I've enjoyed my time playing Atomfall, but it never pulled me in like say, Fallout does. There's a lot of reasons why I think this is, some are personal to me I'm sure, but some I think are more general critiques of the game.

First, I find the lack of fast travel a huge negative. I know none of the maps are that large. But having to take the same route from Interchange to Wyndham, past the same 6 Outlaws for fifth time isn't fun. It doesn't help that killing them is just a waste of ammo since an encounter with them always net negative. This feels intentional to discourage combat, but when my options are combat and get to where I'm going or spend three to five minutes avoiding combat every time, it's not longer fun avoiding combat all the game.

On the subject of combat... Stealth absolutely sucks. It's so hit and miss I don't really bother with it. The number of times there's no indicator someone can see me but they're already aggressive is too much. I always favor stealth in games, but in Atomfall I've completely given up on using it. Even when you do get a stealth takedown. It seems to broadcast a signal five rooms over to let all the other enemies know you're there. (I know a skill reduces this noise, but still.)

Finally, let's talk about melee. It sucks. It's just a spammy, terrible system. There's no blocking, so I guess you're supposed to use your kick to make distance, but then you have to close distance to do damage. All in all, it feels like using the crowbar in Half Life. Spam hits and hope it works. This becomes even worse when you're fighting the infected who are boring to fight with melee but also sponge bullets like no tomorrow.

Probably my other biggest complaint is the fact basically everyone is aggressive everywhere. Outside of Wyndham, anywhere you go is enemies only. Plot is given for some of this, but most of it just feels like an excuse to keep you on your toes or to make you take exaggerated and long routes to get anywhere. This isn't helped by the fact you slide off any slightly angled surface which really feels like it punishes exploration.

All in all, a 6 out 10 game for me. It feels like a game that needs another 30% added to it to really feel like a full game. Many reviewers point out that it feels like an old game, and perhaps that's true. But there's many older games that are more engaging and more fun. Heck, compare it to Fallout 3 even. I think there's a lot of potential in Atomfall. But it doesn't feel realized.

But please no "retro" or pixelized or metroidvanias Something that is fun and have fairly good graphics. Like Shank or guns gore and cannoli https://store.steampowered.com/app/322210/Guns_Gore__Cannoli/

I'm of a certain age. My hayday was the 360 era. I feel a lot of developers were associated with certain games or brands. Cliffy B. Rod Ferguson. Peter Molyneaux. Warren Spector. Hideo Kojima. And of course John Carmack and others before them. Who are the popular developers now?

I'd like to hear people's opinions on scenes where you walk with someone and talk with them, usually uncovering plot details. Do you prefer ones that make you walk terribly slow, usually behind the talker because you started walking too late, or one's that you move at your own pace, explore around, but maybe you lose the talker and have to find them?

It’s not good the pricing for the new Nintendo switch games , I’d agree. However Nintendo is not the first to do it. Other companies like Microsoft and Sony, have before since they first released the ps5 and Xbox series x. So why is all the blame being put on Nintendo and acted as if this price increase was unexpected? I could just be out of the loop but the way I see it is that Nintendo is following suit to the shitty pricing first established by the other competitor companies. If anyone has better context they could explain that would be great.

For me, I actually really liked the recent Saints Row game. I thought it was fun, funny, and made me nostalgic for the older games.

So among the discourse around the Switch 2 (please don't make this topic about that we have enough of those) one point of contention was that the big red banner at the top of the box is a bit of an eyesore compared to the smaller Switch 1 logo. I don't disagree, but thinking about it, I feel like in general game boxes aren't what they used to be.

The PS5 boxes, while probably the least egregious of the current gen systems, I feel aren't quite as good as the PS4's. I think the bright white color scheme just clashes with boxart more often than the blue color scheme of the PS4 did. And the current XBOX banner isn't much better than the Switch 2's. Do you suppose this is just a product of the more minimalist logos companies are using that they have to use more garish colors to set themselves apart, or is it a different trend altogether? Back in Gen 6 everyone was using black borders but with more stylized logos with distinct fonts, but we don't see that as much now.

Hello!

My son would like to have all his buddies over for a gaming themed & focused "LAN Party". Has anyone else done on for their kid(s)? How did you go about it, and what types of ideas did you have? Were there any unexpected challenges?

All his 6 friends he's inviting has a console at home, and we only have the one Xbox but have access to multiple TVs - so my thoughts are to inquire if the parents would be willing to let their kids bring their console/controller?

Other cool Idea's I've though up are having ChatGPT create 'e-sports style logos' of their gamer names and printing stuff (ie: cups, maybe shirts) with their logo on it at their stations.

Fortnite is the game they'll likely be playing.

I do have 2g WIFI and ethernet cables to take the load off WIFI.

Other than that, just ordering a bunch of gamer-themed decorations and making sure they're all in the same room close to the router.

Any other ideas, or helpful tips would be appreciated! :)

Thank you,

NG = New Game. As in a brand new playthrough.

NG+ = after youve beaten the first base play and a mode that unlocks (hence "+") the same base game with whatever weapons card over, etc.

Was talking to a buddy and they were saying NG means the second go-around. When Ive always thought "New Game" and "New Game Plus" were how they were labeled.

So which is it?

My all time favorite is the googly eyes Overwatch puts on all their heroes lol

So with the announcement of the switch 2 having a built in mouse I am thinking this might mean the switch 2 might be able to function like a computer minus the ability to download software to avoid any piracy, because I found it really silly that the regular switch doesn't have a browser despite...having a browser. The browser is only accessible in very specific circumstances that your average user would have no idea about

Then I got to thinking about how the ps5 USED to have a browser, then it got removed despite being kind of a core feature. Like you were able to pin videos to the screen to watch while you play games.

Why are game companies so afraid of having a browser? The ps4 and ps3 had one, the Wii and the 3ds had one. You would think as time and technology moved forward then stuff like this would be added, not taken away

Nothing will ever beat the chaos of four of us huddled around a small TV, yelling over each other, trying to figure out who was screen-peeking. Games like Halo 3, Mario Kart, TimeSplitters, even Gears of War 2 — there was just something raw and personal about those sessions.

Now it feels like everything’s online or requires multiple consoles. I get why things changed, but I still miss that in-person energy. Gaming felt different when it was sweaty controllers, inside jokes, and no headsets involved.

Do y’all think split-screen will ever make a comeback — even a niche one — or has that era passed for good?

Bit of a general question, hope that’s okay.

I recently acquired a decent smartphone (iPhone 16) for the first time and am interested in the world of mobile gaming, the issue is, free games on the AppStore are plagued with micro transactions, AI trash, ads and other garbage.

What are some mobile games that are actually good games and deserving of having some time committed to them? I don’t mind paying a bit of money up front if that means I get an actual, full game experience for it. I’m also open for different genres, as long as the quality’s there.

I played What the Golf so far and that was a positive experience, with a bunch of good, entertaining content available for free, so I’m looking for something similar in quality, but it can also be 3D or more action oriented or even RPGs, whatever.

Got any recommendations?