PWB October 22

Marvel Snap came out on mobile today. Seems decent. Bit overloaded with compliments to make you feel good about yourself, but I'll stick with it for now.

I'm totally uninterested in Overwatch (especially now that I'm one of the top Fortnite players in the world)

I never thought this would be the thing that brought me back, but holy fuck felt the first few games of Fortnite you play are populated with AI bots to make you think you're good at the game. The suspicion is it also periodically drops you into AI rich lobbies to keep you locked in too.

Just couldn't let this farce go on any longer.

You shut your lying mouth.

cav coming back just to crush felt's dreams shouldn't have amused me as much as it did.

Play

Ratchet & Clank: the PS5 one - extremely pretty example of a type of thing I don't really play anymore. Absolutely gorgeous and impressive, and a fine example of it's genre, but it's not really got its hooks in, though I'll see it through.

Not much else, at the moment. Had a brief relapse on a few different Blizzard IPs, all of which I quickly dropped again. Monster Hunter I still dip into, but I've largely exhausted Sunbreak and (what I can do solo in) Worldborne, and am in High (or Master?) rank on 4U, but have run out of steam a bit there, not played in a bit.

Want

The Dead Space remake and spiritual successor (Callisto Protocol, I think it is). The Persona remasters, too.

Other than that, I just want to try and get really into something - hopefully I'll find my (non-MH) mojo again after Ratchet & Clank. I'm thinking a blend of RPG-ing, some 2D stuff and/or going back through all the Resident Evils.

Bin

Some more vague gesturing at everything, from me, though at least elements of it have gotten grimly amusing, if you enjoy high farce.

Cyberpunk -9/10

Avoided this on release with the amount of negative feed back but with all the updates and more importantly the 60 FPS patch for the Series S. I thought it was time to jump in. I can completely understand some of the issues people have with the game like the lack of meaningful dialogue options you would expect from a title like this, but honestly. I had a blast with this game. A lot of folks are comparing this to Witcher 3 which is a extremely high bar but I actually think Cyberpunk dose a few things better like the battle system. So fun! Good cover system being able to peak out of cover and quickhacks makes for a really fun time. After completing the game I ended up doing everything for all achievements which took way longer than I would like to admit. 😅 You could break down the quest into 5 sections. Main quest just your standard campaign. Side jobs which I found to be the best quest of them all to be honest. Gigs, really short side jobs. Cyberpsycho, enhanced cyber mini boss fights and NCPD which work similar to the random street crimes in Spiderman. Enjoyed them all even if there was way too many NCPD missions. I'll definitely recommend but the first 3-4 hours are the worst in the game but picks up a lot after that. I would also recommend hard mode if you plan on doing a lot of the side missions because you get way too strong halfway through.

Prodeus -7.5/10

I've already talked about this a bit in the Game Pass thread. It's a really good game if you're into the old classic Doom titles. I would of like to seen more different enemies types and most of the levels didn't stand out, but the amount of guns make up for that. Them reload animation though! I could watch them all day haha. So smooth. It's probably just me being a Gears fanboy but I think a active reload system would work perfectly in this, but that might just be a me thing.

Play

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - I have to say the combat system in this game is still really fun and deep, most importantly it's fast. Some classes in Xenoblade 3 are just so damn slow, such as any tank class that isn't Zephyr, and unlike Xenoblade X you have not as many cooldowns so it feels so bad when you do you're combo of three and just sit there twiddling your thumbs for a bit.

Gundam Evolution - resuming my Gundam rewatch so I'm a mecha mood and remembered this is out for Free on Steam and also consoles for free in fucking December or something. Aaaaanyway it's another team 'hero' based FPS just like Overwatch but instead of Genji you have Freedom Exia or fucking Barbatos from Iron blooded Orphans flying around the back and cracking you over the head with his huge mace.

It's good but not great, it lacks the polish of Overwatch but I kinda enjoy the flow of it more, you can really go all in so you have to work together a punch a hole through the enemy teams defense, oh and people are less stupid in this compared to OW maybe because it's a less 'complex' game.

