What video game are you playing?

IrishLion

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"In the wild" like at Target. Anywhere besides Online, where they're all sold out.

They're out of stock everywhere right now.

Walmart is getting shipments of the full Switch in every couple of weeks, but the Lite has been MIA everywhere apparently.
 

wizards8507

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They're out of stock everywhere right now.

Walmart is getting shipments of the full Switch in every couple of weeks, but the Lite has been MIA everywhere apparently.
My Yellow Lite had a dead zone on the joystick at 270 degrees, due left. I sent it in for repairs a couple of months ago, came back fine, but then the problem popped back up. Nintendo repairs are closed but I got Amazon to take it back and give me the credit.
 

ulukinatme

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At midnight, I'll be playing Final Fantasy VII Remake

Awesome. Have fun and let me know how it goes. I've made a deal with myself that I'm not going to buy anything new until I kill off a bit of my backlog.

I asked for it as a Christmas present, so I'm hoping it arrives tomorrow. I have next week off, plan on getting a lot of time in on it. I'm going into it a bit disappointed. We know we're only getting a part of the full story here, even if it's extended with fluff and extra characters. I'm not crazy about the battle system having played the demo, it just goes to show that Western audiences have small attention spans and can't play an old school RPG that requires thought, they need action and a lot of button mashing. Square Enix has really disappointed since the merger, fans have waited 23 years for a remake and it was a bit shady to throw out the old combat style completely ("Classic" mode is horseshit).

Despite all this I'm going to try and approach it with as open a mind as I can. Despite the button mashing bullshit of the combat I've heard good things about Tifa's fisting...so I'm looking forward to that. Tifa is still bae, Aerith is a homewrecker.
 

ulukinatme

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And so it begins...I've got next week off so I can devote my time to this thing.

I50MmYG.jpg
 

ulukinatme

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I've got some thoughts on Final Fantasy 7 Remake so far. I haven't included any story spoilers below, but I mention a few character names (Only ones from the original game) that you roll with...if you don't want that information because you didn't play the original then don't read below. There's also some discussion about the new combat that people may or may not want to know, so if you don't want to know about that then skip this.

I figure I'm about a third to halfway through FF7R. I'm sitting at about 18 hours, but that's hitting all the optional quests I can find, playing darts, completing challenges, checking every nook and cranny, doubling back in some cases to double check things, etc. The new characters and villains have been kinda ho-hum, nothing to write home about. However, the stuff they've built upon the existing characters has been very good. The extra stuff with Biggs/Jessie/Wedge was excellent. Doing side quests with the main characters have been enjoyable for the most part, although some bits have definitely felt like unnecessary fluff. Visually the game is absolutely stunning and the musical improvements have been nice. Voice acting for the most part has been top notch.

That said, I absolutely hate the combat system so far, it's just about awful in my honest opinion. There will be some people that will absolutely enjoy it I'm sure, and that's great for them, but it definitely has it's flaws and it's not my personal preference. Making the switch to an Action based combat style...it reminds me when Bethesda was asked circa 2007 why they didn't jump into MMOs. Todd Howard answered that they were a company that made RPGs with stories, and they didn't feel like they could do those things well in an MMO environment. Fast forward 10 years later and Bethesda released Elder Scrolls Online which has been kinda "meh," and they delivered Fallout 76 which has been a turd. Similarly, Square Enix has tried to turn the Final Fantasy franchise into a hack and slash Action genre. The character AI is about useless when you're not directly controlling a particular character. If you get attacked while using an ATB you can kiss that action goodbye because it often gets wasted. It's not the end of the world if it's an ability that uses 1 ATB, but if it's a healing ability that costs 2 ATB? Devastating, especially considering you've wasted a possible life saving healing opportunity. It's a major flaw with this system imo, actions are just getting wiped out. This issue is on top of any possible status ailments that can rob you of action, like Sleep or Paralysis. Lord help you if you get into a fight with 3 Venomantises and Cloud is put to Sleep, and the 3 enemies gang up on low defense Aerith while she tries to wake him up or heal herself.

