The Video Game Thread
- Thread starter James Stevenson
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Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I don't know what that is, so I guess not? 
Yes! I've been waiting for this game for two years now, that trailer was phenomenal as a long time fan of FromSoftware. I can't wait until the game is released, planning on buying a PS5 once they're available at a normal price just to play this and the Demons Souls Remaster.
I don't play as many games as I used to when I was younger, but Dark Souls on the PS3 was big in getting me interested in video games again post college. I didn't really have a whole lot of extracurriculars during college aside from Magic, Gym and watching television so I just didn't play games for like 5 years. Then my friend lent me Demons Souls and DS1 after graduation before I started working and I was back in. Took me a month to play through each of them but man, I had never had an experience like that.
I'm still picky with games I actually play, but I make sure to play pretty much every FromSoft release that I can. Usually a day one buy for me (like Sekiro!). There's just something about the difficulty and satisfaction of completing a particularly challenging section/boss that has been unmatched for me across other games over the years.
Couldn’t have said it better. I have never been as hyped for a game as for this one. And I almost never get hyped.
Demons Souls were amazing!
Dark Souls is the best game ever made.
They have made so many games in the Souls series and all of them have been top 10 games of all time. This next installment is made with George RR Martin.
Demons Souls were amazing!
Dark Souls is the best game ever made.
They have made so many games in the Souls series and all of them have been top 10 games of all time. This next installment is made with George RR Martin.
Yeah the Souls games are unique. There is nothing like them and everyone should play them. A few notes that I feel like he didn’t mention:
In most games, you are the cool character. Not in Dark Souls. In Dark Souls, you are the victim of the game’s evil plans.
The game is real. It is feelings and emotions and achievements. Achievements you’ll take with you even after you turn off your PC. The game touches you.
It’s the only game that truly, truly rewards exploration. You can complete the game without experiencing 75 % of the content. If you see a small crack in a wall, check it out. Does it look like you can jump down the well and land on the bridge or will you take too much fall damage? Only one way to find out.
There are real stakes. If you die, it will hurt you SO MUCH. And for a very long time. You need to pay attention to details, be careful and observe patterns.
The game does not come with a manual or a functional tutorial. Most things and stats are not explained within the game. When it first came out, you got the full experience of being left alone in the dark. Now it’s possible to look up guides but you shouldn’t.
Invading other player’s single player world or being invaded by other players just when you thought you finally had something good going on.
In most games, you are the cool character. Not in Dark Souls. In Dark Souls, you are the victim of the game’s evil plans.
The game is real. It is feelings and emotions and achievements. Achievements you’ll take with you even after you turn off your PC. The game touches you.
It’s the only game that truly, truly rewards exploration. You can complete the game without experiencing 75 % of the content. If you see a small crack in a wall, check it out. Does it look like you can jump down the well and land on the bridge or will you take too much fall damage? Only one way to find out.
There are real stakes. If you die, it will hurt you SO MUCH. And for a very long time. You need to pay attention to details, be careful and observe patterns.
The game does not come with a manual or a functional tutorial. Most things and stats are not explained within the game. When it first came out, you got the full experience of being left alone in the dark. Now it’s possible to look up guides but you shouldn’t.
Invading other player’s single player world or being invaded by other players just when you thought you finally had something good going on.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I have only ever played Dark Souls, and I haven't finished it (because that's kinda me, I have never finished Skyrim either, or Dragon Age, or... well, a lot of games, I'm playing them for the enjoyable journey, and I'm perfectly happy to switch trains halfway through
)... where was I. Oh, right. Out of the series, I have only ever played Dark Souls, but I would argue it has one of the finest tutorials I've ever played. It teaches you the basic keys, and then it teaches you the biggest lesson of the game: you will die. A lot. Did you ever beat that demon boss in the tutorial? I did, once, and it was glorious. There is actually content after defeating that boss, and it teaches you two more important lessons:1) winning tough battles is rewarded with loot, and 2) there's always a bigger boss waiting to kill you
Yes yes, there are great tutorials. In fact I love that some of them are unbeatable when you start the game because they’re way too difficult What I meant was the tutorials aren’t properly functional on purpose. They don’t teach you everything you need to know or what icons does what. And it was purposely made that way to give you the feeling of exploration and reward you for trying things out.
What I meant was the tutorials aren’t properly functional on purpose. They don’t teach you everything you need to know or what icons does what. And it was purposely made that way to give you the feeling of exploration and reward you for trying things out.Yeah, I tend to prefer it when games don't hold your hand and really give you the ability to explore and teach yourself how to play it.
