Abandoned Games

[SaintAnselm]

On 06/02/2022 at 13:00, sandman said:

Guardians of the galaxy 

 

What an absolute turd of a game this is. The gameplay reminds of a cheap Ps2 era licensed game with endless repeating enemies and poorly thought out boss fights. Quite how it’s received such a good reception is beyond me. It simply isn’t much fun to play. My dislike of the GOTG films and comics probably isn’t helping much but I had high hopes for this despite that. The voice acting is also terrible. 

Have you ever read the comics written by Abnett and Lanning? Their run on GOTG is probably the best cosmic Marvel comics of all-time.

 

The game while not great, is a far better portrayal of the GOTG than the two films were and having the outfits for the comics really made me happy.

[CurryKitten]

GTA: Vice City

 

A bit of an oldie I know, but when people reminisce about GTA games they always seem to go on about Vice City being "the best".  I've actually owned it since the GTA3/Vice City double pack was released on the original Xbox and played it for an hour or two (I finished GTA 3 fine) but trying to get back to it now (playing on a 360) is an exercise in self hate.

 

Everything is so unbelievably clunky.  The vehicles handle awfully, but the thing that just kills it for me is the aiming system... or the lack of it (I suppose you could add the camera in there as well) without the familiar right stick to look around or target people, I'm just lost.  I'm getting wiped out in the most casual of firefights because my character is facing the wrong direction whilst failing to shoot anyone.  I got as far as getting the mansion on the island and a few missions after that but nope... I can't do it any longer, it's shite.

 

I thought it might just be the age of the game, but I recently picked up San Andreas on the PS2.  I did have a dodgy copy on the original Xbox, but my save corrupted.  I started playing this tonight, and it's a breath of fresh air.  A camera you can move around and aiming you can live with.  It's not like other things aren't a bit clunky but you can live with these when the main game is playable.

[Vimster]

12 hours ago, CurryKitten said:

GTA: Vice City

 

A bit of an oldie I know, but when people reminisce about GTA games they always seem to go on about Vice City being "the best".  I've actually owned it since the GTA3/Vice City double pack was released on the original Xbox and played it for an hour or two (I finished GTA 3 fine) but trying to get back to it now (playing on a 360) is an exercise in self hate.

 

Everything is so unbelievably clunky.  The vehicles handle awfully, but the thing that just kills it for me is the aiming system... or the lack of it (I suppose you could add the camera in there as well) without the familiar right stick to look around or target people, I'm just lost.  I'm getting wiped out in the most casual of firefights because my character is facing the wrong direction whilst failing to shoot anyone.  I got as far as getting the mansion on the island and a few missions after that but nope... I can't do it any longer, it's shite.

 

I thought it might just be the age of the game, but I recently picked up San Andreas on the PS2.  I did have a dodgy copy on the original Xbox, but my save corrupted.  I started playing this tonight, and it's a breath of fresh air.  A camera you can move around and aiming you can live with.  It's not like other things aren't a bit clunky but you can live with these when the main game is playable.

I tried VC again recently with some mods installed to do things like proper 60fps but also add a free look with the mouse. It makes it a little bit better but the combination of free look and the crappy targeting (let's not forget it was rubbish at the time) makes it even worse. You want to just point your guy at a baddie and shoot, but the game has other ideas, forcing you to lock on and cycle through targets. If someone could mod it to have a crosshair-and-shoot it wold be so, so much better. 

[RubberJohnny]

Astria Ascending - I like my traditional JRPG fare and this is a new game by a French studio that really wants you to know it's channeling FFX and FF12, it has a lovely artstyle, a unique battle system and a pretty robust featureset with hunts, a knockoff Tetra Master minigame.

 

Unfortunately it's also got one of the worst intros I've seen, you get a huge number of characters thrown at you with little context, told to defend the city from monsters and then set free to explore a large city, which I think is supposed to be impressive, but every area is just accessed through a menu and therefore lacking in any real sense of place. Anyway, you go to the correct place, have a few unbalanced fights against rats which are basically your tutorial and then you're thrown into a sewer dungeon(!) Oh and it's 2D, so everything is kinda dry anyway, waiting for your character to crawl to the other end of the screen, shit platforming to flick switches, etc, so I decided it wasn't worth persevering with.

 

If you're going to take inspiration from popular games, maybe look at how they start and engage players, because no one cares about completeness of featureset if they're put off long before they get to them.

