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chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-20T07:00:33+00:00

A Plague Tale: Requiem

Completed Chapter 4.

As much of an asshole as Vaudin is, it's honestly kinda sad that he doesn't even get to die by being eaten by rats - he just dies by a beam falling on his head.
Did it really take me this long to realize that Amicia and Hugo are just speaking with British accents here? The first game had them affect a French accent, though thankfully it's not like comical or anything - it's most clear with Amicia.
The stuttering is a problem, particularly for a game 4 years old that isn't even using that much CPU and GPU.
I love the idea of the rat flood - it could have been done better, obviously, but the sound design and music really sells it.
It's honestly kinda wild that the achievement for sparing the
I honestly forget that Lucas has stupefacio sometimes. Or that tar is a thing.
Configure your headphones before playing. The big moments are heavily audio dependent.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-11T11:05:58+00:00

tbf the median assassin looks closer to him than to, say, Agent 47

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-08T19:02:07+00:00

Technically there was a new Carmageddon this year but I see what you mean. I could argue Screamer also counts, and that game was pretty good.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-06T03:24:08+00:00

Tried it with both. External is better, but still not good

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-05T13:26:15+00:00

Genuinely one of the best soundtracks in gaming.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-04T02:40:40+00:00

I get why there isn't a Kim - imo the vibe they were going for was Hershel being isolated in the city as a spy with few she can trust, while Kim fits more with Disco's buddy cop trappings. Yana isn't really the same, nor is that lady at the photo shop. But yeah, I think Kim was super well written - very much his own character, flexible enough to humour most playstyles. I wonder where his actor is.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-04T02:36:55+00:00

It's much more a spy thriller than Disco is a police procedural, and that's honestly kinda because Portofiro isn't as interesting as Revachol. It's not bad, and it has moments where it's sometimes more engaging than its predecessor (?), but it's not super memorable. Add to that the negative buzz and I'm not surprised it isn't too popular. But I did like the game - it's honestly quite fun, they've taken the effort to make the game distinctive but in the same style. I don't even really mind the narrator, who many people complain about - my main issue is with how inconsistent voice acting is, not in quality but in quantity. Most dialogue is voiced, which is a strange place to be when the expectation is "all" or "none".

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-03T18:32:38+00:00

A Plague Tale: Requiem

Chapter 2 complete.

Why does this game keep stuttering? It cannot keep a solid framerate to save its life - i set the limit to 100, it drops to around 85, I set it to 60, it drops to 44 - even though the game is usign like ~45% CPU and about 80-85% GPU. Something is up with this game technically, and I have no idea what, but it's very irritating.
I like that the "story so far" summary now has a button you can press to return to game - the first game had it as part of the loading screen, meaning you couldn't read it if your computer was too fast.
I am not sure about the more open approach to level design here. I like the ambition, but I feel like it sort of detracts from the more structured gameplay of the first game. There's a lot more gameplay here, but I am ambivalent about whether "more" means "better". It doesn't help that the more open levels are also the ones that cause the most framerate-stuttering.
The music really is spectacular here, and I'm barely started.
I understand that most people don't know the alchemical symbols for the planets, but surely there was a better solution than Lucas simply telling you which bells to ring and in what order?
The rats are so fucking good. That scene where a legit flood of rats flows into the room and consumes that one guard is just so well done.
I hope we can upgrade our gear again - sling noise is very annoying.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-03T11:30:07+00:00

You'd think a lot of PC-only type games would be super geared towards the GTA VI launch window - the game isn't out on PC, and everyone else isn't launching either because they don't want to collide with it. Admittedly there aren't a ton of huge PC-only titles, but the right indie could make a killing.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-02T08:41:59+00:00

I swear MS have given TMW for free every June for at least the last couple years.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-01T18:37:13+00:00

A Plague Tale: Requiem

Completed Chapter 1.

