Community MetaSteam | January 2026 - Midnight BOY in the Big Rally Zone

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  • Any and all credit for the concept of these threads goes to the amazing MRORANGE!
  • And a MASSIVE thank you to Mor who keeps these threads going! :blobhug:

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  • Big thanks for taking part in those monthly threads!

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DuneCrawl

DuneCrawl is an open world action-adventure game where you and up to three friends explore the sandy seas atop a gigantic Crab Crawler. Battle against the jar-headed Vassals, survive hordes of wild bugs, explore oasis islands and delve devious dungeons all to help your fellow Polloi pilgrims win their war against the Ceramicist's invasion!​



StarRupture

Explore a mysterious planet in an ever-changing open world torn by recurring cataclysms. Build a complex industrial system to extract resources, produce goods and expand your base. Fight against hordes of alien monsters to defend your base and survive, alone or with friends.

Explore this vast open world, rich in resources, places and secrets to be found. Discover the beauty of this constantly reborn dangerous world torn apart by repeated cataclysms. Search, mine and process resources to develop your complex industrial system. Unlock new technologies that will allow you and your base to survive the harsh conditions on the planet. The planet will surprise you at every turn. Extreme temperatures are not the only things you'll be challenged with. Get ready to defend yourself, your team and your base from a horde of aggressive alien creatures. Experience and survive everything you encounter on this harsh planet. Do it alone or in a group of up to 4 friends. This world is waiting for you to be discovered.​



Pathologic 3

Pathologic 3 is a psychological horror game where you have only 12 days to save a town from a mysterious plague. You are Daniil Dankovsky: physician, researcher, prodigy. Your research into the nature of death has brought you to this remote town deep in the eastern steppe, looking for a man said to be immortal. But the outbreak of a deadly contagion sweeps through the town. The immortal man is dead. You failed to stop it.

Now you must return to the beginning. Fix your mistakes. Save the town. Every minute counts. Save them all, discover the secrets of immortality... don't go mad in the process. You must separate fact from fiction, and identify the real symptoms. Step by step, you'll get closer to developing a vaccine that could change everything. You will make mistakes, face their consequences, and unlock new decrees. Your actions will shape the town-even if the people grow to hate you for it. Time is your tool for navigating a narrative web filled with moral dilemmas and branching paths. Rewind if you think you could have done better. Keep your eye on your ultimate goal-even if the road there is paved with sacrifices. How far will you go to find the truth? Your mental state directly affects your actions, and even how you interpret events. Falling into apathy or wandering into mania may lead you to new insights... or to your death.​



Quarantine Zone: The Last Check

Quarantine Zone: The Last Check puts you in charge of a critical checkpoint during a zombie outbreak. Armed with advanced screening tools and your own instincts, you must decide who gets through and who stays behind. One wrong choice could let the infection slip past your post. But holding the line is only the beginning. You'll need to manage scarce resources, reinforce defenses, and keep your camp alive as chaos intensifies with each passing day.

Use high-tech tools to uncover signs of infection among the terrified survivors. Identify contraband, forbidden items, and even rare collectables as you work to keep your checkpoint secure. Send those with suspicious symptoms to quarantine for observation, to the lab for additional screening, or save healthy survivors by sending them to the living block. And those who show to be infected… well, they don't stand a chance anyway.

As the survivor population swells, you'll be relied upon to provide essentials such as power, food, and medicine. When the alarms are raised, pilot armed drones to ensure the infected don't breach the compound. The better you manage your ever-expanding base, the more resources, tools, and weapon upgrades you'll unlock.

When a quarantined survivor becomes an undead predator, all is not lost! Keep newly turned zombies confined to harvest and prepare samples in return for new tools, staff XP, and long-term upgrades. Individuals with unknown symptoms can also be analyzed, but these tests are always fatal to the subject. Will you choose to preserve life? Or will you pursue knowledge at any cost?​



Big Hops

You'll play as Hop, a young frog who's been kidnapped from home by a trickster spirit called Diss. He has a mysterious, important mission and needs your help, but you just want to get back to your family... After a bit of searching, a wiry old Raccoon offers to build you a way home if you can find a few Airship Parts. To build your Airship, you'll need to:

  • Infiltrate the Gulley Gang's Hideout at the edge of a vast Red Desert.
  • Become a Bucko and save DrillCO's Rigs Workers out on the Open Ocean.
  • Sneak past Haven cultists by spelunking under a Shattered Mountain.

