Whatcha Been Playing?

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ReprobateGamer
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Minecraft Dungeons remains a family favourite - often coming on for an hour or two a day. The daily trails are a great way to dip in and have something of an experiment into different settings (it would be lovely if you could set up a custom play session with a bunch of mutators ...).

Still not a perfect game - the inventory management is frankly shocking and there are some sudden difficulty spikes still - but it's a game that my eight year old can get into (though not quite) as much as my partner ... nice to have a game with local co-op that actually encourages just a bit of planning.

On the rare evenings that I get to actually fire up the Xbox though, I've been steadily working my way through Eastshade. Essentially it's what happens when you mix a 1st person RPG with a 'walking simulator' - quests are completed by either talking to people or, if you must take it to extremes, painting a picture.

This is a game to just generally relax to - some of the vista's are genuinely lovely to look at, though giving the quality of the voice acting, I'm quite tempted to mute the voices ...
I doubt it's for everyone and I'm not certain I'm going to stay the distance but it feels refreshing enough at the moment
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

stvnorman wrote: January 10th, 2021, 12:14 pm I also got Wreckfest on PS4 for Christmas. It’s really fun, chaotic redneck racing, like a modern, very slick take on Destruction Derby 2, and I’ve just had a big grin on my face for the whole time I’ve been playing it over the last couple of weeks!

Finally, I’ve been through pretty much everything SSX on Tour on PS2 has to offer. Fantastic game, but never quite reaches the heights of SSX3 or Tricky.
I've been somewhat interested in Wreckfest, since it's from the same studio that made the good entries in the FlatOut series, which are also destruction derby racers. I really like FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage, but I've been hesitant to pick up Wreckfest since it seems like it's missing a lot of personality of that game. "Slick" is not the thing I'm looking for in a game about tearing apart metal and causing chaos.

SSX On Tour is great too, I feel like it's a bit unfairly overlooked. Maybe not as good as 3, but still very good in its own right.
ReprobateGamer wrote: January 10th, 2021, 7:31 pm
On the rare evenings that I get to actually fire up the Xbox though, I've been steadily working my way through Eastshade. Essentially it's what happens when you mix a 1st person RPG with a 'walking simulator' - quests are completed by either talking to people or, if you must take it to extremes, painting a picture.

This is a game to just generally relax to - some of the vista's are genuinely lovely to look at, though giving the quality of the voice acting, I'm quite tempted to mute the voices ...
I doubt it's for everyone and I'm not certain I'm going to stay the distance but it feels refreshing enough at the moment
Big fan of Eastshade. It was one of my favourites of the year when it came out. Definitely rough in a lot of areas, but exploring the world is a lot of fun. Has a great mood to it.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ColinAlonso »

Magical_Isopod wrote: January 9th, 2021, 4:13 pm As someone who'd put Ys VIII in his Top 5 JRPGs ever list, I will absolutely guarantee you, survival is a core theme of this game and when the two plotlines start to intermingle, you'll have some "woah" plot moments. It's seriously one of the best stories I've seen in gaming.
Well I've just reached an odd and interesting tree, we'll see where this develops. :)

I haven't put in much time into Ys VIII since though, Slay the Spire is absolutely stealing my attention. I'm sticking with the Ironclad for now and have completed ascension level 4.
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

ColinAlonso wrote: January 10th, 2021, 9:51 pm
Magical_Isopod wrote: January 9th, 2021, 4:13 pm As someone who'd put Ys VIII in his Top 5 JRPGs ever list, I will absolutely guarantee you, survival is a core theme of this game and when the two plotlines start to intermingle, you'll have some "woah" plot moments. It's seriously one of the best stories I've seen in gaming.
Well I've just reached an odd and interesting tree, we'll see where this develops. :)

