Yeah, totally agree. I think hyper-critical is putting it mildly, in my case.
The important thing is to remember we've both said we had fun playing and put MANY hours into the game. So it's not like we played for an hour and said 'this sucks so bad I can't play it anymore.' I imagine normal people can just play it and enjoy it. But the way my brain works is to pick apart every element I don't like and work out how it could be better.
Definitely don't mean it in a way that everyone else should take my complaints as gospel or a reason not to play it themselves.
Like, should you go buy a 500 dollar gaming system just to play this game? No. I think you would be massively disappointed.
I bought a PS5 JUST so I could play the Last of Us games, Spider-Man, and Ghost of Tsushima. And I do not regret it AT ALL. Some of the best games I've ever played. In terms of fun and engagement, each of those four games is worth 10 Starfields.
But like.. if you ever end up with the ability to play Starfield without buying a system just for that purpose... definitely do. It -is- fun. Just very flawed.
I finished Elden Ring last night after a month and a half of playing. Excellent game coupled with the typical Fromsoft "I'm going to have a damn stroke trying to not die" gameplay. Some of the main bosses were surprisingly easy--I took down Malenia with the Ghiza's wheel in under 30 seconds on my first try--while some of the field bosses were nightmares. The Consecrated Snowfield Death Rite bird was absolutely ridiculous. Crucible Knights are just the damn worst. And I kept shouting at my screen for the Elden Beast to just sit still! Stop moving around! Stay there and let me hit you!!
But yeah, super fun, super obnoxious, super annoying, super addictive.
@theknightdamien @tsi Yeah, I get it. I've put hundreds of hours into a number of Bethesda games and absolutely loved them (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3&4) but even still, I know all of those games are flawed to some degree when it comes to gameplay and design. I guess I just respond really well to the Bethesda formula because the only time their BS has ruined my enjoyment was with Oblivion, and I still even pushed through that. So yeah, I feel like I know what I'll be getting and I'm excited to try it (eventually).
I beat Steamworld Dig in a few days and yeah, it was pretty simple but I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to playing the sequel soon but I want a little space since it's very similar. So I jumped into Kingdom Majestic (or more specifically, New Lands) next and it's really neat but geeeze, this game is in bad need of tooltips or at least something to clue the player in to what they're looking at or doing. I really dislike handholding but this game basically plops you into the world and says "figure it out" without gameplay that will help you get there (at least not quickly). It's too ambiguous and inconsiderate of the player's time. I played for a couple days and didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so I decided to play the sequel, Two Crowns, instead since it's apparently much more accessible. It is, and I'm enjoying it but I'm still basically playing with the wiki open on my phone.
Because of those frustrations I took a break from Kingdom to play Dredge. Loved it. They could have done more with the formula but the more I played, the more I felt like they really nailed it. Everything revolves around fishing/dredging but they mixed it up enough that it keeps feeling fresh and fun. There's some DLC coming out soon apparently but I'm not sure I need more, I really liked the ending (even though I got the "bad" ending).
/end indie report
@mikeysee That seems to be the thing about the Big B's games; no matter how stupid, janky, and poorly-made they are.. they're fun in a way that allows you to be like 'Oooooh Bethesda!' and just move on every time some game- or immersion-breaking nonsense happens.
My wife even made a joke the other day how she knows when I'm downstairs playing Starfield because at least once every half-hour or so she hears me muttering 'fucking Bethesda.....' Yet I keep playing.
So do forgive me if I sit and bitch endlessly like a whiny twat about every little thing. I guess I find it cathartic to complain because I know I'm not just going to uninstall.
That being said... I've had basically two game-breaking bugs in the last 24 hours. I will be vague:
The first one happens when you have to listen to some things and download something from a ship. It's a faction mission. Basically, you have to ignore the prompts and NOT do what the mission is asking you to do until you listen to EVERY recording in the area. There is no indication this is the case and, of course, it's definitely just a bug. However, if you don't do things in the order the game doesn't tell you - the game freezes and you can't progress.
I messed around with this for WAY too long before I finally looked up online what the hell was going on and saw that it's a common bug and that you need to reload and follow very specific steps to make it not happen (and even then, it took me about 4 tries to get the mission to work).
THEN....
I went into a late game main story mission that involves you getting attacked in New Atlantis by someone. Despite being VERY careful not to shoot any civilians during this mission, which is actually super hard to do if you're defending yourself at all... I ended up with a UC bounty of like 426k credits, making the end of the mission where you fly away from New Atlantis basically impossible because every UC ship in the area, and every UC security officer on New Atlantis, wants you dead. I got blasted out of the sky a couple of times. On one run I got so annoyed that I said 'Fuck It' and shot back. Which caused Andreja, who was with me, to leave. Ugh. During one run I managed to Grav Jump away to Freestar space so I could go pay the bounty, and a UC warship FOLLOWED ME to Freestar Space (really seems like a glitch), or was already there when I got there, and blew me up.
