zupertramp

@Art_Vandelay ugh, now you're making me feel like I gotta go back and read all the articles related to that Jedi game but not looking forward to it. Kinda also didn't get into whatever game Deacon was in, I'm blanking on both games jeez. But yeah, fair point I guess. Though it's hard to compare when I don't follow either.

@NEStalgia "it really just feels like a generic 90's style rags to riches through sports story."

and unfortunately it's barely even that because, let's be real, he's not exactly hailing from east London. His dad was a professional footballer after all.

Thought i might entertain the idea of just getting the Ellie but not a fan of spending 1k+ for a favorite character to be all hunched over.

It'd definitely be cool to have them both and if someone handed them to me I'd totally take them but I'll just stick with my TLoU II Collector's Edition statue. And even that I got on clearance.

@get2sammyb 👍

Good article. I'd agree it's not a replacement. I actually think they've found a way to get us to pay for the opportunity to play games we wouldn't have bought otherwise, whilst still paying individually for the games we want. Which is definitely good for them but, as you mention, it's hard to get around to actually playing these subscription games so I'm not sure it's great for us but I guess if you have the money it's a nice supplement anyway.

@Smiffy01 yeah which is weird because the low (or perhaps average) framerate is the least of this game's problems honestly. they could patch for 60fps but it's still gonna be kinda boring.

@NEStalgia "Did you miss the FFXV launch?"

That's a resounding yes. So I'll take your word for it.

@AtlanteanMan they kinda made her gay in Forbidden West though.

That said I'd have been okay with her being largely asexual.

@nessisonett while I'm sure everything going on behind the scenes is technically impressive, I probably would not have really noticed them without the prior hub bub. But I think the way the whole environment works in concert to provide an immersive world is the seller.

@naruball I have no doubt it could easily run on the Switch as well. I mean it doesn't look that much better than Animal Crossing imo.

@kyleforrester87 Isn't the second comment doing just that? Not even sure to what trend they are referring and maybe it's more benign than I'm imagining but man the discourse around female characters gets tiring.

Idk, maybe I just have other stuff bothering me lol.

@kyleforrester87 even with a predominantly male demographic I find this obsession bizarre. And I'm not some kind of flaming feminist either. I just don't sit around giving a lot of thought to the minute details in a game character's appearance outside of "does the art look cool?" Like I give a **** what the mocap actor looks like. Idk, maybe I'm just a simpleton.

What is with all the nit-pickery regarding female protags? They're too feminine. They're not feminine enough. Their jaw line is wrong. Too hairy. Too ugly. Too plain. Can anyone imagine people analysing a male protagonist this much? Maybe I just don't notice but I feel like this never happens.

Edit: stupid swipe typing

Maybe it was the novelty of it but the first game didn't seem nearly as heavy handed in its messaging, whereas FW and Burning Shores seem to be really piling it on. Then there was the lack of chemistry in yet another potential 'ship (I swear there's been like 3 now and they all seemed more organic) along with some fairly cringe dialogue tbh. So that's the bad imo.

The good is that it was more robo dinosaur slaying in a beautiful future landscape. So there's that also. Still think the weapon/outfit upgrades are way too grindy but overall the gameplay itself is always a blast.

6.5 / 10 for me.

Never had any of these issues thankfully. Still a lot of what I call clipping though, especially when flying.

@kyleforrester87 yeah I could live with that assessment. though investing does allow one the ability to make money off existing capital, without much of a time sacrifice. But no I'm definitely not trying to live for work so he's got me beat there.

@kyleforrester87 can we agree he seems maybe only a tad above average in terms of intelligence? Like he's no Bill Gates or, and it pains me to say this, Mark Zuckerberg.

I take Nessi's "stupid" comment to be slightly hyperbolic. A comment to counter just how much praise Musk gets for seemingly very little in the way of results.

@dark_knightmare2 yeah I've run it on 2 different ps5s. and it may be bad luck as I know people in real life playing it that don't have these issues but it's no less frustrating. I still even have this quest that won't complete for the salvage contracts because it's glitched and just moments ago I was fighting the bilegut or whatever and it just straight vanished and seyka started talking like we beat it. Like bruh why is my game trash?

Love the game for the record just hate dealing with this buggy bs.

Have been diving back in the past couple days to reacquaint myself and try out the new DLC and both the base game and DLC are still a buggy mess for me so that's frustrating. Pop in all over the place (even in cut scenes along with stuff just moving/jumping around really weird). Robot dinos disappearing into nowhere in the middle of fights. Aloy still repeating things about an area even after you've already completed that story line.

