What are you playing?

[Deleted member 24505]

I only watched performance benchmarks of the game and from what I've seen the game looked alright to me, a bit of throwback to 3 with the tropical style which is a plus for me.

Dunno I did consider giving FC 5+New Dawn a proper try but I always play something else in the end.
I guess the good thing is that the games don't really connect story wise so I don't necessarily have to play them in order.

I did read some ppl mention a lot of bugs and questionable game mechanics but I'm more or less immune to small bugs so thats a whatever for me.

FC5 is actually pretty good, i really enjoyed it, and still go back to it. I have seen/experienced no bugs at all in 6 as yet.

 

[Splinterdog]

Not sure that I want to hear Only You from The Platters again soon. It's that damn theme song for the crazy shooting gallery in FC5 which drove me nuts.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Not sure that I want to hear Only You from The Platters again soon. It's that damn theme song for the crazy shooting gallery in FC5 which drove me nuts.

there are some things that bug me in FC5 for sure. the constant kidnapping and having to jump through hoops(so to speak) but in general, i like it a lot, the look, the way it runs, the combat. its a pretty slick game imo, and no capture the tower to enlarge the map.

 

[Frick]

Totally agree on saves. I don't understand why they do that in single player games. Simple situation: you are balls deep between save points when you just need to stop. You give up your progress. In a single player game where it's always kinda at your pace, that's an issue. Right then and there it becomes a downer. Plenty of other situations manual saves help with. Crashes and instability being a big one. If the game crashes say, once a day... so maybe it's mostly stable. Manual saving keeps that crash from being plopped 30 minutes of stuff-you-don't-wanna-do-again away from the nearest save.


Now, Control's world... I love the design, the aesthetic, the layout. I like how it makes you feel sort of lost and trapped. I think they put a lot of work into conveying that. I spent more time wandering the halls and just looking at the different features than doing anything, thinking about what all the stuff might be for, what it means. At the same time the stuff I am learning and figuring out is going through my head. It all kind of comes to life for me. I feel like they give you a lot to read into just in the world. But I can also see how it takes you away from the story while not really giving you much for it, from a gameplay standpoint. I mean, the mechanics are fully arcade-style. There's not much emergent stuff going on as you explore, just random enemy spawns.

I guess that's the issue. It IS linear. The whole thing is on rails from start to finish, even though you can do a few things in a different order. The whole map is just levels stitched together with no actual overworld. So the levels pull double duty by posing as both. Metroid style. But Metroid does it way better, especially when it comes to finding your way into convoluted nooks and crannies you wouldn't have even guessed you COULD pass. In Control it sometimes feels like you're just going back through empty levels. Yeah, I think I can agree with you on that to an extent. The exploring you can do is cool though. I found a lot of secrets on subsequent playthroughs. It took a while to find them all.

I disliked the waypoints a lot too. I learned to just hit them when I pass them, as it saves every time you do. You usually want to tether to the closest one anyway. It also saves every time you pick up a new mod. The game is saving constantly, but it can't let you choose where it puts you. And the thing is, most of the time nothing happens between the waypoint it tosses you back to and getting back to where you died. You just run for a while. Maybe you get into a little scrap. But that's not even a punishment, if you're on it. You're just getting source, maybe a mod or two and some materials.

Rockstar really takes the cake with that sort of thing. I think it's outdated. That kind of rigidity often isn't needed. There are other, more selective ways of addressing 'passages'.

I think they wanted it both ways. Do the open world waypoint things, like many modern games do (made popular by Dark Souls?), but also a tight, controlled story. I am interested in the story and the world, but on the whole I find the gameplay tedious. Whenever I play it I just want to play Max Payne, especially the second game, which are masterclasses of narrative in shooters.

 

[robot zombie]

I think they wanted it both ways. Do the open world waypoint things, like many modern games do (made popular by Dark Souls?), but also a tight, controlled story. I am interested in the story and the world, but on the whole I find the gameplay tedious. Whenever I play it I just want to play Max Payne, especially the second game, which are masterclasses of narrative in shooters.

This is a sentiment I see more and more these days. It's my own top critique for every open-world game with heavy story emphasis. I think there is going to be a shift in game genres and story integration soon. We are hitting that wall. There are a few problems with open world that just aren't addressed adequately by anyone making games right now. Sometimes I think people just want too much of an open world game. It's as you said. People want those big, book-like narratives with all of these character dynamics and nuance... but they want to experience that in a flowing, emergent way... through a massive open world. Oh, and shooting as well as something like magic, collectibles, advanced RPG mechanics.... Or at least, the industry generally seems keen on selling people on all of that. When you start rattling it off, it sounds a little bit ridiculous, doesn't it? Is anybody actually up for that whole game?