Each World offers a self contained story. You'll meet a huge cast of characters, learn the conflicts of each world, and hopefully find some way to help. Will that help be altruistic or is it all selfish to get those sweet, sweet Airship Parts? Why did Diss really kidnap you? What's the purpose behind the Dark Drips he keeps asking you to collect? And if you collect them all, will Diss really let you go home?

The core-mechanic in BIG HOPS is Hop's versatile frog tongue! It's cute, goofy, and adds a surprising amount of freshness to this action-puzzle-platformer. Your tongue is how you interact. Use your tongue to pull items to your hands, hookshot up walls, and tongue-swing your way to ridiculous speeds. Doors, switches, corks, plungers, flowers, flingers, levers, and lick-picking are all quick work thanks to Hop's tongue. You'll keep finding novel, goofy tongue interactions even 10+ hours into your playthrough. Deep movement and tongue-gameplay give BIG HOPS legs and a fresh flavor, but the real magic is using powerful Veggies to build your own paths through levels. You'll find new types of Veggies as you explore and each has a unique effect when you throw it down in the world. Mushrooms become bounce pads to help clear hard jumps. Acorns can grow vines around walls and ceilings to help you climb farther. Balloons make temporary platforms and can stack to get serious height. Oil Balls create hookshot points you can bounce off without losing speed. Apples let you place your own tongue swinging points anywhere. Cacti launch tightropes you can use to cross big gaps. Since you can only hold one item at a time, Hop has a handy Backpack! As you play, you'll discover new Veggies and unlock more Backpack Slots to store them. You can open the Backpack any time, and using it in a stressful moment will slow down time so you can plan your next moves.

Collectibles are a genre staple and there are lots in BIG HOPS! We've worked hard to give them all gameplay uses, so you never feel like you're just checking off boxes. Earn Dark Drips to help with Diss' mysterious mission and unlock secrets. Collect Dark Bits to earn gameplay modifying Trinkets for your backpack. Buy Veggies + upgrade your Backpack, Wallet, and more at Drilson's Depot. Buy Outfits, Hats, & Dyes to customize Hop's look at Odette's Outfitters. Find and Identify real Bugs to fill your collection in Bugsy's Conservatory. Uncover Blueprints to build totally normal and not-at-all busted Gadgets. Find Mixtapes to play on in-game on your Boombox or Hop-man. Equipping Trinkets means decorating your Backpack!

As you explore the 4 main Worlds (Forest, Desert, Ocean, and Mountain), expect a lot of surprising offshoots like the Boneyard, Bucko Cove, Hydro Plant, and Gulley Gang HQ. All these different places to explore really make it feel like you're on a grand adventure!​



MaSzyna

MaSzyna is a simulator, which will allow you to become a train driver of most popular locomotives and multiple units used on the Polish railways. Realism is our priority. Everything you can see or hear during the simulation was made with attention to detail. Nearly all 3D models of locomotives and carriages were prepared from high quality photo textures. Every sound you can hear was recorded in a real locomotive cab or on the train station. Physics are also very important. MaSzyna faithfully represents brake physics and traction characteristics of electric powertrains. Fictional maps are created in accordance with real world standards. MaSzyna also contains few accurately recreated real railways. You can drive more than 40 types of electric and diesel locomotives, many electric multiple units and others. In addition the simulator contains hundreds of locomotives and carriages liveries, almost all created from real photos. Explore about ~15 railway routes (including one real Polish railway line Częstochowa - Ozimek) in almost 200 scenarios. Random events are used in many scenarios, ensuring that any mission is never the same. Traffic is controlled accordingly with realistic railway signalling. You can drive express trains with a maximum speed of 160 km/h or regional trains with many stops. You can also choose a freight train: a heavy train with 40 cars of coal or fast intermodal container train.​



