The Backlog Check-in Vol. 248: 10/1/22: Asterigos: Curse of the Stars/Overwatch 2 Edition

[canedaddy]

I’m only mildly enjoying Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it’s not as good as the first two games IMO.

That's disappointing to hear because for me the first reboot, while decent, was a far cry from what I wanted in TR. (Think Core developed entries.)

I liked all three about the same. Solid B+ Uncharted clones. (I had little experience and no nostalgia for the originals.)

Wow, 87. That’s older than cane. I hope that all goes smoothly and successfully.

Nobody's older than cane.

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Stray, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 43 games

About 5 hours into Layton, so still kinda too early to say anything about it.

I hope everything goes well with your dad's surgery, argyle!

[argyle]

Everything went very well w/ my dad's surgery. He's back home now, I'll take him back to the doc to have the eyepatch removed & they'll give him an eye test to see how much improvement there is.

[canedaddy]

Everything went very well w/ my dad's surgery. He's back home now, I'll take him back to the doc to have the eyepatch removed & they'll give him an eye test to see how much improvement there is.

Excellent!

[isthatallyougot]

I liked all three about the same. Solid B+ Uncharted clones. (I had little experience and no nostalgia for the originals.)

I wish you could frame your opinion in reference to the originals, but if they're all about the same, I'm sure they'll be decent enough time/mind wasters. I've got them all in my backlog, but the original (reboot) was just a bit off-putting in relation to those CORE entries. But yeah, like Uncharted, it was fine if you just want to be wowed by the big bangs and crazy set-pieces. (I like Uncharted significantly more than the (first) reboot.)

That show deserves another rewatch, if only for the chicken man's demise scene.

Glad to hear all went well with your dad argyle.

[Phaseknox]

I’m only mildly enjoying Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it’s not as good as the first two games IMO.

That's disappointing to hear because for me the first reboot, while decent, was a far cry from what I wanted in TR. (Think Core developed entries.)

Have you only played the first, because the second (Rise of the Tomb Raider) added more adventure elements and tombs. It’s still not very much like the originals, but it’s more of an adventure game than just a straight-up linear action platformer like the first so you might like it more. I did. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is more of a mix of action, adventure, RPG and puzzle elements. It’s good for variety I guess, but I found what you did throughout to feel somewhat segmented. They put a bunch of different gameplay types into it, but they don’t feel all that cohesive to me. I didn’t really care for the town and village hub areas with NPCs, and side quests. It all felt half-baked to me, and slowed down the pacing IMO. But you might like all of the different stuff that it offers compared to the first two games, and enjoy it the most. However, it still doesn’t feel anything like the original games. In fact, it feels less like them due to parts of it taking place in towns and villages, and interacting with NPCs. It’s not the solitary tomb raiding experience of the originals.

I’m only mildly enjoying Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it’s not as good as the first two games IMO.

That's disappointing to hear because for me the first reboot, while decent, was a far cry from what I wanted in TR. (Think Core developed entries.)

I liked all three about the same. Solid B+ Uncharted clones. (I had little experience and no nostalgia for the originals.)

Only the first one really feels like an Uncharted clone to me, and I personally like it more than the Uncharted games except for Uncharted 4. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is good, but not as good as the first two games IMO. They had better stories, villains, more varied levels and were just more exciting throughout. There’s too much walking and talking in SotTR, and not enough action and adventuring.

Everything went very well w/ my dad's surgery. He's back home now, I'll take him back to the doc to have the eyepatch removed & they'll give him an eye test to see how much improvement there is.

Glad to hear it.

[isthatallyougot]

Have you only played the first, because the second (Rise of the Tomb Raider) added more adventure elements and tombs. It’s still not very much like the originals, but it’s more of an adventure game than just a straight-up linear action platformer like the first so you might like it more. I did. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is more of a mix of action, adventure, RPG and puzzle elements. It’s good for variety I guess, but I found what you did throughout to feel somewhat segmented. They put a bunch of different gameplay types into it, but they don’t feel all that cohesive to me. I didn’t really care for the town and village hub areas with NPCs, and side quests. It all felt half-baked to me, and slowed down the pacing IMO. But you might like all of the different stuff that it offers compared to the first two games, and enjoy it the most. However, it still doesn’t feel anything like the original games. In fact, it feels less like them due to parts of it taking place in towns and villages, and interacting with NPCs. It’s not the solitary tomb raiding experience of the originals.

