Moonface

For those who use Spotify, what does your 2022 Wrapped look like? Here's mine:

Black by Pearl Jam. It doesn't matter how many times I hear it, I will never skip it or pass up the chance to sing to it. Clearly Spotify agrees because it was my top song for my 2022 Wrapped. XD

I'd say that in general my tastes stayed roughly the same for the most part since most music I listened to growing up was stuff my dad played, which was stuff in the rock/metal genres and I still enjoy that music and those genres today. The only real change would be in music I found myself not being stuff I still listen to today, which for the most part is random pop music that kid me liked but teenage/adult me realizes is actually rather garbage or just isn't for me as my taste stopped trying to branch out and remained with the genres I've always enjoyed from as young as I can recall. I also don't listen to bands I listened to in the 2000's/2010's as much nowadays but I think that's just because my Spotify songs are significantly more varied and expansive compared to what music I listened to back in those times.

It depends on a few things for me. First, how old was the original game? The Last of Us for example got a "remake" yet the original isn't even a decade old yet, so I wouldn't spend any money on that because to me it didn't need to be remade in the first place. Dead Space on the other hand will be worth $70 to me easily because it not only looks like a worthwhile remake, but it also adds in a ton of stuff the original didn't have so I'm not just playing the same game again but with better visuals since the entire experience has been overhauled.

Tomb Raider 2. To me it's the best game in the entire series, and I would love to see it get redone to modern standards since a lot of things were limited by the hardware of the time.

The Last of Us definitely had the biggest emotional impact on me. I had no idea how that game was going to end and was dreading what might happen. Part 2 got me really hooked into the trip of wanting revenge, to understanding both sides, to eventually just wanting it to be over and knowing how pointless it all is. Stray was another game where I got emotionally hooked right away because I wanted the cat to be okay and find its friends, although I found the ending utterly unsatisfying and a let down.

How much do you value your save data for games? Would you care if one day a particular save file on your system or memory card just...disappeared? For most games I usually don't care much for backing up the save data. It's really only for games where I put a lot of time/effort in or it has things I wouldn't be able to retrieve, such as LittleBigPlanet, Minecraft, or old WWE games. Other stuff I could just replay and get a new save with the same progress pretty easily, which is what I had to do for some of my PS3 games when my first PS3 broke down. I did lose a Jak X save on my PS2 memory card due to corruption after over a decade of having and using the file. That was pretty sad for me because that was a save file I didn't want to lose and didn't expect to get corrupted by a bug in the game after using it for so long, and it sucks more that I can't remove the corrupted data so it's just hogging space on that memory card now forever.

Stray doesn't feature any bosses at all, which makes sense given there isn't any combat in the game. Alien: Isolation also has no boss fight, despite having combat. Hitman also doesn't have them. Generally I'd say there's plenty of games that don't have them, and usually it's because they just wouldn't fit into the gameplay. I can't think of a game where a boss would work but isn't present.

I wish sports games only had periodic releases when it comes time to update the overall engine/gameplay so much that a new release is warranted. Instead, most of the time they're done yearly to update the rosters and the most barebones "upgrades" get done because of a lack of time. I don't know if any others do this, but I detest the 2K WWE games because when the next game releases, they kill the servers for the current title, removing all online play and CAW sharing. If you want to use any of that stuff, you have to buy the game ASAP or you're going to miss out on it. Unfortunately, another problem for games like WWE is licensing. Just look at the disaster that was WWE 2K22; a large number of wrestlers made for the game had to be removed because WWE released them while that game was in development. Now imagine how bad that could be if a game like that is supported for a 3+ year period; if you remove wrestlers from the game because they left the company, that's going to cause backlash. If you leave them in, there's licensing issues and remedying that means a lot of money, likely more than it's worth. Although that said, I don't know how it works when it comes to digital storefronts continuing to sell older WWE titles. My guess is if a wrestler leaves after the release there's some sort of grace period for the game, similar to titles like Forza that eventually get pulled from digital storefronts when the car licenses expire. But if the game is actively being supported, it might be a different story.

As much as I'd love to see another, I doubt it'll happen. I loved Paradise but the critical bugs in the remaster weren't even patched, and Need For Speed is a bigger name than Burnout is, so EA is going to always prefer putting money and time into NFS over Burnout.

I can't speak for Xbox as I don't use the platform to browse their store, but Nintendo is pretty bad when it comes to shovelware too so I think all the stores have the problem in some degree. I personally doubt Sony would have made this change to their store if not for the PS Stars program though, since if it was going to be implemented at any time I think it would've made more sense to roll it out right at the start of the PS5 launch so that developers wouldn't flood the PS5 store with garbage right out of the gate while the number of PS5 only titles would be lower and therefore make it easier for games to be found on the store.

