Board 8 > transience's video game topic 57: Judgement Kazzy sings the song of life.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Also rad, video games!

This week!
A Way Out: The next game from the Brothers developers has a big focus on narrative, and specifically player coordination guiding the narrative. This tabletop approach to game design is something we've seen more in mobile games, and touches of it in Telltale and Telltale-like adventure games, but this is the first big budget game to try it out on consoles and PC. It all sounds really cool, and EA's push - offering the game at a low price, with free passes for other people given to those who bought it - could break this type of game design through to a bigger audience.
Sea of Thieves: This game is perfectly primed for the modern multiplayer experience, where emergent gameplay and cooperation are king. Will it have enough content to keep people coming back? That remains to be seen. But for something you can play relatively cheap thanks to Game Pass, it might not matter.
Ni no Kuni II: What Ni No Kuni lacked in mechanical engagement, it made up for in spades with characters, specifically Mr. Drippy: a rogueish, charming fairy, your faithful companion, and a walking metaphor of loss and maturation. Mr. Drippy won't make an appearance in this game, but maybe other characters will take his place. If not, there's always the kingdom builder, a welcome addition in any jRPG. I'm wary, however. Level-5 RPGs are like a couch with a missing leg. There's something shoved underneath as a hasty replacement, and you always feel like something is about to break.
Detective Pikachu: If we're going to get Pokemon spin-offs, I'm glad it's something like this and not more mindless action RPGs. Bring me more anachronistic Pokemon games, please. A new Trauma Team game starring Chauncy. Fight Night starring Hitmonchan. Anything, I'm in.

Next Week!
Far Cry 5: If you had reservations that Ubisoft would make a genuine attempt at thoughtful criticism of contemporary American culture, don't worry, this game has DLC that takes place during the zombie apocalypse and the Vietnam war.

Next month!
Yakuza 6: This is the first proper Yakuza game developed for PS4, and it looks to be as big a technical leap forward as Yakuza 2 to 3 was. If you haven't jumped on board the Yakuza train, find a cheap copy of Yakuza 0 and catch up.
God of War: God of War seems to shed its character action roots in favour of linear Naughty Dog-like game design. Whether that's a good match remains to be seen, but people are excited in a way they weren't for Ascension.
Nintendo Labo: Nintendo's attack on your future closet begins with Labo, a release that's more STEM toy than game, and priced like one to boot. HM, the returning champion, will surely let us know how his piano or robot fares.

The future!
May is pretty light at the moment, but it does have some highlights like the recently delayed Pillars of Eternity 2 and a GOTY contender in State of Decay 2, as well several old games Nintendo would like to sell to you at $60.
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yo bloodborne is still excellent

lady maria is still *chef's kiss*

running a bl4 build isn't THAT hard, but i am now just about to fight a boss that apparently is the first real big wall for this run

new overwatch character brigitte is soooooo fun to play i am back in

how bout that devil jho coming this friday

love to keep playing games i already have instead of new ones
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no video games for me thank you
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Oh man, Jho is out Friday?

I need to go finish up the main story, pretty sure Im real close to seeing credits.
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Detective Pikachu looks so absurd that I want to see what it has to offer. Im not sure what the gameplay is, necessarily, but the cheese, the goofiness, and the Shadow Hearts 3 voice acting all create a hard cocktail to resist.

STEM toys is about right but nothing will stop my Robot playing Piano skills! Birthday month is Nintendo tape month. Celebrate!

Gekidos Revenge comes out tomorrow!

I haven't fully formed an opinion on Sea of Thieves yet, but what I think this game lacks in comparison to other games that trade on emergent gameplay is that you have more verbs and scenarios in those games, which in turn creates more varied experiences. In PUBG any number of things can affect your approach to a situation: time in the match, guns, scopes, location in proximity to the circle, location in proximity to buildings, healing items, teammates, map. No two games are alike, the mechanics are so good, and the allure of a chicken dinner is so strong that you can keep playing for hundreds of hours. Sea of Thieves doesn't have that. It offers you a sandbox but only gives you a shovel. I'm having fun with the shovel right now, and it's better playing with friends, but it looks like we're about to run out of things we can do with the shovel and the sun is going down anyway, bye everybody.

