Gaming The RedCafe General/Random Gaming Chat Thread

Irwin99 said:
I uninstalled Signalis after what I THOUGHT was the ending but if you’ve played it then, well, you know. Had to reinstall it after learning the truth online, and then I got mad and deleted it again because I was fed up at that point :lol: . Kudos to the game for doing that though, never seen that happen before.

The bloat, plot changes and design choices for Rebith put me off for a long time. I’m playing it now and trying to judge on its own merits. I am enjoying it, though I still stand by my criticisms. The Mythril Mines for instance, was three/four screens in the OG, in Rebirth it’s an hour and two boss fights.
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Ah yeah. I have vague memories of that ending and think I almost did the same thing - though probably looked it up immediately and kept playing through :lol:

Can't speak about Rebirth but you're opinion is one I've heard a lot. Seems that people love or hate the bloat with very little in between!
 
fellwin said:
Just want to give kudos to the Crosscode recoomendation. What an indie gem. It's been a long time since I played something that had me going "just one more room..." at 1am.
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Glad you're enjoying it! I'm really looking forward to their next game, Alabaster Dawn, once it gets out of early access. They're a studio that deserve all the love they can get.
 
A few more smaller games I've played recently:

- TOEM: a cosy game where you do small quests by taking pictures. It's easy to dismiss at first glance but surprisingly good. You go on an adventure in a world made up of a bunch of small locations in several environments, collecting stamps as you help people to progress. Some of the quests are just challenging enough to tickle your brain, but never too obscure. The whole thing feels like a cross between something like A Short Hike and Bugsnax. Five hours of lovable fun.

- Timespinner: a very Symphony of the Night inspired metroidvania. And when I say very inspired, I mean very. Feels like the movement and leveling animations could've been taken straight from that game. Visually it's pretty similar as well. And just like in SotN, if you do even a little bit more than the critical path, you'll be overleveled and melt bosses without a care in the world. It also suffers a bit from a lack of enemy variety and lackluster level design. Music is great though. All in all, an enjoyable, inoffensive but derivative and unremarkable metroidvania.

- Solar Ash: a flowstate-like game from the creators of Hyper Light Drifter (which I still haven't played). Haven't finished it yet but I feel like I've seen most of what it has to offer. The game it reminds me of the most is The Pathless, but with less substance. At its best, when you're flowing through the environment, it's pretty enjoyable, but it often forces you to slow down and try specific parts over and over, which isn't great. There's minor combat, which is so unsubstantial and pointless that the game would be better without it. The bosses are essentially platforming challenges, which is fine in a game like this. It's a decent enough game but not particularly memorable. Not quite at the level of The Pathless.
 
More reviews to bore you all with and get your impressions of the games.

