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Returnal is voted the best game of 2021 by The Guardian

Thirty7ven

Banned
Some publications are classier than others, and it’s true that when your readers aren’t just a bunch of teens you don’t feel the need to give GOTY to some run of the mill, been there done that game.
 
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Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Sim publications ate simply classier than others, and it’s true that when your readers aren’t just a bunch of teens you don’t feel the need to give GOTY to Car Arcade 3000.
im salty rooster teeth GIF by Achievement Hunter
 

Beechos

Member
I normally hate roguelites but have no issues with it be being named a goty. Returnal is such a good game the combat is top notch. Its like they turned a 2d r-type bullet hell game into a 3rd person one with exploration. For me personally its a tossup between forza and guardians.
 
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Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Wrong. 9 + 1 Dev Award

MgF6qXi.png



not all of those are game of the year, it’s stuff like action game and what not. But glad the link you posted pointed out most of the good games didn’t count this year cause they were released to late :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

tommib

Member
not all of those are game of the year, it’s stuff like action game and what not. But glad the link you posted pointed out most of the good games didn’t count this year cause they were released to late :messenger_tears_of_joy:
That's why that one was the +1, idiot.

GOTY by outlet (no genre awards):

 
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Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
That's why that one was the +1, idiot.

GOTY by outlet (no genre awards):


Cool, googled failed me could only find one other. Think a guy of face book gave it goty to might want to bump up that tally.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
I really don't like those games, my dude. They do absolutely nothing for me. Much prefer the old God of War from Jaffe and I couldn't play more than a couple of hours of generic open world version 3.43939 with robotic kangaroos.
shocked double take GIF
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I really don't like those games, my dude. They do absolutely nothing for me. Much prefer the old God of War from Jaffe and I couldn't play more than a couple of hours of generic open world version 3.43939 with robotic kangaroos.
Aw, I absolutely adored the new God of War games. The old ones were pretty cool, too, but the 2018 one just felt so special. And HFW is looking 10/10 so far. I'm so excited; my PTO is already in for HFW 😂

Each to their own though. I hope you enjoy Elden Ring and GT7 and get a Bayonetta 3 release in 2022!
 

kingfey

Banned
Just wait for a bigger sale indeed. I'm basically done for 2022. I pre-ordered Elden Ring and GT7 and with the backlog that I have I'll do my best to not buy anything new. I have a shit ton of Switch games to finish. It's my New Year's Resolution. No new games in 2022 unless something really juicy comes out - like Bayo 3.
Soldier Where Is It GIF by U.S. Army

*starfield, stalker 2, God of War, breath of wild 2, horizon forbidden west, Gotham knights*

I doubt you will ignore these guys. If you did, you are a man of dedication.
 
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Spaceman292

Banned
Budget is the issue for these kind of games.

With enough budget, the game would have been the talking of the town. Considering the devs are this much talented to produce this quality, with low budget.

Hope Either Sony or MS buys this studio. The potential is there.
They already did all the expensive work - you can see it in the video. If anything by putting all of that stuff in they wasted time and money because from an isometric viewpoint you can't see most of it.
 
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Fredrik

Member
Honestly I want to play the game badly but the 70euros price is just...killing me and it has been on sale for a lot of times with just 25%... ffs Sony, your sales are garbage. if it drops to 50% then I'll gladly buy it. Until then, I cant with how much shit is coming in February...
Yeah I would love to play it, and be there for the GOTY votings, but the high standard price combined with not knowing if it’s a game for me is holding me back. Sony seriously needs a Gamepass alternative, or demos, the new price increase makes me hesitate all the time, feels like all I do on PS5 is waiting 😕
 

Fredrik

Member
I really don't like those games, my dude. They do absolutely nothing for me. Much prefer the old God of War from Jaffe and I couldn't play more than a couple of hours of generic open world version 3.43939 with robotic kangaroos.
wut why??? God of War is their best game by far, totally plays like a Metroidvania but in 3D, you need to give it another try 👍
Horizon is awesome too, among the coolest enemy designs in gaming, badass fights with huge scary beasts, but the open world is boring so hopefully they add some meaningful exploration rewards for the sequel. The underwater stuff looks amazing!
 

tommib

Member
wut why??? God of War is their best game by far, totally plays like a Metroidvania but in 3D, you need to give it another try 👍
Horizon is awesome too, among the coolest enemy designs in gaming, badass fights with huge scary beasts, but the open world is boring so hopefully they add some meaningful exploration rewards for the sequel. The underwater stuff looks amazing!
I really don’t like the Nordic setting for GOW. It’s so overused by now. Combat is atrocious IMO. They tried to go for this Souls-like thing but the camera is so close to the MC that you can’t see shit. You see 2 enemies max at a time and you’re constantly babysitting the camera. I also don’t like this Hollywood marvel cinematic narrative approach they have as well. I couldn’t care less about those characters. Mellow daddy Kratos puts me off. And don’t get get me started on the forced walking and psychobable mumbo-jumbo they make us go through. It’s a bad soap-opera.

