crispy4000

Steam Next Fest may low-key be the best thing about modern E3. The indie showcases get to be a little much now, but getting to download and play a majority of the games featured is awesome.

Loved the first game. And no IGN, it doesn't need proper combat.

Still no Overdrive RT mode yet, huh?

Sony really needs PC support for this to expand their potential reach. Beyond that, my thoughts on VR gaming haven't changed since the last thread:

The Last Case of Benedict Fox is featured.

E3 never felt truly dead to me before today. The worst part? This feels like the final nail in the coffin of show floor demos, at least from major publishers. Maybe that's a good thing for an industry less focused on hands-on first impressions. But it's also kind of shit when this is supposed to be an interactive medium about gameplay.

Probably a combination of that and supply catching up to demand. Microsoft also didn't sell as many boxes this past holiday.

The multiplayer has held up much worse than the single player, IMO. It doesn't offer much beyond a couch deathmatch experience with lots of stop-to-aim shooting. It's fun for nostalgia's sake, but probably not worth revisiting if you're not of that era. Halo 1's couch multiplayer has aged a lot more gracefully. The campaign is still intelligently designed by today's standards, and threads the needle perfectly between stealth and action, linear and open. That's where I see its relevance today. Or rather, a sign of what could have been if more FPSs took the right lessons from it.

Rumbleverse shutting down after only six months says rumour METRO.CO.UK Iron Galaxy’s hybrid of battle royale and fighting game could be delisted today, followed by a complete shut down in February.

A much better game than its flaws suggest. I’ve seen it described as a jack of all trades, master of none. That’s true on some level, but we don’t see 3D Metroidvanias all that often. Even fewer are in 3rd person. That’s a reason enough to cut it some slack for dipping in and out of Uncharted and Souls-like tropes. As much as I wish the power ups were more meaningful, I enjoyed the level and world design. It’s not on the level of Metroid Prime 3, the closest parallel with its multiple planet structure. But the pathways are still varied and interesting, at least outside of imperial sections. If the map UI was less cumbersome, I think the world design would be better regarded. Many of its secrets are well hidden, even if far too many are cosmetic. Combat is good, not great. I think its big problem is that you’re never quite sure how soon you can block or parry after being hit, or after your attack cooldown. You need to utilize these defense options, but it still feels a little mashy against harder foes and bosses. It’s like playing a fighting game where you get the basics, but don’t truly understand flow of it. Still, on the whole, it does an admirable job melding the melee combat with platforming and traversal. The final area feels bit rushed out the door, sadly. But that’s counterbalanced by the music being exceptional throughout. This is the best non-Williams Star Wars has ever sounded. From two video game composers nonetheless. Listen through the credits if you haven’t. Disney, put them on a movie. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - 8/10 2023 Games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - 8/10

Hi-Fi Rush rocks on Steam, despite a shock launch favouring Game Pass | PCGamesN WWW.PCGAMESN.COM Hi-Fi Rush, the surprise rhythm action game from Tango Gameworks and Bethesda, is doing really well on Steam despite launching on PC Game Pass. I think this will be the poster child of what Games Pass can do for a game. It gets buzz going for a new IP, but is reasonably cheap ($30) for those that would rather own it. That should lead to a lot of purchases, more than it would otherwise garner as a Dreamcast styled arcade game. I’m still not convinced it’s the correct model for most of the AAA industry to sustain. Streaming subscriptions are coming to a reckoning point with cost vs revenue that games may have to contend with on some level. (Maybe Microsoft’s layoffs are an early sign?) The better option might be to release demos for everything like SquareEnix does. For AA games like this, boy am I glad that there’s a growing space for them. Things are looking up. Now give us a SSX revival next.

Can be fixed, but you've got to set up a game specific profile for it.

It's a lot easier to do it with a plot device than a gameplay mechanic. Even then, it's hard to do something earnestly original that surprises people that have been playing games for decades.

The entire closing sequence of Metroid Prime 3 on Phazee. Titanfall 2's SERE kit and the Effect and Cause mission. Brothers: Two Sons, specifically the controls at the ending. If you beat it, you know. Inside. That game goes ... places.

I was both excited by the setup for the future, and really disappointed by how much it presumed you remembered about post-midgar. Someone who never played the first game would be totally lost. The final boss never bothered me like it did for some people though. I was too impressed by the visuals to care about the absurdity of it, haha.

The plot twist connecting Xenoblade 1 and 2. It's a huge time investment to get there, with both games, but its an incredible payoff that completely respects each for what they are. FF7R could have taken a cue. Dropping into Darknest for the first time in Hollow Knight. It quickly makes you feel like you made a terrible mistake, then proceeds to punish you for your curiosity until you earn your way out. Its unnerving in the best way. Terranigma has several notable twists, especially for the time. Its pre-title intro is literal perfection though, so I'll go with that. You could know literally nothing about this game and feel it's gonna be a ride.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/adios-b378b4 https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/hell-is-others-789262 Dishonored Death of the Outsider next week! And City of Gangsters. Dishonored 1 was free during the holidays on Epic, Dishonored 2 is free on Prime until the end of the month.

I think they're closer than that typically? It probably wouldn't matter much in any case. We're not going to see disaster ports to either console when the other's runs just fine.

Darn, I just realized the Gamepass trailer definitely isn't the XBLA remaster: Sucks this will never see a commercial release. Maybe Nintendo blocked it or something stupid.

Yeah, I'd expect the consoles to have a different implementation tailored to the hardware. Microsoft has confirmed this: It's a shame Forspoken isn't out on Series X. If the game ran as good or better than on PS5, it would suggest that their console implementation doesn't come with a GPU hit.

Like a Xbox Series X? Not good news for the rest of the console generation if devs are contending with something similar there. A modest PC these days is still pretty damn expensive. I'd rather have slower loading than worse performance in-game. But developers will start taking Direct Storage/PS5 IO Controller as a given.

The reveal also kind of reminded me of an indie 3D platformer in early development:

It was, it's nice to see Microsoft on the train. I won't be expecting a new Hi-Fi Rush every time, but I'm glad they came out swinging. Minecraft Legends also surprised me, I thought it was going to be less of an RTS.

The vampire design looks like Timesplitters x Darksiders. I like the general look of the game otherwise. Not all scary concept games need to be dark. Also, can we stop having so many black characters in games characterized as lacking money? I'm seeing a pattern emerging.