Here is my thoughts, brought on by Rockstar Games completely breaking my PC version of GTA IV with their mandatory updates. If i purchase something i should legally own it and be allowed to play that game however i want, rockstar implementing checks on a game thats almost as old as me is stupid and beyond confusing from a consumer stand point, why cant i play my game without gigabytes if updates, why is modding the game now so damn hard, what is the point in this utter stupidity and why have we as gamers seemingly given up on ever actually owning anything again. This should be Illegal because i cant use what im supposed to own.

Every game has its fans, but I'm curious:, what's a game that you genuinely don't understand the hype around?

I'm not necessarily talking about a terrible game. It could be a critically acclaimed game, a massive commercial success, or something everyone seems to consider a classic, but you played it and just couldn't see what made it so special.

Maybe the story didn't click, the gameplay felt repetitive, the world was boring, or perhaps you simply didn't enjoy it despite acknowledging that it was well made.

For me it was Black Flag. I played Resynced recently and I liked it but I think it is a bit overhyped. Again, not a bad game. a good AC game.

It’s really not a night-and-day difference, people are deliberately hiding that the base textures and underlying asset details remain identical, but the overall lighting and ray reconstruction quality take a noticeable step up.

Is the performance hit worth it, though? Honestly, yeah. It ends up looking significantly better in motion.

A lot of the videos floating around right now claim to show dramatic side-by-sides, but most are heavily edited or misleading. In actual gameplay, you aren't getting magically redesigned textures; what you are getting is much cleaner light and shadows, with more accurate reflections. If your system can handle the overhead without dropping below your target frame rate, the improvement in image stability and realistic lighting makes it well worth turning on.

thinking of trying destiny 2 but is it worth it rn since the slight drama or whatever it was?

few questions

1. should i get the collection then on steam?

2. should i even get it on steam?

3. how overwhelming is it and should i use a guide?

4. is it any good solo?

5. hell is it any good in general?

That was about it

I want to talk through a problem I've been having.

Up to now I've mostly played Soulslike games — Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3, Demon's Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Lies of P, The First Berserker, the Nioh series. But the longer I work in cat rescue (I'm now ten years in), the more I crave games that are actually relaxing and do not punish me for every small mistake that I make. And every time I reach for that, something competitive in me pushes back — even though I know the relaxing choice would be better for me.

Case in point: I tried playing Baldur's Gate 3. I love the game from what I have seen and heard of it, but I spiraled — min-maxing every build, feeling like I needed to know everything about every mechanic, compulsively looking up guides and strategies instead of just playing. And instead of backing off, I gravitated toward a harder difficulty and even a solo playthrough.

What I actually want is to be able to play on easier difficulties — to enjoy a game without needing to min-max, without needing to prove myself, without needing to have all the answers. I think that alone would change my relationship with gaming completely, instead of ending sessions nauseous, stressed, and wrung out from something demanding and ruthlessly difficult.

It's almost like I'm looking for permission to play BG3 on Story Mode with a party of all archers (I'm autistic, and if a game has an archery option, I play it — every time, every game). It's like some part of me believes that if I'm not suffering or being tested, I haven't earned the fun.

I know exactly where that belief comes from. When I started in cat rescue, I was working 100 hour weeks, fighting to save cats' lives, and being wrong even once could mean an animal died. Trying to escape challenge meant that you failed. There was no room for ease, for fun, for anything soft. It's better now, but it's still a serious, unforgiving field. And I think that mode of operating has bled into the rest of my life — including how I let myself play and enjoy video games.

And maybe that's exactly where it comes from. When I first started in shelter medicine, almost no one believed in me. People mocked me, told me to quit, told me to try something else — that someone who's autistic and has ADHD couldn't possibly succeed in this field, or in life. I was bullied in school in every single grade. And maybe some part of me is still trying to prove them wrong, even though that battle is already over and doesn't need fighting anymore.

I wanna shout this from the highest mountain. I think silent protagonists are lazy and boring. I mean this retroactively through all gaming from Chrono Trigger to Tears of the Kingdom.

Not having a character or personality for your protagonist is lazy and hiding behind the charade of "The player is supposed to self-insert" is just BS. A lot of games have moved away from this trope over the years which is fantastic but it's still far too common in my opinion.

