Exactly. My nephew gave up on a new Xbox because we could never find them a year ago. I haven't checked since then, but it sounds like they are still pretty scarce. Maybe I'm wrong though.
The Video Game Thread - anything and everything...
- Thread starter KrangPrime
- Start date
Exactly. My nephew gave up on a new Xbox because we could never find them a year ago. I haven't checked since then, but it sounds like they are still pretty scarce. Maybe I'm wrong though.
HeartBlade
Sr Member
If you have a good enough PC, your nephew can pretty much play every Xbox game on PC through gamepass though. Just need to buy an xbox controller.
Gamepass also releases their exclusives and new games on gamepass iirc so you can play some of the latest games at no additional cost. The new xbox isnt really needed with pass and a good enough PC.
Gimpdiggity
Master Member
Finished Stray tonight. Short game but really great. Story was awesome, atmosphere was fantastic, and I mean what else needs to be said…you play as a cat. Heck, when you finish saving the city, the cat literally just curls up and takes a nap. Total cat move.
Not sure what I’ll jump into next. Last Hero of Nostalgaia looks pretty cool, but I saw the Alan Wake Remaster is out and I really liked that.
I’ll probably get something new in the next day or two.
Not sure what I’ll jump into next. Last Hero of Nostalgaia looks pretty cool, but I saw the Alan Wake Remaster is out and I really liked that.
I’ll probably get something new in the next day or two.
Solo4114
Master Member
Games I'm currently playing:
- Just Cause 4. It's...meh. Fine. I got it as part of a bundle, so I'm ok with it since I got the version with all the DLC. But I have to say that graphically it is a MAJOR step down from Just Cause 3, and the new approach to mission structures and stuff is a bit lackluster. The real marks against it are (1) that the jet-powered wing-suit is a lot harder to control and less versatile than in JC3, and (2) that actual combat is fairly humdrum. I didn't like JC3's upgrade system, but at least the game had some real variety to its weapons. JC4 just feels...I dunno...bland.
- Re-playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous with some of the new DLC. It's fine, but there are certain flaws I was hoping would be addressed by now that haven't been. Oh well. It's still fun.
- I've pretty much given up on Marvel's Avengers, just given how there's zero new content and the gameplay has grown incredibly stale for me.
- I'll probably finish up the Spider-Man game pretty soon, although I'm hoping that the new Miles Morales game comes out for PC soon so I can just transition over to it relatively smoothly. As a single player game, this one is pretty terrific and, I think, rivals the Arkham games.
Speaking of Arkham games and those that want to give you that kind of vibe, anyone played Gotham Knights? Is it as lackluster as it looks and sounds?
- Just Cause 4. It's...meh. Fine. I got it as part of a bundle, so I'm ok with it since I got the version with all the DLC. But I have to say that graphically it is a MAJOR step down from Just Cause 3, and the new approach to mission structures and stuff is a bit lackluster. The real marks against it are (1) that the jet-powered wing-suit is a lot harder to control and less versatile than in JC3, and (2) that actual combat is fairly humdrum. I didn't like JC3's upgrade system, but at least the game had some real variety to its weapons. JC4 just feels...I dunno...bland.
- Re-playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous with some of the new DLC. It's fine, but there are certain flaws I was hoping would be addressed by now that haven't been. Oh well. It's still fun.
- I've pretty much given up on Marvel's Avengers, just given how there's zero new content and the gameplay has grown incredibly stale for me.
- I'll probably finish up the Spider-Man game pretty soon, although I'm hoping that the new Miles Morales game comes out for PC soon so I can just transition over to it relatively smoothly. As a single player game, this one is pretty terrific and, I think, rivals the Arkham games.
Speaking of Arkham games and those that want to give you that kind of vibe, anyone played Gotham Knights? Is it as lackluster as it looks and sounds?
Cephus
Master Member
The only game I'm playing right now is Yakuza: Like a Dragon, although I'm generally not a fan of JRPGs, I wound up with it and I'm trying to get through it because there's nothing better to do. There were supposed to be a bunch of games released this year that got delayed so I'm just bored.
Yeah he has Game pass. He mentioned some game he said he couldn't play on his Xbox One because it needed the newer version, but he said he could play it on PC.
