Vidya Games Thread

[John Vtuber👁️]

Tennocon is coming up in a few months, Warframe fever is kicking up into full-swing, and Warframe 1999 has teased their latest playable character Aoi, who will assuredly receive a resounding amount of artwork and microtransaction sales if GSS doesn't kill her first:



My brain worms, however, remind me of the step-child that Digital Extremes has taken on publishing, and that now would be roughly the best time to see how it's doing and if it ever fixed the online infastructure:



It has now been about 8 months since the launch period of Wayfinder - surely, this means they are in a better position than they were at launch with the assistance of Digital Extremes, right?



Not only has Digital Extremes dropped them from publishing, but they are going to self-publish and change up the game significantly (with no details yet as to how), so sales have been halted until it is ready to re-launch. Those who already bought it can still play it, but realistically, who would if everything's going to nebulously change at a later date?

For all intents and purposes, I was only ever interested in the project because of Digital Extremes and their involvement giving them the needed experience, without them they will unironically have to compete not only with Warframe, but with their upcoming game Soulframe that hits many of the same notes:



They also state that they want the game to be online and playable forever, but that sort of thing is expensive and the content is eventually going to thin out as money runs dry. It is incredibly optimistic of them that their overhaul will be a competing product right out the gate instead of "Early Access Part Two", but as I bought into the beta, I am obligated to at least give it a fair shot when it releases. Unless it is an absolute must-play at that point, I won't recommend anyone purchasing it until it does reach that point, if at all - ANTHEM 2.0 was a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual.

 

[Porean]

Fellas... the Osama Bin Laden/Bob Marley crossover case badge... Yes or HELL YES?

It makes the graphics explode and guarantees you get the most frags in Americas Army

 

[John Vtuber👁️]

Todd Howard is at it again, Fallout 4 is getting next-gen updates and free creation club content in a few weeks, modders on suicide watch after years of stability:



Speaking of modders on suicide watch, Rimworld: Anomaly is out NOW for $24.99:

 

[Abomination]

Speaking of modders on suicide watch, Rimworld: Anomaly is out NOW for $24.99:

Neat. Looking forward to more ways my colony gets completely shit on and wiped out after hours of work.


And I'm not even being sarcastic. It's super entertaining to see how the game decides to completely wreck my shit.

 

[RestlessRain]

Todd Howard is at it again, Fallout 4 is getting next-gen updates and free creation club content in a few weeks, modders on suicide watch after years of stability:

All of this effort and Fallout 4 is still a shit game.

 

[Banana Hammock]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/169x4du/release_atelier_translator/

This is pretty cool. I found this while googling to see which Atelier games haven't been translated. Time is running out for localizers.

 

[RestlessRain]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Atelier/comments/169x4du/release_atelier_translator/

This is pretty cool. I found this while googling to see which Atelier games haven't been translated. Time is running out for localizers.

 

[PleaseCheckYourReceipts]

Tennocon is coming up in a few months, Warframe fever is kicking up into full-swing, and Warframe 1999 has teased their latest playable character Aoi, who will assuredly receive a resounding amount of artwork and microtransaction sales if GSS doesn't kill her first:



My brain worms, however, remind me of the step-child that Digital Extremes has taken on publishing, and that now would be roughly the best time to see how it's doing and if it ever fixed the online infastructure:

View attachment 67794

It has now been about 8 months since the launch period of Wayfinder - surely, this means they are in a better position than they were at launch with the assistance of Digital Extremes, right?



Not only has Digital Extremes dropped them from publishing, but they are going to self-publish and change up the game significantly (with no details yet as to how), so sales have been halted until it is ready to re-launch. Those who already bought it can still play it, but realistically, who would if everything's going to nebulously change at a later date?

For all intents and purposes, I was only ever interested in the project because of Digital Extremes and their involvement giving them the needed experience, without them they will unironically have to compete not only with Warframe, but with their upcoming game Soulframe that hits many of the same notes:



They also state that they want the game to be online and playable forever, but that sort of thing is expensive and the content is eventually going to thin out as money runs dry. It is incredibly optimistic of them that their overhaul will be a competing product right out the gate instead of "Early Access Part Two", but as I bought into the beta, I am obligated to at least give it a fair shot when it releases. Unless it is an absolute must-play at that point, I won't recommend anyone purchasing it until it does reach that point, if at all - ANTHEM 2.0 was a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual.

So, we have Excalibur lore and now Mag Lore. I'd expect Volt to show up next.

 

[UberSoldat]

Tempest Rising - Development Update: Battle Command Uplink Initializing… - Steam News

Battle Command Uplink Initializing… Communications re-established. Hello again, Commanders! We know it’s been a while since our last update, and we have much to cover. First, we’d like to thank you for your patience while we were radio silent. Since our announcement in December, we’ve been very...

store.steampowered.com

Tempest Rising has survived Embracer's wrath

 

[MrProcessor]

This was a really smart idea. It's very similar to Resident Evil 7 DLC 21. but it's a stand alone game. I was surprised by how cheap it is on Steam.

