-
The Front
-
Lethal Company
-
Hogwarts Legacy on Switch. I should have known better, but my local Walmart had it on sale for $29.99 a few weeks ago and I bought on impulse after reading a few posts about how it’s gotten better after updates. I’ve had glitches galore. Mad pop-in, falling through geometry, crashes, and two save game corruptions, all in the most up-to-date version available. If this is better, I can’t imagine how broken it was at launch. I feel like I got $5 of content out of this. If the glitches were at least amusing, I might be ok with it, but the save corruption is just unacceptable.
Everything AAA not on sale.
Palworld
I was expecting factorio but with union busting knock-off Pokemon . I got a really generic open-world survival craft with normal knock-off Pokemon.
Yeah it is over-hyped. I enjoy it, but you do have to keep in mind that it is early access. Hopefully it will continue to get better.
I luckily refunded it lol
Same here.
When starting out without having seen all that much of the game beforehand, I saw a great potential for just that expectation you and I shared. The game keeps you jumping from one task to another, managing your initially growing base(s) to produce new necessities, catch new/more pals, explore the map and …well, that’s basically it, so far.
The gameplay loop so far is pretty barebones and the countless bugs, especially regarding basebuilding and -managing, grew all the more frustrating as I was forced to realize that there simply is no goal or endgame besides catching all the pals, exploring the whole empty map and maybe spend countless hours optimizing it all by breeding the best attributes in your pals, i.e. holding F and waiting.
A lot of that is hopefully simply a symptom of it being early-access though, I expect to have a better time in a few months when the hype died down and the game has matured a bit more.
I tried it out bc it was so popular but it felt sooooooo boring to play.
Temtem.
Had the potential to be the RPG Pokemon could be if it just entered this generation’s technical level. Instead, it became a shitty grindy money-grab that has been killed by the devs.
I thought about getting it for switch so I could finally check it out only to realize it was online only.
Well, yeah. It’s an MMO lol
Yeah I forgot that. Kept thinking it was just online coop not full mmo
Awww. Well that’s a dissapointment. About a year ago I bought it, twice actually so me and my GF could Co OP it. And got to the end of the then level cap and got bored grinding for shinies.
Was vaguely thinking about picking it back up… :/
Insurgency: Sandstorm. Because I’ve wasted 600+ hours on it and still going strong. I’m literally not getting anything from the game but I still have to play it. It’s like what I assume being hooked on meth would be. And Steam doesn’t even allow me in my moments of lucidity to remove the game permanently. Their “permanently remove game from my account” option can be rolled back with about 3 clicks from the support page. I feel like I need to throw away my whole Steam account that I’ve been accumulating since 200x just to get rid of that one game.
Then sometimes I see other players whose levels are double or triple my level. Which means they have to be playing 4-8 hours every single day. It’s like having a bit of trouble with meth yourself and then wandering into a full-ass crackhouse.
Many other games have been a waste of money, but Insurgency is a huge waste of time and mental resources. Which is money.
Can’t you ask support to remove the game if you don’t like it anymore? I think so.
I don’t know how to reach human support via Steam. Do I need to contact the developer?
You can try reaching out normally or clicking in the support page for a game until you find the option “contact steam support”.
I haven’t used steam support much but apparently it’s pretty good nowadays.
And to be clear, you have tried the support option “I want to permanently remove this game from my account” under the support tab for your specific game, right? I have never used it but it sounds like it’s permanent and non reversible.
And to be clear, you have tried the support option “I want to permanently remove this game from my account” under the support tab for your specific game, right? I have never used it but it sounds like it’s permanent and non reversible.
Yeah, I have. This is the thing I mentioned in my original message. You can restore a “permanently removed game” in about a minute. Not sure why they call it that.
Recent? None right now, but I also rarely buy games nowadays.
If we’re able to go outside of recent times, I’m still pretty salty about buying fuckin RPG Maker 2 & 3 on the PS2 without having a way to connect my PS2 to the internet.
deleted by creator
Jedi Survivor. It’s not a bad game, I just suck at it. Can’t get past the first boss on easy mode. Getting old is annoying. I struggle with a lot of PC games now.
I have the same problem with fallen order. Even on the lowest difficulty the combat feels horrible, which is likely a skill issue, but still isn’t terribly fun
It might not just be a skill issue for that game. The PC version has serious performance issues from what I hear.
