2023 VIDEO GAME CATCH ALL THREAD

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

I’m surprised I haven’t at least heard of Waypoint before.

[odessasteps]

Everyone is posting their unboxings of the new Zelda-branded OLED today, which I guess dropped today at places like Best Buy. 

[RIPPA]

Well I uninstalled MLB the Show from my machine as for the 2nd time it decided to be all “Fuck you” and lost my entire RttS progress

Maybe I will decide to try again in the summer but it can fuck right off at this moment 

[SirSmUgly]

17 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Well I uninstalled MLB the Show from my machine as for the 2nd time it decided to be all “Fuck you” and lost my entire RttS progress

Maybe I will decide to try again in the summer but it can fuck right off at this moment 

No access to cloud saves?

[RIPPA]

8 hours ago, SirSmUgly said:

No access to cloud saves?

The cloud saves don't help. It isn't there as in all my other info, included my created player, are there but it pretends that you never started RttS

In Googling - it has happened to other people and did last year do. It is some sort of bug that they have never fixed

[Zimbra]

After trying it when I bought it and putting it down pretty quickly, AssCreed Valhalla has really clicked for me. The secret was turning the combat difficulty down to "dumbass" level and just running around Viking the shit out of everything.

[SirFozzie]

so, Age of Wonders 4 looks really good (out tomorrow). Been watching pre-release streamer runs, and it seems like it'll scratch my D&D/Civ need.

[JLSigman]

Be aware that there are already some Tears of the Kingdom spoilers and stuff out. Apparently some folks got their copies early by not exactly legal means, and have been streaming/posting stuff.

[Craig H]

Over the weekend I splurged and bought Star Wars Jedi Survivor having never played Fallen Order. I was getting a little tired of what I was playing and wanted something to hold me over for the next couple weeks until Tears of the Kingdom comes out.

It's really something else. Like, really fucking good. It does give me the same level of anxiety, like low grade anxiety compared to all of the other anxiety I experience, given the skill tree in the game. That's one of only a few dings against the game. Games that have very large skill trees spanning over multiple abilities really cranks up the decision paralysis. And from what I understand, you can't re-spec. I already feel like I fucked up with some abilities, like maybe I put too much in double bladed lightsabers too soon or something. 

The other knock against it are the hitches that happen during gameplay. I'm playing on a Series X instead of my PS5 big boi, but whenever you switch from one area to another or you go from gameplay to a cinematic there are some big hitches. I've also had audio drop out in really big fights, but only for a second or two. It's nothing game breaking, but it's just annoying to experience in this era of gaming.

Everything else is outstanding. The voice work, emotion on the faces of the characters, and the story continue this recent trend of having the best Star Wars shit happen outside of a movie. Unless he dies at the end or something, I would imagine we'll see Cal Kestis in a TV show sooner or later.

[Craig H]

In terms of spoilers, anyone spoiling Tears of the Kingdom for me would enter "urge to kill" territory. But I too noticed this on my recommended videos on YouTube this morning and already had to opt to block all Zelda videos. 

In addition to buying Jedi Survivor, I also nearly bought that Tears of the Kingdom Switch multiple times this weekend. The only thing is, neither my daughter or myself uses the Switch in handheld mode ever. It's always docked. I think the last time it was undocked was two years ago. But I do tend to worry about the life of our Switch since we had a launch Switch, that one broke within two years, and Best Buy replaced it with a refurbished system instead of a new system. So it's like, does that justify me buying a new Switch...?

Anyway, dammit, it would have been nice for them to release Tears of the Kingdom this week instead of next. I also assume if you want the collectors edition for it then you're going to have to be at a store when it opens because I've never seen preorders open up for that thing.

[JLSigman]

2 hours ago, Craig H said:

The other knock against it are the hitches that happen during gameplay. I'm playing on a Series X instead of my PS5 big boi, but whenever you switch from one area to another or you go from gameplay to a cinematic there are some big hitches. I've also had audio drop out in really big fights, but only for a second or two. It's nothing game breaking, but it's just annoying to experience in this era of gaming.

 

They just put out a performance patch a few hours ago, you might see if it's available for the X yet.

[odessasteps]

3 hours ago, JLSigman said:

Be aware that there are already some Tears of the Kingdom spoilers and stuff out. Apparently some folks got their copies early by not exactly legal means, and have been streaming/posting stuff.

You know it’s bad when the game sites but up PSA videos about the leak and need to reassure people that they won’t spoil anything before Australian Release Day, which is how the US sites can start streaming “a day early.” 

[Kevin Wilson]

I didn't even watch the last Zelda gameplay trailer as I wanted to be as surprised as possible, so hopefully no one goes tooo spoiler-y once it comes out.

[SirSmUgly]

I don't remember anything about BotW's story, so I'm not fussed about the TotK story being revealed. 

I just hope that I like the gameplay systems more than I think I will. And that's all I'll say about that because the post above me didn't even watch the previous trailer. 

[Zimbra]

The only thing I remember about BOTW's story is the implication Link had sex with a fish lady.  Beyond that it was all cooking caterpillars and falling off of cliffs.

