polygon.com

rodneylives, do games w The RPG that inspired Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Demon’s Souls is now more playable than ever - Wizardry!

Wizardry inspired a lot of games, but the three games listed have greater influences elsewhere. (FF and DQ in particular are more like Ultima.) Sadly the games that were most inspired by Wizardry, sometimes called “blobbers,” have mostly died out: The classic Bard’s Tale games, Might & Magic, Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder. Etrian Odyssey and the Japanese Wizardry games hold the torch but are pretty niche these days.

The demise of the original Wizardry series is one of the greatest injustices in the history of computer gaming, up there with the closing of the original Atari.

ReakDuck, do gaming w A handheld Xbox? Microsoft’s gaming chief can’t stop thinking about it

Nintendo got exclusives and its only way to play them is on a switch.

Steam Deck can do everything and is just overkill till today.

Microsoft Xbox Handheld… ehh? It got… nothing of them both lol

WarlordSdocy,

You’re forgetting the other advantage of the switch is how cheap it is. If Microsoft can manage to make something that’s inbetween the price of a steam deck and a switch it could be pretty enticing.

frauddogg, do gaming w A handheld Xbox? Microsoft’s gaming chief can’t stop thinking about it
@frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml avatar

What does Xbox even have that I couldn’t already play on my PC? Halo’s dead; there’s no reason to humor Xbox as a console anymore. Microsoft’s still-surviving exclusives are all mid; so really, why would I get one of these when I could just play on my PC, or pick up a Steam Deck to have access to my PC’s library?

BruceTwarzen,

Everyone says to just pick up a steam deck. You know that they are not available worldwide. I couldn't buy one if i wanted to

GBU_28,

Why would an xboxdeck be available in ways a steam deck isn’t?

lupec,

Valve only makes the deck available in a handful of countries while Xbox hardware is available pretty much everywhere, so I’d say it’s natural to assume a hypothetical dexbox would too

Crikeste,

Because Xbox deck wouldn’t be made by a tiny gambling company. It would be made by a massive corporation with footholds for tech already established in practically every country.

frauddogg,
@frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml avatar

NVidia Shields exist too.

Wes_Dev, do gaming w Switch 2 is crunch time for Nintendo and backward compatibility

Nintendo: “Let’s force retro gamers to buy the Switch if they want to play our titles, by pressuring Steam to remove all Nintendo emulators, and by suing Switch emulators into oblivion.”

Also Nintendo: “Why don’t retro gamers want to buy our products anymore?”

redcalcium, do games w Epic only realized it had ‘financial problem’ that led to layoffs 10 weeks ago

What happened 10 weeks ago? Did they run some projections and realized their Fortnite revenue aren’t going to cover the operating expense for the whole company anymore?

thewitchofcalamari, (edited ) do gaming w Terraforming Mars team defends AI use as Kickstarter hits $1.3 million
@thewitchofcalamari@bookwormstory.social avatar

probably more suited for here !tabletop

thanks bot, updated

stopthatgirl7,
!deleted7120 avatar

Ahh, thanks. I’m not in that group so I can’t get to it easily from kbin, so feel free to post it there!

VentraSqwal, (edited )

Is there a way to link it to make it easier to access from Kbin?

Maybe it’s @ sign instead of the “!”? Try this one and let’s see: @tabletop

Otherwise maybe someone else will come in and say if it’s possible lol.

!boardgames / @boardgames is also pretty popular.

stopthatgirl7,
!deleted7120 avatar

Yup, the @ sign does it.

curiosityLynx,

Careful: it doesn’t work if there’s a user account with the same name

stopthatgirl7,
!deleted7120 avatar

Oh, that’s good to know.

I like kbin, but ur still really rough around the edges.

raptir,

From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it’s gaming you can probably discuss it here!

Sentinian, do gaming w It shouldn’t be this hard to play old Armored Core games
@Sentinian@lemmy.one avatar

Its very easy to play the older AC games. Download a rom/iso and emulator

This is exactly why emulation is a needed thing.

eltimablo,

Shortly before launch, I set up AC4A on a PS3 emulator and it literally could not have been easier.

