Whatcha Been Playing?

[Flabyo]

Steam achievements for story games can be so funny. I finished Chapter 5 of Death Stranding, something less than 30% of players have done? I'm worried what it's going to be at the end of the game! The last game I finished was Snake Pass and very, very few people have done that, according to Steam.

When achievements were first added to games they were, for many developers, the first time they’d ever had a way of measuring how far people were getting in the games they released. (These days analytics is way more fine grained than that of course)

It confirmed something we sort of already knew, the vast majority of people that buy games don’t finish them.

My favourite from around this time was when Activision discovered that around half the people who got an achievement in call of duty (I forget which one) never got the achievement for *starting* the single player campaign.

[Alex79]

Yeah more often than not when a trophy pops I'll hold the button to see more info, and I'm always surprised at the amount of people who've not even finished, say, the first stage.

[Feirsteax]

Been playing LOADS of Halo, both Halo: MCC and Halo 5. I've been sucked in completely by both the Campaigns and Multiplayer to the point where I've kind of neglected all my other games for the moment (though I've still managed to play a few wee things here and there).

I am absolutely loving it, the Master Chief Collection is a seriously good package with every single game bar 5 on there, being able to drop into any mission on a whim and having a huge variety of online games available. Only issue I have is sometimes finding games through matchmaking can take aaaaaaages depending on which playlist I'm trying to find, anyone else ever have this issue? Sometimes I've sat there staring at the matchmaking screens for up to 5 minutes or more it feels like.

I finished Halo 5 earlier in the year and now I'm going through the campaigns methodically starting at Halo: CE and doing them all on Heroic. Just started Halo 3, and I'll lay out my thoughts of Halo 5 first here:

Halo 5: Guardians was a blast from start to finish for me. It felt like a mechanically refined, aesthetically gorgeous evolution of many of the best bits of previous halo games. The various movement abilities are all very fun and responsive, and the arsenal of weapons is possibly the best so far, they managed to take the Forerunner weaponry that I was kinda "meh" on in Halo 4, and turn them into something really fun and distinctive-feeling. Vehicles are likewise a lot of fun, and a few levels with set pieces including Mantises (the mechs), Phaetons and Banshees, Warthogs and the like are all bombastic and feel epic in that classic halo way.
Enemy variety was also quite good, and I eventually found a satisfying method to deal with most enemies. Even though the Covenant are still the most fun to fight, the Forerunners in this game do have their own distinct weaknesses and styles that once you puzzle it out it becomes quite smooth and satisfying to take them down.

There are a few sore points that hold this game back from being great. First of all, despite my feeling that the gameplay is refined and movement options are the most fluid that they've been in the series, the level design never truly reaches the heights and open playground-feel of e.g. The Silent Cartographer, with most of the levels being more linear affairs. That being said, each level does feel complex and dense with lots of nooks and crannies and alternate paths to find packed with secrets etc. that somewhat makes up for this.
On top of this is the infamous Warden boss fights. Lots has been said about this so I won't spend too long but basically: wow, the same boss seven times? Yawn!

But possibly the worst aspect for me was the absolutely groan-worthy narrative that just kept getting in the way of me really enjoying myself. It felt like Halo: Spartans Avengers Assemble or something. And the whole Cortana storyline felt really off for me. There was an abundance of Melodramatic Soliloquys that I was really uninterested in from both Cortana and the Warden, and too much blunt exposition rather than more natural environmental storytelling. Osiris team was mostly uninteresting, with the possible exception of Locke, who does have some potential though it's mostly wasted in this muddy, unfocused story (there's no clear objective or bad guy or MacGuffin or anything in the first 60% of the game, beyond "Gotta go find the Chief").

Blue team are even worse. Literally, their presence detracted from the experience for me. Who even are they? At one point Buck says to Locke, "They're like family to the Chief". But they haven't been present in any of the previous games, and Halo 5 does very little to help make this feel believable at all. They're interchangeable and forgettable, and in fact their presence actively removed from what COULD have been some "Metroid Prime"-esque explorations of spooky, mysterious locales. They tend to chip in with wise cracks and radio chatter to kill the mood while you explore the atmospheric abandoned space station in one level and the intriguing Forerunner Genesis planet which has all this cool flora and fauna and topology that is really cool to look at. Perhaps I'm mistaken here, because previous games did have allies with you a lot of the time too, but it felt diluted and tonally wrong this time round, and I'm not entirely sure why.

I did enjoy 031 Exuberant Witness though. It reminded me of Guilty Spark and had a charm and personality about it. The fact that it drops a Scorpion in from thin air for you to blast Covenant with certainly didn't hurt either.