The most recent "new" game that did that for me was Sekiro which forced me to just re-learn combat after being used to the ebbs and flows of Dark Souls style games where you're rewarded for caution. In Sekiro, the incentive to be aggressive and treat combat like a rhythm game took a while to grasp onto, but once it clicked it was some of the most rewarding combat I've ever played in a game. Ditto for a game like Monster Hunter World where learning the ins and outs of how to approach new monsters and when/how to dodge and react to their attacks really led to an immersive experience.
An all-time classic for me is Shadow of the Colossus. I've bought it and replayed it on the PS2, PS3 and PS4 and enjoyed it immensely each time. The sheer scale of the game with vast terrains and valleys to traverse and very little to guide you towards the next boss just made it an incredibly memorable experience for me. I can probably beat the entire game in a few hours now with the familiarity of how to approach each of the Colossi, but that first time I played through these in middle school I was just stumped for hours on how to beat some of them. There are few moments in gaming that are amazing as when you first discover Phalanx in the desert and begin a horseback battle across the dunes. That transition from shooting arrows to bring it down before jumping off your horse to climb the colossus was just incredible from start to finish.
The most recent "new" game that did that for me was Sekiro which forced me to just re-learn combat after being used to the ebbs and flows of Dark Souls style games where you're rewarded for caution. In Sekiro, the incentive to be aggressive and treat combat like a rhythm game took a while to grasp onto, but once it clicked it was some of the most rewarding combat I've ever played in a game. Ditto for a game like Monster Hunter World where learning the ins and outs of how to approach new monsters and when/how to dodge and react to their attacks really led to an immersive experience.
An all-time classic for me is Shadow of the Colossus. I've bought it and replayed it on the PS2, PS3 and PS4 and enjoyed it immensely each time. The sheer scale of the game with vast terrains and valleys to traverse and very little to guide you towards the next boss just made it an incredibly memorable experience for me. I can probably beat the entire game in a few hours now with the familiarity of how to approach each of the Colossi, but that first time I played through these in middle school I was just stumped for hours on how to beat some of them. There are few moments in gaming that are amazing as when you first discover Phalanx in the desert and begin a horseback battle across the dunes. That transition from shooting arrows to bring it down before jumping off your horse to climb the colossus was just incredible from start to finish.
out of context Jorbs hating me:
https://clips.twitch.tv/ArtsyFastDiscArgieB8-vb3K1cvzmOeleAoR
https://clips.twitch.tv/ArtsyFastDiscArgieB8-vb3K1cvzmOeleAoR
Me too.
The spam bots know each other?
Has it gotten worse over time?
Yeah. The eight game is worse than the others. It started out great but then it slowly declined after the fifth game.
I mean, but who can blame them. They no longer had the source material to work with in Dark Souls VIII.
I got the 900th Korok, I can now stop playing Breath of the Wild and get back to my life.
I was a bit sad to finally finish, so to make it a decent ending I took Link up to the very top of Hyrule Castle and left him hanging off the spire, staring wistfully away into the distance with no clothes on. Felt good after all the time I'd spent upgrading all that stupid armour.
I was a bit sad to finally finish, so to make it a decent ending I took Link up to the very top of Hyrule Castle and left him hanging off the spire, staring wistfully away into the distance with no clothes on. Felt good after all the time I'd spent upgrading all that stupid armour.
What are you going to spend all that Korok on?
@James Stevenson
Didn’t know to react with a heart or a laugh. Truly awesome, absolutely hilarious.
Didn’t know to react with a heart or a laugh. Truly awesome, absolutely hilarious.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I played There Is No Game! yesterday. Absolutely recommended, loved every minute of it (or hour, around five of them to be precise). If you love puzzles, tongue-in-cheek humor, and breaking the fourth wall, you are going to love this game!
How do you guys typically approach video games as you've gotten older? More specifically, how do you determine when you want to devote the time necessary to finishing a game?
I was never much of a gamer but definitely had more time in my younger years to devote to playing through games. However with my career post university and other hobbies and commitments there's so little free time compared to before. There's a need to prioritize what I want to do for entertainment when I do have some free time. Watch a show? Read a book? Go to the movies or hang out with friends? Woodworking? It's gotten to the point where I will straight up put off playing most games being scared off by the potential commitment. Like the majority of games I still play nowadays are longer games ala Dark Souls where you dive deep into the game and have an expectation of 50+ hours, maybe closer to 100 if you go through all the DLC and extra bosses. I played the crap out of Monster Hunter World + Iceborne a few years back and logged like nearly 280 hours by the time I was done. I bought Sekiro release day, played through like 60% of it and then got busy and put it off for a while, and then completely sidelined it due to the daunting task of picking it back up. I restarted and played it through earlier this year, but it was also my main go-to form of entertainment after work and sometimes during the weekend for like 3 weeks. When I get into a game, I get REALLY into the game.
