ShreddieMercury

I played this for several hours yesterday, and I'm on the fence about it. The gameplay and level design is varied and interesting, and it looks fantastic. But the game seems to be less challenging than it is just needlessly difficult. I'm still very early on: Since Wolf is killed so easily, and the enemies all have different/staggered attacks, it becomes a game of pure repetition rather than dynamic and interesting combat. The posture/deflection system is really cool and fun to use, but the fact that you have so little vitality means that you can't mess up even once or you are likely dead. This wouldn't be that much of a problem, save for the fact that all enemies in an area respawn after you die, meaning that you have to work your way through again just to try your hand one more time in a 20 second, pinpoint-precision combat encounter. I want to keep going and see if I can get the game to "click", but it may just be too punishing for me. My question to those who are farther into the game: is there a point where you got comfortable enough with the controls to feel like the mini-boss/boss fights were fun? Or is it the same thing of running into an absolute brick wall and having to grind it out until you defeat them to progress?

I picked it up yesterday, but haven't had the chance to play yet. I know that it's going to be rough difficulty-wise, but the aesthetics and combat system seem so compelling that I can see myself wanting to really dive deeply into the game. Impressions so far seem to be very positive, and I'm more excited about this than I have been for any game since probably God of War last year. Although I haven't played any Souls games, I am not a stranger to difficulty, and I'm thinking that it may be an advantage having not played those since some of the difficulty people are experiencing sounds like it stems from having to adjust how they think about approaching the combat.

Sounds awesome! I'm really thankful for the practice area. I feel like that will diminish confusion and frustration since it sounds like you won't be constantly dying while trying to learn the game. I have a regular PS4, so hopefully it runs alright, but I also am pretty clueless as to performance in general. People freak out about framerates, but I tend not to really notice or mind as long as it stays above 30.

Is Sayonara Wild Hearts considered a Nindie? Dying for any news about that game.

This is super helpful, so thank you for the detailed response. I think the main reason I assumed that Sekiro would be more up my alley is that it doesn't have the expansive RPG progression and stats systems of BB and DS. I'm happy to have up-gradable skill trees, but having to pay attention to weapon and character stats usually just frustrates me. That's one particular thing that I loved about Breath of the Wild for example - the progression in that game was tied to your own skill and exploration rather than leveling your character. Even without a ton of knowledge about the Soulsborne games, I think I'm going to get Sekiro because what you described - simple, tight, addictive systems and the ability to play in long or short sessions - is really appealing to me. I'd also prefer that a game is more difficult than easy, so I'm happy to rise to the challenge.

I don't really understand Jason Schreier's point. Sure, they may not have instructed BioWare so explicitly, but telling them that they need a revenue tail and a version of FUT sends essentially the same message, regardless of what the game actually turned out being. In general I find that Shreier comes off as a petulant know-it-all, so maybe it's just my bias speaking, but his point doesn't make much sense.

My heart is broken again with the reminder that such hate, ignorance, and evil exists in the world. Part of me wants to believe that we live in an age where access to information and education can bring about peace and enlightenment. The other half recognizes the cyclical, destructive nature of humanity and the immense injustices that have been perpetrated again and again. Hope and beauty will always continue to exist, but it's difficult not to be cynical about the long arc of humanity, which continues to curve closer and closer to complete darkness.

Dang, overwhelmingly positive responses! Okay, thanks everyone, I just purchased it. Excited to play this weekend!

Titanfall 2 is on sale for $8 on PSN at the moment, and I've heard really great things about the campaign. If you've played through it, do you think it's substantial enough to warrant purchasing the game at this price? I don't have PS+ and generally don't play online so I would only play the campaign. Thanks!

I still play Left 4 Dead regularly, and it's one of my all-time favorite games. I'm 100% on board with any sort of Left 4 Dead successor, spiritual or otherwise.

Yeah, you're probably right. Every time I think about getting into them I end up deciding to play something else, because I don't get to play very often anyways and they seem like a pretty intense time commitment.

Oh alright, well maybe it's a pass then. I really don't mind hard games, and I prefer to be challenged, but the other From games seem to intentionally obscure systems and mechanics to add difficulty, which really put me off of them. It was sounding to me like Sekiro is going to be challenging but clearer and easier to understand going in. I played Ninja Gaiden on Xbox and loved it, and was hoping for something similar but deeper.

In terms of lesser known games that you can find inexpensively, for PS2 I really enjoyed Spartan: Total Warrior, and Disaster Report. Spartan is sort of a hack-n-slash/crowd control third person action game with some really cool mechanics, and it really holds up. Disaster Report is a bizarre, cheesy, and fairly janky game about surviving a major catastrophe, but it's really unique and super fun once you get used to its low-budget b-level aesthetic. For Xbox, I highly recommend SSX 3, which is probably the peak of the series. There are also lots of great driving/shooting games from that era. People have covered tons of great games, so you'll have more than enough to play. Dreamcast is my favorite all-time game system - if you end up getting one of those there is a ton to recommend.

Is it supposed to be as obtuse and unforgiving as those games are? From what I've read and seen it looks like it's easier to understand and generally less punishing. Dark Souls and Bloodborne seem like incredible games, but I don't have the time or the motivation to replay a section over and over or not understand how anything works until I'm dozens of hours into a game.

I have not played any of the DS games or Bloodborne, but I'm going headlong into this one. The Japanese mythology and more approachable nature of the game is right up my alley.

