BadgerFarmer

Reviews are coming out now. Mostly very positive, although it only seems to be the PC version so far: https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/marvels-midnight-suns/critic-reviews.

(Mine's the GamesRadar one.)

The main character is a new creation for the game. You can choose whether they're male or female and select from a number of preset faces. You also have dialogue choices and can tailor their ability set to some extent as the game goes on, which gives you some say over the type of hero they are.

42 minutes ago, Benny said:

I didn't realise this is literally out this Friday. Where are the reviews? I'm guessing there are embargos in place?

Yep. They'll be up on the 30th.

I think the premise and setting is a great fit for the format, but the new mechanics don't add as much as they could. All these games share the same problems in terms of interactivity and story resolution, but they're pretty enjoyable nonetheless.

The worst thing about it though is how long it is.

44 minutes ago, Festoon said:

 

Why does 2003 look better than 2022?

Because 'evolution' for Nintendo means reheating the back catalogue rather than giving us a new one. The bastards.

F-Zero

1990

2003

2022

The R-type one up page is a good example of how things can get worse over time. 1987's version still the best.

The reviews are coming out now. 

As someone predicted upthread, it's very much a 7/10 type game. The combat is certainly fun, but the level design and scenario/story around it is all a bit flat. If you fancy a big silly brawler, you should be pretty happy.

1 hour ago, Strafe said:

What time is the embargo up?

I don't know, sorry. I was just told today by my editor.

My usual scope is anything from puzzle games, turn-based tactics, (J)RPGs, ARPGs and 'story-based' games, through to action adventures, open-world games, character action, various roguelikes and retro/arcade stuff.

I almost never bother with anything multiplayer focused these days. Even when I've played some good stuff, like Monster Hunter World with friends, while it was fun for a while I think I just prefer to work through games at my own pace.

I've stopped playing football games as well - used to love a bit of PES master league - and barely touch racing games either. Never really got into RTS or city building, although I can occasionally enjoy one that's a little different (quite liked The Wandering Village recently).

These days of course you can play plenty of different genres and still restrict yourself to a narrow portion of the full spectrum of gaming. From mobile gaming to online time sinks like LoL or Fortnite, and all the stuff in between, nobody can keep up with it all. 

1 hour ago, bumgut said:

2 days from release and no reviews I can see.

 

Yet from the  previews it  looks 7/10 ish to me, so far from dreadful.

 

Its meant to be 10-15 hrs single player.

 

Whats going on?

I'm reviewing it. The embargo is the day before release, which is pretty normal.

On 15/11/2022 at 17:07, stir fry said:

Lots of big budget productions tend to go for a very broad style of game writing, you can really feel it in GoW Ragnarok I think. It's the most MCU-ish game I've played in a while (aside from literal Marvel games like GOTG, which I quite liked actually). I do also think that motion capture and voice acting leads to a lack of flexibility these days with games writing, but that has been a thing since the PS2 at this point.

One of the things that grates is how prolific that Joss Whedon/MCU style of conversation. There's a very singular sense of humour throughout things like GoW and Uncharted, and even TLOU to an extent, plus of course actual Marvel games, and it gives them a really homogenous feel.

I'm not keen on constant chatter generally, but I found A Plague Tale Requiem to be one of the better examples, in part because it doesn't keep forcing in that same type of humour, but also because it often does a better job of making it feel like characters trying to work through situations together.

Ah, fair enough. It's funny how these things go. I thought that looping cough sound was really ineffective and irritating, for example.

Anyway, despite my disappointment with it, I'm glad others are enjoying it.

I think I could have lived with the bad controls and glitches and sometimes illogical puzzles if the atmosphere and emotional heart of the story had landed for me. But with no words or voices to work with it needs far stronger direction. 

The backgrounds are sometimes well framed, but there's quite a lot of generic post-apocalyptic stuff in them, and then the animation and sound effects are often weak. I don't think it establishes a strong bond between the family at the start, there's almost no interaction between the man and the dog, and the threats in the game have no weight or presence - there's more panic in trying to run away from one attack dog in Inside than there is throughout the whole of Somerville.

It's not just the performance that makes it feel unpolished, it's that lack of detail everywhere. Little things that Inside got so right, and put it in a completely different league.

2 hours ago, JoeK said:

I swear, if Planet of Lana ends up being a duffer as well, that will be a big old shame indeed.

Just based on a short demo, I think that's unlikely. It should be solid at least. 

17 minutes ago, earlymodernsteve said:

That and pottage don't travel so well

 

Here's my thoughts: https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2022/11/14/pentiment-review/

 

 

Love that writeup @BadgerFarmer jealous of the word count you were allowed Had to cut loads from my musings to fit the house style.

Thanks. Enjoyed reading yours too.

I still had to cut mine down quite a bit because there's so much to talk about with this game. But it was good to have some room and freedom to get into the themes a little.

1 hour ago, earlymodernsteve said:

In less academic taste, I was inspired to put together a Pentiment lunch for work today Been a while since a game made me do that...

No frumenty?

The reviews are coming out now.

Here's my effort for GamesRadar: https://www.gamesradar.com/pentiment-review/

It's a fantastic game.

I thought I'd made it sound enticing, now the history are nerds are scaring people away.

1 hour ago, Wiper said:

(also, it's technically not a a medieval murder mystery; per SaintAnselm's note, it's set during the reformation, so is more properly an early modern murder mystery)

Ah, it's on the cusp. Besides, I prefer the alliteration.

49 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

Are you reviewing this one, @BadgerFarmer? Got any rllmuk-exclusive 🔥hot takes🔥 for us if so?

I am, yes. And while I can't say anything yet of course, the fact that I thought it was worth creating a thread might tell you something.

I also did the preview piece for Edge recently, and one thing that came up there was that the devs are big fans of Umberto Eco and The Name of the Rose. And even in the demo I played there was a definite Eco vibe to it.  

It's a decent looking start to the year.

All of these are at least a little interesting (although I'm sure they won't all turn out good), and are confirmed releases in Jan or Feb:

Fire Emblem Engage

Forspoken

Dead Space

Deliver Us Mars

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos

Wanted: Dead

Wild Hearts

Atomic Heart

Like a Dragon: Ishin!

Octopath Traveler II

Destiny 2: Lightfall