The Video Game Thread - anything and everything...

[Solo4114]

I literally bought a PS5 JUST for Stray.

Stray has been on my radar since, I believe, before it was even officially announced. I first saw a thing about it from the developers on a cat rescue site I follow on the Book of Faces.

I had lined up a secondhand PS4 so that I could play it, but the guy I was buying it from flaked out. So I managed to find a PS5 and just “Whatevs…it’s only money.”

I’m an Xbox player. Have been for years. I had a PS3 for a few of the exclusives, but ultimately the online social aspects of the Xbox have always worked better for me…basically, all my friends had Xboxes.

That said, buying a $500 console just to play a six hour long game where I get to be a cat is silly…so I’ll be playing the other exclusives I’ve missed out on over the last few years. My group of friends that play Xbox has dwindled due to, well, life. Jobs, kids, things like that. We rarely play together anymore, so I’m going to enjoy the solo experiences on the PS5.

All this rambling is to say that everyone I’ve talked to that’s played Stray loves it. It’s one of the highest user rated games on Steam right now. That…and the videos I’m seeing of people’s real pets reacting to the game are hilarious.

I don't know how the PS5 version is, but the PC version of Days Gone is a lot of fun. I recommend it. It's atmospheric without being oppressive. Like, it's a zombie movie, without being full on OMG YOU'RE GONNA DIE AT ANY MOMENT zombie survival horror.

 

[firesprite]

Can confirm, Stray is freaking amazing. I can't recommend it highly enough. Maybe my favorite reaction video so far is Jackson Galaxy (the cat behaviorist) who got a copy. He couldn't praise them highly enough with how well they captured the movement and body language of a cat.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Does the cat have a machine gun and/or lightsaber? Because that's the only way they're going to get me to play a cat game.

 

[firesprite]

Does the cat have a machine gun and/or lightsaber? Because that's the only way they're going to get me to play a cat game.

No, but it's pretty clear he's not just an average kitty as he can use tools and follow instructions on screens and complete complex tasks. My guess is that our cat-tagonist is a descendant of lab animals that were being used for experimentation to increase animal intelligence.

 

[JediMichael]

Tried to beat Final Fantasy 7 Remake hard mode final boss..... Not going to happen, its just way to hard. They really ruined the game so much with all this stupidness.

 

[cboath]

Yeah, you can actually get Rebel Assault from GOG for, like, $5 during sales. It's an interesting game. I remember playing it on my then-cutting-edge 3x speed CD-ROM on what I think was a Cyrix 386-DX with maybe 1mb of RAM after having recently installed a Soundblaster Pro card.

Right, like, I'd consider a subscription plan to play PS-exclusive games, but I'm not gonna drop +$600 just to play a handful of exclusive titles. I'm cool waiting a few years before they hit PC, because I have TONS of other games to play (and an enormous Steam backlog).

Plus, on principle, I hate exclusive games. I still wanna play 'em, but I hate the concept.

I think it got RA free when i bought my first 2 or 4x CD ROM drive back in the day. I bought solely to play 7th Guest which came on (then) a shocking 2 CD set

 

[cboath]

Tried to beat Final Fantasy 7 Remake hard mode final boss..... Not going to happen, its just way to hard. They really ruined the game so much with all this stupidness.

You can say that about a shockingly large number of games.

 

[JediMichael]

I was actually able to FINALLY beat it on hard mode. Not really a fun experience. My hands hurt from punching so much stuff around the house.

 

[Paul Andrew]

Welp, finally caved and bought a 30 series card. They're closer to MSRP now, but still expensive AF. So, now I can move my old 1080 into my office... Anyone have a use for an even older 960 card??

 

[Nth]

I cancelled my Steam-Deck preorder. I still will get one at some point, but my five to six year old PC needs to be replaced. Only two payments left on my latest Tomenosuke so I can start putting money away for something state of the art. Thinking about giving Meta PC’s a try this time around. They really swooped in when that Artesian computers guy imploded his company in one minute flat and they’ve been getting a lot of good reviews.

 

[ssdesigner]

You can say that about a shockingly large number of games.

