Whatcha Been Playing?

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
Simonsloth
Member
Posts: 1639
Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 7:17 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

Chopper wrote: June 15th, 2019, 7:40 am
Simonsloth wrote: June 14th, 2019, 8:42 pm Really really enjoying Prey.
Delighted to hear it, as the beginning can be a bit finicky. It didn't click for me until several hours in. You'll be glad to hear it...errrr....broadens and deepens as you go along too.
I was a bit worried at first because I died extremely quickly multiple times until I realised there’s a quicksave and that it’s not a combat game (or if it is it’s an incredibly hard one).
Spoiler: show
my current tactic for tough enemies is to carry around a turret and drop it then hide. They destroy it and walk off allowing me to creep up and repair it. Rinse and repeat.

The mimics aren’t scary per se either but they’ve made me jump a lot and watching them hide in such obvious places as junk is funny. It might be me but on their own they are almost afraid of you but if there’s 3 or 4 they are aggressive and deadly.

All in all it’s possibly my game of the year so far!
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

There’s a moment where you have enough stuff and skills that the combat turns in Prey, where you can actually fight without getting wrecked. Reminds me a lot of how System Shock 2 was balanced.
User avatar
Chopper
Member
Posts: 1405
Joined: April 16th, 2013, 6:35 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

Yes, and the perks system is pretty terrible at the start too, it looks like they'll make no difference at all but eventually you reach critical mass.

It's a funny game in that you are so disempowered at the start, and for so long. I guess it is so that you start exploring the stealth options and different ways of doing things, as there are always alternative methods, but that means that it's a bit slow to get going.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8422
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

We're away for the weekend at a friend's caravan by the sea. Naturally we spent an afternoon wandering around the amusements on the sea front. I've lamented the fact before, but it does sadden me that 95% of the machines in arcades these days fall in to one of the following categories:

- Fruit machine
- Crane grabber machine
- Games to win 'tickets' on

There are also an increasing number of mobile ports making their way in to the arcades lately. I saw Fruit Ninja, Temple Run, Doodle Jump and Subway Surfer. Bizarre.

However, I did find a couple of gems today. I love light gun games in the arcade, and I played some great ones - Terminator Salvation, Time Crisis 4, some Transformers thing - and, an interesting one the kids loved. You actually squirt real water at the screen to ward off zombies.

Image

They also had this really cool Space Invaders game. It was based around winning tickets (yuk!) but the actual game was pretty fun, and it looked amazing. Huge screen made up of individual lights. Just looked really impressive in action.

Image

And lastly, this eight cab Daytona set up was a treat to find. Unfortunately I was the only one playing it, but I can't ever remember seeing the whole thing all linked up before. Nice!

Image
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

One of the things I lament about the Trocadero closing is that they had that 8 player Daytona setup and it was always busy, (the other is the whole DDR scene they had there which was always fun to watch)
User avatar
ReprobateGamer
Member
Posts: 290
Joined: February 11th, 2017, 12:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Flabyo wrote: June 15th, 2019, 4:21 pm One of the things I lament about the Trocadero closing is that they had that 8 player Daytona setup and it was always busy, (the other is the whole DDR scene they had there which was always fun to watch)
That's a shame - when I worked in the centre of London, the Trocadero was great for somewhere to pop into kill a little time. The girls and guys in the DDR section were impressive for sure.

The Namco Bar (https://namcofunscape.com/london) on the south bank nearby (next to London Aquarium) also used to have a decent arcade set-up - it has been a number of years since I visited though ... and I can see they have added other attractions like an escape room, so how much of the arcade has survived I couldn't now say.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Been playing Cadence of Hyrule and im obsessed with discovering it all.

Its a beauty
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Simonsloth wrote: June 14th, 2019, 8:42 pm Really really enjoying Prey.

