General Gaming thread

monquixote

ThePrettyDamned said:

Sporky said:

monquixote said:

Did anyone get into Dead Cells?

It's kind of a Souls like as a platformer. It's very good, but bloody hard for someone as crap at games as me.

I did to a point, then I felt it was all a bit of a punishment game that I wasn't much enjoying. 

This is the worry I have with the success of elden ring - triple A developers might think we like really hard, punishing games and miss the whole point of why soulsborne games are good, and just make games that are hard instead of allowing stat grinding until you can walk all over it. 

They're bloody fun, they're challenging without being unfair and they always have incredible stories in amazing worlds, told in a beautiful way that doesn't treat the player like an idiot. Not many other modern games tick those boxes... 

Dead Cells is very hard, but it's quite similar to Hades in that it's very skill based.

If you work out how to shield parry for example you could clear out most of the early enemies without taking damage, but that requires learning the timing. 

Unlike Hades it doesn't have the evolving story and same increasing power level so if you aren't very good at it you just spend a lot of time dying on the first couple of levels.

For me it would be better a little easier and with the option to progressively jack up the difficulty as you get the hang of it like in Slay the spire.

RaymondLin

I gave in and bought Elden Ring.  But I had a weird problem with my PS5 that it won't let me launch the game.  It turns out it was my router blocking the PS5 connecting to gaming servers.  Took me 2 days to figure out, tried everything.

PSN is signed in.
I could download games from my library.
I bought GTA5 on the store so I was online and signed in.
I just bought 12 months of PSN through Sony, not 3rd party.
I could watch Netflix on the PS5.
I tried wired and wifi, still won't let me launch the game.
I tried putting the PS5 into the DMZ.
I tried rebooting the modem and router
I even factory reset the console.

In the end I replaced the router with a new one and now I can play! 

TeleMaster

We needed a change. I started playing Horizon and the whole get a quest, do a quest formula is sooooo old. I expect that one day this formula will get old too. 

punchesjudy

Talking of Elden Ring, I finally finished (clearly missed some stuff) the other day after 115 hours. Ok yeah, great game but easily my least favourite of the Soulsbornekiro lot excluding DKS2 cos I stand by that being an awful piece of crap. 

FarleyUK

I'm getting a really annoying issue on Elden Ring on PC when going into the Highroad Cave. When I look in a certain direction, the background goes all messed up, and changes to long blurred lines - makes the platforming section there in the 'bat cave' pretty impossible as I cannot see where I'm aiming for!

It's only if I turn the camera in a certain direction.

Laptop and GPU are not overheating, no other issues either.

CavemanGrogg

TeleMaster said:

We needed a change. I started playing Horizon and the whole get a quest, do a quest formula is sooooo old. I expect that one day this formula will get old too. 

That's my must have game for the PS5 when  I finally pull my finger out and buy one.

TeleMaster

CavemanGrogg said:

TeleMaster said:

We needed a change. I started playing Horizon and the whole get a quest, do a quest formula is sooooo old. I expect that one day this formula will get old too. 

That's my must have game for the PS5 when  I finally pull my finger out and buy one.

It’s fine. But it’s really same old, same old. 

CavemanGrogg

TeleMaster said:

CavemanGrogg said:

TeleMaster said:

We needed a change. I started playing Horizon and the whole get a quest, do a quest formula is sooooo old. I expect that one day this formula will get old too. 

That's my must have game for the PS5 when  I finally pull my finger out and buy one.

It’s fine. But it’s really same old, same old. 

If it's like Horizon Zero Dawn with how large and great the gaming envoronment is and looks, then I'll be one very happy chappy.  It would probably help if I stopped playing Civ on my tablet, and played it on the PlayStation instead.

TeleMaster

Yea it is that, but it’s also very similar. I get bored if games are very similar to the last one and if it borrows too heavily from the genre. I’m not saying it’s not good, but it’s at the bottom of the games I have. 

Sporky

Conversely I'm really enjoying it. It is indeed a continuation of the first with some changes and refinements, but I'm OK with that. 

Mattharrier

I haven't really played much lately, but my wife was working at the weekend so I took a look at what had been added to Xbox Gamepass, and tried The Artful Escape.

You play the nephew of a famous folk musician (who is no longer around - and looks a lot like Bob Dylan to me) who is expected to carry that legacy into the future, but feels crushed by that pressure, and dreams of being something else. Then an alien turns up the night before the big concert (where he is to play his uncle's old songs, and nothing else), and adventures begin...

It's an odd beast, there's some elements of rhythm action, which are basically the boss battles, but for the most part it's something of an - exploration game? Not really, there's not a huge amount to find - the occasional NPC to chat with, and the occasional thing to look at, but for the most part, you walk through (great looking) alien landscapes playing some space rock guitar (I have no idea what genre to call it, but it's shreddy but not just shreddy), watching cool stuff happen, while the story unfolds occasionally. 

