DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Gonna stream it on PC later after the gym, see if it makes me laugh. Lol
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High on Life | Review Thread
- Thread starter analog_future
- Start date
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
While not a system seller, it’s certainly a game pass seller. Games like this is why game pass is gaming perfection. Most of us would have skipped this game, but thanks to it being on game pass, I’m having a blast playing it.
MarkyG
Member
Pretty rough on PC GamePass. Seems to suffer from, what seems to be a common trend lately... shader warming/caching during gameplay when something new happens. Once you get passed that, it's at least playable.
systemr123
Banned
Aside from heavy technical issues, especially the frame rate on my XSX this is the best gamepass game this year for me. Awesome humour, imaginative environments, great voice work. Reviewers giving this game a 3/10 because they don’t like the humour should be ashamed of themselves, that’s like giving Interstellar a 3/10 because they don’t like movies in space.
Sometimes I think they’re forgetting that they’re reviewing video games and not movies or other stuff. That new video rewinding game where you do nothing but watching clips and rewind a bit gets multiple 10/10’s. It’s amazing since that is not even a game I’d argue. Not saying it’s bad for what it is, but it’s certainly not a video game. It reminds me of old Philips CDI interactive videos.
Sometimes I think they’re forgetting that they’re reviewing video games and not movies or other stuff. That new video rewinding game where you do nothing but watching clips and rewind a bit gets multiple 10/10’s. It’s amazing since that is not even a game I’d argue. Not saying it’s bad for what it is, but it’s certainly not a video game. It reminds me of old Philips CDI interactive videos.
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Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Reminds me of reading the reviews and then playing the Ascent. I'm usually just in an alternate reality from many reviews. Oh well.
I think it makes sense to me how many journalists wouldn't like the humor though. It's very edgy. Already a feminist joke, a misogynistic-ish joke in the intro, and lots of other stuff that could be subjectively annoying to some, or hilarious to others. I think sitting in the 70s is fine, but I'm seriously loving what I've played so far.
We'll see if it somehow falls apart further in.
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SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I really like Squanch Games' output so far. They might not be masterpieces of polished gameplay mechanics but they're funny and entertaining as hell.
Sank a couple hours into this. The art design and visuals are great, and there's almost constant dialog, including more adventure/non-combat areas than I was expecting, which are all good opportunities to lean into the humor, which is obviously the biggest selling point. You either like Roiland's humor or you don't. Like with his other games, this is lest the tight television Rick and Morty writing and more Roiland and his comedian friends smoking a truckload of weed and improvising gross, weird, absurd alien shit. You can sit in front of a random TV and it'll go seemingly forever with stupid shows and commercials that were clearly made up on the fly and animated afterwards.
On gameplay merit, it's super mid, but more ambitious than Squanch's previous games with some cool ideas. The gunplay itself isn't great in terms of feel. I can't help but be reminded of Chex Quest, not just because the enemy designs would fit in, but the lack of impact on the weapons and fighting large numbers of weak enemies at range. It feels like there's no auto-aim on the controller either, which gives a massive advantage if you're a keyboard and mouse player. But you unlock some cool traversal and combat abilities as you go. None of the puzzles are super interesting and it's sometimes slightly unclear where to go especially in the beginning. There's a bit of jank as well.
It's a 7/10, but it's a really good 7/10 that I'm excited to play more of, if that makes sense.
Luckily with Game Pass you can hop back and forth between the two with cloud saves, so this isn't really an important question.
Sank a couple hours into this. The art design and visuals are great, and there's almost constant dialog, including more adventure/non-combat areas than I was expecting, which are all good opportunities to lean into the humor, which is obviously the biggest selling point. You either like Roiland's humor or you don't. Like with his other games, this is lest the tight television Rick and Morty writing and more Roiland and his comedian friends smoking a truckload of weed and improvising gross, weird, absurd alien shit. You can sit in front of a random TV and it'll go seemingly forever with stupid shows and commercials that were clearly made up on the fly and animated afterwards.
On gameplay merit, it's super mid, but more ambitious than Squanch's previous games with some cool ideas. The gunplay itself isn't great in terms of feel. I can't help but be reminded of Chex Quest, not just because the enemy designs would fit in, but the lack of impact on the weapons and fighting large numbers of weak enemies at range. It feels like there's no auto-aim on the controller either, which gives a massive advantage if you're a keyboard and mouse player. But you unlock some cool traversal and combat abilities as you go. None of the puzzles are super interesting and it's sometimes slightly unclear where to go especially in the beginning. There's a bit of jank as well.
It's a 7/10, but it's a really good 7/10 that I'm excited to play more of, if that makes sense.
There's a little stutter but it mostly seems to be when transitioning to new areas, I haven't noticed it in the heat of battle. I played it on Series S and on my PC, and PC looks and runs much better. Series X might be a different equation though.
Luckily with Game Pass you can hop back and forth between the two with cloud saves, so this isn't really an important question.
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Big Baller
Al Pachinko, Konami President
GP gives this niche a platform.
chaseroni
Member
I haven't seen it in motion but that sounds like a double buffer v sync issue or something.
Shame, I'll have to check this out after some patches
FunkMiller
Gold Member
Well, the performance is dog shit, but it’s pretty damn funny, so I’ll keep playing.
I genuinely want an entire game with the divorce lawyer.
I genuinely want an entire game with the divorce lawyer.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
It’s crazy how so many of you just skipped the boot up screen saying all the bugs are there on purpose.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Me too man lol. I went back to the bedroom to try and keep going.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
10-12 is what I’m reading around the interweb
Azzurri
Member
Perfect length for me.
analog_future
Resident Crybaby
I'm only an hour or so in, but I absolutely love the game so far. Hopefully it can keep up this level of quality.