[teddymeow]

I think it's because there's a lot of stuff going on in "real life" that I'm not finding much enjoyment playing anything at the moment.

 

This means that Horizon Forbidden West has been left to sit there, disc in console, wondering what it did wrong.

 

Maybe in a couple of weeks when work / home has settled down I'll go back to it.

[df0]

Final Fantasy XIV.

 

Not abandoning due to it being bad (it's a fantastic game truth be told), but I can not support the direction Square Enix is going. The president is all about the whole "play to earn" thing and after cash grab disasters like Chocobo GP and Babylon's Fall, and general disasters such as The Quiet Man and Left Alive I am done. Another developer/publisher on the list.

[Mogster]

Actually I guess I can add FFXIV here too, as I finally uninstalled it yesterday. I've been meaning to go back to it someday for far too long, but with the cost of living increases and all I don't think I can justify a monthly sub. I've never liked the idea of being forced to play a game to make the most of a sub anyway.

[Vimster]

Batman Arkham City

Thinking of binning this, it's the classic case of really enjoying it, playing it for 10 hours, then not playing it again for six weeks, coming back and I've forgotten all the fighting moves. I'd got to a point where you couldn't just button mash, you had to do proper moves to avoid knives and all that. Yes, I could go into the menus and look all the moves up again but if it doesn't just click it's not going to happen. And again it's a great game and definitely wouldn't stop because it's crap.

 

Will keep it installed and see what happens.

[acidbearboy]

Blaster Master Zero (Switch)

I bought this in a sale and thought it was alright. I have 5 hours on my save file, but it’s been a while since I last played it and I can’t remember what I’m doing and I have no enthusiasm for it now so I’ve deleted it.  

[RubberJohnny]

City of Brass - I thought this 3D Roguelike looked pretty good when it came out, unfortunately it doesn't feel nearly as good to play, the movement and aiming have that "default project settings" feel and the main mechanic (a whip always bound to a button that can stun enemies, trigger mechanisms and pull in items) feels a bit more awkward to use than it should.

 

But most frustrating thing again is the new player experience, which is the sort that tells you the buttons to push but not how to play. I think everyone knows how to manoeuvre a character in firstperson (and if they don't this probably isn't their first), what I need to know is what are the roguelike systems I'm dealing with here? What are my current upgrades? How do I get them? Are there limited slots or is it an all you can eat deal? The game tells you nothing, there might have been an inventory screen for all I know that detailed everything, but it was too busy making sure I could jump and crouch.

[phillv85]

Assault Suit Leynos- PS4

 

i’ve tried at this a few times now thinking this’ll be the time it all comes together, but every time I get absolutely stomped and end up giving up after 20 minutes. It’s a shame because I really enjoy the game, I just cannot get anywhere in it, it’s so bloody difficult. Not sure I’ll go back to it again.

[Unofficial Who]

The Wild at Heart This looks ultra charming and I love the setting and style. (Set in the 80's but the look of the game is very late 70's children's book.) The upside? It's a Pikmin style game. The downside, I always bounce off Pikmin games. Also lots of crafting. Something I don't like at all. Very much a case of "this isn't you, it's me." For those interested in trying it you have a couple more days on GamePass.

 

[ChewMagma]

Chinatown Detective Agency - got as far as the game asking me to google the answer to a puzzle and immediately uninstalled. I play games to not waste time on my phone, thanks.

[Colonel Panic]

Ghostrunner - I like this in principle, but its difficulty is rooted too much in repetition for my liking. 

[Goemon]

On 11/05/2022 at 20:40, phillv85 said:

Assault Suit Leynos- PS4

 

i’ve tried at this a few times now thinking this’ll be the time it all comes together, but every time I get absolutely stomped and end up giving up after 20 minutes. It’s a shame because I really enjoy the game, I just cannot get anywhere in it, it’s so bloody difficult. Not sure I’ll go back to it again.

Loved this game. Interesting to know why you find it so difficult. I think it’s important to balance your pace through the levels.

 

Too slow and enemies continue to spawn and you end up not moving forward, too quick and you get a substantial build up on enemies which can make death very swift.

 

Another thing to note is if you can down time in a level your health will boost back up. Also, it’s important to take the shield with you (I think you get it from the start) which can really help.

 

[phillv85]

19 minutes ago, Goemon said:

Loved this game. Interesting to know why you find it so difficult. I think it’s important to balance your pace through the levels.

