• Days Gone (Revisited)

    From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to All on Mon Oct 30 19:34:29 2023
    I bought this game when it first game out for PC (2021), and didn't
    complete it, despite having a decent enough time with it... I do
    remember writing here about how it was a very long campaign (my
    preferred duration is about 12 hours), so after 15 hours or so I was
    starting to wish it was shorter.

    I don't remember the exact circumstances of why I put it down
    unfinished, as happens often with me and overly long games. I may
    have gotten a shiny new piece of music gear, or gone on a vacation, or
    for whatever reason had a schedule fluctuation that made me break the
    cycle of working through the campaign.

    So lately I had the urge to pick this one back up and continue where I
    left off, and I may actually even be having more fun with it now than
    I did the first time around. Whether or not that's because the game
    itself gets better later on in the game, or if it's just because there
    have been very few games in the last 2 years that inspired me to play
    them at all... I have no idea.

    With many games, trying to resume them a year or two later doesn't
    work very well -- I've lost most of the context and momentum of the
    initial play, and don't feel very inspired to remember exactly where I
    was with everything. This game, however, pulled me right back in.
    Maybe it's the simplicity of the game mechanics that didn't have me
    struggling to remember which key was bound to what...

    So, maybe I'll finish the campaign this time. Or, maybe I'll play
    another dozen hours or so and put it down again and come back later.

    Supposedly, there won't be a sequel.. one of the reasons John Garvin
    says for this is due to "woke reviewers who couldn’t handle a gruff
    white biker looking at his date’s ass.”...

    ... And that's a shame because that sort of thing is part of the games
    charm. The fact that it is not afraid to get a little bit real in
    places is one of the things that makes the story dialog not feel so
    geared toward 12 year old snowflakes. I actually find myself not only watching, but enjoying the cutscenes of the game, even though they are
    in ample supply.

    So if you have any interest in it, it's $16.50 on Steam right now.
    Definitely recommended at that price. There are a few haters out
    there, but most agree it's a good game. A metacritic User Score
    (which I always find more reliable than pro reviewer's score) of 8.4
    is not all that common.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From rms@21:1/5 to All on Mon Oct 30 18:54:01 2023
    I bought this game when it first game out for PC (2021), and didn't
    complete it, despite having a decent enough time with it...

    I also bought this in a previous sale, and just haven't gotten around to
    it. I don't care about whatever minor politics might be in it, I'm just feeling the lack of hours in the day and competing interests....

    rms

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net on Tue Oct 31 10:31:38 2023
    On Mon, 30 Oct 2023 18:54:01 -0600, "rms"
    <rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:

    I bought this game when it first game out for PC (2021), and didn't >>complete it, despite having a decent enough time with it...

    I also bought this in a previous sale, and just haven't gotten around to
    it. I don't care about whatever minor politics might be in it, I'm just >feeling the lack of hours in the day and competing interests....

    Those are always challenges for me to. I think what surprised me most
    about this game is how easy it was to resume where I left it 2 years
    later without a sense of momentum loss that detracts from enjoyment.
    That doesn't happen to me often with SP games.

    So if that idea appeals to you, don't hesitate to fire it up and get
    started, playing an hour here and there slowly over a period of years
    :)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Geeknix@21:1/5 to Rin Stowleigh on Wed Nov 1 03:30:03 2023
    On 2023-10-30, Rin Stowleigh <rstowleigh@x-nospam-x.com> wrote:

    With many games, trying to resume them a year or two later doesn't
    work very well -- I've lost most of the context and momentum of the
    initial play, and don't feel very inspired to remember exactly where I
    was with everything.

    I have this exact problem. I rarely complete a game in a few days, often
    taking weeks and being distracted by another demo or 'short' game. Then
    going back I have forgot the story line, quest and keys/button actions.

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    --
    Don't be afraid of the deep...
    --[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
    --[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From JAB@21:1/5 to Geeknix on Wed Nov 1 10:19:06 2023
    On 01/11/2023 03:30, Geeknix wrote:
    On 2023-10-30, Rin Stowleigh <rstowleigh@x-nospam-x.com> wrote:

    With many games, trying to resume them a year or two later doesn't
    work very well -- I've lost most of the context and momentum of the
    initial play, and don't feel very inspired to remember exactly where I
    was with everything.