It's an alluring concept. But for all of the criticism everyone likes to throw at open world stories, nobody ever really even comes close to answering how that's supposed to play out in the first place. Developers are always promising it, but we always get more of the same problems. I kind of wonder if people would be so bent on having all of these things if not for the marketing. It is such a dominant concept right now, and yet nobody is really pulling it off.

I think the time has come to ask not how to make the concept of open world play better with stories but rather to contemplate how to contextualize open world mechanics in new, more engrossing ways. Let story games be story games and choose what makes the most sense for that when it comes to structure and mechanics. Grab-bagging it has become the norm because in their simplest form, an open world game is basically just a sandbox with a few rules added. This means that you *can* add all sorts of things to it. "Modules" if you will. But the more modules you add, the more you detract from the freedom in the sandbox, which will eventually frustrate players by causing tone/pacing issues and essentially creating this tug of war where the exploring takes away from the story and vice versa. I think this is what makes Bethesda good at the open-world aspect of their games. Their modules are skippable. I pretend the story doesn't exist and spend hours exploring the open worlds. That they can be treated like an afterthought sucks, especially in the case of Fallout. But then, its a matter of understanding what can and cannot be done in conjunction. So it becomes "The story is crap, nonsense. But it's not really about the story."

I love story games. I love open world games. Yet every game that is both comes out kind of mixed for me. It's like the OTHER age-old dilemma in shooter stories. The fact that they want to explore all of these moral themes, but because it's a shooter, have to either justify or distract from the fact that genocide is just another Tuesday for their protagonists. The real reason is obviously game play. You need lots of shooting in your shooter. But this conundrum results in a very narrow range of stories and characters. For 2 goddamned decades I've been playing through the same handful of general story sequences and character arcs. Nobody who's played them for decent time can miss how they're all more or less the same progression towards some redemption or retribution.

I wonder if that'll be the next Red Dead? Red Dead Retribution

 

[pitara]

I recently finished RDR2 and now I am only playing FIFA 22 but I will quit it soon or I will break my controller.

 

[AusWolf]

Meanwhile... when this intro started rolling... nostalgia kicked in. Seeing the chapters available, I think I have some good times ahead!

View attachment 222999

Now that's what a remake is all about! Meanwhile in Mass Effect LE (which costs way more) you have:

Better shadows... I guess?

 

[Tomgang]

For now it's Far cry 6 and later next year it will be Dying light 2.

 

[robot zombie]

I finally finished my Metro Exodus ranger hardcore run. I am... emotionally exhausted. Pretty much every dynamic you are used to with the game changes on that difficulty. You handle every aspect of the game differently, make different calls, and face different consequences. You just find yourself having so many of these little 'situations' while working against all of these subtle, but paramount strategic limitations. It puts your fast-processing mode to work by invoking it constantly and then forcing it to be thorough while retaining its reactivity. Things that were a focus before don't matter and can't help you. Easily avoidable problems are dire threats, like the cut that turned gangrenous. You better be using your laser attachment, and your ears! Seriously, you need to listen around or you *will* die.

Novosibirsk was brutally punishing. "Oppressive" is the word. You're on a rebellion against the game trying to screw you on every opportunity, knowing that it's gonna succeed a good half of the time, and that you'll need to always be ready for that. To know what 'that' is and be set up. And know when you aren't. You need pretty much everything you can find in there.

Best way to experience it from an atmosphere standpoint. Worst from a story one. You really need your full attention on the game. There's no relaxing, really. It's just hostile a lot of the time.

Oh, and since we were talking about Control... @Splinterdog you were having issues with a boss fight, right? It has an assist mode now, in the gameplay options. You get enhanced aim assist/snapping, multipliers for energy recovery, damage reduction, and ammo recovery, as well as immortality and one hit kills, all independently adjustable. No shame in using that to advance the game to where you want to be when you're so stuck you don't want to play anymore. It's all for fun and enjoyment, anyway.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Better shadows... I guess?

Better textures, high poly-count models, better lighting and yes, better shadows.. And that's just what I can see from the screenshot you posted. I think it needs refinement to look it's best, but as is it doesn't look terrible.

