UKC

I am getting serious amounts of pressure to purchase a Playstation 4 from the kids here (well one kid really). Having been loyal Nintendo fans for the last 20 years, this seems like betrayal to me and I am not one to give in to kid's requests easily (cue riotous laughter from other members of the family at this point) but  I have seen Red Dead Redemption 2 which looks like a western version of Breath of the Wild.

B of the W has been the only thing to interest me in video games over the last 10 years having found little to entertain long term in the Mario platformers, and the repeat previous versions of Zelda after Ocarina of Time, so I am tempted. However I would like to be convinced first by the UKC regulars, particularly those in the similar dad situation where we also have to deal with the repercussions of yet another screen entering the house (ok, not a screen but you get my drift).

Alan

OK.  Loved Red Dead Redemption and waited bloody years for RDR2 to come out.  

Bought it when it came out.  It's epic. Beautifully crafted, attention to detail is staggering and the way it cuts between action scenes and cutaway scenes is flawless.

You may have seen my posts a few months ago salivating over it.  Played the backside off it.

Hate to say it though...it got to be a bit of a chore towards the end.  There was just something about it that didn't hold my attention and I can't quite put my finger on what it was.  I'm wondering if there was just too much going on?  Maybe too big a world to play in, with only a horse to explore?  I don't know.  I banged on about it so much I feel a bit rubbish saying I got bored by it until a mate at work said he felt a little bit the same. 

But it's only one game!  There are so many out there to choose from, so many genres, so many different paces of game.  

And it's not all about gaming either.  I've got Netflix, Youtube and Now TV coming through mine.  

Do it!

(and if you're a really old fart like me, there are tons of retro games out there...so if you do fancy some of the old maria games, or classic space invaders, you'll be spoiled for choice)

Isn't this pretty normal though?  You play them so much (and kind of have to to keep in the flow) that you start ticking off quests and missions simply because they are there and litter your game in-tray.

Late night marathons don't help.  Plenty often when gaming, I've felt like a pigeon in a Skinner-box, diligently pecking away at the button above the hopper to be issued my treat.  It's maybe not surprising that the experience turns in to something a little soulless after a while.

I've been playing Skyrim for bloody years though.  Dig it out every now and again, start from scratch and rebuild my character again and again and although I do eventually get tired of it, I always feel the itch every six months or so to go back.

I can't see myself going back to RDR2 at the moment,  That might change though, but at the moment?  Meh.  Don't even feel the urge to try out the on line version

I did spot a copy of "The Last Of Us" at my daughters house last week.....I've heard good things about it and may nip over there to steal it.....

Get on it... Substitute the post-apocalyptic USA for post-Brexit Britain, and replace mutant fungally-infected cannibals with Leavers, and you've pretty much got a training aid for surviving the forthcoming societal meltdown.

I've been saving bottlecaps to use as currency as well...

Last of Us is surprisingly moving, to the point where I've never had the guts to replay it and put myself through the emotional wringer. I got RDD2 for Christmas so I'm only really just getting to grips with it, but it's really beautiful and the attention to detail is breath taking.

PS the giraffe in LoU is fantastic

Looks like I'm heading over to Macclesfield tonight to steal The Last Of Us quite soon ..

Bought a PS4 just to play RDR2.  It's not disappointed me.  The level of detail in the graphics, animation and physics make it feel really immersive.  The footprints in the snow and mud, splashing through the creeks, the trees that you push through.  The horses that feel real (if you kill your horse by accident you will be broken hearted).

I like the change in approach to the first game, where you're part of a gang rather than a lone wolf.  It creates lots of relationships with the other gang members and you really get attached to some of them.  Arthur's (your character) has a great story arc.  It packs a real emotional punch at times as well  (it's not  just me "I thought I was going to cry" said a colleague of mine about one moment).  

It looks quite beautiful.  I was riding a trail through a gorge as the sun came up and painted the wall a beautiful pink - just incredible.  Mists rising from the swamp, thunderclouds looming over the prairie, snowstorms in the mountains, a rainstorm that you can see soak into Arthur's clothes, it's full moments that make you marvel at the designers and developers.

