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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 5:44 am
by KSubzero1000
clippa wrote: July 22nd, 2019, 3:16 am I've yet to experience anything that wasn't phoned in, hack crap.
Well, I guess it's gonna be a tiny bit difficult for various writers and directors to help someone appreciate the value of their work if said someone is too busy mashing the skip button out of some raw consumerist entitlement about what does and doesn't belong inside their favorite toy.

I don't have a dog in this fight either. I dislike a lot of current AAA tropes, gave up on MP3 after a few hours too (although for very different reasons) and I didn't find the beginning of its story particularly captivating either. But that was a highly upsetting read, to be perfectly honest with you. This is just the polarity-reversed version of other people's pretentious diatribes about how gameplay considerations are inherently passé and how wonderful it is that games have finally "moved on" from lowly shmups and the like. Condescension and close-mindedness, everywhere I look. We're lucky enough to have the most creatively unshackled medium that the world has ever seen at our fingertips and yet most people insist on treating it like complete garbage. It should be possible to express one's preference for either gameplay- or storytelling-based experiences in a way that doesn't completely trash creators' hard work and the enjoyment that others get from it.

As always, respect is the missing ingredient.
KSubzero1000 wrote: July 20th, 2019, 3:03 pm Because most video game players don't actually respect video games. They view them as convenient shortcuts to their brain's pleasure centers to be consumed at the lowest possible amount of personal investment (be it financial, intellectual, temporal, energetic, etc...) and immediately uninstalled and tossed away afterwards. The entertainment equivalent of fast food. No more, no less.
I rest my case.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 8:01 am
by dezm0nd
As I mentioned on the Grant Kirkhope Sound of Play, I am playing Kingdoms of Amalur on the Xbox 360 via BC.

It's like if Skyrim and fable swapped DNA and I'm enjoying it purely as a loot based RPG. The story isn't doing much for me but the NPCs mini stories are engaging enough for me to run about for a little while and level up.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 8:19 am
by Flabyo
I really wanted the combat in Fable to be more like that in Amalur, but that wasn’t my area of the project.

I think the main flaw in Amalur is that it keeps you in variations of Forest for too long before the environments start getting more interesting. (Nice Forest, Darker Forest, haunted forest, etc...)

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 8:33 am
by Alex79
clippa wrote: July 22nd, 2019, 3:16 am ... keep your unskippable cutscenes out of my third person shooter that I paid 40 effing quid for, I suppose is the tl;dr of it.
I'm embarassed that I feel so strongly about it to be honest :lol:
Specifically with that particular game though, you'd either be looking at an unskippable cut scene or a blank loading screen. The cut scenes were unskippable only until the next part was loaded, and then you could actually skip them after that.

It's a story driven shooter though, so they're equally as important to the game as the shooting men in the face in slow-mo. But anyway, it's totally your choice how you play games and what you want to get out of them, but that's why you couldn't skip the cut scenes entirely. If I remember right MP3 had score attack and New York Minute game modes available which were entirely focused on high scoring and clearing out enemies as quick as possible - you may have got some mileage out of that (but I don't know whether they still had cut scenes in, never tried them).

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 8:36 am
by Alex79
Flabyo wrote: July 22nd, 2019, 8:19 am I really wanted the combat in Fable to be more like that in Amalur, but that wasn’t my area of the project.
I loved the Fable 2 combat, one bottom for melee, one for guns and one for magic. The simplicity of it freed you up to pull off some awesome looking fights. I remember at the time just thinking how cool it was, and it made the player use each method of attack so much more than they would usually. I'm never a magic guy, but the way it worked in F2 really changed that as I used each attack just as much as the others.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 8:39 am
by Flabyo
It would’ve been nice to have the weapons play a little more differently from each other than they did. It’s quibbling really, the Fable games were aimed at a lower skill ceiling than Amalur is.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 22nd, 2019, 7:39 pm
by Scrustle
More Bioshock Infinite. I've gotten to the bit where you're trying to track down the gunsmith, and you do the first hop between different universes. After that stellar start, it's starting to drag a bit. Even on my first run I felt like this spot was a bit of a slog though, so this isn't exactly new. While the aesthetics are still extremely strong, the structure and combat start to really show their flaws at this point I think. I remember a lot of the early popular criticisms of this game were around the idea of it focusing too much on violence, popularising the notorious phrase "ludonarrative dissonance". Which spawned what I've always thought was a silly controversy. It's a completely fine and useful phrase to use that describes a real thing, but one which I don't think really applies well to this game.

