What are you currently playing?

[TheMightyEthan]

@FLD Yeah, I've never played anything like this before. I have seen articles talking about how it's brought back the dead genre of realtime tactics, but I never even knew that was a thing. I actually assumed this was turn-based when I first started it. 

[toxicitizen]

I kinda doubt there's enough interest to start a dedicated Warframe thread here but the new cinematic quest, The Sacrifice, dropped last night so I'm just gonna dump my thoughts in here, I guess. It wasn't mind-blowing or game-changing like The Second Dream or War Within but i think it might be my favorite so far. The quest itself had its own twist on the usual cinematic quest presentation, so that was nice. I'm really looking forward to see where this particular plot thread goes next, although I have no idea when that'll happen. I suspect it won't be anytime soon, considering the previous one came out like two years ago and this one had a full year between announcement and release. The short prologue to this was released in December but I only played it a couple weeks ago, so I didn't have to suffer that particular cliffhanger for very long. No such luck this time lol. 

 

Anyway, these usually introduce something major to the game, usually a new system or mechanic or a significant plot reveal/twist. This one's no different except that what it introduces can be discussed without spoilers. So, The Sacrifice introduces Umbra warframes, starting with Umbra Excalibur. It's basically a cooler looking, slightly stronger Excalibur Prime, which pleases me greatly because Excalibur is my favorite frame and the prime version is impossible to get now. I'm not sure if these will be released as regularly as primes or if their releases will all be events like this but I'm kinda glad to be there for the introduction. Hopefully it means collecting them all will be feasible.

Edited June 15, 2018 by FLD

[TheMightyEthan]

Since I can only take about 1 mission in Shadow Tactics in a single sitting, I've also started God of War. I played about an hour and 20 minutes earlier, just finished the prologue, and so far so good. At first I didn't think I was going to like the combat much, but now that I've figured out how to counter with the shield I'm having a lot of fun.

[toxicitizen]

Dying Light update 2: I finally unlocked Batman mode, aka the "grappling hook". Either that's a typo or the folks at Techland don't understand how a grappling hook actually works because this is clearly Batman's grapnel gun. This thing just fucking ziplines me wherever the hell I aim it at and it breaks the game in the most amazing way.

 

Shortly after I unlocked it, I was doing a story mission where I had to break into this heavily fortified compound with really high barbed-wired fences (which you can't climb). Clearly, the game wanted me to figure out an awesome parkour way to get in there but I just shot my grapnel gun at the wall over the fence and just flew right in there. "I found a way in, it wasn't easy." my character lied over the radio.

 

Dying Light is pretty decent as a survival horror-ish parkour melee action game with crafting and resource management. But it's ridiculous fucking fun when balance goes out the window and you start breaking it with overpowered skills and incredibly stupid crafted weapons.

[MetalCaveman]

DOOM, got the BFG, already had a rune that made it so demons dropped BFG ammo when killed... BEST GAME EVER  \m/ \m/

[toxicitizen]

So I'm like 10 hours into Assassin's Creed Origins. I was a little disappointed to find out that it's not the complete reinvention I was expecting, although to be fair, I hadn't really looked at it too closely outside of the initial E3 reveal demo. My interest was mostly due to highly positive word of mouth around the internet. But yeah, it's basically the same old AC but with an actual combat system (and I kinda wanna say better/refined climbing but it's been so long and I haven't played anything since ACIII, so I really can't say for sure). The combat isn't as Soulsy as I was expecting (it's really more of a clunky brawler and lacks the weight) but it's certainly an improvement over standing around waiting for guards to attack you one by one and pressing the counter button.

 

The thing is, turns out I actually missed the series. I wouldn't have guessed given the half dozen times I started Black Flag and failed to get into it but I'm actually really enjoying this one. I also really like Bayek so far, he kinda reminds me of Ezio. I'm actually considering getting the season pass while it's on sale.

Edited June 29, 2018 by FLD

[deanb]

I'm about 10hrs or so in too. I guess I wasn't expecting "souls", but yeah a sort of 'reboot' was expected with this. I guess in many ways it is quite different. I was tickled to see they've got back the syndication tower thingies (though mainly to enable fast travel), which I'm fairly sure they got rid of in Syndicate (though it's been a while since I played that). The inventory system is a bit...clunky. Reminds me a bit of Mass Effect 1 with its big ass list. It's weird cos the "mouse pointer" type control is pretty much like Destiny and I think that did quite well for an inventory UI, especially with the frequency you get new weapons n armour.

 

I agree he reminds me of Ezio, can't quite place my finger on why.

