PS5, Xbox Series X, Astrobot, Demon Souls, Yakuza Judgement

 I was lucky enough to pre-order an Xbox Series X so I was sure to get that console on release day, but I missed out on pre-ordering the PS5​.  After trying Walmart a couple of times, their site was awful, I was finally able to order the PS5 Disc version from the Sony Direct website on launch day and it arrived on Sunday.  I've spent a couple of hours playing both so here are some quick impressions.  

Form Factor

• Xbox
• Looks like a small boxy PC.
• Has many vent holes on top so if you have little kids or pets that could be an issue
• Very quiet
• Just one HDMI output port and no kinect or Digital audio support.
• PS5
• Huge, largest item in my entertainment center
• Flimsy stand to hold it horizontally. 
• Very quiet, although I do hear it accessing the disk drive to check if I have the game disc loaded when I start a game. 
• No Digital output support. 

Controller

• Xbox
• Similar to the older controllers but with a slightly different D-Pad
• Has a share button so you can take screenshots or capture video 
• All the older controllers work so I mainly use my older Elite Controller, I love the back paddle buttons.
• PS5
• Insanely better than the PS4 Dualshock.  
• More heft and fits in my hands better.  
• No more bright light in the front to reflect in my TV 
• Better Battery life. 
• Haptic feedback and analog triggers are revolutionary.  The rumble can be subtle now instead of just a strong vibration.  The triggers can have various amounts of tension depending on the game.
• Only worry is that a few games will use the added features of the controller.  The touchpad on the older controller was basically just another button for most games. 

UI

• Xbox
• Same layout as the last generation Xbox.
• Quicker Response moving through all the tabs, feels good now instead of being sluggish.
• Quick Resume is an awesome feature if you play multiple games as it keeps a number of them in memory so switching between games takes seconds.
• Loads new games quickly, not as fast as PS5
• Adds HDR to older games.  Some games look good, others not so much.
• Download speeds are still a bit slow.
• PS5
• Still have a row of your recently played games on the top that you can scroll through to select a game to play.  
• More information displayed about each game and each game has activity cards so you can keep up with trophies and progression by pressing the PS button.
• When pressing the PS button in game you stay in the game and an overlay comes up so you stay in the game instead of loading out into a menu
• Holding the PS5 button does nothing now so turning off the PS5 is a couple of more button presses
• Loads games extremely fast and the loads inside of games are almost instantaneous
• Download speeds are fantastic, almost using full bandwidth.  

Value

• Xbox
• No first party games at launch so has to rely on 3rd party and backwards compatible games
• Gamepass is definitely worth the money and is a great value especially since some next gen games are going to be trying a $70 price point. 
• If you have a gaming PC then it's probably not worth it since all first party games will be coming to the PC.  
• I mainly bought it for Rock band 4 since I play that a ton and for some backwards compatible games that are on PC but don't have controller support. 
• PS5
• First party exclusive games are the main reason for my purchase.  Astrobot is awesome for a pack in a game. 
• The quick loading is also a huge breakthrough. For some games I would wait for the release of the PC version because it had better load times, but now the PS5 loads games quicker than my PC. 
• It is backwards compatible with almost all PS4 games and it also increases the performance of the games that don't have a specific PS5 version patch
• If you are a PS Plus subscriber you can get some good PS4 games for free. I already bought most of them, but it's nice to have some of them digitally. 

Astrobot

• An amazing game that shows the potential of the controller. 
• Each step your Astrobot makes produces a different rumble based on the texture of the surface you are walking on. 
• In one mini-game you are crushing items to get collectibles using the triggers and each item you crush feels different.  Sometimes you can barely press and the item crushes or other times you really have to put some effort in.  
• Both of these are subtle effects and really add to the excitement feature you want out of a new console launch.  
• It's a must play even though it's a pack in game.  Do not miss this awesome game.

Demon Souls

• Best looking game ever.  
• The lighting is amazing and it adds so much atmosphere to each location.  It's the gritty combat game I've always wanted.  I wish the Diablo 4 developers would take a queue from this game.
• It is a remake of the PS3 game so I feel like I'm visiting an old memory.  The gameplay hasn't changed much so there is still a bit of jank here and there but still a great tough game that I kinda wish had an easier mode.
• Loading times are insane, about 3 seconds to reload if you die.  