Lots of missions, lots of variety, lots to do.  There are a couple of occasions when you just want to get on with the main story but not many. 

There are also lots of bits of amazing looking rock with some plumb lines.  Sadly Arthur is a total punter.  In that alone we are as one.

David

Agree with all of that.  

There was a bit where I was riding through a forest at night with a massive full moon in the sky, sending shafts of moonlight between the trees and it was simply beautiful.  Absolutely spectacular.

To be fair to my post earlier on, it wasn't until I was in the last two chapters of the game that the slight boredom kicked in a little.  

I was quite taken with Dutch Van Der Lindt's character at the start of the game actually.  In the first Red Dead he turns up as the antagonist.  In this game, you meet a man who is fiercely protective of his adopted band of outlaws and extended family, taking extreme measures to keep them safe and one step ahead of the Pinkertons.

And I think Arthur Morgan's accent is awesome.

If you want to become the world's most awesome climber then look no further than Breath of the Wild. Link can climb anything!

Thanks for the account.

Alan

I'm getting towards the end of the game and I think I know what you mean.  I've not got such an appetite for roaming around in a carefree way as I had at the start of the game.

Yes - they handle the development of Dutch really nicely - and all the gang really.  Some of them you really love, some are annoying and there are a couple of bell-ends.  A bit like life.

Oh - and some of the dream sequences - when Arthur dreams the stag, free in the mountains - just sublime - there's something so beautiful and moving about them - you'd be raving about these touches in a film.

David

They're especially poignant touches aren't they.  All really polished and sewn together so well.  Reminded me a bit of Cormac Mccarthy's books, the romance of the old west and the encroachment of civilisation etc.  

Not sure how near the end you are but there's a very 'pivotal' bit of the storyline (no spoilers, honest)...I think that's where it went a bit dull for me.

Maybe I'll make a hypocrite of myself and go back and play it again in a year or two

Red Dead 2 is excellent but same as ThunderCat I got a bit bored. I did the same thing with Red Dead 1 though so I have followed the same plan. Take it out of the machine and re visit it in a few months. 

The Mrs got me a ps4 pro for Christmas to upgrade my ps4 (not worth the extra to be honest) and it came with Spiderman. That is definitely worth a punt, it's the first movie / comic tie in that I have ever enjoyed. 

Another vote for 'The Last of Us'.  Brilliant.  Without giving too much away there's a fantastic scene which involves Giraffes, just sublime...also some heart-thudding terror...the sequence when you turn the generator back on in the flooded basement.  Eeesh.

Reet! Just got back from Macclesfield with son in laws Last Of Us (dropped him off my RDR2).....beers at hand, missus crashed out, it's half past ten....Let's get going!

You are going to love it, personally I found it too hard but it was worth dropping the difficulty level just to follow the story to the end. 

Near enough to know what you mean and I agree to some extent. No spoilers though

Set it to easy and liking it so far. If there is an easier setting I don't know about, please tell me about it

Easy is as easy as it gets (not that it's easy but it's easier than normal) . If I remember correctly the only difference the setting make is the amount of ammo you find. Take your time and search everywhere. 

Those clickers are nasty bastards aren't they.

Ay. There may be worse to come depending on how far in you have got. 

One tip. Bow and Arrow. Practice with it and you'll save a load of ammo.

Love that game. Think it's due another trip off the shelf.

Agree with what most of the others have said about RDR2, stunningly beautiful with a really captivating story line and great character development and some really emotional moments.

It's the attention to detail is what really keeps drawing me back in though and the amount of content that's just happening in the background that you easily miss unless you stop and listen and look around. There's none of that repetitive 'I used to be an adventurer like you, till I took an arrow to the knee' NPC dialogue, every interaction with every person you meet feels unique (not just the main characters but all to the townsfolk and wonderers too). You can stop by a campfire and a stranger will invite you to sit with them and regale you with stories, I've yet to hear the same story twice. It really makes you feel like you are just a small part of a much larger world and other people's lives carry on regardless of what happens in your story.

