[Souffrir]

6700XT reviews coming out. Unshockingly, it's a little better than a 3060ti, a little worse than a 3070 and absolute garbage at ray-tracing compared to the Nvidia series. And you won't be able to buy any anyways.

But does it have blast processing?

[nny]

I got really into Bloodstained this past weekend. I was really excited when Bloodstained got on game pass a year and a half ago. I played it and really struggled with the difficulty. I used guides to make sure I had the best items and still found the game really hard even on the easiest difficulty. After beating the tough second boss, I think I got frustrated with dying and losing progress while exploring and gave up. 

 

They added a randomizer mode to the game last year and I thought that was pretty cool and wanted to try it, but heard that you needed to beat the game to unlock it and   never got around to looking into it more. Hearing that it was leaving game pass this week, I wanted to make sure I tried out the randomizer if there was a way before it left GP. Turns out they removed the requirement to beat the game since some people were unable to access the new modes even after beating the game. 

 

I ended up playing a bunch of different runs using the randomizer. It kind of felt like a roguelike although it was less balanced since you were by default getting OP items early on. With the movement abilities you can get in that game every run was a little different even though the enemies and level layout never changed. Even with the OP items the game never felt too easy although I was able to cheese a few enemies, specifically bosses. I ended up beating the game without even realizing I was fighting the final boss. 

 

After playing with the randomizer for a couple days, on the last day of the game being on GP, I decided to do a normal run and was surprised at how much better I was at the game after playing with the randomizer so much. The second boss was still a little jarring in how much of a jump in difficulty he was, but besides that the game felt pretty good. I made it through probably 1/3 of the game before I had to go to bed, but I look forward to playing it again sometime in the future. There's still a bunch in the game I haven't seen since in all my randomizer runs the first key ability you get never dropped. That ability opened up a bunch of sections I couldn't get to, but I was able to keep playing since the other abilities opened up parts of the game from later on. I think there's also 2 secret endings. 

 

It'd probably be too difficult to implement in other games, but I sure would love it if other games could figure out a way to implement more "random" options. I guess a good example of doing this without relying on a roguelike approach would be like how my favorite mode in Overwatch is Mystery Heroes.

[shadowysea07]

 

Since we're on the RPG topic - I need to chop away at some of these, as these are some big games that need to be started and/or completed.

 

After finishing ME2 DLC's, DA2 DLC's and DAI DLC's - I think I'm still in RPG mode.

 

Some of these - like DOS1 & W3, I've started...but never finished. Some of these, never tackled certain expansions and/or DLC's.

 

So, what do you guys all suggest for RPG's? What do you like the best out of these? 

 

Here's stuff, in my backlog:

• Pillars of Eternity 1 (and its Expansion Pass)
• Pillars of Eternity 2 [base-game]
• Divinity: Original Sin 1
• Shadowrun: Hong Kong
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate (DLC/expansion)
• Neverwinter Nights 1: Enhanced Edition - Kingmaker DLC
• Neverwinter Nights 1: Enhanced Edition - Darkness over Daggerford DLC
• NWN1: EE - Pirates of the Sword Coast DLC
• NWN1: EE - Wyvern Crown of Cormyr DLC
• NWN1: EE - Infinite Dungeons DLC
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker [base-game]
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
• BG1: EE - Dragonspear [expansion]
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt & Expansion Pass
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance [base-game]
• Fallout 4: Nuka World (DLC)
• Mass Effect 3: DLC Bundle Pack
• ELEX
• The Technomancer
• Final Fantasy 15: Windows Version (with Ardyn DLC)
• Ni No Kuni 1: Remastered
• Ni No Kuni 2: Prince's Edition

 

I wouldn't rec ni no kuni 1. it's such a shame studio ghibli didn't have much involvement with it as if they had at least done the story and animation it could have been worth a watch at least.  But the gameplay is just so grindy and hands off during combat that I dropped it.  As combat boils down to the ai being useless and you either running around the battle field arena inbetween using spells via either your pokemon or your character occasionally after the cooldown timer finishes.  It's a very level 5 game in that to catch and level and evolve your mons you have to do so many tedious things. 

