Leaderboard

Yeah reviews seem to be a bit mixed - on the one hand the game seems quite archaic in terms of design and tech but on the other, it's like a typical Bethesda experience with lots to see and do. I really don't know what to expect and I'm also taking into account how the game may start off slow before it really gets going. Either way, at least it's something new and original to experience!

I'm gonna get to this eventually. Once I'm finished with Sea of Stars, I'll dive in. I've heard a lot of mixed things about it, but reviews seem to be ok.

First 8 hours in, it's fallout in space but better. The gunplay is far superior to Fallout, the planets are beautiful, been to a few. It will be slow to start off and many many things seem to be locked behind the skills tree etc. I already found a random ship while dicking around on a planet, immediately stole it and I'm now flying around with the bodies of my enemies in the cockpit! :). So far it's fun and engaging but first thing I absolutely fucking hate is Bethesda's inability to support 32:9 resolution. It's 2023 and this should not be a problem to run a 5120x1440 resolution, especially in a AAA tittle.

I feel like this site is a genuine testing ground for a future version of chatgpt.

So, FG just officially hit it's anniversary last week and a bunch of us now have the 10 year badge. Congrats to all who have made it this far and to whose who keep the community what it is today. Thanks to prodigal son @Diddums for getting the show on the road and to @GazzaGarratt for keeping the wheels spinning 🖤 You can blame both these twats for my presence lol 🖤🥳👏🙈😍🍻😜

Good to hear! I'm just glad they are 'supporting' 21:9 but it looks to be vert- so first thing I'm doing is doing a custom ini FOV and setting it to 120. The default seems to be in the 70-75 range which is absolutely nasty and people buying on Xbox will have a very boxed-in experience with no built-in slider.

Spec Ops: The Line was a standout game for me. Although it's been popular at deep discounts and is rated very well, it really does deserve more recognition. It's basically a military-themed Gears of War set in Dubai with a powerful story

I love how these threads get more activity when a bot posts then for actual Minecraft 😅

It got solo Riffed 😅

Chin them off phil.

At long friggin last!!! I have been waiting for Sea of Stars since it’s announcement, and now that I’ve got it in front of me, hot damn, this is far better then I expected!! This game is a masterpiece!! The graphics, sound, music, and gameplay are spot on! It reminds me of Chrono Trigger and super Mario rpg from the SNES days. Timing a button press when your attack hits gives a boost to damage. Same goes for defending when an enemy attack’s about to hit. A lot of the special moves have contextual button presses to either keep them going or power them up. I won’t spoil the story, but this is a prequel to Sabotage Studios other game, The Messenger. Easily my game of the year so far. If you’re a fan of classic Jrpgs, check this one out.

Starfield gets the mod of mods, the granddaddy of them all: script extender | PC Gamer WWW.PCGAMER.COM Hold on to your spacesuits.

This game has been worth every single penny.

Alright, just got home from a long weekend of expensive vintage cars, good booze, and steak. It's time to play! I ended up just buying it on Steam to play today and get the expansion when it comes. Fuck it, life is too short.

1080ti will run this game just fine... ...in 720p

My only concern for this game is with regards performance. I've seen some pretty hefty builds barely managed 60fps I hope some optimisation is on the cards as my little 1080ti is currently shitting itself in anticipation 😅

I love how there are hundreds of mods already and the game is still 4 days away from release🤣 A few picks I will mark for myself that others may be interested in:- Neutral LUTs - No Color Filters WWW.NEXUSMODS.COM Removes the color filters from the game, making the colors more uniformly neutral with deeper blacks. Starfield Upscaler - Replacing FSR2 with DLSS or XeSS WWW.NEXUSMODS.COM Replacing the in-game FSR2 with DLSS/XeSS Achievement Enabler WWW.NEXUSMODS.COM An achievement enabler for Starfield. Stops your save from being marked as modded. Starfield FOV WWW.NEXUSMODS.COM Change Your FOV! Smooth Ship Reticle (120fps Smooth UI) WWW.NEXUSMODS.COM Fixes the spaceship targeting reticle looking choppy. Also includes an option to boost every UI element to 120fps! Quantum Reshade WWW.NEXUSMODS.COM MAJOR REWORK! Quantum reshade brings you closer to the reality YOU want. Make your game look like reality with new groundbreaking imaging tech and emulation-ReShade

Hopefully they'll patch something in too but Bethesda have form for this tbf 😁

This is gonna be a necessity Having issues with Starfield's FOV? Well you're not alone, but luckily there's already a fix | PC Gamer WWW.PCGAMER.COM Grab the tweaked .ini file now 2023 and Bethesda still can't incorporate a FOV slider in-game jeez! Good job the Creation Engine and configs are so moddable/editable..