Yakuza Judgement

• PS4 game that is amazing on the PS5 because of the load times
• On the PS4 when you would get into a fight there would be a staging of the fight that would put up a graphic of who you were going to fight which hid the load of about 3-5 seconds
• On the PS5 there is no staging or graphic, a guy says I want to fight and you begin fighting. 

Oculus Quest 2

 Oculus Quest 2

I'm a tech guy so my house is filled with wires, wires everywhere.  Speaker, Hdmi, Cat5, Usb, and other various cables are infused throughout my house. I probably have a mile of cables if I stacked them end to end.  In storage I have some S-video cables for my old video camera that I for some reason still have from 20 years ago.  So I'm getting a little tired of wires.  That may be the reason that I got the Quest 2 even though I have 3 other VR headsets that I sparingly use. 

I like VR and the experiences it gives you, but I hate the cable as it always gets in the way.  In my racing rig with the motion setup I could never get the cable in the right position, I would move in some direction which would cause a slight tug on the cable that would take me out of the experience. Even for fully stationary games you can feel the weight of the cable pulling down on the headset.  

I never messed with the original Quest for some reason, but I decided to get the Quest 2 and I'm glad I did. It's really an incredible self contained VR experience for $300, actually $350, as you really need the deluxe head strap for extra comfort.  Playing VR wirelessly is amazing and really takes it to another level.  Setup is a breeze and moving from room to room is effortless which is really what VR needs to make it a mainstream product.  

There are a couple of downsides.   Facebook integration is the biggest one for most people as it requires you to link your device to a facebook account.  I already use facebook so it wasn't that big of a deal to me although I don't like them gathering even more information about me. The next downside is that the Quest 2 could be a bit more comfortable, it's a bit front heavy, but if you get the deluxe head strap it makes for a comfier fit.  There have been many reports of the deluxe headset band cracking so that's something to look out for.  The battery life is not the longest at around 2-3 hours which is fine for me since I rarely play longer than an hour and a half, but they do make a strap with an extra battery that extends the life to around 5-6 hours.  I was impressed with the internal speakers on the unit as they are actually better than the Rift S, but if you want the best audio experience you need to use headphones.  

There is one other huge potential downside, not all games will run natively on the Quest, but you can use a link cable connected to your PC to play Rift or Steam VR games.  This is a bummer since you are once again saddled with a cable, but there is an alternative, Virtual Desktop Streaming.  Using the $20 Virtual Desktop app and the free sidequest app you can stream all the VR games from your PC to the Quest 2 and they look better than using the link cable.  It's amazing and I'm not sure why this method isn't being touted more since it's a pure wireless solution.      

I've played Half-life Alyx this way and it looks amazing, it's not quite as good as my Rift S but it's pretty close.  There may be some games where streaming isn't supported, but so far all the games I've tried have worked great and that's using the 5G band of my AT&T supplied router. 

So far I'm impressed with the Quest 2 and think it's a great time to get into VR if you haven't already.

Pre-orders, Mafia Definitive Edition, Hades

 Pre-orders

I think I need to learn how to write a bot after the last two weeks attempting to pre-order a PS5, Xbox Series X, and a 3080 Video Card.  Every site I went to basically crashed or went crazy when I tried to pre-order.   Just because you get one in your cart does not mean you will be able to buy it.  Luckily, I was able to get an Xbox Series X from Best Buy on the day that the pre-orders went up, although it was the least of the three that I wanted.   

It's pretty crazy that with the Covid stuff there is such a demand for electronics that are priced at  $500.  I even thought about buying a Geforce 3090 which is $1,400 and it was just as bad.  I'm not sure what the vendors can do except some sort of lottery and even then you would wonder how rigged the lottery would be. It would also be nice to know the exact numbers they had for sale.  I'm pretty sure the video card stock was around 1,000 or so which they really shouldn't have launched with the numbers being so small.  

Were you able to pre-order?

Mafia Definitive Edition

I remember playing the original Mafia when it came out on PC back in 2002.  The main thing I remember is how slow the cars went and that if you sped or ran a stop light in front of the cops they would arrest you.  Also there was this one car race that took me 30 or so tries to beat.  Luckily with this re-release both of these memories will stay back in 2002.  

