Good. I can maybe see the argument for a remaster that improves the graphics, but they don't really need a ground up remake in a new engine. Not as long as they're still playable on modern computers.
Given what the modding community has been able to come up with without official tools, I'm looking forward to the mods that are going to come out after the next patch.
Not sure how I feel about the art style. Varric and Harding look decent, but it felt like the longer the trailer went on the more the characters turned into something out of a stylized hero shooter. Honestly, the whole trailer felt more suited to a hero shooter than a single player RPG. Hopefully the gameplay looks better, but this was a very odd way to formally reintroduce your game after ten years of scattered trailers and announcements.
Yeah, the art style definitely feels like a holdover from the live-service days. I could see them having to work with whatever assets were left after that version of the game was scrapped and just having to make it work.
Yeah, really hoping this is just a misstep from the marketing team. It's such a whiplash inducing shift in tone from all the previous marketing and trailers that they've released. If not then they certainly picked an interesting game to fully shift the tone from dark fantasy to...whatever Veilguard is aiming for.
Accidents happen. Your finger slips and suddenly your game is full of Nazi symbols. Happens all the time. Also, I get the gist of Garriss's response, but mentioning that he had men and women at his house and his mother was always present just makes things sound weirder than a simple denial. Sounds like a horrible situation all around.
In an interview with Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza at GDC in late March, where a new suite of AI-powered creation tools was demoed, I asked about the reputation Roblox hac gained and the notion that it was exploitative of young developers, since it takes a cut from work sometimes produced by children....
No? Xbox might not be in the greatest place right now, but it's a far cry from where Sega was when they discontinued the Dreamcast. Yeah, Microsoft stepped on a lot of rakes with the Xbox One, but it wasn't a Saturn-style disaster and Microsoft is still doing well enough to buy out a major game publisher.
I'm impressed at how well thought out this battle plan is. I'm usually pessimistic when it comes to governments taking pro-consumer stances, but then again all it takes is one government siding against game companies to set a precedent. Hopefully this picks up steam and gets to a wider audience. It feels like one of the few things gamers can agree on these days is how much they hate business practices like this.
Because the games are good? Does their need to be a deeper reason then that? I mean, I guess a boom in retro games among Gen Z and younger says something about the state of the modern industry, but younger generations have always liked older things despite entertainment industries trying to push them towards the shiny and new. Still definitely nice to see though.
It's an impressive battle plan. I'm always a little pessimistic when it comes to these things, but at least this effort is casting a wide net. If even one of them succeeds that could impact the entire industry. Hopefully some government body, somewhere chooses to take this seriously.
Hopefully this showcase is successful enough to become a tradition. It would be nice to have an indie-focused showcase that doesn't have to juggle their time between the games, advertisements, and sponsors.
So we finally know what the mysterious Triple-i Initiative thing is! It’s a big gaming showcase full of announcements and new footage for upcoming games centred around triple-i games and studios (big indies)....
I was going to say replaying but I feel like that limits the question to games like Prey or Fallout New Vegas that have endings and games like The Sims 2 or Cities Skylines where you can play indefinitely end up excluded....
I have an unhealthy cycle of this with Hearts of Iron IV a WW2 grand strategy game. I'll realize the embarrassing number of hours that I've put into the game and then I'll stop playing for a while. But then one of the big mods for it will update and then I dive back in and lose a weekend and then the process repeats.
The other game I consistently come back to is Threads of Fate or Dewprism it's a PS1 action-RPG with dual protagonists where each one has their own campaign or story to play through. I guess it's nostalgia that keeps me coming back to it, but it really wasn't a favorite game growing up and I didn't beat it until years after I'd gotten it. But every few years I'll just remember it out of the blue and get the urge to play through it again.
Yeah, besides the PSSR feature, I'm struggling to see the point in upgrading to this if you already have a PS5. It feels like Sony and Microsoft are just going with plans they made at the start of the generation when they assumed they would need a mid-gen refresh. But with the massive shortages it doesn't really feel like we're at the kind of midpoint that calls for a console refresh.
