absquatulate
@absquatulate@lemmy.world
- Comment on Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport developer hit hard by Xbox cuts 2 hours ago:
It may be, and I feel for Turn10, but they really dropped the ball with the latest motorsport. It only has like a few hundred players on steam, after two years of essentially live service game. Of course the game itself is fine, it’s the “update trickles” and “grind to own” philosophies that are at fault and those were probably decisions also pushed by MS, but here we are. I really hope that Playground doesn’t screw up their next Forza, because rhey might meet the same fate. Then again these days success doesn’t guarantee you’re not getting the axe.
- Comment on Randy Pitchford asks fans if they'd swallow future Borderlands exclusivity deals, almost 10,000 people say just put your damn games on Steam 1 day ago:
Boy, they really are pulling all the stops in trying to make the game shit, aren’t they?
- Comment on DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH | Final Trailer 5 days ago:
I don’t know about Kojima making the best games. All I know is Death Stranding 1 was a jumbled mess of barely coherent and oddly paced plots and I loved every minute of it. I must have more! When PC Kojima???
- Comment on Steam Deck / Gaming News #21 1 week ago:
I was worried Subnautica 2 would be just a sloppy cashgrab, but seeing that dev-vlog with the awkward devs describing their work actually gave me hope that they’re actually putting some soul in this game.
- Comment on The end of Stop Killing Games [Accursed Farms] 1 week ago:
I think the initiative just ran out of steam. I remember seeeing it everywhere for the first month or so, and then nothing, and it plateaued around where it is now. Maybe the vast majority of EU gamers just can’t be arsed to read and sign a petition like this. I mean most can’t even vote with their wallet when a shit game releases. And of course it’s fun to blame thor/pirateguy for this ( and they probably did have their share of fault ) but in the end it looks like 500k is the amount of gamers that actually give a fuck about the state of things.
- Comment on Switch 2 Teardown: Still Glued, Still Soldered, Still Drifting 2 weeks ago:
Lack of innovation: checked. Locking users into their ecosystem: checked. Chasing only shareholder value : checked.
The only thing diferentianting them from Apple now is the pricing, which hasn’t reached outrageous levels ( yet ).
I used to respect them for doing their own thing - sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but in the end still innovating. Apparently not the case anymore.
- Comment on Nexus Mods Sale Sparks Concern in Modding Community 2 weeks ago:
Narrator: It wasn’t.
At the very least the entity that bought it will not rely on donations and revenue from upgraded downoad speeds, so it will definitely enshittify to some degree.
The problem is not capitalism, it’s really us expecting shit to be free and rewarding good development and maintenance effort with thoughts and prayers.
- Comment on 10 incredible PC games that never got console ports—until Steam Deck happened 2 weeks ago:
Holy shit - Septerra Core. That is a name Ohavent’t heard in a long time. Glad to see it still exists
- Comment on The first weekly What Are You Playing? thread! 4 weeks ago:
Deliver At Any Cost - fun game, but I swear the plot is just an excuse to feature those wonderful destruction mechanics.
Robocop - Actually not bad! I haven"t seen or played anything Robocop related in 30 years, but I’ll be damned if this game doesn’t make you feel exactly like him ( for better or worse )
Pacific Drive - finally managed to finish this one after starting and abandoning it twice because it’s just terrifying to me. ( I just had to start it again after reading Roadside Picnic and thinking “hey, this reads familiar” ). It’s still terrifying, but absolutely great game.
Now I’m playing Kingdoms&Castles and Starbound again to calm the fuck down.
- Comment on The GeForce NOW Native App for Steam Deck Is Here 4 weeks ago:
Fuckin’ finally. This could actually help people trying to run fortnites and apexes and whatnot on steam decks.
- Comment on Anno 117: Pax Romana - Gameplay Showcase Trailer 1 month ago:
1800 did not have that nimby mechanic. Actually can’t remember if any anno game had it ( maybe 1701 ). 1800 also did away with the separation between campaign and endless and just mooshed them together in what was one of the very few downsides of the game.
To me this one looks less like an anno and more like a contemporary Impressions city builder, but the potential is there. Fingers crossed that ubi doesn’t stuff it full of anti-features.
