Whatcha Been Playing?

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

Still persevering with AC: Valhalla but can't help the nagging feeling that I really enjoy the idea of the game more than the game itself. Glitches, awkward controls, battles that are too long, map cluttered with superficial activities that take too long. But I want to like it so much. I love the premise, how Eivor looks, the historical research, the cats, the outfits, the weapons. But it just feels so long and I'm not so motivated with it. Raiding is fun at first (but takes too long!) but the actual fight mechanics feel shallow/not particularly fun. Exploring the world is oddly cumbersome (or the more likely explanation is I'm a moron so make it difficult) so I don't like going exploring, unlike in the best open world games. I don't find the stealth that fun compared to other games, either. Actually I kind of don't even want to stealth at all - I'm a viking and I just want to raid and row.

I've never played an AC game before so I don't know if I'm just criticising AC things I should have expected. I play the odd hour or two on days when I can and then play something else - it doesn't (yet) have that really addictive gameplay loop that makes me look up from my screen and realise five hours have passed and it's 3am. I feel weirdly guilty playing two/three games on the go instead of devoting all my attention to thoroughly tackling AC: Valhalla exclusively, but if I didn't alternate it with other games, I don't know if I'd get tired of it and give up. And I bought it full price so I do want to stick with it. So as well as Ac: Valhalla I've also got a JRPG lined up and have been playing strategy games to wind down in the evenings.

I've been playing a lot of Two Point Hospital this week for the first time in a while to avoid worrying about Real Life. I used to play it on the tube on the way to work. Loved "Theme Hospital" growing up so getting "Two Point Hospital" a year or so ago was a no-brainer. I'm still so crap at Theme/Two-Point (...it is basically a Theme reboot, hard to consider them different games) despite over two decades of playing. But I love it. Runs beautifully, it feels intuitive and easy-to-learn, it's challenging but not maddening (except those bloody patients storming out insisting they need a wee or a drink - I HAVE PUT OUT SO MANY WATER FOUNTAINS AND TOILETS AND DRINKS MACHINES WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS ...ahem), it's genuinely funny and completely absorbing. I love it.

My sister works as a public health registrar (used to work in hospital administration) and borrowed my Switch when she was in the late stages of pregnancy last year and had free time during maternity leave. She ended up having to stop after getting extremely stressed: "I can't believe I'm using my time off to play My Job: The Video Game".
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by svyatogornyj »

DSII:SotFS on PS4 to clean up the last few remaining trophies.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by shadowless_kick »

...ok, so all of my previous criticisms of Strider are still valid, IMO, but I am enjoying the game's positive aspects the more I play. the set pieces are quite cinematic — it feels like I'm playing an action movie (without the QTEs). and the voice acting is entertaining, as well; this is some of the best maniacal laughter I've heard in years :lol: :twisted:
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

I've been playing Astro's Playroom on my shiny new PS5.

Wow, now thats impressive.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Angry_Kurt »

Miririn wrote: February 27th, 2021, 4:30 pm I've been playing a lot of Two Point Hospital
I played this over the Christmas week as it was free on PC game pass and I fancied a strategy game, it was a new experience for me as I never played Theme Hospital. I was really enjoying it to begin with but gradually got a bit bored as I didn’t really find the gameplay and objectives change much. Just doing what you had done before but in a bigger hospital, maybe if I played more it introduces more mechanics and objectives.

It introduced new illnesses which required more machines and staff types but it was always just a case of buy new special machine and allocate specialist to it.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

Yeah, it's definitely very same-y the further you progress into the game. I always play it while rewatching something or listening to something (this week, Avengers movies) so I think I would be bothered by the repetitiveness more if I wasn't using the game as an excuse to wallow in Hollywood comfort movies.

