Whatcha Been Playing?

[hazeredmist]

I’m not that far from completing Cuphead on Switch, but I’ve had to put it to one side. I know how to beat the boss I’m stuck on, but after hundreds of attempts I just can’t do it, and it’s got to the point where I’m throwing controllers and punching walls, meaning that’s enough! I think I’ll revert to the easier setting at some point so I can make a bit more progress and maybe see the rest of the game even if that means not “finishing” it, but for now I needed a break, so I’ve played through the whole of Uncharted 2 over the last few evenings.

Love stories of gaming rage I've broke pads before as a bairn, but not being a fan of the cost implications of that in adulthood I moved on to punching my leg and the most bizarre one I found myself doing once was slapping myself hard in the face. After something so dramatic you kinda snap out of it and think "what the FUCK am I doing?" and realise the best thing to do is just what you did here, maybe put the game away for a bit

[stvnorman]

I moved on to punching my leg and the most bizarre one I found myself doing once was slapping myself hard in the face.

I did tone down my gaming rage exploits in my last post. You’re not alone!

Another game done... Does Kid Dracula count as the first Castlevania game I’ve ever finished? It’s on the Konami Castlevania Collection so I say yes! Regardless, it’s a colourful, retro-platforming joy to play that I found to be more like a more forgiving Mega Man than traditional Castlevania. It is over in a couple of hours and isn’t massively difficult, aside from a couple of frustrating sections, but once you memorise them and time things just right (more by luck than judgement in my case) you get there in a few goes. Same with the bosses, which are all fairly straightforward, but varied and enjoyable nonetheless. There’s a really cool post-credits message that I appreciated too!

[Chopper]

There is only.... Slay the Spire

Spoiler: show

out now on PS4

For all the time I have spent at it, and that's a lot, I am pretty terrible at the game. I end every successful game with an extremely bloated deck - 30 to 35 cards - and it has become apparent that I'm just collecting every card (they're all so good! I can's help it! ) and brute-forcing it. What that means is that there's no real skill involved, the success or failure of the run just relies on having lots of cards and hoping they come out in a good order. For example, there will be times when the shuffle results in too many attack cards in a row, and no blocks, and then I die.

So I have been experimenting with smaller specialised decks (20 cards or so) which have cards that work together. Failing miserably at making that work right now. I need to be more disciplined still.

[Chopper]

Played a bit of Prey and wasn't really feeling it

You monster. In fairness, Prey didn't click with a lot of people who actually enjoy that type of game so it was a long shot for you.

PS: Only 90% of the player base grabbed the trophy directly following the main tutorial. My thoughts and prayers go out to the 10% of Klauses out there who didn't make it.

The beginning really is interminable, isn't it?

I got a bit tired of it by the end too, but hopefully the sweet spot in the middle is worth it. It's a very stylish game.

[KSubzero1000]

You monster. In fairness, Prey didn't click with a lot of people who actually enjoy that type of game so it was a long shot for you.

Don't get me wrong! It's still the next "big serious game" on my slate. I just wasn't really in the mood for it the other day with all the sensory overload I've gotten from various shmups in recent times. Plus they seem to be telegraphing their...plot developments rather aggressively.

I didn't give up on SOMA, I won't give up on Prey.

Spoiler: show

And also, I really wanna get rid of those 50+ GB on my PS4 HDD.

PS: This Slay the Spire game sounds pretty neat. Too bad it's PC only, I would have liked to try that.

[KSubzero1000]

I've been playing a bit of Opus Magnum! It's so nice to finally be able to check out another Zachtronics game after the excellent Infinifactory last year. Slick and intuitive, can't wait to sink some proper time into it over the course of the coming months.

but but but, it's on ps4 now, choppers been banging on about it for pages

Hey, *pssss* Clippa! Over here...

Spoiler: show

YES I KNOW THAT WAS THE JOKE

[Chopper]

I've been playing a bit of Opus Magnum! It's so nice to finally be able to check out another Zachtronics game after the excellent Infinifactory last year. Slick and intuitive, can't wait to sink some proper time into it over the course of the coming months.

Isn't that on PC only?

You've changed, man.

Speaking of Prey, have you ever played Mooncrash, Clippa? It's the sysyem-shock type games reimagined as a roguelike, it's pretty special. Though, you would probably need to have some affinity for that type of immersive sim game already, I reckon, as you spend quite a bit of your time crouched behind furniture like some kind of zoo escapee. Mooncrash was my GOTY last year.

Here is some Australian geezer going on about it:



Edit: you could probably skip the first 1:50 which is a bit hectoring.

[KSubzero1000]

Isn't that on PC only?

You've changed, man.

This hurts for some reason.