Kejora

There's a mystery hidden behind this peaceful village, unknown to its inhabitants, who carry on with their daily lives. Kejora features hand-drawn art and animation, environmental platformer puzzles, and party-based inspired gameplay with 2 supporting characters with unique skills to help Kejora in her exploration and journey. Beautiful visuals: Immerse yourself in the story, accompanied by stunning, hand-drawn landscapes, characters, and animation. Party-based inspired gameplay: Kejora is accompanied by her two friends on her journey, each with their own unique abilities to help Kejora overcome obstacles and puzzles.​



CASSETTE BOY

In this strange world that changes with your perspective, pursue the secrets of the missing moon.
A world that seems 2D, yet hides a 3D reality.
At first glance, it seems like a 2D pixel-art world, but it's actually a fully 3D structure.
Rotate the map to discover new surprises.
In this world, things that aren't visible simply don't exist.
Change your perspective, move obstacles out of sight, uncover hidden paths, and solve puzzles as you journey forward.
Characters full of personality
Meet mysterious characters in this curious world.
Their stories and conversations bring depth, charm, and joy to your adventure.​



The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon

The prophesied end of the Zemurian continent draws near, and so does the launch of humanity's first foray into space. A sudden invitation from Marduk to cooperate in a high-tech training exercise sets Van Arkride, Ashen Chevalier Rean Schwarzer, and Father Kevin Graham on a collision course with the secrets that lay at the very core of Zemuria. Their paths may diverge, but the ultimate question remains the same: Just what lies beyond the edge of the horizon?​



Super Woden: Rally Edge

Rally Edge takes you back to an era where fun goes beyond realism. With a unique personality, the game blends classic arcade essence with great depth and a genuine love for car culture.​



Earth of Oryn

Earth of Oryn is an indie city-builder/strategy game set in a medieval world filled with story and heart. Build your kingdom however you see fit. Will you inspire and lead your people with kindness and generosity… or command them with an iron fist and crush dissents beneath your heel? Starting from nothing, shape your kingdom according to your vision while managing the needs and wants of your people. The world is a vast and diverse place, with biomes like Niluine, Hambkar, and Brandford, each with unique challenges and opportunities. You'll navigate a timeframe between 300 and 500 in the second age, adapting to the environment and managing relationships with established civilizations, including the Linuites, Lunuites, and Hambkil. The game features branching paths where decisions shape the story, and challenges like natural disasters, wildlife, and political unrest that you must overcome.​



MIO: Memories in Orbit

You are MIO, a nimble robot with extraordinary abilities. You wake up in the Vessel, a space ship drifting aimlessly in space. This enormous technological ark, whose initial purpose remains unknown, lies now as a field of ruins, overgrown with lush vegetation and machines gone rogue. Nobody knows why the Pearls, The Vessel's AI caretakers, have ceased functioning. Forgotten by all, the Vessel faces imminent shutdown. Dive into its depths to revive its lost memories, as you unravel your true past and destiny.

Dive into this mesmerizing metroidvania, as you guide MIO through the vast expanse of the Vessel. You won't be alone on your journey. Repair damaged robots and help them to unveil the Ark's past and gain valuable bonuses. Interact with the environment to learn more about its past and memories. Unravel the dark secrets behind its tragic blackout.

Experience a magnificent world of breathtaking scenery and innumerable details. Its universe is full of wonder and artistic curiosities.​



Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven

Winter descends, and a long-silenced deity stirs beneath the snow. Yngya, the forgotten God of the lambs, summons you to restore the flock and reclaim what time has erased. But as you breathe life into what long passed, a creeping Rot awakens, spreading corruption through the sacred mountain the lambs once called home… Not all who tread this peak come seeking redemption. Upon the frozen summit, a wolf prowls - his pack hungers for war with the covetous Gods. Deep within the hidden caverns, a shadowy figure waits, blade honed and patience fraying. Restless spirits drift along the ridges, each bound by former sins. The past was buried for good reason - will you unearth it, or will it consume you? That which was sacred now rots, and nothing is as it seems. Last of the lambs, Woolhaven's fate rests in your hooves. Discover Woolhaven Return the lost souls of Woolhaven to their spiritual home and learn the long-forgotten history of lambkind. Rebuild the fallen town to its former glory and reclaim the mountain to restore Yngya's depleted power, but beware; there is always a price to be paid.​



