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[Enjoyed]

OK, quick question.

Is Mario Odyssey a 'Sandbox' game? And if so. How is Breath of the Wild not?

Follow up. Why do people like Mario Odyssey so much?
I'm finding it really difficult to understand all the talk about how it's a better game than BOTW. People can enjoy it more, sure. Maybe they're not Zelda fans. And the jumping mechanism is great. But the criticisms levelled at Zelda, when comparing, are beyond hypocritical when they're talking about a game that has you chasing a rabbit <20 times, collecting the same seeds to put into the same pots, finding Captain Toad hidden in every level... I just... I feel like I'm missing something major, or there's some elaborate joke going on designed to make me question my sanity. I'm 150 hours into Zelda and still psyched to pick up the controller and continue exploring. And it still feels like magic every time I discover a new place or hear the "there's a dragon above you" music.
Eugh.
I just love it.

[Bosco]

I've yet to play the Switch much, but both games look pretty great. I know my brother can't stop play BOTW. I hope I can't get around to it one day.


On the other hand, I will be participating in the Sea of Thieves closed beta that goes live tomorrow

I'm a sucker for anything Pirates

[androidgeoff]

The games that I mainly play are Guild Wars 2 and Overwatch
Lately I have been playing my Necromancer a lot, and here is what he looks like

[Wolkenkrabber]

[sandelic]

haha, this is so brutal!

[ThePumisher]

i would have thrown my controller about fifty times into the tv

[Bosco]

On the other hand, I will be participating in the Sea of Thieves closed beta that goes live tomorrow

Incredible. I played this Beta non-stop. The water psychics in this game is so real I was getting nauseous when sailing through rough water.

Sea battling is incredibly rewarding, and who doesn't like a treasure hunt?

I'm so exited for it's full release in March.


Some awesome pirate antics here:

https://twitter.com/CrReaM/status/958311855667150848

Hope to see you fellow Xbox or PC players on the open sea!

[sandelic]

I just preordered Final Fantasy XV for PC, I can't tell you how excited I am for its release!
I mean, it has been only 11 years of waiting... 

[ThePumisher]

I mean, it has been only 11 years of waiting... 

As a Duke Nukem and Half Life player, all i can say is feel lucky to only wait 11 years...

[sandelic]

I seriously don't think we will ever see another episode of Half-life
Valve bastards are quite comfortable sitting on golden goose that is steam and can't be bothered to do another game

[Conn6orsuper117]

I seriously don't think we will ever see another episode of Half-life
Valve bastards are quite comfortable sitting on golden goose that is steam and can't be bothered to do another game

it is not wise to disrespect the great and mighty Gaben

[Enjoyed]

BOTW.

Spoiler

[Ben_j]

BOTW.

Spoiler

What is this ? I don't remember seeing this

[Enjoyed]

It's from the Champions Ballad DLC. After the final temple.
He's f**king cool.

[ThePumisher]

I'm finaly into playing Starcraft 2. Only 8 years afters release...

[sandelic]

Today is the day! 

[sandelic]

When you wait for over a decade for a game to drop, you cannot help but be slightly hyped for it.
But thankfully, our Square friends managed to piss on some of those expectations for XV, then called Final Fantasy Versus XIII, by releasing awful FFXIII and XIII-2, so I was not expecting very much.
Only hoping for it to be 'not completely crap'. Story would have been connected to FFXIII universe then called Fabula Nova Crystaliis, encompassing FFXIII and all sequels from that universe.

We got none of that. After poor reception of FFXIII and later XIII-2 together with Lighting returns, Square obviously decided to move FFXV as far as it's possible from bad reputation FFXIII got.

What we actually got was somewhat brave and different. Game puts you in medias res without explaining anything at all about characters or world you're in. They actually expected you to watch Brotherhood anime that deals with 4 friends you are navigating through this world and their background and they expected you to watch Kingsglaive movie, that explains what happened just before the game starts.

