Community MetaSteam | June 2023 - halfway through the year
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Catching up on an older title that made some waves, namely Plague Tale Innocence.
And boy, this game really does not hide its inspiration. Just in Chapter 3 now and it could hardly be more Last of Us meets Medieval Eurpope during the Black Plague. Though strangely, I like it a lot better so far than I did the Last of Us, but given the name "innocence" I assume the point will be again how our heroes become inhuman monsters themselves, so expecting some disappointment on that front. It already has the dreary writing down pat, even if due to the Eurojank it comes of as unintentionally funny at times.
And boy, this game really does not hide its inspiration. Just in Chapter 3 now and it could hardly be more Last of Us meets Medieval Eurpope during the Black Plague. Though strangely, I like it a lot better so far than I did the Last of Us, but given the name "innocence" I assume the point will be again how our heroes become inhuman monsters themselves, so expecting some disappointment on that front. It already has the dreary writing down pat, even if due to the Eurojank it comes of as unintentionally funny at times.
Still chugging along in Pathfinder WotR. Approaching the endgame now for sure. My characters are friggin unstoppable in most fights that aren't bosses and even some that are. Definitely some tedium setting in on the various bullshit conditions the game has for unlocking endings. Some serious WTF stuff in there if you aren't following a guide. Thankfully Trails has taught me to consult that shit first, so I'm prepared. But how the hell anyone figured this shit out is beyond me.
Also been playing D4 co-op on and off. Hey that's a fun way to kill time with a friend/spouse/person. Good for chit chat and facerolling all over mobs while things explode on screen. The story is kinda mid, but that's to be expected in every Blizzard game now, I guess.
Also been playing D4 co-op on and off. Hey that's a fun way to kill time with a friend/spouse/person. Good for chit chat and facerolling all over mobs while things explode on screen. The story is kinda mid, but that's to be expected in every Blizzard game now, I guess.
Did WotR fix Kingmaker's issue where the saves would grow in size inexorably, reaching hundreds of MBs in late game? I had to use mods to clean them up manually, removing old zones, and it still took forever and a half to save and load.
I have 162 hours in Kingmaker according to Steam... one single playthrough... and while I reached the last "level" (House at the Edge of Time, I believe) , I never finished it, and the technical issues were a big part of that. I'm afraid to even look at WotR if it's anything like Kingmaker.
Companies are looking too long back.
I would like some of them recover some of their PS3 franchises and port it to PC or just make a remaster like some of them will do with Lollipop Chainsaw or Shadows of the damned.
Like Capcom's Lost Planet spin-off E.X. Troopers (I played it via RCPS3 when english patch was released and the game was quite funny), Asura's Wrath, Sega's Goden Axe: Beast Rider, Konami's Hard Corps Uprising, Suda's Short Peace: Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day, Bandai's Toki to Towa/Time & Eternity. Sony's Siren game, etc...
I mean those 16 bit era are great, but I would like devs take a look on Ps2 era or PS360 overlooked games. It's sad the huge number of games are stuck on that console gen without PC port or without the possibility to play them on modern platforms.
The PS360 emulation is nice but it's far to get the original experience.
We are getting 16 bits or old arcade ports since PSX gen, but seems hard to those publishers to release compilations with more modern games. They're always the same games.
Capcom could release tons of nice compilations with the games they released on GCN/PS2: Maximo games, Onimusha saga, clover studio games Viewtiful Joe, Under the skin, Gregory Horror Show, PN03, Killer 07... but not, they're always stuck with the same arcade Capcom System games.
Konami released those two Castlevania compilation but seems impossible to release another volume with those two games released on PS2 or even the Nintendo 64 ones -which I didn't liked but would be nice-
I would like some of them recover some of their PS3 franchises and port it to PC or just make a remaster like some of them will do with Lollipop Chainsaw or Shadows of the damned.
Like Capcom's Lost Planet spin-off E.X. Troopers (I played it via RCPS3 when english patch was released and the game was quite funny), Asura's Wrath, Sega's Goden Axe: Beast Rider, Konami's Hard Corps Uprising, Suda's Short Peace: Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day, Bandai's Toki to Towa/Time & Eternity. Sony's Siren game, etc...
I mean those 16 bit era are great, but I would like devs take a look on Ps2 era or PS360 overlooked games. It's sad the huge number of games are stuck on that console gen without PC port or without the possibility to play them on modern platforms.