Elden Ring - Apologies as this is long one given the relevance and impact of the game on the wider gaming public.
  • Background: For context, I've played and loved every From Soft Souls game back from Demon Souls. I wouldn't consider any of them amongst the absolute greatest games but they're all excellent. Sekiro would be my pick of the slot - for me that was the ultimate realization of the formula they've been using and re-iterating with every new title.
  • The Good: First up, it's pretty clear that Elden Ring is, by most objective metrics, a superb video game.
    • The combat is basically Dark Souls with more systems and variation, so it's naturally extremely tight and strong.
    • The world is wonderful and strange, with top notch art design. Skillup put it well - whereas most open words revel in symmetry, The Lands Between's standout feature is that its features aren't actually symmetrical at all. They peak and trough, fold and wrinkle, and that's their charm.
    • Enemy design and their sheer variety are also expectedly very good.
    • Given it is their first open world game, movement needed to be quicker and move varied (with the jump etc.) which was already the case to an extent with Sekiro, but the innovation I really liked was the horse combat. It's the first time horse combat has been fun in a video game. So good.
    • Build variety is probably the game's biggest draw. I was getting bored with my build so switched up to a bleed / arcane / dragon communion one, which was very satisfying.
  • The Not So Good: However, I do think it has a few flaws for me that hold it back.
    • This isn't really a flaw but more to do with the discourse. While the open world design is interesting and immersive, I don't think it's as novel as made out, as BOTW - a game I don't personally love - did this back in 2017. While you could argue that FS has been doing directionless game design for much longer which would be true, but in terms of open world design and game phisophy this is basically BOTW world melded with a Dark Souls game. And while of the two, this for me, is the genuinely excellent and far superior video game, BOTW's open world was the novel idea this took inspiration.
    • The game's performance was surprisingly sketchy. I was playing on a base PS5 but a 2022 game that looks good but isn't now pushing the graphical envelope but relies more on art design for it's grandeur should be running much better imo. I'm surprised the stutter hasn't made more noise.
    • Narrative remains FS's Achilles Heel. For me, this whole read the logs / item description / vaati vidya nonsense is not good storytelling. Lore and storytelling are not the same either. I've always played these games for just great frigging gameplay and the dopamine hit. But the stories are just filler and cool looking baddies and bosses you have to kill. It's the same here - become Elden Lord is such a basic "narrative" push that like their other games, I didn't really care for it. It's more about advancing rather than thinking about the purpose of your desire to do so. This extends to the side quests too. I read a lot that it has excellent side quests but they're so opaque, they never feel important. You end up doing it to complete content, tick off checkboxes and reward, rather than how interesting they are.
  • Conclusion: Finally, as I sit and look back on my experience with Elden Ring, it was long, immersive and fully worth it.
    • I can remember a lot of the paths I treaded which is the sign of great game and world design. I can remember spending a lot of time researching on how to build my character. And I look forward to a second play through with a totally different build and with the expansion as well.
    • At the same time, to an extent, I don't have an inner smile of my face when Elden Ring springs up in my mind, as I usually do with my favorite games. I think something was missing for me despite the excellent - that little extra to leave a strong and cherished impression on me.
      • Partly it's because this is all very Dark Souls and I've played so many of these by now. After the more limited but so satisfying combat of Sekiro, which is up there with the best in gaming history, maybe that core moment to moment satisfaction was a step down.
      • I think the scale of the game too, while the open world is a joy to get lost in, takes something away from the FS experience. That loop of a trail of challenging enemies followed by an epic boss who you overcome after 30 painful, ridiculous, frustrating, relieving attempts (see Genchiro, Ape boss etc) didn't hit me as hard when instead of 10 bosses, you fight 50 and probably 20 mini bosses too. I'm struggling to remember bosses I adored as much as Genichiro or the Ape boss or the last few fantastic ones in DS3. To an extent, these felt like DS greatest hits bosses' times 10, as opposed to a perfectly curated set that last in your mind forever.
    • All in all, great game, but I would definitely have it below Sekiro among the FS pantheons, where it sits amongst the rest, time will probably tell.
9.1/10

Jusant - The game's atmosphere, audio and visual style are impeccable. Reminded me Kena in many ways. At the same time, I was a tad let down with how basic it is as a climbing game. It is really excellent style over simplistic substance. It's not one that is a chore to play - I'd happily recommend it to anyone looking for a vibes and atmosphere based on experience, but it just doesn't reach all that high as a video game.

8.2/10

Space Marine 2 - Gears of War without cover. The game looks absurd at times and plays really well. The loop of gunning down hoards and then slashing them up with a cool finisher doesn't get old. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. If high fidelity shooters are your thing, give this a go. My only two grips are the story is pretty vanilla and given I don't really do multiplayer, there could have been more game.

8.6/10

Pacific Drive - I friggin' loved this. This is so my kind of indie / AA game. You and you beat up car, navigating a weird place with alien anomalies and environmental absurdities looking to mess both of you up. Great game loop. Killer soundtrack. Immersive as feck. Looks pretty. I had an absolute blast - I might even get the DLC which I've heard mixed stuff about - because I feelt I didn't get all the upgrades I wanted to, because I'm just not a completionist and feel the need to finish games once I cross a certain threshhold with them.

