The Medium for SX looks like a next gen version of your classic 90s PC point and click adventure game. It’s just far scarier. But it seems like a lot of them, you got a female protagonist who walks around casually looking at thing that she can’t fix and going “I can’t do that right now” while you figure out what was either a very easy puzzle or a super convoluted puzzle. There’s no in-between with those old adventure games.
The most egregious example I always think of is the bartending puzzle in Syberia. You need to make some old lady her favorite cocktail so she can sing because reasons. But the bartending machine is hooked up to a freaking PIANO. And corresponding notes activated dispensers that you had to fill manually, and you’d only know what dispensed what if you can read SHEET MUSIC.
The Longest Journey, a definitive P&C classic has it’s fair share of obtuse puzzles, but there comes a point where you try to leave your city for another and the amount of weird crap it puts you through defies logic. You have to distract a gay policeman coz reasons. You have to fish a thing out of the water with a deflated floating ring and a stick because reasons. You have to mess with the electricity in the rail system, also coz reasons, it’s absurd.
The Observer, on the other hand, is a wholly new experience. Jacking into the minds of dying people to rice their traumas is harrowing. I played the original, but the System Redux version brings not only visual upgrades, but additional content. There’s extra missions, new “interrogations” and some reshaped gameplay settings. My only concern is I don’t know how they managed to cobble this content together considering well…
Rutgers Hauer, who plays the main character Daniel Lazarski, has unfortunately passed away. How do they pull off the new content? Was this some cut content being added back in? Or are they using some creativity to get around that? Icd like to find out soon. The game is available NOW but I’d prefer to wait til I have a Series X to play it. My PC can handle editing 4K videos, but 4K gameplay is a different story and my rig couldn’t keep up with the original without some serious frame drop.
Bloober has really cut out a name for themselves. Their foray into horror games is a sort of unceremonious passing of the torch from Frictional Games, makers of the Amnesia games. With Layers of Fear 1 & 2, Blair Witch, and these two other titles, I eagerly await getting my hands on them. Hopefully soon.
Should I play Observer System Redux? Yes, yes you should.
It presents a horrifying, and entirely plausible vision of our future. Where every person who’s poor lives in tiny apartments that used to be single rooms in an old buiding. Every body stays in their apartments and keeps themselves entertained with whatever VR experience, game, or show. People don’t want to talk, they don’t want to interact, and they are all deranged. Living in a world like this is an absolute terror on its own right.
Observer System Redux is available for Xbox Series X and is sadly not compatible with older systems, even the Xbox One X.
Age of Empires has been the staple of the RTS genre for decades. It is followed closely by Starcraft and the Command & Conquer series. Ever since, AOE came out in 1997 and garnered a fanbase that could not be erased by time. Over the last several years, developer Forgotten Empires was tasked with creating definitive editions for the 3 games made by Ensemble Studios. However, something was different with the release of the new AOE3 Definitive Edition this year.
In an unprecedented move, FE decided to effectuate what can only be described as a minimum effort PR stunt. To understand the context, we first must understand some concepts from AOE3.
Unlike previous games in the series, AOE3 gained its uniqueness from a mechanic that cannot be found in any other RTS game. This is known as the home city. Each civilization has one, and it is your base of operations from your homeland. They act to give you reinforcements and benefits as you progress not only through a match, but through multiple playthroughs. They serve as a means of progression so that every match feels like you’re continuing towards an end goal. This will be important for later.
The base game came with 8 European civilizations. Its first expansion, the Warchiefs, came out almost a year later to the day of the base game. It featured 3 Native American civilizations. A year later, 3 more civilizations were added via the Asian Dynasties expansion. Furthermore, there are 22 “minor” civilizations within the game. They’re mostly Native American or Asian, that you can ally with in certain circumstances for benefits and reinforcements. Its similar to the home city as a game mechanic but more focused on your specific match.
