Really enjoyed the Messenger. The writing is just so entertaining and witty. Soundtrack is super as well. I’m not sure I’ll like Sea of Stars as much due to turn based combat.
Gaming The RedCafe General/Random Gaming Chat Thread
- Thread starter Olly Gunnar Solskjær
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I love that they're trying something completely different and don't create another 2D platformer (of which there's no shortage). Of course, it helps that the classic, turn-based JRPG is among my favourite genres anyway. Seems to be getting stellar reviews so far, as it's sitting at a 95 on OpenCritic with 100% of critics recommending it. That will change as more reviews come in, but it's clearly very good.
I've played some more of the second act of The Messenger and I love it even more now.
Sea of Stars is really good so far.
I'm not really seeing the need for this. Outside of nostalgia, why would anyone want to fork out on a game console + games on this ATARI system.
I mean, you can get knock-offs of these games on your mobile at a higher resolution , plus are likely more user responsive.
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No sure I'm a big fan of the parry/deflect mechanic in Sea of Stars. Seems pretty inconsequential in normal battles; bosses on the other hand, you'll get absolutely wrecked if you don't time your parries correctly.
Considering the tutorial hammers home that they're not that important; to then have the first real boss be pretty much unbeatable unless you can deflect all his attacks is a proper dickhead move from the Devs.
I like the game but if it becomes more reliant on me timing parries I can see me falling off quickly.
Considering the tutorial hammers home that they're not that important; to then have the first real boss be pretty much unbeatable unless you can deflect all his attacks is a proper dickhead move from the Devs.
I like the game but if it becomes more reliant on me timing parries I can see me falling off quickly.
Near 100% of the map now and can say I really recommend it for fans of Metroidvanias. There's some cons, like the npc's not being rememberable compared to the 1st, but other than that it's a very solid game
Very odd. You can buy the Atari collection on PS5 for £25 and it comes with 103 games.
That said, it's a fantastic way of doing classic consoles given it plays the original cartridges. I wish Nintendo, Sega, Sony would take note.
Sea of Stars was cool until the ants.. now it can feck off.. absolutely abysmal "fights"
Figured out how to lash those daft ant things, out of that area now anyway but that was annoying.
I completed The Messenger over the weekend, including all those optional power seals, some of which were pretty damn tough. I absolutely adore everything about this game. A lot of people seemed to dislike the change of pace in the second act, but for me it was just an excuse to keep playing it. It's that good. The soundtrack has quickly become one of my all time favourites.
Apparently Sea of Stars is actually set in the same world as a sort of ancient prequel. And there are throwbacks to the soundtrack of The Messenger, with guest work from none other than Yasunori Mitsuda. Could this get any better? I don't buy many games outside of sales, but these guys deserve it.
Apparently Sea of Stars is actually set in the same world as a sort of ancient prequel. And there are throwbacks to the soundtrack of The Messenger, with guest work from none other than Yasunori Mitsuda. Could this get any better? I don't buy many games outside of sales, but these guys deserve it.
Yeah I loved playing The Messenger. I heard the prequel is very different so I haven't played it. Let me know if it's any good mate.
It's a classic, SNES-era style JRPG, so yeah completely different genre. I don't think I'll be playing it straight away but I wanted to support them anyway, so just went and bought it.
The Messenger is awesome, great soundtrack and gameplay. Sea of Stars appeals to me a lot and planning on playing it soon as i adore turn based combat and the last modern game to fufil that itch for me was Persona 5. Also got Octopath Traveler 2 and Chained Echoes that I'm tempted to play
I've got these two on my list as well, plus the Live a Live remake which looks similar to Octopath, and CrossCode, which has a similar aesthetic to Sea of Stars but looks much more action oriented with its real time combat.
Feels like a great time for classic JRPG fans. Now if I could just get Chrono Trigger on Switch Online or an FF Pixel style version on PS, it would be even better.
Yup. Chrono Trigger is top.
Had a great time with it. Loved the witty self aware writing.
Was playing that recently for the first time in 30 years. Holds up really well.
Played and platinumed Tails of Iron, which was a monthly PS Plus title earlier this year. It's narrated by Doug Cockle, whom we all know and love as the voice of Geralt of Rivia, which is neat and fitting. I started out enjoying this one but found it a bit of a slog by the end, despite its short runtime. Many of the bosses ended up feeling unnecessarily difficult. I considered dropping it before the end, but was too stubborn.
Another game I'm playing right now is Sable, which I'm really loving, at least during the moments when the game lets me enjoy it. It offers something that is increasingly rare in modern gaming: pure exploration in a wide, open world, without map markers or completion percentages etc. Breath of the wild would be the obvious comparison, just without combat or many of the other systems. It's chill, intriguing, mysterious and beautiful.
