2023 Video Games Thread

[Edward64]

Thanks for the initial review ratings. Glad they are positive

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm seeing some reports that the PC version specifically has some performance issues.

[GrantDawg]

That doesn't surprise me. Did you see the requirements for max settings?

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[Edward64]

In progress review by PCGamer and I’m liking what I’ve read. Large world to explore.

It will also benefit the talented folks at Avalanche Software, who have built a rich, almost annoyingly detailed world that routinely exceeds its source material in terms of quality and inclusivity. Hogwarts Legacy is full of simple but harmonious systems that keep things fun and accessible:

Wizard duels: A unique take on ranged combat where no aiming is required but spacing, dodging, and countering are key. Think Batman with cooldowns (and more murder).

Exploration: The world is surprisingly large, and gets bigger when you can simply fly anywhere you want, anytime.

Loot: Your clothes, cloaks, scarves, facewears, and hats have Destiny-like offensive/defensive stats, but you can just set your cosmetic look to whatever you want.

Collectibles: There's a seemingly endless list of things to find across Hogwarts, often concealed behind a micro-puzzle. Not enticing enough to seek out, but fun to grab on the way to bigger things.

Talking: You do a lot of it, often with two or three dialogue choices that express a chosen personality within bounds (but only rarely seem to influence the outcome of interactions).

The Room of Requirement: A personalized living space for your wizard with an almost Animal Crossing-level of decoration options. Eventually, it gets a lot bigger.

Maybe the single most distinctive and impressive aspect of Hogwarts Legacy is Hogwarts itself. Developers love to describe their games as "living, breathing worlds" but it's hard to think of a better way to characterize the titular castle.

You can't walk 10 feet without a part of Hogwarts castle coming alive: books reorganize themselves on shelves, suits of armor salute passerbys, hedges trim themselves to perfection, ghosts float around telling jokes, textbooks flutter above passing students, and paintings animate or conversate as if the MOMA switched to the .gif standard.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I'm seeing some reports that the PC version specifically has some performance issues.

Hopefully my i7 12th gen iGPU will work on min settings

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Hopefully my i7 12th gen iGPU will work on min settings

I think you are going to be ok. On the console the highest setting is only getting 30 fps and they said it drops frames lower than that at times. But on m id settings it is smooth with no drops.

[Lathum]

I havent read much on it. Is this an MMORPG or a pokemon go type game?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I havent read much on it. Is this an MMORPG or a pokemon go type game?

Neither. It is a open world single player game set in the HP universe a couple hundred years ago.

[GrantDawg]

Well, I guess this is the verdict:

Some news: Marvel's Midnight Suns was a critical success but a commercial flop. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told me in an interview this afternoon that "it's possible the release window wasn't perfect" but that he thinks it could have a long tail, like other Firaxis games

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 6, 2023

[Fidatelo]

I'm still playing (and loving) Midnight Suns. 55 hours in, still on Act 2. I really hope there is a sequel, but if not I'll just be happy to have had this gem.

[NobodyHere]

I figured that may be the case when they slashed the price of the game fairly early.

I should probably get the game, I love X-Com 2 and I'm a casual fan of Marvel (ie I watched most of the MCU up to End Game). But there's just been so many other games to play. Right now I'm working my way through Wasteland 3. Not to mention all the games in my backlog. I can't justify spending $60 on a game that will be $20 in a year or so.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I'm still playing (and loving) Midnight Suns. 55 hours in, still on Act 2. I really hope there is a sequel, but if not I'll just be happy to have had this gem.

I agree. I am really enjoying it, too. The game play is fun, the writing is actually really good, and I am digging the story. I, too, just started Act 2 and have sunk many hours into it.

[Atocep]

I'm not a Harry Potter fan and I don't really know much of all about it, but my 1 hour review of Hogwarts is it's outstanding. The attention to detail, the voice acting, the production values, everything looks and feels great so far.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I agree. I am really enjoying it, too. The game play is fun, the writing is actually really good, and I am digging the story. I, too, just started Act 2 and have sunk many hours into it.

I feel no conncetion with Marvek, so I am constantly skipping any and all plot/dialog/cutscenes and I am still enjoying myself.

[NobodyHere]

Looks like there's a Nintendo Direct tomorrow.

All aboard the Zelda hype train!

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I'm not a Harry Potter fan and I don't really know much of all about it, but my 1 hour review of Hogwarts is it's outstanding. The attention to detail, the voice acting, the production values, everything looks and feels great so far.

