VideoGame_Discussion

niceeee. I probably won't have time for it, but glad I can make it up at some point if I don't!

That will be a make up for me as well. I'm trying not to play it until I finally get a PSVR2 (same reason I haven't touched RE8 yet).

Ended up picking up Stray on the Xbox. Since I had some credit expiring. Was pleasantly surprised it's a play anywhere title so I could play on PC if I choose. Not sure if I'll be able to get to it this month but I've been wanting to play the cat sim for a while.

SwiftJAB wrote:


Weird, I thought that was console exclusive to PlayStation.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

I was a timed exclusive. It appears to have released on Xbox back in August this year.

Badge for RE4 was made. I was waiting for someone to complete it... turned out to be me

I’ll definitely be beating RE4 Remake again eventually as a makeup, but I’m waiting for the PSVR2 version to come out too.

20 Questions for November?

Is there a November game?

We really should make sure we get a Dec game since it's already past half way through Nov... maybe a game staring now that can be in either month?

December will have a great day game

???

Frank wrote:

Sorry for the delay guys (and the weirdly typed typo last month)

This month will be Spider Man month.

We already had the first one, so this badge is for Miles Morales and/or Spider Man 2.

Oh no! I just finished Spider-Man 2 last month and beat Miles Morales when it first came out. Those are both great games though.

Frank wrote:

I haven't played any of them. I do own the first game though, and I'm pretty sure Miles Morales is in the PS+ Extra Game Catalog, and I've heard that game is on the short side, so I could definitely finish it before the month ends. But is Miles Morales a big improvement over the first game? Like, would it feel like a step backwards gameplay-wise when I eventually go back to play the first game?

Miles is a step up in that it feels a bit more arcadey and the pace is faster. The remastered original is a bit slower combat wise but not terribly- and it feels more relaxed to me. Spiderman 2 actually lets you play as both so it’s a mix of styles.

If you enjoy MM then going back to OG would feel fine.

Okay, I'm going to try to participate this month. I loved the first Spider-Man game and want to play Miles Morales before jumping on the sequel.

Bought Miles Morales during the last Steam sale. Good excuse to give this a playthrough if I can make the time.

Renaissance2K wrote:
I'm in a similar boat. I enjoyed the first one (PS5 remaster) and have had Miles Morales sitting here in the backlog.

I was going to pick a Christmasy game, but the only one I could come up with was Dead Rising 4

Yeah, I can't really think of too many games that take place on Christmas. The only two that come to mind are that NiGHTS Into Dreams little spin-off on the Sega Saturn, and Batman: Arkham Origins.

Elf Bowling

Don't forget the Grinch games. And the Home Alone games.

And Deathsmiles 2. (Not actually sure if it takes place at Christmas but the full title is Deathsmiles II: Makai no Merry Christmas)

benstylus wrote:

I'm not trying to make people suffer

I love platformers... but I don't think I could sit through this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavqcVuDWC0

Someone tell me that looks good.

Frank wrote:

*looks at his E.T. badge*

Frank wrote:

I remember playing it on Dreamcast back in the day. It was thoroughly run of the mill. It wasn't wretched, just that everything had been done a hundred times before by a hundred other similar games.

Renaissance2K wrote:
|lol the month of April is my only exception.

Would've been too long, but the first Division was sort of set at Christmas time... dang I miss that game, I sunk so many hours into that. 2 was alright but the feel of the first game with the snow and all of that was a blast.
As for participating this month... I didn't care for Spidey too much and don't currently have Miles nor a PS5 to seek out S2 so I'm likely to pass, though maybe I'll load up the first game and finally finish the handful or more small side things I left unfinished... maybe.

There’s an October 2023 release grinch game.

Frank wrote:

Not clear if this is intentional or not, but Miles Morales takes place during Christmas.

I might have subconsciously remembered that. Otherwise it's a happy coincidence.

More Christmas games!

https://youtu.be/YwVRY9L1Uvw

https://youtu.be/6JBDWq2nzTA

Finished up Spider-Man 2. I really hated the last 1/3 of this game.