I'm definitely going to square away dedicated time to play for Elden Ring when it comes out, but it's so difficult to make that same commitment for other games that I've got just sitting around waiting to be played. I have a decent library of PS4 games now after like 5 years of collecting them, but I think I've only completed like 1/4th of the titles I own. Hell, a few I've got on my to-play list ala DS3 and Bloodborne, literally just sitting there on my shelf, but I'm just unwilling to devote that time to either
I was never much of a gamer but definitely had more time in my younger years to devote to playing through games. However with my career post university and other hobbies and commitments there's so little free time compared to before. There's a need to prioritize what I want to do for entertainment when I do have some free time. Watch a show? Read a book? Go to the movies or hang out with friends? Woodworking? It's gotten to the point where I will straight up put off playing most games being scared off by the potential commitment. Like the majority of games I still play nowadays are longer games ala Dark Souls where you dive deep into the game and have an expectation of 50+ hours, maybe closer to 100 if you go through all the DLC and extra bosses. I played the crap out of Monster Hunter World + Iceborne a few years back and logged like nearly 280 hours by the time I was done. I bought Sekiro release day, played through like 60% of it and then got busy and put it off for a while, and then completely sidelined it due to the daunting task of picking it back up. I restarted and played it through earlier this year, but it was also my main go-to form of entertainment after work and sometimes during the weekend for like 3 weeks. When I get into a game, I get REALLY into the game.
I'm definitely going to square away dedicated time to play for Elden Ring when it comes out, but it's so difficult to make that same commitment for other games that I've got just sitting around waiting to be played. I have a decent library of PS4 games now after like 5 years of collecting them, but I think I've only completed like 1/4th of the titles I own. Hell, a few I've got on my to-play list ala DS3 and Bloodborne, literally just sitting there on my shelf, but I'm just unwilling to devote that time to either
I feel you. It's really hard to carve out that time, and even when you do it's easy to fall back to the comfortable things--for me that's XCOM, Skyrim, and MGSV. It's important to not exert too much pressure on yourself, though, as that's how you grow to resent the demands of your hobbies, artistic or otherwise.
On the other hand, I know I wouldn't practice music or go on a run without some sort of structure, so there's clearly something to be said for forcing yourself to eat a balanced diet, metaphorically speaking. The question I always ask myself is why I feel a need to do this particular thing. Is it because I'm looking for comfort? Am I bored? Or am I actively excited to find out what happens? There's nothing wrong with pursuing a hobby simply because it helps pass the time pleasantly (wasting time interestingly is no waste of time), but it's important to notice the difference in your motivational state. So I want to ask you this: why do you feel a need to play those games? I suspect that when you answer that question fully you'll find out whether or not you actually want to play them or if you're feeling something else entirely. And remember, they are there for you, not the other way around.
Edit: for example, I have a big interview coming up on Wednesday that I'm really stressed out for. Is it a coincidence that I'm running a reddit death spiral while cranking out a new XCOM campaign and watching Starcraft 2 matches? Probably not, but that's okay because that's what I need right now. By the end of the week, I'll get back to mastering Bayonetta because that's been a great intro to fighting games for me, a non-fighting-games person, but right now it's fine that I'm doing the equivalent of shoving potato chips into my face. Everything in balance, including imbalance.
On the other hand, I know I wouldn't practice music or go on a run without some sort of structure, so there's clearly something to be said for forcing yourself to eat a balanced diet, metaphorically speaking. The question I always ask myself is why I feel a need to do this particular thing. Is it because I'm looking for comfort? Am I bored? Or am I actively excited to find out what happens? There's nothing wrong with pursuing a hobby simply because it helps pass the time pleasantly (wasting time interestingly is no waste of time), but it's important to notice the difference in your motivational state. So I want to ask you this: why do you feel a need to play those games? I suspect that when you answer that question fully you'll find out whether or not you actually want to play them or if you're feeling something else entirely. And remember, they are there for you, not the other way around.
Edit: for example, I have a big interview coming up on Wednesday that I'm really stressed out for. Is it a coincidence that I'm running a reddit death spiral while cranking out a new XCOM campaign and watching Starcraft 2 matches? Probably not, but that's okay because that's what I need right now. By the end of the week, I'll get back to mastering Bayonetta because that's been a great intro to fighting games for me, a non-fighting-games person, but right now it's fine that I'm doing the equivalent of shoving potato chips into my face. Everything in balance, including imbalance.
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