m76

I'd categorize them as great story experiences but poor attempts as videogames. Controls are awkward for the most part, and outright atrocious at times. You are never in full control of the characters, even in action sequences where it would make absolute sense. I have a kind of hate-love relationship with their games. The bundle is also available on PC / Steam now. When it's discounted it's a great deal. I got it for under €40.

That old review is based on my first playthrough of the game like 8 years ago, and mostly focuses on the move edition of the game, which is kind of irrelevant now. I intend to write an updated review based on the PC version if and when I get around to finishing the game.

Half Life This was the game that had shown that narrative and gameplay does not have to be detached from each other, there can be a symbiotic relationship between the two. Most action games before this neglected the narrative completely, maybe showing a few lines of badly written text between two missions as context. This was the first game where I truly felt immersed in the game world. While there were other games that took storytelling seriously like Wing Commander 3, and IV, the actual gameplay always felt like intermissions between scenes of a movie. Gran Turismo The game that changed simcade racing genre, before this games used to have five or six cars to choose from, if a game had 10 cars that was a miracle. Then came Gran Turismo and shortly after Gran Turismo 2 that offered hundreds of cars. This was a revolutionary feat, that nobody would've though possible before. 1nsane The first commercial game (afaik) that used soft body physics in place of the traditional rigid body physics. It boggles my mind that some developers still refuse to embrace this revolutionary tech that allows infinitely more realistic physics interaction on screen. L.A. Noire Everybody laughed when Bondi games tried to use motion scanning on actor's faces. And yes their first attempt did fall a bit into the uncanny valley, but nowadays it's common practice for every major title to scan actual actors for animating in game characters realistically. The Last of Us II This is a controversial title and as such the technological feats crammed into it often get overlooked, but I can't help but be amazed at the animation quality, the attention to detail that seems almost like ocd level. The way the game switches animations seamlessly, it has never been implemented this well.

XCOM2: Haven't stopped playing it since it came out in 2016. In fact I was playing it just now. Dishonored 1 /2: They are flawed games for sure, but still worth the time. Cyberpunk 2077: Only if you have a highend PC Heavy Rain : I've recently started playing the PC version, haven't got far yet, but I can recommend the game based on the PS3 version. These are the games I played recently and would recommend. The other games I've played this year I can't really endorse. I've linked my reviews for these games.

I have no desire to play against or with strangers. PVP only comes into play at LAN parties.

As reported by ign Neil Druckman has said in a podcast that Naughty Dog is still in the process of deciding what their next big title will be. And spoiler alert, it might not be The Last of Us 3. To me this seems like excuse making. If they don't want to do it, because they feel burnt out on the franchise that I can understand. But if they are reluctant to commit to it due to the backlash for the second game, that would make me extremely mad. Either way, since the project is not even in pre-production if they do decide to make it it won't be ready until the very end of this decade, which is a real shame.

Exactly, grinding can only be fun if the task you do is fun in of itself. For example clearing forts in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is described as a grind by most, yet I loved doing it, because there is ample risk and reward each time. It always starts with sneaking around, taking out enemies, until all hell breaks loose and it turns into an all out battle. And the reward is not only the XP, you gain but the loot you collect if you succeed. As each fort has one or a few high ranking enemies who will drop epic or legendary loot. On top of the loot hidden in the fort itself.

To answer the OP: Alpha Protocol Because it doesn't simply have an evil / good moral system, but you have an independent standing with every significant NPC in the game. You can be best friends with one, while the rest think you are the worst.

Well, professional* reviews aren't very reliable nowadays. They seem to be judging games on odd criteria. Reviews never come into factor for making my buying decisions. since there are only three types of games for me: Which I'm sold on, so I buy them day1 without reading reviews (cause I hate spoiling even minor non-story critical elements) The second type is the game I have doubts about, in this case I usually wait after release and see what's the world among actual gamers, and not those who get paid to play the game The third type is the game I have decidedly no interest in * I use the term solely on the basis of doing it for a living, and not in relation to the quality of the work.

My only guess is for people who are not interested in the story and just want to skip cutscenes and conversations anyway. For me that's the only reason to play games. If it has no convincing storyline I'm out.

