Video Game News and Miscellany
- Thread starter figmentPez
- Start date
Dave
Staff member
It’s on Gamepass so I loaded it yesterday. It’s got some hilarious graphical glitches and a couple of points where it forces several conversational cutscenes in a row, but it’s a solid game and so far I’m loving it.
I might do a mini-review when I’m off mobile and on my PC.
Dave
Staff member
Okay now that my gig is done and I'm back home & stuff, I'll write something up about Solasta.
To start, this is based on the D&D 5e rules and is very well done in a lot of ways. The character generation feels very old school, with the ability to roll dice until you're satisfied. Which I love. The character generation is VERY intuitive and the only gripe is that you can't randomize your looks. Not that big of a deal, really.
So let me break this down into a bunch of categories.
Sound & Music: Passible. I'm not the biggest video game music guy but it took me a while to turn it off or at least down. It's pretty well done. And the GAME sounds are really good. When you cast a spell it does the cast animation and each spell has a different cast. It LOOKS like you are a mage or cleric casting a spell. I love it. The only complaint on the sounds is when the party is moving and they have to go over obstacles, EACH of them gives a little grunt & it's honestly a bit much at times. 7/10
Graphics: The game graphics are okay but when the characters are in conversation they can be laughably bad. Like my Dwarf who has a big beard. The beard does not conform to the face and just kind of hangs off to the side when he talks. The character models seem to be out of date and are clunky at best. When you are isometric and in exploration/combat, the graphics are great. So I'll give it an average of 5/10
Gameplay: I love turn-based strategy RPG games so I'm a little biased. But combat in this game is done really well. The monsters tend to be pretty difficult, but hey what do you want in a challenge? Plays like typical D&D so you know how it's going to go. What's interesting is when you are traveling. You really don't have many exploration options, which I don't like, but when you do travel (in a very linear path) the game breaks down every daily action for the characters and gives them a feeling of actually doing things when they camp for the night. Random encounters range from "how the hell did I survive that" to "wow those guys were fucking stupid for attacking me". My biggest beef here is food. You have to use a shitload of food when you travel and unless you have someone with a super high Nature skill you're hauling around half of your weight in food. Did I mention food weighs a lot and you have limited carry capacity? Yeah it sucks. Can't wait until I get a Bag of Holding and can put nothing but rations in there. 8/10
So again the game is pretty great. The graphics are only okay but the game itself is very well done. Once you get through the obligatory "have a bunch of conversation cutscenes to set the mood and give exposition" it starts to really pick up speed. I haven't won it yet and am really only through a little bit of it, but so far I'll give this thing a rating of 8/10.
Love this game so far. And if you already have Gamepass it'll cost you nothing to download, which is another bonus.
To start, this is based on the D&D 5e rules and is very well done in a lot of ways. The character generation feels very old school, with the ability to roll dice until you're satisfied. Which I love. The character generation is VERY intuitive and the only gripe is that you can't randomize your looks. Not that big of a deal, really.
So let me break this down into a bunch of categories.
Sound & Music: Passible. I'm not the biggest video game music guy but it took me a while to turn it off or at least down. It's pretty well done. And the GAME sounds are really good. When you cast a spell it does the cast animation and each spell has a different cast. It LOOKS like you are a mage or cleric casting a spell. I love it. The only complaint on the sounds is when the party is moving and they have to go over obstacles, EACH of them gives a little grunt & it's honestly a bit much at times. 7/10
Graphics: The game graphics are okay but when the characters are in conversation they can be laughably bad. Like my Dwarf who has a big beard. The beard does not conform to the face and just kind of hangs off to the side when he talks. The character models seem to be out of date and are clunky at best. When you are isometric and in exploration/combat, the graphics are great. So I'll give it an average of 5/10
Gameplay: I love turn-based strategy RPG games so I'm a little biased. But combat in this game is done really well. The monsters tend to be pretty difficult, but hey what do you want in a challenge? Plays like typical D&D so you know how it's going to go. What's interesting is when you are traveling. You really don't have many exploration options, which I don't like, but when you do travel (in a very linear path) the game breaks down every daily action for the characters and gives them a feeling of actually doing things when they camp for the night. Random encounters range from "how the hell did I survive that" to "wow those guys were fucking stupid for attacking me". My biggest beef here is food. You have to use a shitload of food when you travel and unless you have someone with a super high Nature skill you're hauling around half of your weight in food. Did I mention food weighs a lot and you have limited carry capacity? Yeah it sucks. Can't wait until I get a Bag of Holding and can put nothing but rations in there. 8/10
So again the game is pretty great. The graphics are only okay but the game itself is very well done. Once you get through the obligatory "have a bunch of conversation cutscenes to set the mood and give exposition" it starts to really pick up speed. I haven't won it yet and am really only through a little bit of it, but so far I'll give this thing a rating of 8/10.