For the definitive edition, FE took it upon themselves to correct “stereotypes and inaccurate representation” within the game. This would be fine by itself. But the absolute bare minimum effort that was put into this policy is what makes it clear to be no more than than a marketing ploy. The game was now up to 16 official civilizations. With 2 new ones introduced in the DE, there are plenty of stereotypes and inaccuracies to go around. However, FE only decided they would correct 2 of them. They changed the name of the Sioux civilization to Lakota, and the Iroquois Confederacy to the Haudenosaunee. Why? To provide “Authentic and Respectful representation” and call them how they would have called themselves during the era. They also renamed a native american building, the Fire Pit, to the Community Plaza. And that’s entirely it.
Beyond that, the lack of effort is instantly apparent. One of the 9 campaigns within the game is entirely about the Iroquois Confederacy during the Seven Year War. They couldn’t even be bothered to change the voicelines from Iroquois to Haudenosaunee. So, there are still plenty of instances you’ll hear the “incorrect and unauthentic” original voicelines.
The same happens with the Sioux, though they don’t have their own campaign. They only show up in select missions during the Knights of Saint John campaign. They couldn’t even get the only two civilizations they changed right. Let alone the glaring disparities in all the other civilizations. For example, the Dutch would have called themselves Nederlanders during this time period, but that was overlooked. They’re also stereotyped in game as being good with money. One of their civilization bonuses is the unique ability to build banks. The worst offenders are by far the Asian civilizations. They are filled with stereotypes but didn’t get the PR stunt treatment. Why? Because Asia wasn’t the focus market for the game to be sold in.
If they wanted to bring more representation to the game? They could have easily done this via the previously mentioned Home Cities. All 8 European home cities had a high degree of customization that you unlocked as you leveled up with that civilization. However, the 3 Warchiefs civs, the 3 Asian Dynasty civs, and the 2 newly released DE civs do not have any customization whatsoever. This puts them at a severe imbalance with the original civs. Being able to customize your native tribe should be the bare minimum in helping with representation. As it stands there is a huge discrepancy between even the Swedish home city and the other Europeans who were introduced in the base game.
Oh yeah I almost forgot 2 important points.
There’s 4 native american civilizations in game but they only remade the North American ones. Because again south america isn’t the focus market. Though to be fair, 1 of the 2 South American civs were introduced in DE. But they play almost the same as the Aztecs who were the other south American civ already in game untouched.
Also, they hired one native american consultant. This one person is supposed to know the history of both the Lakota (Wyoming-SD area) and every tribe in the Iroquois Confederacy (New York-Great Lakes area). As if they’re going to be able to be experts on tribes who aren’t their own. This is the equivalent of asking a Korean to explain the history of Japan. Just because they’re Asian so they must know about all things from Asia.
Can it. Your cell phone can wait. If you’re a Millenial or a Gen Z Zoomer, it’s very likely that you are addicted to having your cell phone on you at all times. You use it while watching a movie. While playing a game. While laying in bed when you should be sleeping, While on a rollercoaster even though the park says not to take it on with you. And you take it with you when it’s time to drop the kids off at the pool.
Don’t do this. You are better than that. In an age of constant information overload, you don’t need that kind of negativity on the throne. Dropping a deuce is a chance to place yourself in a state of zen. Taking a dump is supposed to be an enjoyable, and enlightening experience. But no, you took your cellphone with you. You wanted to make sure Jimmy on Facebook knows that you liked that picture of his cat. Why though?
You don’t get many opportunities to take a break from technology. I’m being serious here. Serious face is on. How often do you get a break from your tech? Right now I have two screens on this computer, I have my phone next to me. There’s an additional desktop computer next to me that’s just turned on running Folding@Home. There’s a television in the room between the office and the bathroom.
Okay so maybe your setup is not like that. But you are probably looking at at least two screens or devices right now, aren’t you? AREN’T YOU? When does it end? I’ll tell you, it’s when you decide to take a break and drop the logs off. I mean, what were you planning on doing? Chatting with your fellow sh*tposter on FB messenger while you got your pants down? Nah.
