That’s a franchise I didn’t see getting rebooted again. I’m intrigued, it’s got a very Square Enix Deus Ex vibe coming from the abilities shown off but it could really easily just be linear mandatory stealth section set piece stuff.
I’m surprised at how hard seeing Max again hit me. I don’t have much interest in playing a new LiS game, but I still got unreasonably emotional dredging up memories of the first game.
I played it a couple of years ago, before a lot of the patches, and still thought it was one of the better games I have never finished.
spoilerThere is this quest line where a character is abducted, raped, tortured and kills herself after you rescue her. Afterwards, the main character and another are on a balcony and smoke, still processing the horrors they’ve witnessed. I had been off the smokes for a few months at that point, but still needed to go outside and do the same.
I uninstalled shortly after. Not out of disgust, I actually appreciated the game making me feel something, but it just felt right to stop at that point.
It might not be the right thing to say publicly, but it’s absolutely something they should be concerned about internally. It’s fucking astonishing how many man hours went into Starfield for such a hollow final product.
I’ve been trying to give away some accounts for some time now with no success. Not sure if there’s some kind of account-give-away scam that went around or something but they are my accounts I haven’t used in years. Just hoping someone gets some fun out of them....
Ignoring the lack of updates if the game is buggy, games back then were also more focused on quality and make gamers replay the game with unlockable features based on skills, not money. I can’t count the number of times I played Metal Gear Solid games over and over to unlock new features playing the hardest difficulty and with...
The level of quality and number of bugs depends a lot on the era you’re talking about, as well as the platform. As a PC gamer from the 90s, much of my technical literacy came about from trying to coax games to work. My experience with console gaming was usually much more hassle free, though I have far less experience with it and don’t have a modern point of comparison (last console I even used, not even owned, was the PS3).
My real point of “it was better in the old days”, is the industry learning to exploit addiction. It’s everywhere, and it’s not just gambling. The longer you play the more likely you are to pay so even without loot boxes and the like, games are taking as much out of casino playbooks as possible. It’s fucking revolting and should be criminal.
As someone who has had problems with addiction of various kinds in the past, it’s so blatant to me. I can feel it playing into my vulnerabilities and it makes my blood boil. I avoid most gaming these days because I know if I let it become a habit, the next time life knocks me down I’ll fall victim to this.
Going to second a viewing guide. There’s like a thousand hours of Star Trek now, I don’t blame anyone for not sitting through it all. Here is another I’ve used before old.reddit.com/r/…/algernonguide_tng
ENT & VOY above TNG & DS9 would have been a wild top three before 2009. Weird hit of nostalgia thinking about how much of an argument that would have stirred lol
SNW is worth trying. It’s got a couple of really solid episodes and a few of the characters are great, I’m a particular fan of Mbenga. It still hasn’t grown the beard in my opinion, but it’s much better than PIC or STD and seems like it could grow one.
The best of new-Trek is actually Star Trek: Resurgence though. It’s a Telltale style game set in the TNG era and gets it. The first act is spot on quality Trek, and the rest is still decent multi-episode finale stuff.
Weird how the times have changed with VOY. It was never hated, but I never saw love for it until long after new-Trek. The argument used to be whether VOY or ENT was the worst lol
Inspired by gregorum’s post concerning issues with startrek.website, which is ironic as lemmy.world is a bit glitchy right now and isn’t letting me upload and had to use my alt here.
You’re kind of right. Discovery S1 was trying to be a dark, prestige drama. It felt a lot more like BSG than Trek. I haven’t watched it since it premiered but I don’t remember hating it, though I didn’t love it either.
They fired their show runner pretty early, so there is another tone shift from S2 onward. The tone becomes a lot more like the new-Trek movies, and later much more like Strange New Worlds. Take a look at screenshots from Season 4 compared to Season 1 to see just how much it shifted stylistically.
The real issue isn’t aesthetic or tonal, it’s that the writing is excruciating.
