[Nikana]

Towerborne looks the best. Fight me.

 

[HE1NZ]

You probably think the characters in CP look the same way? Or Spiderman? The game is 3-4x the size of a regular open world game. Why would they spend all those resources on photoreal characters on a console?


It's not a flight simulator. That's OK.


It doesn't. Sorry - you have a bad argument. Inventory items that are junk look better than most games' objects on the ground. There is so much to this game it isn't even worth arguing over. The environments are the best of any game I've seen so far simply because they vary so well.

Huh? Cyberpunk looks better in every possible way. This game looks like Mass Effect Andromeda at 100 times the scale.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Wow! Starfield absolutely blew me the fuck away. This game is going to take me months if not years to beat, over a 1000 planets, plus we know the game will probably have countless expansions and story packs as well. I also hope mods will be available for Xbox just like in Skyrim.

I already told my girl that I want the Constellation edition for my birthday, she shrugged, said yes and didn't even flinched at the price. She's getting extra loving tonight lol. Damn I can't wait for this, I haven't been this excited for a game in a long time. Todd just saved Xbox.

You got a link for where it is being sold? I want to buy it too.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Huh? Cyberpunk looks better in every possible way. This game looks like Mass Effect Andromeda at 100 times the scale.

You mentioned characters looking stiff. CP's NPC characters look stiff too. Spiderman's characters look really stiff. I'm trying to asses why you are complaining about things that are the norm in nearly every game. It's like me complaining that videogames don't look as good as CGI. Why would I expect that when we are talking about videogames?

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Environments look amazing!

 

[Zeta Dragoon]

Yup. With the depth and scope of the game, it should by default win GOTY. Zelda was more of the first one while Starfield is a totally new franchise. I wish other big AAA studios would take more risk and make something new. I'm sick and tired of rehashed sequels to games.

Tears of the Kingdom though unlikely losing GOTY would certainly be a wakeup call for Nintendo.

 

[HE1NZ]

You mentioned characters looking stiff. CP's NPC characters look stiff too. Spiderman's characters look really stiff. I'm trying to asses why you are complaining about things that are the norm in nearly every game. It's like me complaining that videogames don't look as good as CGI. Why would I expect that when we are talking about videogames?

I talked about very specific Gamebryo jank. Characters drilling you with their eyes, weird face expressions, walking like robots, look similar (made in the same character creation tool). Cyberpunk main characters are custom made and animate on a completely different level.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

I talked about very specific Gamebryo jank. Characters drilling you with their eyes, weird face expressions, walking like robots, look similar (made in the same character creation tool).

So what games don't have what you are seeing on Starfield? And NPCs are like a tiny percentage of what the game is about and what was presented there. Any game you mention that you say is better, will most likely look the same to me. And I'm not talking about cinematics. I'm talking about actual gameplay.

Cyberpunk main characters are custom made and animate on a completely different level.

Cyberpunk NPCs look whack too unless you turn on Path tracing. And they don't animate on a different level. All they do is walk around and get shot/melee and reel in pain. But that's a patch that's beyond any console and most PCs so I can't really compare PT CP2077 to other games as it will dwarf them all.

 

[HE1NZ]

So what games don't have what you are seeing on Starfield? And NPCs are like a tiny percentage of what the game is about and what was presented there. Any game you mention that you say is better, will most likely look the same to me. And I'm not talking about cinematics. I'm talking about actual gameplay.

I don't know why you're trying to corner me as if I'm shitting on the game. I said it would be more fun to play than to watch videos of it. I just disagree with it being the best looking game ever. If it were announced at Keighley's by unknown developer nobody would say that it is.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

I don't know why you're trying to corner me as if I'm shitting on the game. I said it would be more fun to play than to watch videos of it. I just disagree with it being the best looking game ever. If it were announced at Keighley's by unknown developer nobody would say that it is.

I never claimed it was the best looking game ever. I'm being skeptical of overly critical arguments against the game's visuals because it's definitely one of the top good looking ones. I've seen every single game this generation that people have played, so I like to discuss in more depth when people criticize or overly praise a title. Don't mean to be confrontational.

