crispy4000

The framerate in that, holy cow. They should have paired the visuals back further.

90 hours into DQXI. Just reached a point where the post-game story is (mostly?) over and it's either a ton of optional side quests or fight the big baddy. Side quests are so good though they're essentially more story content. There's huge incentive to do them in that way too. So I'll likely continue with that.

It could just be BG&E 2 if it leaves development hell in time. ... fat chance.

Did you play it on PS4? DF's said it has the most lag.

'Finished' DQXI last night. It keeps going in a way I don't think I've seen a game try yet. That's impressive considering how final the game could have felt without the post-game stuff. It's maybe not the best JRPG ever, but it is great game. It makes me want to go back and play some other DQ games if they're anywhere near as good. I've only beaten IX. Any of the others worth playing? EDIT: I just read that the japanese version of XI had no voiced dialogue. wtf? I can't imagine this game without it.

It is when salvaging, for starters. But yeah, the performance overall isn't so bad, especially post patches. I was coming off of playing BoTW on Wii U when playing Xenoblade 2. Some of the towns in the former felt far worse in their framerate dips (like the oriental one, lost woods, etc). Granted, BoTW isn't as heavy handed with dynamic res as X2 in portable mode. But that's only a major issue in Gormott's town IMO.

I can't remember a single salvage spot where there were framerate dips. The camera is always oriented towards the cloud sea 'skybox,' meaning there shouldn't be. Also, the town with the worst performance is on the first main Titan. It's ironic that they didn't put there best foot forward there. But even if you weren't imagining the dips while salvaging there, the button prompts in that town should be stupid easy. It's early game.

Or just keep them A and use them (and others) to have a more steady stream of exclusives. Games Pass needs that to keep subscriptions recurring. Microsoft's also burned some bridges this gen with contracted projects. Coming to the bargaining table with a buyout offer shows a greater commitment, even if it isn't a guarantee.

The only difficult QTEs to hit in that game are some of the salvaging ones, IMO. Can't say I had the same problem. They actually added an option to turn them off for specials in a later patch. It's also not like Xenoblade X where hitting QTEs was needed just to heal. Or if missed, could permanently destroy your mech in some situations.

It'd have to be practically DS resolution for me to agree on that. I played through Radiant Historia (original ver.) on a 3DS XL. That was on the edge of my smear tolerance.

Honestly, you're missing out. But hey, people missed out in Xenoblade 1 for similar reasons.

I'm all for this. Sounds like Obsidion gets a new lease on life, and Microsoft gets an IP portfolio boost and a solid studio.

If that's truly the dream, they'd make it all free. As in, Fortnite on mobile. But that's extremely doubtful. It's more than likely just PR speak. We shouldn't gleam anything about the price from it.

Must have been revealed now so that Google doesn't steal their thunder.

Xenoblade 2 is an amazing game. Sits right up there with Zelda and Mario for me. I put in a good 150 hours without buying the expansion pass, which I'm getting as soon as I finish with DQXI. Don't skip it because of performance issues. I played the game 50/50 docked and portable. Docked definitely is the way you'll want to play if you're at home. Handheld does a better job maintaining framerate than resolution. Some of the towns look gross with the resolution dips, as do some battles at their heaviest load. Oddly enough, general exploration fares a bit better. The game was just too good for me to cut playing it portable out of my life. I put more time into Xenoblade 2 at a faster rate than any game I can think of. My advice? If you haven't played Xenoblade 1, start with that. It's still a fantastic game, and you'll be a little more copacetic of the portable resolution issues (especially if you come from Xenoblade 1 on the New 3DS's display). ... One last thing. Performance steadily improved with the patches they've been rolling out the past year. Not to perfection, mind you. But you should see heavy resolution/framerate drops a little less commonly today.

I wonder if it'd even be worth it for the old team to finish it out without job security at the new outlet. Bet some of them have already landed jobs elsewhere.

I had Shadow Warrior 1, not 2. So this was perfect. No cloud saves though, I noticed.

pfft, no. EA's been one of the worst offenders this gen. I do think their subscription plans have only encouraged that. At least Battlefront 2 gave them a bit of a scare. Though surging sports microtransactions more than made up for it. I also think Sea of Theives would have been delayed further if not for Games Pass. So that's another. ... I don't expect the worst of it to come from the console manufacturers. There's slightly more accountability, since they also have to maintain their hardware business. We might have a different definition of predatory microtransactions then. Regardless, this gen has been marked by microtransaction tactics found in F2P games crossing streams into $60 retail titles. The only thing we haven't seen is "pay more to speed up build process" junk. Although you could say in-game currency purchases are a close cousin. I don't think buying games to own will ever fully go away. But I doubt you'll see Ubisoft (or others) drop new releases on competing streaming services without their own up-charges. Look at the PC client landscape. You've got your Valve launcher, your EA launcher, your Ubisoft launcher, your Microsoft launcher, your Blizzard (/Activision) launcher, your Rockstar launcher, etc. Sure, many games from these publishers do cross services. But they purposefully put the large discounts on their own clients. They want people in their own ecosystems, even without subscriptions. They don't want to have to pay royalties. Why would it be any different with streaming games? I'm not expecting publishers to be generous. I'm expecting a mess of the major ones each trying to carve out their own piece of the pie. With subscription services, I don't see that as a good thing, for the reasons I gave earlier. As for microtransactions being a fad, it's doubtful. They've been a reality for two generations now. Publishers take two steps forward to make them more intrusive, then one step back to address blowback if they need to. We all get dragged along with it. After all, Horse Armor is perfectly acceptable by today's standards.

I want to know how the kids broke the Switch.

Depends on how long the commute is. The Switch isn't going to die if it's an hour each way. Plus a slim power pack like that can fit inside most Switch carrying cases.

You're welcome.

Because addiction fuels subscription retention. Having people spend hundreds of hours on a single game can easier rake in money. It only makes sense to design games to do that, and more: Step 1: Get people interested in trying your subscription. Step 2: Hook them on a GaAS game to keep them subscribed. (and not dropping it full stop for a competitor's plan) Step 3: Extract more cash from whales and dolphins via transactions in said game, making them feel even more invested. They can have their cake and eat it too. A lot of the backlash has been over games being $60 products while containing loot boxes, buyable in-game currency, etc. As righteous as people feel about those things now, subscriptions will be an easier way for publishers to get us to accept them. Many people will insist you're already getting more than your money's worth when you subscribe. That's a bit naive. Sony's been at this just as long. Microsoft will be soon. Google appears to be operating in partnership with Ubisoft. Even Capcom's doing some experiments. If streaming catches on, you can bet every major publisher will have a horse in the race. As I've said, I don't see the download-only subscription services so differently. It's the same subscription library concept, just a different execution. If the future is all-streaming, as you say, services like Origin Access and Games Pass are bound to make the transition. We'll probably see it done in reverse too, with streaming services adding digital download options, like PS Now just did.

If it's just ergonomic improvements, count me out. The Switch is fine, as is the screen. I don't need something with better battery life and storage. The work arounds are cheap. With a power upgrade though, I might be interested to trade in. My main motivation is that Xenoblade 2's looks rough undocked, and dips to 480p at worst. If that's the norm going forward for Nintendo's bigger games, it might be worth it.

Any game that's still alive and kicking after 20 years will be difficult to approach in multiplayer. I still love the campaigns. Since the non-remastered version is free and can run on a potato, it's an ideal game for LAN parties. My younger brother who missed the boat initially got into it with friends that way. It's still a great time. I came home for the holidays and was like, wtf, they're playing Starcraft?

Shafted. Seriously, wtf.