Whatcha Been Playing?

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
ThirdDrawing
Member
Posts: 571
Joined: October 13th, 2016, 2:33 pm
Location: Poverty Stricken StudentLand

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdDrawing »

I'm trying to finish the first Shenmue before I go to Tokyo for Halloween, so I can do the Shenmue tour while I'm there.

However I am also addicted to Persona Q which is a mix between a Megaten game and Etrian Odyssey.
User avatar
stvnorman
Member
Posts: 911
Joined: March 19th, 2013, 8:09 pm
Location: Keysoe, Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

I’ve now played Hollow Knight for over 36 hours and I’m done with it. Everything is just too hard now and I’m not enjoying it. Actually, I hate it! Incredible game but I’ve gone way past the point where it’s for me anymore. Worth the £7.99 I paid but gutted not to finish it!
User avatar
duskvstweak
Member
Posts: 1123
Joined: August 23rd, 2017, 6:40 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by duskvstweak »

I just started Resident Evil 2 last night. It actually scared me more than any game has before, that dumb licker jumping through the window...
Took me a few goes to gain any traction, I had to quit using the joystick and switch to the dpad to have any sense of direction and movement. Going from the Remaster to this one has been fun, jumping back in time.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

Still working my way through The Phantom Pain. Mechanically it’s a very solid game, all it’s moving parts mesh together well and the curve balls thrown by the missions that make you think on your feet are most welcome. The story telling in it is trying so hard to be worthy, but it’s as subtle as a house brick through your car window. And it’s at odds with the slightly jokey tone of some of the mechanics (it’s hard to take the plot seriously when I’m tying soldiers to balloons or distracting them with a cardboard box that has a photo of a bikini model stuck to it)

I also started Assassin’s Creed Odyssey last night and I’m enjoying it so far. It’s very very similar to Origins at the moment, which I’m fine with because I really liked that one, but it’s really not stepping very far outside the ‘Ubisoft Game!’ Formula, so if that doesn’t do it for you, this won’t.

(I get that a lot of people want every video game they play to be a fresh and new experience, and I love that stuff too, but I also place a lot of value in the idea of ‘comfort’ gaming, something familiar that I can relax into instead of being forced to engage deeply with. Maybe it’s an age thing)
User avatar
Stanshall
Member
Posts: 2370
Joined: January 31st, 2016, 6:45 am

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

I'm also enjoying AC Odyssey a great deal and I was just thinking something very similar to you then, Flabyo. It's pretty much the opposite of most stuff I enjoy but given that I've been very much up against it with work recently and sleeping pretty poorly, early starts and the like, it's been really nice to play something where the gameplay is just demanding enough when necessary but largely secondary to simply inhabiting that marvellous world. I even like that it's a little more mundane than Origins (so far). I have played a bit of DBFZ and Psyvariar Delta but when you're knackered, shmups and fighting games are an exercise in failure and frustration. The margins are also so fine and you're on constant high alert, I just don't have that in me at the moment. Looking forward to coming out the other side of this glut.

I've also been playing FIFA 19 on Switch after really enjoying last year's edition, my first in almost a decade. This has been a complete waste of money for me because it's virtually identical in-game. I don't really know what I expected. More fool me. It's a fantastic portable football game, but if you bought 18 there's no reason to cough up again unless you absolutely love FIFA, and in which case I imagine you'd be buying the full version elsewhere.

I tried Shenmue again but it's just not for me. I have neither nostalgia for the original release nor the inclination to overcome the control scheme. I can understand some of the impact it must have had from an objective standpoint and I do like the atmosphere but I have too much other stuff I enjoy playing to slog my way through this out of vicarious reverence.

I've also been giving Undertale another go because the music is so good. I'm not far in but it is very clever at times. I think the music is the star at this point but I understand something of the cult following for certain characters, too. Occasional chuckle which is rare for me with games which try to be funny. I'm intrigued to see where it goes.

Still in rotation:

Azure Reflections - Touhou spin-off hori shmup. This should be crap but it continues to be a lot of fun every time I play it. My only issue really is that individual levels aren't very different and they're quite dull compared to the superb boss fights.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate - I'm so glad to this came out. Years of gaming let in this, probably. So much more satisfying than World, which automated too much.

Fortnite - I don't know why I ever play this, because I will never win and I have no interest in learning how to build or what endgame play requires but I like to dip in and out and stealth around for the odd top ten finish. I wish it were PUBG, basically, but it ain't. Motion controls finally decent on the Switch, though.

Abandoned:

Dead Cells - Late game difficulty spikes killed my enthusiasm.

Hollow Knight - I don't understand the hype, borrows superficial elements from better games.

Octopath Traveler - When I heard that the stories are basically the same and don't even link up especially, my enthusiasm for the art and music dissipated immediately.

Paladins - Brilliant game but there are actually too many events and changes all the time, it's off-putting. I feel the same about Splatoon 2. Less is more, for me, anyway.

Ikaruga - I went back to try and see if I could eke out an S+ but my muscle memory has already faded too much. I don't have the will or interest to go down that path again.

