SplooshDmg

@Fenbops Lmao I seriously just sent this to a buddy of mine. This here is just the tip of this iceberg. I told someone the other day "If they didn't have time to finish the performance mode, hopefully they ran out of time to finish plenty of other things too!" 🥴

@UltimateOtaku91 I mean, we've gotta talk about something interesting. Redfall clearly isn't.

@NEStalgia I'll admit I'm being a bit hyperbolic. I just see danger in one of the biggest JRPG franchises abandoning it's RPG credentials to become a full blown action title, then printing money and giving others ideas. I'd prefer that didn't happen, because I don't care what anyone else likes. Lol

@NEStalgia I'm really not taking a dig at anybody, I just want to say that up front. The fact that you have to write an actual essay about the difference between action titles and actual RPGs is pretty telling that RPGs are an endangered species in 2023.

I pure plain and simple do not like action games. It's your character progression vs player progression example. I do not care about player progression in games. I want to fiddle with items and equipment and level up until I can comfortably beat whatever it is before me. I'm not going to git gud by practicing dodging. I hate dodging. I'm going to go craft some bigger better item with all the bits and bobs laying around and go nuke the boss. Sure, I can turn on auto dodge in FFXVI, but I don't want to, because what's the point if you just turn it into a literal spam fest because you're basically unstoppable because the game is too easy to be a threat? The masses just understand that action is fun. Too much action to me is anti-fun. I don't like action, I like thinking. I play RPGs because I like thinking, not action. Just because a game has a skill system and a plot, make it an RPG it does not.

@NEStalgia You sold me at Chinese gacha game on mobile. Kids, don't do drugs.

@mousieone No. Young Blood was just flat out not good. The story was weak, the leveling system was weird and didn't belong, the AI was poor, the stealth element was janky. It was just a really poor mishmash of things that seemed like Machine Games and Arkane both decided they were tired of fooling with and just released it to make it go away. Which kinda seems like what this also is.

@NEStalgia Honestly, this is pretty troubling. Arkane is a developer I respect, but don't really like. They have historically made quality games that just don't appeal to me. So, if this game really is coming in as rough as we suspect it is, then I do have to kind of pause and just blame MS for rushing it out the door. Which would appear that not a single thing was learned from Infinite. Oh, bother.

Also, thinking about it, the last time Arkane worked on a multiplayer game was Young Blood, and it was in fact terribad.

I'll probably play someday when it's like $5. I liked the first one well enough.

@ZYDIO Greed is certainly a possibility, but incompetence is surely another. Someone clearly wanted this out the door, and it probably wasn't Respawn.

@FenIsMightier I really have to wonder how many current gen games were only going for a 30fps target, then switched gears after seeing the backlash against other titles shipping without 60fps. That certainly has to be a thing.

@WaffleBoat If they're anything like my dad, they'll never come back.

I said a couple weeks ago that this entire industry is just becoming laughably terrible. I stand by that even moreso now.

But really, what the heck is going on? I get that games are getting harder to make, but it also seems like with that every multiplatform release is just getting cruddier and cruddier. There was all the talk of development being easier with these new consoles, and it seems anything but that.

@Ralizah Yeah, yeah, I know, but I'm glad I was able to convey that in a way that meant what I meant, but wasn't just being an arse. I respect the games views, but like you said, if you disagree with social analysis and are picking up on it as it goes, the game has in a sense sort of politicized itself and left itself open to that critique. Really though, I'm glad we've had this discussion, because my woeful feelings about this game are a bit more validated after being acknowledged by someone who really does enjoy it and understands the themes of the narrative. Of course I also couldn't knock the quality of the game itself, because it's obviously pushing the Switch to it's limits and has refined so many systems. It's a Switch masterwork.

