Mini-Review/Backlog Destruction Thread

[wshowers]

Bought Assasins Creed Shadows (PC) cause it was on sale. Won't probably play it until next year.

Also bought Tempest Rising (PC). Again cause it was on sale. Its a shorter RTS game so I'll probably get to it this year.

 

[wshowers]

Been pretty busy lately, especially on weekends, so took me longer than expected but just finished Prey.

I really slept on this one. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but it is truly an incredible game. Felt like the first time I played Bioshock. Highly recommend.

Next up, on to Pillars of Eternity 2.

I Just saw this. Best of luck to you. Pillars 2 is long AF.

 

[Z A C K]

I Just saw this. Best of luck to you. Pillars 2 is long AF.

I read somewhere that it was shorter than the first. The first took me like three months.

 

[wshowers]

I read somewhere that it was shorter than the first. The first took me like three months.

It is... if all you do is stick to the main quest. If that's your play style, you can actually finish it in one sitting. If you do all the side stuff, be prepared to be in the Deadfire for a while.

 

[cmstophe]

I have been chipping away at Armored Core 6 lately, on and off. Finally got to a boss near the end of Chapter 3 and I’m done. Game is cool but the camera and controls are absolutely horrendous, the lock on doesn’t work at all so I’m constantly straining my right thumb on the stick to rotate the camera and try to stay with these stupid super agile AC bosses, all while trying to empty my payload. Assault Boost keeps activating accidentally with the goofy left stick. It’s too much. EDIT: forgot to mention, this new mechanic where the enemy AC heals itself is the actual straw that broke the camels back.

Just can’t do it. Raven got me. Uninstalled. Too much other cool less frustrating s*** to play these days.

 

[wshowers]

Finished Star Ocean The Second Story R on PC. Great remake of the best star ocean game. Great use of 2DHD. Sadly the series gets worse after this game and never really recovers. The last game in the series is so bad I couldn't finish it.

 

[wshowers]

Why am I like this... Purchased metaphor refantazio for Series X because Amazon had it for $15. Almost picked up Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 for 30 but I'm not sure it I'd like that game at all. Might get a PSN sub for a month and give the game trial a chance to see if I like it. Back to Metaphor. Gave the demo another shot and I enjoyed it. It oozes with style like most Atlus games tend to. Music is surprisingly good. But it will be added to the backlog, despite my feeling with xbox right now.

So now my backlog of currently installed games is Spiderman 2 (PC), The legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie (PC), Tempest Rising (PC), Horizon Forbidden West(PC), Assassin's Creed Shadows (PC). Yes, Your Grace Snowfall (PC). The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me ( XSX), Astro Bot (PS5), Super Mario Wonder (Switch). ALOT of 60 hr + games. And Late October has a bunch of good game releases as well.

 

[DriedMangoes]

Why am I like this... Purchased metaphor refantazio for Series X because Amazon had it for $15. Almost picked up Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 for 30 but I'm not sure it I'd like that game at all. Might get a PSN sub for a month and give the game trial a chance to see if I like it. Back to Metaphor. Gave the demo another shot and I enjoyed it. It oozes with style like most Atlus games tend to. Music is surprisingly good. But it will be added to the backlog, despite my feeling with xbox right now.

So now my backlog of currently installed games is Spiderman 2 (PC), The legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie (PC), Tempest Rising (PC), Horizon Forbidden West(PC), Assassin's Creed Shadows (PC). Yes, Your Grace Snowfall (PC). The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me ( XSX), Astro Bot (PS5), Super Mario Wonder (Switch). ALOT of 60 hr + games. And Late October has a bunch of good game releases as well.

Metaphor is an amazing JRPG. Well worth the $15.

 

[BDK]

ALOT of 60 hr + games.

You are either f***ED, or you will be in gaming heaven.

 

[wshowers]

Metaphor is an amazing JRPG. Well worth the $15.

10 hours in and I agree. I don't know what it was initially that didn't click but its Medieval fantasy Persona, with all the substance and style that comes with that.

You are either f***ED, or you will be in gaming heaven.

I am overwhelmed. Its like what do I play now with my limited time. Do I bounce around or stay with 1 title til completion?

 

[BDK]

Do I bounce around or stay with 1 title til completion?

This is my desire. But I am not very good at it. I was head deep into Borderlands 4 and loving it. Then Ghost of Yotei came out, and now I am heads deep into that. The only other 2 games I am buying for the rest of year is COD and Keeper. If I don't finish one of the two games I am playing now, not sure I ever will. Unless I get over the whole FOMO.

 

[starseeker]

I don´t think I am getting much new games for next year. Not until I am done with current backlog. I still have not complete Baulders gate 3.....and still have WOW which I barely played after resubbed-

Then there are evergreen like diablo 4 which I will play 2-4 weeks every new season.