Love this game so far. And if you already have Gamepass it'll cost you nothing to download, which is another bonus.
Dave
Staff member
The newness of Solasta has worn off. Do I still think it's a good game? Very much so. Does it have issues? Oh my goodness yes. The dialogue options are silly and the voice acting is terrible. I do like that it saves every interaction, though. That way I get to look back on conversational gems like this one:
Kythaela: Yes!
Kythaela: This is the place!
Liton: What do you mean?
Kythaela: But it's...impossible!
Biad: How do you feel?
Edrondol: I propose we set up camp and get some rest.
Kieran: I don't think that's a good idea.
Kythaela: I must find the Master!
Biad: Shouldn't we go to Coparann?
Liton: I say we go.
Kythaela: Yes!
Kythaela: Yes!
Kythaela: This is the place!
Liton: What do you mean?
Kythaela: But it's...impossible!
Biad: How do you feel?
Edrondol: I propose we set up camp and get some rest.
Kieran: I don't think that's a good idea.
Kythaela: I must find the Master!
Biad: Shouldn't we go to Coparann?
Liton: I say we go.
Kythaela: Yes!
GasBandit
Staff member
This might be interesting...
techraptor.net
Singularity 6 Announces Palia, an MMO 'Community Sim" | TechRaptor
Singularity 6 has revealed its first ambitious project as a new game developer: Palia, a massively multiplayer online "community sim."
techraptor.net
That looks really cool!
Dave
Staff member
It's a very decent little game but it does get grindy pretty quickly. And the voice acting is TERRIBLE.
Also, save a lot because you'll be trucking along & then *BAM*! Unbeatable vampire fight unless you have the right spells ready.
edit: Oh, and scroll up to the top of the page (351). I talk about it a lot.
figmentPez
Staff member
I did not know this, but you can download your Steam Cloud saves directly, without having to install the game.
https://store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage
EDIT: This does not work so well for something like Titan Quest, where there are over 9,000 files involved, and there's no bulk download option.
https://store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage
EDIT: This does not work so well for something like Titan Quest, where there are over 9,000 files involved, and there's no bulk download option.
Last edited:
figmentPez
Staff member
I'm just gonna let the trailer for Palworld speak for itself:
Breathe In the Fresh Countryside Air with a New Expansion Pack!
This one is a whole llama fun.
www.ea.com
"Befriend wild rabbits, foxes, and birds for gifts and help in your garden..."
I am really looking forward to that online farm type game!
figmentPez
Staff member
figmentPez
Staff member
It broke my heart that I lost interest in Borderlands 2 before leveling up far enough to play Tiny Tina's D&D game, so I'm looking forward to this.
figmentPez
Staff member
All of Devolver Digital's E3 trailers
I haven't watched all of them, but Wizard With a Gun caught my eye. Gameplay looks like someone crossed Bastion with Don't Starve, maybe?
I haven't watched all of them, but Wizard With a Gun caught my eye. Gameplay looks like someone crossed Bastion with Don't Starve, maybe?
Announcing Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is an expansion to DDLC. The game is coming to Switch, Playstation, and XBox, there are six new side stories, thirteen new music tracks, over a hundred new pictures, etc. As well as a few other things that haven't been announced.
Though this is, of course, DDLC, so I wonder if things aren't quite what they seem.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is an expansion to DDLC. The game is coming to Switch, Playstation, and XBox, there are six new side stories, thirteen new music tracks, over a hundred new pictures, etc. As well as a few other things that haven't been announced.
Though this is, of course, DDLC, so I wonder if things aren't quite what they seem.
I hope it's more than it seems, because this is something that seems like it would be difficult to expand upon once you've already experienced it
figmentPez
Staff member
SquareEnix says there won't be any DLC or Microtransactions for Guardians of the Galaxy.