I just started it on PS5 and even then the combat has been pretty clunky. I beat Elden Ring where fights usually felt difficult but fair. So far Jedi Survivor just feels frustrating with ignored button inputs and animations that last too long.
Thanks telling me. Maybe I won’t retire just yet.
I’m a dumbass who bought it on steam deck and can’t get it to work, but I waited for the 55% off and was feeling cocky because I played the original on SD and have played other non deck supported games with no issues. Whoops haha
I just can’t do that style of game. That and Gof of War, the puzzle based small open world games. They’re too infuriating for me. I only get so many hours to play, I want to play the story - not spend 3 hours on a puzzle and then die 13 times with a boss.
God of War is pretty notorious for telling you how to solve the puzzles before giving you enough time to do it yourself. Your companion will just blurt out the answer within 30 seconds of you entering a puzzle area.
It was one of the more consistent complaints about the game, 2 especially.
I really like God of War, but I’m shitty at it. I was able to get through the main storyline on easy, and I accomplished some of the side objectives. But there’s no way in hell I’m fighting all of those Valkyrie. I managed two or three of them, then noped out.
Brotato. I mean, it’s cheap, so not a huge regret, but I really thought I would like it, but only ended up playing it twice .
Elden Ring.
Waited all year until it was on sale as I thought it might not be my cup of tea, tried not to let my prejudice get the better of me but felt it was such a drag I had to put it down.
It was recommended to me as I like Zelda but it couldn’t be further from the things I like about it: innovation, fluid gameplay, freedom, puzzles, multiple ways to tackle enemies.
I don’t think it’s the difficulty as I play lots of roguelike and bullet hell games. My main gripe is the clunkiness of the combat to the point it’s unfair. Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Also I kept hearing how good the graphics are but I think they’re kinda average although the actual art style is quite nice.
Any suggestions on how I might enjoy it would be much appreciated as I haven’t got very far.
clunkiness of the combat to the point it’s unfair. Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Nice to see it hasn’t changed since Dark Souls. Thought I might have been missing out.
Souls games are honestly just pretty rhythm games. The queues are obscured and the timing can be quite silly, but it’s the same core gameplay.
Main point in enjoying soulslikes is the approach. Modern action RPGs are very fast paced, very direct in their approach “hit A - enemy dies - get dopamine”.
To make it work, slow down. Treat every enemy as a real threat, not filler between bosses. Pretending they are all real players and not bots might help. Keep your distance, bait out several attacks, see how they behave, carefully close in and make your move. Don’t get greedy on the offence and only attack when the enemy opens and then break the distance again.
Also as others mentioned, game makes you commit to any actions you take. When you attack the enemy, take responsibility of every button press. If you start mashing, the game punishes you fast and hard.
I don’t have the best reaction speeds, but I was able to steamroll most of the bosses under 10 tries, so the game is definitely not the “die until you memorize the moveset” type. If you play patiently and carefully build up your character it is definitely possible to tackle most threats on first sight.
Edit: Also, if you’re on PC I don’t mind giving you a hand sometime and playing together a little
Yeah think you’re right, I like fast-paced games where I can enter flow state quicker and I never was one for grinding up a skill tree in order to progress unless the grinding itself is fun/fluid.
I prefer actively attacking enemies with a bit of running away and dodging where required as opposed to patiently dodging waiting for an opening to attack.
Thanks for the offer, I would have taken you up on that, unfortunately I have it on Xbox, not PC.
Whoever thought you might like Elden Ring because you like Zelda is not a true friend. There’s really not much similar with the gameplay loop.
You’re right that the gameplay is more about learning and recognizing patterns of enemies and adjusting to them so if that doesn’t appeal to you you’re probably not going to like it. With that being said though, your first soulslike is always the hardest and if you stick with it they are very rewarding to play once you know what to expect.
Cheers, probably just not for me then.
It sounds like you probably had the wrong expectations of what the game was going in. These games can be frustrating under the best of circumstances, but are very much “tough but fair.”
If you choose to give it another shot, look up a build. The weapon scaling system is a little obtuse and if you’re pumping levels ups into str and using a dex weapon you’ll do no damage. Whatever you do, put a lot of points into Vigor. Get it to 40 at least after you have the stats to equip your weapon to increase your health because defense is mostly cosmetic in these games. Other than that, you get i-frames on your roll and the game rewards aggressive play so learn to roll into attacks and not away if you’re not using a shield.
