Whatcha Been Playing?

[James]

It's been all Switch for me lately. Fast RMX, Graceful Explosion Machine and, of course, Breath Of The Wild.

Both Fast RMX and GEM are tough! At least for a possessor of such mediocre skill as I. Thankfully, both maintained their fun throughout the numerous times I had to repeat some of the most challenging races/levels.

Neither is going to sell the Switch on their own (unlike Breath Of the Wild), but for Switch owners, I'd highly recommend both to fans of futuristic racers and shmups, respectively.

[macstat]

I've been having a tough time as a gamer lately, i finally got my worst kind of achievement which is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. With amazing "free" healthcare im waiting for my procedure (i should have it in the middle of may) so ive been mostly playing one-handed games .

When i wanted to get immersed in cool complex story ive been playing both Tyranny and new Torment. When i wanted to grind mindlesly for a while i played Path of Exile, and as a fiuller i played both Heartstone and Heroes of the Storm (i have razer Naga so its fairly easy to play HotS with one hand)

[ratsoalbion]

Argh, sorry to hear about you contracting CTS.

Hope the treatment is a total success and you're back to two-handed activity ASAP!

[skidoosh]

Nothing but NEW for me this week. I've been playing Red Faction (PS4) and Lego: LOTR on the Vita. Red Faction is full of Summoner posters too so I really want to play that again too now!

[Scrustle]

Haven't been around lately, Been busy with a lot of stuff, including games. Although I suppose what I'm playing is mostly what everyone else is, so I haven't felt the need to talk about it much. Everyone else is already doing that, and I've been wanting to avoid spoilers too of course.

Since I finished Nier I've been carrying on playing Breath of the Wild. Really loving it. There are a couple of things about it that I don't really dig, and I feel like it has kind of sacrificed a couple of things that make Zelda uniquely its own thing in order to do what they're going for in this game. But regardless, it's had me totally hooked. It's so much fun to just explore around the world aimlessly and take in the sights, simply doing whatever I happen to come across. I feel like that's something a lot of open world games have kind of been lacking these days. They feel far too much like a checklist of stuff to do, rather than a truly sprawling world where there's interesting stuff to stumble across naturally around every corner. Yet Zelda manages it, despite also following a lot of design trends that those other open world games do.

Also been playing the new Dark Souls 3 DLC. It's really great. Fantastic new area, which looks amazing and has a lot of variety to it. Also think I may have found a new favourite weapon. Not something to replace my trusty Farron Greatsword, but still something I'm going to want to stick with. Definitely a good way to end out the series.

Still need to get back to Bloodborne too. All these big games lately, and this DLC in particular, have been pulling me away from it. But playing these two games so close together, I can't help but compare. I'm nowhere near close to being able to give a final impression of course, but I think I may prefer DS3. That might simply be because of playing it on the PC though. I think the added frame rate does a lot for the game.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Last night I had a browse through some of my Japanese PSN purchases, starting with:

Monster World IV & Wonder Boy in Monster World - with the release of Wonder Boy 3 this week it felt somewhat relevant. These two games where part of the Sega Ages collection (Vol. 29), and are available all together on disc, or individually through PSN.

C&R favourites M2 are behind the emulation, so very safe hands, and having menus in English make it much easier to navigate. I also realised later that the version on XBLA is also by M2, so there's the other option. I prefer Sony's "innocent until proven guilty" approach to DRM over Microsofts "you're all criminals, stay signed in, always!!!" approach.

Fantasy Zone Complete Collection - another Japan-only Sega Ages entry (vol. 33) for the PS2, and again by M2. This collection contains nearly everything Fantasy Zone related, and if you have a Fightstick/Arcade stick laying about, I recommend that you plug it in and play Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, as it is a delight, and worth the price of admission alone.

[Jobobonobo]

Well, it has been a while since I commented here due to work and life in general but also because I did not want to come across any spoilers for the game I am playing recently.

So I got my backer code through Kickstarter to get my PS4 copy of Yooka Laylee. I went and ordered the physical version but due to a delay in the post and wanting to play it when I actually have time off for easter I went and downloaded it yesterday and like its spiritual predecessor Banjo Kazooie I cannot keep away from it! It feels great exploring large worlds again while collecting various doodads. There is an incredibly addictive feedback loop for me when I play this game. I collect enough quills, buy a new move, using that move I can access new areas or complete challenges to collect pagies, those pagies can open a new world or expand the existing world you are in, then when you think you have done all you can, you have accumulated enough quills to buy another move and so it goes. I have not felt this kind of kick playing a platformer in ages, love it! I also love the metroidvania feel of when you come across a pagie that is locked away and you know you can't grab it straight away so when you have got a new move you should remember to go back to that area and see if you can figure out the puzzle then! Gave me lovely Banjo-Tooie vibes that did.

My only real complaint so far are that the arcade games are not all that special.The first one where you have to drive the minecart around the mini race track got on my nerves very quickly. I am a completionist at heart when it comes to these kinds of games but when I was informed I had to beat a high score of 2 mins 30 secs or so to get another pagie , I just thought "nah, I'm good."

