General gaming discussion

[Gray Fox]

If you've got an emulator device or even can just run it on your PC, I would very much recommend going back and trying out Ocarina/Wind Waker.

[wullie]

I got through the first amateur tournament so I'm now on the jobber tour, there was the option to jump straight to the PGA Tour but fuck that. Still inconsistent as I level up but have hit a few sweet peaches including my longest putt yet, I believe from 750m out but I'm not the best judge of distance. Never felt more like Terry Wogan


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBrZJ7uqltY



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qKBfg-BcWQ

[phonics]

I've been playing that emulated Zelda. Not hitting above 15 FPS when I get into open world so I'm going to put it on the backburner and hope a better version/patches come out.

[Dark Soldier]

I'm getting solid 30fps what is your rig lad

[phonics]

https://i.imgur.com/mY2oMBe.png and a 1060.

[Dark Soldier]

That explains it then.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Played a round at Wolf Creek yesterday in career.

Proper lol.

Greens are a fucking nightmare there due to the mental elevations.

[Gray Fox]

I find myself wanting a Switch more and more lately. My ability to play games has reduced to what is really short bursts of time at best, to the point where the PS5 hasn't even been turned on in a couple of months now.

I'm also poor as fuck so my options are reduced in terms of getting one. Decent second hand versions of the Switch Lite seem to be just over £100 which I could probably stretch to, but the lack of TV output on it is very frustrating. However you're probably looking at double that for its big brother.
Likely the only way I'd get that or the OLED version is to finance it from somewhere, but most seem to be spreading payments 4-6 months.

Does anyone actually own a Switch Lite on here? If so are you happy with it, or are you wishing you'd got one of the other two instead?

[phonics]

I find that my arms go numb after less than an hour using a big switch, the idea of a Lite seems impossible.

[Dark Soldier]

I find myself wanting a Switch more and more lately. My ability to play games has reduced to what is really short bursts of time at best, to the point where the PS5 hasn't even been turned on in a couple of months now.

I'm also poor as fuck so my options are reduced in terms of getting one. Decent second hand versions of the Switch Lite seem to be just over £100 which I could probably stretch to, but the lack of TV output on it is very frustrating. However you're probably looking at double that for its big brother.
Likely the only way I'd get that or the OLED version is to finance it from somewhere, but most seem to be spreading payments 4-6 months.

Does anyone actually own a Switch Lite on here? If so are you happy with it, or are you wishing you'd got one of the other two instead?

I know a guy who refurbishes them, can ask a price if you want?

[Gray Fox]

I know a guy who refurbishes them, can ask a price if you want?

For reasons in the computer thread I might not need to now. Cheers for the offer though.

Out of interest how much does he sell them for?

[Dark Soldier]

For reasons in the computer thread I might not need to now. Cheers for the offer though.

Out of interest how much does he sell them for?

Sent you a DM this morning mate:

Lite: £85-110
Unpatched: £130-200
Patched: £80-140

OLED’s are a bit rare in the market, as the parts aren’t available. I just sold a network banned one for £130 though.

EBay take 13%, so I can always reduce down the price by that for a private sale.

I have a Frankenstein’s Lite with some technical issues (no Wifi) that would be a good and cheap entry point for someone skint and looking to play cartridge games"

Unpatched basically means hackable. He's also looking into doing that for people too if needed. It allows you to switch between legit and pirate account so there's no crossover.

[Gray Fox]

Cheers mate. The DM notification doesn't show when I'm on mobile so I didn't see it.

[Shindig]

Whilst I don't use the Switch docked, I like having the option.

[Dark Soldier]

New Zelda confirmed banger lads. Holy shit.

[Gray Fox]

Zelda games do rarely disappoint. Same for their special edition consoles.

Better than BoTW you think? Or too early to say?

[Mike]

It allows you to switch between legit and pirate account so there's no crossover.

I set mine up this way and it’s brilliant. Especially during lockdown when everyone hammered Animal Crossing.

[Raoul Duke]

Animal Crossing :cool:

Pretty sure it's the glue that kept society together in early lockdown times

[Ian]

Couldn't decide what to play and didn't want to spaff £54 on Jedi Survivor so have made a start on Mass Effect 2 via the legendary edition. You forget some of the weird control choices. Sprint and interact on the same button?

[Mike]

New Zelda confirmed banger lads. Holy shit.
Somehow, the day one patch is out now too.

[Baz]

Been playing Mario Odyssey and I am a fan of it basically being Hats: The Game. I am of course having Mario run about in his boxers.

My daughters playing this. Seems fun. Sounds like I need to intervene and get Mario in just his bills though.

[Mike]

It’s brilliant.

[SincereTheRebel]

https://youtu.be/GVPzGBvPrzw

[Mazuuurk]

Done with the Witcher 3 and all the expansions.
It took a little while to get used to the aged graphics at first but once you got into it, it was the same delight all over again.


To be honest, now I'm at a loss as to what to play.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Finished in the top 10% in one of the daily EA Sports golf tournaments :cool:

It's not showing my exact position but I think it I was top 50 or something.

Edit: I was 227th. 9 people tied for first, then a shit tonne of people tied for 10th and then it was me and the others on -4.

[wullie]

In shot selection I'm becoming a bit of a wiz with Pitch (ease off on the aiming and then also only give about 75% power, nearly always end up with tap-in at worst) while Finesse can fuck off 10 times over. Unlocked Pick as well, that's my guy out of bunkers now

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm on team finesse over pitch.

[wullie]

I've found the plain old Approach to be more reliable than Finesse, too much roll on the latter and I always lose my nerve and end up overdoing it.

On the career mode I'm on the Amateur tour now and TPC Sawgrass is currently being good to me as well as a Florida one I won which name I can't remember but there's a deserty one in Arizona I think that's an absolute nightmare, about five holes in I threw a strop and skipped the whole tournament.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That sounds like Wolf Creek.

I did all of that tournament (although I missed the cut) and it was hellish.

The elevation is mad and the greens were shocking.

Looks like I'm going to be promoted to the PGA Tour early. Everything seems to have clicked for me lately and I've won two events back to back and I'm currently cruising to victory in the very next event where I'm on -16 with 4 holes left of the second round.

[Baz]

I’ve bought Rugby League Legends (https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/rugby-league-legends-23/9n54kk97m3rg) but I’m not sure why cos it looks like an early Wii game. Was only £2.50.

[Raoul Duke]

To be honest, now I'm at a loss as to what to play.

Star Wars :nodd:

[Mazuuurk]

Is that Jedi Survivor you mean?

I haven't done the Fallen Order yet so that was an option to start with that actually. But for some reason I have never much liked the idea of Star Wars games. But I guess the whole universe has gone off the rails anyway so being a culture snob about it might not really work out anymore.

[Mazuuurk]

I'm buying myself a little time by doing the Burning Shores expansion to Horizon Forbidden West.

Having just played Witcher 3, I got a little flabbergasted by how good the graphics are in this, even though it wasn't so long ago I played the main game.

[Ian]

The Horizon games are beautiful but I think you're being a little harsh on Witcher 3. It's an 8 year old game. :D

And still didn't look too shabby last I played it.

[Dark Soldier]

Animations are lol in Witcher 3 now, but the world building is fantastic still.

[Gray Fox]

Seems ASUS fancy a crack at doing a SteamDeck style device with the ROG Ally. I had assumed with it being ASUS and them slapping the ROG brand on it, it would be extremely expensive, but it seems to be coming in somewhere around £600 which actually brings it into decent competition with said SteamDeck.

[Mazuuurk]

The Horizon games are beautiful but I think you're being a little harsh on Witcher 3. It's an 8 year old game. :D

And still didn't look too shabby last I played it.

True, absolutely. It's mostly just the contrast of playing such a new game vs such an old game in general, and apart from vastly different settings, the games sort of share the same type of environmental style, ish.


Animations are lol in Witcher 3 now, but the world building is fantastic still.

And true. The cities in W3 are still to this day something else.

[phonics]

Play 2v2's with me Maz.

[phonics]

That explains it then.