Best I can tell is this is another bug OR poor design. It seems really unclear even to other people experiencing this. Either the game is glitching and causing everyone on New Atlantis to aggro on you at a random point, OR your companion is running-and-gunning and hitting civilians, which is giving you a bounty. But it seems to happen about mid-way through the mission no matter what I do. It's SUPER frustrating. I ended up just turning it off and going to bed last night.
I'll also say that I do not have any interest in what we're leading up to with the finale of the game. And it's so obvious that this game is bloated with skills that you NEED, and stingy with experience points, specifically to force you into playing New Game+ just to experience what the game actually has to offer, and I'm extremely resentful of that. It's yet another big release game that just doesn't respect the player at all.
Like, fuck... I just want to be able to upgrade my weapons and suits so I can play with the equipment that I like, so I've had to waste NINE fucking levels/skill points just on the skills that allow you to upgrade weapons and suits. NINE. At the level I was at when I got that done, that represented almost a QUARTER of the skill points I'd acquired in the entire game. Just to be able to use the customizing functions for the weapons and armor, which you still need tons of materials for.
If you add in the other skills you need to at least grab a point in to be able to do basic stuff in the game.. by level 35 you're using probably half or more of your total skill points just to access the game's functions. And I still think that's super fucked up.
But here I am. Still playing it.
Gotta finish up soon, though. Spider-Man 2 is around the corner.
Ended up getting into Baldur's Gate 3. I'm at the end of Act II, wondering if I'll wrap it up before Spider-Man 2 drops
Well, I normally stay far away from FPS but, I mainly play MWII DMZ now. I just dig the loop.
I got MK1, but that game feels barren aside from the online, so I'll wait for new content.
Ended up getting into Baldur's Gate 3. I'm at the end of Act II, wondering if I'll wrap it up before Spider-Man 2 drops
I haven't even left Act I yet
I hear rumors that Act III is where most of the game breaking glitches are
so that might slow you down a bit
I'm taking a break from Starfield to play some Spider-Man 2 right now. What a world of difference. SM2 looks better, plays better, has a more engaging early-game story, etc. It's so crazy how both are 'Triple A' titles, while being so vastly different in actual quality.
SM2 isn't perfect though. I haven't gotten there, but my understanding is they chose to keep the 'MJ stealth' missions for this game, which is fucking idiotic considering how maligned those missions were in the first game. Read the room, Insomniac. Also, early game there's definitely some 'exposition designed as gameplay' sections that are an absolute chore to get through. The very early mission where you go to May's house and then go hang out with Harry? It's sooo fucking long and sooo fucking boring.
One final complaint that shouldn't be a spoiler if you've seen any trailer for the game is that Peter basically has two power trees - one for the Venom stuff and one for the Tony Stark/Iron Spider spider arms things. I hate those things. I always have. Hate them in the comics. Hate them in the movies. Hate them here. But without the Venom stuff - that's where your big attacks/powers come from. And that sucks. I just want to do regular Spider-Man stuff, not Iron Spider stuff.
Besides that, though.. it's damn good. I mean, the first game was already pretty amazing and this is mostly just more of that with some improvements. LOTS of accessibility options as well, and little ways to tweak the gameplay/visuals to your liking. While there's, of course, things I don't like - this is definitely how you make a quality game.
Different strokes for different folks. I didn't hate the stealth missions in the first game. I did hate the checkpoint system and getting caught all the time because I'm bad at stealth. I thought they were a good change of pace and allowed you to get to know MJ in ways you wouldn't otherwise.
I also love the environmental storytelling. That's a Naughty Dog favorite that Insomniac has taken full advantage of here. Whenever we enter one of those sections, I make sure to press triangle on every interactive I can.
According to the save log, I've finished 18% of the game so far. I'm shocked by how much better it is than the first one. I think the game is less repetitive, random crimes are less monotonous, and the combat is less button-mashy (though I'm goddamn tired of the sniper enemies who move from perch to perch). My biggest problem with the first game was that it was phenomenal for the first five hours and then that just repeated itself for another 30 hours. The collectibles keep it fresh, the story is engaging, and Spider-Cop is mercifully dead.
If Baldur's Gate 3 didn't exist, I think this would be my game of the year.
Was hoping to get to Spider-Man 2 but I'm still playing BG3. I'm at the very end now, though. Should have it finished in the next day or two. This has been a fantastic game so far. Pretty buggy in my experience (I'm playing on PS5) but usually nothing game-breaking. I have had a few crashes. Most notable bugs to me are when a character reacted to events that hadn't happened. Still, I think this one is going to make it into my top ten. I'll wait until the recency bias wears off to make that assessment, though.