I don't think I'm going to walk away from this game disappointed just because my initial investment was so low and I have had some fun - everyone needs to pilot a boat solo in a storm while carrying a bunch of loot at least once - but I am a little surprised that it's been three years since the game was revealed and it doesn't seem like they spent much time on things to do.
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Here's some cool #charts from the Splatoon GDC post-mortem, comparing Splatoon 1 and 2 online communities:
https://twitter.com/lmichet/status/976501231324602368

Splatoon 1 ended up selling 5M lifetime, so for the sequel to launch with a daily total higher than the first game managed even during Splatfests is impressive.

SMO had an observable effect, too:
https://twitter.com/lmichet/status/976502149390585856
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Splatoon has become such a staple Nintendo franchise so quickly. That it found the kind of success it did on the Wii U, being a totally new IP, is incredible. It fills a hole in the Nintendo lineup, too, as this unique competitive online shooter-esque experience that they never had before. Splatoon has found itself right alongside Mario or Zelda as a pillar franchise.

I think they were hoping ARMs would catch the same lightning in the bottle, as a fighting game compliment to Smash Bros., but that seemingly hasnt panned out in that big way. Generally, I like this exploration of new ideas with new characters to add into the mix as properties to go along with their staples.

I love seeing all these charts and lists out of GDC. There was a top ten best selling indie games on the Switch for its one year that was interesting to see. Let me see...

SteamWorld Dig 2
Stardew Valley
Kamiko
Celeste
Fast RMX
Golf Story
Enter the Gungeon
Over cooked
NBA Playgrounds
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

Stardew Valley has never left the best selling list on the eShop since it was out. The longevity of that game is remarkable.

heroicmario posted...

It fills a hole in the Nintendo lineup, too, as this unique competitive online shooter-esque experience that they never had before.

It was very perceptive of Nintendo to realize that Splatoon cribs a lot from the Monster Hunter social experience and really lean into it with the design of Splatoon 2.
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I have enjoyed what I have played of Sea of Thieves, but playing with friends is so much better than playing that game solo. After a session with Digi, Shad, and Tabi, I played a bit solo to increase my levels with the different factions. My big takeaway from that session is that other players are fucking assholes.

Moored my sloop at an outpost to turn in a voyage, while I am doing that a galleon sails up and destroys my ship, so I go to the bar to get drunk, and one of the people on that galleon comes and kills me in the bar. Second time I am getting chicken coops for another voyage, assholes set my sloop free so off it goes, I use the mermaid to get to my ship which has taken on a large amount of water to almost sinking. I managed to repair it and sail it back in time to watch that group log off and their sloop sink. Third time, my sloop is anchored at an outpost, I'm purchasing a cosmetic item after getting my cages for the animals I need to get. Heading back to my ship get into a fight with three other players, they kill me. I respawn on my ship, which they raised the anchor and my ship is now constantly crashing into the dock, they kill me again. Respawn and repeat 4 or 5 more times until my ship finally sinks and I am put on a different island. Head back to the outpost after making sure the other group isn't there and my cages are nowhere to be found and I can't get more from the merchant.

The game is nigh unplayable solo due to other players
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How do you mean, as someone who hasnt played Splatoon 2?

I remember suggesting Mario Paintball and glad they made something along those lines. I wish I found Splatoon to be a good game but I do like what Nintendo is doing nevertheless. Kind of a backhanded compliment here I guess
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Just that a lot of the modes are specifically built around having four people in a place communicating to accomplish a goal. Going from your group of friends playing Monster Hunter on a 3DS to jumping into Salmon Run or a ranked battle on a Switch is a lateral progression.
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Ys 8 hits the Switch on June 26th. Is that the date HM finally plays Ys?!
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I remember when Splatoon was first shown my first instinct was that it was a Mario Sunshine remaster, with all that paint, then I thought Mario characters would end up crossing over to make it like a Mario Paintball, haha. What I like about Splatoon is that its not deathmatch-centric. At least in the first, the more are roles and contributions that you still make to the team that dont involve the best K/D. Still need to play Splatoon 2!

iiicon posted...

Just that a lot of the modes are specifically built around having four people in a place communicating to accomplish a goal. Going from your group of friends playing Monster Hunter on a 3DS to jumping into Salmon Run or a ranked battle on a Switch is a lateral progression.

Ah, I see what youre saying. Ive heard a lot of good things about Salmon Run.

iiicon posted...

Ys 8 hits the Switch on June 26th. Is that the date HM finally plays Ys?!

Haha. This is one of those Summer of Switch games Im most interested in. I have yet to Ys, but this seems like it could be a good intro in 2018. Is it good?

Also, I think this is probably the most packed summer for games it has ever been. There may not be a big blockbuster, but there are so many games coming out in what is historically a dead part of the year.

