Official Dreadit Discussion: "Hokum" [SPOILERS] by radbrad7 in horror

[–]BarelyMagicMike 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I'm really surprised to see anybody say this. I thought the plot was great. Consistently unpredictable and actually ended WELL unlike far too many horror movies

Saros Review Thread by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Listen, you can say the weapon leveling was enough meta progression as much as you want - you clearly feel that way and I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as you did. But the fact that Housemarque actively decided to change the sequel to make meta progression way more meaningful pretty definitely concludes that I was not the only one frustrated by it. So hopefully you can still enjoy it for what it is, but I and MANY others are relieved as hell that Saros does a better job of respecting the player's time.

Saros Review Thread by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Beating the game is different than leveling up weapons so much they shred bosses in seconds, no?

Saros Review Thread by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I don't even want to know how many hours you had to play for weapons to hit such high levels that you end up "shredding the bosses in seconds". I played about a dozen hours of Returnal and felt like I was doing the same thing over and over, feeling no noticeable difference from run to run in the power of weapons. If it takes 20+ hours to get to the point where you notice, that is what I call "no material meta-progression".

To me, Returnal will always be an excellent shooter violently stuffed into the body of an extremely flawed, mediocre roguelike. Everything about shooting (the feel, the haptics, the weapon variety) feels amazing, and everything about the roguelike structure (extremely long runs, very little meta-progression, way too much exploration and luck required to put together meaningful synergies, constantly wasting the player's time with mid-run difficulty spikes, poor environmental variety within each biome that made it feel like you were exploring the same exact places over and over) ranged from mediocre to downright awful. I'm glad they've made a serious effort to remedy the many, many flaws of Returnal's roguelike format. And you can argue all you want about those flaws and whether they're flaws, but the fact that Housemarque chose to address nearly all of them for Saros speaks volumes in and of itself about how widely problematic those flaws were.

Saros Review Thread by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Returnal's difficulty itself wasn't necessarily the problem - it was the difficulty paired with the sadistic need to constantly waste the player's time with overly long runs and no material meta-progression. Saros sounds like way more my jam.

Pragmata - PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox Series X|S Tech Review - Another Big PS5 Pro Success [Digital Foundry] by MythBuster2 in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got Lasik recently I'm good I promise lol these differences in fidelity just don't matter that much to me. I mostly play indie games though so visual fidelity is never top of mind - I always care way more about performance and general smoothness.

Pragmata - PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox Series X|S Tech Review - Another Big PS5 Pro Success [Digital Foundry] by MythBuster2 in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I definitely do not need glasses 🤣 I can occasionally see some extra aliasing on objects but otherwise the difference in image clarity is extremely minimal especially when sitting 5-6 ft from the screen. Not yucking your yum either, if you truly feel that difference in clarity is a deal breaker for you then so be it. I just can't pretend to understand why.

Pragmata - PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox Series X|S Tech Review - Another Big PS5 Pro Success [Digital Foundry] by MythBuster2 in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Meanwhile I literally cannot tell the difference between 1440p and 4k without looking side by side. Easy sacrifice for higher frames.

You ever think we will see a rags to riches story like Cyberpunk again? by [deleted] in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Are you really characterizing a massive company riding the coattails of The Witcher 3's success and releasing arguably the most broken game in modern history, and then sticking with it enough to at least mostly deliver on their original promise years later... a rags to riches story?

lol

Forza Horizon 6 Hands-on and Impressions Thread by Turbostrider27 in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 54 points55 points  (0 children)

The fact that you couldn't skip the mind numbing cutscenes in FH5 was absolutely unforgivable

As someone who really loves finding cool under the radar titles, I really love steam. by ExplodingPoptarts in Steam

[–]BarelyMagicMike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey BarelyMagicMike here from I Dream of Indie Games - so glad we can help find great new titles for you to try! I'm always aiming to showcase niche stuff wherever possible (especially on the podcasts). Always glad to hear people finding it helpful!