I'm curious to see what they do next. Now that the Klaus nonsense is wrapped up, I think they should definitely move on to something else. I'd love to see them kinda tackle the Star Ocean vibe. I love the whole scifi fantasy mash up, and clearly Tri-Ace just isn't quite up to the task anymore (SO6 was at least 'okay'). I think Monolith has proven they can handle both primitive and scifi environments, so I'd love to see them kinda keep what they have going but shift more to space exploration. Go from planet to planet Mass Effect style. Some advance, some primitive, and include giant fighting robots. I'm sure their next game will be on Switch 2 or whatever, so hopefully they are free to do more expansive games. Either way, I won't let XC3 deter me, I'm stoked for whatever they make next.

@Ralizah I read all that, but I'm currently short on time, so I've gotta keep this quick. I think your analysis is correct, and really, that's my take away from it as well, but that's also my issue with it. You nailed it with preachy. I think the story is hinged way too much around how willing you are to accept populist political view points as truth. Not making the conversation political, nor degrade anyone else's opinion, but I just think populism of the right and left variety are both nonsense. That's probably my core issue with the narrative, is that it's trying to make me feel something based on these events, that are sort of just an analogy for ideas I don't accept in real life. So, I do think it's thoughtful in that regard, but I think your mileage with the thoughtfulness will vary based on how important the thoughts actually are to you.

For me, I was never surprised in XC3. Nothing ever happened that it was like HOLY CRAP THAT HAPPENED. Not even the Mio twist, because like you said they dropped hints, but at the same time I thought it was just so stupid that I was more just stunned that they actually went with that. The entire thing was so cliched and predictable from that start that by the time it was over I was asleep on the desk. So, I do agree that Monolith needs to eventually just finally kill the Waifu, or just do something different entirely. Kill husbando, don't kill anyone would even be an option. But really, I respect that others love this game, but for me it just took a weird route and lost all the Xenoblade magic in the process.

@Ralizah I think I'm more curious to see how the inane Klaus mythology wraps up. Like, I dunno. I respect that a lot of people really love XC3, but the story just in no way resonated with me. I hated the protagonists, I hated the villains, but most of all I hate Joran. That entire Joran thing was nauseating.

I just can't really say I found it particularly thoughtful. It sort of just zooms in on some questionable parallels between being a goo baby born into some weird state of servitude and real life, then just really digs it's heels into that, and I found it to just just be overly dramatic for no other purpose than to come off as being darker than it actually was. I also thought the Mio twist was absolutely just swiss cheese so holy the pope would step aside for it.

I'll probably just avoid the DLC, even though I'd maybe like it better. I'm truly curious about the inane Klaus stuff and how they wrap that up, but I don't think I care enough to have to buy the base game again, and it's not like it'll ever be cheap. I'll probably just read a synopsis and watch it on YouTube. Again, that isn't to take away from people that love it. I'm the minority on this one. I think like you said, it's structurally a better game in basically every way, but it was hard to enjoy that stuff because I just felt utterly disconnected from every character in the game.

@Ralizah I truly, deeply disliked XC3. I mean, bordering on loathing. I sold my copy, but I'm wondering if I should pick it up again and give Future Redeemed a shot. I figure it might sort of address a lot of what made me dislike the base game so much. Which was just the absolute over the top nonsense plot and utter disdain for Moebius.

@shonenjump86 I'm working on FE: Engage right now. How are you liking it? I know a lot of fans are turned off by the weaker plot, and 'questionable' character designs. However, Toothpaste-chan has kinda grown on me, and I find the actual gameplay is just such a good time.

Is this an in-house comparison video? If so, pretty good stuff, color me impressed.

@NEStalgia I think Pentiment actually won best narrative from a lot of outfits, rightfully so. Archdeacon is basically the 2/3's mark, so you're getting close to the end. The final act will BLOW YOUR MIND. It's wild... Utterly, splendidly wild. I think the really interesting part is that every story line is seen as equal, no one is more cannon than the other. Which is sort of thought provoking. Whoever is accused of the crime and found guilty is just who did it. There wasn't any waiting for the DNA results or fingerprints to come back to try and prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I'm going to do another run sooner or later and just pick totally different perps and see what I come up with.