 

Too slow and enemies continue to spawn and you end up not moving forward, too quick and you get a substantial build up on enemies which can make death very swift.

 

Another thing to note is if you can down time in a level your health will boost back up. Also, it’s important to take the shield with you (I think you get it from the start) which can really help.

 

 

I actually was going to come back and retract my earlier statement. Despite saying I was done with it I did give it another go and this time it clicked. I've now played through the entire game and really enjoyed it. It is, as you say, all to do with pacing yourself. I do think the first stage is one of the hardest in the game (at least comparatively when you first start playing). Trying to take down that aircraft in time was a nightmare for me on my first few attempts. 

 

I found most of the weapons in the game rubbish, I only really used the machine gun and two of the types of missiles. Slick use of the shield is also important as you say, particularly later on.

[teddymeow]

The shame! The unbridled shame!!!

 

I've given up on Horizon Forbidden West. 😥

 

I've not played it for ages and have no real desire to go back to it despite the incredible spectacle of the thing.

 

 

[Jamie John]

On 28/05/2022 at 08:35, teddymeow said:

I've given up on Horizon Forbidden West. 😥

 

Me too. I gave it a good go - 25 hours - but I've not found much of an excuse to play it this week, and when I do I only last about half an hour before I turn it off.

 

It's a very good-looking, very expensive-feeling game, but there's just far too much of everything. Too many weapons, too many different types of enemy, too many map markers, ammo types, upgrade accessories, skill trees, special moves, dialogue options, characters, settlements, encampments, outposts, ruins, errands, quests, collectibles, outfits, blah, blah, blah. On and on and on it goes. It's a mess.

 

Moreover, when it comes to actually playing it, very little feels intuitive. Walking around the world map, you're constantly checking the compass or the map or your quest markers to see where the game wants you to go instead of where you yourself want to go. The overworld is so cluttered with stuff - rocks, foliage, hills, abandoned structures, broken cars, rotting barrels, and so on - that I never felt like I would naturally come across something interesting, and was therefore completely reliant on the map. Contrast it with Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild, where there's always something intriguing on the horizon (no pun intended) to divert your attention, and this comes off very badly. I never felt like I was actually exploring the world but rather just moving from map icon to map icon, waypoint to waypoint.

 

Combat is similarly muddled. Come across a group of enemies unseen and you can plan your strategy in a satisfying way, highlighting patrol routes, tagging detachable parts and identifying weak spots. As soon as you break stealth, however, everything goes to shit and you spend the next minute or so in a mad panic, flicking in and out of weapon wheels, slowing down time constantly, crafting ammo while dodging, rapidly clicking the right stick to activate your focus and remind yourself of which of the seven or eight different elemental attacks available to you are effective against the particular robot dinosaur you're currently trying to fend off. It's faltering and fiddly, and you never really feel in control of what's happening. Comparing it to The Last of Us 2, where the combat truly came alive when you broke stealth - fluid, intense and desperate - the fighting in this never really feels like it gets going.

 

And when these fundamentals of the game don't work so well, its other flaws and annoyances become more grating. Why can I climb some sheer cliff faces but not others? Why does the game encourage me to visit locations I don't have the tools to access yet? Why does shooting an enemy soldier in the head from five feet away while I'm hidden in some tall grass not immediately kill him? Why doesn't Aloy ever SHUT THE FUCK UP!?

 

I finished Zero Dawn, which was never anything more than a solid 8/10 Sony tent-pole game, but I can't bring myself to see this to the end, especially when I'm (according to the in-game stats) not even a third of the way through. Beautiful graphics and industry-leading motion capture can only get you so far.

[spanx]

Finally threw the towel in on Elden ring  and uninstalled it today. Hadn’t played it few ages and admitted defeat after giving it a quick blast and realising why I’d stopped in the first place. 
 

Loved it for the time I played. STILL haven’t finished a Souls game. 

[Unofficial Who]

Atomicrops is an excellent pixel twin stick rogue like that I just keep bouncing off. Gave it another shot tonight and I think it's the gardening part, I hate gardening in games. I urge everyone to try it before it disappears from Gamepass, I just can't put my finger on why this leaves me cold.

 

[Unofficial Who]

Cris Tales on the other hand, while excellent is one where can pinpoint why I keep bouncing off it.

 

 

I love the idea behind it. The idea that you can see and access the past and the future in order to influence story events and battles is incredibly clever. But I bounced off the demo and this is the third time I've bounced off the game. Reasons?

