“The new operating model will further empower the execution of the Group’s strategy, centered on Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences, supported by targeted investments, deeper specialization, and cutting-edge technology, including accelerated investments behind player-facing Generative AI,” reads the document.
I can’t 😂😂😂 This is so funny, OMG… I swear I’d retire if my job is to write comedy. There’s no topping this shit… it’s like an absurdist Tim and Eric sketch 😂
Challenges in action games are worth completing most of the time because they’re typically designed to either drive home the intended purpose of individual combat mechanics, or outright reveal mechanics too advanced to cover by basic tutorials—e.g. dodge counter in Hi-Fi Rush.
Action games, for the most part, have well-thought achievements, TBH. If designed well, they can nudge you towards the intended way to play the game and by the time you’re done, you will have mastered the gameplay or got really close.
In Hi-Fi Rush, for example, some achievements encourage you to parry, parry counter, air juggle… etc.
Mine always is, completely forgetting what I was doing and where I was going after not touching a save file for a long time. This is happening to me right now with Stardew Valley....
In 3rd-person games with a free moving camera, pressing the joystick not repositioning the camera behind my character. It’s so annoying in action games to have to manually reposition the camera while 5 enemies are happy to attack you from off screen.
Hmm… I think for action games it’s somewhat of a necessity because there are so many actions the character can take at any given point, so you kinda need to utilize every clickable button.
That said, I agree it never feels great. No matter how good the controller is, it always somehow feels wobbly, specifically after long-term use.
I thought of another one: shitty covers. OMG, The Surge? WTF is that Steam library cover? There are exceptions like Catherine: Classic, but most covers where the protagonist stares at the camera suck so much.
Specifically if it’s an action game: show the character in action, FFS. The Wonderful 101 has a great cover. So does Vanquish.
And when half the cover is the logo… just stop with that already. Or an atrocity like Scarlet Nexus… it’s just a cropped image… like Bandai couldn’t afford to commission a cover.
To clarify: by action games I’m specifically talking about Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, The Wonderful 101… etc. Among basic movement, combat mechanics, and weapon switching, they typically eat up the entire controller layout.
I don’t imagine Persona, for example, having any strong reason to utilize the sticks like that. Not sure why No Man’s Sky did that either; I haven’t played it, but it doesn’t look like a high-octane game.
I hate RNG so much 😂 I don’t get it. Life has too much RNG, I play video games because it’s a predominantly skill-based controlled environment.
It’s like picking up a piano and there’s a 35% chance F# is just F every time you play the damn note 😂
I guess it makes sense if you’re role playing and want your experience to mimic real life, which is why they’re mostly used in RPGs, but I also feel so immersed playing skill-based games without RNG, so I can’t assess its actual value.
You’re free to freestyle and get a lower score, but without RNG, there will be one way to play that always works.
Most score you on style as well, not just efficiency. And massive breadth and depth of combat interactions yield more than one way that works, not just one. Even for shmups, routing can vary depending on the player, their skill, and understanding of the game. It’s not a timid sandbox wherein only one way works.
If that counts as infinitely replayable, then so does any other game you enjoy.
Keyword is enjoy. I don’t see myself replaying DMC5 for as long as I’ve been playing some of my favorite games because I enjoy it less.
And for fighting games, that RNG is just substituted for your opponents’ decision making.
Hmm… how does that work? I hit my opponent, they take damage, no Xcom bullshit. I don’t see any RNG-like behavior in this interaction.
In action games, scoring the highest is typically not the priority as much as getting the rank, which happens once you pass a certain threshold predefined by the game. For example, if you need to score >5000 style points to get S in style, scoring >7000 won’t change the outcome because S is the highest rank. The result is: how you score higher than >5000 style points does not really matter, it is up to you. In a good action game, there typically is multiple tools you could use to get there depending on many factors, one of them is preference. How you start a combo, how you end it, or what you do in the middle, is up to you as long as the finally tally of the battle adds up to >5000 style points, and you stay under the time and damage taken ceiling.
What you end up getting is multiple people fighting the same boss, getting an S rank, even though they have different strategies/play styles.
Even if you choose to shoot for the highest combo score, attacks are typically assigned categories, and each category is assigned a score value. Kind of like damage level in fighting games. So, in theory, you could chain together a combo with different attacks and get the same score as long as they all fall in the same category.
Now, this is one way to approach those games, which is different from what you hinted at earlier: playing to create style showcases, or “COMBO MAD”, which can also be endlessly fun because the player actively chooses to throw away the rules of the game and make up their arbitrary rules for their own enjoyment. The games typically give you the tools to play them both ways, up to you.
