Moa

So I actually watched all of this and now I no longer need to play the Witcher 1. I'm excited to hear his take on the second and third Witcher games, since I've actually played them, but I'm most excited for him to be done with the Witcher because he absolutely needs to do an Outer Wilds video.

So I'm pretty close to finishing this and I have come to the controversial opinion that Xen is the best part and also by far the best and most alien world I've experienced in a video game. Despite most of the game looking 6-8 years old, Xen is one of the most astounding environments I've seen in a game.

Much like Doom 2016, you outscale the enemies so the end of the game feels easier than the beginning and middle. I suspect that controller gameplay also exacerbates ammo issues since changing weapons isn't as simple as it is on KB&M. I think the combat arenas on the last level felt more difficulty because they were more strictly rectangular than most other combat arenas in the game, so it was easier to box yourself in a corner. They also had less useful verticality since you could not easily jump up floors.

The low health indicator in this game is unbelievably obtrusive. Eventually I got used to it, but the first few times it happened to me I was very frustrated. I do wonder how many of the people having negative experiences with the game and its difficulty are playing with controllers. Personally, I don't think I would enjoy either DOOM on a controller at all. Eternal added a ton of mechanics that I imagine would clutter the hell out of the controller and the weak spot system punishes imprecision far more than 2016 did.

There are so many great title song but this episode of game of thrones takes it for me when it comes to perfect tonal shifts.

The signs were all there we just didn't have ears to listen.

Burnout 3 please.

I definitely had that third situation pop up for me and was annoyed. I then unlocked the Empyrean and quit, and when I came back it hadn't saved me unlocking it so I did the end of the game without it.

If we're just conflating Japan and Korea, The Wailing is fantastic.

It's weird to imagine that I live on the same planet as these people. Somewhere out there they're experiencing these same moments of time that I am.

Kentucky Route Zero

FF XIV is the weirdest game I've ever tried to get into. I've never played a game that suffered from "the good part" syndrome harder. For those unfamiliar with how the game works it is an MMO with three expansions, and in order to reach the most recent content you need to play through ALL THE MAIN STORY CONTENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME, which consists of an absolute shitload of post-expansion content that fills the gaps between expansions. Imagine if getting into WoW consisted of playing through every expansion and patch to get to the most recent content. Unfortunately, much of the content between each expansion is pretty forgettable. I enjoyed my time with the game but ran out of steam before getting through the interstitial content between Stormblood and Shadowbringers. Maybe I should go back.

Controversial opinion: The plot disconnect between DOOM 2016 and Eternal is no less dumb than the one between HL1 and 2.

Occupy City 17!

After finishing the game I think the best addition has been all the additional heavy and super heavy demons that actually force you to engage with them in a different way.

I don't think the story of Doom 2016 gets enough credit. It's obviously not the focus of the game, but much like how the gameplay was a commentary on how boring most FPS games are, the story was a riff on the trope of guy in ear tells you everything to do while having possibly nefarious motives.

Nothing is going to be everyone's cup of tea, I just thought that the early coverage way overstated the quantity and difficulty of the platforming.

Ammo is more scarce but the recharging chainsaw evens it out, also in the fights where it is likely that you will run out there are always respawning fodder enemies to mulch into ammo. Much like the first game I've been prioritizing ammo upgrades and I haven't had much of a problem despite using the super shotgun like 70% of the time. Somehow, I'm ten hours in and nearing the end of the game so I'll give some brief impressions. 1. Those fuckers took my stun bomb, the siege mode equivalent sucks, and no more infinite ammo perk. Cheesing Doom 2016 was a fun and beautiful art and now I'm going to need someone else to figure out how to cheese this game. 1a. Three shotgun grenades > one 1b. I'm glad the pistol is gone 2. The aesthetic changes to the game are weird, everything has a strange gloss to it compared to 2016 and all the items and pickups are much more videogamey. I don't necessarily mind the change but it is a little jarring having just jumped out of 2016. 2a. Doom 2016 was a weird combination of old school and modern game design, and Eternal is a similar amalgamation except that what they took from old and new games is different between the games. Eternal has a hub between levels and a much more detailed and lore-heavy campaign, but it also has a more antiquated aesthetic with bright colored pickups while in 2016 most of the items were integrated into the world in a less gamey way. 3. The dash and super shotgun hook are going to make going back to Doom 2016 feel bad. 4. This game is much harder, but the reviews that complain about the platforming sections being too hard baffle me. The platforming sections are easy, short, and fun. 4a. Fucking marauders. Who put this Dark Souls in my DOOM. 5. Did I just read Doom Guy lore? 6. I enjoy the enemy variety a lot. 7. The water segments would be less awful if getting out of the water wasn't a crapshoot, but it isn't and they are. Overall, I feel like this is a 9/10 game that I have some reservations about because at times it feels more like an alternate reality version of Doom 2016 than a sequel.

They're releasing the game today due to COVID

Canvas Bag 2.0

Apparently the DOOM 64 port doesn't come out until the game does. I just wanted the doots even though I will probably play two rounds of the multiplayer total.

Yeah, this is the most excited I've been for a game in quite a while and the first time I've preordered a game in years.