Nova Roma

As the once-great Roman Empire falls into decadence and decay, you lead a small band of citizens in search of new lands hoping to build Nova Roma – a bastion for all that was once good in the Empire. Starting from a humble village, you must appease the gods with grand temples, sate your citizens' many needs, and build a society that will be the envy of the world for millennia to come.

A wise city planner knows how to harness the world around them. Erect massive dams and aqueducts to control the flow of water as you reshape the land into artificial watersheds and reservoirs, paying close attention to how your actions impact soil fertility. Seek distant resource deposits and build infrastructure to transport raw materials and processed goods across massive stretches of untamed territory. Will you strike a delicate balance between the growing urban sprawl of your city and the risks of rapid expansion? Or will your hubris risk the wrath of the gods and nature itself?

Contend with a growing list of needs and desires as more people flock to your city – from pottery and wine to bread and games, it is your responsibility to keep the people happy and safe. Watch them grow into artisans, gladiators and thespians, and guide them through life as they spend their days toiling, and their nights enjoying the fruits of their labor.

As you consider matters of taxation and technological advancement, do not forget the powers that stand above you - build grand temples to the gods, avoiding their wrath and seeking their blessings to bolster your capabilities and ensure the continued prosperity of Nova Roma.

Nova Roma explores the cultural and social trials of the era.​



DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS Visions of Four Heroes

Some heroes faded without ever fulfilling their dreams... But what if a Guardian of Peace had walked alongside them? Experience what could have been as you join forces with Zhang Jiao, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, or Lu Bu, four unsung heroes from the main game.​



Steel Century Groove

Thousands of years ago, humanity built colossal war machines to stop the apocalypse. Now they just use them for dance battles! Groove your way across a rich world, assemble the perfect mecha crew, and rise from humble beginnings to ultimate stardom.​



CODE VEIN II

In a future world where humans and Revenants coexist... Due to the sudden appearance of the Luna Rapacis, Revenants have transformed into mindless monsters called Horrors. As a Revenant hunter, the player shall halt the world's inevitable collapse by traveling to the past with a girl called Lou who possesses the power to manipulate time. An epic adventure awaits, where you and your chosen partners explore a post-apocalyptic world, face fierce battles against powerful enemies, and uncover an epic story that transcends time. Embark on a journey that spans both the present and the past as you search for clues to prevent the world's destruction. Alter the fates of key Revenant characters you encounter in the past, while uncovering lost histories and the hidden truths of the world.​



Cairn

Cairn's realistic simulation allows intuitive climbing: find the best holds and place your hands and feet seamlessly with simple controls. Adapt your posture, effort and balance -if you're not careful, you will fall!

As pro climber Aava, you embark on the ascent of Mount Kami, a summit that has never been reached. Along the journey, meet unexpected companions and hear from those left on the ground. Discover the mountain's history and decide what Aava is willing to sacrifice to achieve her dream.

You are free to climb anywhere. Explore the mountain, read the rock face from the ground and plan your route carefully to reach the top. Solve problems while on the wall to navigate difficult sections.​



The Midnight Walkers

The Midnight Walkers is a hardcore PvPvE FPS zombie extraction game. You must scavenge for loot to get gear, kill zombies and other survivors, and escape. You can play in solo or trios mode. If you successfully escape, you can craft with materials and buy/sell more powerful equipment, but if you die, you will lose everything you had.

Liberty Grand Center, a giant mega-complex in Golden County, has floors with different themes and unique loot, including a hospital, a shopping mall, and a casino. The threats here are not just zombies or other survivors. As time passes, the poison gas system spreads to random floors, and you must use elevators or stairs to avoid it. But remember: every time you move to another floor, your chances of encountering other survivors will increase.

