March 2025 General Game Discussion Thread

[BeardyHat]

Bluetooth problems (mostly) fixed. Bought a cheap, no name brand Bluetooth 5.4 adapter and it arrived on Saturday. Good news is that the controllers connect near instantly and have a very long connection range. Bad news, they are still highly sensitive to physical interference but better than the built-in Bluetooth I was having issues with.

I moved my PC to our bedroom so we can hook it up to the TV and play Split Fiction, and there were moments where if my leg was up in a certain way, it would start blocking the connection. It's a lot better than before though, where I was losing connection even though my PC and controller were only about 2-3 feet away from each other. Now in the bedroom, my controller sits approx 15 feet from the PC, with only minor issues.

I can't believe that the Bluetooth just crapped out of my mobo. I tried everything I could to try to fix it, and the only solution was to just get a new adapter. At least while sitting at my desk it works like a charm, only in the bedroom where there is more interference as well as two controller connected at once, does it start to have some minor issues. If I just readjust my sitting position it works better, but at times I just wanna lay all the way down and play.

That all seems so weird. Is there maybe also some radio interference in your house? Maybe your Wifi isn't switching bands and it's somehow interfering with the Bluetooth? Never seen a Bluetooth radio just crap itself, so I'm just curious if maybe there's something else going on.

Otherwise, at least you've got it mostly resolved and can play how you want to.

I've been mostly playing Advance Wars: Days of Ruin lately. I had been playing on my 3DS, but was curious to get my DSi XL back from my buddy and see if I preferred the larger screen and the appropriate screen resolution, so I went over there yesterday to pick it up from him. Well, he ended-up giving it back to me, but also giving me a Dell XPS 9560. It's not an amazing machine, but long story short, it has an i7-7700HQ, 32Gb of RAM and a 1050 Max-Q. Weirdly, for being so big and beefy (4.6lbs! 16.6"!!!), it's really only as powerful as my Thinkpad Nano (1.99lbs, 13")

So I've been testing it anyway, because I'm curious to see if I can live with having such a huge machine, since I usually prefer portability, even if I never use it. So now, I'm looking for a PC game to play; I finished Black Mesa last week and haven't had much motivation to play anything else, but I'm going to force myself to find something to play so I can give this machine an earnest test. I'm thinking I may trying picking up Aliens: Dark Descent again, but might also finally get properly into Selaco or even try Blood West, which I just picked-up last week.

edit: I should also say, I'm kind of hoping the hugeness of this thing helps me out with my RSI/Carpel Tunnel I've been having for about a year now. I've been thinking recently that it's possible my love of my tiny laptop isn't doing me any favors when I'm typing or gaming on the somewhat cramped little keyboard.

 

[BeardyHat]

I forgot: This XPS also has a 4k screen, which is just silly for a laptop, I feel.

Not only can the hardware not push it in most games, but even in Windows, it cranks-up the UI size, so you essentially have the same screen real estate as if you're using a something like a 720p screen. To my mind, it looks no clearer than my 1080p screen on my desktop or my 1350p screen on my other laptop. I just don't get it.

 

[Colif]

My 4k monitor used to run 150% scale in windows meaning it was like I had a 1440p monitor instead. That was when I swapped to an actual 1440p monitor as there were the occasional program that would run at native and trying to see something scaled to 4k often resulted in me taking a photo or a screenshot to blow it up and read it.

Most apps are better now, its only the occasional old game that might ignore scaling and load as 4k.

 

[BeardyHat]

My 4k monitor used to run 150% scale in windows meaning it was like I had a 1440p monitor instead. That was when I swapped to an actual 1440p monitor as there were the occasional program that would run at native and trying to see something scaled to 4k often resulted in me taking a photo or a screenshot to blow it up and read it.

Most apps are better now, its only the occasional old game that might ignore scaling and load as 4k.

It's definitely annoying for older games. Been meaning to give Total War: Napoleon a try, but on my laptop(s), the text is completely unreadable. Game plays really well, just way too high of a resolution.

I guess the benefit of this 4k is at least I can downscale to 1080p rather than something like 800p on my other machine.

 

[neogunhero]

That all seems so weird. Is there maybe also some radio interference in your house? Maybe your Wifi isn't switching bands and it's somehow interfering with the Bluetooth? Never seen a Bluetooth radio just crap itself, so I'm just curious if maybe there's something else going on.

Otherwise, at least you've got it mostly resolved and can play how you want to.

