Whatcha Been Playing?

[DomsBeard]

Oh man, I can't wait to play it later. How long did it take you to get through it? Does the demo have much replayability?

I'd say a good hour?. I'm not replaying it as it doesnt cross over into the full game.

[KSubzero1000]

I've kinda hit a wall on the remaining Vanquish challenges, so I decided to start a quick Bayonetta playthrough as a palate cleanser. Not being able to appreciate this game as much as I would want to is always putting at odds with the majority of the *cough* "action game community", let's see if any of that changes this time around.

[FemalePheromones]

Two Point Hospital on Xbox Game Pass. It was fun until I tried for a 3 star rating on the 4th hospital. Stressed me out so much that I'm not sure I can go back.

Anyone else been beaten by this game?

[Alex79]

Just finished the FF7 demo. Wow yeah, I really liked it. From the moments the opening bars of music started it was nostalgia overload. Combat great, looks nice (although possibly if I'm being harsh not actually looking like a 2020 game), sound is great. I deliberately skipped every cut scene just to concentrate on gameplay and I'd rather wait for the full release, but I'm impressed.

Man, that boss fight was hard!! I only just made it through after using all my phoenix downs!

[dezm0nd]

Two Point Hospital on Xbox Game Pass. It was fun until I tried for a 3 star rating on the 4th hospital. Stressed me out so much that I'm not sure I can go back.

Anyone else been beaten by this game?

Slowly being beaten. Theres always a tipping point with me and management games and I feel like TPH is getting there

[FemalePheromones]

Slowly being beaten. Theres always a tipping point with me and management games and I feel like TPH is getting there

I don't think playing with a controller helps when it comes to the minutia of the management. I couldn't really be bothered with any of the money side of it because it was too fiddly which probably didn't help me at all. I really wish it had mouse and keyboard support and it seems crazy to me that it doesn't.

[Flabyo]

Playing Yakuza 0 on Gamepass and it’s my first time playing any of the games in the series.

Are they all like this? The mood whiplash is painful, but fun.

[Alex79]

Playing Yakuza 0 on Gamepass and it’s my first time playing any of the games in the series.

Are they all like this? The mood whiplash is painful, but fun.

Basically, yeah. They're all pretty much identical. Just different story and side activities. Zero has the most 'to do' out of the three I've played so far. But the core game, running around, long cut scenes, fighting - that's Yakuza.

Yeah the disparity between the main story and the silly side stuff is enormous and doesn't really make sense. But again, that's Yakuza!

[DomsBeard]

Oh man, I can't wait to play it later. How long did it take you to get through it? Does the demo have much replayability?

I'd say a good hour?. I'm not replaying it as it doesnt cross over into the full game.

Had to replay it again after this and it is about 40 minutes

[Flabyo]

Yeah the disparity between the main story and the silly side stuff is enormous and doesn't really make sense. But again, that's Yakuza!

It’s so weird, yet it works.

You go from Majima having a long flashback about the death of a blood brother to a side quest where you pretend to be someone’s boyfriend (and are rewarded with a live action video of the AV model she’s based on) back to angst and pain.

[KSubzero1000]

Yakuza has some very deliberate tonal whiplash, I can see how it might be a tad weird playing one of these for the first time.

As a general rule, the main storyline cutscenes tend to be dead serious, while the gameplay and side-activities are extremely goofy.

[Scrustle]

Been playing a bit of Inner Space that is currently free on the Epic store. I usually don't play like 99% of these games that given away on various services that I end up collecting, but I was actually somewhat excited to try this one out as I've had my eye on it recently. I like the idea of a calming exploration game with simple but satisfying flying mechanics and great visuals. Especially after discovering AER a while ago and wanting more like that. But upon playing this game, I was pretty disappointed, to be frank. It does look pretty amazing though. The environments are beautiful, with a fantastic pastel colour palette and surreal hollow Earth like structure.

But pretty much everything else I found off-putting. While the aircraft thing that you control is responsive and easy to understand, and there's some variety there in different ones you can unlock that behave differently, I didn't really get on with the control layout. It puts throttle and roll both on the right stick, so you can't slow down while changing direction. It makes trying to navigate tight spaces a real pain, smashing against the wall all the time, which makes the camera disconnect from your craft and gets spun around if you crash too hard. Very easy to lose your direction. Being able to get your bearings in general is already hard enough too. With the construction of the world being so unreal and enclosed, and the aesthetic being so abstract in general, it's extremely hard to understand exactly what you're looking at on screen and understand where you are in relation to anything. There is no up or down, and nothing is particularly recognisable. It's very easy to get lost. The game also does a pretty poor job at directing you at stuff to do. There are relics to collect dotted around that don't draw much attention to themselves, and when asking for advice from the little companion submarine that helps you on your journey, I am given vague directions to find more "demigods", none of which I can find any hint of past the few that are very obviously put in front of you early on. So combined with how easy it is to get lost, and me not really having any idea what I'm doing, I just ended up flying around aimlessly, with no clue what I'm doing or if I'm even anywhere close to where I'm supposed to be. Oh, and there's the music too. It has this minimalist synth sound to it that I suppose is meant to sound serene and delicate, to go with the sense of curiosity and wonder the game is trying to create. But it didn't really come off like that. It's got a lot of harsh, stabbing tones to it that feel grating and unrefined.