The zombies here are all deadly. Even the weakest zombie, the Walker, can be a great threat if you are surrounded, and there are also zombies more lethally mutated than the Runner, which fiercely pursues survivors. In any case, the biggest threat is other survivors. Triumph over other survivors, alone or with your teammates, and seize more loot.​



Don't Stop, Girlypop!

The faster you go, the more damage you deal and the more you heal! DSG combines the riotous fun of boomer shooter mechanics with advanced contemporary movement abilities. Wave hopping combines the feeling of a classic bunny hop with modern ground slam, dash and double jump mechanics to fling you into a fast, fluid and precise flow state. Unleash the horrors Guns with alt-fires combine symbiotically with each other to create magical moments of complex interplay. Master a deep and dynamic combat system to generate high Love scores and become the Cupid of death! Mining corp Tigris Nix wants to drain your world of The Love, a natural force keeping your planet alive. Lay waste to its robot drones to heal the Oasis! Every point of damage dealt against a robot is one piece of The Love released back into the environment and one step closer to the end of Tigris Nix.​



I Hate This Place

I Hate This Place is an isometric craft-based survival horror game set in a cursed land filled with reality-bending nightmares and terrifying creatures that thrive in the dark. You'll need to scavenge, build, sneak, and fight if you want to make it out alive. Scavenge every corner of Rutherford Ranch to stay alive. From haunted forests, a derelict town, to infested bunkers. Explore a world teeming with danger as you gather vital resources, craft essential gear, upgrade your campsite, and rebuild outposts to have somewhere to hide. A dynamic day-night cycle that changes the world. Use daylight wisely to explore, scavenge supplies, craft what you need, and prepare for what's coming. When night falls, the real nightmares come out to play. More enemies appear, stronger and more aggressive than before. The landscape becomes harder to navigate with just your flashlight. Sometimes your best hope is to find shelter and hunker down till morning. Stealth and combat go hand-in-hand here as many of the twisted creatures in Rutherford Ranch hunt and stalk you by sound alone. Brute force will often just land you in an early grave. Use sound to your advantage, luring creatures away from your path or cleverly leading them straight into deadly traps you laid.​


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salty.webp

Someone's salty.

Also this claim:

Lawyers for Shotbolt also claim that, should consumers want to purchase add-on content for a game, they have to do so through Steam, something they describe as "locking in" users to the platform.

Is blatantly incorrect as you can buy DLC and microtransactions off-platform that work on the Steam version.

Also the same law firm suing Valve is suing Sony for effectively the same thing. That trial is supposed to start in March so whatever the verdict is for that one will likely affect the Valve one.

Also I haven't heard much about the Wolfire lawsuit lately. I know Valve tried to get it thrown out on a technicality last month but the CourtListener page shows there hasn't been much activity.
 
View attachment 958

Someone's salty.

Also this claim:



Is blatantly incorrect as you can buy DLC and microtransactions off-platform that work on the Steam version.

Also the same law firm suing Valve is suing Sony for effectively the same thing. That trial is supposed to start in March so whatever the verdict is for that one will likely affect the Valve one.

Also I haven't heard much about the Wolfire lawsuit lately. I know Valve tried to get it thrown out on a technicality last month but the CourtListener page shows there hasn't been much activity.

Never ask the opinion (or listen to the opinion) of someone that would gain financially from their point of argument.

"hey what is your stance on paying for XYZ? Would you support paying less for that thing?"
 
Saying Valve is like a landlord when they've actually put in work over the years to improve Steam and they have been putting out hardware as well is some crazy work. Mind you I think Valve can afford to give indie devs a break when it comes to the cut but acting like they don't do anything at all in the year 2026 just makes you sound tone deaf.
 
Is there even a clear categorization of "indie" for Valve to be able to single them out for benefits versus everyone else? E33? And even if Valve could, does international law in any way differentiate them to other companies so all the big publishers don't attack them for unfavorable terms and inequality and things?
 