Played a couple of hours, and completely agree. As far as performance, I used the recommended detected settings (Ultra, 4k, no Ray tracing) except I bumped it up to 120fps. Runs smooth with no stuttering at all so far. Just scratched the surface of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, but the the map seems huge.
BTW, the proprietor of the Three Brooms Sticks is a Trans-Woman. Bit of a thumb of the nose at Ms. Rowling.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Played a couple of hours, and completely agree. As far as performance, I used the recommended detected settings (Ultra, 4k, no Ray tracing) except I bumped it up to 120fps. Runs smooth with no stuttering at all so far. Just scratched the surface of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, but the the map seems huge.
BTW, the proprietor of the Three Brooms Sticks is a Trans-Woman. Bit of a thumb of the nose at Ms. Rowling.

I doubt Ms Rowling even cares.

[Edward64]

When you’re richer than the UK monarchy (I think I read that somewhere?), no you don’t give a crap

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Edward64

When you’re richer than the UK monarchy (I think I read that somewhere?), no you don’t give a crap

I mean, why would JK Rowling care about a trans-gender business person?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I mean, why would JK Rowling care about a trans-gender business person?

I doubt she cares about anyone other than family and $100m+

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I'm still playing (and loving) Midnight Suns. 55 hours in, still on Act 2. I really hope there is a sequel, but if not I'll just be happy to have had this gem.

I will eventually buy this game for myself on PC (holding out hope it hits gamepass or epic gives it away for free next Christmas), but what I played helping my son do harder fights on the XBox I can say the game is outstanding.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I mean, why would JK Rowling care about a trans-gender business person?

Especially a fictional one at that.

[Thomkal]

Hogwarts Legacy sets a concurrent viewers record on Twitch

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Hogwarts Legacy sets a concurrent viewers record on Twitch

It's outstanding. Probably the closest thing to witcher 3 and red dead 2 as far making a world that feels active and alive.

The 85 or so it has on metacritic is underselling it a bit imo. This should easily be on the shortlist for game of the year and based on last year I would have put it 2nd to Eldin Ring.

My wife has no interest in video games but loves the Harry Potter books and movies has commented several times on how good it looks and the great job they did creating Higwarts.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Atocep

It's outstanding. Probably the closest thing to witcher 3 and red dead 2 as far making a world that feels active and alive.

The 85 or so it has on metacritic is underselling it a bit imo. This should easily be on the shortlist for game of the year and based on last year I would have put it 2nd to Eldin Ring.

My wife has no interest in video games but loves the Harry Potter books and movies has commented several times on how good it looks and the great job they did creating Higwarts.

yeah, I entered about a gazillion giveaways for it, so hoping I get lucky soon.


I saw today that it is second behind Cyberpunk 2077 for concurrent players on Steam and this was just the early access.

[sovereignstar v2]

DLSS 3.0 out for Cyberpunk and the hype behind Hogwarts has me thinking about hibernating for awhile. Time to put this 4090 through its paces.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

DLSS 3.0 out for Cyberpunk and the hype behind Hogwarts has me thinking about hibernating for awhile. Time to put this 4090 through its paces.

You made me check for an update to my video drivers, and low and behold there was one from yesterday. After the update, the recommended for HP:Legacy went up to two of three Ray-tracing settings. Made a difference.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Atocep

It's outstanding. Probably the closest thing to witcher 3 and red dead 2 as far making a world that feels active and alive.

The 85 or so it has on metacritic is underselling it a bit imo. This should easily be on the shortlist for game of the year and based on last year I would have put it 2nd to Eldin Ring.

My wife has no interest in video games but loves the Harry Potter books and movies has commented several times on how good it looks and the great job they did creating Higwarts.

The world is really amazing. Sometimes I just stop and just take in how deep the details are. Just a beautiful game. Combat is fun, and yet not over my poor abilities. The story so far is excellent as well.

My only minor quibble, time passes as you go yet you seem to never get tired. At night, Hogwarts just becomes a ghost-town (literally. You only see ghost about) yet the dorms are also empty. I feel like there needs to be some kind of rest mechanic.

[Kodos]

As a function of my limited game-playing time, I'm still working on Red Dead Redemption II. I just started the 4th chapter of the game (Saint Denis), and I'm still having fun. I mostly just goof around and see what misadventures I can get into, but sometimes I focus on moving the storyline along. Anyhow, yesterday as I was winding down my session before the Super Bowl, I ran across a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony. It was fun heaving a stick of dynamite into the works and then shooting the survivors of the blast. Such a great game.

My older child likes to make fun of me when I accidentally shoot someone by hitting the wrong button (one trigger brings up the talk option, the other is the shoot button). The best instance of this was when, in an attempt to talk to a random man in the wilderness who was next to a fire, I accidentally hit the shoot button, and the poor fella fell face-first into the fire. After that, I've kinda made it a point to throw as many people into fires as possible. There's something satisfying about it.