I do wish sometimes they would let you transfer some of the basic offices (GP, reception, ward, toilets etc) to each new hospital instead of making you create them from scratch each level.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

Finished Cyber Shadow on Xbox. Decided on a take my time strategy after the final chapter had me at the brink of violence for several evenings this week. I had a really good time learning and beating the 3-part final boss over this weekend though. Best nearly-NES game you could ever wish for!

I was finally able to order an Xbox Series X this week, so while I’m waiting for it to arrive I want to get through the last of my PS4 backlog... Started Mafia III, played a couple of hours, but despite it being my kind of subject matter, unfortunately not my kind of game. I then switched to Middle Earth: Shadows of War, and I’m getting a lot more out of that so far - seems like more of the same of the first game, and that’s alright.

I picked up Badlands on Atari ST on eBay last week, and have spent far more time on that than I expected - the Supersprint muscle memory on there is still in effect! Also playing zombie metal rhythm game Double Kick Heroes on Xbox, Silent Hill 2 and Smuggler’s Run on PS2, Alien on Atari 2600 (favourite Pac-Man ever) and Devil Crash, a Megadrive take on my favourite pinball series from PC-Engine. Dirt 5 just arrived on Game Pass too, and it’s awesome so far, but I’m going to save that for my new machine, and I’ve played a bit of Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection on Switch, but wanted Cyber Shadow out of the way before I let that hate me too much, so that’s next!
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

Took a break from "AC: Valhalla" to play a few hours of NieR: Automata this evening, and I'm enjoying it so much more than AC: Vahalla that I feel sort of guilty (I want to like "AC: Valhalla" more than I do). It's creative and thoughtful. The musical score is gorgeous. Combat is fun and smooth. Apart from the exasperating fan-service, the character designs are really nice and I like 2B and how she's drawn and how her skirt flares when she moves. I love how 9S talks to me in the settings menus. I love the use of the controllable floating robot weapon alongside RPG-style sword combat during the fights. I love the mix of cheesy melodrama and earnest/slightly pretentious philosophy. I love how the game got right to it right away with no faffing around (a big problem I had with Ac: Valhalla - so much faff!!). I love it so much so far. ...and so, I feel guilty. Because I don't like leaving other games unfinished.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

Miririn wrote: February 28th, 2021, 9:25 pm Took a break from "AC: Valhalla" to play a few hours of NieR: Automata this evening, and I'm enjoying it so much more than AC: Vahalla that I feel sort of guilty (I want to like "AC: Valhalla" more than I do). It's creative and thoughtful. The musical score is gorgeous. Combat is fun and smooth. Apart from the exasperating fan-service, the character designs are really nice and I like 2B and how she's drawn and how her skirt flares when she moves. I love how 9S talks to me in the settings menus. I love the use of the controllable floating robot weapon alongside RPG-style sword combat during the fights. I love the mix of cheesy melodrama and earnest/slightly pretentious philosophy. I love how the game got right to it right away with no faffing around (a big problem I had with Ac: Valhalla - so much faff!!). I love it so much so far. ...and so, I feel guilty. Because I don't like leaving other games unfinished.
You shouldn’t feel guilty. Nier Automata is unlike anything many people have ever played whereas Valhalla is a polished amalgamation of so many other games before it.

Each has its merit but there’s one I will remember forever and it’s not the Ubisoft game.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

Simonsloth wrote: February 28th, 2021, 9:33 pm
Miririn wrote: February 28th, 2021, 9:25 pm Took a break from "AC: Valhalla" to play a few hours of NieR: Automata this evening, and I'm enjoying it so much more than AC: Vahalla that I feel sort of guilty (I want to like "AC: Valhalla" more than I do). It's creative and thoughtful. The musical score is gorgeous. Combat is fun and smooth. Apart from the exasperating fan-service, the character designs are really nice and I like 2B and how she's drawn and how her skirt flares when she moves. I love how 9S talks to me in the settings menus. I love the use of the controllable floating robot weapon alongside RPG-style sword combat during the fights. I love the mix of cheesy melodrama and earnest/slightly pretentious philosophy. I love how the game got right to it right away with no faffing around (a big problem I had with Ac: Valhalla - so much faff!!). I love it so much so far. ...and so, I feel guilty. Because I don't like leaving other games unfinished.
You shouldn’t feel guilty. Nier Automata is unlike anything many people have ever played whereas Valhalla is a polished amalgamation of so many other games before it.