I really need to rewatch Enterprise at some point. I keep seeing people say the later stuff is good, but my recollection is it was annoying time travel stuff and actually worse than the earlier seasons. It’s making me doubt myself, especially given how long ago it was.
It reminded me a lot of Stargate Universe, a complete tonal whiplash that was clearly imitating other popular shows rather than a continuation of the franchise. I was pretty kind to it in the beginning because SGU got pretty good after I got over it not being Stargate as well, but Discovery S2 completely killed any hope I had.
My girlfriend has never really gamed. But she’s now forced to move less than she would like to (health problem) and she’s getting bored. I was thinking of introducing her to a game or two that we could play together. She’s not the real action game type, and seeing as she has no experience with controller/mouse and keyboard...
It Takes Two would be my introduction for a partner who doesn’t game very much. Co-op, easy to play, fun in a really low stakes way with a great story. I had tons of fun with the game playing with an ex.
Raft is another I played with an ex that was a lot of fun. It’s a very chill co-op survival game where you build up your boat.
I thought after playing Star Trek: Resurgence, which I adored, that I’d follow up with The Expanse: A Telltale Series. I’m a fan of both series and The Expanse seems just as well suited to the format, I’ve enjoyed the other Telltale games I’ve played and I really like Camina Drummer. Recipe for a slam dunk.
Off the bat, The Expanse has a lot of advantages over Resurgence. It’s far better on a technical level - it never crashed, I didn’t have any visual bugs, I didn’t have any performance problems and there were no input issues. All things Resurgence was rife with.
But here’s where the problems start. The Expanse, in a technical sense, is better graphically. It doesn’t look better though. It’s just creatively kind of dull. This is going to be a running theme with the game - it suffers any time an artistic choice had to be made.
There’s only a brief moment in the first episode - of five - where we escape the uninspired industrial corridors. You might point out those industrial corridors are part of the show’s aesthetic, but they don’t convey the same details about how these machines work and how the people live in them. They miss details like how the decks are laid out in relation to the direction of thrust, and are weirdly wide rather than that utilitarian claustrophobia. The show also had no problem finding spectacular space vistas that are largely absent here.
But visuals are not why we are here. It’s the story, right? But for the first time in any Expanse media - from the books, novellas, show, etc - I was incredibly bored. None of these characters are remotely interesting. The Camina I know is intense, driven and decisive. This Camina is unsure, anxious and just all around unimpressive. The politics are gone - not that the faction don’t get a lot of lip service, but everything said is incredibly surface level and dull.
The game is blatantly obvious in how it forces outcomes regardless of choice. I was particularly frustrated when I shot a mutinous crew member multiple times, saw him floating limp in space, only for him to teleport mere moments later and have a gun pointed at another crew member again. I had these whiplash moments pretty often, where it felt like there needed to be an intermediary set up scene but instead we just awkwardly jump to something.
More important than decisions in story outcomes is stuff you find while exploring. People live or die based on these. Except you have no idea whether clicking something or walking somewhere is going to trigger a cutscene that’ll push you past a threshold where you can’t return to find something. Locations of items rely on moon logic - you don’t find meds in any of the med bays you go through, you them on a random crate floating in space. The result is an anxiety over whether you’ll miss something, and butchered pacing as you aimlessly walk around trying to find these things that could be anywhere.
The voice acting is sadly sub par. I really liked Camina’s actress in the show, but she sounds like she is phoning it in here. The others aren’t any better. The belter accents were particularly awkward.
It feels weird to talk about game play in this genre, but with dialogue choices this weak I couldn’t help but notice how much worse The Expanse’s were. There is a lot of tedious filler walking, jarring video game-y avoiding patrolling “drones” with comical red laser beam search lights and holding a button until a thing is collected. Resurgence had plenty of issues in this regard but, to it’s credit, it mostly just cut to the next scene (at least in the first half).