@NEStalgia Pentiment was basically immediately accepted in my pantheon of gaming Gods. It was probably without question my 2022 GOTY. NirvanA Initiative was way up there in terms of how much I actually enjoyed it, but I'm not even going to pretend that the nonsensical thrill ride was anywhere near the same level as Pentiment in terms of actual writing. It's fun, it's kinda stupid, but it's A LOT of fun.

@mousieone There was seriously one scene that I was like, "Wait... That's dumb and literally can't work that way." Apparently, the contrivances of the MASSIVE plot hole are completely "explained" in an appendix file. I'm like, no Uchikoshi. You don't get to do that. That's not gonna work this time.

@mousieone I can't wait until he gets to the super swiss cheese plot hole and throws an ever loving fit.

@NEStalgia So, wait. You're actually finally going to buy NirvanA Initiative?

@NEStalgia Whats weird is, it basically seems like MS is just turning every other cloud company into a customer, more so than a competitor. MS's agreement basically has MS allowing the games on their services but MS keeps 100% of the money. It's kinda wild, really. Seems a lot more complicated than what I just rattled off here too.

Tech outlets like the verge seem to think the CMA killing this is a huge setback for cloud gaming in general, because not many companies really have the infrastructure to this on a massive scale like MS does. But from the looks of things, the CMA has kicked a hornets nest, so who freaking knows what's going on now. Honestly, this might turn into that juicy discovery we wanted after all.

@NEStalgia Well, maybe you should just invest in Apache OpenOffice where words are still open for writing.

@NEStalgia I'm actually filing an appeal with Microsoft Office to have the MS Office Tribunal reevaluate if MS Word actually analyzed and understood all of the words it had received as input and counted every last one. We should know in about three years if the essay was 1407, or perhaps it was actually 1408. Sorry, not sorry for any financial damages you may incur during this time.

@NEStalgia According to Microsoft Word, your essay is 1407 words. Good God, man.

@CrimsonRidley That's actually my mistake. The initial Bethesda customer support FAQ did say it would only be a code, but they later retracted and said it was a mistake and a disc will be in the box. I forgot about the second part.

@Green-Bandit My thing with 30fps is that by and large 3rd person is okay, and 1st person is dreadful. Something I've always noticed too is, the smaller the display the less the lower framerate seems to bug me. I basically only play my Switch handheld, outside of multiplayer games, because it's usually pretty intolerable docked with the low resolution and low frames. Handheld often kinda sucks too, but it's usually the lesser of two evils.

@GuyinPA75 This is amazing! Trillion-dollar corporations shipping products missing basic modern features they listed on their own package because they didn't have time to finish it. Hopefully if we get lucky, they ran out of time to finish plenty of other things too!

@mousieone I see. Nothing about the case looks bogus to me either. The photo just overall sorta sucks. Considering there's not even a disc in the box, they probably printed these ages ago.

@FenIsMightier Yamauchi was a mad man. Guy was totally bonkers. People love to say that Xbox killed Rare. No, Yamauchi killed Rare because Nintendo had an entire year to buy the other half of the shares and the guy was like, "Nah, we don't need you" and just sent them out to find a whoever would buy them. Truly unbelievable that was. It didn't matter if you were his enemy or ally, he'd just tell you to take a hike.

@mousieone I don't think they broke out an editor to proof read their janky sticker. The box says 60fps and it's not. There is every reason to put a sticker on there. In my mind it's real until 100% proven false. We will find out for sure in the coming days.

@themightyant I think it's painfully obvious that the box arts were already printed and they just decided to roll with it and slap the ole bandaid on there. Man, I'm embarrassed for them. Jeez.

Oh. My. God.
There is no way this is real. Lmaoooo

The Deal is dead, long live the Deal!