 

[regawdless]

This dude killed me. So unnatural with shitty animations.

Doesn't the latest Horizon game have some rather decent automated face animations for lesser NPCs? That didn't look too bad. At least better than this.

 

[John Matrix]

You got a link for where it is being sold? I want to buy it too.

I don't think it's up for sale yet. The rest of the editions are up for pre-order. Checking the link @Kadayi posted at the bottom of the last page is our best bet. We might have to keep an eye on it.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

This dude killed me. So unnatural with shitty animations.

Doesn't the latest Horizon game have some rather decent automated face animations for lesser NPCs? That didn't look too bad. At least better than this.

He does look unnatural but again, compared to the scope of the game, you have to cut somewhere. At least he's self-shadowing himself among his own body parts. Many games still add in GI light probes on top of that to make the character look even more out of place.

Horizon engine has an very weak lighting system so they had to use a separate 3-point light system around the main character. It completely looks out of place and doesn't make Aloy blend in with the environment lighting. At least, that's not the case here in SF.

 

[AJUMP23]

Overall good. Surprise for me was ubi Star Wars.

 

[Kadayi]

I don't think it's up for sale yet. The rest of the editions are up for pre-order. Checking the link @Kadayi posted at the bottom of the last page is our best bet. We might have to keep an eye on it.

I just pre-ordered the Special Edition from the international store

Bethesda Gear Store International

Welcome to the Official International Bethesda Gear Store. Within you will find all of your favorite merchandise from T-Shirts and Hoodies to Collectors Editions, Limited Exclusives and more - inspired by your favorite video games like Fallout, DOOM, Elder Scrolls, and many more.

international.gear.bethesda.net

Cost me £232 including Shipping. Which tbh for the game, a case & a working Smartwatch isn't half bad tbh.

 

[regawdless]

He does look unnatural but again, compared to the scope of the game, you have to cut somewhere. At least he's self-shadowing himself among his own body parts. Many games still add in GI light probes on top of that to make the character look even more out of place.

Horizon engine has an very weak lighting system so they had to use a separate 3-point light system around the main character. It completely looks out of place and doesn't make Aloy blend in with the environment lighting. At least, that's not the case here in SF.

That's all fine and not what I'm criticizing. His animations were totally weird and bad. It's understandable of course. I still expected them to do better here. Easier said than done, I know.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

I just pre-ordered the Special Edition from the international store

Bethesda Gear Store International

Welcome to the Official International Bethesda Gear Store. Within you will find all of your favorite merchandise from T-Shirts and Hoodies to Collectors Editions, Limited Exclusives and more - inspired by your favorite video games like Fallout, DOOM, Elder Scrolls, and many more.

international.gear.bethesda.net

Cost me £232 including Shipping. Which tbh for the game, a case & a working Smartwatch isn't half bad tbh.

I just picked up the Xbox edition myself. Not sure if I'm going to open it though. It'll definitely be a collector's item and worth some money if this game gets popular like Zelda: TotK

 

[Kadayi]

I just picked up the Xbox edition myself. Not sure if I'm going to open it though. It'll definitely be a collector's item and worth some money if this game gets popular like Zelda: TotK

I actually quite like the watch design and having stumbled across the specs on it last year I'm very much of the view that it's something to wear rather than keep hidden away.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

I screen of one of the NPCs. In this shot, you can tell that they gave the skin a nice subsurface scattering term. Also, the jacket's design has self-shadowing of the different scales. The face's nose is self-shadowed, the eyes don't have light leaks, and the mouth and chin all are self-shadowed.

 

[kiNeMs]

As a PS owner. Starfield looks incredible.

Edit. And it had to.

 

[Kadayi]

This dude killed me. So unnatural with shitty animations.

Doesn't the latest Horizon game have some rather decent automated face animations for lesser NPCs? That didn't look too bad. At least better than this.

This is one of the things I was somewhat worried about in the 'The Fan' is a carry through easter egg from Oblivion (IIRC) and personally I'm not a keep on this sort of overt referencing as I find it takes me right out of the experience. I kind of hope that there isn't too much of that in the game proper tbh.