Haven't mentioned the music yet, but I really liked it. The new themes felt right and were unique enough to not be derivative, while the renditions of classic halo themes were deployed to excellent effect during climactic campaign moments. Very Much Approved.

This post is getting massive, but I want to mention Custom Games and Forge here too. Simply put, the possibilities in Forge this time round are seemingly endless, and it's seriously impressive. I played a game where one player controlled a giant plastic pig in a sandbox full of physics blocks and towers etc, and everyone had to run away from the pig, blasting it with rockets and ducking under debris to avoid being "eaten" (if you get touched by the pig, you instantly die). And that's just one game of dozens and dozens of creative gametypes on there. Another highlight was playing Shotty Snipers on a 1:1 Forge recreation of the Skyrim city of Solitude. This was amazing fun and reminded me of classic online pc games like HL:DM or Sauerbraten, where you'd join a server and people would be playing good old Deathmatch on all sorts of weird and wonderful custom-made maps.

Overall it felt extremely fun from a gameplay perspective, but the campaign was a bit of a missed opportunity. Watching the trailer for Infinite after playing this has got me worryingly hyped; I feel like if they take this core gameplay and put it in a big, playground-like, Alpha Halo-esque environment, it could be absolutely phenomenal... but given the latest scandal with Cyberpunk and all its hype, I should really try to temper my expectations

[Flabyo]

Blue team in Halo 5 is one of those things I moaned about when we were talking about novels and comics based on games overstepping the line of ‘what you need to have read to continue to understand the games’

They’re characters you know really really well. If you’ve been reading the novels for years. (The first few in fact, which covered the history of how the Spartans came to be, blue squad is the master chiefs squad)

[Feirsteax]

My son lent me Trials Rising, and it's fucking terrible.

Probably quite a different style of game but I've been loving dipping in and out of Lonely Mountains: Downhill which is free on Gamepass if you have it. The mountain trails are all huge and full of cool wee shortcuts and stuff, and the lighting / soft focus / general art-style makes the whole game look very pretty. The controls are simple enough but they do the job and give you a good amount of control over your momentum and turning circle etc.

@Flabyo re: Blue Team, yeah I kind of assumed that was the case. It's a shame they aren't very interesting in the actual game. Even if I knew all that lore about them I don't think they're presented or written very well in Halo 5.

[Angry_Kurt]

Started playing Yakuza Like a Dragon and really enjoying it a few hours in. The two previous games I have played are Zero and Judgement. Whilst I never hated the combat in those games, I wouldn't say I loved it beyond the crazy finishing moves, but in LAD they have changed the system to turn based combat and I'm loving it. The JRPG genre is a huge missing area of my gaming life having only played the Pokemon games, so this combat style is quite new to me still and I really like it. It was pretty basic at first and really easy, but now I have unlocked more moves and got some party members, it has become a lot more fun and interesting. The game has never looked better with the new engine and as expected, the story gets you engaged right from the off. The Dragon Quest integration also justifies the absurdity of the battles.

[Jobobonobo]

So a few weeks ago, I decided to try Sonic Adventure 2 which I had never played before. It was a very mixed experience. I was mostly enjoying the game for the most part but things fall apart when you head to the hideout in the pyramid. The control and camera issues that were tolerable before start to really get in your way here. Nearly every level bought new frustration whether it was with your character clipping through the floor or jumping in a direction you had no intention of going. I really started to resent the game after a while as it does not even have the likeable daftness of the first game. When I finished the Hero mission I had no intention of ever going back to it and deleted it.

What made me delete it entirely was that in the Dark mission there is a scene where you as Rouge, a needlessly sexualised bat, have to collect emerald pieces in a time limit of 5 minutes. Now these treasure hunting missions are with no exception, dreadful. The controls are ridiculously wonky careening you into bottomless pits and enemies and the camera is the worst I have seen in a 3D platformer, hands down, which can barely be controlled. Since I am usually more partial to open world 3D platformers (your Spyros and Banjos) thsan more linear ones, I could have really dug this exploration type gameplay but it is utterly ruined by the aforementioned issues. Sonic Adventure had issues but at least you could avoid these missions if you wanted to, no such luck here. In my view, both Sonic Adventures have aged poorly but I got some fun out of SA1. SA2 on the other hand? Bleh.

In better platformer related news, tried out the demo for Super Lucky’s Tale on PS4. What a lovely, uncomplicated game this is. Bright graphics, cute characters and a really fun soundtrack. I honestly miss games like this, just something that is unashamedly adorable and simple. Definitely one I will aim to try it fully one day.

