In Super Pitfall for the SNES, there was an Easter egg hidden in a temple that would warp you into the original Atari version. If that counts, that’s my favorite “game inside a game.”
I really liked the hacking puzzles in Half-Life Alyx. There was a nice variety to the different type of puzzles that could appear, and the difficulty never felt like it got out of hand.
Strategy games also tend to implicitly have it, in that you can team up the weaker player with a strong AI player.
Or sometimes there’s also fun options, like a map where you can place the strong player into the fortified center and they have to defend against three weaker players at the same time. That can serve as a handicap, but the asymmetry also just means that it’s less obvious and therefore less frustrating, who’s better.
Generally, I’m in favor of having such handicap features, of course, but I feel like it’s even better when the game’s design is just naturally less brutally competitive.
For example, in Gang Beasts, yes, you’re competing with each other, but the weirdo controls mean that it’s never entirely your own fault when you lose, and of course, everything is just less serious in general.
Ultimately, such handicap features will break competition, too, because rather than the weirdo controls or your stupid AI buddy, you can then blame the handicap. I guess, it also helps to not take games too serious in the first place…
Lastly, I’d like to throw in the objectively best handicap: Having to play cooperatively with the weak player.
Just don’t compete with each other, but rather tackle a challenge together.
Jedi Fallen Order. I’ve tried a couple times because I really WANT to like the game. But I just can’t stand the fucking souls style of everything comes back when you save. And the boss fights are just too punishing (for me). It’s so frustrating to get stuck on a boss or lost in a zone and come to the realization that I WAS having fun and then the game got in the way of that.
Elden Ring. I had a lot of fun with the game restarting and playing through the first zone on like 6 different characters to try different styles and see what I like. But at some point in the second zone I realized I was just stressed out all the time. It wasn’t fun, it was stressful. I can appreciate the game and I don’t regret spending the money on it, but I realized it just wasn’t for me.
I think I’m done with souls games. They’re just not for me. I really wanted to play Jedi Survivor but I suspect the new cool stuff will just make me more frustrated with the souls aspects, Oh well.
I really wanted to like JFO but I just hated the combat mechanics, it almost seemed like it was lightsaber fighting underwater with how sluggish it seemed, and I hated the number of times I died early on from basic beasts just because you can’t break a 3-button combo so if they dodge ever so slightly that’s a good 2-3 seconds they have to lunge attack.
I got one of those, and it was like a black hole for my shit. Every time I needed something, I had to empty the entire bag. I sold it after like a couple weeks of use.
Based on OPs description, I think the black hole vibe is what they were going for. It filled a particular niche for me too, since it’s such a simple waterproof design and a blank slate to use my own organization and mix of other bags or pouches.
God of War Ragnarok: I did the story and as much f the side missions and challenges as possible. But there are a few Berserker Graves, and the final Valkyrie Gna that no matter how many times I tried it would just get absurd. I almost threw my controller through my TV a few times when trying to roll-dodge to the side for an attack after they’ve already jumped at you and, i shit you not, they change direction in mid-air.
Spider-Man: I did 100% the main game, all the side-quests and collectibles just not all the skills. Did all but the last DLC, but finally ragequit when trying to do the base tokens. Interior with tight corners. and you have to take out a dozen enemies including the whip-enemies attacking you from all directions…while rockets are being fired at you in the middle of 5 enemies.
Oh yeah, I hated the God of War reboot. It was so cool for like 15 minutes. Then I got to the actual combat and I couldn’t stand it. It was nothing like the original, it was hard AF, it used button combinations I’ve never seen before (I think it’s based on Souls games?), etc. It was so disappointing.
I don’t mind Souls games, but I kind of hate how so many games lately (especially sequels) have been trying to low-key fit the genre when nobody asked them to. God of War, Darksiders 3…
I tried replaying the Kingdom Hearts games leading up to playing KH3. Got all the way to the final boss sequence in KH1, but I just couldn’t get past the second phase, and I didn’t have any good saves for going back and leveling up. Gave up. Already beat it as a kid when it first came out. No need to kill myself in my late-30s for it.
Most of the backpacks I think of all have a laptop compartment. The only two that come to mind that don’t are Jansport and Fjallraven. I don’t have any experience with either but I know they’ve been around for years(decades).
I've had a canvas Jansport for almost 30 years, I carried it for 3 years in middle school and it's been a hiking backpack since. If they're still made the same and you get a cloth one instead of those plastic character backpacks then it should last forever.
I recently got a Jansport after years of kind of forgetting about them, having used them for decades at school. Still great quality, exactly what I needed. So glad with the purchase. Best purchase I’ve made for my work in a long time.
For what it’s worth I love the ps5. The ps5 controller absolutely reinvigorated my love of gaming. I know some pc games are getting the adaptive triggers but I do not think it compares.
I liked the price point of the PS5 vs getting a solid gaming PC.
Returnal is one of my favorite games of the last few years.
Demon’s Souls is a delight for the eyes, as well. And I loved being able to replay such a classic PS3 game, even if Bluepoint modified the art direction from the original in certain ways.
FF16 was incredible, I don’t care if they trimmed down the jrpg elements
Sony seems content sending many of its exclusives over to PC after a few years, which I’m grateful for. So if you’ve got a PC I wouldn’t see a huge need for a PS5.
Good point, but Returnal is on PC and you can play with mouse kB, Demon Souls is a remaster of something I played on PS3 which blew my mind then. And FF16 has mixed reviews. I’m more into FF7 part 2, but the complete dlc edition will eventually reach PC as well.
I don’t think I’ve played anything exclusive to the PS5. Not worth buying in my opinion.
I have played stuff exclusive to the switch, I mostly dislike it though. I’m not sure why, I think it’s that they don’t compete because they have us with their catalogue and I dislike their business practices, selling gimmicks and vaulting content. Especially given most of the switch games are port of Wiiu games then it probably is skippable.
bin.pol.social
Aktywne