I've got Spider-Man 2 installed and ready to go...Just can't focus on more than one game at a time.
@tsi I'm definitely not saying no one liked them, or even that the stealth missions have no place in the game. And full disclosure - I haven't played any MJ stealth stuff in this game yet. It's more just hearing that it's back when, even though some may have enjoyed it, it was basically THE most complained-about part of the first game feels a little grating. And I'm really not looking forward to long stealth sessions with MJ because it's just not why I play a game like Spider-Man.
Kind of on that same token.. it feels like a LOT of the main story missions pre-symbiote are just boring follow missions punctuated by a fight. Like... just make it a cutscene so I can put the controller down instead of pretending I have agency while you decide I have to go on these exact carnival rides before the game progresses. It's not that I don't want any story. I'm a STORY guy, through and through. Gimme lots of story. Gimme that drama and character interaction. Just stop pretending it's gameplay.
SM2 definitely isn't the only game guilty of this. It's basically baked in to how AAA games are made now and I can't stand it.
Still, I don't think anything I've played in a long time (or anything NEW that I've played in a long time) is quite as satisfying as pummeling bad guys as Spider-Man. I'd honestly say very few games are this -FUN-. And that's incredibly important no matter what my minor complaints are.
@popoman I can't focus on multiple games either. Ever. I get the controls mixed up, I lose my place, etc. I did go from a half-finished Starfield to SM2, but honestly I won't even touch Starfield again until I'm completely done with SM2. I envy people (like my son) that can literally bounce between several games just in one afternoon.
@popoman I can't focus on multiple games either. Ever. I get the controls mixed up, I lose my place, etc. I did go from a half-finished Starfield to SM2, but honestly I won't even touch Starfield again until I'm completely done with SM2. I envy people (like my son) that can literally bounce between several games just in one afternoon.
It's even worse if I'm trying to jump from xbox or ps5 to anything on the switch because those damn buttons are reversed
@popoman I can't focus on multiple games either. Ever. I get the controls mixed up, I lose my place, etc. I did go from a half-finished Starfield to SM2, but honestly I won't even touch Starfield again until I'm completely done with SM2. I envy people (like my son) that can literally bounce between several games just in one afternoon.
It's even worse if I'm trying to jump from xbox or ps5 to anything on the switch because those damn buttons are reversed
Oh, I definitely agree. We have a PS5 and an XBox-X, and my son can jump between the two at any moment, where I basically have to take a day away from any game systems, meditate on a mountaintop in the Alps, and do breathing exercises and shadow boxing to psych myself up to switch controllers.
Still having fun with SM2. While doing sidequests and map marker stuff I've been playing around a lot with the various accessibility settings. Turning down swing assist a little feels.. I don't know.. more responsive, maybe? I don't like it turned all the way off, though. I also turned on the QTE autocomplete because I have -always- hated QTEs and while it makes the game feel a bit too cinematic/cutscene-heavy sometimes... I find it a lot more enjoyable and less stress-inducing.
I also like that you can individually make particular bits easier or harder without completely changing the difficulty setting. Not revolutionary - I know some new games are doing this kind of stuff more commonly now. But still fun to mess with and see how you can tailor the actual game mechanics to your style a bit more. I like being allowed to have FUN with a game instead of being told how I -have- to play it (cough-anygamewithoutdifficultysettings-cough).
I'm about 80% of the way through Spider-Man 2 now. I still find most of the side-missions to be unfun busy work, but it's a huge improvement on the first game because there are less of them and they're somewhat varied. I will say the
I wish I hadn't watched the PlayStation Showcase gameplay trailer from five months ago because of how late-game that mission is. I found myself attempting to figure out how the story got to that place instead of letting it play out naturally.
Speaking of the story, I think the narative is the weakest element of this game in comparison to the first one. I love Kraven's Last Hunt and all the lore around the black costume, but the symbiote story has never totally worked for me. (I like the idea of sentient alien goo coming to Earth, I don't like the idea that it basically just turns you into a belligerent zombie.) To this point, the story hasn't done much to surprise me or move me while the first game blew me away in that department. Mr. Negative, the Sinister Six, Doc Ock, and the Aunt May stuff was all phenomenal. I hope it closes out strong.
Credit to Insomniac on villain selection, though. I strongly dislike Venom, but if you do the black costume (which you should), he has to be included. They picked the same roster I would've through two games. Fingers crossed for Green Goblin to close out the trilogy.
My biggest hang-up with the first game was that the boss fights were the single best part and we didn't get nearly enough of them. I can say the same exact of the second game. I don't need to fight Kingpin or Rhino all the time, either. I'm more than happy to do a couple side missions that lead up to a fight with Hypno-Hustler. That's a million times more interesting than the two mission types I spoilered above.
And I honestly have a grudge against Nintendo because of the button layout. The right-side button is the back button, Nintendo. Get with the program.
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