I just finished chapter 6 of Astral Chain so I think that makes me about halfway through. I was considering talking about this game earlier (apart from the first impressions of course) but I was holding off, because honestly I was pretty disappointed with it. While I had a lot to say, the idea of dragging this game felt rather depressing, considering my love for Platinum. But then suddenly out of nowhere, it just got massively better and it finally clicked. It's still pretty early as it's only since this last chapter that is has turned such a corner, but it feels damn good to finally crack this.

But I still think the criticisms are worth noting, so I have to mention them. At first the game was completely overwhelming. It came across as simply far too visually chaotic, as I was basically unable to make sense of what was happening on screen. The art style, while aesthetically appealing, is full of really strong colours and high contrast which tended to blend together very easily. And with enemies being so aggressive, and the frame rate often struggling to maintain even 30fps, that didn't help things. Almost every fight felt like a mess where I was being thrown around like a chew toy, not even getting a chance to respond to anything that was being thrown at me. The controls are also pretty fiddly and unnecessarily complicated in many ways. The precision blade mode that's lifted out of Metal Gear Rising in particular is a pain to use. There are also a number of just strange design decisions that seem to serve no purpose other than to frustrate. Chapter 4 in particular is horrible for this, where they litter the whole level with goo that makes you stumble when you walk in to it. Not helpful in a fight. And then there's the exploration sections at the start of chapters before you go in to the more linear action-focused latter parts. I like it from one perspective, as it's cool to inhabit this world and explore it. But at the same time, these sections often feel like padding where objectives aren't that interesting, and it breaks out the pacing of the game in a way that I think does it a disservice.

But then going in to chapter 6 things suddenly changed. I realised I could upgrade my gear much more than I had been doing so far. Suddenly unlocked a bunch of very useful moves that helped me keep on top of combat way more effectively. The ability to automatically bind a group of enemies in front of me, and being able to go from that straight in to a high damage sync combo. As well as finally unlocking a distance-closing attack that also chains in to a sync. So suddenly it all makes sense! I was starting to wonder where the hell all these 9/10 reviews were coming from, but now I think I see it. It's extremely satisfying to pull off a good chain of sync attacks, controlling the battlefield and switching between Legions on the fly. While I still think some of my issues still stand (the performance in particular really struggles in the boss of this chapter) now I think I can see where the magic lies, and what this game is going for. I also think there are things about this specific chapter that help as well. This is the first one where you're not put up against mostly new enemies, and there is a lack of any annoying gimmicks that get in the way of the fun. So there's no nasty surprises with stuff that you don't know how to tackle, or things that get in the way of you trying to deal with that either. At least, when it comes to combat anyway.

It's a shame it took so long to click though. It makes me think that's another issue with this game actually. It starts you off well below the level of power you need to be to tackle what the game is putting you up against, and it takes too long to reach that point. I suppose I can understand them wanting to ease you in gradually with this game, being such a unique thing, but I get the feeling they picked the wrong things to hold back from you. If I had at least some of this earlier, my time with the game so far would have been so much more positive. But at least this does somewhat confirm my suspicions that this game will be much more fun through the second time, when you have all the skills unlocked and know what you're doing. Or at least those early chapters will.

Well I moved continents, moved countries and got a PSVR for my birthday.

I love it. Like I really, genuinely love it. Battlezone is a blast, I just finished Loading Human (okay) and I've been looking at importing some horror games from the UK that aren't released in NA for VR.

Not sorry about the investment at all. It's cool.

ThirdDrawing wrote: ↑September 6th, 2019, 2:31 am Well I moved continents, moved countries and got a PSVR for my birthday.

I love it. Like I really, genuinely love it. Battlezone is a blast, I just finished Loading Human (okay) and I've been looking at importing some horror games from the UK that aren't released in NA for VR.

Not sorry about the investment at all. It's cool.

Glad you're enjoying it! I've had PSVR since launch, and while I don't use it anywhere near as much as I'd like to, I've always been really impressed with it.

The library of games is now really strong. Moss, Astrobot, Beat Saber, Blood & Truth, Tetris Effect, Rez Infinite, Superhot, Skyrim, Wipeout Omega Collection, Resident Evil 7, Firewall Zero hour, Farpoint, Batman Arkham VR, Thumper.....all of those trip off the tongue without even thinking, and I'm sure there are many more besides.

Plus the price you can pick one up for has come down to what I think is a really reasonable entry point.

Sony announced they'd sold over 4m units in March and were pleased with performance, so hopefully with full backwards compatibility on PS5 it'll keep seeing steady support and growth. I'd definitely upgrade to a wireless unit if they ever put out an Oculus Quest-style version.

A Plague Tale Innocence

After finishing an episode of two siblings going through a tough time in Life Is Strange Season 2 I went into this which is exactly the same an impressive start but I will be putting it on the back burner for now as I need to mix my gaming up a bit and because....

