Whatcha Been Playing?

[KSubzero1000]

Cute!

Kos like the Greek island, I presume?

[Suits]

Kos like the Greek island, I presume?

What gave it away .

Nice it was, good break, drank and ate like an animal .

[Stanshall]

Superb photo, mate. I assume the T-shirts were your idea!

[KSubzero1000]

What gave it away .

Oh, I have been granted eyes.

Great to hear you've been enjoying your holiday, Nicolas(h).

[Suits]

I assume the T-shirts were your idea!

First thing I like doing when I go away.

Find the most 90's rad t shirt, or vest, I can find.

The only item these are missing is a moody cartoon character, like a penguin with shades on a surf board.

Nice to have a relaxing break from all things sartorial, I'm sure. Does your wife know you've posted that?

I wear a suit to work everyday, so yeah .

No, she'd probably be a bit pissed, legs out, no make up, hair up, looking into the sun - don't tell her !!!

[Pitwar]

Gran Turismo Sport

I played this on release but soon fell off it due to feeling it was a little bare bones. However, I had an itch to play it over the weekend so reinstalled it. I must say I'm pleased I did.

The game is now much more what I hoped it would be, with loads of themed races added alongside several more tracks and cars.

When I last played it I just had an LED 4K TV and the jump playing it on my newer OLED is incredible. It looks real at some points.

Snooker 19

Back in the PS2 days a mate and I would spend hours playing snooker games and talking nonsense. So, when I saw Snooker 19 in Game for £20 I thought I'd give it a go.

Not much has changed since the PS2 days other than looks, but that's not a bad thing. What is bad however is that I'm yet to win a match. I'm not sure if that's down to the game being hard, or the fact I'm just rubbish.

A Plague Tale: Innocence

A game that wasn't really on my radar but one that I'd hard nothing buy good things about.

So far, so good although I'm only a few levels in. But, the voice of the younger brother is seriously grating and so badly acted. It's not put me off playing, although I do dread him speaking.

[Suits]

Gran Turismo Sport

One of the best, Gran Tourismo Games I’ve played.

Having less cars, less tracks and no modifying meant it was a boiled down, fully focused racer.

I got the most enjoyment out of golding all the challenges.

Wonderful game, and like you say, looks excellent in 4K.

[Simonsloth]

Kos like the Greek island, I presume?

What gave it away .

Nice it was, good break, drank and ate like an animal .

Glad you got to get away and love the photo! I don’t think I could convince my wife to wear matching anything let alone t-shirts!

Last few holidays I’ve taken my vita, 3DS and more recently the switch and barely got an hour in. Completely different type of holiday and even more different with 2 kids. Glad you had fun:)

[Alex79]

Gran Turismo Sport

Having less cars, less tracks and no modifying meant it was a boiled down, fully focused racer..

But not a Gran Turismo game!

That stuff was what defined the series, for me.

[Suits]

But not a Gran Turismo game!

That stuff was what defined the series, for me.

Yeah, I understand that completely.

But as a racing simulation game, it was damn fine.

[duskvstweak]

Well, after a slightly depressing wall, I finally made some real progress in Hollow Knight. I upgraded my nail, got a few new moves, including the sweet, sweet double jump and beat a few bosses. I finally feel like I have a grasp on the platforming and combat.
And, I'm using the bank. That's removed a lot of heartbreak.

[dezm0nd]

Been playing very DOOMs arcade mode. It's a bit brilliant, innit? Reminds me of Bulletstorm.

If Max Payne 3 had an arcade mode which was as well crafted as this, i'd be well into it. The levels are specifically designed for the mode whereas MP3 had you watching cut scenes due to loading and really takes the wind out your sails.

[KSubzero1000]

DOOMs arcade mode. [...] The levels are specifically designed for the mode

Hm... I seem to recall Arcade Mode using the exact same stages and enemy placements as the main Campaign, only with a scoring system superimposed on top of it. Am I mistaken?

[Flabyo]

It also turns off all the story stuff.

[Suits]

Doom’s challenge mode was tough but good if I remember.