Each has its merit but there’s one I will remember forever and it’s not the Ubisoft game.
That's true, I've only played NieR for a few hours and already it is more memorable than the many hours I've put into AC: Valhalla over the last week or so. I guess I just feel bad because I know a lot of people put a lot of work and love into AC:V and on paper it's a very "me" game (third person adventure where I get to play as a woman in a cool historical setting and there's lots of brawling? And cats and dogs? Yes) but something just wasn't clicking for me.

I'll probably carrying plugging away at it when I feel like some raids and (virtual) mead but I think if it hasn't properly grabbed me after a week I gave it a fair-ish shot.
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Jon Cheetham »

These sort of giant open world games are quite good as ongoing things to go back to when you feel like it, especially as Ubisoft design these to be all but perpetual with the post launch support and generated fetch quests (although not sure if those are still present in Valhalla). I've put dozens of hours into Odyssey since it came out and I haven't even started the paid expansions.

It's also normal to feel overfaced considering how massive these are at this point!
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Ha, this reminds me that I need to get back into Nier: Automata and finally get the last two endings ... just hit a part where I face a grind session or two on collecting items (not actually required to get the endings but I'm looking to get as many of the achievements as possible) and having to actually grind in this game feels a little against the feel of the game up to this point

I also have more than one Assassins' Creed game on the go at the moment but that doesn't necessarily feel like a bad thing - Origins has been a deliberate slow burn as I slowly work my way region by region working to fully explore each before moving on. Meanwhile, the others sit there for me to dive into when the desire to pilot a ship comes along (and no one is playing Sea of Thieves ...)

Also put a few hours into The Division 2, talking of Ubisofts blueprint to provide ongoing support and finished the story missions in the Warlords of New York expansion. This game still doesn't seem to have the drop in and play community that made the first game so much fun and one of my more played games a few years back but I did get to drop into someone else's bounty hunt just to assist them and it was fun to do that.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

Thanks, everyone :) That's probably a better way to look at it. I'm so used to treating games like I do novels (play to the end credits, move onto the next one) that I probably approached a game like AC: Valhalla wrongly. I'm going to keep it installed and dip into it for historical fun when the mood takes me.

Apologies for the annoying feminist killjoy rant in advance but I'm still enjoying everything about NieR: Automata EXCEPT the creepy fan service. My rule for this sort of thing is that in principle, I don't mind sexy characters that are designed for the fans to lust after (as long as there is variety and/or it's not just the women and/or they are interesting characters), but if I would be embarrassed by someone walking into the room and seeing me playing the game, then we have veered from normal sexy pin-up characters to weird/creepy p*rny nonsense... and I thiiiink NieR is veering into the latter category.

I'm a woman who grew up with manga, comics, cartoons and other nerdy stuff, so this isn't a "and I shall cast all my Evangelion DVDs into the fires of Mt Doom!" thing - I'm used to it and I pick my battles and tend to laugh this stuff off, and I don't want to abandon good stories just because the way the women are designed makes me feel like I'm a creepy man in an anorak lingering outside a women's yoga studio. But creepy fanservice is always more of a shame when you are playing/reading/watching something that is otherwise so excellent in all other aspects, like NieR. And the weird p*rny stuff sticks out like a sore thumb especially if the game you're playing has some pretentious or philosophical aims re story and theme (if it was a GTA game or "Austin Powers" type thing where things are lighter or deliberately trashy, that's a bit different). And if I have to put up with the camera leering creepily at 2B's arse, I think I can have a harmless whinge about it every now and again. Because it is stupid. (Can't wait for the remake of "Captain America: The First Avenger" where SHIELD give him a new uniform consisting of a top with a pecks window and no trousers and we get loving camera focuses on his barely-contained schlong but if anyone points out this is sort of creepy we will be assured that his manly sexy empowering costume is for plot reasons that conveniently require all handsome male characters to wear sexy roleplay outfits).

