What game are you playing?

[DavidW]

Full on nostalgia is really starting to kick in! I started playing Bioshock Remastered, about an hour in it's feeling like classic Bioshock with a bit better graphics.

Bioshock is one of my favorite games.  I played it on the 360, replayed it on pc and played the remastered version on my Xbox One.  On my series X I replayed a bit of Bioshock 2 recently which has a very nice implementation of auto hdr.

Would you so kindly replay Bioshock?

[DavidW]

I did finish Dead Space remake awhile back and now I'm playing Final Fantasy 16.

[greg]

I did finish Dead Space remake awhile back and now I'm playing Final Fantasy 16.

Enjoy!



Currently replaying FF9 after nearly 20 years.   

[DavidW]

I got through the prologue but then Starfield came out.  I've been playing that since.  I think many people were expecting No Man's Sky, perhaps due to the marketing which I skipped.  Once you get beyond that and see it as Skyrim in space it is a really fun game.

[LKB]

Yesterday, the 29th and " final " season of Diablo 3 launched at 1700 PDT.

I was creating my seasonal character at 1702. 

Got him to 70 around 0200 this morning, and I'm looking forward to slaughtering vast numbers of pixelated demons going forward.

[DavidW]

I've been trying to see if there is another game on GoG that I'd like to play, but I'm still searching - I wish Far Cry 3-4 were on it.

You would still need uplay even if gog had them, so you might as well bite the bullet and install uplay if you want to play those games.

[DavidW]

Yes I've heard that it is a sleeper (no pun intended) but never got around to it!

[DavidW]

Totalbiscuit's has an excellent introduction to it should you ever be interested in picking the game up. (Well worth it, in my opinion, but I game very slowly.)

Oh that is probably where I heard about it.  I used to be a subscriber and avid watcher of his channel back in the day.

[greg]

Just started playing the first Devil May Cry, loving the aesthetics and it's the perfect mindless thing to play for me right now. Aesthetic vibes reminds me of a cross between Resident Evil and SMT 3: Nocturne.

(never played any DMC game before)

[VonStupp]

Next up (replaying it over a decade later) the best Bioware game:

Beware Judge Fong!
VS

[DavidW]

Next up (replaying it over a decade later) the best Bioware game:

I tried replaying it a few years ago.  It didn't age well for me and I couldn't recapture the feeling when I played it when it finally released on pc all those years ago.  Hopefully it will go better for you.

[DavidW]

I'm still playing Starfield.  I completed Ryujin Industries and the Freestar Rangers faction storylines.  I'm part way through Constellation (the main plot) and put it aside.  I want to complete all the side quests, the UC Vanguard and the Crimson Fleet factions before I go back to the main plot.

I think that the common criticism that the game doesn't do exploration well and there are too many loading scenes is spot on.  I also don't like how the NPCs don't have their own schedules to keep, something that was done back in Oblivion which is a 17 year old game!!

Anyway I'm more than 40 hours into it and I'm still enjoying it.  It is too bad that the discussion on social media has been polarized into haters and fanboys.

[DavidW]

I shall soon see, but everything I've read about the version (GoG) I bought is that it has essentially been remastered (has new game +) and been optimized, but I shall very shortly find out. If it doesn't work out, I'll play the other game that I also recently bought: John Woo's

Yeah it plays fine on pc.  In fact, it was even patched to run at 4k60 on Xbox with better textures (i.e. the textures on pc).  This is not like Neverwinter Nights (another older Bioware game) where it was never revisited.

[DavidW]

It is funny to see that everytime I post about Starfield my opinion has dropped.  I'm now definitely tired of it. It is hard to excuse the bad UI, frequent loading screens, meaningless decisions, wading through hours of tedious dialogue delivered by dead eye characters. 

I'm in the late game now.  I think it is better than Fallout 4, but yeah this game is too soulless.  There is no creativity, imagination, passion to be found anywhere.  Bethesda has fallen so far.  It is absolutely wild that Todd Howard thought this would be a forever game like Skyrim.  I think most gamers will not replay it, I certainly won't.

[DavidW]

I find the entire concept of evergreen gaming a strange one, and I'm a patient gamer - all games wear off, and some never wear on.

It is so easy to just reissue the same game over and over instead of develop a new one.  Case in point: Skyrim and GTA V.  It is wild to think that we had three Elder Scrolls games over a period of a few years and now we've had 12 years of Skyrim.  And it will probably still be five years before we have a new Elder Scrolls game.

[relm1]

I'm still playing Starfield.  I completed Ryujin Industries and the Freestar Rangers faction storylines.  I'm part way through Constellation (the main plot) and put it aside.  I want to complete all the side quests, the UC Vanguard and the Crimson Fleet factions before I go back to the main plot.

I think that the common criticism that the game doesn't do exploration well and there are too many loading scenes is spot on.  I also don't like how the NPCs don't have their own schedules to keep, something that was done back in Oblivion which is a 17 year old game!!

Anyway I'm more than 40 hours into it and I'm still enjoying it.  It is too bad that the discussion on social media has been polarized into haters and fanboys.

How is the music?

[DavidW]

How is the music?

Generic and forgettable unfortunately.  Too bad.  I can still instantly recall in my mind music from Oblivion and Skyrim.

[DavidW]

I beat Starfield.  I'm done!  It took me 80 hours to do all the quests.  I didn't really touch most of the worlds which is just filler content.  I also didn't dive into ship and outpost building.  Starfield has probably the best setup for NG+ I've ever seen.  And the main quest was actually good (but doesn't reach the same heights as the Crimson Guard nor the UNC Vanguard factions).

The stories were definitely a big step up from previous titles, but the engine is too old and this is a solid 7/10.  Good but not great.  Judging by the overall reception of the game, it is time to retire the creation engine.  If Elder Scrolls 6 comes out using that engine it might actually flop or at least not meet sales expectations.  I can tell that gamers have become tired of it. The bugs, janky animations and bad inventory management no longer amuse.

[DavidW]

I was playing Alan Wake 2 but I got bored of it.  I'm now replaying Cyberpunk since the game mechanics received a big overhaul.  Once I get to the right place I'll jump into Phantom Liberty. 

[DavidW]

In Cyberpunk there is a guy that is a depressed mess because his only friend in the world passed... it turned out it was his pet turtle.  In 2023 it is not much of a stretch that some people have that life, and on Thanksgiving I'm thankful for the friends I have.