Comments 43

Re: Elden Ring Patch Makes Sweeping Changes To Difficulty Balance On Xbox

mcdreamer

@NEStalgia I wouldn't say that "it's fun because it's hard" is really cult thinking, or even the underlying point. It's more that the challenge feels like a key component of the games. Sure, there's plenty to enjoy outside of that but I personally enjoy overcoming those challenges, as do a lot of fans of this genre.

It's interesting that you mention linearity, as the earlier games such as Dark Souls are indeed quite linear. Sure, you can grind, but those games are very much linear and have a define difficulty curve. All these games have some balance issues, but the fact that they're on the difficult side doesn't mean they're unbalanced generally.

Elden Ring sort of does have an "easy" mode in that you have a lot more freedom to work around the map how you like. If you find you're hitting a brick wall, there's usually some other content you can go and find and complete first. And as you mentioned, there are various ways to help outside of that, such as summons (which actually raise boss HP for balance), cheeses and more.

Re: Elden Ring Patch Makes Sweeping Changes To Difficulty Balance On Xbox

mcdreamer

@Jenkinss Agree, it does seem like a crazy jump over everything else. It feels like it makes no sense at all, as if a chunk of the content leading up to it is missing. Some of the other DLC bosses are hard, but nothing approaches the final boss. Overall though the DLC is absolutely fantastic.

As for difficulty modes, I know it's a controversial topic, but they really have no place in these games. If it was too easy, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't actually be fun. It's all about the sense of achievement which would be gone if the enemies were trivialised. I know this argument gets trotted out a lot but I do think it's true. If you want an easy mode, you're probably not really missing out as the game was never for you. And just to throw it out there, I'm also an older gamer.

Re: Xbox Suffers 'Major Outage' As Servers Go Down For Most Players

mcdreamer

I was hit by this last night trying to play Elden Ring. Fortunately I could hop in to the game without any problems. Besides messages, I don't really engage in the multiplayer aspects of the game.

As a side note, I see people mentioning ads on the dashboard above. Jumping back into Elden Ring, one of the few games I have on the Series X (I'm mostly on PS5), I was astounded to see an advert for a McDonald's burger. What on earth is this crap doing there?

Re: New Xbox Policy To Block Unauthorised Accessories

mcdreamer

@ralphdibny Yes, 100% this for me too. Only reason I got SF6 on the Xbox over the PS5. No idea whether my stick will continue to work after these changes, but it feels unlikely. Completely outrageous. As much as I like features such as Quick Resume, the lack of any compelling exclusives and now stuff like this make you question whether it's worth having an Xbox at all this gen.

Re: Surprise! Quake 2 'Enhanced' Is Out Today On Xbox Game Pass

mcdreamer

Shame this version doesn’t have the gyro aiming. It does take a bit of getting used to, but once you do it’s hard to go back. Being able to just add that slight extra bit of precision over the sticks takes me back to my mouse and keyboard days. Will be a blast though on whatever platform I play on!

Also, I’d happily take a Quake or Helen reboot! Preferably both!

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (June 10-11)

mcdreamer

Like for so many here, it's all about SF6 and D4 for me. Playing SF6 on Xbox as connecting my fight stick is so much more straight forward than it is on PS5. Though in a twist, I'm spending most of my time playing on pad this time. Surprisingly I'm getting used to it quite quickly, though double QCF specials are still a struggle.

Re: Diablo 4 Beta Dates, Start Times And Preload Details On Xbox

mcdreamer

Given how much stuff is coming out when this game officially launches (FF16 and SF6) I was going to give it a miss to start off with. But now I can jump in early for a beta weekend... perhaps a pre-order is on the cards after all. I've only played the first parts of Diablo 3 but enjoyed it enough to want to try out 4.

Re: How Would You Grade The Xbox Series X|S Generation So Far?

mcdreamer

The hardware itself, definitely an A. Love how fast and quiet it is. Quick resume is also excellent.

Games… well, not much to say here really? Halo Infinite is great, Forza isn’t really my thing, and (excuse the slight exaggeration) that’s almost it isn’t it?

I’m sure the games will come. For now overall it’s a solid C.

Re: Here's What Might Be Leaving Xbox Game Pass In December 2022

mcdreamer

The Gunk was excellent. One of the best games I've played in the last few years. I always hope GP will get another game of a similar size and scope that captures me in the same way. Tunic is probably a good candidate but not tried it yet.

On the Final Fantasy XIII front, I've sort of made my peace with the fact I'll end up playing all of those once they've left GP.

Re: Talking Point: Did The Series X|S Bring You Back To Xbox? If So, How Come?

mcdreamer

This is a great topic. In the 80s I was a PC gamer. In the 90s I was a Sega and PC gamer. In the 2000s I was PC only before dropping off entirely for years until getting an Xbox 360 in 2011. I still didn't play that much, but I did enjoy a lot of Halo 3 ODST online with a friend.

I then dropped off of gaming again until 2016, coming back to the PC with Doom. My Steam library then started to gather, well, some steam and by 2017 I was playing quite a few games I'd never have looked at in the past such as Dark Souls 3.

Later that year I got a Switch and from there I pretty much left PC gaming behind forever. Those Switch only years were great, with so many brilliant titles being release. I always had one eye on a PS4 for Bloodborne and Persona 5 but never quite made the purchase. I had no interest in the Xbox.

