I had planned over the weekend to spend a reasonable amount of time on the open beta for Avengers - I managed to get to what I presume was the boss for the tutorial level (at least I reached the character you fight whilst controlling Black Widow) when the game locked.

It played fine - there was nothing special and some of the actions felt a little disjointed (Hulk's grab jump, the charging ground pound attacks). I would have liked to have gone back to it honestly but my attention was a little captured by the other game that I had time to get to this weekend ... Destiny 2

In particular, this was my (and my fire teams) first proper hit at the Scourge of the Past raid - including the young teenage son of one of the clan.

This was a stark reminder of the fun that seems to have been absent from Destiny 2 for some time. A couple of us had done a little bit of reading up on the basic mechanics purely to aid the mixed group of people we had and the limited time where we could all get on at once but it just worked.

Certainly helped that this was the raid that included a sparrow racing segment - a long mourned missing game type from the original Destiny - and that this section really allowed our youngest team member to shine as he confidently ran the route far more often than the rest of us.

Though we didn't complete it in the couple of sittings we managed to get in, we did reach the end boss and there was progress each time as we adjusted to what we needed to do each time. In fact I enjoyed it enough to not return to the Avengers demo and instead run a few simple quests and bounties to get my light level from it's low 900's just up above the 1000 mark in only a few hours.

The game is still very much developed towards those who can spend a decent amount of time on it but the core gameplay on Destiny does just work and that there are activities that can be done but those who have variable amounts of time invested into the game.

Of course, the main clan leader discovered Hyper Scape on Sunday so whether we'll be headed back into Destiny any time soon may be a moot point ...

I've put about 5 hours in to NBA 2K20 on the Switch over the last couple of days, and really enjoying it. I've always liked the idea of BBall games, but never been able to get my head around them - other than NBA Jam (which is crying out for a Switch release, even just the SNES version!)

But, I've been watching some guides on YouTube and won my first match against the AI last night. I'm not good at the game - at all. I was playing as the all time legends Lakers team, and picked the lowest ranked team to play against, haha. But I still won! There's also a decent tutorial mode in the game, which I think is a first, too.

Anyway, I know a few of us on here picked up the game for pennies when it was crazy price a couple of months back, so if anyone is up for an online game on Switch (unless cross play is available?) give me a shout, as it might be fun, I imagine we'll probably all be as bad as each other, unless there's a secret NBA fiend lurking on the forum.

EDIT: Unfortunately no, it's not cross play, so it would be on Switch if anyone fancies a game.

Hey Alex - I’ve ordered a bigger memory card which will allow me to actually have the game installed again due to its mammoth size so when I’ve got that I’ll be up for it

hazeredmist wrote: ↑August 26th, 2020, 11:55 pm Hey Alex - I’ve ordered a bigger memory card which will allow me to actually have the game installed again due to its mammoth size so when I’ve got that I’ll be up for it

Cool, it's the only thing I've played for the last 3 nights! I need to get back to other stuff!

Aye I know the feeling but it’s best just to go with it when you’re into a game! Me I’m into Pinball FX 3 and Tokyo Dark Remembrance which is an increasingly great point & click / visual novel hybrid.

I just hung around in a Rogue Company Twitch channel for a few minutes and got sent some codes for the beta. I've used the Switch EU code, but if anyone else can use the others, feel free to take them. If you use them, please just mention it so nobody else tries

PS4 EU - L6Q-H5NF-RJB2

PS4 USA - 2MMK-KDNB-A6QF

Switch USA - C0W8FVHW2H03BJYG

With all this DC game news, and now that Batman trailer, I decided to take a break from New Vegas and start Arkham Knight, it being the last one I need to play, natch. So far, the combat feels the best it's ever been, the PC version is running surprisingly well and the Batmobile is the target of all my vitriol, coupled with the Riddler's midlife crisis turn as a racetrack designer.

Also, Jonathan Banks is such a weird choice for Gordon.

I had to choose the alternate control scheme for the bat mobile tank thing, the default just would not click in my brain.

duskvstweak wrote: ↑August 27th, 2020, 6:38 pm With all this DC game news, and now that Batman trailer, I decided to take a break from New Vegas and start Arkham Knight, it being the last one I need to play, natch. So far, the combat feels the best it's ever been, the PC version is running surprisingly well and the Batmobile is the target of all my vitriol, coupled with the Riddler's midlife crisis turn as a racetrack designer.

Also, Jonathan Banks is such a weird choice for Gordon.

I know you have to suspend your disbelief for films/games sometimes but I find it hard to believe that The Riddler had the money and resources to build a series of underground race tracks with the sole purpose of testing Batman’s driving skills, without anyone noticing that he was building said tracks too

Haha. I'm having flashbacks to my time driving that poxy car! Easily the worst part about that game and it's put under such a spotlight! Weird to think that the Arkham series really did decline with each sequel, IMO.