 

[Banana Hammock]

Ori and the Blind Forest is pretty good. I was worried it was going to be shit after how long and boring the prologue was.

 

[Zizara]

This was a really smart idea. It's very similar to Resident Evil 7 DLC 21. but it's a stand alone game. I was surprised by how cheap it is on Steam.

It's a pretty fun little puzzle game based on stacking probabilities, and the edgy aesthetic is cute with a surprising amount of detail. Always fun to see the dealer fuck up - it's not a perfect prediciton machine, he has to gamble just like you do based on the info available. Good to see it go viral and makes for a fun streamer game to watch whether they're actually good at it or not.

 

[Thomas Talus]

Ori and the Blind Forest is pretty good. I was worried it was going to be shit after how long and boring the prologue was.

It's decent, but the escape sequences can be obnoxious.

 

[Banana Hammock]

It's decent, but the escape sequences can be obnoxious.

True. The Forlorn Ruins escape kicked my ass.

Edit: Forget the Forlorn Ruins. The Mount Horu escape is absolute dogshit. It's bad enough dodging all of the shit, but being hunted by that fucking owl on top of it? I'm honestly tempted to just say "fuck it" and watch a video of the rest of the finale. I got almost all the way to the end. That's good enough.

Edit 2: Looks like I just needed to take a break. Got it the third try tonight. I still say that the escape sequences are trash, though. Take a bit too long to do something? Start over. Miss a jump or dash? Start over. Forgot about a rock that comes crashing down? Start over. You're starting to mess up because you're getting annoyed? Start over and over and over. The worst part is that they're not even very hard, just annoying, so you don't get a sense of accomplishment when you beat them.

The rest of the game is pretty good, though. Easily a 7/10, without the escape sequences. 6/10 with them.

 

[Helmet-kun Backwards]

So for the fellow Paradox players in here: do you think the upcoming Victoria 3 DLC is going to "fix" some of the issues with the game? They're adding something similar to Victoria 2's sphering mechanic, large alliances which can potentially obligate large-scale wars (WW1 might actually happen in game now), and they're adding foreign investment into the game. It seems too good to be true for me, but on the other hand Victoria 2 had one major DLC that solved 90% of its early issues. IMO If 3 can get to the point where its base game is decent and not completely railroaded into a GDP gameplay loop, the flavor events and objectives for various countries can be modded in. I'm actually kind of getting my hopes up for it at the moment.

 

[Porean]

So for the fellow Paradox players in here: do you think the upcoming Victoria 3 DLC is going to "fix" some of the issues with the game? They're adding something similar to Victoria 2's sphering mechanic, large alliances which can potentially obligate large-scale wars (WW1 might actually happen in game now), and they're adding foreign investment into the game. It seems too good to be true for me, but on the other hand Victoria 2 had one major DLC that solved 90% of its early issues. IMO If 3 can get to the point where its base game is decent and not completely railroaded into a GDP gameplay loop, the flavor events and objectives for various countries can be modded in. I'm actually kind of getting my hopes up for it at the moment.

There is no helping the steaming pile of shit generously described as a video game, Paradox will never make a good game ever again, don't fall for Jewhans mind tricks. It's gonna be mana up ass, you're gonna be railroaded into focus trees. (with with plenty of epik memes XD of course *holds up spork*) Vicky 2 did improve greatly with " A house divided" however, this was when Paradox still had some competent staff, or perhaps they respected themselves and their audience enough to not just release absolute garbage and try to fix their (as they always are and where) broken games. Also, do remember that the Vicky 2 being played now is not Vanilla. It's HPM variants, Crimeamod if you're and edgy edgy boi, or alternate history forks (usually based on HPM) beacuse Vicky 2 is still very much broken in Vanilla, even with the 2022 beta patch you still will get the 6 Gorillion rebels by 1900 since it's impossible to satisfy them even with all political and social reforms, Health care is still completly broken, great wars are a mess at best (and not intentionally!) ACW still gets confederate Iowa due to the AI being unable to properly respond to events... The list goes on.

The modders helping to fix/improve the base game requires the modders to be: 1. Competent and: 2. The modding scene to be active. If one is missing you're fucked (See HoI 4 with their garbage VN's masquearding as strategy games) and the negative press and general shit quality has ensured Vicky 3 will never be properly modded (the increased railroading does not help modders either)

Ask yourself; have you enjoyed any of their games post leviathan DLC for EU4?(I'm being kind here, the release of HoI 4 killed Paradox, the corpse just kept shambling for a couple of years afterwards) If so, you are the most tasteless shit-eater possible so you might just enjoy the next Vicky DLC, however you'd enjoy watching keys jangling in front of your face even more, and maybe a little Subway surfers and Familiy guy funnies on the side? as a treat? So just go watch that and save yourself the 30 eurobux price.