EvaUnit02,
@EvaUnit02@kbin.social avatar

Well, except for the fact that all four PS3 AC games are listed as "Ingame" on the RPCS3 compatability list.

eltimablo,

Those ratings are user-reported and most are several years out of date. I played 4A from beginning to end without any issues.

squidsarefriends, do gaming w Anita Sarkeesian is shutting down Feminist Frequency after 15 years

Her videos about women in video games were mind-blowing. And I never forgot her Lego City vs. Lego Friends comparison. Smurfette-syndrome and damsel distress are words I didn‘t know before watching this channel.

Pika, (edited ) do games w Remedy replacing Bowie song from Alan Wake over 'licensing'

Yet another reason that copyright really needs to be revamped hardcore. You should not be able to retroactively revoke a license in that way and the entire idea of yeah I license you to be able to use this for x amount of years is ridiculous to me either you can use the Media or you can’t.

58008, do gaming w [Polygon site redesign] Welcome to the next era of Polygon! We made it for you.
@58008@lemmy.world avatar

It looks indistinguishable from every other tech site.

st3ph3n, do gaming w Polygon - Was Bioshock Infinite good?

I enjoyed Bioshock Infinite a lot back on the Xbox 360. The whole city in the clouds but also it’s the early 20th century setting was really attractive to me, and I enjoyed it pretty much throughout. Elizabeth being an actually useful NPC sidekick that you don’t have to do endless shitty escort missions for was a great move. I don’t understand the hate it gets after a few years have passed.

averyminya,

It was criticized when and after it came out, so it isn’t something that’s come up recently. But as you mentioned, there were some praises as well, as NPC escort missions were a bane in gaming at the time and this game did get praise for Elizabeth for that.

However, much like the comment “the medium is the message”, I think also Bioshock was a series that was very close to people’s hearts and they had a specific idea about what exactly made it feel like that atmosphere. My stance has always been, Bioshock Infinite is a phenomenal game that isn’t quite Bioshock, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s like… It’s like the entirety of the series Metroid, and then Other M. Had Other M been literally any other name and character, it would have been a perfectly fine game.

But since it, and Bioshock Infinite, are tied to their namesakes, staying in line with that atmosphere that they create is imperative for a fanbase. For all of the faults that Bioshock 2 had, they still nailed the thematic portion of the world that appealed to so many people in Bioshock 1. They’re dark, gritty, a musk of musty air fills the entirety of the game and characterization. They’re also quite creepy, with that setting on top of the insanity and tight enclosed spaces under the oppression of the ocean.

Bioshock Infinite seems to abandon that thematic element almost entirely. And mind you, they did the bright and airy world very well, I can only imagine what it would have been like if they had been able to complete the entirety of their vision! I suspect something like Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom size was always the goal, given all the details shared about what they had to cut out.

That tonal shift I am almost certain is a majority of the cause for the issues with Bioshock Infinite - as this was the sentiment I gathered upon release and the coming years. It was two-fold though too, because by changing the nature of the tonality of the game, the gameplay itself seemed to be “brightened”, maybe in an attempt to make it more accessible, maybe to make it more engaging, but it seems pretty commonly agreed that Bioshock Infinite is just easier. The puzzles seemed toned down (IMO almost more of a point a -> point b puzzle), and while yeah the ending was a very well done version of this, I think many also felt like it somewhat removed the agency the players were struggling with, just to toss in a “you have and always will be” multiversal moment.

Anyway, all this to say, these aren’t explicitly my opinions on Bioshock, I’m just an analyst. I enjoyed most of Bioshock Infinite, but it is clear to see that there is a difference in the show-don’t-tell of Bioshock and the tell-show-tell of Bioshock Infinite. I actually am able to replay Infinite, where I have a hard time replaying 1 and especially 2, just because they’re so goddamn scary for me, lol. Much of the gameplay of Infinite is also just slightly more modern, with 1 and 2 just being slightly slower and clunkier without the movement option of the grappling hook.