I made a GoG account and bought two(!) games. My heart will always belong to dedicated hardware, but I figured it was a bit silly of me to miss out on the handful of exclusives that interest me and which I could run on my laptop for no other reason than stubbornness.

Don't worry, it's not going to become a thing.

[Chopper]

I made a GoG account and bought two(!) games. My heart will always belong to dedicated hardware, but I figured it was a bit silly of me to miss out on the handful of exclusives that interest me and which I could run on my laptop for no other reason than stubbornness.

Don't worry, it's not going to become a thing.

As clippa says, end of the year

I can’t wait till you start posting the gifs

[Alex79]

I picked up Downwell on Switch earlier for a couple of quid, and really enjoying it. I love a good roguelite, and this is great. I've owned it on Vita through PS+ for ages but never really bothered with it that much, but for some reason I've ended up really getting in to it on Switch. Seems like it'll be the perfect thing for a quick blast on after a lengthy session on something else before going to sleep.

[Chopper]

Having a look at Satisfactory, the 3D Factorio. The planet you land on is beautifully realised, verdant and lush. I've just built my first machine and am having serious qualms about the pollution, of all things:

[stvnorman]

I finally got around to having a go at Friday the 13th: The Game, which was a PS+ game months ago. Right subject matter, wrong game type, which is why I’d never bothered until now with it despite loving the films and Jason as a character. It just reminded me of the worst bits of Assassin’s Creed, but at least it’s freed up the precious PS4 space it was hogging.

I’m really into Punch-Out! on the NES Classic Mini at the moment. First time I’ve ever properly played it, but have worked my way to the first title and a couple more fights after that. It really is a joy to play! I did start with the Switch version but the original controller feels so much better. Still a brilliant game.

Speaking of brilliant games, I left Baba is You last week completely stuck on a puzzle. Taking a break completely worked - I realised what it was trying to get me to do almost straight away then it just took some experimentation. Still one of the most ingenious games I’ve ever come across.

Lastly, the plod through Final Fantasy 7 on Switch continues. It’s still great, but at this rate the remake of the upcoming remake will have arrived before I’m done! “My hands are too stained to carry her anymore.” It’s getting serious!

[Alex79]

I’m really into Punch-Out! on the NES Classic Mini at the moment. First time I’ve ever properly played it, but have worked my way to the first title and a couple more fights after that. It really is a joy to play! I did start with the Switch version but the original controller feels so much better. Still a brilliant game.

Yes! I've been playing the hell out of this! Really fun, although I've been stuck on one guy for about a week now...

[Suits]

I’m having a wonderful time playing between Doom 64 and Catlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

I’m playing both on their native consoles right at the end of Doom 64 and 50% of the Castle.

The mix of genres and TV to handheld, is really appealing.


**On a side note, I’m finding it staggering how much better (all round) playing a DS game on my DSi-XL is, than on my N3DS-XL.

[Scrustle]

**On a side note, I’m finding it staggering how much better (al round) playing a DS game on my DSi-XL is, than on my N3DS-XL.

Interesting. Why's that?

[Suits]

**On a side note, I’m finding it staggering how much better (all round) playing a DS game on my DSi-XL is, than on my N3DS-XL.

Interesting. Why's that?

So, I'm totally done with testing things but I'll give you a brief summary.

It feels better. The games were designed to be played with a D-Pad, so the position of the D-pad (being at the more comfortable top position) just feels better.

It looks better. I started playing C:DoS on my N3DS-XL with the IPS screen, in DS pixel perfect mode (by holding start & select when you boot the cart). The problem with Pixel Perfect on the 3DS-XL is that it leaves big big borders, which make it look too odd. The only other option is to stretch it out - nope.

After about 4 hours and not feeling completely comfortable with it on the 3DS, I thought I'd boot it on my DSi-XL and see what that was like.

There's a large difference, firstly the aspect ration is perfect and fits wonderfully, but also the colours are more vivid and clearly a lot sharper.

Games also seem to load faster. Not something I'm generally sensitive too but I'm sure these in and out of these quicker than on my 3DS.

I even went back to my 3DS to see confirm what I thought and I stand by it.

Now, I'm funny about hardware - I love it, so these are very minor things, I'm sure most won't even notice it generally but I keep an eye out things like this as I enjoy it.

[Scrustle]

Didn't know the 3DS has problems with backward compatibility. Interesting. That's a shame though. Usually Nintendo are really good at that, at least when they do it through hardware rather than emulation.

[Suits]

Didn't know the 3DS has problems with backward compatibility.

I wouldn’t call them problems as such, but there are certainly differences and quirks it seems.

[Chopper]

Well it's been a few days since I landed on this planet in Satisfactory (PC, Early Access, Epic Game Store only )

I have built a small mining operation:




And.... a space elevator

[Suits]

Bugger. That looks incredible.