dan-likes-trees

Haha nah man. I wish! I'm guessing from the resolution it was taken with some souped-up superwidescreen PC setup, with a cheeky free camera mod. When I inevitably go back for a second playthrough one day, I hope the PS4 version gets a camera mode patched in at some point like dat beautiful camera mode in Horizon / Uncharted 4.

Hmm, yeah it's kind of hectic in that there's always tonnes of stuff flying around the screen in bright neon colours, but at the same time the basic mechanics are pretty simple (dont let stuff get too close to your ship, only a few controls). Played the first couple of levels with my lassie and we had a good time; the easiest role is just the flying the ship part, and the other player can hop around between the various guns, shields, and checking the map.. The experience is definitely improved the more people you get in a room playing it though - easier said than done though given how much a rip off controllers are!

I tend to look at the plus releases and have similar negative reactions to people in here, but the games I've actually played that I recognise are all fantastic. This War of Mine, Invisible Inc, Journey - all great. Can't complain really. Played Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime with a couple of mates over Christmas - it was awesome. Just look at it! Basically you all scurry around the ship between the weapons ports, the shields, the steering wheel bit depending on what's around you. Fantastic local coop game

^ Yeah, totally agree 3B0B131301364. The script doesn't help, but I think her voice actor comes off as trying a bit too hard in general or being directed to sound too selfserious.. ultimately comes off as pretty portentous and bland. Then again, lacking social skills and interesting dialogue is probably fairly realistic for someone who's grown up the woods without any mates! I'd agree with Flink - though they're ostensibly the same genre, you'll be pretty disappointed if you go in hoping to scratch that Witcher itch - they're both good at totally different things. Unlike Witcher, the characters are all totally forgettable, the script is devoid of humour and character, the lore is all pretty lightweight. You can explore, but in most the towns I've come across, the merchant is the only character you can speak to, none of your choices seem to matter much.. basically, as an RPG it's pretty cack. But it's a great action game! The Tomb Raider comparison is pretty apt. And it's very pretty. And everyone likes it more than me so.. give it a go! I'd be interested to hear how you find it seeing you loving Zelda over in that thread (although, again, very different games).

Yeah, I find myself increasingly sharing this feeling; the first time you see an Unchartered 4 you're blown away by it, but there's a definite sense of diminishing returns with how big budget AAA games all look pretty similar; particularly with shared lighting and graphics engines and similar settings. Mine would probably be Looking foward to spamming that screenshot button in When Rime comes out too. And nothing has blown me away like when I played the remaster of Journey for the first time Of all the games that chase realism, it's probably The Witcher that most impresses me. I actually think it's that it doesn't constantly ram home the great vistas and amazing graphics; so much of Velen is boggy, muddy, boring, that when the moments of awesome beauty or experimental art direction come they hit hard, they feel unexpected and earned, the same way that an amazing view or sunset in real life is amazing because they contrast the mundane everyday.

Yeah, I've been periodically checking and not finding it in stock anywhere. From what I've heard it sounds like they're sorting out the joycon issues and that's what's causing the holdup in new deliveries. Bit bummed out not be playing Zelda when everyone else is but there we go

The Winston have risen to the challenge! I'm thinking of restarting my old feature, Words With Winston; which was rather similar in format to The Inter-view. Any takers for intervewees?

I'm pretty similar in that I've always thought the longform nature make them seem like great fun and particularly tense - the kind of games where anyone who's played them have a tonne of unique anecdotes from mad encounters and the like. But as a mac user haven't had a chance to play any of them. I feel like these are the kind of games that psplus is born for! Low budget enough to make it on there, and would hugely benefit from a variety of skill-levels and a big player base. Make it happen Sony!

Where did you find one? I'm about ready to put down the cash after getting a big tax rebate the other day, can't find it in stock anywhere though..

Sooo... the game's getting some pretty poor writeups based on the first few hours https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/03/14/mass-effect-andromeda-review-opening-hours/ Side quests feel like something from a 2004 Korean MMO. Just complete nothingness, running from map icon to map icon, scanning objects with your scanner when told to, and then AI companion SAM letting you know that, yup, the source of the defects has been found/animal has been captured/toddler reunited with rabid tiger, despite your actually doing nothing relevant to the tissue-thin narrative. I'd been super-hyped for this and actually thought the last couple trailers they put out were starting to look pretty good. I'll check out the reviews tomorrow, but in all likelihood I might just go back and played the original trilogy, which I never played. Or finish off Kotor!

