arms, which give such a great and badly needed variety to his moveset from DMC4.

V's playstyle is very unique and interesting, but also feels very button-mashy. He's by far the easiest to hit SSS ranks with his moveset, but most moves you're doing nearly accidentally by trying to essentially control three characters at the same time. Half the time you get hit because you're not actually looking at the character you're playing as because you're trying to see where Griffon & Shadow are. Having to finish off enemies as V can also be awkward. His missions can be fun, but when given the option to choose which character you want to play a mission as, I'd always pick him last.

Haven't reached Dante's levels yet, but damn I love his motorbike chainsaw weapon in this game.

johnny_ultimate

Working away at Skin Deep when I have time for a level, and gradually coming around to it being my favourite game of the year so far. One of the most mechanically interesting immersive sim style games I’ve ever played, and all refined for maximum comedy and chaos potential. Every level earns multiple chuckles as you either pull off an insane feat of choreography or, more often, respond in a fumbling (literally) manner as everything goes to ****. It’s the kind of game where pepper or a basketball are more exciting tools than a gun, just because of the potential. And then there’s Blendo’s wonderful delivery (from square headed cats to a full on James Bond style opening titles) and some genuinely charming and funny writing.

All rendered in the glory of the Doom 3 engine. Magnificent.

quokula

For those of you playing Blue Prince, is it really as similar to Obra Dinn or Outer Wilds as people say? I've played two or three 15 minute sessions when I've had a quick break with the kids and so far I'm just feeling around randomly and have worked out literally nothing, but the vibes I get are that the puzzles are going to be completely arbitrary things like putting rooms of certain colours in a row based on random things you see like matching the order you see on pictures on walls and that kind of thing.

I'm not seeing a hook like those other games where you're retracing tracks, figuring out who were these people, what were they doing etc and all the puzzles are a matter of deduction in a world that makes complete sense. Is there a point where Blue Prince clicks and the world suddenly makes sense, or is it just a series of arbitrary puzzles where you're working out the rules more akin to something like The Witness?

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123487860#Comment_123487860

It's not so much that there's a deep, central mystery to uncover like with Obra Dinn or Outer Wilds. There is a central story to it but it's more just connective tissue.

There are layers and layers of puzzles in the game which go far deeper than you'd think. Nearly everything that looks even slightly out of place is inevitably a clue to a puzzle, and usually the answer to that puzzle, not only gives some reward on its own, but is also a piece of an even larger puzzle. So things where it's talking about characters or staff, could crop up later and give a hint towards a puzzle.

The primary goal to focus on is as it says; get into Room 46. Use that as your main target, and as you on, you'll pick up clues to other things. Some things might give you rewards or just knowledge that might pay off further down the line. But a lot of things might not make sense for a long time because it's just a small piece of a larger puzzle that you have no idea about yet.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123487860#Comment_123487860

Ah, I see why people are saying it's like Obra Dinn or Outer Wilds, but the roguelite element to it means that it's very hard to directly compare them.

There's no puzzle in it that's total bull, and all of them are explained, or at least, the method to solve them is explained, and then you might be left on your own to work it out after. The only one that I'd complain about is the gallery puzzle, as you have to think the way the designer wants you to think, and god help anyone who doesn't have english as a first language.

johnny_ultimate

While there’s a lot of ‘information game’ DNA in Blue Price, it’s also a lot more systemic and mechanics heavy than an Outer Wilds or Obra Dinn. While the former at least requires some gameplay engagement to act upon the info, Blue Prince you’re playing a big, complicated roguelite and deck builder on top of the information search. The RNG element also means the search isn’t as straightforward in the first place. Plus the puzzles are much more in the Myst vein than anything you encounter in Obra Dinn or Outer Wilds.

I do think the game has some of the magic of those earlier games when you crack some of the secrets, though IMO it also lacks the focus and elegance they have. It’s a fine game, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. But if you don’t like the drafting, randomisation and inventory management aspects, that stuff probably only becomes more involved as you go on.

Grumpypants

Blue prince is fun. I got hooked on it for a few days. But in the end the randomness annoyingly ruined the end of the game. I'd found how to get to room 46 but it took 12 more goes to correct a sequence of rooms that worked. Still overall I'd say it's fun.

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123489170#Comment_123489170

The best Dark Souls for me. Yes, the map is a bit wonky in some places and Shrine of Amana is rotten but it has the best PVP, best DLC which has some of the best areas in the whole series, best build variety and the only game in the series to actually put some effort into NG+.

HopingforNewZ

DS3 is fantastic and the best of the Souls games IMO. Loved DS2 also, couldn't get enough of that Majula music.

Jordan 199

Still Wakes the Deep makes me want to listen to the shipping forecast.

"Sole, Lundy, Fastnet. Calm with clear skies. Strong winds and heavy rain expected at 06.00 BST."