The one puzzle I remember was moon logic. You need to work out a password, which is connecting a series of shapes, and are encouraged to look around the environment for shapes that might have been important to the previous inhabitants. Is it any of the pseudo-religious iconography? Anything of sentimental importance? No, it’s the path of the silly connect the power lines chore you did earlier.
Ugh, I could go on. This is already way longer than anyone should read. The TL;DR is The Expanse gets a 3/10 for me, compared to Resurgence at a 9/10. It should have been an easy passing grade given my investment in the series and it’s suitability for this format but it’s just so creatively bankrupt.
I’m unironically disappointed. I’d take any new direction at the moment, I’ve already been pushed past the point where it wouldn’t make a meaningful difference to me if it got worse. Even a change with a low chance of getting better is worth it over a guarantee of remaining shit.
Arr matey! What be the finest pirate-themed games ye have plundered? Personally, I’ve sailed the treacherous seas of Sea of Thieves and danced with shadows in Shadows Gambit. But I be yearnin’ for more pirate adventures. What be yer recommendations, me hearties?...
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) is my favourite pirate game. No, it’s nothing like what you think a licensed tie in game from 2003 would be like.
It’s a real oddity. This was made by a Russian studio and originally meant to be a sequel to their previous age of sail game, Sea Dogs. In Russia it was still marketed as a sequel, without the Pirates of the Carribean branding. It has basically nothing to do with the movies in reality. I have no idea how or why this ended up being a tie in.
I don’t really have a short hand for describing the genre. It most reminds me of space sims - where you control a vessel which you can replace, has an economy/trade system, management mechanics, factional reputation systems and an open world. It’s not a simplified as Freelancer, but not a spreadsheet game like the X series.
The sailing is great, a happy medium between completely arcade stuff where you just point your ship where you want to go and sims. Wind and weather play an important role without being tedious or overwhelming.
You also control a character for ship environments, like boarding, and exploring towns and islands (with swashbuckling combat, of course). It’s pretty bare bones but the variety is appreciated. There are lite-RPG dialogue/story mechanics and quests, though I do not want to give the impression this narrative heavy game. It’s an RPG style that used to be relatively common but not so much anymore.
But the real highlight is the New Horizons mod which greatly overhauls the game. It’s been developed for almost 20 years. I don’t recommend playing the vanilla game - I enjoyed it at the time, but it’s just an inferior experience to the mod.
Which indies did you discover and would love more people to know about? I’ll start: The Pale Beyond. Not sure if it’s a hidden gem tbh, but it’s such a good story rich game. I laughed, I cried and felt the characters struggles. If you like story rich games/ choices matter, check it out.
Citizen Sleeper - From the same publisher as The Pale Beyond, it’s another one of those story games that borders on visual novels. It’s a game about precarity and personhood set on an anarchic, decaying space station. Gorgeous art, fantastic soundtrack and it’s uniquely hopeful. Might be favourite game of the last few years.
Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don’t forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!...
I didn’t even like Doom (2016). It was ugly, dull and I hated the finisher system. Really disappointed because I’m old enough to have played the other Doom games as a kid and I mostly enjoyed the new wave of boomer shooters. Great soundtrack though.
Unless Pokemon counts, I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a JRPG. I have zero idea what people see in these except weebs getting horny over anime girls.
Have you been spending hours trying to pass a level? Or maybe you are completely addicted to a newly bought game. Do you have a question about a game or would like to share something else? In the Weekly Discussion Thread, you can do it all!...
I dug out my old Logitech Driving Force GT from the closet and blew off the dust. I haven’t gotten into a new (to me) racing game since Gran Turismo 5. The hardcore simulationist trend doesn’t interest me, I miss proper career modes and I have just had some awful bad luck with games being broken. I just occasionally revisit some classics.
So after many enthusiastic recommendations I grabbed Forza Horizon 5. My first impressions were great. The intro was a lot of fun, with the big set pieces causing me to fight my wheel as it bucked after being long out of practice.