The ACG review made me chuckle the way he kept setting up his sentences.

ACG liked the game. From what I've seen it looks like a better looking The Outer Worlds but with space combat. This isn't a bad thing as that game was great fun.

I've watched a few spoiler-free reviews. A little worried how my little old 1080ti will cope but otherwise I'm looking forward to next week's peasant release. I don't know when I did it, must have had some spare leave, as apparently I've booked Wednesday and Thursday off work 🙂

Start of the video gives a good overview of what to expect, basically not as amazing as the hype, but solid

It's silly to think this will sell more Xbox consoles to me as it's not "exclusive" since it's available on PC. Unfortunately we don't understand what words mean these days. When it's PS exclusive, it really is! Like GranTurismo. You cannot play it on any other platforms. I'll be playing Starfield on PC because fuck Xbox. To me, 10/10 I would spend the money on a PC and play whatever I want vs buy a new gaming system. As long as Xbox is tethered to PC, it will never be exclusive or match PS.

Reviews are slowly drifting in and it's not looking too good from the big boys. 75% on PC Gamer and a 7/10 from IGN and Gamespot so far. These are perfectly good scores however this game was supposed to be the masterpiece across the board that justified Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda and it being the huge console seller to bring Xbox closer to Playstation. Early indications suggest this isn't gonna be it although review scores are largely subjective and should be taken with a pinch of salt. Regardless, I expected a bit of a better media reception.

Exactly what I did! Ha! 😄 I'm trying to look into how my gaming pattern will take me in the next few months as I want this to be a part of it. I'd love to see news about different elements of the game as people start to play it as I hope it can match that social Destiny vibe because more games should have that feeling.

Ha ha indeed, some people do seem to look to be disappointed, although the reaction to NMS meant I was able to buy it for £5 😁

It's a Bethesda game, using that knowledge, it seems like it's much better than typical for them. I'm also one of those gamers that got platinum on NMS in the first year when everyone was bitching and moaning, I also played Fall Out 76 when everyone was complaining, and others. Not being satisfied is based on your own expectations. Folks with untenable expectations will never be happy playing anything. I'm stoked for sure, delaying the game was the right move.

I definitely agree - I'd also much prefer to walk around a crafted planet with purpose than some barren wasteland generated by algorithms like in No Mans Sky. I think a lot of people who have genuine concerns are just a bit worried that the game isn't going to be as open or seamless as originally promoted especially with Todd Howard and Bethesda's track record.

Do you really care to walk around a planet? Seems ridiculous to judge a game based on something the developers never actually said. It has been confirmed that you can land anywhere with drop pins or something like that. I'm of opinion that you can't make someone happy no matter what if they get pissy about not spending years of real life walking around a planet in a video game. Those type of people just want to see the world burn.

The boundary situation kinda leaves me in two minds - on the one hand there will still be plenty to explore and that includes crafted and generated material. On the other, things like boundaries, loading screens and invisible walls will add a certain level of tackiness and restrictions which could greatly impact immersion. Bethesda have pretty much said you can land and go anywhere on any planet so if there is a hint that you can only land in zones which are then further limited to a closed off boundary then that will be another atrocious lie by them and quite a bad one too. Thankfully those that have paid £25 more will get to play the game a week early so lots will be uncovered and reviews will also be in by then but I seriously hope this isn't an instance of cracks showing.