Gears 5

Had no idea it was out on Thursday (I have Game Pass Ultimate) and like a pair of comfy shoes I have slid back into this combat and world. It also looks stunning on the xbox one x

Ghost Recon Breakpoint

I'm a big fan of Wildlands so trying out this beta was a no-brainer. It's actually the third time I've played the opening of this game so the opening mission is getting a little stale but the game plays well and is a good successor. There are things I'm not happy with - the sound effects are noticeably fake, there is still some graphical glitches that I hoped would have been resolved since the online tech test took place and having Erewhon (a base camp) as a shared locale shatters the game narrative of being isolated from the Ghost's normal supply chain - plus the dropped loot leans a little towards The Division creeping into this game. Though to be fair, being able to get loot from downed enemies is not as immersive breaking as I feared - the near future setting goes someway to explaining how this could work.
It's not the instant grab that WIldlands was but I'm more optimistic about this than I was a couple of months ago. The devs are patching AI teammates back in (after launch) and that should help

Gears 5
Unlike Domsbeard, I had realised this was coming out Thursday - just not had much time in it yet. I've done the opening tutorial and spent a bit of time customising characters. PvP is not my strong suit so I won't be there often but I like Horde mode and the new Escape mode looks interesting. Biggest issue is that my usual fireteam are either in the Tom Clancy universe or on Destiny 2 so it looks like I'll have to solo the campaign and risk randoms

Minion Masters
This one is also one I keep popping into for short bursts. I need to spend a bit of time reviewing my main deck as it feels a little off - however, I'm normally playing team battles so most times they will cover any gaps. It's a fun arena battler and it works as something you can just drop into amd not have to commit any time to (though I do )

The new daily challenges on Tetris 99 are good.

I normally pop in and out anyway for a few games but now there’s added incentive with the daily’s and their rewards.

You collect tokens which you then trade in for themes.

It’s great.

Also, with the new mode which only winners can get into, its seemingly thinned the pack a little and made the normal mode less punishing.

I grabbed a 5th & 8th this morning which is ok compared to how much trickier it was last week.

Chopper wrote: ↑September 3rd, 2019, 5:21 pm The problem with all these PC games is that you have to spend several hours learning how to play them before you can make a decent fist of things.

Latest is Battle Brothers, an intriguing, but exhausting, turn based game where you build up a warband (micromanaging each of them via equipment and upgrades), keep them fed and clothed, and kill and be killed on the battlefield. It has a Mount and Blade-type overland map, a hex grid for fighting on, with elevation and terrain changes, and good in-game colour.

I still have not gotten past the tutorial of Crusader Kings II.

Scrustle wrote: ↑September 5th, 2019, 6:56 pm I just finished chapter 6 of Astral Chain.

So, I just spent some time poking about in the menu's and such after your little hint in your excellent post.

I've upgraded my Legions, cashed in all my missions, changed the colours of my clothes and unlocked the X & Y moves for my Legions.

I get it.

I'm a walking, slate grey and teal fcuking bad ass now.

I also spent a lot more time walking around and exploring the city, talking to people, looking around corners and sniffing about.

I'm beginning to see what all the fuss is about.

I'm almost done my Season 2 Battle Pass in Apex Legends, and honestly, I'm very much ready for a break. I've been playing almost every day since Season 2 started, I've hit Platinum tier, and I'm level 101 (of 110) on the S2 Battle Pass. I'm liking the occasional map changes and gimmicky event modes, but I feel like the game needs a major overhaul, either in terms of a whole new map or drastically new perks and mechanics, to keep me interested enough to keep playing. And even though it's been out a good 6 months now, it still has matchmaking problems - ranked matches can take upwards of 5 minutes between readying up and the game actually starting, and way too frequently does the game fuck up and drop me on 1 or 2 person teams, which is a huge competitive disadvantage in this game. And despite the ranked modes, there's still a massive disparity in skill level - one guy I play with online frequently refers to the bad players as "potatoes" and the "sweaty fuckers". The former either doesn't understand the basics of the game or chooses to play selfishly, and the latter has an absurd number of kills and takes it way too seriously. Being right in the middle makes it hard to find games that feel "fair".

Also continuing a full play of Trials of Mana and... What can I say? It's still good. But I think I'm finally at a point where I'm starting to see the jank in SNES era games -- I can see a lot of the gears ticking away in the background, and it kind of breaks the illusion a bit. But still, it's one of those games I can sit down with and focus on for a few hours at a time, and the plot is enough to keep me moving. This is definitely a game that will benefit immensely from a remake, because even in 1995, it was pushing the boundaries of what the SNES can do... The lag and graphical glitches in the menu screens really exemplify this, and there's a lot of times during battle or exploration where the game is struggling to get all the math done in a timely manner. And that said, the fact that this game actually has three different storylines and 6 different characters means that both the original and the 2020 remake are valid - you can play each one time, and have a very different experience with the narrative and mechanics. Which is really cool. It makes this game in particular a great target for remake.

Sinclair Gregstrum wrote: ↑September 6th, 2019, 8:44 am Glad you're enjoying it! I've had PSVR since launch, and while I don't use it anywhere near as much as I'd like to, I've always been really impressed with it.

