Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

So I just realised that Like a Dragon Gaiden is going to be a digital-only title in the West. I was wondering why there were no stores that had the game up for preorder. I was going to preorder it for PS5 but now that I know it'll be digital-only, the best option for me would be to play it on Game Pass. Which is probably a good thing anyway seeing as how I haven't subscribed to the service in a while, so there's plenty for me to play on there now.

Term of the week - Xbox tax

@colonelkilgore I saw the chatter about there being no Starfield GotY nomination because of said xbox tax 🤦‍♂️

@render it’s an interesting lesson in how echo-chambers try to deal with evident truths that dispel their dogma.

To be honest about Starfield - it isn't Game of the Year and would not be great to win GotY. Yes its probably the 'Best' looking and most ambitious Bethesda game with possibly the fewest 'bugs' (although not 'bug free') at release - arguably Bethesda's most polished release but in numerous ways, it doesn't really feel like something truly new, fresh or groundbreaking. There is a reason a lot think its Fallout in Space which breaks some of the 'exploration' as you have to fly to different locations instead of stumble across by just wandering around a single open world.

Point is, whilst it may be Bethesdas most ambitious and probably most polished release, its ambition and scale has some gaming drawbacks and it still feels/looks/plays/sounds like a typical Bethesda RPG - just in a different setting, not something 'new' or really pushing the Games industry forward with this release. Even interacting with NPC's feels like you are stepping back in time.

Its a bit like Fallout 4 that felt dated - more like Fallout 3.5 with some clunky base building and a bit more colour in the world - this doesn't really feel much different. Its like they found 'success' in that 360/PS3 gen with Fallout/Elder Scrolls and that 'look/style' that ALL Bethesda games have hasn't really changed or evolved. The same NPC interactions, the same 'Bethesda' looking Characters etc - maybe iteratively improved (better material handling, better combat feel etc) but doesn't feel like they have really created something 'new' or worthy of GotY to me. Its probably about 5yrs+ too late for that.

re. Starfield.... in all honesty, it doesn't have seem to have landed as well as XB/Bethesda would have liked. I've not personally played it, but friends of mine (who are long-standing Bethesda fans) have said it is realistically a 7-8/10 game.

Looking at the other contenders (especially TOTK, Baldurs, Resi4) I just can't see Starfield as part of the conversation, and it would look quite out of place among the other 9-10/10 games.

Hopefully Starfield can be subject to some kind of Cyberpunk-esque renaissance in years to come....but I don't see it happening.

On a completely unrelated note - great to see HiFi Rush and also Lies of P get some nominations!

I enjoyed my time with Starfield, it has some really decent moments and quests. Finding a ship where there are gravity fluctuations and a whole bunch of pirates where you flip between 0g and normal combat or take part in a large space battle before boarding a ship and getting in gun fight are great. The writing is uneven, the quest design basic and really, @ BAMozzy nailed it, the game doesn't move the medium forward. There are plenty 7/8 out of ten games I've had lots of fun with but it didn't surprise me it's not nominated. I'm more surprised how divided folks are on totk!! I think it might be my new favourite game ever and was oblivious to this (seemingly) sizeable number of folk who think it straight garbage. Each to their own, enjoy the games you like, where you want to play them.

How does Starfield compare to No Man’s Sky? In my mind NMS is more about exploration and base building with very light narrative and secondary combat, whereas Starfield is more about the combat and story.

@Th3solution If you have played Fallout 3/4 before, then Starfield is very similar on a larger scale but in some ways a bit more limited or convoluted in the way you can explore in Starfield as you only have two modes of transport and one is your feet/boosters and Ship the other. Space 'travel' is just around the orbit of a planet in reality and jump between planets/solar systems - totally freely but the 'travel part' is not really in the game.

Like most Bethesda Games, there is a main story and large RPG element to it, its one of those that the more you put in, the more you'll get out, but then you can also just 'randomly' go off and explore, Rank up your Character enough in the way you want to go off and set up your own base and research centre for example - but go off the beaten path too much to explore literally every planet and things maybe somewhat repetitive - bump into familiar RNG encounters etc...

So Starfield is like Elder Scrolls/Fallout in that they are big open world RPG's that let you be the 'Character' you want to be within that play area/lore. As you follow the story, you'll maybe get sidetracked by quests or end-up having more fun hunting for Ships to Raid or building a base that brings you more resources. Like those other Bethesda games, it is a full RPG but there is a reason its got a NG+ too...

It really is a typical Bethesda game - more like Fallout with more refined and much more mobility Combat and bigger than 'Open' World which does kind of where the chinks in the game begin. Because you'll pick up a quest and it'll start around the area but won't complete until you've gone to a completely different planet to complete another step. If it's in the next town over or even the other side of the map, that's OK but its more an issue for some...

