Kinect was never my cup of tea. The Wii distanced me from Nintendo and I felt like the Kinect was chasing the Wii’s dragon. It was the type of thing I remember girls I’d date in high school having when they inherited their older brother’s Xbox 360 when he was off in college… if their parents didn’t want to get a Wii, which the girl probably actually wanted instead.
@Kaloudz lol. I had the light too and 7 years old me was totally hiding under the covers playing poorly made sequels to my favorite NES games on the regular in those days. I remember Pokemon being sort of a revelation to 10 year old me by being practically a console level title. I got the N64 late, so I wasn’t quite aware of 3D games when it came out! I loved my Super Gameboy too and how you could play Pokemon full screen on the Stadium games. It was such an innocent era.
The internet was so different back then. It was both more impersonal, but also I feel like it was easier to connect at the same time. By the time MySpace caught on for me in high school, I’d say I had more digital friends than physical. I remember way, way back, I was in an AOL Megaman MMO that was AIM based. Sort of junk tech, but it was such an odd and unique home brewed thing. It’s funny to think, given how prevalent internet is in all of our lives now, but the intense stigma there was about kids like us spending time online. Honestly, the people that wagged their finger seem to be more social media addicted than the forum dwellers 25 years later! Oh, but I can’t remark on others too much because I spent more time on RuneScape my freshman year than most people spend online total in a decade. Lol. And when it went 3D and became what is now known as RuneScape classic, my friends and I all abandoned the game in protest of the update. Looking back at it, what an antique that 3D update was!
I just don’t really have time for gaming much these days. Between kids, work, commute, dealing with the whole family drama cycle, I’m lucky now if I get 10 hours of game time a week, so as much as I’d love to play through JRPGs, I just… don’t anymore unless they’re absolutely essential to me like FF7 Rebirth. I wish I had time for the Personas, but I don’t think that’ll happen unless we get a more bite sized one in a dead gaming season. Maybe Metaphor will be the one? I did start P4 ages ago on PS3? I think it was PS3. A friend of mine loaned me a copy and I started it and played for a while, but never seemed to get anywhere with it. P5 I started right after DQ11, but I was burnt out of JRPGs at the time, after blasting through the Witcher 3, FF7R, FF15, and DQ11 one after the other. Only in COVID could something like that happen! I do recommend DQ11, but beware, it’s a loooooong game. It dwarfs most JRPGs. It’s not quite Persona length, but it’s not far from it. Y’know, Like a Dragon’s another series I feel like I want to experience, but know I never will.
@FarmDog08 Not sure how to exciting that ABK drop will be just yet, honestly. I expect it to come soon to try to minimize some panic from the Xbox brand. I’d like to hope for things like StarCraft, but I’m not expecting it. Hopefully we get Diablo 4!
Sort of waiting for the Gamepass line-up to pick up. We’ve got enough confirmed titles for this year to be exciting, but I dunno… I’ll probably fire up Open Roads.
@Kaloudz Bandai makes so many games so quickly that you have to wonder how much overlap there is. When Tekken 8’s demo came out, I remember saying to my wife, you’ve got to wonder how many people worked on this one that worked on a Pac-Man at some point! Lol. I do wonder what the Xeno team is working on right now.
For me, the console that made me see how cruel the console world was was the og Gameboy. I had one of the original ones as a little tyke, but, when Pokemon came out, and everyone started to have a Gameboy, I had this giant brick compared to all these stylish N64 controller colored little bricks that all my friends had. And they got a color screen! Lol. I’ve never been one to purchase iterations of the same console though. My mom didn’t let me then, so I don’t let me now! Lol. But, oh yes, GBA was so strange as a console in that I can’t think of another console that was ported to PC faster than games released. Lol. I played LeafGreen before it even came out. What a weird generation for games.
I loved DQ11, which was the one on Gamepass. I remember loving the demo on Switch and then just sort of forgetting I bought it til COVID and… well, what a time for the backlog! I’d played the NES DQ games and 8, but admittedly I haven’t played them all. 11 was the best turn-based JRPG I’d potentially played since… maybe FF7, honestly. I really sank into it. I really struggle to get 40+ hours into any game, but DQ11 has to be in my top 10 games played of all time. I was around 80 hours into it, if I remember correctly!
I’m tempted to pick up Helldivers due to the surprising hype for the game. Feels like the game went from one of the most quiet PS exclusives to exploding at release due to good previews.
Outside that, I’d like to play Silent Hill: A Short Message, the beta for Skull and Bones, and maybe a bit of Tekken 8. I haven’t played much of anything this week outside the FF7 demo. Ever since I beat Prince of Persia, I feel like I’m sort of in-between games, even as much as I love to play Tekken poorly on a regular basis.
@Kaloudz Xenoverse 2 is 8 years old! How many games that old can sustain DLC? It has to be both low cost and have the player base. I’m guessing they do a cheap round of DLC and about 30-50k shell out $5 for it or so and that’s sustainable for the development.
Lol. I played so many old (and some of them very bad) DB games via emulators! That’s taking me back 25 years now! Lol. I just feel that DQ and DB have such a natural crossroads to them that it feels like something that would make sense and potentially be fun for Toriyama.
The GBA, ah… the system I never owned and yet totally legally by legal means played games as they released, if you know what I mean. I loved that little library of games. I still can’t believe what they pulled out of Castlevania and Metroid for that console.
@Kaloudz I totally agree about the Xenoverse games. They just… they’re annoying in how they’re made. They feel sort of cheaply made too and DLC literally never stops! They’re still putting out Xenoverse 2 DLC, believe it or not!
There’s a handful of old RPGs for the franchise on NES and SNES and GBA, of course. I’ve got a fondness for some of them, though they’re not necessarily great. Legend of the Super Saiyan always cracked me up as a game. You could end up beating the Saiyans without any deaths, so the team flying off to Namek makes zero sense when everyone’s alive and there’s no reason for them to look for the Dragon Balls or Goku can die on Namek and you can still beat Freeza with a high leveled Yamcha or Chaotzu because levels. Lol. It’s a card game rpg though too, so luck is a big thing. I’d personally love to see a Dragon Ball game that’s influenced by Dragon Quest!
@Kaloudz I’m glad forums are still a thing. In a way, going on forums itself makes me feel nostalgic too for a time long ago too. I remember ages ago being a frequenter for the Weezer forums and having voted on songs for their fourth album. To think forums are still such a part of my life is quite wonderful to me. It’s a great place to my friends.
I will definitely be checking it out and I’ll let you know what I think of it. I’ll probably try to watch the anime first.
Ah, the best Dragon Ball game is such a loaded question. I remember a time when Hyper Dimension was the best in the series, but man is that game hard, and Final Bout felt like such a legendary thing to get hold of as well, so that game had such a special feeling to it, even if its rarity was better than the actual game in some ways. I loved the Legacy of Goku games and the remasters of Budokai 1 and 3 on 360 is definitely my most played game in the series. However, all that said, FighterZ is probably the actual “best” game for me. Believe it or not, I never actually played Kakarot! The Xenoverse games never really did it for me and Kakarot looked very similar to me. I never really like Budokai Tenkaichi either, but Sparking Zero looks really cool and I’ll definitely get it.