Use the time to reflect while you literally take a load off. Find peace in yourself. Think for a moment. You see that sculpture by Auguste Rodin, The Thinker? The man is sitting there, deeply pondering. What’s he thinking about? I don’t know. But you think that’s a stone he’s sitting on? Think again. He’s taking a deuce. Got it? Now you can’t unsee it. Good.
Actual Message: Always remember to take a break from technology every now and again.
In case you didn’t know, videogame “ethusiasts and/or journalists” are complaining about the recent revelation that Ghost of Tsushima is going to be a hard game. Have a look.
Airing your grievances about games being hard is fine, it’s your right. The devs have already clarified that the game actually has multiple difficulty modes, so nobody has anything to worry about. But, complaining about difficulty in videogames, specifically Dark Souls, is all too common. While it can be cringeworthy to hear people describe all hard games as “soulslike”, they have a bit of a point.
You see, Soulsborne is actually kindof sortof ruining games. But no, not like you think it is. The resurgence of hard games isn’t the problem. There’s just too many games aping the souls formula, directly. In terms of my exposure to the OG series, I hated Bloodborne. Because I didn’t even know what I’m supposed to do at the start, wasn’t even the combat. I’ll try it again some day but probably not because so many games just use the formula, and I’ve played those games.
The most recent ones I played were Jedi Fallen Order and Remnant From the Ashes.
Let’s start with Jedi Fallen Order because I can be brief about my experience. The game is essentially “what if Dark Souls but Star Wars?”. At the end of the day I enjoyed it but the difficulty settings annoyed me. The difference between the designated Easy and Normal modes are night and day. Normal like was throwing brick walls at my face frustrating. Easy was like “hahaha lightsaber goes brrrrrrr”. Okay? It was fine.
Next is Remnant from the Ashes, which is “what if Dark Souls but third person shooter?”. It does not play well as a single player game. The developers made it that way. And you can matchmake, buuuut even on GamePass, very few people were playing. It took forever for me to get someone to help me with a boss. Plus the first boss was doing cheap shit like spawning endless minions on top of bullet sponge health bar. You absolutely needed two people, one to fight the hordes of minions, one to focus on the boss. I actually don’t even remember if I beat it or not.
Later on I got matchmade into someone else’s game and helped them do a quest that I wasn’t even at yet. It was just endless tunnels and tunnels and tunnels of enemies that it eventually went from “tense” to “obnoxious”. Despite getting some good XP from the experience, it also advanced the plot… for his game. I got back to my game and I’m still several missions behind and, as I said, rarely can get anyone to join. I heard it gets more visually interesting later on but… yeah it was just a total slog.
Now before you tell me to “git gud scrub”….
I’d like to present to you my resume of tough melee combat games I’ve tackled. Most of them have a faster pace than Soulsborne games.
I love my lightning-fast brawling games. I’m an avid fan of Platinum Games. I’ve beaten Nier Automata, Transformers Devastation, and Bayonetta 2 in their hard modes. Same for DMC5. Spastic jumpy punchy action dodgy slashy hackey fun. I get to choose when I want the game to be challenging. But I don’t see the entire industry trying to design their games to be more like Platinum.
Platinum allows me to enjoy my game before I tell it to start kicking my ass. I get good by mastering the game and then dramatically increasing the challenge and playing it again the moment I’ve finished. And once again, the fast motion is fun. I’d love to see a game that plays like Platinum Games with a Souls-tier difficult “Normal Mode”. Oh wait, there is. Astral Chain. The game gives starts you off with a baby mode, and easy mode, and then jumps straight to “Platinum Standard”, which skips normal and goes straight to hard. It also reminds you how much you suck at the end of every encounter. Not only is the game hard but they decide very early on in the game to tell you what the controls are, only AFTER you fight 5 minibosses simultaneously. I’m not making that part up.