SP1 was fantastic and an unexpected treat, solid A and a great game a couple years ago.
SP2 I was back in and enjoying more of the same with some cool upgrades, enhancements, QOL improvements, cruising through NYC in another solid fun romp. I enjoyed 20+ hours through a fantastic opening and setup. The back end of the game finished so poorly. Act 3 became a chore and was full of bad design and bad decisions in my opinion.

I'm not hugely into Spidey and don't know much about the various villains. I was onboard how the game was setup and just scratching my head when it went where it did by the end. Curious to what others thought as they finish it up.

I enjoyed it all the way through and thought it was better than SP1 and Miles Morales. I liked how they switched up the gameplay in various ways so it wasn't just all Spider-Man doing the same stuff the whole game. The trophies were also much less annoying than some of the ones in SP1.

hobbes21 wrote:

Just unlocked the Into the Spider-Verse suit. Highly recommended.

I found all of the parts with MJ unnecessary and tedious. I tend to feel the same in other games where they go to a side character enemy base stealth mission. Guards are always laughably unaware where you can basically run up and taze whoever you need to without issue. Rather it just be a cut scene and skip the whole segment.

Spider-Verse suits are great. I love how they animated them in the same strobe-style from the movies.

Well, that was awesome.

I was not on team Miles at first. I think all the electricity-based powers just add noise to an already heavy powerset. But man, once you get out of the "Where we last left our hero" story intro, the game really runs on four legs. I had as much as a blast as with the first game, possibly even more so because the story was so focused and didn't branch out into a ton of subplots.

Really wanting to play Spider-Man 2 now.

Sorry for the inactivity here. It's been a busy end of the year.


So looks like @hobbes21 and @Renaissance2K were the only two to complete this month's game? If I'm missing someone let me know.

I haven't started, but maybe I'll cram in 8 hours of play time in 2 days

What do we got lined up for January?

I won't be revealing it until Monday, but if you wanna play a speed run of 20 questions I'll give a hint.

It was released in 2023

Hey I beat Spider-man 2 in December too! I finally did a game of the month without even realizing lol

theJaw wrote:

That was fast. I’m still working on it.

Feeb wrote:

Yah I was loving the story so I didn't do a ton of the side stuff the same way I did in the other two Spider-man games. Barely upgraded the gadgets or health/strength/etc. I think my health and strength were only like halfway complete when I finished the game, but that kept it interesting as far as difficulty goes.

I'll keep playing the side stuff so I'm all powered up for the inevitable DLC.

Frank wrote:

1. Was it nominated for anything at The Game Awards this year?

2. Is it an indie game?

3. Is it exclusive to one particular console?

1. Was it nominated for anything at The Game Awards this year?
1. Yes

2. Is it an indie game?
2. No

3. Is it exclusive to one particular console?
3. Yes

Happy New Year!

We're going to start out the new year with Hi-Fi Rush. I'll update the OP and create badges for last month and this month as soon as I can. January is a busy month for me.

Doh. I beat that last year on GP and certainly liked it, but not enough to replay.

I finally have the OP updated with badges for December and January. If anyone is missing a badge please let me know.

Next month's game was chosen, so 20 questions can start whenever.

Also totally slipped my mind, but @PizzaTheHutt is offering up a $15 Xbox Gift Card to be raffled off to a randomly chosen member who completes Hi-Fi Rush this month.

Had an hour to spare tonight so I decided to start it up. I got through the first boss. The art style is amazing. The game feels so fluid. I've never been great at rhythm based games, but I'm doing alright. I probably get more Good than Perfect combos. The music is pretty good as well. Good choice.

I started this myself yesterday. While. I'm not doing the best, I'm averaging B to C ranks. I think keeping rhythm is what's helping me. I'm also getting S rank clear times on most waves.

I'm definitely enjoying it more than I thought I would. Gameplay-wise it's strangely giving me Ratchet & Clank vibes. Something I was not expecting.

