Whatcha Been Playing?

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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Alex79uk wrote: January 12th, 2020, 8:12 pm There are times where its literally impossible to avoid taking damage - that's poor game design. There is no duck button, which coupled with the fact you can only shoot dead ahead, means there are multiple times enemies come at you which you can neither dodge nor shoot. There is a larger enemy in the underwater bit which sucks you towards it, and you're fighting on a tiny platform surrounded by insta-death spikes.
I'm hardly an expert on MegaMan, but I'm relatively sure every bit of damage in the game is avoidable save for those occurring during story events.



Skip to 35:45 for the first underwater stage enemy surrounded by spikes (if it's not this one, it'll be one of those shortly thereafter).

Also, keep in mind that the difficulty of some sections might depend a lot on the particular weapon you're using. If one stage is proving to be too difficult, try another one first and come back when you've expanded your arsenal.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

Alex79uk wrote: January 12th, 2020, 8:12 pm I've been playing Mega Man X, the SNES game, on my Switch.

I've got a two word review: It's bollocks.
Everything you say applies to some of the later X games, but for this one I concur... just try a different level and come back to that one!
ThirdMan

Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdMan »

I've been playing Caves of Qud, an ASCII-like rogue-like (we really need to get some better names). It's early days but so far it seems very hardcore. The character creation options are amongst the most fleshed out I've ever encountered. There's a lot of stuff I simply don't understand and playing with just keys and shortcuts places me even further out of my comfort zone. Yet I keep going back for the cherished 'one more run'.

It's a science-fiction/fantasy setting with an abundance of lore, all delivered in very well-written prose. The nuts and bolts of the game are deep RPG mechanics but I'm here for the sense of place and atmosphere. It's really quite remarkable how immersive it is given the deliberately crude nature of the graphics. The soundtrack is also excellent and really puts you in the world. It's still in Early Access and with 1 million screens per map I don't expect to rinse it, but right now it's scratching an itch.
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shadowless_kick
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by shadowless_kick »

Alex79uk wrote: January 12th, 2020, 8:12 pm I've been playing Mega Man X, the SNES game, on my Switch.
I understand your frustrations, though I was happy to find it was still quite fun for me on a recent playthrough. Nearly everything you mentioned, however, I find applicable to Shovel Knight, which is deeply indebted to the Mega Man series (among others). THAT game feels like it has bad design and I had to force myself to finish it, yet everyone seems to love it. :?: :?:

But yeah, try returning to a difficult area with new weapons. I'm no expert, though: I still haven't beaten the final boss' 2nd form...
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

I'll just say that Launch Octopus is basically impossible without the Rolling Shield (or Hyper Cutter). Boss order matters a ton in 90's Mega Man games. And I say this as someone who has speedrun this game.

The only bosses I can beat reliably with buster only are:
Chill Penguin
Storm Eagle
Flame Mammoth

In order of easiest to hardest. But I prefer doing Eagle first because the attack he gives you absolutely melts thicc enemies. And defeating him makes Spark Mandrill's stage significantly easier.
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Jon Cheetham »

Played through the first 4 levels of DUSK. It's a retro FPS, it recalls Doom, Quake etc, really cool low polygon environments that are exceptionally atmospheric with a cult horror vibe. Moves at a really fast clip, gives you a lot of enemies and a lot of guns to deal with them. Careening round corners firing off your twin shotguns one after the other as chainsaw-wielding lunatics and fireball-shooting cultists come at you feels awesome. It is metal af, including the soundtrack.

I'm also getting through the levels in 10-20 minutes apiece so it is a really good game to just snack on. Although I think a couple of full-on sessions might be in order because it is really fun.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Re: the Mega Man X replies, thanks all. Yeah it definitely looks like I've missed the fact you really can't just play through the stages in the order they appear on the selection screen. I've started a different stage and enjoying it a whole lot more!
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Mr Ixolite »

Magical_Isopod wrote: January 9th, 2020, 2:51 am I literally couldn't get past the first two guards in the dungeon in the first Dishonored. It felt like nothing I did worked and I'd get caught every time. Haven't given it a second attempt since, though it's in the 3 for $10 section at the local Microplay.
Hah, the exact same thing happened to me. I started the game, resolved not to kill anyone because hey, the guards were innocent, and then spent an hour in the dungeon fiddling about with a couple of unconscious guards and making extremely incremental progress. Maybe I'm just not cut out for stealth games.

