That was my first entry into the AC games and I dropped it after about 3-4 hours. It just never clicked for me and I didn't see myself being forced to play it.

I'm kind of sad that so many people feel the same. Damn shame, too, 'cause vikings are pretty ****ing awesome.

I'm not sure where they'll go with the next installment, but they need a rebound in a major way.

3-4 hours definitely isn't enough time if I had to guess. Like I said, I spent almost 8 doing the Odyssey prologue and it's not all main story so it's not really "gripping" until you see the plot line start to unfold after you leave the first area.

You play games a little differently than most lol

3-4 hours should get you roughly 10% of the way through (most) main storylines if you're not distracted by side quests.

I also play on the highest difficulty level available for most games. In an open world, especially one with level scaling, rushing through the main story is a good way to become frustrated and rage quit...

I just don't have the patience for that anymore. Perhaps not reaction time/motor skills, either. I'm currently doing another run through Horizon Zero Dawn, and I can't imagine what a pain in the ass it must be at anything beyond normal. Even on normal it can be vicious. Getting dogpiled by three or four different types of creatures, all of which have different attacks and vulnerabilities.... ****. When a game gets to be so difficult/complex that playing it feels like work, I lose interest quickly.

It depends on the game. Most open world RPG's nowadays offer stealth elements and with a bit of careful planning (which takes even more time FWIW), you can get through a lot of content without ever needing good "skillz".

Trust me, I'm a 50-year old burnout. I can't play most FPS games because I'm at such a disadvantage.

I just don't have the time like I used to...and honestly the patience either. If I'm not into a game right away then I end up dropping it.

I have Witcher 3 that I still need to push through but the combat system to me is ****ing clunky as shit.

Witcher 3 is another one that I'd never play above normal. Normal's enough.

And don't even get me started on Kingdom Come Deliverance. That's the most difficult game I've ever played, and I think you'd pretty much have to be a ****ing cyborg to play it on hard.

I get the impression playing AC Odyssey that you could get through most of the content without really using too many abilities or upgrading weapons. Even on the hardest difficulty, I find myself letting armor and weapons get several levels behind and it doesn't really make things insurmountable. However, if I want to actually get through the frustrating parts, I find myself making sure I optimize everything.

I conquered a fort in the 3rd area last night where there were probably 20 guards and 3 captains. I stealthed everyone except the last couple of guards. It took me about an hour. :D

Oh I don't play games on anything above normal. I don't have shit to prove to anyone at this point. I'm playing to enjoy myself.

It's also why I can't do Dark Souls and quit trying with Bloodborne.

Interestingly enough, I play on harder difficulties to make me be patient and thoughtful about my progress. It's not so much about the difficulty as it is about forcing myself to slow down and take in a game more completely.

That being said, I have never been able to get into From Software titles. I remember quitting Dark Souls 3 because I couldn't beat the tutorial boss.

I agree with this, I've never been into achievements or pvp. I play for fun and I wanna feel a bit overpowered or it gets boring to me. Survival games are a little different but if they're too harsh then nah i'm out.

See, I'm the opposite. I don't find being overpowered fun, if it gets too easy, it gets repetitive and disengaging pretty fast for me. I like to have to stop and think about things - perhaps it's my way of compensating for the fact that I don't have the quick twitch thumbs I used to in my younger years.

Yep. I don't play ridiculously hard games. I don't play online games. Gaming is "me" time, not "us" time. And if it's not fun, what's the point?

Funny, that's exactly me. I only play single player games for the most part (Monster Hunter being one big exception). I just happen to find the harder difficulties on most games to be more fun for me. And that's coming from someone who simply cannot play truly "hard" games like Dark Souls.

Gaming is an escape to have superhero powers for me, that's the appeal. I'm not particularly fast or whatever and would prefer tactics to brute force quick clicks. I have no interest in playing something that kicks your ass and frustrates you, we have real life things for that LOL

all the side scrollers I have played in the past 5 years

Door Kickers Action Squad - 8- a simple ShMUp based on SWAT. this game reminds me of Elevator Action. Most of the fun to be had came from leveling up and unlocking. Alternate game modes add to replay value.

Noita- 8- the game scrolls sideways and downward. I've posted my thoughts on this game before. this game is always challenging. it is deeper gameplay than you might suspect.

Salt n Sanctuary-7- a side scrolling Dark Souls.

Guns,Gore, Cannoli-8- a ShMUp with very cool cartoon style graphics. this game has a well balanced difficulty level. it is challenging in spots without being frustrating.

My Friend Pedro-7 - seemingly inspired by John Wick. it could be considered too easy... I'm not far into the game though

Carrion-6- this game reminds me of John Carpenters The Thing. you play as The Thing.

Nidhogg-6- the gameplay mechanics remind me of the Great Swordsman arcade game. this game is crude pixel art done really well

Nifelheim-8- ARPG/BMUp/Tower Defense combined. there is some crafting also. this game can be a time sink. I wish I had more time to play it. this seems like a game I could binge on.

Rampage Knights-9- a BMUp with tons of visual character customization. reminiscent of Castle Crashers. a small group of players would make short work of this game.

