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

@ralphdibny just to note you don't actually need to download the episodes to watch them - they'll stream just fine between levels if you don't want to download as long as your internet speed is half decent.

Started (and almost finished) over the weekend, just got the final stage of the last (5th) act to finish, but have been too tired to finish it the last couple of nights. Another really good game I might not have played were it not for Game Pass.
Really enjoying it so far, the time-bending elements in the combat really make it more interesting than a regular cover shooter and there are a couple of platforming sections that add a bit of variety.
The addional live action episodes are an interesting idea and, although skippable, I thought they were worth watching. The calibre of the cast meant they were actually good quality episodes.

@ralphdibny at the end of f each of the first 4 chapters you have a 20-25 min real movie that advances the story

P.s: also the game will ask you if you want to watch it now or save ir for later. It is saved on the menu for later

@ralphdibny No big deal. I honestly probably shouldn't have brought it up since it would end up being awkward. Forget about it.

Anyways, I'm guessing I'll start it around early next week. I have no idea where I'm at exactly in Detroit: Become Human. I'm really enjoying that, btw. Right up there with Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain.

@Balta666 @ralphdibny I believe there are multiple different shows or scenes in the TV part depending on your choices which only makes the download larger than it has to be. Streaming worked well for me.
The game was also X enhanced for One X which considerably increased it's install size, and is why it still looks so good!

@KilloWertz Looking forward to playing Quantum Break. I've really enjoyed all the Quantic Dreams/David Cage games despite the bad rap they often get. While always flawed each one had some elements that really sticks with me over time, which is usually a sign of good art/media/film/games.

Also to add from the perspective of someone who does a fair bit of blocking/unblocking. It's usually me not them, I just don't have time in my life for all the distractions and often i'm like a moth to flame with certain views/voices. That's my fault and the blocking is more self preservation, shouldn't always be taken personally. Chin up bro!

@themightyant Yeah, they might not be perfect (seems like Beyond: Two Souls was the farthest from it out of the 3), but I do appreciate that they are something different to play in a sea of games that are similar. Detroit: Become Human might be their best overall. I have yet to play Beyond: Two Souls as the negative reviews scared me off a bit, but I still might try it at some point since I own it.

It's fine. I shouldn't have brought it up really. Puts people in an awkward position, but I do wish there was a way to apologize to people when something like that happens. Oh well. It is what it is.

Anyone know if it's worth multiple playthroughs - do the choices at the end of each act make much difference or just a slightly different route to the same ending? It's a reasonably short game so might give it a couple of playthroughs eventually if there are alternative endings or the choices make a big difference to the game. I still need to finish the first playthrough first though... maybe tonight

@dmcc0 RE: Multiple playthroughs. Yes and No. It depends if you like the journey or the destination. Put another way did you like Lost? lol

In my opinion, I played it twice and made opposite choices, it does change up quote a few things in the stories and TV shows, some quite big things, but it's all kind of a surface level veneer. It's not anywhere as deep as it thinks you still play the exact same game with a few different dialogue and story moments.

Personally I wouldn't bother unless you really like the gameplay enough to replay it... but other people feel differently. The differences can be read on a few websites and watched on a few YT videos if you want to go down that route.

@KilloWertz I played it years later and I really liked Beyond: Two Souls. Again it's flawed but if you like the others, you'll probably like it too.

I'm halfway through Quantum Break now but man is it hard to find the motivation to start playing it. Because every time I play it, I know that I'll need to put away several hours for the game portion and then for the TV show at the end of each act. It's just so time-consuming, which is ironic lol.

@themightyant I'll finally play it at some point. I had been tempted to a couple of times, but pushed it aside for something "better" given that it's always gotten mixed reviews. After really enjoying what I've played so far with Detroit: Become Human and having very fond memories of playing Heavy Rain on the PS3, I'd be surprised if I didn't like it too. Probably at some point next year when I have an opening instead of continuing to push it aside.

As for Quantum Break, is saving your game/checkpoints that bad? The way Sarge makes it seem, you could end up having to play it for several hours at a time.