I haven't put in much time into Ys VIII since though, Slay the Spire is absolutely stealing my attention. I'm sticking with the Ironclad for now and have completed ascension level 4.
A'ight, I encourage you to push a couple hours further, cuz the base of that tree is the "woah" moment. Enjoy!
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Alex79uk wrote: January 5th, 2021, 9:26 am
Jon Cheetham wrote: January 5th, 2021, 7:52 amWas wanting some cosy gaming experiences especially on Switch
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
Yoku's Island Express.
My local game shop has Yoku on Switch for $20CDN physical, is that a fair price?
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Magical_Isopod wrote: January 10th, 2021, 9:55 pmMy local game shop has Yoku on Switch for $20CDN physical, is that a fair price?
About £11? It's definitely worth that, but it's often cheaper in sales on the eShop. I paid about £6. I wouldn't have felt cheated paying more, however.
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Alex79uk wrote: January 10th, 2021, 11:44 pm
Magical_Isopod wrote: January 10th, 2021, 9:55 pmMy local game shop has Yoku on Switch for $20CDN physical, is that a fair price?
About £11? It's definitely worth that, but it's often cheaper in sales on the eShop. I paid about £6. I wouldn't have felt cheated paying more, however.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Truk_Kurt »

A fine purchase, let us know what you think.
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duskvstweak
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by duskvstweak »

Reactivated my Gamepass for PC. Stupid Ultimate deal was $1 for a month with two extra months free. What the heck is that?

Anyway, I'll be going to Halo 3: ODST next and then, most likely, right into Halo 4. And then I'm Halo-ed out, until the decide 5 is worth putting on PC.

Offhand, I also downloaded Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Tetris Effect (no VR for me though :cry: ) and Crusader Kings 3, the last one definitely one I wanted to try-before-buy.
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Feirsteax
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Feirsteax »

I just finished Halo 3: ODST last night. First time playing it, I have to say I really really enjoyed it. Just rock-solid Halo 3 gameplay with some nice twists and variety sprinkled in, it was absolutely lovely. And that soundtrack is sublime, love the jazzy nighttime mombasa streets themes, superb stuff.

Couldn't be bothered writing something out properly but here's my bullet point thoughts:
  • Short and sweet
  • Atmospheric goodness
  • Soundtrack is fantastic: Classic Halo feel with a jazzy twist
  • Story is focused, simple, and very good
    • Some good characters, some ok ones, no major stinkers
    • Cool mystery keeps you going to the end
    • Cheesy dialogue but it's fine, Buck made me laugh a few times
    • Focusing on a smaller-scale side operation between Halo 2 and 3 makes for good world-building, fleshes out the universe believably
  • Classic Halo goodness, well-designed levels with arenas and corridors allowing the combat to shine
  • Silenced SMG is cool
  • ODST armour is cool
Getting stuck into Halo: Reach and I'm loving it as well. It almost makes me think that this kind of side-story away from the usual "save the universe" Halo schtick allows the story to be a bit more grounded and focused and that's definitely something that works in its favour.

We're stil fairly light on Halo Infinite details atm but it makes me think that, given this is supposed to be an ever-expanding Halo game, the idea of some well-crafted DLC stories skewed off to the side of the main events could be an excellent avenue for some creative fiction in the Halo universe that wouldn't require them to constantly up the stakes with extra-secret universe-ending weapons all the time, and make something more grounded and personal again like Reach and ODST.
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Cass
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Cass »

Risk of Rain 2 is so goooooood

I wanted to like the original Risk of Rain more than I ended up liking it. Risk of Rain 2 takes everything I liked about the original - the weird relics and , the aesthetic, the soundtrack - and makes it smooth as butter to play. The base game is a very competent character-based 3rd person roguelike shooter, but the aesthetic (and ESPECIALLY the soundtrack) elevate the whole experience. This game feels weird in an undiscovered-frontier kind of way, in which everything feels as though it operates by internally-consistent rules but you don't know what those rules are.

Also it's really fucking hard, but in a way that rarely feels cheap. Every run feels less like a punishing grind and more like an opportunity to explore the environments, unlock new characters and relics, and learn a little more about the bizarre setting. I'm really enjoying it.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DomsBeard »

Seen as it arrived on Game Pass I picked up the Control Season Pass.

Started with the Alan Wake one and it is so easy to pick up again and get back in the swing of things. Having not finished Alan Wake I'm no doubt missing a few nods but very impressed.

Picked up the Dolby Atmos and it sounds so good with that.

Reached the level 40 cap on Fall Guys Season 3 (well I say me I mean mostly my 4-year-old) and that game just needs to get to Switch asap. So much fun.

