Topic: General Xbox Series X|S Thread

@Yousef- I have played first-person shooters before, but the ones I’ve played are more fast paced and not like Perfect Dark, where you have to complete a set of objectives to complete missions, alongside using gadgets and opening up doors to progress the game. I think I was expecting a faster pace when I first played it back in December, since compared to Rare’s other games, Perfect Dark is the one I never read heavily about before playing, but I am getting the hang of the game now luckily.

I did play Mario 64 maybe two or three years ago, but I never finished it. When I got the Expansion Pack on the Switch, I remember immediately jumping into Banjo (since that game was why I wanted the Expansion), but because I never fully played a Banjo game before or completed platformers similar to it, I initially had a hard time figuring out what objectives I needed to do without using a walkthrough. I remember I sucked at figuring out some most obvious parts, like the breakable window on that ship in Rusty Bucket Bay that leads to a room holding a jigsaw. I did try to avoid using walkthroughs for the sequel, but I failed at doing so because of the harder difficulty and used them anyway.

@Pastellioli I played PD on the N64 and LOVED it. Spent so many hours playing that and Goldeneye with Family and Friends.

When I go back and play basically the same game today, they really don't work for me. Controls can be clunky and aiming difficult when it was so Easy to me on N64. I had been playing Goldeneye since it released so that helped.But going from Modern Day Shooters to really old games, its not the best experience.

I've come to the conclusion that its better to keep the memories of playing because I've become too accustomed to 'modern' day controls and graphics. There was a time I was stunned by Goldeneye and how they really looked like there Human actors. Now it looks AWFUL compared to Hellblade 2 for example.

@BAMozzy I am more new to playing Rare’s older games, but I can understand. I can see that lot of those games were impressive and mind-blowing back then, but they are sometimes nigh impossible to play nowadays because of modern standards and control schemes rendering some of the controls outdated. Older games are more playable in remastered form, where the controls are usually better quality. I did hear the final parts of the N64 version of Perfect Dark are hard to play (and even almost UNPLAYABLE) but I can’t comment on that since I’m playing the 360 version, though I will say I am not surprised to hear that.

Bad Fur Day has awful shooting gameplay when compared to the shooting you see in modern games for example. I didn’t mind it when I played it for the first time back in September, but I am now starting to realize how terrible it was. It makes the entirety of the War segment hard and annoying, which stinks because it is full of a ton of cool and downright insane moments. To add, before that specific part, there are small portions that involve shooting, such as with a slingshot and shotgun, but they lack reticles there, which doesn’t help at all. There was a pretty hated remake they released back in 2005 that I feel plays better and has shooting that is more closer to modern shooters despite nearly being two decades old. I prefer playing that over the original actually.

I was having a talk with someone else on a Nintendo Life forum a few weeks ago and the person told me that he felt older games that are simple aged better than older games that are impressive and somewhat complex, and I can agree. I played the SNES Donkey Kong Country trilogy for the first time three years ago, and those games are still easy and playable by modern standards despite being from nearly thirty years ago, whereas a lot of ”impressive for their time” games like Bad Fur Day do not hold up well and become aged and sometimes unplayable as time goes on thanks to carrying some complexity with portions of the gameplay, though I also think the game being a 3D platformer and not 2D like DKC has something to do with how bad it’s aged.

@Pastellioli I bought Rare Replay as I loved Rare - inc their pre-Rare 'Ultimate' days I spent hours and hours playing Sabrewulf and Knightlore for example. However, trying to play Jet Force Gemini and even Blastcore two of my Favourite Rare games that I think would seriously benefit from a complete remake for modern Hardware.

But neither felt right or 'fun' anymore but then I lived and played through that era, being old enough to play the first Games and had some of the Hardware. I played Goldeneye and Perfect Dark with my Kids - now my kids are older than a lot who frequent here...

@BAMozzy I did hear about Jet Force Gemini. I did play some of that a year ago and did not get far into it, but I did hear it’s a slog to get through, since you apparently have to save every single member of that bear-like alien race to finish it, which, despite only hearing that, sort of kills my interest in giving it another go. It just sounds like they put in some collectathon elements from the Banjo games (the Jinjos specifically) with that aspect, but chose to make it worse by making it a requirement to collect every one of them.

Blast Corps, on the other hand, I was actually close to finishing and thought was good, until I started to realize later on during the final set of levels that the game’s controls aren’t great, not to mention the difficulty ramps up by that point and you have to act swift to complete the timed levels, so the outdated controls just make things worse.

With the other Rare games I have completed, I still love them, but I tend to play them for a little and then stop. I usually don’t think of doing second playthroughs after. Luckily, Bad Fur Day has this feature that allows you to replay specific parts of the game and skip portions of it, so I use that a lot when I want to play through some of my favorite moments from the game but don’t want to go through portions of the game that are difficult or annoying to complete.