So yeah, uh, not every game has to specifically do Dark Souls.
And those that do frequently miss the point and just make them super hard or insurmountable. if I had more patience I’d probably finish Jedi Fallen Order on “normal” but it came off the heels of me having finished a Platinum Game on hard and the muscle memory kept me from enjoying the challenge. With Monster Hunter World, Salt and Sanctuary, Hyper Light Drifter, Nioh, Sekuro Shadows Die Twice, The Surge 1 & 2, Blasphemous, Code Vein, the list goes on. We have plenty of game that are either like Dark Souls are compared as such. Not every game needs to be so very similar.
My Interest in Ghosts of Tsushima Just Shifted Laterally
In case you missed it, Sony’s most recent State of Play delivered an 18 gameplay demo. Except this time, there was actual gameplay, unlike Xbox’s most recent shindig. It delivered on a lot of things. It showcased how exploration worked and how organic and fluid it was. Then we got some combat gameplay where we saw protagonist Jin play two different styles. One as a samurai, and one as a “ghost”. But he’s not a ghost, he’s an assassin.
Yes yes, I was expecting a unique samurai dueling game but I got Assassins Creed: Odyssey. Or Origins. Moreso the new ones than the old ones. After playing Odyssey for 160 hours I kind of have that gameplay loop burned into my head.
Then I watched this 18 minute demo for Ghosts where the character marked a spot on his map then got on his horse to go to the spot. On the way there he, he picks up a branch without getting off. Clearly its for the crafting elements that are now mandatory for all games. The character also made a stop at an upgrade shrine, then another location where he unlocked fast travel. No climbing or synchronizing at least.
The combat comes next.
At first I was amazed at how the game appeared to be based entirely on reflex moves. Lost of samurai trope insta-slashes and bloody cool counter attacks. I thought that was unique until I also saw you can just whack dudes with your sword as well. But then they went back again and had Jin sneaking around the walls and gates, sneaking and assassinating enemies. Literally assassinating them, it says so on the button prompt.
Well then, not as unique as I thought the game was going to be. Watch the video for yourself. The majority of the gameplay experience looked exactly like the experience I’ve had in AC: Odyssey. It all looked far too familiar for me. That’s no a bad thing, as I’ve said, I sunk 160 hours into Odyssey. Why not sink some time into Assassins Creed Feudal Japan edition. Ubisoft never got around to making that Japanese setting that fans occasionally called for. Looks like Sucker Punch Studios is doing it for them. I can’t wait to get roped into the Ubi-loop once again.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the game in all honesty. It looks completely fine to me and I would definitely play it. But what started off as a very unique looking game has wound up into being a complete, by-the-books experience. All that’s left now is for it to have a great score, great story, and great fun. If it’s got all that, it’ll still be a solid experience.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
BTW, the Black & White mode and the ability to turn off subtitles for the Japanese voice track was the most pretentious bullcrap I’ve ever seen.
So, yeah. Fallout 76 finally got me hooked. I’ve written about thisalot. I played the game for review back at launch for the page, and was rather disappointed. Now it feels so much more complete. And I find myself hooked, and even with Wastelanders, I’m enjoying just screwing around
But I’m actually kind of bad at it. Simple things like where the F do I get plans for workshops without paying an arm and a leg to the NPC vendors? I like to keep my CAMP very simplistic and usually build it in a way that uses the environment around it (like building on an abandoned house) but I could really go for the practicality of being able to use my own workshops when I want, and leave them out so friends can stop by and use whatever they want, possibly even chill out.
Most recently I built a CAMP near the train station next to the Top of the World. It’s over the edge of the street and in the swamp, but has a nice little deck that goes over the swamp and I’m itching to decorate it with tables, chairs, and of course, workshops. I also built a little sleep shack, literally a 2×1 floor plan with a bed. I just I gotta add decorations tho.