SFV - Likewise, I dipped back in to see if I could approach it with fresh eyes but after playing a load of DBFZ, it seems even less fun and more frustrating than ever. Probably the most disappointed I've ever been with a game. I'm going to just write it off now and stop tormenting myself.

Early days:

Velocity 2X - bought on a whim, seems unusual.

Risk of Rain - deleted after ten minutes but I think there's probably something there so reinstalled.
User avatar
stvnorman
Member
Posts: 911
Joined: March 19th, 2013, 8:09 pm
Location: Keysoe, Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

I’m playing God of War 3 on PS4 and after dozens of hours on Owlboy, Mega Man 2, Bloodlines and Hollow Knight back to back, the controls feel awful! I don’t think the gameplay has aged very well either but it’s the mindless button-mashing violence I needed after the frustration of late game Hollow Knight. Also addicted to NES Balloon Fight on Switch!
User avatar
Craig
Member
Posts: 576
Joined: October 25th, 2015, 1:04 pm

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Craig »

Finished up Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze! Good stuff, but the second to last level with Rambi was a slog. It wanted me to go fast, but not too fast or I’d miss my jump, and then it would make me stop every so often, losing my momentum and often unable to build it back up on time to make the next jump. Exacerbated by being on ice. It didn’t really know what it wanted from me and overall just felt really clunky.

Not sure if I have the patience to get the kong letters, but let’s see.
User avatar
Chopper
Member
Posts: 1405
Joined: April 16th, 2013, 6:35 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

Is anybody playing AC Odyssey in Exploration Mode, where they do away with the icons and you need to find your way to quests using environmental clues? Curious as to how well it works.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

Chopper wrote: October 7th, 2018, 9:15 am Is anybody playing AC Odyssey in Exploration Mode, where they do away with the icons and you need to find your way to quests using environmental clues? Curious as to how well it works.
It isn’t anywhere near as dramatic as that to be honest. It might open out more later, but so far it’s just been the first step of some quests require you to work out where to go. It still uses the eagle to tag the actual target once you’re close enough, it doesn’t trust itself to completely stop holding your hand.

Instead of ‘go to this marker’ it’ll say on the quest description something like ‘it is in region X, south of landmark Y’. And some quests it still straight up drops a marker on the target. They absolutely have not done away with the icons.

It’s a start, but it’s not the completely free form thing people might’ve been expecting when they announced it.
User avatar
DomsBeard
Member
Posts: 3689
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:03 pm
Location: Doms Chin

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DomsBeard »

Chopper wrote: October 7th, 2018, 9:15 am Is anybody playing AC Odyssey in Exploration Mode, where they do away with the icons and you need to find your way to quests using environmental clues? Curious as to how well it works.
I have started it in exploration mode as it said it was the way it was meant to be played. I have not played an AC game since 2 (well I had a hour with Origins) so no idea how different it is to the others if at all.

It is very good so far. It looks great, all of the side quests I have found so far are interesting and there is a bounty hunter after me. The bounty hunter thing sounds interesting but will see how it plays out. The store to get loot etc is away in a completely separate menu. I wouldn't have looked at it had I not watched a video of someone moaning about it.
User avatar
Simonsloth
Member
Posts: 1639
Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 7:17 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

DomsBeard wrote: October 7th, 2018, 10:01 am
Chopper wrote: October 7th, 2018, 9:15 am Is anybody playing AC Odyssey in Exploration Mode, where they do away with the icons and you need to find your way to quests using environmental clues? Curious as to how well it works.
I have started it in exploration mode as it said it was the way it was meant to be played. I have not played an AC game since 2 (well I had a hour with Origins) so no idea how different it is to the others if at all.

It is very good so far. It looks great, all of the side quests I have found so far are interesting and there is a bounty hunter after me. The bounty hunter thing sounds interesting but will see how it plays out. The store to get loot etc is away in a completely separate menu. I wouldn't have looked at it had I not watched a video of someone moaning about it.
I had no idea about this. I find the Ubisoft open world template so overwhelming as I have to tick off every box/icon. The worst kind of open world game map is the one where icons don’t disappear when you complete the quest. To be able to turn these off might actuallly mean I give this one a go.
User avatar
Stanshall
Member
Posts: 2370
Joined: January 31st, 2016, 6:45 am

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

I am absolutely blown away by this. I've been playing it for about seven hours so far today, which I almost never ever do except with Souls or BotW. It's a fantastic execution of so many different shallow systems, and it's somehow much more satisfying than the usual Ubi collectathon. There's a massive Witcher 3 influence to the music, colour palette, dialogue trees, side quests, conversation framing and I definitely prefer this to that game. Origins had some pretty neat Souls-lite combat but this is an improvement again. Some of the moves like the Spartan kick feel absolutely fantastic, so satisfying to prang some fella with a poison arrow and then sprint and hoof him off a cliff while he's still paralysed.