@Pastellioli I didn't have this one for N64, but I beat Jet Force Gemini on Xbox and although some levels are challenging, I enjoyed it a lot. It took me some time to get used to the controls and aiming, that have been improved in the Xbox version, but once I got the hang of it, it was a blast, with the typical addiction of Rare's games. Also, you just reminded me that I tried but I didn't beat Blast Corps.

@Banjo- Maybe I could still give it a try at some point and see myself… I do think I maybe did sound a little judgmental of a game I didn’t play much of, which I do think isn’t entirely fair. If I recall, I only did two or so levels before dropping it and never got to playing as the other two main characters. I could revisit it, though only after I complete the Perfect Dark games and Nuts and Bolts, which might take me a while, though moreso with the latter since I’m not used to construction games and elements that pertain to it.

@Pastellioli Yes, you need to beat the others first 🤣. The first level of Jet Force Gemini is the most difficult of all, because the player is probably not used to that kind of controls and aiming. If you go back to this level to find the Tribles later, then you realise how easy it really is. It's one of those games that is easier the more you play, except certain platforming section, strangely enough.

@Pastellioli

I forgot to reply but yeah. Mario 64 is essential before playing any other n64 platformer, and banjo is especially essential before playing any other 3D rare stuff. It’s thankfully available on the Nintendo online service too (though the Xbox version is obviously superior thanks to turning notes into normal collectibles that don’t need to be re-collected)

By the by, in case I forgot to share it. My Nintendo friend code is SW-7391-1388-5607 , it’s not quite relevant, but I felt I shoulda mention it at some point. I’ll put it in my forum signature and bio too when I’m less lazy haha.

@Yousef- I didn’t mind the N64 version of Banjo that I played on the Switch, my only issue was really the controls being somewhat weird on the Switch controller and some slight slowdowns. I still don’t think it really performed bad and there probably are other N64 games that do worse in the performance aspect, but yes, the Xbox version is the more preferable one. If I did play through Mario 64 and completed it, I probably would have had a better time completing Banjo, since I think Mario 64 is considered to be a very revolutionary platformer and is said to have set a standard for 3D platformer games.

@Pastellioli strangely enough, I think banjo and Mario are structured a lot differently, despite the clearly similar control schemes.

Mario 64 gives you specific tasks for all you stars. Kinda like ape escape? But banjo is more “to the point” collecatathon. Mario has the 100 coins missions but besides that, each star is a “mission”. Banjo does something similar, but it’s more like it just puts some of its collectibles in creative spots.

@Yousef- If I do recall, the stars in Mario 64 are sometimes obtained via a few challenges and the game gives hints to the locations of the stars and after collecting a star, you exit the world and re-enter to find the remaining stars.

In Banjo, the collectibles are earned similarly and sometimes through challenges, but like you said, are placed in creative spots that you sometimes have to figure out yourself, because some are hidden very well, like the jigsaw inside the boat in Rusty Bucket Bay, not to mention you stay in the world after collecting a collectible.

They do have some different structures and Banjo seemed to be more focused on collecting items than Mario 64, but I still find them very similar!

@Pastellioli the first paragraph is mostly correct, so you can collect the 100 coin star without needing to exit the level.

Yeah banjo is cool and I should mention the added benefit of being able to collect everything in (mostly) one setting.

They’re similar but I would describe banjo as more of a marathon compared to Mario 64, which is more like a series of courses.

So very glad to have grabbed Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice on the sale for 0.25 $. Feel very, very glad to own the game now.

That sounds hella cheap. Hope you enjoy

https://blog.activision.com/activision/2024/activision-announ...

Activision has formed an all-new internal studio, Elsewhere Entertainment. The new team, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, with additional resources in the U.S., is exclusively focused on creating a new narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise.

Built from the ground up, Elsewhere Entertainment is a premier and standalone studio dedicated to establishing an environment that inspires bold and diverse ideas. The team’s underlying mission encourages everyone to explore and collaborate creatively to craft a franchise with an enduring legacy that resonates far beyond games.

The talented team at Elsewhere Entertainment consists of a collection of storytelling experts whose credits include The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Destiny, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Far Cry.

Maybe won't make up for the 'loss' of Tango, maybe it will prove to be more Fruitful too....

