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What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
Just started the Silent Hill 2 remake. Only put about 3 hours into it so far, but it's good. It's a very pretty game and they did a really good job so far of recapturing the oppressive and stressful nature of the original SH2. Feels like what I played when I was younger on PS2. My only complaints is that it suffers from the usual UE5 stutter a lot of games have and the voice acting is pretty bad from every character I've heard speak so far.
I've also been playing the demo for Metaphor ReFantazio in preparation for the full game release this weekend. It has been my most anticipated game since the release date was announced and I'm excited to finally play it. The demo is amazing and reviews for the game just released today and it's at a 91 average on OpenCritic.
Oh boy, the remake is $93.49 CDN. Guess I'll be waiting until that goes on sale. Glad it's good!
I've been playing TCG Card Shop Simulator!
It's basically a slot machine simulator at this point, after like 40 in-game days. It's still pretty fun and a quick game to go through for $10-ish bucks, and a good holdover till Metaphor: Refantazio this week!
That game looked great! I stuck it on my wish list to wait for 1.0 though. It seems like they've got a lot of work to do in early access.
there's definitely a LOT of work to be done, at this point of the game it's basically an idle game with a slot machine component, that you basically have to pay bills in.
it also doesn't really feel like it's a very accurate representation of TCG shops, just looking at my local LGS lol
I'm curious: do you have a personal rule about when it's acceptable to buy a game in EA?
I used to be strictly against the practice, though I've warmed to it in recent years. I've tried to draw hard lines about when it's okay to buy EA, both to limit spending and disappointment, and in an attempt to temper the incentive for companies who'd misuse that trust. But thinking back to my purchasing decisions, they've often been based more on subjective case-by-case feeling than clearly defined criteria.
The first EA title I remember putting in much effort to justify was Subnautica: Below Zero. I bought that EA because I adored the original–which I got at no appreciable cost by Epic giveaway–and wanted to throw more direct support to the devs in the hopes they could come up with even more innovative stuff. While I played through the end product and don't regret the purchase, it didn't turn out to be quite the classic the original is.
Since then, I've tried to draw harder lines around when I will throw money at a project. I tell myself that I'll only buy when an EA game is at a point in development where I'd be happy with the purchase as it is–that is, that I won't throw money at the promise a game shows, but only at what exists at that time and price. That hasn't always worked. For instance, I ended up being really early for Satisfactory, and while that game has developed into something special, I wouldn't have recommended it to anyone until the last couple of updates. Coffee Stain Studios has really made great use of early access, but they seem to be an exception.
Nier: Automata - I must say that so far I am not really impressed considering how praised it was. A lot of it has to do with the no saving demo which is one of the most horrible design decisions I have seen personally. Getting through it on easy I can see how they worked it into the lore, but the fact that it was intentional does not mean that the decision is good. Even as an outside observer not well versed in game design I could see obvious ways to mitigate the problems while keeping the core point which probably means they left the problems intentionally - hence horrible design.
Other that the gameplay is fine but nothing special so far.
I could see what they are doing with the camera changes. Though personally I thought that in the prologue where they were used most so far they were far too frequent and abrupt even if the gameplay transformation was interesting.
I am up to second main boss so far and I must say that I am not sure what to make of the story.
Probably mild spoilers and idle speculation since I am likely fairly early into the game.
The obvious conclusions the game present so far makes me think they'll add twists to it or pivot in unexcpected directions though I don't think they will completely subvert it.
That being that the machines are in some way remnants of humanity and the androids are in some way aggressors. But even assuming no subversion will take place later there are lot of ways that could be taken.
I am not even ready to discard the possibility that there are actually humans on the moon who were the aggressors with the earth-bound humanity succumbing to some bioweapon but not before cobbling together some prototype uploading process and rigging automation to keep it going.
Or we could go completely different direction and take the alien story at face value. Aliens invaded and conquered but splintered after with one faction assimilating the(concept of) humanity and the other the form.
Though I admit I have trouble differentiating what is there for presentation reasons and what is there for lore reasons.
The intro message, general tone and what I have been hearing about the game make me think that the overall message will be something gratuitously nihilistic and or edgelord though I would like to be pleasantly surprised.
I'll look forward to seeing how close or far I was though at this point I am honestly not sure if I just look it up or play the game.
I really liked the game when I played it around launch. Though it really doesn't shine until you've played through all the different "new games" or "endings". Each time "new game" really is a different game. The first time through as 2A is probably the longest and least interesting. I highly recommend trying the other endings if you beat it as 2A. They go much quicker and are really why the game receives the praise that it does.
I played Automata well after it came out through Gamepass I think. It's fine. I don't know what spoilers you are already aware of so I'll avoid giving anything away, but the game gets a lot better. I would argue it's too late and I eventually decided I had enough before ever finishing the game.
Good luck!
It takes a while, you have to finish endings A and B before the game gets really interesting. It takes a while, and I was close to giving up too, but I'm really glad I finished it. The second half of the game was amazing to me
Alien: Isolation finally in my sights again. I played about 5 missions originally when I got it Xbox One like 10 years ago, but gave up out of either fatigue or straight up terror. Told myself I couldn't finish it without someone else in the room with me but honestly, older and wiser, makes it even more fun to play!
The AI is still absolutely terrifying, the map design is brilliant, gorgeous, perhaps a bit punishing with regard to back tracking, but it also encourages memorization of hallways and vents and escape routes and -- I just am loving it. It feels like Alien 1.