Want
Persona 5 on Xbox tomorrowwwwwwwww. Kinda wish I didn't start Xenoblade 2 now. I am so up for doing a 100% run on this, it's probably a Top 3 JRPG for me blah blah, gonna be hard to fit it in though.

I just realized I posted in the wrong thread, sorry my bad. 😔

@Alastor I really want to play Persona 5 but honestly I'm not sure if I have the time for a game that big. Will I be missing out a lot of what makes it so good if I stick to the campaign? You can pre install it too if that helps.

Edit: it's live right now. Must of released it at midnight.

Marvel Snap came out on mobile today. Seems decent. Bit overloaded with compliments to make you feel good about yourself, but I'll stick with it for now.

I'm very much enjoying this. It's very, very good.

In true mobile game fashion, I completed the 20 level launch season pass pretty quickly… only to then be presented with the 'real' season pass that offers some freebies but ultimately locks most of the rewards behind a £10 paywall.

You know what? I don't even mind. It's still throwing enough free cards at me to compensate, and I already have a deck that is pretty strong in most circumstances. Only lost a handful of games, and even those were skin of the teeth losses.

I really like this game. I think I'll indulge in the season pass at least once after payday. Likely won't be an ongoing thing but for now, I'm happy to do it.

What is it, Mart? Some sort of Marvel deckbuilding game?

Not usually a fan of mobile games (I've got a small phone) but if you think it might be up my street, I'll give it a go.

When I started playing it, it felt a lot like a hyper condensed version of Hearthstone. Then I found out it's designed by the guy that created Hearthstone, so that immediately made sense.

Yes, it's a Marvel deck builder. Cards have abilities, cost energy to play and ultimately have power values. You don't battle directly though, it's all about using power to claim control of regions - there are three, and the person with two at the end of the match wins (or, if it's a tie, the most power overall). Each match is only six turns, so it never outstays its welcome.

I'd say give it a go and see, you can work out if it's for you pretty quickly. There's also a free PC client version, if you don't want to play on mobile, but it's very much designed with mobile in mind based on the layout and speed of play. It's a little barebones right now, but supposedly there are things like guilds and so on coming in the future.

What have you done Mart!? I can't stop playing this game. I love how easy the game is to pickup but still feels like enough is here for tactics.

OK - yes. This is great.

What have you done Mart!? I can't stop playing this game. I love how easy the game is to pickup but still feels like enough is here for tactics.

The more cards you get, the deeper the tactics go. Currently, I have a bunch of new cards that let me destroy other cards I have, plus cards that do things if they're destroyed… however, I've not really worked out how they synergise properly given the destruction mechanic is random, not manually decided. I'll work it out though, if that's the road my deck goes down. Destroying your own cards seems a bit counterintuitive right now.

Once guilds are up and running, let's ASSEMBLE.

It can be a bit easy to overlook the login rewards and ongoing event stuff - be sure to check all the links in the News section!

Well that's my new "just one more go" phone distraction sorted then! Cheers mart

I must be getting old because I find the sheer mobile-ness of Marvel Snap overwhelming, though the core game is great. It's got about five currencies and about four different progression tracks and I'm sure I've found missions in three different places now. It's a constant ding-ding-ding of get this and upgrade that and move up a level in the other, and I just can't quite get my head around it. I'm just agreeing to upgrade cards whenever it asks me to - is that right? - and every few games I just click through every screen I can find claiming whatever it lets me.

I'm sure in time it'll calm down and stop being so generous, which will ironically make it easier to actually play.

The "Recruit Season Pass" is free, right? I seem to be unlocking stuff from it though I haven't paid any money. I don't think I have, anyway. It's entirely possible I've done it by mistake.

Welcome back sir, hope you're okay.

I am. Putting my foot in it like never before.

