What are you currently playing?

[deanb]

Sweet.

 

Currently I'm playing Doom on n off. Only an hour or probably less into it so far, got the satellite dish to realign and there's only 3 enemy types so I'd guess I'm fairly early in. Enjoying it, though fun of playing two different FPS games on PC is when they decide to swap C n Ctrl around. Also the sound is a bit iffy atm, still looking for a "fix" for it; mainly if there's enemies in the level then the sound from them is /everywhere/ which in an FPS game is pretty annoying especially given Imps teleport and there's no like "incoming damage" pointer on the screen.

[Mal]

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

After a few weeks break from gaming, I walk back into another metrovania with tight controls and an interesting setting. If I were to compare this to Hollow Knight, I would say it is way harder. You have healing items like how the Souls games does it. No gaining healing items while out and about so management of what you have is paramount. Enemies hits hard so I died a bunch already with only like a hour played. I probably died this much in Hollow Knight around the end game.

Exploration wise, so far it is a straight-ish road with a lot of paths that you cannot take yet. Not sure yet how I will like it but there is a warping mechanism that I haven't unlocked yet.
Music is so far alright too.

Momodora might turn out to be another gem that shows off great but with a different approach to a metrovania.

[deanb]

Assassins Creed: Syndicate

I quite like the twin thing going on, though so far not entirely seeing what the difference is between them(I know there's meant to be one but as best I can tell their skill trees are pretty much the same), mainly playing as Evie. Some fun missions, not totally sold on the carriage stuff so far but neat way to get around (the train is super cool though).

First of the games so far where wearing the original Altair/Ezio white outfits is really out of place

Still early days at the moment for me, just started Sequence 4 (so I've got the train, unlocked Whitechapel)

 

Final Fantasy XV: Empires

This is that mobile game doing the rounds, figured I'd give it a shake. Seems a bit shit tbh, not really much, if anything, tied in with FFXV beyond having Noctis in it and a couple chocobo sprites going around. A bit disappointing given the likes of Brave Exvius, Mobius n Dimensions as S-Es other original mobile FF offerings (also have the FF1-FFIX & Tactics ported over too). Given this whole "FFXV Universe" thing I figured it'd be more along the lines of what they've got with the various FFVII games, and Ivalice Alliance stuff.

 

Steam Link

Not a game per se. Mainly just set it up and gave it a small spin. Loaded up Fallout 4, it ran n such but I forgot the controller support for FO4 is a bit subpar. Though it also ran quite clunkily, which is probably why the "Quick Start" instructions (which are super slim n shitty and just shows how to plug the thing in*) has both options with either the PC wired or the Steam Link wired. *the shitty "Quick Start" fails to mention the bit where you go into your Steam settings and enable streaming and set that stuff up. It also doesn't include any instructions on setting up bluetooth devices so that's something for me to figure at some point.

[TheMightyEthan]

The two skill trees in Syndicate are slightly different, but it mainly boils down to fighting style IIRC.

 

As far as what I'm playing, I'm still working my way through Horizon: Zero Dawn. It is excellent and I'm looking forward to the expansion.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

Finished the first White March DLC for Pillars of Eternity. Although I'm having trouble with this dragon. It's strange, because the game was all YOU'RE OVERLEVELED, which seems to be the case, but this dragon is still one-shotting everyone in my party but Eder.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Started playing Dark Cloud today. There's certainly some dated aspects but I'm enjoying it and will be carrying on, though I should have really got back to Watch Dogs 2.

[Zeo-Gold92]

On 06/07/2017 at 9:33 AM, TheFlyingGerbil said:

Started playing Dark Cloud today. There's certainly some dated aspects but I'm enjoying it and will be carrying on, though I should have really got back to Watch Dogs 2.

Dark Cloud was one of my favourites as a kid. I had it twice on PS2 (one time the current PS2 at the time fell with the disc in and it busted up the game ;_; I can't recall what happened to the 2nd copy we had.) I have it now on my PS4, it's still a treat of a game and something I can always go back to. 

