The Monday letters page discusses the problem of keeping up with new games when you’re short on time, as one reader gives up on Diablo 4.
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Delayed reaction
Nice by Goldman over the weekend and not having the time to enjoy it properly. It’s a position I completely sympathise with. I didn’t get round to playing Breath Of The Wild until 2020, and only then due to the pandemic, and I doubt I’ll get round to Tears Of The Kingdom this year.
I can’t play massive single-player games like that for an hour or two, a handful of times a month (which is all I really have at the minute) and feel like I’m getting the most out of them. Especially with Tears Of The Kingdom, where half the fun seems to be experimenting with your abilities and going off on tangents, rather than working towards a more immediate goal.
So yep, anything that isn’t a co-op game I can play with my wife, or that can be finished in a small handful of sittings, will be pushed back to a quieter period of the year. Usually this is autumn, when I’ve got annual leave to use.
On the plus side this does make gaming quite cheap, as I don’t buy games on release – the last game I bought near release was Metroid Dread nearly two years ago (although that’s a Nintendo game, and they don’t drop in price, so probably a poor example). And it does mean games are usually patched and bug free by the time I get round to playing them (which is a much bigger plus than it really should be, sadly!).
On the negative side it does mean I can’t really contribute much to the discussion on most games at or soon after release, but I’m OK with that. A great game is a great game no matter when you play it and will be talked about for years afterwards anyway – I’m sure Tears of the Kingdom will fit into that category.
Julian
Walking in circles
RE: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom being too big. I feel your pain.
Not from this specific game, but just open world gaming in general.
I am not saying that all games should be linear but I struggle with finding time to play open world games, and more and more games are going this route, and as a working, married man with other family responsibilities, I end up giving up on anything too open and dense. I just feel I end up walking around for what little time I’ve available, and basically achieve nothing.
Maybe for some this is amazing but for myself, it’s basically a walking simulator.
Kiran
No rush
Just responding to the excellent Reader’s Feature by Goldman. Reader’s Features are not easy to write, so have a go if you think you’re good enough.
I feel your pain brother, I’m a full time working single father of two young girls. I really don’t have that much time to invest into Tears Of The Kingdom.
In fact, I’ve only just finished my first dungeon this weekend and there are people who have finished the whole game already?
My advice (if it can be of any use to you?) Is to just play it at your own pace, there is no rush. The game is nearly a decade in the making and it will probably be another decade before we see anything similar from the Zelda universe again. So there is every reason to take your time.
To digress, this makes me think there will be another 2D Zelda title in the near future as the team look for ideas for the next 3D instalment but maybe that’s just me wishful thinking?
What’s the worst that’s going to happen though?
You are going to be playing a game you enjoy for months on end with no interest in the new titles that come out?
The worst that can happen is your bank account’s going to stack up.
I went through a similar transition when playing Tears Of The Kingdom.
I hated it at first, then little by little it won me over.
Until yesterday I thought to myself ‘this is one of the best games I’ve ever played’.
Zelda: Ocarina Of Time still takes the throne for me but, boy, I know I’m on a serious gaming journey with this bad boy.
I think gamers in general suffer from the fear of missing out, or FOMO as it’s called.
I see it like this, I’m playing one of the best games of the early 21st century, probably even the best game of this century. If it’s not I bet it makes top five.
So please don’t give up on it because as a gamer you’re not missing out at all and there really is no rush.
freeway 77
Time to think
Well I must be 40-odd hours into Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom now, my summary so far (no spoilers ahead): this game is immense. Not just the geography but the thought and imagination put into it.
I’ve paused the game many times to consider the various options I could take and that should break the immersion or at least interrupt it but it doesn’t at all.
Chevy Malibu (PSN ID)
PS: I know I said no spoilers but muddle bud arrows…
Never again
I have emailed Zen Studios regarding the need for every pinball table to be purchased again in Pinball FX3, but just like on the Xbox store, where the game has been reviewed bombed, Zen Studios state that this time more work has gone into the tables being remastered. They have stated that they may try and offer 33% off again in the future, when they can align with platform holders and their sales.
That still isn’t good enough for me, as that would still mean me paying over £100 to regain the tables I have already purchased in good faith. They have lost a long-time valued customer.
Chaosphere616
Cut-throat business
OK, let’s calm down a little.
Sony are accusing Microsoft of being ‘cut-throat’ and want to end their business in the console manufacturers side of things?
If I was working at such that high of a level, I wouldn’t expect anything less from my employees. Be it Sony or Microsoft.
Sony have a short memory, they went all out to destroy Sega and Nintendo during the mid to late ‘90s (before the multi-billion dollar company of Microsoft came on to the scene).
They nearly succeeded as well, it was only because of Nintendo’s quality of games and the whole Pokémon franchise that helped them stand up to Sony’s onslaught, that whole ‘Nintendo are a deranged uncle’ that should be considered for kids only nearly worked too.
My question is this.
Anybody who is too young to remember Sega as a formidable force in the console industry, do you care they are not relevant anymore?
Nintendo nearly went the same way at the same time and Sony didn’t care.
So why should we care that Sony is going to be muscled out by a bigger guy?
Like I said, in years to come, no future generations will give two hoots about Sony’s demise.
It was OK for them back then when they were on the offensive and the same will probably happen to Microsoft In the future.
What goes around, comes around.
Good games stick around forever, cutting edge consoles have a shelf life.
freeway 77
GC: Their share of gamers’ mindset certainly took a battering in the GameCube era in particular but Nintendo made more money with the N64 than Sony did with the original PlayStation. They were never in any danger of going under.
Before the rise
A couple of years ago I upgraded to Game Pass Ultimate using the £1 offer loaded with three years of Xbox Live Gold. I have one year left but would like to add a couple of years due to the forthcoming price increase.
I wondered if the a GC reader can advise if I can take advantage of the CDkeys three month Gold offer to extend game pass, even though I still subscribe?
Dunkyboy II
GC: We think the limit is three years but we’re sure a reader can advise.
Reason to be hopeful
I’m not looking to defend a game that isn’t released yet, nor do I deny anyone their own opinion, but there’s been a number of letters negatively describing Bethesda’s upcoming Starfield and I wanted to stick up for the developer.
They’ve made some of my favourite games of all time; jank, bug, ugly graphics, and all.
Oblivion was my first Bethesda moment. The vast open map and the ability to go anywhere… do anything. Detractors are right that many of the games systems are underdeveloped but the ability to role-play, the ability to ignore the central storylines and do whatever you wanted, including breaking into everyone’s houses to steal all their cutlery was mind-blowing. Fallout 3 and 4 and Skyrim followed, each with their own overall improvements. And in some areas, a step back.
I don’t think other developers make games like Bethesda, their scope and permanence in the world is replaced by resetting assets and disappearing items. In most other games the main or side quests are all there is, perhaps hunting animals or collectibles. Bethesda titles let you just play with their overlapping systems and still have a really fun game.
Perhaps Starfield will suck, but I’ve got 1,000 reasons to be hopeful it will be another one of my favourite games.
DarKerR (gamertag)/DarkeR_UK (PSN ID)
Inbox also-rans
I like the look of Starfield but I don’t have an Xbox. The only (other) intriguing game on the horizon for me is Baldur’s Gate 3. I’ll get around to that next year, Hyrule permitting.
Chevy Malibu (PSN ID)
RE: Diablo 4. The servers are down on a Sunday morning. This is the reason I don’t usually buy online-only games, because I can’t use what I have paid for! Absolute joke. It is a great game, but I won’t be buying any more of these rubbish online-only games.
Simon
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