9/10

Price of Persia : Lost Crown - So strange to play a Ubosft game that plays this well. It's one of those you pick up and play and you're like that's such a well put together video game. POP Sands of Time (and the original games) were absolute all timers so it's so good to see this make a great comeback. Really enjoyed the first 3-4 boss fights too. I felt it lost a bit of momentum as a game and the narrative just fell into pure cliche.

8.5/10
 
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amolbhatia50k said:
Price of Persia : Lost Crown - So strange to play a Ubosft game that plays this well. It's one of those you pick up and play and you're like that's such a well put together video game. POP Sands of Time (and the original games) were absolute all timers so it's so good to see this make a great comeback. Really enjoyed the first 3-4 boss fights too. I felt it lost a bit of momentum as a game and the narrative just fell into pure cliche.

8.5/10
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easily the best thing Ubislop have made in a decade, so of course they sacked the dev team.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Jusant - The game's atmosphere, audio and visual style are impeccable. Reminded me Kena in many ways. At the same time, I was a tad let down with how basic it is as a climbing game. It is really excellent style over simplistic substance. It's not one that is a chore to play - I'd happily recommend it to anyone looking for a vibes and atmosphere based on experience, but it just doesn't reach all that high as a video game.

8.2/10

Price of Persia : Lost Crown - So strange to play a Ubosft game that plays this well. It's one of those you pick up and play and you're like that's such a well put together video game. POP Sands of Time (and the original games) were absolute all timers so it's so good to see this make a great comeback. Really enjoyed the first 3-4 boss fights too. I felt it lost a bit of momentum as a game and the narrative just fell into pure cliche.

8.5/10
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I loved Jusant but I would almost call it a more involved walking-simulator. That said, there were a couple of mildly challenging sections. I also felt the environmental storytelling was excellent for such a short game. Not quite a gem but still an overlooked game.

Agreed on The Lost Crown as well. It starts off strongly but runs out of steam a bit. I didn't enjoy the later boss fights and the level design becomes a bit bland. Still a good effort with some novel ideas, I would've loved to see the team get a second crack at it. Some of the platforming challenges were pretty brutal.
 
Just playing stellar blade on pc. I'd agree this is probably the optimised pc port from the get go ive ever played. Looks fantastic and combat is satisfying. I can see the its pretty one note though and gets kind of repitive, but its better than i thought.
 
What genius thought it would be a good idea to release MGS4 and Zero Company on the same day. I’m getting both but damn
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Don’t mean to spoil your fun but this is a remaster right?
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Yeah probably, I don’t care if it is or not tbh, I haven’t played it since the PS3 days. It’s my favourite game of all time and I’ve been waiting 18 looong years to play it again.
 
AaronRedDevil said:
Yeah probably, I don’t care if it is or not tbh, I haven’t played it since the PS3 days. It’s my favourite game of all time and I’ve been waiting 18 looong years to play it again.
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Great stuff. I adored it growing up as I did every game of that series (3 is one of the best of all time for me). But 4 with the start at the Middle East, those robots with giant legs, old snake and that little robotic, was so fecking cool.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Great stuff. I adored it growing up as I did every game of that series (3 is one of the best of all time for me). But 4 with the start at the Middle East, those robots with giant legs, old snake and that little robotic, was so fecking cool.
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Iconic intro, those geckos are such a crazy design. It’s so cool. That return to THE place, has a special place for me. I nearly cried when I first heard it again. Like a forgotten childhood memory being ripped from the darkness, oh I’ll never get that wave of nostalgia again. It was an incredible moment. Plus those final boss fights are gonna be epic to play again.
 
MGS 4 was my least favourite of the series by far. It will be interesting to see if I feel the same way.

I hope you’ve can skip the cutscenes on second playthroughs quicker than the PS3 version.
 