I totally agree. That said I'll take a tough boss over the lack of checkpoints on some of these newer side scrollers. Nothing will get me to delete a game faster than having to try to advance past a checkpoint by playing it 800 times. Nope. You don't have to make your game this stupid difficult for people to enjoy it. To me it seems like a lazy way to make people feel like they are getting more bang for their buck.

 

[Riceball]

I totally agree. That said I'll take a tough boss over the lack of checkpoints on some of these newer side scrollers. Nothing will get me to delete a game faster than having to try to advance past a checkpoint by playing it 800 times. Nope. You don't have to make your game this stupid difficult for people to enjoy it. To me it seems like a lazy way to make people feel like they are getting more bang for their buck.

I stopped playing the original Assasin's Creed because it took me dozens of tries to get past one spot in the game, and when I finally did, I died shortly after, before I managed to hit the next checkpoint. That's why I hate checkpoint saves in games, I don't like repeating the same parts of a game over and over again.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Welp, finally caved and bought a 30 series card. They're closer to MSRP now, but still expensive AF. So, now I can move my old 1080 into my office... Anyone have a use for an even older 960 card??

Until my 8 year old PC died in May, I was using a 980ti. I decided to just buy a PC (Origin) this time around, I've built my last 5-6. I didn't think I could find parts this time around. I thought I'd have to pay out the nose for a good GPU also. I ended up just getting a 3080.

 

[Paul Andrew]

Until my 8 year old PC died in May, I was using a 980ti. I decided to just buy a PC (Origin) this time around, I've built my last 5-6. I didn't think I could find parts this time around. I thought I'd have to pay out the nose for a good GPU also. I ended up just getting a 3080.

I nabbed a 3070ti, it was the sweet spot for me. Good enough for 4k gaming at 60 if I watch the settings, will let me mess with ray tracing, and I didn't have to replace my 650 watt power supply.

 

[Paul Andrew]

As an aside, I spent this morning wrapping up my first playthrough of A Link to the Past in probably two decades and that game is still perfect.

 

[Nth]

Tactics Ogre Reborn confirmed for Switch, PC and Sony consoles

 

[Paul Andrew]

Tactics Ogre Reborn confirmed for Switch, PC and Sony consoles

FF Tactics is beloved to me, but I haven't gotten into any other tactics game since. I'm hoping Triangle Strategy makes it to PC eventually, and this looks interesting too but I've never messed with a Tactics Ogre game before. It looks like... a lot.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I can't stand games that force you to grind and level your character in order to progress. I'm playing Borderlands for the first time and each DLC required me to level up my character about four levels. Otherwise it's like shooting a BB gun at the bad guys. I even have legendary weapons firing explosive shots. Usually if an enemy NPC is a few levels higher, they can be beat, they just soak up a little more damage. These enemies, if they don't kill you in one shot, soak up so much damage you usually end up out of ammo (for at least four guns in my case) after you kill one enemy! It might have not been as bad when the DLCs came out because people had probably played the game and moved on until the DLC came out, but I just beat the main game and now it's making me play it all over again until I can grind up four more levels!

 

[Nth]

FF Tactics is beloved to me, but I haven't gotten into any other tactics game since. I'm hoping Triangle Strategy makes it to PC eventually, and this looks interesting too but I've never messed with a Tactics Ogre game before. It looks like... a lot.

Well since this was part of the Square-Enix game leak from earlier in the year it seems more likely that Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster is going to arrive at some point since that was on the list of leaked upcoming games as well.

 

[Paul Andrew]

I can't stand games that force you to grind and level your character in order to progress. I'm playing Borderlands for the first time and each DLC required me to level up my character about four levels. Otherwise it's like shooting a BB gun at the bad guys. I even have legendary weapons firing explosive shots. Usually if an enemy NPC is a few levels higher, they can be beat, they just soak up a little more damage. These enemies, if they don't kill you in one shot, soak up so much damage you usually end up out of ammo (for at least four guns in my case) after you kill one enemy! It might have not been as bad when the DLCs came out because people had probably played the game and moved on until the DLC came out, but I just beat the main game and now it's making me play it all over again until I can grind up four more levels!

I played just past the first zone in OG Borderlands before I gave up on it. If you're on PC there are ways around the leveling stuff...