I played some Fallout 4 to see how 76 compares graphically on Xbox one X. ... I’m pretty sure Fallout 4 looks better. A three year old game made by the same company looks slightly better. I’m not sure how that is even possible even if there needs to be some concessions for the online aspect. I can’t recommend paying full price at this point. More updates to follow...
And now for my 2018 Game Of The Year award goes to ........
Fallout 76 4!
The disaster that is Fallout 76 made me want to try out Fallout 4 on Xbox One X and the new enhanced version has pretty much called out to me to play for the last two months. I don't care if the game came out 5 years ago, it is damn good fun.
As for games that actually came out this year, I'm giving the award of Actual 2018 Game Of The Year to ....
Forza Horizon 4
Forza is the definition of fun. Just racing around in cars with a smile on your face. I can't pinpoint what changed to make me finally enjoy this series as I could never really get into its past entries.
As for the obvious choice of Red Dead Redemption 2, it is a marvelous game in every aspect, but it doesn't call out for me to be played like I thought it would. It's a great game to just cowboy around it, but the Rock Star mission level designs may have hit a saturation point for me. Some missions kind of feel like a chore and are frustrating (and time consuming!) to replay just because the wonky controls made you fail.
Overall it was a good year for games. Lots of gems out there. Picked up a few during the holiday sales that I've yet to play. Anyhoo, the honorable mentions:
That was a pretty severe drop off in Fallout 76 opinion! I've been following the FO76 drama through YouTube, and the opposite end of the spectrum on r/fo76 and all I can say is wow. Devs and publishers the last few years are really getting to me with their shady business models and overall dishonesty. I wouldn't give Bethesda a dollar for FO76, I just hope they do a good job on the next Elder Scrolls.
After the latest Bethesda Patch, I gave Fallout 76 it's first major run this past week. I'm about level 15, so I figure I've put around 15 hours in. My first impressions:
* Game stability is good. I've had one server disconnect and it was shortly after the new patch went live. Since then I've had no issues. I have noticed the graphics are sometimes better then other times and I figure that is based on what server I'm playing on.
* I like the new Perk Card system now that I understand it. I've invested early in cards that drastically lower the weight of food, chems and junk which alleviate the inventory management issues that many had and now actually make it easier to collect and carry loot than Fallout 4.
* Multiplayer is nice when doing daily events if there are several others fighting but overall is a non-factor for me at this point. So far everyone pretty much keeps to themselves after the fight is over and I've yet to join a party, but I look forward to someday. I don't know if the rough launch forced jerks to go twerk and annoy people in Destiny instead, but I've yet to encounter any assholes. I'd say 98% of the game has been solo play so far for me.
* Feels much more like a survival game. No loading the last save and no pause button is actually not as bad as I thought it would be and I actually like the change in pace for what this game is. As a nod to Fallout Vegas, weapons and armor can degrade and break, but can be repaired. If you don't like to collect junk and loot, you probably won't like Fallout 76, but I also can't imagine you liked many past Bethesda games if that is the case. You will be carrying more food and chems because the focus on survival requires eating and drinking alot. It took a while to get used to but I appreciate the dynamic in this game.
* There are always tons of quests and events to stumble on.
* The youtube strategy tips really push going for a melee build as guns and ammo were supposed to be hard to come by ... that is not the case. You can easily craft ammo. Melee in Bethesda games have always sucked and it still sucks in Fallout 76 in my opinion. I don't like swinging a sword around and praying I hit one of the five enemies surrounding me while my health dwindle to zero. I'd much rather put a .44 round through them from at 200 yards away.
* Feels like Fallout 4.5 ... same (maybe slightly worse) graphics and animations
Overall it is good enough that I want to continue to play.
Played around 20 hours of The Division 2 this weekend but it felt like half that time. Very good game which is saying something as most games are broken from the start and take months of patches that’s days. I didn’t suffer any technical issues. Graphics and gameplay are outstanding. There is a ton of things to do and loot to gather. It’s fine to play solo and a few hard missions I sent out a request for help and stormed the missions with a 4 man squad of total strangers. I figure I’ve been to only around 30% of the virtual DC and only around 15% explored in depth. I give it 9/10 score.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
* $30 game based on Final Fantasy Tactics RPG turn-based formula. Just started it and seems like a solid game. Apparently developed by two people. On PC, Xbox, and PS4. No permadeath as your defeated party loses stats until they go to heal and are temp unavailable. Items reset after each battle which is nice because I have a tendency to item horde and never use them.
Almost bought Mortal Kombat 11 ... then played a little Mortal Kombat X and remembered how much I suck at fighting games .
As with most fighting games, I suggest saving your money and waiting until they release the "ultimate edition" near the end of the year on sale with all the DLC included ... unless you really need to play online in which case you probably already bought it. In the meantime pick up Injustice 2 Ultimate when on sale.
