Whatcha Been Playing?

[Craig]

Most idiosyncratic games tend to have a fairly steep learning curve at the beginning, simply due to how much we are used to standardized control schemes and mechanics, especially nowadays. Rocket League is no exception. It took me several weeks before I felt like I had a firm grasp on even the most basic mechanics.

I hope you'll stick with it a bit longer, because it really is a special and gratifying experience once it clicks. The training mode where it's just you and the ball did wonders for me.

Yeah I can see that, and I can see how it would be gripping to many folks but I don’t think I have the patience to get over the hump with so many other games and things in life distracting me. I’ve went through the training mode, but I found it a bit dull.

I think the main issue is a personal one with this multiplayer centric games - I just don’t feel myself getting any better and don’t have the patience to. With a single player game it’s generally designed to give you enough room to learn and manage the challenge whereas you can’t do that as much in multiplayer. Even if I’m in a game with all newbies and we’re all terrible, there’s not much guiding me to become better.

I’ll give it a shelf and then perhaps revisit it during the a Christmas break.

[Stanshall]

Amen to vanilla Skyrim (kinda). I was falling in love all over again with the game on One X with loads of graphical mods installed and I was spending a good half hour before bed each night wandering round while my wife read her book. Really beautiful relaxing escapism. Then I downloaded cheat stuff and various things which broke the balance and temporality and it killed my enjoyment stone dead. Fast forward a few weeks to the release of the Switch version and I'm right back into it, feeling the love. It's not an inherently mechanically enjoyable game and so if you destroy its motivators and rewards, you're only left with a purposeless walking simulator. Coincidentally, that's pretty much how I play it for the most part but some sense of threat and discovery is a massive part of the charm and what makes it so immersive.

[Pitwar]

After originally playing it when it was first released on the PS3, I've decided to play Skyrim again but this time on PS4.

When I first played it, I "finished" it as far as doing the main missions, and didn't really explore, to the point where I heavily relied on fast travel. So to say I missed out on a great experience would be a total understatement.

So this time I've decided to not follow the story as such, and just do whatever missions appear that take my fancy. I've also made a pact with myself not to fast travel, so I can enjoy the world and stumble on what comes my way.

[Chopper]

Ughh. What a disappointing week I've had.
.......
I'm not sure where to go from here. Maybe Hyper Light Drifter has what I'm looking for...

Let us know how that goes.

I'm amazed that, anecdotally at least, the release of Skyrim on Switch and PSVR has resulted in an uptake across all platforms. It really has some staying power, that game.

I'm playing a little Ghost Recon Wildlands. I fancied a pretty open world with a bit of tactical combat. It's a bit of an adolescent's fever dream with all the military/black ops jargon and oo-rah-ing.

Early days yet but the gameplay loop seems unsatisfying. I may be misunderstanding it but you do teeny weeny minor missions to reveal icons on the map (other intelligence, skill point locations, locations of supplies) and then when you've done x amount of those, the game gives you a bigger piece of 'intel' which is another minor mission to progress the main plot. These eventually culminate in an area boss mission, I'm guessing, at which point you move on to the next area.

[Pitwar]

I'm amazed that, anecdotally at least, the release of Skyrim on Switch and PSVR has resulted in an uptake across all platforms. It really

I was holding out to play Skyrim again on PSVR, but as soon as I found out that you don't also get the regular version included I decided to just buy the normal PS4 copy.

It's a shame, because while I do love VR, sometimes you just want to play a game like this on the TV. I was hoping it would have been similar to RE7 where you have the option to switch.

[Chopper]

Oh the PSVR version is only VR? That's a bit of a bummer.

Edit: the regular version must still be making them a ton of money. Fallout 4 is available for 20 bucks in some places, but I don't think I've ever seen Skyrim discounted that deeply. Maybe I'm being selective with my memory though.

[Stanshall]

I think the remaster is currently on sale for about that on XBox, but don't know because it's already installed so can't see the price!

[Pitwar]

I think the remaster is currently on sale for about that on XBox, but don't know because it's already installed so can't see the price!

Yeah, it's pretty cheap. I picked up the PS4 version from Argos for £25.

[DomsBeard]

After originally playing it when it was first released on the PS3, I've decided to play Skyrim again but this time on PS4.

When I first played it, I "finished" it as far as doing the main missions, and didn't really explore, to the point where I heavily relied on fast travel. So to say I missed out on a great experience would be a total understatement.

