Abandoned Games

[phillv85]

Samurai Force Shing - Nintendo Switch

 

I was hoping for some highly satisfying old school hack and slash action with this one but just did not find it. I actually imported this one from Japan on a whim due to the genre and trailer. It feels a bit Java game. The enemies are just not satisfying to beat. There’s no real crunch when you make contact. I might try it again at a later date, but for now it’s on the ‘done with’ pile.

[Colonel Panic]

15 hours ago, Jamie John said:

 

With Ratchet and Clank, I think it helps if you think of it as a shooter rather than a 3D platformer with a mascot. It has those elements, obviously, but the more enjoyable gameplay comes from mucking about with all the weapons, swapping them frequently, chaining their effects together, and generally causing complete carnage. It's a very pretty, very solid 8/10 game, I think.

 

The weapon that turns enemies into topiary is what brings it up to the 8/10 imo!

[RubberJohnny]

Pathfinder: Kingmaker - The actual gameplay seemed enjoyable enough, but it was a bit of a chore to play between the fiddly UI and the difficulty curve being all over the place. Given it's supposedly 170 hours long I decided it wasn't worth persevering with.

 

It also kind of got a bit more boring after the intro - that actually had some clever ideas and a cool twist, but then everything after that is as played straight as can be and will never surprise you.

[lolly]

Days Gone- Quite liked the premise ,I tend to enjoy apocalyptic scenarios ,  and the setting in the woods and mountains, the gunplay and combat was barely competent but passable. Died a few times in the opening hours due to my own stupidity and not understanding the rules of the game world  and was having an okay time until  I did a mission where I had to pick up some mcguffin  and it teleported in enemies to the area that I had cleared out , they appeared out of thin air in the background. I know it's a long game and if it's doing that kind of obvious  shite  and  is only passable in other areas I'm not sinking time into a badly realised open world collectathon.

 

I like my open world collectathons well realised like Ghost of Tsushmina   or some of the Assassins Creeds thank you very much.

[Gabe]

I quite liked World War Z (as a freebie, mind) so I thought with Back 4 Blood on Game Pass I thought it would be similar, but it's not (I do realise it is from the Left 4 Dead 2 crew, but I haven't played that). It's too floaty with the movement, actually not that easy (even on recruit with other humans) and is all a bit constant in your face. WWZ, by contrast, had those big horde moments (which were much more impactful than here) but periods of quiet.

[Hewson]

Psychonauts 2 I remember being incredibly excited about the first one back in the day, and then being completely baffled by the gulf between my experience of it and the critical reception. It was slow, stop-start, ugly, unfunny, self indulgent and lacking in finesse. Since it was on Gamepass I figured I'd give the new one a shot, especially because I was in such a minority on the last one. And I've found exactly the same thing. The sheer volume of tedious cutscenes would make a decent platform sink, but the mechanics here just aren't that much fun. It's complicated rather than nuanced and it's just so lacking in respect for your time that I deleted it after just a few hours.

[Skull Commander]

44 minutes ago, Hewson said:

Psychonauts 2 I remember being incredibly excited about the first one back in the day, and then being completely baffled by the gulf between my experience of it and the critical reception. It was slow, stop-start, ugly, unfunny, self indulgent and lacking in finesse. Since it was on Gamepass I figured I'd give the new one a shot, especially because I was in such a minority on the last one. And I've found exactly the same thing. The sheer volume of tedious cutscenes would make a decent platform sink, but the mechanics here just aren't that much fun. It's complicated rather than nuanced and it's just so lacking in respect for your time that I deleted it after just a few hours.

I thought I was the only one that felt this way about both of these games. 