In shmups, where grading is literal score chasing and more deterministic, flavor is typically added through (a) ship variety, (b) exploiting the game’s scoring mechanics when planning a route, and (3) player skill. This is why scores with different ships are often listed separately because, even though you’re playing the same game, using a different ship can heavily alter routing, including how the player exploits the game’s mechanics to get higher scores. It is the main reason people are still breaking records for games that came out decades ago: if everyone is playing exactly the same way, this wouldn’t be possible.
In theory, there may be only one optimal route for every shmup out there, but we’ll never know what that route is for as long as people are still playing the games and breaking records. Same goes for action games: there may be one optimal combo for every enemy in every game, but in reality people typically only pursue this kind of knowledge when they’re playing some kind of challenge run, or looking for tips to cheese the game if they’re achievement hunting.
I see what you mean with fighting games. My issue is: I whiff a -9 attack, you’re within range, you hit me with an attack that comes out in 5 frames, I am at 25% health, and I have no meter for a Roman Cancel: not only will your attack hit and do damage every time, it will be the same damage value, given I’m playing with the same character and you’re not A.B.A. going super sayian or you have some other damage modifier on.
To approach this from another angle, I get hit in a fighting game, it’s on me. I misread a play, or did something silly like not hit-confirming a -9 attack. I find this different from “dumb luck” when I tactically maneuver myself into a superior position, I have 99% hit chance, I miss, and they get a critical hit next killing my character off. That to me is… not ideal, haha.
I leave Faust to ElvenShadow, I’m not touching that crazy man.
I like DMC5 a lot, it’s just too much of a combo simulator to make it into my list of favorites. I like weaving in and out of defense and offense like in Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and God Hand. I too prefer Hi-Fi Rush to DMC5, TBH. Such an awesome game! And mechanically deeper than most action game fans think, I have found. I watched some of my favorite action game YouTubers review it (Combat Overview and TheGamingBritShow) without covering some fun mechanics like parrying shields or dodge counters. Many people seem to think it’s all about the music beat gimmick, but it has a little more going for it than that. A replayable game, for sure.
As far as I can tell, this is just a PVP 3rd person multiplayer shooter. Tagging this game as PVE is absolutely disingenuous. Despite the dev team originally developing this as PVE, they launched with PVP included, and the PVP and matchmaking feels half-assed....
I upgraded from my 15 year old PC to one of the new Mac Minis at Xmas last year, thinking that I would be fine for gaming with my Xbox / Game Pass, and I would “skip a generation” on PC hardware. I have a small Steam / Epic library, but everything that didn’t work on MacOS, I had a Game Pass version of....
I played +400 hours last year and most demanding game in my library has a GTX 1050 minimum requirement. There’s much more to gaming than yearly AAA releases.
On a serious note, there’s a happy middle ground between my favorite genres and the highest rated games, and this is typically where I have the best experience.
Examples: Bayonetta, Guilty Gear Plus R, or more recently: Hi-Fi Rush.
Highest rated games, regardless of genres. (RDR2, The Last of Us, Portal… etc.)
Highest rated games, that happen to belong to my favorite genres. (Bayonetta, GGPR, Hi-Fi Rush… etc.)
Games that belong to my favorite genres, but aren’t necessarily highly rated. (Hellsinker., Soulstice, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax etc.)
Highest rating doesn’t guarantee I’ll like anything in layer 1, and not every game in layer 3 ends up being good enough. Layer 2 is the happy middle ground and the highest chance of finding games I’ll enjoy.
It’s one of those games where the power level is so high that almost the entire roster is viable. You really can’t go wrong with any of the 3 characters you named. All powerhouses in different ways.
If there’s a single throughline for the PC gaming year that was 2025, it’s finally accepting that the pursuit of fancy graphics just doesn’t make sense anymore....
I thought I’d share this because it captures the state of the market right now, as seen by a game developer and someone in games media. I know some of you are tempted to say, “it didn’t do everything right, because it didn’t do X”, but I kept the original title. What I found to be particularly noteworthy was that they...
One reason could be that Steam sucks ass at recommending games and I have no idea how they still have not figured it out.
Since the sale started, half my homepage is games I ALREADY OWN or are already on my wishlist. It also keeps recommending me games from publishers I blocked. At any given point, 80~90% of my homepage is useless.
