I'm drunk on recency bias myself but I'm tempted to put him in Uematsu tier myself. I know that sounds outrageous but it's actually that good. Even the lyrics are absolutely amazing. It will probably end up being my favourite OST of all time.
And there's 8 fucking hours of it and not a single weak track!?
It is definitely in my Top 10 games of all time. I haven't settled on a final placement yet. It's a beautiful piece of videogames-as-art, the story and the characters are well written and acted and the plot itself is very compelling. The world building is interesting and engrossing and the music boasts one of the best Video Game OSTs of all time, without a doubt.
There are some minor niggles, sure. It's not literally perfect. It's unfortunate that you can easily make yourself so overpowered you miss cutscenes in the final fight if you don't consciously gimp yourself.
But other than that, none of the minor niggles really detract from the impact of the core experience, which is super super strong.
I have to be honest here and say I don't understand where you're coming from at all.
Why should every single game be changed to suit your specific play style?
Literally nobody is asking for this. Accessibility options, not "permanently and irrevocably reduce the difficulty of all games". The good thing about options is that they're option-al. If you want the game to remain challenging, the presence of accessibility options does not affect you in the slightest. You can just ignore them and go on with your day, enjoying the game just as it was.
It's true I haven't played the Elden Ring expansion, and I guess that's the most difficult one now so it's required to have played it to be able to parade around your gamer credentials? Whatever that's supposed to mean? To me gaming is about enjoying a medium of culture, not a dick measuring contest. I've played Dark Souls, I've played Elden Ring. I've beaten Sister Friede, I've beaten Malenia.
I still think accessibility options are good.
Accessibility options are good. Not everyone is a god gamer with the reflexes of a 14-year old hopped up on Adderall and Red Bull. Some people just want to enjoy the story and the atmosphere of a game and it should be normal for us to let them.
I mean, I prayed to the nether gods that we'd get a Letho game. He's the perfect protagonist if they wanted to move away from the books and more firmly into their own OC. Always had huge main character energy, and would be perfectly suited for exploring the morally grey areas of the Witcher world.
This is a great write-up. 8 puzzles me because I don't think Rian Johnson is a terrible writer or filmmaker. Knives Out was good, albeit maybe a bit smug at times with its own cleverness.
the biggest problem plaguing the STALKER remasters is a strange bug that seems to cause the games to render at a resolution lower than what you set it as and then upscale it improperly, resulting in blurry, muddy visuals that persist even if you turn settings like AMD FSR Super Resolution and depth of field off.
Okay that's... that's not great, but should be fixable in a patch surely?
Another highly contentious change that's drawn the ire of fans is the complete removal of everything Russian or related to the Soviet Union, including all Russian voice acting and localization, the use of Soviet rubles as in-game currency, and even every Soviet sign, statue, and landmark present in the real-world Chernobyl Exclusion Zone that were included in the original titles.
The versimilitude and basis in real world locations was a massive part of what made the originals so great, you can't just scrub that off. I empathize with them, and I am personally firmly on the side of Ukraine but this sits really poorly with me.
The Zone's supernatural mysteries are layered over recognizable pieces of Soviet iconography and rusting Soviet technology is a huge part of what gives STALKER its atmospheric vibe, and the absence of beloved voice lines like "Cheeki breeki iv damke!" just feels...wrong
Yeah I'm not touching these abominations. They even removed Cheeki Breeki? The single most recognisable thing in their games, the most prevalent and beloved meme?
It's not finished yet but OpenXray Gunslinger is probably going to be a better STALKER: Call of Pripyat remaster than the official one that just got announced.
It was yeah. Most of the critical features got rolled into other Google stuff, but it was still a cool platform nonetheless.
RIP Google Wave, you were a real one.
It somehow just keeps getting better too. Super strong leitmotif work as well, throughout the game. And like I mentioned, even if you don't speak french try looking up translations for the lyrics (but after you finished the game). Some really beautiful passages, but steeped in foreshadowing and spoilers.