@BAMozzy Yeah the closure of Tango Gameworks was sad imo. They seemed to be such a good group of people. Its sad that it seems as we will not see or hear much more from them in a while at least

@oliverp Whilst it is sad, especially when you look back at games like Evil Within as well - but we really don't know the 'state' of that Studio. The creator of Evil Within and even the creators of Ghostwire all left Tango before Ghostwire released so you don't know if that Studio was capable of developing a AAA game that the Studio had been known for without a LOT of recruitment and investment - made more difficult logistically by being in Japan as Costs are rising. Without the creator of Evil Within, maybe won't get another...

Hi-Fi Rush could have been made by an indie sized team, all that's left of Tango and for MS, the 'cost' to rebuild Tango, get them back to making AAA games and delivering product to recoup that cost - in a 'high cost' region like Japan, maybe doesn't make financial sense when Activision can open a new Studio in Poland where costs are lower overall, logistically 'easier' to support having other European Studios/Devs and closer to US in distance and time-zones. If Tango needed help from the Coalition with UE5, that's logistically more difficult than a EU studio.

With Tango having just released HiFi Rush, I can understand why people are upset. But the staff that were left may not have had any 'plans' or other projects in development, didn't have any 'future' they could offer MS to keep them open. People talked about Ninja Theory being 'at risk' if Hellblade 2 doesn't hit whatever Target MS dictates - but NT have other Projects in Development, a plan for their future releases. You don't 'kill' a Studio whilst they have Projects in development you can 'sell', you close them down after they have released 'product' and haven't started on their next 'product'.

I think both Arkane Austin (which could be used to boost their other Austin Studios by moving some staff) and Tango were likely a 'shell' of their former selves with many of the creative talent leaving - Arkane because they weren't happy to be forced to make a Live Service game for example and didn't have the Staff, Projects in development etc, They may have required so much investment over the next 5yrs plus before they release a game - money that could be better invested in ensuring those games in development come out on time and at a consistent cadence, ensure that the other Studios get the support they need to ensure those games release at the quality we expect, not need a year or more of patches etc.

And like I said, MS has opened 2 'new' Studios - Infinity Ward Austin and Elsewhere Studios in Poland...

@BAmozzy Oh thanks for your very good and cool ansluts man. Hm had no idea that Tango Gameworks had transformed in the way you described. Although we are not there yet I have liked always thought that it would be cool if studios in the game industry was a bit more open and transparent with things. Communicating more with the fans of the respective of the franschses hehe 😉. Until that is the case I guess we need to keep guessing.

@oliverp yeah Shinji Mikami, the person who formed Tango and the creator of RE and Evil Within left and Ikumi Nakamura, Creative Director of Ghostwire left before that game released for example. That may have left the Studio without their Creators, their own creative identity. A 'small' team, maybe all that's left at Tango, could have made Hifi Rush and 'support' it post launch, but also costing a LOT to keep open, require a LOT of additional cost to build up and unlikely to recoup costs for 'years'.

I'm not saying that is the case. Other than the fact some high profile people left Tango, the rest is 'speculation' and MS aren't going to turn round and say that Zenimax forced Arcane to make something they weren't comfortable or experienced enough to make causing many Staff to leave so became a very different Studio to the one that made Prey, no longer have the 'talent' behind Resi Evil/Evil Within that made Tango Games etc so had to 'close'.

MS mentioned trying to relocate staff in those closures too and Arkane, being based in Austin, had options with MS - including the newly opened Infinity Ward Austin. Roundhouse, who were Supporting Zenimax Online were merged into Zenimax Online. But Tango, in Japan with High Costs (inc Rates, Wages etc) feels more of a Loss because it was MS's foot in the Japanese Door. They can't relocate or merge, Logistically 'difficult' as their only Japanese Studio (very difficult to co-ordinate, communicate and/or support when half way around the world in very different time-zones. Poland on the other hand is much cheaper and has a much larger pool of Developers to staff it, logistically better as MS can combine visits with visiting their other studios and partners, etc.

As they had just finished HiFi Rush, unless they had their 'next' game in at least pre-production with something they could present to MS, you have to factor that in as well. HR could have led to a sequel but as well received as it was 'Critically', it also seemed 'niche'. It's not a game you hear sold well on PS5. No point making a sequel for the sake of it - and unless they had something 'else', you could be looking at another 5 or 6 yrs before Tango released another game. That could be too much 'cost', for not enough 'return' too.

We are unlikely to really know the truth - even if Tango was in need of a LOT of investment to recruit and/or build up that Studio to delivering the 'games' we as MS gamers expect, they'll be people saying MS should use their 'vast' resources to keep it open regardless of cost, regardless of whether it loses MS money, regardless of whether that money would be better invested in 'more' product for us coming sooner and at the quality expected. They'll always be someone who'd rather have HiFi Rush 2 than Hellblade 2 or Avowed, would rather see 343 closed for their handling of Halo so no rationale will appease...