I can't speak of the quality but Bravely Default 2 is £16.49 on Amazon if that tickles your pickle.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is the best JRPG on the Switch IMO.
Gaming The RedCafe General/Random Gaming Chat Thread
- Thread starter Olly Gunnar Solskjær
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I can't speak of the quality but Bravely Default 2 is £16.49 on Amazon if that tickles your pickle.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is the best JRPG on the Switch IMO.
I loved Kena, it's a simple concept but well executed. Helps that it's stunning, of course. Some of the boss fights were bastard hard, which I didn't expect from such a charming looking game.
Got sick of RDR2 and didn't finish it so decided to get PS+ Premium to play some older games. Played the first two Uncharted games since I've never played them and it was way more shooting than I thought. Also didn't love the zombies/monsters but still fun games, will finish the series.
Had to switch it up a bit and played South Park Stick of Truth which I loved and I'm now playing Fractured but Whole. I do think Stick of Truth is the better game but I'm still having fun with Fractured.
Had to switch it up a bit and played South Park Stick of Truth which I loved and I'm now playing Fractured but Whole. I do think Stick of Truth is the better game but I'm still having fun with Fractured.
It helps that it’s my kind of game. I love games that feel great, even more so than gameplay mechanics being absolutely perfect / bug free. For example the general sound design is absolutely top class. The story moments have such brilliant audio that the writing doesn’t have to be anything special considering the animation is also so good. And then you have the general audio prompts / feedback upon carrying out an action as well as the background score (ranges from melancholy to full of dread) during exploration which just make what in other games might be busy work, erm, work.
It does help that it’s stunning. I find myself just gawking at the world, sometimes. And the combat whilst limited is a lot of fun for me. I come out lost battles feeling a bit of a rush which is always a good sign.
That made me leave it midway through for now. I was looking for something relaxed, thought this might be it but ended up as a high concentration combat.
Fecking state of the MGS "remasters".
PS4/PS5/Xbox: 60FPS, 720p
Switch: 30FPS, 720p.
https://www.nintendolife.com/featur...llection-vol-1-could-be-so-much-more-but-isnt
720p on a Playstation 5
. Keep it.
PS4/PS5/Xbox: 60FPS, 720p
Switch: 30FPS, 720p.
https://www.nintendolife.com/featur...llection-vol-1-could-be-so-much-more-but-isnt
720p on a Playstation 5
. Keep it.Would make me so happy to have a proper re-mastering of Sons of Liberty as I played so much of it as a kid.Fecking state of the MGS "remasters".
PS4/PS5/Xbox: 60FPS, 720p
Switch: 30FPS, 720p.
https://www.nintendolife.com/featur...llection-vol-1-could-be-so-much-more-but-isnt
720p on a Playstation 5
Once again they've done the usual thing that devs are doing these days and just plastered a new banner on their 2012 re-release. You'd think that they learned nothing from the immense load of crap that Rockstar got over the GTA trilogy, but here we are.
Do a cheap visual upgrade, release ASAP and watch a bit of cash roll in until people actually realise. Spend so little doing it that you'll make the money back just from people buying the game before reading any reviews.
It could be argued they did learn from the GTA trilogy debacle, as that game had "enhancements" that somehow made the remasters look worse than the originals. And that's without mentioning the raft of technical issues.
Konami's solution to all these potential issues with remastering seems to consist of skipping the remastering part and simply porting over the exact same game. Something Rockstar have also done with RDR1. So yeah, lessons were learned from the GTA trilogy, but unfortunately not the ones we hoped for.
Hopefully consumers learn from it too. I think its overdue that people look at remasters with much more scepticism. This is basically a rerelease of a ps3 remaster that was probably available a couple of months ago for a tenner. I presume they've taken it out of circulation by now.
If modern gaming has thought us anything, it's that consumers never learn. With a minimum of effort, it should be easy to distinguish the lazy cash grabs from the worthwhile refreshes, but most people don't seem to care.
A couple of days ago, I saw that the RDR 1 "remaster" topped the PS4 sales charts in the UK. A barebones port of a 13 year old game at a premium price, and it's basically printing money for Rockstar. With consumer behaviour like that, what can we expect?
Konami have clarified now...