[MattyP]

3 hours ago, Hewson said:

Psychonauts 2 I remember being incredibly excited about the first one back in the day, and then being completely baffled by the gulf between my experience of it and the critical reception. It was slow, stop-start, ugly, unfunny, self indulgent and lacking in finesse. Since it was on Gamepass I figured I'd give the new one a shot, especially because I was in such a minority on the last one. And I've found exactly the same thing. The sheer volume of tedious cutscenes would make a decent platform sink, but the mechanics here just aren't that much fun. It's complicated rather than nuanced and it's just so lacking in respect for your time that I deleted it after just a few hours.

Think its definitely a marmite game... I initially played it for a couple of hours... it felt too old in terms of actually game mechanics and style. Picked it up again for another 3 hours and got to the first boss and have since left it. Not sure what it is about it. Think its mainly the cutscenes  and presentation in general. The characters in this grate a bit and annoy. Also it doesn't seem to do anything new in terms of it being a fairly generic platformer. Guess having played things like Mario Odyssey on the Switch this feels far to generic - especially if you don't really buy into the the story and characters as the gameplay is by the numbers really. It may get better.. perhaps but find I'm drifting to other things more deserving of my time.

[df0]

Hades.

 

I was hooked as soon as it launched on PS5. Played it religiously for many weeks, run after run after run. Loved it. A brief 5-day holiday some time in late September was all it took to completely lose interest. I tried picking it up several times but it never felt the same again. Truth be told, I can not even remember why in loved it in the first place.

 

That said, I have the exact relationship with Binding of Isaac. Love it for weeks, lose interest for several months, love it again for weeks.

[sandman]

On 08/11/2021 at 09:56, Hewson said:

Psychonauts 2 I remember being incredibly excited about the first one back in the day, and then being completely baffled by the gulf between my experience of it and the critical reception. It was slow, stop-start, ugly, unfunny, self indulgent and lacking in finesse. Since it was on Gamepass I figured I'd give the new one a shot, especially because I was in such a minority on the last one. And I've found exactly the same thing. The sheer volume of tedious cutscenes would make a decent platform sink, but the mechanics here just aren't that much fun. It's complicated rather than nuanced and it's just so lacking in respect for your time that I deleted it after just a few hours.

The guys on TCGS were saying how amazing this was and I just didn’t get it. A competent middle of the road platformer 

[Unofficial Who]

More and more I feel like my input into this thread is good games that just weren't for me. Morkredd is a great two player puzzle game involving a ball of light. However I only have gamepass on the PC right now and my chances of being able to rope my partner into a co-op game in front of the PC is zero to none.

 

I did try in one player and it has some great control mechanics (one player each stick and a button press switches sticks) but I can tell I'm missing the point playing this alone.

 

I can recommend this for couples who like Undercooked and want that crossed with weird horror elements.

 

[Vimster]

The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons (GBC) - Was definitely enjoying this but chose to use save states which, when combined with not playing it every day, meant I was loading it up and totally forgetting what I was meant to be doing at that point. Maybe trying again but making some notes would be better. 

[Dave White]

Bf2042 

 

think the title is how  many bugs it’s launched with not the timeline 

[df0]

Doom Eternal

 

The 2016 version had restrained and was in my opinion laser-focussed. Eternal dials everything up to 11 or 12 and is relentless. It keeps going balls to the wall from start to finish, adding more and more. it made me bored and annoyed. I reluctantly finished the main campaign, gave up in the first DLC (where new enemies are of course introduced).

[RubberJohnny]

Honkai Impact 3rd - The old game by the Genshin people got a very belated Steam release (in Japanese) recently and I thought I'd check it out, just to see how this developer went from basic iPhone games to the best open-world game in only 10 years. Where Genshin is a Chinese BotW clone, this instead borrows heavily from Platinum games - the main character literally has Witch Time and Wicked Weaves and I unlocked another character who just summoned !Blade Wolf.

 

I ended up playing it far longer than anticipated, for 50 hours! And though I'll probably get grief for it, this GAAS template actually works pretty well for a character action game - I mean those already have challenge rooms for mechanical exploration of the battle system separate from the storyline, and what is the Bloody Palace other than Endgame content? DMCV even goes all the way and gives you a weapon for farming runs.