The library of games is now really strong. Moss, Astrobot, Beat Saber, Blood & Truth, Tetris Effect, Rez Infinite, Superhot, Skyrim, Wipeout Omega Collection, Resident Evil 7, Firewall Zero hour, Farpoint, Batman Arkham VR, Thumper.....all of those trip off the tongue without even thinking, and I'm sure there are many more besides.

Plus the price you can pick one up for has come down to what I think is a really reasonable entry point.

Sony announced they'd sold over 4m units in March and were pleased with performance, so hopefully with full backwards compatibility on PS5 it'll keep seeing steady support and growth. I'd definitely upgrade to a wireless unit if they ever put out an Oculus Quest-style version.

I truly love Wipeout VR. It's incredible. I need to pick up a pair of Move controllers because I want to play Deracine.

And I've been looking at The Invisible Hours recently, it has a good buzz and I like murder mysteries.

If I do some importing, it seems like it's going to be a great survival horror machine, which is exciting for Halloween!

So I just finished AC:Revelations, and despite saying I wanted to play some other stuff, and despite saying I was going to wait for the remaster of the third game to be in the sale before continuing with the series, having Black Flag in my library already was too much of a temptation, so last night I skipped 3 and jumped straight in to Black Flag. I don't know why, I just really wanted to play it! Only three hours in but loving it so far. I played a bit on PS3 when it was originally released but didn't get that far in it, but the PS4 version looks great still. Traversal is a big improvement over the Ezio trilogy games, so much more fluid and responsive. It's just such a brilliant setting for a game. Since I've got so many to get through I told myself I'd kind of mainline the story in these games, but I just couldn't help exploring these gorgeous islands. Loving it so far.

Finished Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on PS4. Then went back to my last save and played another two hours to finish off the maps and mop up a few trophies. After so many false starts over the years it only turned out to be one of my favourite games ever!

Also played another chapter of Detroit. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse I’m carrying an old man to the toilet! Unlikely to become one of my favourite games ever so far.

Moving to this month’s PS+ offering, I had a go on Darksiders 3. Seems fine for what it is, just like it’s predecessors, but also like them, just not my cup of tea.

And of course I played a bunch of SNES games on Switch, dabbling with everything but somehow spending more time on Super Puyo Puyo 2 and Stunt Race FX than anything else so far!

duskvstweak wrote: ↑September 7th, 2019, 4:59 pm I still have not gotten past the tutorial of Crusader Kings II.

Ugh! Tell me about it. That game...

I have over eight hours played in Endless Legend and have not got out of the tutorial yet. I keep starting it, losing interest, and then have to do it all over again a few years later.

Brief post as I'm at work but.......

Finished up Need for Speed Undercover for the PlayStation 2. Part of me enjoyed the driving in spite of all the issues but part of me is still angry that the final boss got stuck and drove into the same wall for 45 minutes (not exaggeration). Putting the finishing touches on a video about it to hopefully come out tomorrow.

Finally getting back into Apex Legends after I was super not enjoying it anymore a few weeks ago. I've logged about 600 hours in it since launch and I loved it dearly but as tight as the gameplay is, the kicked-while-you're-down feeling of it was starting to get to me and I feel like the standard 3-player BR mode has worn thin on me at this point. The new event with the mode where there's only lvl1 armor, snipers and shotguns on the map has been a lot of fun, and proven the stimulus shot I needed to enjoy it again.

My research into the past of Undercover has led me to NASCAR 08 for the PlayStation 2, made by the same people as the PS2/Wii version of Undercover and in a similar situation where it's a much different game than the 7th gen counterparts. I remember playing Thunder 2003/2004/Dirt to Daytona as a kid and am curious to do so again, but also am excited to play the newer, more advanced games. And for a PS2 game, this looks really impressive- smooth 60, textures aren't half bad, damage model looks good, controls are tight. Didn't see myself getting into a sports sim career mode.

I jumped back into Monster Hunter World couple of days ago. I learned that new expansion is basically unplayable if you're not deep in endgame so i decided to work on my character. It sucked me in and i started to play with two new weapons on top of usual stuff

stvnorman wrote: ↑September 8th, 2019, 3:12 pmAlso played another chapter of Detroit. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse I’m carrying an old man to the toilet! Unlikely to become one of my favourite games ever so far.

It really is a great game! Definitely stick with it, it's a really interesting story and very little in the way of boring or frustrating sections, unlike Cage's previous work (which I loved, despite their flaws).

clippa wrote: ↑September 8th, 2019, 5:32 pm UGH! It's a chopper game, get it away from my eyes!"

I seriously considered recording a video for you where I just went through all the numbers on this screen:



but it would be too lame by far.

So, Demons Crest is quite interesting isn’t it ??

I’d never played it, just new it was related to the Gargolyes Quest games.

Great sprite work.

Check it out on the SNES player on the Switch .

I really like Demon’s Crest. It starts off a bit more gently than its parent Ghosts/Ghouls games, and as you say, I think it features some of Capcom’s finest sprite work.

Yeah, it’s blooming lovely, some stunning backgrounds and sprites.

I’ll be spending much more time with it.

I’m currently playing Gargoyles Quest on the Game Boy, so I’m all Ghouly and ghosty at the minute.