TheMightyEthan

So I've been playing through the mainline Halo games in preparation for Infinite, and since Halo 5 isn't on PC I've just started it via xCloud on PC, and I'm seriously impressed. Image quality isn't amazing, with artifacts/blocking when the view changes quickly (though interestingly this doesn't happen on the prerendered cutscenes, which makes me wonder if for those it's not capturing and re-encoding them like the gameplay but actually just sending the video file itself), but it's serviceable. The thing I'm really impressed with though is the responsiveness. I was worried there'd be too much input latency for a shooter to work, but honestly I can't even feel the delay. I can tell it's there, because my accuracy isn't as good as when I was playing the other games locally, but it's not bad at all. My old TV had more input latency than this. I wouldn't want to play PvP this way, but for campaign it's good enough. So yeah, xCloud isn't there yet as a real replacement for console, but as a way to play a game here or there that you don't have the hardware for it's a great option.

I've heard that game is supremely satisfying.

Here's a real one, plat #90 even:

Yeah, of the 12 claims Epic lost on 11 of them. Sure the one they won on will be big for other devs, but Epic won't get the benefit. Some nuance a lot of articles are missing: the judge ruled Apple has to let devs link to outside websites from within their apps, even if those websites allow transactions, but Apple does not have to allow 3rd party transactions within the app itself. Because Epic put the transactions in Fortnite itself, not just a link to an outside website, they violated even the lesser restrictions Apple is allowed to keep, which is why Apple doesn't have to let them back on. I'll be interested to see if Apple will let Epic back on if they change Fortnite to comply with the new restrictions.

I liked that game until I encountered the androids, fighting enemies was just not what I wanted from it.

No, I'd be too scared to try it.

Halo 3 Despite my backlog, this is what I'm playing. No joke, this might honestly be the best shooter campaign of all time. The gunplay feels amazing, the level design is superb while changing it up enough to keep feeling fresh. Everything about it just comes together so well. My plan was to play all the Halos leading up to Infinite, but I'm gonna need a pallet cleanser after this just so it's not so fresh in my memory when I play 4, which does not benefit from the comparison.

Headphones yes, but not surround sound. If you turn off surround sound and use the game's built-in 3d audio it's on a whole other level. With surround sound the voices are all around you, yes, but with 3d audio they're right in your ears

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning I really loved this game when the original came out, but this time I just thought it was fine. There was nothing wrong with it, per se, but I was definitely ready for it to be over. I'm not sure what the difference is, other than that it's aged, but I suspect it's actually more to do with outside circumstances. The first time I played it my wife was out of town for a week visiting family and I basically binged it all day every day when I wasn't at work, and also my expectations were low because I'd heard it wasn't great. This time, on the other hand, I was only getting to play a couple hours a day, and I have a big backlog that kept making me feel like I needed to move on. Neither of those things is really the game itself, but that's how it hit me. I don't think either of my impressions can really be separated out to figure out how much is the game and how much is life. As far as the game itself, it's definitely AA, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's old AA, so I think it feels worse in comparison to more modern games. Lots of aspects of the quest design and world feel outdated too, so overall it just doesn't hit the way it once did. 3/5

I'm surprised that's a separate game you need to buy and not just a mod for the original.

Even that small amount of shading really lends it a ton of depth compared to the un-shaded version though.

The PS5 version was on sale for $12, and even though I already have the PS4 version from PS+ it's only 30 fps and I've completely spoiled myself with 60 now...

Null element definitely sounds familiar, and since I only played the first two it must have been in them as well.

You're right, I really meant I learned there's an overarching lore between all of them, rather than just individual unconnected stories you're discovering.

TIL those games have lore. ?

Oh shit there's a 4? I've only done the first two but I loved both of them.

1 more pushes me to 400! Combination of the two.

399 now that I got two more this morning.

I think it's going to especially be a blow because most gamers don't follow the games news like us, so there's going to be a lot of people who boot it up on launch day to play with their friends, and that's how they're going to find out there's no coop.

397, I'm *so* close to getting to the next tier of silver. Also I got 3 more while my wife and I were watching a movie...

I think not being able to play with your friends is going to kill hype more than a delay would have. The multiplayer is apparently super good, so releasing that first may even have helped them build hype for the campaign.

I always forget this thread exists, I just got the platinum for Moss (#80) It's slightly possible I've gone a little overboard on getting platinums since I got my PS5...

How have they not learned their lesson? One of the biggest complaints about Halo 5 was the lack of local coop, so launching Infinite without coop at all is just baffling to me. If they couldn't have coop ready at launch they should have just delayed the game, or released multiplayer this year and delayed the campaign until coop is ready. No coop takes all the thunder out of the launch. Halo is getting together with your friends and blasting through the campaign.

Moss This is a cute little VR action platformer, and it's actually really good, if a little short. The sense of physicality you get from doing it in VR is really cool. The environments are gorgeous, the lighting is fantastic, and the animations are amazing, which all contributes to it feeling very real in a way most games don't. I'm really looking forward to the sequel. It has also reignited my interest in PSVR2 (aside on that in the PSVR thread). 5/5

I think the single-wire aspect of PSVR2, and the inside-out tracking, rather than outside-in, will be revelatory. No ridiculous numbers of wires, no making sure the camera is angled right and that you don't leave its view, just plug it in and go. I hadn't used my PSVR for several months because it was such a PITA to hook up. I wasn't leaving it hooked up because between the box and the camera it used both the USB ports on the back of the PS5, which meant I had to disconnect my external SSD and headphone dongle, and because the box doesn't support HDR pass-through, so if I left it connected I couldn't play other games in HDR. That meant every time I wanted to play VR I had to pull the PS5 out of the cabinet, disconnect the external, the dongle, and the HDMI, connect the PSVR box, camera, and HDMI, then reverse the process when I was done, so I just didn't do it. I finally found a cheap USB hub that will work with the Playstation Camera, and an HDMI switch that works in reverse (one input switched between two outputs), so now all I have to do is plug the headset into the box and hit a button on the switch and I'm all good to go, making me 1000x more likely to actually do it. sounds like PSVR2 solves all of those problems.