So think of it like what Fallout would be if they made it in space and you have a good idea of what Starfield really is.

Its not like No Mans Sky - although that has become closer since launch LOL

@CJD87 I don't see that happening either because, unlike Cyberpunk 2077, there isn't a GotY caliber game there that is being held back by boatloads of technical issues. I've never played Starfield to give my opinion on it, but Cyberpunk 2077 eventually became a great game once the PS5 version came out (and now even better with the 2.0 update). It's a shame they had to release it like that, but at the same time I'm just happy to have a game that quickly became one of my favorite games of this generation (and I'm happily playing it again as of today).

I'd be fine with Starfield not being a GotY caliber game if the Series X was my main console, but I just don't have time to sink into that when I have so many games to play on my PS5. I'm glad some people at least got plenty of enjoyment out of it, even if it didn't live up to expectations.

@KilloWertz Yeh agree fully re Cyberpunk.... just imagine if CDPR had managed to launch that game in the condition it sits in now, probably would have been a GOTY contender itself!

I've just downloaded it to my deck, not started yet, but looking forward to getting stuck in after BG3

@CJD87 It definitely would have been, especially with as much hype as it had at the time. Extremely hyped game that actually delivers almost always cleans up at the awards (at least with nominations).

Cool. I hope you enjoy it... in several months since BG3 is a huge game.

That was a well done "article" there. Even Xbox fans should just take it in stride and have a little fun with it. The Phil Spencer "quote" that ended with the line "C's get degrees!" was probably my favorite.

Those ai-generated responses to steam players whom left a negative Starfield review are priceless 🤣:

Some of Starfield's planets are meant to be empty by design - but that's not boring. "When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren't bored."

@colonelkilgore Ha ha, I'm not sure you can compare landing on the moon to playing a video game....I certainly didn't think that when I played Moon Patrol years ago.
Going back to your comment about Xbox tax, that is phooey, however the Sony tax is definitely real....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8fEhkMOxfY
Year in review, Sony C, Xbox B. Mind you, Xbox did give us the thrill of walking on the moon.

@colonelkilgore Nice to see they are putting that multibillion dollar investment into OpenAI to good use trying to turn around the fortunes of a game they paid multiple billions of dollars to lock down.

@CaptD ign doing their utmost to disprove Xbox tax, while rendering their objectivity totally redundant 🥸.

@render first step, ai tells us our honest opinions are wrong, second step Skynet.

I think the difference with Starfield vs Fallout/Elder Scrolls is that the scale is 'very' different and as such, it makes 'exploration' more of a chore. In Fallout for example, you can just walk to any place on the map - whether there is something there to 'find' or not. It maybe 'empty' but if you 'walk' long enough, you'll inevitably find something.

As Starfield isn't limited to one large area, it becomes more of a chore to explore - even missions become more of a chore because you have to jump to different places and can't just make your way in that general direction and discover new things en-route.

I do get that what one person finds 'interesting/exciting' doesn't mean that everyone else will - same with what some consider 'boring' too. Some will spend hours collecting everything, some maybe spend hours building bases or farming resources that bores others. You don't have to visit areas that are Empty.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think 'Starfield' is the 'best' game ever. It's still quite dated at its core and pretty much what I expected a Bethesda game to be. The only 'difference' is that it seems a lot more bug free and better optimised (not 'perfect') for Console than it probably would have been under Zenimax control. I think that people expected Bethesda to 'evolve' with the times - especially now with MS at the helm. But they have stuck with the same engine, same aesthetic/style, same fundamental game-play loop etc and just changed the setting. Conversation with NPC's may have worked back in Morrowind/Fallout 3, but the bar has been raised by many other great RPG's with much more cinematic and more immersive interactions.

I can see their point about 'Space' and the fact is that even in our Solar System, there is a whole lot of Emptiness - but that doesn't stop some people from wanting to travel the stars, visit planets with 'nothing' there (yet) etc - very NASA. But as a game, it may not be as exciting or enough action for some.

Yes Bethesda may have been one of the best RPG makers back in the day, but in reality, they haven't really evolved and have kept the exact same template for their games for decades. Fallout 4 felt and looked more like Fallout 3.1 with a bit more of a colour palette and some clunky base-building tacked on.

@BAMozzy the point was never whether some people might enjoy a game that other people do not, neither whether Bethesda’s format hasn’t evolved with the times or anything to do with the Game of the Generation by itself. The point is, while we can somewhat understand your typical gamer or fanboy responding to other gamers’ perfectly fair reviews/opinions, we do not expect developers/publishers/platform holders to individually respond to the people who spent their hard-earned money to buy the game, to explain to them why their opinions on it are wrong… let alone with such a ham-fisted delivery.