Took me a while to get Gold on all the modes.

[Alex79]

Well, after a slightly depressing wall, I finally made some real progress in Hollow Knight. I upgraded my nail, got a few new moves, including the sweet, sweet double jump and beat a few bosses. I finally feel like I have a grasp on the platforming and combat.
And, I'm using the bank. That's removed a lot of heartbreak.

DON'T USE THE BANK!!

[Chopper]

Been having a look at my yearly installment of MLB The Show (19) and I think the gamification elements have tipped it over into the aggravating side of things.

It's still the only sim baseball game, and is amazing at what it does, gameplay wise. But the platform exclusivity and low sales (it sells c. 500K a year, I believe) have led to a regrettable evolution. The card collecting aspect has bled into the other modes now, so when I'm playing the career mode I get half arsed reward cards for that. A lot of customisation options have been removed in recent years, so instead of carefully moulding my player's attributes, I now have to pick one of three archetypes (flamethower, control freak, plain filthy) and go from there. And they have added another layer this year where I have to choose a personality type, and this affects all my other interactions - based on responses in conversation, I can get points in one of 4 categories, and these points unlock perks, which are absoutely the worst thing ever.

For example, my pitcher can have a perk that prevents batters hitting fly balls with a man on third and less than two outs. Euros won't know the significance of that (it's a common way for a batter to drive in a run) but that is totally subverting the way the game is played in real life.

You can choose not to take these perks but every interaction in the game is geared towards developing them so they are in your face all the time. Also, games are interrupted by the developers dropping a challenge in as you are playing, where you have to choose from several options of increasing difficulty right in the middle of whatever you are damn doing right then. A corollary in FIFA would be, say if you launch a counterattack, the game stops and says, would you like to score in either of the corners for 50 bonus attribute points, or nutmeg the keeper for 200 attribute points? And you choose and get a CHALLENGE WON or CHALLENGE FAILED splash screen.

Very, very disappointing

[duskvstweak]

Well, after a slightly depressing wall, I finally made some real progress in Hollow Knight. I upgraded my nail, got a few new moves, including the sweet, sweet double jump and beat a few bosses. I finally feel like I have a grasp on the platforming and combat.
And, I'm using the bank. That's removed a lot of heartbreak.

DON'T USE THE BANK!!

WHA???

[stvnorman]

That’s some sound advice from Alex!

Still mainlining Castlevanias on Switch!

Finally finished Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. It’s fun to play once it gets going, and the mansion “dungeons” are great, but apart from a couple of annoying enemies, the only real challenge is navigation. That said, I managed to find my way to the most obscure location by being distracted and forgetting to get off a boat when I originally intended!

I did use a walkthrough to help with the first hour and a few times after, but with a couple of exceptions, the map isn’t that big that you won’t find your way eventually. The final boss is the easiest you’ll ever fight too - I’d whipped Dracula to death before he’d even properly got onto the screen! It’s worth playing but I do recommend swallowing your pride and using a helping hand to get you started or there’s a good chance you won’t bother getting far.

In parallel, I finished off the Konami Castlevania Anniversary Collection with Bloodlines. It’s definitely the most technically impressive of these games, the soundtrack is amazing, and it plays great with its new abilities, but it seems to have lost some of its soul. I’m sure that’s mostly down to the diverse European locations that mix things up, but I wanted to play this in medieval Transylvania, not a German World War One munitions factory! I thought some of the bosses would be more suited to Mega Man than this too, and some just outstayed their welcome - little challenge, just whip-sponges. One of the better Dracula fights in the series though - really well balanced. But nowhere near my favourite game in the series...

Super Castlevania IV again on the SNES Classic Mini next. I’m completely addicted!

[Default]

Grimvalor on Android with Bluetooth controller.

Dark Souls clearly referenced with multiple 'You died' screens, and many other similarities.

Dank environments and music notes.
Not sure the depth of the lore equates but the git gud approach, failing and learning does.

Regular enemies seem less challenging with difficulty spikes with bosses

Early stages still so will update when I've made more progress.