Whatcha Been Playing?

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Michiel K
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Michiel K »

Played a whole bunch of Super Castlevania IV, yesterday. 8-)

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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

Michiel K wrote: November 1st, 2019, 2:45 pm Played a whole bunch of Super Castlevania IV, yesterday. 8-)
I am so tempted to start that again on my SNES Classic after watching that. Great video!

I was tempted not to start Uncharted 3 again after my 94+% save file got corrupted yesterday and watch the ending on YouTube instead, but I’m stubborn like that so I’m playing again on easy and skipping every cut scene it allows me to.

That, together with the Star Wars Battlefront 2 campaign on my son’s Xbox One, was supposed to be an easygoing follow up to a heavy few weeks with Zelda and Resident Evil, and apart from the save file problem (and being regularly confused by an unfamiliar X button) I’m enjoying both for what they are.

I’m not one for 100% completions, but that’s what I did over a good 10-15 hours with Speed Demons (looks like Spy Hunter, plays like Burnout) on Apple Arcade. Now playing Neo Cab on there, which I’ve now decided isn’t my cup of tea but I’m far enough in that I might as well see it through!

And I got to the end of SNES Star Fox on Switch. Definitely not done with that yet though. Great game!
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Michiel K
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Michiel K »

stvnorman wrote: November 1st, 2019, 9:32 pm I am so tempted to start that again on my SNES Classic after watching that. Great video!
Thanks! And why not just do it? It's 2-3 hours well spent, always... in my opinion. :P
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Simonsloth
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

The weather and rugby put off the local population from attending our Flu jab clinic this morning so I was at a bit of a loose end.

I attended up on the abandonware website playing some old games in my browser. Given I’m still playing catch up with old podcast episodes I gave Castle Wolfenstein and it’s sequel a whirl. Was pretty amazing really as they are a sort of metal gear prototype rather than the games which inspired the rest of the series. Once I had worked out how to play them there was plenty of fun to be had in the downtime between victims!

When I got back I dragged the CRT into the front room and had a proper go at Donkey Konga. I had no idea it used licensed tracks (or at least versions of them). I had hoped my son would get involved but he was put off by how small the tv is! It’s a shame I didn’t get my dad to keep his 50 odd inch CRT behemoth from my youth.
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Now that I've moved on from Astral Chain I picked up Control and have been getting in to that. So far I'm liking it, but it was a bit of a bumpy start.

At first I picked up the PC version, for the better frame rate of course, and also hoping that one day I might have a graphics card that can run all the fancy ray tracing effects, even if that would be a long way off. But it wasn't long before I realised that I couldn't really run it at an acceptable level. It was mostly stuck at 30fps, but occasionally and unpredictably lurching up to 60fps. Which is very strange because my PC should be capable of running it okay. It's closer to the recommended specs than the minimums. It wouldn't be so bad if I could lock it at 30, but with it jumping up at random I decided to just refund it and go for the PS4 version instead.

So far I'm liking it, but it's not exactly blowing my mind. Which is fine. It's good, just not amazing. The atmosphere is very cool, especially during the intro sequence. I like the eerie and domineering feeling of these cavernous, brutalist spaces. Harsh lighting and stark colours, mixed with retro decor and strange quirks that don't quite fit. The supernatural spaces take it up a notch too, where the walls have been twisted in to chaotic geometric shapes that morph and change as you restore the areas. I heard how this game is supposed to have a Lynchian or X-Files vibe, and while I'm not familiar enough to say myself, I can definitely tell where that's coming from. The worldbuilding is pretty cool as well, with all the strange supernatural things that go on in the bureau, and the documents of strange events you find, that are sometimes pretty funny too.