Badunk said:


This looks awesome, but I don't want to spend 10 minutes fighting a boss.
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Looks ridiculously good. What friggin engine is that?!

10 minutes is nothing: I spend much longer on Soulslike bosses given they keep killing me.
 
Mortal Shell 2 is pretty cool, but I think FromSoft would have decent odds if they sue for plagiarism.
 
@amolbhatia50k I finally got around to Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and am really enjoying it. Must have put in about 6 hours in a row yesterday, until my brain fully melted.
 
Vidyoyo said:
@amolbhatia50k I finally got around to Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and am really enjoying it. Must have put in about 6 hours in a row yesterday, until my brain fully melted.
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Ooh nice. It’s so good when the floodgates open and you solve multiple puzzles after hitting a dead end.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Mortal Shell 2 is pretty cool, but I think FromSoft would have decent odds if they sue for plagiarism.
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Why? I played the first game and I didn't think it was overly plagiaristic. Games of the same genre can often have similarities - that's normal. See how many metroidvanias that borrow from matroid / castevania / hollow knight.
 
Just finished Mortal Shell 2. Not bad game for the pc price which is around 25 quid. The bosses were overall underwhelming and forgettable though. And too far between checkpoints. Very much lords of the fallen vibes although i think that was a better game after the updates.
 
Playing Star Wars Zero Company atm. Its a lot of fun. Like the characters and all the customisation is brilliant. You could have a full Clone squad if you wanted.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Why? I played the first game and I didn't think it was overly plagiaristic. Games of the same genre can often have similarities - that's normal. See how many metroidvanias that borrow from matroid / castevania / hollow knight.
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Yeah, I'm a bit further in, it does do it's own thing a bit too.

Still, it's just shit Elden Ring to me :)
 
AaronRedDevil said:
Playing Star Wars Zero Company atm. Its a lot of fun. Like the characters and all the customisation is brilliant. You could have a full Clone squad if you wanted.
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Really like it so far. Even though I miss the more freeform basebuilding of XCOM the story and actually fleshed out characters make up for it mostly.

Also nice to have a somewhat older protagonist so my boomer arse can relate a bit...
 
G3079 said:
It's more of a Chimera Squad than a proper XCOM. With all the good and bad that comes with that.
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Never played Chimera Squad but I'm not mad about Zero Company being easier than XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The difficulty level was brutal.
 
So I finished Lorelei and the Laser Eyes last night and it's a great game but probably ever so slightly too long. I was very happy to be done with it. Roughly 25 hours in total.

The puzzles are intuitive and excellent. Tricky enough to stay engaging but rarely so obtuse that you're tempted to give up. I especially love the setting, which feels equal parts Lynch, The Shining, and Last Year at Marienbad without ever feeling too derivative. The story is also surprisingly tragic and oddly grounded despite all the fantastical things happening throughout. And it's sexy as hell with all the monochrome and occasional splashes of red.

My biggest drawback is that the game relies an awful lot on remembering things, and there are so many things to remember, even with the note/memory system. There were a couple of times when I found information ten hours before I actually needed it, only to completely forget it existed by the time I reached the relevant puzzle. I ended up looking up hints for those and each time realised it would have been 5x easier if I'd vaguely kept that piece of information in mind.

I'll give it 9/10 if you like story-driven puzzle games (Talos Principle, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Witness). If you don't, ignore it.
 
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weetee said:
Played the demo, but after beating the same enemy 12times counting somehow lost interest. Looks like a good arcadey game though.
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That doesnt sounds amazing :lol:

Im a big fan of Capcom action games though so Ill get it eventually.
 
KirkDuyt said:
That doesnt sounds amazing :lol:

Im a big fan of Capcom action games though so Ill get it eventually.
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Ah, somehow thought you were playing it already. Felt generic but still fast arcadey fun stuff. Wouldn‘t touch it for full price though - but that‘s just me after playing 15mins of a demo.

Playing Re9 right now (Leon section) so plenty of arcadey Capcom stuff already on the plate.
 
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