Alright lads, fess up - who set him loose on me?

That was such an entertaining game of football!! Haven't been that pumped up since Wales beat Belgium last year in the Euros. Seeing the massive twat Nasri get done was the icing on the cake! Just saying lads, four years ago I took on the Leicester job as the first step of my career in Football Manager 2013. Took them to promotion, then won the premier league, and finally, after 157 hours of play time, the next season I beat Juventus 2-1 in the Champions League final. History playing out as told by my Steam account!

Hey man, sorry, busy week for me so no opportunity to fit in some reports. Good writeup! I totally forgot about the new season, major letoff as my first game isn't till Monday! Phew

That's just it though - being a well made game isn't the same as being a incredible game. Same way a film that's competently shot, edited, with great VFX doesn't make for a great film if it has a weak script and indistinct direction. As I say, I totally get why you guys love it, but for me the generally great gameplay doesn't make up for the general sense of seen-it-before. Yeah, ha! That's the problem. The benchmark has been set so high (and to be fair CDPR had the Witcher book series to draw on for it's fantastic lore and characters) that games that use too close a formula suffer by comparison. As an off-topic aside - good article from the other week on Geralt's voice here That said, I think you'll have enjoy this even if it doesn't hit those Witcher highs - by comparison I seem quite negative on it, but it's definitely a tonne of fun. I think mainlining the game might be the way to go - some of the core story is actually pretty good and intriguing; going straight through the main story would be a pretty good experience. Better than Fallout 4 in my book!

Haha, what a post - glad you're enjoying it! I think I'm the only one in the this thread not to be having a similar experience. The praise in here seems more consistent than Zelda's getting over in the Nintendo boards! My experience so far has been fairly the opposite of that. However amazing the graphics engine is, something about the land seems quite unreal, unconvincing, and unimaginative to me, like there's nothing distinctive or new about the art direction. I've also found all the characterisation to be pretty portentously humorless and lacking in character more generally. I'm not latching on to any of the tribal politics, the side quests all seem mundane, and most of all I find Alloy's character to be disappointingly, tediously bland.. I think it must be a taste thing because I can see how objectively well made this game is; and the combat is so tight and fun, crafting is super well balanced and the game is amazingly fluid throughout. I'm still sinking in the hours so it's definitely doing something right! (Also photo mode is fantastic). But all said I don't think the game will leave much of a lasting impression on me when I'm done Have you guys felt any of this at all or have you been enjoying the whole experience? and I didn't even compare it to Witcher 3 once! Oop..

Spent the day playing this and have done a total 180 on my initial thoughts. It is fantastic! Everything about the movement and combat feels super fluid (probably helps that I'm coming off Last Guardian, lol.) Only downside is that it's a shame the dialogue is generally pretty po-faced, and the sidequests pretty dull.. I'm hoping it'll lighten up as it progresses. The main story and all the caves / metal ruins are, by contrast surprisingly intriguing though. Basically, loads of fun!

Yeah, pretty much my thoughts. I bought a 3DS for Pokemon X and literally never used it again. Keen to avoid a repeat. (Though reminds me I've been meaning to pick up Link Between Worlds). Haven't you got a Wii U though? Can't you just get BotW on that?

Anyone still playing this? Got back into it late last year and it's now my go to mindless-back-from-work-chill-and-don't-think game. Such a brilliantly balanced game. Becomes way better and less luck-based the more hours you sink into it. They must be making a shitload of cash off the loot boxes and all that - everyone I play against are decked out with fancy glowing stuff. Only game I've ever paid microtransactions on; feels good to give something back to a free game! For anyone interested, ex-gamespot writer Danny O'Dwyer has a great 20 minute doc about the making of - really interesting look at how games studios work. Also great to see a journalist going solo to patreon to actually make something constructive rather than another chat podcast!