The PS360 emulation is nice but it's far to get the original experience.
We are getting 16 bits or old arcade ports since PSX gen, but seems hard to those publishers to release compilations with more modern games. They're always the same games.
Capcom could release tons of nice compilations with the games they released on GCN/PS2: Maximo games, Onimusha saga, clover studio games Viewtiful Joe, Under the skin, Gregory Horror Show, PN03, Killer 07... but not, they're always stuck with the same arcade Capcom System games.
Konami released those two Castlevania compilation but seems impossible to release another volume with those two games released on PS2 or even the Nintendo 64 ones -which I didn't liked but would be nice-
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Today I learned that a game called Brotato is a hit, i laughed way more than i should (Its on the front page of the store)
Steam is a treasure
Steam is a treasure
90s: you get videogame news through friends, department stores and magazine
~fast forward~
2023: you get videogame news through articles, videos, social media and most importantly court proceedings
~fast forward~
2023: you get videogame news through articles, videos, social media and most importantly court proceedings
The Xbox 360 and ps3 era was a dark age for PC gaming. A shit ton of third-party games never made it to PC, and if they did it was months or years later. Red dead redemption, condemned 2, shadows of the damned, lollipop chainsaw, even people had to beg from soft for dark souls 1 to release on PC, the port was famously awful, but it was a hit nonetheless. I'm glad those days are over lol
Won't lie I haven't been looking. Let me check my save folder.
So after looking in there, the saves are increasing in size as I played. But we're talking starting in the range of several thousand KB, to now my near endgame save that is 24+MB. A far, far cry from 100s of MB. So that's a concern that if you did tons of stuff on every map and ballooned up the size, but I've been going and doing most things available to me and these are the results. So, do with that what you will.
Just finished reading through the aftermath and the blow by blow of that hearing, it was insane how much gaming news came out of it.
It was also extremely satisfying seeing the FTC's flimsy case getting absolutely dismantled in real time. All of the whataboutism and bad faith arguments we've been seeing around the acquisition are going to be null and void in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait!
Hearing resumes on Tuesday, which promises to be very spicy: we're getting Nadella, Nintendo, and that prick Kotick on the stand.
Played the trepang2 demo, it is veeeeeery good.
Federal Trade Commission (of the US) v. Microsoft on acquisition of Activision. Many sites are covering it like the Verge
Love me a good video game industry court case.
Only time you’ll see these fuckers answering questions honestly.
Only time you’ll see these fuckers answering questions honestly.
Anyone else want a Stardew Valley clone in the LOTR universe?
Stardew Shire
call me Embracer, you need the projects.
Stardew Shire
call me Embracer, you need the projects.
Optional tabletop game in Sea of Stars 
Unfortunately I'm in a position where 90% of my spendable money has to get saved for a new PC build atm.
So much as I love Musashi, i must resist!
Hey, it's nicely hot here and I'm lightly burned on video games. So I am once again interested in playing board games. With friends I don't have.
I'm a broken record.
I'm a broken record.
I really dig games going back to Y2K aesthetics. I need more!
I've only played a tiny bit, but Fortunes Run might be the real deal
Wait are there people who think the MS/Activision merger is good? The thing this industry needs is MORE consolidation?
Look MS would likely be a better steward of Activision and Blizzard's games than Ol Bobby K, but that's a super short sighted view. They'd just have seen more reasons to keep things exclusive in the long run. Exclusive to streaming, exclusive to Xbox, etc. Giant companies can never be trusted to be pro consumer. They will benefit themselves first, even if Phil Spencer says and does the right things, who knows what happens when his successor comes around in 10 years or whatever and wants to "extract value" or whatever.
IDK what is going to happen but we shouldn't be rooting for giant corporations to get even bigger.
Look MS would likely be a better steward of Activision and Blizzard's games than Ol Bobby K, but that's a super short sighted view. They'd just have seen more reasons to keep things exclusive in the long run. Exclusive to streaming, exclusive to Xbox, etc. Giant companies can never be trusted to be pro consumer. They will benefit themselves first, even if Phil Spencer says and does the right things, who knows what happens when his successor comes around in 10 years or whatever and wants to "extract value" or whatever.
IDK what is going to happen but we shouldn't be rooting for giant corporations to get even bigger.
I’m against consolidation, but Activision is gonna sell. Kotick wants out and the only way he’s going is with a golden parachute.
