Whatcha Been Playing?

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KissMammal
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KissMammal »

Right there with you on Bowser's Fury. To me it felt like an awkward mishmash of open world and linear gameplay - I struggled to find the groove that the devs were going for, and I found the Bowser kaiju bits a bit annoying. Will probably go back to it at some point.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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I loved Windjammers and have been waiting for its sequel for years, and so far it hasn’t disappointed, although (quite predictably) the same can’t really be said of my performance in its online modes! Don’t really care about those though, and I’ve had a great time with Windjammers 2’s frantic Tron-Pong solo gameplay, where I’m not doing so badly! Visually it’s a lot like Streets of Rage 4 - no surprise as it’s come from the same place - with a stylish hand-drawn art style replacing the Neo Geo pixels of the original, but that game’s near-perfect core mechanics are intact with a load more besides, making it feel as much like a fighter as a tennis game at times. And there’s way more depth to both aspects than I’ve had time to even contemplate yet, but it’s all feeling wonderful so far!

I’ve been playing a lot of shoot ‘em ups recently, even dabbling with bullet-hell too, but I’m mediocre at best so I decided to enrol some expert help with YouTube’s Schmup Junkie and his beginners guides, which don’t just tell you how to start, but where to start as well, and that place was Star Parodier on PC-Engine Mini. It’s a sometimes cruel but always joyful vertical shooter, featuring the catchiest music this side of Bubble Bobble and eight stages of bold cartoon visuals; there’s a Bomberman boss fight too! I spent pretty much every possible hour until Windjammers this week just playing this, and despite the rough ride through the last two levels I reckon I’ve got the measure of enough of them that if I can amass enough lives early on I can beat this in one go and move on to the next lesson!
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Jon Cheetham »

Nearly at the end of Deathloop, now. I am up to the point where you need to take everyone out at once, just haven't had a chance to get on my gaming laptop over the weekend and get stuck in. One of my takeaways from my last few hours with this one is that its trinkets game is top tier. Clicking different sets of buffs or passive abilities in and out depending on the needs of a mission is really satisfying, and they combine to entertaining effect if perhaps not to the degree of e.g. Transistor which has a similiar system. I just wish they had implemented a system to "save" loadouts like a Monster Hunter, so I could just grab my stealth loadout or combat loadout whenever I needed it.

Back to my playthrough of Vampyr. I've put about 6-7 hours into the game and am apparently halfway through, so it's shorter than I expected but that's never a problem for me. The voice acting is really excellent. In fact between Colt, Julianna and Dr. Jonathan Reid I'm in VO heaven with my gaming choices currently. All the talky stuff and dealing with the various goings on between the inhabitants of London is great, it's a really well written cast and feels like a true-to-life place.

Only the combat is a bit of a drag, there's a lot of options and abilities but it just doesn't come together for me. I end up running past encounters not because I think I might have to use too many resources, but just because I can't really be bothered. A nifty turn-based battle system for this game could have worked well, or just make the combat quick and perfunctory so you can get to the story stuff which is where it's at imo. I feel like there's only so much combat so this could be sold as a big open world action title when at its heart it is a narrative game. I will definitely play some Life is Strange stuff on the strength of this story though.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Halo Infinite seems to be a game of extremes - absolutely love the open world sections, the map and traversing up almost any sheer face with my grappling hook. But then there are the indoor sections which almost always go on for far too long with very little variety to location or design at all. The section I did last night took several hours and I positively groaned every time I got to a lift and knew I'd need to find ANOTHER two or three batteries to power it before continuing.
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Getting nearer to the end of my MGS marathon, I've reached Metal Gear Solid 4. So far I'm liking it quite a lot. The controls are vastly improved and I really like the changes that have been made here. The layout of it still feels very similar to the old games, but it's tweaked in a way that makes it way less fiddly and convoluted. I can actually get my head around it, and I feel like I'm actually in control of what I'm doing. It's still got plenty of the depth and quirks of the PS2 games, but without having to wrestle with unnecessarily complicated logic of the older games. I do somewhat miss having the ability to lean in first-person view, but most of the same functionality has been retained with the new mechanics anyway, along with a few new features as well.

