Whatcha Been Playing?

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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

I've been off ill almost the whole week now and I've been getting really into Battlefield V. For a game that's been so thoroughly ruined by the SJWs, it's bloody brilliant. I did play a fair bit of BF1 and enjoyed the atmosphere but I found it quite limited in terms of gunplay (though I appreciate that's WW1 for you!). This is more sophisticated in terms of weaponry and gadgets but it also feels more tactical and slower-paced. The trench warfare and bayonets and mustard gas from BF1 were incredibly intense and hostile but this feels more dynamic and varied. It's also stunning at times, with some of the prettier locales really bringing the dissonant horror of sniping someone in the throat across a gorgeous field of tulips beneath a sapphire sky. It's thirty quid on both PSN and XBO from today and I couldn't recommend it enough for fans of shooting a man or a woman.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Stanshall wrote: December 21st, 2018, 7:00 pmFor a game that's been so thoroughly ruined by the SJWs
What's this?
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

I suspect sarcasm. At least I hope it is.
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fieldy
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by fieldy »

Finally did something this month I never thought I could, I managed to beat every single boss in Bloodborne (Including DLC) Started out not being sure about this game but the world just kept drawing me in and I eventually levelled up enough to be able to trounce the bosses. Special mention must go to the creature design - amazing, grotesque and actually scary!
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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

Alex79uk wrote: December 21st, 2018, 7:43 pm
Stanshall wrote: December 21st, 2018, 7:00 pmFor a game that's been so thoroughly ruined by the SJWs
What's this?
They put women in the game so the usual tossers didn't buy it. I'm not even joking.

I was being ironic in my post above to contrast how bloody good it is despite the furore.
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DomsBeard
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DomsBeard »

Stanshall wrote: December 21st, 2018, 8:13 pm
Alex79uk wrote: December 21st, 2018, 7:43 pm
Stanshall wrote: December 21st, 2018, 7:00 pmFor a game that's been so thoroughly ruined by the SJWs
What's this?
They put women in the game so the usual tossers didn't buy it. I'm not even joking.

I was being ironic in my post above to contrast how bloody good it is despite the furore.
Yep Battlefield V is amazing. Up to level 23 and it only feels like I have been playing it 5 minutes. Are you on xbox? I am on most nights
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Still chugging away at Darksiders 3. I'm pretty near the end of it by now I think. Still enjoying it on the whole, but I've got mixed feelings about it. I'll go in to more detail in the Games Completed thread, but as it stands this is easily my least favourite of the series, even though I am still having an overall good time with it. But I've got a lot of messy thoughts about the reception this game got in reviews, expectations vs. reality, design trends, etc. Still collating those right now.

But there is a reason to talk about it this time though. They recently released an update for the game which is quite significant. They added an option that tweaks the combat in some key areas. They call it "Classic Mode", under the idea that it's supposed to make the combat feel more like the previous games. It does, but only to an extent. They made it so you can cancel out of attack animations with a dodge, and removed the healing animations so that it's just instant. They had this patch as an opt-in branch on PC for a little while before this wider release, so I've had a little extra time to play with it. It doesn't completely change the combat, and it definitely feels much closer to how it always has been than to any other Darksiders game. But it does speed up the pace of combat quite a lot. It, and lets you be more aggressive. Feels noticeably more responsive. It also helps in those moments where you get ambushed and feel unfairly overwhelmed by enemies. Now it feels like you can actually react and do something about it. I'm not so sure on the healing animation thing though. I feel like that is perhaps a bit too forgiving, and means you can rely on items way more than you were able to before, to the point of feeling a bit cheap. Speeding up the animations would have been a good compromise, but taking them out completely is perhaps a step too far. Maybe the issue isn't so bad on higher difficulties though. Right now I'm playing on the "Balanced" mode. I think you can change difficulty mid-game, but I'd rather wait until NG+ to do that, if/when I get around to that.

Also picked up Smash Ultimate. That's a good game, innit?

Smash usually doesn't appeal to me. I tend to think of it as something meant much more for local multiplayer than anything else, whether you think of it as a casual party game or take it more seriously. As someone who doesn't really have anyone to do that with locally, at least at my place, it seemed like I wouldn't be able to get much out of it. Add that to my general incompetence at fighting games, and confusion at this game's control scheme, it seemed like something I would just avoid without much thought. I also did pick up Brawl back in the day, and never liked how much control lag that game had. Obviously other games in the series don't have that issue, but still. But anyway, all the hype leading up to the release of this game caught my attention. But I was only sold recently from watching streamers I follow playing it. So I caved and picked it up.

And what a shock! It's great. Combat feels really chunky and fun, and the whole pantomime surrounding it is great too. I've yet to dig in to World of Light, and have just been enjoying playing random battles against AI for now. But I am pretty terrible at it. Still trying to get my head around the control scheme, and what inputs do exactly what, and in the default rule set I more often win by time out rather than actually beating the opponent, at a measly level 3 AI. But hey, it's still fun. And I managed to unlock Inkling and Bayonetta already, so that's cool too.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

It might be the last game I buy this year, but so far, Gris on Switch is shaping up to be my favourite. It’s absolutely stunning, and I really struggled to tear myself away from it when family duties (going to watch MK Dons!) called this afternoon. Has that same powerful emotional effect that I found in Journey, and isn’t so different to play despite it being a platformer (though that is doing it a disservice), but the visuals and sound are really something else. Beautiful game.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Alex79uk wrote: December 16th, 2018, 2:40 pm I've been wanting to play Spider-Man since it came out, and my sister has now lent me her copy. Seeing as all my gaming time (what little I seem to have) is dedicated to Red Dead Redemption 2 at the moment, it looked unlikely I was going to be able to get a go on Spidey any time soon.

UNTIL...