- Comment on Grand Theft Auto 6 release date has been announced, but the game has been delayed to 2026 | VGC 1 month ago:
So now can we please get the other games that were supposed to launch in autumn?
- Comment on As literally everything gets more and more expensive, Everspace 2's devs say screw it, let's make our upcoming DLC cheaper 2 months ago:
Ooh, I’m getting this. Everspace 2 was a great game and in my mind a true spiritual succesor to Freelancer.
- Comment on As literally everything gets more and more expensive, Everspace 2's devs say screw it, let's make our upcoming DLC cheaper 2 months ago:
Yes, I’m sure they’re the first and this is totally not a paid article.
- Comment on How Ubisoft spent $2.1M on influencers to secure the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows 2 months ago:
I know it’s cool to hate on this game, especially with it being so mediocre, but to me the number is fairly meaningless by itself. I wonder how that 2 million budget compares to other large releases ( say Starfield, since it’s pretty clear that bethesda also pumped a lot of money into the “gaming press”)
- Comment on Civilization 7 Outlines Crucial 1.1.1 Update as It Struggles to Compete on Steam Against Civ 6 and Even the 15-Year-Old Civ 5 3 months ago:
Isn’t this the rule with every civ launch? They’re all somewhat half-baked on launch (although 7 admittedly looks quite a bit less baked than the others).
That said, I feel Civ formula seems to be in decline. To me Call To Power was peak civ ( yeah, fight me ), but while 3,4 and 5 were great “second-bests”, I couldn’t really get into 6, and I"m not really planning on playing 7, not with this 3-age format anyway.
- Comment on The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst 3 months ago:
This is so strange. Wasn’t it not long ago that studios were crowding into very specific release windows ( usually november iirc ) so they could maximize initial sales? Maybe the digital release era has changed things. I mean, I get it if your game was in the same niche or smth, but “companies might tank” seems a little much.
Either way, if this is true, eoy 2025 is in for a dry spell when it comes to new games.
- Comment on Day 245 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games l've been playing until l forget to post Screenshots 3 months ago:
Funny, I went in blind into RDR2 and, not knowing about John’s story, the epilogues felt so weird and out of place. I still can’t really get into his story, maybe because on a subconscious level it feels like it broke the closure I had from Arthur’s story. But yeah, RDR2 really is a fantastic game. They nailed pretty much everything.
- Comment on Forza Horizon 5 Drifts Onto PS5 in April 3 months ago:
The game is not without its flaws, but goddamn if it doesn’t look, sound and feel fantastic.
- Comment on GOG's billboard in Times Square, NYC 4 months ago:
Times square? Damn, I thought they were strapped for cash and barely profitable.
Good for them I suppose, but just remember that corps are not your friends. Even GOG is part of a stockmarket-listed entity that has fiduciary duties and can turn to crap in an instant. Keep your games offline and archived folks.
- Comment on GTA VI Might Inspire Other AAA Developers to Price Their Games at $100 5 months ago:
That’s what I’m thinking. Get the fanbase used to seeing 100+, and then suddenly an 80$ game will feel like a bargain lol
- Comment on GTA VI Might Inspire Other AAA Developers to Price Their Games at $100 5 months ago:
I’m loving the balls on studios. Yesterday we had “experts” suggesting it might cost 100 bux, and today it’s already the beggining of a trend. And the ges isn’t even out. In fact, we only have the trailer for the game and they’re already predicting prices.
My prediction is yes, they’ll ask 100$ and more, and yes, people will pay it.
But the nerve, I swear. “Yeah, our games have gotten sloppier every year. And yes, we fired tens of thousands solely for profit reasons. But line must go up, so you better start paying”
- Comment on Are there any games like Starfield? 5 months ago:
These are the ones I’ve played over the years. Hope I’m not missing anything:
Elite Dangerous - Highly reccomend this, it’s basically a huge sandbox, with full size galaxy, “real” star distances and orbits, excellent flight model. It also has the most awesome community around it. Downsides are that while it has lore and ongoing background story, there’s no quest, no interesting characters, no rpg elements. Also there’s quite a learning curve, and quite a grind (albeit maneageable these days). There’s also a new colonization feature in the works that will involve a lot of comunity effort. If you do play it, join a group, a squad, or just buzz me so I can add you here and there. Friends make the game sooo much better.