I must be getting old because I find the sheer mobile-ness of Marvel Snap overwhelming, though the core game is great. It's got about five currencies and about four different progression tracks and I'm sure I've found missions in three different places now. It's a constant ding-ding-ding of get this and upgrade that and move up a level in the other, and I just can't quite get my head around it.

Gold (yellow) is the currency you'll earn least of, as it's the real money one. Credits (blue) are what you use to upgrade cards, and can deplete relatively quickly if you buy upgrades through the store rather than earn them organically. Boosters (green) are distinct to each card, so earning some dictates which cards you can upgrade - you earn a batch of boosters for a random card when you win a match, but can also get these on the Season Pass and Collection Level track. Cubes (grey) are earned for winning a match and increase a different level track with its own rewards. At a certain point, once you unlock the ability to 'snap' in matches to increase the winning reward, you can go down levels as well as up… your max level will always be remembered, but you can't progress down the track unless you're passing that max level.

Shit. Writing all that down does make it seem really overwhelming.

Upgrading a card increases your Collection Level, but the more you upgrade a card, the more levels you'll go up. Grey to green, one level; green to blue, two levels; blue to purple, four levels; purple to gold (which I think is max), eight levels.

There are blue missions, which are quick and change every six hours or so, and pink missions which are more long term. You complete these just by playing, but some require specific cards to be in your deck or for specific tactics to be used. The more missions you complete, the more you can move up the season pass track.

Snapping is important. A win/loss earns/costs you one cube, until the final turn when a win/loss reward/cost is doubled. If you think you're going to win, you can tap the cube and 'snap' to double the prize. The opponent can also do this and if both of you snap, the final round is worth eight cubes. You can retreat and take a loss at any time… and it's encouraged! If you're going to lose, it's definitely good to cut your losses and minimise the cost. But you might win and get loads! Ten cubes is a level up, so eight is a massive chunk either up or down.

I'm just agreeing to upgrade cards whenever it asks me to - is that right? - and every few games I just click through every screen I can find claiming whatever it lets me.

Yeah, early on you can just upgrade everything to move up the Collection Level track and get more cards. Even now, it's rare I'm not upgrading a card. I've not run out of credits yet. If you don't have the boosters to upgrade, you can buy upgrades for a random trio of cards from the store but it costs a lot more credits to do that than if you had the boosters. The random store selection also refreshes over time.

I'm sure in time it'll calm down and stop being so generous, which will ironically make it easier to actually play.

It does a bit, but only a bit. The cycle of winning matches, upgrading cards, increasing your collection level and earning things that include more cards to upgrade continues regardless. It's just about how well you manage your credits to upgrade things.

The "Recruit Season Pass" is free, right? I seem to be unlocking stuff from it though I haven't paid any money. I don't think I have, anyway. It's entirely possible I've done it by mistake.

Yes, the first 20 level Season Pass is the free one. The real one that costs money unlocks once you've finished that, it's the Spider-Man themed stuff so you'll know when you see it. I bought it today and I'm already level 8 out of 100.

@BeanyFGC I don't really think there's much getting away from how big it is tbh, there's a dungeon in it that is like the Persona 3 dungeon inside Persona 5 and it's not even optional even though the game make its sound like it is.

I think if you just focus on not levelling too many Personas or doing too many of the 'Persona 3 Dungeon' sidequests where you have to go in and fight a miniboss and don't spend too long exploring each Palace it might not be so bad. Also, the Royal version added a whole third year to the game and a new villain and dungeon, you could skip this and just get the same ending as Vanilla 5 but it's by far the best dungeon and villain in the game and if you get that far you might as well go a few steps more imo.

It's the same stuff that made the Marvel puzzle quest so infuriating. The core game is great but there's so much noise smothering it, it becomes exhausting to play. Hearthstone's commercial model put me off playing it years ago, but at least it never got in its own way when you wanted to just play.