Also, I have a bit of a silly vending machine.
In real life, I am a… soft drink enthusiast? And in Fallout 76, I like making juice and tea. I also hate the grenades in Fallout, a bit to clunky for me. My solution? My vending machine is called “Bombs n Beverages” I sell beers, liquors, juice, tea, along with frags, mines, molotovs, etc. Not sure if I’m pricing them well but I mainly am good natured so I sell the grenades for a few caps less than the recommended minimum price. For beverages, they range between 10-15 caps. Perhaps someone can help me find all the beverage and bomb plans? That would be nice. I just need to be advised on where I can find these things without paying an arm and a leg, and if my pricing is fair, competitive, or worth anyone’s time. I’ve even debated making a daily FREE beverage, most likely blackberry juice.
Also, finally, I hate crafting in almost every video game and on my first run I never bothered with it. Now I absolutely love building and modifying guns but I run out of the good resources frequently. I’m all set with water, gonna build a purifier soon but for now I have enough radaway to not worry about rads. But I do run out of wood alot. Getting resources is a bit of a time sink for a new player like me. So I’m constantly looking for great places to farm wood or get the good resources like aluminum, adhesive, screws, etc.
What’s the point of this? Well, if you’re ever wondering how the people who enjoy this game continue to play it for as long as they do, this is it right here. They have me stuck in the gameplay loop. It’s quite a time sink, no wonder the people who like it play as long as they do. If I weren’t playing other games, I’m not sure I’d stop. Because I’ll eventually get sick of it. I always do. Come @ me in the comments, if you have advice!
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
The Last of Us Part 2 now has my attention, here’s why. (No Spoilers)
In case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s been a lot of noise surrounding Naughty Dog, LLC ‘s much anticipated game, “The Last of Us Part II”. Huge swaths of the game were leaked. Not just text, entire cutscenes including major turning points were all left out to bare. If you look hard enough you can probably still find them but the developer has been working extensively to shut the leaks down anywhere they pop up.
People are not happy with this, to say the least. I can’t take sides on the various different expressions on how people are displeased, but there’s a lot to unpack. And I hate saying “there’s a lot to unpack”. People are displeased with the new characterizations of certain… characters. New characters introduced are considerably controversial to say the least. Plot directions can be dumbfounding in some cases. And then there’s the very weird decision to point out “killing dogs” being a game feature.
Either way, everyone is angry. Almost everyone. Preorders cancelled, gamer “boycotts”, and the like. Fans are mad. I’m not though. See, I wasn’t that big of a fan of the series to begin with. Sure, the graphics, cinematics, and script of the game were stellar, but as an overall package with the gameplay it had, it didn’t linger in my head too loo long after finishing it. 7/10. Come @ me.
But now that everyone HATES the turning point that has occurred.
I now am actually more curious about the game. I’ve seen most of the spoilers to be seen, and it’s left me stroking my neckbeard. It’s very clear that the developer wants this game to be very edgy and make you feel bad about yourself. Spec Ops: The Line did this but executed in in a spectacular manner.
This leak also seems to have prompted a release date sooner than anticipated, in June. Now let’s see.
–Are they dedicated in ruining their fans appreciation of the series?
–Will they be deadset on being edgy and “mature”?
–They are 100% on board with going with some of the decisions they’ve made?
I wanna see it thru. Do it. Release the game. I wanna see just how “bad” it is, just how “edgy” it is, just how “screw you” it is. The leaks only released nuggets of the game but are still not the whole package. But spoilers can excite me sometimes, because I want to see the execution. This is the case for the upcoming game.I now have to see what it is they’ve done.
Not for full price though, forget that. Come @ me in the comments if you think I shouldn’t play it at all. Please try not to put the exact spoilers in your comments, thank you.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
So, that went just okay. I need to learn how to talk more. And probably get a mic. I’ll get a better mic if 50 people comment on this exact page. Good Luck. Anyway, watching me watch something other people are also watching is fun and all, but what if you want to just get to the nitty-gritty? I’ve got you covered.