Yeah, that's way better 
At least its an actual improvement over a decade old remaster now.Yeah, that's way better
In fairness, I'd say most gaming companies are absolutely fine and it's just the bigger ones like Rockstar, Activision and EA that suck. I'm happy boycotting their releases and not letting it bother me too much personally.
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I'd add Ubisoft to that list, and I'd argue the likes of Square-Enix and Konami aren't too far away either. I trust most of the regular posters in here generally do the right thing, but unfortunately it's the worst companies, specifically EA and ABK, that top the charts.
But yeah you're right, I try to not let it bother me either and just ignore their garbage, for the most part.
An idiot just rushed the stage at Gamescon demanding GTA 6 because "Bill Clinton wants GTA 6"
Anyone here played Titan Souls? From the same two guys who would go on to create Death's Door. I had no idea what to expect, I guess I'd call it a minimalist, top-down Shadow of the Colossus or something. Fights are over in an instant, in my case usually because I die immediately. Not sure I have the patience to stick with it, but it's an interesting concept.
Not sure I have the patience to stick with it, but it's an interesting concept.That’s definitely a reference to that weird kid who somehow got on stage when Elden Ring won Game of the Year and mentioned Rabbi Bill Clinton in some batshit speech
Geoff needs to invest in security at these events.
I really enjoyed it for the same reasons as you, but the final boss fight made it slightly sour at the end. I finally got through it, but for me it was a massive slog and overly difficult against the rest of the game. Its so unforgiving in that final fight I'm not sure what the devs were thinking.
Noob question, but is Armored Core 6 one to get excited for? It's available for pre order for £46 from Curry's. I've never played any of the series and my experience of mech games is also zilch. Looks cool though.
Its made by From Software so yeah. Should be great.
Borderlands 3 - I wasn’t really that interested in this as the noise surrounding it during the review cycle sounded fatigued - even the praiseworthy ones did. But I gave it a go since it was leaving PS Plus soon and I had a great time with it. Yes, it’s the same loop they’ve done before, yes, the writing has pretty much gone stale by now and the characters are not as interested as everyone’s favourite Handsome Jack. But purely as a video game where you shoot things for shits and giggles, this is some really good stuff. And at the heart of that is it’s excellent shooting mechanics and moreover the ingeniously and ridiculous abundance of that ingenuity in the guns on offer here.
8.6/10
Watchdogs 2 - I have to caveat this by saying that I played this on the PS5 where for some reason it still runs at 30fa at 4K unlike the Xbox Series X which I believe runs it at 30fs but again for some reason, does so with lower visual fidelity. It’s a decent time - San Fran looks surprisingly brilliant for such an old game, and the gameplay that allows for creating all sorts of havok, is fun enough. The writing is serviceable while the characters themselves veer too much towards unserious edge lord territory for me to seriously connect with. At the end I couldn’t see it through to the end and I’d say the game lacked a real hook - hacking GTA doesn’t do it for me as the GTA loop itself doesn’t do it for me anymore. 7.5/10
8.6/10
Watchdogs 2 - I have to caveat this by saying that I played this on the PS5 where for some reason it still runs at 30fa at 4K unlike the Xbox Series X which I believe runs it at 30fs but again for some reason, does so with lower visual fidelity. It’s a decent time - San Fran looks surprisingly brilliant for such an old game, and the gameplay that allows for creating all sorts of havok, is fun enough. The writing is serviceable while the characters themselves veer too much towards unserious edge lord territory for me to seriously connect with. At the end I couldn’t see it through to the end and I’d say the game lacked a real hook - hacking GTA doesn’t do it for me as the GTA loop itself doesn’t do it for me anymore. 7.5/10
I preferred 3 to 2, though 2 in VR was spectacular. But I agree, it just took a perfected formula and gave us more of the same which I personally don't think is a bad thing at all.
I love the settings of the watchdog games and the vibe, but they get way too boring way too quickly for me to stick with. Which is a shame.
Random gaming opinion: I despise any sort of challenge arena or trials or whatever they want to call in any game that isn't specifically built around it. You know the thing, you're playing a game that has some combat, some exploration, etc, and it also has an arena that has you fight waves of enemies, often against a timer. Maybe it artificially limits you by making you lose when you get hit. Maybe you have to kill enemies in certain ways. Maybe it has you do a certain thing x amount of times.