I have a few ideas on what may have caused it. First and foremost was me accidentally ripping the wifi antennae off the PC when I was moving it a few months back. It used a RP-SMA connector (had to look that up), looks basically like mini coaxial, and the thin wire got caught on the edge of a counter and ripped off. It was fine because I don’t use WiFi on my PC anymore. However, for a while after that the Bluetooth worked just fine. Then I started to think it was maybe my desk. It has a metal frame, but that never gave me issues before this.

Anyways, the new adapter is working perfectly now. I’m a decent distance from the PC when I game in my bedroom, and there is some physical interference, but I didn’t have any issues at all last night.

 

[Colif]

It's definitely annoying for older games. Been meaning to give Total War: Napoleon a try, but on my laptop(s), the text is completely unreadable. Game plays really well, just way too high of a resolution.

One game I used to play didn't like it much at all, and if anything, playing it at 4k had negative effects on game play. Instead of making game look better in detail, it just extended the draw distance to the point that in an ARPG where you don't really want to fight every group at the same time, you could attract more attention than you really wanted. And there was no where to run since fog of war was further away now. Run away and instead meet more things that want to kill you.

 

[neogunhero]

5 hours into Split Fiction. This game is great fun! If you ever played A Way Out or It Takes Two, it is very similar to those two games, just with a lot of cool new ideas while constantly changing up so it never gets boring. One moment you are flying through a wave of exploding airships, the next you are chasing ghost cats, the next you are traversing an icy landscape to fight an evil cat known as the Ice King, etc. The amount of variety, not just in the mini-stories and environments, but also the gameplay mechanics is truly surprising. The game just does not give up on the gas pedal, and for a game like this, it's all the better for it.

The overall story is pretty generic, and the characters make some Marvel-esque corny one liners, but the gameplay more than makes up for all of that. While it's easy to ignore the story, I do wish it were better. A Way Out is about two guys breaking out of prison and taking care of jobs left undone, It Takes Two was about a struggling marriage and working towards rekindling that love between the two protagonists, Split Fiction is about two writers who fall for a scam to extract all ideas from their minds to turn into mega-blockbuster pieces of media. The premise is good, but it kind of feels like an excuse to explore different stories.

The two characters are stuck in a simulation meant to experience these stories in a sort of virtual reality, but they get stuck together, so in order to break out they have to find "glitches" that slowly destroy the simulation they are stuck in. Each glitch is a new main story one of the characters created, with a few side-stories thrown about that transport you to a new world for a smaller amount of time. The premise of the story allows this to work well, but beyond that, the story is pretty bland.

Gameplay however is top notch. Constantly throwing new mechanics at you to keep you on your toes and keep the experience from getting stale. The game isn't hard apart from a few platforming sections, especially since you magnetize to most surfaces you're meant to land on, so the game is good for beginner gamers as well.

I'd highly recommend this if you've ever played any of Hazelight's older games before. It keeps the Friend Pass, meaning only one of the two people playing actually need to own the game. I'd still say wait for a sale, because the game is only 10 hours long for $50.

 

[DXCHASE]

Well, off to NYC today for a couple days, sons birthday gift. Goin to see a live band play the music to the anime "Cowboy Bebop" and then do some "touristy" stuff. Been there 5 or 6 times and this is the first time im doin that.

There is a food restaurant around my hotel called 8-Bit Bytes so im gonna check that out, gaming wise. Other than that, no gaming (i dont have handhelds) until saturday night/sunday morning.

 

[neogunhero]

Goin to see a live band play the music to the anime "Cowboy Bebop"

That sounds absolutely fantastic, love that show.

8-Bit Bytes

That food looks really good, the “Choco Mountain Milkshake” name gave me a good chuckle.

 

[BeardyHat]

Well, off to NYC today for a couple days, sons birthday gift. Goin to see a live band play the music to the anime "Cowboy Bebop" and then do some "touristy" stuff. Been there 5 or 6 times and this is the first time im doin that.

There is a food restaurant around my hotel called 8-Bit Bytes so im gonna check that out, gaming wise. Other than that, no gaming (i dont have handhelds) until saturday night/sunday morning.

That all sounds really cool. I'd love to see the live music, is your son a fan of Cowboy Bebop? My wife and I were going through it about 2 years ago or so but we kind of fell off for some reason; the music is great though.

Edit: I also just realized I got the intro music for Cowboy Bebop and Interstate 76 mixed up in my head when I was writing this post...