Is there a more unbalanced game out there than Crisis Core? I'm going through it and decided to do some of the side missions early and now I'm just nuking everything coming my way with magic. It's hilarious.
 
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I played like 30hrs of Fallout 76 since picking it up in the sale last month.

And yea....

I really tried to like the game but its just so fetch questy. It really is like Fallout 4 and ESO had a baby. The atmosphere and charm is definitely there but its missing that cozy singleplayer depth/feel found in the other Bethesda games. The Atom shop is kind of stupid too as so many basic building items are locked behind money and their subscription.

I will say all the outrage for the game back at launch about lack of NPCs and bugs etc were not a thing tho. A few times the game crashed in the main menu for me but other than that is was a smooth experience. They must have definitely updated and supported the game really well over the years. There was a ton of NPCs of all kinds. Some decent occasional dialogue options and skill checks too. So yea this is like a diet version of Fallout 4 but with a much larger and emptier map. There was some players running around the map too here n there but I would just wave to some of them and go on lol. Its really not necessary unless you do events together. Some of the events are just fighting off waves of mobs tho so wtvr. There was some super high level stuff too that I couldn't or wouldn't bother with anyways.

The real highlight of the game is the perk cards and leveling. I think that was really well designed even if lockpicking and terminal hacking is just not a common or important enough thing in the grand scheme. At least not in my playtime. But the fun of leveling up and pacing/structure of it all was well done.

This is a like a 6 out of 10. If you really love Fallout 4 you can probably push this up to a 7. But yea its too boring and repetitive to be a decent Bethesda game. For the cheap price its ok. I liked both Fallout 4 and ESO but ESO is definitely one of those quick burnout games. And surprisingly around 40hrs was the most I could play that game too before dropping it. So yea I think these games are fun for about that time after that ymmv.

I'm really curious what they do with Fallout next. Remaking 3 or Vegas makes sense but at this point they should honestly make a new entry. Find some unique location and really push a good RPG out to capitalize on the show and long time fans. But ES6 is probably 90% of that companies dev time now so outsourcing remakes is probably the only thing they can do.

And really they need to hurry up with the Starfield update. Rumors now have it being a big Starfield 2.0 with updated quests, expansion and space travel. If they can make it less of a fast travel THE game and keep people up in space for good reasons it will be big. But its all rumors. but the fact they are taking so long is a good sign but it could just be them taking their time for a PS5 version.
 
I don't know how the Highguard saga will end, but I find this change emblematic of most of the problems these new teams "from the creators of" run into: don't advertise something that's not the final product you're trying to sell to people

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Reactions: Cacher

EVGA happy they're avoiding this nonsense.
 
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I played like 30hrs of Fallout 76 since picking it up in the sale last month.

And yea....

I really tried to like the game but its just so fetch questy. It really is like Fallout 4 and ESO had a baby. The atmosphere and charm is definitely there but its missing that cozy singleplayer depth/feel found in the other Bethesda games. The Atom shop is kind of stupid too as so many basic building items are locked behind money and their subscription.

I will say all the outrage for the game back at launch about lack of NPCs and bugs etc were not a thing tho. A few times the game crashed in the main menu for me but other than that is was a smooth experience. They must have definitely updated and supported the game really well over the years. There was a ton of NPCs of all kinds. Some decent occasional dialogue options and skill checks too. So yea this is like a diet version of Fallout 4 but with a much larger and emptier map. There was some players running around the map too here n there but I would just wave to some of them and go on lol. Its really not necessary unless you do events together. Some of the events are just fighting off waves of mobs tho so wtvr. There was some super high level stuff too that I couldn't or wouldn't bother with anyways.

The real highlight of the game is the perk cards and leveling. I think that was really well designed even if lockpicking and terminal hacking is just not a common or important enough thing in the grand scheme. At least not in my playtime. But the fun of leveling up and pacing/structure of it all was well done.

