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

@ralphdibny only one missing now

@Balta666 it's coming, got some IRL stuff to do this week so I'll see if I can fit it in at some point! 😅

Just starting Machine for Pigs now. Is anyone else going to be starting up the Collection soon or have people just not got around to it yet? Just wondering because it had 3 more votes for it. I hope all is well with everyone

I can't exactly work out how far I am through the game but I suspect about a third of the way.

It's quite different to The Dark Descent, more walking sim this time than point and click. There's no sanity mechanic and no inventory - there have been a couple of fetch-an-item puzzles but you just hold the item in front of you and take it places instead of storing it.

I am guessing this is the reason why the amount of interactive objects has been decimated. There's very little in comparison to actually interact with, stuff that didn't do a lot in Dark Descent and wouldn't do a lot here have had their interactivity nixed. Things like books, scrolls and other random trinkets. Also doors and cabinets have weird locks added to explain this in game I suppose. I guess it's good in a way, less faff to waste your time on.

The structure is slightly different, it's a lot more linear. It's easy to miss collectibles too, especially in the opening mansion area where points of no return are not clearly indicated.

I'd say the games request for you to adjust the gamma setting is a bit off too. I adjusted it as instructed so the box was barely visible and played through the opening sections in some washed out blue hue. I thought it was stylistic but realised after a while that I hadn't used the lamp in a while so I reduced the gamma down to basically it's default setting and now everything looks like it should. Or at least I think it does lol. I believe you are supposed to basically have the lantern on all the time.

Overall it's a lot less scary than The Dark Descent. Maybe it's because I was playing with the wrong settings initially lol. There is no health meter either, least not one that I've found. I've only died once and it was only just now. I was slain by a beastly creature. Thankfully, like in The Dark Descent, I spawned nearby and while the beast didn't despawn, it took another route back to my point of death allowing me to pass it into the next area.

Okay, I have finished A Machine for Pigs.

I think my thoughts in my previous post remain the same so I won't reiterate. It did get a bit scarier as it got darker IRL 😅. I also ended up reducing the gamma even further as it got darker IRL. I can't tell what the game is supposed to look like at times tbh.

At one point a character muses on happenings of parts of history which I won't spoil. I can't really tell how it relates to the rest of the game though, he almost says it as if it's justification for an action but the link isn't explained. Or if it was, it wasn't obvious to me.

I did die again later towards the end, but was respawned with the beast that got me despawning with little overall consequence to me as a result. I think the fear that had built up dissipated after that.

Overall, I did actually very much enjoy A Machine for Pigs and as the credits rolled, I found myself saying "that was good, that".

Rating: TWGT for that was good, that

As a side note, The Dark Descent was developed by Frictional Games with A Machine For Pigs being developed by Brighton based developer The Chinese Room. Frictional Games went on to develop the rest of the Amnesia games but they also made a game called Soma which like Amnesia Collection, came to PS Plus some years back.

I did try Soma a couple years ago but didn't really get on with it so I wrote it off. I think I might give it another go though once I've played through Amnesia Rebirth if I end up enjoying Rebirth.

@ralphdibny SOMA was one of the first horror games I played and it was an absolutely terrifying experience. On top of it being an excellent horror experience, the plot was very thought-provoking with its philosophical elements. It's definitely one of my favourite horror games ever and I highly recommend giving it another try.

@LtSarge fair play, I may well do! I'll see how I get on with Rebirth first. Have you had time to boot up the Collection yet?

@ralphdibny I'm quite unsure if I'll have time for it the coming month. I still have a fair amount of the campaign left in AC: Mirage and Spider-Man 2 is coming out on Friday. If I finish AC early, I might start up Amnesia as I really want to play at least one horror game this month.

@LtSarge fair play, yeah it is a busy month!

I've started Amnesia Rebirth. So far it is quite interesting. Quite similar to the previous games in game play, maybe it leans even more into the walking sim side of things with more than one comparison to What Remains of Edith Finch able to be made. Of course the graphics are much better than its forebears along with the expected QoL updates to the gameplay as well.

We are back to having full interactivity with all range of nonsense, from pots to sandbags. It has to be rifled through though, so you can find those precious matches to light your way.

I think this one is set quite a bit after The Dark Descent and some time after A Machine for Pigs. There is an aspect that recurs through the series even if the narratives aren't linked. I won't explain this aspect due to it being a spoiler but it looks like we will be exploring it a bit further in this game.

I think I'm about a quarter of the way through it, going by the contents page of a guide I've looked at.

I'm probably a bit over half way through it now. I'll probably have to wait to play it while my partner is here so I don't get too scared 🙈😂

I think it's a bit unfair to call this a walking sim because there is danger of death in the game, even if the consequences are almost nil. There's a bit of action (but no combat) and thrilling moments. Not really sure what genre I'd put it in but it's probably a combination of a few.