I'm enjoying the story too, although it does feel significantly slower paced this time around. Cutscenes and overall presentation are once again top notch, and graphically it's still impressive in a lot of ways too. But it is very slow to get to the point. Older games had very long cutscenes too, but they didn't feel excessively long because they used their runtime well. They had a good sense of pace to them. In this game though it feels a lot less efficient with the time it's taking up. These games always take until nearer the end before things really start getting the most interesting though, so there's still some time yet. But I'm already enjoying the character interactions. I like this version of Meryl, and Naomi has a good chemistry with Otacon and Sunny.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I haven't played a game in a long time that has gone from absolutely brilliant to totally shitting the bed in quite the way Halo Infinite managed it. I'm on the final boss and gave up for the evening, but the last 4 or 5 hours of the game really soured it for me a bit. It just totally abandons the open world fun to funnel you down corridor after identical corridor, and the boss fights really are beyond annoying. It's not so much that they're challenging (and they are), but they're just so boring and irritating. Absolute mindless bullet sponges that can all be taken down in more or less the same way.

I really hope some imaginative DLC comes later down the line to expand upon the fantastic open world they built, or even perhaps allows travel to other worlds. I know Halo is traditionally a linear game, but this was so much fun in the first half that it seems a shame just to basically retread what Halo 4 and 5 ended up doing - endless forced indoor sections in charmless, non-descript settings (and I actually think 4 and 5 did a better job of it).

So in summary, the first 12-15 hours is probably my favourite Halo, but the latter quarter to a third of the game is right down near the bottom for me. Shame.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Scrustle wrote: January 24th, 2022, 4:36 pm Getting nearer to the end of my MGS marathon, I've reached Metal Gear Solid 4 [...] Older games had very long cutscenes too, but they didn't feel excessively long because they used their runtime well.
I really liked this game too, lost count of the amount of eggs I watched cook though :lol:
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BrianEdwards
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by BrianEdwards »

I've put 5 hours into Nobody Saves the World and I kind of love it. It's got a ton of the drinkbox look and feel so if you liked the general art and style of the Guacamelee games, youll probably dig the look of this one. The gameplay is wildly different as it is essentially Diablo but instead of finding gear, youre completing challenges to level up your various forms. Seems to have legs and I haven't been bored yet. Looking forward to forging ahead.
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Switchsayer
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Switchsayer »

Having recently signed up to the Nintendo Switch+Expansion pack, I was thrilled to see they just added Banjo Kazooie . Massive nostalgia vibes here, I used to adore this game on the N64 back in the day though I thought Banjo Tooie was even better.
I’ve played through the first few levels (Spiral Mountain, Mumbo’s Mountain, Treasure Trove Cove, Clanker’s Cavern and Bubblegloop Swamp). I’m loving it! The camera is annoying though, but so was the camera in Super Mario 64. I’m looking forward to when they add Majora’s Mask next month; the best Zelda game ever made.
Dom_Maher
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Dom_Maher »

KissMammal wrote: January 18th, 2022, 6:30 pm Resident Evil 2 (2019)

Now this is more like it.

Sublime controls, excellent graphics, sumptuous production values all round. Feels faithful to the original while also being essentially a totally different game. Gameplay strikes the perfect balance between the more expansive feel of Resident Evil 4 and the classic, claustrophobic survival horror we all know and love. Dialogue and voice acting leaps and bounds above that of the original game, but still feels suitably cheesy. Wonderful feeling of unease that permeates the entire game - I'm not sure whether this one incorporates a Resi 4 type dynamic difficulty, but it really hits that sweet spot of never giving you quite enough resources to ever feel comfortable - had a memorable incident where I took down the last zombie in a room with my absolute last bullet.

Only minor complaints are that some of the boss fights feel a little unfair - it often feels like its impossible to avoid taking damage in certain situations - and that the variety of enemy types feels a little limited. I count only 5 distinct enemy types if you ignore Tyrants. The game also feels a little short, especially compared to the epic that is Resi 4, but its packed with replayability - as soon as I finished Leon's story mode I went straight in to Claire's 2nd scenario.

