Whatcha Been Playing?

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

Enjoying playing the various games in the capcom beat em up collection.

Final fight is, well, final fight.

King of Dragons is the most dated feeling of the games, but has some pretty inventive bosses and is also the least ‘cheap’ when it comes to just spamming stuff at you.

Knights of the Round is pretty decent, and being able to play the Japanese version you can see that they changed the bald black player character in that version to a blonde haired white guy for the western version.

Warriors of Fate is a another trip into localisation oddness. In Japan it’s actually based on an anime adaptation of part of Three Kingdoms. The western version has had all the names changed into generic fantasy stuff and it’s trying very hard to pretend this isn’t China the game is set in, despite the map in the intro clearly being of China (Yes, I am a Three Kingdoms geek so I spotted this immediately. I can even tell you which stories from three kingdoms the game is adapting...)

Captain Commando feels oddly flat, I remember this one being better than this. Once you’re past the amusing player character designs there’s not a lot going on here.

The other two I’ve not dove into a lot yet. Armoured warriors looks to be a sprite scaling monster of a game, looks very Neo Geo actually. My quick online game of it was a chaotic mess, I need to take a proper look at it solo first I think.

And a brief look at the control setup for Bartle Circuit shows that might be the most complex game in the genre I’ve ever seen, the characters all seem to have unique special moves with street fighter style button inputs.

The online play is very variable. If you’re lucky you don’t notice any lag at all, but most of the time there’s clearly slowdown, and sometimes it’s so bad it’s unplayable. Defintely at its best when played local co-op.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

KSubzero1000 wrote:with a twist![/i]". Braid, Limbo, Inside, Celeste, Shovel Knight, Spelunky, Fez, Thomas Was Alone, Axiom Verge or Hollow Knight can all be classified under that category. All above average to great games, but not only do I think that most of them will have a hard time to compete with the best that 2D Mario, Mega Man or Metroid have to offer,
Most of those are puzzle games first, platform game second. I don't think Limbo, for example, ever set out to compete with Mario.
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Played a bit of Wargroove at EGX and as a fan of Advance Wars I was impressed
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

Hollow Knight really is a stunner. Playing on the Switch, and have reached a point about six hours in where everything kind of clicked. Also put a bit of time into the Switch Online NES Donkey Kong after dabbling with the original arcade version on there over last couple of months. One is much easier than the other!
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Alex79uk wrote: September 23rd, 2018, 1:42 am Most of those are puzzle games first, platform game second. I don't think Limbo, for example, ever set out to compete with Mario.
Fair enough, although I would personally view it the other way around considering how their core mechanics and basic controls are centered around jumping and stage progression. But Braid, Limbo, Inside, Fez & TWA are definitely puzzle-platformer hybrids, so that's a moot point. Spelunky, Shovel Knight & Celeste on the other hand are more conventional platformers, while Axiom Verge & Hollow Knight are fairly straightforward Metroidvanias.

I totally take your point about Limbo not competing with Mario, but there's still the issue of all these puzzle-platformers competing with each other for the player's time and attention. Perhaps it's just me being a bit close-minded, and I get that 2D games are comparatively cheap and easy to make and therefore a great starting point for a new studio and young developers trying to find their feet, but it's hard not to get some massive déjà vu whenever the latest indie side-scrolling puzzle-platformer is being announced. The most recent example being The Gardens Between.
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Craig
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Craig »

dezm0nd wrote: September 23rd, 2018, 7:16 am Played a bit of Wargroove at EGX and as a fan of Advance Wars I was impressed
Good to hear! I’ve had my eye on this one ever since it was announced.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ColinAlonso »

I hadn't heard of it (or I forgot), but I will also keep an eye out for it.

Anyway, I got a new phone, put Threes on it and played a few games for the first time in ages.
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Michiel K
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Michiel K »

Played a mix of things today, in between other activities: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U), Mario + Rabbids: Kindom Battle and Samurai Aces. My kids are further in than I am on the first two games, so they were backseat gaming, giving me lots of advice.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ratsoalbion »

Who’s your pick in Samurai Aces? I haven’t settled yet.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

Michiel K wrote: September 23rd, 2018, 8:27 pm Played a mix of things today, in between other activities: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U), Mario + Rabbids: Kindom Battle and Samurai Aces. My kids are further in than I am on the first two games, so they were backseat gaming, giving me lots of advice.
Haha I love that your kids were giving you pointers!
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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

ratsoalbion wrote: September 23rd, 2018, 8:43 pm Who’s your pick in Samurai Aces? I haven’t settled yet.
Interrupting here but I must say I do love the dog bloke. Great shot spray and the spinning wheels look like they do some damage. Also, I can't resist lines like, "I'm the true king of the beasts, unlike you worthless scum!" What a charmer.
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Michiel K
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Michiel K »

