Personal Gaming Thread

[Jason]

Hey Adam,

I ran a few time trials last night and noticed the improved handling model right away. I loaded up 2019 after a few races to see if i was imagining the improvements and I definitively was not. I'm looking forward to playing it with my wheel tonight. I also just created a Racenet account for this and Grid.

I haven't tried TSW 2020 yet. I'm waiting until I have some time to invest in learning how to play correctly. I've been on the fence with this game for a long time and figured I'd take the plunge while it's on sale. If I end up enjoying it I can look forward to TSW 2, which just came out today.

[BDSooner72]

Highly recommend Spiritfarer if you are into games like Stardew Valley mixed in with Animal Crossing (never played it but I get the similarities from watching videos). All the farming, fishing, cooking and crafting and resource management. The twist is you do not romance anything. You are basically the shipmaster who takes care of spirits you come across before you take them to the afterlife. They have certain things they will eat, will send you to places to do things, etc. The dialogue with the characters has been great so far. Islands early on are small and there is a bunch of backtracking to certain areas to get upgrades and certain materials.

It's on Gamepass so it was a steal for me. They claim 30 hours to do the main story and up to a 100 do do everything. From what I have done so far I can see that. Their version of money is the only drawback in that I got the highest upgraded ship (give you the most space to build things) in under 10 hours of gameplay. Same with blueprints upgrades  for the ship. That said actually building certain buildings require items that require you to travel to far away areas that are not easily accessible until you get items for your boat to pass through barriers. So it's not something that makes the game too easy, just felt the progression was odd in terms of money.

Game is getting 9's an d 10's  because while it follows management style game rules, it changes what exactly you are doing it for.

[Jason]

Did you end up trying Train Sim World 2020? I know bugger all about trains but the game is really good at teaching you the basics of each train, the scenery whistling past you is oddly relaxing - soothing, almost - and once you get into it, there's something about trying to keep to a schedule, stop on your marks at the stations and so on that's surprisingly compelling.

I was able to get quite a few hours of Train Sim World in this weekend and couldn't agree more with your statement. I've been playing the Main-Spessart Bahn route and it's so odd how addicting it is when a majority of the time you're only adjusting your speed and trying to time the braking to make a well positioned stop.

I started playing Friday night and couldn't wait to play again on Saturday. I started getting a little frustrated at first because I couldn't figure out why things would work sometimes (locking doors and accelerating), but not other times. It seems that most of my issues were related to accidentally hitting the emergency brake or forgetting a step in the startup procedure for my train. After downloading the PC manual and watching some YouTube videos I started to realize what I was doing wrong.

I'm about 100 miles into my journey and I'm getting silver ratings so far, so I guess I'm starting to figure things out. I would try to enjoy the scenery more, but I'm constantly watching my speed and anticipating the next next speed limit change. Unlike most vehicles I'm used to driving, trains require a lot more anticipation and work to get to, maintain and decrease to necessary speeds. I usually start planning my station stop about a mile out too.

My only complaints about the game are the terrible frame rate and lack of in-game help or more in-depth tutorials. I'm definitely glad I decided to give this a shot.

[Ted]

After spending a few days with MSFS 2020 I put it away because I realize my PC is finally obsolete.  So I've ordered a new one.  In the interim I'm back in No Man's Sky just exploring and slowly working the story line.

[Jason]

After spending a few days with MSFS 2020 I put it away because I realize my PC is finally obsolete.  So I've ordered a new one.  In the interim I'm back in No Man's Sky just exploring and slowly working the story line.

What are the specs of the computer you ordered?

Sent from my LM-Q610(FGN) using Tapatalk

[Ted]

https://www.newegg.com/skytech-st-blaze-ii-0007-ne/p/N82E16883289042

I got this one.  Jake got the same one a few months ago (different case) and loves it.  It'll be able to handle VR as well if I ever make the leap.

[Jason]

Very nice. Let me know how MSFS 2020 runs on it when you get it.

Sent from my LM-Q610(FGN) using Tapatalk

[BDSooner72]

Not the final review but IGN if they had to review it now, a 6.

https://www.ign.com/articles/madden-nfl-21-review

This is the kind of review score that will have to make EA make changes. They have always been given the 8 or 9 review just because it's Madden. It's hot in Florida but I think once reviews start hitting, Tiburon Studios is going to be sweating even more. That is what you get for a Franchise mode where the only additions added this year are a visor and a couple faces.

[Jason]

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, but I'm not expecting much from it this year including the next-gen versions, which I think people are going to be even more disappointed in due to the higher expectations. I miss the days of being excited for Madden's release.

[BDSooner72]

Already a three minute spoof real. The last one is the best.

https://youtu.be/ezNFDCsf9Kk

[BDSooner72]

Score another W for Gamepass owners. Wasteland 3 hits this weekend. Reviews have been very kind.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/wasteland-3

The crashing bug mentioned on the Xbox One has been resolved.

[Ted]

Score another W for Gamepass owners. Wasteland 3 hits this weekend. Reviews have been very kind.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/wasteland-3

The crashing bug mentioned on the Xbox One has been resolved.

Wow.  Score!

[BDSooner72]

IGN review goes final.

6
okay
Despite the fact that Madden NFL 21 features arguably the best core gameplay the series has ever seen and the introduction of a fun, albeit novel, new mode in The Yard, the continued neglect shown to classic Franchise mode, lack of innovation across the board, and technical issues leave this gridiron mismatch coming up short.

Now we wait and see if that affects other reviewers into allowing the score to reflect the quality of the game.

User Scores at Metacritic are usually low but this is really low.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/madden-nfl-21
0.3

https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/madden-nfl-21
0.4

[BDSooner72]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-delays-nhl-21-beta-and-news-in-solidarity-with-/1100-6481546/

EA Sports has delayed the NHL 21 closed beta and postponed the announcement of more news about the game in a show of solidarity for athletes' strikes regarding racial injustice.

Madden on the other hand, will be available for retail tomorrow. 

[Jason]

I'm sure it had nothing to do with it having no new innovative features and EA wanting to delay the negative onslaught.