I had no idea it was a Dishonored-Bioshock-Deus ex hybrid.
Its very good, glad youre enjoying it
User avatar
stvnorman
Member
Posts: 911
Joined: March 19th, 2013, 8:09 pm
Location: Keysoe, Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

dezm0nd wrote: June 15th, 2019, 5:18 pm Been playing Cadence of Hyrule and im obsessed with discovering it all.
Ironically, I would have been too if Crypt of the Necrodancer hadn’t been so cheap. Once it clicks it’s fantastic, but it’s definitely not the Necrodancer game I was planning on buying this week!

Finished SNES Pilotwings on 3DS. Thanks to the C&R podcast for leading me down that path! At the business end of Final Fantasy 7 on Switch, which I only know because I was reading too much E3 remake coverage that managed to spoil it a bit! And Operation C on the Contra Collection has really clicked with me too.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

I really liked Crypt and for that price it would be rude not to.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8422
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I've seen a couple of videos of Necrodancer, but I think don't really get what it is. I know, 'a roguelike rhythm action dungeon crawler'.

Yeah. I still don't get what it is :lol:
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

Cadence of Hyrule taps directly into what I personally need in a game to find it compelling.

It’s soooooooo good.

Once it clicks, it’s brilliant.

Your always just a slight mistake from death though, so it’s never fully under control.

The music is next level.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Alex79uk wrote: June 15th, 2019, 11:21 pm I've seen a couple of videos of Necrodancer, but I think don't really get what it is. I know, 'a roguelike rhythm action dungeon crawler'.

Yeah. I still don't get what it is :lol:
Its hard to explain without using those words but here goes nothing

A dungeon similar to Zelda/isaac is generated and has its own music depending on which floor you are on.

You need to move the protagonist to the beat, attacks are automated. A bit like chess but to a rhythm.

If you die, it all resets apart from gems used to boost mild character progression and also if you unlock a floor you can skip straight to it.

Does that help? :)
User avatar
shadowless_kick
Member
Posts: 116
Joined: May 1st, 2018, 12:16 am

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by shadowless_kick »

I got Ikaruga on the PS4 sale the other day and it's my first time playing it since the Dreamcast.

"WOW, I forgot how great this game is!"
"WOW, I'm really bad!"
User avatar
ThirdDrawing
Member
Posts: 571
Joined: October 13th, 2016, 2:33 pm
Location: Poverty Stricken StudentLand

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdDrawing »

They just announced yesterday that Ikaruga is getting a physical release in the West.

I've been playing World of Final Fantasy, and it is much, *much* better than I expected.

I would even go so far as to say this should have been the real FF15.
User avatar
Scrustle
Member
Posts: 2425
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 6:02 pm

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Just finished off the Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions Expansion, or at least the main race event progression. Still got a bunch of the block challenges to do, which I think I'll give a shot, but I'm not sure I'll completely finish. I've been trying to keep up 100% achievement completion on this game as they've been releasing more stuff, so I'll have to clear up all that stuff if I plan to do that. Also with the previous expansions to these games, I've included them with my completed games total for the year, but with this game I've decided to stop doing that, so I'm putting my thought here instead.

But anyway, it was pretty fun. It's another pretty substantial addition to the game, as these DLCs tend to be. This one obviously draws pretty close comparisons to FH3's Hot Wheels DLC, as it's another deviation in to an outlandish concept that helps give a sense of fun and creativity to the game. And both being based on toy properties too of course. The new environment is pretty impressive, but feels slightly lacking in some respects. All the Lego everywhere is a lot of fun and makes for some interesting places to explore, given the breadth of stuff they have to draw from. The rendering of the Lego itself is fantastic too. They really nailed the look of those bricks, right down to the tiny imperfections due to the molding process. The NPCs standing around in the world also animate with that stop motion look from the film. Almost everything is to a perfect scale, and the new Lego cars are pretty amusing and drive well. It's full of great little touches.