Games Unveiled
This is the list of games that made an appearance on the show. Each title will have initials indicating repeated features throughout the presentation, such as:
WP – World Premiere
XGP – Xbox Game Pass
SD – Smart Delivery
The first 3 are pretty self explanatory but just in case, let’s go over that. World Premiere means the game has officially been revealed. Xbox Game Pass is a monthly subscription service where you can play a rotating selection of over 100+ games, and all Xbox Exclusive titles end up on it. Smart Delivery is the new big thing. Anyting denoted with Smart Delivery means if you own it on Xbox One, you also own it on Xbox Series X. The game will most certainly be a higher quality experience on the XSX. It may sound mundane but this is the first time this has ever been done for consoles Alright, let’s see what we have…
Senua’s Saga: Hell Blade II
They didn’t actually announce anything. They just wanted to remind you that Microsoft owns Ninja Theory now and is looking promising. Here’s last year’s E3 trailer if you wanna know more on that. Fun fact, the song being chanted is a real European folk band called Heilung. XGP
Bright Memory Infinite
An FPS game with wallrunning and a grappling a hook, and that’s all you need to know. Okay maybe I should point out it looks absolutely awesome and was made by one person, Zeng Xiancheng. Check it out, great gameplay demo, albeit a short one. SD
Dirt 5
Dirt is the top dog of the rally racing game scene, and this one looks spectacular. There’s not much else to say. You have all the new features the other racing games are doing, various weather conditions and times that affect the tracks in different ways. Oh, also it has four player LOCAL multiplayer, that’s a novelty! WP SD
Scorn
This is a game that disgusted me so much I had to mentally bleach it from my brain. Then this presentation reminded me the game exists. It is genuinely too grotesque for me to play. Not much is really known about it gameplay-wise. XGP
CHORVS
It’s Starfox but with creepy cult scifi tones Lots of dark red and black contrasts with level design that reminds me of the Astral Plane from Astral Chain and Control. WP SD
MADDEN 21
Fuck off EA. WP
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Thanks to the internet, this cult classic is finally getting the sequel fans have been craving. Appears to have the same game mechanics as the prior title, only better in some way. Can’t tell, the trailer is another pre-rendered cinematic. SD
Call of the Sea
This game appears to be a narrative experience game (AKA Walking Sim). It takes place on an island, has wonderfully rendered artistic graphics and… that’s it. The trailer was pretty vague. WP SD
The Ascent
A cyberpunk twin-stick shooter. Yeah that doesn’t really narrow it down. It’s very mech and exo-suit oriented. WP SD
The Medium
The latest horror game from Bloober Team, who overall have a good track record. They appear to be branching out, as they’ve brought AkiraYamaoka of the Silent Hill soundtracks, to do the sound and music for this one. WP XGPSD
Scarlet Nexus
What if I told you the next Platinum Games game has you playing as anime characters fighting living breathing ferocious house plants and gardening creatures? Well, it’s not Platinum, it’s Bandai Namco, and it looks dope. WP SD
Second Extinction
Presenting, the Turok/Dino Crisis spiritual successor that you never asked for. This game has dinosaurs, guns, and what appears to be 4 player co-op. WP SD
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
And now, the new Yakuza game that has been fixing to shake up the formula. From what we see in the trailer, it is still definitely a Yakuza game, but there are plenty of elements that make it unique. SD
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
In case you didn’t hear the hubub, Ubisoft said they were premiering the first “gamplay trailer” for the game. This was a lie. It most certainly contains in-game animations, but still has not shown anything representative of how the game actually plays. Either way, the trailer is still very cool and of course the graphics look amazing. SD
That’s it. I saved you some time, you’re welcome.