Other than the flaws in the ATB system, I don't care for all the button mashing. It serves no purpose other than to build ATB. Action games tend to have combos and button sequences that make the combat more engaging and effective as you master it. There's really none of that here, you're just mashing the Square button until you've got enough ATB to do something actually useful. Unfortunately whatever character(s) you're not playing as tend to generate ATB painfully slow and they often don't have enough action to get you a heal when you need it most. There are a few ways around this like Auto Cure Materia, but even that has stipulations and limitations. What this game really needed is some form of Gambit system like FF XII to give the AI more direction when you're not in charge of a particular character.

There are other flaws with the system, like the fact Summoning Materia is nearly useless, or the fact that the "All" Materia has essentially been removed, or the fact monsters tend to gravitate to whatever character you're currently controlling and not the AI, but honestly the combat is just not that good at the end of the day. It's certainly flashy and fast paced, but it gets old. I realize there's a "Classic" mode, but it's not the original combat style. It's just some sad excuse, a sort of compromise between the existing style and the original. It does the attacking and guarding for you, leaving little for you to actually do other than picking the occasional ability. Given the popularity of Dragon Quest 11 and the fact they've worked on this project for 5+ years, I honestly have no idea why they couldn't just implement another option for a true old school turn based combat system like in the original game. It's obvious that people still enjoy the strategy with that gameplay style, and it wouldn't have been that hard to implement. This issue is going to dog Square Enix throughout this series if they don't correct it, and Metacritic scores are already showing the game taking a hit compared to the original.

Combat aside, if I had one other gripe it's that some dungeons/sections are a bit too long. I understand why that is, and it all comes down to the removal of random battles. The beauty of random battles is they take up their own space and aren't limited to the confines of room size or location. When monsters are visible and are fought in an action setting that's shared with the game world, you have to provide space for them as well as space for the player characters to move and fight. You also have to provide enough static encounters to make a dungeon feel treacherous, so that requires a lot of dungeon rooms. When you throw puzzles into the mix on top of all that, you're looking at hour long sections that were once just 3-4 quick screens of map in the original game. I'm dreading what the final dungeon will look like (Again, no spoilers, but those that have played the original probably have an idea). To go along with the combat complaints, I think some bosses can be a bit overdone/drawn out as well. The new Staggering mechanic is very important for most fights, and achieving it as fast as possible will help mitigate that. Again, this is all a minor complain, and I understand why it was done, but it can lead to some unnecessary fatigue as you try to get from point A to point B.

Overall I think the game is very good. If it was it's own stand alone game I think it'd get very high marks regardless, but being a remake there's certain expectations. I'll say again that the visuals are absolutely amazing. There was a point I was suspended in the air, walking across a narrow board high above the city...and looking down my limbs got tingly as if I really was navigating that obstacle in the real life and had the sensation I could fall. The world really feels "lived in" too, there are so many people populating it...and most NPCs have at least some form of dialogue that you can hear as you pass by them, even if you can't directly interact with them. It's a very immersive environment. There's a big story event coming up next, I'm eager to see how that pans out. For now, I need some sleep though.
 
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ACamp1900

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Finished 2nd overall in battle Royale solo last night. Was camped under an over pass when the gas cloud moved. There were five others aside from me and the winner and I got three of them. When it was just me and the winner the gas cloud shifted and I was right on the edge but I couldn’t get out from the overpass on either side due to the gas. Died without even seeing the final guy... lol pretty cool to get that far tho. Played again tonight and finished 15th
 

IrishLion

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Finished 2nd overall in battle Royale solo last night. Was camped under an over pass when the gas cloud moved. There were five others aside from me and the winner and I got three of them. When it was just me and the winner the gas cloud shifted and I was right on the edge but I couldn’t get out from the overpass on either side due to the gas. Died without even seeing the final guy... lol pretty cool to get that far tho. Played again tonight and finished 15th

I had a 2nd place finish in solos a few nights ago.