 

Anyway, anathema for most on here, but it's quite interesting in a digital archaeology sense, as you progress you can see the game steadily get more ambitious from its barebones origins, introducing larger environments, cutscenes, proto-open worlds, etc. The answer to my opening question seems to be "iteration", while a AAA dev might only get feedback every three or four years, here they can put new content out every six weeks, and the mobile money allows them to get steadily more ambitious and refined.

[acidbearboy]

AER: Memories of Old (Switch)

I bought this cheap in the sale ages ago because the graphical style was nice. The walking/jumping controls felt floaty, although the flying was fine. There was some story I didn’t care for (and the text was too small) and I wasn’t entirely sure where I should be going or what I should be doing. 

[BadgerFarmer]

Psychonauts 2

 

I feel like it keeps showing me fun things then pulling me away from them whenever it looks like I might get to join in. I mean, that's literally the plot in the early stages - you're part of the Psychonauts and then you're an intern and have to do boring things - and for me that joke has completely backfired.

 

I find most of the humour pretty lame anyway, and it seems like it's more important than the game, so I guess that's that. I know there are some good bits coming up because I've seen clips, but I can't be bothered to drag myself through the rest to get there.

[Unofficial Who]

This is a bit of a pity. I was sort of enjoying YIIK: A Postmodern RPG mainly for the music but then I got stuck due to a post battle bug where the camera would lock where my characters weren't making progress impossible. I tried again several times but can't get past it. My story ends in Windy Town then.

 

[ox1973]

On 22/10/2021 at 00:55, lolly said:

Days Gone- Quite liked the premise ,I tend to enjoy apocalyptic scenarios ,  and the setting in the woods and mountains, the gunplay and combat was barely competent but passable. Died a few times in the opening hours due to my own stupidity and not understanding the rules of the game world  and was having an okay time until  I did a mission where I had to pick up some mcguffin  and it teleported in enemies to the area that I had cleared out , they appeared out of thin air in the background. I know it's a long game and if it's doing that kind of obvious  shite  and  is only passable in other areas I'm not sinking time into a badly realised open world collectathon.

 

I like my open world collectathons well realised like Ghost of Tsushmina   or some of the Assassins Creeds thank you very much.

 

I played this on PS4 originally and bounced off it pretty quickly - for very simlar reasons to you.

 

Picked it up on PC and played it throught to completion over Christmas, really enjoyed it. I think it helped that I ignored the 'gotta collect 'em all' aspect and just played through the story without worring about anything else.

 

 

[IR354Lifeqhybot]

Metroid Dread.  I prefer my gaming to be Nintendo.  I love their output.  I love Metroid, having played and completed all non hand held iterations. But Dread, I cannot get to grips with.  I don't mind tough games.  But this is just a stop start affair.  The EMMI's are a case in point.  Completely out of sync with the main game.  Add in the controls which require a level of dexterity I'm simply not capable of performing  most of the time and you get an exercise in frustration.  It's also incredible linear which surprised me. I ended up giving it to my daughter as a bonus Christmas present and she said that the controls were far too difficult.  A very un-Nintendo experience.  

[df0]

Not entirely fair this one, but Final Fantasy VII Remake on PS5. Kind of liked it on PS4 so I thought I'd play through the PS5 version real quick.

 

Firstly, why is downloading the right version such a ball ache. I have the bog standard digital PS4 version, downloaded the upgraded PS5 version, unable to download the free* DLC, play bog standard PS5 version, receive an email thanking me for playing Intergrade.

Secondly, the first boss. That was all it took before I realised how many of these types of bosses await me.

 

*it is free now right?

[Mogster]

2 hours ago, df0 said:

Not entirely fair this one, but Final Fantasy VII Remake on PS5. Kind of liked it on PS4 so I thought I'd play through the PS5 version real quick.