I think it's probably the start of the epilogue where people may loose interest because it feels like you've taken some steps backwards and it's pretty slow for a few missions, but the pace does pick up again and the pay-off at the end it worth sticking with it. There are also some really nice and thought provoking touches in the epilogue when you interact with some of the same people you interacted with in the main story (particularly the old war veterans if you happened to interact with them).

I'd say it's definitely worth taking the plunge, there have been some amazing games out over the last few years (and also some mass produced trash like call of duty).

Other's I'd recommend are Horizon Zero-Dawn, another absolutely beautiful open world, with  very engaging and well told story (I found my self compulsively reading and listening to every fragment of information I found about the old world), the truth hits you hard when you finally find it out probably one of my top moments in gaming (up there with Aeris in FF7 the John Marston scene in RDR1). The combat is also really unique and highly enjoyable (and very slick).

God of War was also excellent, again mainly for the story which was as much (if not more) about the difficult relationship between Father and Son as it was about anything else. I found I also got sucked in to all the backstory and mythology of the game (endlessly fascinated by Mamir's stories).

Horizon Zero Dawn. I thought the strategies for taking down the beasties git really repetitive ...the NPC'S were dull to the point of brain numbingly...yet I loved it. Played it and loved it.

Your alluding to skyrim with your 'arrow in the knee' quote . Again, massively repetitive elements like building up your smithing skills by crafting thousands of daggers. Then enchanting them all with soul gems...but I loved it and I'm going black to it.

God of war.  Couldnt get into it. 

Well...I've just fallen down a lift shift into a flooded basement....im guessing in going to be shitting myself quite soon?

Just found the giraffe scene. Very nice. 

That was one of my favorite bits of the game. 

Hahaha, it actually got really intense last night  Lots of creeping around, picking off the baddies one by one. Very little ammo.... Like three arrows and a knife. Then a nice giraffe. A nice 'switch off' for a little while

was exactly the same, it was a great break at just the right time. 

Tell you one thing I've noticed... When you 'happen' upon a room with a surprising amount of ammo and bomb making equipment in it, it's a fair sign that there's gonna be a shed load of baddies coming at you quite soon...

Just about to send you a pm, by the way... 

Late to the party, and can't comment on RDR2, but as far as open world goes, Assassins Creed Odyssey has a lot going for it. Played for over 20hrs and then found out that was just the prologue...

Great, glad you enjoyed it. ;  ) Does that mean you've also done the terrifying generator start?

I didn't get a pm but I just niticed that my email address is about 10 years out of date. I have changed it to my current one if you could re send it. 

The bit about the extra ammo always disappointed me a little bit. Knowing something significant was coming broke the tension a bit but the game needs the big set piece battles and ammo is so scarce that it needs to be done that way. 

Just resent the PM (don't get too excited, just the playback of my giraffe scene)

Did a chunk more of it last night then turned off cos I was knackered, but from talking to a mate about it, I think I may actually have finished it and all that's left is the last cutaway narrative bit. hahahhh...

But there's the extra missions to play on the DLC bit still to go. 

And Rest Of Us 2 comes out soon, I believe.

Yes.  I enjoyed this one.

If you mean the one after you fall down the lift shaft into the flooded basement.... Yes.  A bit of wee might have come out during that bit....

Yeah that's the one!  

You have no idea how much that helped me yesterday, the day from hell was very nicely broken by that video. 

Hope you got it sorted.  Went for my first run of the year this morning and one of my random thoughts  (as I was gently weeping at 5am) was whether you'd got it sorted, or were still there....

Back there today. The manufactorer sent it out with the wrong software so I'm heading back to meet them in 5 mins, hopefully it will be flashed by lunch time and I can finish the job. 

Well that's the Last Of Us finished, and the Left Behind DLC bit done as well... 

Waiting for the sequel coming  Looks good

youtube.com/watch?v=4XqN_hMlFyY&

I'm not sure about the sequel, it looks good but I'm not sure if it will stand up to the original and I don't want my memories of how powerful the original was at times mared by the second one. 

Might wait until you finish it and see what you think. 

Makes sense. I shall keep you posted!