    I have this exact problem. I rarely complete a game in a few days, often taking weeks and being distracted by another demo or 'short' game. Then
    going back I have forgot the story line, quest and keys/button actions.

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?


    I have a couple of ways of doing this. The first is I won't start (well
    try not to anyway) a different game* until I'm getting to the stage in
    the current one that it's drifting towards being a chore and away from
    being enjoyable. The second one is more of a sledge hammer, I tend not
    to play games any more that aren't can't pick up again and quickly get
    back into. That means I no longer play grand strategy games.

    *That's also saved me a lot of money on Steam.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to usenet@apple.geeknix135.net on Wed Nov 1 07:56:26 2023
    On Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:30:03 GMT, Geeknix
    <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:


    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    I tell myself I need something to write about at the end of the month,
    and - since short posts are anaethema to me - I'd better get a move on
    it otherwise I'll only have one game to discuss. ;-)

    That's less of a joke than I wish it was...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to usenet@apple.geeknix135.net on Wed Nov 1 07:58:18 2023
    On Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:30:03 GMT, Geeknix
    <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:

    On 2023-10-30, Rin Stowleigh <rstowleigh@x-nospam-x.com> wrote:

    With many games, trying to resume them a year or two later doesn't
    work very well -- I've lost most of the context and momentum of the
    initial play, and don't feel very inspired to remember exactly where I
    was with everything.

    I have this exact problem. I rarely complete a game in a few days, often >taking weeks and being distracted by another demo or 'short' game. Then
    going back I have forgot the story line, quest and keys/button actions.

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    First, my single player game purchases are usually strategically
    timed. If I just feel like trying a new game, I usually pluck
    something from Steam by going into my wishlist and looking for games
    that are heavily (60-80%) discounted. This helps me start the game
    initially when I have a reasonable chance of completion.

    But, that doesn't help with resuming later. The reality is that in
    almost all cases I don't, because restarting is a chore and I figure
    that whatever reason I didn't complete it in the first place is likely
    to occur again, if I'm not inspired to resume where I left off.

    Days Gone was a little different in the sense that I was looking
    forward to that title prior to release for the PC.

    Another game that I do go back to occasionally is Far Cry 6... but in
    that case, I did complete the campaign. Some of the side quests /
    treasure hunts are fun mini games in their own right, and are easy to
    jump back into.

    After this recent experience with Days Gone, I may try this with other uncompleted titles to see how it goes. The Red Ded Redemption 2
    campaign would probably be my next stop. I played hundreds of hours
    of RDR2 online (and missions online are similar to the campaign), so remembering controls and mechanics won't be an issue, and it was one
    of my favorite titles, so completionism seems in order anyway.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Anssi Saari@21:1/5 to Geeknix on Thu Nov 2 12:21:29 2023
    Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> writes:

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    Sometimes it's enough to start a new game and play it a little while to
    get a refresher on what the what is and then it's possible to switch
    back to the old save. If the game allows this, of course.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From H1M3M@21:1/5 to Rin Stowleigh on Thu Nov 2 12:53:46 2023
    Rin Stowleigh wrote:

    Supposedly, there won't be a sequel.. one of the reasons John Garvin
    says for this is due to "woke reviewers who couldnā€™t handle a gruff
    white biker looking at his dateā€™s ass.ā€¯...


    I don't remember hearing any of that. The way I remember it, the game
    was good, but a) it kinda got sandwiched between too many high profile
    releases and b) It may have been a bit too heavy on the "Motorbike
    mechanic simulator".

    It's more like it never got a big marketing push, and releasing too
    close too many games that looked too similar to the players. When you
    already have God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, Death
    Stranding, etc covering both open world and zombie games, there's not a
    lot of pie left. It's like it got "Battleborned".

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to wipnoah@gmail.com on Thu Nov 2 09:14:04 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 12:53:46 +0100, H1M3M <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:

    Rin Stowleigh wrote:

    Supposedly, there won't be a sequel.. one of the reasons John Garvin
    says for this is due to "woke reviewers who couldn’t handle a gruff
    white biker looking at his date’s ass.”...