I may considered Outerworld 2, as my last game I buy this years. SO far the impression from youtubers looks overall good. I played teh first game and it was so so game. But I heard part 2 is a significant imporbvement

 

[wshowers]

Finished Metaphor Refantazio ( XSX/PC). Fantastic game. Great gameplay, story and music. If I had played this last year when it came out, it would have been my GOTY. Only complaints I have are the same with most Persona games. A little to grindy, and the end game is overly long.( Think Dragon Quest 11) Outside of that, excellent all around.

 

[wshowers]

Finished Hades (XSX/PC) and Dispatch (PC). Both were EXCELLENT but for different reasons.

Hades gameplay is superb and allows for alot of runs using different permutations. Story is just intriguing enough to keep you coming back. Game is HARD but never feel unbeatable.

Dispatch is a telltale game on steroids. There is no illusion of choice. Your choices actually change the story. Especially the big ones. Well written, extraordinarily voice acted and just the right length. Sneakily a GOTY candidate for me. OR at least surprise of the year.

 

[starseeker]

I watched a lot of videos on the Wow player housings, whowing off crrative design from talented players in beta test (PTR)., and it inspired me to play....Home improvement IRL.
It involve cleaning, and geting rid of old useless papers, stuff etc, rearrange stuff, and buy stuff needed. Everyday I focus on one area than work on it.

I will have some screenshots to show soon.
Edit: Here are 2 screenshots:
Main desk is for work side desk is private. Mainly for writing. Is it necessary to have a Keyboard for laptop you may ask. It feels much better to type of a good keyboard and writing involved alot of typing.

When I started writing, I decided flexibility and comfort is key, so I bought a laptop, allowing me to write while sitting on my sofa (see next picture) or in a cafe, or "decked" like what you see here.

Bought two Santa theme pillows MTXs to replace 2 older ones using RMT from farming $ doing an activity call work. The glass decor on the crotch desk is only for this photo shoot.

 

[wshowers]

Finished The Outer Worlds 2. Not bad. Not Obsidian's best work but still alot better than others. I liked it leaps and bounds more than TOW1. I think I prefer Avowed's combat alot more. TOW2 companions was a step up from Avowed. The ending was ok, same as Avowed. Both felt like a AA experience and I think I know why. Both are missing features that used to be staples of Obsidian games.

One is romance-able characters. Up until TOW1 this was a staple in the Obsidian format. Whether it is the climate we're in or to avoid controversy, it is something that is available from their contemporaries, and it not being present is noticeable. The second is complex choices. TOW2 does have choices that effect the game but its surface level. Their previous games and again their contemporaries have nuanced, complex choices in their games that show up both immediately and hours down the line. The 3rd is memorable characters. Both Avowed and TOW2 try to make compelling memorable character but fall way short of their previous works and those of current and past rpgs.

All of these points IMO seem to be by design instead of inability. Instead of making a niche hardcore RPG that only a few people will really appreciate, they seem to be going for a broad appeal by the number rpg with better than average writing/dialog with really good gameplay. And I can't say that is a bad approach, if it keeps the lights on.

But overall both Avowed and TOW2 feel like Obsidian-lite projects vs full on Obsidian like Tyranny or POE.

 

[wshowers]

Finished The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie. And not a moment too soon as I've still got Trails in to Daybreak to start. Plus Trails in the Sky 1st FINALLY is on sale for PC.

This wasn't my favorite trails game. Mostly cause the pacing is all over the place and it relies alot on different cut away memories to tell its story. Not a big fan of that. Other wise its serviceable but I'm glad to have finally finished it and moving on.

 

[wshowers]

Just about done with Prey (PC). It feels like an Arkane take of Bioshock. I see alot of Dishonored in it and the building blocks of Deathloop. Really sets itself up well to be a series, but it sold like crap like most Arkane games. Makes me a little sad that Arkane is in the Marvel mines now and not making Dishonored 3 and Deathloop 2.

 

[cmstophe]

Finished The Outer Worlds 2. Not bad. Not Obsidian's best work but still alot better than others. I liked it leaps and bounds more than TOW1. I think I prefer Avowed's combat alot more. TOW2 companions was a step up from Avowed. The ending was ok, same as Avowed. Both felt like a AA experience and I think I know why. Both are missing features that used to be staples of Obsidian games.

One is romance-able characters. Up until TOW1 this was a staple in the Obsidian format. Whether it is the climate we're in or to avoid controversy, it is something that is available from their contemporaries, and it not being present is noticeable. The second is complex choices. TOW2 does have choices that effect the game but its surface level. Their previous games and again their contemporaries have nuanced, complex choices in their games that show up both immediately and hours down the line. The 3rd is memorable characters. Both Avowed and TOW2 try to make compelling memorable character but fall way short of their previous works and those of current and past rpgs.

All of these points IMO seem to be by design instead of inability. Instead of making a niche hardcore RPG that only a few people will really appreciate, they seem to be going for a broad appeal by the number rpg with better than average writing/dialog with really good gameplay. And I can't say that is a bad approach, if it keeps the lights on.