IT WAS FINE!!

I have never played a visual novel before but have started Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York (the subtitle continues, part 3...) and I'm loving it. Great introduction to the setting for the upcoming Bloodlines 2, and I might go back to the original Bloodlines too.

The game is about building a coterie, basically your gang, and you have to recruit other vamps by talking them round and helping them. It presents as a little constellation of quest markers on the NYC map that take you to these different story beats. I have to say it's compelling. My favourite one so far is all about the relationship between vampires and the internet, what it means to be undead online and whether social networks and cyberspace are purely a threat or if it can be used for leverage. The characters are at worst interesting and at best genuinely likeable, and when a recruitment effort goes awry it does feel like you're missing out.

Pretty sure I'll see this through to the end, and there's an expandalone piece called Shadows of New York out in a couple of weeks so it's good timing.

Also playing West of Loathing on the Switch and it really is very funny. For a game in monochrome featuring mainly stick figures the animations have got me in tucks. My little cowboy currently does a different stupid walk every time I move him around, thanks to a "skill" I unlocked. Other skills include "minesplaining" which I unlocked by smugly and incorrectly explaining mining equipment to someone who knows much more about it than me. Loving it.

I decided that I wanted to give Arkane's Prey another shot. Trying it before, I found it to be a slog, where every little thing felt like a struggle in a way that wasn't interesting or fun. This time however I'm clicking with it much more. I decided for this attempt I would drop down the difficulty, and that seems to be helping somewhat, although I'm still finding it kind of hard. But now I at least feel like I'm able to make actual progress through it. I'm also coming at it with a less perfectionist attitude as well. Last time I tried to do every objective I got, and got really frustrated getting basically shut down on every single one because I didn't have the right skill unlocked or couldn't reach whatever location. So now I'm just doing whatever feels possible at the moment as I'm primarily following the main story. I'll get around to that other stuff later, when hopefully I'll be much better equipped. But right now I'm enjoying exploring the space station, and I'm close to the point I gave up before, so I'm looking forward to actually seeing new content too.

I've been enjoying NBA 2K20 so much on Switch I made the mistake of downloading 2K18 via PS Now on PS4.

Why is it a mistake?

Because I thought the Switch one looked great until playing the PS4 one from 2 years before. 60fps, bright big graphics, super smooth gameplay, the Switch version just doesn't compare!

Never mind. I suppose there have to be sacrifices made to get it to run on the console. It just feels so sluggish in comparison. Oh well, I was enjoying it before, stupid to feel like I'm any worse off than I was before trying the PS4 one!

I’ve been playing Battletoads and Double Kick Heroes on Xbox. One’s a heavy metal rhythm game, the other is Battletoads, and they’re both very shallow but plenty of fun!

Less fun was PS+ game Rise of the Tomb Raider, which I’ve binned off after 7-8 hours. I’d just had enough of Lara and the game itself, and it was standing between me and starting Silent Hill 2, which I’ve just bought on PS2!

Also finished Star Wars Episode 1 Racer on Switch. That was great and some of the tracks are still so exhilarating and good looking too!

Otherwise, I’ve played a bunch of Fall Guys and P-47, and loads of Winter Games on C64 and Spectrum for a new post on my Retro Arcadia site.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑August 24th, 2020, 5:10 pm Can you play the entire game as Duke, or is it just the DLC section?

You play the entire game as Duke, reacting to everything that's going on and trying to convince everyone you're not this Grayson guy. It's pretty hilarious.

--Dan

So I came across this website which tracks how long you have been playing games on PS4 a few weeks ago and have pretty much been playing Days Gone since I found it. Yesterday I saw that I had been playing the game for 27 hours but it feels much longer than that and from what I've been told I have a long way to go still. Looking at a walkthrough though, it seems as though I'm around two thirds through. It makes Red Dead Redemption 2 feel like a short indie game haha.
However, despite it's running time I am still enjoying it each time I load it up. Sure it has some odd things about it gameplay wise and can be repetitive, but somehow I don't really notice that when playing. I also must say that so far the story has been a lot better than I anticipated, I actually care about some of the characters and even grown to like Deacon even though he does some odd things sometimes. It seems to be one of those games that gets an average critical reception at launch, but then when the public get access to it you hear from many about how underrated it is. Definitely one of my favourite open world games this gen.

Interesting, what website is that?

https://ps-timetracker.com/

It's not ideal as it only tracks games from when you sign up rather than those you have played before, but it's better than nothing. It sends you a PSN message after each session giving you a total time played on that game, but it does track this on your profile on the website overtime, so it isn't just restricted to PSN messages.

Ah awesome! Wish I'd had that for Days Gone, I'd love to know how many hours I really did put in to it. I'd estimate 60-70 but no idea really.

Just signed up. So does it like message you with play times or can you check online etc?

EDIT: You've literally answered that in your above post, sorry!