Whatcha Been Playing?

[DeadpoolNegative]

Transformers: Devastation- this is the stuff. This is the stuff!!! Okay, there's a big flaw- the environments are very dull and easy get lost in. They're awfully large for how little you can do in them. Just grabbing hidden items and doing far away challenges and side missions.

The game plays like a good combo/dodge game should. However, the action can get so chaotic the camera can be against you. Especially during the boss fights. Platinum Games did a great job. Of course, I think the High Moon games were highly overrated (I actually prefer Dark of the Moon to the Cybertron games). I couldn't help but be giddy over the voices. I loved hearing Michael Bell and Gregg Berger again. Frank Welker's Megatron has sounded pretty rusty the past few times I've heard it on Robot Chicken, but either he's cleared the cobwebs out or they've made it sound right.

You know, I think the secret to why The Transformers has endured is down to Peter Cullen and Welker. Go watch some of the original cartoon. Once you're over the stroke, pay attention to the conviction with which they play these roles. They are fully committed. That burrowed its way into the brains of the Dan Coyles and Phil Theobalds of the world. If felt "real" no matter how shitty the animation or plotting was.

I'd recommend picking up those data files when you can. Whoever wrote this thing... well, there's a bit of fan service that I'm surprised no one thought of before. And what's more, they don't beat you over the head with it.

--Dan

[martymcfly3004]

Transformers: Devastation- this is the stuff. This is the stuff!!! Okay, there's a big flaw- the environments are very dull and easy get lost in. They're awfully large for how little you can do in them. Just grabbing hidden items and doing far away challenges and side missions.

The game plays like a good combo/dodge game should. However, the action can get so chaotic the camera can be against you. Especially during the boss fights. Platinum Games did a great job. Of course, I think the High Moon games were highly overrated (I actually prefer Dark of the Moon to the Cybertron games). I couldn't help but be giddy over the voices. I loved hearing Michael Bell and Gregg Berger again. Frank Welker's Megatron has sounded pretty rusty the past few times I've heard it on Robot Chicken, but either he's cleared the cobwebs out or they've made it sound right.

You know, I think the secret to why The Transformers has endured is down to Peter Cullen and Welker. Go watch some of the original cartoon. Once you're over the stroke, pay attention to the conviction with which they play these roles. They are fully committed. That burrowed its way into the brains of the Dan Coyles and Phil Theobalds of the world. If felt "real" no matter how shitty the animation or plotting was.

I'd recommend picking up those data files when you can. Whoever wrote this thing... well, there's a bit of fan service that I'm surprised no one thought of before. And what's more, they don't beat you over the head with it.

--Dan

Just played though this and completely agree with everything you said. I couldn't recommend the game based on the repetition and lack of real depth. Having said that, as a massive G1 fan growing up this is probably the most fun I have had with a game all year. The art style, sound effects and voice acting was a massive dose of nostalgia.

[Combine Hunter]

Finished off the single player campaign of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate recently (although it's impossible to truly "complete" this game.) To my surprise, I haven't stopped playing it. I've dived back into the multiplayer side, and have now reached Hunter Rank 4. Hoping to reach G rank eventually! I LOVE this game. ...now if only I could get my hands on a Rathalos plate!

[fieldy]

Trying to finish MGS V off but struggling to unlock the last few missions - is it me or does it just seem like the second part of this is not structured well at all? having to complete old missions with new perimeters or fulfilling a set of very specific criteria to unlock the final missions just seems a but odd to me :s

[seansthomas]

Still plugging away at A Link To The Past. Finding it really hard to know where to go next to be honest.

Want to get back into Mario Maker but not sure how to? Most of the people I've liked haven't released new levels of late, all the stuff in the charts is either a 'Don't move!', Music or Stupid hard level and I can't be arsed to make more levels myself given my others got about 10 plays. Nintendo really need to get better at online or else the NX is utterly done before its out.

[ratsoalbion]

Nintendo have been sending out a weekly email with a bunch of courses on to check out. Are you signed up to that?

Might also worth be looking at this Spong piece by our friend David off of Joypod:
http://spong.com/feature/10111358/Featu ... io-Maker/2

[Alex79]

I've been playing The Legend Of Zelda for the podcast. I hated it at first, but the more I play, the more I can't put it down. There's no way I'll be able to commit to playing the entire series, but hopefully I'll be able to play a few of them. It's nice to have an excuse to explore a series I've always had a bit of animosity towards, for an entirely unfair reason!