FunkMiller
Gold Member
The ‘they don’t let you do this is Fallout’ acheievement is great. You’ll know it when you get it.
Stafford
Member
I saw it, but we all know the framerate issues are not on purpose.
Initially I thought it was 30fps locked in the city but then I got to parts where it tries to go higher again and this results in stutters.
I think I am gonna love this game based on the brief bits I've played, the details, humor, atmosphere, but I want to play it in the best way possible on Xbox. Definitely putting this on halt.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
I think that’s up to interpretation.
Lukaku's First Touch
Member
Does the PC version also have the framerate issues?
bentanchorbolt
Banned
I played for about 45 minutes last night, its a pretty game but others have stated it has some issues, less so of an issue for me with VRR so its whatever. Controls decent enough, liked what I've seen so far. Will play more.
Stafford
Member
I have VRR enabled by default on my XSX, so it's actually even worse with it off? Jesus.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Seems we are very close to the same page.
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analog_future
Resident Crybaby
I mean, obviously? It's never going to be better with VRR off.
Bragr
Banned
Immediately I thought that it is the sort of game that's gonna get penalized for its humor, as critics in game journalism are the sort of people who think God of War Ragnarok is funny.
The game has some really well-made gags, it has better humor than most games although maybe at times it's too much all the time.
The performance is really bad, but it plays fine. I wonder if it's gonna get old down the line though, seems like it's just a bunch of loot missions over and over. So far so good.
The game has some really well-made gags, it has better humor than most games although maybe at times it's too much all the time.
The performance is really bad, but it plays fine. I wonder if it's gonna get old down the line though, seems like it's just a bunch of loot missions over and over. So far so good.
Stafford
Member
Nah I thought like how some games don't benefit at all from VRR and have terrible performance. There have been some games that don't make use of VRR at all.
It's a shame it launched like this, because underneath these ugly performance issues is something special. I'll be there once they fix this.
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The game feels in many ways like it's a PS2 or PS3 game in level design and quest design, but I mean that in a bad way. It's a nostalgic feeling game, but not intentionally.
The shooting doesn't feel good because enemies don't really take hits properly, but the boss fight that I had was really old school fun.
It's a 6.5/10 so far for me. But god damn I'm kind of enjoying the exploration, so it's a 7ish maybe.
The shooting doesn't feel good because enemies don't really take hits properly, but the boss fight that I had was really old school fun.
It's a 6.5/10 so far for me. But god damn I'm kind of enjoying the exploration, so it's a 7ish maybe.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I would still say performance seems pretty variable but it's way smoother than on console and with a decent PC you should stay above 60. Plus VRR helps cover any dips. It's definitely better for me.
bentanchorbolt
Banned
I didn't think it was too bad but it was obvious the game wasn't holding 60fps in most scenes, at least going by the eye test.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Well I don't want to jump the shark too early, but I'm excited to put in my 2nd session tonight. If it stays consistent it's likely it will make it to my top 10 list for the year, and maybe even best comedy game ever made for me personally.
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...deo-games-of-all-time-hitman-grand-theft-auto
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...deo-games-of-all-time-hitman-grand-theft-auto
b0uncyfr0
Member
Perf needs to be fixed - there's a good game underneath that bad performance.
With the X's hardware, it should be eating it up at 60 fps. Its pushing nothing visually amazing, in fact it looks last gen in some areas.
I gotta say im not impressed with all these studious releasing games in this state - i realise its almost for free with GP, but it's such wasted potential for a good console. All these smaller games released on GP have performed really bad
With the X's hardware, it should be eating it up at 60 fps. Its pushing nothing visually amazing, in fact it looks last gen in some areas.
I gotta say im not impressed with all these studious releasing games in this state - i realise its almost for free with GP, but it's such wasted potential for a good console. All these smaller games released on GP have performed really bad
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MMaRsu
Member
Gamepass is cheapFinding a cheap key for this game?
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Oh my god, the game calls out sites like Kotaku and Polygon by name
GoTY
GoTY
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Topher
Identifies as young
Oh my god, the game calls out sites like Kotaku and Polygon by name
GoTY
That right there convinced me to download it. Funny shit
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Spoiler tag this stuff man lol. It's 10x funnier when you find it yourself.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
ah man i think it's ok its just 1 ambient line of dialogue in a thousand, and it got
Topher
to download the game
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Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
I just know I was shocked when I saw a few things lol. The shock is kind of the best part of the game! But okay.ah man i think it's ok its just 1 ambient line of dialogue in a thousand, and it got
Haint
Member
There's something besides typical frame rate issues going on here. The game consistently and perpetually stutters/judders regardless of scene complexity, suggesting there's a much more significant and lower level issue than "performance". No idea how something like this could make it past the loosest of QA standards, its omnipresent.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Maybe it uses a double buffer vsync where when there's a drop, it judders all the way to 30 FPS ?
Just a guess. But yeah, it's far from stable and the 'drops' don't seem to be 'caught' by VRR either, at least on my display.
bentanchorbolt
Banned
This
I love that MS is dropping their 1st party games day and date, and that is a big reason for why I love Game Pass, but like you said, its the fact that I'm now playing games that I otherwise probably wouldn't have given the time of day if the barrier to entry was having to buy the game sight unseen. Rocket League used to cost money to play and I though the concept of RC car soccer was stupid, but prior to the game going f2p it was on Game Pass, so I tried it out and 2500 hours later its the game I've played more than any other game ever. And its because of Game Pass.