But without getting too sidetracked, this time through I actually think part of the problem is that there isn't enough combat. It's a new side to something I've always felt this game suffers from, which is how it follows trends from other popular shooters for seemingly no good reason, in ways that clash against the remnants of the design of the old Bioshock games that were carried over. Here the levels are linear like in a Call of Duty or Halo, and you are fed in to combat arenas where battles take place, rather than them happening more organically as you explore around like in the old games. Except the game still tries to make exploring levels and scavenging supplies a large part of the experience. This leads to a lot of walking around arenas that you already cleared out after a short firefight, and going back and forth between the linear paths you've already been down. It also doesn't help that the slow default run speed and large open arenas make getting about and looting feel clunky too. It's easy to look back to the old games and compare this to how they were designed and see how those were better, but now I can see how it would also have been improved by committing more to this newly adopted style, and moving you more briskly between fights, and making the fights themselves more numerous and longer. A lot of the fights here feel like they are kind of pointless, against only a few isolated enemies that don't stand much chance against you, and that don't provide an interesting challenge due to them not moving around much or having interesting behaviour.

I'm not quite sure what to think of the social commentary stuff right now. Having moved past the early moments, it feels like it's lost its impact somewhat. But I don't think that's because it's become toothless or tired, but simply that it's not new anymore. But it does feel like it's in this weird limbo at this point in the game, where sometimes it still feels biting and well considered. but at other times it feels cartoonish and silly. Like during this Finkton section, there are scenes like people bidding at an auction for a job because they are so desperate, corpses from public executions of labour agitators, and insidious propaganda blasting out of loud speakers about how awful it is to expect something like a living wage. Some of that may seem a bit exaggerated, but taking things to an extreme conclusion has always been part of how Bioshock does its thing, and from some of the stuff that actually has happened in the real world, it's not really that extreme at all in comparison. But on the other hand, you walk in to the area passing lines of workers who are literally all moving like robots in unison to a metronome, and you see giant clocks on the wall where half the day is marked as "work", and only a sliver devoted to things like "rest" or "food". It's so on the nose that it feels a bit like a joke. Putting that right next to the gruesome (albeit exaggerated) reality stretches the tonal consistency a bit.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 8:15 am
by hazeredmist
Started Steins;Gate 0 on Vita last night. Only played the intro but already feel at home returning to this franchise. It's got so many more QOL things right over something like say Root Letter, which mechanically felt lazy with no touch screen, limited text speed options etc, the devs of this get that stuff just right. Very excited to get into it properly.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 9:06 am
by Suits
I’m about 5 hours into Zelda: Minish Cap.

I’m enjoying this much more than Spirit Track’s as this is completely more of a traditional Zelda game.

It’s odd but I don’t like the few extra frames of animation on Link as he strides about, also the lack of face buttons is become annoying and I feel will only get worse as the number of tools and items that I collect increase.

I’ve been just found and recovered the Fire Element - for those that are familiar with the story.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 1:37 pm
by DomsBeard
After hearing Outer Wilds bigged up elsewhere I decided to give it a go and I have ignored Judgment since. I have no idea what is going on but I am slowly piecing bits together and have not gotten stuck as yet. I have fallen into the ''just have one more run'' trap a few times and gone to bed 22 or 44 minutes later than planned :D

Judgment is really good and come into its own now. It has some great characters (and side characters) in its own right even though Yagami hasn't quite reached the level of Kiryu or Majima yet his character and history is being slowly revealed.