Edit - also, I really miss the emotes from hearthstone on this. I want to be able to say gg to someone when it's close, or congrats if they wipe the floor with me, etc

If you tap your profile picture in the top left, you can send messages/emotes, maybe that’s what you’re looking for?

I’m genuinely unsure though how many of the people I am playing are actually real, and how many are bots (outside of the obvious tutorials). There are some very stupid folk out there if it’s actually real people.

I love it though. I’m embarrassingly hooked on it. Seriously considering laying down some cash for the next season pass when I complete the starter one, and I never do that.

I’m genuinely unsure though how many of the people I am playing are actually real, and how many are bots (outside of the obvious tutorials). There are some very stupid folk out there if it’s actually real people.

There are some noobs, for sure. Equally though, I've taken a good few losses on the last turn, where I thought I was certain of victory but then had my hopes dashed. Now I know those emotes are there, I'll definitely use them for good sportsmanship.

I love it though. I’m embarrassingly hooked on it. Seriously considering laying down some cash for the next season pass when I complete the starter one, and I never do that.

I'm up to Lv18 in the real money season pass now. Unlikely I'll drop for it every season, but I'm happy to pay a bit for something I'm enjoying this much.

If you tap your profile picture in the top left, you can send messages/emotes, maybe that’s what you’re looking for?

Ah cool thank you!

I love it though. I’m embarrassingly hooked on it. Seriously considering laying down some cash for the next season pass when I complete the starter one, and I never do that.

Yeah me too, despite the presentation

Having read your thoughts I am going to ignore Marcel then, I got hideously addicted to the Star Wars mobile game to the extent I was asked to stop playing it by my other half.

Good call.

I know someone here (Ninchilla?) wasn’t too taken by Dreamlight Valley but I bloody love it.

It’s Animal Crossing with slightly more purpose (the quests give you a compelling reason to keep playing, without having to just find your own fun) and the Disney license is used to brilliant effect.

Want

Street Fighter 6

Looks incredible. This will be on my want list until it releases.

Play

Plague Tale Requiem

Really enjoying this. The first one was amazing for story telling and this one so far is better. Really good character building and great stealth gameplay. But for the life of me I'm struggling to deal with the 30FPS. Was thinking just wait for an update but I'm too far in now.

I was hoping 30fps was in the bin, but that’s Plague Tale and Gotham Knights releasing a few days apart, both without a 60 mode.

At least Plague Tale has a 40fps mode - if you have a VRR tv it defaults to 40, for technical, frame-syncing reasons I don’t understand. But it does make an appreciable difference to picture quality.

I was hoping 30fps was in the bin, but that’s Plague Tale and Gotham Knights releasing a few days apart, both without a 60 mode.

At least Plague Tale has a 40fps mode - if you have a VRR tv it defaults to 40, for technical, frame-syncing reasons I don’t understand. But it does make an appreciable difference to picture quality.

Yeah, unfortunately I thought it was a thing in the past. The worrying thing is these two games are both "next gen" only titles. More reason for them to run at 60FPS.

At least Plague Tale has a 40fps mode - if you have a VRR tv it defaults to 40, for technical, frame-syncing reasons I don’t understand. But it does make an appreciable difference to picture quality.

It's not VRR that does it but having your TV & Xbox set to 120Hz. 40 divides neatly into 120, that's about the extent of it.

I think we'll see more 40Hz modes as the gen continues - there are quite a few games on PS5 that already do this but it's the first time I've seen it on Xbox. Devs are obviously going to push the machines harder once the requirement to run on PS4/XB1 drops away, and not everything is going to hit a locked 60.

I finally bought a PS5.

That means I can not contribute PS5 games to the Play/Want/Bin thread. 😜

I haven’t done much more than let Demons Soul scare me. And not quite sure when I’m going to get time soon to play with it.

And even though I’ve got a 4k Sony TV - it defaulted to 1080p - I think I have one of the early models that doesn’t have the funky HDMI 2 ports.

And even though I’ve got a 4k Sony TV - it defaulted to 1080p - I think I have one of the early models that doesn’t have the funky HDMI 2 ports.

