Whatcha Been Playing?

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ColinAlonso
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ColinAlonso »

Currently working my way through DJ Hero. I deleted my original save file (from 2014) and am working through the mixes on normal (pretty much all I did on the previous save). Having quite a bit of fun. I feel if it was any more complex I'd be far worse. I haven't got the hang of scratching and using the crossfader simultaneously yet. Thankfully that's only shown up a few times so far.

Also playing Mega Man 3. I'm past the 8 robot masters and going through the rest of the game. I don't like the weapons as much as the second game and most of the bosses ended up being brute force as I couldn't find which weapon they were weak to. Still its a fairly solid follow-up to Mega Man 2.
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duskvstweak
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by duskvstweak »

ColinAlonso wrote: July 14th, 2019, 6:55 pm Currently working my way through DJ Hero. I deleted my original save file (from 2014) and am working through the mixes on normal (pretty much all I did on the previous save). Having quite a bit of fun. I feel if it was any more complex I'd be far worse. I haven't got the hang of scratching and using the crossfader simultaneously yet. Thankfully that's only shown up a few times so far.

Also playing Mega Man 3. I'm past the 8 robot masters and going through the rest of the game. I don't like the weapons as much as the second game and most of the bosses ended up being brute force as I couldn't find which weapon they were weak to. Still its a fairly solid follow-up to Mega Man 2.
How has your turntable for DJ Hero held up? Still working well?
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ColinAlonso »

duskvstweak wrote: July 14th, 2019, 10:29 pm
How has your turntable for DJ Hero held up? Still working well?
I had a small issue where the d-pad was pushing left on its own. This only happened twice and only affected the menus, so it was still playable. Didn't happen last night. Turntable itself is still good.

My turntable has seen less use than many though. I bought a new one in 2014 when the local Tesco was clearing stock (€5!!), played through the first game's mixes, dabbled in the second game and put it away.
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

Dragon Quest Builders 2 on the Switch.

So far, a very good game.
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Suits wrote: July 15th, 2019, 8:24 am Dragon Quest Builders 2 on the Switch.

So far, a very good game.
Are you playing full screen or handheld? How is it on handheld? I played the first game but wish I spent a bit more time with it - it was very long.


I'm playing Field of Glory - Empires. This is a grand strategy game set in Europe just after the death of Alexander the Great. Rome and Carthage are on the rise. You can take a region and try and achieve domination. There is an interesting decadence mechanic where if your empire is not carefully managed, it enters the decline and fall stage. Very good so far, though i have a developing Druid problem in Cornwall. Those pesky Druids!

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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Chopper wrote: July 15th, 2019, 8:32 am Are you playing full screen or handheld? How is it on handheld? I played the first game but wish I spent a bit more time with it.
Honestly, mainly it’s TV - as it just looks so good.

I’ve had a quick go on handheld to take a turd and it’s fine.

I was a little concerned about performance, which over all runs fine. However, when it rains, at your base and you get stormed by enemies, it does chug. Not terrible but you can see/feel it.

I put 10 hours into it yesterday, according to the Nintendo app 🥴.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Really enjoyed the opening hour of Mario+Rabbids on Switch last night. Very simple so far, but utterly charming and the Rabbids are genuinely slapstick funny in places. Looking forward to getting in to it more later.
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Alex79uk wrote: July 15th, 2019, 9:09 am Very simple so far....
It gets pretty challenging IIRC.
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Suits wrote: July 15th, 2019, 8:52 am I put 10 hours into it yesterday, according to the Nintendo app 🥴.
Proper Sunday gaming! :D

Yeah, I'd imagine big screen is the way to go all right.
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Stanshall
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