    I don't remember hearing any of that. The way I remember it, the game
    was good, but a) it kinda got sandwiched between too many high profile >releases and b) It may have been a bit too heavy on the "Motorbike
    mechanic simulator".

    It's more like it never got a big marketing push, and releasing too
    close too many games that looked too similar to the players. When you
    already have God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, Death
    Stranding, etc covering both open world and zombie games, there's not a
    lot of pie left. It's like it got "Battleborned".

    This.

    I'm actually in the middle of playing this game. Having been
    disappointed by "State of Decay 2", I heard many recommending "Days
    Gone" as the better alternative, and - seeing as it was recently on
    sale - I thought, why not?

    There's nothing really wrong with this game (well, aside from some
    over-the-top machismo that makes a lot of the characters in the game a
    bit more unlikable than they need be) but it really doesn't stand out
    either. It's a very typical open-world game, with all the usual
    nonsense we expect from that genre. It's "Far Cry 5", but with
    zombies.

    At least, so far. I'm not sure how far I've gotten into this game yet
    (maybe 20%?) so it's possible the experience will radically improve at
    some point. I'll withhold final judgment until then. But so far, while
    the game isn't disappointing me - I'm having fun - neither is it
    really impressing me.

    (The motorcycle thing is really overblown, though. Fans of the game
    espouse its incredible motorcycle riding experience, but to me it
    feels pretty much like every other motorcycle in this sort of game...
    and the mechanical bits are just picking parts from a menu, and
    pressing a key to repair the thing when it inevitably breaks down
    (it's incredibly fragile). Personally, I'd do without the damn beast
    if I could - I much prefer hoofing it through the wilds - but you can
    only quick-travel or save the game if you're within a certain range of
    the machine. But, honestly, it could have been a horse or a car or a
    skateboard and it wouldn't have affected the game that much).

    "Days Gone" is, at best, an above-average game. It doesn't really
    stand out from its peers, and released against games like "God of War"
    or "Horizon Zero Dawn", its no wonder it slipped under the radar for
    most. Is it worth playing? Ehn. If you like the (open world/zombie)
    genre? It's fine. It's not something I'd rush out to get otherwise,
    though.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to wipnoah@gmail.com on Thu Nov 2 14:47:40 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 12:53:46 +0100, H1M3M <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:

    Rin Stowleigh wrote:

    Supposedly, there won't be a sequel.. one of the reasons John Garvin
    says for this is due to "woke reviewers who couldn’t handle a gruff
    white biker looking at his date’s ass.”...


    I don't remember hearing any of that. The way I remember it, the game
    was good, but a) it kinda got sandwiched between too many high profile >releases and b) It may have been a bit too heavy on the "Motorbike
    mechanic simulator".

    The bike mechanic simulator seems like a bit of a stretch. There is a
    little bit of repairing and refueling as you ride around, but most
    games have some sort of grindy activity like that (i.e. cook and eat
    meals, repair weapons, etc.) and to me those bike related activities
    don't seem particularly frequent.

    It's more like it never got a big marketing push, and releasing too
    close too many games that looked too similar to the players. When you
    already have God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, Death
    Stranding, etc covering both open world and zombie games, there's not a
    lot of pie left. It's like it got "Battleborned".

    I couldn't really comment on the games marketing attempts, as I don't
    follow much game marketing hype any more. In the case of Days Gone, I
    had seen it advertised somewhere for the Playstation and remember
    hoping they did a PC release.... mostly only because the theme/setting
    is somewhat original (not so much the zombie apocalypse aspect, just
    that the protagonist is kind of a reluctant hero biker dude). I tend
    to be more drawn to themes with some basis in realism than I am to
    themes that are sci-fi/fantasy based, so it got my attention for that
    reason. I'm sure my tastes aren't typical of the majority.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi on Thu Nov 2 14:51:20 2023
    On Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:21:29 +0200, Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

    Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> writes:

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    Sometimes it's enough to start a new game and play it a little while to
    get a refresher on what the what is and then it's possible to switch
    back to the old save. If the game allows this, of course.

    One good way to identify the games that will be more rewarding to
    resume at a later date are the ones that don't have a gazillion pop-up
    tutorial dialogs with lots of weird if-then conditions and exceptions
    that need to be explained to the player during the first hour or two.