PlayStation has decided to ban all shovelware and "easy Platinum" games from the PlayStation Store, in an effort to reduce the number of low effort, low quality titles submitted to the store. Any developers who break these new rules will potentially be subjected to any of the following actions by PlayStation: For those who do not know what an "easy Platinum" game means, it means any game designed for the primary purpose of offering easy trophy completion. These games tend to be appealing to trophy hunters looking to boost their trophy score, and with the recent roll out of PlayStation Stars which rewards players for earning trophies (among other things), it's likely PlayStation have taken this stance now rather than earlier so as to also avoid players farming for easy rewards from the program. Source: https://dexdotexe.com/playstation-bans-shovelware-and-easy-platinum-games-on-the-playstation-store/

I doubt any company who could be a viable candidate to enter the console race would do it. Google would never get off the ground with a console because they can't be trusted to support anything they make, and considering they closed down their game development studios prior to ending Stadia they don't even have the means to create content for their own platform no matter what form it takes. Valve made the Steam Machine prior to the Steam Deck, which was their attempt at a console-like PC gaming experience but it sold poorly and was cancelled after three years, so they're not going to try again, especially with Steam Deck performing well for them. NVidia could have been viable but they were doing the Steam Deck before Valve and as far as I know it didn't do well and died off. They also lack any game studios so like Google, would be unable to support a console with first party titles which are crucial for a console. Amazon has their own game studios but they've only made two games, and I don't know how well those games have performed commercially but I never see them mentioned anywhere online so I get the impression they're not doing too well; certainly not enough to support a console launch. Considering Amazon doesn't even offer Luna (their cloud gaming service) as an independent service and bundles it in with Prime, and only offers a handful of games on it at a time for a limited period, they don't seem confident in being able to grow their own gaming ecosystem and the lack of attempt to try tells me they never would. They would also need to actually develop more games and have those games be highly acclaimed to even generate interest in a home console, because right now I don't think what Amazon has produced would entice anyone into a console from them. Sega is likely the most viable of any because they have the studios to support a console with first party games, but I don't think it would be a good look for them to suddenly take all their IP and have them only on their console. I think you'd get some people willing to buy a console to keep playing those games but I feel a majority of people would just opt to not bother, or at least enough to make it hard for a Sega console to be financially successful.

This is especially true after he finds out he's a God. It goes straight to his head and he immediately refuses to obey Kratos, to the point he won't even listen to commands you give him in gameplay and will instead act independently in fights until the story has him stop.

I can't say I've heard of him, but it's a shame to see him pass at only 66 due to cancer. 😞

Kratos - God of War 2018 I can't speak about Kratos as a character in any of the other God of War games since I've never played them, but going into God of War 2018 as my first experience with the franchise in any capacity I love how Kratos develops throughout this game. Even without having any major knowledge of the previous games, the game makes it clear that he feels out of his depth when it comes to raising Atreus and trying to express his feelings properly, and seeing Kratos get explored with layers and depth beyond "murder fucking everything!" was really cool to watch unfold and it might be one of my favourite character developments that happens in a single game. Nathan Drake - Uncharted (Series) The initial Uncharted games don't go too heavy on character development, mostly because of how they're made to be standalone stories that don't require playing the previous one to understand the characters and what's going on. Despite that, the series does try to push some heavy character exploration of Drake throughout Uncharted 3, where we get to see how destructive his obsession is with treasure, as it's put a strain on his marriage with Elena to the point they're practically separated between the second and third games, and everyone around him constantly questions what his deal is. By the end of the game he comes around on trying to prove himself and opts to give up treasure hunting entirely to settle down with Elena and live a normal life. Uncharted 4 however shows his unhappiness with such a life though, and the game goes harder on character development than anything until this point as we learn about Drake's backstory and his brother, among other things. It basically takes what Uncharted 3 started to do and goes all in to wrap everything up and give all of the characters a send-off that I think couldn't be done any better and gives us a true insight into a cast that we'd been hunting treasure with for almost a decade. So, what about the rest of you? What game characters do you think had good development? 🙂

This post gives me a very strong impression you never suffered through The Legend of Spyro games. Nothing comes close to the abysmal experience that is The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night. XD

Came in here to mention Dishonored 2 having a level based entirely around time travel. Titanfall 2 also has a level that is done in the same style where the player jumps back and forth between two time periods and it's one of the most memorable sections of that game for me. Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time has a large emphasis on time travel and time manipulation, and I think it might be the game I've played with the biggest usage of a time travel mechanic that's part of the gameplay loop.

