4Player Podcast #578 - Not an April Fools Joke (Fallout 76 Beta, Red Dead Redemption 2, 7 Billion Humans, and More!)

In regards to you guys feeling lost at times in Red Dead 2's story: This is why I really do love and respect the semi-strict time mechanics in games like Majora's Mask and Dead Rising. I feel like it makes moments in the story more powerful and unique, and characters/villains feel more apart of the world. You know that they're not going to wait for you as you goof around for an in-game year as the final boss is "supposedly" destroying the world around you. I'm not saying it needs to be, "Be here at 2:30pm exactly or you lose the game," but it could be something closer to "If you don't meet me here within the week, then I'm going without you," and missing certain main quests could steer the overall story into all different directions. Just a thought.

Hey guys, just a brief rant about Square Enix in light of the FF news:

I've been a huge fan of the series since my first gaming years and been pretty forgiving of some of the more controversial titles in the series (FFXIII in particular), if only because I've long held the belief that each title being a standalone entity gives them the freedom to experiment and adjust while maintaining the distinct FF brand.

However, I do also believe that each mainline game needs a director who has a clear vision for the game and has the ability/capacity to meet them. I wholly agree with Brad that Tetsuya Nomura, while a longtime veteran of the company, isn't exactly known for the latter skill.

To sum up, while the true reason for Hajime Tabata's resignation is unclear, Square's lost a talent who I think struck a great balance between the two requirements I mentioned. (PS: We can only count on FFXIV director Yoshi-P now)

I am with Nick in that i used to be starry eyed when a new mainline final fantasy was announced. The fact that final fantasy 13 was multiplatform had a large impact on my console purchasing decision last generation.

I hope that we get some new prominent directors who are able to step up after Tabata, and inject som vitality into Square Enix's main franchises.

I just wanted to add something to the Red Dead unequipping weapons onto the horse thing.

I understand the system, It's a really neat idea.
But I would have loved the game to kinda remember my usual setup, or let me save what weapons I wanna use.

I've gotten so many failed missions because I had to call back my horse so I can equip my rare bolt rifle, because the game handed me the first repeater you start with.

And I really hate how stressed NPC's are in this game too.
You'll get an objective, if you don't go straight towards it right away, all you will hear is "What are you doing Arthur?" "Over here Arthur!" "Come on Arthur"
Just let me pick up some loot guys!
Love y'all <3

It's crazy that Payday 2 got this massive lore dump all within this past year. During the first four years after its release, the developers always added bits and pieces of world-building whenever a new update or DLC came out. Starting with the Alaskan Deal, they just sort of went all in on this story that had been culminating.

It was really cool to see how it all tied together and all of the findings that the community came up with from all of the various ARGs and the decoder on the FBI Files website as well as the various in-game details that people discovered. This year's Crimefest just really made me appreciate how much lore they had building up.

I would have even been fine with the original ending they had in place before they added the true ending. Considering the amount of support that Payday 2 got, I am very interested in seeing where Overkill goes with Payday 3.

It gets me excited nowadays when VR games come up on the podcast. It always seems revelatory when hits release for it. With the price on PSVR getting low it's getting harder and harder to resist buying one.

I got thinking after mention of Beat Saber; is there no way to get a PSVR working on a PC? That way some of you could try Rift or Vive games?

Happy birthday, Orca ♥

So, with Fallout 76 being a colossal failure, Red Dead Online being seemingly very pay2win, and the new Diablo gaming being mobile, it's made me think, what has been the biggest disappointment in gaming for you guys so far this year?

Personally, I would say it's a tossup between Fallout 76 for it's lack of story or single player content, in addition to it's abysmal release full of bugs and security issues, or Far Cry 5, for it's lack luster story as well as the lack of control and freedom the game gives you compared to previous entries in the series.

Ending on a high note. ;)