Currently Playing

[Snowy]

You really hate Days Gone dont you? That and Horizon

*shrug* I just think they are the blandest of the bland when it comes to openworld games, not terrible, just not interesting in any way.

Each to their own, I guess. I enjoyed them both very much.

Same for me on both counts.

Horizon I bought on a whim on the back of reading a review and I honestly didn't expect to like it much - post-apocalyptic quasi-tribal culture with robot dinosaurs is not an elevator pitch that would usually open my wallet, but the reality of the game was (for me) superb. I loved sneaking around, stealth-killing where I could, and when I was able to overcome the dinos and subvert them to my side, it triggered some amazing battles (especially when you subvert one of the big ones). I have always loved games that allow you to use their own mechanics, so having massive robots slaughtering one another because that was how I had rigged it was great. The acting was top-notch and the story was actually decent to the point I did not just skip the dialogue as I have in innumerable other games.

Days Gone has similarities - again a better than average story and well acted, with a good balance between exploration and missions. It also has the hordes which elicited a yelped "MotherFUCKER" from me the first time I came across them, much to my wife's amusement.

Thing is I like open world and sandbox games generally, so maybe that's where the difference of opinions stems from.

[Raid]

I know plenty of people say that Halo was never about the story, but frankly they are wrong. They are the exact people who aren't really big fans of the series and never really followed it closely precisely because they weren't bothered about following the story beats. Halo 1 through to 3 (and Reach to an extent) have a very rich story which you can follow in a cohesive way with a great and expansive cast of characters which all serve to enhance the really epic set pieces of the scripted moments in the levels. Infinite quite simply offers none of that.

That's a shame. I know people were disparaging about the stories of Halo games in the past, but I always found them fairly compelling. I wasn't impressed with 4's, which didn't explain enough if you didn't bother accessing the video terminals, but too convoluted if you did. It maybe explains a few things from previous games, but throws so much new stuff at you that it makes the events of the actual game seem a little dreary by comparison.

And I agree with you on the story being the driving force. The earlier games were great shooters in their own rights, and you could still have a good time if you ignored the plot, but Bungie created a really compelling universe behind it all.

[Sly Boots]

Outriders

I didn't even play the preview version I'd down loaded on GamePass after unenthusiastic reviews, but after having read that a bunch of free updates have improved the experience, I downloaded it again, and I'm actually quite enjoying it.

I'm only a couple of hours in, and the opening hour is a bit of a bore, but after things open up some it's not bad. Could be worth another look for those that have GP.

[DjchunKfunK]

Outriders

I didn't even play the preview version I'd down loaded on GamePass after unenthusiastic reviews, but after having read that a bunch of free updates have improved the experience, I downloaded it again, and I'm actually quite enjoying it.

I'm only a couple of hours in, and the opening hour is a bit of a bore, but after things open up some it's not bad. Could be worth another look for those that have GP.

I really enjoyed playing through the campaign back in the spring. I think a lot of reviews kind of missed the point, there were lots of comparisons to Gears but it's not a third person cover shooter, the game is all about using your skills and moving around the arenas, if you stop and hunker down you will die. Didn't really explore the end-game, was happy with the 30+ hours I got out of the campaign.

[Sly Boots]

Outriders

I didn't even play the preview version I'd down loaded on GamePass after unenthusiastic reviews, but after having read that a bunch of free updates have improved the experience, I downloaded it again, and I'm actually quite enjoying it.

I'm only a couple of hours in, and the opening hour is a bit of a bore, but after things open up some it's not bad. Could be worth another look for those that have GP.

I really enjoyed playing through the campaign back in the spring. I think a lot of reviews kind of missed the point, there were lots of comparisons to Gears but it's not a third person cover shooter, the game is all about using your skills and moving around the arenas, if you stop and hunker down you will die. Didn't really explore the end-game, was happy with the 30+ hours I got out of the campaign.

Nice. Played a couple more hours and really enjoying it. It's definitely more on the frenetic side, and I leaned into that by picking the trickster class, which is all about getting up close and personal with the enemy. It feels really good when you pull off a combo of teleporting behind an enemy, and either hit him with a bullet-time bubble, or if there's a group of them blast them with the power that basically deletes them from existence, then finish off anything still moving/twitching with a mega-punch or shotgun blast.

What is cover?

It's not an exact comparison, but it puts me a little bit in mind of the combat in ME Andromeda - which was hands down the best part of that game - where you have to constantly moving and pulling off powers, and when you get the rhythm of it it feels really good.

[DjchunKfunK]

Trickster is the class I chose as well, was a lot of fun.