That said, it's a technical disaster, at least on PS5. While aesthetically stunning in my opinion, it's a fairly simplistic style that should never drop a frame on PS5 hardware. To say it struggles to achieve that would be some understatement. Often, the framerate will fall off a cliff and run at something that barely feels like double digits. It seems to get worse the longer I play, so I basically restart the game after about 15 minutes, at which point it gets a little bit better for a while. It seems I'm far from the only one with that experience. I'm tempted to label the game borderline unplayable in this state.
Another game I'm playing right now is Sable, which I'm really loving, at least during the moments when the game lets me enjoy it. It offers something that is increasingly rare in modern gaming: pure exploration in a wide, open world, without map markers or completion percentages etc. Breath of the wild would be the obvious comparison, just without combat or many of the other systems. It's chill, intriguing, mysterious and beautiful.
That said, it's a technical disaster, at least on PS5. While aesthetically stunning in my opinion, it's a fairly simplistic style that should never drop a frame on PS5 hardware. To say it struggles to achieve that would be some understatement. Often, the framerate will fall off a cliff and run at something that barely feels like double digits. It seems to get worse the longer I play, so I basically restart the game after about 15 minutes, at which point it gets a little bit better for a while. It seems I'm far from the only one with that experience. I'm tempted to label the game borderline unplayable in this state.
Cheers. I ended up purchasing Octopath 1 last week, so far I agree the story isn't really that well written. But the battle system, plus the art and music kept me playing. The second job system is cool too. Came across a level 45 area when I was 30 so I ended up leveling up all my characters to level 40+ as a little challenge before I even finished all chapters 2. And then I thought, well why not try to level them all up to at least 45, so I kept wandering around and accidentally found a shrine with lv 50 mobs (which I could kill) and a stupidly hard boss (one that unlocks starseer job), turns out it's a boss for post game after you've completed the stories. I didn't even know because the mobs seem easy enough for me
Now I'm tempted to keep grinding levels and try to beat the boss by bringing stupid amount of consumables. Don't know if it's possible but it makes the game more interesting
Yeah I've played Sable on PS5 too and had issues with frame rate, never reaching to a point where it's unplayable but not great either. I don't know if you've noticed but I remember fishing being really buggy too.
That being said, it still didn't ruin my enjoyment of it. It's a really lovely game.
I'm deep into Dark and Darker at the moment. It's basically a BR/Loot extraction game in a medieval world. Modelled on Tarkov, but much faster games and less gear fear (at least at first).
It's very early access and has some basic content, but they are constantly balancing and the base game is a very addictive because the combat is decent, even with swords and shields, and the PvE aspect is really challenging which makes even getting to PvP a lot of fun (and often pain).
It's very early access and has some basic content, but they are constantly balancing and the base game is a very addictive because the combat is decent, even with swords and shields, and the PvE aspect is really challenging which makes even getting to PvP a lot of fun (and often pain).
Completed AC II and AC Brotherhood, started AC Revelations earlier this month but the first person segments are fecking horrible.
I don't remember much of AC Revelations except that it felt seriously disappointing after Brotherhood. Like a rehashed version of it with some terrible gameplay elements added, like that tower defense stuff. Personally I've never found a single tower defense game or mini-game that was even remotely enjoyable and I've never understood why it exists as a genre, but that's just me.
Didn't it have some crappy modern day VR segments as well? Or maybe that's the first person stuff you're referring to.
One of us! One of us!
You don't play it, you just sit in a dark corner hiding away leaving rest of us to do all the work...
...wait...
Yeah that is it. So far I think aesthetically the game looks like a leap over Brotherhood but not a fan of the tower defense or where it requires you to constantly send your assassins out to other countries to take control from templars. Once I got the trophy from that I stopped bothering with it as I don't need the materials.
Started this about a week and half ago, and instantly feel in love with the concept of it, being a big JRPG lover, I don't know how these games never appealed to me before. Just completed second palace.
Would you recommend still playing 3 and 4, as I know I will still have a ich after discovering a new universe to explore?
I haven’t played 3 but I think there’s a remaster of it coming out soon.
4 is still a great game in its own right and well worth playing if you enjoyed 5.
Brilliant thank you. Should keep me going till FFR2.
Persona 3 is much slower than 5 and fairly hard to play given that the extent of the gameplay parts are dungeon crawling in the same location.
The remaster should be good and I expect them to splice a few fresh ideas into the existing template, which is pretty solid story-wise.
The remaster should be good and I expect them to splice a few fresh ideas into the existing template, which is pretty solid story-wise.
Why are modern games so...anti-fun? Let me explain what i mean by that, not that they aren't fun in of themselves, but devolopers don't allow you to do much of anything outside what they intend for you to do.
Example, RDR2 is a fun game, its a great game, but having already played through it, i wanted to go crazy with cheats on my next playthrough, and just have a blast, but by doing that i can't save my game anymore.
Just why is that neccessary? Why do they care so much if i cheat at a single player game? Who does it hurt?
They didn't care about stuff like that in the past, on old rockstar games i can pretty much do what i want with the game, San Andreas etc.