But this was not representative of the actual game. The vast majority of the content is filled by fairly normal races with long stretches driving to them, back and forth across the same stretches of empty open world. It’s sort of like a Ubisoft game, but just cars.
This still could have been a good time. I like the driving model well enough, there is a large selection of cars and the environment, while bland, is certainly much less of an eyesore than what awaits me if I go back to play Need for Speed: Most Wanted for the umpteenth time.
I’ve got some criticisms of the actual racing (the way it generates opponents and their vehicles sucks, the tracks are boring), but what really killed it for me was this slowly creeping, eerie discomfort that built up in the back of my mind over hours until it became overwhelming. The vibes are fucked.
This is Fortnite, the racing game. It’s full of cameos and tie ins with influencers. Brands are plastered everywhere. Microtransaction adverts in most menus. Everyone talks in this creepy, corporate approved “wholesomeness” and aware of how “epic” what they’re doing is. There is a really uncomfortable tension between this huge festival that completely empties Mexico of pedestrians and how much the game fetishizes Americaness.
I wanted to scream during a sub-plot where you race a bunch of rich douche bags who are beefing with some guy at the festival. The game throws out shit like “they shouldn’t be discriminated against for their money, they can’t help the fact they are rich” and talks about fucking therapy. All the writing is this bad, I hate every single character in these inexplicably unskippable cutscenes.
I hate that a lot of the ones with a progression settle on XP to unlock tiers of cars rather than money and buying them too. I liked going to the used car dealer ship in Gran Turismo and seeing what I could afford.
Contemporary racing games literally just throw cars at you in hope to make it fun by constantly giving you new toys.
Forza Horizon 5 is bizarre for this. It has an acquisition system, but right after the intro you pick one of three cars, all new and not cheap. Then you get a custom rally car from the next race. A bunch of unlocks are going to give even you more cars afterwards, and will keep doing so regularly.
Like hang on, maybe let me work up from one of your cheap, older cars first and work my way up?
But this is also the game that unironically calls you “superstar” from the jump and sucks you off constantly.
My MX518 is still sees daily use, just with a family member now. I think it’s old enough to drink now (edit: not American lmao). The Logitech logo at the palm has been worn down to nothing but otherwise doesn’t look too bad.
I replaced mine with a G Pro Wireless. Similar enough shape that it was still comfortable to switch to but lightweight and no cable to snag. Wouldn’t go back to having a cable, such a huge improvement.
I also disagree. Even discounting the large number of choices which were just a binary where one side was cartoonishly evil, I didn’t remember any I found impactful.
I ended up following The Emperor path in Act 3 . There wasn’t a moment where I got to weigh up the pros and cons of each major path, as I had decided I didn’t trust Raphael already and he doesn’t give you enough detail to do so if you don’t play along when you meet him at the start of Act 3. If I had then maybe the Orpheus stuff could have given me pause, but that’s not how it played out.
I think part of this was playing as Tav though, as the decisions with real emotional weight are all centered on origin characters and I didn’t dictate what my companions should do for things that were so personal. Shadowheart’s choice in Act III strikes me as one that probably would have hit.
But the bigger issue is I think Larian just isn’t very good at writing evil. You never get those moments of practical evil. I don’t remember ever having to consider doing something horrible for the greater good or being desperate enough to do something compromising out of self preservation. It was all evil for evil’s sake.
which is of course what you would expect
Nah. I would expect there to be difficult choices before the final act, especially in a game so long.
The ending choice of the Yennefer romance is underrated. You get to decide the meaning of their long, tumultuous story. Both the heart break and the happily ever after are cathartic, satisfying conclusions.
Though maybe you need to read the books for the full weight of it to land, especially for the heart break option.
I really need to replay Dragonfall and Hong Kong. Never finished either just due to unfortunate circumstance outside the game but thought highly of both.
Life is Strange hit me so hard. A content warning for people unfamiliar, but a core theme of the game is suicide. It comes at the topic a few times with different contexts that had me crying more than once. Highly recommended.