This is a like a 6 out of 10. If you really love Fallout 4 you can probably push this up to a 7. But yea its too boring and repetitive to be a decent Bethesda game. For the cheap price its ok. I liked both Fallout 4 and ESO but ESO is definitely one of those quick burnout games. And surprisingly around 40hrs was the most I could play that game too before dropping it. So yea I think these games are fun for about that time after that ymmv.

I'm really curious what they do with Fallout next. Remaking 3 or Vegas makes sense but at this point they should honestly make a new entry. Find some unique location and really push a good RPG out to capitalize on the show and long time fans. But ES6 is probably 90% of that companies dev time now so outsourcing remakes is probably the only thing they can do.

And really they need to hurry up with the Starfield update. Rumors now have it being a big Starfield 2.0 with updated quests, expansion and space travel. If they can make it less of a fast travel THE game and keep people up in space for good reasons it will be big. But its all rumors. but the fact they are taking so long is a good sign but it could just be them taking their time for a PS5 version.
Honestly, I really liked the gameplay loop and progression of FO76. The map is huge but there are enough content everywhere. My real gripe with the game is the fact that it's online, which adds noticeable latency to everything especially the combat. It just feels horrible to play compared to FO4. I did spend 100+ hours on it though.
 
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A random, minor thing to share: Lately I'm transitioning from gaming every day to gaming on weekends (except doing dailies in GFL2, but those aren't "gaming"). Videogame is still a huge part of my life but I also feel the need to allocate more energy onto things. This is not a goodbye. I will still visit every day, post something anime to trigger lashman and maintain the weekly thread and GFL2 OT, but I probably can't post much about what I am playing because, shit, I might not be able to finish a game every 3 months.

Anyway, have fun.
 
Yeah Fallout 76 is a game for folks who enjoy the exploration and base building aspects of Bethesda open world games. The story is completely forgettable and the gameplay is just about serviceable, so the only real draw is just heading out in any direction and finding new points of interest to explore. The map is massive and it keeps expanding so there's always somewhere to go. One thing I like about the map is that there are different biomes and some parts of it look quite pleasant, which is a nice change from the dreary, ruined civilization look in all their other Fallout games. It also has extensive base building which is much deeper than it was in Fallout 4. I've seen some ridiculously cool bases built by other folks. Although many of the props/furniture pieces and other things cost money and they have a rotating shop so there's an element of FOMO if you want to get specific items. The biggest downside of the game really is that unlimited stash space is paywalled behind the $10 monthly subscription and if you play for a decent amount of time it is basically mandatory to get it. I did play the game for 180 odd hours though so paying for a few months didn't feel that bad.

Ultimately it's more of a life sim adventure game rather than an RPG. You can do your own roleplaying by setting off on some adventure and camping on your route and everything but I don't think it's possible to tell a proper RPG story in a persistent online game. But again, if you enjoy the exploration aspect of modern Bethesda games then this one does it really well.
 
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Reactions: Cacher and yuraya
A random, minor thing to share: Lately I'm transitioning from gaming every day to gaming on weekends (except doing dailies in GFL2, but those aren't "gaming"). Videogame is still a huge part of my life but I also feel the need to allocate more energy onto things. This is not a goodbye. I will still visit every day, post something anime to trigger lashman and maintain the weekly thread and GFL2 OT, but I probably can't post much about what I am playing because, shit, I might not be able to finish a game every 3 months.

Anyway, have fun.
Same here. My gaming are my ZZZ dailies and that's it.
 
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Reactions: Cacher
Yeah Fallout 76 is a game for folks who enjoy the exploration and base building aspects of Bethesda open world games. The story is completely forgettable and the gameplay is just about serviceable, so the only real draw is just heading out in any direction and finding new points of interest to explore. The map is massive and it keeps expanding so there's always somewhere to go. One thing I like about the map is that there are different biomes and some parts of it look quite pleasant, which is a nice change from the dreary, ruined civilization look in all their other Fallout games. It also has extensive base building which is much deeper than it was in Fallout 4. I've seen some ridiculously cool bases built by other folks. Although many of the props/furniture pieces and other things cost money and they have a rotating shop so there's an element of FOMO if you want to get specific items. The biggest downside of the game really is that unlimited stash space is paywalled behind the $10 monthly subscription and if you play for a decent amount of time it is basically mandatory to get it. I did play the game for 180 odd hours though so paying for a few months didn't feel that bad.

