Whatcha Been Playing?

[stvnorman]

I wasn't going to post today as I've continued my PS+ odyssey, hoping to find another gem like Never Alone in all those untapped games, but so far haven't found it! However, I did want to mention a couple of games I've spent an hour or so with in total, but have been forced to give up on. I touched on Aaru's Awakening in my last post, with its dodgy button mapping, and gave it some more time, but the colours eventually confounded me. I'm colourblind with various colours, and there was just too much green at play in that game for me to get any enjoyment out of it - it was taking all my effort to concentrate on what was going on, never mind get used to jumping with a shoulder button! I ditched it a few levels in, and moved to Counterspy.

The old b-movie storyline and vibrant art style showed great promise, until I got into cover and started needing to move red dots around! The first couple of levels weren't too taxing, and I managed without being able to actually see where I was shooting, but as things got more frantic, I had no chance. Really disappointed because I could easily have lost myself in it for a few hours. But no, a second game on the trot confounded by colourblindness, or lazy game design depending on your point of view. Hopefully the next on my list, Valiant Hearts, will buck this trend!

[Todinho]

I also gave up on Aaru's Awakening lik you said the controls arent the best and even for me that have no problems such as colorblindness it get hard to tell what's going on at times I gave up in a boss fight when everytime after I beat it's first phase I instantly died because the game would place me on an enemy spawn point and I would have no time to react after restating a few times and encountering the same problem I gave up on it. I have a feeling you'll enjoy Valiant Hearts alot more than the previous games you mentioned,if you dont mind puzzles that is.

[Flabyo]

I've got to level 60 in Neverwtiner now which means the main thing for me to do is play the Epic dungeons.

However, I'm finding that unlike the normal dungeons where you can play with randoms and it's all good, almost every time I join an epic one they vote to kick me out within 30 seconds.

This happened to me in World of Warcraft a lot too, I seem to have a knack for picking character classes that nobody wants to raid with...

Probably give up on it now to be honest.

(It doesn't help that I've only just worked out how the 'campaign' missions part works, those ones scale to level so are basically impossible for me to do now)

[hazeredmist]

Super Mario 3D World.

It's funny, you sit and think things like Rayman Legends are Nintendo platformer quality, then you play this and realise, no, nothing is Nintendo platformer quality... Just hit World 5 and am struggling to put it down. Endless delight!

[Todinho]

So I just started Pillars of Eternity another classic CRPG funded by Kickstarter,this one if from Obsidian so hopes are high I waited awhile after my experience with Wasteland 2 to see if there were any major bugs which turned out to be the right choice there were some pretty bad ones at launch but the quickly fixed it and I gotta say the production values of this game compared to other recent CRPGs like Shadowrun,Divinity and even Wasteland 2 is way higher,another thing this game excells at is providing a good entry point for new players of the genre without alienating veteran players because even though I really liked Wasteland 2 for staying true to the old school CRPGs it almost stayed too true and didnt provide much help for new players something this game does really well I think this is a good thing because this genre can be a bit hard to get into if you're not familiar with the systems or is coming from a bioware or JRPGs background.
Another thing this game does really well is grab you and imerse you in it's world,Obsidian hasnt lost it's touch on that thankfully, it's a fantasy world and is similar to the likes of Baldurs Gate but has enough to it at the start to make me care alot more than I thought I would and I hope as I keep going the world is gonna be more fleshed out but just the fact that I can make weird characters like an albino Elf that lives in the artic and uses mind tricks or an Death Godlike that's an paladin is really cool and puts this game way above something like divinity where you can only make human characters(to be honest that entire game's world and story was so generic and boring I gave up on it especially since I didnt have anyone to play with and take advantage of the dialogue system)

So yeah so far it seems that Pillars is taking all that good thing recent CRPGs did and putting all into one game and I sure hope that's the case but I'll only find out through playing more which might be hard since my computer is acting weird

[Alex79]

A game I definitely have NOT been playing lately is Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge on the iPad. After listening to a podcast about the game I thought it was about time I replayed it. It's been years since I last played it through and was really looking forward to playing the remade version on the iPad only to find its been pulled from a Appstore only a few weeks ago.

Disappointed!

[The_reviewist]

Finished off Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD yesterday.
Have to say, it's a pretty decent game, very obviously a handheld port (but a nicely updated one)
On the whole I think the plot & style was actually a great take on the series, and an interestingly done story that touches on a lot of difficult material, although lightly.

