OT: General Video Game Discussion IX

[Dee Oh Cee]

Been playing some great games lately and wanted to put them on the thread...

Ended up playing and finishing Personal 5 Royal, such a great game. I had already played through all of Persona 5 so even though I pretty much knew what was going to happen it was still a great experience about a year later. They added enough new stuff too in order to keep it interesting. When it comes to picking a 'favorite' game ever there are so many categories things fall into and when you play them in your life (nostalgia etc.) but that is definitely up there in terms of one of my favorites ever.

After that, Control came out for free on PS+, never played it when it first came out but had heard good things and it was a really good game. I thought some of the side stuff ended up being annoying and I didn't go after pretty much everything like I do on most games. Also I thought the story was going to be a bit more interesting or weird and overall I thought it was really good but not great. I think there is more stuff that you can discover if you keep playing and find all the side stuff but I wasn't really interested. Still a good game.

Then I finally got the courage to put in and go through Sekiro for the first time. Holy shit, I can't believe I waited so long to play it. I think I said on here that I was lukewarm on Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne, and I was worried that I'd hit a wall in this game too but almost everything just clicked. Speaking of favorite games, I'm very comfortable saying that Sekiro is one of my favorite games ever.

Not sure what'll be up next, I definitely want to play the new Yakuza game now that there is a PS5 version.

 

[GuerinUp]

ive gotten back into smite lately. such a great chill game. idk why i ever stopped.

 

[Soldier13Fox]

Then I finally got the courage to put in and go through Sekiro for the first time. Holy shit, I can't believe I waited so long to play it. I think I said on here that I was lukewarm on Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne, and I was worried that I'd hit a wall in this game too but almost everything just clicked. Speaking of favorite games, I'm very comfortable saying that Sekiro is one of my favorite games ever.

Not sure what'll be up next, I definitely want to play the new Yakuza game now that there is a PS5 version.

Sekiro is also one of my favorites, although I think I like all three Dark Souls and Bloodborne ever so slightly more. Yakuza is fantastic is well.

 

[Soldier13Fox]

Was talking Diablo in the main board geek thread, got me itching to play some hack and slash so I started a replay of Grim Dawn. Great game. Made by the folks that made Titan Quest. If you're itching for mindless point/click action with tons of loot and build varieties I recommend it. Cool story as well.

 

[Minnewildsota]

Was talking Diablo in the main board geek thread, got me itching to play some hack and slash so I started a replay of Grim Dawn. Great game. Made by the folks that made Titan Quest. If you're itching for mindless point/click action with tons of loot and build varieties I recommend it. Cool story as well.

I tried playign Grim Dawn but the online didn't seem to have anyone?

 

[Soldier13Fox]

I tried playign Grim Dawn but the online didn't seem to have anyone?

I play solo, so not sure.

 

[Dudicles]

I've been playing The Witcher 3. I've had it for years but have never played it until now.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

I've been playing The Witcher 3. I've had it for years but have never played it until now.

One of my favorite games of all time. The DLC packs are worth it too, if you have those. Tons of content, depending on how much time you actually want to invest.

One of those games where I'm not sure I'll ever play it again though.

 

[Dudicles]

One of my favorite games of all time. The DLC packs are worth it too, if you have those. Tons of content, depending on how much time you actually want to invest.

One of those games where I'm not sure I'll ever play it again though.

Yeah, I have everything. I played the first two games when they came out, bought the 3rd when it came out, and then figured I'd wait for the expansions before playing, then just never had the fortitude to want to install it, knowing how huge of a game it would be. Finally decided I was ready to immerse myself a little while ago.

 

[TaLoN]

Been loving going through Mass Effect again with the Legendary Edition!

The gameplay changes are mostly minor, the Mako is GREATLY improved however!

Changes in the inventory system makes it easier to keep it clean.

Thresher Maws are much more challenging, but they removed the xp penalty for fighting using the mako, and since you can now move while repairing it, I find it more enjoyable anyway.

The scaling changes in leveling up is very apparent. I'm playing in classic mode, and I can tell that I will easily clear level 60 by the end. Something that was impossible originally. Always needed a 2nd go around to reach that previously.

There are noticeable changes in the gun mechanics and sounds, for the most part improved, but they seem to have weakened the sniper rifles a bit... though you can shoot with them far more frequently.

I used to love it when I was charged unexpectedly by an enemy in the heat of battle, but got my sniper rifle over in time to catch them and watch them go flying back. Not very likely in the Legendary Edition unless youget a perfect headshot. The pistols also do a 3-4 shot rapid fire now instead of just the single shot per trigger pull. I am very much a fan of that change.

The graphical changes are many, but the texture and lighting changes are the most significant and noticeable. The lighting (especially in 4k with HDR) is fantastic! Looks much more real. Also the reflections on objects and clothing etc looks fantastic as well.

