Gameinformer gives Jedi: Fallen Order an 8.75.
https://www.gameinformer.com/review...i-fallen-order-review-a-turbulent-thrill-ride

I'll be playing it tonight.
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This looks fun

https://www.gameinformer.com/2019/11/14/obsidian-announces-microscale-survival-game-grounded

 

I'm currently trying to avoid all let's plays and spoilers about Fallen Order... Or Death Stranding for that matter, so I can dive into the on PC when they get released.

Meanwhile I'm playing The Legend of Bum-Bo like a scrub

 

Fallen Order is really pretty excellent. I'm about 2.5 planets in, and it's very much a mashup of elements from sekiro, metroidvania, and maybe a dash of Zelda, all with a darker Star Wars aesthetic that reminds me a great deal of the old trailers for 1313. It feels quite good to play.

The only complaint I have with the game is that it's pretty obvious third person melee combat isn't something Respawn has much experience with. There's a bunch of little niggling issues with it, like an occasionally uncooperative camera, conflicting systems design, where you sometimes get punished for doing things while locked onto a target and other times punished for not being locked on, etc. It's nothing that can't be overcome with practice, so it's not really hurting my enjoyment of the game, but it's pretty obvious that this was one of their first forays into this area. It's just clunky enough to be annoying.

 

Kotor 3 when tho.

In all seriousness, I've been really tempted to get Fallen Order after seeing all the reviews. I've held off so far cause the lingering EA distrust.

 

For whatever it's worth, I haven't seen a single sign of microtransactions in the game. They have a pretty deep customization system, with different outfits, lightsabers, ship and droid customization, perfect ground for selling tat, but I haven't even been offered one for purchase. The few I've unlocked have all come from hidden chests I've found while playing.

The only nonsense Fallen Order has engaged in is pre-order bonuses and a deluxe edition.

 

Sounds like everything that annoys me slightly about Witcher 3's combat.

 

That's actually a good comparison, from what I remember of Witcher 3. The combat is pretty good, but has just enough niggling issues to pull me out of the experience from time to time. I'm getting more used to it's eccentricities as I play it and it's smoothing out a bit, and it's a very good foundation; just needs a bit of TLC for the sequel to iron out the kinks.

 

I'll be the skunk at the garden party and say yet. A tactic has already been employed by other AAA publishers that involved turning on the MTX faucet some time after launch, Activision successfully with Black Ops 4 (first they waited for good reviews, then, once people bought the game, MTX started) and Bethesda with FO76---obviously in this case it wasn't as glaringly obvious because FO76 sucked from the outset, but there's no way EA didn't notice what Acti had done.

These days, judging a game on release day state is only judging what the game is right now, not what it could be 3 months from now, because I doubt there will be no updates like DLC if Fallen Order is remotely successful.

 

Totally. It's very much something they could sneak in in a month or whatever.,the systems are in place so it'd be relatively easy. But for all their flaws, EA hasn't actually pulled that shit yet, and they've been burned hard on aggressive mtx in star wars games, so I don't think it'll happen.

From where I sit, Fallen Order is likely EA's attempt to rebuild trust in the brand among Star Wars fans. If it does well, I'd fully expect some story content DLC, like extra planets to explore or whatever, but I don't think we'll see "real" micro transactions in this game.

The sequel, though, I'd be pretty concerned about.

 

To be fair though, when you get a good game it's the player-base themselves that want dlc to expand the game.

It's a question of if the DLC would have some actual worth, or more of EA's usual tiny dlc's that don't cost much, until you add up the cost of all of it.

 

trailer for aoe4:

looks amazing. not much to it, but it looks like they've gone full aoe2 with it, instead of possibly going more towards the modern era like was maybe suspected with the very old timeline plans. This is good news, since aoe2 is/was amazing. Still the best rts to date imo

 

Half-Life: Alyx
https://twitter.com/valvesoftware/status/1196566870360387584

 

Well, I guess I'm buying a vr setup.

 

I understand your skepticism.
But so far, I really think EA might stave off their rampant greed and leave the game as it is. From a PR perspective, this is great for them. They can continue monetizing other IPs(like Battlefront) but now they'll have positive press and people won't take notice.

Honestly, I wish they see how good this is for them, and maybe decide to bankroll some sweet DLCs so they can get their money like that.

We'll have to wait and see.

 

@Quick Ben

I have no delusions that EA will die, but I would love nothing more than for them to be contained to their own corner of the market: Battlefield and EA Sports. BF because there are other options for FPS people and EA Sports customers never seem to complain about blatant exploitation of EA releasing the same MTX games every year with slightly better graphics.

Honestly, what boils my blood is when I hear shit from EA execs like "singleplayer games don't sell" when in the last few years some of the most glowing praise has been heaped on singleplayer titles, from TLOU and GTAV to The Witcher, RDR2, God of War, Uncharted 4 and Spiderman. Fuck you, Andrew Wilson, you're a cancerous growth on the ass of the games industry.

 

Does GTAV really count as single player though? The multiplayer mode is pretty popular.

 

It's also one of the worst examples of monetization in gaming history, so likely not a great thing to hold up.

 

Just finished Kashyyk 2.0 and I'm starting to sour on Fallen Order (helped along by two crashes that made me lose hours of progress).

This game feels rushed out. It's very glitchy and clunky and I can't help wondering if the game would markedly improve if it had an extra six months to percolate (QA and bug fixing mostly).

My biggest issues are with the AI and hit boxes though. Both are atrocious. Both could have been fixed I think with a little more time.

Also a personal peeve that would otherwise have no bearing on my opinion of the game, but monologuing, mustachio-twirling villains. I've no problem with them perse (it's SW after all...), but Cal's reactions and how easily he takes the bait is super annoying.

One time I'd love if it the protag just laughed at how ridiculous a villain is and turn the mind games around.

 

Oh god yes. I was rolling my eyes at the melodramatic bullshit in the game. I really hope that if the game gets a sequel, they make the villain actually intimidating and engaging, instead of Second Sister's toddler throwing a tantrum.

 

http://www.codemasters.com/codemasters-acquires-slightly-mad-studios

Codemasters has acquired Slightly Mad Studios, developers of the Project Cars franchise.

That’s big news for the (sim) racing genre.