This game is a full on remaster and they basically touched everything so the game feels like a 2020 release, except for the movement of the character it's a bit clunky.  They also added some options to negate the issues I had back in 2002.  You can skip a lot of the driving by a button press and have the cops not be so strict.  

If you like Mafia stories then you should think about picking up this game as the story is the main focus and it has some excellent voice acting.  It takes place in an open world but it's not an open world game.  It has linear missions that allow you to roam the world, which I like, as I'm getting tired of the open world formula.  It takes about 12-15 hours to get through the campaign which is a good length for $40.   I also recommend the Mafia Trilogy that has all 3 games in the series, only the 1st game got a true remaster while the other games had some minor changes.  

Hades

Supergiant has made 4 games so far and this is my favorite.  I really liked Bastion with the cool narrator.  I could never get into Transistor as I really didn't like the combat.   Pyre was interesting in that it tried to tell a cool story using a sports game as the background which I've been meaning to return to.  

Hades is rogue-like that has a great greek mythology story intertwined throughout the whole game which sets it above other games in the genre.  I like roguelikes, but usually I play them for  several hours then get stuck or bored and lose interest in playing.  I generally need a story in a single player game to keep me interested and Hades does a good job of weaving the story into the gameplay to keep me adventuring.  

The combat is tight and each weapon you unlock feels different to use.  You acquire unique powers on each run through meeting greek gods who have specific powers.  Sometimes you are given a choice between two god's powers and the one you don't choose becomes insulted and sends in some tough enemies to defeat.  

The game looks gorgeous with some great artwork, especially the portraits of the greek gods.  Each deity is also fully voiced so you get to know them and their personalities.  For $20 this is a great game and highly recommended.  

I was looking around at some old notes and found one back from 2001 where I listed some various computer parts that I had bought.  I still have some of these parts.  

• CPU
• AMD K7 Athlon            $310
• Motherboard
• ASUS K7                     $120
• Storage
• 1.2G Hard Drive          $220
• Syquest Removable Cartridge Drive  $150        
• 8X Cd-rom                   $100 
• 3 1/2 Floppy                 $ 30
• Memory
• 256 MB Ram          $120
• Video Card
• Diamond Stealth II        $140 
• Voodoo 2                      $235             
• Sound Card
• Sound Blaster Live       $139
• Gravis AWE 32             $105               
• Modem
• 28.8 ZModem         $100   
• Monitor
• 17" VGA Monitor     $769              
• Accessories 
• UMAX Scanner            $100              
• Joysticks/Controllers
• Gravis GamePad Pro  $30
• Trackman Vista            $45
• Logitech Mouseman    $20
• CH Flight Stick             $40
• Mark II Thrustmaster    $20
• Speakers
• Reveal 2.1             $40

Completed Games in 2019

Control

• My favorite game of 2019. 
• The graphics went from great to amazing when you enabled ray tracing, it actually made me purchase a 2080ti.
• The particle effects were unbelievable, during combat stuff is flying all over the place and being able to see all the destruction you caused to the environment was impressive.  
• The voice acting was great and just like other Remedy games the live action video sequences were awesome. 

Resident Evil 2

• I never played the original back in the day, but this version was awesome and brought back some feelings of RE4.
• I played as Chris and need to go back and play again as Jill to see what difference that play through will bring.
• Resident Evil 3 is coming soon.

Days Gone  

• The game got mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed my time with the game.  
• Their take on a zombie game felt unique enough that I never got zombie fatigue.
• I really liked riding the bike and thought it was fun to ride around and explore the environment.

Luigi's Mansion 3   

• A wonderful game that had me smiling the whole time.  The game is just full of surprises and innovative ideas. 

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

• Having just rewatched all of the Star Wars films made me appreciate the game so much more as it really made you feel like a Jedi. 
• The game was awesome and I can't wait for a sequel. 

Metro Exodus

• I enjoyed the game, but I liked the other two better.  Not every game needs to be an open world and even though the world was gorgeous there was just something about the claustrophobic feel of the first 2 games that really makes those games stand out.