Spent another hour or two fiddling with my Classic. Managed to get everything to at least boot with the exception of Fire Emblem 3 and 4. Not sure what the deal is there, might just be bad roms.
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heroicmario posted...

I have yet to Ys, but this seems like it could be a good intro in 2018. Is it good?

I haven't played the latest but I don't like the newer Ys games with parties and a story as much as I liked the old ones. Ys Origin is on PS4 though and it's my favourite.

heroicmario posted...

Also, I think this is probably the most packed summer for games it has ever been. There may not be a big blockbuster, but there are so many games coming out in what is historically a dead part of the year.

What're you looking forward to?

I don't think it's the dead part of year anymore but I'd have to look at a release schedule of games from years past. On memory, I think The Witcher 3, Splatoon 2, Prey, and Trails the 3rd came out in summer.
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uhmmm it's Chancy
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I just wrapped up the single-player in Splatoon 1 and am ready to dive into 2. Very excited to see what they improved, though my muscle memory is annoyed that they moved the default jump button.

Also was finally planning to finish Tomb Raider reboot (Xbone version), but the game froze after I died during the battle in the flaming throne room after meeting up with Sam and now the game crashes whenever I load my save. So that sucks.
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The Mana Sword posted...

Spent another hour or two fiddling with my Classic. Managed to get everything to at least boot with the exception of Fire Emblem 3 and 4. Not sure what the deal is there, might just be bad roms.

If youre using translation patches, check whether you were supposed to use a headered ROM or not. I think 4 was one I had to use the retroarch emulator for.
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Yeah, even with with Retroarch, 4 would just immediately drop back to the game select menu after booting. I tried a few configurations, but got tired of carting the console back and forth between my PC and TV to test it after a few tries.
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ahhhh, Curse of Monkey Island is on GOG
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@ninkendo is still wrong about buttons not being better, but now there is a Joy-Con with a Dpad.

https://twitter.com/HORI__OFFICIAL/status/976745970342875137
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/85qmul/my_wife_is_a_therapist_after_i_kept_complaining/?st=JF2YMOTG&sh=ebf84591

A cool thread about CBT helping people deal with gamer rage
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I disagree with the positive assertion that things "will get better".

Things will not get better. Overwatch Comp is hellhole of misery and the only winning move is to not play.
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The Mana Sword posted...

Yeah, even with with Retroarch, 4 would just immediately drop back to the game select menu after booting. I tried a few configurations, but got tired of carting the console back and forth between my PC and TV to test it after a few tries.

Its possible you got a bad dump of the rom. I remember I had some trouble with this one but I did manage to get it working.
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iiicon posted...

What're you looking forward to?

I don't think it's the dead part of year anymore but I'd have to look at a release schedule of games from years past. On memory, I think The Witcher 3, Splatoon 2, Prey, and Trails the 3rd came out in summer.

Oh, did The Witcher 3 come out during the summer? For some reason, I always had it in my head that it was a holiday release, probably due to it being such a huge hit.

Runner3 (May 22)
Mario Tennis Aces (June 22)
Ys VIII (June 2018)
Crash Bandicoot (July 10)
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker (July 13)
Octopath Traveler (July 13)
Hyper Light Drifter (Summer)
Okami HD (Summer)
The Messenger (Summer)

It's probably not feasible to think I'll get around to all of these, but all of them have caught my eye. Usually, there might be one game over the summer that would stand out, but there's quite a few coming that have my eye. The only two that would be "old" games for me are Captain Toad and Okami, but I love both of them enough to want them again on Switch, haha.

Played Sea of Thieves with Cole yesterday, it was pretty damn cool! My stats weren't updating as I played, which is a bummer, but the core gameplay stuff was pretty cool. I do wonder a bit how fresh things would stay after a while, with only 3 basic quest types, but maybe they will add more stuff as they go.
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Witcher 3 released May 19
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Icehawk posted...

Played Sea of Thieves with Cole yesterday, it was pretty damn cool! My stats weren't updating as I played, which is a bummer, but the core gameplay stuff was pretty cool. I do wonder a bit how fresh things would stay after a while, with only 3 basic quest types, but maybe they will add more stuff as they go.

My understanding is that there are no stats
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heroicmario posted...

It's probably not feasible to think I'll get around to all of these

you could get a head start because over half of them are already out~!

there's a pretty decent eShop sale today right now. all the Switch Zelda clones - Kamiko, Blossom Tales, Oceanhorn - are on sale. The Steamworld games too.
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+1 for Kamiko and Blossom Tales.