@Balta666 So I want to suggest Wo Long Fallen Dynasty as a candidate for next month. That is November 2023. Wo Long Fallen Dynasty is supposed to be a Soul like action RPG game from Team Ninja. Wo Long Fallen Dynasty takes apparently place in ancient China. For the record I have never actually played a soul like game before but I have become really excited about this game and I think we would have a fun time playing it together.

@oliverp excellent choice if I may say (have been on my waitlist for a less busy time)

Played a bit more Rebirth tonight. Had my partner with me so I wouldn't get so scared but weirdly, tonight she was the scaredy cat and I was much calmer!

We're almost 3/4 of the way through so we will probably finish it on Wednesday hopefully 🤞

@ralphdibny overall, how are you feeling about the entire series? I've read most of your posts, but not all.

@NintendoByNature overall quite good to be honest. I haven't been bored at all and it's sort of the right difficulty level to keep me interested i.e. not very difficult but you create your own difficulty based on how scared you are and if you fail then the consequence is little to none.

The Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs are fairly similar due to reusing a lot of the assets but I think Machine for Pigs is much more of a streamlined experience. Rebirth is sort of the expected evolution of The Dark Descent graphics and gameplay wise in terms of the time gap between releases allowing the technology to get better and the developers to become more skilled.

I think Rebirth has some really good voice acting too. I'm finding the cast of characters quite interesting and their stories are somewhat easier to follow than in The Dark Descent, Justine and A Machine for Pigs.

How is Resi 8 coming along for you? I haven't played it myself

@ralphdibny that's good to hear that you're enjoying it. I did give it a shake, maybe not the fairest of shakes, but that's ok. That's why we have gamepass, right.

RE8 was absolutely amazing dude! I started Wednesday or Thursday and finished it last night. It was heart pumping from start to finish, nothing was dull or too confusing.

I often find myself in older RE titles running around in the same spots for hours, not knowing what to do. It's amazing I beat REmake when I was about 14/15 yrs old when it came out, and without a guide. I tried a few years back and couldn't get halfway through lol.

But all In all, 8 was the perfect length, and awesome enemies. I'm such a classic monster fan that the game was perfect for me. Especially with the Gothic setting background instead of urban mansion-city/laboratory. The story was rock solid too and tied some pieces together for the whole franchise.

The only negative I can think of is how long the last section is( the factory). It kinda overstayed its welcome compared to the other sections. The castle feels like OG RE, house of beneviento feels like what I'd imagine amnesia feels like( I won't spoil much more than that), the 3rd area was off the rails but fun, so yea. You can probably fit it in before Halloween and focus on only that. It's well worth it, and I'd say it's potentially my favorite, right up there with 4.

@NintendoByNature yeah that's fair enough and to be honest, we only have so much life left to live so it is okay to bin off games if they don't gel with you immediately. I can only think of one game that I stuck with despite initial poor impressions which was Yakuza 0. 800 hours later I had beat all 8 mainline games 😂

Wicked mate, glad Resi 8 ticked most, if not all the boxes for you! Nice write up, it certainly piques my interest!

I've actually only beat 2 Resi games on release which were 4 and Revelations. I later did REmake as part of the PS game club but I found it very difficult even though I kind of understood it toward the end. I am sort of half planning to play through all of them properly at some point including 8 but what year that'll be, I don't know lol.

@ralphdibny exactly. I don't have much time as it is. Dad of 3, wife, work, the whole 9 yards. So If it doesn't click in the first hour or 2, I'm out. In some instances, i bounce off in 30 like I did here.

Most of the newer RE games are phenomenal. Anything 4 and after are pretty solid, even 6. The remakes obviously are better than the originals, so I'd play those first. Good luck my dude, looking forward to hearing your thoughts when you actually play them. Also, I misspoke earlier, I played a bunch of 0, but never finished. That one felt outdated from the get go. It's pretty tough.

Okay, I've finished Amnesia Rebirth now!

I think I've said all there is to be said about it really so I'll just use this post to assign it a rating.

Rating: IEI for I enjoyed it.

Actually, I will speak a bit about the ending as there are 3 endings just like the first game. Like the first game, you can continue from your last save to see them all without playing the whole game again. I'd say this one has a little bit more fluff to get through from the save point to each ending though.

Interestingly, I feel like I did the endings in the same thematic order as The Dark Descent, first I destroyed the boss killing us both, then I survived myself, and then I let the boss win. I think in The Dark Descent, I destroyed the boss, saved somebody else and then let the boss win.

Anyway, downloading SOMA and Amnesia: The Bunker now! As much as I want to not play any more scary games for a while, I feel like I should finish up these Frictional titles while I am on a roll. I think I'll do SOMA first and then move on to The Bunker.