I expected it to be difficult with a possibility of not enjoying it but seemed pretty popular so thought I’d give it a go.
Will give your suggestions a shot but I find everything about it obtuse to be honest. To me good game design lowers you gently into mastering the controls and ramping up difficulty, not just chucking you in at the deep end with confusing menus so it’s on the player to look everything up.
Dropping you into the deep end and expecting you to find your own way is kind of a hallmark of the series. Almost every game starts with a basic overview of the controls and then a difficult boss you are expected to lose to. Even the controls overview is entirely skipable because they are in the form of messages on the ground. In a way this teaches you about how you interact with the world because the storytelling is almost entirely environmental. Going against this would upset a massive fanbase because this is a very well established series at this point.
At a certain point in the story, you can respec all your stats. If you mess up or want to change anything - this happens after the second major story boss. The only thing that you truly need to know about to be successful is weapon scaling. All weapons scale based on a specific stat, ranging from E-S with E being the weakest scaling and A/S being strong scaling. The number on the left when you’re in your equip menu is the base weapon damage based on its level (normal weapons can be level 1-25 and special weapons 1-10. You unlock the ability to upgrade weapons pretty early in the story) and the number on the right is the additional damage you’ll have added based on a combination of the weapon’s scaling and your own stats. You can be quite successful just by understanding these two mechanics because they will make up a good portion of your damage.
Since you mentioned Zelda originally, there is a reason this meme exists:
I’m a diehard FromSotware fan but even I was a little let down by it. I got a lot more enjoyment from co-op and PvP so I ended up finishing the actual game after 300+ hours lmao
I’ve beat all the other Souls games so dying hundreds of times didn’t bother me… But for some reason I didn’t feel compelled at all to actually progress in the game
Like you don’t really stand a chance through reactions alone, you have to learn the patterns and hitboxes of enemies so that you know in advance when to react.
Yep, Elden Ring (and all soulslike games) are basically just guitar hero with a shitty interface. And way more grinding.
It’s not actually challenging just memorization. Elden Ring is basically like speedrunners being able to play Mario with their eyes closed.
Weirdly I like Guitar Hero, but think that’s mainly down to enjoying the songs and playing with friends. Scraping through Cliffs of Dover on expert was enough Eden Ring for me lol.
After I died for the 327th time within the first few hours of playing, I ditched it. Haven’t been back since. The gameplay is really cumbersome, blocking and dodging are hit or miss, and I’ve been jumping and rolling around all day like some unmedicated ADHD kid on speed trying to get one hit in that causes minimal damage, while every enemy counterattack goes near critical.
I’m not against a step learning curve or anything, but Elden Ring was a major frustration.
I mean this in a constructive way: you’re literally playing it wrong. Elden Ring is a Souls game, which (in terms of gameplay) is the complete opposite of a hack & slash button masher. There’s almost no animation cancelling, so once you press a button, you’re committed to the outcome and have to wait for it to finish. So if you miss a heavy swing with a giant 25 kg greataxe, you’ll be wide open for the enemies to smash you. The game requires self-control to make every input matter.
Once you acclimate though, I think the combat feels very good. It’s responsive (once you accept the fact that you can’t cancel actions), flexible, and the hitboxes are way more accurate than most games.
But don’t think you have to master it all at once. The enemies are tough, but you don’t have to fight fair. Sneak and backstab if you can, soften them up with arrows or ranged spells, debuff them with throwables, summon some spirit ash helpers, use the environment to land attacks from the high ground, stack up poison and bleed effects, use a shield to block-counter, use your weapon abilities to help break enemy poise, etc etc. You can create entire builds around any of these but of course there’s power in combinations.
I think it sounds to me like it just isn’t your thing. What you’re describing as a frustration is what I love about Elden Ring, you have to figure out every enemy and learn their patterns in order to succeed so every enemy is like it’s own little puzzle to solve. There’s no secret to avoid that part of the game besides maybe building INT and just avoiding fights which does not sound fun tbh
This. I think people who enjoy it see every enemy as a puzzle. Even developing your character is a bit of a puzzle, figuring out what stats suit the weapons you like and the play style you’re aiming for. Conversely, Zelda is incredibly simple and boring to me. Most of the fights are boop boss on the head 3 times, or throw their own bombs back at them 3 times. The only Zelda I enjoyed was the first one.