It's pretty ridiculous. I thought after this much of a break and with all the updates the base game would at least be better. But nah.

Did the art style change slightly? Characters look different than I remember in the first, and not in a good way.

@Loamy I think we're definitely in some agree to disagree territory on how one approaches management of a mental illness but I do definitely appreciate the additional context. Reading all of the comments together, with all of the various levels of dismissal, I probably mistakenly lumped yours into that category.

Aaaand, having read up on phobias a little just now (and thus clearly being an expert 😋) apparently simple phobias are treated by way of the desensitization you are describing. So maybe there's less agreeing to disagree after all but I guess I am somewhat uncomfortable advising someone to kind of go half-cocked facing their fears without maybe some additional professional guidance.

I'm also realizing after reading up on this that maybe what I describe as something that causes extreme anxiety is, in fact, a phobia. So how about that.

Wow, not sure how anyone can be against an accessibility option but here we are.

@Loamy with respect, phobias are a form of mental illness and depending on their severity they may not be something you can just will yourself out of anymore than anorexia or schizophrenia. We're talking about debilitating fears for some people. Not sure why so many users are rushing to minimize that.

@nessisonett yeah I don't have any phobias really... Public speaking maybe. Though fwiw lightning is a little scary. But all my hangups are really anxiety and stress related. Like your fireworks scenario, I can totally relate but it's not out of fear but more an extreme discomfort. Same goes with crowds in general. Like I won't go shopping any time but the early morning for this reason.

Buttons though, that's a new one. My daughter has cynophobia which I imagine must really suck because dogs are the most revered creature in America so that basically means no one will ever be the least bit sympathetic about it.

That's cool. Even though I'm not plagued with this particular phobia I do find underwater gameplay mostly unfun if not down right anxiety inducing. Might give this a try depending on how much sea exploration is expected of me in the expansion.

Big question for me is, uh, why doesn't it have it and why are there no plans for it? That's a pretty essential feature if you ask me.

@ShadowofSparta I'd respond by saying there's a real difference between NPCs not speaking Elvish (when they could be) and asking people to pay up for gun sounds in COD. Like, again, Elvish - not exactly necessary. In the same way that it isn't necessary for everyone to be speaking French in The Last Duel, or Comanche in Prey.

But to answer your question if I find the bundles of any game to be gallingly nickel and dime I either buy the cheapest bundle or I just don't buy it at all. It's fairly easy not to play their game, both literally and figuratively.

I'm not so much defending this as I am registering my surprise at how up in arms everyone has gotten over this. It's VO work for NPCs in a game no one in this thread was gonna buy anyway.

@Jaz007 @Korgon yeah I was fairly certain even when posting those examples weren't great comparisons (but then neither is the Capcom example) and i'd also agree this decision is a bit nickel-and-dime-like. So I'll acknowledge some level of eye-rolling is a little warranted.

However, this is voiceover work that's just not that integral or necessary. It's only something a LOTR nerd would really appreciate. And it's bundled with other things that nerd was probably going to want anyway. And so it works more as value added to that bundle or DLC than taking away from main game. So I just cannot see getting worked up over this is all. It's such a minimal loss to the overall experience.

Honestly @burning_as_souls put it better in comment 33.

@Jaz007 @NoFaceBigFoot @Korgon Hard to come up with any concrete examples on the spot but I'll make up an imaginary scenario of a sports game selling a champions edition that includes previous era championship players but it costs more. Is that wrong?

I mean, I figure you care that much about the extra content or you don't. And then you can purchase whatever product you want accordingly. There's 3 price tiers for the new Diablo. I'm definitely in the standard version tier because I look at the extra content provided in the others and kind of chuckle, as I'm just not that into Diablo. But other people are and those options are there for them, but yeah they are more because you get more.

And with this game specifically. I'd be fine without the elvish-speaking NPCs so I wouldn't care about not having it. Which would save me money. Seems like a good thing.

Think people need a clarification that SEGA is buying Rovio and not just Angry Birds specifically.

Maybe I'm just as unmoored to popular sentiment as these devs but this doesn't seem at all that egregious. Resources went into hiring and recording elvish for NPCs that didn't really have to because the casual fan probably isn't going to care. For those who do care, however, there's an edition for that. And yeah it costs more, because, uh, there's more included.

What am I missing?

