Truk_Kurt wrote: ↑November 16th, 2023, 2:43 pm
Unfortunately I think I'm done with Alan Wake 2. The atmosphere is great and story intriguing, but I'm not enjoying the combat at all and the last straw yesterday was a puzzle in the Coffee park gift shop that I just couldn't figure out. I had a word with myself and asked if I was actually enjoying myself overall or if I would rather be playing something else and decided it was probably the latter. Maybe I will go back to it at some point in a quiet period.
Thats a pity mate, although the puzzles dont get any easier, especially when playing as Alan. Im a firm believer that you need to be in a certain state of mind to play certain games. Maybe when you come back to it next year or so you'll enjoy it more.
As a matter of interest, Alan Wake 2 aside, have you ever played a game & bounced off it hard but ended up loving it when you returned? Id guess you have, like myself, you get through a lot of titles on a yearly basis.
Its happened to me loads of times, most notable in my memory is Batman Arkham Asylum, i really didnt like it when i played it on release but gave it another go roughly a year later & absolutely adored it.
I have but can only remember it happening the once and that was with Into the Breach which is now my favourite all time indie game. It's rare that I go back to games, even ones I love, let alone ones that I didn't like first time around. If a game has enough praise from people though I will sometimes try it again, the big example I can think of here is Hollow Knight which I have tried 4 times now to get into but every time I haven't enjoyed what I played so I've defenitely decided it's not for me now.
It's an odd one with Alan Wake 2 though because I really did enjoy the first game. So you'd think I'd enjoy this too but yeah, this time around the combat I just find really difficult for some reason unless I'm on story mode and for my own personal tastes I think I need a plot to be delivered in a more straight forward way so I can understand what's going on. I know the first game was very meta and obtuse too but 2 takes it to another level.
I started playing Baldurs Gate (Enhanced Edition) on Switch after really loving Divinity 2 earlier this year. Not quite sure what to make it it at the moment. I'm about 3 or 4 hours in so far and it's nowhere near the level Divinity was.
Combat is so simple, there's no tactics, it's just press attack and wait for something to happen. I've barely encountered any story yet and all the dialogue so far has seemed so unimportant and uninteresting. I know it's regarded as an all time great, perhaps it gets better. I'm only at the mines you have to investigate so far.
It's also really hard, largely owing to the complete randomness and lack of tactics in combat.
Put about 4 hours into Super Mario RPG and have been enjoying it a lot more than I expected. The closest thing to a JRPG I have played is the Pokemon games and Yakuza: Like a dragon. I heard that Super Mario RPG was a lighter take on the genre and a friend of mine claims the original is his favourite game ever, so I felt obliged to see what all the fuss is about.
I really like the turn based battle system which has more depth than I anticipated. It looks lovely and the writing can be pretty funny too. I checked How Long to Beat before deciding to get it as if it had been a 50 hours plus JRPG I probably wouldn't have bothered but it looks to be a much more manageable 12-15 hours.
The big test will be in the later game. Whilst I finished the Pokemon games I've played and Yakuza Like a Dragon, I grew bored of the combat towards the end but that could be due to those games lengths.
Still plugging away at FF IV and after a long period of grinding I am back into the story again and my party is shaping up to be quite formidable now. Also restarted Ape Escape as I started it up back in the middle of my Nier Replicant playthrough and thought it would be best it play it clean in one go. Quite an interesting title, it has a lot of personality and catching monkeys can be quite satisfying but the controls can definitely take some getting used to. Shows its age in certain spots but overall it is still quite enjoyable so far.
Tried out two PS4 demos: Colorful Boi and Sea of Stars. Colorful Boi is pretty much a rip off of Super Meat Boy without the blood. It is serviceable but offers up very little new and was overall just alright. Also I spotted some big typos in the demo such as the developer telling us to go to the Playstation store to get the "compleat" game. But now I am just being nit picky. Did not find this too special.
Sea of Stars, on the other hand, I dug quite a lot. Chrono trigger is one of my favourite JRPGs and so to play something inspired by it made me feel all nostalgic. Looks lovely and the battle system is really good where you must continually target weaknesses, attack to absorb magic and collect magic to unleash boosted attacks. The interplay between these elements make for a really fun battle system and ensures that I will definitely try and check this out sometime in the future. This game is not only influenced by Chrono Trigger but successfully builds upon gameplay elements to make it a worthwhile investment of your time. My backlog of JRPGs for the PS4 has gotten crazy long but it is so nice to see the genre is stronger than ever these days.
Truk_Kurt wrote: ↑November 21st, 2023, 9:42 am
Put about 4 hours into Super Mario RPG and have been enjoying it a lot more than I expected. The closest thing to a JRPG I have played is the Pokemon games and Yakuza: Like a dragon. I heard that Super Mario RPG was a lighter take on the genre and a friend of mine claims the original is his favourite game ever, so I felt obliged to see what all the fuss is about.
I really like the turn based battle system which has more depth than I anticipated. It looks lovely and the writing can be pretty funny too. I checked How Long to Beat before deciding to get it as if it had been a 50 hours plus JRPG I probably wouldn't have bothered but it looks to be a much more manageable 12-15 hours.
The big test will be in the later game. Whilst I finished the Pokemon games I've played and Yakuza Like a Dragon, I grew bored of the combat towards the end but that could be due to those games lengths.
You should try South Park The Stick Of Truth (mileage may vary depending on your view of the show) but the combat is lifted directly from the Mario RPG series with the attack boosting and stuff.