[toxicitizen]

Well I didn't expect the game in general to be Souls-ish, the combat just seemed to be a bit Souls-inspired during the E3 demo. But so far I don't find myself using the shield a whole lot and the lack of stamina means I can just dodge around guards endlessly and spam heavy attacks once I'm behind them. 

Edited June 29, 2018 by FLD

[TheMightyEthan]

I've been playing Uncharted 4, and while I'm only to chapter 9 (of 22), it is easily my favorite Uncharted game.

 

For me Uncharted's biggest problem has always been it's combat: there are twice as many event encounters as there should be, and each one lasts three times as long as it should. U4 fixes both those problems, at least so far. I never enjoyed having to survive in a designated combat arena through 4 waves of bullet sponges, just to get to advance to the next area to do it again. In Uncharted 4 though, there's a lot more traversal/exploration areas between encounters, and the encounters tend to be in more open areas where you have more options as to how you want to approach it. Most of them even let you completely stealth them if you want!

 

Unless it changes drastically in the remaining 60% of the game, I think I can say this is the game I always wanted Uncharted to be.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Just in time for them to kill it off. Though there was that spin-off not sure how similar that is or if they intend to carry along that route.

 

I'm playing Sleeping Dogs which I had planned to speed through, but I guess that was dumb for an open world game as I can't help myself doing the side quests and I am enjoying it so why rush. But it is harder than I was expecting for an open world game to the point where I see a lock box to open and have to decide if I can be bothered to fight the thugs protecting it and the racing can be... frustrating and frequent.

[toxicitizen]

So, I tried starting the first DLC expansion for AC Origins yesterday but, despite my best attempts, the required level of the very first mission proved too high for me to have a fighting chance. So I went back into the main map and messed around, did some side-quests and leveled up a bit. That's when I saw it. I'm not sure if it was DLC or what but it was different from other icons, so I checked it out. Triggered a cutscene where something fell out of the sky and crashed nearby. Cool, I guess. Let's check it out. 

 

Turns out to be some kind of space rock that just happened to blow open an entrance to a nearby structure. Inside was an inscription on a mural that led me to a nearby sundial puzzle. I solved the puzzle, the mural opened up and I found... something. I approached it, some weird force field opened up and out came, I shit you not, the main villain from Final Fantasy XV. I don't know what the fucking hell just happened or if I had too much to drink tonight or what but he flew away into the sky and I got a sword and shield for my trouble. 

 

Video games were a mistake.

[Mal]

Yes, I recall there was a FFXV quest in Origins and for it to be like that... hahaha.

[deanb]

I recently triggered that quest. Knew of it from a while ago cos of the AC-FFXV crossover stuff (which at least is still around in AC. FFXV with its stupid limited time events). Wondering if I want to bother with it, but special gear I guess can be neat. Not like it'd ruin much given I'm wearing Ezio's gear most of the game so far.

[Mr. GOH!]

@TheMightyEthan UC 4 stays strong the whole way. The spin-off is also pretty great, though I played it about a year after I completed UC4.

[toxicitizen]

12 hours ago, Mal said:

Yes, I recall there was a FFXV quest in Origins and for it to be like that... hahaha.

 

3 hours ago, deanb said:

I recently triggered that quest. Knew of it from a while ago cos of the AC-FFXV crossover stuff (which at least is still around in AC. FFXV with its stupid limited time events). Wondering if I want to bother with it, but special gear I guess can be neat. Not like it'd ruin much given I'm wearing Ezio's gear most of the game so far.

 

Yeah, now that you guys mention it I vaguely recall hearing about some kind of crossover a while ago but I guess I forgot. It was for the best because it made for one hell of a WTF moment lol. Funny thing is I actually noticed the Moogle plushie next to the Animus hours earlier but for some reason never registered that it shouldn't have been in a Ubisoft game.

 

As for the special gear thing, my enjoyment of the game actually went up once I activated the Deluxe/Season Pass DLC and received a bunch of legendary gear that I could keep upgrading. The loot system is by far the aspect of the game I enjoyed the least. Just feels out of place and unnecessary. I'm usually not too keen on balance-breaking bonus items but this is one case where I honestly couldn't care less. Especially now that I wrapped up the main story.

[TheMightyEthan]

Balance breaking bonus items are great when they break the balance of systems I don't enjoy. 

[MetalCaveman]

Prey, going into it right after playing DOOM has been a thing.  Haven't made it far yet as I've spent most of the time beating the crap out of everything with the wrench, reading every book/log available and looking everywhere for resources.  

[MetalCaveman]

Prey, while exploring some areas after getting the repair upgrade I ended up in 

Spoiler

the Volunteer Quarters, which led me to Fabrication, where there was an extremely dangerous enemy and... The freaking fabrication plans for neuromods! Used all of my resources to make as many of those things as I could and now I have a bunch of upgrades for movement and gun damage. \m/ \m/ It was well worth the effort and resources used(ran out of ammo for all guns, used almost all my medkits and suit repair kits and ate everything I had).  