It's honestly up there in my top five GOTY at this point. I am staggered that this is the case.
User avatar
Chopper
Member
Posts: 1405
Joined: April 16th, 2013, 6:35 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

Thanks for the AC Odyssey updates folks; sounds interesting but a bit flawed. And then there's the question of whether a significant number of people would actually use it. Kudos to Ubi for making the effort.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

The most amusing thing for me so far about Odyssey is that the plot is uncannily like the original plot we had for Fable 2 before we changed it. It’s actually a little eerie.
User avatar
Stanshall
Member
Posts: 2370
Joined: January 31st, 2016, 6:45 am

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

Chopper wrote: October 8th, 2018, 8:57 am Thanks for the AC Odyssey updates folks; sounds interesting but a bit flawed. And then there's the question of whether a significant number of people would actually use it. Kudos to Ubi for making the effort.
Are you referring to the XP upgrade? Seventeen hours in and it's not even registered for me. I suppose it depends on your willingness to do side quest stuff, which you probably should because they're really decent.
User avatar
Chopper
Member
Posts: 1405
Joined: April 16th, 2013, 6:35 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

No, I was referring to Exploration Mode (it may not be called that).

Edit: I am not playing anything. :D
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

The ‘real money” store in Odyssey isn’t really as front and centre as they’ve done it in the past, and the game itself hasn’t directed me to it at all yet. I think if you’re exploring and doing the side quests you’ll never be too low level for the main campaign, but I do get that some people like to just mainline the story in these games. I think if you do that here, you’ll struggle.

This one wants you to play it for the long haul. If you’re getting red dead at launch you probably want to hold off on ac, there won’t be time in the day to play both... heh.

It takes a lot of inspiration from elsewhere, as well as bringing back a few mechanics that Origins dropped. Most of it lands well, but the attempts at a BioWare style romance system don’t really work, it feels more like the parody of those systems that was done in Saints Row 4. (I’m playing as Kassandra and she has a thirst that would impress Johnny Bravo)
User avatar
DomsBeard
Member
Posts: 3689
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:03 pm
Location: Doms Chin

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DomsBeard »

Flabyo wrote: October 9th, 2018, 8:11 am The ‘real money” store in Odyssey isn’t really as front and centre as they’ve done it in the past, and the game itself hasn’t directed me to it at all yet. I think if you’re exploring and doing the side quests you’ll never be too low level for the main campaign, but I do get that some people like to just mainline the story in these games. I think if you do that here, you’ll struggle.

This one wants you to play it for the long haul. If you’re getting red dead at launch you probably want to hold off on ac, there won’t be time in the day to play both... heh.

It takes a lot of inspiration from elsewhere, as well as bringing back a few mechanics that Origins dropped. Most of it lands well, but the attempts at a BioWare style romance system don’t really work, it feels more like the parody of those systems that was done in Saints Row 4. (I’m playing as Kassandra and she has a thirst that would impress Johnny Bravo)
So I got to 1 level below a bounty hunter that was after me last night and decided to go get in his face. It ended with my first death :lol: . I have not had relations with anyone yet, story of my life!.

I am playing it as I did Skyrim just pottering around and seeing what quests pop up.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is dragging a little at the moment. I travelled halfway across Kamuorcho fighting people to be told I had to travel back across the map as the door was locked. I can smash peoples heads through windows but cannot pick a lock? :x

So I then saved my game and transferred to
Spoiler: show
Majima
where my mission at the start was to go to my office. Did my driver drop me off at the stop nearest my office or the other side of the map where I had to fight my way to the office?.
User avatar
Combine Hunter
Moderator
Posts: 892
Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:40 pm

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Combine Hunter »

I've been doing the Leon patented gaming tapas technique alongside playing FFVI for the show and I have some thoughts.

I wasn't planning on purchasing it, but a peer who will remain nameless managed to get me a copy of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and I've dipped in. I'm really conflicted. On the one hand I think the story and character stuff is the worst it has ever been. Not that these reboots were ever good at this, but this one is especially bad. However, I'm enjoying the actual play more than the other 2 entries. There are long stretches with almost no combat and they've fleshed out the traversal and exploration a lot. That combined with the option to turn off the environmental indicators that show you the main path, has made adventuring through the world a lot of fun. So, I kind of feel the same about this as Eidos Montreal's last game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Dumb insensitive story, A grade gameplay.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is superb. Largerly similar to the original in terms of mechanics, but the game has some really creative scenarios including a standout where you have to use clocktowers to give a mortar team co-ordinates when your radios stop working. Really great stuff.

Playing AC: Origins also and enjoying it, but kind of wishing I was playing Odyssey instead, based on what people are saying.
User avatar
Chopper
Member
Posts: 1405
Joined: April 16th, 2013, 6:35 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

Finished season 4 of my Out of the Park Baseball expansion league; it's a text sim like Football Manager, but for baseball.

Still looking to win the big one; as usual I was the best team in the regular season with 108 wins but this time I lost the World Series to the Dodgers, 4-3. My Cy Young-winning pitcher went down in the first game of the playoffs and was out for the duration ( :x ) and my other pitchers just couldn't do enough. My best batter also slumped, hitting .163.

At least I'm in the most interesting part of the game now, the offseason. Time to retool (again).
Post Reply