@Kaloudz I’m definitely looking into 3x3 Eyes now. I’m definitely interested. I don’t know what it is about that era or anime. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or what, but I just really prefer what was happening with the genre in those days and I’m looking forward to watching it… if I can find it somewhere!
We are definitely cut from the same cloth! Every time we get into a tangent, we’re talking for days! The magic of Hookshot Media!
The reason many are upset is because of Sega PTSD. I’ve said it elsewhere but I believe Gamepass will be the next “console” for Xbox. They’re almost certainly trying to figure out how to Stadia with Stadia-ing. I hope Xbox sticks around, if only to give Sony competition. Of course, to validate Xbox as an ecosystem for the rest of this generation, they’re really going to have to create the appearance of value. The goofy approach to communication and general gaming flops on Xbox’s part this generation has saddled them with a paranoid fanbase in many circles. If this is isn’t another Sega scenario and is simply porting a few games, Xbox needs to do better about relaying a message for why an Xbox has value beyond the admittedly huge games that are rumored to go.
@Kaloudz Lol. That’s expensive. The whole series is on Crunchy Roll, I believe? It used to be on Hulu, but I’m not sure if it still is.
Oh, man, I can’t even imagine watching Akira at that age. It was probably psychedelic in the way that only children can understand. Like an intense, sort of gory Yellow Submarine. Lol.
I’ve never seen 3x3 Eyes. What’s that one about? I’m intrigued. I used to be a huge anime/manga nut in early teens, dropped it a bit in high school (because, you know, it really sort of was that I didn’t want to get lumped in with the cat ear kids, as silly as that is [the anime culture changed even then!]), but then got nostalgic in my early 20s and went off the deep end with it. Lol. I don’t consume nearly as much anime now, but I’m always down a good recommendation.
I honestly can’t recall off the top of my head the last EA game I even played. I’d have to look it up. It Takes Two was EA, wasn’t it? I rarely play EA titles, which seems sort of odd, given how big the publisher used to feel. I couldn’t even tell you much of anything they’ve released after Mass Effect 3.
@Kaloudz I’ve taken this context from the manga, interviews, and guidebooks. Because Dragon Ball is such a big property, there’s basically a scholarly collection of information on the series if you know where to look. I know where to look and I’ve read about all you can read about the series, you could say. Some people scroll on social media in their free time, some people do important things, me… I… uh… scroll on Hookshot media sites and various other forums that make me really good at trivia for nerdy and niche things. Lol. I irritated my wife the other day because I know the last names of all the 90’s Nickelodeon characters as well. She bet me that I didn’t know them all and sort of yelled at me, “Why do you know this?” I said, “Some people know sports statistics. I know Nickelodeon characters, but don’t get me started on Dragon Ball trivia.” I haven’t reread Dragon Ball in a while, but I’ve got the whole manga set. I think I reread it last in like 2016 or so. My son isn’t quite old enough for my wife to let him jump into the series. We started watching the anime one time and an early Bulma shower scene got me yelled at!
Man, I loved coming home after school to watch anime. My sister and I would run home, so we wouldn’t miss Sailor Moon (which I said was for her, but I totally loved it too). We’d watch Dragon Ball and maybe Super Friends? I could be wrong on Super Friends, but I think Super Friends or Thundercats was in the early line-up. I know Gundam and Tenchi were big shows for us too. I want to say Ronin Warriors, The Big O, Outlaw Star, and Rurouni Kenshin were also shows we watched and then we started watching non-TV stuff after that when DVD box sets were a thing in my teenage years. Ah, the nostalgia. Anime was such a niche thing in those days. It’s really odd to me how popular it’s gotten. It was such a different culture in my youth.
I had no idea about that. I’ll have to check that out. I loved the Buffy cast. One of the best ensembles to hit TV and I also love that the show put Cibo Matto on TV to perform Sugar Water.
@Kaloudz I can totally agree. The whole Cell spots thing, I can totally get. It’s just funny that the guy has admitted in interviews all the things he doesn’t like to do. And I only call him lazy because that’s how he refers to himself! He wrote several times in his own manga that he’d rather play Dragon Quest than draw his manga, which is probably why he never stopped animating for DQ, but retired DB. I get the feeling that he likes to make the art in one image and then have someone else do the rest of the work.
I’m surprised DB isn’t more saturated for kids these days too. I feel like kids know DB more from the games than the actual show or manga now, which isn’t bad, I suppose, but it seems strange.
Lol. I love Buffy too, but man what strange casting! What a strange film. I’m not sure how they thought that one was going to succeed. It’s almost like they didn’t watch it before releasing it. Lol
@Kaloudz Yeah, from what I’ve read, Toriyama really liked Android 19 and 20 and wanted to head in a more horror-based direction where Goku is disabled for most of the arc due to a heart attack, but apparently ratings for the manga dropped, so he came up with the idea to make 17 and 18 in an effort to be more trendy to a youthful audience. However, 17 and 18 weren’t gaining much traction either and Toriyama said the story felt sort of aimless, so he started going down the horror road again with Cell, but his editor encouraged him to change directions with the character, which Toriyama admitted he didn’t really like, as he wanted Cell to be more of a lurking shadow than a present character because he didn’t like drawing all the spots for the character. Just remember this is a guy that dropped tails for Saiyans because he was tired of being reminded to draw them. Trunks and Vegeta going Super Saiyan may have been a plot point added due to fan demand too, as it was previously suggested that there would be only one Super Saiyan. But also, again, making characters stay Super Saiyan may have been a vehicle for Toriyama’s laziness as well, as he didn’t like to fill in the character’s hair with ink and Super Saiyan was quicker to draw as a result. You could argue that the Buu arc starts as a response to the Cell arc, but then also gets swayed to improve ratings, and then perhaps that’s why Toriyama stopped Z there and shifted his focus to smaller, more goofy projects. It’s a bit of speculation mixed with some statements, but it’s an interesting story to me, the creation of the story, and how you can sort of see certain elements change post-Freeza, as that saga was far more successful than anyone could have predicted.
The live action film is better off not being talked about. Lol.
@Kaloudz Zamasu is a Supreme Kai, same as… uh… Supreme Kai, but from a different universe, but he goes in some different directions to attempt to achieve his goal. Ironically enough, Goku inspires him to attempt to fulfill his evil ambitions.
Freeza was always my favorite and I’ve always felt Cell was a tad overrated. I read that Toriyama felt burned out on the Androids and Cell arcs and didn’t particularly like drawing things then and decided to embrace tropes his fans wanted, and I’ve sort of used that to justify why I think the arc goes downhill… but hey it’s Dragon Ball, so I still love it.
Honestly, in my older (though not actually old) age, I’ve grown to appreciate the Buu arc more for adding more world building. The Great Saiyaman arc that precedes it is actually one of my favorite arcs in the series because it goes back to a time of goofy humor, which was sorely missing in the Android/Cell arc. Ah, I could wax poetic about Dragon Ball all day. It’s not the best anime/manga, but, man, does it stick with me.