 

I've heard the sequel is good though.

 

As for 15 it was ok if you go into it as a boys road trip open world game.  the dlc and updates make it drastically different than when it came out. I only did the glad dlc and it was tiring due to how repetitive it was. grab pillar walk around and smack mid bosses and mobs till the force field depletes to advance rinse repeat till the boss. I didn't touch the other dlc though.  Overall it's not a bad game it's just not a good one.  I had more fun doing the hunts and exploring than actually advancing the story or anything.  So much like ff12 it's a dud.

 

I really hated the genre switch to survival horror though at the end of the game.  That was unfun to go through and annoying having to climb umbrella corp tower twice and back track to push switches and crap. and the map can't differentiate between floors for where you need to go so the marker is worthless. 

[MysterD]

6700XT reviews coming out.  Unshockingly, it's a little better than a 3060ti, a little worse than a 3070 and absolute garbage at ray-tracing compared to the Nvidia series.  And you won't be able to buy any anyways.

Yeah, I'm watching Steve (of GamersNexus) review.

 

Sounds like a really solid card for old-school rasterization (i.e. b/t 3060 Ti and 3070)...and that's about it.

 

Man, they really need to improve RT performance and especially get a DLSS equivalent soon. They just look & sound way behind what Nvidia's doing, in terms of actual RT stuff.

[nny]

I was worried that the only Gamepass stuff we'd be getting this month were a couple sports games and all the Bethesda stuff. The only Bethesda game I really wanted, Evil Within 2, wasn't added, so none of that excited me much, but they've really hit it out of the park the past couple days.

 

Yesterday they announced for PC Empire of Sin, Octopath Traveler, Nier Automata, Torchlight 3 and a couple new releases that I think were previously announced, but I'm pretty excited about: Narita Boy and Genesis Noir. 

 

Just announced, EA Play being added to PC Gamepass tomorrow; over 60 games including Squadrons and you have to use EA's app and link your Xbox account to it.

 

Just think of all the dlc-less Dragon Age you can play with Gamepass now

[Insomniac_34]

Also getting Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Ultimate Edition either this week or next.

 

Those 27 months of Game Pass Ultimate I got back in December is probably the best $100 I've spent in years.

 

Only thing that worries/annoys me is that it's highly unlikely Square Enix will allow Nier: Automata to be modded, so we'll be stuck with all the issues that plague the game.

[Syntax Error]

Game Pass has allowed me to try a number of games I thought I'd like and then realize that I didn't feel like playing them after all.  I look forward to adding Nier: Automata to the list alongside Outer Worlds, A Plague Tale: Innocence, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Doom Eternal.

 

What I've spent on Game Pass subs, I've made up in not owning those games.

[MysterD]

DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods, Part 2 (DLC) - TRAILER and Release Announcement:

 

DLC comes out tomorrow.

[warreni]

D&D: Dark Alliance announced.
 
Looks like a co-op brawler/ARPG type of game....with some Destiny, Division & Godfall influences, but instead a medieval game here set in the D&D World/Universe/Setting.

I watched the trailer and holy crap is that music annoying! Other than that, yeah, I could get behind an ARPG with Drizz't, Wulfgar, Cattie and Bruenor kicking butt.
 

Since we're on the RPG topic - I need to chop away at some of these, as these are some big games that need to be started and/or completed.
 
After finishing ME2 DLC's, DA2 DLC's and DAI DLC's - I think I'm still in RPG mode.
 
Some of these - like DOS1 & W3, I've started...but never finished. Some of these, never tackled certain expansions and/or DLC's.
 
So, what do you guys all suggest for RPG's? What do you like the best out of these? 
 
