Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club - Halo 2 (Nov)

I managed to get back to ori and make some progress in the Wellspring. I enjoyed blind forest but will of the wisps really is a step up! What shards are/were folks rocking? I'm going with the wall climb, reckless damage and orb collection.

@BaldBelper78 okidoki, vote added!

@Balta666 Gris is a lovely game. I really enjoyed it's elegant simplicity on Switch... and yes it's short. I won't be playing but will give it a vote.

@themightyant vote added!

I took some time for Ori last night. One thing I didn’t really do the first time I played was listen to the game.

For context:
I play using Dolby Atmos for Headphones.

I decided to switch from Movie setting using the Detailed EQ preset to the Game Setting with Performance Mode disabled and EQ set to Off. It started out as a test just to see the difference between the two as Movie option was recommended even for games.

Wow. Just. Wow.

Look, if you have a good set of headphones, I highly recommend using them. The game was mixed with Dolby Atmos as well, so Atmos for Headphones is the best fit.

There was so much little detail to the audio design to the game. I don’t know if Game Preset heightens certain frequency ranges for games, but the whole game’s audio just woke up - more than just “oh that enemy is above me” like I got with the Movie setting.

Theres little creaks of wood as you jump around.
The vegetation audibly “buckles” and crunches under Ori when moving.
Birds chirping.
Bugs buzzing around.
Wind rustling in the trees.
Water trickling through rocks.
Gentle rumbling of waterfalls as you approach.
Wet viscous sounds coming from slug-like enemies.

It all sounds like you are in this tangible place full of life, mystery, danger, and beauty.

I was standing in one spot in the game on my way to Wellspring and I thought my cat was thumping around and playing with something over my left shoulder (I have an opening between my living room and kitchen that has a counter with home decor on it).

I turned around and saw nothing. I took my headphones off to listen for a thump and I heard nothing. Put my headphones back on and the thump over my shoulder came back.

I have no idea what background noise that was supposed to be in the game, but it definitely had looking around my house when I heard it. 😂

Anyways, the next time you fire this one up, just listen to it. It’s just another beautiful touch added this already great game.

@Balta666 I don't really have space in my gaming schedule for the next few months to participate in the gameclub. Too many interesting new games coming out which will keep me occupied for the coming months. But if a games is being played that i already finished i will comment and share my experience

@Lavalera fair enough! Do you want me to remove you from the tag list meanwhile so you're not bothered by the notifications?

@Balta666 You can keep me on the list. That way I will know if a game is chosen that i already played or if some unexpected gap opens up in my game time I might still join My comment was mostly meant to inform you since i probably won't be playing the games i'll keep myself from voting on any games

@Lavalera ok, cool.

Played a bit more Ori today. Been quite busy this month so I am allocating the next two days to finishing it up (providing my brain doesn't give me too much of the all encompassing "need to do something productive" thought pattern to distract me)

I don't think I'm very far. I'm on the way to meet Kwolok and I've picked up the dash. I must say that I don't think I'm very keen on the trials having tried one. I don't mind doing a few tries to complete something but I think that was around 6-7 tries? The map is a bit too confusing/unfamiliar to do a fast paced race to a goal leaving the ghost behind so I can come first. At least retrying is straightforward and you get taken back to the beginning after you complete it. No quick retry mid-race if you know you've flopped is a bit of a bummer though but I guess you can just kill yourself and retry. Might be more tedious in later trials once you have more life to drain.

I've also increased the sharpness in the settings to maximum. Looks more like a game now than the kind of blurry fairy tale look but I'm not sure what the point of 4K@120hz is if everything just looks blurry?

@ralphdibny I don't ever recall 'everything' being blurry, in fact I remember the graphics on the layer you play on are super crisp. But the foreground and background layers often have a blur to differentiate where you were playing and give it that ethereal look which I appreciated.
.

@themightyant ok maybe not everything lol. Just the default sharpness setting seemed to be at odds with the boast of the 4K@120 setting. I tried to tell myself it was for the ethereal aesthetic you mentioned but I've caved and whacked sharpness up to maximum, will see how I get on!

@ralphdibny Personally I liked that it differentiated the layer you were playing a bit from everything else, so it wasn't confusing which you were on. But I understand that can be subjective. Good luck.

@ralphdibny I'm pretty sure if you hit the menu button when you are doing a spirit trial, you get the option to retry. I've done a couple now and need a good few tries to get them done, good practice for the escape sequences for me 🙈. I usually hate having to do escape sequences more than once in a game,as it loses any sense of stakes but I don't mind it in Ori, as they are so fun.

@themightyant cheers 👍

@R1spam ah wicked, I'll give it a look next time I do one! This is what game club is for!