@Kaloudz Oh man, to have access to that kind of money for even an hour would be insane. I think I’d have some fun with it though if I ever have the chance!
I’ve personally got them all purchased from the Xbox store. They had a sale on them when Super Hero came out and I couldn’t resist!
Freeza is definitely my favorite antagonist as well. While Zamasu isn’t an antagonist in the films, I think he’s an interesting take on the Dragon Ball villain formula, featured in the anime/manga. I’ll have to admit, as someone that’s followed Super monthly for maybe like eight or nine years, I think, the arcs typically work best when digested in chunks, so I think you’re about to have a great time with it.
@Kaloudz You’ll probably like the Broly one, in that he’s a totally different character in this version. He has a legitimate backstory, they go back to the Freeza Force a little bit and explore Planet Vegeta before it was destroyed. I like those touches personally, even if some people aren’t a fan of Broly (and Bardock getting recontextualized), but I mean the same people don’t like Freeza being thousands of times more powerful than he was in Z either. Lol. Watching the movies, you might feel gaps between Resurrection F and Broly and, well… that’s because the whole Super anime happens between the two, but I’m sure there’s recaps. Personally, I’d recommend the Super manga over the anime, but I can’t fault you if you’d rather watch a show than read the plot. At the very least we definitely didn’t get days of Goku and Freeza powering up in Super like we did with Z. Lol.
Goku has got to be the Japanese Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny or something similar to that. The character is so recognizable. After Dragon Ball Z aired, Toriyama was basically set for life. It’s certainly a surprise he came back to the series for Super, but apparently he always wanted to make high budget films and Dragon Ball’s a definite vehicle for that.
Prince of Persia is certainly fantastic. It’d definitely have been in my top 10 list if it had released last year, which was a fantastic year. Tekken is solid so far too, potentially better than the two fantastic fighters we had last year. I’ll be honest, the hype for Like a Dragon is making me curious, even if I’ve never been into the series before.
@Kaloudz Kai was a remastering of all the sagas, and I’d like to say there was a DVD box set that did the same thing with the original series maybe three years ago. I might be off with time a bit.
With regards to the films, I’d watch them in order: Battle of the Gods, which introduces the purple cat, Resurrection F, which reintroduces Freeza, Broly, which introduces Toriyama’s version of Broly, then Super Hero, which retreads ground on the Red Ribbon Army. Yeah, the films are derivative of older material a bit, but they’re a lot of fun too. Broly is probably the best film of the lot, but they’re all fairly good at what they do. Most fans bemoaned Resurrection F for a while, but I enjoyed it.
@Kaloudz Your mileage will vary on Super. Personally, I really enjoy it, but I’ll admit it could’ve been done better in a lot of aspects. I like the manga more than the anime, which can be a bit iffy. The Dragon Ball Super movies are excellent though, pure spectacle. Dragon Ball Super is definitely lighter in tone than Z. The Future Trunks arc though is the closest the series got to horror though, and the Moro arc is like mixing Namek and Buu arcs together. Super throws GT out the window and is a separate continuity. Akira Toriyama wasn’t directly involved in GT, but he is front and center with the Super films. He is an advisor on the manga as well. I sort of feel like the anime got cancelled because he apparently wasn’t very happy with the animation quality of it and liberties they took with the story, as it ran concurrent with the manga. If anything, watch the movies for a good time. The more creative stuff is in the manga, but you won’t be disappointed in the films.
@Kaloudz Yes sir, the manga is still a monthly thing and we’re getting a new animated series later this year. The manga has a different interpretation than the anime of Dragon Ball Super too, so it’s sort of interesting in being different. Of course, Toriyama is more or less an advisor for the manga at this point, but I enjoy it.
I’d really like to have a game that goes from OG Dragon Ball through the end of Super. As much as I like Z, it is a bit rote repeating JUST those arcs when it’s a third of the canon story.
@Kaloudz Well, it looks like this one should be a fairly comprehensive look at Dragon Ball Super, which is something that hasn’t gotten much in the way of video game coverage yet. Despite Super being around for quite some time, we’ve never actually seen anything past Resurrection F in video game format. They’ve practically got the whole series to cover! It looks like the game may be covering up to the Broly film, based on the character roster image we’ve seen on the trailer. While it’s a divergent future from GT, it’s very exciting to see it covered. If anything, I’m expecting GT/movie era items to be primed for DLC content, knowing how the Dragon Ball game continuity works (I mean, it’ll likely have years of DLC). I’d love a new saga, a game only saga in this one, but I’d also love them to simply cover the sagas the manga has gotten through since the animated series has ended. We’ve gotten two complete arcs in the manga that haven’t seen any other media representation yet! That’d be totally fresh content to see!
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The game is absolutely wonderful so far. It’s so incredibly fun to play and already somehow feels like 2024’s hidden gem after seeing it rank sort of low in the sales rankings. While I still think Dread is the best Metroidvania of all time, The Lost Crown is definitely one of the better modern ones. The more I play it, the more I enjoy it and the more I think it may be Ubisoft’s best game since Assassin’s Creed 2, and potentially beyond that with its sights set on the studios highlight in The Sands of Time. It’s certainly exceeded all of my expectations and I’m truly enjoying it.
Aside from that, I should be booting up Tekken 8 soon enough. I’ll likely play some MK1 and SF6 for comparison as well, though I expect most real gaming time to go to Sargon’s journey. I’m hoping to play a bit of Jackbox with the family too.
I’ve got maybe a dozen? Most of them are old 360 games. I’ve got Eternal Sonata, Dragon Ball Z Budokai, Guitar Hero, DDR, you know? Some of that. On Xbone, a Japanese copy of Puyo Puyo Tetris, Ori Collector’s, Megaman Legacy, a few other things. Not much stuff though. I would trade in games mostly during those two generations. I only keep my collections with Nintendo consoles for some reason.
@BaldBelper78 Yeah, I get it. If you long term subbed, but if you’re there for the Day One with Gamepass types of games that Xbox hyped heavily in 2019 and 2020 (while likely knowing full well the release schedule in 2021 and 2022 would be light), Gamepass would definitely feel light, especially if you’re a gamer that had been pretty active in the last few generations. I know, for me, Gamepass offers value in that I’ll usually play maybe 5 or 6 games a year on it start to finish that I would’ve otherwise bought, so it’s decent to me, even if I’ll go sometimes 3 or 4 months without even booting my Xbox, but, again, if you’re there for the first party games, you’ve not only got a light selection, but a weak selection the last couple years. Oh sure, there’s been a game or two a year that’s great, but still, there’s an argument to be made that Xbox needs to be doing better with their first party studios, given their resources.