[Scrustle]

I've been playing Darksiders 2 "Deathinitive" Edition. The PC version. Not sure what to think of it. On the one hand, it is a significant improvement, but it's still got some pretty bad technical problems. Graphically it's a pretty nice improvement over the original. The better resolution is nice, and the sharper textures go quite a long way (with filtering forced on anyway), although they're hardly impressive in comparison to other games. The foliage looks much nicer at least. The improved frame rate is also very nice. Or at least it would be if it wasn't for a big problem I've been having. There's an almost non-stop stutter going on. It seems to spike whenever when you pick something up, or something in the game changes in a similar degree. It started off as only a minor thing, but the problem seems to be getting worse as more mechanics get added to the game.

So yeah, that's something of a disappointment. It could be much better than it is, but with that problem being ubiquitous and increasing in its severity, I don't think I can keep going with it like this. It's passed the refund time limit too. But there is hope. The developer has been patching the game and has already solved a lot of the more severe problems that people have complained about before now. It's still not worthy of a recommendation, but things seem encouraging for the future.

[gallo_pinto]

I've also been playing Zelda for the NES to get ready for the upcoming podcast. The two NES Zeldas are the only ones I haven't already beaten completely and I'm a bit surprised at how similar some the basic gameplay feels to later games. I had originally committed to no guides or online help to get through it, but after a full hour of searching for Level 2, I cracked and did a google search for a labeled map. I'm still real early, but I'm having fun with it so far.

I'm at about the halfway point for Persona Q. I think it's ok. The map drawing is kind of a fun mechanic and I like the interaction between the Persona 3 and 4 cast members (in a superficial way). The whole thing feels a bit grindy though without having Social Links to break up the action.

[DeadpoolNegative]

Tron Evolution: yes, this, of all games, was Xbox 360 compatible. Although... I really enjoy this game, even though the platforming and controls in general are super-slippy and betray the fact that it was a rushed tie-in game. A few more months to refine the Prince of Persia style wall running and jumping and it might have been remembered as a small gem. I'm doing a second play through.

The game's story takes place around the day Clu created his "perfect system" by imprisoning Flynn and waging war on the ISOs. Strange ISOs infected with a virus keep propping up in the city, lead by a mysterious terrorist named Abraxas. The player plays Anon, a monitor program created to investigate the possibility Clu may had murdered Jalen, an ISO leader. Of course, Abraxas' attack is an awfully convenient pretext for Clu's takeover, huh? Anon finds himself/itself framed for killing Flynn and fights to protect Quorra (voiced by Olivia Wide, and her likeness is... not great. Michael Sheen's likeness is better, but for some reason he's voiced by James Frain. Flynn/Clu is voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who overdoes it). You know, there's an interesting germ of an idea here about prejudice and Clu's programming making him a monster, but you know, it's a tie in game. The one advantage it has over Legacy, though, is that we don't have another daddy abandonment storyline right out of the screenwriter's manual.

Anyway, I also think it's a pretty game- the cinematics have a weird, grainy look to them, but the game world itself is beautiful, the towers of the city and moving around in it, I just find it soothing in all its greenish blue hues. The problem with the traversal is the control can be too sensitive at times when you're wall jumping, and the camera can fight against you as well, since it's got to whip around so fast. Also, the camera for some reason during combat will default to a position right behind the player if you hit the block button sometimes.

The combat in this game is well done- deeper than you'd think, with different disc types and enemies that are, of course, weak to certain ones. Nice block/parry system too.

There is multiplayer, and occasionally, very occasionally- you can still find people playing it. However, the game uses bots for it so you can still pop in at any time and raise your experience. After one play through for the game and several matches I wound up at level 25.

--Dan

[Scrustle]

I've always been somewhat interested in that Tron game. I'm a fan of the film it's supposed to tie-in with, on an aesthetic level at least. I always thought there was so much potential to make a good game based in that world. Sounds like it might be worth trying out if it shows up cheap somewhere. Maybe since it's part of the XB1 backward compatibility thing (and stands out as a rather odd inclusion) that means that maybe it's coming to 360 GwG. That would be cool.

[dezm0nd]

I've been playing a lot of Rise of the Tomb Raider. It's like the predecessor but more and betterer.

[stvnorman]

Finished off the main story in Batman Arkham Knight, and 50% through mopping up the Most Wanted missions - worth carrying on? I think I've done the interesting ones now and not sure I want to spend hours grinding through the others.

[seansthomas]

Dipped back into Splatoon last night for the first time in ages. Managed to last the full 3 minutes painting about half of the map single handedly and getting 5 kills. Felt like a total boss.