 

[The red spirit]

With Far Cry, I'm yet to even play FC 5 more than a few hours let alone finish it.

Despite playing majority of FC titles, FC 5 is just unplayable to me. I tired to, but world was so big, story was crap and I just didn't like that setting at all. It felt like they tried too hard and thus the whole game was rough to play. I tried to play it many times, but I just didn't like it. It was a chore to load it up and decided to get rid of it. So far my FC series rating would be:
Far Cry - 10/10 (My favourite so far, best gameplay, best action, best setting, best sound design)
Far Cry 2 - 4/10 (Really boring gaming, but not off-putting, tons of bugs if fps is unlocked without Vsync on. I haven't even started to play a game properly yet, but I don't really see much potential in it.)
Far Cry 3 - 9/10 (Was really good release, but at times world shit was just too tedious. Ending was a bit poo.)
Far Cry Blood Dragon - 9/10 (Some great fun without slog of open world and overly long story that I don't care, in a way reminds me of first game)
Far Cry 4 - 7/10 (Decent, but it was so long. Very obviously recycled FC 3, so the game itself felt like it brought nothing new, just some characters with mental issues, oh and Pagan Min - chan, who frankly wasn't entirely wrong)
Far Cry 5 - 2/10 (People like it, but I couldn't give a shit about it, again very recycled FC 3, but now with more boring world, way too many things to do and story that is both cringe and boring, characters that I can't enjoy at all)
Far Cry 6 - doesn't fit on ssd/10 (I had to delete some stuff to fit FC5 previously, but I couldn't be arsed to do the same now, I have a feeling, that FC6 might be more of the same of FC5)

Better textures, high poly-count models, better lighting and yes, better shadows.. And that's just what I can see from the screenshot you posted. I think it needs refinement to look it's best, but as is it doesn't look terrible.

It looks pretty poor for what was supposed to be enhanced game. I was starring at them both and besides more detailed (but maybe not even higher res) textures on right, I frankly can't even tell which is supposed to look better. Maybe shadows are poor on left one, but right image was clearly different setting and shadow softness and etc look the same. Poly count looks worse on right as ear looks blockier, while everything else is the same. Also sweater under metal suit looks like it was less polygons on right image, compared to left as it is a straight oval, meanwhile on left - it has waves. Right one has only a tiny better metal suit textures, circles still look quite poor. AA seems to be improved, but you can force it on in Radeon/nVidia control panel, so it's not a strong argument to make.

 

[arni-gx]

Spoiler

after playing that for almost 4 hours in steam version, i give up...... just like doom 2016, its too much jump and puzzle in there..... so, i uninstall it..... oh, god.... i miss the old doom 3......

then, i am try playing this game..... its much fun, more than doom eternal, just like the old time (when i am still using geforce fx 5200 ultra 128mb 128bit)...... but, too bad..... this game has no Blood GORE like doom series.....

 

[AusWolf]

I finally finished my Metro Exodus ranger hardcore run. I am... emotionally exhausted. Pretty much every dynamic you are used to with the game changes on that difficulty. You handle every aspect of the game differently, make different calls, and face different consequences. You just find yourself having so many of these little 'situations' while working against all of these subtle, but paramount strategic limitations. It puts your fast-processing mode to work by invoking it constantly and then forcing it to be thorough while retaining its reactivity. Things that were a focus before don't matter and can't help you. Easily avoidable problems are dire threats, like the cut that turned gangrenous. You better be using your laser attachment, and your ears! Seriously, you need to listen around or you *will* die.

Novosibirsk was brutally punishing. "Oppressive" is the word. You're on a rebellion against the game trying to screw you on every opportunity, knowing that it's gonna succeed a good half of the time, and that you'll need to always be ready for that. To know what 'that' is and be set up. And know when you aren't. You need pretty much everything you can find in there.

Best way to experience it from an atmosphere standpoint. Worst from a story one. You really need your full attention on the game. There's no relaxing, really. It's just hostile a lot of the time.

I know it's more realistic to play at such difficulty levels, but I find no enjoyment in dying every minute. I have friends who play games at extra-uber-super-masterclass levels of difficulty, but I don't. I like relaxing and taking in the atmosphere and I like a good story. I can't focus on these if all my attention is spent on looking for what's lurking behind every shadow. When I first play a game, I always select the easiest difficulty. If it's a good game worth replaying a few times (not immediately, but after playing some other games too), I might select medium. But that's it. I like a difficulty that's engaging, but not overly challenging, as the main focus of a game isn't that - for me. Everyone's different, and that's great.