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123491722#Comment_123491722

Haven't played DS2, only DS1 and DS3. DS1 I appreciate more for the insane level design, slower and more methodical combat and just how unique the game feels. DS3 though I prefer because it just feels so much more fun to play, feels like there are better build options and weapons, some fantastic boss fights (especially with the DLCs), beautiful environments and graphics, and the general QoL improvements compared to DS1.

johnny_ultimate

Dark Souls 3 is objectively a 'better' game in than DS1 in many regards, but nothing will beat the glorious shock of the new with DS1. Even having played Demon's Souls before picking up DS1 on day one, it was exhilirating seeing that formula refined and expanded so vividly. And I don't think any of the From games yet have managed to pull off that trick of an interconnected, linked-up world quite like DS1 has. They haven't even tried in some ways, and I'm sure it's a right pain to actually pull off.

Hard to know if my opinion would have changed if I played it after all From's subsequent games.

DS2 is a baffling, mad game in so many ways, but there are still many pleasures within, especially in the re-release. Gibberish geography, but have fond memories of the Harvest Valley → Iron Keep run as one of the more memorable extended Dark Souls sequences.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123493124#Comment_123493124

And amazing and truly special as the interconnectivity of the level design was in DS1, I also think it would have been a bit of a restriction to keep trying to replicate it (both in terms of visuals of the landscape and also forcing you to circle back towards either the central hub or another area), and also it was very much a necessity in DS1 due to the lack of fast travel (and even the limited fast travel you get later in the game).

Obviously in later games you could have the interconnectivity as well as just fast travel, but I think the freedom to not link areas as much as they did in DS1 allowed for better and more varied individual levels and environments, which still have their own little bits of shortcuts and level design.

Of course then you have Elden Ring's open world map and some of the level design in it is absolutely mind blowing.

Zero-Cool

I've been in the verge of buying The Precinct but latest patch introduced a serious save file delete bug and devs are advising not to play on ps5 for now.

https://twitter.com/fallentreegames/status/1927794298910552358?t=zTIyz4faUY8l9XhemSnhjg&s=19

JimBurnley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123494486#Comment_123494486

Yikes. I finished it the other night. Conflicting experience. A large part of the time is enjoyable in the 8/10 range. But there's some annoying almost rage moments in the 5/10 area. So about a 7/10 overall is fair....

It looks lovely, 80s US gritty city in old GTA style. Altho the city is a bit samey, hard to distinguish between places. Not too big and bloated tho which is a definite positive.

There is decent 4 or 5 types of crimes (and then some variety in each type) to resolve on the shifts, but after doing 20 odd shifts this does give a bit of tedium. The main story is basically set around picking up clues whilst doing these shifts (and picking up clues is just randomly given to you every now and then after arresting random folk) so that loop is definitely a bit too repetitive near the end.

There are a few occasions when the gameplay loop veers away from this, I won't say too much more to avoid spoilers, but it's a shame more wasn't done in this space rather than then 90% of game solely based around shifts.

Controls are a bit iffy at times too. Most notably the driving feels quite light and skiddy. Especially if you get one of the more sporty cars, which you have to drive for some of the races/challenges, like driving over banana skins. The shooting takes bit of getting used to too, not awful but not great either.

All that said, I had a lot of fun overall. Feels like a solid attempt which hopefully they can build on to make a brilliant Precinct 2 in a few years time, bags of potential there.

keane2097

I finished Outer Wilds last night after spending a nice bit of time on it since the discussion on here. Very enjoyable. It's really nicely designed to where I found I was always learning just enough info to point me in a fruitful direction. Spent little or no time stuck. Thanks a lot for the recommendation.

Didn't have any joy with landing on the thing I presume ye were talking about, gave it a couple of goes but got very hot very fast!

I'll dust off the Switch and start Obra Dinn again next I suppose. Any other PS5 games that might be worth a spin?

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123496001#Comment_123496001

If it's stuff like obra Dinn then maybe case of the golden idol, forgotten city or chants of senaar?

Retr0gamer

Sometimes games can be mean.

Decided to give Gimmick a go through the recent rerelease. For those not in the know, it's a very late Famicom/NES release that is a technical showcase for the system and the price used copies go for is only matched by how high the difficult is.

The game has a feature where every level has a hidden object to find and finding all the hidden objects unlocks the final level and boss. These objects are also ridiculously hard to find and require a ridiculous understanding of how the game mechanics work.

So I died a lot but abused the save feature so I didn't lose progress when I turned the PC off. I finally beat the last boss last night with all the special items only to not trigger the secret final stage.

Turns out you have to pick up all the secret items and beat the game without continuing. An absolutely Heruclean task that might be tougher than battletoads

Needless to say I'll be going for that final level again but abusing the **** out of the save state feature.