Yakuza 0

• If you've never played a Yakuza game then you are missing out.
• Combat is crazy and the story is wacky, but definitely worth spending your time with.
• 3 Yakuza games are coming to Xbox Game Pass this year.  

Darksiders 3

• Each Darksiders game has played differently and this was a Dark Souls lite version that I really enjoyed.
• Also Darksiders Genesis is really good. 

Mortal Kombat 11(9,10)

• After starting the story mode I realized that I hadn't finished the other games story modes so I went back and finished them and they were all great.
• I played 9 and 10 using a fight stick and did pretty well, but on 11 I switched to the controller and it was so much better.  I did miss the feeling of playing with the sticks but with all the button presses I found the controller to be much easier to use. 
• Just played some multiplayer fights this week with Brisket and it was smooth and a ton of fun. 

Astral Chain

• If you are looking for a 3rd person action game on the Switch then grab this right now. 
• Great combat and interesting story with some quirky Japanesiness thrown in.

Gears 5

• Another competent Gears game.  Once again open worlds are not needed for every game, the world was fine but a linear story works just as well. 
• I did like the fact they didn't do the Gear 4 tactic of making you fight waves of enemies over and over.  
• It's still one of the best co-op games.  

Crackdown 3

• Just old school fun and best played on co-op.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 

• Back to the basics and loved every minute of it.
• Being able to play with a controller on PC against other controller users made the multiplayer for me and they keep on enhancing the game. 
• Battle Royale mode coming soon?

Bioshock 1,2,3

• Replayed the entire trilogy with all DLC and it was a great time.
• Bioshock 4 is coming.  

Mass Effect

• A mod for the PC version released that allows all the PC versions to use an Xbox controller so I started playing through the trilogy again.
• The first game is still an amazing ride.
• I got through about a third of the 2nd game and stalled for a bit after some rumors mentioned that they may be remaking the trilogy. 

Next Level Racing Motion Platform

Hello, my nickname is AshCountach and I have a problem.  It started with Rockband, well, I've actually always had this problem, but let's just say it began there. I started playing guitar at 15, but never had an interest in playing the drums, that all changed on Nov 2007 when Rockband was released.  I loved the Guitar Hero games and remember rushing to Gamestop to pick up one of the two copies they had on hand of the very first game back in 2005.  It was awesome and I can't believe I'm still playing these games after 14 years.  Thanks Harmonix.  

Two years later Rockband came out with the full band and once I started playing that plastic drum set I was hooked.  I remember modding the drumset with socks to dampen the sound and also hoping that my plastic kick pedal would never break.  Then Rockband 3 came out and it had a Midi adapter that would allow you to connect electronic drums to the kit and Boom!! There goes the dynamite.  

I jumped in head first and went with the gold standard and bought a Roland electronic drum set just to play Rockband and I have never regretted it.  I also got two of my friends to do the same thing as well, Rusty, who even went farther with it than me, and then Keenan who bought my old set after I bought Rusty's old set.  So at least I'm not the only person with this problem.  

Now if this was the only instance then I may have a case for being a bit crazy, but uh, yeah, well, sim racing happened.  Strangely enough, after looking up the purchase history this also started in 2007.  I had already had a couple of basic racing wheels, the Xbox 360 wireless racing wheel and the Logitech G27 wheel, pedal and shifter set. I was using TV trays and desk mounts at this time but I never really like that setup.  So I bought a Playseat sim stand on May of 2007.  

Then in 2012 I bought my first Fanatec Wheel, Shifters, and pedals and the Playseat just wasn't able to handle the torque the new wheel put out so I bought an Rseat rig then about 4 months later I bought the Obutto Revolution racing seat/computer desk which I've been using ever since.

The problem with hobbies is that they can be expensive, my problem is that I have too many of these hobbies. So this past year I had been debating on whether to get a motion platform for my Sim Setup.  I looked at videos and reviews for about 4 months then finally decided to pull the trigger on the Next Level Racing Motion Platform.  I ordered the NLR and waited about a week for shipping and then opened up the box and one side had a dent in it.  So I had to ship it back and wait for that whole process to complete, but good things come to those who wait. 