Never played the first, but did play the second. I loved it, mainly because Arkane are incredibly talented when it comes to level design. For anyone who enjoyed the gameplay of Dishonored, I would highly recommend checking out Prey. I think one of the best things I liked that was unique to Dishonored (compared to other Arkane games) is how the world changes based on whether you kill/spare people in ways beyond just what characters do. Certain areas get changed entirely and NPC interactions (with each other, not the player) in the world are different too, which is really neat!

I wouldn't recommend anyone buy this. The game was dropped by the developers due to licensing issues and it no longer has any official servers. There is online play with peer-to-peer matchmaking but I would be surprised if this game even has a remotely active player base. Dead by Daylight would be the far superior option to go for over this game both in terms of content, player base, support, and value.

Motorstorm Apocalypse I can't comment on how good the game itself is or isn't as I never played it, but that is actually why this game brought Motorstorm to an abrupt end. Sony marketed the game fine and did nothing wrong, and it may have done very well except for one thing: the Japan earthquakes. Motorstorm Apocalypse was set in an urban environment that had been ravaged by natural disasters, and when the Japan earthquakes hit close to its original release date, the game was delayed out of respect to the real-life tragedy that had happened. The problem though was all the marketing budget had been spent for the games original release, and by the time it actually came out there was practically no marketing for it, resulting in a release many people missed entirely, poor sales, and Evolution moving on to a new IP which would be Driveclub. Dead Space 3 A mixed bag of a game that is a prime example of EA putting their hands in the pot instead of trusting the chef to do their job without interference. Randomly added co-op, microtransactions, and a focus into action over horror saw Dead Space 3 sell 20% less than Dead Space 2, and its failure to meet sales expectations by EA resulted in the studio behind the franchise being shut down and the franchise going dormant until the recent remake announcement. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness + Tomb Raider: Underworld This franchise has seen 2 reboots in its lifetime, and both can be attributed to the games I've mentioned. In the case of AoD, it was a poorly made game that would be the last by Core, the original developers of the franchise. Core had fallen into a trend of pushing out a Tomb Raider game every year from 1996 to 2003 to, by their own admission, hit the Holiday period to maximize on sales at the expense of quality. Core had turned itself into a factory of just pumping Tomb Raider games out and riding on the brand name alone, but AoD ran into numerous problems due to the change in engine, being delayed twice and having numerous sections scaled back or cut entirely. The game was received poorly both critically and commercially, causing a planned trilogy (with AoD being the first entry) being scrapped and the IP being moved to Crystal Dynamics for a reboot. Crystal Dynamics did well with the IP at first, giving it a successful reboot with Tomb Raider: Legend. Two games later though would see the release of Underworld, which failed to meet sales expectations and forced Crystal Dynamics to reboot the franchise yet again with Tomb Raider 2013.

I've never been obsessed with my K/D, but I do at least try to make it that I kill more than I die because at least then even if I don't score a lot of kills in a match for my team, at least I can know I didn't just hand the opposing team a lot of free kills. Been a while since I saw K/D's but assuming 1 is breaking even, then as long as my number was above 1 to any degree I'm happy knowing I contribute more kills to my team than to the opposing team.

They didn't make content really. To sum it up, they were exclusively a Twitter account that aggregated pretty much any and all gaming news the instant it broke. Like, he would have screenshots of games from live streams in high quality posted to Twitter before the trailer would even be over levels of instant. He was incredibly popular at times like E3 where a ton of stuff is being announced all over the place, as he would have all that info tweeted out as soon as it broke so it was a very efficient way to know everything going on, more so than using actual gaming sites like IGN or even official company channels. Keeping on top of all of that to that level was probably a lot of work, and for whatever reason they no longer feel it's worthwhile putting the time into that. Dude practically ran that Twitter page like it was their full time job with how fast they would share news, especially whenever it was happening live.

The first post on their Patreon is September 30, so it hasn't even been around for a month. I thought they'd had it longer honestly. This is what they posted on Patreon about how that wasn't working out: https://postimg.cc/XrsXqfBq

Title might not describe the situation too well but I couldn't think of a better one. Anyway, notable games coverage Twitter user Nibel has announced this morning they are moving on from games coverage, and will no longer be running their Twitter account. They also closed down their Patreon account too. The reasoning was mostly that attempts to make the work they did financially viable didn't work out, and so they've made the choice to move on to other ventures. I would link to the Tweet announcement but the account is protected from non-followers and so it doesn't provide a share link. As for my thoughts, it's understandable they would do this, although it sucks because they were easily one of the best accounts on Twitter for gaming coverage. I'd be surprised if anyone here doesn't know who they are in all honesty.