[Jobobonobo]

My son lent me Trials Rising, and it's fucking terrible.

Ah so the shittiness continues on from Trials Fusion, then? As a big fan of the first one, Fusion was a horrible disappointment. The game constantly shills DLC and microtransactions at you making it feel like a glorified store front rather than a game, grinding the same course over and over in order to force you to shell over your money to just buy new courses. I am really beginning to dislike Ubisoft as a publisher for how they relentlessly monetise their games to a ridiculous extent that progress is severely hampered if you play the game normally. Have not enjoyed a game of theirs since Rayman Legends. Curious if they are going to let Beyond Good and Evil 2 be a regular story based game or if they are going to shove this crap into it somehow.

Started playing Yakuza Like a Dragon and really enjoying it a few hours in. The two previous games I have played are Zero and Judgement. Whilst I never hated the combat in those games, I wouldn't say I loved it beyond the crazy finishing moves, but in LAD they have changed the system to turn based combat and I'm loving it. The JRPG genre is a huge missing area of my gaming life having only played the Pokemon games, so this combat style is quite new to me still and I really like it. It was pretty basic at first and really easy, but now I have unlocked more moves and got some party members, it has become a lot more fun and interesting.

I am still a relative newcomer to this series but this will absolutely be a must play for me down the line. It is awesome that all games in this series are on PS4 so I can go through the whole saga without shelling out for another console. This JRPG style also sounds really intriguing and will be interested to see how well it is implemented in the world of Yakuza. Starting Kiwami 2 soon and I can't wait. Just the perfect game to settle down with while stuck at home during lockdown!

[Alex79]

My son lent me Trials Rising, and it's fucking terrible.

Probably quite a different style of game but I've been loving dipping in and out of Lonely Mountains: Downhill which is free on Gamepass if you have it.

I don't have an Xbox, but yeah, been keeping my eye on that for a Switch sale, looks really nice.

EDIT: Ooooh, currently £12... But so is Kentucky Route Zero, and want that too! Argh....haha. Was planning on getting an eShop card with some Xmas money so will probably pick them both up if they're still in the sale then.

[Scrustle]

Been playing Castlevania: Curse of Darkness the last few days. I have actually played this before and got pretty far in, but I dropped off for some reason. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, although the shortcomings are obvious. I was actually kind of surprised how well the cutscenes hold up. They are really well voiced, full of a lot of campy charm, but impressive delivery too. It does feature a lot of voice actors that would later go on to make big names for themselves. Although the plot itself isn't super compelling. I think I'm just over a third of the way through the game, and basically nothing has happened yet. But I always look forward to the next story sequence anyway, just to watch the characters chew the scenery.

Gameplay wise, it's okay, but I think you can tell this game didn't have a very high budget. It's a lot of running through repeated hallways and repetitive combat with pretty shallow mechanics. Although the levels do look okay and can create some amount of mood to them, and there's an okay variety in theme. Combat isn't necessarily bad either, just not particularly taxing. But it makes up for that somewhat in there being a wide range of different weapon types that all act differently. And you also have familiars that follow you that have loads of different classes and abilities. There's also a levelling tree for them as well, where they evolve in to new forms depending on what weapon you use. I remember when I first played this game, it was not long after I played the previous PS2 entry, Lament of Innocence, and feeling like the combat was kind of a step down. In LoI, you only have a whip, but you gradually unlock lots of different combos for it over time. So it was a bit disappointing here to find that each individual weapon type had far less to it. But coming at it this time, I can appreciate its own approach more.

[Alex79]

Thanks to a very generous Kurt, I've rinsed the first two stages of Tony Hawk Remastered whilst my youngest was fast asleep on my lap this afternoon. Very much enjoyed it, spent hours on these games back in the day and delighted to find they play exactly as I remember them (ie. They've been adjusted for nostalgia purposes, ha).

I also played the first few stages in 3 player co-op on Minecraft Dungeons, which we bought the kids for Christmas on Switch. The game is pretty fun, but shit me, the frame rate is so bad I was genuinely left with what was bordering on a full on migraine. Christ, it's been out a while, how's this not been fixed!? Hoping it might fare a little better with less players, but not sure it'll make a difference.

Finally - Dragons Dogma on Switch will cost me just under £6 in 'real money' if I get it off the eShop in the sale. Is it worth playing still? For the record, I love Souls games, Witcher 3, Shadow of the Colossus and games like that, but bounced off Dragons Dogma on PS3 after an hour or so of playing it years ago. Worth another shot? I've managed to completely avoid any story spoilers over the years too, which may or may not affect any replies.