Here's stuff, in my backlog:

• Pillars of Eternity 1 (and its Expansion Pass)
• Pillars of Eternity 2 [base-game]
• Divinity: Original Sin 1
• Shadowrun: Hong Kong
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate (DLC/expansion)
• Neverwinter Nights 1: Enhanced Edition - Kingmaker DLC
• Neverwinter Nights 1: Enhanced Edition - Darkness over Daggerford DLC
• NWN1: EE - Pirates of the Sword Coast DLC
• NWN1: EE - Wyvern Crown of Cormyr DLC
• NWN1: EE - Infinite Dungeons DLC
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker [base-game]
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
• BG1: EE - Dragonspear [expansion]
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt & Expansion Pass
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance [base-game]
• Fallout 4: Nuka World (DLC)
• Mass Effect 3: DLC Bundle Pack
• ELEX
• The Technomancer
• Final Fantasy 15: Windows Version (with Ardyn DLC)
• Ni No Kuni 1: Remastered
• Ni No Kuni 2: Prince's Edition

I'd put PoE II close to the top of your list. It's really fun. The first game is good too, but the sequel improves on it in many ways.
 
Kingdom Come is very skippable, IMO. The difficulty is brutal to the point that it makes for a fairly-unpleasant experience. I really wanted to like that game, but . . . .
 

Personally, I'm waiting for BG3 to get out of Early Access/Developmental Access and actually at least hit Version 1.0. Though, knowing me, I'll probably get it way later, when it's cheaper.
 
And honestly, I probably should tackle Divinity: Original Sin 1 first; and also buy & play Divinity: Original Sin 2.
 
This new Dark Alliance...doesn't look like Dark Alliance. DA was, to me, an isometric ARPG/CRPG looking at being in-the-between hybrid of sorts. I never played it - wish it came to PC, but it never did.
 
This new Dark Alliance....looks like a mix b/t Destiny, Division, and Godfall all set in D&D-Land.
 
I dunno - if I need say more of that D2-like isometric-ARPG, I probably should just tackle Grim Dawn; and work on Titan Quest: Anniversary some more. Never finished those - and honestly, I should get to work on those, at some point in time.

Well, if it does turn out that way, I'd be inclined to agree, but I never played the original and I'm not sure we know enough about this iteration to be certain.
 

I'm already some 20-30 hours into W3: Wild Hunt. Probably barely done main stuff, mostly side stuff. Even though I've had it forever, I often seem to play it for a bit...and then stop. Something else gets in the way.
 
I do really need to commit to that  game.

Yes, you should definitely move this to the top as well. Sure, it's a huge time-sink, but it's really worth it.
 

Don't be giving him any ideas now...

Oh, no. It's happening!!!!!
 

One I didn't see on your list was D:OS2. I know you started the first, and I'm guessing it didn't grab you since you didn't stick with it, but the second is so much better imo. It's a really remarkable game. I know I've talked about it before, but I just had a lot of fun with that game because of the variety, the lore, and the breadth of possible ways to approach any given situation. It should be on anyone's short list.

I second this. I thought OS1 wasn't as flexible or as fun as 2.

Game Pass has allowed me to try a number of games I thought I'd like and then realize that I didn't feel like playing them after all. I look forward to adding Nier: Automata to the list alongside Outer Worlds, A Plague Tale: Innocence, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Doom Eternal.

What I've spent on Game Pass subs, I've made up in not owning those games.

Hm. Well, I really liked The Outer Worlds, but it came out when I had a GP sub converted using that trick where you could get Gold to convert to Ultimate. I wanted to like A Plague Tale--the core idea was interesting, but the execution of the mechanics was awful. I quit after making the wrong turn when trying to escape villagers for the tenth time in the second chapter. Youngblood is pretty decent for what it is, but I'm just not that much of a shooter guy. I agree with your main point, though. I would have been mildly annoyed about spending money on something like A Plague Tale or Mudrunner or Overpass.

Edited by warreni, 17 March 2021 - 08:06 PM.

[BreadNiblets]

Game Pass has allowed me to try a number of games I thought I'd like and then realize that I didn't feel like playing them after all.  I look forward to adding Nier: Automata to the list alongside Outer Worlds, A Plague Tale: Innocence, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Doom Eternal.

 

What I've spent on Game Pass subs, I've made up in not owning those games.

