zor

The video player is working again for me on Chrome (after clearing the cache) on my Work machine, however, the site's new video player is having the previous issue of not saving the playback spot. So if i reload, it starts at the beginning again. This issue, about not saving the playback location, has been going on for months, ever since the new video player was introduced.

Youtube verison of the videos work correctly (they play and save last played location).

Update: Tried clearing the cache again on my home machine, on Chrome, and it didn't work. It did on my work machine a few hours ago, also on Chrome. These two machines are rather different (i don't control what is on the work machine, also, the work machine is windows 10, while my home machine is windows 11).

Here is my list. Am hoping am closer to the community (and site's) GoTY this year... though, am usually not, and I find that disheartening, Anywho...

• Couldn't get the list button to display the list in order, so just going to copy paste the text. The list is here: https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/zor/lists/goty-2021/371596/

• 1. Metroid Dread

  NSW, 2021: A 2D Metroid game, that is rather hard. Took me about 13 hours (probably more, not sure if it counts times where i died and respawn) to 100% it. Completed: The game. Probably got the worst* ending (like unlocked the fewest things), but still enjoyed my time with it, and taking my time with it. It a metroid game, and i like that genre. Now the difficult was a bit of a problem, mainly with the parry timing. Which got me thinking that Nintendo is one of the few major companies out there, that doesn't do any kind of assist stuff with their current games. And that feels dated and out of touch. Hopefully that change and start doing that soon. As for the game stuff, yeah, look good, decent music, good controls, like the story, pacing and design were amazing. Would rate it higher, if the parry system was easier, or they had a build in assist option to make it easier.

• 2. Psychonauts 2

  PC, 2021: An action platformer, with a lot of content, a bit too much, but even with that, it is still a great game. Completed: The game. Got to the ending, got most of the items on the way. Thinking about going back, but there are a few bugs preventing 100%ing it, so i might not. The game length is a bit too long, there like 20 levels or close to that. And it would have been better around 15 or so. But beside that, it was a lot of fun, exploring, good story, dialogue, gameplay, and such.

• 3. Resident Evil Village

  PC, 2021: A fun action horror game, with FPS controls. Overall less scary than 7, well, the doll part was more scary. But good enough action. Plus, easy enough to cheat at, so that's cool. Completed: The game, and merc mode. Still playing around with some of the extras, but am thinking i'll be fully done with it soon. Well, until the dlc comes out, then i might be back.

• 4. Axiom Verge 2

  NSW, 2021: A metroidvania with a focus on exploring and melee combat. Beat the game in about 10 hours, got 88% of the items, and 98% of the map... never did figure out that last 2 percent, and i won't. Not that its a bad game, i rather enjoyed it, but there little reason to get 100%... so i won't. Also, at this point, i would just be playing it with a guide to figure it out, cause i don't have any idea on how to get to the last few places and items. Completed: The game. The story was, and is, the worse part of this series. It is rather confusing. And the UI is just bad, really, really bad. Didn't like the melee combat, but it works well enough. But the exploring, abilities, graphics & audio somewhat, and overall gameplay was great.

• 5. The Ascent

  PC, 2021: An action rpg similar to diablo. In this one, it is cyberpunk theme, and you have guns and such. I like parts of this game a lot, but overall... it has too many issues to be rated higher. The visuals, and controls are great. I enjoy the theme. And most of my time with it. The problems though, are too much. First, it is buggy. I ran into two blocker bugs in my playthrough, which is made worse, when considering that this game came out 3 months ago. Those bugs should never have been in the game in the first place, and second, they should have been fixed by now as they should have been a priority. The other big problem is the camera. It is fix, and the user doesn't have control of it. This is a major problem since this is a game where you shoot, so having enemies off screen for like half the time, is a big design flaw. The other issues with it, like boring upgrades, limited weapon selection (it was ok, but should have been better considering the setting), a bad fast travel system (so too much going places), and just dull mission design (every mission is basically, go to point X, kill things on the way there, and then when you get there, and maybe flip a switch, and then kill more things). Completed: The main quest and some side quests. After i beat the final boss, i ran into another blocker bug, and when i reloaded my save, it started me before the fight... so, nope, not going to do that again. I check, i have the achievement, so am out. Had a fun time for a bit.

