Played this for a couple of hours today thanks to Game Pass. So far, it’s a pretty good time. It has some Binding of Isaac / Enter the Gungeon vibes and interesting meta-progression.

I mean “corpos” in the Cyberpunk sense - mega-huge companies that put profits far and above all else, discarding any notion of ethics, morality, or care about others in the process.

They’re the companies that buy up emerging tech solely so they can kill it (their competition). They don’t give a shit about long-term sustainability - if it raises the bottom line today, they do it. They disregard laws and consumer protections because the only consequences are paltry (for them) fines, which they see as the cost of doing business.

That’s a good callout - treating these game rental services more like we do with streaming video services by subbing to one for just a few months, then dropping it for another.

Ehh… PSN isn’t really any better. Their Game Pass competitor is a hot mess. Better to just buy games outright, especially during sales.

Once upon a time, the idea with subscriptions like this was to have customers set it and forget it. Charge them a small/reasonable amount and they’ll keep giving you money forever. Giving people a reason to think about - or worse, evaluate the merits of - the monthly deposit they’re giving you used to be a sin for companies.

But here we are, seeing the difference between “companies” and “corpos”.

I’ve been a big Xbox dude for a long time but I can’t possibly defend this. It’s a garbage move, during a time when everyone’s chief complaint about life is “everything goes up in price way too fast, all the time.”

They call these changes “upgrades” but that’s just PR bullshit. The big value of Game Pass used to be how it was cheaper than buying games outright. Now Ultimate is $360 a year. How many brand new games that you’re interested in come out each year? Would buying them on day one total anything near $360??
The value just isn’t there anymore.

What is this thing supposed to do?

The article says “Gaming Copilot – which provides recommendations, help, insights and more –” but that tells me nothing.

Too much of Silksong’s difficulty is just numbers. Shitty peon enemies hit for two health because fuck you. Touching a boss while it’s stunned hits for two health because fuck you.

And then there’s the whole shard system, which straight-up doesn’t need to exist since it just makes you never engage with tools. Until you use them to nuke a boss in its final phase, of course, because the alternative is playing RNG roulette against the boss’s 3 adds (that each hit for two damage, naturally).

It’s a great game, but it definitely isn’t a perfect game.

They need to remove shards, tweak (lower) the power of tools, and adjust outgoing damage (ideally through armor-like upgrades you earn).
Oh, and crests were not the right call. We all just use the Reaper (unless we’re further exploiting tools with that other crest).

I know we’re hating on Xbox in this thread, but I have an XSX and I absolutely love it. I hardly buy any games outright thanks to Game Pass.

I’m pretty curious (read: leery) about the post-launch monetization. Does the game feel complete or did they obviously hold things back for the battle passes or whatever? Will I have to pay in to enjoy things like a level cap increase?

They were pretty clear about going HAM on paid stuff after launch, and the game is already priced super high, so this might end up being a sale pickup for me.

I also hate, and this is another compounding factor, the complete lack of enemy HP bars.

IIRC, HK1 had a badge that turns these on. I’m not far enough into the new game to have found this yet, though.

Okay, so isn’t that exactly the same situation as the Xbox, but then the Xbox gives you the additional option to actually expand the hot storage?

Are you able to expand the PS5’s storage with just a normal USB 3.0 drive?

LOL. We’re not talking about a “hurry up” kinda dude here. His development story is wild. It’s a miracle that he ever actually released Stardew.

The five games that are now owned by Atari are:

• Cold Fear (2005)
• Child of Eden (2011)
• I Am Alive (2012)
• Grow Home (2015)
• Grow Up (2016)

I’m really sad to watch this slow-motion train crash continue to play out. Subnautica 2 was a guaranteed hit thanks to the strength of the first game, and somehow the new studio owners have completely fucked that to pieces. Truly a masterclass in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Classic Michael Pachter. That dude is wrong all the fucking time, yet people keep pushing his garbage.

Cadence of Hyrule is fun as hell. Gotta fix that on the list.

Same. I love this game when I’m looking for something to chill with. Relaxed mode (with the timer off) is the way better way to play.

Silksong demo. Let’s not get too excited here!

Is this any good?

“You’re all buying it regardless.”

Microsoft doesn’t expect anyone to pay $80. They expect people to sub to Game Pass instead.

Really wish this were multi platform. I love the series but I’m not about to pay jacked-up PS5 console prices.

That was a good read. I learned some new stuff in there. Thank you for sharing!

What the fuck is Sony doing lately? They are clueless when it comes to live service gaming. Like, Marathon may not be perfect, but isn’t that the whole point of doing a limited alpha or whatever?

I mean, this is just Cassette Beasts, and it is indeed a damn good game.

With cross-play across all platforms, you and your friends can squad up no matter where you play — no Microsoft account required.

However, signing in with a Microsoft account unlocks full cross-platform functionality. It enables cross-progression, so your Campaign and multiplayer progress carries across devices. It also allows you to send invites and play with friends across platforms — like Xbox to PlayStation or Steam to Xbox.

Honestly, this is the way to handle the incorporation of platform-specific accounts; totally optional, but actually gives you a sensible benefit if you choose to go that route. Sony could learn a lot here.

N++

Undoubtedly the best, most complete 2D platformer I’ve ever played. Super tight controls and incredible level design, coupled with an episode-long timer mechanic that you can influence makes this one absolutely unmatched. Sure, games like Celeste are flashier, but nothing is a better game than N++. I think I put something like 120 hours into this to get the platinum on PS4. I would happily start over and play the whole thing from scratch again.

Holy shit. That is some high praise across those reviews.

Looking like this will be a mega win for Game Pass. Can’t wait to play it tomorrow.

Still gonna skip this and hope for a 3DS-like price drop around the holidays. I’m really hoping Nintendo misses their sales targets big time because fuck these prices.

Consumers explain why they don’t give a fuck; too expensive is too expensive.

So basically $450+ to play Nintendo IP games at a current-gen caliber level.

This pricing just sucks. Unless you’re a Mario Kart or DK fanboy, you’re probably better off with PS5 or XSX.

For real. EA spent north of $10M on streamer sponsorships for the Apex Legends launch and that was like 7 years ago.

…and will be forever

This sounds to me like the right way to combat secondhand sales. Rather than making the game shitty and/or locking features behind online-only, unlock-keyed connections, they added a content mechanic that was actually fun.

I mean, this is basically the entire premise behind roguelike games, just applied to an action RPG instead (in a small way).

The newly added Firefight Classic is a good time as well.

Yup, this is the one.

Also included with Game Pass.

What in the world even is this?? Was there ever a prior release on the last gen??

Also, pretty sure XSX/PS5 isn’t “next gen” anymore. They’re solidly current gen, and getting a little long in the tooth.