Shrouded in Sanity-NR- havent played it enough to rate it.

Volgarr the viking-3- Rastan re-skinned. the controls are clunky though.

Dynasty Wars-6- A classic capcom BMUp set in Han Dynasty China.

Warriors of Fate-6- a sequel to Dynasty Wars. the graphics are better but I prefer DW for whatever reason.
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the side scroller I am anticipating most:
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Shootas, Blood & Teef

made by the same company that put out Guns Gore & Cannoli. This game is set in the Warhammer 40k universe.

Good to see I am not the only one. After playing Odyssey, Valhalla was very disappointing. I couldn’t get that far into it before I stopped playing.

I lean towards this philosophy. I dont like victories that are given to me. I would rather have to take a few cracks at a boss/level. that said... there is nothing worse than a game that seems impossible because of design flaws, bugs/glitches or over complicated controls

You can easily get away with letting your weapons and armor get a few levels back. Most of the best legendary weapons and gear can be acquired relatively easily. I know some will farm the right epic gear to make their characters even more unbeatable, but I don’t have that kind of patience. I just roll with legendary gear and can easily take down anything.

That’s insane. I don’t have that level of patience. I will stealth kill as many as I can without getting detected. Once they do detect me, I just go straight melee with my dagger. If I am looking to build up my wanted level, I won’t trap the beacon first. If I don’t have time, I will trap it first. If you like to stealth everything, I recommend the Pirates set as well as maxing out Ghost Arrows of Artemis. That’s such a fun skill for stealth characters.

Thank you. I find myself checking if I can play a game solo before I purchase it. I hate PVP games or games that force me to play with others.

That's just the thing, as long as I don't go in all guns blazing, I don't get my ass kicked. And taking out a clearly superior force is very satisfying. It isn't frustrating at all unless you don't have the patience for it and I know not everybody does...

Ive got about 50 hours in, even though its isometric arpg combat its not much like Diablos or POE, its systems are closer to Archeage and BDO.

The combat too, is much more measured and methodical, as compared to ability spamming billions of mobs.

Falxftw on Galatur server if you want to send me a request~

Yeah, I'm bummed out that more games don't have an 'old farts' mode.

Even games like AC where you might be able to use stealth instead of FPS...

At some point you inevitably get in combat.

But worse, where as you can sometimes set the combat to easy, they don't usually let you set stealth to easy or the complicated jumps between buildings to easy.

Witcher 3 had a just give me the story old farts mode.

:thumb:

I'm actually getting addicted to it, at first it didn't pull me in but i've played about 12 hours straight now. It's very well done and the public dungeons are great, side quests can get cumbersome and boring but it's fun for sure.

Currently playing Aground on Xbox One, free with Xbox Live subscription.

8 bit look, elements of Terraria/Minecraft.

Starts out as a survival island-type game, then as it progresses, somehow involves spaceships, cyborgs, werewolves, dragons, spaceships made out of dragons, magic, alchemy, aliens, spirits, and colonization of other planets.

Very enjoyable with lots of replayability and multiple end-game scenarios.

I soured on Assassin's Creed years ago. IIRC I crapped out on the second or third one. Got sick of all the jumping, climbing and timed missions where you had to jump and climb to exact spots.

You should definitely try the newer games. Starting with Unity, they pretty much abandoned the strict mission objectives. The games now allow you to solve problems your own way, whether that's stealth or whatever.

I will say that Odyssey and Valhalla are nothing like that at all.

Yep, I mentioned that I recently played Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla. I fired up Unity for about 30 minutes last night and it legitimately feels like a different game.

I like both styles, but I did not expect such a stark contrast.

Anyone else on pins and needles waiting for their Steam Deck?

Anyone have a console for sale?

PS4 or XBox One or N64 w. good controllers...?

i am for Dying Light 2 :)

Personally, I really hate stealth play in games. Especially the forced stealth missions. Those are the worst!

If I can't Leroy Jenkins my way through the game, I get bored with it.

Dark Souls games? **** that, not enjoyable...

Ditto. Dying Light 2 looks like a game i'd give up on early.

The later AC games don't force you to stealth but it definitely provides and advantage. I play quite a few hunting sims which are stealth extreme. I love sitting in a hunting stand and waiting. It's relaxing when you don't have wave after wave of zombies coming at you.

Totally agree.

Reminds me of my Skyrim runs. I'd always tell myself try to focus on sneak and bow/arrow builds but 20 minutes later I'm dual-wielding axes, running straight into a fortress.

ROFL

I was just the opposite - I loved sniping in Skyrim.

I am definitely a hybrid on those. I sneak up on as many as I can, but when I inevitably get discovered I go full Conan the Barbarian.

One of the mods I always used was the Armory of Conan. So I went full Conan with Conan’s actual sword!

Anyone have any recommendations for a civ builder/4x besides Civ6? I want to play something of this ilk, but the 5-6 hour games are a huge turnoff for me.

Download a PS3 emulator and play some Civilization Revolution. 4x games by nature take a while and Civ is one of the shortest ones in reality. A game of Civ Rev generally takes less than 3 hours.