I'd recommend it, especially as I only paid £3 for it on XBLA a month or two ago. For that price, it's a steal.

[Alex79]

I started Bayonetta this afternoon. It's probably the most confused I've been playing a game in years. People bemoaned Dark Souls not explaining anything to the player, but this takes the biscuit. I literally have no idea where I'm supposed to be going or what I'm supposed to be doing! I'm just wandering around a train station at the moment and kind of ghost people are wandering around too but I can't interact with them.

[Todinho]

Just beat angels up and collect their Halos until a bigger angel comes after you then you beat him too rinse repeat!

[Scrustle]

Bayonetta is pretty straightforward for the most part, especially if you are familiar with something like DMC. Although, I have to agree, that train station can be a bit confusing. It's not immediately clear where you should be going, and it can be easy to lose your bearings. You should be looking for an exit that's in the opposite corner of the station from where you first start the level, if memory serves. Just walk around the edge of the area at ground level and you should find it. You go through some metal detectors and once you do a barrier closes behind you and you just continue with the level.

[DomsBeard]

Mortal Kombat X

Preferring IX to this so far, the story isn't great (I know it's MK but IX had a good story) and the characters are not as fun. Kotal Khan is dire to play as.

Still early days I'm sure I'll be loving it by the end.

[arry_g]

At the moment I am playing:
* GTA V
* GTA: Online
* DOTA
* Persona 4 Golden

In GTA V I have got as far as doing the prep work for the second and third heist, I am 14 hours in and the game is struggling to hold my interest now. The humour has worn thin, most missions have begun to lack variety and the ones which are a little different (usually Trevor's) are kind of tedious. I am hoping the fun of the first ten hours comes back...

Nothing to say about GTA Online, it is fun but can't see it holding my interest for long periods of time.

DOTA, there is a lot to learn and it is stressful and that is me only having played with bots. That said, there is a real high when stuff pans out.

Persona 4: Golden, third playthrough, NG++, still great but am only playing again as there is one trophy I need to get for the plat and it is bugging me that I know that.

[Retrothumbs]

At the moment I am currently playing..
*Super Mario Sunshine. It's been left for years and I thought I should get on with it after listening to the podcast for it.
*New Super Mario Bros Wii - Not long completed, but I keep going back to it. Lovely game (along with the Wii U version of course)
*Bioshock Infinite (Burial at Sea). 30% odd through DLC no. 1

I have to say that Mario Sunshine is defintely the black sheep of the Mario collections. It's fun, but slightly less polished than other Mario games. I 'think' I like FLUDD though

[stvnorman]

I have a feeling you'll enjoy Valiant Hearts alot more than the previous games you mentioned,if you dont mind puzzles that is.

I was a bit concerned about the puzzle element. Wasn't sure if I was walking into Monkey Island or Silent Hill territory, which would have put me right off. However, the puzzles in Valiant Hearts seem logical and I'm enjoying the game a lot so far. Really impressed how it handles the subject matter with dignity given its style.

Also had a quick go on Hohokum from yesterday's PS+ assortment. Not entirely sure what's going on or what I'm supposed to do yet, but I think that's the point and as I'm writing this and recalling what I did in the 15 minutes that I was playing, I may have just worked it out. In case I'm right, I'll stop there in case of spoiling it and try it out later.

And, at a complete tangent, I've put a few hours into the iPad version of Knights of the Old Republic. Controls okay on the touchscreen, looks good, and I'm really engaged with it. I think that was 69p well spent when I actually bought it a couple of years ago!

[Todinho]

Still Playing Pillars of Eternity but now Im really in love with it it really nails all the things a CRPG should and so far it doesnt have any of the shortcoming of the previous ones I mentioned last time! The wrold might seem a bit generic at first but once I start to understand all the mechanics of souls,animancy and all of that it gets really interesting and all of that part of the story have sparks of Planescape Torment all over it and that is a great thing,speaking of which the writing in this game is great as expected and the few voice actors are also a great addition which was a big surprise for me because I usually dont like voice acting in these types of game,also the combat is pretty fun and has never been clearer and easier to understand while remaining true to roots of the genre so no X-COM system or magicka style combos which is fine by me because I was never 100% onboard for the X-COM aproach in Wasteland 2 it makes sense but I much prefer the classic style of Pillars,if I have one criticism of the game is probably that while the main story,the character and the nature of the world are interesting geopolitically the world is kinda of meh the most interesting thing is that you're playing in what basically is a medieval version of the United States not too long after it's independence and that's cool but there's so much more to the world than just this country that It's kinda of bummer knowing that game only takes place there but ohwell who knows maybe the game will have a Wasteland 2 moment at the 50% mark,but yeah great game and I hevent encountered a single bug yet Obsidian really knocked out the park with this one.