As for the topic at hand, I am currently playing Crash N'Sane. I did go and start with the first game but was losing my hair with it and ultimately ended up taking a break and moving to the second game. Still a bit of a challenge but no where near as painful as the first game. At least not so far. I never really got into Crash as a kid, I was busy playing Mario.

[TheMightyEthan]

I've been playing Watch Dogs 2 for the last couple weeks and I'm liking it but oh my god the checkpointing is awful. Just, completely atrocious. I don't remember the last time I've played a game with a checkpoint system this bad. Multiple objectives, fail on the last one? Restart the whole mission. Work your way through a massive compound, fail at the end? Restart the whole mission. It's terrible.

[pixelcrawl]

I've been playing a bunch of Ninja Gaiden Black on my 360 lately. I'm slowly getting better at the game, but I have to rewire my brain for defensive play after years of playing more offensive games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. It lives up to the hype though, and holds up unbelievably well for an original Xbox game from 2004! I don't think I've ever played a hack-and-slash that felt this immediately satisfying in terms of feedback. Ryu's basic sword genuinely feels like it is cutting through enemies, and it's a feeling I haven't seen a game really replicate since. 

[TheMightyEthan]

I've been playing Aven Colony and really enjoying it.  It doesn't have nearly the same personality as Tropico, but I love the alien colonization theme and mechanically it's a joy to play.

[Zeo-Gold92]

15 hours ago, pixelcrawl said:

I've been playing a bunch of Ninja Gaiden Black on my 360 lately. I'm slowly getting better at the game, but I have to rewire my brain for defensive play after years of playing more offensive games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. It lives up to the hype though, and holds up unbelievably well for an original Xbox game from 2004! I don't think I've ever played a hack-and-slash that felt this immediately satisfying in terms of feedback. Ryu's basic sword genuinely feels like it is cutting through enemies, and it's a feeling I haven't seen a game really replicate since. 

I have had a copy of Sigma in my collection for quite some time and a few months ago, tried giving it a crack. It cracked back and I ended up shelving it again, just wasn't having it at the time xD. I'll give it another go one day.

[Mr. GOH!]

I've been playing Pyre because it's pretty rad. Unlike a lot of the reviewers, I'm enjoying the, um, gameplay portion of it very much, and the visual novel portion is top-notch. It's difficult to talk about without spoiling anything since it deals a lot in twisty revelations both regarding new gameplay options and the story.

 

I like it more than either Transistor or Bastion, and those are also pretty fucking cool games. Like those games, the art, narration, and music are all beyond excellent. 

 

I eagerly await Supergiant's next game, no matter what odd blend of genres it is.

 

Pro-tip if you're playing on PC, under no circumstances play it with a mouse and keyboard; the controls are atrocious. It is immeasurably better with a gamepad.

[Mal]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 

This morning I rolled over in my bed to grab my Switch. I did not leave my bed. Still though, I am getting MGSV PTSD flashbacks. Like MGSV, BotW has superb gameplay but there is a sense of a lack focus. I don't feel like I am getting anywhere. Sure I climbed a bunch of towers (god damn it Nintendo, why did you guys copied this?) and did tons of trials but with so much abilities being front loaded, there's a serious lack of sense of progression. I essentially just grinded for health, stamina and finding better weapons and that doesn't make me feel like I am progressing much.

 

But I got to say, it's nice to finally understand some of the fanart I've seen of Link.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Mal

[deanb]

So last weekend I got to crack out my second controller with my brother.

 

First game we played was Rocket League since he's already into playing that with bots on the mornings while I'm still asleep. It's Rocket League. He kinda beat me first run:

 

We played Starwhal which isn't the greatest game but was silly amounts of fun with quick short rounds and you can turn your tusk into a lightsaber so was a big hit with him.

 

We also gave Helldivers a shot, which didn't entirely work out.

 

 

And the most popular game was Broforce. Which made the most sense for brothers to play. He didn't fully understand who all the characters were, but he liked playing as Dredd (and he recognised BA Baracus). I think the main appeal for him with this was you only had a couple buttons and was all 2D so easy on the directions. We're up to mission 8, which I've no idea how well we're doing but I think we're at 25%).