@KilloWertz no, it saves automatically very often however each part of chapter takes some time and a full chapter + transition + movie part can take up to a couple of hours

@Balta666 Oh, ok. That's not so bad then if it saves often.

Does Quick Resume work with it? I would say I shouldn't have to ask since most titles should be Quick Resume enabled , but it's still been a bit hit and miss so far.

@KilloWertz had no problems with it on that regard

@Balta666 Thanks. That's good then. That'll be an obvious huge help if I have to quit in the middle of the one of the TV shows or something.

I wish I didn't have to ask that question, but maybe someday Quick Resume will work with basically everything. The worst is when it says on the screen that it's Quick Resume compatible, even shows the game on the list of games on the dashboard, and then doesn't work when you go to load up the game later. The Medium was the last example of that for me.

@KilloWertz yeah, I had some time lost with Scarlett Nexus too. It sucks when it happens.
Regarding quantum break and closing the system Midway through a movie parte is not a big deal even if QR does not work as you have a timeline of events at the menu and you can watch the movie parts later if you want (and fastforward like on TV). I actually used it a couple of times as a bug prevented subtitles from showing first time around for some reason...

@KilloWertz Completely agree. Quick resume, when it works, is a brilliant feature. Maybe it's the specific games I play but I only seem to have about 50/50 luck with it working at all. And as you say the worst is when it fails, definitely lost some time and data.

@themightyant @KilloWertz I very much enjoyed Heavy Rain when I played it earlier in the year despite how odd it was gameplay wise. I wanted to try it because I had it from Plus and was deciding what, if any games id want to buy when the sub runs out. Having played Heavy Rain, I decided to put Detroit and Beyond on the back burner because I thought I would eventually just buy the 3 games on disc at some point. Partially decided because of my positive experience with Heavy Rain but also because they are somewhat major PS exclusives so it would be good to add them to the shelf. I'm not sure if I would play Heavy Rain again to see the alternate routes but ya never know, maybe in a few years? I heard either one or both of the later games had decision trees that you could actually load from so you don't have to play the whole game again.

@LtSarge my play time is around 10 hours with just the last part of the final level to finish, so you can do a level and an episode in a couple of hours.

@ralphdibny Yeah, if you've never played a Quantic Dream game before, I can understand there being a bit of an adjustment period early on.

You are right about being able to jump into chapters without having to replay the whole game again. If I was worried about platinums, I'd be grateful for the option.

@themightyant For me, it's more just disappointing that I can't completely rely on the feature that was possibly the most touted feature of the system other than obviously the power and speed of the Series X. Unless I've had it work several times with the game, I always make sure to save it at least close to where I'd be leaving off when shutting off the system.

I think the most time I've lost was an hour. It worked for me plenty with Scarlet Nexus with only one fail, but an exclusive (at the time of release) like The Medium never got it. Silly me for actually trusting Xbox when it said on the screen that it worked with the game.

I just wrapped up Quantum Break and it was such an excellent game! I think in terms of gameplay, it definitely surpassed Alan Wake. Being able to use time powers along with standard shooting was so much fun, the powers actually reminded me a lot of the ones you have in the inFAMOUS games. The story was great as I just love the concept of time travel after having played the phenomenal Steins;Gate. Moreover, I found the characters to be incredibly likeable and memorable. Like I barely remember any of the side characters from Alan Wake, but I remember the majority of them in Quantum Break simply because they were so well-written and unique. Could also be because of the great cast of actors they had as well! I genuinely loved seeing the actors who played Charlie from Lost and Littlefinger from Game of Thrones. They certainly nailed that part when going for the TV show experience, of which it is important to have many memorable characters. I also enjoyed watching the TV show-like episode at the end of each act as it broke up the action and gave you something enjoyable and high-quality to watch before the next act. The production value for these episodes are just insane considering they were only made for the game. I would love to watch an actual TV show based on this franchise.

So all in all, this was an excellent game and it surpassed Alan Wake in almost every way. I just feel like AW is more iconic compared to QB, but other than that this was another fantastic game from Remedy. Would definitely love to see a sequel to this game in the future considering that minor cliffhanger at the end.