Yeah, that's a short game. I've played some that take over 100 hours.

Spaceward Ho was a very fast 4x type game but thats a really old one.

Age of Empires 4 just dropped, give that a shot.

AOE2 is my favorite and one I still play.

I still play rise of nations to this day.

Still feel like it's one of the best RTS games ever.

I did a lot of Skyrim. Usually bow/arrow and often magic so frontal assault was risky.

But I did do a out of my norm play through with a war hammer and heavy armor that was a fun change of pace.

Can be bloody hard to kill flying dragons when all ya got is a war hammer.

I have a barely used xbox one x , maybe 40 hours of rdr 2 and thats it. COmes with rdr2 lol

Not really 4x but similar - have you ever played any Total War games?

Medieval II and the original Rome are excellent games.

if you have a PC Fraz - you should play Escape from Tarkov.

I had fun a few mos ago beating all the old ass Unchartered games, I haven't played the latest one though, anyone played it? Game will age well and probably be a classic (looking back in 20 yrs.)

That's not a game he would enjoy, getting ganked in pvp is not fun. :)

Yeah, when it comes to video games, I only play single player stuff.

I don't work and play well with others. :)

What you don't want to hear some 12 year old on his mic saying he owned you by ganking? Who could possibly not love that kind of thing? LMAO

Tarkov is one of those games that not only do they kill you they take everything you worked hard to get.

I love hearing "Mom! Make me a sandwich!" and then finding out the guy you're playing with is in his 30's.

Yeah, no thanks.

Years ago I played Star Wars Battlefront online a bit. I enjoyed the dogfighting and was actually quite good at it. But the rest didn't appeal to me much. And the groups of assholes who would hang out at the spawn points killing everybody the second they appeared got old quick.

Heard yesterday that Netflix has confirmed there will be a Bioshock movie.


Would you kindly???

CANNOT WAIT! one of my all-time faves

Nice I never played it - an older game - but ever played No Man's Sky?

I tried to get into No Man's Sky, but got bored really quickly. I think I heard it got much more involved/finished later on, but I checked out early on it.

I love Bioshock, which is precisely why I don't want them to make a movie out of it.

So for those of you that played AC Odyssey, what really drew you in to make you say it was great?

So far, it's feeling like a sprawling goose chase. There's so many side quests and stuff, it just feels like I'm running around endlessly with no real purpose.

Yeah I'm 99% sure they'll screw it up. For one thing it should probably be a series instead of a movie. There's too much there to pack into 90 minutes.

both of you guys make great points.

That said, I'm still excited and I'll tune in. I just have low expectations.

It’s weird, but I can’t nail down one specific thing as a large part of what you can do there you can do in a lot of other games. I just really had fun with it and never felt like any part of the story was a trudge. It is a sprawling goose chase and that more or less is most of that game, but with all the other things I can do in it I never felt the urge to progress the story for the sake of doing it. It is definitely a game I love without really being one that I can point a finger to at any specific thing and saying that is the reason for me love.

I’m still playing Europa universalis 4…really involved but it’s fun to take random historical countries and make them powerhouses.

Fixing to play God of War and bought The Last of Us 2 (Best Buy sale $15.00)

Back down the Destiny 2 rabbit hole after one of my typical breaks from it…so excited for Witch Queen, cannot wait for Tuesday!

What will make this expansion better? I mean I don't pvp or do raids so really anything to do but repeat the same strikes and missions over and over?

Also is the price really around $100 for a dlc?

I think I enjoyed the fact that it was so massive. There was so much to explore and I enjoyed discovering new things across the Greeks islands.

What stands out in my memory:

I liked Alexios and thought his voice actor did a good job.

Kassandra as Deimos was a pretty cool villain.

Sailing/ship stuff was awesome and I typically hate ship missions.

Combat felt fluid and I loved the amount of weapons and armor to customize.

I love mythology so the mixture of that and Isu technology was cool.

Agreed on the sailing parts. Both sailing and naval combat are well done in that game. Plus the amount of customization to your ship/crew was a nice feature. They made you care about your ship without overwhelming you with it. I loved being Alexios and having my ship crewed by the Daughters of Artemis and having my LTs be former mercenaries and territory leaders. I my only issue with the naval part at all (and this might just be a me thing) was the extremely high cost in materials needed to upgrade my ship.

I got back into it with Season 15 after basically not playing since vanilla D2.

Rework of Void and weapon crafting should be fun.

Just got Blood Bowl II and so far I'm loving it.

As a kid in the comix stores it always looked cool and I always wanted to try it. The table top game was a bit pricey with miniatures and paint and all and not many people around here played.

This is basically a turn based chess/checkers type of thing with comedic, football, and fantasy elements. Elf, undead, Orc, etc positional players. There's touchdowns, passing, and running. Easy and fun to play but seems extremely hard to master. I'm only 5 games in to the tutorial/story mode but it's addictive fun you can pick up or put down after 30-50 minute matches.

Elden Ring is a Day One purchase.

Hoping to get some work out of my PS5