I don’t think the bosses are meant to be the puzzles in Zelda, the non-fighting parts of the dungeons are. I’m not really a fan of Zelda games though so I’m not fighting their corner here.
I don’t find Elden Ring puzzling, but maybe I haven’t played enough. From what I’ve seen so far it’s more trial and error and than figuring stuff out, which I find boring.
Skill trees in general I think are bit of a cop out in most action games, let alone having to decipher them. I’ll reach for 4X games like Stellaris or Civ if I want to sit and think about how stats affect outcomes.
Yeah boss battles are usually pretty easy in Zelda, as you say, 3 hits and done most of the time. They’re traditionally about getting the player to master the technique or item you’ve just unlocked. Have you tried running straight to Ganon if BotW or tackling The Depths in TotK though? I don’t think either of those tasks could be considered simple.
Surprised you only like the first one, the games are constantly innovating in terms of gameplay and design, but the first is a pretty standard affair. A lot of the time the simplicity is what enables the fun, fluid gameplay as with most games Nintendo put out.
If I want a challenge I’ll play online shooters or pretty much any roguelike where when I die I don’t come away feeling it was unfair. Tbh I think I just don’t enjoy modern action RPGs in general rather than it being a specific Elden Ring criticism. I find they try to cater to lots of mechanics that other games implement better but fully aware that’s an unpopular opinion.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I have not tried those things in BotW and TotK. I got to the water temple in Ocarina of Time and got bored, which I heard was common - sincerely tried to beat it because my childhood friends love the game and were excited for me to get through it. Played 10 mins of Majora’s mask and BotW. Watched a bunch of videos of BotW and the new game of people doing cool stuff with bombs and gliders. Just not for me I guess, but I totally see the appeal of them.
I can definitely see your point about modern action RPGs catering to lots of mechanics that other games do better and the genre is saturated now with different souls-likes that lack any kind of innovation but I guess they are safe to make due to their popularity.
Danganronpa V3.
It’s not bad but I could have just watched a playthrough because the “game” is so linear and the logic is so easy (even on “mean” difficulty) that there’s no way to fail unless I was lobotomized.
It’s a fun anime though. I should just watch the two seasons of the actual anime of it.
-
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine. Got tired of hearing the game’s mouth before even getting to anything resembling a main gameplay loop, chose to exit, and it started another long winded speech, which I Alt+F4’d out of. I learned of this game via youtube recommendations of its soundtrack, liked some of the songs, game went on my wishlist. Got a Steam notification it was on sale, hit buy. Was busy with other shit for awhile, when I got around to playing and UTTTERLY FUCKING HATING it for thoroughly refusing to respect my time, the Steam refund period had lapsed. Did you know there’s a “remove from library” feature where you can just…unown a game. I’ve used it precisely once.
-
BATTLETECH. I was thinking “Hmm, I’ve enjoyed this franchise for awhile but never actually played the tabletop game, and I live in an oubliette so I’m the only person within 100 miles that’s even HEARD of the game, so maybe this will let me experience that gameplay. I died of old age three times in a row just waiting for the opening cinematic to finish. It’s in the style of “slide the camera slowly across hand-drawn art while a voice actor monologues” things. It ran like constipation, somehow. Like it felt like the computer was struggling to handle what should have been simple video playback. The story is apparently about YET ANOTHER non-canonical pointless little periphery nation to be served by YET ANOTHER pointless little lance-strength mercenary company. The main menu appears and gave me a choice between 'Story Mission” and “Campaign” which…those are synonyms. Then we FINALLY after four generations have come and gone we get in-engine, and the tutorial mission is the last goddamn straw. They vomit story and gameplay control tutorials at you simultaneously, so you’re hit with a voice saying “The duchess knows she can count on you.”, a prompt at the bottom of the screen that says “Press T to use your weapons” and a text box on the left edge of the screen that says 'The duchess understands that it’s dangerous being in a Battletech game, but she knows you’ll do the best you can."
-
Last one for me was Batman something something. Arkham something maybe. Don’t really care about batman, didn’t enjoy the mechanics, don’t remember if there was a story, no idea why I bought it.
I’ve since realized that if you just wait a year or two games usually a) work properly and b) cost less. Haven’t had buyers remorse in a long while.
Lawn Mowing Simulator
The deluxe remaster game of the year edition really fixed most of the original flaws with LMS. It’s truly masterclass now.