Said explanaition got me to pull the trigger :drool:

https://i.imgur.com/9gkt3IL.png

[Shindig]

You errr... could've just bought a Switch. :D

[Gray Fox]

Either you bought micro ATX because it was a good deal, or because you have a small form factor case, but I hope you're prepared for the heft of that GPU.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKl81eLC17M

My first long range chip in :cool:

[phonics]

You errr... could've just bought a Switch. :D

I have one, don't like playing on it for more than 20 minutes at a time and don't have a good TV set-up to play docked atm.

[wullie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKl81eLC17M

My first long range chip in :cool:


I hate that little cinematic thing now, I assumed it only kicks in when you've got it absolutely perfect so I thought I had my first hole in one, only to find it does it any time you're getting very close from distance. A little spin and I would have had it

[randomlegend]

Said explanaition got me to pull the trigger :drool:

https://i.imgur.com/9gkt3IL.png

PSU is probably a bit overspecced but having just looked, all the good 650w PSUs seem to still be impossible to get. My view of GPU prices is probably still completely warped but £590 for a 4070 (considering the performance) seems almost vaguely reasonable?

Does a 12700k really need an AIO?

Nice PC overall though :thbup:

[Pepe]

I have one, don't like playing on it for more than 20 minutes at a time and don't have a good TV set-up to play docked atm.

You could just plug it to whatever monitor you are plugging that PC to.

[Gray Fox]

4000 series cards are power hungry beasts, so he was wise to give it some headroom. Especially if there's a plan to overclock it and the CPU.

[randomlegend]

4000 series cards are power hungry beasts, so he was wise to give it some headroom. Especially if there's a plan to overclock it and the CPU.

4070 is not that power hungry. Max stock power draw is 200w and even here where they've overclocked it to over 3000mhz the power draw is only 210w.

https://www.thefpsreview.com/2023/04/19/overclocking-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-founders-edition/4/

Max boost draw of the 12700k is only 190w and manual overclocking is basically pointless with CPUs these days.

So even if the GPU and CPU are absolutely maxing out, you've got 250w of headroom which is *plenty* for everything else.

But as I said, the PSU supply issues don't seem to have sorted themselves out yet and it looks quite difficult to actually get a good 650w one, so it's all a bit academic.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just won my third tournament in the Korn Ferry tour (I went missed cut, missed cut, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st) which should qualify me for early promotion to the PGA Tour. However, I've got no option to move tours and I'm in the next Korn Ferry tournament...

[phonics]

PSU is probably a bit overspecced but having just looked, all the good 650w PSUs seem to still be impossible to get. My view of GPU prices is probably still completely warped but £590 for a 4070 (considering the performance) seems almost vaguely reasonable?

Does a 12700k really need an AIO?

Nice PC overall though :thbup:

Difference between the Gigabyte 3070 and a Gigabyte 4070 is 60 quid so is just one of those 'Im already spending 1200 so why not' choices.

PSU choice is a Graphic Design/Video Editing/Streaming/Live Production thing rather than gaming. edit: lol i confused PSU with CPU

The guy who helped me put this together also keeps using the word AIO and I have no idea what it means.

[Gray Fox]

All in one.

It's the cooler for your CPU. It all comes as one unit, rather than having to set up your own watercooling loop from all of the separate parts. I've one on mine and they work well so long as you mount it right. It also aids my light show which is a bonus.

[randomlegend]

Difference between the Gigabyte 3070 and a Gigabyte 4070 is 60 quid so is just one of those 'Im already spending 1200 so why not' choices.

PSU choice is a Graphic Design/Video Editing/Streaming/Live Production thing rather than gaming. edit: lol i confused PSU with CPU

The guy who helped me put this together also keeps using the word AIO and I have no idea what it means.

All-in-one, it's the CPU cooler. It's a cooler which uses liquid/water but the pump, CPU block and tubing comes as a premade enclosed loop i.e. all-in-one. That's as opposed to custom water cooling where you buy all the parts separately and create a loop (usually custom loops would also cool the GPU as well as the CPU).

The alternative is an air cooler. Unless you are trying to cool one of the absolute top-end CPUs, good air coolers perform just as well as AIOs. The main benefit of air cooling is that fans are less likely to fail than pumps, you're more likely to be able to work out that's what's wrong when they do, and a fan can just be replaced (whereas I believe if your AIO pump goes wrong you have to replace the whole lot).

So yeah unless you REALLY need the cooling, I don't see the argument for AIOs . I think they are generally a bit quieter but also more expensive. But if someone gave me a PC with one in I wouldn't take it out.

[randomlegend]

Fuck's sake, I clicked Phonics' reply notification and didn't realise there was a new page before I responded. Oh well.

[Shindig]

I should really get back into video editing or at least give my youtube account something to do. I've got it in my head cobbling together the Metal Gear fiction like it's an Adam Curtis documentary would be neat idea.

[phonics]

Been done to death that one. If you want to jump on a bandwagon that might blow up I'd say start doing a very indepth retrospective of the Armored Core series stat.

[Shindig]

I'll be doing it for the process, not the views.

[wullie]

Just won my third tournament in the Korn Ferry tour (I went missed cut, missed cut, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st) which should qualify me for early promotion to the PGA Tour. However, I've got no option to move tours and I'm in the next Korn Ferry tournament...

I had a similar thing, I was a bit ropey early on but suddenly became undisputed Korn Ferry King

https://i.imgur.com/oRaktXt.png
https://i.imgur.com/9F8MW99.png
https://i.imgur.com/bFCDzvX.png

After Canada it let me move to the PGA Tour so maybe it has to be a certain way into the calendar to kick in?

[hfswjyr]

I built a new machine a month ago, and by the sounds of the convo above I've massively overspec'd the PSU as well.
The hardest bit for me was trying to find components which didn't light up in every sort of RGB. I'm really not sure why it's so popular to have computer parts doing a lightshow.
Even after spending ages trying to avoid it, turns out my motherboard has some tiny internal standby-power light which glows in RGB, even when the bloody PC is shut down. WHY?

https://i.imgur.com/osGRnuD.png

[randomlegend]

Definitely but oh well.

Can RGB not be turned off on components which have it?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15cHPjfOsDY

That is by far my luckiest but also my best putt on the game.

I have no idea how people can play on Sim (daily tournament) on a regular basis. The game tells you NOTHING other than distance to the flag and wind direction but not speed.

[Pepe]

Just suck your finger and stick it up there mate.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Not sure how a finger up my arse will help with wind speed but I'll give it a go, cheers.

[Ian]

Depends which wind you mean.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FwgcrzlXwCI4DNV?format=jpg

On for my best result yet in a daily tournament. It was not on Sim difficulty though so no finger up my arse yet to judge for wind speed.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43iDMCRmTyw

That might be my favourite shot thus far. I don't think I've ever just casually dropped a ball right into a hole (oioi).

[phonics]

I could legitimately runaround my room screaming rn

https://i.imgur.com/URgdbGb.png

[Shindig]

Congrats. Were those matches close or was it never in doubt?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cash prize?

How much we talking?

[phonics]

Congrats. Were those matches close or was it never in doubt?

Lost the first series vs the same person and then came back from Losers bracket. They were really cheesy (basically all-out aggression that if it fails, they lose) so I did it back to them and they couldn't handle it.

For example here is a picture of me building my entire base outside their base as revenge for the previous series

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/985783868810473522/1109906835068170290/image.png


Cash prize?

How much we talking?

This got me the points that I'll prob finish top 3 which gets me high seeding in the season ender cash prize tournament which is like 500 bucks or so.

[Shindig]

Cool. Best of luck.

[Pepe]

Phonics :cool:

[phonics]

Phonics :cool:

It's pathetic that 24 hours later I've thought about it multiple times.

[Pepe]

Nothing pathetic about that. Enjoy your victories, however small they might seem.

[Baz]

Anyone still playing Marvel Midnight Suns? Ian Sir Andy Mahowry

https://i.imgur.com/qc94LsI.png

V4TM78NYVT

[Gray Fox]

Metal Gear Solid coming to PS5 including a remaster/remake of Snake Eater.

Take all of my money ever.

[Mike]

Yes!

[Gray Fox]

They've also done a deal with Konami to get 1, 2 and 3 back on the Playstation store for autumn.