Wonderful stuff. Also picked up the 3 remake as that came in the bundle - can't wait to check that out too.
Great post, Just got back to this game myself, a stellar remake and. After getting a new tv i wanted to see how good it looked on the series x so jumped back into it, picking up at the Ada Sewer section (where i dropped off around a year ago) and then heading back to the police station, just reminds me that the station is where this game truely shines,atmosphere is perfect. I'm debating re3 remake purchase but have heard very mixed reviews...hope you enjoy, i'll probably pick it up in a sale when the price outweighs my caution
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I started Grid on Xbox. Played it for 20 minutes, realised it's not Forza Horizon 5 and deleted it. :(

Making my way through the Hitman games though, just got to Bangkok in the first game. Starting to enjoy it a bit more now I've got the hang of it a bit.
Marlew
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Marlew »

I've been playing a couple of hours of Ketsui pretty much every day for the last month and developed a ganglion cyst on my left wrist which GP said may be down to excessive arcade stick use. I wish I'd started playing these games when I was 20 instead of 38.
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SludgeWizard
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by SludgeWizard »

Switchsayer wrote: January 25th, 2022, 10:17 pm Having recently signed up to the Nintendo Switch+Expansion pack, I was thrilled to see they just added Banjo Kazooie . Massive nostalgia vibes here, I used to adore this game on the N64 back in the day though I thought Banjo Tooie was even better.
I’ve played through the first few levels (Spiral Mountain, Mumbo’s Mountain, Treasure Trove Cove, Clanker’s Cavern and Bubblegloop Swamp). I’m loving it! The camera is annoying though, but so was the camera in Super Mario 64. I’m looking forward to when they add Majora’s Mask next month; the best Zelda game ever made.
I also took the plunge and signed up for the Expansion Pass to play Banjo Kazooie. Not because of nostalgia, but because I've somehow made it to 35 years old without having ever played it, even though I did own an N64.

So far I like it a lot (I'm only about 3 levels in), I definitely see why everybody has such a soft spot for it. Love the characters, writing, music, and gameplay.
That being said, the camera is really getting under my skin. It's facing completely backwards with Banjo running towards the camera half the time, and the other half i have to constantly ride the camera adjustment buttons so I can see what's happening. I think it is much much worse than the Mario 64 camera.

But once I'm in a level and can see in front of me, this is about as fun as I could have hoped for. Thumbs up!
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NoMoreSpearows
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by NoMoreSpearows »

A local bowling alley has a SEGA Rally Championship machine in it, which is how I learned I'm incredibly bad at SEGA Rally Championship. I hope I can learn the secret to it without having to use more of my laundry money for it, but I also really do want to succeed in the actual arcade rather than the Saturn port or what have you. There's something exhilarating about the seat having the rumble that comes from the rough terrain of the road, and even though it's not preferred for performance having the first-person view still gets my blood pumping.

Also if anyone's playing Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel and wants to go a few rounds, let me know. I play a sub-rogue strategy, so don't worry about me being yet another Tri-Brigade or Virtual World deck.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

All new stuff on Game Pass this week! Windjammers 2’s depth is really starting to reveal itself, but not at the expense of any of its immediate disc-tennis fun. That said, I have now beaten the arcade mode, and while I’ll no doubt still be going back to it for a long time for the rest of its characters and hard mode, it happened a bit quicker than expected!

Spelunky 2 is a lot more of the same randomised roguelike platforming. I played a few levels but like the first game I just don’t like the way it feels and I’m not fussed enough about the rest to overlook that. I’ve been close to being sick of hearing about Death’s Door for a while - all the makings of being last year’s Hades - but there’s no way I can resist a go at a crow reaping the souls of the dead! And it was alright, but I’ve got no sense of direction and wandering about identical flights of stairs trying to remember where I’d last died for the umpteenth time got annoying fast so I only lasted a couple of hours, still wondering what the fuss was about, just like Hades! Thankfully one of my all-time favourite game series then also triumphantly arrived on Game Pass this week…

Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! came from virtually out of nowhere. No other game series puts a stupid grin on my face like playing this one does, and once again there’s little here not to smile about, from the only-in-Japan playlist to drum along with to the completely bonkers visual feast doing its best to distract you from the simple, fiendish rhythm gameplay. And just to cap it off, that playlist has Out Run’s Magical Sound Shower on it too!
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shadowless_kick
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by shadowless_kick »

Marlew wrote: January 27th, 2022, 11:48 am I've been playing a couple of hours of Ketsui pretty much every day for the last month and developed a ganglion cyst on my left wrist which GP said may be down to excessive arcade stick use. I wish I'd started playing these games when I was 20 instead of 38.
hell yeah.

