General gaming discussion

Grumpypants · 20-01-2023 12:24AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132365#Comment_120132365

Alan Wake just got instantly better in the voice of the visionary Dreamweaver 🤣🤣

Penn · 20-01-2023 09:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131397#Comment_120131397

The 'B' run in RE2 is a bit shorter. You go through most of the same areas and puzzles again (with then the differences between Leon/Claire's individual stories and paths), but there'll be some different solutions to puzzles, and you mostly skip some of the first part of the game as you're now used to the controls/combat and some areas already unlocked/open etc. But even when replaying the game for better rankings, the 'B' run is about half an hour shorter.

The interaction between the two stories isn't that great, especially not compared to the original. There'll still be doors you have to unlock as Claire which Leon should have already unlocked, weapons upgrades for Claire where there were weapon upgrades for Leon, some of the same boss fights/cutscenes etc. But it's still well worth playing through for the differences, it's a bit harder, different weapons to use. You should get through it quick enough. I think my first run as Leon A was the guts of 8 hours or so, whereas I might have then finished Claire B in under 4.

Stone Deaf 4evr · 20-01-2023 10:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131135#Comment_120131135

The actual end of an era now, I tapped out on listening once Gerstmann left, I had enjoyed it for years, I suppose in a funny way, a lot of it resonated with me as I'm broadly the same age as that cast, and I could empathise with their jaded cynicism every time a barrage of promotional bumpf like E3 came around, but the move to a younger crew was jarring - it really did feel like the principal skinner 'no, its the kids that are wrong' meme.

Grumpypants · 20-01-2023 10:22AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132857#Comment_120132857

Finding that myself, flying through the second run. Having Mr X show up pretty much right away has me sprinting around the Police Station (It took all the tension from the creepy atmosphere away). Also knowing codes for lockers, and safes, and knowing where items are, does speed it up. The USB dongle puzzle for example took me ages as Leon.

There are enough differences in the two-story paths to make it worth doing, but as you say having to do the same puzzles Leon figured out and the same boss battles Leon killed is silly. That could have been handled better.

Still mad to get back to playing it which doesn't happen often. It's a nice action / puzzle loop they have.

Retr0gamer · 20-01-2023 10:45AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133076#Comment_120133076

The kids in videogame journalism these days don't get enough time in the industry to develop that cynicism that is needed for good discourse. It seems like a fun career but it's very hard work, long hours and the pay is awful because they know they can get naive youngsters to do it.

Grumpypants · 20-01-2023 06:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133270#Comment_120133270

Long hours, bad pay and you get death threats if you give a game a 9.9 out if 10.

Zero-Cool · 20-01-2023 06:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135633#Comment_120135633

I'm sorry about that man but you should have given Days Gone 10/10.

Grumpypants · 20-01-2023 06:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135669#Comment_120135669

I gave it 11/10 🤣

Jordan 199 · 20-01-2023 07:05PM

Tis a shame we never got a Days Gone 2.

Potential-Monke · 20-01-2023 08:28PM

Not really...

Jordan 199 · 20-01-2023 09:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120136135#Comment_120136135

One more word out of you and I'll get this man to sort you out:

Potential-Monke · 20-01-2023 09:24PM

I feel like I should know who that is...

Jordan 199 · 20-01-2023 09:28PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120136367#Comment_120136367

Well, a Mr. N Bellic did work for him.

Retr0gamer · 20-01-2023 09:30PM

Days Gone 2 getting cancelled:

Mr.Saturn · 20-01-2023 09:47PM

Days Gone has finally drifted into 'so divisive I'm going to have to try it' territory for me. Whatever the argument, nobody ever seems to take a middling view of the game.

Retr0gamer · 20-01-2023 09:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120136489#Comment_120136489

You either play it and think 'this isn't as bad as people say it is' and pin your mast to it and call it a hidden gem or you find the whole experience so mediocre that you tell people not to waste their life playing it over better games.

I mean there's terrible games and Days Gone definitely isn't one of them but it just doesn't even try to stand out on it's own and be anything special.

Potential-Monke · 20-01-2023 10:48PM

We rarely agree, but I agree.

That and the beer can size fuel tanks...

Penn · 20-01-2023 11:06PM

Days Gone would have been a great game if it was half the length, double the hordes, and a quarter the dialogue (Shut up shut up shut up why the goddamn hell are you radioing me to talk I literally just f*cking left you 20 seconds ago after spending the last 5 minutes doing a mission with you just shut the goddamn hell up for a few minutes)

pixelburp · 21-01-2023 06:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120136849#Comment_120136849

I don't get AAA game's obsession with all this patter these days. Must only add time and money to development to add it all, and seems broadly unpopular with gamers

Zero-Cool · 21-01-2023 06:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137311#Comment_120137311

I get it with sports and GAAS where they're trying to show the investors his much time they can make players spend in their game but no idea with single player games. It's been proven time and time again over the last few years that just because a game has 50-80 hours worth of content doesn't make it good. I think maybe a lot of games were trying to capture that Witcher 3 gold and failed. I didn't play AC Valhalla but just reading about the padded play time put me right off.

I get devs want people to just keep playing their game but they border on Walking Dead Tv show territory where it just needs to end but they won't let it ( i know that eventually ended but with 15 spinoff shows).

Penn · 21-01-2023 08:40AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137311#Comment_120137311

With the likes of GTA, you have an open world which is full of life; things happening everywhere, people going about their business, you're listening to the radio etc.