This just makes me wonder how SquareEnix will be screwing over customers this time. (Aside from the pre-order cosmetics and deluxe version.)
In six months will we see GotG: Gamora come out? The same game, also at full price, that allows you to play as Gamora instead of Star Lord?
This just makes me wonder how SquareEnix will be screwing over customers this time. (Aside from the pre-order cosmetics and deluxe version.)
In six months will we see GotG: Gamora come out? The same game, also at full price, that allows you to play as Gamora instead of Star Lord?
figmentPez
Staff member
Slime Rancher 2 trailer
figmentPez
Staff member
The Anacrusis, a 4-player co-op survival action game.
I've been saying for years that indie games are where you see weird, innovative ideas. And it seems like that's still true as I watch the trailers for E3. For example, Microsoft announced Redfall, a new game that looks like a Left 4 Dead clone, but with vampires. And instead of gameplay, they did this big animated short film.
Meanwhile, I just saw the trailer for an indie game called KeyWe, a co-op game where you play two kiwi birds that help deliver mail. It's not a brand new announcement, but it's not out yet and it's new to me.
And I just see all these indie game trailers that are usually, at best, 50 seconds long and give you just enough gameplay to give you a good idea of what to expect. Meanwhile, you have the next expensive looking Forza game with a giant presentation that takes forever talking about photorealistic locations and blah blah blah. I was watching it with a friend earlier and neither of us had any clue whether it was a car-driving exploration game or a racing game or what.
Meanwhile, I just saw the trailer for an indie game called KeyWe, a co-op game where you play two kiwi birds that help deliver mail. It's not a brand new announcement, but it's not out yet and it's new to me.
And I just see all these indie game trailers that are usually, at best, 50 seconds long and give you just enough gameplay to give you a good idea of what to expect. Meanwhile, you have the next expensive looking Forza game with a giant presentation that takes forever talking about photorealistic locations and blah blah blah. I was watching it with a friend earlier and neither of us had any clue whether it was a car-driving exploration game or a racing game or what.
figmentPez
Staff member
I'm really curious to see where SquareEnix goes with this Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster thing.
Most of the remakes have either been severely flawed, or are radically different from the original. I'm not sure I want another version of Final Fantasy 4, but I would like to know what their aim is with these. How much are they messing with gameplay mechanics? Will there be any quality-of-life improvements? Will they be changing difficulty at all?
One of my questions has already been answered, they're each getting released individually.
Most of the remakes have either been severely flawed, or are radically different from the original. I'm not sure I want another version of Final Fantasy 4, but I would like to know what their aim is with these. How much are they messing with gameplay mechanics? Will there be any quality-of-life improvements? Will they be changing difficulty at all?
One of my questions has already been answered, they're each getting released individually.
figmentPez
Staff member
Is Stray Bombay (The Anacrusis) a AAA devloper? They were founded by industry veterans, but I can't find their link to major publishers otherwise.
GasBandit
Staff member
Hm, might not be. I might have jumped to a conclusion because it was xbox branded with no mention of PC, but googling shows me it's PC as well.
It's because everyone wants to cash in on that Dead By Daylight money, now that it's proven people still want that kind of team-based multiplayer. Except they can't DO DbD, because it's already secured all the important franchise licenses and thus locked out the competition. Next best thing is the pure action that L4D offered (which kind of made a comeback thanks to World War Z).
A lot of decisions the gaming industry seemingly makes can boil down to new executives getting rotated in, going "Why don't we make a game like -X-? I enjoyed that growing up," and then using industry money to make it happen. Plus a lot of indies have been doing more experimental versions of these titles... The Blackout Club is the genre as a stealth game where other players (and the developers themselves sometimes) show up to fuck with you and advance the story. Generation Zero is L4D in Scandinavia with robots and a more open world.
This years E3 is not very good and we can't blame covid alone for this. Up to this point none of the games shown in the "PKs" are really big surprises. Even Eldenring looks like another "souls" game and not like something new.
I'm sure there are people super hyped about a Guardians of the Galaxy game or the next Rainbow Six or any of the racing games but the really interesting stuff were the Indies or was already shown weeks before the E3.
I'm sure there are people super hyped about a Guardians of the Galaxy game or the next Rainbow Six or any of the racing games but the really interesting stuff were the Indies or was already shown weeks before the E3.