Haha.
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Now I'm on to the final leg of replaying this series, with Bioshock Infinite. Even though I've always been a fan of this game, I've always had big criticisms too. And over the years it feels like general opinions on it have skewed more negative too. But so far I'm really enjoying this playthrough. The early hours are very impressive, especially the opening. It's still breathtaking. Aesthetically this game is jaw-dropping to this day. Columbia is an amazingly realised setting that has a atmosphere that few games could even hope of creating. The architecture, the set design, audio, lighting, everything is just amazing. Even though the levels are really linear, it's a joy to walk through these areas and take in the sights. It's just scene after scene of amazing stuff. A lot of the action set pieces are really impressive too. Even if they're very scripted they feel tense and climactic. First meeting Elizabeth as she first gets out of the tower is still really impressive as well. She's got a real sense of liveliness to her. So far it's really well paced too. I know a big problem with the game later on is how they drop the ball on that, but right now it's still going strong. Maybe I'll have a better reaction to the later bits too once I get to them.

Even the depiction of the more unsavoury parts of Columbia's society feel potent and well realised, for now anyway. It feels like they've put a lot of effort in to thinking about how a racist society like this would be. Being up front with it and not shying away, but not being careless about it. It feels like it's setting something up in a way that inspires confidence. But of course I know where this goes, so there has to be a bit of a caveat with that. This is the first time I've played since hearing some of the really scathing stuff about the racial topics of the game, so I'm interested to see how it stacks up in that new context.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

Always enjoy your in-depth posts, Scrustle. Just felt it was time to say so.
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DeadpoolNegative
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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I like them too! I have a lot to say about Bioshock Infinite Myself, though I'll wait till later.

--Dan
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Suits wrote: July 15th, 2019, 9:10 am
Alex79uk wrote: July 15th, 2019, 9:09 am Very simple so far....
It gets pretty challenging IIRC.
Yeah the combat ramps up but ultimately the game itself remains simple. Really felt like the balance was good. At first the inbetween bits were a bit of a whimsical affair but after some of the later combat stages you're relieved you get to flounce around a Mario flavoured environment with relative ease
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

I’d so be ready for a M+R 2 or whatever that looks like.

Thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay and satisfaction and Luigi just horrifically blowing suckers away with that sniper rifle.

Enjoyed that game tremendously.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Loving the slap and dash and bounce on a friend mechanics, they make me smile every time!
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Just a little update on the Darksiders 3 DLC. I beat The Crucible, several times in fact. It's a pretty rewarding challenge that lets the combat shine quite well. It lead me to come to something of a conclusion about my feelings on the combat in general, and the whole issue of the Classic Mode. Before I could see that the game is trying to go for something in between Dark Souls and the old Darksiders style of combat, but wasn't sure on whether it achieved that. And was torn on whether them adding in the Classic Mode was really something the devs wanted to do, or if they were just compromising their vision in response to player pressure. But now I think after being able to focus on it so closely for an extended time, that this Classic Mode actually achieves this middle ground style of combat really well. Allowing you to dodge out of attacks lets the old style of combat bleed through, and lets you be more acrobatic and take more chances, but it doesn't take away from the more focused and deliberate feel either. Small numbers of enemies are still a threat, and you need to pick your windows carefully. It's just now you can do more in those windows.

I also started the second and final major DLC that was just released today, Keepers of the Void. This one is more of a side-campaign, a dungeon of sorts. And they've actually attempted to add puzzle mechanics in to this one too. Except it seems right now that this thing is broken. The puzzle mechanics involve moving floating cubes around to let you get across gaps or open pathways, etc. It seems these cubes often don't work as intended, making a lot of the puzzles unsolvable. I had a problem where there was a gap that there was simply no way I could cross, and there was nothing else to interact with in the area. Looking online to see if I was doing something wrong, there are loads of posts from people with similar complaints about many other puzzles. I couldn't find anyone with my problem, but lots of people are having this issue of not being able to progress because of cubes not doing what they should. So I guess I can't play any more for now, and they're going to have to put out a patch to fix this issue. This game has always felt like it's held together with bits of loose tape, but it's pretty shocking that such a huge mistake like this could happen.

