Community MetaSteam | August 2023 - IT'S MECHA TIME!
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Oh yeah same, I’m totally done now with it
At least with prequels I cared enough to be disappointed when it was bad
Now I don’t even care even though most of it is just mid
I watched five minutes of this one lady that did a sickly victorian kid really well, i can't remember her name but it had me howling lol. My partner and i were like hey maybe others will be funny so we tapped in as well and had around the same response as you did LOL.
Yep. Cyberpunk 2077 with RT Overdrive is demanding too but the leap in visuals is obvious. Games like Aveum, FF16, Jedi Survivor and Remnant 2 look nice but not "we have to drop the resolution below 720p to get somewhat playable framerates" nice.
I saw some girl say "Icecream yum yum!" 30 times in a row or something. Felt like Idiocracy unfolding in front of my eyes. I am starting to feel I am getting to the point where I have lost touch with the new hot thing.
Worst thing is, the trend was started by an actually talented actress
First date with NPC
www.youtube.com
And she ain't the one making bank because modern humor is dead.
And I don't mean that there's nothing "funny" about repeating ice cream so good (even if...), but like skibidi toilet or others... how can shitty SFM lolzsorandom become popular when it's just fucking outdated humor from a decade ago?
What next, rage faces making a come back?
I don't think that's it's our generation being disconnected from the rest, and more that culture is stagnating and repeating verbatim the shit parts of internet culture since 2000 or so.
We've seen all those memes, all that "edgy-humor-totally-no-nazi-propaganda-
", all the random noises and images being used, hell, even mobile gaming is just flash games reborn.It's a strange and pretty sad state of affairs, one where videogames are probably quite heraldic in a way, the endless copy/paste is pretty revealing of what's going on on a larger scale, like gamergate was the trial run of the conservative filth.
As someone who pretty much missed the entire 3D platformer era from N64 onwards, never played any of the classic games (Mario 64, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Banjo-Kazooie etc...) and pretty much only trying modern 2D platformer.
I recently started playing Yooka-Laylee and I really like it, but I have one question.
Are "all" the 3D platformer games more of the "open world, collectathon, slightly directionless"-variety, or are there any 3D platformers that are more level based (think classic 2D Mario, 2D Rayman or Donkey Kong Country).
Because I think I prefer a little more direction in my platformers compared to Yooka-Laylee's "here's a world. Do whatever and collect stuff".
I recently started playing Yooka-Laylee and I really like it, but I have one question.
Are "all" the 3D platformer games more of the "open world, collectathon, slightly directionless"-variety, or are there any 3D platformers that are more level based (think classic 2D Mario, 2D Rayman or Donkey Kong Country).
Because I think I prefer a little more direction in my platformers compared to Yooka-Laylee's "here's a world. Do whatever and collect stuff".
The easy answer is Crash Bandicoot. It's basically a 2D platformer but the camera is behind the character. It has standard "you start here, you move forward until you reach the goal" levels but still has some small form of collectables. I singled out Crash because it's easy to get on pc at the moment but even when looking at Mario we have 3D Land and 3D World which also have "linear" stages inspired by 2D titles. 3D Sonic outside of Frontier is made of linear stages (i want to point out I'm not using linear in a strict sense, all of them still feature alternate routes or secrets in the levels). Speaking of indie 3D linear platformer there are Spark the Electric Jester 2 and 3 (the first is 2D)
The longer answer is that Yooka-Laylee stages are honestly awful: massive, sparse, directionless. The basic movement and gameplay is still good but simply comparing it to its predecessor Banjo-Kazooie and you will instantly notice how not only BK worlds are smaller, focused and easy to traverse (a good indicator is how the "coins/notes/feathers" whatever the game uses are part of the "level design" showing players new routes and areas while they're being collected), but despite being smaller they still have more objects/art variation. And of course the same can be said for other "exploration/collectathon " like Mario 64, or speaking of indies A Hat in Time which clearly takes inspiration from them
Someone more qualified could probably go in much bigger detail but tl:dr don't threat YL as the "standard" for the genre because it really isn't. There is a reason why the 2D based sequel is more liked
I don't think the devs jump on the RT/Lumen/Nanite bandwagon because it makes the games look better than the rasterized way (I mean, it does, but not to the extent that'd excuse the performance).
They jump on them because they are way cheaper and faster ways to make games.
Not having to bake the lightning, setting up probes manually, cubemaps placement, etc.
Yooka Laylee is okay, but the levels are just too big and crucially, they lack interconnected parts and the most important aspect: visible other objectives in view - it can mean very small levels like Banjo Kazooie which is still easily my favourite 3D platformer of all time, or much larger ones with landmarks in the distance, that also works (Sonic Frontier tries it and... it's a mixed bag).