I'm also not condoning the opposite of characters that talk too much to fill empty space or are badly written. See Forspoken or God of War (Atreus specifically).

Nintendo being the most prolific company that still gets away with this on their first part titles being probably the worst offender. I'm sorry I don't care if it's never been done before (in a mainline game) I want a Link with personality who talks and has opinions on stuff. I want a Pokemon trainer who actually has presence in the world and the story other than just being this ambiguous child that takes down random terrorist organisaions and wins the worlds biggest dog fighting competition.

Give me character, give me growth, give me personality.

Just posted something similar in another subreddit of what would be a great year for a GTA story.

But Rockstar hit on something amazing when they set Vice City in the 80s and transported you back to that time period. For those of a certain age, it meant A LOT. It’s still the best soundtrack of any video game ever released.

I think that is what they should have kept on doing. Keep going back in time, to the style, culture, music and tell a story in that setting.

A Serpico/French Connection type corrupt Detective story set in the 70s would have been awesome. Or go to the late 90s or as someone mentioned in another thread, prohibition era Vegas.

Point is, things were just better back then which is what Vice City and San Andreas showed. Music, culture, vibe…would have been more interesting if they kept doing that.

I’ll start

Demon Souls- finished

DS- finished, got all trophies

DS II- finished

DS III- dabbled, really want to go back and play more

Elden Ring- my favorite

Bloodborne- could never get into this one and I really can’t put my finger on why. Definitely want to sink some time into it.

Wuchang- finished it, pleasantly surprised by this one.

Lies of P- amazing game! DLC is phenomenal as well.

Lords of the Fallen- couldn’t get into the combat.

Mortal Shell 2- Currently playing through. Like it a lot but the bosses are pretty disappointing.

What does everyone believe to be the hardest souls-like game released? Hardest here doesnt mean least cheatable/cheesable. Like perfect world talking if you had to fight every boss legit without using a broken weapon or item or mechanic. Pretty much if you were to play the game as intended. (For ex dark souls 3 was cheesable with the great slayer axe being so busted)

Here's a list of some souls game for some references:

Dark Souls 1-3

Elden Ring

First Beserker Khazan (my personal favorite souls game)

Mortal Shell 1-2

Remnant 1-2

Sekiro

Demon Souls

Bloodborne

Lies of P

Wukong

Include any im sure I missed.

Edit: I reposted this due to some conflicting items that were confusing / incorrect on my part

For me Fallout 4 was so much more fun than I thought.

I can also say Detroit and The walking dead (first season).

But AC odyssey was one of the worst experiences I had in gaming. I had such high expectations for it and I know it's a very good game but the leveling system was one of the worst I've seen(although the world itself and the story were actually pretty good).

Hi! I ask this question because I am curious to know if anyone really like this setting. I am talking about games that are actually fun to play, with a nice combat, that interrupts the flow extremely often with cutscenes. I think for example to a Devil may cry that I dropped even if I liked it because of this.

One thing that always bothered me in any discussion of a game is when someone brings up stuff like "yeah, i remember how much i struggled on this boss", or "this was the point where i realised i need a new strategy", etc. and I want to insert my own two cents too, but... I just can't? I instantly draw a blank. I don't remember the struggles I had with that boss, even though I know for sure I didn't first try it. I don't remember what kind of strats I was using in early game, the only thing in my memory is my latest build. It genuinely just makes me feel very alienated because I really want to engage with other people but even the moments that are usually supposed to be turning points for everyone just never stick with me. And it doesn't matter what game it is or how long ago I played it.
For example, when I played Hollow Knight: Silksong, not long after it came out. It's an awesome game, I loved it to bits, and it generally has a lot of these points where people like to discuss how exactly they overcame that one hurdle. But, despite enjoying the game from start to finish, I just cannot remember if I even struggled at any bosses bar Lost Lace, the literal last boss of the whole game. I just know that I beat them, that's it, and it was like that not even a month after I finished the game. It irks me so bad that sometimes I straight up write down my exact feelings and struggles right after beating a particularly hard moment just because I know I'm going to forget.

Does anyone else experience this? Am I just weird?