 

-I hate timing elements in turn based battle games. It's something that I've developed less tolerance for as I get older and I loved that I could turn it off in Ikenfell.

-The voices are very much like anime RPG's. Which means some people are going to love it. I just couldn't get with it.

-The character design which is gorgeous but reminded me of certain cartoon styles from the 60's and 70's. I'm not sure why I find it off putting because it's amazing.

-The dialogue. 

 

It's leaving GamePass this fortnight but I've got ample opportunity to play it elsewhere. Again I'd recommend people try it, it's super clever but I just keep bouncing off it.

[Unofficial Who]

Also this frog is as smug as fuck and I have no idea why he enrages me.

 

[teddymeow]

Metroid Dread. Played right to the end despite hating the E.M.M.I instadeath sections.

 

At times it feels exquisite and the atmosphere is great.

 

But, those E.M.M.I sections and that final boss...shudder...

 

It's made me set-up an old Wii I had in the attic and fire up Metroid Prime though. Prime is still absolutely...

 

[Fierce Poodle]

Oxenfree

 

This makes a great first impression - interesting visuals, spooky atmosphere and great soundtrack. But the story hasn’t grabbed me at all, the gameplay is non-existent and the characters and dialogue are quite irritating. I think it’s quite a short game but I can’t be arsed finishing it.

[Ninja Doctor]

Halo infinite. 
 

Halo is a corridor shooter in my book with clear missions. 
 

This is some Ubisoft style aberration. No thank you. I’d rather play Halo 5 again. 

[sandman]

On 14/07/2022 at 14:01, Ninja Doctor said:

Halo infinite. 
 

Halo is a corridor shooter in my book with clear missions. 
 

This is some Ubisoft style aberration. No thank you. I’d rather play Halo 5 again. 

This. A thousand time this.

[Jamie John]

On 14/07/2022 at 14:01, Ninja Doctor said:

Halo infinite. 
 

Halo is a corridor shooter in my book with clear missions. 
 

This is some Ubisoft style aberration. No thank you. I’d rather play Halo 5 again. 

 

Ironically, Infinite becomes very much a corridor shooter in its second half, which I thought was by far the worst bit of the game

 

[Ninja Doctor]

Also brutes are officially the worst halo enemies. 
 

id rather fight those flying bug things from halo 2. 

[Jamie John]

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Switch)

 

Forum, I tried. Once on PS4, then on Switch, then on Game Pass and now again on Switch, but I just can't do it. It's just so easy, and so boring. I go into battles, where everyone it set to 'fight wisely', press A to get things started, and then that's it. The game plays itself while I check my phone. After the battle ends, I run up to another enemy, press A to get the drop on it, and then the cycle starts again, even against bosses. I haven't died, or come anywhere close to dying, in 15 hours of play. The enemies are charming, the writing is endearing, and the characters, while cliched, are inoffensive, but there must be more to a game than pressing one button and moving the analog stick, surely? There's just nothing to it, no friction or drama whatsoever. It's like playing a very expensive clicker game. I suppose you could say it's 'relaxing', but there's a fine line between that and soporific, and this falls into the latter for me.

 

Anyway, after ditching Radiant Historia earlier this year, and now this, I've still got Xenoblade Chronicles and FFX remastered on the Switch in my JRPG pile of shame. Perhaps they'll rekindle my spark for the genre, but I fear that @Sane and @ChewMagma may be right when they mentioned on the previous page that this sort of game is simply no longer for me 

[RubberJohnny]

Luck be a Landlord - This is a Steam early access gambling roguelike, your “build” is what goes on the reels of slots, using combinations to try and make rent consistently, which rises via the power law every month. It’s very compulsive, but not actually that well designed, they’ve managed to make the UI too big for their tiny window, and most builds only rise linearly, so you can only really beat the game with the only that’s exponential, which isn’t much fun as it involves mostly clicking skip and waiting forever for animations to play out.

 

Tower of Fantasy (PC) - This is a multiplatform MMO-y Botw-y Genshin-y thing made by a mobile dev. It has some nice ideas, particularly around traversal with you having a jetpack and different vehicles to get around quickly but unfortunately everything else is “fine” to mediocre: the open world is just outposts and fetch quests, the combat feels flat, it doesn’t look that great and the UI makes everything a pain. It might become some peoples comfort game but Sumeru launches tomorrow, so…