Don't know about you guys but I'm having a serious battle with myself to stop myself splurging on a switch having read up on Zelda. Tried playing Horizon Zero Dawn the other day and I spent the whole time wishing it was BotW. Jealous of those of you who bought a WiiU and don't have to drop the hefty £330 pricetag! On the other hand, had a little browse of the metacritic's top WiiU games, which reaffirmed my thought that it would be purely a Zelda and Mario Kart box for me to buy. Must... resist...

Hacked into Roger Federer's personal email account to uncover this correspondance. I'm seeing him in real life for the first time in months this weekend so I'll get the lowdown on a possible return to coaching! Truely a stunning finish @Nikos9 - one of the all time great Xpert matches. Very glad we both went tooth and nail for the win! Yeah man I was totally fuming with myself looking at that final league table! Getting my best defender suspended was probably the worst thing about that loss in retrospect. Congrats on getting a good away win! -- Great season all round guys, some great twists and turns in the runup to the final game. New boy off the forums Elstak done well too - next season should be a cracker with Elstak, Haden and Cubic all coming into good form. Over at Winston I had a few distractions which has cost me some poor dvs; might need to spend some money over the window. But hugely looking forward to getting my revenge against @Nikos9 in season 3!!

Seen about 8 conversations scattered around various threads by various folk on here - figured it was about time it got it's own thread! Absolute joy of a game; I put in a good thirty hours late last year, the ultimate stress-relief to come home to after starting a new job IRL. A truely mad undertaking for a solo dev. In a game with so many things to do and the freedom to ignore everything; where have you put your energy? I made it to the bottom of the mine (which I found very fun in a Gameboy Zelda kind of way, though frustrating as when the red mist descends (not metaphorcally)) and general farming, though generally sacked off being social; would have preferred if that side of it was less gift-based and more along the lines of Animal Crossing and natural. How does it compare for you guys to Harvest Moon - and do you find it too much of a blatant rip off to enjoy?

Absolutely man. Much respect for laying out your thoughts in such a considered way; this kind of debate is alway healthy & interesting even when it strays a little off-topic, to my mind. We definitely have pretty similar thoughts on a lot of these points, even if as you say we'll always disagree on some of the big ones! This paragraph in particular is something I thought considered in that way. I'll refrain from getting into the other points in full (some of which I agree & disagree with) before the rabbit hole gets any deeper, but a couple of final bits I'd like to respond to Re - 'For many years there has been a sort of consensus that the liberal-left agenda is the only legitimate one' - Certainly a valid point and your point about Trump etc being a response to that is fair, but we're still in a world in which, in the UK at least, the vast majority of news outlets lean varying degrees to the right (The Mail is the UK's best selling rag!), & the vast degree of the population vote to the right, with only the Mirror and The Guardian (+ arguably the BBC) being the main liberal mouthpieces left. I would agree that that's the case with the entertainment industry, though I'd say that's more to do with creative-types having a tendancy toward liberal views and values; an industry packed with such people are bound to produce entertainment with a liberal leaning (Not to say that's always a good thing). So I'm not sure the consensus on a 'liberal-left agenda' applies to society more generally. Perhaps repeating myself, but I would stress that I don't consider this the case; the vast majority of feminists purely support the concept of equality for women, not the suppression of forms of culture, and find extreme instances of feminism to be sometimes irritating and counter-productive. I get your thinking and I agree that it's muddy; how do you define a general political ideology, and who actually, ultimately represents it? It's a similar issue to Brexit thing from earlier; the official Vote Leave leave campaign was a based around a wholly different set of beliefs and values from Farage's UKIP-led unofficial leave campaign, yet people still lump them all together and, as you said, call racist on the basis of the views of the most vocal. I'm not going to stop calling myself a feminist because I sometimes disagree with the actions of some of the most vocal and extreme feminists, just as any right winger shouldn't be discouraged from expressing their views for fear of being seen as a racist / sexist or whatever else. Ha, something we can definitely both agree on!