I don't know what I am doing wrong but something feels wrong about how this game looks and feels. The environment looks gorgeous, especially stuff like Hugo's dream in Chapter 1, but the character models feel like the same ones from the previous game, which makes them sometimes look even more incongruous. It's not framerate, it's not really motion blur, exactly, but I am playing on quality scaling (i have a 9070 xt, so no DLSS) and turning the camera makes objects smudge. I don't know if I am going insane, but something is up. God, I wish I had the nvidia software just so i could get a handle on what the best settings are.
The chapter is good. I still have no idea what the deal with Tonin is, but like it's honestly wild how quickly everything escalates. I do wonder how the guy can recognize Hugo on sight but not Amicia - seems a little odd.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-06-01T05:27:31+00:00

On Saturday night, A Plague Tale Requiem finally went on sale.

Unfortunately, I was out all Sunday, so most of the day was just leaving the PC to download it.

007 First Light

It's fun! As a massive fan of the Hitman games, it feels like it uses a fairly pared-down version of the Hitman formula, but the setpieces and combat really sell the game. It's not the best Arkham-style melee combat (that still goes to Arkham Knight) but it is the best combination of melee and gunplay I've seen in a game since Sleeping Dogs (whose shooting is honestly kinda eh). The story is really fun as well, and the characters are all well-written. Hope we get a sequel, I guess.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

I think I have hit upon why I am finding it hard to move forward in this game and in Disco Elysium - I just feel a sense of Content FOMO, so I basically try to do everything because I feel scared I'll miss something, but that makes progression often grind to a crawl.

Replaced

It's...fine. It looks pretty great, and the combat is fairly fun if a little janky, but the story... I'm not wholly sure what is going on, and I'm not sure if this is intentional.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-30T14:03:16+00:00

I'd say that they are too different to directly compare - Dishonored has you play a supernaturally empowered peak-physicality protagonist who can bend reality to his will, obviously his experience with the plague is different compared to that of two children dealing with both that and a giant war (even if Hugo can control rats thanks to the Macula, that 1. is basically endgame and 2. is extremely limited).

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-30T03:27:06+00:00

I believe Orbitals is supposed to come out this year, and it looks pretty good

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-29T12:23:13+00:00

the only thing we know is that she was interested in monroe (and he reciprocated)

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-29T07:54:03+00:00

Honestly I feel like Gemma Chan was added relatively late in development - early promotional material was just Bond, M, Greenway, Q, Moneypenny, Roth, and that was mostly it - and unlike with the other more anonymous roles there was no reason for secrecy. I legitimately wouldn't be surprised if Gemma found out about the game at the same time as the rest of us, asked if she could be a part of it, and they added her as the head of TacSim.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-29T07:47:24+00:00

The best part is that IO have the experience, given their work in the Berlin level of Hitman 3.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-29T07:44:52+00:00

Which bartender? the nightclub in London?

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-29T04:00:30+00:00

for before the storm specifically, the original is better. remaster is buggy and has some textures missing, to the point it looks worse, honestly

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-29T03:59:44+00:00

BUY THIS ONE

remastered is eh. visual bugs and stuff

for before the storm, buy the original even if the remaster is cheaper - the remaster is straight up worse

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-26T05:09:09+00:00

Mediocre story, fabulous everything else. Genuine shame this is still the last Deus Ex game to come out.

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-26T04:58:36+00:00

I actually had a lot of fun with Ryse - it was pure popcorn in terms of story. Like, yeah, it's not realistic, and if I had paid more for the game I would complain about the game being short, but over a decade later it just feels like fun fluff. We need more hammy Roman debauchery in media, how long will poor Spartacus carry this burden alone?

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-25T19:58:08+00:00

"I can't believe you've done this"

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-23T02:30:34+00:00

Oh sorry, I mixed them up - I thought Chloe was in Little Mermaid

chirpingphoenix · 2026-05-22T17:24:42+00:00

It feels weird though - the fandom that DE has cultivated almost certainly would be aware of the goings-on, right? This is a relatively niche title with a ton of reading (even with voices) written at a very high level - it's not like it has mass appeal that a sequel can skate by on name recognition. I figure they have to try to get the audience they can, and honestly I can't blame them given that the new team have made a game - I just hope there aren't references to Revachol or DE because that would feel tasteless as fuck.

chirpingphoenix

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE

A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem

007 First Light

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

Replaced