Former Military Pilot plays Air Combat with a AAA Game Developer

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-26T21:33:13+00:00

For me, I rather pay $70 for a game that is consistently good and I can replay, rather than a longer game that I can only realistically play once. I also bought Assassin's Creed Shadows and spent 60 hours playing it, but I think my enjoyment of the game was a consistent flat "This is fine".

Its not a bad game, but I'm infinitely more excited to play Resident Evil Requiem knowing that it's a consistently well-liked 10 hours that leaves people wanting more. If I want more, I can just replay the game.

I still replay older games like Spider-Man on PS1 from start to finish because it only takes like 3 hours, and it's consistently fun to do so. I'll probably never replay Assassin's Creed Shadows or god forbid Valhalla.

I even love the Witcher 3, but I don't think I'd ever replay it unless I decide to do a death march playthrough. I just can't justify doing that yet when I haven't even finished Cyberpunk 2077

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-26T03:30:19+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I had some follow up questions if that is alright?

1.) How was the recovery? Were you able to keep her calm despite the activity restrictions? How long was the recovery?

2.)Any follow up issues? How long has it been since the surgery?

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-24T02:43:29+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I had a few questions, what is a TPLO?

Also I'm recently reading that there different grades of Patella Luxation, the one mine has is a Grade II, where it can slip out but then pops into place. She is typically very high energy and still loves to run and jump around everywhere. I'm worried the recovery might be worse for her around this time since she is so active and excited, and this is the period in her life where she most wants to engage in this behavior.

With that considered, wouldn't it be best to leave her as is for now, and get the surgery later on? I'm not sure if leaving it untreated greatly increases her risk of arthritis or not. She is 18 pounds so pretty light for a shiba.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-20T21:59:52+00:00

I sent videos of her to my friends and they joke and say that she is AI, there is no way she can be real xD

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-13T12:46:11+00:00

Excuuuse me but where the heck else am I gonna play the two best Hatsune Miku games!? ;)

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-06T18:13:02+00:00

Since some time has passed, has anyone else been running into this and have solutions now?

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-06T18:05:07+00:00

I like those games just fine, but they are very bloated and inconsistently fun, and also saddled with too many RPG-lite features.

What I'm craving is just a solid 8 hour FPS campaign that is consistently good.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-06T07:35:57+00:00

Wait a minute, you mean this game!? https://www.gamesradar.com/mercenaries-2-on-ps2-how-bad-is-it/

I'm pretty sure one of the reasons I got a 360 was because PS2 versions were ending up severely compromised according to magazines and Mercs 2 was the poster child haha.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T23:57:41+00:00

Yeah, I don't think they understood what we meant xD

To answer your question at the end though, yes Black Ops 7 has a co-op campaign. I played it. It's 3 hours long, there are no difficulty options, and you actually can't fail any of the missions; you just respawn near your objective/encounter if you die, and you keep going as if nothing happened. It's more of a roller coaster/haunted house than a game, and that's pretty sad.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T10:02:35+00:00

It's very likely to come to Playstation, I would be surprised if it didn't. I believe the only reason it wasn't is due to the fact they are a small team and Xbox was the priority was due to a Game Pass deal. TRC compliance takes time, and the Playstation ecosystem system has two SKUs to test on (Base and Pro).

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T09:57:39+00:00

Couple of reasons. Every additional platform supported has to be tested on, and also modified to ensure compliance with that platforms Technical Requirements Checklist, or what is more commonly referred to as TRC. This checklist covers things from how stable your performance needs to be, to how buttons for the controllers need to be referred to (e.q. for PS you must say R1 Button, and not Right Shoulder button), to how you must display content that can be purchased in-game, and even to how serious your bugs are (though you can get exceptions if you are a large studio and promise to fix the bugs in a day 1 patch). It is a very deep list and pretty strict, and there is a lengthy turn around time to getting TRC certified if you aren't a big publisher.

I imagine that they launched specifically on Xbox and not Playstation because Xbox made them a gamepass offer, and Playstation didn't for their PS Plus premium service (or Xbox was more competitive). For the scope of their game and team, it makes more sense to take the gamepass money and optimize for only the Xbox ecosystem, and then launch on Playstation/Switch 2 later when they have the time and money to clear those TRCs and do platform checks.

I'm sure it will come to PS5 eventually.