I love it. I can't really explain why. There are some very light platforming elements, the occasional "Simon Says" light-sequence matching game, and that's about it for gameplay mechanics. The story isn't even all that deep, really - the underlying message is pretty important, and the way it's related through the game is handled well, but there's no Mass Effect style decision making, but again some very light elements of a similar system.

It looks lovely, it sounds great, and it's a relaxing alternative to the shooty explosion fest that is more my usual choice.

stickyfiddle

New PS+ structure finally announced - vaguely Gamepass-esque. 

https://blog.playstation.com/2022/03/29/all-new-playstation-plus-launches-in-june-with-700-games-and-more-value-than-ever/

PlayStation Plus Essential

• Two monthly downloadable games
• Exclusive discounts
• Cloud storage for saved games
• Online multiplayer access
• There are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier
• United Kingdom £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly 

PlayStation Plus Extra

• Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
• Adds a catalog of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.
• £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly 

PlayStation Plus Premium** 

• Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
• Adds up to 340* additional games, including:
• PS3 games available via cloud streaming
• A catalog of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations 
• Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets** where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.*** 
• Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.
• £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly 

It'll depend on what games are in the Extra tier but seems reasonable value assuming they put good stuff on there. Returnal is confirmed, so I'm in for that I think - it's cheaper than buying it outright

DefaultM

Sounds like the game library bit is just PS Now?

Stratavarious

Back in the past playing Skyrim for around the 5th time.. no cheats or mods.. and grinding all the smithing and enchanting.  Still a great game.

LuttiS

Made me laugh

CavemanGrogg

Just my luck, pre launch I could buy a PS5 no problems, I could easily get one from several places as much as 3 weeks before launch.  Now that I want to buy one, can I find a PS5 with a disc drive anywhere, no, the digital version yes, but not the one with the optical drive. 

And to make matters worse, I recieved this email the other day:

stickyfiddle said:

New PS+ structure finally announced - vaguely Gamepass-esque. 

https://blog.playstation.com/2022/03/29/all-new-playstation-plus-launches-in-june-with-700-games-and-more-value-than-ever/

PlayStation Plus Essential

• Two monthly downloadable games
• Exclusive discounts
• Cloud storage for saved games
• Online multiplayer access
• There are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier
• United Kingdom £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly 

PlayStation Plus Extra

• Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
• Adds a catalog of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.
• £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly 

PlayStation Plus Premium** 

• Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
• Adds up to 340* additional games, including:
• PS3 games available via cloud streaming
• A catalog of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations 
• Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets** where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.*** 
• Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.
• £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly 

It'll depend on what games are in the Extra tier but seems reasonable value assuming they put good stuff on there. Returnal is confirmed, so I'm in for that I think - it's cheaper than buying it outright

So after having spent a good amount of time and effort on Wednesday and Thursday trying and failing to buy an optical drive PS5, I thought, why not just drop £50 to £100, and upgrade my PS Plus membership to either the Extra or Premium, that was another kick in the nuts, the new Play Station Plus memberships don't start until June.  So now I'm left with the option of waiting until I can buy a PS5 before I buy Horizon II, or buying Horizon II for the PS4 with the free upgrade to the PS5 version, both versions cost the same £49 brand new.

stickyfiddle

Short term that would definitely be cheaper. Long term it will cost you more, though obviously you might be fine with that. 

I have the disc version though I must admit I haven't bought any games on disc yet. But it's also my bluray player 

wibble

CavemanGrogg said:

Just my luck, pre launch I could buy a PS5 no problems, I could easily get one from several places as much as 3 weeks before launch.  Now that I want to buy one, can I find a PS5 with a disc drive anywhere, no, the digital version yes, but not the one with the optical drive. 

You following https://twitter.com/PS5StockAlertUK ?

I've bought several PS5s for friends who were having trouble getting them - you just got to be quick as soon as the alerts hit and have accounts ready on the retailers for a quicker checkout.

CavemanGrogg

wibble said:

CavemanGrogg said:

Just my luck, pre launch I could buy a PS5 no problems, I could easily get one from several places as much as 3 weeks before launch.  Now that I want to buy one, can I find a PS5 with a disc drive anywhere, no, the digital version yes, but not the one with the optical drive. 

You following https://twitter.com/PS5StockAlertUK ?

I've bought several PS5s for friends who were having trouble getting them - you just got to be quick as soon as the alerts hit and have accounts ready on the retailers for a quicker checkout.

Yeh, even called friends who work for Sony, and in several countries too.

beed84

Loaded up BOTW for the first time in years. By God it’s beautiful. Looks like the sequel is now due for Spring 2023.