General Games Discussion

Kaladin wrote:PS5 day 1

idk why but same

RealGunner wrote:

M99 wrote:Whats going on, who's playing what?

@RG you finished TLOU2?

@Firenze what you playing after GOT?

@Mole did Royal Mail manage to deliver GOT?

@ES has married life made you retire?

Mole's feud with Royal mail ffs

Yea finished TLOU2 few weeks ago actually. Lost interest in gaming after that so taking a break. Planning to start either Spider-man or Death Stranding soon.

If you're feeling burnt out, I definitely recommend playing Spider Man. I haven't played Death Stranding, but based on what I've heard about it, it's probably not the type of game you want to play when you're not motivated to play games in the first place. Spider Man will at least entertain you, up until the point where everything starts feeling repetitive.

I'm still in chapter 2 of Ghost of Tsushima. My vacation started last monday, been quite busy with other things. I still have to finish TLoU2, but I'm not really motivated to pick it up again right now. I rarely leave a game unfinished, but I'm just not in the mood for that type of game, these days.

danyjr wrote:

Harmonica wrote:Not only that but https://wccftech.com/a-new-game-in-the-remedy-connected-universe-is-already-in-the-works/

   For over 10 years, we’ve had a crazy dream. The idea that the tales told in some of our games would be connected to each other, a connected world of stories and events with shared characters and lore. Each game is a stand-alone experience, but each game is also a doorway into a larger universe with exciting opportunities for crossover events.

   Slowly, patiently, behind the scenes, we’ve been planning and plotting to make this a reality. I’m absolutely thrilled to tell you that now, the time has come to take the first concrete step on this road, establishing Remedy Connected Universe. You have no idea how happy it makes me to be able to finally make this statement.

   What took place in 2010 in Alan Wake is one of the cases that the Federal Bureau of Control has been investigating. The AWE expansion is the first official Remedy Connected Universe crossover event, bringing more Alan Wake lore into Control.

   And this is still just a humble beginning. We’re already hard at work on a future Remedy game that also takes place in this same universe.

Now that sounds exiting.

Epic are publishing Remedy's next two games. And I'm sure they will be strictly Epic exclusive.

Really? Well that sucks, I won't be giving up with even these games. I could probably give up for TESVI if it's released only on Bethesda soft, but doubt even that.

Well the fact is Epic are publishing Remedy's next to games. The rest is speculation, but I doubt Epic would have these titled released on Steam like ever.

Sorry i didn't reply @M99

Nah i managed to get a refund from them tho lol, i just bought it off PSN but haven't played it a lot due to playing other things like Fall Guys and just in general being distracted by other things.

https://youtu.be/WkbmpVe3Tsw?t=870

Performance currently, 40 fps with Ultra 3440x1440, so it will take another generation probably to get 120 fps even in Athens like of cities. But omg with the draw distance.

Sam Fisher is gonna be an operator in R6 Siege. Ubisoft literally gonna put him in every single game but an actual new Splinter Cell.

Not only he looks nothing like Sam Fisher, but isn't voiced by Micheal fucking Ironside yet again, let alone the voice actor they chose for Blacklist who had his own touch.


Ubisoft has turned into the worst company by a mile in gaming. Far worse than EA.

This Epic vs Apple battle lol

Shroud back on Twitch. All eyes on Ninja now.

RealGunner wrote:This Epic vs Apple battle lol

I hope both lose, hideous companies. Never owned anything from either.

Harmonica wrote:

RealGunner wrote:This Epic vs Apple battle lol

I hope both lose, hideous companies. Never owned anything from either.

Now Google's in it too.

There's cringe, and then there's this.

M99 wrote:Shroud back on Twitch. All eyes on Ninja now.

Didn’t Ninja go to YT gaming?

LeVersacci wrote:

M99 wrote:Shroud back on Twitch. All eyes on Ninja now.

Didn’t Ninja go to YT gaming?

He held one stream there. Didn't sign a contract. Also did one stream in Twitch.

Holy shit. Never thought Icewind Dale 2 would see an enhanced edition, and make possible an Icewind Dale franchise run.

Icewind Dale 2: Enhanced Edition is here and the Red Chimera Group is looking for playtesters!

People have been waiting years for this to happen.

With its source code lost to time, ICEWIND DALE II was thought to be dead, with no hope of an Enhanced Edition. That time has come to an end. The Red Chimera Group, a team of modders, coders, artists, and other contributors drawn from the Infinity Engine community, is re-building Icewind Dale II with nothing more than WeiDU code and hex editing to streamline IWD2's gameplay, rebalance the class system, and introduce new content.

Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition changes over 300 spells and over 1,000 items, introduces more than 30 completely new spells and 120 new items, and adds several unique recruitable NPCs, from Veira the ghost maiden to Vrek Vileclaw the river troll to Xhaan the white abishai to Zack Boosenburry and his spider mount, Aocha. This mod also fixes the major issues many players had with the original Icewind Dale 2: you no longer have to solve tedious, cryptic puzzles to complete certain areas, enemies in Heart of Fury Mode are empowered in interesting ways rather than just having lots of HP, and you can revise the experience system so you won't get zero experience for killing enemies late in the game. IWD2:EE is fully customizable and the player can tweak their install to taste.

IWD2:EE will be released as a free-to-download WeiDU mod pending a closed beta period. Anyone who is interested in becoming a beta tester may contact u/semiticgod or another member of the team to gain access to the mod. We encourage folks to visit the IWD2EE discussion thread on the Beamdog forums for information and updates: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/79872/icewind-dale-2-enhanced-edition-is-here-and-the-red-chimera-group-is-looking-for-playtesters#latest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KizGbUFCB4

Is this....an overwatch mod?

#80

Game: Alundra.
Year: 1997 (JP), 1998 (NA).
Genre: Action Adventure.
Publisher: Sony (JP), Working Designs (NA).
Developer: Matrix Software.



First things first, I am changing my rating system to a simpler 10 point system. Games that get above a 7 I fully recommend, and those that get below that are mostly a waste of time. That leaves the score of 7 to depend on your taste

Alundra is widely considered a spiritual sequel to the great Genesis game, Landstalker. Yet, other than the clear A Link to the Past (ALttP) influence, the game is nothing like it.

It has a much more serious story, and the gameplay loop is now even closer to ALttP. In fact, if you want to consider this a "Zelda clone", then this is clearly one of the darkest, and best of "the clones".

"A legend is written of a boy with a mark in his forehead. He is said to be at once blessed... and cursed... granted the awesome power to enter the dreams of others as they slumber"

The story is front and cent in Alundra. Starring the titular character, the story starts with his sea voyage going awry and washing ashore next to the village of Inoa. Somehow, this village is finding itself as the forefront of the resurrection of the evil god, Melzas, and Alundra is thrust into the role of the village's savior.

While the story may nominally about saving the world from Melzas, it is made more intimate by its focus on the village of Inoa, which is one of the most unfortunate places in gaming history.

This small hamlet is beset by misfortune from the start of the game. Since destroying their religious idols at the order of the king, they have lost their creativity and started having disturbing nightmares. Nightmares that would cause great misfortune if Alundra, who discovers that he is a "Dreawalker, couldn't enter and save the villagers. However, the game isn't afraid of getting dark, and you discover the limits of your own efforts as you fail to save some villagers.

Emotionally, that's a bit draining, since the game does an effective job of making you care about the characters through extensive dialogue and smart and consistent characterization. I found myself caring about most of the villagers in Inoa, and that's mostly helped by Working Design's excellent localization.

Let's get this elephant in the room over with right now. Working Design's localization ingests its own brand of humor into the game, which works fine sometimes, but is sometimes terrible and distracting in noticeable ways (Bonaire's entire dialogue is cringe-worthy). However, the dialogue flows well and the story is well-told.

Overall, Alundra has a great story by the standards of the time that is still good today. It's not afraid of going to dark places (too depressing at times) and is thematically interesting. The village of Inoa becomes a believable place that you care about, and that's a huge success in my book.

"You make me laugh feeble one! No one has the power to stop me now! Especially not a miserable human"

Soon after you begin the game, you realize that this is heavily inspired by ALttP but with the crucial addition of a jump button, which makes a crucial difference. Namely, the fact that there a lot of platforming challenges in addition to the expected puzzles and combat set-pieces.

The main gameplay loop consists of going to dungeons and getting a pivotal item or information that unlocks the next dungeon. Most of the time, this item is something that expands your arsenal of tools, but rarely is the item incorporated in the puzzle-solving in the same way as the Zelda series, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Puzzles vary a great deal, but most are slight variations of sliding block, stair-making, puzzle-platforming, memorization, with some interesting and thematic logical puzzles. It's refreshing that the game is genuinely challenging, but it sometimes veers dangerously into being more annoying than difficult. For instance, there is a significant number of platforming-puzzles that punish you greatly for failing a jump by not only repeating the entire puzzle but also going back to an earlier room in the dungeon.

The only reason that this isn't a deal-breaker is the fact that is just too many good puzzles countering the bad. Ironically, this then develops into a negative of its own.

Simply put, Alundra is not a short game. It has nearly twenty dungeons, and these aren't short dungeons at all. Honestly, the game would be a bit better if each dungeon was slightly shorter, leading to a tighter experience.

Still, the dungeons and puzzles within are overall of high quality despite the occasionally annoying platforming challenges. Of course, they are made better thanks to their thematic relevance in the story, especially the dream sequence dungeons which are a highlight of the game.