Nier Automata is better than those other games but it doesn't really start to get good until you "beat" it.

 

In general Gamepass has been more than worth it for me. Definitely saved a lot of money avoiding games that I would have otherwise bought, but I also really enjoyed some stuff like Children of Morta and Spiritfarer which I might not have even played if they weren't on the service. What sucks is that my subscription will end near the end of 2022 which is probably when all these studios that MS bought will finally start releasing their games and I'm not going to resubscribe unless there's a price glitch or something. 

[Nothing-]

More subscription services please I don't have enough. 

[MysterD]

Hm. Well, I really liked The Outer Worlds, but it came out when I had a GP sub converted using that trick where you could get Gold to convert to Ultimate. I wanted to like A Plague Tale--the core idea was interesting, but the execution of the mechanics was awful. I quit after making the wrong turn when trying to escape villagers for the tenth time in the second chapter. Youngblood is pretty decent for what it is, but I'm just not that much of a shooter guy. I agree with your main point, though. I would have been mildly annoyed about spending money on something like A Plague Tale or Mudrunner or Overpass.

I'm really wishing I didn't miss that $18 price error GOG has on TOW: Non-Mandatory Long-Named Complete Edition, not that long ago. I really want to play Gorgon DLC and especially Eridanos DLC. Reviews look solid for Eridanos, to say the least.

 

I saw the ACG review and IGN review for Eridanos - this so looks right up my alley.

 

Regardless, I got plenty of games to play that are backlogged - so, I can still easily play something from there. Got a lot of good backlogged stuff, anyways.

[Insomniac_34]

So Nier: Automata got zero patches on Steam in its four years since release, but the Game Pass version on Day 1 is already found to include a Borderless Windowed mode and AMD's FidelityFX CAS, neither of which were available on the Steam version.

 

So that's kinda weird.

[Syntax Error]

Hm. Well, I really liked The Outer Worlds, but it came out when I had a GP sub converted using that trick where you could get Gold to convert to Ultimate. I wanted to like A Plague Tale--the core idea was interesting, but the execution of the mechanics was awful. I quit after making the wrong turn when trying to escape villagers for the tenth time in the second chapter. Youngblood is pretty decent for what it is, but I'm just not that much of a shooter guy. I agree with your main point, though. I would have been mildly annoyed about spending money on something like A Plague Tale or Mudrunner or Overpass.

Outer Worlds just didn't grab me.  I felt like the progression system was bland and the hyper "lolcapitialism" humor started to wear thin by the time I hit the space station.  To be fair, Space Opera is probably my least favorite genre so it was a heavy lift from the start.  Plague Tale just started to feel very samey and, like you said, the mechanics weren't great so "samey" got old in a hurry.  I think I made it 50-60% through the game before just losing interest.  Youngblood might be more fun with in human co-op than AI companion but mainly the franchise just gets further away from "killing Nazis" each time this one was feeling like more cut scene than Nazi killing.  Likewise for Doom Eternal; I get that a lot of people liked the gun/chainsaw/melee/whatever juggling but I just wanted to shoot demons, not constantly jump through hoops to be allowed to shoot demons.

 

None of these were "bad" games and I could see the quality in all of them.  All were games that I was pretty confident that I'd enjoy.  Just none were really for me in practice and I was glad I played each one on Game Pass instead of spending $15-$20 each, even on sale.  I'm pretty confident that I'm attracted to Nier due to slick aesthetics and it looking fun seeing someone else play but once my skill level hits the wall, I'll drop it like a hot coal so knowing I don't have to pay for that is nice.

[MysterD]

Epic Game Store:

 

This Week's Freebie:

• The Fall

Next Week's Freebie:

• Creature in the Well

[MysterD]

So Nier: Automata got zero patches on Steam in its four years since release, but the Game Pass version on Day 1 is already found to include a Borderless Windowed mode and AMD's FidelityFX CAS, neither of which were available on the Steam version.

 

So that's kinda weird.