I did what the streamers do, and stayed right at the edge of the gas as it closed near the 'final' circle. It was effective, as I had a sniper with a thermal scope, so I just waited for guys to get into firefights on the opposite side of the safe zone, then third-partied them when they hunkered down to reload or apply armor.

My heart was pounding when it was 1v1 with the gas closing lol. The other guy got me when I tried to lay down and reload behind a concrete barrier. He stunned me, fragged me, then lit me up when I tried to circle the barrier for better cover.
 

notredomer23

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What sensitivity do you guys play on? I had it set to 4 by default. My KD ratio at the time in Warzone was 0.8, so not great. I changed it to 7 about a week ago and I already have it up to 0.94. Same with multiplayer. Most rounds now in multiplayer my KD is above 2.5.
 

IrishLion

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What sensitivity do you guys play on? I had it set to 4 by default. My KD ratio at the time in Warzone was 0.8, so not great. I changed it to 7 about a week ago and I already have it up to 0.94. Same with multiplayer. Most rounds now in multiplayer my KD is above 2.5.

I turned off the film grain and motion blur, which helps with reaction time for close-range fire fights. My next step was to mess with bumping the sensitivity up, but I haven't played with it yet.

Turning off the film/motion effects is weird for long-range stuff, though. Buildings and trees in the distance when you're looking through a scope will cut in and out between complete and incomplete rendering. Makes you think there is movement across the map when really there isn't.
 

ACamp1900

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What sensitivity do you guys play on? I had it set to 4 by default. My KD ratio at the time in Warzone was 0.8, so not great. I changed it to 7 about a week ago and I already have it up to 0.94. Same with multiplayer. Most rounds now in multiplayer my KD is above 2.5.

I changed mine to 8 and immediately saw improvement. IDK what my ratio is on Warzone, I’d assume pretty bad as I’m just now getting to where I actually stand up and fight in that mode (been getting many kills in the past few days) but my online ratio is .75 which I think is great considering like two weeks in it was in the 0.10 range. I hadn’t played online is a long time and the re learning curve was pretty steep.
 
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ACamp1900

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Early on I felt I couldn’t aim fast enough and noticed some were head shooting me mid jump and such,... I changed the sensitivity and then realized the game was cross play. PCers with a mouse I’m sure can aim much more quickly. I remember trying to play war thunder... PCers just killed everyone on that game,...
 

ACamp1900

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My regiment wins Plunder now about as much as we don’t. If we don’t finish top ten it’s a bit of a shock.

I’ve been taking on Battle Royale Solo recently and have attempted it maybe a dozen times now. Finished top ten about five times, 2nd once, and finished fourth earlier today,... only out of the top 25 a couple times really. Today I had a nice spot in the boneyard but didn’t completely kill a guy, didn’t pursue him and he came back and got me,... dumb move on my part.

Usually the final ten seem to battle it out in the open ravine and I’ve either gone in on foot and everyone else is in a vehicle and I get ran over or I go in with a vehicle and everyone else is on foot and I getting RPGd. That’s been the usual way I die in the top 10-15. Haven’t got that last part right yet.
 
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calvegas04

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My regiment wins Plunder now about as much as we don’t. If we don’t finish top ten it’s a bit of a shock.

I’ve been taking on Battle Royale Solo recently and have attempted it maybe a dozen times now. Finished top ten about five times, 2nd once, and finished fourth earlier today,... only out of the top 25 a couple times really. Today I had a nice spot in the boneyard but didn’t completely kill a guy, didn’t pursue him and he came back and got me,... dumb move on my part.

Usually the final ten seem to battle it out in the open ravine and I’ve either gone in on foot and everyone else is in a vehicle and I get ran over or I go in with a vehicle and everyone else is on foot and I getting RPGd. That’s been the usual way I die in the top 10-15. Haven’t got that last part right yet.

