Neb on 26/12/2018 at 21:04
In all honesty, this year has been the least memorable for me in a very long time. There are a lot of good games out there, but in five years time I don't think I'd find it easy to point to 2018 and list anything much that really stood out. Kingdom Come is all I can think of, but there should be more. Perhaps everything that I would be enjoying is in deep development at the same time, and it's all going to come along at the same time two years from now.
Saying that, I just bought The Blackout Club by the same guys who made The Magic Circle. Even though it's only 20% off and recently into early access, it's got decent reviews, but it's a 1-4 player co-op adventure/horror. I know next to nothing about it and want to go in blind, but it would be nice to try it out multiplayer first. Anyone else feel like giving it a go?
Sulphur on 27/12/2018 at 09:14
I've got my eye on it, but early access usually makes me wary. I'm willing to give it a go if we get enough people on board, though, sure.
Thirith on 27/12/2018 at 09:25
Most of the games I liked best that came out in 2018 were on PS4. All in all, though, I'm finding that the games I enjoy most have become more varied, in terms of platform, style, length. I might remember Florence on iPad as fondly as Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4 and Prey on PC (yesIknowitcameoutin2017shuddup), even though the games couldn't be more different.
Re: Blackout Club: if we can get the people together, I could imagine giving it a try. Would this be something for the occasional Coop Saturday?
Sulphur on 27/12/2018 at 09:35
Yeah, I'd include Florence on my list of wonderful games this year too, but with the reservation that it's more of a thoughtfully constructed story that uses game-like interactivity for its visual storytelling - but very poignantly so.
I'm fairly sure if I had a PS4 I'd sling Spiderman (I've never used the hyphen and by god I am not going to start now), God of War of Us, and the SotC facelift-me-do on the list too. I recognise this as a problem that's specific to me, but RDR2 wouldn't make my hypothetical list even if it were on PC: apart from Houser's brand of storytelling nihilism that's usually woven into the fabric of the games, I've never escaped in-game ennui in any of R*'s open-worldathons, so I doubt I'd mention them in any capacity except for the massive graphical achievements they always are.
edit: sign me up for The Blackout Club tryouts, but not for next week because I'm most probably going to be away.
Thirith on 27/12/2018 at 09:45
For what it's worth, I'm in chapter 3 of RDR2, and I have to say that so far I've not spotted any of the Houser nihilism. Even when the game makes fun of characters, it still succeeds pretty well at humanising them. There's at least one storyline that I could imagine ending on a "Haha!" punchline, but at the moment the game is doing a good job at steering away from this. There's also something about Rockstar's worlds that for me always made them so much more enjoyable to just inhabit than all of Ubisoft's open worlds - and I'm saying that as someone who's still bought most of all the Assassin's Creed and many of the Far Cry games.
And re: The Blackout Club and our Saturday sessions in general, I might be around on 5 January, but my attendance in January will be a bit patchy. (The friendly fire of Arma may have to wait until February.) But yes, I'd be up for some The Blackout Club when I'm around, also since Neb was one of the original Arma Saturdays regulars. If the current gang is The Next Generation, Neb was the Bones or the Spock of the original crew.
Sulphur on 27/12/2018 at 09:57
That's heartening to hear. Part of the problem I have is the lack of signifiers of a basic level of human depth beyond smirking/pompous/tragic/sardonic/psychopath. I hear what you're saying about their environments, they're constructed in a fashion that's always enjoyable to explore whilst giving you a set of compelling things to do without overwhelming you. It's a balance that Ubisoft often misses.
Oh, and if we're the Next Generation crew, Jesh is Wesley and henke is Worf, right?
Thirith on 27/12/2018 at 23:56
Oh, I think that henke is a very merry Finn. Though I fondly remember that Arma session where Jesh was condemned to death for stepping in the grass. Which is, like, every Arma session.
qolelis on 29/12/2018 at 13:10
The award for "best game I played at the last minute" goes to Lucid Dream. It was such a delight to play and I mention it here not only because it was the only game I played, but because it really was one of the best games I played in 2018.
heywood on 29/12/2018 at 13:17
The only 2018 release I played this year was the new source port version of System Shock Enhanced. I was feeling bad about that, but judging from the responses in this thread, it looks like I'm not the only one who was a bit underwhelmed by the 2018 crop. I'm due to upgrade my video card and there was nothing "must play" to make me do it.
Neb on 31/12/2018 at 03:07
Quote Posted by Thirith
And re:
The Blackout Club and our Saturday sessions in general, I might be around on 5 January, but my attendance in January will be a bit patchy. (The friendly fire of
Arma may have to wait until February.) But yes, I'd be up for some
The Blackout Club when I'm around, also since Neb was one of the original Arma Saturdays regulars. If the current gang is
The Next Generation, Neb was the Bones or the Spock of the original crew.
I'm definitely up for this if you're around on Saturday.
