Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club Double Bill - Banjo-Kazooie / Solar Ash (Apr)

@ralphdibny I nominate Redfall for May. No other opinions matter (Note: joke)!

@nomither6 oh boy. At some point I'll give it a try lol

I believe I am at least half way though the final act and keeps going strong altough I would like to have some more story of how the aliens got to be here. Found the second berserker encounter to be way more stressfull. Will give my final remarks upon finishing the game.

These bat sections are Intense lol. I've died more times than I can count because I was missing a propane tank in 1 part bahah.

The lore behind the world is explained in later games but the do refer to E-Day (Emergence Day) in the first game regarding when the Locust first emerged. Also you may notice the Emergence Holes (I think they're called?) that they all spawn from. So I think the idea, at least in this first game is that they all came from underground

@NintendoByNature @R1spam @Clankylad @GamingFan4Lyf

Cheers all, votes added!

@AgentCooper sweet, I've added you back to the tag list. No worries, the game choice might crossover with something already in your back log anyway!

ya know, I actually love the lore in Gears of War. I don't really like the gameplay very much but I find the world building it does very interesting. Its very subtle, sometimes too subtle but I really like this kind of alternate earth that it posits.

I can't remember if it's in GoW 1 or the later games so I'll spoiler tag this but I love that their planet (I think it's called Sera?) Has 25 hour days. I don't know why they made that choice but it's a cool detail.

I also love the back story about what was going on before E-Day and how the global power struggle shifted when E-Day actually happened. Again I won't say much because it is explored more in later games but I do find that kind of alt-history very interesting!

@ralphdibny i have already spoiled myself a bit online as I was getting very curious, the part where you realize it is not earth itself is either by the end of the first game or in a sequel as I have not reach it yet. I got they were underground but I was allways thinking of them as aliens to the planet and they were coming either by space or from a different reality like in pacific rim. I bet I will start the sequel this month to learn more about it (also as far as I understand 2 and 3 are some of the series favourites).

@Balta666 I'm not sure if I ever thought it was "our" earth because the COG doesn't exist in real life as well as their history unfolding very differently. Also, everyone seems to be a different, much larger shape to humans on "our" earth 😅. Like I don't think it's an actual reveal as such as it just becomes apparent if it's not already clear.

@ralphdibny yea gears takes place on a different planet called Sera or something like that, and i think the locusts always lived there but were underground; people started syphoning imulsion and it pissed them off because it was affecting their habitat thus E-day happened

thats off the top of my head, i hope im right haha

@nomither6 I think that's roughly it for the first few games, they do get given an origin story in a later game though!

Try and use spoiler tags for plot points in this thread please [ spoiler] spoiler goes here [/spoiler] (without the space between [ and s

I don't think what you said was much of a spoiler but it's been so long since I've played it that I can't remember. Even so, some people in this thread may be playing the game for the very first time so we always use the spoiler tags, even if we aren't sure if it's defo a spoiler or not

@ralphdibny never thought too much about if it was out earth or a different one but I saw Marcus and the gang as humans and just from the game I did not think both races were indigenous from the planet and allways assumed some sort of invasion but most likely because I was already thinking that from marketing material for many years

@ralphdibny not to be a complete pain, but I'll add in Redfall as another vote. I saw someone else add it and it's coming out right at the start of May, so perfect timing.

@ralphdibny my bad; i added the tags. its been a while since ive played too, so i wouldnt of thought it could be a spoiler but more like a synopsis..well i guess that counts as a spoiler.

I have finished the game and Gears of War 2 is installing!
Not sure how that will go as as I far as I understand the normal difficulty was added to the ultimate version.
Technically speaking I have problems with its use of motion blur, head movement and maybe frame rate (but it can be only the motion blur as it really hurts my eyes), also there are some changed to cutscenes not well programmed.
The story is fairly light and I would appreciate some more context to the war and why it started (but it should come in time as the series progresses) but I adore the gameplay, the sniper rifle is super satisfying to use and see heads explode , would prefer one or two more weapons spots but I understand why they did it.

@NintendoByNature not at all! Vote added!

@nomither6 cheers, no worries. I tend to err on the side of caution because spoiler boundaries can be different for everyone! If I'm unsure then I tend to play it safe.

Do you Wana be added to the tag list for this thread btw? Or are you just popping by for some gears of war discussion this month?

@Balta666 nice well done! I think I used the sniper a lot when I played. I actually think I made a point to use all the weapons at least once but settled on the sniper in most of the series because it was easiest to use. I think they change the weapon stats up in later games so i ended up using an equivalent weapon in those

I think it's one of those series where it's gameplay first. So the main story beats, particularly in the first game serve the gameplay. Plot-wise, it mainly focuses on the 4 main characters and their relationships and how they experience the events of the game. Lore and world building is mainly done through off hand conversations in the dialogue and also through the collectables you pick up.

the trilogy only gets better

@ralphdibny i was just popping by for gears

@nomither6 cool 👍

Oh man, Gears is one of my absolute favorite franchises of all time that will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart. I still remember how I got into it.

I was working in Blockbuster after college and my little brother wanted to play it, so I took advantage of the fact I got free rentals to rent it. I didn't think much of it going in, just "oh look a bunch of steroid guys with guns." But we played it together since it had co-op and my opinion shifted to "okay, this is actually pretty cool." So I rented Gears of War 2 when it came out later that year and was blown away, going from "this is pretty cool" to "OMGF this is amazing! I love it! When's the next one?"

I'd love to revisit the Gears saga in co-op. If anyone's looking for a partner, let me know!