It’s almost as if there’s some kind of hidden setting stopping small games from showing up in my recommendations. If I don’t actively browse tags I’m interested or pay attention to communities outside of Steam, I miss out on a lot.
But speaking for myself, I played 18 games that came out this year and easily left at least that many others behind just because there isn’t enough time to play through them all.
Impressive, what’s the genre breakdown on the 18 games you played?
Fascinating we got from here to mash to protect Earth. He doesn’t get enough credit for it because it’s not high art, but Kamiya’s writing actually did get better over the years.
I was just reflecting on games I’ve played in the last year, and wondering when Steam’s year-in-review thing would be happening (probably within the next week)....
I mean, if you can find and afford the games, yeah, buy them. Problem is most of the games people need to emulate are unavailable or astronomically expensive, and that’s even if you live in the west/Japan… if you live in the rest of the world, forget it.
I had a lot of fun with Soulstice, Assault Spy, Hi-Fi Rush, and Hellsinker.
NieR:Automata, The Surge, Death Stranding, and Scarlet Nexus were disappointing.
Every time I stepped ever so slightly outside my comfort zone I ended up regretting it. I will still flirt with action RPGs, but no more open world or soulslikes. If relatively linear action is not the core, I’m out.
Next year, I intend to invest more in indie action games. Currently eyeing Genokids, Spirit X Strike, and No Straight Roads 2. Also indie shmups: currently, Devil Blade Reboot, Birdcage, and Gunvein are on my wishlist.
For fighting games, I intend to get into Granblue next year. Possibly also Melty Blood and Blazblue.
Looking forward to fleshing out my library with more of my favorite genres.
The game started in German, and I couldn’t change the language. Multiple sites told me how to change the language of the Epic Games Launcher instead. WTF??...
How’s the action? It looked like you can launch people in the trailer and perform some kind of air combo. I doubt it leads to anything truly fun, but I’m curious.
So recently, I ended up getting sick from an event I went to. I took sick leave from my employment, and I have a few days to rest. I don’t want to just stay in bed, however....
I replay games I’m intimately familiar with so I can just autopilot and chill.
I am more likely to watch a movie or binge a show when I’m sick than play a video game though. Sometimes I read a comic book if my eyes are OK or listen to an audiobook.
How often do people leave reviews? I rarely see a profile with +100 reviews.
I only leave reviews after 100% completion or a lot of time (hundreds of hours) in case of fighting games where sometimes 100% is ridiculously difficult to attain (oh hi, Plus R)
I think the average time between my picking up a game and leaving a review is like 3~12 months. Definitely even more if I’m not vibing with the game.
Same. I’m often in the process of breaking down why I like/dislike the game, what works about it, and what doesn’t as I’m playing. I can’t give honest feedback with incomplete thoughts.
Worth noting that, like large swaths of other parts of the industry, the Saudis now own Evo. It hasn’t changed yet, but Ronaldo ended up in Fatal Fury, so…...
One of the OGs and some of the most interesting synergies in a roguelike-like. You can get some cracked builds going fairly quickly. Super fun twin-stick shooter.
I feel this way as I get older. I don’t care how “realistic” the latest iteration of Call of Battlefield 19: Looty-Shooty Palooza" is, give me compelling gameplay; Not a generic “go here, shoot that, loot this” gameplay loop.
You got anything action? I’m only aware of Lost Soul Aside.
Genokids and Spirit X Strike are indie in Early Access, and I’d be hesitant to qualify Ninja Gaiden 4 as AA.
I’ve probably come across a couple of other indies along the way, but AFAIK, that’s the whole year.
I was psyched Fatal Fury is back until freaking Cristiano Ronaldo showed up 😂 I was never an SNK fan and I’m still knees deep into other fighting games anyway so that’s alright.
I was recently discussing Farcry 2 with some friends and how cool the fire spread system was - And how it essentially was never used again after that title....
Just minutes before it was set to deliver its financial results for the first half of its 2025-26 fiscal year, Ubisoft mashed the brakes on the whole thing, postponing the release of its results to an unspecified future date. The company also requested that European exchange Euronext halt trading of the company’s shares and...
We don’t have enough good Kaiju games, IMO. Inaba robbed us of Project G.G. or Kamiya messed up, IDK. But they need to work it out and finish that project at some point.
Maybe Clovers can buy the IP if Okami 2 is a hit, who knows. I doubt Platinum would mind.
Indie Game Roundup (January 23, 2026) (virtualmoose.org) angielski
Ubisoft initiates colossal restructure to become a more 'gamer-centric' company (www.gamedeveloper.com) angielski
What challenge from a game isn't worth completing and what challenge from a game is worth completing? angielski
Either one or both works....