Good sale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEpgCGLA_ns" data-time="

wow, 3DS emulation has come pretty far. I guess it's time to figure out how to set that up.
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Mario 3D Land is a gem of a game. Its awesome how good it looks running on an emulator. Emulation isnt my cup of tea, as Im typically a stickler for playing on the original hardware and all that brings with it, but Im always impressed what these resolution bumps do for image quality for Wii or 3DS games.

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Icehawk posted...

Played Sea of Thieves with Cole yesterday, it was pretty damn cool! My stats weren't updating as I played, which is a bummer, but the core gameplay stuff was pretty cool. I do wonder a bit how fresh things would stay after a while, with only 3 basic quest types, but maybe they will add more stuff as they go.

My understanding is that there are no stats

You gain reputation with diff factions, that wasn't working at all.

Also, about to boot up ni no kuni 2. Wish me luck!
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good luck
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Playing through the ME trilogy again and I have only finished Noveria and gotten Liara and have already unlocked Virmire and gotten 100% paragon. I recall ME1 taking a lot longer to do that. Like I remember Virmire being damn near end game.
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SgtSphynx posted...

Playing through the ME trilogy again and I have only finished Noveria and gotten Liara and have already unlocked Virmire and gotten 100% paragon. I recall ME1 taking a lot longer to do that. Like I remember Virmire being damn near end game.

Its best played near endgame but yeah, it was always available after your first main planet.
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Yep, I replayed all three ME games last year and what struck me is how much smaller they felt.

Are you using any texture mods? ME1 can look very good.
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Yeah, I'm using MEUITM and FPS Counter. Would be using a controller mod but it made it so I couldn't level any characters or equip anything, so sticking with M&K
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Quick Ni No Kuni impressions

-Beautiful game OBV
-Gets off to a HOT START which I always appreciate
-Great characters so far, even the little kid that seemed like he might be lame is likeable at the very least. Dialogue is pretty good too minus the "I WANT TO BUILD A KINGDOM WHERE EVERYONE CAN LIVE HAPPILY EVERY AFTER" line.
-Lack of voice acting can be a little jarring at times, especially since they do the annoying thing where they say one word everytime you press A to get more text. If they were just totally silent as you read the dialogue, I don't think it would be as weird.
-Battle mechanics are tremendous. Like, really good. Great mix of skills, dodging, responsive and fun swordplay, plus some ranged attacks. It's one of the most fun JRPG combat systems I've ever played.
-But, it is way too easy. I haven't even come close to worrying about dying 2 hours in. I think 20-25% of my HP is the most damage I've taken in any fight. This is actually a pretty big flaw, because as fun as combat is, it doesn't mean much if you can sleepwalk through it.

Seems like a no brainer for JRPG fans thus far, even if the difficulty thing bugs me. Excited for city building, but I am pretty sure I'm still a little ways out from that. But I like it way more than the first for sure.
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Since I'm pretty much done with Sea of Thieves, I went looking for other game pass titles and decided to play the Gears of War games for the first time, starting with the remake of 1. This is a weird experience, going into a formative game 12 years after you've played many of the games it influenced, with those games pushing the genre to its limits until the industry left the genre behind. I'm also not engaging with co-op or multiplayer so I'm not getting the full picture.

This game is very grey.
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Roland is great
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GANON1025 posted...

Roland is great

Yep, he rules.

I'm a little further now. Did my first skirmish, which I liked! I'm doing everything I can to avoid battles unless I have to, so I don't get overleveled.
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wow, fuck Raam.
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Been playing through DQ3 SNES the past few days. Still the best DQ game.

Considering starting up an Ace Attorney series replay leading up to finally picking up Spirit of Justice.
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iiicon posted...

Since I'm pretty much done with Sea of Thieves, I went looking for other game pass titles and decided to play the Gears of War games for the first time, starting with the remake of 1. This is a weird experience, going into a formative game 12 years after you've played many of the games it influenced, with those games pushing the genre to its limits until the industry left the genre behind. I'm also not engaging with co-op or multiplayer so I'm not getting the full picture.

This game is very grey.

Its such a co-op and squad pvp game that I wouldnt really bother with it these days if I were rolling solo. Some of the weapons were so incredibly satisfying in pvp.
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one thing I really enjoyed when I looked up Raam strategies is that they all started with "okay, load up a co-op game..."

I'll mess around with Horde mode in 4 because that game is on PC
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