[Scrustle]

Finally - Dragons Dogma on Switch will cost me just under £6 in 'real money' if I get it off the eShop in the sale. Is it worth playing still? For the record, I love Souls games, Witcher 3, Shadow of the Colossus and games like that, but bounced off Dragons Dogma on PS3 after an hour or so of playing it years ago. Worth another shot? I've managed to completely avoid any story spoilers over the years too, which may or may not affect any replies.

Yeah it's definitely worth giving another shot at that price. The combat isn't really that much like Dark Souls though, it's faster and more action focused. It's from the Devil May Cry devs after all. It can be a bit hard early on though, so it's best not to go off the beaten path until you get to the main city. That's where the game in general opens up too.

[Truk_Kurt]

Over the Christmas period I have been playing two games. The first is Yakuza Like a Dragon which I am enjoying a lot. As expected with the Yakuza games, it's got an engaging story and characters. I wasn't sure how I would like the turn based combat as the only JRPG I have ever played is Pokemon, with the last being Pokemon Black. After really enjoying the combat in this game though, playing more JRPGs in the future is definitely something I will be doing in 2021. Of course it still has the Yakuza wackiness too, probably more so than any other entry in the series due to the whole link into the Dragon Quest games for the turn based battles, which explains the craziness away. I knew the games were always wacky but didn't really like the idea of it going ridiculously crazy to the point of fantasy in the pre release trailers, but once this was explained by the Dragon Quest stuff I was ok with it. Unfortunately though my Series X has stopped reading discs, so I won't be able to get a replacement until Xbox are able to replace it.

The other game I have been playing is Doom Eternal on my new PC. Doom 2016 is my favourite FPS if not favourite game this generation but held off playing this after the mixed reviews in the press and within my Twittersphere. I was quite nervous I would be disappointed but having played it a few hours now I find it to be excellent. I respect others opinions but so far I am kind of baffled why you wouldn't like Eternal if you liked 2016. I'm looking forward to reading some pieces and reviews retrospectively on what they didn't like about it.

[Feirsteax]

DOOM Eternal is definitely one of my favourite games of this year, it felt like an upgrade in every way from DOOM 2016.

[duskvstweak]

Me and Death Stranding have a good marriage going on. 47 hours in and it's still surprising me...

Spoiler: show

https://clips.twitch.tv/CleanBoringFennelCmonBruh

[ReprobateGamer]

I also played the first few stages in 3 player co-op on Minecraft Dungeons, which we bought the kids for Christmas on Switch. The game is pretty fun, but shit me, the frame rate is so bad I was genuinely left with what was bordering on a full on migraine. Christ, it's been out a while, how's this not been fixed!? Hoping it might fare a little better with less players, but not sure it'll make a difference.

Interesting - this has become my wifes new favourite game (I got her all the DLC as a Christmas present) and it's often she'll corral me and our daughters in for a game or two - the daily and seasonal trails feed straight into this. Worth mentioning that we are playing currently on an older plasma screen so it may be that the technical limitations of the screen are hiding the frame rate. It also gets pretty busy with four players onscreen ...

[Jobobonobo]

I have played lots of good stuff over Christmas, definitely made up for the bad/mediocre Sonic stuff I was trying out before. One thing I have really been enjoying is that a lot of demos now allow you to save your progress so that you can just continue from where you left off if you buy the full game. The two demos I have played have been so great that it has definitely made me consider trying out the full versions.

The first of these is the Wonderful 101: Remastered. Never owning a Wii U, this was one I always wanted to try out and I loved it. The Saturday morning cartoon vibe is ridiculously cheesy in all the right ways and the constant ratcheting up of madness in the set pieces as you go through the game is delightful. It was a little strange to get used to at first but by the end of the demo it was second nature and the movement and combat was really fluid as you would expect from a Platinum game. The Pikmin-like gameplay with the Viewtiful Joe aesthetic is a nice throwback to something Platinum Studios would have done when they were Clover Studios. Additional nostalgia also hits with the intense gameplay being reminiscent of the best Treasure titles. Just a great demo and will definitely try out the full game next year!

The other demo I tried was Dragon Quest XI S. I only tried one Dragon Quest before this (IX) and remembered it fairly fondly so I thought I would download this. This was a bit of a slow starter initially, however that is also due to my need to chat to every NPC I find no matter how inane their chatter is. However, once you meet your first party member the game really starts to pick up and opens up in scale considerably. Making items with the forge is great as is the skill system for updating your abilities. The amount of customisation one uses for their partners is also greatly appreciated and can give you greater control on how you want to approach battling. The newly orchestrated music is sublime (especially the village Hotto, just lovely stuff). One thing I especially appreciate about this series is that there is a real sense of light hearted adventure where being chased by monsters is seen as a wacky mistake rather than a grim battle for survival. Speaking of, the monster designs are insanely charming from the iconic slime drops to the cruelcumbers, they really give these games their own distinct identity. Another lovely little surprise is that the English voice acting is actually pretty good with all sorts of regional accents hamming it up in a really fun manner, far better than the lacklustre voice acting of Trials of Mana. The demo lasted an incredible 8 hours and I have to admit, I want more! Yet another game to put on the future must play list.