Another change I noticed, the drones in the 1st 2 stages of the Rogue V.I. mission are a lot tougher. The 3rd stage, previously noticeably tougher than the 1st two, felt easier than before, so likely overall they were just evened out.
(Another sniper rifle note, shooting out the nodes in this mission using the sniper rifle used to take only 2-3 shots, now it takes 8 - clearly showing the rifle is much weaker)

Now excuse me while I go land on a few more planets, wreck some shit up, kill some more thresher maws and some Geth.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Been loving going through Mass Effect again with the Legendary Edition!

The gameplay changes are mostly minor, the Mako is GREATLY improved however!

Changes in the inventory system makes it easier to keep it clean.

Thresher Maws are much more challenging, but they removed the xp penalty for fighting using the mako, and since you can now move while repairing it, I find it more enjoyable anyway.

The scaling changes in leveling up is very apparent. I'm playing in classic mode, and I can tell that I will easily clear level 60 by the end. Something that was impossible originally. Always needed a 2nd go around to reach that previously.

There are noticeable changes in the gun mechanics and sounds, for the most part improved, but they seem to have weakened the sniper rifles a bit... though you can shoot with them far more frequently.

I used to love it when I was charged unexpectedly by an enemy in the heat of battle, but got my sniper rifle over in time to catch them and watch them go flying back. Not very likely in the Legendary Edition unless youget a perfect headshot. The pistols also do a 3-4 shot rapid fire now instead of just the single shot per trigger pull. I am very much a fan of that change.

The graphical changes are many, but the texture and lighting changes are the most significant and noticeable. The lighting (especially in 4k with HDR) is fantastic! Looks much more real. Also the reflections on objects and clothing etc looks fantastic as well.

Another change I noticed, the drones in the 1st 2 stages of the Rogue V.I. mission are a lot tougher. The 3rd stage, previously noticeably tougher than the 1st two, felt easier than before, so likely overall they were just evened out.
(Another sniper rifle note, shooting out the nodes in this mission using the sniper rifle used to take only 2-3 shots, now it takes 8 - clearly showing the rifle is much weaker)

Now excuse me while I go land on a few more planets, wreck some shit up, kill some more thresher maws and some Geth.

Looking forward to picking up the game in a while, finishing some others first. Mass Effect is probably my favorite series I've ever played.

Playing through Yakuza Like a Dragon now, I am really enjoying it. Looks great on the PS5 and load times are tiny. I've enjoyed pretty much every Yakuza game I've played (0, Kiwami 1 and 2, 6) but I like the changes to the combat a TON. The party system/turn based format is way more fun than the beat em down button mashing format it used to have. I could never remember any of the combos anyway. Characters are interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Next will probably be Resident Evil Village/8, but waiting for the price to drop. Same with Returnal, will probably play some day but not wanting to spend 70. Also only about a month away from the Mario Golf Switch game. Pretty great time for games right now!

 

[TaLoN]

Looking forward to picking up the game in a while, finishing some others first. Mass Effect is probably my favorite series I've ever played.

It's my favorite as well.

The load times on the PS4 Pro are crazy fast, thus they sped up the elevator speeds on the citadel. You now have the option to skip squad banter and news updates, but I prefer the seamless feel those provide, and some of the squad banter in the elevators are pure gold!

Literally the elevator trip takes only as long as those at the new high speeds they travel, so no way will I be skipping them.

The splash screens when landing on planets with the mako are short as hell, I can imagine on a PS5 you may only get just a flash of the screen at most vs the few seconds I see on the PS4 Pro... all this makes me wish even more that ME2 wouldn't have scraped the attempt at making it a seamless experience like the first tried for.

Will be jarring even more going from what is now a successful seamless ME1 experience to mission complete review screens all the time again.

 

[123TripleDoge]

Been playing Returnal on PS5, super fun and atmospheric. Best use of the new controller that I've had so far (besides astro).

 

[GuerinUp]

Battlefield 6 reveal in around 30 min

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Playing through Resident Evil Village right now...think I'm more than halfway through? I'm enjoying it a lot, although it seems maybe a touch easier than some of the other ones on standard difficulty? Maybe I'll have to try the hardcore difficulty on a second playthrough. I just love the RE games and their goofy puzzles and weird stories. For some reason there is also something extremely satisfying about finding items in rooms and clearing them out on a map.

Probably move to Mass Effect once I'm done with this and I know that could take up quite a while...although I've heard great early reviews of the new Ratchet and Clank game so that could be on the list too. Obviously a great time for so many good games.

 

[Wild11MN]

I'm either losing my interest in a lot of video games, or we're in a severe drought of decent games. I just have no motivation to play anything these days.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

I'm either losing my interest in a lot of video games, or we're in a severe drought of decent games. I just have no motivation to play anything these days.

