r/gaming • u/Prezofcalendars • 14h ago
Star Wars Zero Company: the perfect game for nighttime newborn duty.
My wife and I are new parents, and she returned to work last week. For the first week of her being back at work, I took over all the nighttime duties, and playing Zero Company has been amazing. Being able to play with one hand while I’m feeding him or rocking him back to sleep has been a lifesaver. Also, our little guy loves Star Wars music, or it at least helps him fall asleep.
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u/Dukeman330 14h ago
Turn-based games ftw. I played all the way through persona 5 one-handed during middle-of-the-night sessions when my first was born. Good times.
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u/HeywoodJablowmey 14h ago
Marvel Midnight Suns for me lol
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u/PlayBey0nd87 13h ago
What an underrated game this is
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u/crispy-fried-lego 13h ago
Seriously. It makes me so sad that it didn't do well and we'll never get a sequel. It wasn't perfect, but I had such a blast with it.
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u/thegoodIife 13h ago
It's because of the childish hub world elements. If it had focused on just the battle mechanics and possibly had a roguelite element it could have been a hit
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u/PhoenixAgent003 13h ago
Personally, I think they were cowards for letting your special OC become best friends with the heroes but not romance them.
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u/TheWolfmanZ 5h ago
That was Marvel saying no to romance unfortunately. The devs wanted it initially, so they just settled on you being "really good friends" and letting you interpret that however you want
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u/An_username_is_hard 10h ago
Eh, I think without the chattering and banter and little sidequests I would not have been interested. Raw roguelikes kinda bore me.
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u/mvrander 9h ago
Great game but, dear god the enforced conversations with 10 different NPCs between missions were so tedious
Streamline the mansion stuff and it would have done much better
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u/aruggie2 12h ago
Strangely enough for such a great turn based game, you can't actually pause any non-combat stuff. You can bring up the menu/map/etc, but if you do it during a conversation people will just keep talking.
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u/drcoxmonologues 12h ago
Xcom 2 then baldurs gate 3 were my newborn game. Used to stay up all night so wife could rest and then sleep all day. Peaceful nights just doing feeds and then gaming all night. Take me back.
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u/HurinGaldorson 14h ago
Can confirm: Xcom2 got me through the nighttime duties with my second son back in 2017.
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u/That2ndIowanGuy 14h ago
I’ve been eyeing this game since release. I LOVED Marvel’s Midnight Suns and have been looking for something that scratches that itch
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u/IamChicharon 14h ago
Dude yes! My baby was born on September 3, and I was so happy that I bought this game.
I wish it was longer, had new game+, or something because I beat it in the first week of having my baby back home lol
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u/Virtuosoman23 13h ago
Aftermath is a mod that adds a proper endgame, if you’re looking for more
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u/mcninja77 7h ago
Oh shit thanks for the info. I did a quick look at mods and didn't see anything major like this
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u/the_other_skier 8h ago
NG+ would be nice, but a sandbox mode with randomly generated maps and missions would be so much better. Have a few sliding scales for enemy type, map size, environmental hazards, reinforcements, etc and it goes from a game with a great campaign and story to an instant classic. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just something to extend the lifespan of it
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u/Prezofcalendars 14h ago
Congratulations on the baby!! But yes, they definitely need a new game plus!! I’m pretty sure I will be done tonight and there no new game plus but I will probably just start over on the hardest difficulty.
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u/greatreference 14h ago
I’ll raise you slay the spire
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u/DASreddituser 13h ago
then I raise u balatro
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u/greatreference 13h ago
Balatro just hasn’t clicked for me idk why. I’ve cleared a run with 2-3 of the starting decks but it just hasn’t hooked me like other rogue likes. When did it click for you?
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u/dodrugzwitthugz 12h ago
It clicked for me when I figured out which jokers work the best based on which deck your using. My favorite deck is the checkered one because it's so easy to build around as a beginner.
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u/MM796 12h ago
Honestly, I love seeing these kinds of posts. I’m about a month and a half away from being a dad, so I’m looking for ways to make the overnight routines a little easier for everyone involved.
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u/Prezofcalendars 12h ago
Remember, you and your wife have to be a team. It’s our first baby, and we are in our late 30s. Us working together has been a godsend. Also, communicate if you’re noticing something; you need to say something. I had to send my wife to bed a few time when she was walking with the baby like a zombie.
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u/Prezofcalendars 11h ago
Also, my wife got me Zero Company for my birthday because she saw me struggling playing Wolverine, and she was playing the new Fire Emblem. It was like, “Oh wait, it’s super easy to turn best game while holding the baby.”