 

[WesternBlood]

This dude killed me. So unnatural with shitty animations.

Doesn't the latest Horizon game have some rather decent automated face animations for lesser NPCs? That didn't look too bad. At least better than this.

What @Kadayi said, It's a nod to Oblivion's Adoring Fan.

Oblivion:Adoring Fan - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP)

en.uesp.net

Just as annoying in this game I suspect. However, the devs did say you can change/remove your traits, so I suspect you won't have to be stuck with this character if you go that route. They alluded to it by having him face a horizon on a cliff and you pull a weapon on him as his back is turned, but I bet there is some benefit to having him as well.

 

[Kadayi]

What @Kadayi said, It's a nod to Oblivion's Adoring Fan.

Oblivion:Adoring Fan - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP)

en.uesp.net

Just as annoying in this game I suspect. However, the devs did say you can change/remove your traits, so I suspect you won't have to be stuck with this character if you go that route. They alluded to it by having him face a horizon on a cliff and you pull a weapon on him as his back is turned, but I bet there is some benefit to having him as well.

Yeah thankfully he's optional, however, the annoying fan character is a bit an RPG stable. There's some NPC who follows you around and keeps talking to you in Baldurs Gate IIRC, and Mass Effect also does a whole 'No 1 Fan' thing as well on the Citadel.

 

[Kadayi]

I screen of one of the NPCs. In this shot, you can tell that they gave the skin a nice subsurface scattering term. Also, the jacket's design has self-shadowing of the different scales. The face's nose is self-shadowed, the eyes don't have light leaks, and the mouth and chin all are self-shadowed.

That may be what they look like now. However on PC at least you know in about 3 months she'll be looking like this: -

 

[WesternBlood]

Yeah thankfully he's optional, however, the annoying fan character is a bit an RPG stable. There's some NPC who follows you around and keeps talking to you in Baldurs Gate IIRC, and Mass Effect also does a whole 'No 1 Fan' thing as well on the Citadel.

You just know there is going to be Fallout nods. Probably some bunker in a forgotten realm of the galaxy, on some distant moon, where a colony was started/seeded/whatever right along with a Twilight Zone-esque story behind it and a heavy geared door to roll away.

 

[Zeta Dragoon]

You just know there is going to be Fallout nods. Probably some bunker in a forgotten realm of the galaxy, on some distant moon, where a colony was started/seeded/whatever right along with a Twilight Zone-esque story behind it and a heavy geared door to roll away.

Or if you visit a long lost Earth Fallout 5 splashes across the screen and you can play it within Starfield itself.

 

[WesternBlood]

Or if you visit a long lost Earth Fallout 5 splashes across the screen and you can play it within Starfield itself.

Spoiler

There better be Aliens like in Operation Zeta.

 

[Kadayi]

You just know there is going to be Fallout nods. Probably some bunker in a forgotten realm of the galaxy, on some distant moon, where a colony was started/seeded/whatever right along with a Twilight Zone-esque story behind it and a heavy geared door to roll away.

For sure, but personally, I'm not a massive fan of that kind of meta-referencing all that much. I accept that game devs sometimes can't help themselves, however, I find it utterly breaks immersion. The Tarantino shoutouts in The Witcher 3 for instance were just the height of cringe. If you think about it, outside of gaming it's principally the preserve of comedy shows and films like Scary Movie that operate in that 'meta' realm and it's like if you want gaming to ever get taken seriously, it's time to stop clowning around. That's not to say you can't have humour, but it should come from the game world itself and the interactions within versus from some 'I got that reference' BS. I mean for instance Turgle in Jedi Survivor is a a great example of some light relief and it just all stems from the character, but even then they don't turn him into a complete clown.

 

[HeresJohnny]

Avowed looks good. I completely skipped by Sea of Thieves since it's multiplayer and I have no interest in MP games. Same for Fallout 76 And ESO And Overwatch. Skipped CP2077 expansion because I'm never going to play it.