Then came the fun part, how to merge the NLR with my current Obutto rig, which was the main reason I waited so long in making my decision.  There is a standard bolt pattern for car seats and of course the NLR doesn't follow that standard since they sell their own seat.  Luckily I found a forum thread with other Obutto users that had already figured how to mount the seat so I had to take a hand file and make the holes larger on the NLR itself which I was really hesitant to do, but trying to make a special bracket would have been more difficult.  The process only took 40 minutes and the seat when on smoothly.  

When I was looking at motion platforms there were two types, a seat mover or a whole rig mover and there are endless debates on which one is more immersive.  I ultimately decided on the NLR, which is a seat mover, mainly because of its size and quietness, it's small and compact, but has a ton of power.  I've had to tone down the movement quite a bit because a little motion goes a long way.  The NLR reacts so quickly that you can feel when the rear end of the car starts sliding out allowing you to correct it which is amazing since it's only the seat moving around.  The first time I flipped my car in Dirt Rally I actually thought for a second that I was going to be thrown out of the car.  

The NLR comes with some easy to use software which makes setting up motion profiles for each game or for specific cars in a game a breeze and you can even make adjustments real time and feel the effect.  It supports almost all of the sim racing games that I play and also supports transducers so I can control all of my buttkickers to give me some extra tactical feel in one software package. I've actually become a racing snob in that I really don't want to play any racing game that doesn't support motion.  Pairing this with VR and it becomes the ultimate racing experience.

Dirt Rally 2 with NLR

Dirt Rally 2 NLR Video 2

Sim Rig Overview 

​​Pistol Whip (SteamVR)

Step one, put on the VR Headset. Step two, pick up the touch controllers. Step 3 start Pistol Whip. Step 4 become John Wick.  

This is a VR rhythm game where you are propelled through a level with pistol(s) in hand shooting enemies and dodging bullets to the beat of the music.  You are constantly in motion and the action never stops until the song has ended or you get hit by 3 bullets.  After my first hour of playing I was drenched in sweat and the next day I was sore all over, but it was worth it.  I've been trying to use VR as an exercise replacement recently and this game along with Beat Saber is a decent workout.  

There are around 10 stages that have 3 difficulties and I started on normal and I was able to finish each level and it was a good challenge, then I cranked it up to hard and lasted about 20 seconds.  There are a ton more enemies at that difficulty which I actually like since it made me feel more like John Wick and thankfully the game has a no fail mode like Rock band so I turned that on since it only affects your score which I really don't care about that. The game is a blast and is perfect for parties as each stage last 2-3 minutes and watching another person dodge and shoot makes for some good times.  There are more stages planned with the next one releasing next week.  

Verdict:  Buy  

Darksiders Genesis

I really like the Darksiders games and each one has been a different experience.  Darksiders 1 was like a hardcore Zelda with great puzzles and intense combat, the second was more combat focused like the old God of War games, but with a ton of loot, and the 3rd felt like Dark souls.  

The latest game is somewhat like Diablo with it's isometric camera and combat, but it doesn't have a ton of weapon and armor drops.  It actually feels more like the Lara Croft isometric games that came out a couple of years ago.  If you play solo you can switch between two characters, Strife and War, and each one has their own abilities and combat styles that you will have to switch between regularly.  It has couch and online co-op which is nice.

I've only put in an hour so far and I like it, the combat is quick and fluid and I like the art style. One nice feature that I wish more games had is that you can increase the font size which is nice when you are playing at 4K as some text is just too small, Outer Worlds are you listening?

I do have a couple of gripes.  I really don't like the voice for Strife as it doesn't seem to fit the character for me, War is awesome though.  The map is awful as I had a hard time finding my character and since there are a ton of secrets and hidden paths you need to use it a lot so hopefully I just missed something or they will patch it.    

Mitch bought the game on Stadia and so far he has had an excellent experience with the platform and I'll have to take his word on that as I was not a founder and somehow I don't trust google to keep it going for more than a couple of years.  

Verdict:  Buy

Halo Reach

Since I have game pass I gave it a quick try on PC and it had an issue where the audio sounded muted and it really ruined the experience so I'll give it another they fix that issue.  Other than that the game looked and controlled fine so I'm excited to try it as it's one of two Halo games that I have never finished.