Gimpdiggity
Master Member
I started the Guardians of the Galaxy game that came out last fall tonight. So far I’m really enjoying it.
It took a couple chapters to get into the voice actors and character design…it’s a bit jarring at first having them not be what we’ve seen and heard on the screen before…but once you kind of come to terms with that it really comes into its own.
It had a couple moments that had me cracking up, and I’m only in the fourth chapter.
Combat and gameplay is pretty entertaining. I’m enjoying the system they put in place to control your teammates, it works very well.
I also like that it’s just linear. I’m growing a bit tired of every game being some giant open world. Sometimes I just want to play through a relatively straightforward narrative.
Overall, really digging it so far.
It took a couple chapters to get into the voice actors and character design…it’s a bit jarring at first having them not be what we’ve seen and heard on the screen before…but once you kind of come to terms with that it really comes into its own.
It had a couple moments that had me cracking up, and I’m only in the fourth chapter.
Combat and gameplay is pretty entertaining. I’m enjoying the system they put in place to control your teammates, it works very well.
I also like that it’s just linear. I’m growing a bit tired of every game being some giant open world. Sometimes I just want to play through a relatively straightforward narrative.
Overall, really digging it so far.
Riceball
Master Member
Quick question about Stray, is there some sort of in-game map, from what I've seen of it, there's a lot of backtracking and I have a terrible sense of direction. I'm afraid that without a map I'm going to be spending a lot of my time in the game lost as I try to find my way back to certain NPCs once I've completed a task for them.
Riceball
Master Member
To help pay for GamePass, have your nephew sign up for Microsoft Bing, once he's signed up he can earn points that he can use to redeem for Gampass membership. To earn points all you need to do is do a certain amount of searches using Bing every day, then there's bonus activities that you can do (quizzes, and going to certain pages that they want you to check out) get you extra points, and you're supposed to also be able to get points by completing certain things in various games on the XBox.
Gimpdiggity
Master Member
There is not a map, and that is my one gripe about it.
In a world where signs on buildings aren’t in a language I could read, sometimes finding things…even if I’d found them before…took longer than I’d have liked it to.
There are quite a few “direction signs” that your robot can translate, that show you a few options with direction arrows, but I certainly would have liked for the robot to have been able to project a map.
Riceball
Master Member
Thanks for the response, now I will really have to think hard about whether I want to get the game or not. I wonder if there's a map mod for the game, if so, then it would definitely be worth getting the game.
I've been playing Borderlands 2 (I know old, but it was free) and finished the Hammerlock DLC. Whoever made that needs to be punched in the nuts (even if it's a girl). Now I'm playing solo, but that end boss was only beatable by cheating to get the leveled up version of my weapons and using a wall glitch so it couldn't hit me. I know the game is primarily meant to be played with friends, but throughout the first game (the endgame and DLC were HARD playing solo) and the second, it never felt like it was impossible. This did.
Gimpdiggity
Master Member
This Guardians of the Galaxy game is legitimately funny. I’ve found myself literally laughing out loud more times in the ten hours or so I’ve played of this game than I have in most movies or TV shows I’ve seen lately.
One of the plot points of the game is there’s a girl that happens to be 12 years old, which is exactly in line with the last time Peter “saw” her mother…so there’s some heavy implications that she’s his daughter.
So Peter is trying to find her when she’s gone missing. When they make it to an area of a ship the girl had taken Peter to, Drax has two lines that had me literally cracking up.
First, Peter finds a Chewbacca action figure and Drax says “Careful Peter Quill. In my experience children often boobytrap their toys.” Like, what? LOL
Then not a minute later, the rest of the team sees the math and realizes that this girl is probably Peter’s daughter, Drax delivers this beauty “Congratulations Peter Quill, you will make a terrible father!! Unless the child is dead in which case, it does not matter.” LMAO
The game has been filled with dialogue like this. It’s been really entertaining so far.
One of the plot points of the game is there’s a girl that happens to be 12 years old, which is exactly in line with the last time Peter “saw” her mother…so there’s some heavy implications that she’s his daughter.
So Peter is trying to find her when she’s gone missing. When they make it to an area of a ship the girl had taken Peter to, Drax has two lines that had me literally cracking up.
