Having the exact same experience, though I’ve only barely started the PL storyline. The rebalance and revamped perk tree has created so many cool builds and so many fun ways to play. The game is just a joy to play honestly.
I think OWB is many people’s favourite, and Honest Hearts is certainly the weakest DLC. It does have some cool lore and story bits to it though, and the environmental storytelling with the survivalist is very neat. And I think Joshua Graham is a great character.
I hope you come back and do Lonesome Road too, I absolutely love it and think the level design and environments are outstanding.
I’m so excited for this game. I thought the first game was really interesting and did really well with a limited budget, and really showed a lot of potential.
Hopefully a bigger budget, bigger scope and expanded combat can have this game really blossom.
This is the correct answer I think. They’re also not interested in releasing sub-par games, and again like you say they don’t need to release games at all to make money anymore. So if they’re not that interested and haven’t come up with anything conceptually/mechanically that reaches the high bar they’ve set for themselves, it makes more sense to scrap/postpone.
Their reputation is much more important, and they’re just not going to half-ass Half Life 3. It will come out when they feel they have something truly extraordinary, or it won’t come out at all.
Started playing Phantom Liberty today after having finally finalized my modlist. Still hunting down the source of some crashing, but still.
Haven’t played Cyberpunk since 1.63, and I am loving the changes so far. Very cool builds available with the perk tree changes, I can already tell I will probably do another full playthrough with a different build once I’ve ran through Phantom Liberty. Right now I’m playing a Tech/Body/Reflexes spec going full into explosives, combined with Sandevistan, Kerenzikov and all the dashing/mid-air stuff. It’s definitely a lot of fun, bouncing around the battlefield like a Gummi Bear on speed while everyone around you explodes and burns.
I think this has to be in the contention for most overrated game of all time.
Before you grab your pitchfork, I’m not saying it’s a bad game. It’s fine. The combat is solid, the boss fights are fun and it’s very pretty. Was very well optimised too, ran like a dream on an old, fat first gen PS4.
It’s not the greatest game of all time though, or anything close to it. The open world is your garden variety UbiSoft style, the tone and the writing is all in a stoic monotone with only crumbs of Kenji to break it up, and the quest design is uninspiring at best and awful at worst. On top of it all the game is way too long considering those flaws.
I know it’s been hyped up, but I still recommend waiting for a sale.
I’m actually happy to hear that. I was afraid it would take too much inspiration from the Bethesda games, but sounds like maybe they looked more at Fallout 1 and 2, which would be just what I hoped they would.
I think Uematsu is the absolute GOAT, but XV had a great soundtrack. Not on Uematsu level of memorable, but still very good.
The leitmotif work with Valse di Fantastica/Sunset Waltz/Dewdrops at Dawn always was my favourite, but Ardyn has a nice theme too. Loved when the second version of his theme came in towards the end of the game.
Still completely and unhealthily obsessed with F1 Manager 2023, nearing the end of my second season as Aston Martin. Hard/Hard difficulty has felt about appropriate thus far, at least on a team starting in a good position like AM. I was sweating at the start of this season since the board expected me to get second and I started the year a little slow, but it looks like I will pull it off. Still couldn’t touch Red Bull or Max this year, though I have taken a couple of race wins.
The development race has been tight so far, with Mercedes roaring back after a dismal 2023 season and Red Bull refusing to let me outdevelop them.
It’s a little sad that the first two installments didn’t sell well and F1 Manager 2024 looks like it will be the last entry in the series. Sure, the game has its issues, but there are a lot of good things here too, and a lot of systems that could be refined with time. I didn’t play F1 Manager 2022, but it seems like a lot of the problems with it were addressed in 2023, as well.
Overall, I still recommend the game if you’re an F1 fan, especially if you can find it on sale. You probably have to at least like racing (if not F1) to enjoy it though, as the main draw here is the race-day experience.
That’s about what I figured. I’m not that great with strangers, and English is my second language. I’ve tried other squad based games that rely on voice comms to be enjoyable, and I only really enjoy them when playing with a group of people I’m comfortable with.
What metric are we using? The developer whose games I like the most? The developer who treats their employees best? Or treats their customers best?
Valve has produced mostly bangers, seems to treat customers well and is by all accounts a great place to work. They’ve also been pushing development for gaming on Linux. Hard not to go with them, even though it’s debatable whether they could be classified as a game developer anymore. But that’s fine.
Remedy deserves a shout-out for sticking to their guns, and continuing to produce weird artistic games that push the envelope in the AAA space.
I’m not as high on BG3 as most people (though it’s obviously a great game), but Larian also belongs in the discussion surely. I only ever hear good things about them.
Finally, the developer who inspires me the most is probably Lucas Pope. I love his ability to think outside the box and find entertaining gameplay loops in seemingly mundane things, but moreover I am just so impressed by how multitalented he is. I still can’t believe Obra Dinn was a one-man production. I love his artstyle and the music he makes as much as the games themselves.