It's too expensive for me so it's gonna fail. Or I just have an inexplicable hatred for VR, so it's gonna fail. I'm quite sure it's one of these anyway.

@Tharsman given the original rumor, I'd be on board the hate train with everyone else if it were delayed a few months but like, stands to reason that if the rumor was only half true about how much of a delay we'd see maybe it's also not completely true about how much is changing.

Just seems bizarre to already write the game off when we really have no idea what'll happen by Feb '24. And that's assuming this is the last delay.

@havoc33 Also don't have a great opinion of the recent Ridley (alien?) films but I totally agree... like give us an end at least!

@Tharsman yeah that much of a delay must mean something. not sure why so many folks are so certain they just pushed the game almost 11 months but everything's going to stay as planned.

@ItsBritneyB_tch @havoc33 Newt and Hicks was a gut punch for sure but I was okay with it because yeah, that fits the franchise. Even Cameron's Aliens is fairly brutal so I wouldn't go as far as to say it hasn't aged well but that's just me. Overall though 3 felt like an overall good conclusion except the fx really haven't aged well in some parts. Then you have the Assembly Cut improving things and getting it mostly right but for the dog/cow switcheroo and sloppy looking effects. So I absolutely wish it could get some kind of anniversary post-release revamp.

But with Fincher essentially disowning it and Fox or Disney or whoever owns it now being entirely apathetic, I doubt we'll ever get anyone to care enough about it to put in the effort, or money.

Probably sit this one out. Isolation pretty much ruined me when it comes to Alien games. Everything else seems so underwhelming by comparison. Like wow, top down zombie shooter but with aliens. Let me get my wallet. 🙄

@FinneasGH same thing for me. stupid I had to redeem them individually. even dumber I got an email for every single one.

Have to get this out... David Harbour looks absolutely ridiculous in a fire suit

That said, I'm still probably going to watch this.

@UltimateOtaku91 I've certainly kicked myself a few times after a game purchase turned into yet another Plus giveaway but at the same time it is nice to not have any anxiety about how long you'll have to play games when you actually buy them.

And wow, apparently even first part titles aren't safe.

Yeah never seen that actually despite a similar amount of hours played. But then I absolutely hate those things and avoid them whenever possible.

Cool though.

I only have CotM, which came bundled, and GT7, which isn't strictly VR. So I guess I contributed nothing to these sales charts. I will try Switchback eventually, when it's on sale.

Mostly just waiting on Beat Saber upgrade atm.

@Hoodie718 Resident Evil has a vibe or tone that I just can't take seriously so I don't find it the least bit scary. Horror is kinda like that though. If it can't hit just the right notes it can come off unintentionally comical.

I'm still holding out for Alien Isolation in VR. That's true fear for me. Or maybe a Silent Hill.

I'd think this were dumb but my cheap phone won't do remote play and I've no interest in replacing it with something more expensive so at the right price point I could maybe be persuaded into buying one of these.

There's no way this comments section goes anywhere good.

Not interested in Meet Your Maker but I appreciate a day one release. Looking forward to Sackboy though. And the third game is the usual throwaway that the third game always is.

But overall not bad.

@NEStalgia what you're describing though, it just seems a tad self-fulfilling. Like it's definitely a way to look at it but I'm not sure you have to have that perspective.

I'm probably gonna see the tag and look at it one of two ways... someone has money to burn for a status symbol or they care about the well being of a website they use. And I'll think it'll be obvious who's in what camp most of the time so, idk, I guess that doesn't worry me terribly. Not just yet anyway.

@NEStalgia i totally get what you're saying but on the other hand it probably already felt that way to a lot of folks. I can't be the only one who thought there's this subtle separation between the usual suspects and the rest of us. But I suspect that changes if you're here long enough. And really if you're here long enough, will the badge really carry the weight you're suggesting?

yeah I use adblock and really don't have time to go through and set exceptions but even then who wouldn't at least consider supporting something they use frequently, or get value from?

Meh, idk. I have a life (sort of) and a job so games like this that require a huge time commitment, or savant like architectural skills, just aren't realistic options. They sound cool in theory, but when how you spend your time is kinda zero sum, I'm not seeing doing anything more with this game than booting it up once just to turn it off 15 minutes later and never touch it again.

@ATaco I mean it kinda makes some sense that they wouldn't want to advertise games leaving the service.

Well it's LEGO so this will either be absolutely stellar or a hastily thrown together cash grab.