Whatcha Been Playing?

[MattL]

I picked up Saint's Row The Third Remastered a couple weeks ago for PS4/5 since a friend of mine just got a PS5 and was looking to play some online co-op. This game seriously holds up. It makes me sad about what happened to the recent reboot. I hope developers take note. When you're rebooting a franchise, don't ignore the pre-existing fanbase and don't change the tone and style. Otherwise, just make a new IP.

I also purchased a copy of Streets of Rage 4 Anniversary Edition for PS4 at Gamestop recently during their "50% Off Clearance Items" sale after playing it with a friend of mine. Why did I wait so long to buy this? It's amazing. The developers clearly spent lots of time making sure it felt and played like the originals. The additions they made of combos, juggling, and wall bounces fit right in. It makes the fighting system more complex for players who want to interact with it at that level of complexity, but it leaves the actual execution of moves simplistic for newbies. The survival mode added with the Mr. X DLC is addicting!

Marvel Snap. All day every day, it's absolutely killed my work...

Same here. It's amazing. Although I definitely got frustrated for a few days after hitting Tier 3 and being paired off with players who clearly have complete Tier 3 collections. It took me a while to get a couple decent Tier 3 cards that actually had some symmetry and allowed for a semi-competitive deck.

[markfm007]

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - finished up getting all the prosthetic upgrades and skill points to get the platinum trophy. Bit of a grind but flew by quick enough with podcasts. I'm quite pleased to have this one and that I can put it down having fully caned and rinsed it.

Persona 5 Royal - I've made it through the first palace and to the point where you start the 'phantom thieves' properly. Quite a slow and tutorial heavy opening, but I've found it quite relaxing to play through. I like the characters and the style of the game, and the gameplay is more fun as it opens up. I'll see how I go, it'll likely be one I throw on to relax with no sense of urgency to finish, as it is is very long.

[Alex79]

Marvel Snap. All day every day, it's absolutely killed my work...

Same here. It's amazing. Although I definitely got frustrated for a few days after hitting Tier 3 and being paired off with players who clearly have complete Tier 3 collections. It took me a while to get a couple decent Tier 3 cards that actually had some symmetry and allowed for a semi-competitive deck.

This has been my most successful deck by far:



With my biggest win being:

[MattL]

Marvel Snap. All day every day, it's absolutely killed my work...

Same here. It's amazing. Although I definitely got frustrated for a few days after hitting Tier 3 and being paired off with players who clearly have complete Tier 3 collections. It took me a while to get a couple decent Tier 3 cards that actually had some symmetry and allowed for a semi-competitive deck.

This has been my most successful deck by far:



With my biggest win being:

So no one has thrown a Killmonger (Destroy All 1 Cost Cards) at you yet?

[Alex79]

Oh loads of times, but it doesn't happen too often to make a 1-power based deck totally unusable.

[Truk_Kurt]

Been playing the Modern Warfare 2 campaign. After a slow start, the pace really picks up and at around the half way point I have just done two really good missions. One was on a wind farm in a ghillie suit which I think must be the largest and longest mission I have ever played in a COD game, it was really cool as it offered you see freedom as to how you approached the objectives. Afterwards I did a mission where you take control of vehicles (maybe a first for COD), they have their own physics and damage model and everything. You have to jump between different vehicles whilst shooting your way through the thrilling chase. Genuinely unlike anything I have seen in a COD game before. Not sure why the TCGS lads weren't a fan of this mission. I have always preferred the Infinity War campaigns and this looks like that trend will continue.

[KissMammal]

Slowly working my way through Sifu. Lots and lots of practice.

The third stage boss was the first one I've really struggled with, and the only one so far that feels a bit too hard. Kinda hate her. Just managed to beat her aged 42 but definitely feel like I can whittle that down a bit.

This game is absolutely gorgeous. Stage 3 in particular is really quite stunning in terms of art direction. Kinda a shame I'm playing it on Switch as it looks truly jaw dropping on PS/PC.

It also feels reassuring as a gamer that I can still have the patience for something more challenging, so long as it's at a kind of pace I can enjoy. I bounced off games like Elden Ring and Hollow Knight hard but I think that's more because of how plodding and obtuse I find them vs the actual difficulty level.

[Tolkientaters]

Been playing Vampire Survivors and holy shit it's so addictive, when I heard about the gane, I didn't really understand the appeal, but after starting it, I can barely put it down. It's a really addictive gane that wears it's castlevania inspiration on its sleeve in a really cool way.

[GKBracken]

Inazuma Eleven 3. Starting to think I've misundestood the Inazuma series as a football/JRPG hybrid and it's a actually series of visual novels with the odd JRPG elements thrown in because fuck me are these games chatty. The amount of plot crowbarring into your average gameplay sequence here would probably make one of the chattier Yakuza games blush.

[Alex79]

Been playing Vampire Survivors and holy shit it's so addictive, when I heard about the gane, I didn't really understand the appeal, but after starting it, I can barely put it down. It's a really addictive gane that wears it's castlevania inspiration on its sleeve in a really cool way.

I've had a few runs on this too, and whilst I found it enjoyable it hasn't gripped its claws in yet the way something like Hades or Binding Of Isaac did. But like I said, enjoying actually playing it, and if anything it's nice to have a roguelike that I can walk away from after a couple of goes

[FrittteShopClerk]

I've installed it (Game Pass), but currently daren't start it.

I was going to go with the PS5 version but it seems that it has troubles.

