General gaming discussion

Potential-Monke · 24-07-2025 06:13PM

Anything by 2K is monetised to fuhk. The sports games are deliberately designed to make you bad so you'll spend real money to level up to a playable level. NBA2K is another prime example. 2K19 was the last good one iirc, before they discovered players are willing to pay to level up early, and have slowly turned it into the muck it currently is.

J. Marston · 24-07-2025 09:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123666881#Comment_123666881

And I used to love sports games too. Haven't played a Fifa either since maybe 2018.

On a different note, anyone have this issue in open world games where you get into a rut just clearing the map of oddjobs? I've started Cyberpunk again and I'm enjoying it but I find I'm forcing myself not to clear Watson before I move on. It makes sense too because if I progress I can level up and get more abilities and have more fun going back over that stuff later in the game but there is always a nagging voice in my head; "Just finish the side quests and then move on…"

Potential-Monke · 24-07-2025 09:28PM

Yes. I'm terrible for it. Replaying Ghost of Tsushima and I'm clearing up markers before moving the main story even though I know if I move on I'll unlock more. Don't even have the grapple yet. The same happened with Valhalla, both Horizon games, and, well, any open world really. Although, I dont think I ever cleared the ?'s in Skellige.

CastorTroy · 24-07-2025 09:32PM

Think it's better to clear them later when you have fast travel unlocked and can clear them faster.

And it's helpful when the map is broken up into areas and showing how many quests/collectibles are left in the area.

Retr0gamer · 25-07-2025 07:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123667342#Comment_123667342

Skinner box gaming. You aren't actually having fun but your mind thinks it is as you are checking off boxes and having everything neat and completed.

As for sports games, I think in their quest for realism they have forgotten to be fun. I've been made play FIFA by friends and it's honestly just a badly designed, not fun game. Stuff like sensible soccer and ISS deluxe were so much better because they were fun first and foremost. Same with Madden, the older iterations were actually a lot of fun but it feels like a boring stat manipulator now. And it's such a shame the 2K football games didn't over take Madden the way 2K basketball did as they were much better. Then again 2K basketball is a great game but they do everything they can around it to annoy and frustrated the player and I'm sure the same would have happened to a football game.

At least we still have great golf games. It's mad that Nintendo perfected the golf game with golf on the NES and we haven't moved on much from it as it's still a perfect game design.

Penn · 25-07-2025 08:05AM

I keep trying to get more into Madden since I've become an NFL fan in the past 10 or so years. I can do alright just relying on a few simple strategies and if I'm playing against one of the sh*t teams, but the game is rarely ever actually fun to play. The more realism they've added where you can make different adjustments to different players, there are different buttons for different ways to catch the ball etc, the more the game feels like you're trying to defuse a bomb half the time; trying to figure out which wires to cut in which order with a ticking clock in front of you.

Every time I try get into a Madden game (I buy it every few years), I spend ages in the training and practice drills trying to fully learn the game, and if I don't play the game for a few weeks, it all instantly leaves my brain. It can be incredibly convoluted and unintuitive.

That said I will be buying Madden again this year because the Eagles won the Superbowl last season, so they should be the highest rated team and some of the best players in the game. GO BIRDS!

Exclamation Marc · 25-07-2025 08:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123667911#Comment_123667911

ISS Deluxe... Be still my beating heart.

"it's a BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG kick"

Penn · 25-07-2025 12:12PM

Wuchang Fallen Feathers seems to be getting decent reviews. Taking a bit of a hit on Steam due to performance issues, but overall seems like a decent stab at a Souls game with some interesting mechanics and some great level design. Will hold off for now, but could be a picker-upper in the future.

Cordell · 25-07-2025 12:26PM

Apart from some traversal stuttering I didn't notice any significant performance issues, certainly nothing to justify the review bombing they got on Steam.

BenK · 25-07-2025 12:43PM

Anyone remember Hyper Soccer on the Nes back in the day, the spiritual predecessor to ISS? Put some amount if time into that game in my youth even if it wasn't the best. I thought the graphics at the time were so realistic!

Cerocco · 25-07-2025 02:06PM

I’m looking for help. I need to change a date of birth on my son’s Switch profile so he can use the mic on his headphones. Does anyone know how I do this. I can’t find a way to contact Nintendo Europe!

Unearthly · 26-07-2025 06:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123668868#Comment_123668868

I’ve read the level design is meant to be very good and inter connected. Something souls likes aren’t the best at

Retr0gamer · 26-07-2025 07:24AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123669279#Comment_123669279

Seems the only way to do it is to contact Nintendo. Not much help there I know.

Penn · 26-07-2025 08:15AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123671035#Comment_123671035

Yeah I saw a clip of Andy from Kinda Funny saying it's probably the best level design in since Dark Souls 1, so he seemed to be putting it even above DS3 and Elden Ring.

Unearthly · 26-07-2025 09:09AM

Played it for about 2 hours there. Defeated the first boss handy enough. Lots of areas are closed off for now but I imagine that’s where the DS1 comparisons will come in that I will probably end up arriving the other side. One thing that sticks out, or maybe I’ve missed them but there seems to be a lack of ‘bonfires’ - I’m having to really be careful with my health management

CastorTroy · 26-07-2025 11:15AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123669279#Comment_123669279

Looking online, it seems you can control your son's communication preferences through the Nintendo Parental app.

johnny_ultimate · 27-07-2025 05:43PM

Decided to boot up Devil Blade Reboot again over the weekend and boy it's pretty spectacular. I'd played a few runs on the easy mode previously and loved its wildly creative bullet patterns and intensity, but getting deeper in and realising it's even more enjoyable when you start learning it more. It's actually a really accessible take on the shmup, as it can be as difficult or easy as you want it to be. The combo system is built entirely on getting close to enemies before destroying them - which is risky, but rewarding. Whereas you can also just stay back and focus more on dodging. The game is very generous with extra lives and shields too.