You end up running around trying to find content to interact with, which is the worst mistake of any 3D exploration game, things need to catch your eye at a distance and get you wondering what's going on.
Like STHX said, some series are much more linear than others, Crash and Mario 3D Land/World are 3D but not even remotely open, it's short linear courses from point A to point B. If you like how it feels to move around in 3D platformers but you want effectively 2D level design, they are the right choice (though the Crash 1&2 remakes have fucked up physics so I wouldn't really recommend them - unlike the excellent Spyro remakes... which veer progressively into the categories down below).
I would also recommend the Toree games on Steam. Short and cheap. Pac Man World isn't bad but a lot more limited than the truly great ones, I guess the Lucky's Tale games would mostly fit this category, they are smaller... but not quite completely linear, and they are quite good, if simple.
Some classics have open levels, but small ones, with a limited amount of content to do in them, Banjo Kazooie is a must play. Mario 64 fits too, until you reach bad levels like Tick Tock Clock. Those are the "defining" model of the collectathon, but they are also very rare nowadays, outside of the mainline Mario games... and even then, Odyssey is a bloated mess.
Same dev as Toree, Siactro made Super Kiwi 64 and Macbat 64 which are also cool little games. There are some excellent but now pretty much forgotten games that I would put ahead of Mario 64 like Rocket: Robot on Wheels. More recently, Demon Turf has maybe the very best 3D platforming gameplay of all of them. Less interesting levels and world though.
The model "evolved" right on PS1 and N64 with much larger levels, more things to collect, and even levels linked between them.
Banjo Tooie and Donkey Kong 64 first and foremost.
And all those games tend to be vastly inferior to their earlier counterparts, Tooie for example has truly massive levels for the platform... that are mostly empty, in some levels like the mine you can't see any other part of the level than the small corridors you're in, you have to learn new gimmicky skills that you use maybe twice in the new game (and good luck remembering where you have to come back to), and linking levels... meant having to carry an item or a specific transformation into one dedicated spot of another level... which is more running around (slowly) in empty worlds you've already explored normally.
DK64 takes the piss with having you running all over each level as 5 different characters, and you can only change them at specific spots, inane backtracking.
... and the games also had tons of shitty side modes - some minigames are expected, that's nothing new - but Spyro 3 forcing you to play many levels as boring as fuck characters that are not even platforming challenges? That's baaaad.
It also came at an obvious cost on those old machines: performance. All of the later games run significantly worse, sometimes to the single digits.
But let's not forget about the cousin of 3D platformers, the action-platformer.
Some are more one or the other, Jak&Daxter is a pretty good platformer with some side content, then it gets weird and turn more into GTA. Rayman 2 is a timeless classic. Psychonauts 1&2 are great too, more cinematic, more weird, but a bit janky.
Ratchet is great though more of a shooting game, Ty the Tasmanian tiger is also a series I like a lot... and it also gets worse with every game like Crash, Banjo and Spyro did... Kao the Kangaroo is the opposite and got better with time (but considering the latest game modestly called Kao the Kangaroo eats your save every few hours, I can't recommend it and that's the stupidest way to ruin your game).
There's plenty of options anyway.
I'm sure I could come up with tons of recommendations if I put my mind into it, if you want
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I definitely agree games tech is in a weird spot. Diminishing returns hits so hard. I really appreciated the early bump of visual quality RT has provided, but it is really rarely adopted. Armored Core 6 for example has some static environment map reflections indoors which haven't evolved one mote, quite literally, in about 20 years. It's super noticeable. Games are absolutely filled with all these effects which are in effect placeholders until tech evolves until they can be done better with little dev effort.
That we are stuck on the same visual flaws which were disappointing to me 20 years ago is just bleh.
And while it's already supported by AI reconstruction, we're too early to do the AI once overs: a final complete AI pass which would touch up all imperfections rather than just upscaling. Right now I can take a screenshot from a modern game and with some simple processes that take mere seconds create an image that is completely photoreal or having some other style. (Specifically, you can use an AI model to map out every detail of a scene, including pesky hands etc, and then upscale them correctly) This would put an end cap onto the raytracing bump, allowing styles to be truly finalized. The AI tech that would allow this to work temporally hasn't yet even been invented yet, let alone made performant enough for realtime graphics, so we may be longer off from that than I expect...
The part of me that was interested in computer graphics has completely forgotten about games and is now focused on AI, anyways.
Yeah, I was about to reply something similar.
I don't think that RT or new rendering technology in general is the issue. Sure, the leaps forward are less significant than they used to be, but something like Cyberpunk at Overdrive still manages to wow people.
