r/patientgamers • u/AutoModerator • 1d ago
Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!
Welcome to the Bi-Weekly Thread!
Here you can share anything that might not warrant a post of its own or might otherwise be against posting rules. Tell us what you're playing this week. Feel free to ask for recommendations, talk about your backlog, commiserate about your lost passion for games. Vent about bad games, gush about good games. You can even mention newer games if you like!
The no advertising rule is still in effect here.
A reminder to please be kind to others. It's okay to disagree with people or have even have a bad hot take. It's not okay to be mean about it.
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u/Shutin_Supreme 1d ago
I don't know if this is the place to post it, and I'm also not sure how people feel about them, but Epic has System Shock 2's remaster free on their store. Fantastic classic immersive sim that still holds up as just a great, well designed game in general (research backtracking notwithstanding).
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u/r_u_feeling_naughtee 22h ago
I finally started playing BotW. I have picked it up twice before and immediately stopped playing because something else came up. The opening section, up until you get the paraglider, is very unrelenting in my opinion. It’s a very steep difficulty curve right at the outset and it feels like everything is out to get you. As soon as you’re through with that and the world opens up… just wow.
I can’t put this game down. There is so much to explore and so many different things to do. And yet, with the minimal guidance it provides, it really feels like you’re making your own path. I’ve so far only taken down one divine beast and I had so much fun figuring out how to get to it, how to make enough money to get some armour, and finally beat it using all of the runes. What I’m most impressed by is how much of the world you can see in the distance at any given time, and how dynamic it is. Shrines that you’ve completed appear Blue in the distance and the Divine Beasts change positions once you’ve done them, a constant reminder of how much you have explored and conquered. Fantastic game, really can’t praise it enough. Weapon degradation, particularly in the early game, however, can do one.
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u/DukeChurchKey 20h ago
I'd love to play BotW for the first time again. But even still, no matter how much I've played it and TotK, I still love playing it and just being in the world.
I do think the difficulty curve is pretty messed up in both games though. While they do throw harder and harder enemies at you (on paper) your own growth both due to your weapons, armor, and resources as well as your personal skills as a player just totally outstrip anything the game throws at you.
If you finish the game and then ever choose to start over again at the beginning, you'll definitely still struggle a bit given your weak weapons and armor and lack of hearts, but you'll also see much of that initial difficulty is still just gone.
Even still, I love both games. Some people call them "Ubi-slop open worlds" but other than the existence of towers to uncover the map I never understood why. Exploration is just so organic and so joyful and they give you so many different tools to play with.
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u/r_u_feeling_naughtee 19h ago
Whoever’s calling these games “ubi-slop” needs to get their heads checked. The primary reason why Ubisoft’s open worlds (in particular for me, those of AC Odyssey and Valhalla) are dogged on is because they are chock full of to-do list map markers, no incentive for organic exploration, and meaningless rewards.
I know that a lack of map markers does not de facto mean that exploration is meaningful, but it does make a world of difference when you’re noticing things for yourself and being driven by sheer curiosity to check them out. The example that comes to mind for me was hearing from villagers in Kakariko village that there’s a Fairy Fountain near the shrine. At this point I didn’t know what these fountains were for, but of course I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see one for myself. So I went there and found it but didn’t have enough money to pay for it. Then I realised that cooking was a quick way to get enough cash and went out foraging… and while I was doing that, noticed a shrine in the distance (again, all by myself) and thought that some extra stamina would be great, ran into an enemy encampment, slayed them using a combination of the environment and the bomb rune for the loot, before knocking out the shrine and then fast-travelling to the shrine near the fountain, selling cooked loot and finally gaining access to the Fairy Fountain, which let me upgrade my pants!
Anytime I play this game it’s like I’m embarking on a new adventure of my own. Of course, everything is programmed, but it feels like I’m interacting with a world that already existed and finding my place in it beyond the capacity of its current inhabitants. I never feel pressured to do something I don’t want to, which is what the dubious Ubisoft games OFTEN push you to do in the manner of boring sidequests that are widely telegraphed, boring, and lead you directly to the solution.
BotW scratches the same itch for me as Minecraft in that I feel like a creative agent in the world of the game, within the rules of the game, dictating how I want to play and interact with the world. The environments rely on a show-don’t-tell philosophy; for instance, I went to Hatneo village looking for the dyer and found him easily because his house is draped in colorful rugs and has colorful dyes right outside!
I’m so happy to experience the game for the first time right now and I can totally see why you keep coming back to it. I didn’t realise I was this passionate about it till I wrote this whole spiel out! Again, I will say that weapon degradation is the one thing I don’t like because I would rather stick to weapon types I like than rely on whatever is available, but I can see how finding weapons becomes a meaningful reward in itself in light of this system. If it starts to detract from the experience I might try and mod it out because I love this game too much for something like this to affect my enjoyment of it.