(Every time I see 2B's weird boob-window I think of this: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=398 )

But APART from that I'm having such a good time with the game and it's so weird and wonderful and fun. I really like the pretentuous Evangelion-vibes. I really love the music. And I really like the characters. And fighting. The fighting feels good (unlike in AC: Valhalla). And the menus. And the robots.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Miririn wrote: March 1st, 2021, 5:26 pm Thanks, everyone :) That's probably a better way to look at it. I'm so used to treating games like I do novels (play to the end credits, move onto the next one) that I probably approached a game like AC: Valhalla wrongly. I'm going to keep it installed and dip into it for historical fun when the mood takes me.

Apologies for the annoying feminist killjoy rant in advance but I'm still enjoying everything about NieR: Automata EXCEPT the creepy fan service. My rule for this sort of thing is that in principle, I don't mind sexy characters that are designed for the fans to lust after (as long as there is variety and/or it's not just the women and/or they are interesting characters), but if I would be embarrassed by someone walking into the room and seeing me playing the game, then we have veered from normal sexy pin-up characters to weird/creepy p*rny nonsense... and I thiiiink NieR is veering into the latter category.

I'm a woman who grew up with manga, comics, cartoons and other nerdy stuff, so this isn't a "and I shall cast all my Evangelion DVDs into the fires of Mt Doom!" thing - I'm used to it and I pick my battles and tend to laugh this stuff off, and I don't want to abandon good stories just because the way the women are designed makes me feel like I'm a creepy man in an anorak lingering outside a women's yoga studio. But creepy fanservice is always more of a shame when you are playing/reading/watching something that is otherwise so excellent in all other aspects, like NieR. And the weird p*rny stuff sticks out like a sore thumb especially if the game you're playing has some pretentious or philosophical aims re story and theme (if it was a GTA game or "Austin Powers" type thing where things are lighter or deliberately trashy, that's a bit different). And if I have to put up with the camera leering creepily at 2B's arse, I think I can have a harmless whinge about it every now and again. Because it is stupid. (Can't wait for the remake of "Captain America: The First Avenger" where SHIELD give him a new uniform consisting of a top with a pecks window and no trousers and we get loving camera focuses on his barely-contained schlong but if anyone points out this is sort of creepy we will be assured that his manly sexy empowering costume is for plot reasons that conveniently require all handsome male characters to wear sexy roleplay outfits).

(Every time I see 2B's weird boob-window I think of this: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=398 )

But APART from that I'm having such a good time with the game and it's so weird and wonderful and fun. I really like the pretentuous Evangelion-vibes. I really love the music. And I really like the characters. And fighting. The fighting feels good (unlike in AC: Valhalla). And the menus. And the robots.
Honestly, I don't think you are alone in that regard. I wouldn't feel comfortable with wife or daughters watching me play Nier Automata - though some of that is for reasons other than the heavy helping of fan service. Your comment reminds me that there are two achievements that are based on the underwear of both 2B and 9S - and that I am glad that some acheivements are purchaseable in this game without having to actually do the task. I've also got in the habit of monitoring the camera when the character is climbing ladders ...

It's honestly one of the few bad marks of this game - the visuals and sonic scape are stunning and it plays like a dream. But I'm always aware that what the developers feel is acceptable is somewhat at odds with my own experience
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by The_reviewist »

I'm finally playing Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Not far into it. Having only just semi-completed clearing Eos, so very early days, but currently, I'm not seeing the "terrible game" that I'd have been led to believe this is.