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3JCGZFQZkdc

 

[Colif]

Seven days before AC Shadows is released. Thats a shame, I have had more entertainment out of its fails in the last year than I will once its released. I wonder if they can manage to mess something else up before next Thursday.

 

[BeardyHat]

Seven days before AC Shadows is released. Thats a shame, I have had more entertainment out of its fails in the last year than I will once its released. I wonder if they can manage to mess something else up before next Thursday.

There's still hope.

Uplay will probably be down.

 

[ZedClampet]

Immense architecture... walking simulator but also a maze game/exploration
I got a journey vibe but only from environments.

I didn't see any magical flying scarfs, so I'm out.

This reminds me of Blast Corps... Are there many games that let you destroy everything in your way and swap vehicles? Apart from Blast Corps

We discussed this a little in the NextFest thread. Three of us, I think, tried the demo. I absolutely loved it. Everything is calm and normal, and then you get into your truck and absolute mayhem breaks out.

horror or reality?

That has to be an itch(dot)io game.

Introverts should have it good. The best way to manipulate people is to be silent. They become desperate to figure out what you want.

You: "Boss, can I get a raise?"

Boss: "We can't really afford raises right now, but I can offer you 3%."

You: *stay silent and stare at your boss*

Boss: *starts fidgeting in their chair* "Maybe I could move some things around in the budget..."

 

[Colif]

I didn't see any magical flying scarfs, so I'm out.

it got hard to watch after a while as its all shades of white and grey and black. It was nice when it had more colours in it but then it went all white and I slowly got bored.

Some of the spaces in the game reminded of journey, not the actual gameplay.

introverts may not be as silent as you imagine. They just prefer to be alone. You may not find many at parties... unless its their Birthday. Some people are less introverted than others. Some of us prefer not to use phones... I think I have rung one person so far this year.
Internet is a great way to talk to people all day and yet not talk to anyone at all...
maybe thats why I don't want to talk to AI.

 

[ZedClampet]

it got hard to watch after a while as its all shades of white and grey and black. It was nice when it had more colours in it but then it went all white and I slowly got bored.

Some of the spaces in the game reminded of journey, not the actual gameplay.

introverts may not be as silent as you imagine. They just prefer to be alone. You may not find many at parties... unless its their Birthday. Some people are less introverted than others. Some of us prefer not to use phones... I think I have rung one person so far this year.
Internet is a great way to talk to people all day and yet not talk to anyone at all...
maybe thats why I don't want to talk to AI.

Talking to AI just to talk to someone is pointless and terrible, and it's definitely worse than talking to no one. It should only be used for gathering sources to information you need. It can take all its friendly language and urges for engagement and cram them....

 

[Johnway]

Asscreed valhalla, 50 hours in and about halfway done for england, theres still the DLC content and most of the norway to do but so far we're making steady progress and the difficulty is sort of melting away now. Whereas when i first started i would fold like paper, i'm now practically untouchable. I pick my fights carefully and with decent skills and gear its becoming a bit too easy.

Anyway, with the river raid community challenge i decided to dip my toes into it once more and its... disappointing. The problem is that i'm spending far too much time baby sitting my AI partners. They're a bit crap atm, i seem to spend a good amount of time reviving everyone. But even worse is the woeful ai, it can't handle itself and is immensely stupid. I wish there was a bit of tactical element to them but alas i have to leave them running around in circles or standing in fire.

A better strategy for more complex, larger bases, i just go in alone, eliminate most or all the resistance before starting the raid. Bloody stupid.

 

[ZedClampet]

I quit my translation editing "job". I just couldn't do it. I wasn't expecting there to be so many things with zero context to help me interpret.

I thought the story was interesting. Two detectives, a man and a woman, were investigating the mysterious deaths of teenage lovers. They found an old coin on each of the lovers. Each one had "Keep me for luck" etched into them.

The male detective was a person who had an internal dialogue. The female detective, who was also a medium, did not. She thought in images.

Bleh, this would take too many words to tell, but it was pretty interesting. As we all could guess, the coins were definitely not good luck, but the story sold them well enough that you began to wonder if maybe they weren't good luck after all--right before the bottom fell out.

 

[BeardyHat]

it got hard to watch after a while as its all shades of white and grey and black. It was nice when it had more colours in it but then it went all white and I slowly got bored.

Some of the spaces in the game reminded of journey, not the actual gameplay.

introverts may not be as silent as you imagine. They just prefer to be alone. You may not find many at parties... unless its their Birthday. Some people are less introverted than others. Some of us prefer not to use phones... I think I have rung one person so far this year.
Internet is a great way to talk to people all day and yet not talk to anyone at all...
maybe thats why I don't want to talk to AI.