    I can understand lots of pop-up dialogs for certain game genres.. it's
    just that I'm not really into those genres, and even if I were, I
    doubt many of them are easy to put down and pick up at a later date.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From candycanearter07@21:1/5 to Rin Stowleigh on Thu Nov 2 13:54:13 2023
    On 11/2/23 13:51, Rin Stowleigh wrote:
    On Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:21:29 +0200, Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

    Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> writes:

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    Sometimes it's enough to start a new game and play it a little while to
    get a refresher on what the what is and then it's possible to switch
    back to the old save. If the game allows this, of course.

    One good way to identify the games that will be more rewarding to
    resume at a later date are the ones that don't have a gazillion pop-up tutorial dialogs with lots of weird if-then conditions and exceptions
    that need to be explained to the player during the first hour or two.

    I can understand lots of pop-up dialogs for certain game genres.. it's
    just that I'm not really into those genres, and even if I were, I
    doubt many of them are easy to put down and pick up at a later date.

    So the more intuitive the game is?
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From H1MEM@21:1/5 to Rin Stowleigh on Thu Nov 2 20:12:35 2023
    Rin Stowleigh wrote:


    The bike mechanic simulator seems like a bit of a stretch. There is
    a little bit of repairing and refueling as you ride around, but most
    games have some sort of grindy activity like that (i.e. cook and eat
    meals, repair weapons, etc.) and to me those bike related activities
    don't seem particularly frequent.

    Just quoting the opinions of the media at the time. I "got" the game
    with PS Plus and I have never gathered the strength to try it. In fact,
    Sony giving Horizon Zero Dawn for free (No sub required) during the
    pandemic as part of the "Stay at home playing" bundle probably did not
    make Gone Days a lot of favors.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ross Ridge@21:1/5 to usenet@apple.geeknix135.net on Thu Nov 2 19:09:42 2023
    Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
    I have this exact problem. I rarely complete a game in a few days, often >taking weeks and being distracted by another demo or 'short' game. Then
    going back I have forgot the story line, quest and keys/button actions.

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    I know if I stop playing a game for more than a week or so I'm done with
    it. I won't remember what was I doing and won't want to start again.
    That basically means I'll either choose to give up on the old game
    and play the shiny new game instead or continue playing the old game.
    Lately though I've been taking a third option and playing them both, alternating between them.

    --
    l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
    [oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
    -()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
    db //

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to spallshurgenson@gmail.com on Thu Nov 2 15:29:56 2023
    On Thu, 02 Nov 2023 09:14:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 12:53:46 +0100, H1M3M <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:

    Rin Stowleigh wrote:

    Supposedly, there won't be a sequel.. one of the reasons John Garvin
    says for this is due to "woke reviewers who couldn’t handle a gruff
    white biker looking at his date’s ass.”...


    I don't remember hearing any of that. The way I remember it, the game
    was good, but a) it kinda got sandwiched between too many high profile >>releases and b) It may have been a bit too heavy on the "Motorbike
    mechanic simulator".

    It's more like it never got a big marketing push, and releasing too
    close too many games that looked too similar to the players. When you >>already have God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, Death >>Stranding, etc covering both open world and zombie games, there's not a
    lot of pie left. It's like it got "Battleborned".

    This.

    I'm actually in the middle of playing this game. Having been
    disappointed by "State of Decay 2", I heard many recommending "Days
    Gone" as the better alternative, and - seeing as it was recently on
    sale - I thought, why not?

    Tried State of Decay 2 briefly and refunded... Days Gone is much
    better.

    There's nothing really wrong with this game (well, aside from some >over-the-top machismo that makes a lot of the characters in the game a
    bit more unlikable than they need be) but it really doesn't stand out
    either. It's a very typical open-world game, with all the usual
    nonsense we expect from that genre. It's "Far Cry 5", but with
    zombies.

    The gameplay is certainly not particularly original.. But compared to
    the Far Cry series, it has kind of an Alan Wake vibe to it.

    At least, so far. I'm not sure how far I've gotten into this game yet
    (maybe 20%?) so it's possible the experience will radically improve at
    some point. I'll withhold final judgment until then. But so far, while
    the game isn't disappointing me - I'm having fun - neither is it
    really impressing me.