@S1ayeR74 Yeah, I mean, I was super excited to see Bethesda become Xbox first party, because In my mind it meant more funding for Bethesda equals better games. In reality, we aren't seeing that happen. It's just not. But there is definitely something to that fact that MS already has 60-70% of the cloud market. I think MS knows the console war is forever lost, and they want to quietly sneak in and win the cloud war before it ever starts. 4D chess stuff.

I sacked my XSX and just invested further in the PC I already had. I also bought a PS5. Sony kinda sucks, but it's like you said, you know what you're getting with a PS5. There's no, "Next year is gonna be the year! You'll see!" Every year is basically somewhere been solid and really good consistently.

I'm not really sure who is making the calls on all this stuff, but Nadella is obsessed with cloud everything. Cloud services are MS's bread and butter, along with Windows licensing. I just don't know what anyone working there is doing any more. It's really disappointing, because by this point I feel the triumphant return of Xbox has sort of just floundered out into another gen of mediocrity.

@mousieone I've looked at the financial stuff, and the MAUs and stuff are pretty good. However, the thing is that their revenue includes everything from an Xbox console, to PC Game Pass, to Steam, to Minecraft on an iPhone. When you look at the revenue they are pulling from so many places and compare to what Sony or Nintendo is pulling largely from just consoles, it's a pretty enormous gap as far as what Xbox consoles are maybe pulling on their own. I think MS is running a fairly healthy gaming division, but I'm concerned the console side of that division is supposed to be the flagship and it isn't quite doing what it's supposed to be doing. I'm not sure the whole selling a console thing and play anywhere you want are entirely the most compatible things. The only really problem I see is that flagship console is sort of what is attracting games to the platform, and if that console suffers, I think it's sort of jeopardizing the whole play anywhere thing. It seems a bit of a double ended sword.

@mousieone I thought it was second best 3rd quarter ever? Which 3rd quarter is the post holiday slump usually. But it does show that there is some benefit to pushing subs because odds are it's just revenue you'll see all year long, rather than just big bursts when a new game releases. So, there is that.

@mousieone Sorry, I was standing at the pharmacy playing Star Rail on my phone. I'm... Distracted. By... Microtransactions.

How sad is it when they are advertising their merger like mad, and not their games and services? Really. Someone make that make sense.

@NEStalgia Yeah, zero question. If EU blocks, they have to just let this go and get back to business as normal. What I think it all amounts to is, they've totally screwed up. They put a crap load of eggs in this ABK basket, then all the ABK chickens got avian flu and they're now deceased, leaving MS holding the basket with what few eggs are actually in it.

That's the thing. I don't think buying more studios gets them more games faster. We're already looking at the studios they've bought and there's few games to be found. Between contractual agreements and screwed up dev cycles, buying more doesn't seem to fix the present, but maybe the future. The problem is we're in the future now and little to nothing is fixed. I don't know what the answer is.

@NEStalgia If I were a betting man, I'd bet my bottom dollar that the EU does not approve. There were all these whispers of the FTC approving, then lawsuit. The news yesterday was the CMA approving, blocked. I just don't think for a second right now the EU will think anything different.

I have no idea. I do think Xbox benefited from a lack of PS5's available to buy. But I'm open to self-sabotage conspiracies when it comes to this. Everything seemed to be going fine until ABK rolled along, then everything went sideways.

When I say lay low, I'm kinda more implying that they need to just get a grip on what they already have. Redfall is releasing to little fanfare, mostly because it's probably barely done, if done at all. Everything is delayed or MIA. They have more than enough IP and studios to work with right now. They would do themselves a favor to actually convince consumers they can do something with those before deciding they need to take on another fifteen studios. Xbox is a product people know they can't really count on, and I think a lot of that is by MS's own doing. They really need to get that under control first.

@NEStalgia Yeah, I'm not saying they are going to just close up shop, but I think this merger failing is going to create a lot of discussions at HQ about the future of the brand. Xbox is still making money (we think?). However, it seems like PC Game Pass is where a lot of the growth is still coming from. It seems like everything on the console side is just stagnating.