 

 

[danielpholt]

10 hours ago, deanbmmv said:

So last weekend I got to crack out my second controller with my brother.

 

First game we played was Rocket League since he's already into playing that with bots on the mornings while I'm still asleep. It's Rocket League. He kinda beat me first run:

 

We played Starwhal which isn't the greatest game but was silly amounts of fun with quick short rounds and you can turn your tusk into a lightsaber so was a big hit with him.

 

We also gave Helldivers a shot, which didn't entirely work out.

 

 

And the most popular game was Broforce. Which made the most sense for brothers to play. He didn't fully understand who all the characters were, but he liked playing as Dredd (and he recognised BA Baracus). I think the main appeal for him with this was you only had a couple buttons and was all 2D so easy on the directions. We're up to mission 8, which I've no idea how well we're doing but I think we're at 25%).

 

 

 

I miss playing games with my brothers. They rarely play games any more, and when they do its on a console I don't own/plan on owning, but I've got some truly fantastic memories of playing with them as a kid. 

[deanb]

Oh playing games with my siblings was great. Gran Turismo, the "Start" area in SMB 3, Timesplitters (loads of fun there), probably a bunch of others. But yeah these days much harder. My eldest brother also has a PS4, but trying to get him to like set a time he's up for gaming is a total PITA.

[TheMightyEthan]

I've been playing Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle.  It is fantastic.  I especially like the 0%/50%/100% hit chances, you never feel like you're getting screwed by the RNG.

[Hot Heart]

Destiny 2. It's been rad so far. I haven't finished the story (rest of my fireteam not getting on until late and falling behind) but the actual environments and flow of the missions is a huge step up from before.

 

I'll do a proper write-up after I finish the story, I think, but I'm pleased to say a lot of my concerns were just Bungie being coy. The way they've changed/tweaked a lot of the systems (currencies, loadouts, levelling, reputations, public events) really just removes annoying grind and places emphasis more on experimenting with weapon and gear mods/perks. The broader story elements are actually there in the scannable objects and side missions so you get some interesting stuff on Osiris and Toland, etc. while the main story focuses on the Cabal. I guess I'll see how it holds up in the long run but I'm very pleased with everything so far.

[deanb]

Steam Link

So I've been a bit ill the last few days and wanted to curl up in the lounge, so I sat down and tinkered to get the Steam Link up and running its best on wi-fi (I do need to ask tonight why the router is in a bedroom). Tinkered to emit 5ghz on a different SSID and channel so could force the Steam link to connect on that, and changed the 2.4ghz to a different channel from the neighbors too (like everyone was on 6). Largely improved things. My only major issue has been my PC cut out from the net or something, and when Victor Vran reconnected it seemed to think my controller was for player 2, which as I was playing in SP became pretty complicated and also meant my DS4 was no longer controlling the Steam Link either so I had to go upstairs to my PC to just exit right out of the game and turn off the Steam Link remotely. Turning on and off is something I'd make as a revision in Steam Link 2 to maybe have an indicator LED, and maybe just a gentle standby/wake button because it seems it only "turns on" if you unplug and replug the controller, rather than pushing the PS button like you would for DS4. Even if I have a M/KB attached it doesn't "wake" through tapping on keys.

 

Victor Vran

 

The game is a pretty simple diablo-like, with your move set changing based on the weapons you use, I'm currently favouring a Electric Rifle and Scythe, though the per-map challenges will nudge you to using different weapons (e.g to take on a specific enemy type with hammers or kill x amount in 120 seconds, usually favouring a more AoE weapon). You're voiced by the guy who does Geralt so it's almost like a kind of "what Geralt did in his early days" kind of thing given the story is Witcher-like (demon invasion of a city, families of vampires, giant spiders, etc). You are accompanied by "The Voice", a kind of narrator. He's pretty fun, I quite liked an earlier mission where he decides to go all Stanley Parable (to the point of being "Stanl....Victor took the left corridor"). It's kinda meme-ish in some ways like that (though not the "dank memes" shit of some current games, more like...there's usually hidden areas with a treasure chest guarded by dancing skeletons doing the Gangnam Style dance. Also I've an item I've picked up that I'm meant to trade with "GebaN").