Feels like forever since I heard Ken Levine ramble on about narrative LEGOs and game design. It's an interesting concept and hopefully the game lives up to expectations. I'm still cautious that it might all end up being pre-release hype, but he certainly seems passionate about the idea and I'm certainly curious to see what narrative LEGOs actually looks like in execution.
The US’s latest attempt to chill speech online, KOSA-a bill to effectively force everyone to identify themselves to online platforms-is picking up steam and looking like it will pass the Senate.
The microtransactions are bad enough, but the fact that none of these were present in the build given to reviewers just makes it worse. I mean people would still be complaining about them, but I don't think the backlash would be as bad if Capcom had made it clear from the start that the game was going to be riddled with microtransactions.
From what I understand, fast travel isn't locked behind microtransactions, despite some claims I've seen. You can buy an item that you can place that lets you teleport back to that point, kind of like fast traveling to a map marker. These items are available in game along with fixed fast travel points between major cities. So the reviewers would have had access to fast travel they just wouldn't have been able to use real money buy them whenever they needed them.
At least they're being upfront. And given their stated desire to move on from BG3, it makes sense that they want to put out something simpler but workable instead of something complicated that might need long-term support.
So, did that whole "late discovery" thing just not happen with Cyberpunk? Because I just have a hard time imagining CDPR looking at the state that game launched in and thinking that they'd made a game that was basically perfect. I mean, at least they learned in time for Phantom Liberty's release, I guess.
It's a shame we're not getting more Baldur's Gate from Larian, but it's completely understandable. All the people they worked with and trusted at WOTC have probably been laid off and Hasbro is probably desperate to replicate BG3's success. There's no way they'd be given the same creative freedom they had when they were originally working on BG3. Looking forward to whatever they put out next.
GOG continues to do great work. Alpha Protocol isn't necessarily a good game, but it has a lot of interesting ideas in between long stretches of glitches, jank, and broken gameplay. Hopefully this sells well enough to justify bringing more abandoned titles to GOG. The little mini-documentary they put out going over the process of getting the game on GOG is also great and highlights all the recent efforts to push back against the "own nothing and be happy" mindset game companies are trying to push.
Genuinely excited to see Alpha Protocol available for sale again after all this time. Was not expecting to see it on the front page of GOG. It is such an interesting game, even if it isn't, strictly speaking, a good game.
The thing that gets me about this is that it's always some nefarious outside group pressuring devs to make their games "woke" or whatever. It never seems to occur to these people that the people making the games might actually hold those beliefs and aren't being forced to put them in games at gunpoint. Also, did the guy complaining about Ragnarok play GoW 2018? The fact that Kratos isn't the same person he was in the old series is basically the entire point.
It's been an interesting trend to watch, but at the same time I'm not sure how great it is for video games. Hollywood celebrities aren't cheap and the more stars you stud your cast with the more that is going to eat up your budget. Everyone already complains about the cost of AAA development and casting Hollywood actors isn't going to bring those costs down. Not to mention the impact on voice actors, who aren't having the same luck breaking into Hollywood. Still, it's going to be interesting to see just how much the lines between the two industries blur as time goes on. From the tone of the article it still feels like people are treating this like a novelty, but at least we've moved on from the days when people were baffled at the idea of serious actors starring in a video game.
Aspyr really keeps stepping on rakes with this one don't they? Rereleasing a classic like this should have been a slam dunk. It's really becoming a trend with Aspyr to have issues with their Star Wars ports, but at the same time I have to wonder if if there was pressure from Embracer to rush this out the door. When you're still desperately axing and selling off studios, rereleasing a fan favorite Star Wars game probably sounds like easy money no matter how much more time the game needs to be finished.
“Heartbreaking news today as Something Wicked Games had to lay off most of their staff. As someone who has been in the industry for nearly 25 years, I understand the challenges of finding a new position during these tough times. I specialize in human and creature locomotion and Mocap, with some key framing experience as well,...
Shame. If they are laying off most of their staff I don't see Wyrdsong coming out now. In retrospect 2022 was a bad year to found a new gaming studio, even with all the talent they had on hand.
No direct mention of the KOTOR remake is concerning, but then again Embracer have said that they and Saber have joint ownership of a AAA licensed game that was previously announced, so who knows.