With open worlds like Days Gone, Horizon etc, you have a large map, pockets of which are filled with settlements of people etc, but the rest is just empty map with various enemies and resource collection areas and challenges or whatever, and all you have to accompany you are the sounds of the environment or enemy noises. So they have to amp up things like the character talking to themselves, or side characters communicating with you the whole time, to try break up the monotony of traversing the open world.

But they need to dial it the f*ck back in a lot of cases. With Days Gone in particular, it constantly felt like having the exact same conversation with Boozer over the radio over and over again just worded slightly differently, or discussing something that literally just happened in the previous mission. NPCs would literally call you after you've just left their line of sight either during or after a mission and say nothing of value. And then of course you have Aloy in Horizon who has to vocalise everything she sees like she's trying to describe it to a blind person who's following her.

CastorTroy · 21-01-2023 08:56AM

One of my main problems with open world is when they make you go on missions that involve going from one end of the map to the other repeatedly rather than just keep everything fairly local. Especially when they ask you to collect something a bit at a time rather than giving you the full list at once.

"Here's your snails from the North" "oh now you remember you also need 10 fox skins from the west where foxes apparently don't have skins since I killed a hundred and only got 2"

21-01-2023 09:10AM

Yeah they have to keep you in the game for 120 hrs. I always do the bare minimum needed to get through the main story but even then it's usually not possible to level up without doing some of the tedious tasks.

I really do wonder sometimes why they are so popular. What makes people get excited for 120 hrs of.mostly tedious frustration. Is it just good marketing? People like the idea of the main story line and just blank out the other 90-100 hours of completely wasting your life.

21-01-2023 09:24AM

Semi open world is a nice compromise. Open world, but small maps and to the point. Metro Exodus did it well. I'm not sure what else, possibly Gears 5 and God of War? Halo Infinite tried to do it and had the right idea, but their open world was lifeless and joyless.

I just don't have time in my life to waste 120 hrs on especially when as I am playing it it feels like they are just intentionally wasting my time. I'm a COD fan and when I think about my time spent on that. It can be as little as 20 mins stints at a time but it is pure unadulterated gameplay. Oh and I can easily rack up 120 hrs no problem at all and not a second of that is wasted. Likewise for Forza. Oh there is another open world done well. Prospects look good for the new Fable if they pull it off.

Grumpypants · 21-01-2023 10:20AM

They do that chatter for accessibility to help those that process information differently. Memory, perception, attention to detail etc. all impact someone's ability to retain what happened and having it repeated helps.

Penn · 21-01-2023 10:35AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137507#Comment_120137507

I play a decent amount of open world games (or probably used to play more than I do now). For me it's all about gameplay, particularly when it comes to doing all the side stuff or collection fluff.

So long as I'm enjoying the gameplay, combat and traversal, and especially endgame if I can feel like a badass just fully exploring abilities and powers, I don't mind the mindless wandering or side stuff. I only ever bother with it or try to platinum the game if I'm still enjoying the gameplay.

Whereas something like RDR2, that has one of the most incredibly beautiful open worlds, and I still see the odd video showing small hidden things that you're only likely to find by really exploring everywhere. But that gameplay was so dull that after I finished the story I just felt so little enthusiasm to keep playing, and even though I'd quite like to play through the story again I just can't bring myself to even try because I know all the things outside of the main story missions I'll have to put myself through.

Brush the horse so its stamina doesnt deplete so quickly.... f*ck off.....

Penn · 21-01-2023 10:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137712#Comment_120137712

I'm sure it's a hard thing to balance, and there should definitely be different sliders in menus where you can tailor it to your own needs. But if you're 40 hours into a game and collecting your 11,538th twig to make arrows, I don't see how your character saying "Better keep this for later" is still of use to anyone.

johnny_ultimate · 21-01-2023 10:57AM

Accessibility is wonderful, and should be encouraged at every opportunity. However, it’s possible to make an extremely accessible game and not compromise the gameplay in the process. Games like God of War and Horizon would benefit immensely from menu options that would tweak the amount of assistance or chatter the player receives. It’s more development work, yes, but given we’re talking massive, hyper-polished first-party games in this particular conversation I’m sure the extra little bit of dev work it would require could be achieved. The result would be that a wider range of players would be able to adjust the gameplay to their preferences and needs.

SuperBowserWorld · 21-01-2023 11:11AM

Speaking of easy changes and open world games.

Ghosts of Tsushima. Started this last night ...

I get to choose my horse, after escaping near death, and it tells me there is a digital deluxe version horse available.

Kicked me right out of the game, that was trying to suck me in admirably, and made me think I was booking a b & b room with full Irish breakfast on some travel website. 🤣🤣🤣

SuperBowserWorld · 21-01-2023 11:17AM

That's one really nice thing about a lot of Nintendo games, you get trained in the mechanics without even knowing. It's because they have 40 years+ experience behind them.

It's a hard thing to do on modern complex games. They did a great job on BOTW in training you with all the skills you need, then booting you out into the big bad world after 2 hours or so on the great plateau.

I kind of got this feeling with Ghosts of Tsushima last night. But it's a harder sell for me, cause I've burned through a lot of open world games since BOTW. Skyrim certainly has the same adventure spirit as BOTW. Hoping GoT is similar.

One thing that is very important in an open world game is the soundtrack. BOTW nailed this. Skyrim also has those great flourishes. The soundtrack on GoT sounds excellent so far.

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