[Jobobonobo]

Still on my platformer kick with Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Since I was never good enough at creating levels in LittleBigPlanet, I was happy that a cute little guy like Sackboy got his own proper adventure made by people far more talented than myself. It is a fairly basic 3D platformer in the style of Super Mario 3D World. Get to the end of the level while collecting thingamabobs and proceed to the next level. It is an unbelievably gorgeous game with lovely patchwork characters and handcraft-like environments. Story is super basic but it does not need to be anything more for a game like this. The levels can be surprisingly tough in some areas and you need to be ready to deal with enemies and moving platforms and obstacles in your way all at the same time. While I appreciate the extra challenge, the jump on Sackboy is a bit too floaty. You have to be sure when jumping on certain platforms that you don't overdo your flutter jump and miss. However, the flutter jump cannot be cancelled out of and once you perform one you have to commit to it. That lack of control in how to jump is not great for any platformer but especially a 3D one. It is not too big of an issue but Mario does not need to worry about his crown being taken away anytime soon. It is beautiful though and the gameplay is nice and varied enough to make me want to keep going. Just a cute little title overall.

[Truk_Kurt]

I have Sackboy installed ready to go sometime as I enjoy a 3D platformer.

After finishing MW2, I began Evil West this weekend and it has impressed me so far. It reminds me of the mid tier games we used to get in the PS3/360 era in terms of production values but gameplay wise it is very good fun. It is like God of War meets a third person Doom 2016. They somehow manage to make going between close quarters hand to hand combat and shooting feel really seemless. Then you have the whole executing enemies like in Doom 2016 when they are weak enough. The lore is also pretty cool, it was something mentioned in the reviews and I have to agree. I've enjoyed reading about the world and how the enemies you face came to be. It only came out a couple of weeks ago and the RRP is £45, but I have seen it online in the Black Friday sales for £30 already.

[SludgeWizard]

I began Evil West this weekend and it has impressed me so far.

This has popped up on my radar and once my backlog dwindles a little I want to pick it up. It sounds very up my alley.

On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been playing Tactics Ogre Reborn.

Somehow I’ve never played it even though everybody compares it to one of my all-timers, Final Fantasy Tactics.
And yep, those comparisons are right on the money. It looks and feels so much like FFT it may as well be in the same series.
It’s scratching the itch that I thought Triangle Strategy would, but that ended up being 80% story/politics and 20% tactical battles

I’m in a weird middle ground between wanting to play it constantly, but not wanting to go through it and finish it too fast. Been a long time since I’ve felt that.

[Magical_Isopod]

I've been playing The Chant on PS5, and I gotta say, this game is FANTASTIC. If you're jonesing for a survival horror that dives into pretty damned unique subject matter (new age cults and enemies fought with burning sage), give this one a go. This is not a AAA title, but it sure as hell feels like it. Graphics and performance are outstanding, and it's honest to heck the best survival horror I've played since... Maybe RE2make in 2019?

As much as I love my Dark Pictures style narrative horror adventures, having something with combat and exploration is always my preference, and this one has me singing.

Absolutely check this one out.

[Magical_Isopod]

I've been playing The Devil In Me... Don't buy this game. I LOVE the Dark Pictures games. House of Ashes was my 2021 GOTY. I even love this game's story.

But this game has some serious technical problems. To the degree that my friend and I could not advance past a certain part without a character dying because her side of the scenario just stays in a loading loop and she can't interact with anything.

Like this series has always had technical issues, and I usually haven't been arsed. I get that a lot is happening under the hood. But when it's genuinely game breaking, and especially when this one cost $55 versus the usual $40... Just unacceptable. I even tolerated Pokemon Scarlet's bullshit. But that game never prevented me from completing the story.

I suspect this one hasn't had sufficient time in the oven thanks to The Quarry also launching this year. Real shameful display from Bandai-Namco.

[markfm007]

I've put a few hours into The Callisto Protocol. So far I've enjoyed it quite a lot. It looks, sounds and feels amazing. The Spike Spiegel dodging is a bit odd, but quite fun once you get the hang of it. There are some annoyances though like poor checkpointing and frustrating deaths. It feels unpolished. I'm going to shelve it for the time being and see what updates come in.

[Magical_Isopod]

I started up Soul Hackers 2 and played about 2 hours. I like a lot about it so far. Very much a "back to basics" combat system in a good way; it's classic turn-based fare, and I've been desperate for one of these. The art style is fantastic too. The main character has jacket with triangular LEDs that light up at random, and the whole game's design has a similar vibe.

I does feel "budget" tho. A lot of the dungeon assets are very basic, and budget Japanese games seem to have this consistent issue with writing where the dialogue draaaaaaags for way too long, similar to like visual novel writing. No idea why J devs do this.

All in all though, it's good so far. Hoping the story really hooks me.

[Pconpi]

I've put a few hours into The Callisto Protocol. So far I've enjoyed it quite a lot. It looks, sounds and feels amazing. The Spike Spiegel dodging is a bit odd, but quite fun once you get the hang of it. There are some annoyances though like poor checkpointing and frustrating deaths. It feels unpolished. I'm going to shelve it for the time being and see what updates come in.

I was interested in how people were getting on with this. Read a couple reviews that mentioned the difficulty as well which gives me pause. Still think it looks great and more next gen than anything I currently have.

[markfm007]

I was interested in how people were getting on with this. Read a couple reviews that mentioned the difficulty as well which gives me pause. Still think it looks great and more next gen than anything I currently have.

I agree on the next gen comment, it looks amazing! Definitely a cut above everything else I've played. It hasn't been difficult when it works, but there have been a few frustrating moments. That's why I'm leaving it for a bit, I'm hoping a few updates might address some of the feedback with bugs and hard to read mechanics.