Eribuster

The way I like to think of the difference between a regular retail or digital game and a subscription-based MMORPG is that it is analogous between a toy and a theme park. Or between a Blu-Ray and a movie theater ticket. One is a finished product you have a lot of control over, while the other is a scheduled service that is time-sensitive.

Anyway, what a ride FF14 has had this year. I reupped my subscription for a little bit this year and finally managed to finish A Realm Reborn and get some quests in to Heavensward. Maybe I'll get back in next year once the congestion woes subside a bit.

Ooo, game looking sharp.

The only game I've tried of this series was Race Driver Grid way back when during the Wii/PS3/360 era. I was under the impression that this Codemasters subseries is in the simcade corner of racing games.

I haven't touched the follow ups in this series. Neither 2, Autosport, or [The] GRID. This one interests me because of the neat story mode they are cooking up. Sports stories can be so good!

As someone who is bought in to Star Citizen and Squadron 42 and is just anxiously waiting for Squadron 42 to come out, you made my mind depress and my heart skip a beat when I read this.

Bravo!

(My experience is limited to the technical alpha, the public beta, and the 10-hour trial you get from Xbox PC GamePass.)

As the years go by... I become more and more confident in declaring that maybe DICE is bad at making a video game.

That said, I seem to be more positive in my time with BF2042 than the rest of the internet chatter. With the actual release, I've spent all of my 10-hour trial messing around with the pseudo-single player offering of playing the All-Out Warfare mode with bots. Thankfully, you can still get rank experience points and progression through that mode. It makes it really easy to unlock some of the early weapon attachments and vehicle unlocks! I've been having an alright time doing that.

Even though I've had a good time playing by myself, I can't help but be disappointed with the full release. Earlier in the year, the EA investor call chatter and PR said that BF2042 was further along/ahead of schedule, that they were pulling in Criterion from the next Need for Speed game to help the game over the finish line, et cetra et cetra. And now with the full release, it's easy to see that the most cynical interpretation of those declarations came true. Maybe I was the fool for hoping much from both EA and DICE, but after the kerfuffle surrounding both Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Battlefield V, I hoped that DICE would have their shit together for Battlefield 2042.

Despite the bummer launch, I still think BF2042 has a chance. Or at least I would like it to have the same chance that BF4 got. Something that BFV didn't seem to have gotten. As much as it is a monetization ploy, the pick-whatever nature of the Specialist system I find interesting. Battlefield is still probably the only game to have the combined arms chaos of soldiers and vehicles fighting over flags (Hell Let Loose and Squad both seem scary serious).

Incredible read

Well done, bravo!

@noobsauce: I am informed that Colors and Generations were two of the ones to play. So it is sad that one of the recent Sonic games that is generally well-liked has gotten a shoddy port.

This is Twitter hearsay, but I've read one person blaming Sega for a truncated schedule given to Blind Squirrel Games (who, judging from their website, doesn't have much Switch experience).

Ideally, any XP/progression points are tied to enemy damage/kills, assists, gadget usage, and playing the objective and are non-modifiable. So, any progression progress should be standardized across the BF2042 experiences.

As for progression boosting, Battlefield 3 had Nosharr Canels TDM which was the equivalent of nu-Modern Warfare's Shipment or Black Ops' Nuketown. Those point-boosting, high KDA servers have existed and will continue, so I think it's a bit of a lost cause to hand wring over it.

The Battlefield Portal gives me delightful Smash Bros. vibes which has be very excited and hopeful. It also has me anxious because I've been hopeful before in past lead ups to a new Battlefield....

The rumored/reported Gundam esports title has been revealed as Gundam Evolution, a 6v6 Team-Based Shooter.

Also, a Japanese stream demonstrating the game was streamed recently. Here it is skipping to near the demonstration of the point capture mode:

There is a sign up for the closed beta test, but I think it's Japan only? https://gundamevolution.jp/cbt/

A Gundam hero-based shooter is such a good fit that I've never thought of before. While licensed Gundam games run the gamut in quality, watching footage of Gundam Evolution makes the game looks promising. It's been a while since I've seen any Overwatch so I don't know how it compares, but the team fights in the Gunam Evolution looks to be a fun mess.

I believe the Switch dock does not conform to USB-C standards, so I don't think it will play nice with a Steam Deck. Not sure though.

I'm really interested in seeing how the Steam Deck will turn out. As someone is ready for a Switch successor, I'm kinda thinking about the $530 just so I can play Genshin Impact portably lol

(I already have a nice phone, but I've already filled its storage. I don't expect the Switch version of Genshin to be what I want to play, assuming it's not vaporware at this point. I was thinking of getting one of the nicer iPads until the Steam Deck showed up as a consideration.)

That $400 version of the Steam Deck shouts, "We wanted something to hit a price point that we can advertise" all over it. It probably works fine, but for me the starting price is the 256GB NVMe SSD model.