• 6. Halo Infinite

  PC, 2021: Playing through it. Liking the open world parts, not liking the normal level parts. The open world feels like a ubisoft/tomb raider mix, with good fps stuff. But the normal levels are just dull, go from point a to point b. Also, the story overall is bad, and told poorly. Presentation factors are good. Upgrades are dull. Game doesn't feel like it does anything new or interesting. Don't like the MP, it works, but i prefer big fps matches, which this game does not offer. Completed: The SP campaign. And my impression from before didn't really change. The open world stuff was fun, but shallow. The SP story missions were bad, and a slog to get through. Don't like the MP, it is solid, but it isn't in the style i like.

• 7. Loop Hero

  PC, 2021: A mix of a idle game, a rogue lite game, and a deck game. There a character, which you don't control directly, who wander on a set path, a loop, and you place tiles, via the cards in your hand, on the board that summon monsters, or give buffs. The goal is to put enough of them down to summon the boss, and defeat them. In between runs there a town, where you spend the resources you got from killing monsters and such, to build stuff, to buff your character for the next run, or to get new cards for you deck. Completed: The game, mostly. Defeated the first 3 bosses, 3 times each to see all their text. And the final boss, once... it looked like there was dialogue for 6 wins against him, but i don't have the interest to do that. I was able to cheat to increase my stats, which is the only reason why i was able to finish the game, and then i cheated more at the end, to full build the town for my own amusement.

• 8. Scarlet Nexus

  PC, 2021: An action jrpg that controls like an action game like DMC. The story is alright, visuals are good, VO work is great, and overall it was fun. However, like most jrpgs, it just lasted way too long. Also, it kind of jumps the shark, when it comes to character stories, near the start of the third act. Thinking back on it, and a large reason why i completed it, was that i was a sunken cost fallacy. I had spent so much time on it, i wanted to see the ending, even though, i wasn't having fun with it at the end. Completed: The game, Kasane playthrough. Didn't try the other character playthrough, didn't play to from the start, and the long length made it less likely. Took about 25 hours to complete, and it would have been better around 20. Also, the character stories jumped the shark when you party went from 4 to 9. It easy to get invested and care about 4 characters, but upping it to 9, near the end of the game, just killed the mood. I started skipping it, for all of them, soon after that point. Also, the side quests were bad. And combat was shallow. The game does have a lot of charming parts. And overall, i enjoyed my time with it, but if i had never played it, i wouldn't have missed anything.

• 9. Humankind

  PC, 2021: A 4x game that tries to be like Civ, but with some notable differences. Such as, there are no builder units, or any non-combat units really. There are settlers and such later on (late game) but even those can fight. Diplomacy is mostly the same, handle differently, but overall the same results. Combat is the big change. So when armies fight, they fight on the map, like a 5 or 6 grid around the combat location, and units get placed, and its kind of a TBS combat game then. And well... it doesn't work fully. It might in a sequel or two, but in this one, it just doesn't work. It tries to do the terrain 1 to 1, but that a problem, and often armies can't get setup, and it just feels bad. Another big change is the starting turns. In this one you are a roaming tribe hunting animals for a bit, and then you find outpost, and turn one of those into a city. Oh, output/city stuff, yeah, that a big change too. Areas can be cliamed via outposts, turn into cities, or attach to cities. You can't just build anywhere like in Civ. Lastly, you pick a new civ every era, and that is ok... not great, but ok. Didn't feel like it added much to the game or genre. Overall, like most 4x games, the pacing is a problem, i found by turn 50 or so, i was usually just clicking next turn, to wait for anything to happen, cause buildings and such were taking like 5-infiinte turns to happen. So yeah, felt slow. So i started cheating, and even then, it took me like 12 hours for a tiny map game. Completed: 1 game, and am good. It was fun, but i don't feel the need to play another round. I don't see how the next round would be any different. Since you pick a new civ every era, you kind of do it all in one game. The special units don't seem that different/crazy, and no one has a big unique thingy. Its a good start, hopefully they continue the series, and if they do, they go deeper into some of their system, and offer 'wacky/sci-fi-ish' choices and such