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u/D7west 2h ago
It’s funny to think that you were “struggling” when the internet will claim that that game plays itself!
I miss the newborn stage and 4-9 month stage of our first. I had so much time to play. Now she’s is walking and we have twins. And I have played 5 hours of EDay, and that’s been nearly all my gaming the last 4 months!
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u/cuddytime 8h ago
Same… was anxious about nighttime duties but now it seems like it might be a good time for me to catch up on my library
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u/Thebaldsasquatch 5h ago
When ours were young, I took the first half of the night and my wife took the second half. I would sit cross legged on the floor with my baby in my lap dozing in and out while I played a game. She loved COD. For the first couple of years, if she heard the start up noises, she’d come hustling over.
God I miss those days.
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u/whenyoudieisaybye 14h ago
The writing in this game is kinda one of the best Star Wars universe had in... ever?
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u/Prezofcalendars 14h ago
I was thinking that and telling the wife I love the world building of this game. I know we have so much Clone Wars media, but I just love the little stories and characters they’ve had added. Also, the part when Anakin showed up got me so hyped, and after the mission, we had Luco Bronc join the team was amazing.
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u/Fitzy_42 10h ago
The interactions with your squad mates was great. Funny and smartass one liners had me belly laughing.
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u/jdawg1018 8h ago
Idk man Kotor 2 is hard to beat. Haven't played this game yet, but Kreia is one of the most hardcore/nuanced characters written for any Star Wars media
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u/amillstone 5h ago
It's written by the person/group behind the Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor games, both of which also had great writing.
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u/QueenNebudchadnezzar 1h ago
It's the first Clone Wars content I've seen that discusses why reasonable people would want to separate from the republic.
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u/pariah1981 11h ago
I played a ton of card type games. That and gears of war at max volume. My son loved to fall asleep to dom screaming over grenades and gunfire
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u/onefitztwofitz 10h ago
I have a 5 month old and I’ve been absolutely loving zero company. I’m about to finish it and I’m going to finally play XCOM2
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u/JuThrone 7h ago
As a new father (2 months) turn-based games are great, really appreciating Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave
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u/seto_kiaba 6h ago
I have a 1.5 year old so I totally get this vibe. The game I played the first few months was Stardew Valley.
That said, the one thing this game is missing is pausable cutscenes. If it had that then it would be completely newborn-friendly
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u/MadeByTango 12h ago
It needs way more than it offers as a tactics game, especially trying to steal its way into being called "zcom" like some natural successor when its not close.
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u/Gilles_of_Augustine 14h ago
Great game.
You could probably fry an egg on top of your computer after having the game open for 30 minutes, though.
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u/TheRealFriedel 12h ago
I loved it, but it's one of the least optimised games I've ever played (UE5 sucks). My admittedly aging PC can keep up with most stuff, maybe switch a few lighting settings to medium or low. But in this one I had to press the 'make things squiggly' button and still only got about 25-30FPS
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u/rotundino 14h ago
Nice! Do you play it on console or PC?
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u/Prezofcalendars 14h ago edited 14h ago
I’m playing on my Steam Machine. I noticed a few shading issues, but other than that, it’s been great. When I’m in my office with him, I play on my PC
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u/Jimlad116 14h ago
Same boat! Ours is 3 months and I've been playing like one mission a night. It's great
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u/Sunbro_Sao 13h ago
I’ve been working my way through the new Fire Emblem with my newborn, and when my daughter was born a few years back my night time game was another strategy RPG called Unicorn Overlord. Tactics/turn-based games are perfect for new dad time!
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u/wooordwooord 13h ago
I played through fire emblem 3 houses, and persona 5 while my kiddo was a newborn.
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u/Angry_Zarathustra 12h ago
That is exactly what I've used it for. 2mo old on one arm, other hand on the mouse. I'm about to beat it for the second time, haha
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u/minastepes 12h ago
For me it was pokemon emerald on a miyoo mini flip. But an anbernic rg sp do the trick too !
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u/ltownbob47 12h ago
This really made me appreciate my steam deck because you could pause whenever and pick up right back where you left. My go to game at the time was Tunic. Helped me survive those two months.
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u/BlueskyUK 11h ago
This has been one of the most addicting games I’ve ever played. Did four play through back to back from release. Definitely going back for another. I’ve never played like that before with any game.
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u/TheRoscoeVine 9h ago
Yep, don’t be trying to game online between bottle washing and feeding. You’re a single player guy, now.
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u/TartLegitimate9302 9h ago
Newborn duty is basically a high-stakes escort mission where the VIP falling asleep counts as a flawless victory. At least this one lets you take turns with one hand.