If this turns out to be one of those situations where people only disliked it because it doesn't have any legacy ME characters, I'll be annoyed it's had a bad rap unfairly. (although, I am still very early into things)
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Another Dragon's Dogma update. I finally finished Bitterblack Isle. Only took 8 years... I'll try to keep this short since I'll probably go finish the game proper now I'm finally done with this. Still kind of ambivalent towards this content though. There was no revelation point where I finally worked out the thing I was missing the whole time. It seems this area simply is just poorly balanced in certain spots. I got up to the room that halted my progress last time, and yet again it was a ridiculous farce this time as well. I was able to just run past it though. And the areas afterwards, even the final boss, were much easier. Although that boss has its own share of nonsense as well.

Also been playing CrossCode: A New Home, which is the epilogue DLC that has been many years coming. Again, I'm almost done with this too so I won't go too much in to it. It's a real treat to come back to this game, like catching up with an old friend. And I was even lucky enough to get this DLC for free since I was a backer on the original crowdfunder way back in the day. There's a lot I like here. There's a new dungeon that has some interesting new puzzles, and they mess around with the format a bit too. This one has outdoor areas, which is good for breaking up your progress through it. It's a nice touch, since it's so long it helps to pace things out, and gives you moments of conversation with other characters too. The devs did say they tried to work on the difficulty of this area in response to feedback on the main game, but it's still as prickly as always though. The end boss in particular is extremely hard. I haven't even beaten it yet after maybe close to 10 attempts. Might be the hardest boss of the entire game.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

@ReprobateGamer haha I did wonder why the animation of her climbing that ladder was so long. Now I feel very naive!

I got a bit worried about posting my rant because I don't want to come off as a Helen Lovejoy or anything. I mainly ranted because, like you, I think the game is so fantastic in so many other respects (that "Alien Manifestation" score on the soundtrack has been in my head for days) that the fanservice seems extra disappointing somehow.

I'm almost at the end of the first playthrough but I stupidly used up almost all my health items fighting creepy plastic surgery Adam and then forgot to replenish them before the big factory fight because I am a moron/not great at this game, so whether I can complete the first playthrough is TBD. The difficulty in this game is pretty variable so far - I pretty much breeze through the Gundam mecha battles by button mashing, but then occasionally I'll encounter a boss fight where I need to be thoughtful and strategise, like the opera robot. The music is so good that I don't begrudge being stuck during any particular boss fight, though.

The habit of some of the bosses of monologging about plot points while I'm too busy fighting them/dodging their attacks to concentrate on what they're saying is a pain. Once or twice I had to go to YouTube after to see if I had missed anything important. I guess at least they've solved Syndrome's Super Villain Monologue problem. You can monologue at the hero as long as you're also shooting at them at the same time!
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Truk_Kurt »

I feel bad for saying this as I don't like to criticise Yakuza, but I have hit a real low point with Like a Dragon in Chapter 12. I've come across a boss which I knew I had to be a certain level for prior to fighting him but no matter what he beats me comprehensively and so for the past 4-5 hours in the game I have been in that damned Battle Tower going through the motions of grinding to level up my characters, attempting boss again, getting pulverised, back to the tower, rinse and repeat. It has really soured my experience of the game. Granted it is my first JRPG (unless you count Pokemon) so I guess I should have been more expectant of the grind, but this experience has put me off trying other JRPGs as I just don't find it fun at all.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Miririn wrote: March 4th, 2021, 6:16 am @ReprobateGamer haha I did wonder why the animation of her climbing that ladder was so long. Now I feel very naive!

I got a bit worried about posting my rant because I don't want to come off as a Helen Lovejoy or anything. I mainly ranted because, like you, I think the game is so fantastic in so many other respects (that "Alien Manifestation" score on the soundtrack has been in my head for days) that the fanservice seems extra disappointing somehow.

