Whatcha Been Playing?

[False Eight]

Does the ps1 classic version have the extended intro sequence if you leave it on the title screen for a while? The tune ‘discovery’ that plays during that is one of my favourite pieces in the entire series.

Not in the title screen, but I think the track is used in the Briefing menu.

[Flabyo]

What I mean is, when you start the game normally you get a briefing scene, and then you launch from the submarine etc...

But if you leave the game on the title screen for a few minutes instead of pressing start, it eventually starts up an extended version of that sequence.

[KSubzero1000]

I've just got over what I thought was a considerable difficulty spike in Metroid Fusion.

Nightmare. Screw that guy.

I even had to check YouTube to make sure I was doing it right - I was, it's just that tricky.

Good ol' Nightmare. Still giving unsuspecting folks a hard time in 2018...

Warms my heart to read that.

[Alex79]

Don't know if anyone else owns the current gen Megadrive Collection, but who on earth is using those awful filters!? Some of them distort the game so much its barely recognisable! No, I'll stick with 'no filter' thanks!

[Simonsloth]

They don’t just break the golden rule but smash it to pieces. I’ve not played too many Rare games of this kind but I’m quite apprehensive that this may be part of their style as I’ve heard similar about other games by them. I hope I’m wrong as I’ve got rare replay up very soon.

You're going to LOOOOOVE Battletoads!

Uh oh! I was hoping there would be an outpouring of people informing me of the opposite. Aside from Goldeneye and Yooka Laylee if that counts I’ve never played a Rare game before to its completion.

[Michiel K]

^^^^Battletoads is an extreme example. You should be good with most of the games.

[fieldy]

Dark Souls Remastered

After my recent success with Bloodborne (See earlier post in thread) I asked my wife to pick me up a copy of Dark Souls on PS4 (As well as Nioh and Prey ) I'm really enjoying this as well - I've just beaten the bell gargoyle's and I'm starting to get more and more invested still trying to figure out a lot of the lore however

[KSubzero1000]

I've been playing a few hours of Iconoclasts on PS4 today following Isopod's recommendation.

...It's not bad, is it? Very charming, gameplay is tight and responsive. I'll definitely keep playing.

I'm not ready to proclaim it to be superior to Zero Mission quite yet, but any of you who like retro-style Metroidvania / Platformers and who have either a PS4 or Vita should perhaps consider downloading it while it's still available on PS+ for the rest of the month.

I searched the forum earlier and was surprised to find out that nobody here seems to have played it when it came out?

[Stanshall]

I bought it day one for Switch but - without wanting to jeopardise the friendship! - I've concluded that I am sick of Metroidvania. Nice presentation and controls, though.

I've been playing lots and lots of Smash and I've found myself hooked on the fast fists and power punching of the KO king, Little Mac. I'm still pretty crap at it but I'm starting to hold my own in 1v1 and I'm getting OK at punishing errors. I'm starting to play more defensively, trying to bait and then hitting hard when I get an open window. It's one hell of a game.

I've also been getting into the previously beleaguered (by me) Octopath Traveler. I started again to follow the stories properly and it's really suited my hazy ill state for the past few days. Music is exceptional, it's often visually arresting and the combat - having finally figured out all the moving parts - is as satisfying as in any JRPG I've played. I've now collected the whole gang and I've started the second loop. It's currently on sale on the eShop and if you fancy a JRPG with a focus more on the combat and presentation than a grand, sweeping narrative this is very good, indeed. I'm very pleased (with myself) that I gave it one last go.

I also put a couple of hours into RDR2 today and started to feel it getting under my skin again. I just can't shake the feeling that it would be better (for me) as a linear adventure game. I most enjoy it just chaining missions. I guess I do have that option in the same way that someone into the open world wandering and collecting pelts can focus on that. I don't feel these two facets especially complement each other, though. The travelling between missions and ungenerous checkpoints on death/failure still the narrative momentum and frustrate me. On the other hand, sometimes I turn it on and just fancy pottering about and it's great for that. It's two games in one, effectively. It's hard to argue that this is a flaw when it's effectively a bonus but nevertheless, I'm left feeling that there must be a better way to marry the two.

[KSubzero1000]

I've concluded that I am sick of Metroidvania.

Fair enough. The genre does its fair share of tropes that can feel rather arbitrarily off-putting sometimes, so it's definitely an acquired taste. That's why you bounced off of Hollow Knight too, right? I've been meaning to get back to that one... So many games to play, so little time!