So this time I've decided to not follow the story as such, and just do whatever missions appear that take my fancy. I've also made a pact with myself not to fast travel, so I can enjoy the world and stumble on what comes my way.

Best way to play it. I never fast travelled in my 360 playthrough. I am fast travelling in VR though. I cannot imagine playing it for hours at a time.

[Samdowned]

I remember my second play of Skyrim comprised of 50 hours spent mastering black smithing and enchanting in the quest for epic loot! Fonder memories than any actual quest.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

After receiving my 200 gig SD in the mail, I plugged it right into my new Switch, updated the system, and made my way to the eshop to download Gunbird, which comes in at a whopping 76MB! Oh yeah!

The sequel is a lot better, and I'm sure it'll find its way to the eshop in future, but the original Gunbird is still pretty good. I took advance of the form-factor by rotating the screen 90 degrees, sliding my Joy Con's into the controller, and playing in Tate mode. I still had to squint a bit, but it's still pretty neat.

The port doesn't have the level of polish that an M2 release would have, but there's enough options to play around with, and that form factor does make for a unique and fun experience. Hopefully, more vertical shmups will head Switch-ways in the future.

[Pitwar]

I played a bit more Skyrim yesterday, and while I was playing all I kept thinking was maybe I should get the Switch version.

Has anyone played both the PS4 version and the Switch version and can let me know if there's much of a difference? I'm currently playing on a Pro so know to expect a drop in graphics, but what's the overall performance like?

[Craig]

Bought and played through Teslagrad this weekend - great little game! A few frustrating bits (mostly boss fights) but overall a wonderful little package.

[Alex79]

I'm sure that was on PS+ ages ago and I dismissed it as looking a bit rubbish. Worth a play, then?

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I have been playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and I've been playing it within a certain context:

1. I turned off the phone data, and only play with wifi, at work.
2. On the lead up to Christmas, things are very slow at work, hence why I'm okay with playing this game

And yeah, it is what it is. Within the slow working week it's a distraction, and I have no interest on dropping any money on anything within this game, so no harm.

If they just did a proper, full-retail price, pay-once version off this game, I'd actually be more inclined to spend real money. But as it stands, it's pretty shallow, and once the working day is over, I'm not playing it.

Has anyone else been dabbling in this game?

[Stanshall]

I played a bit more Skyrim yesterday, and while I was playing all I kept thinking was maybe I should get the Switch version.

Has anyone played both the PS4 version and the Switch version and can let me know if there's much of a difference? I'm currently playing on a Pro so know to expect a drop in graphics, but what's the overall performance like?

Switch performance of Skyrim is extremely solid. It's clearly based off the Special Edition, and is a very good approximation of vanilla SE Skyrim on PS4. I had been expecting something more like the PS3 version but it's much better than that.

Now, obviously, draw distance and textures aren't up to the PS4 Pro version, and it doesn't have mods, but I've already played much more of the Switch version, in handheld, than I have of the PS4 version I bought day one last year. It's just remarkable having that game on handheld, running so well. It's supposedly the most consistently performing version of the game, and I'd believe that. It feels like quality.

[Suits]

Pretty much what Standhall said, although I will add that after the initial game load, section loads between areas are quick, just as quick as the Xbox in my experience anyway.

This was a concern for me, as the 360 version of Skyrim was terrible after 100+ hours regards it’s load times and rather off-putting.

[Pitwar]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I'm definitely leaning towards picking up the Switch version. I can live with a drop in looks if I'm going to invest more time in it.

I'll keep you posted.

[Suits]

Worth noting too, that I personally was surprised how well the Swicth version looked, out performed my expectations.

[Chopper]

I've been playing a couple of games that I'm on the verge of uninstalling (probably tonight).

Everybody's Golf is fine for what it is, but doesn't really suit my tastes. I'm not fond of the two-button control scheme for golfing games, and don't generally like power ups, club modifications etc (I know, I'm a fun-free zone). There are a small number of courses that you seem to have to play over and over in order to unlock the next one, and there's a load of chatting to people and running around the hub in between ("A gift has appeared somewhere in the home area, see if you can find it!").

Playing the courses can be fun, but there's too much fluff around it.

Ghost Recon Wildlands is disappointing for other reasons. I was looking forward to a big sandbox to play in but the missions are so samey that I don't even feel compelled to explore beyond the opening area. All the missions are variations on 'clear out the enemy base', whether that base is three men in a shack in the jungle, or a full scale military installation with attack helicopters. There are a couple of other mission types - attack the convoy, steal the supplies etc, but it's quite dull.