"We will soon see whether you are enemy or friend. Whether you are a warrior or a coward"

Other than puzzles, you will spend the majority of your time fighting the game's various enemies and bosses. Initially, with just a dagger in hand, the combat is a bit tedious. However, as you gain more powerful weapons and equipment, the combat does open up more.

Previous damage sponges become manageable, and you start having more ways to deal with bosses, including magic spells that are unfortunately exclusively useful against them (thanks to a limited magic pool).

The consistent acquisition of equipment and power-ups is consistent with the themes of the game, and you feel you are getting closer to being able to defeat Melzas with each completed dungeon. However, that power comes at a cost.

Naturally, there is the actual time and adventuring cost in conquering the dungeons, in addition to the necessary exploration to find life vessels and gilded flacons (which you trade for useful items). Yet the more potent cost is the lives lost in the village of Inoa, with each life reminding Alundra and the player of the necessity of success.

This dramatically comes to head against the game's many bosses, which are mostly good despite some of the later one devolving into long fights with damage sponges. At that point, you should have the tools, equipment, and resolve to handily defeat any foe.

"Creation and invention are part of being human... and so is dreaming. If we deny ourselves the right to dream, we deny our own humanity!"

If not for its excellent graphics, none of Alundra story or gameplay ideas would fully carry through. Thanks to its conservativeness in using 2D sprites, the game ended up aging gracefully. It looks like one of the best SNES games but with even more additional graphical effects that give it an extra oomph.

Supporting its smart use of graphical style is some quality sprite-work and character design. It's nothing that is truly inspiring, but it works very well overall and is great in motion. Especially when combined with the gritty character art.

One thing that may be criticized is the muted color palette, but I actually think that it fits the mood of the game which is more somber than your typical Action-Adventure game.

That's made more obvious by the soundtrack, which is highly atmospheric and chilling in tune with less uplifting melodies. At first, I didn't care much for the soundtrack, but it quickly won me over as it effectively underlined the story and welded well with the graphics.

Even the "Village of Inoa" theme which I initially disliked became a favorite of mine as it ironically contradicted the tragic fate of the village in its jazzy tunes. However, it's not my favorite tune, with that being a contest between the dungeon themes: "The Lizardman's Lair" and "The Child's Dream".

In Conclusion:

On all counts, Alundra is a very good game that nearly reaches greatness. I think that with a little more polish in its dungeon design and platforming gameplay, this could have easily been one of the best PS1 games.

As it is, it is a very good Action-Adventure game with a uniquely somber story and surprising depth and complexity to its narrative, which manages to shine trough mostly good gameplay that is occasionally marred by excess in difficulty or length.

Final: 8/10

Pros:

• Very good story and atmosphere
  
• Excellent sprite-based 2D graphic
  
• A very good top-down Action-Adventure game
  
• Very good and atmospheric
  

Cons:

• Some of the platforming-based gameplay is unfairly difficult
  
• The game is a little too long
  

"Tips"
1-Explore the world and dungeons thoroughly to find life vessels and gilded falcons.
2-Gilded falcons can be traded for more life vessels and useful items.
3-The fortune teller can show you what you need to do next.
4-Spells should be conserved to be used against bosses.
5-Anything you can carry and throw without it breaking can be used as a step ladder.
6-Do not underestimate your jumping ability and the required platforming skill in some segments.
7-Jump into chimneys if you don's see smoke coming out of them.
8-It's a good idea to get the items from the Fire and Ice manors (in that order) as soon as you can.
9-Some thorny bushes that you burn hide passages.


"Next Game"

Alundra easily becomes the first game in my PS1 reviews series that I wholeheartedly recommend anyone plays. It is seriously one of the best ALttP clones I played, and I don't mean that as an insult.

Next in my schedule is Alundra 2, which is supposed to be the Ocarina of Time that follows the first game. From what I have heard, the game doesn't succeed in that, but I trust this team's pedigree enough to know that it will at least be an interesting game to play.

Stay Tuned

New Dragon Age game announced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZJPvKbUgOA

5 years of development and still only alpha footage thanks to Anthem.

Played through the new battletoads, the game isn't for snowflakes, the story is fun, the music is fucking awesome. I fully recommend to people asking for a challenge.

M99 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZJPvKbUgOA

5 years of development and still only alpha footage thanks to Anthem.

If they spent those 5 years creating a shallow game with redundant appeals to the LGBTQ community, I'll boycott the franchise.

I actually enjoyed certain things about DA: Inquisition. There's a framework for a great game there, and the DLCs were actually better than the base game. However, it's drowned out by fetch quests and sloppy development, and I feel like the sexual ambiguity and emphasis on race and gender among the characters is a pointless distraction from the few things they did well with the game.

Gaming season dead?