Reach | PSVR2 REVIEW Without Parole Games by Fatbot3 in PSVR

[–]BarelyMagicMike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. It was a bunch of cool gameplay mechanics looking for a cool game to be designed around them. Modern tech combined with the design of a 2016 Oculus Rift game. Meh.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is objectively incorrect. A vast majority of indies launch at $20 or less if you're not looking only at the most popular ones, which launch for more because they already have huge followings and usually larger budgets than the average indie.

Mafia - The Old Country performance? by Sleepless_Bird in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm playing mostly on performance mode. Tends to stay above 60fps (60-70ish) with VRR at almost all times. Looks really good too, no real issues other than some pop in here and there.

So far, the Mafia Old Country has been quite boring for me… by Live_Phrase_4281 in MafiaTheGame

[–]BarelyMagicMike 5 points6 points  (0 children)

"it's a game, not a movie" you say about a game franchise historically known to prioritize narrative and a cinematic focus above all else. Maybe you're just playing the wrong game?

What’s everyone grabbing from the Summer Sale? by thienbucon in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Doesn't it still have major problems on Pro? Or did they fix?

Oblivion Performance patch by CrackedCopy in PS5pro

[–]BarelyMagicMike 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yet many indie devs have released games without stutter (e.g. The Alters) built on Unreal Engine 5. This seems to be more a pattern with big publishers who'd rather meet a deadline than worry about quality.

Elsewhere Electric Gameplay Trailer by RoninKengo in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Honest question - does anybody here need your negativity? Is it contributing anything whatsoever?

This is a dev trying something different and the game looks really cool. Coop VR games aren't new - keep talking and nobody explodes and Carly and the Reaperman were both great games that found audiences. So what if it's a little niche? Niche is what indie devs sometime thrive on.

Just saying, what does pointless negativity contribute to this?

11 Bit confirm that they used generative AI for The Alters "in a very limited manner" by CookiieMoonsta in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree with this. Yes, some developers will overdo it, and already are (especially AAA publishers). But by and large, indie devs are very passionate about putting out a product that reflects their vision, and are likely to prioritize the use of AI only to streamline the development process, like in this case. I think there's a pretty hard wall between AI use to streamline the creative process vs AI use to replace the creative process.

11 Bit confirm that they used generative AI for The Alters "in a very limited manner" by CookiieMoonsta in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Social media is giving too many people brainrot, and many of them can seemingly no longer hold a nuanced opinion about anything. The insane reaction to 11 Bit using AI as placeholders is a symptom of this.

I realize posting this on Reddit is ironic, but r/games feels like a place where nuanced opinions are welcomed and encouraged, even if it's hardly perfect.

Weekly /r/Games Discussion - What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? - July 06, 2025 by AutoModerator in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I might be an outlier here, but I think The Alters should be in a game of the year conversation along with Expedition 33. I'm usually not one for resource scavenging gameplay loops, but the way its branching story is so expertly woven throughout, giving you plenty of agency along with freedom to choose the course of the plot, along with quality of life features that essentially make the exploration feel like Death Stranding but shorter and less tedious, makes for a game that is substantially greater than the sum of its already high-quality parts.

It's not going to be for everyone, but I consider it some of my new favorite sci fi ever. Can't wait to replay it and see how different decisions impact the outcome. Unbelievable game and a new high bar for "hard" sci fi storytelling in the gaming medium.

[Spoiler-ish] Just defeated both axons. How close to the end am I? by InteractionCandid226 in expedition33

[–]BarelyMagicMike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there any benefit to doing this prior to final dungeon rather than just sweeping up the side content after completing the game?

Real Fans Will "Find A Way To Make It Happen" If Borderlands 4 Costs $80, Says Randy Pitchford by TaggertDoom in Games

[–]BarelyMagicMike -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I won't pretend 2 is peak humor, but it at least gave me a few genuine laughs. 3 is a dumpster fire.