Is this the much talked about Steam integration? I’d doubt it (what manufacturer will let you use their service to give money to another platform?!), but…I do hope I am wrong!
It’s not just a throwaway line. It’s something they’ve been building up to in their public statements for a while now. The direction the wind is blowing in a lot of countries right now is that of breaking down walled gardens, often times via legislation. Not only is this a matter of them accepting this as an inevitability, but none of their own walled gardens are responsible for their own success. Yes, they’ve got a Windows Store, but it doesn’t make the kind of money that Apple’s does. Their competitive advantage is that they can say, “look how nice and open we are,” while Sony goes about business as usual. Meanwhile, in a world where the next Xbox is expected to just be a PC, they can legally play the Windows version of God of War on a machine called “Xbox”, and there’s nothing Sony can do to stop it. All of that exclusivity money they spent is worthless. And the appeal to an Xbox is that it plays all of those games and is a cheap entry point for Game Pass. The part of this most recent PR statement that throws me for a loop is how they’re getting the full backward compatibility with old Xbox games, because that’s the only piece of evidence that points to them making a traditional console and not a Windows PC in disguise.
As for what I’ve been playing, I made good progress in a number of games lately. I finally hit the turn in Devil May Cry 4. Even knowing roughly what it would be through cultural osmosis, it’s every bit as disappointing to get to the halfway point of the game and realize they’re just going to make you go through the exact same levels as the first half of the game but backwards. It’s sort of like making New Game + mandatory in order to see the ending.
I also played a number of quests in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and it looks like I’m at about the halfway point in the main story. The biggest problem with the game so far has been anything relating to its stealth systems, as they don’t give you much to go on, and the punishment is severe, but the story is pulling me along, and I finally leveled my way out of most of the game’s tedium.
And here or there, I’ve been playing some more missions in Borderlands 3. The upgrade in game feel is hard to overstate. The writing’s not great, but it’s not so unbearable like its reputation would lead me to believe. The skill trees are much better, the shooting feels much better, the quality of life is vastly improved; all keeping me pumped for the fourth game in a few months. The DRM situation isn’t my favorite, but I’ll deal with it.
EDIT: Breaking GOG news, Perfect Dark: Devil May Cry 1-4 are now available via GOG’s Good Old Games program. Of course they did this as I’m nearing the end of my journey through this series, but combined with Breath of Fire IV, Dino Crisis, and Resident Evil showing up on the service lately, I take this to mean they’ve got a good partnership with Capcom right now. I emulated DMC1-3 when I played through those lately, because I heard there were weird artifacts when playing the Steam versions through Proton, but maybe the fixed up GOG versions fare better.
I like the feeling of getting stronger and coming back to previously inaccessible places. Pretty much only play games on Steam.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone mention Hollow Knight yet. I won’t claim it on my list since I haven’t finished it yet, but it seems to be popular.
Hmm… metroidvanias never really stick the landing for me, but I had fun playing through SotN back in the day, and I'll shout out a couple of modern ones with fun combat: F.I.S.T: Forged in Shadow Torch and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
A best of is something I’ve thought about for one year. Either that or I’d show off some of the rejects bin of screenshots (I always end up taking a lot of photos most of which don’t make it). Both would take a lot of time though so I’m still debating. I should probably decide soon though because I’m reaching a month and don’t want to run out of time
Do soulslikes count? They’re basically the same, except you don’t unlock new paths by gaining new abilities. You just beat up optional bosses and, maybe, need to find keys.
I suppose Resident Evil 8? The scares weren’t very scary, the exploration was all very fake, and the bosses all showed up for attendance. It definitely functioned, but it didn’t impress in the way previous entries did. It wasn’t frustratingly bad like 5, nor was it interestingly bad like 6. It just felt like a lesser version of what they’ve given me before, somewhere between 4 and 7.
My hill to die on is that RE7 and 8 should have been a new IP. I think both the Winters’ story and the overall Resident Evil plot would have stood stronger on their own and forcing them together in such a contrived way dilutes both of them.
I like shooters, so I got the full bundle and I tried hard to like it.
None of the games gave me a lasting impression. The plot didn’t stick with me, the enemies were weird, the guns felt weak and flimsy, the rooms kept repeating in some sections and it got very boring. There were some fun bits with the vehicles, etc., but overall the experience was… pretty much average.
I was expecting something like the Half-Life series, but this wasn’t it.
I never had an Xbox, so really only grew up playing Halo Reach (I think) co-op when I’d go to a friend’s house. But I recently played through most of the halo games with a friend and I have to say, I agree. I can’t remember any particular moments or scenarios, no part of the story that stands out in my mind, etc. It was fun enough to run through most of them (though we did get tired of it, which is why I said “most of the games”), and I can certainly see why for when they came out, they received the attention they did but can’t say I think the reaction would be the same if it came out now or that it really holds up to the standards it seems to have set.
Thank you! I felt like I was the only person on the planet to think that those games only hit the dizzying heights of "okay, fine at a push". They're perfectly serviceable and not much more.
Halo was best when it was Halo:CE played 4v4 on two linked systems, with the teams on two screens in an undersized dorm room in 2002. Alternatively, two people playing through the entire game in co-op mode and finishing at 3 in the morning.
I kinda agree. It was fun playing with my SO but they’re pretty boring on their own. The multiplayer is fun, but the actual story mode just kinda exists.
bin.pol.social
Aktywne