Everything Video Games!

Installed HZD on our PS5, transferred my old save, and finally booted up The Frozen Wilds. I honestly have no idea why I never played the DLC soon after buying it. Several hours in, and I'm loving it (no surprise). Kicking things off with an immediate mini-boss was definitely a shock to my system, but the baptism by robofire helped whip me back into shape real quick like. Got to get back into the habit of being strategic with armor and weapon strengths.
 
i finally started night in the woods this week and finished it.

gotta be honest, gameplay-wise i found the game to be a bit slow and repetitive. i mean, i knew what i was going into, but still, for me, specially in the beginning, i would be repeating all the steps in the day routine every day which would be to try to go to all places and do all the dialogue bubbles, and that got really old really fast

but the story was great, did not expect it to go the way it did, but it was definitely surprising in a good way. i did the bea route (i thought mae and gregg were very immature characters and i am so glad this gets brought up with bea) and that was also a good reason why i enjoyed the story, not sure if i would have enjoyed the game as much on a blind playthrough had i gone the gregg route.

as much as i would actually like to do 100% playthrough and get the whole journal filled and do the other routes, i dont think i will, bc again, the gameplay mechanic of this game didnt enthrall me as much
 
Santi Chacin said:
i finally started night in the woods this week and finished it.

gotta be honest, gameplay-wise i found the game to be a bit slow and repetitive. i mean, i knew what i was going into, but still, for me, specially in the beginning, i would be repeating all the steps in the day routine every day which would be to try to go to all places and do all the dialogue bubbles, and that got really old really fast

but the story was great, did not expect it to go the way it did, but it was definitely surprising in a good way. i did the bea route (i thought mae and gregg were very immature characters and i am so glad this gets brought up with bea) and that was also a good reason why i enjoyed the story, not sure if i would have enjoyed the game as much on a blind playthrough had i gone the gregg route.

as much as i would actually like to do 100% playthrough and get the whole journal filled and do the other routes, i dont think i will, bc again, the gameplay mechanic of this game didnt enthrall me as much
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Gregg's route is great too. He actually addresses a lot of that immaturity during the story. I'd recommend doing a quick second playthrough and see how things change when you hang out with him instead. Or just watch those scenes online.
 
Santi Chacin said:
i finally started night in the woods this week and finished it.

gotta be honest, gameplay-wise i found the game to be a bit slow and repetitive. i mean, i knew what i was going into, but still, for me, specially in the beginning, i would be repeating all the steps in the day routine every day which would be to try to go to all places and do all the dialogue bubbles, and that got really old really fast

but the story was great, did not expect it to go the way it did, but it was definitely surprising in a good way. i did the bea route (i thought mae and gregg were very immature characters and i am so glad this gets brought up with bea) and that was also a good reason why i enjoyed the story, not sure if i would have enjoyed the game as much on a blind playthrough had i gone the gregg route.

as much as i would actually like to do 100% playthrough and get the whole journal filled and do the other routes, i dont think i will, bc again, the gameplay mechanic of this game didnt enthrall me as much
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Absolutely loved this game. Can’t really contradict you re: raw gameplay, but I loved the art and the writing and the story.

Also, is anyone else playing Pokémon Legends? It’s…actually a ton of fun?
 
We got both a PS5 and Oculus Quest 2 for the holidays. The PS5 has been mainly used (so far) to play It Takes Two with my youngest. However, my main addiction has been Population: One on the Oculus. Maybe it's just because I'm utter shit at console shooters, and I'm occasionally decent at the VR version?
 
kvetcha said:
Also, is anyone else playing Pokémon Legends? It’s…actually a ton of fun?
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I played it all weekend while snowed in.

Yeah, it's loads of fun and it's not the same old same old Pokemon you come to expect.

For example, you have to heal your pokemon by either resting at a camp or crafting revives and potions. That said Crafting is new. So you have to scavenge for different items and acquire crafting recipes either by completing tasks or purchasing them.