But that said, not everything is made of Lego, in a way that's sometimes a bit disappointing. There are a lot of wooded areas that just use normal trees, and that seems a bit out of place and odd right next to all the Lego trees in the same areas. The Hot Wheels expansion also had a mix of toyish and realistic props, but that felt more natural, as it felt like a track that a kid might lay out in a garden or something. That's not something generally done with Lego. But on the other hand, the Hot Wheels environment didn't have anywhere near as much variation as this. There's only so much you can do with orange track and a few dinosaurs. While this Lego setting has so many different props from a wide variety of sets that gives different areas more of a unique personality. It also meant this DLC has more areas that were good for drifting, as there are several spots that have a brick-like square grid area, and some places that are a more flat open area where you can mess around as you please. While in Hot Wheels you're basically forced to go in the direction of the track ribbon, without many tight or medium corners good for drifting on. On the other hand those wild tracks looping around in the air and such were more distinct from the main game than this Lego area is. So maybe that gives it more value on that comparison point.

I'm also not quite sure the idea of this Lego DLC is as appropriate as Hot Wheels, and it makes me wonder what this means for the future of these games. Thinking less about the experience of the DLC itself, and more what it represents, Hot Wheels fits the idea of Forza more, and it was a genuine surprise at the time. In comparison, this Lego DLC can't help but come off just a little bit more cynical. It's impossible to really tell what the process behind how these things came to be, but the former seemed like it was a natural fit and a fun, new idea. But then the latter makes it look like they wanted to replicate that and went shopping around for what toy property they could license. And having used what may have been their best option already, they were forced to go with something less natural. And if this is just going to be the future of these games from now on, that makes it feel a bit limiting to creativity. Having to base ideas around what toy they can make a tie-in for, rather than something else they might want to experiment with. The novelty is bound to wear off at some point, and the appearance of it just being a toy ad will come through stronger.

I didn't really want to spend so long on that last point to be honest, but that's what was going through my mind, so there it is. Despite that though I liked this DLC a fair amount, and it's a nice addition to the game. It adds something significantly different and is a nice change of pace from the main game, and is impressively crafted.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

It’s not well remembered now but Lego had a whole series of racing games through the late 90s and early 00s before Lego games turned into the Travellers Tales formula and nothing else.

(I know this cause I worked on one of them)

There have been Lego sets themed around racing for a while now as well, the current one is all about licensed super cars and motor racing teams, so it’s not too much a stretch from there to Forza.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8422
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I haven't been there yet, but just discovered this place is a 20 minute drive from my house!

https://m.facebook.com/electriccircusarcade/?_rdr

Real pinball tables, loads of them! And games! I can't wait to go!
User avatar
Simonsloth
Member
Posts: 1639
Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 7:17 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Simonsloth »

Alex79uk wrote: June 16th, 2019, 9:04 pm I haven't been there yet, but just discovered this place is a 20 minute drive from my house!

https://m.facebook.com/electriccircusarcade/?_rdr

Real pinball tables, loads of them! And games! I can't wait to go!
Ooh that looks great! I hadnt heard of that. Let me know if it’s any good.
User avatar
Scrustle
Member
Posts: 2425
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 6:02 pm

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Flabyo wrote: June 16th, 2019, 8:55 pm It’s not well remembered now but Lego had a whole series of racing games through the late 90s and early 00s before Lego games turned into the Travellers Tales formula and nothing else.

(I know this cause I worked on one of them)

There have been Lego sets themed around racing for a while now as well, the current one is all about licensed super cars and motor racing teams, so it’s not too much a stretch from there to Forza.
I have heard good things about those old Lego racing games. Some of them let you build your own car, right? That would have been a great feature for this DLC, but too ambitious I guess.

And yeah, there is that connection with this one line they're theming this expansion around, but still when you think "Lego", cars isn't really the first thing that comes to mind. There's way more than that. It's not completely unfitting for Forza, but Hot Wheels is a closer match.

While we're on the topic, I also happen to own a Lego Technic Enzo Ferrari from when I was younger. Great kit, with an engine with moving pistons, and it even has a differential too.
Post Reply