Gameplay is pretty fun, but it doesn't feel like it's as fleshed out as it could be. It starts off pretty slow and unimpressive too. You're limited to just the normal handgun type for quite a while, and they roll out the supernatural powers pretty slowly as well to begin with. Once you get a decent number of unlocks things start getting a bit more interesting. Strangely I found that aiming seems more accurate when you're using hip-fire, not to mention letting you move around much better. I suppose that's just because of aim assist, but focusing your aim seems to have relatively limited usefulness. Which is good with me I suppose. I always much prefer the ability to actually move and shoot at the same time. But at the same time, the aiming doesn't feel that tight, compared to something like Doom or Halo, which might be a bit unfair I suppose. There is some enemy variety, but it's not overly interesting. A lot of pretty self -explanatory shooter enemy types, and they work fine, but it's nothing that new or imaginative. The powers you get seem to be pretty hit-and-miss with how useful they are too. Telekenisis for launching objects at enemies, or even pick them up, works well, but stuff like a shield that you can't shoot out from, or mind control that requires you to almost kill an enemy first, and then run up to them and hold down a button for a while, are far less practical. I feel like there's a huge amount of potentially cool and interesting powers they could come up with for this premise, but so far it hasn't really tapped in to that. Hopefully things get better as the game goes on. I know you get the power to levitate later on, which sounds fun.

So right now I'm enjoying it, but I'm not having a strong emotional connection to it. But it's good. There's also a pretty amusing similarity to Astral Chain I noticed. Both games have an otherworldly Astral Plane that is made up of black cubes.
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cirkaukendt
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by cirkaukendt »

I’ve also been playing Control, and I’ve actually just finished it this evening. From the moment I entered The Oldest House I couldn’t put the game down. The aesthetics, atmosphere and story really pulled me in. The gameplay is nothing revolutionary, but I found it entertaining and the game kept introducing new features that kept it fresh. I’m so impressed by how Remedy used live-action scenes in this game and how naturally weird it felt. It is the most entertaining game I’ve played this year, not because of the game mechanics, but because of everything else.
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

Feel like I’m approaching the end of The Outer Worlds now, after playing it most days during my week off work.

It’s... ok. The side quests seem to cut off just as they’re starting to get interesting (or maybe I’m just bad at the game?), and the lack of gun and enemy variety means it’s all getting a little samey now.

It’s good, but it’s not close to New Vegas good.
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

Flabyo wrote: November 4th, 2019, 9:46 am It’s... ok. The side quests seem to cut off just as they’re starting to get interesting (or maybe I’m just bad at the game?), and the lack of gun and enemy variety means it’s all getting a little samey now.
Yeah, I’ve realised that there’s effectively 8 guns in the game, with differing effects.

Doesn’t really bother me to be honest, I generally tend to just only a few anyway.

I’m playing on hard, I’m about 25 hours in and level 18.

I’m enjoying it enough to keep me away from Luigi’s Mansion anyway.

I also picked up Ring Fit Adventure on the weekend.
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drushe1983
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by drushe1983 »

I have been dividing my time between a number of games of late.

Currently I am playing Adam's Venture Origins (AVO) on PS4 which was £2.49 on PSN and I am mainly doing this as I am an avid trophy collector between the grind of Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain (MGSVTPP) Metal Gear Survive (MGS) - more on this in a moment and Wanted Weapons of Fate (WWF) I need the occasional palette cleanser (1-2/10 on the platinum difficulty scale) to break the monotony of the AAA (sub AAA) experience.

AVO is a pleasant little puzzler and definitely looks like a game from last gen which was a HD version of a PS2 / Xbox era game. It is enjoyable to play a game in the Tomb Raider / Uncharted styling without combat at all, with the emphasis instead on platforming and brain teasers. Voice acting is dreadful, the infamous 'jill sandwich' seems like award winning acting in retrospect.

With the patreon exclusive of MGSVTPP upcoming I booted up the game again to see my progress as 71% and 140+ hours clocked. Currently running through the S Rank requirement as I begin to work toward eventually platinuming it. What an incredible game it is, from the cinematography, the sound design, in-game systems and the player agency of the open world is second-to-none. Shame that the overall polish & precision of the game's narrative is lost in the fragmented and ill-conceived episodic structure of the final product.