Dino Crisis I have reached the section with the new dinosaurs post
Spoiler: show
helicopter crash
and I am finding it a bit of a chore to be honest. The story isn't very good and I am finding the enemies and characters annoying rather than a challenge. Will persist to the end though as I want to tick this off my list.

Gears 5 Tech Test First off it looks incredible on a 4k TV on a One X. Gameplay is still the same as ever with a heavy reliance of the fabled (read annoying) Shotgun roll in close quarters. I played capture the flag only and after the initial rust wore off I really got back into it, I would have likely preordered had it not be on Game Pass.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 1:52 pm
by Stanshall
It's hot, damn hot, and I've taken the week off.

I've been playing with the PS Classic and I'm having a great time with it recapturing my mid-teens. I've been mostly playing:

Tomb Raider. What a fantastic game this is. I went back to the updated version(s) intermittently over the years and they seemed to treat the source with a fair amount of respect. That said, I never really got stuck into them too much but the original block-grid version is awakening all manner of old feelings and memories. That soundtrack is still as wonderful as ever. Whenever the harp tinkles and you have the most beautiful shimmering turquoise water, it's like little else in gaming. Am I right that this hasn't been covered yet on the podcast? I feel like it's just the eponymous reboot. Would love a show on this some day. The sense of loneliness and exploration is second only to Metroid Prime.

Wipeout 2097. Another barnstormer. Amazing soundtrack, gorgeous tracks and I am more than happy with the blocky muddy textures and 30fps because it feels so good to play. Scraping round blind corners with the air brakes, boosting through bouncy chicanes and timing a well-directed ROCKET up some Feisar fender. Wip3out has the better performance and graphics (especially the wicked prototype courses) but it's Valparaiso and Gare d'Europa all the way for me.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 1:58 pm
by Suits
Wipeout 2097 will always be the standout entry for me.

The racing has always been good in every entry but the combat in 2097 was spot on and the best it’s been.

It also had a progression system that I really got into IIRC.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 2:00 pm
by Chopper
EDIT: I had a question here that was a bit unfair to ask, in my opinion. Removed :D

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 23rd, 2019, 2:01 pm
by Sinclair Gregstrum
Stanshall wrote: July 23rd, 2019, 1:52 pm It's hot, damn hot, and I've taken the week off.

I've been playing with the PS Classic and I'm having a great time with it recapturing my mid-teens. I've been mostly playing:

Tomb Raider. What a fantastic game this is. I went back to the updated version(s) intermittently over the years and they seemed to treat the source with a fair amount of respect. That said, I never really got stuck into them too much but the original block-grid version is awakening all manner of old feelings and memories. That soundtrack is still as wonderful as ever. Whenever the harp tinkles and you have the most beautiful shimmering turquoise water, it's like little else in gaming. Am I right that this hasn't been covered yet on the podcast? I feel like it's just the eponymous reboot. Would love a show on this some day. The sense of loneliness and exploration is second only to Metroid Prime.

Wipeout 2097. Another barnstormer. Amazing soundtrack, gorgeous tracks and I am more than happy with the blocky muddy textures and 30fps because it feels so good to play. Scraping round blind corners with the air brakes, boosting through bouncy chicanes and timing a well-directed ROCKET up some Feisar fender. Wip3out has the better performance and graphics (especially the wicked prototype courses) but it's Valparaiso and Gare d'Europa all the way for me.
Both great games!

The loneliness of the original Tomb Raider is one of its defining characteristics, and something that for me was completely lost in almost every game in the series since. That's not to say I don't like other TR games, but there is something a bit special about the original.