Pet Peeves with Games? angielski
Mine always is, completely forgetting what I was doing and where I was going after not touching a save file for a long time. This is happening to me right now with Stardew Valley....
Arc raiders is a horrible game angielski
As far as I can tell, this is just a PVP 3rd person multiplayer shooter. Tagging this game as PVE is absolutely disingenuous. Despite the dev team originally developing this as PVE, they launched with PVP included, and the PVP and matchmaking feels half-assed....
How Are You Guys Handling This? angielski
I upgraded from my 15 year old PC to one of the new Mac Minis at Xmas last year, thinking that I would be fine for gaming with my Xbox / Game Pass, and I would “skip a generation” on PC hardware. I have a small Steam / Epic library, but everything that didn’t work on MacOS, I had a Game Pass version of....
The highest-rated games and what the people say
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/56076710...
'Friendslop' dominated 2025 by proving time and time again that graphics are overrated (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
If there’s a single throughline for the PC gaming year that was 2025, it’s finally accepting that the pursuit of fancy graphics just doesn’t make sense anymore....
All Delisted Steam Games (delistedgames.com) angielski
Do you preorder games? angielski
What about Early Access Games?...
The Knightling Did Everything Right - It Still Struggled to Sell | Beyond the Pixels Podcast (www.youtube.com) angielski
I thought I’d share this because it captures the state of the market right now, as seen by a game developer and someone in games media. I know some of you are tempted to say, “it didn’t do everything right, because it didn’t do X”, but I kept the original title. What I found to be particularly noteworthy was that they...
I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIGHT! (www.youtube.com) angielski
It the echo that gets me.
What are your gaming highlights of 2025? angielski
I was just reflecting on games I’ve played in the last year, and wondering when Steam’s year-in-review thing would be happening (probably within the next week)....
Changing the language of “Hogwarts Legacy” angielski
The game started in German, and I couldn’t change the language. Multiple sites told me how to change the language of the Epic Games Launcher instead. WTF??...
What are some good games to play while sick? angielski
So recently, I ended up getting sick from an event I went to. I took sick leave from my employment, and I have a few days to rest. I don’t want to just stay in bed, however....
Over 19,000 games have released on Steam in 2025, with nearly half seeing fewer than 10 reviews (www.gamingonlinux.com) angielski
Evo Japan and Las Vegas 2026 lineups announced (evo.gg) angielski
Worth noting that, like large swaths of other parts of the industry, the Saudis now own Evo. It hasn’t changed yet, but Ronaldo ended up in Fatal Fury, so…...
Nuclear Throne Update 100 is out - adds new playable character, 60+fps, custom difficulty modes, 4 player coop, and more! (bsky.app) angielski
It took a while, but Nuclear Throne Update 100 is out now! (and 50% off on Steam)...
Neath - Announcement Trailer [from Cellar Door Games, makers of Rogue Legacy] (www.youtube.com) angielski
Palworld dev isn’t impressed by "so-called" AAA, prefers indies since they "include the kind of systems you can’t find in other games" (www.gamesradar.com) angielski
I feel this way as I get older. I don’t care how “realistic” the latest iteration of Call of Battlefield 19: Looty-Shooty Palooza" is, give me compelling gameplay; Not a generic “go here, shoot that, loot this” gameplay loop.
A cool feature/mechanic you want to see in games again angielski
I was recently discussing Farcry 2 with some friends and how cool the fire spread system was - And how it essentially was never used again after that title....
Epic boss Tim Sweeney thinks stores like Steam should stop labelling games as being made with AI: 'It makes no sense,' he says, because 'AI will be involved in nearly all future production (share.google) angielski
The glory days of Epic Games are long gone and Tim Sweeney is a god damn moron.
Uh oh: Ubisoft postpones its quarterly financial report at the last minute and halts stock trading (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Just minutes before it was set to deliver its financial results for the first half of its 2025-26 fiscal year, Ubisoft mashed the brakes on the whole thing, postponing the release of its results to an unspecified future date. The company also requested that European exchange Euronext halt trading of the company’s shares and...
Assassin's Creed is a "forever brand" because Ubisoft supported huge risks with it, ex director says: "Whereas, say, EA, you get these awful execs and they never made games and they came from toothpaste companies" (www.gamesradar.com) angielski
Unbelievably, we have a choice of kaiju clean-up games (www.rockpapershotgun.com) angielski