 

[WesternBlood]

For sure, but personally, I'm not a massive fan of that kind of meta-referencing all that much. I accept that game devs sometimes can't help themselves, however, I find it utterly breaks immersion. The Tarantino shoutouts in The Witcher 3 for instance were just the height of cringe. If you think about it, outside of gaming it's principally the preserve of comedy shows and films like Scary Movie that operate in that 'meta' realm and it's like if you want gaming to ever get taken seriously, it's time to stop clowning around. That's not to say you can't have humour, but it should come from the game world itself and the interactions within versus from some 'I got that reference' BS. I mean for instance Turgle in Jedi Survivor is a a great example of some light relief and it just all stems from the character, but even then they don't turn him into a complete clown.

I don't like fourth wall breaking stuff, particularly with bleeding edge pop culture (because most pop culture is a flash in the pan and has no staying power), however, devs doing easter eggs of classic references always get a chuckle out of me. If they self-reference, then I am ok with that, as I love it when worlds get related/connected no matter how esoteric.

That's a me thing because I like Twilight-Zone and what-if's scenarios.

Your point on Tarantino and the Witcher is a good one. That is an absurd way to do it and doesn't fit in any meaningful way. That is just being quirky for the sake of it.

 

[HeresJohnny]

Hellblade II trailer was fucking BORING. If I wanted to hear a bunch of whispering I'd watch a Joe Biden press conference.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Hellblade II trailer was fucking BORING. If I wanted to hear a bunch of whispering I'd watch a Joe Biden press conference.

Agreed. Not sure why they regressed from the last reveal. I was wanting gameplay with Nanite tech.

 

[HeresJohnny]

Path of the Goddess is bought. That's money right there.

Starfield looks brilliant. That's my number one most anticipated game right there.

Also really liked the climbing game with a mix of Flower thrown in (Jusanti?)

 

[JORMBO]

Thinking back on the show this will be the first time I would give a show an "A" in a long time. I can't remember the last time one of these shows didn't feel like a time waster.

Starfield
Persona 3
Persona Tactica
Metaphor
Cities Skyline 2
Avowed
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Cyberpunk Expansion
Hellblade
Fable
Forza

Lots of good variety and decent things to look forward to. They weaved the usual boring stuff in between the good games so the show flowed much better too.

 

[HeresJohnny]

Surprising amount of Japanese content too. Very impressive.

 

[Neil Young]

Starfield looked so damn good. Avowed looked great, and I know I'll dig the Star Wars Ubi game made by Massive. Damn good show. The only thing I didn't care for is the fact I'm going to be playing as a homely woman in some of these games. Did they HAVE to create the most unattractive woman for their Fable reveal? I don't get decisions like that...we know why but sigh.

 

[HeresJohnny]

Starfield looked so damn good. Avowed looked great, and I know I'll dig the Star Wars Ubi game made by Massive. Damn good show. The only thing I didn't care for is the fact I'm going to be playing as a homely woman in some of these games. Did they HAVE to create the most unattractive woman for their Fable reveal? I don't get decisions like that...we know why but sigh.

The Fable troon is butt fucking ugly

 

[New Yorks Finest]

This should be illegal lolz the amount of joints droppin on GP DAY 1!! you can't be serious right now..straight Homicide with deep pockets

 

[Stilton Disco]

Surprising amount of Japanese content too. Very impressive.

Given XSS/X is deader than ever in Japan, and every time we get any data on how Japanese games sell on Xbox, it turns out they still don't, I do have to wonder how much MS must be paying for these game's marketting deals, because the association must surely be hurting their sales back in their home market.

Still, as long as they're not moneyhatting timed exclusivity, I at least appreciate the apparent effort to appeal to a wider audience, even if a cynical part of me thinks it might actually have more to do with hurting Playstation and Nintendo rather than selling Xboxes.

 

[regawdless]

Ok so HEXEN was made by Raven Soft, which belongs to Activision, which got bought by MS. Now Phil is on stage with a HEXEN shirt.

HEXEN remake confirmed.