And Wipeout 2097 is just brilliant. 'Barnstormer' says it perfectly!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 24th, 2019, 10:35 am
by ReprobateGamer
DomsBeard wrote: July 23rd, 2019, 1:37 pm
Gears 5 Tech Test First off it looks incredible on a 4k TV on a One X. Gameplay is still the same as ever with a heavy reliance of the fabled (read annoying) Shotgun roll in close quarters. I played capture the flag only and after the initial rust wore off I really got back into it, I would have likely preordered had it not be on Game Pass.
I gave the tech test a couple of goes and just couldn't get into it. I've never properly clicked with the online part of the Gears franchise, horde mode excepted, but I noticed in the tech test that the balancing seemed off - the final match had me at level 2 with team mates at levels 1,1, and 4 against a team where the lowest rank was 8.

Even if you were allowing for a limited number of people playing, something was definitely off in how the game assembles its team.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 24th, 2019, 7:26 pm
by Alex79
Suits wrote: July 23rd, 2019, 1:58 pm Wipeout 2097 will always be the standout entry for me.

The racing has always been good in every entry but the combat in 2097 was spot on and the best it’s been.

It also had a progression system that I really got into IIRC.
Wipeout on Vita was brilliant though, probably my favorite version.

Ended up playing the hell out of that version when my left analogue stick broke and I was trying to think of games to play with just the D-Pad (I always use D-Pad in Wipeout) until the new stick arrived.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 24th, 2019, 9:20 pm
by Stanshall
clippa wrote: July 24th, 2019, 12:14 pm
Stanshall wrote: July 23rd, 2019, 1:52 pmTomb Raider
The original tomb raider was amazing!
Really beautiful and lonely and quite tightly designed. I remember the areas being massive and sprawling but now I know better how games work a little and how areas are designed, I can feel how to make progress. It still offers a few neat little surprises, though, and it's sure to reward your discoveries with that sudden harp strum! Always gives me a little jolt of surprise.
Suits wrote: July 23rd, 2019, 1:58 pm Wipeout 2097 will always be the standout entry for me.

The racing has always been good in every entry but the combat in 2097 was spot on and the best it’s been.
Couldn't agree more. It's the most balanced of the series between racing and weapons, though I never played much of the PS4 version of whatever that was. Vita games? I tried it in VR but I was still rearranging my internals the next day. I wish I had the stomach for it, such an immersive experience.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 25th, 2019, 1:45 am
by PallasRil
Playing Detroit: Become Human. There have been one or two eye rolling moments, but for the most part, it feels like the sort of science fiction film that comes out in the fall before the Christmas blockbusters.

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 25th, 2019, 10:04 am
by Jobobonobo
Just started Yakuza 0 on PS4 and it has made a great first impression on me. Story seems to be legit compelling and the combat has the potential to be deep and rewarding. Also there is a goofy campiness to the whole thing that is quintessentially SEGA to me and has really made it very endearing, Karaoke being a prime example so far. Also actually quite refreshing to have an open world be so small. Hope they make good use of such little space. Can't wait to try more!

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Posted: July 26th, 2019, 10:23 am
by DomsBeard
ReprobateGamer wrote: July 24th, 2019, 10:35 am
DomsBeard wrote: July 23rd, 2019, 1:37 pm
Gears 5 Tech Test First off it looks incredible on a 4k TV on a One X. Gameplay is still the same as ever with a heavy reliance of the fabled (read annoying) Shotgun roll in close quarters. I played capture the flag only and after the initial rust wore off I really got back into it, I would have likely preordered had it not be on Game Pass.
I gave the tech test a couple of goes and just couldn't get into it. I've never properly clicked with the online part of the Gears franchise, horde mode excepted, but I noticed in the tech test that the balancing seemed off - the final match had me at level 2 with team mates at levels 1,1, and 4 against a team where the lowest rank was 8.

Even if you were allowing for a limited number of people playing, something was definitely off in how the game assembles its team.
I didn't really take much notice of what levels people were, I only had one unbalanced game in the whole weekend where we were destroyed. Looking forward to having another go this weekend. I put over 100 hours into Gears 2 and 3 multi and maybe tempted to get back into this again properly at launch as I have little interest in Royale games nowadays.