I think another way of putting this is to look at an entirely different game, We Happy Few. It seems to me that We Happy Few wanted to make the atmosphere of Bioshock 1 but with the brighter narrative style of Bioshock Infinite, which inevitably resulted in the clashing of those two themes. In the case of Bioshock Infinite, it is that very same clashing of themes which I think heavily affected the players perception of the game. Again, had it been named, like, “Sky Cultist: Enigma” or something like that, it would have been perfectly well received and would have maybe even gone down in gaming history positively. Instead, it was tied to Bioshock and is kinda seen as “it’s good but meh” as a byproduct of such a drastic shift. I also think the desire to go from sea to sky is just a little cheesy, and while it was done well enough I’m also sort of hmmmeehh on that whole side of it. Fun areas to play in, but… not very Bioshocky, even with the steam punk elements.

Which is too bad. It had many technically good qualities about it, from the story arcs, from memory I feel like the pacing was pretty good, I remember the gameplay early and mid-way being fun although I do feel like I remember just a little bit of bullet spongeyness and resource/ammo collection mid-late sections of the game. Obviously the ending was quite good, and I really enjoyed the cult story. However, the bright sky world is very contrasting to the murderdeath cult and gore of it all, and I personally wasn’t as big of a fan of the thematic shift, both in the overworld but also in the march towards the Industrial Revolution. It just felt so out of place to me (specifically the Patriots, or maybe I just hated fighting so many of them) considering we had this entire underwater industrial complex in Rapture. However this is alleviated somewhat by the ending of Infinite, since these are all infinite possibilities oooooohhhh the name makes sense nowwwww!

So yeah, all in all I think it turned a bit underwater espionage revealing the secret project to the world to floating cult investigation revealing the… secret project to the world.

teawrecks, do gaming w Valve’s hero shooter Deadlock leaks with screenshots, gameplay details - Polygon

The only part of this that interests me is how they decide to handle anti-cheat on linux.

LennethAegis,
@LennethAegis@kbin.social avatar

Don't they already have VAC?

ianhclark510,
@ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

VAC is far from flawless

Swedneck,
@Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

All anticheat is far from flawless lol

erwan,

It’s from Valve, they’ll make sure it works on the Steam Deck.

ampersandrew, do games w Phil Spencer wants Epic Games Store and others on Xbox consoles
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

It’s finally happening? Console manufacturers realizing that the old model, that’s worse for the consumer, doesn’t make sense anymore?

echo64,

No, there won’t be another xbox. Phil Spencer is angling to get gamepass on nintendo and sony. But he’s going to have to force it through the courts and government legislation, much like epic is doing with mobile stores now.

It’s a play for gamepass, not the consumer

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

It’s a play for the consumer’s money, and when the consumer has better options than the traditional console model, the console model breaks down. They’ve got at least one more Xbox in them, whether or not that next Xbox is just a PC with different branding.

echo64,

The “better option” is subscription services where you own nothing and the bottom drops out of the industry, just like music and film. You can cheer for that if you want, but it is not in the interests of the consumer.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

I wasn’t cheering for subscription services. I was cheering that this exclusivity model of walled gardens no longer makes economic sense, while open platforms are on the rise. Microsoft is hoping that their pivot will result in more subscribers to their subscription service, but all signs are pointing to them having a rough time of growing beyond where they stand now, for all sorts of reasons.

dog_, do games w Overwatch 2 season 10 will make all new heroes free, Blizzard announces

Doesn’t make the game any better. I played until season 9, I’m glad I don’t play anymore.

Gordon_Freeman, do gaming w Palworld’s success is partially born from Pokémon fans’ discontent
@Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social avatar

I don't thinks so. It popular because "pokemon with guns" became a viral meme which sucks.

A a discontent pokemon fan myself I would love someone to make a pokemon clone since Game Freak is not really interested in doing good pokemon games anymore. But "Ark Survival Evolved with knockoff pokemon skins instead of dinosaurs" is not what I want

TwilightVulpine,

Pokémon with guns wouldn't have gotten millions of sales on its own. When the trailers came out people were laughing but they weren't exactly eager to play.

Given the persistent popularity of survival crafting games, I think "Ark with knockoff pokemon" is exactly what people wanted. After all, even before this, Pixelmon was one of the most popular Minecraft mods.