Also, Mario Maker has massively improved my 2D Mario platforming abilities, so the levels I was stuck on in NSMBWiiU have finally been completed. Really like this game, more so than 3D World I think or Mario Maker.

[Scrustle]

Bit of an update on Darksiders 2. I've been continuing to play it, as the developers have been actively working on it and solving issues. The first patch isn't officially out yet, but they're releasing beta/hotfix versions of it instead. So far the stuttering seems to be fixed, so most of the remaining issues are only minor. Some shadowing glitches in some places, but not much. Frame rate is unstable in some areas, but it seems to be solid in the places where it counts. But right now, despite the problems, it's more than playable, and actually probably still on a better technical standard than the original in a lot of ways.

[mikeleddy83]

In my usual stint of playing anything and everything I've had a solid week of playing these:

Fallout shelter - still good on the bus
Fallout 4 - growing on me
Gears of War Ultimate Edition - felt like a soulless attempt to play but keeps winning me over
To the Moon - Not emotionally attached just yet but it seems like it's going somewhere
Zack & Wiki - Started once again, will play, must play
Counter Strike (new one, forgot the suffix) - Just an odd offline bot fest every so often for nostalgia sakes
Danganronpa 2 - barely getting 10 minutes progress a day on this but its hooks run deep
Diablo 3: RoS - A welcome return since the long days of 2012
Antichamber - Surprisingly fun for such a quirky title
MGS V - Side ops heaven, still GOTY
Burnout Paradise - Want to try out the dlc, still a joy to play

All of which are well recommended, not an ounce of regret in playing any of them. The one that I've cut from the list is NBA2K16, I wanted to love it but I'm not sure I even like it. I'm thinking the slim window of enjoying sports based games has well and truly passed for me.

In other news it's amazing how much time you can get with games when your better half goes away to a relatives for a couple of days

[Craig]

I've started playing the free to play 3DS badge collector and it's pretty great. It's essentially a UFO catcher (one of those arcade crane games) except you win stickers for your 3DS menu screen some of which have functions such as replacing the settings button. Sure, the badges are purely cosmetic and for prettying up a menu screen I'm usually on for less than 30 seconds at a time, but it has great writing and is a fun little distraction.

Don't be put off by the free to play nature either. If you want you can pay money, but I haven't paid a penny so far and I have around 20 badges. It's pretty generous in that you usually end up with 1 or 2 free plays a day and if you're good (or lucky) you can sometimes get 3 or 4 badges in one go. It also is extremely unrealistic in that you will usually win when you grab something instead of the real life UFO catchers that have the grip strength of a drunk man trying to use his iPhone at the urinal.

It also has made folders functional for me. Prior to this making a folder on your 3DS screen left you with the first letter of the folder name which looked terrible. But now you can have badges on the front of your folder. Have lots of gameboy VC games? Win a gameboy badge and whack it on the folder.

Try it out, it's free (to play)!

[Alex79]

...the grip strength of a drunk man trying to use his iPhone at the urinal.

[DeadpoolNegative]

Grand Theft Auto IV replay continues: I think I'm falling in love with this game all over again. I don't expect anyone to understand. There's something about Liberty City that feels slightly more real and lived in than Los Santos, even though V is a much, MUCH better game with a better constructed story. I have fun just tooling around in my car, seeing the sights as the city moves around me. There are some memorable scenes, such as the conversation Niko has with Faustin's wife.

One of the many complaints about the game is the ludonarrative dissonance between Niko's desire to start a new life. Playing through it again, I don't think that's entirely fair. Niko is a monstrous cynic. Conversations with Roman inevitable come down to a cycle of Roman trying to be optimistic, and Niko shooting him down at every turn. Roman seems hopelessly naive and annoying but the further you get into the game it's clear that Niko is the real asshole. His attempts to be "realistic" with Roman feel like almost bullying. Another example, he doesn't bat an eye when Elizabeta murders Manny right in front of him- Manny was a hypocrite and an idiot who drove Niko crazy, but did he deserve that?

He takes the easy criminal jobs because he's too wrapped up in his own anger to seriously consider the alternative. Granted, he has few options being an illegal immigrant, but it's his choice to act on the darker options. Niko's "tragedy", such as it is, is that he won't start over because his history and worldview refuses to let him imagine there's a better world for him than this.

--Dan

[gallo_pinto]

It also has made folders functional for me. Prior to this making a folder on your 3DS screen left you with the first letter of the folder name which looked terrible. But now you can have badges on the front of your folder. Have lots of gameboy VC games? Win a gameboy badge and whack it on the folder.

You sold me on it with this description. So the free-to-play mechanics are you get a couple of free attempts per day?