From PC Gamer: "Days ahead of the 22nd anniversary of its release, PC gaming touchstone Deus Ex is getting a big 2.0 update to its ambitious Randomizer mod(opens in new tab).
Headed up by modder Die4Ever(opens in new tab), the mod's main feature, randomization, looks to shake up Deus Ex's well-trodden levels with shuffled start points, equipment locations, passwords, goal locations, keys, enemies, and even door/lock strength. A big "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment from the mod's trailer was seeing a player try to input the legendary 0451 door code to the UNATCO storage shed and having it deny access.
Similar to the various Souls Series randomizers we've covered in the past, this sort of shake-up can encourage improvisation and freshen up a well-worn experience. I think it could be even more transformative in an immersive sim, a genre whose exciting, chaotic potential can often be limited by familiarity with a game's maps and myths surrounding the "correct" way to play(opens in new tab)."
"Dark Souls: Archthrones is like playing a brand new FromSoftware game, and that speaks volumes about just how much good modding can do," says Hanzala from eXputer.
Parrying has been creeping into more games, with almost every high-profile title of the last few years featuring it in some way. Why?
i understand the authors frustration i'm not the best at parrying in games. not that i can't complete a game that requires it but it is a definite harder thing for me than other kinds of techniques in games. which might be the main reason it's so heavily added in games nowadays. want to make your game challenging without having to do a lot of work? just add a parry boss. (what i mean by parry boss is a boss you have to beat by parrying such that their attacks will kill you otherwise)
I always think it's fine as long as such games also have the roll/dodge panic button. But I understand the will to parry, it seems so cinematic in a fight when you pull it off.
TheGamer writes, "Some weapons resist the test of time."
The fact this industry still hasn't turned to a more randomized design, is certainly a baffling one. Been hoping for a more varied design principle in gaming, for quite some time now.
I can't believe we're in 2022, and we still have stone hard static game design going on. The exact same thing, happens at the exact same time, in the exact same way, every single time.
Talk about improving replay value, when you can't set your watch by the scripts and events of the game, every single time you play it.