[Bakers_12]

I have been playing two games lately, the first Bloodborne. I'm nearing the end now and as with the souls games have loved it. From software really do know how to make a game world feel real and game play is so solid. I am getting to a point where I have to farm for blood vials and I'm not enjoying that, but that’s such a small thing to complain about.

Secondly Wolfenstin the old blood. Its only early doors as I'm only on the third chapter but I’m really enjoying it, though the opening forced stealth bit can do one!!

[stvnorman]

I've been playing The Order: 1886. I got it for my birthday, so don't have any real problem with the length or fairly lightweight gameplay - I wanted it so I could spend a few hours being told an interesting alternate history in a visually stunning recreation of a period of time I'm very interested in. And I know it only cost £25 when it was bought for me! My problem is the alternate history being unnecessarily so. There are several Jack the Ripper references in the couple of hours I've played, as you might expect in a horror game set in Victorian London. I've avoided spoilers so don't know if he actively features later. However, as someone who has a whole shelf full of books on the subject, and original Punch magazines featuring the well-known illustrations from the time, I'm really wondering why it's not called The Order: 1888... It's two years early for Jack the Ripper references! That aside, I'm quite enjoying it.

[Scrustle]

Haven't had much chance to play games lately. Been quite busy with college work, but I've managed to get in a little bit of Project Cars. Seems pretty good so far. Very nice feeling of control, but a little more unforgiving than I'm used to with the likes of Forza. Or well, maybe that's not to true when compared to FM5, but I won't bother to go in to that here. Anyway, it's fun, it looks great, and I'm terrible at driving in the rain.

I'm not quite sure on how the career mode is set out so far though. To start off they force you in to go karts, and there's nothing you can do about it. Everything is unlocked from the start for various different modes, but at the start of your career path, you're still locked down to karts. I've never really liked how karts feel in realistic games. I guess it's because they're so small, light, and stiff. They just don't have that natural body language that normal sized cars have, and they snap back on you so quickly when things go wrong. On top of that, each season is pretty long, so I got pretty tired of those karts after a while. Not to mention a couple of repeated tracks and rolling starts that screw you over at the beginning. But then, after I finished the season, I got forced in to yet another season of go karts! Faster ones this time, but come on. I want to pick what I race! Sure, pace out the game so the slower and easier stuff comes before the faster and harder stuff, but what about some races in some FWD hatchbacks or something? Not two seasons of the same thing in a row.

I have taken some time out to try out other cars and tracks in the single race mode, and they're pretty fun. The point-to-point tracks that take place on closed off public roads are really stunning. All the cars feel massively different to drive too, and it's not simply a case of faster stuff being harder. A BMW M1 Procar was way easier to drive than a Ford Capri with massive turbo lag for example. AI is pretty good as well. They move about on the track and don't just follow the perfect line like they're on rails. They can also be pretty aggressive, and they will take advantage of any openings you leave. It makes races a lot of fun. They feel very dynamic and sporadic, in a way that feels natural too. Again, it's kind of a shame they start you off in karts for the career, because the best parts of the racing really come out in the other car classes.

I've also been trying to go back to Symphony of the Night lately, with all this hubbub surrounding the new game IGA is Kickstarting. I really don't know about this game. I really want to love it. I can see great things about it. Yet when I play it, it often feels like I'm struggling against it to find the fun. The best way to describe it is probably to just recount my recent progress. Although it's not really "recent", as I can't even remember the last time I played it before now, and I've owned the game for what it probably nearing two years, if it hasn't been more than that already. But anyway...