Disclaimer: This idiot wrote this half term writeup before getting thrashed by the Super Stars, and so some of that might be a little embarassingly outdated! Will the Winning Ways of Winston wane against the amazing anger of the Greeks? Greeks, following a disapointing draw on the opening day, have concluded a strong first half of the season. The tough-to-spell Tochourochou, aptly named considering his age like a rare breed to dinosaur, has been a monster in 2017, whilst the peerless Haraszti, in goal, has saved 100% of the shots on goal this season. They are flying, with 12 goals in their last 3 games; a team fully settled, balanced, and in their groove, who have conceded only two goals all season. A week with games away at Haden and then Super Star FC could prove tricky, particularly having been outplayed by Haden in their draw.. nonetheless, make it through that and they will be well poised to grab the trophy. Winston’s biggest win was a last-gasp comeback away at Haden; their best moment of the season, whilst being caught off guard by an impressive Leeds side their worst. This reporter claims that Winston’s eye for business has been key once again - recent purchase of experienced defender Tsirogiannis, rumored to be hated by the team and left out of a recent trip to Pizza Express, has played well, and Galisteu, bought in toward the end of last season, has been instrumental to back up an aging Artobolevsky, scoring the descive winner in the 93rd minute against Haden. Winston employed some rare defensive, some claim boring, tactics on the opening fixture of the season that saw a stalemate conclude 0-0. It could yet prove desicive; neither team looks likely to drop more than a few points so the return fixture, at the Greek stadium, will surely be the season’s defining fixture.. Haden United finally kick into gear Haden’s first season with United was plagued with poor results, rumors of fights in the dressing room, and a shocking home record. Fans feared the worst when the manager was caught off guard by Super Star FCA in week 1, but were exultant during a recent first league win at the new home stadium of Weybridge Castle against Cubic County. Things suddenly look a lot more rosy.. Results have been positive since, with Xicluna and Lewis forming a solid partnership in the center of the pitch. Stuart Dale needs to contribute more; 3 xpert appearances but not a goal or assist to note; once he breaks his duck the goals will surely come flowing. Elsewhere in the squad there are a couple of odd curiosities; talented keeper Bonillo has a save percentage of only 64%, class veteran Mena has yet to G&A, and Wizzini is hardly wizzing around the pitch. Still a project, then, but they are scoring goals, a top 3 finish looks a no brainer, and they will prove decisive in the title race to come; season three will surely be the time for Haden to at last mount a serious title tilt. Zell MIA - manager abandons sub after strong start A sad story for the league - it appears renowned leader Zell has finally left the sub for pastures new. The Sub looked strong in their first few games, and still sit 4th in the table a few directionless games later. A barnstomer of a match against Haden was the manager’s last input, a 5 - 3 diot that many have called the game of the season. The league will suffer. Club legend Rory Slater expressed his disbelief - ‘I signed my life away to the Sub and this is how he repays me??’. We hope Zell will return but if he does not, he will be known as an eternal manager with little left to prove. Super Star FC start with a smash but mixed squad struggle to sustain energy. Mystery manager Elsak started his Super Star career with a bang, crushing a hopeless Haden 2 - 0 away. Results since then have been mixed; a spirited game againt the Greeks that they nearly clawed a point from, but they remain the only team in single figures of goals scored. Winston’s manager was said to be nervous about the return fixture.. we will see in mere minutes the outcome here. Super’s away game against Winston showed some serious promise - the manager bossed every tactic going but still came away without a point to show for their efforts. The manager has invested wisely in a core group of 20/1-6’s and this punter suggests they will come good in a couple of seasons; unfortunately for Elsak the players he has been given players that sit behind the curve of the top teams; Pirlo is the standout in Midfield, but is all too easily marked out of games. In time they will grow into the name. Leeds make room for surprises with solid return The boys from the midlands have reemerged as a force to be reckoned with, after what can be desecribed as a very solid return to xpert football. Aside from an embarrassing 4-0 loss to the Greeks, they have been consistent, particularly in defence, nicking points off the likes of Haden and Winston. Star signing Deme Diana has scored only one goal after his high fee transfer to the club; the supporters want more, more for their money. Dawson looks hugely vulnerable in between the sticks; one wonders how long it will be before he is moved out for a more talented keeper. Regardless of these mistakes, keep an eye out for them in the top 4. Cubic County A one nil win against Super Star looked to be a turning point in the season for this square-based squad but it turned out to be a turning point that turned toward things turning out badly, with three straight losses on the bounce since. The squad has some talent, but the fans are crying out for the manager to enter the transfer market to add some experience and talent to the defence. More pressingly, their keeper has the lowest save ratio of any active team, and begs to be replaced. Cubic are scoring goals and will be a force once their defence starts to mesh together. The mid-table battle between SuperStar, Leeds, and Cubic will prove one of the interesting narratives through the rest of the season. Roger Federer distracted by Australian Open renaisance If one had to guess as the year began which major trophy Roger Federer would have been the first to lift this year, the smart money would have been on the Maddog Cup. In actual fact, an astonishing resurgence has seen roger revel in a really revival that on Sunday culminated in a grand slam open trophy. Even this writer, close to Federer himself, knows little of Roger's return; we will have to wait to the season to see if he will ever be back....