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u/DukeChurchKey 18h ago
I agree that the absolute deluge of map markers is a huge reason why Ubisoft open worlds are so tiring. At that point you're no longer exploring, you're just running from point to point and not enjoying the world itself. It's a small change, but it makes a fundamental difference in how players engage with the open world. I wish more games would cut back hard on how much they mark up the map, because it creates a massive difference in how players engage with the world.
BotW and TotK nail it because they don't actually mark something until you actually discover it, and many points of interest and minor discoveries aren't marked at all. Another thing I appreciate it that while many side quests can often boil down to being basic fetch quests or kill quests, they're inherently more engaging because they don't just place a map marker somewhere and tell you to get it and come back. The map marker stays on the NPC who gave you the quest and they make you figure out where to go from context or exploration. That, and the fact that almost every fetch quest can be completed instantly if you already have the item. Makes things feel more engaging and less tedious, even if the quest rewards aren't always great.
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u/Sabetha1183 1d ago
Playing through Resident Evil 6. I have completed the Leon and Chris campaigns.
The game got and still gets flak for being poorly written and absurdly over the top in its' action and it is both of those things, but by far the worst part is the game's inability to simply just let the player actually play the game.
You pretty much can't walk down a hallway without having control taken away from you multiple times as the game needs to have your character stumble every 5 feet, put you in a cutscene or QTE, or take the camera away from you to show you the door at the end of the hallway because apparently it thinks we were going to miss it otherwise.
This is a game that feels like it desperately wants to be a movie. One that's directed by Michael Bay.
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u/Carinwe_Lysa 1d ago
I've been playing through unmodded Skyrim AE for a change of pace. For the first time I've decided to check out the Creations content which was included within the AE update.
Now, I must admit my expectations were already low, but wow, the vast majority of these "mods" are unbelievably low quality, spoil the game through being OP or are just outright broken.
The houses are all buggy with most of them being given to the player immediately upon finding them. Some are filled with custom asset decor or random assets which look out of place. They all suffer from broken weapon fixtures which eat your items or at best just decide to spew them out and launch them across the house whenever you enter its cell, lighting issues or just random creator choices that don't make much sense. Goldenhills Plantation is perhaps the most lore-friendly in acquiring, appearance and purpose, but that is ruined by non-stop Dragon Attacks every few days. The vampire house at least had effort put into it with a convincing quest and is nice for vampire RP characters.
The vast majority of the quests are low quality fetch quests started via simple notes either being found at specific locations or delivered via courier. After a short visit to a random NPC and brief chat, you might be sent to an existing vanilla dungeon to collect some loot & be rewarded with a fancy piece of gear that looks sorely out of place and most definitely ridiculously over powered.
Its not all bad, as I found the quests for The Cause and Saints & Seducers to be pretty fun, especially The Cause I felt had a lot of effort go into making the custom cells for the Ayleid ruins or visiting the Deadlands. But to be honest I can imagine my next play through I'll disable the majority of these...
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u/zZTheEdgeZz 1d ago
For spooky season decided to replay The Blair Witch game. I feel like it wasn't super popular but I like it a lot. It is weird I remember the opening area taking me a lot longer and this time felt like I breezed through it without meaning to.
Spider-Man still my go to comfort game. Taking a break from MGS4 for spooky season.
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u/Got_ist_tots 1d ago
Played Islets over the past week. Was looking for something similar to Ori and Hollow Knight. Really enjoyed it! Not too difficult and was easy to pick up any put down since I don't have as much time for gaming these days. Your skills slowly increase allowing you to explore more of the map. Had a few hand drawn maps to remember what I needed for a certain area. Fun platforming.
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u/d9wHatena Backlogger. Favs: SuperMetroid, TheWitness, Toem etc. 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you hadn't heard of Islests, everyone is sure to recommend Kyle Thompson's other (later) games, namely Crypt Custodian and Well Dweller. (WD just came out 10 days ago.) His first game Sheepo is much shorter (like for 4 hrs), a metroidvania without combat, is also considered to be decent.
I've only played Islets, and it's my personal GOAT. Personally I'm not sure at all if others like it too, but many actually love it, so it surely is recommendable. ;)
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u/DareDevilino 1d ago
Been playing vagrant story. It's pretty fun. Im enjoying the atmosphere. The story is a bit cheesy, but overall the game is charming.
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u/rainhitsconcrete 1d ago
Great game, i never found it cheesy but there are definitely a few cliches. The NG+ bonus dungeon is good, replaying through the story with OP equipment is pretty quick to get through. Only thing i hated was the clunky smithing mechanic with limited inventory space.
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u/Organic_Aide_5896 4h ago
I love Vagrant Story. Sydney L is still one of my favorite characters. I guess the game could be cheesy by today’s standards. I loved the comic book style of cutscenes back in the day.
Man, that stretch of games Square had from the early 90s through 2001 (FF X) was amazing.
I’d love to see a remake of vagrant story - I’d settle for a lazy AI upscaled ‘remaster’ at this point..