It's two games in one, effectively. It's hard to argue that this is a flaw when it's effectively a bonus but nevertheless, I'm left feeling that there must be a better way to marry the two.

We had a thread about this very subject a few months ago, and honestly, I think this is just an inherent flaw of the open world genre / formula. A linear adventure game with proper narrative pacing needs confined levels and deliberately placed upgrades / resources / encounters in order to function properly. Whereas a genre centered around the very notion of limitless player agency is automatically going to go against that grain. I'm not sure we'll ever see the best of both worlds within a singular package, honestly.

I still have BotW to dive into properly at some point, which I hear is very much a breath (ahuhu) of fresh air in that regard, so I'm certainly curious to see how that particular game tackles these issues.

[Suits]

I've concluded that I am sick of Metroidvania.

I had very, very similar feelings to yourself man.

Do yourself a favour, go back and play a Metroid or Castlevania game you missed.

It worked for me.

[Suits]

I’ve been messing with my Wii U over the last few days and I’ve skipped right back into Super Mario Maker.

It’s brilliant. Really brilliant.

It’s been about 18 months since I last looked at it and the curation has refined to produce a really very good platter in the 10 Mario Challenge.

I’d they manage to get something like this on Switch, with that player base..........

[dezm0nd]

I still cant get off Tetris Effect. I need to spend more time with Smash Bros Bros Ultimate, really but World of Light taking 20 hours really made me take a break from it so I'm finding a lot of fun in improving my high scores

[BrianEdwards]

I’ve been diving in hard to Let’s Go Pikachu. It’s simple, as advertised, but it’s the exact holiday game experience I’ve been looking for. Also, there’s depth there is you want to find it. Collecting shiny Pokémon and completing the PokeDex seem as complex and in depth as ever. Really digging it so far.

[Suits]

Nice, just finished Metroid Fusion on the GBA.

Didn't think much of the story being brutally honest but was nice to be in the Metroid Universe again, I also like how they keep the series open.

Anyway, here's my result, the % seems awfully low but I don't really have much desire to go and sniff out the many other rocket and bomb capacity boosters and that play time is combined saves only, so in reality its probably more like triple that.

[BrianEdwards]

Cool! I remember that game being the reason I got a GBA but I don’t actually remember a lot from it. Honestly, the way you describe that story reminds me of how I feel about most Metroid stories.

[Craig]

Yeah Metroid has never had many story beats or twists (and haven’t fared well when they’ve tried to put them in) but where they shine is the atmosphere and isolation. Super Metroid has a nice little pay off at the end, and there’s a lot you can read into the locations but it’s more adding to the atmosphere than story itself.

Though I agree, Fusion definitely tries to push the story more but that aspect was mostly forgettable.

[Suits]

I generally feel more invested in the Metroid side of things, where the X was interesting - it was only because of their relationship with the Metroids that made it so.

Sort of like a monster movie in the sense of its more what you think you saw than what you actually saw - I fill the Metroid universe bits in myself and feel invested that way.

Mind, saying that, the story board that you unlock in the Metroid 2 remake on 3DS is very detailed and puts some fantastic weight behind the Chozo lore - well worth a look if you’re into it.

[rob25X]

I'm looking forward to playing Metroid Other M on the Wii sometime. The gameplay I saw looked really good. I don't understand why it was so poorly received. Maybe when I finally play it I will.

Playing Tekken Tag Tournament 2 now on PS3. I honestly feel it's one of the most brutally unfair and badly made fighting games I've ever played in my life. I expected one or two characters to be cheap and spam unblockable mid air attacks (juggle combos) and such, but not every single character in every single match. Winning seems like total luck, one match 'perfect victory', the next I'm out in 10 seconds with one insane A.I unblockable air combo. I've resorted now to spamming one of the female characters cheap kick moves the A.I runs into every single time just to get the game finished. The game should have been called Tekken Super Juggle Tournament. A 5/10 game in my opinion. I don' t remember the PS1 games being so bad.

Give me Soul Calibur or Street Fighter over Tekken anyday.

[ReprobateGamer]

Something I took to doing a few years ago was recording what games I was playing, on which console and whether I completed it (whether that is 'just' the story or 100%). It was based on a Kotaku article from early 2016 and now means I have three years of gaming history.

it can all be found on my blog - http://terahawk.blogspot.com/.
I have been using evernote to record it and I think this year, I need to make the transition to Google Sheets or similar, so that I can be more accurate in tracking data as this progresses.

Not neglecting my blog may also be a thing ...