________________________
I'm currently chipping away at Super Mario Oddysey, as I have been for the last several months, and toggling to Bloodstained Curse of The Moon when I need a more clear-cut dose of platforming. I've just finished my first playthrough of the latter, so we'll see how far I make it before switching off the knockback and limited lives.

On my 3DS I', making slow headway through Luigis Mansion 2; its not bad, but for once I'm actually a bit put off by the level-based structure of a game.

Finally, for my narrative fix, I've started up Super Mario RPG in anticipation for its upcoming podcast. So yeah, lotta Mario going on, I'll probably give Onimusha or Bastion a whirl once one of these are done just to get a different flavor of game in the mix.
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Mr Ixolite »

Alex79uk wrote: January 13th, 2020, 8:02 am Re: the Mega Man X replies, thanks all. Yeah it definitely looks like I've missed the fact you really can't just play through the stages in the order they appear on the selection screen. I've started a different stage and enjoying it a whole lot more!
Was it the Chill Penguin stage ? Its really telling that every single subsequent X game, as well as the Zero and ZX spinoffs, make what you get there integrated from the word go. Growing pains.
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

I sat down to play Outward on Saturday, stuck on Slay the Spire for a quick look, and lost the whole weekend to it.

The Awakened One, what a piece of work. :x
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Alex79uk wrote: January 13th, 2020, 8:02 am Re: the Mega Man X replies, thanks all. Yeah it definitely looks like I've missed the fact you really can't just play through the stages in the order they appear on the selection screen. I've started a different stage and enjoying it a whole lot more!
Very interesting to consider things in this context - like, the idea of boss order is so ingrained in my head that it's second nature; someone coming to the series in 2019 with no pre-existing knowledge would have no reason to make a similar assumption.

Some of the later X games get very frustrating in how they try to mix things up whilst maintaining boss order - some bosses, for example, for only be hit with the special weapon ONCE, before you're basically forced to run buster only. Even Armored Armadillo in the first one is similar in this regard - you'll see.

But in X5 and X6 in particular, there's a few hard bosses that feel like they have no weakness at all. And those games get *really* bad for having these bosses with huge health bars. Nightmare Mother in X6 is probably the most infamous rage quit boss in the series - it's absolutely absurd. Hard to hit, huge health bar, and even its weakness does chip damage. But these games are definitely more of a "master quest" experience for people who have mastered the easier games in the series.

... Yet, I still love X6 in its own way. The plot is so dark and nihilistic that they've actually now made it non-canon. And the soundtrack is one of the all-time best.
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Mr Ixolite »

I thought it was the ending of X5 that got ret-conned? What with Zero being dead and everything. I think its been established that they intended X5 to be the end, but then changed their minds.

At any rate, I thought I was the only one in the world who kinda dug X6! A lot of the design choices -Like Blaze heatnix' stage, for instance- are awful, but I like the focus on saving reploids, I like the changeable nature of the levels, and I like some of the puzzle-like qualities to some of the bosses. Also, you can duck! Also also, yes that soundtrack is top tier for the series. Blaze Heatnix stage may be bad, but his music sure isn't
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Magical_Isopod »

I'm pretty sure the end of X5 and the entirety of X6 were retconned. Because X6 is ostensibly Post-Apocalypse... that space station coming down wiped out most of the planet. It seems like it was intended to be a segue to the Zero series, where the planet's a dead rock and repliod life is sparse. But then the almighty dollar said X7 and Command Mission had to be made.... so suddenly the stakes of X5 and X6 were rendered moot and we got BURN BUR BURN TO THE GROU BURN BURN TO THE GR BURN BURN BURN TO THE GROUND.

And it was really awkwardly done too. X6 is a very fatalist game, the tone is so dour and depressing. The last boss is a seriously screwed up Sigma on his last legs, clinging to some crooked version of life. Then X7 and Command Mission suddenly feature these thriving cities and no sign of any disaster ever happening. It's a yikes.