The last time I gave up on the game and dropped it I was at the Outer Wall. I've been stuck there forever, not being able to make any progress. I looked around to as many different places as I could to find areas I hadn't explored, and found nothing. I recently got the wolf form thing, and was trying to use that to cross over the collapsing bridge that's in a room connected to the top of the Outer Wall area. I was assuming that what I had to do was sprint across that area, jumping over the gaps as the wolf. The problem is, I can't see where the bridge collapses from, so I pretty much have to fall down every single one in order to see where they even are. While this is happening, I'm being attacked by flying skulls that come at you diagonally through the walls, so they're a real pain to fight against. Every time you fall off the bridge all these skulls also respawn. Once I managed to actually jump across a gap, there's another really strong enemy standing on the bridge, but the area is too small to avoid his attacks, and I've got skulls still attacking me too. On top of all of this it's almost impossible to get the sprint going in wolf form. I'm not even sure I'm doing the input right, because it seems like it takes a dozen attempts before I can simply even get in to a sprint. It's ridiculous. So you can imagine how infuriating everything about this situation is, but since I don't see anywhere else to go, I figured this is the only option I have, aside from simply quitting the game, so I did.

But then recently I decided to have another go at it, and with all this Bloodstained stuff going on, I saw a stream where they got IGA to sit in on playing SotN, hoping to pick up some tips. Lo and behold! The wolf form is apparently supposed to be an impossible clunky mess to control, and that the area I was trying to go through was completely optional, and probably way above my level. Turns out I needed to buy the Jewel of Open from the merchant guy. Don't know why I didn't get that before. I probably didn't have enough money. So I did what they did on the stream and got the jewel. I also tried using a shield more, as they used that a lot in the stream too. Then I remembered why I didn't bother using the shield before. It's worthless, for me at least. It doesn't block any hits at all.

But anyway, I had the jewel. Now what? The game doesn't tell you what the jewel does, so I had to go to the Internet to find a walkthrough. Granted, it has been a really long time since I last played the game, so maybe I would have remembered the inconspicuous blue door from a completely different area if it was fresher in my mind. Either way, I hunted it down and found it lead to a switch. I stood on it and... nothing. Well that's not true. The door to the Underground Caverns opened, which wasn't too far away. But still, some kind of signal at what the switch did would be nice.

So now I'm finally in the caverns. Somewhere that I can presumably make some form of progress. Or well, kind of. Much like the wolf form, this Jewel of Open is one of the togglable relics, meaning that the Underground Caverns are also totally optional. So I'm not really "progressing". But it's something. I can at least play the game now. Maybe.

But there are still things I like about the game. I love the art design and atmosphere. The soundtrack is great. I like exploring the castle and finding new places full of weird things to see. But holy hell it feels like such a struggle so much of the time.

[Todinho]

Still playing Pillars of Eternity still really good just met the final companion named "Grieving Mother" and this is a really interesting one Im curious so see where this goes and yeah as far as companions go there's 8 and I like 7 of them so good job Obsidian.

Also I finnaly gave in and bought RE:revelations 2 I was gonna wait for a bigger discount on steam but screw it I've been wanting to play this since it came out so it's a small sacrifice,so far it's good it hasnt blew me away or anything but what's here is solid,the biggest diference from the first game is that now the scanner function is given to a second character which can get pretty annoying playing it single player since you constantly have to switch betewen the 2 to scan for itens instead of doing it on the go like in the first game but it's not so bad and the A.I at least isnt braindead and if they are gonna insist in doing the co-op thing at least they are doing something unique with it.

Speaking of which this game rips-off the Last of Us gameplay in many moments to the point of being a bit emberassing but hey it's good and it works in RE so Im not gonna complain,another thing that I didnt expect to work is Moira Burton when I first heard I thought she was just gonna be a annoying teenager but she actually ok and reminded me a bit of Heather of SH3 so that's also fine.But the one thing I loved about this game so far(and this is just gonna apply to weirdos like me that follow and like this series plots and characters despite it all being complete nonsense) is the tone of the game it's really,really cheesy like there's a line in the game that's "TerraSave because Terr- doesnt have to end with -orist" <<This is an actual line in the game!And it just get's better from there with mentions to the Jill Sandwich line as a inside joke and so on I love the devs here know that RE is goofy and are just having abit of fun with it,it's not self-parody level but it's on the RE4 level and after RE6 took itself so serious and was so boring this is a good direction to take the game so yeah Im hopefull so far it looks like they are doing what I wanted and improving the strong parts of the first game so hopefully this will get stronger as it goes along.

PS:Barry Burtton is back and playable motherf***ers!!!

[RobC]

After the buzz around the latest Life is Strange episode I decided on a whim to check it out. Only played through the first episode so far but I'm really enjoying it. It certainly won't be for everyone, the whole tone of it will either charm or infuriate you, it comes off like Donnie Darko directed by Zach Braff.