[Shindig]

Bungie's back doing what matters: Marathon.

[Gray Fox]

They also announced a new portable playstation device, which looks funky but apparently allows you to play any PS5 game over WiFi.

https://culturedvultures.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image_2023-05-24_220042040.jpg

[Ian]

Anyone still playing Marvel Midnight Suns? Ian Sir Andy Mahowry

https://i.imgur.com/qc94LsI.png

V4TM78NYVT

I won't be going back to it any time soon so if Mahow is he's welcome to the code first. Cheers. :thbup:

[phonics]

Need a 2nd place finish to clinch season qualification and boys, am I working the refs to get a better bracket position lemme tell ya.

[phonics]

Dead fucking last. I want to die.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Shambles.

[Dark Soldier]

The Dortmund of Starcraft.

[phonics]

Nah I got 2 weeks more. Todays results puts me on 170 points, Santy on 180 and Millka on 225.

https://i.imgur.com/ZEeZ41Q.png

I just need to finish top 8 to qualify but still very demoralising.

[Shindig]

Warhammer 40K: Boltgun was pretty fun to blast through. It's come at the right time whilst I'm on a boomer shooter kick but it's got some really punchy weapons and smart, chaotic encounter design.

[Mazuuurk]

For lack of anything to play now I went into Scarlet Nexus.

It really is very odd. Fun combat but feels kind of like a mobile game or something - quite simplistic and drab.

[Mazuuurk]

Play 2v2's with me Maz.

Would fucking love to. But I don't have a PC anymore :(

[Ian]

Listen up, nerds who also like XCOM type things: play Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters. Shit, overlong name, great game.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I shall get on it. Thanks.

[hfswjyr]

Wow, I'm not sure they could make it look more like XCOM if they tried. The loadout screen looks like it's a XCOM skin.

Shardpunk Verminfall is another one for those who like that style of game.

[Ian]

It's very XCOM though I'd say it has a bit more aggression akin to Gears Tactics (without being as slick as that) baked into the combat.

Shardpunk is on my steam wishlist.

[phonics]

Its much harder. Great game though.

[Dark Soldier]

Diablo 4 is a fucking banger

[Mazuuurk]

Whats the deal with Diablo 4? It says it's out 6th, but you can already play it, or?

[Dark Soldier]

Whats the deal with Diablo 4? It says it's out 6th, but you can already play it, or?

With the Deluxe or Ultimate edition you get four days early access. Xbox versions are way cheaper on CDKeys so got mine from there.

[Mazuuurk]

Aha! Well, it's out tomorrow anyway. I need to finish this Scarlet Nexus and then I'm getting on Diablo fo sho.

[SincereTheRebel]

Metal Gear Solid coming to PS5 including a remaster/remake of Snake Eater.

Take all of my money ever.

:joy:

[Dark Soldier]

Have until next Tuesday off, been off since last Thursday.

So ordered a 1tb usb drive, and now set the Xbox up with a GUI for emulation and filled that drive with everything I could from NES to PS2,, including PSP, PS1, Gamecube, Wii etc.

Emu works so so well on dev mode, and it's the ultimate machine for it.

Left 360 emulation as its not that good right now, and secondly what is the point.

[Shindig]

That Lies of P demo is out. Too on the nose for a souls like. Not sure there’s much else to it.

[Dark Soldier]

Have until next Tuesday off, been off since last Thursday.

So ordered a 1tb usb drive, and now set the Xbox up with a GUI for emulation and filled that drive with everything I could from NES to PS2,, including PSP, PS1, Gamecube, Wii etc.

Emu works so so well on dev mode, and it's the ultimate machine for it.

Left 360 emulation as its not that good right now, and secondly what is the point.

And three days later after a load of troubleshooting, wanting to cunt the xbox out the window and spending three hours manually adding missing artwork...ITS ALIVE.

Sorry about the vid quality, can't record in Dev mode. Everything up to PS2/Wii, bar 3DS as can't emu that.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arcFIXd_p2g

[Shindig]

If I ever get into the situation where my work machine ends up permanently in my possession, I'm thinking about turning it into an emulation machine.

[Adramelch]

Diablo 4 is a fucking banger

Been having so much fun with it and I'm not the biggest fan of dungeon crawlers.

Story-wise I thought Lilith was a very well-written villain, as opposed to the player character being very one-dimensional.

[Baz]

Diablo 4 is a fucking banger
Is it good on console? I don’t have the time to play on computer but if it’s on my Xbox I might.

I shouldn’t though. I really wanna play through Baldurs Gate.

Why can’t I just win the lottery and be a house husband ffs.

[phonics]

You can play on console but personally I find Diablo games a fucking drag if you're not playing with people.

[Shindig]

Just have some podcasts lined up. You'll be fine.

[Dark Soldier]

Baz you don't really like any good games so don't buy it

[Baz]

Baz you don't really like any good games so don't buy it

Did you play Diablo Immortal?

[Dark Soldier]

Lol no

[Baz]

Oh. Cos that was awesome.

From what I gather, this is like a souped up version of that.

[Adramelch]

I would also argue it's designed for consoles first, as evidenced by the distinct lack of any sort of search functions.

In any case I'd say you'll probably get your money's worth even if all you do is the campaign (and a bit of side stuff so you don't end up underlevelled for the latter parts of the campaign).

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just ordered Diablo 4 on my PS5.

I better like it.

Edit: Didn't play much tonight as I spent ages picking my class and making my character. Early impressions are good though and that intro cinematic was lovely.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah it's banging.

Played a bit more today and I'm now up to level 12. Died for the first time at the hands The Butcher who absolutely fucking destroyed me.

Absolutely laughable with the ease at which he donned me senseless.

[Adramelch]

Yeah I had a similar experience with an early Butcher. Your build hasn't come online at that point yet he's at full strength.

I reckon if I had to sum it up, the game is great for the average player but a bit lacking for the minmaxers.

[Mazuuurk]

I'm on the Diablo train and playing as a Necromancer, I have the idea of being sort of a melee fighter that heals by whatever blood magic spells you can. It works well against minions because of Blood surge but not so much against bosses so far (although I'm able to kill anyone on the same level.

[Adramelch]

I went for a Rogue just for mobility and it's quite strong as it turns out, albeit very very squishy. Sort of fits the theme of an agile class surviving by always moving and avoiding hits rather than actual survivability I guess.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm on the Diablo train and playing as a Necromancer, I have the idea of being sort of a melee fighter that heals by whatever blood magic spells you can. It works well against minions because of Blood surge but not so much against bosses so far (although I'm able to kill anyone on the same level.

Necro boyz :cool:

I'm level 18 spamming bone spear and corpse explosion.

[Shindig]

My PC is where most of my backlog lives now so I've decided to make serious inroads into the Master Chief Collection. I quite like how they touched up Halo Anniversary Edition. I don't think there's a more satisfying pistol in gaming.

[Baz]

Deagle in Counter-Strike Source, surely.

I've not played Halo though.

[Shindig]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0TiPKn_Mpc

I don't think I've ever played CS (I was more a Team Fortress bloke) but that looks pretty tight.

[phonics]

I could and will make a great list of best pistols.

[Gray Fox]

The golden gun(assuming that counts as a pistol?) and the CoD4 desert eagle come to my mind other than the Halo pistol.

[phonics]

Nah I got 2 weeks more. Todays results puts me on 170 points, Santy on 180 and Millka on 225.

https://i.imgur.com/ZEeZ41Q.png

I just need to finish top 8 to qualify but still very demoralising.

So... I qualified... and then this happened.

https://i.imgur.com/KE4Ct2G.png

I beat the best guy in the league to get to the finals. I was miles ahead in game 6 to win the series 4-2 and an incredibly basic fuck up lost me the game. Devestating.

[Shindig]

Oof. Still, second's alright. Do you get a payday out of that?

Also, I've finished Halo. That escape sequence was a bit tight. Also, fuck the Flood. Still gets me wishing Marathon was going to be a single-player campaign thing. I do like Bungie's brand of space bollocks.

[phonics]

No this was the qualifier for the payday. 4 seasonal tournaments and the winner of each one goes into a prize tournament.

