General gaming discussion

Penn · 13-01-2026 09:28PM

Never played The Division, but always loved the initial trailer for it

https://youtu.be/yPq_NVi-TC4?si=2y7zWg8e_DkdDg_E

Retr0gamer · 14-01-2026 05:42AM

Looks like Code Violet is a sinker.

https://metro.co.uk/2026/01/14/code-violet-review-ps5s-first-game-2026-also-worst-game-2026-26272339/

Dev said they don't want to put it on PC as they don't want mods. I don't think PC gamers are missing out on much.

Cordell · 14-01-2026 10:57AM

It looks like a studio specialised in barely above assets flipping stinkers so this might be a poor attempt to rage bait PCMR users.

Retr0gamer · 15-01-2026 11:54AM

"Skinner box" is what you are looking for:

https://share.google/kwcQO8PheOdvAB4gD

Cordell · 15-01-2026 02:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124149153#Comment_124149153

It's more than that, it's the purposeful seeking of pleasure that comes after conquering pain, not pleasure alone. If only there was a name for it …

Retr0gamer · 15-01-2026 02:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124149573#Comment_124149573

Dark souls?

CastorTroy · 15-01-2026 03:08PM

Hellraiser?

"We have such sights to show you"

Jordan 199 · 15-01-2026 11:00PM

Resident Evil Requiem showcase:

https://youtu.be/i9HIc7GZLa0?si=dbXQ-qA6BAq6gTsi

johnny_ultimate · 16-01-2026 01:51AM

Back to the excellent Rhythm Doctor after a few weeks away and continue to be impressed at how the designers have made a one-button rhythm game so compelling and challenging through imaginative design and some impressive troll tricks.

Spoiler for a level that's been in the wild for a few years in early access, but the lengths the developers have gone to to surprise and wrongfoot the player (while delivering Ouendan-style stories) is best illustrated by what happens in the second boss level when the game abruptly shifts to a desktop window…

This actually isn't even a particularly hard level, but trying to keep to a beat while the game window itself hops and dances across multiple monitors is really quite the thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poSaj8aLL-k

Retr0gamer · 16-01-2026 05:06AM

They should thank me as well.

The Iron Giant · 16-01-2026 10:48AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124151479#Comment_124151479

Jeez, almost as popular as Days Gone! 😜

Jordan 199 · 16-01-2026 12:01PM

You might get a mention in the credits in AC8.

"A special thanks to Retr0gamer for helping promote AC7. We are hoping he will do the same for subsequent AC titles."

😉

SuperBowserWorld · 16-01-2026 02:05PM

I was playing AC7 but I could not figure it out. There were no people to assisinate or towers to climb. Ubisoft really have destroyed that franchise.

Zero-Cool · 18-01-2026 04:32PM

Far Cry 3 is such a great game and looking at this trailer, they really made it pop. The feeling of taking out a full camp with just a knife hasn't been matched in any of the sequels imo. Might have to give it another go.

https://youtu.be/MLmdp8xEHTU?si=MW2_Cqv5xNcIC0hb

Retr0gamer · 19-01-2026 11:05AM

10 hours into Metroid prime 4. It's not that it's a bad game, I'm finding it compelling enough to keep playing, but some of the design is infuriating. Most areas are very linear so backtracking is basically going into an area, going all the way to the end of it again then coming back out and then being told that you went to the wrong area. And you do this multiple times. I don't think it's than Metroid Prime is stale, I played the remaster last year and absolutely inhaled it as I forgot just how good it is, but they really made backtracking tedious and removed the sense of exploration.

johnny_ultimate · 19-01-2026 11:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161292#Comment_124161292

My patience really wore thin with the game in the second half due to some of the tedium, but it's also worth noting it's a rare modern game that feels compromised by loading screens. Not only is the backtracking time intensive, but there are often multiple loading animations you have to sit through when going back to previous areas. It just makes everything feel clunky.

Retr0gamer · 19-01-2026 11:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161321#Comment_124161321

Yeah this has annoyed me as well. The switch 2 has been great with load times but it feels like they haven't been optimized in Metroid prime 4 as there is no way they should be this slow considering the micro express card speeds should be approaching the PS5 SSD or PC direct storage capabilities.

Would have been nice to have a teleporter between the start and end point of each area. The first area has one and volt forge has one for one of the towers but everywhere else doesn't.

johnny_ultimate · 19-01-2026 11:47AM

Yeah a few extra shortcuts would be nice, but the game having discreet linear levels means there's no room for the interesting loops or links you get in MP1. That's an interconnected world - this is just a big empty desert with levels dotted around it.