The problem is that most implementation aren't nearly that good -- and that you probably simply can't do anything that impressive when you also still have to target consoles (or any PC which doesn't have at least a higher-end 3000-series RTX card, for that matter). Then when you instead "just" add a few RT effects on top of your existing game you still have a very significant performance impact, but not the visual leap that makes it palatable to most people.
maybe graphically, we reach the oft-lamented diminishing returns.
For me, other things should get more love and where we will see (hopefully) more strides in the future:
Games like Paradox Grand Strategy, X4, Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, Aurora 4X, Minecraft, Factorio, etc. are not "held back" by graphics, but by the tech under the hood, where the things that can happen at the same time or how long a turn takes is the deciding factor on performance. Minecraft, Rimworld, and Factorio modding scope is held back by the tech and impacts on what can happen and how large the mod can be (not the size of the mod on the SSD, but the things on screen or under the hood)
For me, other things should get more love and where we will see (hopefully) more strides in the future:
- Pathfinding
- NPC-AI decision-making (the old-school type of gaming AI, not GPT or all the other current AI Tech)
- faster turns in 4X and Grand Strategy
- better and faster economy simulation
- better performance when doing a buttload of things at the same time (TPS/UPS)
Games like Paradox Grand Strategy, X4, Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, Aurora 4X, Minecraft, Factorio, etc. are not "held back" by graphics, but by the tech under the hood, where the things that can happen at the same time or how long a turn takes is the deciding factor on performance. Minecraft, Rimworld, and Factorio modding scope is held back by the tech and impacts on what can happen and how large the mod can be (not the size of the mod on the SSD, but the things on screen or under the hood)
more interested in AI helping npcs and stuff in games than graphics stuff and more unreal engine
Reminder: Because of Xbox account linking in Windows, Microsoft has a very good idea of exactly how big of a success BG3 is. They were always going to fold
Anyone here played Grime? I like the game so far, but I'm completely lost because I can't seem to find the objects that reveal the map. I'm also aware of at least two areas behind secret corridors that I still need to discover. A quick look at a guide taught me these are optional areas, but again, because my map is completely black and quicktravel between save points doesn't seem to exists, I don't know how to reach them again. I'm only level 14, so I assume I need to do these areas first before going further towards the main objective?
I love discovery in games, but such a complex level design without a map is rather frustrating...
I love discovery in games, but such a complex level design without a map is rather frustrating...
Went ahead and finally preordered the Starfield Premium edition. The fanatical price with the 17% coupon was a really good deal. With the first expansion included and getting to play 5 days early...it was just hard to choose the standard edition over this. Plus you get some stupid skins too.
But yea this is the first time I ever spent more than 60$ on a game. I'm so sorry Metasteam for I have sinned
I have to say the whole "play 5 days early" stuff is really slimey. If a game is ready to release then release it to everyone. I know MS did with some of their other games like Forza and Gears I think...but when its for a game you really really want to play and can't wait for it actually reaches that point of fomo.
5 days is a long time and it starts on a Friday too.
These trash publisher tactics are awful. Feel terrible for contributing to this shit.
But yea this is the first time I ever spent more than 60$ on a game. I'm so sorry Metasteam for I have sinned
I have to say the whole "play 5 days early" stuff is really slimey. If a game is ready to release then release it to everyone. I know MS did with some of their other games like Forza and Gears I think...but when its for a game you really really want to play and can't wait for it actually reaches that point of fomo.
5 days is a long time and it starts on a Friday too.
These trash publisher tactics are awful. Feel terrible for contributing to this shit.
I'll get Starfield on Friday, should be a fun game
I'll get Starfield next year when at least some of the bugs are fixed
Also I'm wondering how good Starfield performs on the Deck.
I didn't bother transferring BG3 to the Deck since the battery life wasn't good at all based on all the benchmarks I saw online. And the genre in general is something I want to do with M/KB.
But with Starfield being optimized for consoles/Series S and overall being a game that has a lot less stuff happening on screen at once compared to BG3....maybe the Deck can push 3-4hrs with it. There is a lot of barren empty planets in the game and just running around those areas will probably keep FPS/battery much more steady (maybe lol). So I wonder if Starfield will be one of those titles you pick up your Deck and land on a empty planet to start building outposts. It would be a good side-way of playing the game while you are afk. And then on PC you do all the other demanding/crazy things with it like story, mods etc.
I didn't bother transferring BG3 to the Deck since the battery life wasn't good at all based on all the benchmarks I saw online. And the genre in general is something I want to do with M/KB.