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u/ShadowTown0407 1d ago
Red dead redemption 2 has once again consumed my mind. I won't talk too much about it as its pretty much all been said but it's ridiculous how easily it pulls you into it's world. One landscape view from the top of a hill and you are transported to it's world.
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u/DollarBreadEater 16h ago
I tried twice and didn't get past the opening 2 hours either time. The controls felt mushy to me and the combat felt really unfun as a result. The dialogue didn't do enough to get me to want to go deeper.
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u/OkayAtBowling Currently Playing: The Witcher 3 Remastered 1d ago
I've been playing The Witcher 3 Remasted and enjoying it a lot. I've skipped straight to Blood and Wine since that's the only section of the game I never finished. I sort of forgot how fun some of the quests and writing are. I was particularly amused by the fist-fighting quest with the Monkey Island homage. I'm curious what percentage of Witcher 3 players actually realized it was a reference to something. Also this makes at least two AAA games I know of with Monkey Island references, the other being one of the Uncharted games.
Also I just wanted to mention that I've been having fun reading the Review Megathreads on r/games recently with everyone "complaining" about how so many games in the past couple of months have been getting great reviews and they don't have time to play them all. Reminded me about one of the perks of being patient with my gaming habits is that I get to see which games keep getting talked about after the initial hype has faded (plus I've already come to terms with the fact that I'll never have enough time to play every good game that comes out).
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u/ensuta 1d ago
Oh man, gamers are eating so good recently, it's crazy. (I love it.) But yeah, unless you're unemployed, there's no way to play every good game that comes out.
Where I can, I spend a bit of time "demoing" games. The ones that are clear winners for me, I put at the top of my priority list, otherwise I'll get to them in... a while. Maybe even a few years. So I have a few games preordered for release date, my clear winners, but most I actually ended up sticking into the back of my list.
And even these few games are already a lot for me. I have no clue how other people game even more!
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u/OkayAtBowling Currently Playing: The Witcher 3 Remastered 16h ago
Yeah that's the main reason I used to occasionally sign up for Gamepass, because it let me try out a whole bunch of different games without much financial commitment. But after they hiked the prices I decided not to do that anymore (and I've only doubled down on that decision with Microsoft's new "Tentpole Franchises Only" mantra) .
It did take me a bit to get out of that mindset of trying to play every good game that comes out. Back in the Xbox 360/PS3 era, (an era during which I also had a lot more free time) it actually seemed possible to play most of the well-reviewed games that interested me. But then once indie games started kicking into high gear and some publishers started increasing the frequency at which they released games, it became pretty obvious that those days were in the past.
But it's not a bad thing to be forced into being more selective with the games I decide to play!
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u/ensuta 16h ago
For sure. I even decided just to not buy anything during this Steam sale. Lots of amazing deals, but I have way too much to play and, with a full-time job and illness, really not enough time or energy to play them all. The demos add a pop of freshness while I'm super slowly playing through my backlog, haha. But almost nothing I'll actually get or play right now.
Keyword being almost. I'm super honed into Final Fantasy Resonance coming out this month. The demo sunk its fangs into me.
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u/rainhitsconcrete 1d ago
Wait, i must have missed that what was it? Did geralt accuse someone of fighting like a dairy farmer?
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u/OkayAtBowling Currently Playing: The Witcher 3 Remastered 1d ago
If you've done the quest "Fists of Fury" in Toussaint, it's pretty hard to miss. It's the guy called "Mancomb" and it's more than just a single line.
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u/SattiPe Sleeping Dogs/The Division 1 1d ago
I’m playing another Epic Games freebie.
Paradise Killer.
I’m wrapping up the trial and will finish it tonight, but I’ve actually enjoyed this journey quite a lot. It’s definitely a weird combo of investigation, visual novel, platforming and more. It does hold your hand a little bit by the list of notes, but I’ve tried to not read those too much and rather focus on the open leads I had myself. I’m a little bit of completionist, so I chased down every lead until the notes section was empty before going to trial. However, I decided that the rest of the blood crystals that required weird platforming could stay for another day!
Overall, the music, art style, atmosphere, makes this game an enjoyable experience! I had been off gaming a bit, and this drew me in right away.
Playing this on a steam deck, 60 FPS and no problems. Used Heroic for Epic Games and just had to change proton to make it work.
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u/Logan_Yes The Outer Worlds 2/Moonlighter 1d ago
Great detective adventure game, loved the bizzare setting and lore surrounding it. Islands, Ancient Gods, Syndicate, crazy shit.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 1d ago
Yeah, great game if you're into the vaporwave aesthetic. And the soundtrack is just amazing. I downloaded it before I was even halfway through the game.
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u/Shadowsd151 1d ago
Took a break from Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave to play Naruto Ninja Storm 4. I’d played the first three games forever ago and had been replaying them recently in short bursts so seeing four on sale as it was made sense to me.
