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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 3rd, 2018, 9:07 pm
by Scrustle
I also played The Quiet Man. Always been morbidly curious about this thing. Looked like such a strange mess that I wanted to see it for myself. And I though maybe in the process I might get a good laugh out of it, even if it was a bad game. That sort of happened, but it didn't last. It really is a bizarre thing. Mostly cutscenes, with the occasional fist fight section in between. The gameplay sections vary a lot in length, but are generally way shorter than the cutscenes they are interspersed between. The story is so odd. A lot of focus on dialogue, despite you not being able to understand anything with it all being silent. Many flashbacks to really strangely presented scenes of the main character's childhood trauma, and some occasionally odd acting and confounding facial expressions. Definitely got a few laughs out of me with how weird the whole thing is. Although that said, some of it is rather well shot, with a good use of lighting. Some of the acting seemed reasonable too. Although without being able to hear voices it's hard to tell with certainty.

The combat though is just abysmal. At first it is as absurdly comedic as the story sections. Perhaps even more so. It's an extremely stiff and basic combat system, while also feeling very loose and sloppy. Animation is mostly very poor, with the biggest problem being that it has next to no blending and can be broken extremely easily. Both you and enemies are often glitching around, snapping between poses, being forced out of the position you're supposed to be in during animations, clipping through each other, etc. Some of your attacks feel like they have a decent weight to them, mostly ones you pull out from the focus mode type thing that you can use. In general though they don't feel like they are weighted properly and come across as stiff and limp. The camera is also awfully placed for these combat sequences too. They try to pull it in to some kind of cinematic, stylish angle, but it just obscures all the enemies that may be off screen. Not helped by the fact that hitboxes don't make sense, and attacks can simply come out of nowhere giving you no room to see them coming. So a pretty often occurrence was either me stun-locking enemies on walls with the same few basic moves, or being instantly annihilated by a flurry of attack that I never saw happen.

But even with all those problems I was sort of enjoying the insanity of it all. Seeing such an odd, broken, inscrutable thing in action is just fascinating. But then I reached a point that I think was about 3/4 of the way though, and came up across a certain boss. The leader of the gang you have been fighting through the game, who you are getting revenge on for that childhood trauma. It's just some guy really. A tall guy, but just a guy. Except he was just absurdly impossible to beat. Nothing worked. All his attacks are either instant kill, or almost instant kill. You can't stagger him, and he can pull out attacks faster than you can see. Just utter bollocks that ruined the experience. Probably the worst boss in any game I've ever played. So with my enjoyment thoroughly quashed, and my curiosity sates, I decided I had enough and refunded the game. I played it so you don't have to.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 3rd, 2018, 9:39 pm
by Joshihatsumitsu
I did watch the Jimprissions of The Quiet Man... and that was enough for me! Definitely worth watching someone else play!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 3rd, 2018, 9:54 pm
by stvnorman
Over the moon to report I finished Hollow Knight! Clocked in at 55.5 hours, including my two rage-deletes (thank goodness for Nintendo’s new cloud saves). Didn’t realise how close to the end I was when I posted on this yesterday, and stumbled upon the last piece of the jigsaw almost by accident. Very few games over the last almost forty years have hooked me like this one did - 80% love, 20% pure hatred, and probably the best £7.99 I ever spent.

In a very productive day, also finished the Destiny 2 campaign. It’s not that long but I’d certainly had enough of if by the end. Messed around with some strikes and standard multiplayer afterwards, it’s all fine, but it’s just missing the something that made the first one so fiendishly appealing to me.

And tried PS+ freebie Rocketbirds 2: Evolution. It’s awful! A bad interpretation of Gunslugs with chickens and not much action, crossed with the worst of Mighty No.9, but even that didn’t stoop to mapping jump to L1!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 7:22 am
by Chopper
Appreciate the Quiet Man and Hollow Knight impressions there folks; one has dropped way down my list (I was okay until Scrustle's final paragraph) and one has jumped up.

Thanks :)

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 10:10 am
by Suits
Since my Taiko No Tatsujin failed to show up at all this weekend and is scheduled to tier up tomorrow when I'm at work :roll: , I've been sticking to the usual.

Pro 2019 is the best version it's been in a while, I'm convinced it because I've bought it on the PS4 this time and have updated all of the no licensed items. There was also a data, face and gameplay patch last week which seems to have changed things up a bit.

Plus Guendouzi's hair looks incredible now.

I've also started Wario Land 2 again, this time I purchased download version from the eShop on my 3DS (£4.49). I was playing it on the cart on my GameCube but having it on my 3DS means I get much more of an opportunity to play it and I've already passed the point I was at.

Interesting also that the eShop version is the GameBoy Color version, as opposed to my Original GameBoy cart, so it looks a lot more interesting.