Supposedly, what was ported over to Game Pass/Windows Store for PC was the Become as Gods Edition from Xbox One to PC - https://www.pcgamer....ed-the-fan-fix/

 

Become As Gods Edition is not entirely the same exact version as the OG Nier Automata PC version found on Steam.

 

Rumor is - QLOC did the Become As God Xbox One to PC port:

From Twitter - click me.

 

Regardless - they probably should also bring Become As Gods version to Steam, whether it's a free or paid update. Since the OG PC version's "broken", probably the new BaG Edition should be free or at an excessive discount for OG owners.

[bers817]

Anyone else with gamepass for pc not seeing any ea play games on the xbox app?

[gospelman]

Anyone else with gamepass for pc not seeing any ea play games on the xbox app?

It looks like many of them are only on console for the moment.  Below is the list I use to check GP titles.  Was necessary in this case because I haven't found myself wanting to actually play an EA game for years now.
https://www.xbox.com...ame-pass/games#

[bers817]

It looks like many of them are only on console for the moment.  Below is the list I use to check GP titles.  Was necessary in this case because I haven't found myself wanting to actually play an EA game for years now.
https://www.xbox.com...ame-pass/games#

Thanks, I just figured since Xbox put out this tutorial that it would be available now. 

[cobolatrix]

Anyone else with gamepass for pc not seeing any ea play games on the xbox app?

It's still too early, its supposed to launch at 5PM ET.

[bers817]

It's still too early, its supposed to launch at 5PM ET.

Fantastic, thank you

[Insomniac_34]

I don't think I want EA Play for anything other than Jedi: Fallen Order and Squadrons, but that makes it good enough for me.

[gospelman]

I don't think I want EA Play for anything

I probably won't until ME Legendary Ed.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[DonaldBlank]

im kind of curious to play the PvZ games. i may only play it for an hour but hey, i didnt pay for it

[Insomniac_34]

EA Play shows as available through GP for me. Although just a heads up: If you want to install the EA Desktop app somewhere other than your C:\ drive, download it separately and not through GP. They don't give you an option to change the directory.

 

EDIT: Nevermind, you can.

 

And FWIW, you don't just get all the EA 1st party games, but also all the 3rd party games that come with the service. Some which are already on GP, some which aren't (such as Tropico 6, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero and Detention, among others).

[DonaldBlank]

Be careful using EA Play on your first time sign in. It seems my xbox account was linked to an EA account i made over a decade ago and im struggling to get access to EA Play on my current EA account

 

Edit: I got it re-linked to my current EA account, but i dont know if there was a lag in bringing over EA Play when i changed account link, or if support did it (he was confused with the situation)
Just keep in mind if you have an EA Account already linked to Xbox, even from the 360 days, it'll assume automatically you want to use that

[Insomniac_34]

Tried downloading Squadrons. Stuck at "Preparing / Calculating Time" in the EA Desktop app. Can't cancel the installation process. Uninstalled the app. Reinstalled the app. Tried downloading Squadrons again. Stuck at "Preparing / Calculating Time" again. Uninstalled the app. Won't reinstall any time soon.

 

EDIT: I lied. I reinstalled the app. Tried downloading Squadrons again. Finally works. App still sucks.

[bers817]

Be careful using EA Play on your first time sign in. It seems my xbox account was linked to an EA account i made over a decade ago and im struggling to get access to EA Play on my current EA account

 

Edit: I got it re-linked to my current EA account, but i dont know if there was a lag in bringing over EA Play when i changed account link, or if support did it (he was confused with the situation)
Just keep in mind if you have an EA Account already linked to Xbox, even from the 360 days, it'll assume automatically you want to use that

How did you get a hold of them, their chat line is at 99+ people in front of me and it has not changed for 30 minutes.

[BreadNiblets]

The sooner I finish downloading EA Desktop the sooner I can play Squadrons and Madden for 5 minutes each before deleting this stupid app from my PC forever.

[Smkane112]

How did you get a hold of them, their chat line is at 99+ people in front of me and it has not changed for 30 minutes.

I tried the live chat and was the same thing for me so I did the call back and they got back to me under 20 min.