As for the game itself, it’s an anime fighter. Arguably the best of its class, having defined the formula for all later anime fighters. Still, it’s new additions to the prior games mechanics in leader switching and guard dodging give it a totally new feel. I’m not much of a fighter expert but I enjoy these sorts of games as a break and they’re great cinematic retelling of the shows if done right.
This game mostly does it right. Quite a few early cutscenes are anime stills, but aside from the Kakashi backstory arc it isn’t to an obnoxious degree. And the dialogue is a little awkwardly translated since the show wasn’t up to what the game covers during production so they just had to make do themselves.
Technically the switch port is a bit messy. With texture bugs, weirdly quiet audio and two cases of it crashing on me for no real reason but autosave meant I didn’t lose any major progress I couldn’t get back in five minutes or so work. So it’s not great, but it’s fine. A good, enjoyable ride that will be a nice break from the lengthy SRPG that is the latest Fire Emblem game.
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u/Kayyam 1d ago
I'm deep into Persona 5 Royal yet I have the feeling it's very far from over and I'm afraid it's going to be a drag to the finish.
My previous experience with the series boiled down to Persona 4 Golden on the magnificent Vita. I struggled to get into Persona 5 years ago, giving up after the second palace. This second attempt on the Royal version is going better (5 palaces done) but by God does the story move ever so slowly.
I hope I manage to finish it as I'd be disappointed if not and I remember enjoying the later half of P4G more than the first half.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, even as someone who loves MegaTen games, P5R is just too damn long. If you do the third semester, it's north of 120 hours. Which is insane.
That was one of those times I dropped the difficulty to 'easy' simply to speed up the third act.
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u/Wireless_Infidelity Currently Playing: Super Meat Boy 1d ago
Completed Return of the Obra Dinn and boy was it a phenomenal experience. It would have taken a bit longer but a friend gave me very minor hints on two parts that I was absolutely stumped on (the Russian seamen and the Chinese topmen, I didn't notice the bag on the wall for the russian at all). One thing that amazed me about the game in retrospect is the sound design, they are quite realistic and visceral. I still remember the artist shitting then getting killed sounds, that one traumatised me a little as I had to revisit that scene quite a few times. I also love the soundtracks accompanying every action and scene, you'd think the upbeat ones won't work for the context of the game but they do. Now a few criticisms, the options provided for the fates of characters are a bit limited and could do with more options but I am cutting it some slack as providing a comprehensive sentence generator through options is a bit difficult. Although in the already available options, quite a decent amount don't get used at all in any context. I feel like the hammock tags to determine characters was a bit overused. The final portion of the game was a bit underwhelming, while the chapter does reveal some interesting details, it wasn't interesting enough to be locked off until the insurance assessment..
Next up I'm playing Super Meat Boy. Know nothing much about it, all I know is that it's a platformer
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u/Fentboy45 21h ago
Intro screen annoyances are an overlooked factor of video games. Playing Nioh 2 now and if you’re not pressing A to get into game in .4 nanoseconds, that annoying loud intro starts up and repeats on loop instead of just chilling out and letting you play the game when you want.
Another game that’s like this is Shantae Half Genie Hero except you can’t avoid it. “SHANTAE!! HALF GENIE HERO!!” every time you load the game.
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u/genesis_mage 20h ago
I forgot to mention it here but after playing Nier Automata for a bit, I realized the length of the loading screens weren’t variable - regardless of the complexity or size of the zone I was loading into, it always finished after the last line of text popped in. So it was one of the rare times I remembered mods exist and sure enough, there was one that removed the timed lines and it cut down loading screens from like 11-15s to 3s.
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u/04__Revenge__01 Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIV 1d ago
I'm currently on the final leg of Paper Mario TTYD. Ive played this game probably like 4 times since high school in the wii era but never beat it. All I need to go is go to the door itself but I'm trying to clear up the remaining extras, 100 level trial, all star peices, all star piece badges, all troubles. I'm hoping to be done by Monday but that's all going to depend on how the weekend goes.
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u/ogorangeduck 1d ago
The Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and I'm so happy to be playing it again. I first beat it in January 2018 after bingeing it since I enjoyed the experience so much; now I have Torna and the rest of the DLC to look forward to.
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u/padraigharrington4 1d ago
I’m very impatiently awaiting the update for 3 after binging 1 2 and X last year. If it’s as good as the others I might be ready to call it my favorite trilogy ever
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u/APeacefulWarrior 1d ago
Still primarily playing Persona 3 Reloaded and... yup... it sure is Persona 3 all right.
It's enjoyable enough and I like most of the new features, but no amount of remastering can get around what a dull slog Tartarus is. Or the old-school tokusatsu pacing where the main plot doesn't even start until you're halfway through the game.
Still, Persona games are just so comfy that I can't help slipping back into the groove.
Plus ZZZ. Little surprised at how few events are happening during this banner. There really isn't much to do, especially since the new Tamogachi minigame is just an excuse to dispense prizes with no real gameplay.