Citizen Sleeper. It’s a short game about precarity and human connection. There are a few off ramps out of the current, desperate situation you’re in that are usually weighed against letting someone go or leaving things behind. It’s unique in games with difficult choices for so rarely about being given compelling reasons to do bad things, just choices that are hard for their emotional consequences.
Perfect Dark - Gameplay Reveal - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 (www.youtube.com)
Life is Strange: Double Exposure - Announce Trailer (www.youtube.com)
Sequel to Star Control 2 - The Ur-Quan Masters (youtu.be)
Been waiting my whole adult life for this one!
Cyberpunk 2077 director thanks fans as the game hits a 95% positive review rating on Steam (www.eurogamer.net)
Todd Howard says Bethesda is focused on finding ways to increase its output (www.videogameschronicle.com)
Trying to Give Away Some Accounts
I’ve been trying to give away some accounts for some time now with no success. Not sure if there’s some kind of account-give-away scam that went around or something but they are my accounts I haven’t used in years. Just hoping someone gets some fun out of them....
The cast of Star Trek Voyager (lemmy.world)
Battle of the Bands (lemmy.world)
Gameplay mechanics were also a lot better with more replayability. (lemmy.world)
Ignoring the lack of updates if the game is buggy, games back then were also more focused on quality and make gamers replay the game with unlockable features based on skills, not money. I can’t count the number of times I played Metal Gear Solid games over and over to unlock new features playing the hardest difficulty and with...
Hello folks, any recs on where to start with star trek?
Ultimate Chronological Star Trek Viewing Guide (www.startrekviewingguide.com)
This was created by Reddit user /u/JohnKFisher, and I think it’s a neat uncluttered guide for all Star Trek that’s especially useful for newbies.
‘Picard’ Season 2 Was Rewritten After Paramount Deemed It “Too Star Trek,” Says EP (trekmovie.com)
Can't we all just get along? (startrek.website)
Inspired by gregorum’s post concerning issues with startrek.website, which is ironic as lemmy.world is a bit glitchy right now and isn’t letting me upload and had to use my alt here.
Discovery will be the first Star Trek show in half a century to end without a single Jonathan Frakes appearance (startrek.website)
Would you rather... (lemmy.world)
What games do you recommend for my girlfriend?
My girlfriend has never really gamed. But she’s now forced to move less than she would like to (health problem) and she’s getting bored. I was thinking of introducing her to a game or two that we could play together. She’s not the real action game type, and seeing as she has no experience with controller/mouse and keyboard...
Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of February 4th
Hey y’all, what have you been playing!...
Wizards of the Coast confirms it is not selling the d&d IP to tencent (www.pcgamer.com)
Recommendations for Pirate Games?
Arr matey! What be the finest pirate-themed games ye have plundered? Personally, I’ve sailed the treacherous seas of Sea of Thieves and danced with shadows in Shadows Gambit. But I be yearnin’ for more pirate adventures. What be yer recommendations, me hearties?...
What are some hidden indie gems nobody knows about?
Which indies did you discover and would love more people to know about? I’ll start: The Pale Beyond. Not sure if it’s a hidden gem tbh, but it’s such a good story rich game. I laughed, I cried and felt the characters struggles. If you like story rich games/ choices matter, check it out.
Which games do you dislike, but the rest of the world loves them?
Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don’t forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!...
Steam has a new hit game, and it’s Pokémon with guns (www.digitaltrends.com)
The Weekly 'What are you playing?' Discussion (lemmy.world)
Have you been spending hours trying to pass a level? Or maybe you are completely addicted to a newly bought game. Do you have a question about a game or would like to share something else? In the Weekly Discussion Thread, you can do it all!...
This is what 11 years of usage to to a mouse. RIP my baby, hello baby's brother (I bought it somewhere 2014 after I fell in love with the first one) (lemmy.world)
Games that force you to make hard choices
Hey all!...