But overall both Avowed and TOW2 feel like Obsidian-lite projects vs full on Obsidian like Tyranny or POE.

Really wish we can get more crpg love from obsidian…

 

[wshowers]

Really wish we can get more crpg love from obsidian…

You would think we would given the success of BG3 and others but Obsidian has been burned sales wise with crpgs. It wouldn't be a stretch to see Avowed and TOW2 outsell all their previous crpgs.

 

[cmstophe]

Finally finished Cyberpunk 2077 and the expansion. Took me years of on and off playing, as the game failed to grasp me. That said, i picked it up recently at about the 20 hour mark and proceeded to pour another 50 hours in and reach the end.

Took a while but the story really clicked with me on the back half. My character felt mostly unstoppable for the final 30 ish hours, which is not typically what I like in an RPG but this game to me felt more like an FPS with RPG elements so that was fine.

Overall I think this is a great game - it probably doesnt crack my favorite games of a time but it’s definitely in my top 20-25 or so… as a dad there aren’t a lot of games anymore that can get me to actually beat it and also put this amount of time into them… so, that tells me I must have really loved this even if it took time to click.

I’ll be there for the sequel!

 

[lowdru2k]

Finally finished Cyberpunk 2077 and the expansion. Took me years of on and off playing, as the game failed to grasp me. That said, i picked it up recently at about the 20 hour mark and proceeded to pour another 50 hours in and reach the end.

Took a while but the story really clicked with me on the back half. My character felt mostly unstoppable for the final 30 ish hours, which is not typically what I like in an RPG but this game to me felt more like an FPS with RPG elements so that was fine.

Overall I think this is a great game - it probably doesnt crack my favorite games of a time but it’s definitely in my top 20-25 or so… as a dad there aren’t a lot of games anymore that can get me to actually beat it and also put this amount of time into them… so, that tells me I must have really loved this even if it took time to click.

I’ll be there for the sequel!

I got it on sale a couple years ago. Tried to start it a couple times just haven’t stuck with it yet. What I played of it the game world was impressive.

 

[cmstophe]

I got it on sale a couple years ago. Tried to start it a couple times just haven’t stuck with it yet. What I played of it the game world was impressive.

Yeah. Like I said. This was me 2-3 times before it finally stuck this time. Highly recommend pushing thru to Phantom and beating that. If it still doesnt hook you after that, it wont ever.

 

[wshowers]

Finally gave up with Red Dead Redemption 2. Its a great technical achievement for certain, but for me it just isn't fun. There's too much minutiae and I don't care for how Arthur controls. I've tried it on console and PC, just not for me. And I enjoyed Red Dead Redemtion 1.

 

[aceattorney]

Finally finished Stray - it was one of my most highly anticipated games, and when it was finally released, I didn't play it until years later. I guess in some sense, I wanted to hold onto that anticipation. But I guess I can easily just as blame the backlog.

At any rate, it is a wonderfully crafted game, and it's apparent a lot of love was poured into it.

 

[Kerosene31]

Finally gave up with Red Dead Redemption 2. Its a great technical achievement for certain, but for me it just isn't fun. There's too much minutiae and I don't care for how Arthur controls. I've tried it on console and PC, just not for me. And I enjoyed Red Dead Redemtion 1.

Most overrated game of all time. What irritates me the most is how they punish you for doing bad things. I want to be an outlaw, but do one bad thing in the middle of nowhere and you end up with a bounty against you.

The controls are horrible. Spend 20 minutes trying to line up a horse with a hitching post. People act like this is Rockstars best game, it is probably right up there with GTA 4 as the worst.

 

[wshowers]

Most overrated game of all time. What irritates me the most is how they punish you for doing bad things. I want to be an outlaw, but do one bad thing in the middle of nowhere and you end up with a bounty against you.

The controls are horrible. Spend 20 minutes trying to line up a horse with a hitching post. People act like this is Rockstars best game, it is probably right up there with GTA 4 as the worst.

I could overlook ALOT with the game IF the controls weren't like obtuse for no reason.

 

[lowdru2k]

I loved RDR1 played through the whole thing. I got RDR2 a few years ago on sale have tried to get into it multiple times. Every time I’m just not having fun playing it. The game world and graphics are impressive I give it that. I’m afraid this is how GTA6 is going to end up. The game world is amazing just the controls and actual sim style gameplay is a chore.

 

[Kerosene31]

I finished Quarantine Zone: The Last Check on PC the other day.

Very fun and entertaining game, especially for less than $20. A zombie game that doesn't have to be a horde or multiplayer survival game.

You inspect survivors for symptions and sort them accordingly. Let one zombie into the safe zone, and you lose a bunch of people.

 

[lowdru2k]

I finished Quarantine Zone: The Last Check on PC the other day.

Very fun and entertaining game, especially for less than $20. A zombie game that doesn't have to be a horde or multiplayer survival game.

You inspect survivors for symptions and sort them accordingly. Let one zombie into the safe zone, and you lose a bunch of people.

Console?