I don’t think Pokémon will succeed in a lawsuit yet, but, given that the CEO for the company that made Palworld stated that he feels Nintendo is wrong for making original games and that he strongly believes in AI technology to produce games, there may be something here somewhere. The fact that devs not related to either IP have come forward to comment on this, taking Gamefreak’s side, does make a compelling argument that something may happen here. If this is an AI asset rip, do we really want Palworld to succeed, from an industry standpoint, you know? You can complain about Pokemon all day, but if this is proven, there is an argument against the ethics of Palworld. If that’s not substantiated though, I mean, then Palworld’s just a sort of soulless parody game with hodgepodge yet fun mechanics. No big deal if the rumors are just rumors and nothing else
@Mephisto2869 Agree 100%. It looks off. The enemy character models look off too and it’s so darn colorful in a way that feels off too, but darn it, they did alright with the Outer Worlds, which also looked severely off to me, so I’m hoping this is a similar story.
It’s Obsidian. I trust them even if I think it looks… off… for some reason. Not sure why. I dunno though. Obsidian is one of the few developers I trust though.
If my family isn’t home when I finish work today, I’m totally sinking into Prince of Persia. I might play some more Street Fighter 6 and I do want to try Palworld.
@nomither6 Doom was great. I do agree with that one.
Borderlands and High on Life, I really can’t with those. The games are aggressively anti-funny to me. I think I’d take the micros and BPs over the sense of humor those ones have.
Indy looks like it’s developed by the Wolfenstein team (I mean, it is, but you know what I mean) but going to the next level in their capability and that is exactly the kind of FPS I want.
@MrMagic A good 6-7 hours is better than a plodding 80 hours. It’s a higher value, imo. With Hellblade, you’re paying for production values instead of a huge world, though I’m really curious about where they can take the story for a sequel.
@Mephisto2869 Yeah, solid ones are few and far between these days. Deathloop was the only one I liked out of that bunch and it has a distinctly roguelike feel to it, even if it’s not a real roguelike. We do get FPS games, but they don’t focus on being FPS games so much anymore with good gunplay and action/adventure elements. Honestly, most of the games you listed also have worse gunplay than the new era Doom/Wolfenstein games, as well (including Deathloop, even though I really liked it). Indy looks like it could elevate the genre.
@Stoned_Patrol I definitely buy games. I buy enough games where I’m grateful Gamepass exists because it saves money on all those Xbox exclusives. Lol. But Mana, I’ll buy if it has intriguing reviews.
Indiana Jones was the only stunner for me. Ara looked good, but it’s PC only, so blah! Mana just has a complicated legacy. Hellblade will be a fun movie to watch on YouTube, but I didn’t like playing the first one, so yeah… Sorry! Avowed looks truly impossible to evaluate currently. I mean, it just looks like a brighter and cartoonier Elder Scrolls with VR hands instead of Skyrim arms for some reason. On the other hand, it’s Obsidian and in Obsidian we trust, you know what I mean? So, yeah, Indiana Jones looks fantastic, but it definitely looks like 2024 is saying, “Take your time with Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth… like seriously… take you time since you struggle doing that” to me.
I’m so glad this is first person. Seems not many people feel this way, but, man, let me put it this way: I love the FPS genre, but not the way the genre has been. I mean, it’s gone so multiplayer focused as a genre and so open world as a genre when it isn’t multiplayer that an old school FPS with modern visuals looks absolutely refreshing to see in 2024. I love it! It reminds me of how I felt 10, 15 years ago when a new FPS would get announced.
I gave it a B, but that’s just for the content. The presentation style is an A for me. I really like these Developer Directs now and every game felt sort of important, which is nice.
For the games, I felt it was odd that Ara was on here, given that it’s a PC only game. Avowed doesn’t wow me yet, but I trust Obsidian, so I’m along for the ride. Outer Worlds reminded me of Borderlands back during its release cycle, which I really didn’t like (sorry, but I despise Borderlands), but preordered the game on faith and was happy I did. Mana looks like it could go either way, but I’m rooting for it. I thought the remakes were middling to say the least, but I’ve got a soft spot for the SNES version of Secret, so I want it to be good and get those feels again. Hellblade, as always, looks absolutely stunning, but… also a game I’ll watch the cutscenes on YouTube! Sorry, I did NOT enjoy playing the first one! The gameplay bored me to tears, but it was a great movie. And… Indiana Jones looked fantastic! I’m sold for that one 100% when I was really lukewarm on it before the presentation. The quality of the games presented was probably a light B, heavy C. Indiana Jones is realistically the only game I could say I’m genuinely excited about from the presentation. Even if I trust Obsidian on Avowed, I still haven’t acquired the taste. Once I play it, I hope I feel different.
Now, another B thing to me: where’s the Q1 game from Xbox? I know it’s petty to complain about the lack of a shadow drop and there’s certainly enough to play this year, but uhhh… I was sort of hoping there’d be something new to make me want to turn on my Xbox in the near future at least. Little Kitty Big City and Still Wakes the Deep are coming soon, I suppose, but I guess it is great to have it be pretty concrete that by the time FF7 Rebirth releases, it will absolutely stand alone for a while this year for me. After last year being heavy release after heavy release, it’s nice to have some breathing room perhaps? But still, yeah, Fall 2024 with Avowed is a long time to wait for something that I’ll play for sure on the console. I was hoping for something more… soon.
I hope this is on Gamepass. The Mana remakes have been sort of iffy to the point that they sort of made me wonder if they weren’t as good as I remembered the original games being. I hope this one hits Secret of Mana SNES tier quality.
This looks like the exact type of game I’ve missed playing the past generation or two, an old school FPS made modern without… you know, the modern things like battle passes and micros and multiplayer being the main chunk of game. This looked BETTER than expected, which is awesome. I’m excited for this one.
Well, it’s a shame this one looks good because I don’t have a gaming PC and I won’t be buying one. I have an Xbox for Xbox Game Studios titles. Oh well, can’t win them all!
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Re: Talking Point: What Did You Think Of The Xbox Kinect?
Kinect was never my cup of tea. The Wii distanced me from Nintendo and I felt like the Kinect was chasing the Wii’s dragon. It was the type of thing I remember girls I’d date in high school having when they inherited their older brother’s Xbox 360 when he was off in college… if their parents didn’t want to get a Wii, which the girl probably actually wanted instead.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz lol. I had the light too and 7 years old me was totally hiding under the covers playing poorly made sequels to my favorite NES games on the regular in those days. I remember Pokemon being sort of a revelation to 10 year old me by being practically a console level title. I got the N64 late, so I wasn’t quite aware of 3D games when it came out! I loved my Super Gameboy too and how you could play Pokemon full screen on the Stadium games. It was such an innocent era.
The internet was so different back then. It was both more impersonal, but also I feel like it was easier to connect at the same time. By the time MySpace caught on for me in high school, I’d say I had more digital friends than physical. I remember way, way back, I was in an AOL Megaman MMO that was AIM based. Sort of junk tech, but it was such an odd and unique home brewed thing. It’s funny to think, given how prevalent internet is in all of our lives now, but the intense stigma there was about kids like us spending time online. Honestly, the people that wagged their finger seem to be more social media addicted than the forum dwellers 25 years later! Oh, but I can’t remark on others too much because I spent more time on RuneScape my freshman year than most people spend online total in a decade. Lol. And when it went 3D and became what is now known as RuneScape classic, my friends and I all abandoned the game in protest of the update. Looking back at it, what an antique that 3D update was!