I'm mostly avoiding Starfield news now, as I don't want spoilers, but we all love that juicy word 'controversy' 😅

Geezer got arrested🤣 The Starfield Leaker Has Been Arrested, His Apology to Todd Howard Not Enough to Avoid Jail WCCFTECH.COM The story of the infamous Starfield leaker hasn't ended well, as the man was recently arrested for theft of property, among other things

Because Microsoft have made it abundantly clear that all 3rd party games must release on both the Series consoles simultaneously unless there are exceptional circumstances. Larian had to negotiate with Phil Spencer a way which BG3 could be played on the S and meet MS's requirements without the product being withdrawn at either end. This is not a normal circumstance and proves how difficult it is to meet the requirement set by Microsoft having this console in place. Losing local co-op on a game of this nature is an absolute hammer blow and this is a rare case of users knowing a feature has been removed - how many games in development and that have been released whereby features have been omitted because they are having to work in-line with the Series S. VRAM is the most critical aspect of these consoles so this BG3 issue is stark proof and this is also a 6 year old game with a fairly tried and tested engine. Developers have been very clear on the limitations and restrictions going on for a year now. EA release FIFA on Switch simply for extra money - they launched the same game 4 years in a row with merely squad updates and they are very clear about this. FIFA 22 was still FIFA 19 in everything but name. It's not comparable because Nintendo do not have any stipulations that multiplatform games are to launch simultaneously with their rival counterparts and what is expected of them. EA are not doing it to cater to Nintendo fans - they are just oozing as much dosh as possible and are self-publishing through Nintendo's open market. MS's publication contract requires that softwares are compatible with all current systems and this is where devs are being challenged and limited. There are absolutely stacks of interviews and information about this all over the net. You also mentioned mobile phone upgrades and that just highlights my point - Apple stop supporting older models to push users towards newer iterations and because maintaining older and outdated frameworks hamper growth development of apps and services. There is also not one developer in existence who looks at Steam's hardware survey to determine how to make a game - they do not limit themselves in this way. If they want to swerve MAC, Linux, Win7+ because it holds them back or wastes time then they will do this and many do. It's not 'elitist' to be concerned about how the Series S is holding things back and certainly developers must feel rather frustrated - people bought into this current gen with huge expectations. The S is a bizarre bridge between the One X and Series X and just another Microsoft unit filler. Starfield and Baldurs Gate 3 may be huge games but they can be ran at max settings on a 8 year old PC. Those are games that have been in development for 6+ years as it is but for proper next gen titles, they will likely have to be scaled back just to suit a minority and their publication contract with Microsoft.

I said this in my post above, I just forgot to post the link! Woops!! 😄

Not entirely sure where you are going with this. It is a commercial decision as to what consoles you develop a game for, they can simply say we won't release the game on xbox then... There is no reason for it to affect development if they do not want it too. We see console exclusive games all of the time. If a game does not run on a console you wouldn't release it on it i.e. it's why you don't get the latest version of Fifa on the Switch (well you get a different version), you don't get COD on the Switch. All those games were released later on after much refinement maybe but I am failing to see why that can't happen with the Xbox? Why does a game have to launch right away on the console (in fact with it having a lesser uptake than the Playstation surely it's going to make financial sense to focus on a PS version of a game anyway). It might be just me but reading your post reads like you have not read mine properly and you have not read the link you provided, just to snippet a line I can pull out straight away counters your comment about Larian being vocal about the power of the Series S. They have been vocal in that yes there has been more work involved but not necassarily that they can not release games on it due to it being underpowered - Again referring back to my previous post, Baldurs Gate has been announced as coming to the xbox, just that the Series S version will not have local co-op. The reason for this is down to the lesser RAM and not necassarily the console being underpowered because of the way they have designed local co-op (to be independant of one another). Final note, it is easy to say ah just pop the extra on finance and get the more powerful console but it is never as simple as that, we have families in the UK struggling to feed themselves, foodbank use at it's highest and with mortgage rates the way they are there are plenty of families (I know a couple) who are currently fearful of losing their homes. Finding a couple of hundred quid to buy a next gen console for their child and bring them some joy is far easier than committing to double that, and taking it out on finance. When you are in a much more privileged position it is far easier to say ah why don't people just stump up the extra £200 for a bigger more powerful console. There may well come a point where Microsoft let the Series S go and it will be replaced with the Series S-2, I mean it's no different to buying a new mobile phone, your older one stops getting the updates etc despite being on the same OS for example. Saying that it affects development is an odd sentence, well of course it would, I don't know about you but if I was to produce a video game, I would have to consider all the machines it was going to be played in. If I was to make a PC game for example, I would look at the range of pc's that currently use Steam and would have to consider if it could cater to them all, if it can't then I make a decision on whether or not I limit the game to reach a bigger audience or I don't and let it achieve the heights it can, that's literally how the industry works. I don't see the same developers sitting their complaining that people choosing to game on pc's from 2010 are affecting development and they need to do away with them. Oh no wait they just ignore them....