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u/timbojimbo1 7h ago
I can recommend xcom2, advance wars, baldurs gate3, slay the spire, disco elysium. All allow you to let go of the controller at any point in time.
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u/KomrkSkirata45 4h ago
The amount of times I have played this game one handed on controller cause the baby is asleep in the other. It's taken me an hour to just do everything at the base sometimes.
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u/aleksandd 2h ago
Its bad on the deck. Hopefully theres gonna good performance patches - Father of 3, new baby @ 7 months
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u/DynamiteShovel1 13h ago
I'd like to play this but considering they furloughed/fired 80% of their staff after this game released, to glowing reviews, I feel like giving them money is just rewarding shitty business practices
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u/dodrugzwitthugz 12h ago
I get it, but it's also almost impossible to spend money anywhere and not have it go to a company with shitty business practices.
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u/TheRealFriedel 12h ago
Also, they almost folded as a company and apparently ran out of money before release (hence the game getting a bit strangely paced in the last third). Just because a game is out and reviews well, doesn't mean they don't have other financial obligations to publishers etc before they're able to pay their staff.
Now tbf, I've not heard any updates, but it does give me some hope that the staff were furloughed and not let go.
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u/Helphaer 10h ago
Just see if they release enough patches to fix all the performance and bug issues in a few months. If they cant even do that then i wouldnt support the title, currently there are definitely issues that have destroyed peoples save files randomly or just still had a lot of issues. Later characters are also largely overpowered and not balanced to beginner ones.
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u/Crime_Dawg 10h ago
Dude this game crashes so much. Did the longest fucking mission ever yesterday, stupidass coil seers everywhere, and right when I was killing the last guy, it crashed. Load save, back at turn 1, ughhhhh just shut it down for the day.
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u/Helphaer 9h ago
It is never wise to play significantly unpatched games for long until fixed, but it is always annoying.
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u/Talkin_Out_My_Ass 14h ago
People complain about how hard newborns are. My wife and I would split the time and do a night on night off. I played video games and watched movies all night. It was a great time. Now I have a 4 year old running around. Less fun
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u/JohnnysGotHisDerp 12h ago
In the moment it was hard because it was all new, plus the sleep deprivation. But yea, I tell my all my new friends with their 1st on the way to soak up all the movie and game time now, because it goes away quickly.
My backlog is bigger than ever but my heart is also fuller than ever.
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u/Renolber 14h ago
The writing in this game is genuinely sublime. The dialogue, mannerisms and actual plot are top-tier.
And coming from XCOM… I don’t have to explain the sheer crack cocaine the gameplay loop is laced with.
Dare I say this game is GOTY worthy?
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u/SlyFunkyMonk 12h ago
As a needy cat owner, this post applies to me. Hank will be pleased.
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u/Michael-de-Ruyter-69 10h ago
Don’t compare a fucking cat to raising an infant - not remotely similar and I love cats.
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u/9to6erSadge 2h ago
Honestly, that sounds like the perfect game for those late-night newborn shifts 😂. Having something to play while the baby’s sleeping or during those 3 a.m. feeds would definitely make the long nights a little easier. Star Wars and a sleepy baby sounds much better than just sitting there watching the clock until morning.
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u/Logizmo 14h ago edited 12h ago
I heard it's possible to miss 100% shots so I'm probably never going to play
Shame it looks fun, glad others can enjoy it
Edit: Genuinely did not know it got updated, I was under the impression it was an intended mechanic. Wild I got so heavily downvoted and multiple people are trying to argue with me in comments and dms
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u/Prezofcalendars 14h ago
It’s happened to me twice. On normal difficulty, I can’t wait for that nonsense when I start my hard mode playthrough. I’m a XCOM vet and I have some stories for you bull crap
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u/icedteaandtacos 13h ago
That was patched like days after it released. You’re just hating for hating sake.
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u/franktato 51m ago
My wife and I had twins. The first year was crazy with late night feedings and that kinda thing. You sleep when they sleep and that's all we did. I think I gamed maybe 6-8 hours per week during that whole year cause I was just so tired. After that first year it got WAY easier.
10 years later and both my boys are gamers now. Both have their own rigs. We get those goofy co-op games off Steam and play them all the time. We are currently playing How to Fish and it's hilarious to play with my boys.
It'll be worth it in the end. Your kid will most likely watch his Daddy playing these cool games over the years and when he is older he will wanna try those games with you. That's when the fun starts, trust me.
Good luck to you and your family.
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u/Stock-Ad2495 14h ago
Oldschool RuneScape was my choice. The child yearns for the mines.