I'm really, really not trying to punch down at the Xbox consoles, but I honestly think the situation right now is maybe worse than the Xbone was at this point in its life. I'm not sure if games like Avowed or Hellblade will be enough to jump start some new console sales, not unless MS can learn how to actually market their product. Sony didn't release a total dumpster fire like the PS3 this time around. MS wasn't handed the ace in the hole like they were with the 360. They're going to have to make some effort to convince people to buy these things.

The entire situation seems pretty grim from where I sit. It doesn't look like a single thing is working on their end, outside of PC players signing up for Game Pass. I think they really just need to cut this deal off and pay the $3 billion. Just think. That's the cost of something like 15-20 expensive AAA developments. Just gone in a flash. Wasted 18 months spinning their wheels on this, lit some money on fire, and nothing to show for it except the reputation as the company that failed to monopolize the industry. I really think it's best they lay low and just cook with what they've got for a while.

@NEStalgia I think by and large, this is just a general MS problem. You can't get too invested in any sort of hardware MS makes because they will just drop support for it out the wild blue yonder. I really think Nadella is great for MS, but I'm getting the gist that the dude is way too in love with cloud everything. He doesn't really want to sell hardware or even software for that matter. He wants to sell services. I really think that's his end game for basically everything.

I really think something is functionally kinda wrong in the Xbox division. It's like we've discussed a dozen times. It seems like everyone at MS is just constantly debating which direction Xbox is going, and no one really seems to know for sure. I think the fact MS was willing to address seemingly any console concerns, yet then were maybe playing the cloud cards close to their chest, really says to me that my initial thoughts of the entire thing being a massive cloud play were always right. imo ABK was always going to be one step closer to turning the Xbox brand into a service, rather than a console fighting force. It really might be best if MS just hunkers down and cooks with what they've got for a while. Get those ducks in a row and then go from there. I think this has been the worst Xbox news month seriously probably since the Xbone was unveiled.

@themightyant Problem I see is, this is giving fuel to the FTC's legal challenge. We have no idea if the EU will rule in favor of this, and seeing as yesterday everyone was all but certain the UK was going to approve, nothing is sure anymore. I think if they get challenge from the UK, the EU, and the FTC. Just give it up and go home.

@themightyant There's also a matter of they aren't putting PS5's on it because they aren't committing PS5 hardware to that. MS is committing Series X's to server blades right now, and it's absolutely a long-term strategy they are just hoping pays off while their console flounders in the market. However, now their early commitment to cloud is coming back to bite them, where had they not done so, this probably would be over the finish line.

@themightyant I'm growing less and less confident it's going through. I think if these were concessions MS was willing to make, they'd have made them before now. I think at a certain point they want something advantageous with their 70bn, and the regulators are basically stopping them at finding anything advantageous about this. From the looks of it, MS might have to wage war with the entire western government to get this thing across the line in a shape they see desirable, and I think they can fight, but I'm not confident they will win.

@mousieone Oh yeah, that part I don't doubt. Even then, it seems the UK appeals process sort of exists if you think the regulators were all just drunk and high when they made their ruling, and based on the reading, I really just don't think they are just clueless as to what is going on. So, I see a really uphill battle here.

@themightyant I actually took the time to read the CMA's report, and really, they have a fairly long list of grievances. It seems they're really going the same route as the FTC in trying to protect what they see as the developing cloud market. However, Xbox console fans have a hard time seeing that, because they don't really care right this second. I think the reality is that MS does see it, which is why they made such rubbish concessions in regard to the cloud market and are investing so heavily in server blades. I sort of predicted this from the start that MS was so willing to just put CoD on every console because they never cared to begin with. Cloud and mobile was always their end game here. I personally am still pretty in favor of this being permitted, but I also don't think the CMA's arguments are a nothing burger.

@mousieone Oh, Pachter. That guy could transform himself into a literal clock and still somehow not be right even twice a day.