When I try out these games that get given out for free (or "free") I often get a similar response. Even if it's something I feel like I should like, I end up having little patience for them. I think actually buying something gives me motivation to be more invested in it and helps me appreciate it more. As well as me deciding to put money down means it's already interesting enough for me to do that in the first place. With this game, I think if I did buy it I probably would be pretty disappointed anyway, but I do think the fact that it was free probably did contribute to that more.

[duskvstweak]

So, Kingdom Hearts II wasn't grabbing me and I watched a stream of someone playing League of Legends and I got that itch...so, after four years of being clean, I reinstalled LoL.

Look, the game is still a lot of fun while winning, miserable while losing and the emotional and adrenal whiplash is as close to a drug as I'm ever gonna get. But, after two weeks of being back, I've had to uninstall again. The matchmaking is brutal and I had to mute team after team in order not be affected by the toxicity of it all. If, someday, I bump into four people who need a fifth in their team, I might come back. But, I can't do the solo thing in that game anymore. It's too hard on the heart.

So, I'm recommitted to Kingdom Hearts II, especially since I need to pack my PS3 before we move. I'm on the second half of the game and cleared three worlds last night. I also started using the quality of life options, like the Moogle Store and auto-reload items, that, for some reason, I've just been ignoring. Hopefully, that will make things a bit smoother.

[dezm0nd]

Started Yakuza 0 thanks to gamepass. Only put an hour in but I quite enjoy the setup. Found it very chill, really.

The game wears its heart on its sleeve and isn't afraid of its decisions. I will come back to it and hope it grabs me more.

[stvnorman]

Spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon having a practice game of Ghostbusters on the Spectrum +2, then doing a full run through on the C64 Mini. My wife thought I was mental, but I love it and I ain’t afraid of no ghost with my eyes shut!

The original Dooms are a similar case, so I had a quick try on 1 and 2 after spending £1.20 each on the Switch versions last week, then jumped into the £2.40 Doom 3, which I’ve never played before. I’m not a massive FPS fan nowadays, but I love this! It’s incredibly atmospheric, especially with headphones on, and still looks really nice in both handheld and docked. The pacing seems slower than previous and later Doom games I’ve played, but this adds to the tension, as does health and ammo always being a worry, though you mostly just about make it to the next drop. Then you lose half of it again! Four hours in and I’m properly hooked.

Similar time played on Ori and the Blind Forest on Xbox. Loved the Switch demo last year, but was a bit metroidvania-weary at the time so put it to one side. With the sequel coming soon and both on Game Pass, it seemed like a good time to do it. Absolutely stunning and plays like a dream - up there with Hollow Knight!

[Alex79]

I really wanted to like Ori & The Blind Forest but I just didn't take to it. Played it for about an hour and really couldn't get in to it at all. Maybe I ought to try it again if you're putting it up there with Hollow Knight. Does it get better when you get more abilities? It annoyed me moving the spark thing round with the other stick though which I guess is a big part of the game?

EDIT: Uh, hang on. I'm talking about Child Of Eden. Doh. I haven't played Ori & TBF.

EDIT 2: LIGHT! Child Of Bloody Light!! Dickhead Alex strikes again...

[duskvstweak]

I really wanted to like Ori & The Blind Forest but I just didn't take to it. Played it for about an hour and really couldn't get in to it at all. Maybe I ought to try it again if you're putting it up there with Hollow Knight. Does it get better when you get more abilities? It annoyed me moving the spark thing round with the other stick though which I guess is a big part of the game?

EDIT: Uh, hang on. I'm talking about Child Of Eden. Doh. I haven't played Ori & TBF.

EDIT 2: LIGHT! Child Of Bloody Light!! Dickhead Alex strikes again...

This was a whirlwind. And, yes, Ori will get better as it goes on when your finally play it!

[dezm0nd]

Ori is fantastic but can be quite tricky. If you find it unenjoyable then hopefully theres a way to knock the difficulty down

[FemalePheromones]

I really wanted to like Ori & The Blind Forest but I just didn't take to it. Played it for about an hour and really couldn't get in to it at all. Maybe I ought to try it again if you're putting it up there with Hollow Knight. Does it get better when you get more abilities? It annoyed me moving the spark thing round with the other stick though which I guess is a big part of the game?

EDIT: Uh, hang on. I'm talking about Child Of Eden. Doh. I haven't played Ori & TBF.

EDIT 2: LIGHT! Child Of Bloody Light!! Dickhead Alex strikes again...

I have only played the Deluxe Edition but supposedly all of the problems people had with the game originally were fixed in the Deluxe Edition. One of which is fast travel points which were completely absent originally which meant constantly treking back across huge sections of the map so I can understand why people weren't happy.

I absolutely loved the game though and can't wait for the new one.

[Mr Ixolite]

I have yet to play Ori, but I bounced pretty hard off Child Of Light. The artstyle was lovely, and it had the Grandia combat system, and I LOVE the Grandia combat system, but of all things I got massively hung up on the rhyming. Not because of rhyming as a concept, but because the rhyming scheme in the game seemed terribly inconsistent; sometimes the last words of every other line would rhyme, sometimes I couldn't find the rhymes at all. It was weird, but it quickly drove me up the wall.

The only time I've encountered something similar was with Iconoclasts, where the writing constantly made me go "What are you saying? People don't talk like that, do they?"