Lastly, I tried out my one big Christmas present, Yakuza Kiwami 2! Since lockdown officially started on Dec 26 here in Austria and won’t end until mid January, it is just as well I have a long adventure to tide me over so why not continue on with the Yakuza series? Five chapters in and it is already so much better than the first Kiwami. The absurdity which is so intrinsic to the series is here in full force with you

Spoiler: show

fighting adult baby fetishists, doing sexy poses for art and buying new underwear for a man who has shit himself.

I liked Kiwami for what it was but it was very po-faced in comparison to its follow up and Zero so this is a welcome return to form. Also, Cabaret Club management is back! I loved this way more than I probably should when it was in Zero and it being back in Kiwami 2 has already elevated this as one of the best I have played in the series so far. Combat is as simple yet nuanced as ever and the new mechanic of eating different food enabling you to gain experience has made going to restaurants a far more involved and addictive experience. In fact, the levelling up system here has to be my favourite in the series so far as doing any little thing contributes to you getting stronger in the future so you are more willing to try out as much things as possible. I realise there is a lot more to go but so far this is definitely an absolute joy in pretty much every way. 2020 is ending on a high note for me in more ways than one.

[andthenweplay]

I received a copy of the Seiken Densetsu 3 (Remake) or Trials of Mana for Christmas and I have been having a blast with it. Not sure why but it reminds of a a Kirby game or a Yoshi game. Playing Trials of Mana just fills me with a overwhelming amount of joy similar to those games. Defiantly has some rough areas for sure but it is defiantly worth a look if you want a really fun and colourful action game.

[Feirsteax]

Started playing Immortals: Fenyx Rising the other night. I received a voucher or two for Christmas which i converted into Xbox credit and thought I'd give this a go.
It seemed like it'd be up my street since I was in the mood for an open world BotW-alike.

So far I've played about 5 or 6 hours and I'm rather enjoying it! Hard to tell this early into my experience wether or not it will have lasting appeal, but it's got me sucked into the world already.

It's mechanics are mostly ripped from Breath of the Wild, similar to how Genshin Impact did it earlier in the year (which I also really loved, despite only being able to play on mobile), but it's unique enough so that it doesn't feel like a carbon copy.

Everything seems really polished and all the mechanics fit together very well so I'm having a good time so far.
The best thing about it is the gorgeous open world which is a joy to explore, look at, and play in.

Eager to play more!

[Miririn]

Bad gaming start to 2021 because I keep switching from one game to another and not being able to settle on anything. I tried (for the third time!) to get into The Witcher 3 by playing about five hours and I couldn't. I have listened to so many brilliant, knowledgeable and passionate reviewers and podcasters on this game and their love for it really makes me want to like it and I keep saying that this time I'll give it a chance but... I always end up turning it off. I just hate how floaty and light everything feels and the text floating above all the NPCs and how smooth and weird all the pretty people look - which I know are stupid reasons to take against a game, especially when this is meant to be one of the best story-driven games of the decade and story-driven games are my favourite. So many friends with really good taste keep telling me to stick with it. I looked into reasons other people dislike it and apparently I might have better luck if I turn the HUD off and adjust the movement settings, so I'll have a go doing that. I think I just have terrible taste, unfortunately.

Played a few hours of BioShock Infinite and couldn't stick with that either. I loved the world-building and the concept, but as with "The Witcher" I wasn't enjoying the combat (it felt sort of... light and like it lacked impact? I'm probably not explaining it well) and had difficulty seeing enemies (who also all felt pretty generic). I also think I'm meant to be developing sweet protective impulses towards Elizabeth but I spent the entire time being anoyed by her and her weird Disney Princess face and voice. ...which is uncharitable and maybe shows I shouldn't play games when I'm feeling grumpy. It's a relatively short game and people love it so I should probably at least try to finish it.

I want to get out of this rut so I'm thinking of replaying an old favourite or playing something really generic but competent (you know, "podcast on in the background" sort of thing) just to get me back on track, and then I'll try "The Witcher 3" and "BioShock Infinite" again. Maybe I'm just in a weird mood.