Finally in 2020 I picked up a PS4, then a PS5 and was very happy to find out how much I'd been missing. However, I still didn't want an Xbox as I felt it was simply a COD and FPS machine, a genre I (bar Doom 2016) left behind in the 90s with Quake 3. And there were certainly "no exclusives" or JRPGs.

Skip forward to late last year and I was starting to realise I was wrong. Xbox is not just about shooters. In fact, Game Pass was looking too good to pass up. So, I bit the bullet and picked up a Series S.

I was delighted with the machine. Super fast, very impressive for the price point, and GP is indeed excellent. Further, I rediscovered how great multiplayer FPS games are with friends with Halo Infinite.

When the opportunity arose I upgraded to a Series X and I couldn't be happier with the machine. Not only is it a great performer, but I think Quick Resume is a killer feature. It's the reason I'm now buying quite a few games on the Series over the PS5.

On balance the Switch Pro Controller and Dual Sense probably do beat the Xbox controller, though it's still a great controller.

So yes, you could say I'm something of a convert. I really do love all the consoles and would say the Xbox is now just as much a favourite of mine as all of the others.

Re: Review: Elden Ring - FromSoftware's Crowning Achievement

mcdreamer

I'm absolutely loving this game. Just shy of 10 hours and still don't feel like I've really made much progress but instead have been having fun exploring. During the course of that I've levelled up a number of times, upgraded my sword and unlocked lots of the map. That's progress of a very different kind to what we're used to with these games, where it's all about learning your way along a (mostly) set path until you beat you way through to a boss. I've attempted Margit once but besides that I've stayed away from bosses so far. That sums up what's so good about Elden Ring. It's incredibly familiar to Dark Souls fans, but yet it's an entirely different experience. And one which in which you have a far greater ability to shape the experience to be your own.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 19-20)

mcdreamer

I've not been playing a huge amount of Xbox lately. I've just finished Pokemon Legends and have now dived into Horizon Forbidden West. I am working my way through RE8 slowly on the Series X though - I can only take the pressure in relatively short bursts! Will need to decide in the next few days whether I'm going to go Xbox or PS5 for Elden Ring...

Re: Another Six Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass Soon (February 15)

mcdreamer

Code Vein was one that was on my list for a long time. Nearly picked it up super cheap in sales on the PS. Finally played it through Game Pass, and like others here, I couldn't quite get into it in the end. For me nothing really beats the mechanics of the Souls games themselves. Mortal Shell suffered a similar fate.

Surprised The Medium is leaving so soon, even if it was rumoured. I have that downloaded and did fancy playing that one but I'm not sure I'll get to it in the next couple of weeks. Perhaps I'll just try out the first hour or so.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 8-9)

mcdreamer

On the Xbox side of things I've just finished The Gunk. I highly recommend this game! Really stunning to look at, great feeling gameplay and there's just something very relaxing about hoovering up all of the titular gunk! I've started the Halo Infinite campaign, and will be playing that on and off in the background, but I'm now hooked on The Pedestrian! So many great games to play and this is only on one of three systems!

Re: Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (January 6)

mcdreamer

@GamingFan4Lyf Yeah, the 3D is amongst the best on the system that I've seen. Agree that both of the MercurySteam games were excellent.

As for Mass Effect, I'm also in the same position as you are. I'd love to try the games but I just can't see how I'll find the time to fit them in! I've not even finished the Halo Infinite campaign yet, I have the back end of Arise to finish and it's not that long before Elden Ring drops! And that's not even the full backlog

Re: Xbox Team Investigating Issues With Unresponsive Guide Button

mcdreamer

I had this all the time with the controller which came with my Series S. The one which came with my X seems better, but it's still not perfect. I often end up triggering the long press "shut down" choices rather than bringing up the guide. It's great to know this isn't expected and is going to get fixed. Like others have said, I thought this was just how it is.

The other thing I'd really like to see fixed is the constant audio popping in the menus. It seems to occur most frequently when two sounds are playing simultaneously. It's as if they need to "just" slap some kind of limiter in somewhere. Reading around it seems like this has been an issue for a while. It's a shame, as whilst it's not a huge deal, it certainly makes the overall experience feel less polished.

Re: Xbox Series X Stock Remains Live For Over 24 Hours In The UK

mcdreamer

@jrt87 I know what you mean. I commented similarly on the original article about stock yesterday. I would prefer to have the X, but I've been so impressed with the S that it doesn't feel like a compelling upgrade at the moment. I even tested myself a couple of times by visiting the Series X page on Amazon Perhaps in a few years the situation will be different but I suspect for a while to come the S will be more than viable.

I used to be very similar to you in that I also have traditionally cared about performance and resolution. For me it was the Switch which made me realise perhaps it didn't matter so much. For example, I'm currently playing SMT V and loving it despite the low frame rate and resolution. It still looks and plays great. In general I've found the S blows the Switch out of the water (perhaps unsurprisingly) so from that baseline it's still an impressive machine. I also have a PS5 which means I can play anything where I really care over there.

Re: Amazon UK Gets Significantly More Stock Of Xbox Series X Consoles

mcdreamer

I was just hovering over the buy button, having only just got a Series S a couple of months ago. I've been very impressed with how the S performs so an X would definitely feel like a luxury at this point. I'd have got an X if I could do so this easily but I think now it makes sense to wait a couple of years, or beyond, until we start seeing big performance gaps with Series only titles.