 

[toxicitizen]

It's a weird thing to complain about but I have too many great games to play right now!

 

I put like 60h in Yakuza 0 last week but I screwed around with optional stuff so much that I'm only about 2/3 of the way through the story. Then Monster Hunter World came out and that also turned out to be excellent. I got so into it that I've barely touched Yakuza this past week. I just wrapped up the story quests and started getting into the High Rank stuff, so I'm nowhere near done with it. And today my EXAPUNKS Limited Edition arrived, so I finally tried it. It's still way too early to say for sure but I think it might be my favorite Zachtronics game yet. It definitely made a very good first impression.

So yeah, right now I'm like a kid in a candy store because I want to play everything and I don't know what to prioritize. 

[MetalCaveman]

Prey, just made it to the part where 

Spoiler

Dahl shows up with his infinite military operators.

 

Really annoying.  DOOM muscle memory is also biting me in the ass, I keep trying to quickly switch between weapons (since my stun gun lacks any upgrades) and every time I'm reminded it takes an eternity to switch weapons in this game.  

 

Spoiler

Even the nightmare had become kind of a joke with my upgraded shotgun, but these operators and their insane numbers are too much.  

 

[TheMightyEthan]

I started playing Valkyria Chronicles again after giving up on Dying Light (I really enjoyed the running about, but found combat super tedious).

 

I played Valkyria Chronicles years ago on the PS3, up through that damn tank mission. I'm only 4 missions in on PC right now, but it's weird, I remember all the cutscenes clearly, but have no memory whatsoever of any of these combat missions. It's a truly bizarre feeling.

[MetalCaveman]

I've been thinking about playing through VC1 and 2 (maybe 3) before 4 comes out though I don't know if I'll have the time.  

[toxicitizen]

Dragon Quest XI. It is so freaking good, you guys! Last night I got to what felt like the halfway point of the story and I can't wait to jump back in today and see where things go next. I don't know if this is typical of the series because I haven't played too many of them but it went in a direction I honestly didn't expect. There's an obvious comparison to make (i.e. "It went full _____") but that would be pretty spoilerific, so I won't.

 

I can't believe I almost didn't get this, though! That was easily the worst decision I made this year and I'm so glad I caved at the last second.

[Baconrath]

Slowly plodding through Battletech and all of its Kickstarter jank in between other games like DQ11. I've got to the point where I can one-shot lights with an AC20 called to the center torso (also Thunderbolts because at least one of its stock loadout hilariously puts the missile ammo in the center torso). I think the best descrption of this game is that its like a session of a tabletop game with a bad GM.

Also  DQ11 

[TCP]

I HAVE THOUGHTS ON SPIDER-MAN!

Ok so, first, let me say, I absolutely love this game. I think it's the best superhero game PERIOD. Sorry Infamous and Batman Arkham. I think it also might be one of my favourite depictions of Spider-Man. For me, Tobey Maguire never felt anything like the Spider-Man I grew up reading in comics and watching in the 90s cartoon. Andrew Garfield came a little bit closer. Tom Holland was the closest by far, but this Spider-Man, man, he feels like Spidey AND he feels like Peter Parker. It's not just the banter when he's fighting, it's what he's saying. It's how he's saying it. He's cocky and rude and cheesy BUT he's also endearing AF. It's great. I can't get over it. 

I'm pretty far in, not at the end but I can tell I'm getting close. I'm in the process of listing my house to move across country, so I haven't had as much time with the game as I would have liked. But it's fine, I'm savouring it like a fine wine. They're doing some bold stuff, specifically Peter's relationship with one key villain. It's great and just gives the whole thing more weight.

My biggest complaints is forced stealth sections where you play as different characters, which happen regularly enough it ruins the flow of the game. Stealth as Spidey? Great stuff. Stealth as Miles or Mary Jane? Nope. Nope. NOPE. It removes the best parts of the game, traversal and combat. Not to mention it takes way too long and happens too often. Usually you have one or two gimmicks to help get around enemies but it's nowhere near as satisfying as secretly webbing up enemies when you're Spider-Man. It's too bad because anytime either of these characters get focus in the story, you know you're probably about to play as them and it puts a damper on all their scenes. This is the best depiction of MJ. She's not a model turned actress, she's a bad ass (kind of cheesy) journalist who isn't afraid to cross the line to get the story. This should be fun BUT it's not. I should mention that, while I complain, for reasons I won't explain, the last MJ section I played was great. But that one was pretty different than her and Miles' other sections.

 

10/10, GAME OF THE YEAR!!!