The best would be Ghost Recon Breakpoint Huge beautiful world, with lots of hidden places and relics to explore. My favorite are the abandoned WW2 and Cold war sites. But there is even an abandoned mining town. You never get bored exploring this map, wherever you go there will be something that seems interesting. Skyrim / Fallout 3 This is a tie, I really enjoyed going my own way in both of these games, no time for boredom, there is always a place that is interesting to explore or a town that leads to some complex sidequests. I started exploring in RDR2 and I wasted hours and had nothing to show for it. That fits well with the overall tedium of the game. The Witcher 3 felt claustrophobic, everything is small, the scenery does not look that great, it does not invite exploration to me. And the already mediocre looking scenery turns even worse as soon as you deviate just a stone's throw away from the beaten path. So I'm not a fan of either of those games.

I'd not settle for the digital edition. You basically lock yourself in that you can only purchase every game from the ps store directly, even if they are cheaper elsewhere. And all your purchases are tied to your account and you can't resell any games unlike physical copies. You also eliminate the possibility of buying second hand games.

Mortal Kombat (2021) - 6/10 Mediocre, but still better than most things hollywood churns out nowadays. The movie doesn't try to be more than it's supposed to be: Some mindless gory fun, paying homage to what used to be one of the most popular videogames in 90s.

I used to love Fillion, but what has been seen cannot be unseen. I just can't help but see the fool promoting solar roadways every time I see his face now.

They get early review copies. I thought this was common knowledge. Which actually is a segue into one of my pet peeves. That I often feel left out and ignored as a gamer, while so called reviewers get all the goodies and attention. Like early access, behind the scenes looks, gift boxes, exclusive merchandize etc. I feel like a second class citizen fighting for their scraps.

I guess it's good for paralyzed people who have no other way of interacting with a game. But I don't think it would be much fun for general audiences.

I always do what feels right to me, even if the game qualifies it as evil. Just recently I played Dishonored 2 and my strategy was: Every traitor must die! Whenever a character betrays me in games or hurts someone not deserving I go out of my way to punish them. I was told in the military aptitude test that my sense of justice is too high. Therefore I'm not a great candidate to become a soldier because I take no bullshit from anyone, and that includes videogame characters.

I very rarely skip cutscenes/dialogues in games, even on multiple playthroughs. If a game is not good enough to watch the cutscenes in it, then it's not good enough to play period. I'm even annoyed when the game puts messages on the screen like "press x to skip" for no reason. It ruins the immersion. That said the option to skip cutscenes must be included, because it is equally annoying to watch the same cutscene multiple times when you died in a game. It is a completely unrelated issue with sound design when you can't hear a conversation or audio log for some reason. Or a conversation getting interrupted. Mass effect had this issue I Think where if a character stood behind yours then you could not hear what they were saying.

That reminded me of this:

He'll say a prayer for you after he kills you. As an atheist I take that as an insult.

Neither takes away nor adds anything. When I game I don't think about real life.

This sets a very dangerous precedent. This was a showtrial. It should not even have been about manslaughter, but excessive force. If excessive force was established then it could've been moved into involuntary manslaughter. Either way the precedent is dangerous because if cops can't use force to restrain people resisting arrest and being aggressive, then what can they really do? I know the media has painted George Floyd as some kind of saint, but the reality is that he was a criminal. And advocating mob justice in this thread is just insane, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Outriders is just as bad a game as avengers imo. They should stick to things they do right, like Tomb Raider and DeusEx, just don't turn those into multiplayer abominations. Of course you can't continuously monetize a single player game, unless you put in real work.

I think politics is a failure of civilization. It does not solve anything, it is just trying to convince you that other people are evil. Politics is like having a committee on how far you should open the tap when you are thirsty. And then another committee decides that we should also maybe close that tap some time. Wasting a ton of resources in the process, when science could've told you exactly how long and how far you need to open the tap. I've been born under communist rule, and it is baffling to me why privileged white people from liberal countries would want that. When the "means of production" is owned by everyone it means nobody really owns it. During communism there was no innovation, because there was no incentive for innovation, in fact it was often shunned. Corruption ran rampant in every factory. Not just at the highest levels, but down to the last low lever blue collar workers, who smuggled out machine parts from factories. The few domestic manufacturers who worked relatively successfully, did so because they exported products to capitalist countries. But eventually the lack of technological advancement caught up with them and the demand for their outdated products dried up. So when communism ended in 1991, we had nothing to show for it, but a few outdated relics.

The only way it can be wrong if it is not truly my opinion. You might have a different opinion but that does not make mine wrong. Don't be offended by different opinions.