[Pepe]

No double elimination? That sucks. At least you know you can do it.

[Mazuuurk]

Necro boyz :cool:

I'm level 18 spamming bone spear and corpse explosion.

I'm at level 36 now, and still haven't left Fractured Peaks. As I'm usually something of a completionist when it comes to RPGs, so Diablo breaks my brain a bit in that everything respawns all the time. It's hard for me to resist a dungeon or an event when I come across it even if I've been down it before.

My build now is basically all the Blood skills. I did use Bone Spear a lot but replaced it with Blood Lance recently to maximise Overpowering and Blood Orb drops, basically. So long as I remember to run around and pick up all the blood orbs I generate, my character is pretty unkillable (unless I get stunned and hit with some really powerful attacks).

I sacrificed all my skeletons, and just run around with a Blood Golem that helps out a bit.



It's all pretty fun, but I can't help but feel Necromancer is maybe not the best choice for the Campaign lore-wise, as you are basically the same as what you are fighting the whole time. But I also think I might have gotten just a little too far into the campaign now to start with a new character... And I can't figure what that would be anyway, but probably Barbarian.

[SincereTheRebel]

So ive downloaded the new f1 23 which is more of the same. I really need to stop doing this.

[Adramelch]

I'm at level 36 now, and still haven't left Fractured Peaks. As I'm usually something of a completionist when it comes to RPGs, so Diablo breaks my brain a bit in that everything respawns all the time. It's hard for me to resist a dungeon or an event when I come across it even if I've been down it before.

My build now is basically all the Blood skills. I did use Bone Spear a lot but replaced it with Blood Lance recently to maximise Overpowering and Blood Orb drops, basically. So long as I remember to run around and pick up all the blood orbs I generate, my character is pretty unkillable (unless I get stunned and hit with some really powerful attacks).

I sacrificed all my skeletons, and just run around with a Blood Golem that helps out a bit.

It's all pretty fun, but I can't help but feel Necromancer is maybe not the best choice for the Campaign lore-wise, as you are basically the same as what you are fighting the whole time. But I also think I might have gotten just a little too far into the campaign now to start with a new character... And I can't figure what that would be anyway, but probably Barbarian.

For what it's worth, finishing the campaign in one character lets you skip it on alts, but I guess that all depends on what you want to do with the game as a whole.

[Mazuuurk]

What can/do you do after the Campaign?

[Adramelch]

What can/do you do after the Campaign?

How much mileage you'll get depends on what type of player you are. There's the ones that will level all the way to 100, which is quite the grind and then push nightmare dungeons (basically harder, quasi-infinitely scaling dungeons with affixes etc) and for the more casual player, if I was to guess you'll probably do a few of those and then just play a bit with a couple more systems that open up. Which Act are you at in the campaign?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Here's my lad:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzA2j_aWcAMarud?format=jpg

Changed my skills up to more blood/bone spear and I'm a lot squishier than my previous build but the AOE damage I put out right now is pretty nutty.

Finally completed Act I today, I keep getting side-tracker by smaller missions/cellars/events etc.

[Baz]

It really is Diablo Immortal on steroids.

[Dark Soldier]

Its almost as if Diablo 1, 2 and 3 were a thing before Immortal.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

And it's almost as if Diablo Immortal was a shit game that was made to earn fat stacks of cash.

[Baz]

Did you play it? I played Diablo 3 on release (real money marketplace says hi) but this is looks leagues above it. As did Diablo Immortal, which was insane for a "free" game, that also ran excellently on a phone.

Literally everything you've posted about your Necromancer, I did on Diablo Immortal. From looking into it, it's obviously a lot more vast, but the classes and skill trees are identical.

Looks awesome.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I played Immortal for about 20 minutes, the intro didn't grab me. I only played it on phone, had I played it on PC I probably would have liked it more.

Never played Diablo 1-3.

[Ian]

I love the scale of the bosses in Chaos Gate. I like it when turn based things do this, same with the Gears Tactics final boss.

Also enjoyed that it let me man a crane and swing it into the fucker on the most recent one I did.

[Baz]

I see Wartales is on sale.

https://c.tenor.com/9Szq20BWdMcAAAAC/tenor.gif

[Mazuuurk]

How much mileage you'll get depends on what type of player you are. There's the ones that will level all the way to 100, which is quite the grind and then push nightmare dungeons (basically harder, quasi-infinitely scaling dungeons with affixes etc) and for the more casual player, if I was to guess you'll probably do a few of those and then just play a bit with a couple more systems that open up. Which Act are you at in the campaign?

Just finished Act 1. I'm at level 43 now. I've explored most of Fractured Peaks, but somehow only gotten 13/25 Aspects, even though I'm pretty sure I've gone through all the Dungeons on the map. Actually I'm a little confused as to how the map works because sometimes you see things on it and sometimes not, and it doesn't help you much in saying where you haven't been yet.



Here's my lad:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzA2j_aWcAMarud?format=jpg

Changed my skills up to more blood/bone spear and I'm a lot squishier than my previous build but the AOE damage I put out right now is pretty nutty.

Finally completed Act I today, I keep getting side-tracker by smaller missions/cellars/events etc.

What's your Basic Attack skill? I had the shadow scythe at first which I liked a lot, but it didn't synergise well with my other blood skills so switched to Hemorrhage which is fantastic as it leaves blood orbs everywhere (so if you are squishy that is the way to go tbh). It's just the attack animation is a little meh.

But basically the way my build is done is my attacks Overpower a bit all the time, which makes everything quite fun.

[Mazuuurk]

Also it's a little annoying how the Necromancers always stand around like they have shat their trousers.

[Adramelch]

Cellars will only show on the map when you're in the area. There's also the fringe case where you can see a dungeon or something on the minimap, but it's part of a subzone you haven't discovered yet so it doesn't show on the map. As for the aspects, the dungeon icon will have a little chest-thingy on the bottom right if you haven't done it.

You still have tons left campaign-wise.

My rogue:

https://i.gyazo.com/b6f7a87586548f20f779e9e14e4d9e88.png

[Ian]

I see Wartales is on sale.

https://c.tenor.com/9Szq20BWdMcAAAAC/tenor.gif

I'll be getting to that eventually.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just finished Act 1. I'm at level 43 now. I've explored most of Fractured Peaks, but somehow only gotten 13/25 Aspects, even though I'm pretty sure I've gone through all the Dungeons on the map. Actually I'm a little confused as to how the map works because sometimes you see things on it and sometimes not, and it doesn't help you much in saying where you haven't been yet.




What's your Basic Attack skill? I had the shadow scythe at first which I liked a lot, but it didn't synergise well with my other blood skills so switched to Hemorrhage which is fantastic as it leaves blood orbs everywhere (so if you are squishy that is the way to go tbh). It's just the attack animation is a little meh.

But basically the way my build is done is my attacks Overpower a bit all the time, which makes everything quite fun.

Hemorrhage as well.

The previous build I was using had skeletons as well as mages but the new one only has mages hence the squishiness as I'm targetted more.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Had a really strange bug today:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ3DCCMgs64


They were stuck in the wall and I killed about 6 enemies including an elite. When I stopped to save the video the skeleton managed to teleport through.

[Adramelch]

There's all sorts of mobs stuck like that typically close to Altars of Lilith. My guess is they are meant to spawn when you approach to ambush you, but something is off in the code.

[Mazuuurk]

Hemorrhage as well.

The previous build I was using had skeletons as well as mages but the new one only has mages hence the squishiness as I'm targetted more.

So sacrificing the Mages gives you like 40% more overpower damage which is really nice if you keep finding ways for your attacks to overpower, which is quite easy with a Blood build.

[Baz]

Unfortunately I had the madcap idea that a sealed copy of AEW Fight Forever might end up as a bit of a collectors item, before playing it and realising it is very bad.

So now I have an expensive paperweight that is depreciating in value every week.

https://www.rllmukforum.com/uploads/monthly_2023_06/IMG_0457.jpeg.9dc575a32e971d558ed2319595f95a83.jpe g

:stamford:

[Dark Soldier]

Half the most valuable games out there are shite. If it isn't mass produced and doesn't sell you might make a little profit down the line.