Ultimately it's more of a life sim adventure game rather than an RPG. You can do your own roleplaying by setting off on some adventure and camping on your route and everything but I don't think it's possible to tell a proper RPG story in a persistent online game. But again, if you enjoy the exploration aspect of modern Bethesda games than this one does it really well.


Bethesda has a size problem.

Fallout 76 does have a ton of content but the map being 4x larger than Fallout 4 kinda excessive. It still feels like you are running around the wasteland at times instead of exploring it. But it is an mmo so that is the other side of the coin. Everything needs to be larger.

Starfield is where they really messed up and went too far. The 1000 planets stuff wasn't needed at all. They should have put all the content of the game into one solar system spanning across 5-10 planets plus whatever else in between the space travels. And then for Starfield 2 is where they should have gone the crazy route.

I think Fallout 4 was the perfect size for their type of game. It felt just condensed enough to where every little area you walk into felt like its own little adventure.

And the base building stuff they do is getting more and more impressive from Fallout 4 --> 76 ---> Starfield.

People make fun of their tech but what they are able to do is pretty damn great. I didn't do much in 4 and 76 but in Starfield I spent at least like 30hrs of my playtime gathering resources and building a little mining facility on IO. It was the highlight of the game for me.

It will probably be very crazy for Elder Scrolls 6. The tech keeps getting better to the point where it wouldn't surprise me if they will let you straight up build giant cities and manage everything in a sim style. Everything is already kind of in place for Starfield with fairly large building areas and being able to assign NPCs to work etc. ES6 could be the first real city building AAA RPG. At least as a medieval fantasy. Ofc they will probably ruin everything with their mod stores and paywalls. It does feel like they will be actively fighting the mod community to monetize any good thing that may come of it.
 
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Bethesda has a size problem.

Fallout 76 does have a ton of content but the map being 4x larger than Fallout 4 kinda excessive. It still feels like you are running around the wasteland at times instead of exploring it. But it is an mmo so that is the other side of the coin. Everything needs to be larger.

I never really felt that the 76 map was too large. It's bigger than Fallout 4 but there's also a lot more stuff to do. And expansions don't always expand the map... most of the time they just add more stuff to do on the existing map so having more room to add new things isn't a bad thing.

Starfield is where they really messed up and went too far. The 1000 planets stuff wasn't needed at all. They should have put all the content of the game into one solar system spanning across 5-10 planets plus whatever else in between the space travels. And then for Starfield 2 is where they should have gone the crazy route.

I think this is a problem for any space game that has planets you can land on. You can either have a few bespoke locations to land while ignoring the rest of the planet (like Starfield does), you can land anywhere and have procedural generation (like No Man's Sky tried) or you can have lots of bespoke locations on large planets and go into dev hell (like Star Citizen). Ultimately, I don't think increasing the density of locations would have helped in Starfield. Currently you can visit maybe 12-15 planets per system and each planet has 2-3 locations to go to. So let's say 25 places to visit per system. They could have changed it so that you'd visit 25 locations on one or two planets and contract the overall scale of the game, but ultimately they would all still have been behind loading screens. The tech just cannot support free roaming across 25 locations on a planet sized map. You'd definitely have loading screens. So then it's just a matter of the fiction you believe... whether the loading screens are taking you to different planets or to different parts of a single planet, there would not be any real change in the experience of playing the game.

I'm always a proponent of smaller, dense and meaningful locations in RPGs but a game like Starfield is trying to sell the scale of a space opera so I can see why they went with lots of systems. They could have worked on reducing some of the loading screens of course but seamless atmospheric flight and interstellar travel without load screens is an incredibly difficult engineering task and their Creation engine would probably just commit suicide if they tried it. Hopefully they can find a better balance in this supposed upcoming 2.0 update.
 
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