I really hope parrying gets easier. I feel like I'm just mashing buttons hoping that it works out. Just finished the level that introduced the mechanic of it. Still enjoying the game but getting a bit overwhelmed with all the upgrades you can buy.

SwiftJAB wrote:
From what I understand from what I played, the upgrades are optional replacement moves that you can swap in / out. So if you end up with a move you don't like you can re-equip your old one.

Frank wrote:

The first types of upgrades, yes. Just play a little more :)

Trying to get this finished by the end of the month. I'll probably have to sacrifice some sleep to do it. I'm about half way through the game. Still enjoying it. There are some QTE style moments that are a bit frustrating. I'm mostly playing remotely on my phone, which is not ideal when I'm trying to land precision button pressse6s.

SwiftJAB wrote:

FYI, the final fight was a PITA for me. Based on your (and/or other's) comments about not nailing the QTE stuff or not being solid in fights - I was pretty similar and the final boss took me a bunch of tries. I almost wanted to give up, but being so close to the end kept me trying it. I would surely suggest not playing remotely on your phone for that fight.

Slickriven wrote:
Thanks for the tip.

Frank wrote:


Did the game release within the past 10 years?

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

1. No

Is it a co-op game?

Feeb wrote:
2. Not yet No

Made it through the fourth boss last night, just two more to go. That battle was actually pretty fun. The dialog in this game has me cracking up some of the time.

3. Is it a 2d game?

SwiftJAB wrote:
3. Yes

4. Does it feature any characters from Super Smash Bros Ultimate?

Is it pixelated?

SwiftJAB wrote:
4. Yes

citizen_zane wrote:
5. Yes (kinda?)

Well, it feels good to finally complete one of the monthly games. It's been a while. Parrying got a bit easier for me as the game progressed. I wish I bought and used more companion attacks earlier on. They certainly elevated the combat.

Hi Fi Rush was a fun pick. I enjoyed the style, disliked some of the QTE, but overall a good game. If they made a sequel, I'd play it. Heck, I might even do some of the post game quests I this one.

What do we have lined up for February?

I'm guessing Prince of Persia

SwiftJAB wrote:

The Prince isn't in Smash Bros. Ultimate, unless he's an obscure assist trophy or something. The Smash roster and "2D game" qualifiers are probably the best way of narrowing down the list.

Based on that, it seems like the most likely franchises would be:
- The extended Mario universe (Piranha Plant, Mario, Yoshi, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Wario, Bowser Jr.)
- Dragon Quest (Hero)
- King of Fighters (Terry)
- Donkey Kong / Country (Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, King K. Rool)
- Zelda (Link, Toon Link, Zelda)
- Metroid (Samus, Ridley)
- Kirby (Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede)
- Pokemon (Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Mewtwo, Pokemon Trainer, Lucario)
- Earthbound (Ness, Lucas)
- Ice Climbers
- Fire Emblem (Marth, Roy)
- Mr. Game & Watch
- Kid Icarus (Pit, Palutena)
- Metal Gear (Snake)
- Sonic
- Mega Man
- Punch-Out!!
- Pac-Man
- Duck Hunt
- Street Fighter (Ryu)
- Castlevania (Simon)

Some of those are just plain impractical, and others we've already played through a bunch. Based on the "not yet" co-op answer, I'm leaning towards something from either Donkey Kong or Sonic as both of those games feature multiple semi-playable characters on screen, and both franchises have upcoming titles that we know about.

I'm probably wrong, though. Especially if the Smash Bros. response factors in assist trophies.

Oh right, it could be Mario vs DK. Switch version does have co-op that the GBA version didn't.

Renaissance2K wrote:
I love how in-depth you got into narrowing down the options!

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

It's Mario vs Donkey Kong!!!

@PizzaTheHutt it looks like @SwiftJAB was the only one to complete Hi-Fi Rush for January.

Frank wrote:

There were about fifty other more important things I could have done with my time, but I can't resist a good brain teaser.

Renaissance2K wrote:
It does not go unnoticed good sir.

Looks like this includes the GBA original?