I just don’t really have time for gaming much these days. Between kids, work, commute, dealing with the whole family drama cycle, I’m lucky now if I get 10 hours of game time a week, so as much as I’d love to play through JRPGs, I just… don’t anymore unless they’re absolutely essential to me like FF7 Rebirth. I wish I had time for the Personas, but I don’t think that’ll happen unless we get a more bite sized one in a dead gaming season. Maybe Metaphor will be the one? I did start P4 ages ago on PS3? I think it was PS3. A friend of mine loaned me a copy and I started it and played for a while, but never seemed to get anywhere with it. P5 I started right after DQ11, but I was burnt out of JRPGs at the time, after blasting through the Witcher 3, FF7R, FF15, and DQ11 one after the other. Only in COVID could something like that happen! I do recommend DQ11, but beware, it’s a loooooong game. It dwarfs most JRPGs. It’s not quite Persona length, but it’s not far from it. Y’know, Like a Dragon’s another series I feel like I want to experience, but know I never will.
Re: Three Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In March 2024 So Far
@FarmDog08 Not sure how to exciting that ABK drop will be just yet, honestly. I expect it to come soon to try to minimize some panic from the Xbox brand. I’d like to hope for things like StarCraft, but I’m not expecting it. Hopefully we get Diablo 4!
Re: These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (February 12-16)
Genuinely looking forward to seeing how Banishers reviews. I may pick that one up.
Re: Three Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In March 2024 So Far
Sort of waiting for the Gamepass line-up to pick up. We’ve got enough confirmed titles for this year to be exciting, but I dunno… I’ll probably fire up Open Roads.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Bandai makes so many games so quickly that you have to wonder how much overlap there is. When Tekken 8’s demo came out, I remember saying to my wife, you’ve got to wonder how many people worked on this one that worked on a Pac-Man at some point! Lol. I do wonder what the Xeno team is working on right now.
For me, the console that made me see how cruel the console world was was the og Gameboy. I had one of the original ones as a little tyke, but, when Pokemon came out, and everyone started to have a Gameboy, I had this giant brick compared to all these stylish N64 controller colored little bricks that all my friends had. And they got a color screen! Lol. I’ve never been one to purchase iterations of the same console though. My mom didn’t let me then, so I don’t let me now! Lol. But, oh yes, GBA was so strange as a console in that I can’t think of another console that was ported to PC faster than games released. Lol. I played LeafGreen before it even came out. What a weird generation for games.
I loved DQ11, which was the one on Gamepass. I remember loving the demo on Switch and then just sort of forgetting I bought it til COVID and… well, what a time for the backlog! I’d played the NES DQ games and 8, but admittedly I haven’t played them all. 11 was the best turn-based JRPG I’d potentially played since… maybe FF7, honestly. I really sank into it. I really struggle to get 40+ hours into any game, but DQ11 has to be in my top 10 games played of all time. I was around 80 hours into it, if I remember correctly!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 10-11)
I’m tempted to pick up Helldivers due to the surprising hype for the game. Feels like the game went from one of the most quiet PS exclusives to exploding at release due to good previews.
Outside that, I’d like to play Silent Hill: A Short Message, the beta for Skull and Bones, and maybe a bit of Tekken 8. I haven’t played much of anything this week outside the FF7 demo. Ever since I beat Prince of Persia, I feel like I’m sort of in-between games, even as much as I love to play Tekken poorly on a regular basis.
Re: Multiple Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Titles Are Playable On PC This Week
Don’t have a gaming PC, but I’d really like to know how Harold Halibut is turning out.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Xenoverse 2 is 8 years old! How many games that old can sustain DLC? It has to be both low cost and have the player base. I’m guessing they do a cheap round of DLC and about 30-50k shell out $5 for it or so and that’s sustainable for the development.
Lol. I played so many old (and some of them very bad) DB games via emulators! That’s taking me back 25 years now! Lol. I just feel that DQ and DB have such a natural crossroads to them that it feels like something that would make sense and potentially be fun for Toriyama.
The GBA, ah… the system I never owned and yet totally legally by legal means played games as they released, if you know what I mean. I loved that little library of games. I still can’t believe what they pulled out of Castlevania and Metroid for that console.
Re: Talking Point: Halo 3 Fans Debate Whether An 'Anniversary' Remaster Is Necessary
It’ll be great on Switch and PlayStation!
Re: The FTC Is Concerned About Xbox's Recent Batch Of Employee Layoffs
Given the acquisition has occurred, what can the FTC do here?
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz I totally agree about the Xenoverse games. They just… they’re annoying in how they’re made. They feel sort of cheaply made too and DLC literally never stops! They’re still putting out Xenoverse 2 DLC, believe it or not!
There’s a handful of old RPGs for the franchise on NES and SNES and GBA, of course. I’ve got a fondness for some of them, though they’re not necessarily great. Legend of the Super Saiyan always cracked me up as a game. You could end up beating the Saiyans without any deaths, so the team flying off to Namek makes zero sense when everyone’s alive and there’s no reason for them to look for the Dragon Balls or Goku can die on Namek and you can still beat Freeza with a high leveled Yamcha or Chaotzu because levels. Lol. It’s a card game rpg though too, so luck is a big thing. I’d personally love to see a Dragon Ball game that’s influenced by Dragon Quest!
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz I’m glad forums are still a thing. In a way, going on forums itself makes me feel nostalgic too for a time long ago too. I remember ages ago being a frequenter for the Weezer forums and having voted on songs for their fourth album. To think forums are still such a part of my life is quite wonderful to me. It’s a great place to my friends.
I will definitely be checking it out and I’ll let you know what I think of it. I’ll probably try to watch the anime first.
Ah, the best Dragon Ball game is such a loaded question. I remember a time when Hyper Dimension was the best in the series, but man is that game hard, and Final Bout felt like such a legendary thing to get hold of as well, so that game had such a special feeling to it, even if its rarity was better than the actual game in some ways. I loved the Legacy of Goku games and the remasters of Budokai 1 and 3 on 360 is definitely my most played game in the series. However, all that said, FighterZ is probably the actual “best” game for me. Believe it or not, I never actually played Kakarot! The Xenoverse games never really did it for me and Kakarot looked very similar to me. I never really like Budokai Tenkaichi either, but Sparking Zero looks really cool and I’ll definitely get it.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz I’m definitely looking into 3x3 Eyes now. I’m definitely interested. I don’t know what it is about that era or anime. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or what, but I just really prefer what was happening with the genre in those days and I’m looking forward to watching it… if I can find it somewhere!
We are definitely cut from the same cloth! Every time we get into a tangent, we’re talking for days! The magic of Hookshot Media!
