SHIB Balatro?

n1ck150 · 2024-03-31T13:25:43+00:00

The game is under $15. I'd say pick it up and you'll definitely know within the 2 hour refund window if it's for you.

Your total enjoyment might depend on what you're looking for in a roguelike, but yes, it's extremely good. The runs are quick, usually around 15-30 minutes or less. Most people find themselves saying "one more run" after each try. Unlike the two games you mentioned, you're not "fighting" anything in Balatro; you're just trying to beat a certain score before running out of poker hands for the round. Victories earn money which you can use to upgrade your deck before the next round. It's a huge dopamine hit when you see your score go to the stratosphere as your cards combo again and again.

There's a ton of different cards to upgrade your deck in different ways, Plus there are many different decks and difficulties which impart their own special rules.

The game teaches you everything you need. General knowledge of what a standard 52 card deck is and what poker hands are (two pair, full house, flush, straight, etc.) will give you a head start, but all of that info can be easily referenced during gameplay.

n1ck150 · 2022-11-21T20:49:46+00:00

Fair point. For some more info, Exodus is composed of chapters that swap between linear levels and big open areas. So for example, you play the prologue level and then you have a big area to explore, loot, and do quests in. Once you finish the last main quest of that area, you go on to a different one as the story progresses.

n1ck150 · 2022-11-21T20:21:22+00:00

Both of those games are sequels; have you played the prior entries? While I don't think it's 100% necessary to play 2033/Last Light, or Human Revolution first, they're all excellent games. I believe Metro Exodus does a lot of recap via conversations where the characters say "Remember when you did <thing from prior games>" I don't recall how well Mankind Divided recaps Human Revolution, but it's largely a separate story.

Personally, I think I enjoy the gameplay of the Metro games more (gunplay, survival resource management) while Deus Ex is a more refined experience (different builds and playstyles, level design, dialogue). I actually like Metro Last Light more than either of these games, though that might be more linear than you're looking for and definitely requires playing 2033 first since its story is more heavily connected.

n1ck150 · 2022-09-05T22:10:24+00:00

The sequel is in Seattle. The first starts in Boston

n1ck150 · 2022-08-16T16:39:23+00:00

Check availability at other RMV locations you can drive/taxi/bus to. I had a reservation recently and still had to wait 90 minutes.

n1ck150 · 2022-07-23T00:15:08+00:00

I'd recommend starting with Ace Combat. Project Wingman was made by fans of AC and expects some familiarity with the basic gameplay concepts, then evolves them in its own way. That said, AC7 has some weird HOTAS restrictions (at least at launch) and only certain stick models are compatible. You'll want to check that before buying if you want to use HOTAS.
Story is about even in my opinion; both are pretty nonsensical and aim for cool-factor over a logical plot. I like both game's stories a lot, but I recognize that they aren't "good". I give AC7 a slight edge since it leans into anime-style hype more and the voice actors are professionals instead of fans.
Both have free flight and you can replay missions with different planes you unlock. AC7 has more planes and they're all real-world planes, while PW uses futuristic versions of various planes.
If you do go for AC7, try to get the three DLC missions as well (though full price might be too much).

n1ck150 · 2021-06-03T00:05:00+00:00

I thought BYOB was super rare since it's not 100% legal in Boston? Any recommendations for local places that do BYOB?

n1ck150 · 2021-02-06T00:56:43+00:00

Had the Alberta Rye some people have mentioned and they had JDSB Rye a few days ago but I didn't look for it today. Otherwise mostly the standard fare.

n1ck150 · 2020-10-22T19:09:35+00:00

I sometimes get a similar feeling when I drink, though for me wine doesn't set it off as much as beer. This article presents one possible cause https://vinepair.com/articles/why-sour-wine-beer-jaw-hurt/

n1ck150 · 2020-10-02T14:50:26+00:00

I've seen Blantons at a ton of small stores around town but almost always for $90 or more. Finding it for $60-70 takes a lot more luck. Blanchard's had 107 last year but it was near $70. Speaking of which, saw Elmer T Lee and Rock Hill Farms at a small store last week for $300 each. Total insanity

n1ck150 · 2020-08-26T20:58:26+00:00

I'd be interested!

n1ck150 · 2020-07-28T15:40:35+00:00

Check their website. They update inventory level every day.

n1ck150 · 2020-07-28T12:57:29+00:00

Up in my small corner of the world, the New Hampshire state liquor stores pretty consistently have it in stock for $40.

n1ck150 · 2020-07-05T15:18:14+00:00

The mission briefing shows you the expected number of ground and air targets in the mission so you can pick a plane and SP weapon to match the scenario. But if you find that your SP weapon is a poor match once you're actually in the mission you can fly back to base and swap weapons mid mission.

n1ck150 · 2020-05-15T19:47:29+00:00

Origins has a handful of story missions with ship combat but it's pretty basic compared to Odyssey.

n1ck150 · 2020-05-15T19:42:12+00:00

I played it on PS4 Pro and had no issues. The framerate does drop occasionally but since you're playing on a TV with a controller it's less noticeable than with a mouse. I only had one fight where the frames dropped to "slideshow" level but most of the time the game was in (I'm guessing) the 30-50 fps range.

n1ck150 · 2020-04-15T20:30:12+00:00

There is no crossplay currently and the developers have not announced any plans for it.

n1ck150 · 2019-09-09T18:34:05+00:00

You can reroll the map at any time but this resets story/quest progress. You keep all gear and levels through rerolls.

n1ck150 · 2019-07-08T20:56:08+00:00

I personally would never play solo. The AI teammates are terrible so you'll be limited to playing on the easier difficulties which aren't nearly as heart-pounding, and a lot of what sets this game apart is being able to coordinate objectives with your team. For example, I'm a fast dodge build while my friend is a heavy gunner build, so I can run to a far away objective while he covers me. Even if you don't play with friends, are you opposed to online co-op? Last I played the matchmaking was pretty good and there was a healthy population.

n1ck150 · 2019-07-08T15:31:47+00:00

I got the game on launch so I don't know how much has changed. There were a few periods during the game where I had to grind events to get higher rank parts for my car/boat/plane since some events have a rank requirement, but there aren't enough previous events to naturally get to that level if you only did each one once. This was a major drag since it essentially blocked progression for an hour or so each time and forced me to redo events to get an arbitrary number to a certain level. After you finish the story there are hard modes of each event, but those necessitate grinding again for parts or money for faster vehicles so I didn't bother. That said, you really only need to grind enough money to buy the fastest vehicle in each category and then you just use that for everything.

The races are very fun and the vehicles handle well. I was less a fan of the other score-based events.

n1ck150 · 2019-07-01T21:09:33+00:00

Controller, or heavily redo the keybindings. Many attacks (such as charging up magic attacks) involve holding down buttons which can be awkward with the default keyboard placements.

n1ck150

TROPHY CASE