Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

@Jimmer-jammer well it certainly sounds like Cyberpunk has legs and glad you’re enjoying a second playthrough. I would respond by saying “I’ll have to find a spot for it in the schedule…” but that would go against my recent about-turn 😅. I will certainly have to play it at some point though.

Won 6 months of Game Pass Ultimate. Maybe I’ll go back to Starfield. Or just play Yakuza.

@nessisonett nice! Starfield has some moments where its pretty good but also some that make it feel really dated! I posted some thoughts on purexbox in the Starfield forum thread. I would give hi-fi rush a look if you like character action games, it's a wholesome bundle of Saturday morning cartoon goodness that will make you realise that genre was always part rhythm game!

@colonelkilgore I've been enjoying the girlfriend reviews channel a lot since you posted that link, really funny stuff!! I also like honest game trailers stuff, which has a similar vibe.

@nessisonett Noice! I've had the opportunity to get a free Gamepass sub in the past, but always went for something like Disney+ instead.

@R1spam @JohnnyShoulder It was from a bag of Doritos funnily enough, I usually enter the code things just cause you never know.

@R1spam 🤣 who knew back when Microsoft bought Bethesda and made Starfield exclusive that that it had so much potential for comedy gold.

@nessisonett The most important question - what flavour?! 😆

@JohnnyShoulder Cool Original, the best flavour 😂

@colonelkilgore I think all us knew deep down that it probably would be, ships going warp speed backwards, heads spinning round so fast that you would swear that you had discovered a new two headed species.
Seriously though Im gonna miss Bethesda way more than Activision, all those VR games/ports that they were willing (i.e. paid) to do. Still we have Fallout 4 PS5/Xbox S to look forward to I guess, that would have been great on psvr2, spinning heads and all.

@CaptD I used to love Bethesda games but I have found that my tastes changed a fair bit over the years. That said though, I was looking forward to Starfield when I first heard about it (prior to the acquisition). As it turns out, I don’t think I’d have liked it anyway tbh.

So I just realised that Like a Dragon Gaiden is going to be a digital-only title in the West. I was wondering why there were no stores that had the game up for preorder. I was going to preorder it for PS5 but now that I know it'll be digital-only, the best option for me would be to play it on Game Pass. Which is probably a good thing anyway seeing as how I haven't subscribed to the service in a while, so there's plenty for me to play on there now.

Term of the week - Xbox tax

@colonelkilgore I saw the chatter about there being no Starfield GotY nomination because of said xbox tax 🤦‍♂️

@render it’s an interesting lesson in how echo-chambers try to deal with evident truths that dispel their dogma.

To be honest about Starfield - it isn't Game of the Year and would not be great to win GotY. Yes its probably the 'Best' looking and most ambitious Bethesda game with possibly the fewest 'bugs' (although not 'bug free') at release - arguably Bethesda's most polished release but in numerous ways, it doesn't really feel like something truly new, fresh or groundbreaking. There is a reason a lot think its Fallout in Space which breaks some of the 'exploration' as you have to fly to different locations instead of stumble across by just wandering around a single open world.

Point is, whilst it may be Bethesdas most ambitious and probably most polished release, its ambition and scale has some gaming drawbacks and it still feels/looks/plays/sounds like a typical Bethesda RPG - just in a different setting, not something 'new' or really pushing the Games industry forward with this release. Even interacting with NPC's feels like you are stepping back in time.

Its a bit like Fallout 4 that felt dated - more like Fallout 3.5 with some clunky base building and a bit more colour in the world - this doesn't really feel much different. Its like they found 'success' in that 360/PS3 gen with Fallout/Elder Scrolls and that 'look/style' that ALL Bethesda games have hasn't really changed or evolved. The same NPC interactions, the same 'Bethesda' looking Characters etc - maybe iteratively improved (better material handling, better combat feel etc) but doesn't feel like they have really created something 'new' or worthy of GotY to me. Its probably about 5yrs+ too late for that.

re. Starfield.... in all honesty, it doesn't have seem to have landed as well as XB/Bethesda would have liked. I've not personally played it, but friends of mine (who are long-standing Bethesda fans) have said it is realistically a 7-8/10 game.

Looking at the other contenders (especially TOTK, Baldurs, Resi4) I just can't see Starfield as part of the conversation, and it would look quite out of place among the other 9-10/10 games.

Hopefully Starfield can be subject to some kind of Cyberpunk-esque renaissance in years to come....but I don't see it happening.

On a completely unrelated note - great to see HiFi Rush and also Lies of P get some nominations!

I enjoyed my time with Starfield, it has some really decent moments and quests. Finding a ship where there are gravity fluctuations and a whole bunch of pirates where you flip between 0g and normal combat or take part in a large space battle before boarding a ship and getting in gun fight are great. The writing is uneven, the quest design basic and really, @ BAMozzy nailed it, the game doesn't move the medium forward. There are plenty 7/8 out of ten games I've had lots of fun with but it didn't surprise me it's not nominated. I'm more surprised how divided folks are on totk!! I think it might be my new favourite game ever and was oblivious to this (seemingly) sizeable number of folk who think it straight garbage. Each to their own, enjoy the games you like, where you want to play them.

How does Starfield compare to No Man’s Sky? In my mind NMS is more about exploration and base building with very light narrative and secondary combat, whereas Starfield is more about the combat and story.

@Th3solution If you have played Fallout 3/4 before, then Starfield is very similar on a larger scale but in some ways a bit more limited or convoluted in the way you can explore in Starfield as you only have two modes of transport and one is your feet/boosters and Ship the other. Space 'travel' is just around the orbit of a planet in reality and jump between planets/solar systems - totally freely but the 'travel part' is not really in the game.

Like most Bethesda Games, there is a main story and large RPG element to it, its one of those that the more you put in, the more you'll get out, but then you can also just 'randomly' go off and explore, Rank up your Character enough in the way you want to go off and set up your own base and research centre for example - but go off the beaten path too much to explore literally every planet and things maybe somewhat repetitive - bump into familiar RNG encounters etc...

So Starfield is like Elder Scrolls/Fallout in that they are big open world RPG's that let you be the 'Character' you want to be within that play area/lore. As you follow the story, you'll maybe get sidetracked by quests or end-up having more fun hunting for Ships to Raid or building a base that brings you more resources. Like those other Bethesda games, it is a full RPG but there is a reason its got a NG+ too...

It really is a typical Bethesda game - more like Fallout with more refined and much more mobility Combat and bigger than 'Open' World which does kind of where the chinks in the game begin. Because you'll pick up a quest and it'll start around the area but won't complete until you've gone to a completely different planet to complete another step. If it's in the next town over or even the other side of the map, that's OK but its more an issue for some...

So think of it like what Fallout would be if they made it in space and you have a good idea of what Starfield really is.

Its not like No Mans Sky - although that has become closer since launch LOL