Re: Xbox Fans Urged To Remain Calm As Emotions Run Wild On Social Media
The reason many are upset is because of Sega PTSD. I’ve said it elsewhere but I believe Gamepass will be the next “console” for Xbox. They’re almost certainly trying to figure out how to Stadia with Stadia-ing. I hope Xbox sticks around, if only to give Sony competition. Of course, to validate Xbox as an ecosystem for the rest of this generation, they’re really going to have to create the appearance of value. The goofy approach to communication and general gaming flops on Xbox’s part this generation has saddled them with a paranoid fanbase in many circles. If this is isn’t another Sega scenario and is simply porting a few games, Xbox needs to do better about relaying a message for why an Xbox has value beyond the admittedly huge games that are rumored to go.
Re: Phil Spencer Addresses Xbox Speculation Ahead Of 'Business Update Event'
If I can buy Halo on PS5, I’m doing it. Just saying. This is going to be a crazy week of rumors.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Lol. That’s expensive. The whole series is on Crunchy Roll, I believe? It used to be on Hulu, but I’m not sure if it still is.
Oh, man, I can’t even imagine watching Akira at that age. It was probably psychedelic in the way that only children can understand. Like an intense, sort of gory Yellow Submarine. Lol.
I’ve never seen 3x3 Eyes. What’s that one about? I’m intrigued. I used to be a huge anime/manga nut in early teens, dropped it a bit in high school (because, you know, it really sort of was that I didn’t want to get lumped in with the cat ear kids, as silly as that is [the anime culture changed even then!]), but then got nostalgic in my early 20s and went off the deep end with it. Lol. I don’t consume nearly as much anime now, but I’m always down a good recommendation.
Re: Talking Point: How Important Is EA Play To You On Xbox Game Pass?
I honestly can’t recall off the top of my head the last EA game I even played. I’d have to look it up. It Takes Two was EA, wasn’t it? I rarely play EA titles, which seems sort of odd, given how big the publisher used to feel. I couldn’t even tell you much of anything they’ve released after Mass Effect 3.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz I’ve taken this context from the manga, interviews, and guidebooks. Because Dragon Ball is such a big property, there’s basically a scholarly collection of information on the series if you know where to look. I know where to look and I’ve read about all you can read about the series, you could say. Some people scroll on social media in their free time, some people do important things, me… I… uh… scroll on Hookshot media sites and various other forums that make me really good at trivia for nerdy and niche things. Lol. I irritated my wife the other day because I know the last names of all the 90’s Nickelodeon characters as well. She bet me that I didn’t know them all and sort of yelled at me, “Why do you know this?” I said, “Some people know sports statistics. I know Nickelodeon characters, but don’t get me started on Dragon Ball trivia.” I haven’t reread Dragon Ball in a while, but I’ve got the whole manga set. I think I reread it last in like 2016 or so. My son isn’t quite old enough for my wife to let him jump into the series. We started watching the anime one time and an early Bulma shower scene got me yelled at!
Man, I loved coming home after school to watch anime. My sister and I would run home, so we wouldn’t miss Sailor Moon (which I said was for her, but I totally loved it too). We’d watch Dragon Ball and maybe Super Friends? I could be wrong on Super Friends, but I think Super Friends or Thundercats was in the early line-up. I know Gundam and Tenchi were big shows for us too. I want to say Ronin Warriors, The Big O, Outlaw Star, and Rurouni Kenshin were also shows we watched and then we started watching non-TV stuff after that when DVD box sets were a thing in my teenage years. Ah, the nostalgia. Anime was such a niche thing in those days. It’s really odd to me how popular it’s gotten. It was such a different culture in my youth.
I had no idea about that. I’ll have to check that out. I loved the Buffy cast. One of the best ensembles to hit TV and I also love that the show put Cibo Matto on TV to perform Sugar Water.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz I can totally agree. The whole Cell spots thing, I can totally get. It’s just funny that the guy has admitted in interviews all the things he doesn’t like to do. And I only call him lazy because that’s how he refers to himself! He wrote several times in his own manga that he’d rather play Dragon Quest than draw his manga, which is probably why he never stopped animating for DQ, but retired DB. I get the feeling that he likes to make the art in one image and then have someone else do the rest of the work.
I’m surprised DB isn’t more saturated for kids these days too. I feel like kids know DB more from the games than the actual show or manga now, which isn’t bad, I suppose, but it seems strange.
Lol. I love Buffy too, but man what strange casting! What a strange film. I’m not sure how they thought that one was going to succeed. It’s almost like they didn’t watch it before releasing it. Lol
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Obsidian Game On Xbox?
Definitely New Vegas. The game’s a 10.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Yeah, from what I’ve read, Toriyama really liked Android 19 and 20 and wanted to head in a more horror-based direction where Goku is disabled for most of the arc due to a heart attack, but apparently ratings for the manga dropped, so he came up with the idea to make 17 and 18 in an effort to be more trendy to a youthful audience. However, 17 and 18 weren’t gaining much traction either and Toriyama said the story felt sort of aimless, so he started going down the horror road again with Cell, but his editor encouraged him to change directions with the character, which Toriyama admitted he didn’t really like, as he wanted Cell to be more of a lurking shadow than a present character because he didn’t like drawing all the spots for the character. Just remember this is a guy that dropped tails for Saiyans because he was tired of being reminded to draw them. Trunks and Vegeta going Super Saiyan may have been a plot point added due to fan demand too, as it was previously suggested that there would be only one Super Saiyan. But also, again, making characters stay Super Saiyan may have been a vehicle for Toriyama’s laziness as well, as he didn’t like to fill in the character’s hair with ink and Super Saiyan was quicker to draw as a result. You could argue that the Buu arc starts as a response to the Cell arc, but then also gets swayed to improve ratings, and then perhaps that’s why Toriyama stopped Z there and shifted his focus to smaller, more goofy projects. It’s a bit of speculation mixed with some statements, but it’s an interesting story to me, the creation of the story, and how you can sort of see certain elements change post-Freeza, as that saga was far more successful than anyone could have predicted.
The live action film is better off not being talked about. Lol.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Zamasu is a Supreme Kai, same as… uh… Supreme Kai, but from a different universe, but he goes in some different directions to attempt to achieve his goal. Ironically enough, Goku inspires him to attempt to fulfill his evil ambitions.
Freeza was always my favorite and I’ve always felt Cell was a tad overrated. I read that Toriyama felt burned out on the Androids and Cell arcs and didn’t particularly like drawing things then and decided to embrace tropes his fans wanted, and I’ve sort of used that to justify why I think the arc goes downhill… but hey it’s Dragon Ball, so I still love it.
Honestly, in my older (though not actually old) age, I’ve grown to appreciate the Buu arc more for adding more world building. The Great Saiyaman arc that precedes it is actually one of my favorite arcs in the series because it goes back to a time of goofy humor, which was sorely missing in the Android/Cell arc. Ah, I could wax poetic about Dragon Ball all day. It’s not the best anime/manga, but, man, does it stick with me.
Re: PDP Unveils New Xbox Guitar Controller For Rock Band 4 And Fortnite Festival
I need this in my life. Is there a price for it in the video? I can’t watch now because of work.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Oh man, to have access to that kind of money for even an hour would be insane. I think I’d have some fun with it though if I ever have the chance!
