Were you still playing Starfield when the DLC came out or did you continue your old save game? I’m asking, because while I enjoyed the main game when it released (got something like 110 hours out of it), I haven’t touched it since and I wonder how easy it is to get back into.
Test Drive Unlimited 1 (2006) - but not the flashy “next-gen” version for PS3, Xbox 360 or PC. Instead, I’m replaying the somewhat obscure PS2 port, using an emulator this time around. TDU was a remarkable achievement at the time, having a full-scale recreation of the entire island of Oahu, with the entire real-world road network to be explored online with other players at the time. There’s nothing scaled down here, unlike in most videogames, which means you get about 1600 km or 1000 miles of roads, from city streets over coastal straights to twisty mountain roads. It’s not just the quantity that is amazing, but also the quality, with tons of elevation changes keeping these roads interesting. Buildings and other track-side detail are less close to the real world, but since I’m here for racing, not sightseeing, this isn’t bothering me too much.
You would think that having such an enormous world world would make this exclusive to the then most powerful systems at the time, but they actually managed to port all of Oahu, with no reduction in size, to both PS2 and PSP. Sacrifices had to be made, for obvious reasons. Visuals suffered the most, but you still get an enormous draw distance, far beyond what would have been necessary at the original resolution, cars with 3D interiors (not on PSP), tons of geometric detail and realistic reflections that look better than in most other PS2 games. The landscape is very sparse though, especially in terms of geometric and texture detail (and on top of that, most non-car textures aren’t just low-res, but also terrible from an artistic standpoint), but the game still throws just enough detail at the player that it looks remarkably close to the big version, especially when you’re racing past things at high speed. There are other cuts that were likely made due to a lack of time instead of hardware restrictions, like a few missing cars here and there, all motorcycles, some minor event types, walking around interiors and all character customization, most of which is fairly inconsequential however. Really the biggest issue this version has is that the GPS is persistently trying to send you into oncoming traffic during free-roam due to it not taking one-way streets into account, which can lead to both frustration and fun, depending on your mindset.
If you’re still reading, you might be asking yourself why I would torture myself with PS2-era visuals when I could instead play the much prettier PC version that also runs at more than 30 fps without hacks and has more content and immersion. The reason is simple and it’s not nostalgia (since my first contact with this game back in 2008 was with the PC version): For some reason (likely because they are running on entirely different engines), the handling model is completely different and actually better on PS2 and PSP. It’s a bouncy, yet believable simcade model that feels remarkably close to Gran Turismo 2 (if not quite as good - it’s 90% there). Since that game is still the pinnacle of simcade handling in my opinion, this is just about the highest praise I can think of for a racing game. The way cars grip the road, how vastly different front and mid-engine cars behave and the way vehicles react to sudden changes in elevation in particular is night and day between the two. The big version’s most glaring issue in my opinion and one that carried over to the fascinatingly flawed sequel is that its handling never achieved a similarly comfortable compromise between simulation and arcade as the otherwise downgraded ports.
TDU 1 PS2, even with its remarkable online features long gone, remains a fun, accessible racing game with lots of meaningful content in short, accessible bursts, with the majority of races are less than five minutes long. Fun driving, fast and logical progression (unlike whatever the hell Solar Crown is torturing players with) and a neat variety of licensed vehicles in a believable real-world location keep it relevant even today. I can’t recommend it enough. If the main appeal of TDU is the fantasy of owning cars and houses all over Hawaii though, I would recommend playing the big version instead (and the sequel), since they are simply more immersive in this regard. They almost feel like games that in this day and age would be perfect for VR.
It’s a pet peeve of mine, I hate stealth sections. Waiting around just isn’t fun and most stealth sections are just that.
However, that was years ago. I haven’t encountered one in a long time since I mostly stopped playing AAA games - by now these games are an amalgamation of so many worse design decisions, I almost miss the time stealth sections were my biggest issue.
Historia prosta i rozwiazanie tez proste - zatrudnic prawnika / isc na konsultacje / zadzwonic. Prawnik moze gadac z obiema stronami, traktuje ta osobe jako swojego klienta wiec ma wzgledem niego obowiazki - i.e. zachowania tajemnicy. Prawnikowi powie co sie stalo (100% prawdy wymagane i gadanie o “niewygodnych” rzeczach), prawnik wie jak wyglada bagno w ktore sie wbil i jak z niego wyjsc zeby bylo najmniej szkody. Mozliwe, ze najmniej szkody nie znaczy tego, czego chcesz dla tej osoby.
Jedna z rzeczy “latwych do zauwazenia” w tej historii to to, ze mlody wrocil do domu. Sedziowie nie sa debilami, jakby chcial to pierwsza rzecza ktora zrobi jest wyslanie policji do jego domu.