Instead of going around from gym to gym to increase your rank, you have to earn experience points by completing tasks in your Pokédex. Each pokemon has different tasks to complete. Such as Catch at night, feed berries, seen using such and such move and so on.

The further along in the game you get the more open the world becomes.

It's not a true Open world in the sense that the entire region is available to free roam. Instead there are distinct areas in the region you can explore, but you can't go from one distinct area to another without going back to the village. As the game progresses each of these areas act and feel like open worlds. Especially after you get the ability to go in the water or climb cliffs which you don't have starting out. So areas you already completed have a lot more you can go back and explore later on.

Agile and Strong style attacks are new. And so are Alpha pokemon. Which are like trying to beat or defeat a raid boss and are a strong pokemon to have on your team.

Shiny hunting is more fun.
 
variety.com

‘It Takes Two’ Developer Hazelight Studios Teams With dj2 Entertainment to Adapt Game for Film, TV (EXCLUSIVE)

Hazelight Studios has teamed with dj2 Entertainment to adapt the videogame "It Takes Two" for film and TV, Variety has learned exclusively.
variety.com variety.com

Film and TV?

For a game with glaring narrative issues redeemed mostly by its impeccable, imaginative gameplay, they sure have their work cut out for them once gameplay is out of the picture.

Honestly, having the Sonic adaptation writers on board gives me hope for a smarter approach to the humor at play—which still feels weird to admit.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
www.theverge.com

Sony is buying Bungie, the developer of Destiny and original creator of Halo

Another huge acquisition in the gaming industry
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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so the more I hear about this it actually has nothing to do with the Microsoft/Activision deal, and they keep stressing Bungie will operate independently and multi-platform. it really just seems Sony acquired them for the live service/multiplayer community expertise.. it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out for sure
 
Started playing a few indie games that came out in recent years:

Carrion - interesting concept to play as the monster. Seems good. Haven't played too much of it. Will probably be a back burner game.

Ape Out - really fun. Superb soundtrack (all jazz drumming; love that your moves and pace affect the sounds). Finished it. Really short. Weirdly got attached to that orange gorilla. This game and Carrion were published by Devolver Digital and I tend to like a lot of their releases (Hotline Miami, My Friend Pedro, Katana Zero, Ruiner, Gris).

Celeste - fucking difficult platformer. Will def eat up time. Resisting putting assist mode on but def not trying to get all the extras. Really good soundtrack. Deeper level of storytelling when put in the context of the maker.
 
Tillman said:
so the more I hear about this it actually has nothing to do with the Microsoft/Activision deal, and they keep stressing Bungie will operate independently and multi-platform. it really just seems Sony acquired them for the live service/multiplayer community expertise.. it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out for sure
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That’s a lotta money “just” for expertise. I imagine there is more to be had long-term that potentially isn’t being stated at this time.
 
Very cool that the video gane industry seems determined to consolidate to a max of 5 companies by year's end.
 
BabiesAreWorthlessDiapers said:
Started playing a few indie games that came out in recent years:

Carrion - interesting concept to play as the monster. Seems good. Haven't played too much of it. Will probably be a back burner game.

Ape Out - really fun. Superb soundtrack (all jazz drumming; love that your moves and pace affect the sounds). Finished it. Really short. Weirdly got attached to that orange gorilla. This game and Carrion were published by Devolver Digital and I tend to like a lot of their releases (Hotline Miami, My Friend Pedro, Katana Zero, Ruiner, Gris).

Celeste - fucking difficult platformer. Will def eat up time. Resisting putting assist mode on but def not trying to get all the extras. Really good soundtrack. Deeper level of storytelling when put in the context of the maker.
Click to expand...
Celeste rips. I’ve got the soundtrack on wax.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
I played it all weekend while snowed in.

Yeah, it's loads of fun and it's not the same old same old Pokemon you come to expect.

For example, you have to heal your pokemon by either resting at a camp or crafting revives and potions. That said Crafting is new. So you have to scavenge for different items and acquire crafting recipes either by completing tasks or purchasing them.