That is asking a lot from anyone, even FF fans. That's the brave part. Maybe also quite a stupid part. It was a gamble, that I'm not sure was necessary or that it payed off. Having watched all of the above, I was quite familiar with world and characters, but I don't know how I would react if I didn't.
I suspect it would all be a hot mess.

Story is rather typical of JRPG - Noctis, prince of Lucis and his three friends, Ignis, Gladio and Prompto are send by Noctis' father away to the Altissia, where he is to be reunited with his childhood heartthrob Lunafreya (anyone noticed this flood of Latin (and Norse) names and their meanings?) and future wife, on the day his father is set to sign a peace treaty with kingdom of Niflheim, that Lucis is at war with. Things don't go as planned and soon Noctis and his friends find out that treaty was just a deception for Niflheim to capture Crystal that is protecting Lucis and kill the king.
Now Noctis has to fight to reclaim his kingdom.
Story takes quite a dark turn right in the middle of the game and for my money, this is the most depressing story told in FF 

Battle, something that FF heavily relies on, is real-time and fast, and extremely easy. Foolishly I decided to play on easy thinking how it will do until I learn how to properly play. Unnecessary. Game is too easy even on normal setting and there is no hard mode. Only a few bosses present any kind of challenge. So replay value of this game is minimal. But visually great.

Speaking of visuals, this has to be most beautiful FF ever. Anything, from models of characters to countryside is done really good. Summons, that we used to call GF or Espers or Eidons, are now Gods and, by gods, they are impressive! If anything, this FF managed to capture pure awesomeness of epic monsters and moments that you will not forget anytime soon. It is what FF always wanted to be.

But game is not without its flaws. As I said, battle is not challenging enough for FF universe. Main story is really, really short. Side quests are few and not interesting. Hunts for monsters are somewhat better, with more variety than I expected. Night and day cycle are unnecessary and more then once I felt like it was a concept not really developed right. Not to mention that this is still NOT a open game world. It tricks you into thinking it is because first map is pretty big. But that is all there is to it. All else (from chapter V to final chapter XV) is one big hallway simulator.
I will not go to abandoned concepts and early E3 gameplays of game, then called FF versus XIII. Nothing we were presented at first survived to final product. After decade of developing, that's not really shocking and I was prepared for that. But game feels unfinished in more places than one.
And that is hilarious. Working so long on game and still manage to release unfinished game is achievement unto itself. I am aware of developing problems and in-house problems at Square, but still!
I could have waited for a little bit longer if they could finished it as they should.
It's painfully obvious at later chapters, when game goes full hallway simulator.

All in all, I had fun for most part of the game. Little things they put in for us older players are nice touch and are much appreciated. I rode Regalia listening to Liberi Fatali from FFVIII and it's a experience that is not easily outmatched. I viewed vistas listening to Roses of May (or Loss of me, or Beatrix theme) from FFIX and it's sublime. And, of course, Yoko Shimomura did a great job all of her own. Worthy successor of Uematsu-san. And that is quite a big praise. 

Edit: One more thing, PC version of this game is very, very demanding. You need quite a powerful PC to even run it, let alone in higher resolution and with advanced effects. But it looks gorgeous, and it really is a next gen.

[sandelic]

The Curse of Monkey Island landed on Gog.com, if anyone is interested.
It's on sale now, 70% off.

https://www.gog.com/promo/20180322_special_promo_monkey_island

[Ben_j]

FF XV review

I tried the demo on PC, thinking it might make me want to play the game, but no. I still don't get that game. I'm still repelled by the characters, by how empty and dull the overworld looks, how boring the combat is and add to that the great number of crashes I got during the demo, I think I'm never buying this game...

In other news, Far Cry 5 is finally coming out tomorrow, and I can't wait ! I saved myself from looking at too much stuff, like the beginning of the game, that is said to be great (like all Far Cry games), but all that I've seen has me excited for that game.

[kosek]

The Curse of Monkey Island landed on Gog.com, if anyone is interested.
It's on sale now, 70% off.

https://www.gog.com/promo/20180322_special_promo_monkey_island

It is my favorite adventure game of all time. But nowadays - there are other games than Rocket League?