Najpierw o 1,5%. W 2024 kwota wolna od podatku wynosi 30000 zł. Jeśli zarobisz mniej, np 10000 zł o których piszesz, to dostaniesz zwrot podatku czyli zwrot tego, co zostało w ciągu roku na poczet podatku odliczone od twoich wynagrodzeń. Sama nazwa “zwrot podatku” oznacza wszak, ze podatku nie placisz:) Osoby, które nie przekroczą kwoty wolnej od podatku i dostaną zwrot, mogą pro forma zaznaczyć na picie, że 1,5% swojego podatku przekazują komuśtam, ale de facto nic nie przekazują, bo nie płacą podatku.
Teraz o darowiźnie. Odliczenie kwoty darowizny ma sens gdy twój dochód wyniesie ponad 30000. To może być sposób na to, by wykazać, że zarobiłeś mniej niż 30000 i dostać jakiś tam zwrot. Dodatkowo - odliczyć można tylko 6% dochodu.
Tak, opodatkowana będzie nadwyżka ponad 30000 czyli 5000 i ty zdecydujesz na co pójdzie 1,5% od tego podatku.
Nigdy do tej pory nie rozkminiałam odliczania darowizn, wszystko co napiszę dalej będzie moim kminieniem i fajnie by było, gdyby ktosia to zweryfikowała. No więc o ile rozumiem jeśli ktoś zarobi 35000 to może odliczyć 6% czyli 2100. Wtedy zapłaci podatek od 2900 (35000-2100-30000=2900). Czyli ty decydujesz, na co przeznaczysz 2100, potem państwo wylicza podatek od 2900 i sobie to zabiera i decyduje że przeznaczy to np. na budowę zjebanego muru na granicy z Białorusią. W międzyczasie wielkopańsko pozwala ci zdecydować, że 1,5% z tego podatku pójdzie jednak nie na mur, tylko na jakiś inny cel, który wskażesz w picie. Pliz niech ktoś to zweryfikuje:)
Ja tak rozliczałem. Tylko mam wrażenie, że ktoś to może odczytać tak, że zamiast dać państwu 2100 na budowę muru to daje na wybraną przez siebie lepszą od państwa organizacje. Tyle, że państwo na tej twojej darowiźnie straci 252 pln (jeśli jesteś na podatku 12%). Ty za to z pensji ‘tracisz’ o 1848 pln więcej. Więc jeśli i tak chcesz dać pieniądze na wybrany cel to fajnie przy okazji zabrać państwu dwie i pół stówy na budowę muru. Ale jeśli robić to tylko żeby obniżyć podatek to tak średnio się kalkuluje. No chyba że masz swoją fundację, która potem wypłaci ci 1848 pln w ramach nieopodatkowanego zwrotu kosztów życia wolontariusza albo ci opłaci pół czynszu w ramach wynajmu przestrzeni na fundacyjne biuro.
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous has crazy depth of story, can be turn based or active combat, and you can adjust a ton of difficulty options to suit your taste. Lots and lots of exploring.
Pathfinder Kingmaker & WotR are such strong titles in most aspects, but in both instances the mini-game they tacked on top of a perfectly fine RPG got on my nerves. Kingmaker’s management sim and WotR’s Heroes-of-Might&Magic-like army battles felt to me pretty rough around the edges (and ultimately tedious), especially compared to how engaging the rest of the games are. Ugh, I love-hate them sooo much.
Yep. And the worst part is the Fear-of-Missing-Out when disabling them.
Like, there is nothing stopping you from just not doing the kingdom management mini-game, except that nagging feeling that you might actually miss out on some content…
I play with a controller on PC, and while I’m fine with the campaign battles in WotR, it irritates me to no end how they change the controls for them. It doesn’t make any sense at all to do it, but they did. No matter what I will eventually accidentally skip turns because of that dumb decision.
One example, for those that don’t play with a controller: In regular party fights pressing the shoulder buttons will select an enemy, which can be a huge help instead of using the pointer.
But in the campaign army battles the shoulder buttons skip your turn. Why??
There’s always the classics: Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spritual sequel to Symphony, made by a good chunk of the people who made Symphony now that Konami has effectively stopped making games.
The Castlevania GBA and DS games are great as well.
I also really enjoyed Blaster Master Zero. It has a few distinct gameplay styles within the overarching metroidvania style overworld progression. Side scrolling platformer in a tank, on foot, and isometric on foot shooter.
I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played of Xeodrifter, but I didn’t get too far into it.
Funny thing is, I’ve enjoyed a lot of Metroidvanias, but…never enjoyed Symphony of the Night. There’s so much forceful encounter repetition, so many dead end items that don’t actually help you “unlock any doors”, and it’s so easy to get into a rut of wandering the castle unsure where you can go next.