Horizon is all this times 10x because it’s open world. Sorry, dudes. I’m an action guy and the darker the narrative/setting the better. Also, they’re too colourful. Puts me off. That’s why Returnal was such a hard-on. Proper dark sci-fi with a super desperate protagonist.

I like the dark Sony, the ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, King’s Field, Bloodborne Sony. Returnal falls into this legacy. Let’s hope they keep bringing this kind of stuff.
 

yurinka

Member
Happy to see Housemarque getting love, they are super talented. During decades got ignored by many people because they made smaller games, but seems that now making AAA games they are getting more attention.

The game seems great, but I still didn't play it because I still didn't get a PS5. I originally thought to wait until GoWR and Cyberpunk next gen release, and even with the delays still is the case for me. I'll wait for Cyberpunk to be fixed and updated for next gen or at least for the GoWR release. Let's hope Returnal and Ratchet get discounted at that point, because until now they are the only two next gen only games (+Astrobot) I can't wait to play.
 
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MikeM

Member
Yeah I would love to play it, and be there for the GOTY votings, but the high standard price combined with not knowing if it’s a game for me is holding me back. Sony seriously needs a Gamepass alternative, or demos, the new price increase makes me hesitate all the time, feels like all I do on PS5 is waiting 😕
I hate roguelikes. Couldn’t stand Hades.

I love Returnal. I look at it as a third person Doom but sci-fi alien stuff. With ridiculously high production quality. And when I die, its not frustration but simply dusting myself off and going for more.
 

Fredrik

Member
I really don’t like the Nordic setting for GOW. It’s so overused by now. Combat is atrocious IMO. They tried to go for this Souls-like thing but the camera is so close to the MC that you can’t see shit. You see 2 enemies max at a time and you’re constantly babysitting the camera. I also don’t like this Hollywood marvel cinematic narrative approach they have as well. I couldn’t care less about those characters. Mellow daddy Kratos puts me off. And don’t get get me started on the forced walking and psychobable mumbo-jumbo they make us go through. It’s a bad soap-opera.

Horizon is all this times 10x because it’s open world. Sorry, dudes. I’m an action guy and the darker the narrative/setting the better. Also, they’re too colourful. Puts me off. That’s why Returnal was such a hard-on. Proper dark sci-fi with a super desperate protagonist.

I like the dark Sony, the ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, King’s Field, Bloodborne Sony. Returnal falls into this legacy. Let’s hope they keep bringing this kind of stuff.
Well, different opinions is fun heh 😅

I guess I can agree on the camera issues. But that goes for most games today, can’t see shit around you, the camera is always your enemy in action games unless it’s side-scrolling or top-down, which is rare.

Haven’t played Returnal but it looks to have it’s own issues there as well, a step back from earlier Housemarque games in that regard, huge step forward in other areas.

Camera issues aside, I loved the axe combat mechanic in GOW, worked great and felt tight. And the whole game is so old school in it’s structure, feels like a 8-bit game at times with how you trigger enemy waves and have to study attack patterns and memorize, I can see how some think this is bad but I’m a retro guy so for me it works, the way the map is closed and you see where you want to go but can’t go there until you get new abilities is 100% Metroid. 👍
 

FrankWza

Member
but the open world is boring so hopefully they add some meaningful exploration rewards for the sequel.
This is my big issue with HZD. Open world fatigue is never going away. The only chance we have is From and Elden ring.
Horizon is all this times 10x because it’s open world. Sorry, dudes. I’m an action guy and the darker the narrative/setting the better. Also, they’re too colourful. Puts me off. That’s why Returnal was such a hard-on. Proper dark sci-fi with a super desperate protagonist.
I don’t love Horizon either. I know you can play it this way and it gives you freedom but I never felt like it gave me the incentive or was satisfying enough to do or put in the effort. But HFW seems to be trying to rectify this at least. I’ll probably end up playing it later because of the release date and because I won’t play open world games back to back.
 

Brigandier

Member
I really enjoyed Returnal the gunplay was absolutely top dog, I liked Selene too her VA was on point.