[Shindig]

I don't think Fight Forever would've got that big a print run. As more people switch to digital, the physical stuff might be considered more collectible.

The only things I've got of any value seem to be Gamecube games and Yakuza 2.

[phonics]

Expecting a game in the digital age to be a collectors item :D

[Shindig]

Careful. Baz owns a couple of NFT's.

I have no idea what nerds will be putting on their shelves in 10 years time but they will be putting something on it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He also owns a lot of AEW dolls, including his favourite Brandi Rhodes.

[Trancemeister]

Final Fantasy 16 could be a contender for game of the year.

[Lofty]

I am enjoying Aliens: Dark Descent. It's not perfect by a long shot but it has nailed the sweaty terror of the movement sensor going haywire as something comes and your marines are hanging together by a thread with mininum ammo.

My main criticism of it is the stress mechanic could be tweaked. In an ideal world it would have been an XCOM clone but to be fair that would eliminate the tense atmosphere.

[Ian]

In an ideal world it would have been an XCOM clone but to be fair that would eliminate the tense atmosphere.

They possibly could have gone for something like Mutant Year Zero where it's free movement between fights then it goes turn based once you engage / are engaged.

Or do the fights have enough of a frantic "fighting a swarm" feel that'd be lost if you made it turn based?

[Shindig]

I keep toying with getting X-Com again but I just don't know if I've got the stomach (and brains) for it.

I did pick up Atari 50 during the steam sale and that's giving me a nostalgia trip I never expected. I wish there was more interviews in that thing. Get as much out of these old men before they die.

[Baz]

Tempted to get WoW back cos it seems there’s a new classic Classic or something. Basically levelling 1-60 is the bessssst.

[Lofty]

They possibly could have gone for something like Mutant Year Zero where it's free movement between fights then it goes turn based once you engage / are engaged.

Or do the fights have enough of a frantic "fighting a swarm" feel that'd be lost if you made it turn based?

They are frantic and a core game mechanic is retreating whilst firing: you have special abilities that consume command points you can use such as suppressing fire, grenades, shotguns etc. And time slows down whilst you use the menu to select them. When a xenomorph gets into close combat with your squad though it fucks them right up with it's rapid movement, deals loads of damage (not unlike that scene in Covenant where they are in the field getting ripped apart) and of course, the cunts bleed acid all over your lads when dispatched.

I just had a session where I was too far into a mission to emergency extract my squad (in my eyes anyway) so I pushed on, got to the end of a hairy set piece and one of my squad of 4 was downed but not dead. So now I spend ages negotiating fights and avoiding problems carrying my unconcious marine everywhere, must have been carrying that fucker for half an hour. Even survived one of my other marines getting facehugged due to having a tool to remove them I researched. Then I walked into the wrong room and was discovered, laddo who has been carried everywhere dies in the resulting fight. Next room, a fucking cocooned survivor who, you guessed it, needs carrying :D

At one point earlier in the mission I just welded the squad into a storeroom to avoid two massive groups of cunts patrolling the gaff.

[Shindig]

Went back to Elden Ring to check out the raytracing patch. Oof. We're just not there yet.

[Adramelch]

Season 1 for Diablo was announced for the 20th and I can't say I am very excited to play it. I started a Divinity 2 playthrough (which reminded me what a banger it is) in preparation for Baldur's Gate 3 and I think I'll just skip Diablo altogether and just stick to that.

[Lofty]

Yeah I was rattling through Diablo until I became aware of the season pass character shenanigans and haven't played it since. Despite enjoying Aliens I have money burning a hole in my pocket for the steam sale, trying to avoid the inevitable pickups that never get played though.

[Adramelch]

I knew beforehand how seasons work, it's just that it doesn't feel different enough to make me want to create a new character. Ooh, new sockets with colors, what a system.

[Ian]

I think from the Steam sale I'll get Spider-Man: Miles Morales but probably not much else. I already have a load of Game Pass stuff I've not got to yet without filling my Steam library like I used to.

[Shindig]

Atari 50 is where I stop. There will be other chances to pick up what I miss.

[Ian]

40K: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters; This Time With Subtitles is DONE. I restarted after realising early doors I'd fundamentally misunderstood a few things it didn't explain very well.

Not a perfect game but a very good one with only one proper gripe and a few minor ones I'd like to see fixed in the sequel they're clearly hoping for from the end of the story.

I like the set piece missions though, with the giant bosses and the final mission is great, making you pick two squads. One to fight the boss and the other to basically act as the rearguard and stop waves of enemies getting into the boss arena. Great stuff.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales next.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is brilliant but it's far too short. Really could have just been a DLC.

[wullie]

I loved it, got me back into the first one as well. The sequel looks like just more of the same but I'll take that

[Ian]

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is brilliant but it's far too short. Really could have just been a DLC.

Yeah a big part of why I waited until a sale as I'd read it's shorter.

I like that in the full sequel they look to have different movesets to allow for the Venom stuff so it's not just cosmetic when you swap.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The combat feels so much smoother for Miles, you can tell they wanted to make it different.

He's more like a lightweight fighter who is dodging a lot. Got some cool powers too.

[Baz]

I can’t find a website about it that isn’t littered with ads right now but my word, MythForce looks class.

[Dan]

Been playing through a bunch of short story driven & puzzle games that have been on GamePass or Games with Gold so figured I may as well give a quick recap.

First up were Coffee Talk & Coffee Talk 2, which are fun little cozy games with not a lot of actual gameplay where you basically just serve a bunch of fantasy weirdos drinks & listen to their problems for a few hours. They did make me want to try tea again (still pretty shit), so I guess it gets bonus points for that.

Moved on to a couple of puzzle games afterwards, starting with The Turing Test, which has been out for probably a decade but I’ve only just decided to play it because that’s about as up to date as I am with all media other than movies these days. There were a couple of puzzles I struggled with because they featured mechanics I didn’t realise existed, but other than that the level of challenge is just right & there’s a decent enough story behind it (by puzzle game standards at least).

Went on to Hoa after that as it was going free last month. Only a short game & not as challenging - probably more of a puzzle platformer for kids than a proper brain melter - but it’s got some charm & there are couple of bits towards the end that were pretty neat.

Back to the narrative games & we come to Opus: Echo of Starsong, which is kinda like Tomb Raider if it was an anime movie set in space. I’d started Haven a few months back but gave up on it before it left GamePass as it was getting a bit repetitive, but this gave me similar vibes & the story hits me in the right places despite not really being that great.

Almost up to date now as we get to the last week, which started with Gone Home, which is a walking sim where you come back from holiday & explore your house for a few hours to figure out where everyone else has fucked off to. Kept dropping little hints that it was going to fuck the whole thing up in the final act but they managed to stay away from the potential implosion, which was a relief.

Lastly, I’ve played through Tell Me Why over the last few days, which is a choices matter type game from the people who did Life is Strange, which I’ve never played. It’s pretty good, but maybe a touch overrated because of the themes it focuses on. The story is a blend of fantasy, supernatural & gritty reality, which feels like a bit of a strange combo, but it has some nice moments & as with all these games you’re probably going to end up with a story that satisfies you as you have a hand in shaping it. Having said that, the option I picked for the last important choice of the game is apparently a 0% selected option which I refuse to believe is correct as the other choice makes way less sense despite being more convenient.

—

I have a few more similar games on the list - As Dusk Falls, Oxenfree, Dordogne & Planet of Lana, plus Qube 2, Superliminal, The Witness & Quantum Conundrum on the puzzle side, but I’m also looking at a few actual games in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Nier: Automata, Hi-Fi Rush & Disco Elysium, the last of which will surely please Ian

Might try to clear a few more of the short ones before the end of the month & then move on to the actual games.

[Ian]

Gone Home is great. You should give Firewatch a go aaaaand... the spaceship one. Tacoma (I googled Gone Home in space. :D)

And yes Disco Elysium is the best and only bad people don't like it.

[Dan]

Yeah, Firewatch is on the list. I’d forgotten about Tacoma but will add that on too

[Dan]

Got through Dordogne in one sitting last night. Really nice art style & I liked making poems at the end of each chapter, but I’m apparently the worst kayaker in the world.

