starhops

Meh.... I'll just play Blood and Wine until it's ready. I do have plenty of games to keep me busy.

You can dash. You can combo. You can power up. And something about a prom dress. Oh, and it's awesome.

I. Can't. Wait.

So far, the games I have truly been excited for in the past have lived up to their hype: Bloodborne (and DLC), The Witcher 3 (and DLCs), Uncharted 4. No Mans Sky and Horizon: ZD and next up. crosses fingers and toes

@NamelessAndi And No Man's Sky coming too. Ah, so nice to have so many games to play. We used to have to wait months... I'm a happy spoiled lady!

I'm running around taking "photos" with the camera setting. I'm truly stunned at all the detail in this game. The plants even have insect chew marks! I like the combat better than in 2 or 3, personally. If I get a headshot, they do go down. I've been playing on hard, and trying to stealth my way through a lot of encounters. The fire fights can get intense! Fun, fun game.

@get2sammyb The music isn't, say The Witcher caliber, but the sound design is tops, in my book. The guns and explosions about knock me out of my chair with my 5.1 headset on. Great review Sammy, thanks!

I can't wait! I loved Hearts of Stone, so really looking forward to this addition to Geralt.

I wished enjoyed playing FPS, as this looks fun.
@get2sammyb The characters look lovely, but I miss seeing my own character while playing. "I look so good when I'm off the battlefield."

@Boerewors Yep, played AlienNation all weekend with friends. Enjoying it.

I really loved Spyro on the original PlayStation. Stewart Copeland's soundtrack is still one of my favorites.

So serious about a game that hasn't been released yet... and it's still just a game. I actually saw the GIF as a silly play on the silliness of Battleborn's style. I'll just go back to sipping my coffee.

@get2sammyb "In fact, if Sucker Punch is making a Spider-Man game, I'd now be SHOCKED if they didn't do something like that."
I see what you did there.

Post launch will still have to download patch if you purchase the hard copy. Anyway, if they fix it, they will come! Patch away!
The Division is the buggiest game I've ever played and they have yet to address most of them... it's playable, but I still get complete game crashes.

@ApostateMage His voice still haunts me. Bring on Blood & Wine!

@Quintumply I'm assuming co-op can be with your friends too, not just pulled from a pool of online players? Thank you!

@ApostateMage "has a heart of stone like Olgierd Von Everec" That one made me smile. Of course, I'm super excited for UC4 and can't wait for Blood & Wine.
@BAMozzy I suppose it all depends on your definition of "game" as the storytelling for me, provides all the context whether I am invested in the story and therefore the game itself. ND games have all been "playable movies."

Isn't USB transfer rates slower than HDD? Wouldn't this potentially slow your game frame rates? Just a couple questions I'm not sure about.

@JaxonH I've only played Bloodborne (and I'm still playing), the cousin of the Souls games, and it doesn't have a pause. It's always been a gripe for me because life happens; phone calls, door knocks, kids, spouse, lightening, fire, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. and I would like a pause. But in truth, I can honestly say I've only had this as an issue a few times in all the hours I've spent playing. The Division doesn't have a pause either, which can be inconvenient too. I'm not sure I'll get DS III.

I'm still thinking about getting this game. My first FromSoftware game was Bloodborne, which I love and I'm still playing. I have a friend that will stream Dark Souls III when it's out, so I'll watch him play before I possibly buy it. So many good games coming out soon! How fun is that?

@jonny_aces I'm with you. I actually haven't watched anything but the part they demo'd at E3 last year.

@Jairo_MC @TeslaChippie Drake's Fortune is almost a decade old now and it shows its age in gameplay. The new TR games are pretty good, though I'm not a fan of their shaky-cam effects (am I the only one?). The Uncharted story and characters are really well told, imho. I'm excited for U4 and truly curious how the writers of TLOU take the reins of Nate's story to conclusion. I have fallen in love with these characters.

Catastic!

HYPED

@sonicmeerkat Oh, there are small and large bugs all over this game. But mostly, they don't take away from playing. Just keep your eye on your Recalibration stats as they don't always update correctly. That can be very costly on the credits!

@arnoldlayne83 Oh yeah! Silly me. I thought outside the box there.

@get2sammyb Great insight, per usual. I agree. It's a lovely shooter, and the environment is gorgeous. I mean, I walked up on a crow picking on a rat and when I got closer, the crow flew off and the rat ran away. It's touches like these that are truly wonderful. Too bad they didn't spend as much time on my character. No voice. No dialog. I'm just a generic robot doing tasks. Honestly, I was hoping for more in this area. But the rest, good so far, let's hope it has teeth.

Thanks for this!

@shogunrok "continue with your quest to shoot rioters and collect knee pads" was my GUFFAW of the Day. Thank you!

Wow! Great! Thank you so very much. I just signed up yesterday hoping for a beta key, and POOF! here you offer one up.

@get2sammyb I'm with you on the organization options.
I'm happy to hear about some better tools for friends/sessions. How nice to be able to login and accept the session invite and join the party/game all at the same time (unless I'm miss reading this feature).

@Number_6 Thanks for the nightmare reminder of falling off the boat in Everquest.

Must. Not. Watch.