[Lenny Solidus]

It feels really good when you pull off a combo of teleporting behind an enemy, and either hit him with a bullet-time bubble, or if there's a group of them blast them with the power that basically deletes them from existence, then finish off anything still moving/twitching with a mega-punch or shotgun blast.

What is cover?

This guy gets it. Using any form of cover as sparingly as possible is key staying in the fight recuperating ammo health and shields, sticking to cover is what gets you dead in most instances best to stay in the dance and push forward lowering those enemy numbers and pigeon hold enemies. I always end up with twitching fingers once I come out the other side of an engagement and for everything the game often lacks combat and how tactical* it can become to stay alive and overcome the odds is a real treat specially at higher tier enemy levels.

*tactical = right weapon right power right foe right time.

[Rossell]

And now I've moved on to:

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

If this isn't the most beautiful game I've ever clapped eyes on. Even if the parry system is difficult to master.

Quoting myself because I've finished this. I really suggest people have a go on this. It can be a bit formulaic, it draws from many different places. There's a platformer from the PS2 era (in that I mean there's literally no hand holding so if you get stuck it's YouTube time). There's puzzle elements which require some really good timing, the combat has an element of Demon's Souls to it, and I had to play it on the easiest setting because it kicked my ass.

But the graphics are immensely good, we're talking Pixar levels. The levels themselves have an element of scale to them that I have not seen and give the impression you can get lost in them. The story is actually quite fun as well and the game just gave me a childish thrill I haven't had from one in a long time. If I'm not late to vote this is my GOTY 2021.

[Raid]

I've no real plans to play that unless it comes to Gamepass (which seems unlikely in the near future as it's only on PC and not XBox), but I agree that the visuals are absolutely incredible. It looks like Pixar collaborated with Studio Ghibli.

[DjchunKfunK]

I've been playing some Kena as well and whilst I agree it is very beautiful it is also very standard, it's a PS2 game made by people who have played Dark Souls but they don't have the combat chops to make the combat sing like Dark Souls. Instead the inputs are a bit sluggish, a lot of the attacks from enemies happen a fraction after their tells making dodging them more awkward than it should be, the dodge could do with some more i-frames on it and the camera really struggles if you don't lock on to enemies, multiple times I've had it try to force my view to the left or right to bring an enemy into view. Combat therefore is mostly an exercise in frustration rather than the tight joy that it is in the Dark Souls games. The developers would have been better off making combat more like the Zelda games imo, it would have made for a more enjoyable game. Outside of the combat the game is fine, I've enjoyed it in a "this feels fairly comfortable" kind of a way.

I only paid £14 for it on Epic and I wouldn't pay any more than that, take away the impressive graphics and there isn't a whole lot to be excited about.

[Sly Boots]

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Picked this up fairly cheap (sub-tenner), and enjoying it a lot more than I was expecting actually. Controls feel good and combat is quite fun. Not sure whether I'll finish it (I think Brotherhood was the last AC game I actually finished, and I've heard this one is a beast), but will definitely be playing it for some time yet.

[Hatredsheart]

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Picked this up fairly cheap (sub-tenner), and enjoying it a lot more than I was expecting actually. Controls feel good and combat is quite fun. Not sure whether I'll finish it (I think Brotherhood was the last AC game I actually finished, and I've heard this one is a beast), but will definitely be playing it for some time yet.

Loved it, sank 270 hours into it and I didn't even 100% it.

[Snowy]

It is a belter. I preferred Origins but only because I have always been fascinated with ancient Egypt, but it is a fantastic game regardless.

[Alan]

Dead By Daylight
Late to the party but Ive been playing quite a bit of this recently and its really quite great. Its janky, ugly and sometimes very annoying but its also really quite great. As a solo queuer jumping in as the killer is lots of fun and running as a survivor with others is also very fun. Solo survivor is less fun but not bad, just about the same level as solo queuing any team game. Having a blast as Pyramid Head, The Plague and Legion. If I was better at aiming his chains I'd also be really liking Pinhead. Man its so satisfying taking down all the survivors but man its so aggravating having the piss taken out of you by good survivors.

Its really been eating into my Siege time!

I will say this though, I fucking hate the bloodweb system. It is so dumb.

[DjchunKfunK]

Kena Bridge of Spirits

Just finished this up, it's not a very good game unfortunately, it looks great but the gameplay can't match up. Combat is going for a bit of a Dark Souls vibe but the camera is awful which makes a lot of the boss fights a headache as you fight both the camera and the boss. The controls are not sharp enough and every boss attack is a tell followed by a delay which makes parrying or dodging way more awkward than it should be. There are times when it clicks and there is a well designed boss fight or some neat puzzles to solve but these are very much the exception.

If this game didn't look as good as it did it would have sunk without a trace, all style over substance.