I’ve personally got them all purchased from the Xbox store. They had a sale on them when Super Hero came out and I couldn’t resist!
Freeza is definitely my favorite antagonist as well. While Zamasu isn’t an antagonist in the films, I think he’s an interesting take on the Dragon Ball villain formula, featured in the anime/manga. I’ll have to admit, as someone that’s followed Super monthly for maybe like eight or nine years, I think, the arcs typically work best when digested in chunks, so I think you’re about to have a great time with it.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz You’ll probably like the Broly one, in that he’s a totally different character in this version. He has a legitimate backstory, they go back to the Freeza Force a little bit and explore Planet Vegeta before it was destroyed. I like those touches personally, even if some people aren’t a fan of Broly (and Bardock getting recontextualized), but I mean the same people don’t like Freeza being thousands of times more powerful than he was in Z either. Lol. Watching the movies, you might feel gaps between Resurrection F and Broly and, well… that’s because the whole Super anime happens between the two, but I’m sure there’s recaps. Personally, I’d recommend the Super manga over the anime, but I can’t fault you if you’d rather watch a show than read the plot. At the very least we definitely didn’t get days of Goku and Freeza powering up in Super like we did with Z. Lol.
Goku has got to be the Japanese Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny or something similar to that. The character is so recognizable. After Dragon Ball Z aired, Toriyama was basically set for life. It’s certainly a surprise he came back to the series for Super, but apparently he always wanted to make high budget films and Dragon Ball’s a definite vehicle for that.
Re: These Six Xbox Games Have Made January A Month To Remember
Prince of Persia is certainly fantastic. It’d definitely have been in my top 10 list if it had released last year, which was a fantastic year. Tekken is solid so far too, potentially better than the two fantastic fighters we had last year. I’ll be honest, the hype for Like a Dragon is making me curious, even if I’ve never been into the series before.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Kai was a remastering of all the sagas, and I’d like to say there was a DVD box set that did the same thing with the original series maybe three years ago. I might be off with time a bit.
With regards to the films, I’d watch them in order: Battle of the Gods, which introduces the purple cat, Resurrection F, which reintroduces Freeza, Broly, which introduces Toriyama’s version of Broly, then Super Hero, which retreads ground on the Red Ribbon Army. Yeah, the films are derivative of older material a bit, but they’re a lot of fun too. Broly is probably the best film of the lot, but they’re all fairly good at what they do. Most fans bemoaned Resurrection F for a while, but I enjoyed it.
Re: Xbox Hires Call Of Duty GM As New President Of Blizzard Entertainment
Just what Blizzard needs: CoD sensibilities!
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Your mileage will vary on Super. Personally, I really enjoy it, but I’ll admit it could’ve been done better in a lot of aspects. I like the manga more than the anime, which can be a bit iffy. The Dragon Ball Super movies are excellent though, pure spectacle. Dragon Ball Super is definitely lighter in tone than Z. The Future Trunks arc though is the closest the series got to horror though, and the Moro arc is like mixing Namek and Buu arcs together. Super throws GT out the window and is a separate continuity. Akira Toriyama wasn’t directly involved in GT, but he is front and center with the Super films. He is an advisor on the manga as well. I sort of feel like the anime got cancelled because he apparently wasn’t very happy with the animation quality of it and liberties they took with the story, as it ran concurrent with the manga. If anything, watch the movies for a good time. The more creative stuff is in the manga, but you won’t be disappointed in the films.
Re: Deus Ex Game Reportedly Cancelled As Another Embracer Studio Hit By Layoffs
Embracer should probably just close itself at this point and sell the IPs to people that actually make games.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Yes sir, the manga is still a monthly thing and we’re getting a new animated series later this year. The manga has a different interpretation than the anime of Dragon Ball Super too, so it’s sort of interesting in being different. Of course, Toriyama is more or less an advisor for the manga at this point, but I enjoy it.
I’d really like to have a game that goes from OG Dragon Ball through the end of Super. As much as I like Z, it is a bit rote repeating JUST those arcs when it’s a third of the canon story.
Re: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Powers Up In New 'Goku VS Vegeta' Trailer
@Kaloudz Well, it looks like this one should be a fairly comprehensive look at Dragon Ball Super, which is something that hasn’t gotten much in the way of video game coverage yet. Despite Super being around for quite some time, we’ve never actually seen anything past Resurrection F in video game format. They’ve practically got the whole series to cover! It looks like the game may be covering up to the Broly film, based on the character roster image we’ve seen on the trailer. While it’s a divergent future from GT, it’s very exciting to see it covered. If anything, I’m expecting GT/movie era items to be primed for DLC content, knowing how the Dragon Ball game continuity works (I mean, it’ll likely have years of DLC). I’d love a new saga, a game only saga in this one, but I’d also love them to simply cover the sagas the manga has gotten through since the animated series has ended. We’ve gotten two complete arcs in the manga that haven’t seen any other media representation yet! That’d be totally fresh content to see!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 27-28)
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The game is absolutely wonderful so far. It’s so incredibly fun to play and already somehow feels like 2024’s hidden gem after seeing it rank sort of low in the sales rankings. While I still think Dread is the best Metroidvania of all time, The Lost Crown is definitely one of the better modern ones. The more I play it, the more I enjoy it and the more I think it may be Ubisoft’s best game since Assassin’s Creed 2, and potentially beyond that with its sights set on the studios highlight in The Sands of Time. It’s certainly exceeded all of my expectations and I’m truly enjoying it.
Aside from that, I should be booting up Tekken 8 soon enough. I’ll likely play some MK1 and SF6 for comparison as well, though I expect most real gaming time to go to Sargon’s journey. I’m hoping to play a bit of Jackbox with the family too.
Re: Poll: How Many Physical Xbox Games Do You Have In Your Collection?
I’ve got maybe a dozen? Most of them are old 360 games. I’ve got Eternal Sonata, Dragon Ball Z Budokai, Guitar Hero, DDR, you know? Some of that. On Xbone, a Japanese copy of Puyo Puyo Tetris, Ori Collector’s, Megaman Legacy, a few other things. Not much stuff though. I would trade in games mostly during those two generations. I only keep my collections with Nintendo consoles for some reason.
Re: Xbox Game Pass: All Games Coming Soon In February 2024
@BaldBelper78 Yeah, I get it. If you long term subbed, but if you’re there for the Day One with Gamepass types of games that Xbox hyped heavily in 2019 and 2020 (while likely knowing full well the release schedule in 2021 and 2022 would be light), Gamepass would definitely feel light, especially if you’re a gamer that had been pretty active in the last few generations. I know, for me, Gamepass offers value in that I’ll usually play maybe 5 or 6 games a year on it start to finish that I would’ve otherwise bought, so it’s decent to me, even if I’ll go sometimes 3 or 4 months without even booting my Xbox, but, again, if you’re there for the first party games, you’ve not only got a light selection, but a weak selection the last couple years. Oh sure, there’s been a game or two a year that’s great, but still, there’s an argument to be made that Xbox needs to be doing better with their first party studios, given their resources.