Can't
Do
The
Grind
Anymore

I put in quite a few hours into the beta; enough to do all the side missions and redo the one main mission offered a few times (which is a nice touch--replaying missions with friends and changing the difficulty).

I like the gear setup of having cosmetic gear separate from statistical gear. My jacket has no bearing on my stats as it covers my protective vest underneath.

It was hard to get a good feel of the RPG elements as it was very limited in the beta. I do like that you don't have set classes, and can switch on the go which role you want to play in a squad.

My one biggest complaint: my character has no voice, no conversation options, nothing. I am always spoken at by the story NPCs. How do we have a AAA RPG style game, with no dialog options? It feels 10 years old in this regard.

Lastly, the Dark Zone became more fun once I was leveled and with a friend. The Dark Zone is level specific, so overly high levels will not even see the lower level players. If players go "Rogue," they are not rewarded much except to take the gear of another player, but they still have to extract it out. If they die, they lose xp and dark zone currency. It's a tricky balance they are trying for, but it could turn into GTA Online, @get2sammyb

I hope not. But I had more fun hunting down the Rogue players and reaping in big currency rewards.

I was able to get a copy for $41 with coupons. I've been enjoying this the past couple weeks. It truly is a lot of fun. The new patch with tweaks to OP gear/heros/ships (DL-44, Bowcaster, Homing Missile, for a couple mentions) will be a welcome sight. The new maps and gameplay, especially the latest Turning Point game and private matches will be fun.

The Star Wars fan in me just had to get this and I'm not disappointed.

All of the above.
@get2sammyb I like the idea of a "Best "Friends" filter with more features. And yes, the Library is horrible UX. Personally, I'm not a fan of any system that takes my ability to organize and sort away from me. The PS4 gaming library is not getting smaller--and that's a good thing.

This would be fantastic. I'm not sure how long a game would come out from him, but I can imagine a new place; free of contractual arrangements, could be inspirational as well as rejuvenating. I'm sure he has a lot of ideas that he's been wanting to create into new game experiences. He can dictate his own terms, I would imagine.

These are great!
I do like the SW:Battlefront with the office guy remembering and then jumping into an X-Wing.

@get2sammyb Yeah, but how long will the fun last? We rate AAA RPG/Adventure games on "hours of gameplay," and call them a failure if under 20 or even 60 hours, but have yet been able to rate these multiplayer games in longevity--it's so personal! I certainly don't envy the game designers this challenging task of keeping us gamers entertained. Maybe more solo/immersion missions to bind us emotionally? Definitely more maps would help.

@GraveLordXD Exactly.

@BAMozzy Whoosh, right over your head, but that's okay. Your posts are exhausting, so I'm done here. Take care and good playing.

@BAMozzy Good points, though to me, you seem to misunderstand the difference between packaged releases and pre-paying for a Season Pass prior to content release. Again, Season Passes are used by marketers to get you to pay upfront for a product that hasn't been delivered yet. Please, buy one if you like, but it sets a precedent of paying for something before it ships; leaving the companies you buy from with less accountability to delivery a good product (or less content) since they already have made their money.
I will pay for a good product I like and enjoy. But gaming companies shouldn't be rewarded (i.e. giving them your money) before delivering a product.
And no, I don't pre-pay for a car I have never taken for a test drive.

@BAMozzy Ah, the marketing reps of publishers who offer the Season Pass are dancing on your greenbacks, grinning and exclaiming, "It worked!" Value is truly in the eyes of the beholder and you've been sold. But those of us that feel big gaming publishers like EA, use their "value marketing" push for Season Passes, actually tend to release "less" in their initial games, and then sell you Season Passes claiming to bring you more of your game. Season Passes are a horrible marketing consumer exploit.
This will split the player base, since it's a multiplayer shooter. Those coming in late will not know the maps and gameplay therefore new players become fodder early. Eventually it turns into epeening and elitism. Which is what they are hoping you believe too, so you'll buy their pass. This is called a marketing trap. "Buy now or be left behind."

I was worried about it's staying power in keeping players interested longer than a couple weeks. If they release new maps every month or so, it might be worth it, but no way am I paying for that season pass at that outrageous price. Ugh. Thanks for the update, Sammy.

Ugh... still waiting for a good racing game. Yes, I've tried Drive Club and not a fan. Sad this is not good. Truly, all night-time racing is just hard on my eyes.
EA: all shine, no substance. I have a feeling SW: BF might be the same.

I certainly see Microsoft doing heavy RnD for another console, since they are behind in sales, way more than Sony. Maybe a 4-5 year shelf-life of the current console. Games get better the longer the systems are out which impacts developers. Technology hardware is always ahead and we knew at the time the PS4 was released, the hardware was considered "old." Not sure how I feel about another Last of Us. I think we here was a thread about some of us liking a Naughty Dog sci-fi story more than a continued Last of Us.

@thedevilsjester Right?! I'm so ADHD with the selection of good games I am playing now. Such a change from 1 year ago!

@get2sammyb I'm a little late to the party, Sammy, but can you choose to play Evie all the way through? I might pick this up just to play a main female character through an AC. Thanks! Great review per usual.

Back when I created mine, you were only allowed 8 characters. This ought to tell you something about their old architecture. Or maybe me! Haha. Every now and then I see an old PSN ID like mine; no numbers and 8 characters or less.