[NobodyHere]

Note to self: Do not go camping or attend any bonfires with Kodos...

[Edward64]

It’s really good to know you guys are really happy with the game. Keep your opinions coming.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Note to self: Do not go camping or attend any bonfires with Kodos...

I'll bring marshmallows! They're so fun to roast!

[Umbrella]

I was just approved as a playtester for the alpha version of A More Perfect Union. I think a lot of folks here might be interested in this game. Basically, the idea of the game is that you control a faction within a political party. At that point, it is up to you to determine how your faction goes. It uses real politicians, and you have to shape them to how you feel is the best fit. They can become governors, members of congress, cabinet members, ambassadors, even Supreme Court justices, as well as president and VP. The link for the kickstarter is Just a moment....

I think I might start a dynasty thread about my faction, which should explain how the game goes. I was assigned the moderate Democrats, and the era I am playtesting is starting in 1928. My faction isn't super strong, but I do have a young Harry Truman in there, so perhaps I can get him back to the presidency.

[GrantDawg]

Does sound like good game.

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[Edward64]

I have to believe there will be Hogwarts DLCs. Maybe not planned right now, but has to happen.

Anyone know how good modding will be?

Speaking during IGN Fan Fest, Hogwarts Legacy game director Alan Tew explained that the team was so busy preparing the game for its launch last week that it hasn’t yet planned on releasing any expansions.

“We’ve been really heads down bringing [Hogwarts Legacy] to life,” said Tew, “so at the moment there are no current plans for DLC.”

[GrantDawg]

Modders are already working on a 6 person co-op play. I don't think it was particularly made Mod-friendly, but that won't stop them.

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[Edward64]

Nice. Hopefully the mods will be on the level of Skyrim and Fallout stuff

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

I was just approved as a playtester for the alpha version of A More Perfect Union. I think a lot of folks here might be interested in this game. Basically, the idea of the game is that you control a faction within a political party. At that point, it is up to you to determine how your faction goes. It uses real politicians, and you have to shape them to how you feel is the best fit. They can become governors, members of congress, cabinet members, ambassadors, even Supreme Court justices, as well as president and VP. The link for the kickstarter is Just a moment....

I think I might start a dynasty thread about my faction, which should explain how the game goes. I was assigned the moderate Democrats, and the era I am playtesting is starting in 1928. My faction isn't super strong, but I do have a young Harry Truman in there, so perhaps I can get him back to the presidency.

Not sure if anyone remembers a game called Power Politics. I played it as a kid a lot and it sounds similar. Looking forward to seeing how this game turns out.

[Atocep]

Diablo 4 Open Beta was announced for next month. Gameplay looks really good, they're taking the art style back to diablo 2, and it sounds like they've admitted that a lot of decisions made with Diablo 3 were mistakes.

[Izulde]

Wandering Sword has been a fun demo so far. Feels like Octopath Traveler meets Jade Empire. No release date as of yet - just 2023.

I think the demo shuts off on the 28th. On Steam FWIW

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Diablo 4 Open Beta was announced for next month. Gameplay looks really good, they're taking the art style back to diablo 2, and it sounds like they've admitted that a lot of decisions made with Diablo 3 were mistakes.

I played the original Diablo when it came out decades ago. I don’t think I played much Diablo 2, but played Diablo 3 with some friends on the PS 4 and enjoyed it.

So, what are considered the changes/mistakes that were made in 3? I’m really just curious, since I’m looking forward to Diablo 4!

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

So, what are considered the changes/mistakes that were made in 3? I’m really just curious, since I’m looking forward to Diablo 4!

They eliminated a lot of choice and build variety in Diablo 3 while Diablo 4 is bringing back the skill trees and they're focusing on wanting each build to feel like it has its own identity rather than in D3 where every monk played like every other monk, every barbarian feeling like every other barbarian, ect.

In D3 the best in slot for pretty much everything was a unique. So it would hit a point where you really just ignored anything that wasn't a unique. They're reworking how affixes work on all tiers of items to make magic and rare items potentially useful into the late game. Plus, like in D2, items can drop with skills attached to them which could give you build defining items on any tier of item.

In D3 the only thing that mattered for a weapon was DPS. The higher DPS weapon was 99.9% of the time better. With the change to affixes that should change (wider range of potential stats), but they're also adding weapon speed to each drop. So every dagger doesn't have the same weapon speed, ect. So if you want to run an on-hit build you probably want the fastest hitting item with good DPS rather than the one that just does the most damage. Shields had a static block % in D3 while it's a random number for D4 so you have to weigh block % with the affix stats on a shield. More items choice and thought is always a good thing for these games.