Instead of going around from gym to gym to increase your rank, you have to earn experience points by completing tasks in your Pokédex. Each pokemon has different tasks to complete. Such as Catch at night, feed berries, seen using such and such move and so on.

The further along in the game you get the more open the world becomes.

It's not a true Open world in the sense that the entire region is available to free roam. Instead there are distinct areas in the region you can explore, but you can't go from one distinct area to another without going back to the village. As the game progresses each of these areas act and feel like open worlds. Especially after you get the ability to go in the water or climb cliffs which you don't have starting out. So areas you already completed have a lot more you can go back and explore later on.

Agile and Strong style attacks are new. And so are Alpha pokemon. Which are like trying to beat or defeat a raid boss and are a strong pokemon to have on your team.

Shiny hunting is more fun.
Click to expand...

I am LOVING this game so far. Yeah, graphics are pretty whack, but I didn't buy it for that anyway. This is the absolute correct step forward for Pokemon games, and I hope they continue to expand on it. It's been a long time coming.

I really love how the Pokedex works. It makes you want to find and catch a species more than once. They've also more or less fixed an issue I've had with Pokemon games (and Zelda games for that matter) which is how tedious everything is. It takes less than 5 seconds to catch a pokemon now if you don't have to battle it, when in normal style games, you have to find an encounter, wait for the animation, click through all the text, either battle it or try immediately to catch, wait through the animations, blah blah blah it just takes way too long and always makes me want to play something else because I can only devote so much time at once to games now. But with Legends Arceus, oh man I feel like I'm going so fast through everything and it's really great.

I also love how you can change move sets so easily, and you basically get a bank of moves for each pokemon that you can choose from.

I love the Alphas, they're so fun to run into even though I can't do shit with them yet (I'm still towards the beginning of the game).

There are definitely things that can be improved, just a few quality of life adjustments, and obviously there is endless possibilities on ways to make a pokemon game like this even better. I really hope they continue to improve the idea and don't just remake the same game over and over again like they generally do.

So stoked to play more!
 
@Jake!

And if you do manage to catch a couple of Alpha's early on like I did, they are pretty much useless until you make Rank 4/5. They don't obey any of your instructions in battle more times than not.

They are nice allies though once you level up high enough where they will listen to you. Also, each new zone you move into, expect the Alphas to be 20 or so levels higher than you. I just got to the last zone and can't do shit to catch Alphas there yet.

Last night I caught a shiny Licktoung.



Based on that and where I'm in the game the shiny rate would have been 1 out of 4096.

I have never caught a wild shiny in Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu, Shield or Brilliant Diamond. Pokemon Shield has over 200 hours of game play on it too. The only shinies I have on that game I have gotten from Mystery Box codes, transfering from Pokemon Go or random p2p trades.

Looks like a Shiny Ponyta is easy to get in Legends of Arceus. It's one of the research tasks to get about a unusual looking Ponyta from a guy standing on a bridge in the village. Once you get the task, go look for wild ponyta and you will get one.

That makes 2 shinies for me now in Legends of Arceus.

Right now I'm at the 5th lord.

And I'm rank 6 out of 10.

The 5th lord is the last lord, so I wonder how much story is left for me to complete.
 
kvetcha said:
Celeste rips. I’ve got the soundtrack on wax.
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Yea there are just some outstanding soundtracks linked to games all through the ages.

I used to have Contra and Streets of Rage 1-3 on vinyl. Off the top of my head I believe those are the only video game soundtracks I've ever bought. I since sold them. Don't get me wrong, they're awesome soundtracks. And packaging for VG soundtracks are usually great. I just never found myself playing them and they became a vanity piece collecting dust.

I don't think I'd ever buy a VG soundtrack again. I find I lose something when they're detached from the gameplay. Hades is another one I almost bought when they did the vinyl. The packaging was so freaking nice and it's got killer music. But it's also so tied up in the gameplay for me so I think I'll keep it that way.

I did get a digital DL for the Celeste soundtrack when I bought it. I did DL it but who knows if I'll ever play it independently of the game. But, yea, it is superb so I can't fault anyone however they choose to listen to it.
 
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