The sound design alone deserves a lifetime achievement! It's amazing.
Your timing is pretty impeccable:
https://x.com/AlienIsolation/status/1843305291322200488
Image Text
To our fans around the world: It’s hard to believe that it has been 10 years since we embarked on our journey with the release of ALIEN: ISOLATION.When we started developing ALIEN: ISOLATION, we had one guiding principle: to create a truly authentic experience that went back to the roots of the ALIEN franchise - a new story capturing the atmosphere and terror of the original 1979 movie masterpiece.
It’s been nothing short of incredible to witness your passion for the game over the years and see it reach so many players around the world.
On the 10th anniversary, it seems only fitting to let you know that we have heard your distress calls loud and clear.
Today, I’m delighted to confirm, on behalf of the team, that a sequel to ALIEN: ISOLATION is in early development. We look forward to sharing more details with you when we’re ready.
Once again, thank you.
Until next time,
Al Hope, Creative Director – ALIEN: ISOLATION
I just started playing plate up with my soon-to-be wife*, and it has been an absolute blast. My whole YouTube account is now a plate up recommendation engine, helping me automate my burger restaurant.
No, seriously, I didn’t expect this one to hit so hard. I’ve read how people ‘lose friends’ over the game given how tense the coop can become but my wife and I have just enjoyed ourselves a lot running restaurants together.
Given what I can see in the YouTube clips about this game, we’ve barely scratched the surface on what we can do whit this game in terms of maps, recipes and automations, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be coming back to this one for a while.
I’ve tried playing solo, but that was a lot less fun. Do I would advice to play this if you have someone to play with.
*we’re getting married this Wednesday!
(On a side note: How awesome does metaphor refantazio look?!)
I think my girlfriend and I played like 50 hours of plate up or something together. And yeah its a blast!
Its a really good game, and like you said the depth is surprising. You think the first few times you play it's actually reasonable simple... Except it is not.
One night we started a game at like 6pm I think, and we wanted to try and get the achievement for overtime day 15. So we went all in on cake, our most successful dish we'd tried yet. We got all the right cards and the right setup and it got to 2am and we were on day like 25 or something insane. The group counter was up at over 200 groups. So we just had to turn it off and go to bed lol. Next day we continued and immediately failed the run because we lost the rhythm lol.
Also, congratuations! I hope you have your Plate Up high scores shown at the wedding!
I said last week I'd try out more Rain world but I got extremely distracted by both Outward and Crying Suns.
First, Outward. I played it years and years ago, like 2018, and had fun with it but stopped playing as it just was turning into a slog.
I came back to it now to mod it a bit and try to make it a bit easier to play and its going great.
It's really interesting honestly, the game has brilliant ideas and some seriously jaw dropping moments (both world design and interactions) but its hidden behind a load of weird and slightly badly implemented design choices.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes hard core exploration games and especially if you like working out systems and game magic. Otherwise, maybe watch a YouTube video.
Crying Suns was another return. I think I actually kick started it and played it as soon as it came out. I also really liked that game and stopped. I've kinda done the same thing again though because I find the meta progression kinda frustrating. You find and unlock powerful officers during your runs which you can pick at the start of a new run... Except after you end that run you can't use them again for FIVE MORE RUNS.
Now maybe if I had a bunch of officers unlocked I'd not mind, but I have 2. And one isn't that good. So I basically am sitting waiting for my 5th run to use my objectively better officer. And if I mess up, then I have to wait 5 more.
Its a bit mean really.
Otherwise the game is good. I like the art, the story, the setting. The combat is fun, the FTL style map movement has a cool spin.
There's no mods so I'm stuck with the officer thing, but maybe I'll find more in a few runs and I'll stop complaining.
Ninja Gaiden Still haven't gotten past Stage 2, I get near the end of the last level but the game really throws some bullshit at you. I'm enjoying this style of game play of playing for 30 minutes, seeing how far I get, retrying the hard sections until I learn them well.
Legend of Zelda Picked up a cartridge this weekend. I couldn't get my NES to read the first copy I got but my local story is very good at having multiple copies and swapping out stuff that isn't working. This era of games is really scratching an itch. The video recently posted on the front page is well timed. I'm probably going to write up some reflections on modern games versus earlier games. I like that games of the era don't have a manufactured dopamine drip built in and the graphics are so flashy as to hide the core gameplay loop.
God of War: Ragnarok I'm right at the end. I just need to commit some time to playing this last section. I enjoyed the game but I'll admit I'm a bit put off at the idea of another hour or so of Kratos's grunting. Games start feeling too long at this 30 hours mark for me. I enjoy the characters, story, lush graphics it just starts feeling like a slog.
Legend Of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom I picked up the same day as original Legend of Zelda. I'm enjoying the game a lot. I think they did well bringing in design philosophies from Tears of the Kingdom while keeping it directed enough that I have a clear problem to solve. I bounced of ToTK because of the lack of direction. I don't have that problem here. I am worried that it will begin to feel stale but currently exploration is keeping my attention.
Backpack battles.
I haven't played in months. A lot of content has been added, and the balance is pretty good. A lot of builds seem to be valid, although a couple classes suffer.
It's a turn-based deckbuilder/ fit-the-items in spaces for synergy-single player game that match makes against other people's builds to play ranked or casually. Would recommend.