It reminds a bit me of the movie Aftersun - young girl looks back on that nice holiday they had with their Dad 20 years ago versus young girl looks back on that nice holiday that had with their Nan 20 years ago - but with less things being fucked up under the surface & more amnesia.

It did kinda fall into the hole that Gone Home avoided & Tell Me Why didn’t though.
It’s all ‘let’s have a lovely time exploring in the sun’ & then in the last 15% of the game you can breathe underwater & you’re best mates with a dragon

[thommo]

+1 for Firewatch being great. Absolutely loved the vibe in that game.

I actually downloaded Dordogne the other day, going to play through it soon.

[Ian]

I just finished Miles Morales. Really is short, eh. But while that makes me glad I got it on sale I really don't mind a game like this being that length. It had a good story and some quality missions / set pieces and it just felt like a bit of a remix of the original/main game, in a good way.

Hope it's not too long before the sequel ends up on PC but I guess it'll probably be a couple of years.

[Dark Soldier]

Starting Remnant 2. Loved the first, looking forward to getting stuck into it this weekend.

[Shindig]

I wanted to get into the first game but doing it solo just wasn't happening.

[Dark Soldier]

It is hard solo but doable. I ran through it solo first then in co op. Co op really brings it to life mate if you get the chance.

[phonics]

Yeah sadly I'll have to hold off as we enjoyed the CoOp so much last time.

[phonics]

Remnant 2 go 12 minutes without freezing challenge [IMPOSSIBLE]

[Ian]

For anybody who already knows they're getting Baldur's Gate 3 on Thursday if you buy it before official release you'll get the deluxe edition too.

Not that I know what's in the deluxe edition but whatever.

[phonics]

Thanks to the devaluing of the pound it seems I bought the Early Access version on Nov 7 2020 for two pound fifty less than the deluxe version currently costs so I'm delighted by the profit I've made on this deal.

[Baz]

For anybody who already knows they're getting Baldur's Gate 3 on Thursday if you buy it before official release you'll get the deluxe edition too.

Not that I know what's in the deluxe edition but whatever.No Xbox version yet also apparently means no Xbox Deluxe version ever, which in turn means a sad Baz.

[phonics]

That they'll have a splitscreen version on launch for the consoles is such a game changer if I was a console player.

[phonics]

My guy

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/1137097087796920371/image.png

And my mate:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/1137136113182589009/image.png

What a game

[Adramelch]

Granted I knew I would enjoy it a lot since Divinity 2 is one of my all-time favourite games, but they've done a stellar job so far (10 hours-ish in). Not to mention how bug-free the game is. I went with an Origin character (Karlach) rather than custom. The one time I played custom in Divinity 2, it felt like a bit of a lesser experience, so I thought I'd stay away from it this time around.

[Ian]

So I went custom this time because while Origin was objectively the better choice for DOS2 I read that question being put to Swen from Larian if that was the case here and his recommendation was to go custom and experience the Origin stories as squadmates.

If I did another playthrough I'll 100% be going Dark Urge.

Currently I'm doing Dragonbord druid and it's good fun so far. Not sure the D&Dness of it adds much that I'd miss if we'd just got DOS3 instead but needs must.

[Adramelch]

Yeah I'm expecting more playthroughs anyway (I think I did maybe 4 in DOS2?) so it wasn't that important a decision in fairness.

[Shindig]

My parents found my copy of Sega Rally Championship. I'm sure this will get on great with Windows 10.

EDIT: Well, shut me up. Works fine out the box.

[Adramelch]

Not sure the D&Dness of it adds much that I'd miss if we'd just got DOS3 instead but needs must.

I was of a similar opinion in the first few hours, but now that I'm deeper in the game I'd say it adds a lot. And I would imagine it adds a whole lot more in co-op games.

[Ian]

I think I'm just learning to deal with it rather than particularly deciding it's good for a video game. I think "lol I rolled four crit fails on successive rolls with advantage" would have more bants potential in IRL D&D than it does when a game just gives you the old XCOM Fuck You In Particular.

[randomlegend]

Just started Baldur's Gate and so happy to find it very much has the DOS feel.

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/bc245daeb98aa0fc363ccd3b3f3b46c9.png

From the hotfix that just went live. Game is saved.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Customizable dicks has me wanting the game.

Do I need to have played the previous games?

[randomlegend]

As someone else who hasn't played the previous games, it weirdly hadn't even occurred to me that it might be an issue until I read your post.

Having started playing it now I would say you absolutely don't need to have played the others.

[Shindig]

Cyberpunk had the same problem with clipping cocks. Seems a bit of a dumb thing to add unless they've got ridiculous cock and ball physics. Like DOA's daft tit wobbles.

[Ian]

Customizable dicks has me wanting the game.

Do I need to have played the previous games?

Nope.

Those who have will obviously get some of the lore and I believe there are some side characters who reappear but your character isn't meant to know them or anything so far as I'm aware.

[Mazuuurk]

Anyone else playing Final Fantasy 16?

It's pretty good so far.

[Trancemeister]

Anyone else playing Final Fantasy 16?

It's pretty good so far.

On New game+ about to finish it again.

[Shindig]

Well, I guess I now own the N64 version of Quake 2. Thanks, Nightdive. Nice to see Quake 2 getting ported to a different engine with a few bells and whistles. I want to download it just to read the design doc they've managed to scan into the extras menu.

[phonics]

The group continues on

https://i.imgur.com/GxhnyBQ.png

This picture taken shortly after the group got an achievement for beating said boss without the blindingly obvious cheese that we became aware of the moment the achievement popped up.

[Gray Fox]

Bought a game called Thronefall on Steam. Decent little minimalist tower defence style game.

You're a King and your Kingdom is under threat each night. During the day you build up your Kingdom by spending gold. You choose between spending it on things that will increase your income, or things that will increase your defences. Each night a wave of enemies will attack and you must fight them off. You ride around on a little horse too so you can get involved.

If they destroy your castle, you lose. Assuming you survive the night, you collect up all the gold you earned from your buildings/killing and prepare for the next night. It's in early access title right now but it's a fun little time killer. Can't complain for less than £6.

[phonics]

Currently having an existential cris with my big titty goth girlfriend.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1136735001623400478/1140396301616423032/image.png

[Mazuuurk]

On New game+ about to finish it again.

Awesome, what you reckon? I like the characters, story and the combat mechanics but it does feel like the game lacks a little polish - they could have varied the enemies a little more.

"And now - you're in a SWAMP! So here's SWAMP-SCORPIONS! Oh wait, now you're in a forest, so here are FOREST-SCORPIONS!"

[Trancemeister]

Awesome, what you reckon? I like the characters, story and the combat mechanics but it does feel like the game lacks a little polish - they could have varied the enemies a little more.

"And now - you're in a SWAMP! So here's SWAMP-SCORPIONS! Oh wait, now you're in a forest, so here are FOREST-SCORPIONS!"

Loved the story but didn't connect to any of the characters that much. Some of boss fights are epic as fuck. Most annoyed with the sidequest, those are mostly boring as hell, run to person A then to person B & C and then back to A, Sidequest complete.
Found out I'd been using the wrong ability on one the eikons troughout both first gameplay and new game+. That was a bit lol.

[Gray Fox]

As mentioned previously I've held off on buying an emulation machine as the Mrs wanted something held back for a birthday present. Well it's on the horizon and I'm looking at a couple.

I'm not wanting to dive into the near £200 ones until I know I'll actually use one much, so my budget is £100 or less. I'm looking at the Miyoo Mini+ and Anbernic RG35XX.

For a little more there is the horizontal types of the Retroid Pocket 2S and Powkiddy X55. I'm guessing not, but was wondering if anyone here had one? Common sense says I should probably get the cheapest then go from there.

[Dark Soldier]

As mentioned previously I've held off on buying an emulation machine as the Mrs wanted something held back for a birthday present. Well it's on the horizon and I'm looking at a couple.

I'm not wanting to dive into the near £200 ones until I know I'll actually use one much, so my budget is £100 or less. I'm looking at the Miyoo Mini+ and Anbernic RG35XX.