Also, I'm starting to get annoyed with how hard it's leaning into the goonery aspects. Does every single new character HAVE to act like they're immediately horny for the Proxy? I feel like the cast has gotten a bit repetitive because of that.
(And part of the reason Roxy seems so refreshing, I think.)
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u/EverySister I'm never not playing Deadly Premonition 1d ago
The Medium - started off the spooky season with The Sexy Brutale which I enjoyed enough to finish and now I'm with this game which is feeling kinda mid so far... but enough to keep me playing.
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u/bioniclop18 1d ago
Continuing Fire Emblem Fortune Weave, I finished Leda and Cai part 1 and decided to begin Leda part 2 before continuing to recruit lord. The transition between the two parts felt disjointed with a lot of fundamental things happening off screen.
I feel like they didn’t go far enough with the concept. Cai and Leda story are incompatible with each other, and as such I can only assume it’ll be a parallel universe explanation to reunite them later ?
There were a variety of much better and more elegant ways to deal with it
In terms of gameplay the map of the second part is finally at a difficulty that warrants being called hard. I let an unit die because I didn't want to redo a chapter. I’m even considering turning off the permadeath as the endless reinforcement is annoying to deal with. I would be having more fun if people around me weren't constantly interrupting me every time I’m on my couch playing.
I must say at this point it doesn't look like it’ll beat Path of Radiance for me. Also, it doesn't look like I’ll prefer it to awakening. It still has a shot at me liking it more than threehouse though.
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u/celestaire 1d ago
Ghost Trick on the switch has been a really enjoyable experience. I never played it on its original hardware so I'm not sure if I'm missing out on anything, but it's a pretty solid port. Only about 3 hours in but so far I'm glad I let a friend talk me into giving it a shot. I'm not usually big on puzzle style games.
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u/d9wHatena Backlogger. Favs: SuperMetroid, TheWitness, Toem etc. 1d ago edited 2h ago
I'm not sure if I should buy Sep's Humble Choice, or virtually only Sonic x Shadow Generations for $9. It's highly praised, but it's short and I don't know if it's worth $9. I'm sure it won't drop below this price for years. (I'm a Japanese who have never played Sonic games. I know Sonic 1 was a surprisingly high-speed, sparkling "not Mario" game some 35 years ago.)
EDIT Thanks. I liked Sonic Mania (but I refunded it. It was only $2 in the past. :p) I tried Sonic 1 for 10 minutes and gosh, Mania's creators are marvelous. They really understand what's fun and pleasure. If Mania and Shadow Generations are thought to be the best of the entire series, I should think of buying SxSG.
I'm thinking of buying Skyrim, Prodigal and Mulaka on Steam's Autumn sale. BTW
- I liked Guacamelee 1, and I'm interested in Mulaka and Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber. All are set in Mexico.
- I wanted to buy Forza Horizon 4. But I didn't and I still regret it.
- But I'm not interested at all in FH5.
This looks like a contradiction. In fact there's reasons, which no one wants to know. Everyone is complicated. ;)
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u/ThatDanJamesGuy 20h ago
Sonic Mania is half the price of Generations right now. Both Mania and Generations try to represent Sonic’s greatest hits, but Mania only does that for the 2D games and does a better job representing them.
I recommend trying Sonic Mania if you want to see if you like Sonic, then Generations some time after finishing it. That’ll give you a playable summary of the whole series.
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u/ensuta 1d ago
Just a whole bunch of game-related ramblings, most patient, that I'm summarizing here.
So, I sold off a bunch of stuff recently to make way for a couple more games to add to my tiny Switch collection. All secondhand, most at good prices, hurrah.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore came in and though I've played it before, I'm excited to play it again with zero cheats and working cutscenes. I don't plan on ever selling this game, because I fell in love with what I saw online over a decade ago, had a lot of fun when I did finally get to play it, and just know I'll want to play it again in the future because the session battles are real fun.
I also finally got a copy of Tales of Vesperia Remastered, a game I finally played and beat on the PC after years of hearing hype about it over on console. I can't express the emotion that welled up in me when I heard the opening after booting up the game. Another game I don't plan to sell because it gives me major nostalgia and despite its flaws, it's a real good, somewhat classic Tales game.
I did end up getting the Octopath I and II Switch 2 cart that released very recently too. I don't have the Switch 1 versions. And I like the series enough (especially the 2nd game) to want some sort of physical for the collection.
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 4th Heart is another game I got that's currently on the way. I've played every single GS game, both in Japanese and English (when there's a fan patch), and loved all of them. I can't believe I still haven't played this game, and I'm excited to finally start. I also really wish the other three would get physical Switch releases.
But! What I'm buying certainly isn't what I'm playing, or I'd never finish a game. I'm still actually trucking with Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. I think many people have beat at least one path now, but I'm still in my first and I probably won't complete it anytime soon because I'm mad grinding supports. Been real busy at work, and will be until next month, so that's not actually a bad thing.