What have you all been playing! Still on my usual binding of Isaac and helldivers grind, but I’m also getting back into elden ring to get ready for the dlc coming later this year! 🤩
After around sixty hours I finally rolled credits on Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Started to feel like a slog towards the end, but I wanted to see the story through to the end. Those last three chapters had to have the most Yakuza-style plot twists I have ever seen. Overall I ended up liking it a lot more then I was expecting given that its the series first JRPG. I think it handled the switch well, although it did feel a bit grindy at the end. There's still some side content I might end up doing, but for now I feel like I need a break from it.
Someone's eager to have another BG3 on their hands. Given Hasbro's recent moves it wouldn't surprise me if half of these ended up being cancelled and other half were trying to squeeze as much money out of players as possible. Hasbro thinks D&D is an "under-monetized" brand after all.
NASA releasing a TTRPG module was not on my bingo card for 2024, but here we are. Hope this is well-received because it would be cool to see them branch out into more "nerdy, but educational" content like this.
The depressing thing is a live-service Harry Potter game would probably make WB a ridiculous amount of money. Lock the best brooms and wands behind a paywall, pay real money to buy House points to win the House cup, all sorts of ways to squeeze money out of players.
I wanna get into 2d games a bit more. Mainly things like RPGs or metroidvanias (or just single palywr games in general) For devices I can emulate older systems and I also have a switch. Any recommendations?
Maybe a dumb suggestion, but since you mentioned older systems, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a PS1 classic that helped create the Metroidvania genre. There's also Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which is a spiritual successor by one the key developers behind SOTN. Dead Cells and Hollow Knight are solid games that have been recommended already, but if you find yourself enjoying the rogue-lite elements of those you might enjoy Cult of the Lamb. Admittedly it's top down 2.5d, but it's a nice blend of rogue lite and town management as your tasked with building up a cult and turning it into a thriving community in between fighting your way through dungeons.
"So, we alienated some people with our Harry Potter game and we alienated a lot of people with our soulless, live-service Suicide Squad game. What if we just combined those together?"
Genius business strategy WB. Although, given how well Hogwarts did there are probably plenty of people out there who would go for that.
I bought a PS2 about 6 months ago from a coworker and finally got around to getting it working at a good enough resolution on my monitor. I currently have:...
Depends on your tastes. If you like platformers the PS2 had some great ones. Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and the Sly Cooper series to name a few. For something more action-oriented the old God of War games still hold up, although they are very different in tone from the modern ones. If you have any interest in JRPGs there's FFX, X2, and FFXII along with Personas 3 and 4. Although most of those have better ports/remasters/remakes on modern systems.
Fallout 1 and 2 won’t be getting remade, Todd Howard says (www.videogameschronicle.com)
Kind of sad but at the same time I don’t think I would trust Bethesda of today especially to properly remake it anyways.
Mod support in Baldur's Gate 3 will be final handover moment to players, says Larian CEO (www.eurogamer.net)
Paradox cancels Sim game Life By You after 3 early access delays (www.polygon.com)
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer (www.youtube.com)
Fable - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 (www.youtube.com)
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer (www.youtube.com)
I don’t know, this felt very “quirky” compared to older Dragon Age games. We’ll see how it goes.
UK Petition: Require videogame publishers to keep games they have sold in a working state (petition.parliament.uk)
How Hidden Nazi Symbols Were the Tip of a Toxic Iceberg at Life Is Strange Developer Deck Nine (www.ign.com)
Roblox Studio boss: children making money on the platform isn't exploitation, it's a gift (www.eurogamer.net)
In an interview with Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza at GDC in late March, where a new suite of AI-powered creation tools was demoed, I asked about the reputation Roblox hac gained and the notion that it was exploitative of young developers, since it takes a cut from work sometimes produced by children....
Could Xbox Soon Become The Next Dreamcast? (www.msn.com)
The largest campaign ever to stop publishers destroying games | Accursed Farms (www.youtube.com)
Why are younger generations embracing the retro game revival? (www.theguardian.com)
The largest campaign ever to stop publishers destroying games [Accursed Farms] (www.youtube.com)
Actionable steps provided, especially if you ever bought The Crew! www.stopkillinggames.com
The developers of Dead Cells, Darkest Dungeon and Slay The Spire are launching their own "triple-I" Game Awards (www.rockpapershotgun.com)
The Triple-i Initiative gaming showcase is coming April 10th (www.gamingonlinux.com)
So we finally know what the mysterious Triple-i Initiative thing is! It’s a big gaming showcase full of announcements and new footage for upcoming games centred around triple-i games and studios (big indies)....