I've stopped being lazy and have finally started really playing ESP Ra De with the Astro City Stick I bought over a year ago and barely touched. I have a long way to go to improve :lol:

even tho it, along with Guwange, is my favorite Cave shooter, I never really got any good at it, and it's time to rectify that. to that end, the Arcade Challenge mode has been a godsend.

but to be honest, as much as I'm enjoying it, I'm realizing that even playing with a proper stick simply isn't a substitute for the experience you get playing on an arcade cab. I can't get into 'the zone' in quite the same way. that means there's only one thing to do......
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

After Christmas the kids and I went halves on a second Xbox controller with the intention of playing It Takes Two. We actually started it today and did about 2.5 hours (in the tree at the moment to kill some wasps). It's really every bit as fun as everyone who's played it says it is. Some bits a bit tricky for them, and the bosses probably took the longest, but it's just so fun using all the tools and gadgets, swinging on ropes and everything else. We recently finished Brothers too, but this is like that with everything turned up to 11. I've seen a lot of people hating the characters though, I dunno, they seem ok to me!
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Alex79 wrote: January 30th, 2022, 4:43 pm After Christmas the kids and I went halves on a second Xbox controller with the intention of playing It Takes Two. We actually started it today and did about 2.5 hours (in the tree at the moment to kill some wasps). It's really every bit as fun as everyone who's played it says it is. Some bits a bit tricky for them, and the bosses probably took the longest, but it's just so fun using all the tools and gadgets, swinging on ropes and everything else. We recently finished Brothers too, but this is like that with everything turned up to 11. I've seen a lot of people hating the characters though, I dunno, they seem ok to me!
I wouldn't say I hated them, but I just thought they could have been a lot more interesting and told a better story with them. The game is ripe for making jokes and puns based on the situation they're in but instead those two characters are just bickering with eachother all the time, I didn't think it was very entertaining to listen to and was at odds with the fun nature of the rest of the game. In the end I just ended up skipping the cut scenes.
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Since I still have my PS3 hooked up after playing through MGS4 I figured now would be a good time to give Heavenly Sword another look. I have played this before, but I dropped it halfway through. But since it's the only Ninja Theory game I never completed, I felt like I should get it off my backlog at some point.

Coming back to it, I was immediately reminded of some of the big reasons I fell off this one before. It doesn't control very well at all. It's clunky and pretty unresponsive, not great with visual readability, and the performance is awful. Constant dips below 30fps, constant screen tearing. But then after continuing a bit more I've started to see a bit more potential in it. Initially it seems like the combat is extremely simple, only mashing either square or triangle, occasionally holding down R1 or L1 to switch to a different weapon, as doing anything more complicated is both not needed and unreliable thanks to those technical issues. But actually there's more to it. If you apply a bit of patience, you can pull off some cool things. There are parry moves you can do after blocking certain attacks using the correct weapon, and some air combos that you need to set up by breaking an enemy's guard first and then switching weapons mid-combo to launch them up. These mechanics are still rather rough, and the whole combat system doesn't have the best flow to it, but these moves to elevate it to something actually engaging. Using the right weapon and combos at the right time does help a lot to turn a fight in your favour, and they are fun to pull off as well. I'm hoping that can help sustain my interest throughout the game.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ColinAlonso »

I'm playing two games at the moment.

Bravely Default 2 is plodding along. It's got a solid battle system where defending (Defaulting) builds up points that can be used to act multiple times in future turns, so its probably the turn-based JRPG where I've used defend the most, which is interesting. I usually like job systems in JRPGs and this is a good one.

The plot is very generic and old fashioned but whereas older JPRGs wrapped up in 20-30 hours, this could be stretching for 60. It is charming in moments though.

I'm also playing 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Story is this game's focus, the strategy gameplay seems a little undercooked.

This summarises my current thoughts on the plot.
Image
Let's see where this goes.
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