 

Firstly, why is downloading the right version such a ball ache. I have the bog standard digital PS4 version, downloaded the upgraded PS5 version, unable to download the free* DLC, play bog standard PS5 version, receive an email thanking me for playing Intergrade.

Secondly, the first boss. That was all it took before I realised how many of these types of bosses await me.

 

*it is free now right?

I think the Intermission DLC is only free if you buy Intergrade outright on PS5. I don't think the free Intergrade upgrade includes Intermission.

[spanx]

Halo Infinite. Was a solid 7/10, maybe even an 8, until I got to what is I understand the final run of bosses. Can’t even get close and it’s really frustrating. So rather than spend another evening swearing at it it goes in the abandoned at the final hurdle pile. Bullshit. 

[glb]

Deathloop.

 

Alas, just don’t think it’s meant to be. Put around seven hours in but don’t feel compelled to keep playing after a session this morning. Had a brief moment of intrigue after completing a certain mission, but that quickly dissipated once it became clear I’m not invested in the story, and everything feels a bit aimless to me.

 

Think my other biggest disappointment is how clunky the shooting feels. Most loops usually end early with me dying because my guns jam mid gunfight or because more than two enemies attack and health goes in a heartbeat.

 

Shame, but on to the next game.

[ChewMagma]

Oxenfree

 

This is a bad, bad game, even for the 89p I paid for it in the eShop. It does look nice, but the acting, the dialogue, the absurd length of the loading screens (apparently not a Switch specific thing but common to other versions as well) just killed it. Surprised as I was under the impression it was quite well rated.

[spanx]

I think I’m about to abandon The Outer Wilds again. It’s very mysterious and intriguing but I’m playing for an hour, finishing and just wondering what the fuck I have achieved here. Found something weird, found a clue, headed there, found something else weird. I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing or why I’m playing. 

[spanx]

Of course I posted that then ended playing for another hour last night. I can’t put my finger on why I keep coming back despite not being sure about it; I think I like to have a goal defined for me and it’s probably because this game doesn’t do that, it calls for you to use your natural curiosity, that I find it quite unnerving in some ways. 
 

I found…

 

Spoiler

Some underground town on one of the twin planets last night which was quite exciting. Then I got crushed to death by sand. 
 

I also managed to lose my ship, then fell through a black hole, ended up blasting out of a white hole and only being a few hundred metres from my ship. It hurtled past me but collided with the craft near the white hole and I managed to get back. Quite a moment, and one that suddenly made me feel hopeless in the void of space. I think it’s moments like that that keep me plugging away

 

[earlymodernsteve]

On 03/01/2022 at 20:45, Unofficial Who said:

This is a bit of a pity. I was sort of enjoying YIIK: A Postmodern RPG mainly for the music but then I got stuck due to a post battle bug where the camera would lock where my characters weren't making progress impossible. I tried again several times but can't get past it. My story ends in Windy Town then.

 

I liked the music but found the game to be really smug and self-satisfied (something I normally have a high tolerance for) and the combat boring and too time consuming so stopped after an hour or two. Shame as I liked the idea of working in shameless discussion of postmodernism into a game setting but this wasn't it.

[Mogster]

17 hours ago, spanx said:

I think I’m about to abandon The Outer Wilds again. It’s very mysterious and intriguing but I’m playing for an hour, finishing and just wondering what the fuck I have achieved here. Found something weird, found a clue, headed there, found something else weird. I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing or why I’m playing. 

I'm probably stating the obvious, but are you using the ship's computer? It keeps track of the important discoveries you make, and tells you what they might be linked to and (crucially) tells you when you've found everything in each area. You can absolutely progress without finding everything, and indeed some stuff only exists to teach you how to do other stuff, but if you're stuck it's always a good place to look.

[spanx]

@Mogster I should prob take this to the Outer Wilds topic, but quickly, yeah I am using the computer.