Plunder is pretty easy to win, my buddy and I can win pretty easy just the two of us vs teams of four.

I do wish they would up the limit tho to make it a longer match
 

ACamp1900

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Tried another BR tonight,... 8th. One of these days I’ll figure out wtf to do once I get in the top ten.
 

bkess8

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Downloaded the SNES and NES add on's for the Nintendo Switch and never felt older playing those games with a 10 and 4 year old! Pilotwings was a hit though!
 

ACamp1900

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I need to learn to go for the kill in Battle Royale. I played during lunch and died the same way I did yesterday. Got the drop on someone, nailed them but they ran behind cover, I disengaged, they armored back up and came right back at me. Finished 35 today. I get in such ‘survive’ mode that if someone disengages I let them go. Need to kick that. I also hate the gulag to the point where I just leave the game at that point.
 

IrishLion

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I need to learn to go for the kill in Battle Royale. I played during lunch and died the same way I did yesterday. Got the drop on someone, nailed them but they ran behind cover, I disengaged, they armored back up and came right back at me. Finished 35 today. I get in such ‘survive’ mode that if someone disengages I let them go. Need to kick that. I also hate the gulag to the point where I just leave the game at that point.

I have a strategy that eliminates the 1-v-1 stress...

As soon as the match starts, I sprint to the wall that separates your 'area' from the center area. It has a gap in the middle where you can view the central bath or whatever.

I mount my pistol/shotgun on the wall, and put my sites on the opening to the far right, where the enemy would appear if they go that way.

If they rush you down that side, light 'em up when they exit cover.

If they rush down the left side, you can usually hear them running. Swivel left and get them when they appear around the wall.

If they don't rush at all, I lob my tactical weapon over the middle, then camp in the center.

Sometimes it works, sometimes they get the drop on you anyway. But having a set plan of action every time eliminates the frustration and chaos, and makes it easier to swallow if you lose and have to leave the game lol.
 

ACamp1900

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Thanks I’ll try that,... I’ve won a few but it never feels like I should lol... I lose more than I win for sure
 

ulukinatme

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Downloaded the SNES and NES add on's for the Nintendo Switch and never felt older playing those games with a 10 and 4 year old! Pilotwings was a hit though!

I've been using Classic SNES RPGs to work with my daughter on reading over the last few summers. We started after her first year in Kindergarten with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, which is light on reading. Since then we've done Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy IV. Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger are up next. She's in the top reading group in her class, and the teachers have asked us what methods we've used to improve her reading lol. I call it the Classic Square Method.
 

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Does anyone here have a switch lite? If so what are your thoughts?
 
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ACamp1900

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I have 12 top ten finishes out of maybe 30 BR tries,... it always seems some stupid shit gets me the the last ten too,... ugh
 

ulukinatme

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Final Fantasy 7 Remake, just finished it...Tetsuya Nomura is on crack, he can go die in a fire for his convoluted Kingdom Hearts plots and stay the hell away from Final Fantasy. I have no hope for this Remake series with him in charge. The combat just doesn't get better, it's buggy and just incredibly annoying at times. He had one job, he had a perfect story already in place and written for him...he had a working combat system laid out, but he had to fuck with it. So disappointed right now. Visually it's everything fans have wanted for 20+ years, and the music and voice acting is pretty great too. The story changes though...and the awful combat just tarnish this thing. The worst part is we'll never get another remake, so fans that dislike the changes are bound to continue playing these trash remakes or we once again replay the original which is still superior after 23 years. Unbelieveable.
 
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wizards8507

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Really enjoying Shadow of War but can't figure out why Shelob is a sexy lady and Chadwick Boseman is running around Gondor.
 

Whiskeyjack

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Really enjoying Shadow of War but can't figure out why Shelob is a sexy lady and Chadwick Boseman is running around Gondor.

Glad you're enjoying it. I'm farming for a few choice epics to round out my build at level 80 before restarting on a higher difficulty setting.
 
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