Gordon_Freeman,
@Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social avatar

Pokémon with guns wouldn't have gotten millions of sales on its own

The day before sold millions (but this one was refunded by millions too) and everybody and their mom knew it was a scam since it was announced like 2 or 3 years ago. Internet is weird, if something becomes viral it will sell, the quality does not matter, people just wants to be in

snooggums,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

As far as I can tell The Day Before was overhyped early and people bought it because of the marketing. Palworld did some advertising, but the mass adoption appears to be mostly word of mouth that the game is actually fun when it was made available in early access.

That matches what I have seen from people commenting and my personal experience as I don't remember hearing about it before and hopped on because of friends recommending it. Palworld is a word of mouth success like Valheim and for similar reasons of competent styling, smooth gameplay, and survival that isn't punishing the player from the moment the game starts.

Gordon_Freeman,
@Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social avatar

As far as I can tell The Day Before was overhyped early and people bought it because of the marketing

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDayBefore/comments/lwaach/people_keep_saying_its_a_scam_whats_the_scam/

That's a 3 years old post. Everybody knew it was a scam back then. to the point the studio released "We are not a scam, trust me bro" statements (which made it more obvious it was a scam)

I don't remember hearing about it before

Internet has been talking about "pokemon with guns" for 2 years or so since the developers were already famous because they launched a "Breath of the Wild" knock off (Craftopia) that also sold well (not at the same level of palworld, but for being the first title of a brand new indie studio it sold really well)

snooggums,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

Apparently not everyone knew the day before was a scam or it wouldn't have sold millions of units. Just because some people predicted it does not mean that the general population had any awareness of that expectation.

Gordon_Freeman,
@Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social avatar

it wouldn't have sold millions of units

People started to sell their steam accounts that owned the game and keys for the game for hundreds of dollars when it was announced the game was some bad that it was going to be removed from steam

If something is popular it will sell, the quality does not matter. You have the best example in Pokemon itself

TwilightVulpine,

The Day Before did not sell a single million units and Palworld is not getting widely refunded, even though everyone who starts it, dressed like a caveman, immediately realizes they aren't getting to play with guns anytime soon. There were streamers showing this even before the game was out.

It's true that virality is unpredictable and popularity is not a measure of quality, but I think a lot of people are being overly dismissive of the fact that Palworld managed to hook people with something that appealed to them. Not to say it's a bastion of quality and originality, obviously not, but it has something going for it.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@kbin.social avatar

Off the top of my head, there's Temtem and Cassette Beasts that try to mimic the formula more closely, and then there are a bunch of "Pokemon but _____" takes on the formula that you can find with a quick Google. This is "Pokemon but <survival game>". Last I heard, Ark didn't let you assign dinosaurs to a factory or have some of the more RPG systems like boss fights, but quite frankly, I found Ark so obtuse that I didn't play for long.

Gordon_Freeman,
@Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social avatar

The problem with TemTem is that it's an always online game, if the servers are turned off you won't be able to play, not even the single player campaign so it's a hard pass.

And the art style of both games are not my cup of tea, the do a disservice selling me the game.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@kbin.social avatar

I'm a fairweather Pokemon fan at best, but I'm with you on Temtem for the same reason; many people don't have the same reservations as you and I, so I thought I'd mention it. I think Cassette Beasts is that game and reviewed well, and to ignore it might be to ignore exactly the game you're asking for, but I'd also point you toward the "creature collector" tag on Steam. I've never heard of Coromon before doing that search to leave this reply, but mousing over it for a second shows a video that proves they know what they're making (87% positive Steam reviews). Same goes for Nexomon: Extinction (92% positive). No one will know what you're looking for better than you, but people have been making games inspired by Pokemon for a long time now.

Gordon_Freeman,
@Gordon_Freeman@kbin.social avatar

No one will know what you're looking for better than you, but people have been making games inspired by Pokemon for a long time now.

A Pokemon clone with high production values made in Japan. Or if it's not made in Japan one that uses it own art style, I simply can't stand the "Fake anime" aesthetic that most indies use, like they learned to draw using this as refference

Think of Shin Megami Tensei (but not SMT V, that one sucks, they removed the dungeon crawling and the puzzles)

shani66,

Cassette Beasts was the true goty last year!

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