 

[John Vtuber👁️]

So for the fellow Paradox players in here: do you think the upcoming Victoria 3 DLC is going to "fix" some of the issues with the game?

no, but I'm still going to get it so that my alt-history mods can remain updated

 

[UberSoldat]

There is no helping the steaming pile of shit generously described as a video game, Paradox will never make a good game ever again, don't fall for Jewhans mind tricks. It's gonna be mana up ass, you're gonna be railroaded into focus trees. (with with plenty of epik memes XD of course *holds up spork*) Vicky 2 did improve greatly with " A house divided" however, this was when Paradox still had some competent staff, or perhaps they respected themselves and their audience enough to not just release absolute garbage and try to fix their (as they always are and where) broken games. Also, do remember that the Vicky 2 being played now is not Vanilla. It's HPM variants, Crimeamod if you're and edgy edgy boi, or alternate history forks (usually based on HPM) beacuse Vicky 2 is still very much broken in Vanilla, even with the 2022 beta patch you still will get the 6 Gorillion rebels by 1900 since it's impossible to satisfy them even with all political and social reforms, Health care is still completly broken, great wars are a mess at best (and not intentionally!) ACW still gets confederate Iowa due to the AI being unable to properly respond to events... The list goes on.

The modders helping to fix/improve the base game requires the modders to be: 1. Competent and: 2. The modding scene to be active. If one is missing you're fucked (See HoI 4 with their garbage VN's masquearding as strategy games) and the negative press and general shit quality has ensured Vicky 3 will never be properly modded (the increased railroading does not help modders either)

Ask yourself; have you enjoyed any of their games post leviathan DLC for EU4?(I'm being kind here, the release of HoI 4 killed Paradox, the corpse just kept shambling for a couple of years afterwards) If so, you are the most tasteless shit-eater possible so you might just enjoy the next Vicky DLC, however you'd enjoy watching keys jangling in front of your face even more, and maybe a little Subway surfers and Familiy guy funnies on the side? as a treat? So just go watch that and save yourself the 30 eurobux price.

They're doing great

Paradox closing Umea and Malmo studios to veer away from decentralized development

Paradox intends to unify its operations in Sweden, and stressed that its studios North America and the rest of Europe won't be impacted by the move.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Paradox Report Notes Cases Of Harassment But Doesn't Fire Anyone

Abuse allegations apparently didn’t warrant “legally permissible” employment termination.

www.thegamer.com

Paradox have cancelled several unannounced games

Paradox Interactive have cancelled several unannounced projects, to focus on strategy and management games and insure quality.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

Paradox's grand strategy Star Trek Infinite will receive no further updates

Star Trek Infinite, released in 2023 and published by grand strategy kings Paradox, will receive no further updates - much to the chagrin of its players.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

 

[John Vtuber👁️]

They're doing great

Paradox closing Umea and Malmo studios to veer away from decentralized development

Paradox intends to unify its operations in Sweden, and stressed that its studios North America and the rest of Europe won't be impacted by the move.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Paradox Report Notes Cases Of Harassment But Doesn't Fire Anyone

Abuse allegations apparently didn’t warrant “legally permissible” employment termination.

www.thegamer.com

Paradox have cancelled several unannounced games

Paradox Interactive have cancelled several unannounced projects, to focus on strategy and management games and insure quality.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

Paradox's grand strategy Star Trek Infinite will receive no further updates

Star Trek Infinite, released in 2023 and published by grand strategy kings Paradox, will receive no further updates - much to the chagrin of its players.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

unironically, their old games will be more well-received than their new and upcoming games, and it won't even be close

EUV will not be better than EUIV and its decade plus of updates, and if something as "big" as Starfield can lose one of their long-time modders, Paradox may also reach a point where modders won't stick around to "save" anything post-Vicky III

and even then, after the legally-obligated DLC they sold as pre-orders, Victoria III could very well go the way of Imperator: Rome if reviews don't turn "positive". If EUV is sold with a year of DLC in the big dick edition, it could very well follow suit! if they don't want to have Microsoft eyeing them for a buyout, they better get to work on Hearts of Iron V or Stellaris 2 after extensive feedback from their respected communities, but by then it may be too late to change course

 

[RestlessRain]

unironically, their old games will be more well-received than their new and upcoming games, and it won't even be close

EUV will not be better than EUIV and its decade plus of updates, and if something as "big" as Starfield can lose one of their long-time modders, Paradox may also reach a point where modders won't stick around to "save" anything post-Vicky III

and even then, after the legally-obligated DLC they sold as pre-orders, Victoria III could very well go the way of Imperator: Rome if reviews don't turn "positive". If EUV is sold with a year of DLC in the big dick edition, it could very well follow suit! if they don't want to have Microsoft eyeing them for a buyout, they better get to work on Hearts of Iron V or Stellaris 2 after extensive feedback from their respected communities, but by then it may be too late to change course

Since I don't know anything about Paradox, and this is one of the few places which might actually give me information that's not shit - what caused Paradox to fall from grace? Didn't they used to be the premier grand strategy studio? I can see here that they've been releasing shit games, but what's caused their games to go to shit?

And what is in it for Microsoft to do a buyout, if all they're making now is crap? Microsoft is admittedly infamous for buying studios that fall in quality, but when they're bought, they do start off with a decent reputation and decent games. If Microsoft bought Paradox tomorrow, what are they going to do to turn the company around, besides giving them a decent advertising budget for their games?