I'm almost at the end of the first playthrough but I stupidly used up almost all my health items fighting creepy plastic surgery Adam and then forgot to replenish them before the big factory fight because I am a moron/not great at this game, so whether I can complete the first playthrough is TBD. The difficulty in this game is pretty variable so far - I pretty much breeze through the Gundam mecha battles by button mashing, but then occasionally I'll encounter a boss fight where I need to be thoughtful and strategise, like the opera robot. The music is so good that I don't begrudge being stuck during any particular boss fight, though.

The habit of some of the bosses of monologging about plot points while I'm too busy fighting them/dodging their attacks to concentrate on what they're saying is a pain. Once or twice I had to go to YouTube after to see if I had missed anything important. I guess at least they've solved Syndrome's Super Villain Monologue problem. You can monologue at the hero as long as you're also shooting at them at the same time!
Easy enough to farm money to purchase health items if needed - bounce over to the Bunker or the resistance camp. Make sure that you are staying on top of your chips as well. Things like auto heal and vicious heal are very useful - along with the chips that prevent you getting stun-locked ...

Spent an hour farming XP last night (hit the 99 level cap from a standing point of level 62) then a couple of hours working my way down a list of needed items for pod/weapon upgrades. It's definitely detracting from the game - particularly when I have more than enough money to purchase the last few outstanding acheivements and am one fight from the last endings.

Stepping away from Nier Automata, my daughters and I have settled into a routine where I play games later in the evening that they wouldn't normally see. Both of them have become quite taken with Minion Masters recently, which I'm fine with - I'll happily run one (or three) matches in that.

I've also started Call of the Sea for something a little more cerebral. Just reached chapter 3 and I'm liking it to some extent. I'm getting Cthulu vibes from it for some reason so this could be their technicolour intro to that Mythos if I'm correct ...

Had to give up on Costume Quest - this was largely that I had to run a system restore on my X1 and for some reason that save was totally removed. I was headed towards the end at that point (I think) and honestly am not keen to run it again. Still like the concept but just found the lack of tactical depth tedious. Am I the only one who found combat boring in this game?
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Miririn »

ReprobateGamer wrote: March 5th, 2021, 9:54 am
Miririn wrote: March 4th, 2021, 6:16 am @ReprobateGamer haha I did wonder why the animation of her climbing that ladder was so long. Now I feel very naive!

I got a bit worried about posting my rant because I don't want to come off as a Helen Lovejoy or anything. I mainly ranted because, like you, I think the game is so fantastic in so many other respects (that "Alien Manifestation" score on the soundtrack has been in my head for days) that the fanservice seems extra disappointing somehow.

I'm almost at the end of the first playthrough but I stupidly used up almost all my health items fighting creepy plastic surgery Adam and then forgot to replenish them before the big factory fight because I am a moron/not great at this game, so whether I can complete the first playthrough is TBD. The difficulty in this game is pretty variable so far - I pretty much breeze through the Gundam mecha battles by button mashing, but then occasionally I'll encounter a boss fight where I need to be thoughtful and strategise, like the opera robot. The music is so good that I don't begrudge being stuck during any particular boss fight, though.

The habit of some of the bosses of monologging about plot points while I'm too busy fighting them/dodging their attacks to concentrate on what they're saying is a pain. Once or twice I had to go to YouTube after to see if I had missed anything important. I guess at least they've solved Syndrome's Super Villain Monologue problem. You can monologue at the hero as long as you're also shooting at them at the same time!
Easy enough to farm money to purchase health items if needed - bounce over to the Bunker or the resistance camp. Make sure that you are staying on top of your chips as well. Things like auto heal and vicious heal are very useful - along with the chips that prevent you getting stun-locked ...
I got through it! Like a moron I didn't use the Auto Health Chips because I thought they were just for automatically consuming your healing items without pressing the d-pad and circle, haha. I can't believe I'd been playing so much of the game without them! On the 9S playthrough now, except I have zero experience with bullet hell shooters and have now realised I'm not particularly good at them. Would like my big gothic sword back please.
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