Managed to 1cc normal today, but then realised there's a whole additional scoring system I wasn't really engaging with. When you bomb, you can either do a normal bomb and get a free shield (great for basic survival), or enter into a short overdrive mode that shoots your multiplier into the stratosphere. I was focused on survival so was usuing the former, but the latter is where the real score-chasing kicks in.

Anyway it's a fantastic labour of love project. A more straightforward remake of the original 90s game is included, and you can see so many of the ideas present there already. But the modern 'reboot' version supercharges the ideas and design to really great heights. Highly recommended, though alas PC only at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IBB-tLYjuA

johnny_ultimate · 29-07-2025 08:06AM

Deep into Riven at the moment. Very interesting game and clearly a big step above Myst in terms of design. It starts as a slow, hours-long exploration of the game world with surprisingly few puzzles - instead, it’ uses the opening visits to each island to give you key information that you’ll use in the hours ahead. Then around two or three hours in you’re suddenly hit with a much more complex puzzle that took me anyway a few hours to finish (and that was with some hints online when I got proper stuck). What differentiates it from Myst though is that the world is a lot more interconnected and coherent t - whereas most of Myst takes place in discreet side worlds. This is all about learning these particular spaces and the rules of the world - I’d be surprised if the likes of Outer Wilds weren’t inspired by this.

It looks pretty stunning in its new remake iteration. As cynical as I am about modern remakes of classic games in Unreal Engine, this does have some of the finest blue skies and architecture I’ve seen in any game - although in fairness it does have some lovely original art and renders to draw from.

Retr0gamer · 29-07-2025 08:24AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123679327#Comment_123679327

Myst and Riven would be massively influential in the indie game space. Myst was a massive deal on Macintosh which was a much bigger deal in the US than anywhere else in the world. It also had a reputation for being the platform for hipsters. Even on PC it was the best selling PC game of all time for a while. The japanese release did quite well and is often cited by Japanese developers like Fumito Ueda.

Riven was a pretty big seller as well and was itself very influential especially to indie developers.

jj880 · 29-07-2025 08:43AM

Cyan did a complete remake of Myst in VR a few years ago. Having played both versions Myst VR is one of the best games for sucking the player in. Really immersive. I see theyve also remade Riven in VR (which I haven't played). Looks like a step up in visuals with bigger jungles, caverns and monolith areas. Must give it a go.

johnny_ultimate · 29-07-2025 09:24AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123679401#Comment_123679401

There’s a Digital Foundry video on the Riven remake and while the PC VR version looks good (if heavy), the Quest version seems like a massive graphical downgrade compared to the PC version. Really seems to lose quite a bit of the beauty and detail in translation. The PC version - either flat or VR - seems like the way to go. It does look really spectacular on a normal screen.

Potential-Monke · 29-07-2025 04:19PM

I remember trying and failing at Myst, and then picking up Riven not knowing it was a sequel, I was just amazed at the 5 discs on PS1. Blown away by the graphics at the time, but like Johnny said I got to that puzzle and nope, never got further. Disc 2-5 never got used! Will give it a go when it comes to PS+, I'll still probably fail at the same place.

I like puzzle games, but they all get way too hard for me eventually, or should I say I run out of patience. Suppose nowadays we have t'internet to help, but back in my PS1 days there was no such thing. And anyone in school i mentioned Riven to never heard of it! Infinifactory is probably the only puzzle game I "finished".

JimBurnley · 29-07-2025 04:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123680835#Comment_123680835

Both games are on PS Plus Premium at the moment

johnny_ultimate · 29-07-2025 05:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123680941#Comment_123680941

Just to note these are the old PS1 ports, as opposed to the recent full 3D remakes on PC.

Still well worth a go as the essence is still there - but may not hold up quite as well on modern displays as the new editions do. At least they still have the FMVs though, which the new Riven has alas replaced with 3D models (nu Myst still has the original FMV clips as an option though).

Potential-Monke · 29-07-2025 05:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123680941#Comment_123680941

I'll wait for the remakes!

Retr0gamer · 29-07-2025 07:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123680990#Comment_123680990

The load times make these versions excruciating to play. I'd avoid.

johnny_ultimate · 30-07-2025 12:59PM

Finished Riven anyway - definitely a classic and a step above Myst in almost every sense. But also a step up in puzzle difficulty in the process. You need to pick up a lot of scattered information and internal rules to finish the last act - to be vague, after some confusion a guide informed me I had mixed up 'purple' and 'red' at a critical juncture - but the interconnectedness and cohesiveness of the world remains impressive throughout. Well worth playing anyway - very satisfying when everything comes together. Was particularly thrilled when I organically discovered how fast travel works in the game. Though it's not always very fast - my only real problem with the game, other than some key interactive switches or buttons not being immediately obvious in the visual design, is it can take quite some time to backtrack for information you might have neglected due to the slowness of the animations. The animations look amazing, but can be a bit frustrating when it takes 30 seconds to turn a tram around or summon a lift because they need to complete their animation first.

I have the other Myst games via a bundle from a few years back, so might give Myst III a go in a little while - despite that being non-Cyan, it seems like the most warmly regarded of the subsequent sequels. But back to the second half of Bananza first.