So far though, I am really enjoying this and am excited to see what Playtonic has up its sleeve in the future. Feels good to play a 3D collectathon platformer in 2017! Here is hoping this starts off a new renaissance for the genre

[ThirdDrawing]

I'm finishing up SMT IV Apocalypse....but the hinge on my 3ds broke on Saturday. I'm in Asia so it's not like I can just go buy a new one, because it's region locked. :/ And of course my copies of Dragon Quest 7 and 8 showed up today.

So now I'm trying to choose between Nier, Danganronpa (PS4), Rise of the Tomb Raider and Last Guardian

[Flabyo]

Playing Ryse on the XBO as it was a game with gold recently.

I really like it. It's not particularly complex or deep, and the plot is very 'Jake Template saves the day', but what's here holds together well and is I suspect what people might been wanting from The For Honor single player mode.

[KSubzero1000]

the plot is very 'Jake Template saves the day'

Oh, that's good. I'm gonna have to steal that, if you don't mind.

[Flabyo]

I can't take credit for Jake Template, that's from Alex Shaw over at the School Of Movies podcast.

[skidoosh]

So. I've kind of fallen back in love with Japanese games over the last 12 months and I noticed Yakuza 0 was £27 at Argos this weekend and I had a £10 gift card from buying a new TV on Friday so I bought it. Played about an hour so for, but very much looking forward to pouring more in.

I am expecting another game of Japanese origin to drop through the letter box any day now that will undoubtedly divert my attention away though!

[Alex79]

Yakuza is great. I've put about 30 hours in, and only halfway through the story. I've spent ages in bars playing darts and pool, and playing Outrun in the arcade. And the story itself is really interesting.

[skidoosh]

Yakuza is great. I've put about 30 hours in, and only halfway through the story. I've spent ages in bars playing darts and pool, and playing Outrun in the arcade. And the story itself is really interesting.

From what I've heard I'm getting a real Sleeping Dogs vibe about it. I'm hoping I can find a pork bun in Yakuza

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I so have to get the English version of Yakuza 0... it would make things sooooo much easy for me!

But one game I have been playing is Battle Garegga (PS4) which arrived in the mail last week. If it wasn't for ratsoalbion mentioning it pre-Christmas last year, I would have missed that it existed.



For those who don't want to splurge on the physical edition (which includes the digital version anyway), you can still purchase the game as a stand-alone through the Japanese PSN store.

In a nutshell, if you like shmups then you'll love this. And if you don't, then do some soul-searching, because shmups + arcade/fight stick = bliss.

[deacon05oc]

Since I don't have Persona 5 yet (due to a juggling act of Horizon: Zero Dawn, Final Fantasy XV and Mass Effect Andromeda) I'm chipping away at Persona 4 Golden on Vita. I had started but never went far with it. It's been a couple years so I just started again. I forgot about the hours long tutorial but I'm getting back into the flow. I do fear if I'm messing up at any point with leveling or personas.

Also playing Senran Kagura Estival Versus. If you either like or can get pass the fan service, I found a really fun action game that I enjoy playing that has a bit of content.

[Sean]

Also playing Senran Kagura Estival Versus. If you either like or can get pass the fan service, I found a really fun action game that I enjoy playing that has a bit of content.

Alright, I've heard this enough times that I'm actually gonna give it a shot. I've not given that series a chance at all based solely on the marketing and cover art for those games, but, everyone I know who's played them said they're awesome games as long as you look past that stuff. so, I'm willing to give it a go.

As for me, I've played an unhealthy amount of Drawn to Death. I know...I know. But, damnit, I think it's fun. It's stupid. So so so so so stupid. But, I'm having a great time rolling around the place blowing up fools.

I've also started up the original Nier again. I've tried 3 times previously and stopped playing, and, man...that is a really rough looking game. At least this opening section is, at least. I'm gonna push through at least the first few chapters in hopes it grabs me like it has so many others.

[Flabyo]

Playing the Wonder Boy 3 remake,. Never played the original, but it's always been on my list.

It's tough, and fairly old school in design, but it's also pretty and has a lot of charm to it.

I can see why people say the recent Shantae game owes a lot to it, there's a similar design philosophy at play.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I can see why people say the recent Shantae game owes a lot to it, there's a similar design philosophy at play.

I can definitely see the aesthetic similarities between Shantae and Asha from Monster World IV as well, more Wonder Boy comparisons.

[Michiel K]

Alright, I've heard this enough times that I'm actually gonna give it a shot. I've not given that series a chance at all based solely on the marketing and cover art for those games, but, everyone I know who's played them said they're awesome games as long as you look past that stuff. so, I'm willing to give it a go.

I got Senran Kagura 2 based off a wicked combo video on YouTube, being wowed by the extremely fast paced aerial combat in it. When I got it in the mail I was slightly surprised with the cover art and next thing you know, when I started playing it, breasts were popping out left and right and clothes were getting ripped to shreds.

I play it for the gameplayz.

For those who don't want to splurge on the physical edition (which includes the digital version anyway), you can still purchase the game as a stand-alone through the Japanese PSN store.

In a nutshell, if you like shmups then you'll love this. And if you don't, then do some soul-searching, because shmups + arcade/fight stick = bliss.

I put down entirely too much money for the Saturn port, before the PS4 re-release was announced, figuring it was now (then) or never, as its value was only rising. Still, no regrets. And if there is one single game I'm willing to pay 200+ euros for, Garegga would have to be the one.