I'm warming to that game now that I know what it is.

It's a shame as the battery on my 3DS is failing I think, it won't last longer than a few hours now. I have the Metroid Samus Returns Limited Edition console, that I don't use and is brand new - I think I'm going to pinch the battery out of that and swap them out as that LE console will only ever be a shelf item for me.

Then, as always, I'm in and out of Animal Crossing:New Leaf still - which is rad and a great wind down game before bed.

Powerful.

Image

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 10:22 am
by Simonsloth
Zelda II:

After my initial problems with the game I’ve now found my groove. I’ve made the journey and the entire way through the final temple without losing a life on my way.

I’m on the final boss with 5 lives to spare, full magic and life too. I think I may do this!!

Edit:
5 mins later and it’s done. A little bit of an anticlimax as it seemed relatively easy. Pretty chuffed with myself.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 10:32 am
by ratsoalbion
Blimey! That’s good going.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 12:33 pm
by dezm0nd
Well done Simon!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 3:21 pm
by dezm0nd
i remember having a discussion with a friend about D3 and what it essentially boils down to and it's a lot of clicking, yeah.

I know you had your tongue in your cheek when you say clicker-like but really, it's much more than that. It's just when you think about what you're doing primarily, it seems a bit simple.

Part of the genius, I think, as there's quite a deep game to be had as we discussed in our cane and rinse issue!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 4th, 2018, 5:16 pm
by Stanshall
Definitely tongue in cheek, I'm buzzing off it at the moment, really got under my skin. I decided there was nothing much to spoil from a story POV so listened to the episode on it last night and this morning. Really fun show! Obviously, there's plenty of stuff mentioned which I haven't even seen yet and don't understand really but it was great timing to sync with my excitement, everyone was really positive about it and all willing slaves to the grind! :D

Looking forward to seeing how much deeper it will go.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 5th, 2018, 9:10 pm
by stvnorman
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! finally arrived today, and was worth the wait. I had a lot of fun with the button controls in the demo, but the drum controller takes it to a whole new level. Completely bonkers and completely joyful.

Also had Moonlighter preordered on the Switch and have spent a couple of hours on it tonight. It’s fantastic and I can see me getting completely addicted to it for a long time to come. Scratches the same itch as Stardew Valley but is very much its own game.

I can already see it being a toss up between today’s new arrivals for my game of the year!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 6:38 pm
by KSubzero1000
I'm a good few hours into Valkyria Chronicles. Loving it so far. Art style, music and presentation are great, a lot of the gameplay systems are very well thought out, and I vastly prefer high fantasy historical fiction over its usually misleading and sensationalist "realistic" counterpart.

The only issue I have is that since my brain is so accustomed to 15+ years of Fire Emblem, it's a bit difficult to get used to some of the strategical options. I basically have to force myself to re-use individual units in the same turn, for example. But like with DMC before it, I think it's important to acknowledge that the problem is very much on my end and not the game's fault. Habit is a nasty thing.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 6:52 pm
by Flabyo
The pseudo real-time aspects of it take a little getting used to as well.

It’s one of my all time favourites, but much like Final Fantasy Tactics it does have a stage in there that is a maassive difficulty spike that a lot of people bounce off.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 6:54 pm
by Suits
KSubzero1000 wrote: November 6th, 2018, 6:38 pm But like with DMC before it, I think it's important to acknowledge that the problem is very much on my end and not the game's fault. Habit is a nasty thing.
I struggle with this a lot.

I then often overly compare games to other similar games which I feel is sometimes unfair and detracts from the actual game I’m playing.

I’m getting better at dealing with it though.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 7:32 pm
by KSubzero1000
Suits wrote: November 6th, 2018, 6:54 pm I then often overly compare games to other similar games which I feel is sometimes unfair and detracts from the actual game I’m playing.
I think the trick is to figure out whether the game is following its own internal logic that happens to draw some parallels to another game or if it's just trying to be a superficial copy of said game without its own identity. Being critical of perceived creative bankruptcy is one thing. Being stubborn is another.

The reason I'm so harsh on, say, Dead Space or TLoU is because I've played dozens of hours of both and I've regretfully come to the conclusion that they simply don't have the refined gameplay loop and important little details of RE4. They wear their inspiration on their sleeves, but without offering much on top of that. Like a heavily abridged version of a literary classic.

Whereas DMC and VC do have very elaborate internal logics of their own, the only issue is that I have trouble learning them because I'm so used to the way Ninja Gaiden and Fire Emblem work. But that has nothing to do with the game itself and it would be completely unfair of me to hold the game accountable for my close-mindedness. Like a foreign-language literary classic I'm not familiar with.