I guess I've only done one escape sequence which is the first monster thing before you get the flame. Looking forward to more as they were my one of my favourite bits of Blind Forest.

Just found Kwolok, I don't think I expected him to be a massive toad! 😂

I just finished Baurs reach, that might have one of the trickiest sections of platforming I've done in a long time!! I'm wondering if I'm underlevelled. I had 8 life vessels and 5 energy. Is that similar to what other folks were working with?

Just finished up with the boss of Luna pool. It's quite possibly that I suck but ooft I'm putting that fight up there with anything from a souls game for difficulty! I've only scraped through and must have died 15-20 times. Think I need to go find some more life vessels. Whoever made the decision to not let you change difficulty once you've set it, is EVIL lol!!

I've just got the two key stones for mouldwood depths which will be my first wisp after the Voice. I think I'm roughly half way through according to a guide I'm not using but am checking my progress against the contents page of.

Safe to say I won't finish it tonight but I'll keep plugging away at it 👍

As the month of exploring the Stars begin we will have a palate cleanser in Gris. This game is a bit of an indie darling made by spanish devs and with a stunning artstyle.

The game can be played from the 5th on Gamepass, but also on all platforms from last and current gens, PC, Mac and even mobile!

Please use spoiler tags when discussing spoilerish moments of the game. You do so by typing your spoiler between spoiler tags like this: [spoiler]insert message here[ /spoiler] and removing the space between [ and /

Some HLTB Stats:

Main Story - 3½ Hours
Main + Extras - 4 Hours
Completionist - 6½ Hours

Tag list, please tag me and let me know if you want to be added or removed. I think I've picked up everyone who joined this month but please just post and tag me @Balta666 to let me know if I've missed you or if you want to join!

Also please let me know if you change your username, I might not notice and you won't get the notification (equally let me know if you have changed your username to get away from the notifications and I will delete you off the tag list 😆)

@Tothington91 @MAC26 @XBontendo @Justifier @Tjuz @nessisonett @crippyd @Krzzystuff @sib @LeanerFasterStronger @cracked_seal @Mr-Fuggles777 @Mundaney @KilloWertz @antifyre @Magabro @themightyant @ZeD @K1LLEGAL @Balta666 @Bmartin001 @R1spam @lookupmore @Lavalera @frabbit @FraserG @WCB @TooBarFoo @SeriousSatan @xMightyMatt14x @BaldBelper78 @TuckNorris85 @Grail_Quest @Jsb5150 @Mamabear @liljazzy2 @Dydreamr @XFinest_KnightX @Elufachi @Amical @Supermutant @revluke @Akropolon @olskoolSEGA @HarmanSmith @Dr_Devious04 @EliteSlayer @GamingFan4Lyf @Pepa27 @MaxC @NintendoByNature @ralphdibny @Captain_Chozo @HelloCraig @BlackMayge @AgentCooper @kyleforrester87 @RDDMarston @Utena-mobile

Ok so now, votes for next month.

• Tag me in a post with your vote(s). (Just hit reply on one of my posts or write @Balta666)
• Write your votes in bold (put the text in between asterisks) and try and keep it separate from any paragraphs.
• One line will do, "My vote is such and such a game(s)"
• Feel free to make the post longer but try and keep the actual vote separate from the main body of the text and at the top of the post next to my tag @Balta666
• Vote for as many games as you like!

The votes reset every month and start from Zero. Feel free to suggest new games and I will add them to the list and count your vote toward it!

Amnesia Collection - 4 (Rdb, Lts, ACo, Lfs)
As Dusks Falls - 2 (Tma, Cpd)
Broken Age -
Chicory: A Colourful Tale -
Doom 3 - 1 (Lts)
Dordogne -
Cassete Beasts -
Coffee Talk/Coffee Talk Ep 2 -
Contrast -
Fe -
Fuga: Melodies of Steel -
Genesis Noir -
Ghostwire: Tokyo - 2 (Lts, ZeD)
Hypnospace Outlaw -
Inside - 1 (Lts)
Legend of Tian Ding -
Maquette -
Max: The Curse of the Brotherhood -
McPixel 3 -
Metal Hellsinger -
Planet of Lana -
Quake -
Screamride –
Signalis - 3 (R1s, Utm, HC)
Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath -
Sunset Overdrive - 1 (G4l)
The Evil Within 2 - 2 (Lts, ZeD)
Tunic -
Unravel -

If you have another game you'd like added to the list then let me know and I will add it with a vote from you!

For other tips on formatting texts in the forum's see the link below:
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/help/tips_for_formatting_...

I will link to this post in my signature so you can just click on my signature down below to get back to this post and see the list of games and current votes!