Truk_Kurt wrote: ↑November 21st, 2023, 9:42 am
Put about 4 hours into Super Mario RPG and have been enjoying it a lot more than I expected. The closest thing to a JRPG I have played is the Pokemon games and Yakuza: Like a dragon. I heard that Super Mario RPG was a lighter take on the genre and a friend of mine claims the original is his favourite game ever, so I felt obliged to see what all the fuss is about.
I really like the turn based battle system which has more depth than I anticipated. It looks lovely and the writing can be pretty funny too. I checked How Long to Beat before deciding to get it as if it had been a 50 hours plus JRPG I probably wouldn't have bothered but it looks to be a much more manageable 12-15 hours.
The big test will be in the later game. Whilst I finished the Pokemon games I've played and Yakuza Like a Dragon, I grew bored of the combat towards the end but that could be due to those games lengths.
You should try South Park The Stick Of Truth (mileage may vary depending on your view of the show) but the combat is lifted directly from the Mario RPG series with the attack boosting and stuff.
Yeah I heard that but afraid the show doesn't do anything for me.
Watch_Dogs - PS3 & PS4 versions. Enjoyed everything about WD. One of the most enjoyable open-world games I've ever played. 9.5/10
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Replayed on PS3. Still looks great and plays well enough in 2023. Very enjoyable game. 7/10
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - PS3. Started it a few days ago and having a really great time with it so far. Missions can be a bit frustrating but the world is stunning and enjoyable to explore. A big improvement on Revelations and III IMO. 8/10 so far.
rob25X wrote: ↑November 23rd, 2023, 7:51 pmAssassin's Creed: Black Flag - PS3. Started it a few days ago and having a really great time with it so far. Missions can be a bit frustrating but the world is stunning and enjoyable to explore. A big improvement on Revelations and III IMO. 8/10 so far.
I had a strange urge to play Black Flag again the other day and having never played Rogue went and added the Rebel Collection to my Switch wishlist. Not sure where this sudden desire has come from, I like the game enough but already finished it twice and it's not even my favourite 'classic' Assassin's Creed!
rob25X wrote: ↑November 23rd, 2023, 7:51 pmAssassin's Creed: Black Flag - PS3. Started it a few days ago and having a really great time with it so far. Missions can be a bit frustrating but the world is stunning and enjoyable to explore. A big improvement on Revelations and III IMO. 8/10 so far.
I had a strange urge to play Black Flag again the other day and having never played Rogue went and added the Rebel Collection to my Switch wishlist. Not sure where this sudden desire has come from, I like the game enough but already finished it twice and it's not even my favourite 'classic' Assassin's Creed!
Playing Watch_Dogs got me thinking about Assassin's Creed a lot so I decided to play them. I'm certainly glad I've given Black Flag a chance. Origins will probably be my next one, that game looks incredible.
Because once I get an idea in my head I cannot ignore it and am stupidly impatient I went and ordered Black Flag and Rogue on Switch today. Oops. Really looking forward to playing it again though, especially in handheld. It's a great port by all accounts.
Cool, I think I might start again as I've forgotten most of what I did already! I know I didn't get to the end of the card game.
***
Just picked up Dying Light Definitive Edition for Xbox for £9. Looking forward to playing that again, I never played The Following addon either, so that will be cool.
I finished Ape Escape, well I beat the final boss and saw the credits. But I don't consider this properly finished until I catch every monkey. Been really enjoying earlier levels with all my gadgets and scouring the remaining monkeys. I actually think this game gets a lot better when you have the full tool set available to you, really makes dealing with some of the escaped apes much easier.
Also been trying out a ROM hack of Pokemon Fire Red, Pokemon Radical Red. It has every Pokemon up to Gen 9 with an equally expanded moveset, added mega evolutions, HMs are no longer needed to be taught to Pokemon to move around the world and so much more. Some of the Pokemon from Gens 8 and 9 really appealed to me but even if I had a Switch, the new Pokemon games are just not up to modern standards and way too janky for what they charge so I would rather not support this half-assed approach Gamefreak is taking with the series lately. So having all these new Pokemon in a lovely GBA era package is quite the treat and I am enjoying the new monsters a lot. But the most significant change to the game is the level cap that is introduced that ensures that you do not overlevel your pokemon and steamroll the gym leaders like you would do typically. Now gym leader battles and even some minor trainer battles are a good deal tougher and require a ton more strategy to defeat them. As a result, this is easily the most challenging Pokemon game I have ever played and the battles are a much more tense affair now. I have had occasions where I was down to my last Pokemon with just a sliver of health but so was my opponent and I would manage to out-speed them and take them out. I honestly love this and battling is now so much more intricate and tense because of this simple little tweak. All gym leaders will also have wildcard Pokemon that will not be their usual type and they can really take you unawares if you are not prepared for them. I am about to fight Lt. Surge and so far this has been a complete blast. This ROM hack has made me a fan of the series again. Gamefreak, take notes.
I am done with Armored Core 6. I've never been a fan of mech games, but really wanted to give this one a try given Fromsoft's track record for the last 10 or so years. I just don't feel that same Fromsoft magic in this game. The characters, world, and lore aren't particularly interesting or engaging. The combat is simultaneously boring, when flying through the levels that all look the same mowing down countless enemies that are of no consequence, and irritating, when getting to the bosses because success against them is based less on skill and more on do you happen to have the right equipment on and I don't find tinkering in the garage that engaging.
To cleanse my palette, I started a new play through of Dark Souls 3. It's the first playthrough I've done on my PS5 and the FPS boost is beautiful. I'm considering a twin blade build since I've never done that. I've made my way up to the Cathedral of the Deep thus far and give me more this style game. As good as Elden Ring was, that massive open world made getting to the legacy dungeons so unnecessarily long, when those were in fact the best content in the game. Making it more streamlined like a traditional Dark Souls game means better content closer together and less filler.
