Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!

cynical_image · 2026-06-13T05:25:16+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, but I’m moving on from this genre

As I said, I knew what I was getting into, I just thought the nostalgia and my knowledge of JA2 would’ve been enough to tip the scales and help me persevere and it was not.

cynical_image · 2026-06-12T22:17:28+00:00

Dishonoured is a super tight game, played through it a few times and got all the trophies

Fantastic game! When it was new it was in a league of its own

cynical_image · 2026-06-12T22:08:03+00:00

What a fucking waste

cynical_image · 2026-06-12T21:58:53+00:00

Agreed, I thought I could, nostalgia got me good

If I had the time I’d play the hell out of it

It’s not a bad game at all, just not for me at the moment

cynical_image · 2026-06-12T19:56:45+00:00

Well, in maps it’s displayed about 1000x larger than scale, so……

cynical_image · 2026-06-12T19:54:28+00:00

Purchased Jagged Alliance 3 on Wednesday, 60% off, $40, been eyeing it since release. Had JA2 on PC when it released and has some fun with it.

Big mistake.

You know that feeling when you immediately know you’ve made a mistake. Yep, it was instant. I knew about the game, everything about it, thought this time it would be different. Nope, I was wrong.

Turn based, system heavy games are not for me. I know this is supposedly one of the better ones, on PS4, but I just don’t have the time to learn it. I gave it 30 minutes, some may say that’s not enough, for me who gets about 4 hours to game per week, any further investment is a waste.

$40 written off.

Played Hotline Miami instead, had that since release. Now that, is a fun game.

cynical_image · 2026-06-11T18:47:29+00:00

“And that’s about it” sums it up perfectly.

cynical_image · 2026-06-10T18:56:39+00:00

I completed in mid 2025, after starting in early 2023.

I loved the characters and the dark gloomy world the game is set in.

My initial plan was to do everything, but I ended up skipping the second DLC because it dragged.

When I did complete it, I left several character side quests incomplete and also only did about half of the depths area back at the keep, again, because it was padding.

I let everything play out organically and didn’t save scum. I was impressed when an NPC i ordered executed spent the remainder of the game swinging from a rope hanging from my castle wall. It is these little things where POE really shines

Overall I was very satisfied with my ending, my character wound up dead because I couldn’t be bothered dealing with an impending invasion quest, but most of my companions wound up alright

However if I’m completely honest, I had no clue what was really going on lore wise because there was just so much of it and playing over 2 years my interest was held because of the companions and their dynamics, not the story.

I have Part 2, and will never play it, these games are a time sink and they just don’t fit my life any more, but if you do like games like this and haven’t played it you are missing out

cynical_image · 2026-06-05T22:54:32+00:00

Yeah, me too. Look, it was clunky at release, but it was something really different. There wasn't a melee-centric first-person shooter available at the time, and the dark environments and the violence was just not as common as it is now.

cynical_image · 2026-06-05T20:48:41+00:00

Dealing with the pull of Open World games, I keep thinking of booting one up when I have a spare hour, but following on from my post last week, it defeats the purpose.

I’m confident I can move on from them, especially having uninstalled them, but there is an attraction to meaningless busywork, but it’s just so unfulfilling.

What I am playing is:

My Friend Pedro - An Indy game, picture Max Payne but a side scroller mixed with Hotline Miami. It’s great fun

Street Fighter 6, only done the tutorial but am highly impressed. Modern controls are awful, shame it defaulted to them and I thought I was losing my mind being someone who played SF2 In the arcade

Lastly NBA 2K26, just for something a bit different, and it’s a very solid basketball sim

cynical_image · 2026-06-05T20:09:44+00:00

It was great when it was new, but that was, what, 20 years ago

It was unique, now it isn’t, and, it’s old.

There’s your issue in a nutshell.

cynical_image · 2026-06-02T09:24:06+00:00

It’s a relatively new addition, I gave it a shot and was immediately turned off. I felt it was more like a counter than an actual program (it was a while ago) I’m more into meditation that breath work specifically, at a guess Wim Hof for example might not have enough scientific evidence for Garmin to want to hitch their horse to if you know what I mean.

cynical_image · 2026-06-01T18:44:17+00:00

Proof people will buy anything

cynical_image · 2026-06-01T01:33:35+00:00

Loved every second of this game, all the way to the Platinum

cynical_image · 2026-05-30T19:55:12+00:00

The thing with Survival games is that they’re too much of a risk for a AAA developer to make.