For a little more there is the horizontal types of the Retroid Pocket 2S and Powkiddy X55. I'm guessing not, but was wondering if anyone here had one? Common sense says I should probably get the cheapest then go from there.

I forgot you still wanted one. Literally sold mine for sale price, with my custom sd card loaded with insane romsets I'd spent hours doing the other week..

It's a cracking thing but it reminded me I don't like handhelds, never have.

[Gray Fox]

No worries.

I'm only after entry level for now. I reckon I'd be like you and be bored of it or annoyed with it quickly.

[Gray Fox]

I think I'll just go for the Anbernic RG35XX for now.

I actually think the form factor of the PowKiddy X55 suits best and it is likely the best deal. It comes it at $90(£71 or so) and ships free, but it's coming from China and fuck knows when.
The Retroid Pocket 2S has similar issues. It's their newest release and still shows as pre-order when it supposedly came out 3 weeks ago. $99(£77ish) so it's still on the money, however on Reddit people are only just starting to receive pre-orders. So it would be guesswork as to when I got it.

The higher price and better performers in the Pocket 3+ and the RG353M/405M seem great, but we're still not quite at the level of coverage I'd like. Once we can tick off all N64 and Gamecube games(for not crazy money), we're talking. So it seems a waste to jump in at this price point.

The RG35XX is the only one listed on Amazon without a significant markup for the trouble. To pay £63 and have it next day and with proper coverage, seems like a no-brainer. Should I get it and fall in love with all things retro however, then I could play the waiting game for someone to give an upgrade on the T618 chipset that's in most of the top dogs right now.

[Baz]

I think I'll just go for the Anbernic RG35XX for now.

I actually think the form factor of the PowKiddy X55 suits best and it is likely the best deal. It comes it at $90(£71 or so) and ships free, but it's coming from China and fuck knows when.
The Retroid Pocket 2S has similar issues. It's their newest release and still shows as pre-order when it supposedly came out 3 weeks ago. $99(£77ish) so it's still on the money, however on Reddit people are only just starting to receive pre-orders. So it would be guesswork as to when I got it.

The higher price and better performers in the Pocket 3+ and the RG353M/405M seem great, but we're still not quite at the level of coverage I'd like. Once we can tick off all N64 and Gamecube games(for not crazy money), we're talking. So it seems a waste to jump in at this price point.

The RG35XX is the only one listed on Amazon without a significant markup for the trouble. To pay £63 and have it next day and with proper coverage, seems like a no-brainer. Should I get it and fall in love with all things retro however, then I could play the waiting game for someone to give an upgrade on the T618 chipset that's in most of the top dogs right now.

Someone on rllmuk is selling an RG35XX plus 128 GB SD card for £45 delivered: https://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/332131-fs-rg35xx-with-128gb-sandisk-sd-card-£45-delivered/

[Mazuuurk]

Loved the story but didn't connect to any of the characters that much. Some of boss fights are epic as fuck. Most annoyed with the sidequest, those are mostly boring as hell, run to person A then to person B & C and then back to A, Sidequest complete.
Found out I'd been using the wrong ability on one the eikons troughout both first gameplay and new game+. That was a bit lol.


Yeah the side quests are quite boring.

Wait, what abilities are you supposed to use?

[Ian]

Great reviews for Shadow Gambit (by the Shadow Tactics / Desperados 3) guys so once I'm done with Baldurs Gate 3 being underwhelmed by Starfield may have to wait.

[Dark Soldier]

I've been playing Ratchet and Clank, the PS5 one. Its great fun. Easy as fuck, brainless. Looks absolutely fucking gorgeous. Exactly what I needed.

Can't be arsed doing all the side stuff for cosmetics etc, but the main story zips by and the weapons as ever are just stupid fun.

[Shindig]

I probably should pick that up. That and Returnal must be cheap as chips now.

[Dark Soldier]

They're both absolutely amazing games. I prefer Returnal on PC for accuracy but its equally class.

[Adramelch]

While BG3's music is generally really good, I'd say it's probably not up to the Divinity 2 (incredibly high) standards. That said:

The music for the Raphael fight is among the best I've heard in gaming.

[Gray Fox]

Someone on rllmuk is selling an RG35XX plus 128 GB SD card for £45 delivered: https://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/332131-fs-rg35xx-with-128gb-sandisk-sd-card-£45-delivered/

Cheers Baz.

Having done some more digging, the likes of the RP3+ and RG405M etc are alright options, however as mentioned they don't quite get to Gamecube yet. Given you're stumping up £170+ for one(the RG405m is £220 on Amazon if you want protection on it), that's a lot.

In my digging I found something called the Ayn Odin Lite. It's currently $221 including shipping(works out at £175 currently) however it absolutely shits on the previously mentioned options. Both in terms of build and performance. You go from should play most N64 and PS1 and might get some Gamecube, to this thing crushes most any game on Gamecube and can do a good job on most PS2/Wii games. It can even cope with some Switch titles.

The downside to the thing is actually getting it in your hand. They quote a week from ordering to ship it and unless you choose DHL(10ish) you're looking at 20ish days after that to receive.
If you can wait, it's fine, but the bigger issue is being slapped with a customs charge. From checking Reddit there's a big mix of people who avoided any charge at all to those who ended up paying some £60 extra. If you get it at just the price of device and shipping then it's a fantastic deal. If you have to pay import taxes then its another story.

[Baz]

Sounds like it’s worth the risk, if it’s that much better. And you plan to use it, of course.

I’m like DS in that I’ll spend days setting everything up perfectly, play one game of PES, have one match on No Mercy, make me on Here Comes The Pain, and then never touch it again.

[Shindig]

Yep. I had this conversation at work about setting up a thin client as a retro machine. The conclusion I came to was that I already have a PC capable of so much more and I rarely game outside of the house.

[Gray Fox]

It's why I'm sticking to the little one first. See if I actually use the thing. I don't want to commit to a potential £200+ spend for it to gather dust after a couple uses.

[Adramelch]

Finished Baldur's Gate. 135 hours on the counter, though I'd say 10-15 of those might be idling so let's say 120 (for tactician mode at least). One of the best games of the past decade or two no doubt, but I wouldn't say it's the best ever or anything.

The first two acts were actually the best I've played in any game hands down, but I felt the pacing of the third act was all over the place and a big number of the important fights were gimmicky. Divinity 2 also suffered from the exact same problem. I'd say BG3 is a better game overall but not by much.

[randomlegend]

Finished Baldur's Gate. 135 hours on the counter, though I'd say 10-15 of those might be idling so let's say 120. One of the best games of the past decade or two no doubt, but I wouldn't say it's the best ever or anything.

The first two acts were actually the best I've played in any game hands down, but I felt the pacing of the third act was all over the place and a big number of the important fights were gimmicky. Divinity 2 also suffered from the exact same problem. I'd say BG3 is a better game overall but not by much.

Yeah I've read a few places that the third act lets it down. People who played early access say it feels like the first act did when early access first opened and they improved it as time went on. Seen people postulate that they may improve the third act with patches but who knows. Still, "better than DOS2" is a pretty sterling review. I'm only a few hours in.

[Adramelch]

Still, "better than DOS2" is a pretty sterling review.

And it was meant as such. DOS2 is one of my favourite games.

[Gray Fox]

The internet reaction to Baldurs Gate 3 has been funny to see. Fans turning to devs of other games and going look, they managed to release it working great and finished on release day, why can't you? To which devs are replying(and getting shit on for), it's unfair to use this as an expectation going forwards.

[Shindig]

Baldur's Gate 3 has been out (in a fashion) for almost three years. :D

[Ian]

Baldur's Gate 3 has been out (in a fashion) for almost three years. :D

This, plus not many studios being in the situation Larian were at where they've basically been building up to doing this for years and years.

At the stage I'm at BG3 feels very good and probably a bit overhyped. There are things it's definitely better at than Original Sin 2 but I'll reserve judgement as to whether I think it's better.

[randomlegend]

This, plus not many studios being in the situation Larian were at where they've basically been building up to doing this for years and years.