Almost bought Mortal Kombat 11 ... then played a little Mortal Kombat X and remembered how much I suck at fighting games .
As with most fighting games, I suggest saving your money and waiting until they release the "ultimate edition" near the end of the year on sale with all the DLC included ... unless you really need to play online in which case you probably already bought it. In the meantime pick up Injustice 2 Ultimate when on sale.
Some controversy over the microtransactions for the new MK too. I haven't played it but I'm led to believe the grind is out of this world (unless you go the MT route).
Also anyone is partial to anime, there is a Netflix original series called 'Hi Score Girl' which I found quite entertaining. Follows a character in the 80s as a middle schooler addicted to arcade games. By the end of S1 he's in high school and it follows the arcade release trend the whole way, a lot of homage to games of that era.
Downloaded Gwent: The Witcher card game and I’m digging it. Also downloaded Thronebreaker which is a pretty cool single player Gwent campaign. Game is much better than what was presented in The Witcher 3
that's good. I did pre-order it to go with my set of NES Classic, SNES Classic, PSOne Classic, and Atari flashback (as well as a fully stocked Raspberry Pi/Retropie).
Almost bought Mortal Kombat 11 ... then played a little Mortal Kombat X and remembered how much I suck at fighting games .
As with most fighting games, I suggest saving your money and waiting until they release the "ultimate edition" near the end of the year on sale with all the DLC included ... unless you really need to play online in which case you probably already bought it. In the meantime pick up Injustice 2 Ultimate when on sale.
Some controversy over the microtransactions for the new MK too. I haven't played it but I'm led to believe the grind is out of this world (unless you go the MT route).
Also anyone is partial to anime, there is a Netflix original series called 'Hi Score Girl' which I found quite entertaining. Follows a character in the 80s as a middle schooler addicted to arcade games. By the end of S1 he's in high school and it follows the arcade release trend the whole way, a lot of homage to games of that era.
Speaking of Mortal Kombat, I ran across this article this morning talking about the devs experiencing PTSD stemming from the graphic things they researched to make those “epic” finishing moves in MK11. Don’t take this article as gospel because the source is “iffy”, but it does make you think about how viewing violent images over and over could be effecting the mental health of some people...especially kids: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/mortal-kombat-11-ptsd-controversy?full=1 Anyways, food for thought!
Almost bought Mortal Kombat 11 ... then played a little Mortal Kombat X and remembered how much I suck at fighting games .
As with most fighting games, I suggest saving your money and waiting until they release the "ultimate edition" near the end of the year on sale with all the DLC included ... unless you really need to play online in which case you probably already bought it. In the meantime pick up Injustice 2 Ultimate when on sale.
Some controversy over the microtransactions for the new MK too. I haven't played it but I'm led to believe the grind is out of this world (unless you go the MT route).
Also anyone is partial to anime, there is a Netflix original series called 'Hi Score Girl' which I found quite entertaining. Follows a character in the 80s as a middle schooler addicted to arcade games. By the end of S1 he's in high school and it follows the arcade release trend the whole way, a lot of homage to games of that era.
Speaking of Mortal Kombat, I ran across this article this morning talking about the devs experiencing PTSD stemming from the graphic things they researched to make those “epic” finishing moves in MK11. Don’t take this article as gospel because the source is “iffy”, but it does make you think about how viewing violent images over and over could be effecting the mental health of some people...especially kids: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/mortal-kombat-11-ptsd-controversy?full=1 Anyways, food for thought!
Has anyone ever seen the "nudality" that supposedly existed for MK back in the day?
FYI - The Golf Club 2019 is free to Xbox gold members right now. Played it last night and it seems solid although putting will take some time to figure out.
Almost bought Mortal Kombat 11 ... then played a little Mortal Kombat X and remembered how much I suck at fighting games .
As with most fighting games, I suggest saving your money and waiting until they release the "ultimate edition" near the end of the year on sale with all the DLC included ... unless you really need to play online in which case you probably already bought it. In the meantime pick up Injustice 2 Ultimate when on sale.
Some controversy over the microtransactions for the new MK too. I haven't played it but I'm led to believe the grind is out of this world (unless you go the MT route).
Also anyone is partial to anime, there is a Netflix original series called 'Hi Score Girl' which I found quite entertaining. Follows a character in the 80s as a middle schooler addicted to arcade games. By the end of S1 he's in high school and it follows the arcade release trend the whole way, a lot of homage to games of that era.
Speaking of Mortal Kombat, I ran across this article this morning talking about the devs experiencing PTSD stemming from the graphic things they researched to make those “epic” finishing moves in MK11. Don’t take this article as gospel because the source is “iffy”, but it does make you think about how viewing violent images over and over could be effecting the mental health of some people...especially kids: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/mortal-kombat-11-ptsd-controversy?full=1 Anyways, food for thought!