Who else but MS, Tencent or a Saudi sovereign wealth fund can possibly buy them?
Pick your poison, basically.
As an aside, I don't know how you people could have a day resembling normality. I'm just refreshing my browser every minute at this point.
You're right, but also I don't have to actively cheer it on. The better thing for the games honestly was if it was broken up and sold off piecemeal, but the company makes way too much fucking money to go into bankruptcy.
really its a shame what Kotick has done to that company. So many classic games getting fucked forever.
I have family in Russia since I am a halfu. I've been refreshing every news tab I can since the evening of yesterday.
... but life goes on, and so too must we. In between the news I find time to put the mind at ease by playing this or that, watching streams, etc... No point in making myself sick with nerves or flaring up the ulcerative colitis stressing over things I can't control half a world away.
But I am quite weary and tired out
Just picked up BattleBit, finished Unsighted (will write a review) and just started The Messenger (really good so far, hopefully the later part of ther game is good, but read that a lot of people don't like it when it becomes a metroidvania).
Still have to touch my copy of FF16 (they got me), Diablo 4 and play more of ToTK (only played 3-4 hours so far, but it's fantastic).
Feels good to have summer vacation right now.
Still have to touch my copy of FF16 (they got me), Diablo 4 and play more of ToTK (only played 3-4 hours so far, but it's fantastic).
Feels good to have summer vacation right now.
gotta change "open in client" back to "install steam" until they fix it - this one is fucking the whole thing up
Major issue is that there's way too much useless backtracking in the metroidvania part. But it's still a brilliant game imo, I enjoyed it a lot.
Please let me know if Battlebit is enjoyable without playing in a team with friends.
To me, I don't care if the acquisition goes through. I just want to see all the exposure and drama behind the contacts.
As C-Dub mentioned, ABK wants to sell, and among the very short list of entities with the wherewithal to buy it, Microsoft is pretty much the least bad of all the choices. Tencent? The Saudis?
Consider the following effects of Microsoft picking up ABK:
1) It helps keep MS competitive vs. Sony. Not hamstringing SIE's ability to compete, because even post merger they will remain a pretty clear no. 1. But there would at least be enough wiggle room for Xbox to remain relevant, and retain a respectable amount of market share, thus keeping PlayStation on its toes.
As it is, SIE is getting away with leveraging its market position to secure timed exclusives (which also affects PC customers like us) at minimal cost, because in the event of a day and date launch the majority of customers would be buying the PS5 version anyway. So they have to pay less to get these deals signed.
2. It guarantees a baseline level of profitability for the Xbox division for the foreseeable future. Each division of MS essentially operates independent businesses; if a certain business really shits the bed, it's possible that MS seniors decide to change course entirely. Having ABK around ensures that the Xbox gaming unit gets recurring annual income from CoD (in a non-exclusive capacity, so including Playstation SKU sales), WoW and Candy Crush.
Just to be clear, I'm primarily a Steam/PC customer, and on the console side I historically buy PlayStation and Nintendo consoles (the XSX is my first Xbox). This isnt plastic box BS, but mere pragmatism.
I understand your concern - I lived through Embrace Extend Extinguish, and Games for Windows Live, so I'm well aware of Microsoft's less than sterling reputation. But I am certain that the worst thing that could possibly happen, for all of us, is Sony running entirely uncontested. A competitive Xbox, even just as a foil for Sony, benefits us all.
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Its crazy to me Phil Spencer said that Starfield could have been PS5 exclusive if they didn't buy Bethesda.
Todd Howard really did fleece MS of billions of dollars. And he used Sony to do it too lol.
That 2018 Bethesda E3 conference wound up being such a $$$ grab. Todd briefly teased Starfield and ES6 for the fans with nothing trailers...but backstage he basically did a sales pitch to both Sony and Microsoft. He told them if you want Starfield and ES6...you gotta cough up nearly 8 billion. Sony said no and MS/XBox said yes. And being in giving mood that Bethesda was in they gave the loser timed exclusivity for Deathloop/Ghostwire
It wouldn't surprise me if Square does something similar in the future with Sony. The suits are gonna get a big payday while still continuing to make games for their longtime fans. Its EZ money.
Todd Howard really did fleece MS of billions of dollars. And he used Sony to do it too lol.