[Craig H]

She was mega thirsty for Link, but Link's heart is with Zelda. 

I actually really love the story for BotW. I watched a 45 minute long video about how BotW takes place in the timeline where Link doesn't fail in Ocarina of Time. Honestly though, I look at BotW as more of a reboot than anything. Or, at the very least, Skyward Sword is definitely the first in the cannon because it does introduce elements that we see in BotW, one of the other games where Ganondorf is introduced would be the next, and then BotW takes place well after that and the folks in Hyrule live very long lives.

Regardless, and you do have to play the most recent Hyrule Warriors game to get the backstory for everything that happens before Link goes into the regen chamber for 100 years, but it does feel like a jumping off point to reboot the series. Ganondorf was the lone male born to the Gerudo tribe who was the embodiment of evil, that evil grew to consume him to the point where he became this all powerful force that Hyrule built all of the Guardians and Divine Beasts to fend off the evil that was threatening the land, Link gets mortally wounded in the process and goes into the chamber, Ganondorf's evil essence takes over the Guardians and Divine Beasts, and Zelda, the embodiment of Hylia, uses her latent power to lock Ganon into a stasis bubble to wait until Link, the one true warrior to defend Hyrule, recovers.

BotW starts 100 years later, Link comes out of the chamber, hears echoes of what Zelda needs him to do, and he sets off freeing all of the Divine Beasts from the various spirits of Ganon so they can use all of the Divine Beasts to blast Ganon in Hyrule's castle to weaken him enough to give Link a fighting chance. The big battle takes place, Ganon's true form as a pig takes shape, Link and Zelda win...for now.

BotW is easily one of the best games I've ever played. I love it so much. The only things I really fault it for are the stupid weapon durability system, which you wind up getting used to anyway, and the total lack of an epic, orchestral version of the main Legend of Zelda theme for the final battle. Everything else, even it raining every time you try to climb something, doesn't bother me. 

Man, I really can't wait to play TotK. It's weird that Blizzard chose that weekend of TotK's release to do another beta for Diablo 4. Normally I would just be playing that beta all weekend, but I'm playing TotK every chance I get.

[odessasteps]

3 hours ago, Zimbra said:

The only thing I remember about BOTW's story is the implication Link had sex with a fish lady.  Beyond that it was all cooking caterpillars and falling off of cliffs.

Rock Climbing, Joel. Rock climbing. 

[Salads]

17 hours ago, Zimbra said:

The only thing I remember about BOTW's story is the implication Link had sex with a fish lady.  Beyond that it was all cooking caterpillars and falling off of cliffs.

With all the Zelda talk in the air I'm currently playing BOTW, picking up my save from 2018 (where after visiting the two villages the game pushes you towards at the start I exercised my freedom by picking a direction at random and inadvertently made a beeline to Eventide Island, for which I was not prepared).

I'm finding that the game is sufficiently different from previous entries that recurring elements which would previously be considered routine come across like surprise cameos. And on that note although it was a minor spoiler for me I'm glad that 'the chosen hero of legend is attractive to fish women' has become such a series staple.

[odessasteps]

I spent so much time on BOTW (and watching others play it or speed running it), I've not had the desire to play it again. 

[odessasteps]

One of the streamers i watch was supposed to stream Redfall today but after playing it off stream last night, he's doing the Jedi game today instead. 

[John E. Dynamite]

I did this thing a month ago where I made a big Google doc of every game I had more-than-halfway beat. It was a long, shameful list, longer than I care to admit. But I committed to only pay games on that list and since then I've managed to finish

House in Fata Morgana
the original Rachet & Clank
Ys 7
Borderlands 1
Death Mark
Blaster Master 0
my first run of Wario Land 2

and I'm knocking on the door of beating Ace Combat 4 and Mega Man Battle Network 2 (original cartridge, no remaster). It's been a real neat "project" coming back to all these games with a clear mind. Some of them really opened up in their back half, Ys in particular. I'd recommend trying this yourself if you're the type.

[tbarrie]

I just ate the Pope in Cultist Simulator.

Take that, Crusader Kings 3!

Edited May 3, 2023 by tbarrie

[SirSmUgly]

I'm playing through Advance Wars and I wish Nintendo would make a new one, but go full RTS instead of turn-based. 

[SirFozzie]

Showgunners is XCom+Running Man. I've lost one teammate to an unavoidable cut-scene murking, but it's good bloody fun. Definitely not a $60 game, but it's priced at 29.99 (26.99 on release) and definitely worth it for that.

Oh, and funny moment, the game's music has a stinger that basically rips off the "Da-da-da, da-da-da" bit from SportsCenter.

I half expect Scott Van Pelt to pop up on the screen and say "Tonight, after Homicidal All-Stars, we go into the best highlights and kills from tonight's action, and a bad beat when a Challenger hits a tripwire on their way out of the arena. Again, KillCenter, After Homicidal All-Stars"

[SirFozzie]

dola: Also, two phrases I never thought would go together: "Rogue-like" "Hockey Game" Tape2Tape is out. Aracde-ish hockey with rogue-like elements as you go through a run.