But with Starfield being optimized for consoles/Series S and overall being a game that has a lot less stuff happening on screen at once compared to BG3....maybe the Deck can push 3-4hrs with it. There is a lot of barren empty planets in the game and just running around those areas will probably keep FPS/battery much more steady (maybe lol). So I wonder if Starfield will be one of those titles you pick up your Deck and land on a empty planet to start building outposts. It would be a good side-way of playing the game while you are afk. And then on PC you do all the other demanding/crazy things with it like story, mods etc.
I am waiting for Starfield coming to Game Pass on Sep 6th. Not going to pay those extra money for a few days even though I am extremely hyped towards it.
I can recommend Psychonauts 1 and 2 and the recent Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart for more story heavy, level based 3D platformer.
And A Hat in Time is just a better Yooka-Laylee if you haven't played that yet.
Nah, Starfield will def push it to 20W or more. I think it will simply be really hard on the Deck's CPU and GPU too, at least in areas where the game has to render large spaces or very densely populated ones,like the city. The aging Zen 2 cores of the Deck, limited to just 10W (never saw them draw more), can't do any wonders there.
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Still playing Baulder Gate, will buy Starfield once Beth sell the Game of the year with all DLC included
Sea of Stars Reviews
Sea of Stars is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 129 critics, with an overall average score of 89. It's ranked in the top 2% of games and recommended by 97% of critics.
opencritic.com
Reviews coming in hot
glad that Sea of Stars is getting good reviews - I have some childhood/adolescent nostalgia for JRPGs, but it seems like Sabotage has made a conscious effort to avoid or at least mitigate most of the things that tend to turn me off from the genre as an adult (grinding, completely menu-driven turn-based battles. lack of gameplay outside combat, etc), so hopefully it clicks for me
I've veen waiting for a "Speed Demons" remake, will this scratch that itch?
I'm case people don't know the game: Speed Demons (1997) - MobyGames
I never heard of this before (or I did and completely forgot about it). Looks very Chrono Trigger, at least in terms of presentation.Sea of Stars Reviews
Sea of Stars is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 129 critics, with an overall average score of 89. It's ranked in the top 2% of games and recommended by 97% of critics.
Reviews coming in hot
It's indeed heavily inspired by CT, they even had Mitsuda composing a few songs for the game
Hero of the Kingdom II is FREE @ GOG
www.gog.com
Hero of the Kingdom II
Sail to the farthest islands to save your sister and defeat pirates. You and your si
See the thing is, for the most part that was not true back in the day.
The likes of Chrono Trigger or Lufia 2 were not very deep combat wise certainly, but they were great adventures with very fast pacing and no reliance at all on grinding (CT being doable 100% in 25 hours is telling), and some of those older games had really great level design, I use Lufia 2 because of how fantastic and constantly reinventing itself with puzzles it managed to be.
We could also talk about Live a Live and how much they tried here, sometimes skipping dialogue entirely in one chapter, or combat, or outright went for a fighting game format.
The very old JRPGs were a treasure trove of ideas and good designs (but not always, of course), with some that deserved to be improved, and some that didn't work so well and rarely appeared after that.
The massively grindy, slow ass games, that forsake all but combat, that came after.
And almost exclusively from the marketing of specific franchises like Final Fantasy which were always the much lesser games... even in its heyday, you play FF and Tales of or Star ocean 2, and you can see which ones consider dungeons, puzzles and thinking outside of the box with unique progression... and which series is a linear corridor with "but muh story" and "watch the cut scenes and like it, making CGI is our thing and we will even write on the box how much we have".
Definitely why I rarely like so much of the "modern" games, when I was young, I didn't play 80h long menial dialogue sessions with shitty combat with autoplay, and no world design to speak of.
Nice Ishtar live wallpaper on that thing
Slicks 'n' Slide was great, I always liked playing that, and the game inspired by it, GeneRally. GR2 is on Steam as well:
Another classic is Remedys Death Rally
and I guess the remake, but I always preferred the original
Steam Strategy Fest is going on. You can claim a FREE sticker everyday from August 28 - September 4:
Amazing reviews. I'll download it free on PS5 tomorrow.Sea of Stars Reviews
Sea of Stars is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 129 critics, with an overall average score of 89. It's ranked in the top 2% of games and recommended by 97% of critics.
Reviews coming in hot
I'm on chapter 4 - day 1 of Trails to Azure and the game is simply regurgitating content at me
Sea of Stars Reviews
Sea of Stars is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 129 critics, with an overall average score of 89. It's ranked in the top 2% of games and recommended by 97% of critics.
Reviews coming in hot
The demo last Next Fest was great so these reviews don't surprise me. I'll squeeze Sea of Stars in between BG3 and Starfield.
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