    Later on in the game, the shootouts with human enemies are more
    enjoyable I think. But, it's not enough to make someone declare it an
    amazing game that doesn't already hold that opinion in the first 20
    hours.

    (The motorcycle thing is really overblown, though. Fans of the game
    espouse its incredible motorcycle riding experience, but to me it
    feels pretty much like every other motorcycle in this sort of game...

    But, how many open-world, motorcycle based,
    Farcry-like-yet-third-person, with relatively non-juvenile dialog
    zombie shooters like this are there out there? I think that's it's
    real edge. The theme may not be for everyone, but for those who are
    drawn to it I think it's a game worth playing.

    It also has a decent soundtrack, from a production standpoint (by that
    I mean there is music that's good at the consumer level, where "good"
    is mostly subjective and to individual taste, in which case
    discussions of good or bad is moot... but then there is good/bad from
    the perspective of being knowledgeable about the technical aspects of
    music production, and listening to music with a trained ear, in a way
    that identifies specific techniques of creation... and from the latter perspective, it's decent stuff that fits the game quite well (one
    aspect of soundtrack scoring that not everyone gets right).

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

    "Days Gone" is, at best, an above-average game. It doesn't really
    stand out from its peers, and released against games like "God of War"
    or "Horizon Zero Dawn", its no wonder it slipped under the radar for
    most. Is it worth playing? Ehn. If you like the (open world/zombie)
    genre? It's fine. It's not something I'd rush out to get otherwise,
    though.

    I did like Horizon Zero Dawn, but it gets repetitive fast, and I've
    never been inspired to return to it whereas Days Gone was always on my
    list to circle back to. God of War... I tried it. I definitely see
    the appeal and high production value, but couldn't get into it. So I absolutely get how the theme/setting of those two would find a broader
    audience than Days Gone... But to me, Day's Gone is better than
    either.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to wipnoah@gmail.com on Thu Nov 2 15:37:32 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 20:12:35 +0100, H1MEM <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:

    Rin Stowleigh wrote:


    The bike mechanic simulator seems like a bit of a stretch. There is
    a little bit of repairing and refueling as you ride around, but most
    games have some sort of grindy activity like that (i.e. cook and eat
    meals, repair weapons, etc.) and to me those bike related activities
    don't seem particularly frequent.

    Just quoting the opinions of the media at the time. I "got" the game
    with PS Plus and I have never gathered the strength to try it. In fact,
    Sony giving Horizon Zero Dawn for free (No sub required) during the
    pandemic as part of the "Stay at home playing" bundle probably did not
    make Gone Days a lot of favors.

    I've seen a lot of reviews from folks that didn't like it on PS, but
    said it's a whole different game on PC and feels made for the PC. I
    don't know if they are just talking about graphic upgrades or if there
    is a difference between PS4 vs PS5, etc... not being much of a console
    guy I don't follow it all at that level.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 2 15:35:42 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 13:54:13 -0500, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
    wrote:

    On 11/2/23 13:51, Rin Stowleigh wrote:
    On Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:21:29 +0200, Anssi Saari
    <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

    Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> writes:

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    Sometimes it's enough to start a new game and play it a little while to
    get a refresher on what the what is and then it's possible to switch
    back to the old save. If the game allows this, of course.

    One good way to identify the games that will be more rewarding to
    resume at a later date are the ones that don't have a gazillion pop-up
    tutorial dialogs with lots of weird if-then conditions and exceptions
    that need to be explained to the player during the first hour or two.

    I can understand lots of pop-up dialogs for certain game genres.. it's
    just that I'm not really into those genres, and even if I were, I
    doubt many of them are easy to put down and pick up at a later date.

    So the more intuitive the game is?

    Yes -- the less it bothers me with computer based tutorials, the
    easier suspension of disbelief kicks in and I can feel somewhat
    immersed. And of course, that benefit repeats on pause-and-resume
    gameplay.

    If the game has to tell me "This is the Sword of Enlightenment. Its a
    special sword, that does more damage to skeletons at night than it
    does in the morning, yet has the opposite effect on goblins where it
    adds a +9 hit bonus in the morning as long as you're not carrying the
    Charmed Dildo of Douchiness anywhere in your inventory".