I'll be having to think how and when I can get to play this once I'm back from holiday. In separate news, just saw this on Twitter/X to help some Series S users with the game on Baldurs Gate so I'd think they'd be working ways to improve Starfield too on the S over time.

Those games were released after their mainline counterparts were completed and did not impact development. The big complaint from developers and publishers currently is them being restricted and having to essentially scale back or produce two different versions of their games simultaneously - this not only reduces the quality and potential of the product but can see timescales increase. Resident Evil 2 N64 is a perfect example because the project was offloaded to a small studio, who in a year were able to optimise the already-completed Playstation build and release it as a standalone a year later. This did not impact the original game, it did not hold back development and an N64 version was not taken into consideration throughout either. It was a welcome surprise but the gap between the PS and N64 was not as wide as it it is with the S and Series X especially in terms of internal technologies and optimisation scales. Nowadays developers are having to produce games with the S in mind - it's nothing more than an Xbox One X.2 integrated into this generation. Sure it has an attractive price-point for for £200 more, you could get the big brother and use it the entire generation. Plop it on finance and you can pay for it over 5+ years rather than pay £250 now and then another £450 down the line. The S will probably stop receiving support before 2025 and a lot of developers will have already twisted Microsoft's arm in mandatory support by then because it's going to prove more and more unworkable. Many developers including Remedy and Larian (who are struggling with developing Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox currently) have been pretty vocal about this Control Developer Explains Why Xbox Series S Is a Problem for Devs GAMERANT.COM One of Remedy Entertainment's devs chimes in on the Xbox Series S, explaining why the low-spec console is a problem for the developers.

I think you're missing the point with the S though, yes people who bought it may have to upgrade down the road to a Series X, however a large portion of those who have bought the S have double dipped, so are more sony based players that now have an Xbox (some for the first time because it was so affordable). That may entice them to give the whole Xbox ecosystem a go, and in addition to that upgrading your console mid generation is nothing new. The last generation had PS4 Pro's mid way through, Xbox one had it's more powerful brother, the Switch has had a Switch OLED midway through it's life, the PS3 / 360 era had slim versions. Yeah the Series S might not be capable of running Unreal Engine 5, but for £250 right now you can buy a console that is capable of running 2 of the most anticipated titles of the year, Starfield and now it has been announced Baldurs Gate (with the exception of local co-op). Find a PC that can play both of those for £250? Oh wait normally it's just tough sh*t if your pc can not run a game, at least Microsoft have offered an option that is affordable during a cost of living crisis. Heck Sony just announced a portable handheld for only £50 cheaper and it can't run native games and can't even utilise their streaming service. It is only gamers who are shall I say more elitist that have real complaints about the Series S. Unreal 4 games will remain yes but that's not wholly due to Microsoft, there is nothing to stop devs creating games specifically for the PS5 / PC and then relaunching down the road on the Xbox to generate extra funds, heck they do this all the time at the moment with some of the sh*tty remasters they keep releasing. Unreal engine 5 is not the only way to progress and move games forwards, yeah it will help graphically but games are so much more than just visuals. My final note, I will put the link below as well, the Larian Studios CEO has stated in a recent interview it's not the Series S but more the lack of effort from devs. They want things to be quick, easy and so that they can churn stuff out to maximum profit, it's why we have so little ingenuity within modern triple A games. It comes through at indie level because they have to think about how they can make their games stand out, be a little bit different. If you look back at the history of video games, even back to the 16 bit era, development was so much more, coming up with ideas on how to get a game to run on a specific machine, overcoming the problems that machine might have had. It's easy to just blame a console but we have seen in the past how the lack of a consoles power can be overcome if you think outside the box a little - Resi Evil 2 on the N64 Morrowind on the original Xbox And probably my favourite game, the Witcher 3 on the Switch