Game developers: stop. No one likes this. It's invariably the absolute worst part of your game. Maybe your game has a great combat system, but these trials force the player to abuse it because they have to make the time limit or whatever. Notable examples include the hunting trials and arena in Horizon, Muspelheim shit in God of War, the arena in AC Odyssey and every coliseum in the Yakuza series.
Only ones I ever liked that I can think of are the trials in Hollow Knight.
Game developers: stop. No one likes this. It's invariably the absolute worst part of your game. Maybe your game has a great combat system, but these trials force the player to abuse it because they have to make the time limit or whatever. Notable examples include the hunting trials and arena in Horizon, Muspelheim shit in God of War, the arena in AC Odyssey and every coliseum in the Yakuza series.
Only ones I ever liked that I can think of are the trials in Hollow Knight.
Same in Ratchet & Clank. Don't like them either.
I hated all your exampes but not sure i agree with the wider point. I kind of hated all the side quests in the games mentioned really.
I was trying to think of some that I actually liked but nope, just Hollow Knight. Do you have any games where you enjoyed those activities?
Zelda? (not really thats a lie)
I'll think about it. Think i'll struggle to name an open world game i've enjoyed at all recently.
How about Monster Hunter. Pretty big part of their games.
I considered the master trials in BotW but then realized that I considered them a massive waste of time and just something I had to force myself through to awaken the master sword. Used a guide to rush through them. Can't judge Monster Hunter, only ever played World and didn't like the gameplay at all, so I didn't stick around long enough.
I'm genuinely interested in a good counter example by the way, maybe I'm forgetting some but I doubt it. Doesn't have to be open world, just any game really.
Just thought of another example: Infierno challenges in Guacamelee. Once again the least enjoyable part of the game.
Just thinking the batman arkham games. They had a kind of score attack like arena thing. I really enjoyed them, they felt like there was a fair bit of thought put into the bonus objectives and placement and things like that.
I think they might be the exception that proves the rule if i have to go back a decade + to find a counterexample. And they felt distinct from the others by virute of there being time and thought put into them as opposed to an easy / lazy way to fill out a bit of gamemap
I thought the hunting trials were ok in horizon, just because it forced me to learn a weapon I was barely using or using incorrectly.
feck the arenas and melee pits though. Nothing in that game couple make melee fun.
feck the arenas and melee pits though. Nothing in that game couple make melee fun.
Remember the Metal Gear VR Missions? A kind of follow up to the ps1 game that was just a series of arena's. Some really imaginative and strong ones in there. I think it can be done right but its used as filler content in a lot of games.
It felt like a difficulty spike just for the sake of it, it was stupid.
I thought the hunting trials were the least bad part of them games. Or the first games hunting trials were, second games were pretty terrible too.
Can’t think of one game I’ve liked this in. I’ll give it a go due to the challenge but eventually lose interest.
If anyone played Ghost of Tsushima on the PS4 and enjoyed it, give the Directors Cut a go on the PS5. It’s one of the best upgraded experiences around and the newer hardware really elevates expeience. With 4K it matches most newer game graphically and personally, the 60fps framerate makes me appreciate its brilliant combat even more. Also the dual sense controller features are some of the best I’ve experienced. The new content is also all well done.
With Sea of Stars only days away, I decided to finally check out Sabotage's previous game, The Messenger. I usually prefer less straightforward 2D platformers, but the execution here is fantastic. It's a joy to control, has a lovely soundtrack and surprisingly funny writing. I've played up to the big twist, which was really cool and has me excited for the rest of the game. If Sea of Stars wasn't already on my radar, it definitely is now.
Yeh now that you mention it I completely agree. And yet I’d love a game as a true gladiator in the style of Oblivions arena or I recall a similar mechanic in Kingdom of Amalur.
Yep, eagerly awaiting this dude. I love TCR games a lot, so much soul goes into them. Little Orpheus is easily one of my favourite mobile games and DE and EGTTR are two proper standouts for me, both of which I can play through again and again.
Much as l love their waking sim type narrative games, will be nice to see what they can do with a more traditional type FPS. Making all the right noises in that video.