    That kind of crap can be mildly interesting when you first start a
    game while making the same title useless if you put it down and resume
    later.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From rms@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 2 15:55:09 2023
    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    This is what I loved about Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. The campaign is split into roughly hour-long battles, perfect for a night's playing, and
    each battle is preceded by a good cutscene that summarizes the campaign thus far, where you are now, and introduces the next objective. Great stuff.

    rms

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 2 18:30:03 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 15:55:09 -0600, "rms" <rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net>
    wrote:

    I resort to restarting the game which can be tedious. How do others
    handle this?

    This is what I loved about Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. The campaign is
    split into roughly hour-long battles, perfect for a night's playing, and
    each battle is preceded by a good cutscene that summarizes the campaign thus >far, where you are now, and introduces the next objective. Great stuff.

    I think you might like this aspect of Days Gone, then... and actually
    maybe herein you've captured here why this title is so "resumable".

    The missions are broken into multiple story lines, and you can switch
    between those lines at any time. You can clear several of them in a
    sitting (how many in what time frame depends probably on how much of
    the cutscenes you want to watch, as well as which particular
    mission).... but it all feels quite "modularized-yet-non-linear"...

    ...and this might be the important part... the granularity of each
    module feels very well thought out. Maybe that plays a big role in
    what makes it easy to pick up and put down.

    These days, ever since "Facebook", there's been this douchey marketing
    push about "customer engagement", which is all about trying to exploit psychological trickery that addicts the user and keeps them coming
    back, whether it would have been their natural propensity to do so, unmanipulated, or not. Same with loot boxes, etc.. its all
    psychological manipulation attempts.

    This game seems to throw all that crap over the fence and say "come
    back and engage when you're inspired to do so". That's what makes it
    stand out in terms of game design I think, and what motivated me to
    create this thread and give this game a thumbs up.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Justisaur@21:1/5 to Rin Stowleigh on Thu Nov 2 15:56:20 2023
    On Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 12:30:08ā€ÆPM UTC-7, Rin Stowleigh wrote:

    Farcry-like-yet-third-person, with relatively non-juvenile dialog
    zombie shooters like this are there out there? I think that's it's
    real edge. The theme may not be for everyone, but for those who are
    drawn to it I think it's a game worth playing.

    This is selling me on it. Most of the zombie games of late have been multi-player arena type games, or survival which are not my groove.
    I'm missing a good single player zombie shooter, and I do tend to prefer riding motorcycles in games, if not in real life. I'm not that into Farcry/ Open world but the rest sounds good.


    I did like Horizon Zero Dawn, but it gets repetitive fast

    Second that, along with most of the AC titles.

    Huh, already had it on my wishlist. Currently $50, which is a bit much
    for my interest, maybe when it goes on sale if ever.

    - Justisaur

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to justisaur@gmail.com on Thu Nov 2 19:42:24 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 15:56:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
    <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 12:30:08?PM UTC-7, Rin Stowleigh wrote:

    Farcry-like-yet-third-person, with relatively non-juvenile dialog
    zombie shooters like this are there out there? I think that's it's
    real edge. The theme may not be for everyone, but for those who are
    drawn to it I think it's a game worth playing.

    This is selling me on it. Most of the zombie games of late have been >multi-player arena type games, or survival which are not my groove.
    I'm missing a good single player zombie shooter, and I do tend to prefer >riding motorcycles in games, if not in real life. I'm not that into Farcry/ >Open world but the rest sounds good.


    I did like Horizon Zero Dawn, but it gets repetitive fast

    Second that, along with most of the AC titles.

    Huh, already had it on my wishlist. Currently $50, which is a bit much
    for my interest, maybe when it goes on sale if ever.

    - Justisaur

    Sucks that it went back up to $50 from $16.50... Best to just
    wishlist it and grab it when it goes on sale again. It probably will
    soon... black friday and all that.

    FWIW, I just looked at my records and I paid full price for it when it
    first landed on PC, and continued to play it for about 20 hours which
    to me is a good return. That VERY rarely happens with a single player
    game with me.... Buying and trying on early release happens, but most
    of it gets refunded in the first hour.