Re: Palworld Under 'Investigation' As Pokémon Company Issues Statement
I don’t think Pokémon will succeed in a lawsuit yet, but, given that the CEO for the company that made Palworld stated that he feels Nintendo is wrong for making original games and that he strongly believes in AI technology to produce games, there may be something here somewhere. The fact that devs not related to either IP have come forward to comment on this, taking Gamefreak’s side, does make a compelling argument that something may happen here. If this is an AI asset rip, do we really want Palworld to succeed, from an industry standpoint, you know? You can complain about Pokemon all day, but if this is proven, there is an argument against the ethics of Palworld. If that’s not substantiated though, I mean, then Palworld’s just a sort of soulless parody game with hodgepodge yet fun mechanics. No big deal if the rumors are just rumors and nothing else
Re: Gallery: Here's A Look At New 4K Screenshots For Obsidian's Avowed
@Mephisto2869 Agree 100%. It looks off. The enemy character models look off too and it’s so darn colorful in a way that feels off too, but darn it, they did alright with the Outer Worlds, which also looked severely off to me, so I’m hoping this is a similar story.
Re: Gallery: Here's A Look At New 4K Screenshots For Obsidian's Avowed
It’s Obsidian. I trust them even if I think it looks… off… for some reason. Not sure why. I dunno though. Obsidian is one of the few developers I trust though.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 20-21)
If my family isn’t home when I finish work today, I’m totally sinking into Prince of Persia. I might play some more Street Fighter 6 and I do want to try Palworld.
Re: 'Indiana Jones And The Great Circle' Gameplay Has Landed, And It Looks Awesome
@nomither6 Doom was great. I do agree with that one.
Borderlands and High on Life, I really can’t with those. The games are aggressively anti-funny to me. I think I’d take the micros and BPs over the sense of humor those ones have.
Indy looks like it’s developed by the Wolfenstein team (I mean, it is, but you know what I mean) but going to the next level in their capability and that is exactly the kind of FPS I want.
Re: Hellblade 2 Will Be A Digital-Only, Cheaper Release On Xbox And PC
@MrMagic A good 6-7 hours is better than a plodding 80 hours. It’s a higher value, imo. With Hellblade, you’re paying for production values instead of a huge world, though I’m really curious about where they can take the story for a sequel.
Re: Bethesda Explains Why Xbox's Indiana Jones Game Will Be 'Mostly' First-Person
@Mephisto2869 Yeah, solid ones are few and far between these days. Deathloop was the only one I liked out of that bunch and it has a distinctly roguelike feel to it, even if it’s not a real roguelike. We do get FPS games, but they don’t focus on being FPS games so much anymore with good gunplay and action/adventure elements. Honestly, most of the games you listed also have worse gunplay than the new era Doom/Wolfenstein games, as well (including Deathloop, even though I really liked it). Indy looks like it could elevate the genre.
Re: Square Enix Makes Surprise Appearance At Xbox Developer Direct 2024
@Stoned_Patrol I definitely buy games. I buy enough games where I’m grateful Gamepass exists because it saves money on all those Xbox exclusives. Lol. But Mana, I’ll buy if it has intriguing reviews.
Re: Roundup: Here's What Was Revealed At The Xbox Developer Direct 2024
Indiana Jones was the only stunner for me. Ara looked good, but it’s PC only, so blah! Mana just has a complicated legacy. Hellblade will be a fun movie to watch on YouTube, but I didn’t like playing the first one, so yeah… Sorry! Avowed looks truly impossible to evaluate currently. I mean, it just looks like a brighter and cartoonier Elder Scrolls with VR hands instead of Skyrim arms for some reason. On the other hand, it’s Obsidian and in Obsidian we trust, you know what I mean? So, yeah, Indiana Jones looks fantastic, but it definitely looks like 2024 is saying, “Take your time with Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth… like seriously… take you time since you struggle doing that” to me.
Re: Bethesda Explains Why Xbox's Indiana Jones Game Will Be 'Mostly' First-Person
I’m so glad this is first person. Seems not many people feel this way, but, man, let me put it this way: I love the FPS genre, but not the way the genre has been. I mean, it’s gone so multiplayer focused as a genre and so open world as a genre when it isn’t multiplayer that an old school FPS with modern visuals looks absolutely refreshing to see in 2024. I love it! It reminds me of how I felt 10, 15 years ago when a new FPS would get announced.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The Xbox Developer Direct 2024?
I gave it a B, but that’s just for the content. The presentation style is an A for me. I really like these Developer Directs now and every game felt sort of important, which is nice.
For the games, I felt it was odd that Ara was on here, given that it’s a PC only game. Avowed doesn’t wow me yet, but I trust Obsidian, so I’m along for the ride. Outer Worlds reminded me of Borderlands back during its release cycle, which I really didn’t like (sorry, but I despise Borderlands), but preordered the game on faith and was happy I did. Mana looks like it could go either way, but I’m rooting for it. I thought the remakes were middling to say the least, but I’ve got a soft spot for the SNES version of Secret, so I want it to be good and get those feels again. Hellblade, as always, looks absolutely stunning, but… also a game I’ll watch the cutscenes on YouTube! Sorry, I did NOT enjoy playing the first one! The gameplay bored me to tears, but it was a great movie. And… Indiana Jones looked fantastic! I’m sold for that one 100% when I was really lukewarm on it before the presentation. The quality of the games presented was probably a light B, heavy C. Indiana Jones is realistically the only game I could say I’m genuinely excited about from the presentation. Even if I trust Obsidian on Avowed, I still haven’t acquired the taste. Once I play it, I hope I feel different.
Now, another B thing to me: where’s the Q1 game from Xbox? I know it’s petty to complain about the lack of a shadow drop and there’s certainly enough to play this year, but uhhh… I was sort of hoping there’d be something new to make me want to turn on my Xbox in the near future at least. Little Kitty Big City and Still Wakes the Deep are coming soon, I suppose, but I guess it is great to have it be pretty concrete that by the time FF7 Rebirth releases, it will absolutely stand alone for a while this year for me. After last year being heavy release after heavy release, it’s nice to have some breathing room perhaps? But still, yeah, Fall 2024 with Avowed is a long time to wait for something that I’ll play for sure on the console. I was hoping for something more… soon.
Re: Square Enix Makes Surprise Appearance At Xbox Developer Direct 2024
I hope this is on Gamepass. The Mana remakes have been sort of iffy to the point that they sort of made me wonder if they weren’t as good as I remembered the original games being. I hope this one hits Secret of Mana SNES tier quality.
Re: 'Indiana Jones And The Great Circle' Gameplay Has Landed, And It Looks Awesome
This looks like the exact type of game I’ve missed playing the past generation or two, an old school FPS made modern without… you know, the modern things like battle passes and micros and multiplayer being the main chunk of game. This looked BETTER than expected, which is awesome. I’m excited for this one.
Re: Ara: History Untold Officially Arrives For PC Game Pass In Fall 2024
Well, it’s a shame this one looks good because I don’t have a gaming PC and I won’t be buying one. I have an Xbox for Xbox Game Studios titles. Oh well, can’t win them all!