EDIT: Turns out I was just missing something, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same problem everyone else it having too. You have to activate these cubes by hitting a nearby orb with a specific weapon. It turns out that hitting them with different weapons makes them do different things. But I think it's fair that I missed that, since they don't make that clear at all. There's no prompt telling you can do that specifically, and the only thing showing that it's even possible are very small little symbols on the orb plinth that are very hard to see and don't stand out at all.
Stanshall wrote: July 15th, 2019, 7:31 pm Always enjoy your in-depth posts, Scrustle. Just felt it was time to say so.
DeadpoolNegative wrote: July 16th, 2019, 5:41 am I like them too! I have a lot to say about Bioshock Infinite Myself, though I'll wait till later.

--Dan
Thanks! I sometimes wonder if I'm just talking in to the void or spending too long on unnecessary minor details, so it's good to know at least someone gets something out of it.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by deacon05oc »

Been revisiting the Metal Gear Solid series. I beat MGS1 and Snake Eater again for the first time in years. I played both on Vita which for Snake Eater was fine. It took a little adjusting for MGS, but once I beat Ocelot, I stuck with it. Going back to Sons of Liberty and also playing Guns of the Patriots for the first time. Ive completed Act 2. These are mostly story play through so I’m playing them on easy. Even though The Fury is still my least favorite boss fight in Snake Eater and the one that cost me a life even on easy. Also moving towards completing Peace Walker, but I’m grinding for better equipment.
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ReprobateGamer
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

I've been spending a bit of time back on the Division 2 in an attempt to at least reach the end game.

It may be the patches are making those QoL changes but it feels more fluid now and less in your face. There's still too many call-outs to open world events happening nearby (including being told that a friendly control point is nearby - when it's the one I spawned at!) but the aggression of the enemies has been toned down, particularly helping my normal solo play. Finding out the hive has a self-revive option also is a bit of a boon.

Last night I had just finished off the bunker mission (including a great vision sequence in a club early on) whilst the matchmaker failed to find anyone playing. I carried on into the first of the stronghold missions and when matchmaker found a game to join risked accepting.

There was a moment when I feared that, as seems normal for me, we were somewhere else but in fact the person I joined (@allorc) was just around the corner killing time. We then spend the next two/three hours running the first two stronghold missions and it was enjoyable. My companion was a hold back and snipe sort whilst I preferred to flank and suppress with an LMG and the combo worked well (except once or twice when I was a little too ballsy ... :oops: ).

I need to spend a bit of time in the open world/side missions to get my level up the last couple of ranks to hit the last stronghold (at least the last one on the current map ...).
The thing I miss the most from the first Division game was being able to drop in, play a mission or two with other people even if your normal fireteam was not on and there doesn't feel to be that on the Division 2 (at least currently)

But when it works, it works well. And that was with just two of us ...
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

*Pushes glasses up nose*

Absolutely loving Field of Glory: Empires. I was initially playing as Ireland, and trying to conquer the British Isles. Nothing personal - one of my druids came to me with a dread prophecy, that of The Ascension of Boris, which he said was to take place in 2,500 years time (the game starts in 310 BC). He said it was my sworn duty to eradicate the Britones, and therefore change the course of history.

Sorry guys, I tried, but Ireland just didn't have the manpower to do it. The one time I came close I went bankrupt, and my own country disintegrated due to internal divisions. So you are stuck with him now, I'm afraid. Although I have learned a lot since then, maybe one more try...


I moved on to the Gothones (precursors to the Goths) and am having quite a bit more success with them (due mostly to an isolated starting area). Nobody has really tried to start a ruckus with me and I have been bullying the nascent Prussians into oblivion, and basically having a great time.

Image

Rome and Macedon are bossing the bottom half of the map. Hopefully they don't get this far north (I'm top, centre). You can see all of the other Northen States have been battering each other and nobody's managed to get a foothold (though Dacia might be a problem). Over to the west, the Picts seem to be giving England what-for.

Loving all the history I'm learning here too. Favourite piece of flavour text so far:
Laconism, or the talent of using as few words as possible (sometime with intended humor) comes from Laconia, the name of Sparta region. A good example is the reply made to the ultimatum from Philip II of Macedonia to Sparta: 'You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city'. Their reply: 'If.'
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