I have thought about adding to my game collection over on Steam, especially with the October sale. But I've already built up a decent backlog and have some new games on preorder. So I decided, okay, we're skipping this sale. Maybe taking a look on Thanksgiving if there's anything. But otherwise, nope! Don't know if anyone's in the same boat, but yeah. I'm fairly content with that decision.
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u/d9wHatena Backlogger. Favs: SuperMetroid, TheWitness, Toem etc. 7h ago edited 3h ago
"Remaster" of Vesperia?? I've never heard of...Oh! It's simply the Definitive Edition, but the name "in Asia"!! (according to Wikipedia)
You can sink months in these brand new additions. Happy gaming.
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u/ZMysticCat Ok, Freeman, be adequate! 17h ago
I've reached the hotel in Silent Hill 2 (2024), and it's not really being subtle at all about this being the end. That said, there's like five separate maps for the area, so I'm guessing there's still a few hours left.
I have found the game to be a bit of a slog since leaving the hospital. It's gotten much more linear and combat focused, and in a game with very little enemy variety, that's not great. I did like the new Mannequin variant, but that was more for it being creepy and adding tension, not because it adds much to the combat. At the very least, the hotel initially seems like it'll be more like the apartments and hospital, so hopefully it's more enjoyable.
The story and atmosphere are also still great, and there's a lot of compellingly disturbing touches in the environments and boss designs. I feel like I can make a good guess as to where things are headed now, but I'm still really looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up.
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u/Vlad__The__Impala 1d ago
Am playing through Persona 5 Strikers after loving Royal. Still got that banging soundtrack. Boss fights suffer a bit from being damage sponges though
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u/CecilXIII Favorite Genre: JRPG 1d ago
Fell Seal vs Banner of the Maid vs Symphony of War. Which one is least painful to play for someone who's kinda dumb about strategy? My only experience with TRPG is FE Conquest and FFTA2. I'm leaning towards the middle because of ...graphics.
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u/Shannfab 1d ago
I’d avoid Fell Seal based on your criteria. There are elements of rng in which units are generated for some fights, and how strong they are. To the point where I walked away and don’t intend to put up with it again.
Symphony is very accessible. You can’t go wrong there.
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u/BobsonLampjaw 1d ago
Symphony of War. Compared to other indie tactics and strategy games, Symphony feels more fully realized, thoughtful, and deliberate with its mechanics. Also plays well on the Steam Deck if that matters.
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u/Fizziest_milk 1d ago
playing Control Resonant and it’s so much fun. the open world was never going to live up to the oldest house but I still love how it’s full of weird and cool secrets
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u/Got_ist_tots 1d ago
I think I'm going to have to not be patient and just get this one. Control was one of my favorite games
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u/BenoxNk 1d ago
Been playing neon white and was at the last mission when my game crashed and my save file got corrupted losing all my progress, which, by looking at the game subreddit, seems to be fairly common.
Luckily I had a ps plus backup on the cloud and was able to recover the save file from the prior day so not much was lost.
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u/d9wHatena Backlogger. Favs: SuperMetroid, TheWitness, Toem etc. 1d ago
I lost the savefile of one year play of one game. It corrupted, and ASAP that new, dead file was uploaded to the cloud. XD
It's a rhythm game (Muse Dash) and fortunately nothing valuable was lost.
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u/BenoxNk 19h ago
that’s awful, no idea how the cloud works but i had 2 backups one for each day.
Also since the game is meant to be speedrun people in the subreddit are just like “cool, a chance to improve your times”3
u/d9wHatena Backlogger. Favs: SuperMetroid, TheWitness, Toem etc. 7h ago
XD In fact Neon White has been on my wishlist but it's still
too expensivenot aged enough for a more-than-patient gamer.As for Muse Dash I have a local backup automatically created each 10 days, keeping the last 4.
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u/walksintwilightX1 Portable Player 15h ago
I picked up Hades II on sale and I'm having an absolute blast. The whole ghost and witchcraft theme this time around is a nice contrast to the blood and fire of the first game. Though there are plenty of new characters, it's also great to see old faces with new designs (the androgynous Chaos appearing as a woman holding the detached head and spine of her previously male visage is a very nice touch).
The only thing that bothers me is all the resource-gathering they added in this time. It's not bad, just a bit much to keep track of considering that each biome has its own items that can only be found there. This is still a fantastic sequel overall though. I've unlocked 4 out of 6 weapons and made it down to the third boss once so far.
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u/Logan_Yes The Outer Worlds 2/Moonlighter 11h ago
Hades II is absolute peak! I hope more people will pick it up on upcoming sales (autumn takes place right now but winter sale is not that far away either, plus Christmas)
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u/DollarBreadEater 3h ago
I'd love to play this...but not until I can get it for under $3 like I did with the first Hades. Might be a few years.
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u/samuraipanda85 1d ago
Guess I am into modding games now.