Also recently arrived on PS NOW Bioshock Burial At Sea

Always wanted to play this but never got round to it back in the day (seem to remember it being quite expensive?), felt weird being where it is with those two but it works. Looking forward to seeing how it pans out.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

"The Return of the Obra Dinn" because my friend loves it, cannot stop talking about it, and told me I that wasn't "too stupid to play" (my main reason for not playing it). I don't know if she was right - my head hurts, maybe lockdown drinking has destroyed any remaining brain cells - but I do like that it's a detective game that actually requires some detecting and thinking (no handheld recorders and/or diaries left around the villain's lair spelling out their motives and hinting at locations of keys here). It all feels very polished and satisfying - visuals and sound design are great, and clearly it's a labour of love with really cool research into the time period. I love love love the design of
Spoiler: show
that weird spider monster thing.
Who knew I could be so effectively spooked by such deliberately low-res pixels.

I'm playing it on the Switch so I can play twenty minutes or so in bed before drifting off to sleep at night. But it's going to be a slow process because I am as dumb as a bag of hammers.

Apart from that, I've been comfort-re-playing encounters from other games (TLOU2, Uncharted 4 mainly) and experimenting with different tactics or self-imposed restrictions (only use blahblahblah weapon-type, try to keep the dogs alive, try to only melee etc etc). I have a bad habit of always re-reading books, re-watching films, and re-playing old game favourites over and over. But I also like "knowing" the game more and more and practising and improving. I like realising that I can now get through some encounters that I got through just barely a few months ago when new to these types of games relatively easily. It feels nice. And I love the visuals and sound designs so much in these games, I feel completely immersed. Great way to mindfully block out the Real World and Actual Responsibilities I Should Be Tackling.

Edited to add - Also I'm not one of those "but I can't relate to a protagonist if they're not my gender!" people, but God, replaying TLOU2 hammers home how much I love playing as women characters generally. Ellie and Abby are so much more satisfying to control for me than Joel was and I don't know why. And I don't mind playing as male characters (looking at my top ten there's about three games you can play as a girl and the rest are mainly blokes) - Arthur Morgan is my favourite character I've ever controlled in a game - but I'll play as a woman every time I'm given the option. Maybe a hangover from when I was a kid and always automatically went for the woman character (or if no woman, the "blue" character)? Really excited for "Horizon Forbidden West" and playing as Aloy again partly for this reason.
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Recently started Phantasy Star IV back up after a years-long hiatus where work had got in the way and I just never went back... MAN is this game ever underappreciated. I wouldn't say it's quite as "quality" as Final Fantasy in terms of presentation, but it's darn close. It's been a joy playing this on the Switch... I own a physical copy, but I like to have a game I'm rolling on the TV while I have some energy (Mass Effect Andromeda in this case, which I'm still very much loving and still very much confused on the hate this game receives) and a game I'm rolling on the Switch or 3DS when I desire to be a potato. And this game's got me sucked in, I dunno. I don't even mind roaming around and getting endless battles, it's just kinda nice to shut the brain off and play a game that's not especially demanding of reflexes. Story and dialogue is really good so far too, though I know I'm just in the opening hours.
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DeadpoolNegative
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DeadpoolNegative »

Phantasy Star IV is an excellent experience; a good story and it really all pays off at the end. I also recommend listening to the Square Roots Podcast's coverage of the game from a few years ago.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

I’ve really enjoyed playing through Resident Evil 3 Remake on PS4 this week. I’m not one for boss fights, but I had a great time with the Nemesis encounters and overall I liked the fast-paced, keep moving forward vibe a lot, which made it more like playing Uncharted at points than Resident Evil. Real looker too!
 
Also beat all the tracks on all the courses in Power Drift on the Spectrum. It’s lacks the environmental variety of the arcade original, and a little bit (though impressively not much) of the speed, but otherwise it plays much the same. And that’s good!

And after all those other Castlevanias, I finally got to the end of Rondo of Blood on PC-Engine Mini. Tight controls, good variety, and looks and sounds beautiful! Never any need for a boss rush though!

What I’m never likely to get to the end of is Xenon 2, which I picked up on Atari ST for a very bargain price! I can’t think of any better looking 16-bit game, and the gameplay is just timeless!

Onto Spyro 2 on PS4 now.
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Rhaegyr
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Rhaegyr »

Quite a few at the moment, can't seem to settle on a game.

