Whatcha Been Playing?

[suzzopher]

Spent the weekend on the Destiny Alpha.

It's a bit bloody good. Love Bungie games, but this feels way more Bioware than Bungie, this is not a complaint either. Can't wait for the full game now.

[Scrustle]

Been playing a lot of Skyward Sword today. Still quite enjoying it. I've gotten past the bit where I felt like it got good my first time through. I think I've worked out some different details as to why it gets better at this point. It's not just that the game stops holding your hand, but it's also that the first two dungeons of the game still feel very standard Zelda. Apart from the bug and the motion controls, things are pretty samey and kind of safe. Not really that many interesting or new ideas. Of course on top of that you have the slow and patronising pace, along with the far more closed off world than your usual Zelda. But by about the third dungeon, they stop talking down to you so much, and it feels like they've got more interesting ideas going on. That's when the Timeshift stones appear, and you get the ability to pick up and drop stuff with your bug. Although it's not totally without the hand-holding. Like Fi decided that it was appropriate to inform me that the door for the boss room would probably have a boss behind it. Like it's not the third time I've done this already. But after that boss, the story starts taking a pretty interesting turn too. Before then it just feels like you're going to places because you have to, just chasing down Zelda, but then things take quite a dramatic turn at that point. Then after that you start getting to see Groose's character arc, which is one of the best parts of the story.

Also played a bit of Burnout Paradise listening to the new podcast episode on 3 and Revenge. Started a new game on a second profile. I think at the point I am, that's the best way for me to go back to that game. I finished the game years ago, but I've never completed it 100% or got the last license. So I'm at this point where the only things left to do are the things I either really don't like doing, or are just too hard. I think I've got something like 5 or 6 races to go to the last license, and probably less than 5 smash gates to go. Little annoying stuff like that. So the game for me has for a very long time been kind of dead. Nothing left to do except the impossible, and without any kind of progression path left to keep me interested. So starting again brings back a sense of purpose to things. Definitely makes for a much better way to reacquaint myself with the game.

[CapinGreen]

Got through MGS4 last week (looking forward to listening to the podcast!), and I've been playing around in Ground Zeroes the last couple of days. I've been on a bit of a MGS binge lately

Planning to get through Transistor soon too.

PS It's nice to be back on the forums after a work related hiatus

[ratsoalbion]

Hellooo Capin!

[Todinho]

Getting back into the swing of things still playing Soul Suspect and even though im liking the game it's pretty clear why it got so many harsh reviews,let's just say it lacks polish,given that this is made by the same people that made Quantum Conundrum(which came free with the steam version)I think it's safe to say the overreached a bit still it's pretty cool if anything it nails the ghost theme and im amazed that this is basically a 3D adventure game mixed with a bit stealth in 2014 I dont think this will be a success in anyway for Square-Enix so we'll probably not see something similar anytim soon but still it's refreshing.

Got back to Ground Zeroes trying to nail those S ranks(which I managed to do...on normal)and finnaly do the Deja-vu and Jamais-vu missions that I skipped I will say I thought reflex mode was overpowered(and to some extent I still think it is)but I cant get through hard mode without it,the AI is just merciless there.

Also maybe once im done with these I'll do something I've been wanting to for awhile which is to marathon all numbered RE games and finnaly build up the courage to finnish the abomination that is RE6.

[DomsBeard]

I'm still trying to finish Ada's campaign. I'm in a dark room that you have to push some chairs around and it's just tedious beyond belief. Good luck!

[Feirsteax]

I think in ground zeroes you get a bonus for not using reflex mode at all.
Playing a lot of games, mostly titanfall and Mario kart. Love both of them.
I'm eventually going to continue playing Lost Odyssey. Haven't played it in ages, just havent had the patience.

[Alex79]

Just finished Dark Souls 2. Not got much else to play now. Or rather, I've got about twenty games to play but nothing is taking my fancy.

[DomsBeard]

List them and we'll pick one!

[Alex79]

Hmm, well the main contenders are to plough on with Assassins Creed 4, start Tomb Raider, Wolf Among Us, Borderlands 2, Crysis 3, Bully (PS2), Mass Effect (about halfway though the first game on a full trilogy replay)... I think they are the main ones I'm trying to decide on. Really can't be bothered with AssCreed 4 but I've loved the series until number 3, and feel like I need to play it through.

[ratsoalbion]

I and several other Cane and Rinsers had a lot of fun playing Tomb Raider. It's undemanding, pretty and highly enjoyable, says I.

[DomsBeard]

Crysis 3 is pretty straight forward and not too taxing and quite fun (not as good as 2 imo though) Tomb Raider is brilliant and I've not played any of the others before. I'd go for the wolf among us personally, it's brilliant and it's been far better than season 2 of the walking dead which overall I've been disappointed with.