You can donate to hardmodegamerslol@gmail.com if you feel like tipping though, we don’t do ADs here.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
If that’s all you need to know there you are, you got it. Oh, wanna know where to watch it? We have that too. For all official Xbox streams, you can find them at:
Just pick your favorite platform and jump on it. Except Twitter. Stop giving people reasons to go to twitter. It’s already enough that I embedded to Xbox Series X tweets in this little article.
Of course, the top Juggernauts of the industry are also doing their own streams, name IGN and GameSpot. Maybe if we just ignore them they’ll go away? I’m not saying you should watch the official stream instead but…
Oh hey another tweet!
Boot up Xbox 20/20 with a new episode of #InsideXbox this Thursday, May 7 @ 8am PT for a First Look at Xbox Series X gameplay from our global developer partners.
Whoa. That startup sound hasn’t given me the chills this intense since the Powermac G3. You know the one. That one. That one right there. But the Xbox Series X tone is obviously superior.
Also at the top I mentioned Xbox 20/20 and yeah, that’s a thing. Not sure if they’re going to keep it going past 2020. If it’s cringe, hope not. If it’s not-cringe, keep them coming!
Hope you’re ready for all the WORLD PREMIERE’s we’ll get bombarded with. HMG is going to do what it can to get you a cheat sheet on everything announced the moment the stream is over.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
Just a couple days ago I wrote a piece on how Fallout 76 made enough marginal improvements to be worth your time if you haven’t played it. I also said it was boring. Yet somehow, as the very first story arc of the new game closed, something happened.
I could have stopped, it felt like the particular arc I was following stopped short. Then I explored some more and found some cool new things. Then I found another new quest that I thought was an old quest. Then random quests popped up as I explored.
And then I spent what had to be a solid 1.5hrs fiddling with my gear at a friendly player’s camp. You know, the high level players camps are so nice that I’ve yet to even bother to make my own, it’s actually been easier to just freeload. And they dynamic locations of the camps also makes it easy for me to fast travel to quest markers I’d normally have to hoof it to.
One night I was really steamed and needed to relax.
But did I launch Doom Eternal for the catharsis and murder? No. Did I scour the other wasteland that takes place in Washington DC? No not Fallout 3, I mean the Division 2, but still no.
I fired up Fallout 76 and had a terrible experience. A high level legendary monster killed me twice and at one point had me trapped. The 350+ rounds I unloaded on it reduced his health by… 1/32 if I’m being honest. Then I had scour the land far and wide to find a Tinker Bench because I couldn’t remember where one in particular was at. My freeloading ass went to 3 different user camps, all who had every workshop except a Tinker Bench. .
This took… I think another 3 hours of my life but I was frustrated so I QUIT. For a solid hour and a half and then jumped back on because I was so close to finishing the quest! Then another quest popped up. At some point I literally sent Xbox messages to players offering to sell of my grenades to them.
Then I looked at the curtain in my own room. And then I looked at the clock. It was 6AM. Todd you’ve done it again.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
You already know the score if you’re here. But to reiterate, Fallout 76 had a big update that added a campaign and some NPCs to an otherwise empty world. This brought some good and bad with it.
I saw in early reviews that the new campaign is too easy if you use your veteran character so I made a new one. After talking to some intro NPCs, I headed down to the starting place for all players.
Except instead of being an empty campsite… there’s an empty campsite, a bar, and a very friendly user C.A.M.P. nearby. Go into the bar to start your quest, visit the nearby user houses to help you starting out. This part is really nice, other players are largely helpful individuals. Some guy just gave me 10 super stimpacks.
But, now I’m wondering if it was because he was being nice or because I had a female avatar? I didn’t have a mic and neither did he but he used enkugh emotes for me to get it. I mean, my character is a strong independent black woman who ain’t need no man! Meh, who cares, thanks stranger. Also, he showed me a cool bug.
