Whatcha Been Playing?

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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

I just ordered a 360 internal HDD to play the Xbox classic stuff, and predominantly Outrun 2 which I've only ever played at Arcade Club. It's almost always busy though, understandably, because it's absolutely amazing. I can't wait to hammer that one foot from the telly. Might even turn on the fan and point it in my face for 4D immersion.
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Rage 2 is good at best but its stiff controls and rough finish takes it away from being better. The open world is decent and the combat is fun but im struggling to find the fluidity in amongst all these fun abilities

It tries to be very doom but the engine isnt cut out for it

Im enjoying it though, just wish it was more id software and less avalanche
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duskvstweak
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by duskvstweak »

dezm0nd wrote: May 16th, 2019, 10:06 am Rage 2 is good at best but its stiff controls and rough finish takes it away from being better. The open world is decent and the combat is fun but im struggling to find the fluidity in amongst all these fun abilities

It tries to be very doom but the engine isnt cut out for it

Im enjoying it though, just wish it was more id software and less avalanche
And for those that liked the first Rage and were hoping the sequel would be that, but better?
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Going though a couple of older games again, but this time on PC rather than on consoles as I did previously.

Remember Me is actually holding up better than I expected it would. From having played this before my impressions were that it was very interesting and compelling, but didn't quite hit the mark on anything it was attempting, in terms of gameplay at least. So far on this run I'm actually enjoying it a lot. The aesthetic still stands up really well. It's such a well realised futuristic version of Paris that has so much attention to detail. The way it combines futuristic architecture and augmented reality elements. alongside old historic buildings feels really believable, yet still very stylish and cool looking. The way the soundtrack does the same thing with a remixed, chopped up orchestral/synth score works so well and gives this game a really strong and unique character. The environments you move through all feel really lively and lovingly crafted too. Feels very lived-in. And the lighting is pretty fantastic too. These elements were things that were impressive originally and were easily the most successful part of the game, and that hasn't changed. Considering how cheap you can get the game these days, I'd say it's even worth picking it up just for this stuff.

In terms of gameplay it's fairly enjoyable too. I remember the Arkham style combat of this being kind of clunky and dull, but so far I'm liking it quite a bit here. I think perhaps the difference is I worked out something that I don't remember fully understanding first time round. It has this interesting system where you can create your own custom combo strings, where each attack has a unique effect, and the deeper in to the combo you put an attack, the more powerful the effect is. Problem was I found it way too easy to drop a combo, making the longer strings really hard to do, and I was never quite sure why. Turns out you have to keep hitting the same enemy for it to count. The tutorial makes it seem like you don't need to do that, but you do. I'm having a better time being able to keep track of that. Although I think I'm starting to see a problem appearing. Sometimes enemies get crowded up together, and you don't have a great control over which enemy you hit in cases like that. I can see that becoming a really big problem in fights where they up the number of enemies. But for now, it's still pretty fun. Although having each attack be individual and swappable with each other, it does mean they don't animate particularly fluidly in a combo.

The other game is RiME, which is a game I have a lot of fondness for. Decided to pick it up because it was also extremely cheap, and was hoping perhaps to not deal with the performance issues from PS4. Strangely, turns out is performs about as well on PC as it does on PS4 Pro. On my GTX 970 no less. I heard that a lot of the problems came from DRM that has long since been removed from this version, yet it still struggles to hit 60fps a lot of the time. I have managed to get better performance out of it, but I had to turn the settings down to what I think is probably less than the PS4 version, and it's still not flawless. While it's definitely not a game that requires a perfect frame rate, it is a little disappointing that the reason I got this version turned out to be a waste, and that there's still the occasional hitch every so often that makes it just that little bit harder to get lost in the experience.

But still, it's a great experience. One of the most striking aesthetics in any game, despite not being exactly the most original. But the way it does certain things is just so vivid and vibrant that it strikes a chord with me that I just love. No game has a bluer sky. And the way the stone and rocks are rendered feels so tangible, like I can just imagine how it feels to touch them. And the stark white stone against the blue skies and seas is breathtaking still. I've been mashing the screenshot button endlessly while playing. The soundtrack is very stirring and evocative too. It is a very slow game though. I don't want to say it "drags", because that doesn't feel right. I don't feel like it's boring or wasting time or anything. It just feels like it's taking a lot more time than it is. Levels feel like they go on for a long time, yet once you quit out after doing one, the time hasn't passed as much as it seems like it should have. It does have good stopping points however that helps pace it out.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

Annoyingly my evil within disc I bought off eBay is covered in scratches which are causing the game to repeatedly crash so I’ve given up on that and switched on Observer.