What type of games do you typically like playing?

 

[Wild11MN]

What type of games do you typically like playing?

I'm sort of all over the map. Platformers, shooters, puzzle/strategy, Assassin's Creed-type of games. I don't really have the patience to deal with any 60+ hour RPG games anymore.

I've always been partial towards Nintendo, specifically the 3D Mario games. However, games like SSB, Pokemon, etc. don't have the same magic anymore. They haven't changed enough over the past 20 years.

Otherwise, I enjoy a bunch of shooter games. I've been really into the battle royale genre ever since PUBG game out. I've gotten tired of Apex after two years, and COD: Warzone refuses to make significant changes or release a new map, so both have been boring to me lately. Ever since BR games, I've had a hard time playing "normal" multiplayer shooter games because the stakes aren't the same.

Rocket League is basically the only multiplayer game I've actually enjoyed lately, but again, that's a game that's been out for 5+ years already, so it's not really a breath of fresh air. Games like Fall Guys and Pummel Party are fun here and there with friends, but don't move the needle too much.

In another genre entirely, Slay the Spire is amazing, but I've already played the heck out of it. I've played NHL games on-and-off for 15 years, so those aren't as interesting anymore. Some other random games I've tried recently are Doom Eternal (the controls relating to aim acceleration are a major turnoff) and one of the Batman games (just can't get into it).

I own a Switch and an X1X for the record.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

I'm sort of all over the map. Platformers, shooters, puzzle/strategy, Assassin's Creed-type of games. I don't really have the patience to deal with any 60+ hour RPG games anymore.

I've always been partial towards Nintendo, specifically the 3D Mario games. However, games like SSB, Pokemon, etc. don't have the same magic anymore. They haven't changed enough over the past 20 years.

Otherwise, I enjoy a bunch of shooter games. I've been really into the battle royale genre ever since PUBG game out. I've gotten tired of Apex after two years, and COD: Warzone refuses to make significant changes or release a new map, so both have been boring to me lately. Ever since BR games, I've had a hard time playing "normal" multiplayer shooter games because the stakes aren't the same.

Rocket League is basically the only multiplayer game I've actually enjoyed lately, but again, that's a game that's been out for 5+ years already, so it's not really a breath of fresh air. Games like Fall Guys and Pummel Party are fun here and there with friends, but don't move the needle too much.

In another genre entirely, Slay the Spire is amazing, but I've already played the heck out of it. I've played NHL games on-and-off for 15 years, so those aren't as interesting anymore. Some other random games I've tried recently are Doom Eternal (the controls relating to aim acceleration are a major turnoff) and one of the Batman games (just can't get into it).

I own a Switch and an X1X for the record.

Maybe I'll try to think of more later, but immediately some that come to mind that might be fun are Into the Breach on Switch, I heard the Ori games are really good on Xbox (especially the 2nd one). Did you ever try the Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury that came on Switch? That looked fun to me, but another one that might be more fun playing with a friend.

I spent a ton of time in Stardew Valley as a relaxing/calming game when I was looking for that kind of thing. I've heard a lot of people like Hollow Knight although I didn't really latch on to that one. Hades was a great game to spend a lot of time with whenever I had a free 30 minutes or whatever.

But yeah in terms of shooters/puzzle category, I really do recommend the Resident Evil games especially the ones that have been 'remade' or remastered. RE 1 was pretty much remade and it's a great game that looks really good...RE2 Remake is one of my favorite games in the last 5 years or whatever and RE3 Remake was short, but still good. I just played RE4 again and it still holds up...you could pass on RE5/RE6 but RE7/8 are really good again. Not sure if that's your style but there's a huge amount of options there if you've never played them and it's a good mix of the shooting/puzzle stuff, even if sometimes the puzzles are silly.

That's all I can think of right now...there are a ton of options out there but yeah at the same time if you're not quite as interested in them as you once were, it might not matter what you end up trying. Good to have a break sometimes too

 

[Wild11MN]

Maybe I'll try to think of more later, but immediately some that come to mind that might be fun are Into the Breach on Switch, I heard the Ori games are really good on Xbox (especially the 2nd one). Did you ever try the Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury that came on Switch? That looked fun to me, but another one that might be more fun playing with a friend.

I spent a ton of time in Stardew Valley as a relaxing/calming game when I was looking for that kind of thing. I've heard a lot of people like Hollow Knight although I didn't really latch on to that one. Hades was a great game to spend a lot of time with whenever I had a free 30 minutes or whatever.