They are only in that situation because of their own excellent work, though. If anything the fact they've built up to this entirely off the success of their other games - which have succeeded purely because they are brilliant games - gives other studios even less of an excuse.

[Ian]

It is a reward for their good work but it's still not as simple as that, certainly from the morons who are pretending like this game proves other developers are lazy or bad at their jobs.

Not every development team gets to work for a boss who's as driven by encouraging and rewarding creative types as Swen Vincke is. Not everybody gets to work in an environment where the thing being done right is more important than being done on time and then allowed to keep working on it after the fact until they've got it into exactly the shape they want it in. Not every dev is allowed to capitalise on the community buy-in (Kickstarter, Early Access, etc.) as Larian do. The studios making this sort of RPG generally don't have Larian's experience, budget, number of staff (which Larian casually doubled or something while making this game) or freedom to work the way Larian have here.

The takeaway here should be that execs and publishers should give creative people the time and space to innovate and hone the things they want to make. Making a game like BG3 (or DOS2, or-) is very hard and requires a lot of time and experience that most people trying to make this sort of thing simply aren't afforded, and the morons driving this discourse just now aren't going to use BG3 as a stick to beat studio / publisher decision-makers with, they're going to use it to hound developers on Twitter who are probably being crunched to death to hit a deadline so they can then be immediately shuffled onto the next thing.

The works of Jason Schreier alone should make it clear how many games which appear in a bad state were basically doomed from the get-go because of disorganisation, confused motivations for making them and people being overworked on stuff they probably didn't want to make in the first place.

Case in point: Redfall, as I was playing a bit of it for the first time last night and reading a bit about it this morning. Arkane have spent years and many games learning to make a particular sort of game extremely well. They wanted to make Dishonored 3, they got told to make a multiplayer thing with microtransactions which doesn't play to any of their strengths, some of that was suddenly stripped out partway through so the shape of the thing changed again and when Microsoft bought out Bethesda there were people at Arkane actively hoping that they'd be allowed to restart Redfall as a single-player game or, if push came to shove, just cancel the thing.

Now there's a lesson there about getting into bed with publishers, but again that's not a lesson for the people on the ground who get the shit when their game plops out into the world and doesn't do well. And I bet half of the people wanking on about this are going to rush out and buy e.g. Starfield if they haven't pre-ordered it already because the people crying about wanting better standards are the same people who continually reward the big developers and publishers for demanding games be rushed out the door on time.

tl;dr: Larian are great, this is a very good game, I would like more RPGs to be made with this much backing and love, a lot of people who play video games understand as much about development as I do about, say, plankton.

[Ian]

And to expand on Redfall a bit: It's super meh. It was very unstable for me but even when it was behaving itself it just feels a very empty, shallow thing. I get new guns regularly and don't care, because I haven't had a remotely challenging fight yet. They make vampires sound scary and safehouses sound important but the very first vampire we fought went down very easily and we just stumbled across our second and third safehouses very quickly. The missions we did felt very "run here and click on a button", and while I quite like the town itself and it's a nice-looking place it doesn't feel like there's anything to do or any threat in traversing it, and even these early level-ups which should be exciting in a game like this I really just don't care. Minor upgrades to skills I never need to use.

The levelling thing is a minor gripe for me about BG3 as well actually, and probably a problem (to me) of adhering to D&D. If I'm only getting a level cap of 12 then it's not ideal that a good chunk of level ups seem to not actually offer you much.

As a counterpoint I finished a co-op replay of Divinity Original Sin on Friday and most level ups feel like you're achieving something tangible, whether it be getting a few more skills at a certain level or equipping a bit of gear you'd been holding onto.

[Adramelch]

Yeah the levelling does feel underwhelming especially for non-spellcasting classes (or rather, uneven, every level where you get an extra feat is massive) and that's not helped by the fancy (and needless in my opinion) screen they have for it. I would be fine with it if the gear was more exciting, but it often isn't. There's a few pieces that are incredible, but I'd have hoped vendors specifically had more exciting gear.

As for this being the standard for RPGs going forward, I think it should be but with the following caveats: a) it should be the standard for triple-A RPGs. Smaller studios shouldn't be expected to put something of that quality out, they simply don't have the resources for that, and b) much like Ian has suggested, it should be the standard for the whole studio (meaning the executives as well, and primarily them), not just aiming it at the devs.

All that said, it should be the golden standard for all gaming in two aspects:
- Publish your game when it's actually ready. That's not to say that everyone should be spending 6 years in development, but if you can't do that then aim lower to begin with. I would be completely fine with a game that's a third of Baldur's Gate's size, as long as it comes out that polished.
- Monetization. Larian are quite clearly going to make a decent chunk of money (as FromSoftware did with Elden Ring), without needing to resort to microtransactions.

[Ian]

A lot of the gear is quite situational too and while there are some I keep (having something with feather fall or misty step on for example is always handy) there are some I know I don't want to be arsed swapping to for certain situations so I just sell them. Or hold into in case Gale gets peckish.

[Trancemeister]

Yeah the side quests are quite boring.

Wait, what abilities are you supposed to use?

The Eikon abilities you use with R2 + square or triangle. I had the wrong one assigned to one of them.

[phonics]

As we get to the beginning of Act 3 the bugs are starting to rack up.

[Adramelch]

Yes, it's definitely less polished. I didn't encounter anything game-breaking (at least nothing that couldn't be fixed with a save+reload), but there were more of them around for sure.

[Mazuuurk]

The Eikon abilities you use with R2 + square or triangle. I had the wrong one assigned to one of them.

Yeah sure but I mean - which ones are the right ones, in your opinion?

[Trancemeister]

Yeah sure but I mean - which ones are the right ones, in your opinion?
Apologies if spoiling.
I had Bahamuts Flare breath assigned instead of Gigaflare. They're quite similiar in animation but Gigaflare is much more powerful. My best set up is Odin - Dancing Steel + Lightning Rod, Shiva - Diamond Dust + Rising Punch, Bahamut - Impulse + Gigaflare.

[Mazuuurk]

Ah right. Don't have access to Odin or Shiva yet but it's kind of obvious you are getting there so no real spoiler.

I did use Flare breath for a while bit it was shiiiite, so now I have the same setup as you. I find Bahamuts Triangle-skill (the one where you have to dodge around with the wings for a million years) a bit shit though as it's so slow to charge.


I do like the Phoenix power-skill that also heals you a bit, especially nice for encountering a large group of minions. Takes ages to recharge though.

[Dark Soldier]

Yas lads mechdeath lets have it

https://i.ibb.co/q5xGN2b/20230822-104353.jpg

[phonics]

Wrestlequest has an absolutely abysmal amount of dialogue > interesting to read ratio. I need to plot through it to get to video gaming.

[Ian]

After a mere 58 hours of Baldurs Gate 3 I am out of act 1!

[Shindig]

Jeff Keighley really needs to invest in some security for his events.

[wullie]

Fancy a look at Wrestlequest and I've found that it's included with a Netflix sub so that's handy, although at the moment it doesn't seem to actually be compatible with my phone because it's too new which is a new one on me.

[Gray Fox]

Details of the Playstation Portal(the thing that looks like a screen between two halves of a PS5 controller) have started to come out and it's not exactly wowing.

It only works over WiFi to connect to a PS5 in the house that's on and running. It's literally just streaming the game to you, no processing is being done by the device. It also doesn't come with bluetooth, so unless your headset/earphones are Playstation Link compatible, they wont work and you must buy their shiny new earbuds.

It's priced at $199(so likely £199 too) but I can't see it being too popular with the way it currently works.

[John Arne]

Sounds like a portable TV :D

Not having Bluetooth seems like a weird move, very-Apple like.

[Shindig]

Basically a £199 second screen.

[Gray Fox]

Basically a £199 second screen.

It's quite annoying as if they saw it like this, its uses could improve. You could have your inventory on display, a map to gaze down at, some secondary tasks on it etc.

[Mike]

https://images.nintendolife.com/084e46fa901fb/1280x720.jpg

[Shindig]

Atari are making a new 2600 and cartridges (https://atari.com/products/atari-2600-plus)

Man, what a turn this company has had. It wasn't that long ago they were trying to sell us hotels and crpyto.