That 2018 Bethesda E3 conference wound up being such a $$$ grab. Todd briefly teased Starfield and ES6 for the fans with nothing trailers...but backstage he basically did a sales pitch to both Sony and Microsoft. He told them if you want Starfield and ES6...you gotta cough up nearly 8 billion. Sony said no and MS/XBox said yes. And being in giving mood that Bethesda was in they gave the loser timed exclusivity for Deathloop/Ghostwire
It wouldn't surprise me if Square does something similar in the future with Sony. The suits are gonna get a big payday while still continuing to make games for their longtime fans. Its EZ money.
Not an expert, but like was mentioned it feels like it's mainly raytracing that's driving the Dx12 adoption. Even FROM went with DX12 for ER because they needed to get in on that, only to fart out the most basic RT implementation you could imagine.
Same here.
I had a sliver of hope that they could fix whatever toxic fratboy culture led to the sexual harassment allegations at Acti. But obviously even that is wishful thinking now.
Its disappointing how little the media and gaming communities are talking about those things now. There was some real messed up information that came out in the news for both Activision and Ubisoft. All it took was a couple of gaming hype cycle shows and new releases with some good reviews to basically stop those conversations.
started P3P
I was never the biggest fan of P3, I played P3FES back then and nothing about that game stuck, I enjoyed P4/P4G and P5 a lot more since P3 felt just like "oh well let's go to tartarus", so when I bought it on steam I was gonna replay the game at some point as a "filler".
That said I am surprisingly enjoying the "portable" format. Having the story go on without having to "move around" as much is kinda refreshing.
I was never the biggest fan of P3, I played P3FES back then and nothing about that game stuck, I enjoyed P4/P4G and P5 a lot more since P3 felt just like "oh well let's go to tartarus", so when I bought it on steam I was gonna replay the game at some point as a "filler".
That said I am surprisingly enjoying the "portable" format. Having the story go on without having to "move around" as much is kinda refreshing.
Played a round of Battlebit yesterday and the game is just pure fucking fun, more fun than I've had with any AAA shooters for a long time.
These guys understand what makes Battlefield fun and ran with it.
These guys understand what makes Battlefield fun and ran with it.
So, we have a close family member's birthday coming up and this time we're going for a group gift, so I need some help from the experts.
Do any of you know of any good arcade fight sticks (I think that's the name) and preferably that ships to Europe?
(And if any of you know any good vinyl players that don't go into the super expensive territory, that would be greatly appreciated)
Yes, Metacouncil is my blog and my shopping assistant.
Do any of you know of any good arcade fight sticks (I think that's the name) and preferably that ships to Europe?
(And if any of you know any good vinyl players that don't go into the super expensive territory, that would be greatly appreciated)
Yes, Metacouncil is my blog and my shopping assistant.
Discussion - What are you currently playing? (Week 26 of 2023)
New week, new thread! What are you playing? My leave from Tears of the Kingdom continues as I am trekking through Danganronpa 1 and Gears Tactics. Reached Chapter 4 in the former and Act 2 in the latter. Although in completely different genre, both are really good games that play really well...
metacouncil.com
Even if they'll do something about It, It would take YEARS for things to change. When that kind of shit happens inside of a company its a cultural problem first and foremost, not a one-man problem.
I am slowly finishing P3P on my Deck over the last few weeks (end of December in-game), and the game's quality really is a siginificant step below P4/P5. I finished most Social Links ages ago, so now most non Tartarus-days days are work / go to bed / repeat. Of couse the game was the blueprint for the formula, but P4 and P5 give the player so much more stuff to choose from each day (in the case of P5 you could argue too much).
Oh absolutely. But even if they don't directly perpetuate the problem, Kotick and Yves also enabled it for years by pretending that nothing is wrong. I'm still in disbelief at Kotick's Variety interview.
I (very naively) hoped Microsoft being more "corporate" could at least clean house, until those reports about Alex Kipman came out last year.
It's not a matter of things to do for me it's that P4 had the whole overarching mystery going on and weaved in between you had the smaller character backgrounds explored as you advanced the investigation.
P5 further refined the formula with character arcs tied to the dungeons and a bigger overarching story coming into focus later, the whole party felt like it was slowly building up relationships and getting to know each other.
Every Palace was its own mystery and its own story.
P5S was great too from that PoV for that matter, every Jail felt like a huge adventure (yeah it was a musou but i feel like they adapted the whole persona formula very well).
When I played P3 and then P3Fes I just never had the same feeling, and the same now with P3P (I'm still having fun though like I always did)
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