Glad to hear about Rise. I ought to fire it up before I'm dead.

Only the first one really feels like an Uncharted clone to me, and I personally like it more than the Uncharted games except for Uncharted 4. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is good, but not as good as the first two games IMO. They had better stories, villains, more varied levels and were just more exciting throughout. There’s too much walking and talking in SotTR, and not enough action and adventuring.

The story was simply dreadful in the first reboot imho. I like Lara's movement and it looked and played well, but man, the narrative was really poor to me and it had too many over-the-top moments - and that's coming from someone who loves Uncharted, lol. And, as mentioned, I much prefer the solitary, no hand-holdy, environmental puzzle aspects of the series roots. I love those early games because there's such a sense of wonder and discovery - even today, despite the aged visuals. I never got anything like that with the reboot. Just AAA paint by numbers, even if it did what it set out to do pretty well.

[Phaseknox]

The story was simply dreadful in the first reboot imho. I like Lara's movement and it looked and played well, but man, the narrative was really poor to me and it had too many over-the-top moments - and that's coming from someone who loves Uncharted, lol. And, as mentioned, I much prefer the solitary, no hand-holdy, environmental puzzle aspects of the series roots. I love those early games because there's such a sense of wonder and discovery - even today, despite the aged visuals. I never got anything like that with the reboot. Just AAA paint by numbers, even if it did what it set out to do pretty well.

If you thought that the story was dreadful and that there were too many over-the-top moments in the first game, then I can’t wait for you to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The story is ludicrous, and there’s a lot of over-the-top moments that are totally ridiculous. They try and make it feel like a big budget Hollywood summer blockbuster action movie at times, and things get scripted to the point of absurdity. I will say that the graphics are some of the best that I’ve seen in a game, the detail and lighting are really impressive. But the game itself is a mixed bag, it has some really good moments and some not so good ones. I still had a good enough time with it to want to see it to the end, but there were definitely some bumps in the road along the way.

[isthatallyougot]

If you thought that the story was dreadful and that there were too many over-the-top moments in the first game, then I can’t wait for you to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The story is ludicrous, and there’s a lot of over-the-top moments that are totally ridiculous. They try and make it feel like a big budget Hollywood summer blockbuster action movie at times, and things get scripted to the point of absurdity. I will say that the graphics are some of the best that I’ve seen in a game, the detail and lighting are really impressive. But the game itself is a mixed bag, it has some really good moments and some not so good ones. I still had a good enough time with it to want to see it to the end, but there were definitely some bumps in the road along the way.

For me it all depends on the execution. For example, in Uncharted there are plenty of unbelievable and absurd moments - from a realistic standpoint. But they're crafted in such a way to be contextually believable - they fit the overall tone and fictional setting. The first TR reboot just felt off in that regard to me. It just felt like someone screaming in my face, "THIS IS AWESOME! CAN'T YOU SEE?!?" I was like, "Not really."

[Phaseknox]

I played Conan Exiles just to check it out because I was curious about it, and I liked what I played of it. It’s a third person open world action survival sim where you play as a custom made character who has been exiled to harsh and savage lands. You begin the game with nothing, and are in the middle of nowhere with no real direction as to where to go or what to do. You’re given a list of survival things to do such as eat, drink, find shelter, craft tools, etc. but not told how to do any of it. You’re basically left to your own devices to figure things out, there’s really no handholding.

The game is about learning by playing, exploration and discovery. What I like about it is that the gameplay is fairly intuitive like other third person games, and none of the mechanics or systems seem overly complicated. There’s definitely a learning curve to everything, but I don’t feel like I need to attend a college course to figure things out. While I was enjoying what I played of it, it’s not something that I’m going to get invested in right now. But I look forward to getting into it in the future when I’m more in the mood for the type of game that it is. I think that it’s something that izzy would especially like.