WWF is a prime example of the sub-AAA experience that all but died off on PS3 / 360. An enjoyable enough romp that I picked up from CEX for £2.

MGS - is not as bad as it has been reported. It is my first survival game and while I am aware that other more superior examples of this genre are available, as an avid trophy-hunter I have found the scavenger / repetitive-task structure quite rewarding. My base is taking shape and as I develop more tech I look forward to venturing in to the dust to experience the risk-and-reward gameplay for another 10-15 hours. The game is quite tense, with plenty of jump scares to keep me on my toes. Had Konami given the team more time, a bigger budget and more distance from Kojima's legacy (which they might never shake) this could have been a much bigger deal. Sadly it feels like their Umbrella Corps. That said MGS does offer hope for the future of a number of Konami owned IPs as there is still plenty of talent there. I do wonder what 'Project Fog' will be....
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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To try and give it some stakes, like you say - I’m RP’ing it without using any armour (only clothes and a top hat) and playing on hard.

Because of this, my cocktail of breathalyser is fun to mess about with and update and essential to progress.

This isn’t defending the difficulty of the game, just explaining how I’m finding fun in that particular aspect of it.
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

On the flip side, the ‘supernova’ mode where you have to eat and drink, companions die, and you can’t fast travel is apparently very buggy and unbalanced.

The setting is a part of what feels wrong with it as well, it’s treading the same space as Borderlands, but isn’t half as funny or clever as that. There are moments of great writing in here, but for the most part it’s a bit rote.

I like it, but I don’t *love* it. Probably finish it this evening and then never touch it again.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ratsoalbion »

Flabyo wrote: November 4th, 2019, 4:12 pm ...it’s treading the same space as Borderlands, but isn’t half as funny or clever as that.
Crikey.
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

I’m perhaps being a *little* harsh. It just that, plot wise, it doesn’t feel like it’s really *doing* much.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

ratsoalbion wrote: November 4th, 2019, 4:36 pm
Flabyo wrote: November 4th, 2019, 4:12 pm ...it’s treading the same space as Borderlands, but isn’t half as funny or clever as that.
Crikey.
:lol:
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

Gotta be honest, I’m finding the overarching story more engaging than a courier mugged by Chandler.

These games are all about the peripheral stories though really aren’t they.
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

Backtracking through earlier saves to see if there are any easy achievements to pick up in the Outer Worlds now that I’ve finished it, and discovered the joy that is having a character with intelligence at ‘below average’. (Using the withdrawal affects from adreno-time to temp drop my stats)

You start getting [dumb] dialogue options, some of which open up entirely new ways to get through quests. Probably roll a dumb character at some point to get the rest of the ‘either / or’ achievements.
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DomsBeard
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DomsBeard »

Epic first boss in Modern Warfare

100GB update followed by needing an activision account to login. Signed up for an activision account to be told I already had one. Eventually got a reset password link and finally logged in and started the game. This took 10 minutes.

Don't try pausing it and going for a cup of coffee etc. There is a secret hidden boss which means you need to be constantly online to play the single player campaign so if you come back you are kicked back to the main menu.

The real campaign has not started well with a level that was far too dark followed by them going a bit no Russian in the next section. Looks great though!
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Go back and read ThirdMan's first reply to you, and ask yourself if he was being pissy. I think you're making something of nothing here, for what it's worth.
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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

Let's all just have a nice big mug of warm milk and a MASSIVE wank.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

clippa wrote: November 5th, 2019, 8:22 pm you fucking hate me so of course you're gonna wade in.
Huh?

EDIT: Hang on, I've just thought of a better reply.

Ahem.

Hey, I can watch the fireworks out of my window, I came here for the friendly gamer chat.

Image

Also, I don't hate you, you absolute tool.
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