A good example: I just finished Deliver Us The Moon for the second time. There's absolutely no fighting in it, only puzzles. It's a great game with a great atmosphere and a nice story-surprise in the end. It might bore some people, but I love it.

Spoiler

after playing that for almost 4 hours in steam version, i give up...... just like doom 2016, its too much jump and puzzle in there..... so, i uninstall it..... oh, god.... i miss the old doom 3......

then, i am try playing this game..... its much fun, more than doom eternal, just like the old time (when iam still using geforce fx 5200 ultra 128mb)...... but, too bad..... this game has no Blood GORE like doom series.....

I agree with you on Quake Doom Eternal. Too much jumping, too much colour, too much BS. It's an arcade shooter in the classical sense. Not my cup of tea. Doom 2016 on the other hand is a masterpiece, imo.

 

[arni-gx]

Spoiler

playing this with skirmish vs 1 AI.......... i dont know why, but this company heroes with steampunk version of 1920, it is quite heavy for my PC......

 

[AusWolf]

Spoiler

playing this with skirmish vs 1 AI.......... i dont know why, but this company heroes with steampunk version of 1920, it is quite heavy for my PC......

Is it really that? Company of Heroes with a steampunk mod? Looks quite good!

 

[arni-gx]

I k

I agree with you on Quake Doom Eternal. Too much jumping, too much colour, too much BS. It's an arcade shooter in the classical sense. Not my cup of tea. Doom 2016 on the other hand is a masterpiece, imo.

IMO.... i love doom 3..... just pure hit and run for FPS......

Is it really that? Company of Heroes with a steampunk mod? Looks quite good!

that is iron harvest.......RTS.....

Spoiler

this game is, eventhough wiithout RT, but quite heavy too..... i think this and that iron harvest, need DLSS feature.... or FSR........

 

[Vayra86]

Now that's what a remake is all about! Meanwhile in Mass Effect LE (which costs way more) you have:

View attachment 223039

Better shadows... I guess?

I guess but he still looks like he is dead inside. Always liked the female shepard a lot better, however it was modelled even. The voicing was better I think. Or maybe I just couldnt get a good face with the voice

But yeah, ME Ill happily play the originals..

 

[AusWolf]

Better textures, high poly-count models, better lighting and yes, better shadows.. And that's just what I can see from the screenshot you posted. I think it needs refinement to look it's best, but as is it doesn't look terrible.

Maybe, but these are not something you notice while playing. So far, my experience has been exactly the same as playing the original ME, except for the faster elevators.

I'm not disappointed by the game. I'm disappointed by the price and the fact that I had to buy it even though I own the originals. I'm only happy for two things: 1. I bought it on a discount, and 2. I finally have the collection on Steam (even though the launcher uses Origin... oh well).

 

[Sithaer]

I guess but he still looks like he is dead inside. Always liked the female shepard a lot better, however it was modelled even. The voicing was better I think. Or maybe I just couldnt get a good face with the voice

But yeah, ME Ill happily play the originals..

For some reason I also kinda prefer femshep, with male Shepard I just play the default one/model and call it a day.
Currently I'm at 2 male and 1 female playthrough but the second male was only because I wanted to romance Tali and you cant do that with a female Shep.

So I'm guessing there is still 1 more playthrough in the serie for me, another female run to make things even + try some other romances and then I think I might be done with the serie. 'Still want to do a second run in Andromeda too, I actually did not hate that game'

Oh, and since we were talking about Control... @Splinterdog you were having issues with a boss fight, right? It has an assist mode now, in the gameplay options. You get enhanced aim assist/snapping, multipliers for energy recovery, damage reduction, and ammo recovery, as well as immortality and one hit kills, all independently adjustable. No shame in using that to advance the game to where you want to be when you're so stuck you don't want to play anymore. It's all for fun and enjoyment, anyway.

Just checked now, was wondering if I was playing with that on or off but its set to off by default. 'whole assist section'
Did not play the earlier versions so I had no idea this was a thing.

Tho its good to know that if I'm really stuck I can do that, extra options are always welcome.

 

[Bomby569]

I still enjoyed the Doom Eternal (doom 2016 was better), but i have to agree this is not Doom, plays more like Quake. I wish they went back to Doom 3 style and just called this ones Quake.