As an introvert, I can absolutely be a bit of a talker and I actually enjoy talking to people. I've become one of, "Those people" who strike up conversations with strangers out in public; turns out, after I sharpened my social and conversational skills, I'm quite good at them and I like to use them.

But if I'm at home, don't bother me and don't try to get me out of the house either...

I quit my translation editing "job". I just couldn't do it. I wasn't expecting there to be so many things with zero context to help me interpret.

I thought the story was interesting. Two detectives, a man and a woman, were investigating the mysterious deaths of teenage lovers. They found an old coin on each of the lovers. Each one had "Keep me for luck" etched into them.

The male detective was a person who had an internal dialogue. The female detective, who was also a medium, did not. She thought in images.

Bleh, this would take too many words to tell, but it was pretty interesting. As we all could guess, the coins were definitely not good luck, but the story sold them well enough that you began to wonder if maybe they weren't good luck after all--right before the bottom fell out.

Maybe the game needed more retail simulation to keep you enticed?

So, I've been using this XPS 9560 exclusively since Monday, even transporting it to a neighborhood meeting and it's less cumbersome than I thought a 4.5lb, 16" computer might be and it's got me thinking I definitely should get the upgraded laptop I've been thinking about for a couple of months now.

But before I do that, I'm going to need to sell this Dell, but I feel the need to call up my friend that gave it to me and ask if he'd be offended if I did so. I mean, it was a gift and it's his old work laptop, but he specifically got it back from the company to give to me, so I just feel like I ought to.

After that, I'll buy the computer I want (which still isn't a gaming computer, technically...) and sell my "Glorified Chromebook" once I receive it.

Edit: I should also say, I'm surprised at how much more comfortable it is to use. I shouldn't be, going from a little 13" machine to a 16" one. Typing feels more comfortable, I feel like I have less carpel tunnel pain and having the huge (to me) screen is very nice.

 

[ZedClampet]

Maybe the game needed more retail simulation to keep you enticed?

I was fully enticed. I just couldn't do what they wanted me to do, so I gave it back to them. I did read the entire story, though

 

[March's Ghost]

Just had this come one in my Steam discover queue.

SILENT HILL f on Steam

Hinako's hometown is engulfed in fog, driving her to fight grotesque monsters and solve eerie puzzles. Uncover the disturbing beauty hidden in terror.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Colif]

There's still hope.

Uplay will probably be down.

Lol. They managed... the digital deluxe edition is full of items that fit in better in a game for China, not Japan

unrelated

 

[ZedClampet]

Lol. They managed... the digital deluxe edition is full of items that fit in better in a game for China, not Japan

unrelated

Get your last licks in. Ubisoft won't be here next year at this time.

 

[Colif]

One down, many more to go

 

[BeardyHat]

Getting ready my X1 Nano to sell and using it for the first time in a week and boy do I really like this machine. Love the size, weight and compactness of it, as well as the premium feel, excellent speakers and screen. It's giving me second thoughts on if I actually do want to upgrade to a 16" machine, even though it'll be from the same model range, so have all the benefits except size and weight.

But I don't travel anyway, why do I need a little portable machine, what's wrong with me? I need power much more often than I need portability and the eGPU was supposed to be that compromise and it works fine, but there are a lot of compromises over a built in dedicated GPU...

https://imgur.com/a/9depOVM

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Shadows to be biggest selling in the series ever, mark my words. I probably wont play it though, unless it really does something that sounds interesting. Theyll probably still go bust though, doubling down on whats been screwing everything up and expecting things to improve, huh, I wont finish that thought here.

Im still playing Avowed, combat still feels great, story has its moments but a lot of the side quests are pretty throwaway. Beautiful world though, and it does have one thing in common with Bethesda games in that you'll find yourself heading somewhere and end up doing a ton of other stuff on the way, the map is filled out and full of things to pull you around it.

Otherwise I'm bouncing around, Ive played a few hours of Gears 5 which is what you'd expect, good shooting, schlocky story, an action movie. Fun. Played some hours of 1000X Resist over the last weeks, and I'm not usually an anime person, or an adventure game one, but the story in this is a couple of levels up on most video games and is pulling me back to it. Also fired up Book of Hours, which I wasnt expecting to be quite so aesthetically similar to Cultist Simulator. Seems that the themes are similar, but maybe not quite so finnicky as the older game. Has similar music though and thats definitely a plus.