The voice acting is very very good and I suddenly realised I recognise that voice... it’s Rutger Hauer!!! I had no idea.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Simonsloth wrote: May 16th, 2019, 9:40 pm Annoyingly my evil within disc I bought off eBay is covered in scratches which are causing the game to repeatedly crash so I’ve given up on that
Do you still have an Xbox 360 in working order?
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Simonsloth
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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KSubzero1000 wrote: May 16th, 2019, 9:46 pm
Simonsloth wrote: May 16th, 2019, 9:40 pm Annoyingly my evil within disc I bought off eBay is covered in scratches which are causing the game to repeatedly crash so I’ve given up on that
Do you still have an Xbox 360 in working order?
I do although it’s on its last legs. I’ve got another ps4 copy on the way as I want to do new game plus. Interestingly there are other who have had similar problems without discs which seem in good condition.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by hazeredmist »

Good god Splatoon 2 is addictive. The game has really come alive since moving on to multiplayer. Love it!
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

duskvstweak wrote: May 16th, 2019, 3:44 pm
And for those that liked the first Rage and were hoping the sequel would be that, but better?
It doesn't really feel like a sequel to Rage. It's hard to explain but whereas the first felt like an id game, this feels like an avalanche game
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

The more I play of Horizon Chase Turbo, the more I get the impression that it's actually a really polished and well-designed game that kinda flew under everybody's radar when it came out last year. With so many arcade racers turning out to be so disappointing lately, this one might very well end up being my favorite racing game of the generation. Everything about it is crisp and colorful and fun. It feels almost like a Nintendo game at times.

PS: And with so much of the video game landscape being rooted in either Japan or "the West", it's nice to play games developed in other countries for once! Brazil, in this case.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by hazeredmist »

Wow, I just assumed racing games that weren't in karts weren't worth looking at on the Switch per most reviews I've checked.. I will have a look at this one!
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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hazeredmist wrote: May 17th, 2019, 9:53 am Wow, I just assumed racing games that weren't in karts weren't worth looking at on the Switch per most reviews I've checked.. I will have a look at this one!
It's more of a racer/rhythm hybrid in the style of Outrun and Top Gear than a full blown racing game, really. But if you like that specific type of old-school design, then this might be worth looking into. Gameplay is rock solid and the production values are excellent.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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KSubzero1000 wrote: May 17th, 2019, 9:42 am The more I play of Horizon Chase Turbo, the more I get the impression that it's actually a really polished and well-designed game that kinda flew under everybody's radar when it came out last year. With so many arcade racers turning out to be so disappointing lately, this one might very well end up being my favorite racing game of the generation. Everything about it is crisp and colorful and fun. It feels almost like a Nintendo game at times
Yes! I've been going on about the mobile version for years! Its a brilliant game!
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hazeredmist
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by hazeredmist »

It's a mobile port? Uh oh... I have an irrational, often unfounded dislike for anything mobile or with mobile roots :D
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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hazeredmist wrote: May 17th, 2019, 11:06 am It's a mobile port? Uh oh... I have an irrational, often unfounded dislike for anything mobile or with mobile roots :D
Well that's just silly.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ratsoalbion »

Alex79uk wrote: May 17th, 2019, 2:30 pm
hazeredmist wrote: May 17th, 2019, 11:06 am It's a mobile port? Uh oh... I have an irrational, often unfounded dislike for anything mobile or with mobile roots :D
Well that's just silly.
Weren’t you just playing Sky Force, Haze?
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by duskvstweak »

dezm0nd wrote: May 17th, 2019, 5:37 am
duskvstweak wrote: May 16th, 2019, 3:44 pm
And for those that liked the first Rage and were hoping the sequel would be that, but better?
It doesn't really feel like a sequel to Rage. It's hard to explain but whereas the first felt like an id game, this feels like an avalanche game
Good to know.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by hazeredmist »

ratsoalbion wrote: May 17th, 2019, 3:01 pm
Alex79uk wrote: May 17th, 2019, 2:30 pm
hazeredmist wrote: May 17th, 2019, 11:06 am It's a mobile port? Uh oh... I have an irrational, often unfounded dislike for anything mobile or with mobile roots :D
Well that's just silly.
Weren’t you just playing Sky Force, Haze?
Yep! I did reference this preconception when discussing Sky Force before purchasing it (from Shmups thread):
hazeredmist wrote:I must admit I'd dismissed Sky Force when I saw it had originated from mobile, but your words are getting me interested, I will check out some gameplay footage.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ratsoalbion »

Aha!
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Aha!
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