First, Peter finds a Chewbacca action figure and Drax says “Careful Peter Quill. In my experience children often boobytrap their toys.” Like, what? LOL
Then not a minute later, the rest of the team sees the math and realizes that this girl is probably Peter’s daughter, Drax delivers this beauty “Congratulations Peter Quill, you will make a terrible father!! Unless the child is dead in which case, it does not matter.” LMAO
The game has been filled with dialogue like this. It’s been really entertaining so far.
HeartBlade
Sr Member
T
Im actually playing Avengers now and most of it is not bad. Playing on PS4 Pro, the cutscenes do stutter like crazy but game itself runs well. I am currently stuck on Maestro though which sucks since the guy is a tank that deals a ton of damage. Basically have to play keep away which is not fun and my character dies in 1 or 2 hits. Ive gotten him down to slivers of health twice now and died at the end which is infuriating.
Thats cool. I heard really good things about this game and that the reason it didnt take off was because of the first entry, Avengers.
Im actually playing Avengers now and most of it is not bad. Playing on PS4 Pro, the cutscenes do stutter like crazy but game itself runs well. I am currently stuck on Maestro though which sucks since the guy is a tank that deals a ton of damage. Basically have to play keep away which is not fun and my character dies in 1 or 2 hits. Ive gotten him down to slivers of health twice now and died at the end which is infuriating.
Solo4114
Master Member
Avengers isn't even a "first entry." The two games are completely different, made by completely different studios.
Avengers is fun...up to a point, but it's been dogged by a crappy launch, which lead to dripfed, anemic content, and a really half-assed approach to a "live service" game that's more like a "comatose service" game. I mean...it's alive....technically. But it's not really doing a whole lot other than releasing skins here and there that cost appx. $15 per. And where it's not even 100% clear you will be able to use them if and when the online servers ever shut down.
HeartBlade
Sr Member
Wow, yup you are right. I always heard the narrative of same developer (probably because it was both published by Square Enix) and looking into it now, you are right. Different developers. The only relationship between Crystal Dynamics and Edios Montreal is they both worked on the new Tomb Raider series (Edios made Shadow while CD made the first two so still not really).
But Square Enix is really screwing up as a publisher imo. Selling off all their Western studios and notable IPs (Deus Ex would be great now that there is a revived interest in Cyberpunk, Tomb Raider was good, Legacy of Kain could have been explored now that zombies are overplayed) for pennies on the dollar to Embracer to focus on NFTs. Now, they say the Japanese market is dead so will focus on the west. They can still make good games but not as well as in the past and their releases can be very hit or miss.
Solo4114
Master Member
Yeah, Square Enix actually sold Crystal Dynamics off to Embracer, so any future Avengers stuff is coming out of Embracer's pocket.
I have, however, been pretty underwhelmed by several of their games. Avengers was fun right up until the content ran out and the developers were too broke to do anything other than make echo characters or (if the rumors prove true) frankenstein characters based on existing mechanics (which is what people think Winter Soldier will be). It'll just end up being one of these games where it had a TON of potential and the developer dropped the ball because corporate monkeyed around with things. Avengers really feels like it should've been a single player game, or one you could play co-op with friends running thru the campaign...and then they added some shoehorned in multiplayer and a half-assed loot system, all of which feels like something that was forced on them.
Just Cause 4, which I'm only now getting to, even in its "Reloaded" version still has horrible looking cut-scenes which are pre-rendered...but thru the game engine...but thru the terrible version of the engine that was around before they tweaked things. The gameplay also just feels kind of...I dunno...blah. Just Cause 3 was pretty fun, and certainly was gorgeous, but JC4 just feels like a major downgrade.
I gather they barely and/or ineffectively promoted Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a shame because it is an AMAZING single-player game. That may be why they didn't promote it, though: no way to monetize it on an ongoing basis, which seems to have been a driving force behind the Avengers screwup. It just highlights for me that what makes for a good game is very often just a solid story with some fun mechanics that HAS AN END. So many gamers today expect a game to be playable infinitely, and that...just doesn't work. I mean, yeah, you can get random/procedurally generated content, but that stuff always feels hollow and pointless because the world can't respond or change or anything because of them. Like, no procedurally generated mission ever kicks off some larger story for you. They're all just one-and-done cookie-cutter missions or gigs or whatever. But it satisfies that sense of "YoU cOuLd PlAy ThIs FoReVeR" that I guess some gamers think they want.
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