I’m not trying to tell you you have to like it, or how to play your games, but there is no shame in using a guide if it helps you enjoy it more. I’ve had to come to terms with that personally
That’s the thing. I even remember trying to use a guide, but it’s difficult to work past all the “Here are 18 secrets that don’t do anything you can get from the beginning” as well as all the bits you can do out of order. Locating the part of the guide that gives you just enough to keep playing on your own is really difficult.
Many other Metroidvanias are sort of more clearly delineated between story beats, or major powerups you’re meant to get in order, all of which allow you to go places you couldn’t before.
“Blaster Master?” takes long drag on cigarette “I haven’t heard that name game in years.”
Man, I remember playing the OG on NES. Didn’t know they remade it… And made it all anime lookin’? Neat. If you’ll excuse me, I must go and tidy my crypt now.
I recently picked up the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. For all the Metroidvanias I’ve played as an adult, I never really got too into them as a kid. Gotta make up for that at some point, lol. Symphony of the Night isn’t on there, but I don’t want to start mid storyline (I’m kidding). My biggest fear is playing Castlevania will just make me more impatient for the next season of Castlevania Nocturne.
Its good. Not perfect, but better than I expected.
Headphones definitely recommended, a halfway decent Atmos home theater system sounds great but I still picked up subtle sounds better with even just bluetooth headphones.
Ambience is very much on point. Dialogue is a good mix of well-acted, and a tad “off” like the original. Angela and Eddie seem faithfully redone, so far. James too honestly.
Apartments were a nice change-up from the original, not too different thematically but still essentially a whole new layout, not at all a copy and paste job. Showdown with big knife guy was a big departure, though. Not sure if better or worse, but different from the original
Some graphical glitches (something like ghosting of the fog around objects moving on the screen, also flashes of light in the distance) sometimes that are frankly unacceptable for a $70 game, especially a game of this sort of mood, but hopefully they get those patched soon.
Combat is not exactly great. Nor was it in the original, to be fair. The dodging mechanic is a bit much, and at least on the hardest combat difficulty, it feels like you gotta already be familiar with enemy attack patterns, since it doesn’t give you much chance to learn and survive. But it does all feel learnable, so we’ll see if I just need to get gooder.
Steam achievement notifications at least one broke immersion for me, I might try to mute those next time I play.
But overall I’m very eager to resume playing after work, I left off after the apartments (and stayed up far too late doing so!)
I’m super happy with it so far, though I am not quite as far. I got up to Woodside apartments last night before going to bed.
Totally agree on the ambiance. They absolutely match the original and Akira Yamaoka did an amazing job in this department yet again. Also agree on the dialogue, really happy with it so far. I was worried due to how much I disliked the hd collections redone vocals but they did a good job here.
So far haven’t had much in the department of graphical glitches, though I did notice my frame rate tanked when I got to the apartments at the end of my session so I made need to tweak some settings.
Combat hasn’t bothered me but also I’m playing on standard and haven’t gotten the pistol yet so my thoughts are developing. Melee is quite satisfying in this game though imo
Agree on the steam achievements haha.
While I’m still early it does seem like they’ve grabbed the vibes straight from the original and dropped them into a modern coat of paint. And at the end of the day sh2 thrives on its vibes, so I’m very happy. Excited to keep playing
Satisfactory. It hit 1.0 about a month ago and I’ve been chipping away at a new world. It is so satisfying to build a working factory and figuring out the right input rate for your resources…it just feels so zen like.
I’m also weirdly feeling an itch to purchase and get into either Pokemon Scarlet or Violet. I can’t explain it, but I’ve apparently crossed the threshold of holding off and it just keeps floating around in my head.
This is a puzzle-driven metroidvania with a simple retro-inspired aesthetic that aims to teach you how to interact with it wordlessly, and it usually succeeds at it. I’m honestly not sure how to fill out the rest of this blurb without ruining the intended experience, but while I wasn’t this game’s biggest fan and wasn’t interested in digging into its secrets post-credits, I did enjoy my time with it.
I’m really happy with my few hours in it. I was afraid it’d be another Rain World situation where I can tell I like it and admire the craft but don’t actually feel the need to play it much, but I do find it enticing still.
This game got me good. The atmosphere and way it drips out puzzle after puzzle is so rewarding. I drew maps. I wrote down a litany of notes on my iPad to keep track of. I tried to solve everything I could on my own until I just couldn’t any more. It felt like playing games as a kid where you had to have paper handy and wrote down passcodes.
Pouring over every inch of the map was so fun, and while I do think there will be copy cats to this game pop up in the next year, I don’t think anyone will be able to capture the magic of this again. It’s like its own singular entity that no one else has ever done. Not in this way.
For that, it’s my game of the year. Astro Bot is my second, since it’s a technically near perfect game. But it’s also simply peak platformer. Animal Well is novel. It’s just built different.
I wanted to love it, but I just liked it. I was hoping it’d be more similar to TUNIC, where I can do 99% of the game solo. Idk if this is controversial, but I hate the community-based puzzles with a passion.
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