Are you using the HDMI cable that came with the PS5? I'd say that's more likely to be a cable issue than a TV issue.

I haven’t really had time to check.

Are you selling gold plated hdmi cables, Gar?

I think it’s that my TV only has one 2.1 port, the other two aren’t - and my Apple TV is plugged into that one.

I had that problem as well on my old TV - four ports, only one of them decent. Bah. Don't get a splitter though, they rarely work and just end up giving you a black screen.

You only need HDMI 2.1 if you're doing 4K at 120fps, obviously that's nice to have but not essential if you don't have the ports.

Your other ports should be at least HDMI 2.0 which is capable of doing 4K at 60fps including HDR.

HDMI 1.4 is the one that won't go over 1080p but I can't believe any 4K TV would have HDMI 1.4 ports. However if you're using an old cable from the PS3 days or something then it's quite possible it will only support 1.4, i.e. 1080p. It's not an uncommon problem! I expect like all self-respecting men of a certain age you have a big box of cables somewhere in your house.

I don't have any gold plated HDMI cables for you unfortunately but I do have these magic beans.

At least Plague Tale has a 40fps mode - if you have a VRR tv it defaults to 40, for technical, frame-syncing reasons I don’t understand. But it does make an appreciable difference to picture quality.

I played the first level of the Plague Tale sequel and the 40fps mode is surprisingly nice. It doesn't have the blurriness of 30fps or the slight weightlessness of a 60fps mode, it's actually very acceptable. If this turns out be the compromise games need to run and look good this generation then I think I'm OK with that. Game looks spectacular too of course, I'm glad we are finally starting to move out of the cross-gen period.

Digital Foundry did a good video where they explained, for utterly confusing reasons, why 40fps isn’t just ten frames more than 60fps, it’s actually the exact mid-point between 30 and 60.

It’s definitely a nice-to-have, but I’m not sure I can leave 60fps on console now that I’ve been spoiled.

Been playing Bayonetta 3 a fair bit and it's been a blast but I'm pretty confident that it's worse than 1 and better than 2 already. On the one hand you have the combat being spectacular and the set pieces being fucking fantastic but on the other, as an action game specifically it's clear this falls into some of the pitfalls that Bayonetta 2 fell into in terms of design issues. Primarily part of what makes Bayonetta 3 so fun is sometimes also it's detriment if you actually want to 'git gud' because the camera is fucking awful at times and there's so much god damn shit going at once it's hard to keep track sometimes, Bayonetta 2 traded flashy for making the player able to see what the fuck is going on and there's some of that here which sucks because it's also really really flashy and cool. >_<

It definitely improves on some stuff in Bayonetta 2 as well, they replaced the 'Umbran Climax' mechanic, which had you enter a super OP state where all of Bayonetta's attacks triggered her hair demon assists, it was fun to just brainlessly slam buttons with but it had no depth and even invalidated some mechanics. In Bayonetta 3 you can now outright summon her demon friends to walk on the battlefield and even used to run around the map, it works by having you hold a button to make Bayonetta dance and then you control this sluggish demonic titan…but if you queue up attacks you can let go of the summon button and fight alongside it, meaning you can set up combos such as launching the enemy and having your 40ft demon lady shoulder barge it into the wall like a bug, it's very fun and really fun to play around with.

Also this game looks like fucking trash, seeing a lot of people say the Switch is holding it back but you can literally play Bayonetta 1 and 2 on the Switch right now and those games look pristine and run better and they were originally 360/WiiU games. Clearly they've tried to do a bit much visually here, there's like an apocalypse going on in every level no joke and levels seem a bit bigger than usual.

TL;DR - I probably can't be bothered to put serious time into going full on hardcore into this (the fact that you still can't 'Retry' a chapter and have to quit to the chapter select and take 2-3 loading screens to get back to the stage you were on is mind boggling to me) but it's still one of the most fun games I've played all year.