Everspace 2 - This may be what you’re looking for, as it has story, good gameplay, arcadey flight model and lots of rpg elements. Overall a great game. Only problem with it is that it’s not particularly large. Its universe is far smaller than starfield’s.
NMS - Another one with an immense galaxy. This one has a storyline, but not a lot of rpg elements. A lot of it is procedural and after a while feels very samey and shallow. It does have crossplay and a great community as well.
X4 - Not especially large, but great single player game, with a universe that feels lived in. Also no rpg and I hear the endgame gets a bit managery.
Spacebourne - Haven’t played it long but iy gas good potential. There’s a bunch of systems, there’s quests, reminds me a bit of freelancer. The downside is that there’s a single dev, so development is slow and there’s a fair amount of jank.
- Comment on Age of Empires designer believes RTS games need to finally evolve after decades of stagnation 5 months ago:
True, they’re a bit off the mark, but they were the ones off the top of my head. Also, in my defense, I don’t think Pottinger knows what he’s talking about either. The man glorifies Age3 like crazy, saying they had to scale back some features, fearing they’d prove too revolutionary. I love Age3, but it was hardly world-shaking.
Still, I’m curious what they’re cooking up in that new studio.
- Comment on Age of Empires designer believes RTS games need to finally evolve after decades of stagnation 5 months ago:
There’s plenty of “evolved” RTSs in the indie scene:
- Against the storm is trying a roguelike approach
- Kingdoms and Castles is a banished-like survival with RTS elements
- Endzone is also a sort of survival-crafter with some strategy kixed in, albeit with some issues.
- Beyond All Reason is an open source RTS that’s expanding the 7th legion formula.
- Manor Lords is a fantastic medieval strategy
- 8/9 bit armies are colourful, fast paced strategies.
The genre is far from dead, but the problem might be audience. When they demand “evolution” that means it should pander to recent trends like survival crafting and roguelikes and whatnot. Problem is some of these formulas don’t usually pan out well for RTS games. Then there’s multiplayer and, like other commenters mentioned, ranked multiplayer usually devolves into a bunch of strangers playing the same few maps over and over, but gamers still demand multiplayer.
Alas, I see the genre as not dead but in a “doomed if you do, doomed if you don’t” spot. Meanwhile I’m sitting here waiting for a regular old historic RTS like Empire Earth or Rise of Nations.
- Comment on The four horsemen of unmet financial expectations 6 months ago:
It’s the same for Mass Effect. Every time I get ideas and want to fetch the games on Steam, I’m reminded why I didn’t until now
- Comment on PEGI gives Balatro an 18+ rating for gambling imagery 6 months ago:
MTX and ads? The. It’s clearly only 3+ and should ve allowed lol
- Comment on What are your favourite trailers? 6 months ago:
Farm Sim trailers are very enjoyable, both the newer rock music ones
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWR8B0LlhI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg9VPiUtaic
and the cute music ones
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Rc_wMsuHk
As for all time favorites, the Warcraft 3 trailer still lives in my head. Even remember the words.
- Comment on Star Citizen devs report drying funds, micromanagement, overspending, and episodic release for Squadron 42 8 months ago:
Jesus christ. People need to realize that this is a scam. No video game is worth thousands of your dollars, especially a decade old game still in alpha.
- Comment on What are your favorite racing games? 9 months ago:
These days I play a lot of Forza Horizon 4 and not much else, since I haven’t found anything else to really click. There’s a couple good ones out there though: Motor Town is pretty good as a car game in general, not just racing. Also BeamNg if you just wanna fuck around with the physics engine. Ooh, and Dakar Desert Rally is a fantastic rally raid simulation (albeit somewhat flawed)
Otherwise I would give some classics a shout: GRID the original, still holds up today. Also NFS Porsche, which was so ahead of its time it’s ridiculous.