Haven't quite settled either, but this time I picked TURBO MONK TENGAI and made it to Stage 4 on one credit. Love the ominous chanting he does when he drops his bomb of holy smiting.
Simonsloth wrote: September 23rd, 2018, 8:44 pm Haha I love that your kids were giving you pointers!
Ha, yeah. I found it quite charming. Now that I think about it, that was the first time I actually played Captain Toad myself, since I got it and with every new stage they were going "Oh, this is a good one!" :P
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Think I’m finally done with Far Cry 5. I could go into the arcade mode or get the DLc but after so much time in the main game I feel I need a break from it.

Really enjoyed it purely as a toy box experience. The story didn’t do much for me so I ended up skipping a majority and don’t feel ive lost out.

What’s next? Not entirely sure. Rocket Leahe for pickup and play but I need something to keep me going until Red Dead 2
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

I played a bit of Kerbal Space Program on the PS4 at the weekend, and it's probably not for me. Disregarding the UI (you use the stick to navigate menus, and not the D-pad, which must be a contravention of human rights), I found the flight controls pretty baffling. They are the pitch and yaw model, but when combined with a possibly unstable spacecraft that you've just jury-rigged together, they are fatal, often literally.

I got some objectives done (got a dude into orbit and home safely), but there are too many factors working against me to make it fun so I probably won't go back.

I think I have also finished with this year's MLB The Show. I imported a Road to the Show save from last year, so my guy had already made it to the Majors, and was his club's best pitcher by results (if not by attributes). So when we made the postseason and the game chose the guys with the best attributes to pitch, that was a killer. I only got one game in the postseason (none in NLDS, one in the NLCS where I pitched a nine-inning shutout, and none in the World Series. So that is a bit of a disaster on the game's part. There's no point me playing through another whole season and hoping my attributes are higher than other guys'. Great game, big flaw.

And Spintires. So, so good. Still playing.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

Chopper wrote: September 24th, 2018, 4:35 pm I played a bit of Kerbal Space Program on the PS4 at the weekend, and it's probably not for me. Disregarding the UI (you use the stick to navigate menus, and not the D-pad, which must be a contravention of human rights), I found the flight controls pretty baffling. They are the pitch and yaw model, but when combined with a possibly unstable spacecraft that you've just jury-rigged together, they are fatal, often literally.
I downloaded that ages ago, and have barely played it due to it not being optimised control-wise to the PS4. I think mouse and keyboard are the only real way to get the most out of KSP.

...though Spintires is currently in my wishlist... next payday...
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: September 24th, 2018, 11:35 pm I downloaded that ages ago, and have barely played it due to it not being optimised control-wise to the PS4. I think mouse and keyboard are the only real way to get the most out of KSP.

...though Spintires is currently in my wishlist... next payday...
Aye, and being able to tab out to do an internet search would also add a lot, I think. Though any time I did search, it turned up pages full of exit velocity calculations etc, so that was another downer :)

Spintires is on sale here till 3 Oct; hope you like it if you do pick it up, it's a unique proposition.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

Chopper wrote: September 25th, 2018, 6:56 am
Joshihatsumitsu wrote: September 24th, 2018, 11:35 pm I downloaded that ages ago, and have barely played it due to it not being optimised control-wise to the PS4. I think mouse and keyboard are the only real way to get the most out of KSP.

...though Spintires is currently in my wishlist... next payday...
Aye, and being able to tab out to do an internet search would also add a lot, I think. Though any time I did search, it turned up pages full of exit velocity calculations etc, so that was another downer :)

Spintires is on sale here till 3 Oct; hope you like it if you do pick it up, it's a unique proposition.
I bought spintires but haven’t played it yet. Have you had a go at the multiplayer? Could get a spintires community night going haha
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

I recently acquired (courtesy of Mak Japan) a Zero Wing PCB, so I swapped out the Progear CPS2 in my sit-down cab, and also swapped out the Dodonpachi DaiOuJou PCB for Tatsujin in the cocktail cab, and had myself a Toaplan history lesson... oh, and fun.

It's always jarring going from the manic, tiny-hit box, super-powered weapons of what has become pretty common in modern(ish) STG's, and back to the slower build up of power-ups, much bigger hit-boxes, and less forgiving checkpoint systems from before that.