 

[AusWolf]

I still enjoyed the Doom Eternal (doom 2016 was better), but i have to agree this is not Doom, plays more like Quake. I wish they went back to Doom 3 style and just called this ones Quake.

I couldn't agree more. Doom Eternal has no replay value to me, while Doom '16 has plenty.

 

[Splinterdog]

Oh, and since we were talking about Control... @Splinterdog you were having issues with a boss fight, right? It has an assist mode now, in the gameplay options. You get enhanced aim assist/snapping, multipliers for energy recovery, damage reduction, and ammo recovery, as well as immortality and one hit kills, all independently adjustable. No shame in using that to advance the game to where you want to be when you're so stuck you don't want to play anymore. It's all for fun and enjoyment, anyway.

I welcome any assistance, so thanks for the tip!

 

[seth1911]

I played expeditions 4 by NMS and actually im in Atlantis via Odyssey (my Trophys now are by 84% including the DLC Content)

 

[Vayra86]

Checking out BG3, failed to resit waiting till it's ready :S

View attachment 222913View attachment 222911View attachment 222910View attachment 222909View attachment 222964View attachment 222965

Oh man. That action bar looks like instabuy to me already. Fk graphics. More Action bars!

 

[Space Lynx]

Despite playing majority of FC titles, FC 5 is just unplayable to me. I tired to, but world was so big, story was crap and I just didn't like that setting at all. It felt like they tried too hard and thus the whole game was rough to play. I tried to play it many times, but I just didn't like it. It was a chore to load it up and decided to get rid of it. So far my FC series rating would be:
Far Cry - 10/10 (My favourite so far, best gameplay, best action, best setting, best sound design)
Far Cry 2 - 4/10 (Really boring gaming, but not off-putting, tons of bugs if fps is unlocked without Vsync on. I haven't even started to play a game properly yet, but I don't really see much potential in it.)
Far Cry 3 - 9/10 (Was really good release, but at times world shit was just too tedious. Ending was a bit poo.)
Far Cry Blood Dragon - 9/10 (Some great fun without slog of open world and overly long story that I don't care, in a way reminds me of first game)
Far Cry 4 - 7/10 (Decent, but it was so long. Very obviously recycled FC 3, so the game itself felt like it brought nothing new, just some characters with mental issues, oh and Pagan Min - chan, who frankly wasn't entirely wrong)
Far Cry 5 - 2/10 (People like it, but I couldn't give a shit about it, again very recycled FC 3, but now with more boring world, way too many things to do and story that is both cringe and boring, characters that I can't enjoy at all)
Far Cry 6 - doesn't fit on ssd/10 (I had to delete some stuff to fit FC5 previously, but I couldn't be arsed to do the same now, I have a feeling, that FC6 might be more of the same of FC5)


It looks pretty poor for what was supposed to be enhanced game. I was starring at them both and besides more detailed (but maybe not even higher res) textures on right, I frankly can't even tell which is supposed to look better. Maybe shadows are poor on left one, but right image was clearly different setting and shadow softness and etc look the same. Poly count looks worse on right as ear looks blockier, while everything else is the same. Also sweater under metal suit looks like it was less polygons on right image, compared to left as it is a straight oval, meanwhile on left - it has waves. Right one has only a tiny better metal suit textures, circles still look quite poor. AA seems to be improved, but you can force it on in Radeon/nVidia control panel, so it's not a strong argument to make.

the milk train happens a lot these days, honestly its a shame more companies don't have more courage and always try to play it safe. we live in a golden age of new sci fi and/or fantasy books. adapting some of those unique magic systems and worlds into games would be 10/10 fun. really is a shame no one has courage anymore. indie developers can't afford that level of development, like a AAA brandon sanderson book turned game, or wheel of time AAA game done right, or hyperion sci fi book a great modern space opera.

a lot of these authors would be very open minded to a game I think. i have seen them even discuss it in podcasts. the sad part is if they just had courage, they would probably make way more money than they make now playing it safe. but they are the type of games that would need a proper budget and development time.

#respect to ubisoft for recognizing they ****** up with prince of persia sands of time remaster and are now postponing it to 2023. this was courageous imo. its my all time fav game on original xbox and ps2. i played it on both systems around launch. it was way ahead of its time and it deserves a proper remaster. so really happy to see they are listening to the community and delaying it and fixing it