Thats just one example, there are plenty of others.
Example, RDR2 is a fun game, its a great game, but having already played through it, i wanted to go crazy with cheats on my next playthrough, and just have a blast, but by doing that i can't save my game anymore.
Just why is that neccessary? Why do they care so much if i cheat at a single player game? Who does it hurt?
They didn't care about stuff like that in the past, on old rockstar games i can pretty much do what i want with the game, San Andreas etc.
Thats just one example, there are plenty of others.
Has anyone read the surreal news about Unity's intended price change?
https://www.eurogamer.net/unity-rev...-drawing-criticism-from-development-community
It's one of the most insane things I've ever seen from a company. Setting aside all questions about how on earth the number of installs could ever be reliably tracked, or how multiple installs of a single purchase can be detected, this is a unilateral, retroactive change of existing agreements that would suddenly start costing developers tons of money for games they've released ages ago, including developers who barely make any money to begin with. Totally batshit.
The legality of the entire things is surely in question but the main thing is that, even when they inevitably walk back on this or water it down somehow, this is complete commercial suicide by Unity. Why would any potential future customer ever trust them?
https://www.eurogamer.net/unity-rev...-drawing-criticism-from-development-community
It's one of the most insane things I've ever seen from a company. Setting aside all questions about how on earth the number of installs could ever be reliably tracked, or how multiple installs of a single purchase can be detected, this is a unilateral, retroactive change of existing agreements that would suddenly start costing developers tons of money for games they've released ages ago, including developers who barely make any money to begin with. Totally batshit.
The legality of the entire things is surely in question but the main thing is that, even when they inevitably walk back on this or water it down somehow, this is complete commercial suicide by Unity. Why would any potential future customer ever trust them?
On September 6, 2023, John Riccitiello, President and CEO of Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U), sold 2,000 shares of the company. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who over the past year has sold a total of 50,610 shares and purchased none.
Nothing sinister going on here at all.
Random questions on Souls games - I love them but I play them for the gameplay. But there’s a lot of people who seem to actually think highly of the stories. So aside from the vague cutscenes that come across as filler - how do you actually enjoy the narrative experience? Do you read every little item description, or watch online lore videos as the latter seems really tedious to me?
Also it seems many feel my plus and it’s many levels is a must in these games. Aside from harder enemies and bosses what draws you to these new game plus runs? It seems like a repetition of the first expeience barring a few build variations.
Also it seems many feel my plus and it’s many levels is a must in these games. Aside from harder enemies and bosses what draws you to these new game plus runs? It seems like a repetition of the first expeience barring a few build variations.
What I enjoy about the lore and world building in those games, is that many locations and encounters feel significant, even if I haven't got a clue what is actually going on. There's a sense of a deep, rich and often tragic history that permeates their worlds, and often you get to fight some legendary figure who played a big part in that history, like when you encounter Artorias in the Dark Souls DLC.
I'm definitely not one of those who enjoys piecing it all together though. I just don't have the patience or eye for detail for that sort of thing.
As for NG+, I have to roll my eyes at those who say that Dark Souls only starts or NG+7 or whatever. A single run is usually enough to get everything I need from those games. If I really loved my time with it and don't want it to end, I'll go for an NG+ run, like I did with Bloodborne, so it's great that it's there. But it's not essential to me or anything.
I like the lack of direct story in them, it makes it all more mysterious and intriguing, though I do like the item descriptions and that. I don't try to piece it together in any deep way though. Some of those lore videos are actually pretty decent too, but only the short type. If you watch them, you'll be surprised at how deep and well thought out the stories of the characters often are and how it all entwines.
As for the gameplay, then it's no different to any game experience you love no? You play Cyberpunk over and over, why? It's the same thing. The particular thing about most of the soulsbourne games for me personally is I play the souls games to master them, that's what makes it fun for me. I don't run around with the same big sword swinging away like a lot of streamers did with Elden Ring or run with metas, I enjoy the type of combat enough to want to make my own way and play differently ever single time. Sekiro, for example, has people complaining about the amount of enemies to get to the boss but I relish that kind of thing as it's so rewarding for me to get to a point where I feel like a Samurai weaving through enemies. Same thing with OG Deus Ex, I used to play those levels over and over to master clean runs within my own rule sets. Basically if a game has excellent mechanics that grip me, I'll master them (well, attempt to!) and can play multiple times easily.
Having said that, I'm not really a NG+ gamer, I find that tedious. I restart from scratch if I'm going to change my character and playstyle. And there's the fact my gaming OCD makes me restart way too often too
yes and yes
When I played Bloodborne I hated a clue what the plot was of it. Someone sent me a video about the plot and lore after, turns out it’s a really good story! feck knows how people bother to figure it out playing the game, though.
Playing through Uncharted 3 and I don't love it, easily the worst of the series so far. It's pretty frustrating to play against hordes of enemies that just spawn near you and throw 600 grenades at you constantly. Hopefully the 4th game is better.