It takes some time to get all powered up in games like Zero Wing, Tatsujin, and Hellfire, and dying cruelly takes that all away, and sends you back to the last checkpoint, or game-over screen. The enemy and bullet patterns are generally less, well, "manic", so that balances out the difficulty a bit. It really is just about learning the levels, practice and patience. It's a different kind of intensity, as I've let out the very audible, reactive "damn it!" as I've finally gotten some decent fire-power, only to see it taken away again all to quickly due to a stray enemy bullet I didn't properly account for! It's a different kind of intense.

In games like Dodonpachi and Progear, you're starting off with a decent amount of firepower, and to prevent it from being a walk in the park the designershad to balance it out with more enemies, more bullets, etc. It's a sub-genre that addressed one audience concern (the slow accumulation of power-ups, for example), and then they had to subsequently have to find a way to balance the rest of the game to suit. You see that gradual development in V-V, Dogyuun, and more outright in Batsugun - hitboxs getting smaller, more initial firepower, etc. It's always interesting to see what developers (not just Toaplan/Cave) can do with a pretty well established genre, and keep it engaging.

And yes... I did download Spintires! That discount made it hard to pass up. Yet to dig into it, of course! :D
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

Simonsloth wrote: September 25th, 2018, 5:03 pm I bought spintires but haven’t played it yet. Have you had a go at the multiplayer? Could get a spintires community night going haha
Despite being more spinning tyre than man at this stage, I haven't tried the multiplayer. I had a quick look at the listing last night and there seem to be a fair amount of people on there, boosted by the sale no doubt. It looks like the multiplayer is the same maps and objectives with jolly cooperation involved; I guess you can form a convoy, pull others out of rivers, perform repairs to other players etc. I might have to jump in and check it out, though I got rid of my headphones a couple of years ago.

I'll be interested to see what you guys make of the game first; it could be a real marmite game. I guess there have been 'offroading' games before this, but I don't know what they are or if they are a valid comparison.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

Still madly in love with the form and function of my 3DS I have pressed on with exploring the systems library of games that I’ve not played, or to be honest, even considered playing previously.

My 3DS, while never being short of being used, I don’t think has ever had so much attention lavished upon it.

I’ve recently been playing Mario & Luigi’s: Superstar Saga, the rather wonderful remake of the 2003 game where you’re tasked with rescuing Peach’s voice from the fantastically named Cackletta who resides in an adjacent kingdom to the Mushroom Kingdom, called the Beanbean Kingdom. Obviously.

It’s all very fantastical and is drenched with charm and character throughout.

My only previous experience with the M&L series is Bowser’s Inside Story on the DS, which was released a full six years after Superstar Saga.

I think this age gap shows in the gameplay, in terms of complexity and therefor monotony.

The actual combat is fine, fun and still a challenge to pull off the timed based combo’s to get the best effect, it just isn’t as deep and complex as the system in BIS.

Due to this, the natural feeling I’m getting from it is monotony, I’m just over 15 hours in and it’s beginning to feel like a chore. I’m into the story, I’m into the world, I’m just not enjoying the combat system anymore.

After having a quick Twitter conversation with Dez, it seems I’m maybe not alone in this experience and he suggested putting it down for a while.

Due to the nature of the game and it’s simplicity, it’s easy enough to pick back up at a later date.

So this is what I’m doing with this.

My next adventure with the darling 240p Dual Screen is Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.

A slightly different pace here and my first Picarat plaything since playing 2008’s Curious Village on a holiday over a decade ago now. Mental.

I’m early in but the added horse power of the 3DS has really been used well and the artwork is great, it’s all very on form here, great music as well. Very good music I feel, goes into the background perfectly and you only notice how good it is when it stops.

I also have another 3DS game waiting in the wings that I’m really looking forward to playing, that widely divides opinion and even comes with it’s own hardware – of sorts.

Then, ignoring Pro Evo, I’m still playing Wario Land 2. Although I’ve moved platform, same cartridge but from the GameBoy Player on the GameCube to a GameBoy Color (Colour). The form factor is just easier to get through at the moment for this weird game – it’s such a sidestep from the first one but I’m looking forward to finishing it and getting something down about it.

I’m at an odd place at the moment, as I’m preparing for Red Dead Redemption 2, so I’m keeping things simple and keeping my plate and empty as I can. My hunger for RDR2 is extensive, I’m on a media blackout of it but the tid-bits I’m hearing are tasty….
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