I definitely think it was probably a project salvaged from a lot of different ideas, but Retro had the game long enough that it's a real shame they didn't knock it into better shape. That said, in hindsight MP3 was already showing they were low on ideas for the series, so hopefully something fresh can be done if there's going to be another mainline 3D Metroid.

Retr0gamer · 19-01-2026 12:14PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161438#Comment_124161438

Yeah I was disappointed a little with Metroid Prime 3 as well. It seemed they had no new ideas for abilities so instead changed it up the order of when you acquire abilities, with a lot of late game abilities appearing early in the game.

Metroid Prime 4 really doesn't have too many new gimmicks. You get a psychic morphball and psychic visor but they are just sticking psychic in front of start Metroid abilities and they mostly function the exact same.

I did hear someone say it's been so long since a prime game that they wanted to make a game that would be more accessible to people jumping into the series but that doesn't wash when they released the MP1 remaster and that's just a better designed game and a better jumping in point for new players.

Regarding the NPCs and Samus not speaking, there was a lot of noise about this but even though it's not handled well it's really not the big deal people make it out to be. It think we need to move away from how important narrative is to games, if it's not actively interfering in the players enjoyment of the game I don't see what the big deal is.

johnny_ultimate · 19-01-2026 12:27PM

Yep, despite all the pre-release noise around Myles and the chattiness, that's actually way at the back of my issues with the final game.

Though the dude you keep bumping into in the desert who regales Samus with odd, short anecdotes about his religion before handing her a missile expansion is a funny bit (probably not intentionally funny).

Ozymandius2011 · 19-01-2026 12:32PM

Completed all the Suger's Legacy missions in AC Unity.

Some of the riddles are very challenging but rewarding.

Retr0gamer · 19-01-2026 12:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161551#Comment_124161551

One area of Metroid Prime 4 I can't complain about is the art direction and not sure why more wasn't made of it in reviews. It's absolutely gorgeous. Can't think of any other game that looks like it but it feels like they went for the aesthetic of surreal sci-fi novel covers from the 60's and 70's. There times when it feels like you are exploring a Rush album cover that was designed by Roger Dean.

The Iron Giant · 19-01-2026 01:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161568#Comment_124161568

Would love if Ubisoft got around to patching this to 60fps on the PS5.

Zero-Cool · 19-01-2026 08:33PM

The Division 2 will have Survivors mode added next month, not sure if paid dlc or not though. Like the Survival dlc or D1, Washington will be transformed with snow storms and you have to battle the weather and enemies to get to extraction point. Sounds simple but the first game nailed it so much. Just a pity not many people got the dlc so hopefully this is a free mode.

Ozymandius2011 · 20-01-2026 08:14AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161798#Comment_124161798

Which reminds me to check my own FPS. I think MSI Afterburner can be used for that.

Penn · 20-01-2026 09:41AM

So many games downloaded and never played…. So many great games I'm very interested in experiencing… So many games I know I'll have a great time with…

And yet right now all I really want to play is another run of Dark Souls 3. Also somewhat tempted by the idea of doing Dark Souls 2 but on PC with some lighting and graphics mods, though I am concerned how that might affect switching between PC and Steamdeck. Then again, I also never actually did the DLC of Dark Souls 1, so maybe a full playthrough of that…

God damn Souls games with their brilliance…. I have other sh*t I should be playing! Stop infesting my mind with your addictive gameplay!

Retr0gamer · 20-01-2026 09:54AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124163755#Comment_124163755

If you've been sleeping on armoured core 6, then play that.

Penn · 20-01-2026 10:02AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124163774#Comment_124163774

I did play a good chunk of it (seems like I completed Chapter 2 and maybe a few small missions after that). I enjoyed it well enough, but just never hooked me enough to continue.

ETA: Actually, just remembered one of the main reasons I stopped was because I said I'd try this other new game for a while, and if I didn't enjoy that game, I'd go back to Armored Core 6. That game was Baldur's Gate 3 and completely took over my life for about 2 months, after which I tried to get back into AC6 and just couldn't feel any urge to continue again.

McFly85 · 20-01-2026 11:01AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124163755#Comment_124163755

I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve started something only do decide to play Bloodborne again.

I still have DS2 in my backlog, the only one I haven’t played yet, maybe I should give that a go!

Penn · 20-01-2026 04:25PM

Have bought DS2 on PC and currently downloading a lighting/graphics mod (which is about the same file size as the game+DLC itself). Not sure how deep I'll get into it as I rarely find much comfort in gaming at my PC, especially as I work from home and spent enough time up here during the day, but I'll give it a whirl anyway. Might end up transferring to Steamdeck and playing most of it there without mods. At least I'll be able to say I played all the Souls games to some extent.

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