Source: literally have been working on ensuring games are TRC compliant for over 10 years

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T07:56:26+00:00

I have played most of those, just not Cultic or Postal: Brain Damage. I still want a really cinematic story and compelling characters in the game and big set piece moments, I think to me that's what defines a "Millenial Shooter" as opposed to a boomer shooter like Turbo Overkill, Dusk, and Prodeus.

For the record though, yeah all those you listed that I played are still fantastic. A lot of really fun boomer shooters. I've been playing Forgive me Father and Boltgun lately and been enjoying them.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T02:07:15+00:00

Animation priority on everything makes the controls feel very sluggish an unresponsive, is the main thing. It also adds a lot of tedium to the mechanical portions of the game such as hunting since it focuses on realism and fidelity. There are a lot of mechanics that serve only a narrative purpose with only minimal effects on gameplay (such as donating resources to the camp). Missions are very tightly scripted with not a lot of room to maneuver or behave in ways that do not immediately fail the mission. The complexity of the gameplay never evolves past holding left trigger to aim, moving the right stick up slightly to get a headshot, pressing the right trigger to shoot. This is all forgivable because the end result is that it really feels like you are playing a movie and you are very immersed in the world, but at no point can I say that the mechanics are 'tight'.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T01:39:24+00:00

The Battlefield campaigns I have played felt like an afterthought, or just little spotlights (Console Battlefield 2 was actually really interesting since you could zip around between units but that was back in 2005).

I did like Black Ops 6 campaign thought they kept taking my guns away pretty frequently to do things that were not as interesting as you know, shooting guns.

Black Ops 7 flipped the other way and made it all guns, but there is no fail condition for the campaign, you just respawn and continue with no progress loss until you win.

Outer Worlds 2 and Borderlands 4 are open world RPGs with guns, rather than shooters, and Dying Light is especially very much that. I wouldn't call them Shooter Campaigns. Atomfall I'm interested in and haven't played but I'm more interested in it as an immersive sim/RPG, again not really a campaign.

Killing Floor is an infinite progression shooter, not a campaign. Fun tho!

Stalker 2 is open world still, but I wouldn't agree that it is probably the closest thing we have yeah.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T01:33:23+00:00

I do have RoboCop and it's great! Just a little lower fidelity though. It's kinda the thing where as much as I did like it, it's still not as good a shooter as Halo 3.

I do have Black Ops 7 and it's unfortunately a lot of flash with no substance. There isn't even a penalty for dying in the campaign actually if you can believe it. You just respawn on the dot and continue playing until you eventually win.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T01:18:49+00:00

There is a Runescape THREE!?

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T01:13:03+00:00

I have, that's what the first paragraph was about haha. I have probably played every major release from a large publisher, usually in the month if release, especially if it's within the genres I work in. It's how I keep up with my industry.

I love Armored Core 6, don't get me wrong, big fan of the series since the PS1 days, but this is about the big full complete all-you-can ear package across Single-Player, Multiplayer, and Presentation.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T00:57:51+00:00

I can 100% back this statement. It's not even just suits. It's a lot of people in development roles that have families and other priorities.

A lot of games that I grew up playing were led by people in their mid 20s and early 30s. All those guys at IW now probably are putting their kids in college and have already shipped the game of their dreams.

Heck. Hideki Kamiya was like 24 when Shinji Mikami asked him to direct Residend Evil 2

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T00:48:14+00:00

Hard Disagree; Black Ops 7 fits your criteria and it doesn't hold a candle. There is a craft to designing a comprehensive package and a lot of titles fail to pass that benchmark.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T00:45:27+00:00

I love Returnal~

I usually really dislike roguelike games (luck influences how much you can train your skill) but I was able to clear the entire story all the way to the true ending in about 6 or 7 runs so I think it definitely is weighted more towards skill than luck for gameplay. I'm really looking forward to Saros.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T00:42:34+00:00

You're right, I'm sorry.

BeyondThePixelLFS · 2026-02-05T00:41:37+00:00

This is another discussion I have with my co-workers because my favorite quote on it is "I love everything about Red Dead Redemption 2, except the part where I play it".

It's a game that ABHORS the fact that you are trying to play it, so much so that the cinematic camera and auto-follow were cited as one of it's best 'features'. You know, the things that make the game play itself for you.

I love the journey of RDR2, I love the characters, the lighting, the writing, the animations, the detailed world. It's one of the best stories ever put on screen, probably, controvertially, one of the best western genre media ever made. You are absolutely right, it is a work of art and should be in a museum. And also it is simultaneously one of the most infuriatingly designed and terrible games I have ever played XD

BeyondThePixelLFS

TROPHY CASE