 

It's not an overly complex game, but it's pretty good to use with a controller through a Steam Link sat on a sofa under the weather. And just the right amount of humour, and not overly complex "puzzles" and secret areas. Good for a "I'm ill and laying on the sofa" kind of game.

 

Rise of the Planet of the Tomb Raiders

 

This is the game I'd actually been first cracking on with on the Steam Link and led me to tinker with the network since this game is a tad more demanding, a bit of lag can be an instant death (it's only the weird double jump sections you need the timely input for in Victor Vran). It'd been pretty clunky and sputtery, but ran buttery smooth once I'd got the settings refined. I'm rather enjoying it, though progressed to Victor Vran more as my brain got mushy. I'd distracted a guard then forgot there was two guards and walked right into the "distracted" guard because I'd forgotten about him  It's pretty much on par with the first one, minus spending most of the opening of the game getting to basic equipment like the ice pick (though I've still no guns despite coming across a bunch of people with guns). Unfortunately given the network sensitivity of the game I don't want to progress to much (the bear was hard enough) to where I need to be quite frantic in actions unless I can get a hardwire in my set-up.

 

[Mister Jack]

I rented Shadow of War from Redbox. I'm only a few hours in but I can already tell this is better than the last one. The combat feels tighter for one thing. I got a lot of deaths in the first game due to delayed inputs which I don't see here. There is also just more to do and better enemy variety. I'm looking forward to playing more.

[Mal]

You are lame if you are not doing the Mario.

[Mister Jack]

I can tell Shadow of War is going to take way longer to get through than I can justify on a Redbox rental, so I put that back for now and got Wolfenstein 2.  The story and writing are quite good so far, especially for an FPS.  However, I don't know if it's just me or the game is harder than most shooters but I'm getting my ass kicked hard.  In my defense, I'm only on the second level and they're already throwing heavily armored enemies at me as regular encounters.  Also, for some reason my max health is 50, not 100.  Was that a thing in the last game?  Do I have to upgrade it or something?  I played the last game but it was a while ago and I can't remember.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I forgot how bad I am at jumping on enemies in Mario games I always hit the front of them and lose a life. :/

[TheMightyEthan]

The only problem I'm having with that is when I'm possessing a stack of goombas I always think I can jump higher than I can when trying to add to my stack.

[Mal]

You know how people can jump, toss the Hat and then dive into the Hat for an extra jump? I have no idea how to successfully pull it off. Hell, I think there are a bunch of moves that I have no idea to do or utilize correctly. Anyhow...

 

Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection

Just going to machine gun out some rough thoughts...

This world man. It's so bubbly and fun. I honestly don't think I encounter a world like this since Brave Fencer Musashi almost two decades ago. It just feels like an adventure... nostalgic maybe? Part of this I attribute to the English VA work. You'd think Gurumin* would give me similar feelings but no.

 

Gameplay though is a bit simplistic. I do see it evolving though so verdict is TBD.  You can swap out magic and melee as needed after you get them which should give the game a bit more depth. So maybe think of it as Ys VII Light. 

While I am fine with 30 FPS, I can still feel it when the game feels like it is chugging along. Silly coding your game to 30 FPS...

You don't have control over the camera at all. It's not terrible but at times I do feel a bit stuck. I just question why they didn't give camera controls. It would even make dialog scenes even nicer so you can see character faces.

* Speaking of Gurumin... I'm liking Zwei II far better and I'm only two hours in. I feel like there is a sense of progression and direction. Gurumin never had a sense of direction since I really feel like I missed out on A LOT of things during my first playthrough on the PSP.

 

tl;dr Wonderful world and characters. ADVENTURE. Gameplay is Ys VII Light?