Edit: According to Internet, X7, X8 and Command Mission are non-canon, and X5 and X6 are canon. Though someone proposes X7, X8 and Command Mission all take place before X5... And I think I agree with that.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Megaman/commen ... _noncanon/
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdMan »

I've been playing Blade Runner on Mac courtesy of GOG.com. They managed to cut through a decades-old legal dispute for its re-release. Good work! It's my first time with the game and (adopting my IGN voice) "it makes me feel like I'm a Blade Runner". More particularly, I feel like I'm doing some actual investigating. Yes, I'm pixel hunting but I'm also thinking about where the story is going, what location I should visit and what's the next logical step.

I have no experience with point-and-click adventure games so I was worried that this would be full of obscure puzzles and 'try item A on surface B' type gameplay. So far there's been none of that. This was an impulse purchase and, for once, I'm very happy with what I've bought. It even came with a hi-quality scan of the original manual. Plus there's a Cane and Rinse podcast in the archive for when I finish. Everything's coming up Milhouse.
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

I am so bad at Slay the Spire. I can't resist collecting all the shiny cards, ending up with a bloated deck where I can't pull the cards I need at that moment, and when I try and go for the tight, smaller deck, I make a complete hames of it. Gah!

Got to the heart only two times in the last three days of constant playing as the Silent. :(

Apparently a new character is out on PC today. Might have a go of that.
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chase210
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by chase210 »

For the first time in forever, I have been blown the heck away by a video game. Specifically, Sayonara Wild Hearts
Can't remember the last time I went into any video game without any prior knowledge of it like this, and its really just an incredible experience.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdMan »

Chopper wrote: January 14th, 2020, 10:35 am I am so bad at Slay the Spire. I can't resist collecting all the shiny cards, ending up with a bloated deck where I can't pull the cards I need at that moment, and when I try and go for the tight, smaller deck, I make a complete hames of it. Gah!

Got to the heart only two times in the last three days of constant playing as the Silent. :(

Apparently a new character is out on PC today. Might have a go of that.
I've only put a small amount of time in but, yeah, I'm pretty much the same as you. I enjoy the minute to minute gameplay but I'm clueless when it comes to making the most of my cards.

I booted it up this morning for the first time in about 6 months and they've clearly done a lot of work with the Mac optimisation. It's not a demanding game but it used to turn my 2012 Macbook Pro into a portable jet engine. However this morning it was perfect, as if I was just checking my email.

I'm really pleased. Nobody buys Macs for gaming but if you're gonna release a Mac version, and at the same price, then at least optimise the bloody thing.

Edit: Actually, I first purchased it when it was in Early Access so it's understandable that it wasn't running as well back then.
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Jon Cheetham »

Continuing with the series I am now onto Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. The first thing that stands out is Rosario Dawson's voice acting is top notch, she was a little understated in Dishonored 2 but she is firing on all cylinders here as Billie Lurk. If that's to distinguish between Meagan Foster as being a working class woman just trying to get by, and Lurk as a storied assassin, then nicely done.

I liked the first mission a lot, even thought you start without any powers as is tradition for the series. It is much more compact than most of the sprawling Dishonored 2 missions, mostly centred around a back alley club for illegal brawlin' and bettin'. It all felt very Guy Ritchie and my eventual escape sprinting out by the skin of my teeth as the guards showed up to raid the gang running the joint was extremely fun.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

YAAAAAAS!

After days of trying, I've finally beaten my first Mega Man X boss! The Eagle guy. This game is awesome. Honestly, I felt like I'd beaten a Dark Souls boss I'd been up against for weeks when I finally finished him off.

EDIT: And now I just beat Chill Penguin too, woohoo! Adrenaline!
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdMan »

clippa wrote: January 15th, 2020, 2:09 am
ThirdMan wrote: January 13th, 2020, 12:54 amI've been playing Caves of Qud,
This is real jumping in at the deep end stuff!

Golden Krone Hotel, Cardinal Quest 2, Hack, Slash, Loot and Dungeons of Dreadmor all have mac builds if you're looking for something less daunting. They're much more my speed.
Yep, it sure is. I've played multiple runs so far and I'm getting slaughtered.

Thanks for the links. I think I'll go for Dungeons of Dredmor. It looks a lot lighter in tone and I could use a good laugh right now!
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