AverageJoseph

Playing disc golf this weekend. Played Diablo 4 for 8 hours a day the last 2 weekends. Need to touch grass

@LordFunkalot definitely, I have no problem with the game just has no business as goty imo, for $5 it's pretty good for sure. Compared to the $70 I spent on Hogwarts. The castle was so so perfect, and Hogsmeade was great and then after a few hours it just felt desolate, a huge open world filled with menial tasks, no immersion, no impactful choices

@BBB You don't like magic darts shooting you through vehicles, or at several thousand feet flying aircraft, or when you can't see a single enemy within miles, and forcing you into drugged out cutscenes?

@Tharsman Once the chosen gear is fully upgraded, usually around the 12-15 minute mark, you can turn on auto upgrades and just sit there while enemies die on your auto cast aoe. There is zero gameplay beyond which upgrade path to pursue, and after you figure it out, those choices will rarely vary. Book, garlic, and santa water were all you ever really needed, so there were several meaningless filler slots that could be chosen to fulfill the upgrade challenges. Then you just pick a new character and repeat.

I finished the game, I unlocked everything on the in game check list, killed all the bosses, unlocked all the characters and items. I checked my achievements, 140 for 1200 gs which was 100% before the dlc, the first earned on Nov 9th the last on Nov 16th. I have 38 hrs played. But time investment is not really relevant to me when thinking about goty. VS held my interest for 2-3 hours until failure stopped being a threat, and then I just completed it for easy achievements.

Its main strength is an addictive progression system, similar to many mobile games, but it makes no attempt at innovative gameplay or story telling. I ended up listening to my own music or podcasts while playing. Many of the art assets and even the items' functions are just copied from Castlevania. I would consider all of these to be areas that should count against it when you look at what games like Elden Ring, Immortality, Pentiment, and Tunic were doing in the same year.

@Tharsman most of the challenges are just to get to a certain level on each character, or survive X minutes on Y level, or evolve each item though right? I got all the achievements in the first few days after it joined gamepass and I literally fell asleep during one run and didn't die.

As long as they don't force us to watch it, I'm fine with this.

It's a glorified idle clicker. As soon as you figure it out, which takes only a handful of runs, you will never die. Then you can afk every run after the 12 minute mark. He used to design mobile slot machine games, flashy, addictive, no substance.

VS has no story AND no gameplay. Pentiment, Immortality, and Tunic were light years ahead of this game.

@Fishticon Wrong. They never said it won't be happening. They said "we have no plans for" game pass. ABK doesn't do game pass at all, that's part of MS arguments to regulators for why the deal will be beneficial. They've already said multiple times they will be putting the games on subscription services where they've never existed before. Even PS+ is on offer in the 10 year deal Sony won't sign.

So even if Rod Fergusson has no plans for D4 on GP, rest assured, that MS does.

@Sol4ris I have been predicting it will join game pass when Season 1 launches, which I'm guessing will be mid July at the earliest, according to Joe Shely's "weeks later" comment in the Dec livestream. Zero chance it's Day 1 as they don't want to impact the pre orders and Day 1 sales.

If they don't hit the S1 window, then I would guess they wait 3-4 months for S2, so your year-end could happen.

Just like with Ghostwire Tokyo, the exclusivity ended a couple weeks ago, yet they waited for an open window in April when they could launch it with the DLC. They let Wo Long breath a bit and drop it to coincide with something new being added to the game.

If S1 drops in September there is no way they're adding it in the same month as Starfield, so they will probably add it with S2 in Dec-Jan.

@NorthwestEagle I can see how it might feel like gouging if you prefer that style and the others offer it included

@Green-Bandit wow, that's pretty short. I do notice on xbox it's shorter when I'm using headphones, which I often do just for immersion, especially in the first several days to get into the vibe of a new game, or if directional sound input is an advantage. I've always thought that having one less point of failure was a good thing too, though. I'd hate to replace an otherwise working controller just because the battery failed. Like my stupid phone right now...

@NorthwestEagle I had a play and charge kit on 360 and it ended up being a wired controller. I'm sure they've improved since then I just don't want to deal with that. Using a controller wired to a console just seems like going backwards after having wireless for so long. I've been using mostly the same eneloops since then, replaced some along the way but I literally have 15 year old batteries I'm still using. I usually have 2 extras ready to go or at the very least in one of my other controllers, I don't really find it's too much of a hassle

@Green-Bandit that's so weird, I didn't realize the battery life was that bad. I see people mentioning the battery of the PS controllers as a strength all the time. I've found myself defending the 2xAA of xbox controllers many times, online and with friends. I've been using the same eneloops for years and I wouldn't want it any other way.

@Widey85 totally. Unpacking had such a simple yet satisfying little loop and told the story so unobtrusively. Not really sure what to expect from Venba but that line just reminded me of that.

I was not emotionally mature enough to handle the boyfriend level. She was just a little girl only a couple levels ago. Then this jerk with all his gray underwear and her diploma can't even go on the wall! I couldn't handle it, had to put it down for a couple days before I came back lol

So... Venba, looks like a game I'd never be interested in, yet "a cooking/puzzle game where players experience the lives ... via interactive, stylized food prep" made me think of Unpacking. I never thought I would like Unpacking and ended up loving it.

Lana I already thought looked great, will try. Lamplighters sounds interesting, I like tactics games like xcom, but I agree 1930's doesn't grab me right away.

@Bluerangervegeta you say it sucks for anyone without GPU, but the thing is you can buy 1 month of GPU and then gain access to these offers and start earning GPU entirely free

It's entirely free GPU plus about $175 of xbox store credit per year. That's worth 10 minutes a day to me. It's almost $6 bucks an hour MS is paying us for minimal engagement with their products and partners.