Thought I'd make a thread of games that are popular and/or widely regarded yet for some reason, you just don't like them for whatever reasons or think they warrant their plaudits. Here's my top 5:- 1. Doom Eternal - shocking departure from the standard Doom formula that was carried through even to the 2016 reboot. Instead of going in all guns blazing, you now have to conserve ammo and trickle-shoot as much as possible due to the lack of available. Firefights are predictable and largely occur in arena environments and the amount of chain-sawing and glory kills you have to pull off literally negates the whole shooting element especially with the ammo reductions. It begins to feel like a rhythm shooter with dance-off mechanics and the inclusion of platforming is dreadful and painfully implemented - also an excuse to condense levels and divide them into battle arenas. It's a beautiful game but I will never understand why the took this direction. They also devalued and destroyed glory kills into an horrendously repetitive and predictable aspect. 2. Max Payne 3 - the first two games were noir masterpieces by Sam Lake and his small Remedy team. These titles were produced for $3m and $8m back in the day. Rockstar bought the rights with Max Payne fan Dan Houser leading the writing. This game removes everything that made the original games iconic and instead Rockstar placed their own DNA design philosophy on it. We now have cover shooting, slow, cumbersome mechanics and the writing is absolutely ghastly with Payne delivering persistent monologue waffles that mean nothing and also don't take into account his past. 40% of the game is cutscenes and the flow is persistently interrupted - you'll be lucky if you can walk 30ft without a 5 minute video beginning. The comic book panels have also been replaced by nauseating cutscenes with outrageous post-processing effects and distortions. It's literally GTA without the cars and Payne himself doesn't even look, sound or behave like how he used to. Dan Houser absolutely destroyed this series in one go and at a cost of $105m making it the most expensive game ever at the time. 3. Control - this time it's a Remedy game that didn't sit right with me. Game feels like a tech demo and whilst it looks impressive, the visuals look rather washed and weird. The story isn't anywhere near as intriguing as it sets out to be and the mechanics don't feel very refined. Not what you'd expect from the OG creators of Max Payne. There is only one gun in the game and although this can be upgraded, combat becomes stale within the first 30 minutes because every shot feels the same. The environment is also the same old office with lots of backtracking or warped sci-fi based levels. You can literally see all this game has to offer within the first 10 minutes. 4. Zelda: Breath of the Wild - definitely a good game but extremely overrated IMO and the media are way too forgiving for Nintendo products where other ones are criticised. After about 20 hours, this game becomes exhastingly repetitive with some annoying mechanics, a largely empty world and a gameplay design not too dissimilar from previous Ubisoft titles. It's finished, it is polished but either I've outgrown this series or I am burned on open world titles. However, since then I returned to Ocarina of Time and found that to be a far better experience aesthetically and with its sublimely charming music. Weapon degradation, tiresome travelling and bloody radio towers really soured this for me but like many Nintendo fans, if you don't play other multi-platform games including open world ones then this will be one of the best ever. For me, it's nothing I haven't seen a million times over in recent memory. Tears of the Kingdom does worry me with its even bigger size but the world and mechanics seem way more entertaining. BOTW was just too much and the Shrine bloat became unbearable. 5. Elden Ring - I think this is a great game but just not a good Souls entry. The open world is far too barren and the highly championed exploration wasn't quite as interesting as I thought especially when it came to the tedious dungeons which mimicked the chalice ones from Bloodborne. Bosses rely on invisible walls and invincibility frames which is completely unacceptable for a game of this nature and hasn't been since seen Dark Souls 2. They also have extreme move-sets which cannot be telegraphed and these moves cannot be broken past certain fames so all you can do is sit back, get one hit in and then avoid another 9 step attack. I really prefer the linear design of Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro and the open world in Elden Ring does the whole game a disservice especially from the replayability factor. Boss bloat is also horrendous with so many copy and pasted even in the overworld. I still think this game is better than what most developers put out but for me, some of the negative factors are too significant and quite surprising. I sincerely hope this new open world design doesn't become the norm in future From Software titles.