...I remembered that Ellis (aged three and a half) is obsessed with superheroes, and was absolutely delighted when I asked him if he wanted to play a Spider-Man game. Installing now and will be passing the pad shortly!

Watching him fumble around with the controls on his turns is a small price to pay for some cheeky out of hours gaming!

:lol:
So, a week later, and unbelievably we still haven't been able to actually play this. Every single time we've tried there's has been a huge update to download. So we leave it updating, then don't have time to play it. Try another day - oh, another update! So far we've had to download over 60gb of patches, which is a piss-take.

Hoping we get to play it at some point in the future, but not holding my breath.

EDIT: Aaaand we're in! My god this game is gorgeous! And what fun! Currently playing pass the pad with Elliot who's 12, and Ellis who's 3, whilst Conor aged 2 is cheering from the side lines. Fun for all the family!

Except my girlfriend, who's upstairs wrapping presents :lol:
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I had about £25 of Google Play store credit built up (and I'll say it again because I'm not sure people are using it, but you have to download the Google Rewards App!! All you do is click a couple of buttons every now and then when it notifies you of a survey, they're never more than three questions, and you can earn up to 50p a time! In the last two years I've earned over £70! It all goes on paid for apps, I haven't spent my own money on an app since using it!) so I download the HD version of Prof. Layton and the Curious Village.

Played a bit this morning, and it's the same game as the DS original but looks stunning in HD. The cut scenes are like watching a movie! Still a lot of fun, although I remember the early puzzles too well having played the DS game a ton, never finished it though so hoping I can get all the way through it this time as it'll be a lot handier on my phone and should make a tedious few days with the in-laws fly by! :lol:
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ColinAlonso »

Nice to hear about the cutscenes. I played the DS version earlier this year and it seemed the picture and sound quality took a hit so it could all be crammed onto the cart.

Currently got a few games on the go. I'm halfway through the second disc on Final Fantasy VIII. I think I get what they were trying to do with Squall's arc but I'm just not invested in it. The missile base infiltration is pretty cool. I remembered NORG as being irrelevant to the plot but he's the one who gives an interesting piece of information about the sorceress to Squall. Fisherman's Horizon has fantastic music (The Distant Worlds version is glorious). I'm happily going through the game but it's on hold over Christmas as I usually play while commuting.
Spoiler: show
MILITARY ACADEMY HOVERCRAFT!!! Silliest thing to happen in the game so far. Using it in the world map is ridiculous.
Got swept up in the Super Smash Bros Ultimate hype. I'm as bad as I expected to be. I've only really played the World of Light mode. Unlocked the Inkling, Sonic, Cloud and all three Links so I'm pretty happy now. Secretly liked fighter: Wii Fit Trainer.

Playing Pyre as well. I like the characters and the world. I like the Rites(games) as well but I constantly feel like I'm just a bit off those fully clicking with me. Another great soundtrack from Darren Korb too.
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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

Colin, I can recommend Classic Mode to unlock characters much much faster, by the way. It's a much better balanced and structured single player game that way, I reckon. WoL is fun and a bit different but it can be really frustrating and the 'actual' game bears little resemblance to its somewhat weird challenge-based setup.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Yes, merry Christmas to you too and to everyone else, of course. :)

Aaalmost done with RDR2. One entire month of this nonsense!
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

KSubzero1000 wrote: December 25th, 2018, 10:58 am Aaalmost done with RDR2. One entire month of this nonsense!
Have you enjoyed it?
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Alex79uk wrote: December 25th, 2018, 1:22 pm Have you enjoyed it?
I most certainly have, although it is a bit too long for its own good, I think.

I'll make sure to post some more detailed thoughts in the thread as soon as I'm done.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I'm genuinely pleased about this, and, if I'm being completely honest, a little surprised! I just didn't think you'd be a fan of what is, despite it probably being the pinnacle of its given sub-genre, quite outdated in many ways.

I'm loving it. If I had to level one criticism at it, which I don't really want to, I'd say gun combat is its weakest link, but as an overall package - exceptional.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Alex79uk wrote: December 25th, 2018, 3:11 pm I'm genuinely pleased about this, and, if I'm being completely honest, a little surprised! I just didn't think you'd be a fan of what is, despite it probably being the pinnacle of its given sub-genre, quite outdated in many ways.
I'm not a fan of this sub-genre as you say, but I always try to formulate the fairest assessment I possibly can when playing a game. I don't think I'd be doing myself or the devs a favor by dismissing it preemptively. And it'd be intellectually dishonest of me to kick up a fuss about other people not giving the RE or TLG formulas a fair shot while doing the same about RDR in return. Within what it's trying to do, I think it's very well executed.

It's interesting you would label it as "outdated" though, because to me, this game is very much representative of most modern western design trends. In both good and bad.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

No games for me today. I’m eating into my electricity bill though as I’ve had to leave demons souls on mid level as I got quite far the other day.

My wife bought me dropmix with loads of extras for a ludicrously cheap £29. I added the base pack to my wishylist when it was £120 so what a bargain! After Ryan’s sound Of play extravaganza I had to get it!
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

KSubzero1000 wrote: December 25th, 2018, 3:46 pm
It's interesting you would label it as "outdated" though, because to me, this game is very much representative of most modern western design trends. In both good and bad.
Oh I agree, I don't mean outdated as in its been bettered by other games, I just mean outdated as in its a formula that has been used for around 15 years without really evolving much.

Note: I have not yet played Breath Of The Wild, which many people say truly is the evolution of the open world game design.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Simonsloth wrote: December 25th, 2018, 4:04 pm I’m eating into my electricity bill though as I’ve had to leave demons souls on mid level as I got quite far the other day.
My memory may be failing me here, but does it not save at your exact location when you exit the game? All the other Souls games do.
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