Hitman 2 (PS4) - Trying to get the last few levels done (I'm only up to Mumbai) before the sequel but I love spending time in these levels so it'll probably be a few more months! Tried to get it done before the podcast but I forgot I was a Patreon subscriber and thought I had another few weeks :(

Control (GP) - Something about this is stopping it really clicking for me. It's more than competent and the combat is enjoyable but death seems to come fairly quickly and the story hasn't got its hooks in to me yet.

Downhill: Lonely Mountains (GP) - Great game in short bursts. I don't think I'll end up getting all the tracks done on expert with every bike as it's beyond my ability but I love how serene it is. Can't wait until it gets a bit warmer so I can get back out on my own bike!

Outer Wilds (GP) - This is really interesting but I have so many 'threads' to follow I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I don't know if anyone else thinks this but I've had a couple of absolutely terrifying moments in this game -
Spoiler: show
Angler Fish in Dark Bramble and Giant's Deep throwing me up into space!
I'll definitely stick with this one as I've heard too many good things about it.

Hades (Switch) - Perfect game for a quick run.

I blame Gamepass for giving me too many options.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I've played a ton of OlliOlli again over the last few days, since the 1 and 2 double pack was on the eShop sale for a criminally low £2.69

Those games are so great.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

I've been hopping around a bit unable to settle on a game after completing my fourth TLOU2 playthrough. I've been playing an hour or two of a game then dropping it then trying something else. And these are all great games, I just need to wait until I'm in the right mood to appreciate them.

Because I'm the worst, I've been re-playing sure bets. Re-played a bit of Horizon Zero Dawn on New Game+ with my stupidly overpowered endgame armour. Why are bow and arrow games so satisfying to play? I also sort of wish my friend hadn't pushed this game on me as my first ever PlayStation game because it gave me unrealistic expectations for how fluid and beautiful I expected the movement of characters to be in third-person games ever since.

Re-played some Breath of the Wild after listening to the Cane and Rinse podcast on it and it's still so gorgeous, the sound design is still so evocative and pleasing. The cell-shaded animation was such a lovely choice too and gives the game a really distinctive look compared to the hyper-real open worlds I've played recently.

I started Arkham City. My first Batman game. I'm more of a Marvel girl than a DC girl but have always had a soft spot for Batman's Rogues Gallery. I love the bat-cape falling animation but I wish the cape would bugger off during fights so I could see what I'm doing. Can Batman not run in this game or am I just an idiot who can't work out the controls? I wonder if he moves so slowly because of a dodgy knee after all those dramatic falls. Also I know it's Batman's "thing" and I'm possibly influenced by several dozens of hours of Spider-Man/Miles Morales games (with polite cat-rescuing, homeless shelter-saving, friendly neighbourhood do-gooding Spideys) but Batman is so rude whenever he quietly leaves without saying goodbye when Commissioner Gordon is in the middle of a conversation. You receive the respect you give, Bruce. I see that having money doesn't mean you have manners!

Played some Spiritfarer (gorgeous, creative and peaceful) and some Jedi Fallen Order (yes to adorable Droid, no to confusing map). Took a break from The Return of Obra Dinn to pick it up again later - halfway through and really enjoying it but my brain is sluggish lately and I felt like I wanted to wait to finish the game for when I can really engage with it and fully appreciate it.

All great games but just having difficulty settling. I bought Hellblade: Seuna's Sacrifice so I think I'll have a crack at that this evening. I enjoyed God of War 2018 *despite* Kratos (...it may be because I didn't grow up playing GoW but I just can't take him seriously) and what I loved about GoW game was the creative and beautiful take on Norse mythology (imagine taking a Norse god like Baldur and maiking him so creepy and interesting!). So I'm looking forward to playing "Hellblade" for Norse mythology minus Kratos, and the depiction of mental illness also piqued my interest. My uncle was schizophrenic, and I've struggled with mental illness, so I'm curious to see how the game explores Seuna's psychosis and how gameplay mechanics are used to enhance this portrayal.

Sorry for blah-ing on and on!
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ratsoalbion »

Miririn wrote: January 21st, 2021, 12:49 pm Sorry for blah-ing on and on!
Don't be daft that's what this forum is here for!
:)
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