• 10. New Pokémon Snap

  NSW, 2021: New Pokemon Snap plays a lot like the old one, which is ok, but not good. The player is in a cart, on a rail, and they go through a course for a couple of minutes. During this time, they can look around and take pictures of the Pokemon in the area. There are a few special abilities, which usually get the pokemon in the area to do different things, which you can take pictures of. There are photo rankings, and score boards. But those require an online account. Overall, it is a semi relaxing experience, if you let it be one. There a few things you can do if your serious (like trying to get the rare photos, and such), but if like me, you don't care, then its rather easy. Completed: The game's story in about 9 hours. Had fun taking pictures, but didn't have people to share it with, so i fell off after the story.

I felt that the game over stayed it welcome, and if it had been about 1/3 to 1/2 shorter, it would have been great. But it didn't, so it ended up feeling dull, and like a chore by the end. Also this pacing issue that I think makes it feel like it using emotions rather than embracing them.

My guess as to why it was brought up in a few GoTY talks, for websites, is that they didn't finish the game (since video game site people tend not to finish games, since they don't have the time, so they usual just play a few hours of everything, instead of a couple things a lot (this is the impression i get, listening to the podcasts and such, and am sure there are exceptions to this, but overall this is what it sounds like most of them do)), so the length issue, wasn't one, for them.

2016 is better, it had better gameplay and pacing. Eternal new ideas work alright, and the first half of the game was great, but the later half, had a big drop in quality, and it felt like combat became little more than running in circles, waiting for cooldowns to trigger, to get more health/ammo... Also it was way too reliant on glory kills in eternal. They went from being the icing on a cake (in 2016), to being 5/7 of the main meal (in eternal).

You're not alone in your opinion OP. As with anything new, some things are a hit (with me, Very Online Show, Guilty Treasures, Bak to School, Hot Takes (i think that was Void Burger stuff), Grubb's podcast thingy) and others are misses (Ranking of Evil, Armed and Rangerous)... the problem though, is that a few of the shows are off putting (Albummer and Reel Layers), and make me question if I should re-sub. I really don't like them, tried to watch them, and had a very negative time. Its one thing if they were a one time thing, or minor content, but it seems these shows are popular, and more of them are getting made/added. And if that the direction the site and community is going, I don't know if i'll stick around for that (which i know people won't care, and am hesitant to share this opinion, since in previous topics about this, people have attack those who aren't fully onboard with everything this site does).

I found it overall underwhelming. I have been holding off on trying (key word there, cause i know they are super hard to get) a PS5, and this showcase reassured me that am doing the right thing. Come 2023, this could change, but it look like there won't be any major reason to get one (for me, i do have a ps4 pro, so i can play some of the titles i want to from Sony) until at least 2023.

Side note, i still find it annoying that people get so hyped up for a cgi trailer that has nothing to do with the actual game it is tied to. You should never get excited by a CGI trailer, interested in the product, sure, take note of something that might be fun, but not excited. Did you people learn nothing from the Outer Worlds 2 trailer... :p

The concept seems great, but from what i read in the polygon article, the gameplay is going to be... well... not Xcom at all.. so yeah. Am interested, but preparing myself to be disappointed.

The last game i did that for was, Tell me Why. I have a friend who is into adventure games, and likes that studio. So i played through that game... and yeah... it wasn't an enjoyable time. But we have something to talk about, so there that.

J&J: One Shot