That's the way I make sense of it, anyway!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 8:40 pm
by Joshihatsumitsu
KSubzero1000 wrote: November 6th, 2018, 6:38 pm I'm a good few hours into Valkyria Chronicles. Loving it so far...
I'm about 25 hours into Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP, via Vita), and having not played the first game, or any other in the series, I'll definitely have go back to the first.

Without spoiling anything, my main criticism with 2 is that Gallia seems to be located in California?!? Something about the voice acting is grating on my ears a little too much, and I'm finding myself skipping through dialogue at times. Personal preferences I guess.

But if I'm 25 hours in, then that shows that the core gameplay holds up very well.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 8:42 pm
by Simonsloth
KSubzero1000 wrote: November 6th, 2018, 7:32 pm
The reason I'm so harsh on, say, Dead Space or TLoU is because I've played dozens of hours of both and I've regretfully come to the conclusion that they simply don't have the refined gameplay loop and important little details of RE4. They wear their inspiration on their sleeves, but without offering much on top of that.
That’s interesting as I feel those three games can stand quite happily on their own. Interestingly I replayed dead space and resi 4 around the same time earlier this year and not once did I feel one was the inferior cousin of the other. Yes there are parallels in that they are third person action horror games with some shared DNA but I wouldn’t stand them side by side. I love all three for different reasons.

I’d also speculate that the dozen hours of dead space were never going to compete with the 100+ hours of resident evil 4. I think anything with vague similarities wouldn’t pass the Ksub test;)

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 9:15 pm
by KSubzero1000
Joshihatsumitsu wrote: November 6th, 2018, 8:40 pm Without spoiling anything, my main criticism with 2 is that Gallia seems to be located in California?!?
Wait, what?!

VC1 is set in a very obvious version of WW2 Europe, albeit one with heavily fictionalized aesthetics. I have no idea what they were thinking with these sugary settings in 2 and 3. I hear 4 takes a highly regarded "back to the basics"-approach, though.

The first one is definitely worth playing!

Simonsloth wrote: November 6th, 2018, 8:42 pm That’s interesting as I feel those three games can stand quite happily on their own. Interestingly I replayed dead space and resi 4 around the same time earlier this year and not once did I feel one was the inferior cousin of the other. Yes there are parallels in that they are third person action horror games with some shared DNA but I wouldn’t stand them side by side. I love all three for different reasons.

I’d also speculate that the dozen hours of dead space were never going to compete with the 100+ hours of resident evil 4. I think anything with vague similarities wouldn’t pass the Ksub test;)
Hey, you're making me out to be biased or something! :P

Now to be clear, I was only talking about the gameplay. DS and TLoU can totally stand on their own as overall products. I did put all three in my Top 50, for example. Dead Space has a brilliant audiovisual presentation and TLoU is obviously a storytelling powerhouse, areas in which they easily surpass RE4. But in terms of raw mechanics, the devil is in the details. DS's combat is very simplistic and doesn't allow for a lot of fine-tuning beyond "Shoot the limbs + Stasis if necessary", with a useless melee system and a lot of guaranteed (cheap) damage. TLoU's numerous smoke-and-mirrors-techniques are also well-documented.

I haven't played TLoU on Grounded because I find ND's systems to not hold up very well on higher difficulties, but I have done a Hardcore run on DS2 a few years ago, and a lot of it was spent praying that the system wouldn't screw me over with cheap hits and forced restarts. Are they fun? Yes (mostly thanks to the fantastic audiovisual feedback and high-quality animations), but also pretty rough and shallow once you dig a bit deeper into either of them. Towards the end of TLoU, the combat sections mostly feel like formalities I have to click through in order to gain access to the next interesting bits of character development. Not like truly engaging and rewarding sandboxes.

For comparison, I did a No Damage run on RE4 a few weeks ago. I didn't post about it because I figured nobody would want to read even more RE fanboy garbage from me but you know what? Every single restart was my own fault because every bit of damage is preventable in that game. The foundation is so robust as to allow this type of stuff, same as with No Merchant or Pistol Only runs. All the hitboxes and frame data are so delightfully fair and consistent. The lack of a proper Mercs equivalent in all of RE4's "spiritual successors" also speaks for itself, I think.
Spoiler: show
More like 800+ hours. Get with the program.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 9:32 pm
by Flabyo
The setting in Vc3 is definitely not sugary. It’s the darkest of the lot. (You might be referring to VC Revolution, which is awful and should be ignored, rather than 3 which only released in Japan and turns up the grimdark)

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: November 6th, 2018, 9:37 pm
by KSubzero1000
Ah, okay. I'll admit to not be very knowledgeable about the series. I thought 2 and 3 had a high-school type setting that avoided the geopolitical aspect of the first one? And Revolution looks like generic sugary JRPG setting, yeah.