[The_Rooster]

Agree Tomb Raider is Defo worth a play through. And wolf Among is a great story.

[NokkonWud]

I adored Tomb Raider. I've completed it three times across two systems (and I think I'll do it again because it's so much fun.) Absolutely feels made for me that game.

If you're playing Bully try and grab the HD version on Xbox 360 as it feels a little nicer to play. Cracking game, as you'd expect from Rockstar.
Assassins Creed 4 looks wonderful, I only played the MP on Xbox One but saw a lot of it being played. If you like the AC games then this looks stellar. I was a massive fan of AC3 (it's my favourite) and will play through this at some point.
Wolf Among Us I've not played.
Borderlands 2 is fun but didn't grab me like the first did.
Crysis 3 looks incredible but I only bought it for the MP as the second game was so good, but they messed it up. It's pretty but generic.
Mass Effect is great but you're playing it again, so you know that.

[ratsoalbion]

If you're playing Bully try and grab the HD version on Xbox 360 as it feels a little nicer to play.

Looks a fair bit better too I'd say, and currently £2.99 in the Gold members sale I believe.

[Scrustle]

I second Bully. I never miss a chance to suggest that game. It's a little clunky, but it doesn't ruin the game at all. It's got a whole load of charm to it, and actually not a bad story. If you focus on the story you can get through it pretty quickly too. It's not a super long game. The HD version is the best version of the game, but it's not so different that I would say it's worth getting if you've already got invested in the PS2 version. There are only minor differences. A few new classes, none of which are really anything to write home about, and better graphics, which still look like they could probably be achieved on a PS2, except for the resolution I suppose.

As for what I've been playing, today I finally got the Elite License in Burnout Paradise. After five years or however long it's been since I got the Burnout License. Turned out I had more events to finish than I thought I did before, but there were still not that many. Mostly stunt events. Although I really like the addition of those mechanics to the game, I really don't like the events based around them. It's so annoying when you've had a chain going for ages and then you hit some random traffic car that pulls out from nowhere, or if you just can't figure out somewhere to go to get any points. When I play those events I either fail miserably or beat them quite easily. I got my highest score I've ever done in one of those events today too. I don't know whether it's particularly impressive to anyone else (probably not very considering my skill at it), but I was surprised I was able to pull it off. Managed to get just over 5 million points in a single run.

The one event that felt amazing to beat was the Burning Route time trial event for the F1 car. I've tried that over and over and never been able to beat it. It was always the last event of its type that eluded me. But I finally did it after coming back today. Without much trouble in fact. But it felt so good to finally beat it. Strangely though, the game already gave me the achievement for beating all the Burning Route events years ago. I remember seeing that pop up a long time ago and being confused that I got it. So, that was a weird glitch I suppose. One that I finally earned properly.

I still haven't got all the smashes, billboards and jumps yet though. I'm completely lost on those. Seems like everyone has done those, but I've scoured the city time and time again, and I've never been able to find the last few. There's only like two of each left now. And how the hell am I supposed to know where they are? And it's not like I kept a record of all the ones I've done either. So a guide to where they all are isn't particularly helpful. Especially one that just pinpoints their location on the map. The map isn't detailed enough to show how to reach all these areas.

I also went back to Okami HD too. Haven't touched it in ages because I hit a glitch in a sidequest I really wanted to do, so I just lost all motivation to continue. But I thought I might as well pick it up again and forget about the sidequest, and just focus on finishing the game. It's spent too much time in my backlog. But I just hate so much that I can't to that one quest. I was so set on 100%ing this run and that was one of the most crucial parts. It also means a bunch of effort I've put in to dozens of other sidequests is now worthless. I'm keeping a save from this run though, so if I want to I can come back and try it again after I've started NG+. I'm pretty near the end right now. I'm at the bit where you... fight a certain boss for the second out of three times.

[Alex79]

Thanks guys, Tomb Raider it is then. Tempted by Bully on 360 too. I've got a three day trial code for Gold - if I use it to get Bully in the sale can I still play it once my trial has expired?

[ratsoalbion]

You can indeed.

[AndyKurosaki]

Tomb Raider is a fantastic choice, you really can't go wrong with it. One of the very best games of last year.
Wolf Among Us is brilliant, the episodes are not that long so you'll soon burn through them.

Now I've got reliable Internet, and Unlimited download allowance (which I should have done aggggges ago), I've downloaded a ton of games to my list of shame. Contrast, Trine 2 and Child Of Light on ps4. And a fair few previous Plus games on ps3. And Zelda Windwaker on Wii U.

[NokkonWud]

Contrast was an interesting one. I love what they tried to accomplish more than what they did achieve. It's quite rough around the edges (characters dropping into T-poses!) but I quite enjoyed the story.