I played maybe an hour or two of it after I got it on sale last year, but it wasn't grabbing me. Does it get better/more interesting as it goes along?

Ok I will play REmake. I started it a while back and got stuck pretty early on. But I played through the RE2 Remake, loved it, and am more accustomed to how these games work now so maybe I'll get through it easier.

I played those! Some of my favorite games from last year.

I just finished Metro Exodus, and am looking for something else to play. The recent thread about obscure games, as well as some really good things written about Vampyr have me leaning towards that, but I'm open to other suggestions. Here are recent games that I've played and loved: Prey Hitman 2 RE 2 Remake Astro-Bot Tetris Effect Still in my backlog are: Moss REmake Horizon: Zero Dawn Doom (played some but never finished) I like single-player action games and platformers mostly. Any off-the-beaten-path games I should know about that I might not have considered? Should I get Vampyr? Or should I work through the backlog games that I've been putting off?

Did anybody play Vampyr? It wasn't well received, but it seems to have found an audience and become something of a cult hit.

RDR2 is one of the worst, and also most fascinating games I've played in years. I can understand being entranced by the graphics and the detail throughout the world, but as a game it fails on nearly every conceivable level. In its dedication to realism, the game places priority on slow animations that don't really string together well. So it feels, as others have put it, like moving through molasses. On top of that, every input control has a specific context, so if you're next to your horse and you need to change weapons, you have to hold two buttons while cycling through menus, and the game does not always respond properly to these particular contextual situations. Most of the gameplay systems are tedious and don't affect the game in any meaningful way. You have health and stamina "cores" that fill if you eat and drink, but if you drain them, nothing happens, and the shooting is so easy and mindless that you'll never die unless you turn off auto aim and flail around due to the horrible aiming feedback. All of this might be bearable if the story was interesting or well written, but it's not. It's the same cliched, overwrought garbage that's in every Rockstar game; it's a hodgepodge of tired western tropes that fail to cohere or say anything meaningful, and your actions are frequently at odds with how your character behaves in cut-scenes and other interactions. To give credit where it's due, I did really enjoy the ending, but it's lessened by everything that came before it. In short, it's a game that will initially dazzle you, and subsequently confuse and frustrate you. The more distance that I have from it, the more I actively dislike everything about it.

After playing several hours of the game, and getting through the first "open" or "wide-linear" section, here are my impressions: This is a fantastic looking game. I'm playing on a base PS4, and it looks gorgeous. The environmental design, lighting, and models look excellent, and there are lots of tiny details and flourishes when you look around that add to the atmosphere and immersive quality of the game. The gameplay is slow, methodical, and intentional. You constantly need to take stock of your resources, and since ammo is scarce, it's usually better to avoid combat, at least through the early part of the game. The game is almost entirely focused on making you feel like you're fighting to survive a bleak and brutal environment; you have to craft and replace gas mask filters, manually charge your flashlight, and pull out your map and backpack in real-time without a pause menu. Unlike RDR 2, in which I found similarly slow and deliberate mechanics boring, unnecessary, and at odds with the rest of the game, in Metro these things are essential in grounding you in the world. They also have real consequences to the gameplay, and are not mindless window-dressing. For example, you have to clean your guns, they will actually jam and experience significant drops in quality if you fail to do so. I'd read a lot about how janky these games are, and while I certainly see some of that, I don't find them any more glitchy or bug-ridden than something like Skyrim or Fallout. I switched the dialogue to Russian, which is interesting, but there is alot of cross-talk that can be hard to keep up with. The weakest part of the game seems to be the script, and the VO delivery is occasionally mistimed. But, those things aren't really detracting from my enjoyment of the game. Through about 8 hours, there has been alot of interesting variety in the environments, and lots of cool scripted moments that happen organically while you're exploring the world. I'm really enjoying my time with it, and would recommend it to anybody who enjoys single-player FPS games. Also, I haven't played any of the previous Metro games, but there is a really well-done in-game recap that goes over the main plot points at the beginning, so lack of exposure to the previous games shouldn't be a deterrent from this one.

I beat Resident Evil 2 on Standard with the Leon A and Claire B scenarios. I've now started a Hardcore run with Claire A, and will then do Leon B. It's a completely brilliant game, and probably the best RE game that I've played (between REmake, RE 4, and RE 7). The puzzles and exploration I found to be perfect, and just obtuse enough to make you think while not being so inscrutable as to require the help of tips or a guide. I don't typically like metroidvania games because I get lost easily and can't recall exactly where I need to go or what to use. RE 2 on the other hand includes some metroidvania elements, but makes use of an ingenious map system and a relatively small environment to keep forward momentum near-constant. I only got stuck once, but figured it out quickly with a glance through my items and a peak at the map. I think it's the ultimate expression of what RE has always striven to be. My only criticism is that the Sewer environment is not nearly as interesting at the Police Station, but I still quite enjoy the campy, over-the-top horror vibe of the last third of the game. I bought Metro Exodus yesterday, and am really excited to start playing it. I haven't played any previous Metro games, but I've read really great things about them, and the comparisons to Wolfenstein have gotten me very excited to dive into that world.

Omg are you saying it's not one of teh best evar games?? The Last of Us is the GOAT, all the feels, etc.

I just started a hardcore run last night and swapped the soundtrack to the original. It's amazing! Gives the the game a different vibe, but it's such an incredible soundtrack. I highly recommend trying it if you haven't.