Wasn’t suggesting Grazza is part of any generalised group of people; he clearly has pretty nuanced views on all this even if they’re views I don’t share (Ironically, you suggesting that I fit in with that forum trend is in itself a bit generalising). Regardless, his language he used fits in with a specific trend I noted; complaining of ‘tantrums’, suggesting people should ‘accept democracy’ is effectively the same as saying ‘you lost, get over it’, even if he’s since clarified that’s that’s not his view. Would like to add that I respect him for putting his views out there in a pretty thought out way; it's interesting debate! I get and agree with your first point (I find the generalised accusations of racism equally reductive (with the cavieat that a small but sizeable portion of the votes were probably based on it!). Even if he made his point in a slightly simplistic way, I agree with Dazzy that’s it’s a bit of a puzzling response to all of the events of the past week. People have a democratic right to protest, and as I said, the surprise you see is more to do with the volatile cocktail of orders, promises, tweets from Trump in the past week than any specific act; and the knock on effects they have more widely. The protests are as much about general defiance and support than specific protest. The point here is that the creator changes to his game to effectively get a U rating. He could have released the game as it was and gone for a higher rating. It’s not censorship, it’s a choice designed to boost sales, so it’s a marketing choice, not a choice made out of ‘political pressure’. If you want to work in the entertainment industry you’ll be aware of such limitations from the start, and base your game around it. I generally agree with censorship for products aimed at impressionable kids. These two quotes contradict themselves. I understand that you’re complaining about double standards, but you seem guilty of the some double standards yourself. I agree to an extent with your first point, but the fact is that the amount of popular entertainment that objectifies women still vastly outnumbers those that objectify men, which isn’t exactly an ideal cultural situation. I have no background in those examples so I can’t go into specifics but, yeah, I guess I do generally agree, but again the point is that it would be fine if there was an equal amount of male objectification elsewhere in the culture, but (particularly in videogames) there isn’t; there’s still way more female objectification and little on the other side. Ultimately it’s a combination of tonnes of factors around the marketing of those games and the different social values within different regional markets and companies that make these choices, which is, again, just capitalism doing it’s thing in huge multinational companies; putting changes down to ‘political pressure’ is a bit of an oversimplification to my mind. I also feel like, more generally, that kind of stuff is a result of more games being made by more diverse and maturing developers, and for increasingly diverse and maturing audiences, as compared to twenty years ago when games were more largely made for and by young white men. So the way that games are updated for evolving markets is affected by that too. In the UK we do pretty well for censorship (compared to say Australia, some Asian countries etc) so I find it hard to be bothered by having 2% less gratuity in certain games. Part of this is definitely personal taste; titilation is right down the bottom of my list for gaming prioritise, so if there’s a fraction less female nudity in games I’m fine with taking that hit as a side effect of incremental progress in society in general. The point I want to make most with all this is about your generalised use of the word ‘feminists’, and the repeated use of ‘they’ when getting into examples. I’d hope everyone on this forum considers themselves a feminist, ie, people who believe that women should have equal rights to men. You, it seems, have a problem with certain groups and certain views and actions of some feminists (I don’t always agree with every feminist either, and often those who shout the loudest aren't necessarily representative of wider views). So when you say feminism is about the control of others - that’s taking specific examples, behaviors, outcomes that you’re unhappy about and tarring feminism more generally with the same brush. It’s the same kind of generalisation that Rummy was highlighting on the other side of the debate.