It’s nice to have the new NPCs but I got a bit confused. I accidentally started following the original “campaign” and the only difference is that every where you get lead to has exactly ONE NPC standing around doing nothing.
As I progressed further, this always seemed to be the case.
But the new questline did have actual interesting characters to interact with, and I’m on a slightly interesting quest to find a treasure or something. Sounds underwhelming but I like it when the plot isn’t immediately about saving the world.
So, going in, if you haven’t played F76 in a while, it may be refreshing. But at the same time, if you start over you’re gonna realize it’s the same boring game with more stuff added. I’ve not found the survival interesting, and I spend way too much time fiddling with equipment before I go anywhere. But hey, if you like survival, knock yourself out. If you’ve never touched Fallout 76 before now, it’s in a much better state to begin playing. [Also, I’ve stayed this before but don’t let them fool you with that “deluxe edition”, the regular version is available for $40.]
And of course, before I let you go, it wouldn’t be Bethesda without an absurd bug coming with the update. As discovered by many users, if you die and you have friendly NPCs helping you, there’s a chance an NPC will loot your corpse and take your best weapon. And you can’t get it back, you can’t trade with said NPC and you can’t kill then. -sigh- It just works!
I’ll continue to sleep my way through this update. I refuse to pick up a new title until I genuinely need something new to play. This expansion is a solid mediocre. Maybe you think it’s really good, or a huge waste? Come @ me in the comments.
Here’s a gaming news robot to tell you more about the glitch.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
I’m aware this news is stale as heck, but that doesn’t mean I can’t share my opinion on it. So, I shall opine away. That’s the word, right? Opine? One sec… okay I checked the dictionary and that is correct.
Basically, in case you didn’t know this, China’s internet is very censorious. It will block anything that is inconvenient to those in power. And Winnie the Pooh apparently. Xi Jinping really hates that guy. In fact, it’s actually common knowledge that if someone from China is in any sort of messaging thread, forum, or chat group; you can get their internet instantly shut off by mentioning:
1989 TIANANMEN SQUARE PROTESTS 天安門大屠殺 JUNE FOURTH INCIDENT 六四事件 DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT 八九民運
Shit, now nobody in China can read this rant. Oh well. China cut off or online multiplayer for some of biggest games because unfortunate information about the CCP keeps popping up and they just can’t have that. Animal Crossing is has already been cut on the chopping block, but they plan on more, they are just getting started. They can still play the multiplayer games sure, they’re just playing only against others in their country. Or so I’m led to believe.
This isn’t even a CHINA BAD article. This is actually a GET F*CKED BLIZZARD article. If you dig back a while, publisher Blizzard bent over backwards to appease China when several incidents occurred that made them look really bad. TenCent, a Chinese entertainment company, owns a sizable chunk of Blizzard. So, whenever it came down to them appeasing the company, they would bend the knee every time.
And that’s the crux of this opinion.
Are you f*cking happy now Blizzard? You have shown numerous times that you are completely out of touch with your fan base and tried to make up for it by announcing a bunch of games people are anticipating. Dropping Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 is not gonna make your many controversies go away.
Now, the country you so desperately tried to pander to is about to hurt your bottom line. I guarantee this will have a negative impact on user activity in your games. Now, I know you won’t really FEEL the difference because you’re a soulless organization who sold off their dignity a long time ago. But deep down, after all the epic screw-ups you committed, your day of reckoning has finally arrived. Okay, yeah that was a week ago. This is your week of reckoning!
I implore Blizzard fans, I know you love their games. Gamer boycotts are virtually useless and lead to nothing. Just pay more attention to what they are doing. You always have to vote with your wallet. Decide if that freaking loot box is worth it, considering all they’ve done. Hold off on your pre-orders until you know the game isn’t broken. Because their new games will ship broken. I guarantee it. They cared too much about China, only for China to turn on a dime and stop caring about Blizzard. Nice one. Come @ me in the comments.
Hate reading? The audio version can be found HERE.