    There have been $10 games I spent only a couple of hours on, yet
    didn't feel ripped off.. But there have been way more that I quickly
    refunded and wanted to invoice the vendor for the amount of time it
    took me to download and install and pain through the tutorial
    (hint.... my billable consulting hour is $325/hr).

    So honestly a good game, versus lots of crap games, to me is more
    valuable even at the release price. But I don't buy many SP games at
    release price anymore.

    In general though, a sub-$20 game is much harder to regret sinking in
    an hour or two to make a refund decision or not than $50+ game.

    It's been a long time since I felt legitimately "ripped" on a game.
    Once Steam made the refund policy so easy, my life and dealing with
    shovelware became a no brainer. The part I was wrong about was that I
    thought this would actually result in vendors spending more time on
    quality in games. Sadly that does not appear to be what happened.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@21:1/5 to anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi on Wed Nov 8 23:01:03 2023
    On Wed, 08 Nov 2023 20:03:14 +0200, Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

    Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> writes:

    Huh, already had it on my wishlist. Currently $50, which is a bit much
    for my interest, maybe when it goes on sale if ever.

    I got a price alert from Cheapshark today, Days Gone went to $23.99 at >gamebillet.com. Apparently in US only though.

    You missed out, then; it went down to $16.99USD the other day (okay,
    the other week) on GOG and Steam. I'm not entirely sure it was worth
    that price, but I took the opportunity to grab it then.

    But honestly, you might be better off just waiting for it to show up
    on HumbleChoice (cheap) or Epic (free). It's setting is utterly
    generic, the gameplay completely ordinary, the story and characters
    trite and predictible. It isn't fundamentally broken in any way but it
    fails to do anything new or exciting either.

    It's not a bad game - and I'll happily admit I'm enjoying it more than
    I did "State of Decay 2" - but unless you absolutely MUST PLAY another
    zombie game, there's no need to rush out to play "Days Gone". It's an
    average title with no novelty and nothing profound about it. The
    initial overly negative reaction the game initially received was
    probably undeserved, but that doesn't mean it's suddenly a great game
    either. It's weaknesses are apparent after only a few hours (or even
    minutes) of gameplay.

    There's a glut of /actually good/ games available on the market; your
    time is probably better spent on any of those.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Anssi Saari@21:1/5 to Justisaur on Wed Nov 8 20:03:14 2023
    Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> writes:

    Huh, already had it on my wishlist. Currently $50, which is a bit much
    for my interest, maybe when it goes on sale if ever.

    I got a price alert from Cheapshark today, Days Gone went to $23.99 at gamebillet.com. Apparently in US only though.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rin Stowleigh@21:1/5 to anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi on Thu Nov 9 07:55:56 2023
    On Wed, 08 Nov 2023 20:03:14 +0200, Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

    Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> writes:

    Huh, already had it on my wishlist. Currently $50, which is a bit much
    for my interest, maybe when it goes on sale if ever.

    I got a price alert from Cheapshark today, Days Gone went to $23.99 at >gamebillet.com. Apparently in US only though.

    It was $16.50 on Steam not long ago, so $24 isn't the cheapest, but
    the vast majority of players would probably still recommend at that
    price, if the biker / zombie killer setting appeals to you.

    The biggest downside to the game is it's length and the fact it takes
    a while to really get started... and I mean a REALLY long while. As
    mentioned (and actually the purpose of the thread), that downside is
    offset by the fact it's an easy game to put down and pick up later and
    complete over a very long duration.

    Once you get maybe 25 or 30 hours of play in, the mission design
    starts to get a bit more interesting (from the gameplay perspective,
    not really the story perspective). My opinion of the game was
    elevated once I got to a particular level that really makes you plan
    tactically about how to handle a zombie horde (I won't spoil that
    here, I'll just say its worth the wait).

    The game is not for everyone... I've seen people on YT that were
    nearing age 60, living in a corner of their mom's basement surrounded
    by Star Trek memorablia and Star Wars action figures talk about how
    it's a crap game with a boring story. The setting/story really isn't
    geared toward that audience or the folks that are interested in
    thousands of procedurally generated planets.

    If you cast aside highly individualized anecdotal opinions (including
    mine! ;)) and look at the big picture, the overall Interwebz consensus
    is that its a nice game and probably well worth $24.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)