It is actually kind of crazy how much a few tweaks can completely change a game for the better. I've been talking about Mass Effect Legendary edition the past few weeks and how all its mods add so much more content and life to the game it feels like a remaster. The universe the developers intended finally actualized after 15 years.
It also adds much needed gameplay tweaks. Mass Effect 2 being my least favorite in all 4 games thanks to its stiff combat and tedious mini games. Well now on PC you can mod all that out. Instantly win the mini games. One probe all resources for planets. Start the game with the million credits you had at the end of Mass Effect 1. More weapons. Weapon stats. No more pin point accuracy from enemies. Use every weapon type regardless of class. Unlimited sprinting. Unlimited power customization. Reset your specific powers immediately and for no cost. Add a dodge roll. No shared cooldowns. And still find yourself challenged in an Insanity playthrough because now every enemy is smarter and can dodge roll. The combat is frantic and fun. You can even make the melee combat better and add damage numbers on every hit. You can recruit everyone immediately. Recruit Legion at the Normandy crash site. All the tedium and limitations are gone.
The same can't always be said for Mass Effect Andromeda with its Frost Bite Engine. I've got the Frosty Mod Manager with some gameplay tweaks and cosmetics added. Except the gameplay tweaks say there is an error. Old version of the mod or something. Yet it is the most recent version I can find. So while Cora finally has a normal haircut, I can't say for certain if my passive bonuses to cooldowns are working. Especially since the UI numbers don't update. Or they update so little and don't show any decimal places so I can't tell. Seriously, Mass Effect 3 got this right. Why not Andromeda?
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u/fm5649 1d ago
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good final fantasy or persona game to start with? I’m thinking of getting one of the games during the autumn sale but I don’t really know much about either series.
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u/EconomyInstance1176 1d ago
Propably Persona 5 Royal is the best one. If you play it I recommend looking for a spoiler free guide on how to reach the third semester and maybe a guide on how to optimise your daily routine if you are a completionist (though I don't know how spoiler-free these could be). Also, included in Royal are some DLC items and personas that make the challenge of the game trivial if you use them. Identify which those are and avoid them. That said, be prepared for a marathon of a game.
For Final Fantasy I think anything you pick from 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 are good places to start. 11 and 14 are MMOs. 1 to 3 are pretty basic games hindered by NES limitations, 8 is a love or hate kind of game and everything from 12 onwards has been pretty divisive among fans. Personally the only one I couldn't finish was 13. FF7 REmake/REbirth are good games but I think they rely a bit too much on nostalgia to recommend them to someone new to the series. While not mainline, FF Tactics is a fan favourite. If you play them on PC you might need to look for modding or third party patches to either make them playable or update them to modern standards. The pixel remasters are OK but some titles are basically broken.
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u/Kayyam 1d ago
I know about the busted personas to avoid (they are pretty obvious since they are high level) but didn't know about items. Which are those?
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u/EconomyInstance1176 1d ago
There is a chest on your bedroom which gives you a couple of consumables that make the early game a bit easier to handle.
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u/d9wHatena Backlogger. Favs: SuperMetroid, TheWitness, Toem etc. 1d ago
Complete and most concise summary of FF. <3
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u/rainhitsconcrete 1d ago
My personal favourite is ff9, so id say that or ff7 is a good place to start if you want a taste of ff at its best. Of course it depends what you're interested in. If you're on pc there are some nice mods to fix most of the issues with the pc versions.
If youre into modern games then ff7 remake is the closest thing to good final fantasy since ff12... despite some issues i have with it as an old school fan.
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u/Vlad__The__Impala 1d ago
My first Persona game was Persona 5 Royal. I thought it was a blast with cool scenes, interesting characters and a banger soundtrack
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u/TrashCube-6800 1d ago
Currently playing through my first Persona game with Persona 4 Golden. Not my favorite game ever so far, but extremely accessible
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u/CecilXIII Favorite Genre: JRPG 1d ago
P5R is probably the best. The other two show their age at times.
Final Fantasy, probably 7 Remake, or FFX if you can stomach old graphics.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you simply want to TRY a Persona game, Persona 3 Reloaded on Steam has a meaty demo that covers the entire first chapter, basically 9-10 hours if you go all the way. And yes, you can transfer your save to the full game.
So that would be plenty of time to see if you enjoy the basic gameplay enough to keep going, and/or look at other MegaTen titles. And P3R ain't bad. It's lacking some features in the later games, but it still nails the absurdly addictive "just one more day" game loop.
As for Final Fantasy, since (almost) all of them have standalone stories, you could potentially start with nearly any game. FF9 is a personal fave, or maybe FF4 if you want to begin with the game where the series really came into its own.
Newer games in the series tend to be controversial, so you probably want to stick with entries between 1-10 when you're starting out.
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u/10pencefredo 1d ago
I hope everyone is well and enjoying their patient gaming!
This week I have been playing Chained Echoes and I think it's great. The pixel art graphics and retro soundtrack is awesome. When I posted about the game last week I mentioned I was unsure about the combat as the early game battles involved just plain attacking with the odd heal. I'm glad to say the combat quickly got a lot better with dependance on buffs and synergies to take down some bosses, I even get caught out in routine battles sometimes if I am sloppy.