But yeah in terms of shooters/puzzle category, I really do recommend the Resident Evil games especially the ones that have been 'remade' or remastered. RE 1 was pretty much remade and it's a great game that looks really good...RE2 Remake is one of my favorite games in the last 5 years or whatever and RE3 Remake was short, but still good. I just played RE4 again and it still holds up...you could pass on RE5/RE6 but RE7/8 are really good again. Not sure if that's your style but there's a huge amount of options there if you've never played them and it's a good mix of the shooting/puzzle stuff, even if sometimes the puzzles are silly.

That's all I can think of right now...there are a ton of options out there but yeah at the same time if you're not quite as interested in them as you once were, it might not matter what you end up trying. Good to have a break sometimes too

Thanks for the recommendations - just to go down the line here:
SM3DW/BF - Yup, played this one! I got a decent amount of enjoyment out of it as I never had a Wii U to play the original.
Into the Breach - I've never heard of this, I marked it down to look into, thanks. I see it's a Rogue-like, so to me it depends on how easy it is to pick up.
Stardew Valley/Hades - I'm familiar with both but neither have really been my type of game. I know Hades in particular has incredible reviews though.
Hollow Knight - I think I tried this for 30 minutes one time and couldn't get into it. It feels like a game I should like, but I don't know what didn't appeal to me.
Resident Evil - This is one I think I'd enjoy, as I've never played any of them somehow. I remember RE4 being a big deal.

I think it's honestly at the point where I've played so many games over the years that it feels like a lot of them are just rehashes or worse versions of older games. I'm looking at the big Switch games coming out this year, and we've got LoZ: SS (already played on Wii), Mario Golf (always enjoyed these, but I've already played at least three of them), Monster Hunter (never tried), Pokemon remakes (played the originals). I've been waiting on Metroid Prime 4 since it was announced four years ago.

I'm really looking forward to Halo: Infinite, but it's less-than-stellar reveal has me skeptical, and the last good Halo game was Reach 11 years ago. Cyberpunk sounds interesting, but it has all sorts of performance issues on the older systems. The next Bioshock game has also been in development for years, and similar to MP4, there is little to no info after several years. Pretty discouraging sign.

 

[Wasted Talent]

I'm sort of all over the map. Platformers, shooters, puzzle/strategy, Assassin's Creed-type of games. I don't really have the patience to deal with any 60+ hour RPG games anymore.

I've always been partial towards Nintendo, specifically the 3D Mario games. However, games like SSB, Pokemon, etc. don't have the same magic anymore. They haven't changed enough over the past 20 years.

Otherwise, I enjoy a bunch of shooter games. I've been really into the battle royale genre ever since PUBG game out. I've gotten tired of Apex after two years, and COD: Warzone refuses to make significant changes or release a new map, so both have been boring to me lately. Ever since BR games, I've had a hard time playing "normal" multiplayer shooter games because the stakes aren't the same.

Rocket League is basically the only multiplayer game I've actually enjoyed lately, but again, that's a game that's been out for 5+ years already, so it's not really a breath of fresh air. Games like Fall Guys and Pummel Party are fun here and there with friends, but don't move the needle too much.

In another genre entirely, Slay the Spire is amazing, but I've already played the heck out of it. I've played NHL games on-and-off for 15 years, so those aren't as interesting anymore. Some other random games I've tried recently are Doom Eternal (the controls relating to aim acceleration are a major turnoff) and one of the Batman games (just can't get into it).

I own a Switch and an X1X for the record.

I would recommend Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelite similar to Slay the Spire. It scratches that same itch while being different enough to not feel like just more of the same.

 

[Wild11MN]

I would recommend Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelite similar to Slay the Spire. It scratches that same itch while being different enough to not feel like just more of the same.

So I actually downloaded that for free with Xbox Game Pass about a month ago after seeing a similar recommendation. I only played about 45-60 minutes, but my biggest gripe with it is that during an actual battle, there is so much going on over multiple floors, and the animations move so quickly that I can't even tell what is happening. There's just so much to look at on the screen at any given point (armor, health, a whole bunch of modifiers, random +/- numbers all over the place, multiplied over several levels of the train, etc.), that I felt like it takes at least a couple of minutes for me to examine everything on the screen before I can start deciding what to do on my turn.

I do really believe that I would like this game once I fully understand it, but the "information overload/what is happening" feeling for the entire first hour has been a major put-off. I'll try to give it another shot still sometime in the next week or so, so thanks for the recommendation and reminding me of this one.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Also, if it's still on Gamepass I recommend Bloodstained too. Great modern Castlevania type of game.

 

[Wild11MN]

Also, if it's still on Gamepass I recommend Bloodstained too. Great modern Castlevania type of game.

Looks like that one got dropped a couple of months ago, unfortunately, but I'll still throw it on my list to look into.

 

[TaLoN]

I've been playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition... I'm about 28+hrs into ME2 currently.