Has anyone ever seen the "nudality" that supposedly existed for MK back in the day?
Ha, I remember the rumors of a naked pixelated Sonya!
True. That Mega Man reveal is huge. Also jacked for Castle of Illusions, Castlevania Bloodlines, Earthworm Jim and Ghouls... Was hoping for Phantasy Star II but IV is a good runner up.
And so you see, I have come to doubt All that I once held as true I stand alone without beliefs The only truth I know is you.
I didnt get too deep into the Sega library, as much as I did NES... Toe Jam and Earl was the best Sega game, IMO. At least my favorite and it aged well.
Worrying/thinking about rights and licenses aside... I would like the next 10 to include:
Desert Strike Jungle Strike Strider Battletoads General Chaos Mutant League Football No more 1 vs 1 'Fighting Games'
I didnt get too deep into the Sega library, as much as I did NES... Toe Jam and Earl was the best Sega game, IMO. At least my favorite and it aged well.
Worrying/thinking about rights and licenses aside... I would like the next 10 to include:
Desert Strike Jungle Strike Strider Battletoads General Chaos Mutant League Football No more 1 vs 1 'Fighting Games'
I think we'll see Battletoads. Would also like to see NHL '94
And so you see, I have come to doubt All that I once held as true I stand alone without beliefs The only truth I know is you.
I didnt get too deep into the Sega library, as much as I did NES... Toe Jam and Earl was the best Sega game, IMO. At least my favorite and it aged well.
Worrying/thinking about rights and licenses aside... I would like the next 10 to include:
Desert Strike Jungle Strike Strider Battletoads General Chaos Mutant League Football No more 1 vs 1 'Fighting Games'
I think we'll see Battletoads. Would also like to see NHL '94
I would love a sport(s) games, but I would imagine licensing would be a barrier.
NHL 94 NBA Jam Greatest Heavyweights Tecmo Super Bowl Madden 93 One of the Bulls vs _________ games
Comments
Fallout 76 4!
The disaster that is Fallout 76 made me want to try out Fallout 4 on Xbox One X and the new enhanced version has pretty much called out to me to play for the last two months. I don't care if the game came out 5 years ago, it is damn good fun.
As for games that actually came out this year, I'm giving the award of Actual 2018 Game Of The Year to ....
Forza Horizon 4
Forza is the definition of fun. Just racing around in cars with a smile on your face. I can't pinpoint what changed to make me finally enjoy this series as I could never really get into its past entries.
As for the obvious choice of Red Dead Redemption 2, it is a marvelous game in every aspect, but it doesn't call out for me to be played like I thought it would. It's a great game to just cowboy around it, but the Rock Star mission level designs may have hit a saturation point for me. Some missions kind of feel like a chore and are frustrating (and time consuming!) to replay just because the wonky controls made you fail.
Overall it was a good year for games. Lots of gems out there. Picked up a few during the holiday sales that I've yet to play. Anyhoo, the honorable mentions:
RDR2
Divinity Sins II
I've been following the FO76 drama through YouTube, and the opposite end of the spectrum on r/fo76 and all I can say is wow. Devs and publishers the last few years are really getting to me with their shady business models and overall dishonesty. I wouldn't give Bethesda a dollar for FO76, I just hope they do a good job on the next Elder Scrolls.
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
Also anyone is partial to anime, there is a Netflix original series called 'Hi Score Girl' which I found quite entertaining. Follows a character in the 80s as a middle schooler addicted to arcade games. By the end of S1 he's in high school and it follows the arcade release trend the whole way, a lot of homage to games of that era.
Does anyone play this? I started playing because Eddie from Iron Maiden was part of the game and have been playing since.
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.
Anyone have a pre-order link
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/mortal-kombat-11-ptsd-controversy?full=1
Anyways, food for thought!
Here is the confirmed Sega Genesis Mini games list so far: 10 more yet to be revealed.
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.
That Mega Man reveal is huge.
Also jacked for Castle of Illusions, Castlevania Bloodlines, Earthworm Jim and Ghouls...
Was hoping for Phantasy Star II but IV is a good runner up.
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.
Toe Jam and Earl was the best Sega game, IMO. At least my favorite and it aged well.
Worrying/thinking about rights and licenses aside... I would like the next 10 to include:
Desert Strike
Jungle Strike
Strider
Battletoads
General Chaos
Mutant League Football
No more 1 vs 1 'Fighting Games'
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.
NHL 94
NBA Jam
Greatest Heavyweights
Tecmo Super Bowl
Madden 93
One of the Bulls vs _________ games