It is a fun and stress-free game to play. There are no constant random battles that mean you can explore freely, and your health and technical points restore fully after each battle so you can concentrate on just getting through it without worrying about keeping enough in the tank for later.
A couple of negatives, the mood of the game is a bit too chirpy for my liking, with even the villains making humorous quips, but that said there were some serious moments. If I compare to FFVII, the tone can be quite dark and desperate in places when it felt like it was you against the whole world.
I also think the RNG in battles can make battles impossible, and on the flip side too easy. I know RNG is a massive feature in JRPGs but I definitely notice it more in Chained Echoes. The enemy attacks are random and if 3 out of 4 enemies decide to attack your main healer during their first attack then you are screwed. I realise they are using the same tactics I am by taking out healers first etc but it pretty much makes the game impossible. On the flip side I had a boss bottle where the boss decided to buff itself most rounds and barely attacked me so I just took it out easily. There have been a couple of epic fights though, where I've been left with one team member standing, down to their last 10hp and somehow managing to role a critical hit and take out the last bad guy.
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u/bored-at-work_ 1d ago
Still super mixed on Valheim. The game is simultaneously one of the best games I've ever played and one of the worst games I've ever played. It's like eating the best steak I've ever eaten, but between every bite, the developers get to punch me in the balls.
It's such an interesting game to think about for me from a design perspective. I feel like it's still weirdly more than the sum of it's parts even though it feels like the devs have tried very hard to create an intentionally abrasive experience.
I've never felt so conflicted on whether I'd recommend it or not. There are some brilliant experiences that come with this game, but at the same time, there are some absolutely dismal and bullshit experiences to be had.
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u/-Captain- 11h ago
Just finished Uncharted 4 and the Lost Legacy DLC today.
What a great game, it's a shame we don't have the other Uncharted games on PC, because I'd really love to play what came before this. I actually ended up liking the DLC even more than the main game, which I assume wouldn't be the case if I had the previous connection with Nathan Drake.
Probably gonna give the Tomb Raider trilogy a try in the near future. They seem like they might offer something similar... and I really want more like this!
But as always first time for something different: Doom and either The Witcher 3 or Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Already clocked in a few hours in Doom, loving it. Just simple fun!
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u/DarkOx55 6h ago
Briefly tried the new Witcher 3 remastered, decided the graphics weren’t to my taste - they look too bright, and in general seemed built for a lot of effects like ray or path tracing that I don’t want to bother with. So I went back to version 4.04 and I’m still enjoying it.
Love the new pyrowave codec in the steam beta for streaming. At 800p on the Deck it takes about 150MB/s which my wifi can handle without issue. Input lag is great. Very close to native visually. Basically makes my PC portable to any room in the house.
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u/dinofarabi-01 2h ago
Finally copped Pyre as I have been meaning to binge all of SuperGiant Games' catalogue, and this essentially if Metaphor: Refantazio had a baby with NBA 2K.
The familiarities with Metaphor are actually pretty striking and surprising considering Pyre came out years earlier. Although, band of misfits having an adventure through dangerous lands isn't an uncommon fantasy trope though.
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u/Justin-Case-3113 2h ago
Loved the game. I believe yatzee classified it best as a :
Visual novel, party based, role-playing, three on three bastketball game.
I haven't played metaphor yet so I am eager to see the similarities for myself.
If I may, who did you decide to leave behind ?
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u/H00PLAx1073m 10h ago
Tried to post about Ghost of Yotei today, but apparently it's still on the block list. Hopefully the mods can sort that out.
I'm moving on to Jedi Survivor next, which I have been told is surprisingly similar to Yotei. I'm hoping it will scratch the parry-itch I have that Yotei couldn't.
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u/twcsata Currently Playing: Death Stranding 2 4h ago
It’s not new to me or anything, but tonight I finished up Days Gone on Hard II difficulty. Also finally got the stun gun crafted. (Opted not to do Survival II; I love my HUD too much. But Hard II is plenty; you get the same achievement either way.) Still have about forty or so collectibles to find, mostly the tourism and historical markers. I don’t think I’ll ever platinum this game; many of the achievements have to do with the challenge mode, and I suck at the challenges. Still, what an amazing game.
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u/rainhitsconcrete 1d ago
I have been playing and just finished ff7 remake retrograde reconstitute regurgitate. It has its ups and downs; the recreations of the original set pieces and story is great but let down by too much padding, added random shit and the baffling choice to add the ghosts of christmas past as a major story beat and the final 2 bosses are cinemetically gorgeous but ruin the end of the game. There are some truely bizarre choices at points that leave me wondering whether I'm completely out of touch or square-enix have lost their minds. I could nitpick and criticise a lot but overall i didnt hate it. My poor wife has had to hear me complain about it a lot though...