I liked the setting aswell an odd game, the boss fights were good too, Shame it was so short though I honestly think it should have been priced at $50/£40 max.

Oh the sound and music is incredible too I hope they make another Returnal or something very similar.
 

Fredrik

Member
This is my big issue with HZD. Open world fatigue is never going away. The only chance we have is From and Elden ring.
Yeah it seems to be tricky to get it right. No exploration rewards. Same thing in Halo Infinite.

But FROM knows how to do it, great example there. Bethesda and Nintendo knows their stuff as well, can’t wait to jump in on Starfield and Breath of the Wild 2, hopefully next year.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Yeah it seems to be tricky to get it right. No exploration rewards. Same thing in Halo Infinite.

But FROM knows how to do it, great example there. Bethesda and Nintendo knows their stuff as well, can’t wait to jump in on Starfield and Breath of the Wild 2, hopefully next year.

Halo is really fun to play around in, with the grappling hook and other stuff just so fun to get around. Get that same feeling I do from spider man, never want to fast travel.
 

Fredrik

Member
Halo is really fun to play around in, with the grappling hook and other stuff just so fun to get around. Get that same feeling I do from spider man, never want to fast travel.
I mean the grappling hook is a game changer, no doubt, it’s fun. I went straight up on a mountain when I first came out on the open map, took awhile, and found a forerunner broken ring thing at the top, cool. After awhile I realized that there is actually nothing worthwhile to find, just some artefacts or audio logs. Such a missed opportunity. Could’ve at least placed out some bad ass unique enemies with cool loot like the Lynels in BOTW. Or rare weapons you can’t find anywhere else. I was so hyped at launch but after 10 hours doing the same thing over and over in a mostly empty world I don’t get why it received so much praise and still do. I’m still playing it but right now I think it’s a boring game with rock solid game mechanic.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
I mean the grappling hook is a game changer, no doubt, it’s fun. I went straight up on a mountain when I first came out on the open map, took awhile, and found a forerunner broken ring thing at the top, cool. After awhile I realized that there is actually nothing worthwhile to find, just some artefacts or audio logs. Such a missed opportunity. Could’ve at least placed out some bad ass unique enemies with cool loot like the Lynels in BOTW. Or rare weapons you can’t find anywhere else. I was so hyped at launch but after 10 hours doing the same thing over and over in a mostly empty world I don’t get why it received so much praise and still do. I’m still playing it but right now I think it’s a boring game with rock solid game mechanic.
I get that, again it’s kinda like spider man to me an open world with fun gameplay. Sure the thing she do are about the same all the time but still fun. Trying to get to places u can’t with the hook is just fun to me. Good stuff but agreed not for everyone.
 

Erdrick

Member
I... Should buy this game. It's on sale right now so it's tempting... I've been a fan of Housemarque since Super Stardust HD on the PS3 some decade and a half ago. Will be interesting to see with more scope to their game design.
 

FrankWza

Member
Yeah it seems to be tricky to get it right. No exploration rewards. Same thing in Halo Infinite.

But FROM knows how to do it, great example there. Bethesda and Nintendo knows their stuff as well, can’t wait to jump in on Starfield and Breath of the Wild 2, hopefully next year.
I don’t know about Starfield. If it has the typical combat that Skyrim has I don’t see it changing the issues that we were discussing with horizon and most open world games. I’ll wait to see what the gameplay looks like and how much depth they’ve added. I can’t compare elder scrolls style games to From games when it comes to combat and engagement.
 

Damigos

Member
This is all we need to know, Sony is dead and buried by MS at this point, no major game release in November is a clear sign of this. Imagine no Halo or Forza Horizon! No VRS, no DX12U! and especially nothing like GamePass, they will have to copy everything!!

It it just me or someone else also doesnt understand ?
 

T0minator

Member
It it just me or someone else also doesnt understand ?
I saw that comment and completely ignored it's. Either that's another "joke" post that's not really funny or his insanity level hit a strange and disturbing level. Either way l, not worth the attention
 

Damigos

Member
I saw that comment and completely ignored it's. Either that's another "joke" post that's not really funny or his insanity level hit a strange and disturbing level. Either way l, not worth the attention
This forum was the best.. not anymore i guess
 

Fredrik

Member
I don’t know about Starfield. If it has the typical combat that Skyrim has I don’t see it changing the issues that we were discussing with horizon and most open world games. I’ll wait to see what the gameplay looks like and how much depth they’ve added. I can’t compare elder scrolls style games to From games when it comes to combat and engagement.
Didn’t refer to the combat there but having open maps packed with content and exploration rewards, that’s what everyone seems to struggle with today.
 
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