What are some games you find yourself frequently coming back to?
I was going to say replaying but I feel like that limits the question to games like Prey or Fallout New Vegas that have endings and games like The Sims 2 or Cities Skylines where you can play indefinitely end up excluded....
PS5 Pro developer verdict: ‘I didn’t meet a single person that understood the point of it’ (metro.co.uk)
Judas First Details: How Ken Levine Is Building on BioShock With 'Narrative LEGOs' (www.ign.com)
Kids Online Safety Act gains enough supporters to pass the Senate (www.theverge.com)
The US’s latest attempt to chill speech online, KOSA-a bill to effectively force everyone to identify themselves to online platforms-is picking up steam and looking like it will pass the Senate.
Critically acclaimed Dragon's Dogma 2 hits "mostly negative" on Steam after players raze it for microtransactions (www.rockpapershotgun.com)
Baldur's Gate 3 mod tools won't be as extensive as Divinity's: 'We're not a tools company,' says Swen Vincke (www.pcgamer.com)
Cyberpunk 2077 quest lead says early access wouldn't work for CDPR the way it did for Larian, and the studio prefers 'to have a banging release where everything is as close to perfection as can be... (www.pcgamer.com)
No Baldur's Gate 3 DLC from Larian Studios, and it's not making Baldur's Gate 4 either (www.pushsquare.com)
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/12153366...
Alpha Protocol is available once again on GOG (twitter.com)
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/22cd9e97-cce6-4087-b01d-2894bb4515d7.png
Obsidian's Alpha Protocol is available again thanks to GOG (www.destructoid.com)
The return of Gamergate is smaller and sadder (www.theverge.com)
Evidently on a posting tear today. What happens when you’re stuck in a Dr.'s waiting room, I guess…
Hollywood Actors Are Leaping Into Video Games (www.nytimes.com)
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection used modder's work without credit (www.eurogamer.net)
How does this KEEP GETTING WORSE??
Something Wicked Games (ex Bethesda veterans) laid off most of it's staff (www.linkedin.com)
“Heartbreaking news today as Something Wicked Games had to lay off most of their staff. As someone who has been in the industry for nearly 25 years, I understand the challenges of finding a new position during these tough times. I specialize in human and creature locomotion and Mocap, with some key framing experience as well,...
Saber Interactive still working on a number of titles, including Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and Jurassic Park: Survival (twitter.com)
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/35b6d1fd-607f-4173-a2ca-9f1967844f3a.png
Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of March 10th
What have you all been playing! Still on my usual binding of Isaac and helldivers grind, but I’m also getting back into elden ring to get ready for the dlc coming later this year! 🤩
Quality Assurance Workers at Activision Establish Largest Certified Union in the U.S. Video Game Industry with Communications Workers of America (cwa-union.org)
EA CEO talks AI, says the usual stuff before the bong rip hits and he starts blabbing about a future where 3 billion people are creating EA's games with it (www.pcgamer.com)
Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have "about 40" video game projects in the works (www.gamefile.news)
The Lost Universe - NASA’s first TTRPG adventure (science.nasa.gov)
WB Thinks ‘Hogwarts Legacy 2’ Should Be A Live Service (www.forbes.com)
Need game recommendations
I wanna get into 2d games a bit more. Mainly things like RPGs or metroidvanias (or just single palywr games in general) For devices I can emulate older systems and I also have a switch. Any recommendations?
EA has suddenly and permanently changed the prices for Command and Conquer (decreased prices, close to historic lows) (www.pcgamesn.com)
Warner Bros. Discusses "Volatile" AAA Console Games, Will Lean Into Free-To-Play And Mobile (www.gamespot.com)
Best PS2 games?
I bought a PS2 about 6 months ago from a coworker and finally got around to getting it working at a good enough resolution on my monitor. I currently have:...