Those are biggest changes from D3 that I remember seeing. The art going back to Diablo 1 and 2 style is great as well. The colorful Warcraft/Diablo hybrid we saw for D3 just didn't fit the game.

I'm also excited to see how the open world works and the psuedo-MMO approach with world bosses and such.

I played a lot of D3, but as POE improved over time I ended up spending more time in that. Blizzard makes great engines, but POE did loot, classes, builds, and nearly everything else better IMO. I'm hopeful D4 fixes a lot of the issues with D3.

[NobodyHere]

So has anyone tried Pharaoh: A New Era?

I'm a big fan of the old Impression's City Building series. But the reviews seem to range from "Great" to "Buggy Mess".

Do any FOFCers have any impressions?

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

So has anyone tried Pharaoh: A New Era?

I'm a big fan of the old Impression's City Building series. But the reviews seem to range from "Great" to "Buggy Mess".

Do any FOFCers have any impressions?

I haven't played it but Nookrium just did a 4-hour stream on YouTube. Seems just like I remember but with much better graphics

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Atocep

They eliminated a lot of choice and build variety in Diablo 3 while Diablo 4 is bringing back the skill trees and they're focusing on wanting each build to feel like it has its own identity rather than in D3 where every monk played like every other monk, every barbarian feeling like every other barbarian, ect.

In D3 the best in slot for pretty much everything was a unique. So it would hit a point where you really just ignored anything that wasn't a unique. They're reworking how affixes work on all tiers of items to make magic and rare items potentially useful into the late game. Plus, like in D2, items can drop with skills attached to them which could give you build defining items on any tier of item.

In D3 the only thing that mattered for a weapon was DPS. The higher DPS weapon was 99.9% of the time better. With the change to affixes that should change (wider range of potential stats), but they're also adding weapon speed to each drop. So every dagger doesn't have the same weapon speed, ect. So if you want to run an on-hit build you probably want the fastest hitting item with good DPS rather than the one that just does the most damage. Shields had a static block % in D3 while it's a random number for D4 so you have to weigh block % with the affix stats on a shield. More items choice and thought is always a good thing for these games.

Those are biggest changes from D3 that I remember seeing. The art going back to Diablo 1 and 2 style is great as well. The colorful Warcraft/Diablo hybrid we saw for D3 just didn't fit the game.

I'm also excited to see how the open world works and the psuedo-MMO approach with world bosses and such.

I played a lot of D3, but as POE improved over time I ended up spending more time in that. Blizzard makes great engines, but POE did loot, classes, builds, and nearly everything else better IMO. I'm hopeful D4 fixes a lot of the issues with D3.

Thanks for this! Super helpful and interesting.

[Edward64]

I think I played this game on a DEC PDP-11 (?) green screen that was dialed into Berkeley.

Will have to download and check out the ‘spiffed up’ graphics

This fan remake of a Star Trek text game from 1978 is way better than it has any right to be | PC Gamer

[SirFozzie]

I love the Blood Bowl series of video games. But boy howdy am I down on recently released Blood Bowl 3.

First off is the usual server problems on a game's pre-release and release

Second, they got rid of a lot of singleplayer stuff because programming a difficult AI is apparently too hard (and to be fair, it is really complicated)

And most egregiously, the customization/monetization is the WORST I've seen.

Unlock most stores, where it features more of an unlock binary "you can't use it"/"You can use it" oin all of your players, spending warpstone (the meta-currency only allows you one copy of the item each time you purchase it.) So, want that helmet on your team's players? You're going to have to be purchasing 11+ copies of that helmet, (nearly $10 in Warpstone costs) and it counts only for that helmet. So, for a customized team, we're talking oh, about $50 or so (head/right and left hand, legs, chest, etcetera)

There's going to be a free and paid "Blood Pass" that will allow you to earn warpstone (at a yet unannounced rate), but man, I've never seen a game this rapacious on trying to nickle and dime you (or in this case, close to $1.50 per single use cosmetic) into spending

[GrantDawg]

Thanks for that info. I was looking forward to BB3, but that is a definite no buy for me.

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[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Thanks for that info. I was looking forward to BB3, but that is a definite no buy for me.

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Here's how blatant it is (to provide context, 1,000 warpstone is 9.99)



8 pages of Left Arm cosmetics. None of them free (so you have the race default and that's it). Some of them (again, just the LEFT FREAKING ARM) are 750 warpstone, or $7.50.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I think I played this game on a DEC PDP-11 (?) green screen that was dialed into Berkeley.

Will have to download and check out the ‘spiffed up’ graphics

This fan remake of a Star Trek text game from 1978 is way better than it has any right to be | PC Gamer

Okay, played it some. Not quite as good as I remembered but will keep on laptop for some mindless fun.