The Video Game Thread

[Apollo]

Have any of you played Dark Souls? I had a little free time on the long weekend and so I tried it out. I quickly scanned a few reviews on my iphone, looking at the scores, and then checked out the box. It gave me that Elder's Scrolls kind of feeling, I bought it expecting something like Elder's Scrolls. I got it home, popped it in and started playing... It's not Elder's Scrolls. I died like ten times on the tutorial boss before I finally beat him. They start you off with a broken sword, a wooden shield that doesn't block all damage and send you on your merry way to your unknowing demise with nothing more than a few signs on the ground to help guide you. The sign I read before the tutorial boss told me Happiness was ahead. Yeah, it sure was, if you consider happiness getting slaughtered countless times in a early fight that's more difficult than most game's final bosses. Anyway, I'm hooked. I've died about 20 times in the two hours I've played the game but I can't quit. I know why this game is so popular. Pride. Your pride is literally crushed in the first half hour of the game and it is your quest to gather the fragments so that you no longer feel like a 80 year old man using a PC for the first time. People continue to play this game because they refuse to admit they weren't "man enough" to get through it.

[Machine]

Perhaps they will? Totally different game but for instance in Skyrim they added a bunch of animations after the game was out a long time. Do you have to play stealth in this game? Generally my first playthrough of anything open world is taking it right at them guns blazing.

There is definitely stealth in the game and if you level up sneak and melee you can do stealth kills.

[Miekenstien]

Red Dead 2 on PC is by far the best looking video game I've ever seen ... it's ridiculous how good it looks. So very impressed. It's definitely a bit on the slower side, but I enjoy just roaming the Countryside on my trusty steed ... and shooting strangers in the face that look at me funny.

I'm always polite on the road, and never suffer impolite people

[Joey]

Red Dead 2 on PC is by far the best looking video game I've ever seen ... it's ridiculous how good it looks. So very impressed. It's definitely a bit on the slower side, but I enjoy just roaming the Countryside on my trusty steed ... and shooting strangers in the face that look at me funny.

[Apollo]

i most enjoyed melee in outer worlds. i tried my usual hand gun/assault rifle mix, but found i like cutting and smashing more. role playing wise, i pretend i am squanchy and i tell the bad guys to taste my squanch.

i haven't tried to be a sneaky character yet.

Sneaky melee would probably be fun too.

[Miekenstien]

i most enjoyed melee in outer worlds. i tried my usual hand gun/assault rifle mix, but found i like cutting and smashing more. role playing wise, i pretend i am squanchy and i tell the bad guys to taste my squanch.

i haven't tried to be a sneaky character yet.

[Apollo]

Outer worlds is pretty good but the stealth mechanics are non existent. Really wish they fleshed it out and added stealth kill animations like Fallout and ES, also need more of those slow mo kill animations.

Perhaps they will? Totally different game but for instance in Skyrim they added a bunch of animations after the game was out a long time. Do you have to play stealth in this game? Generally my first playthrough of anything open world is taking it right at them guns blazing.

[NoPropsneeded]

Outer worlds is pretty good but the stealth mechanics are non existent. Really wish they fleshed it out and added stealth kill animations like Fallout and ES, also need more of those slow mo kill animations.

[Apollo]

So apparently it's coming to Switch in the new year. If I have a choice between TV and handheld I'll always pick handheld. I've always loved them. Switch, PSV, 3DS, PSP, you name it.

[Machine]

Finally made it to Monarch and hoping to beat the game this weekend. There are a couple decisions I regret making and looking forward to another playthrough at some point to see alternate outcomes. So far I feel like this game is just the right length to be able to enjoy multiple playthroughs (depending on how much is left obviously).

[Miekenstien]

I'm enjoying outer worlds. It has a borderlands 1 type combat feel. It isn't as free flowing a game as fallout, feels more high paced, than at your leisure.
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I should be able to change a setting on Xbox console that makes an inverted up down automatic. God.

[RandomGuy]

So it has multiple large hubs that you can explore. It is not one large open world like fallout but honestly after playing the outer worlds I actually prefer this. There are still a lot of corners to explore and the benefit of having hubs is they are multiple different planets or ships you get to explore so they are all quite different. And some of these hubs are pretty big. Different communities, corporations etc, diff threats, diff atmosphere. It just freshens up the gameplay.

Also the world doesn't feel so overwhelming. You can focus on the planet you are on and then when you feel like you've gotten the most out of it you are excited to move on to the next planet to see what awaits. And you can move back and forth between planets as you wish.

Another benefit to the large hubs as opposed to large open world is the graphics quality and gameplay polish. There are no bugs in this game.

It might be a turn off to some to not have just one giant open world and I was concerned as well but I think benefits outweighed the negatives for me.

We should be working on the same PR/Marketing team.

[Machine]

For me it was choosing between Red Dead Redemption 2, Outer Worlds, and Jedi Knight: Fallen Order (crazy slate of games in just a few weeks time). I went with RDD, but may just have to get Outer Worlds now too ... have read nothing but great things about it. My one concern is the world size (or multiple worlds size... Lol) ... is it Fallout comparable? One of my favourite things to do in Bethesda RPGs is just explore and roam around.

So it has multiple large hubs that you can explore. It is not one large open world like fallout but honestly after playing the outer worlds I actually prefer this. There are still a lot of corners to explore and the benefit of having hubs is they are multiple different planets or ships you get to explore so they are all quite different. And some of these hubs are pretty big. Different communities, corporations etc, diff threats, diff atmosphere. It just freshens up the gameplay.

Also the world doesn't feel so overwhelming. You can focus on the planet you are on and then when you feel like you've gotten the most out of it you are excited to move on to the next planet to see what awaits. And you can move back and forth between planets as you wish.

Another benefit to the large hubs as opposed to large open world is the graphics quality and gameplay polish. There are no bugs in this game.

It might be a turn off to some to not have just one giant open world and I was concerned as well but I think benefits outweighed the negatives for me.

[RandomGuy]

For me it was choosing between Red Dead Redemption 2, Outer Worlds, and Jedi Knight: Fallen Order (crazy slate of games in just a few weeks time). I went with RDD, but may just have to get Outer Worlds now too ... have read nothing but great things about it. My one concern is the world size (or multiple worlds size... Lol) ... is it Fallout comparable? One of my favourite things to do in Bethesda RPGs is just explore and roam around.

You are blocked by loading screens, so it's not technically open world and yeah, it's pretty small. However, it's pretty dense with lots of NPC's in those areas and the fact that you can explore different biomes (planets, space ships interiors) is pretty cool as well. It genuinely feels like Fallout 3 in all areas, the art style is like modernized western, which s a dope take in terms of design. The game focuses on quests and story though, so you may not be able to enjoy it as much as Fallout NV or Fallout 4 for instance if world exploration is the main aspect you're looking for.

[Joey]

For me it was choosing between Red Dead Redemption 2, Outer Worlds, and Jedi Knight: Fallen Order (crazy slate of games in just a few weeks time). I went with RDD, but may just have to get Outer Worlds now too ... have read nothing but great things about it. My one concern is the world size (or multiple worlds size... Lol) ... is it Fallout comparable? One of my favourite things to do in Bethesda RPGs is just explore and roam around.