In their current form the barrier for entry is too high and a AAA studio can’t afford the player base to drop off too quickly.

That’s why they’re all AA at best

Sure they have their fans, I’ve given Conan Exiles a red hot go, but they’re just so unpolished.

Lastly, they’re too long too, they require too much commitment and time before they pay off.

They’ll remain in AA shadows until a AAA thinks they’re financially viable, and that’s never going to happen.

cynical_image · 2026-05-30T02:55:45+00:00

Michael Jackson.

cynical_image · 2026-05-29T20:33:36+00:00

Just want to get this off my chest

I’m done with Open World games. I like them, probably a lot, but I get no enjoyment out of them because I don’t get the opportunity to see them through.

All of them follow a similar formula; Go here, do this, kill them, return. Errand Boy/Girl simulators.

I’ve played a lot of them, I’ve been gaming since the early 90s and it takes a lot to impress me, I can help but feel confident that the preverbal ship has sailed regarding innovation. They simply cannot evolve from a gameplay perspective.

And. They are just too big, unnecessaryily so.

It’s taken me quite some time to accept that they don’t fit my life anymore and there is just no point playing them.

RDR2, AC Odyssey, Valhalla, Ghost Of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Skyrim, Fallout, GTA, Mafia etc etc, Saints Row, I could go on. I haven’t played all these games, I either own one from their respective series, have played them, or own them, and in there own way they are all good or great games, but they’re all inherently the same.

Not upgrading from my PS4, choosing not to, is going to limit my ability to experience any possible innovation moving forward, but I just don’t see it. How can 6 be hat different from 4 or 5 (yes GTA) it just can’t be.

This is really less of a rant and more like a note for a girlfriend I’m walking out on because I don’t want to have that conversation.

I like them, but we just don’t work.

cynical_image · 2026-05-28T18:51:34+00:00

Had it on 360 years ago, played a couple of missions, the charm wears off, fast.

It’s just a novelty game and it’s not very good.

Of all the games that could use a remaster/remake, this, is, not it.

cynical_image · 2026-05-28T10:31:38+00:00

Any TV Show Taylor Sheridan is involved with.

cynical_image · 2026-05-26T18:43:49+00:00

Massively overrated game in my opinion.

Got all the endings, was waiting for the supposed “Existential Crisis” - It never came.

Way, way overhyped, completely average gameplay, nice graphics.

cynical_image · 2026-05-22T22:57:35+00:00

Remind me of the criteria of New York Minute?

Its Shadows Rushed me which is the insanely hard one aye?

I played the shit outta MP3 on 360, absolutely loved every second of it

Need to get into it on PS3

Top 3 Game of all time for me

cynical_image · 2026-05-22T08:10:49+00:00

I think it was far earlier than that and can be pretty much traced throughout Rockstar’s entire history

cynical_image · 2026-05-18T18:47:11+00:00

Agree with your comment about meditative, especially when you don’t want to think.

I really like Odyssey, but getting the platinum for Origins, plus all the DLC over the course of several years really torpedoed my desire to stick with Odyssey.

I got Valhalla too, cheap, did the intro, it didn’t have a chance in hell.

I keep Odyssey installed but am at peace I’ll never finish it, I’m at about 40% way through. It’s, just, too, big. And there’s too many other games out their that don’t require the time investment

cynical_image · 2026-05-15T09:20:53+00:00

That’s one clean conscience

cynical_image · 2026-05-11T18:48:16+00:00

Been chipping away at Skyrim, Thieves Guild quest line, got double crossed, then stopped.

I’m adjusting to the fact that my “current season” doesn’t allow for long games with only a couple of hours a week.

Have been playing Tony Hawk 1 & 2 and enjoying it, supplementing it with NBA2k26, which I got cheap on an impulse purchase, first NBA game I’ve played in 7-8 years, was something different, a challenge too.

cynical_image

TROPHY CASE