Whatcha Been Playing?

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duskvstweak
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by duskvstweak »

I've really only been playing two games lately. Marvel Puzzle Quest and Breath of the Wild. MPQ is easy to play since it's on my phone. But, all the reviews were right about BotW, it really is easy to just pick up and play. I get a few shrines done and then I might not be able to play for another week. But no harm, no foul when it comes to remembering what I'm doing.
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Seph
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Seph »

Two: Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and Inscryption.

I'm playing Tactics on my Vita, so it's an easy one to dip in and out of, but I think I've already bollocksed it up. I didn't realise it had permadeath and I sent some characters on a mission and can't get them back yet, meaning I have hardly anyone for the next boss fight. I think I'll give it another few hours, but if I get frustrated I'll give up and move on. The gameplay is good, but I find the job system and abilities too time consuming. Shining Force is what introduced me to this type of game and I think I prefer the stripped down but fun gameplay of that. But let's see...

I've been playing Inscryption for two days and it's already burrowed into my mind. I genuinely had a dream last night that I couldn't do any action in my life without making a sacrifice first. Knowing Dan Mullins's previous games, that's probably how it will end... But I'm liking this. I enjoy rouge deck-builders and the constant reference to something more is keeping me intrigued. I need a cheap way to beat the final fight though as I'm killed in seconds and it's annoying me.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

I've put a few hours in to Assassin's Creed Origins since it came to Gamepass earlier this week. I've found the sun-drenched beauty of the world you play in to be a really nice place to escape to this week and it's genuinely been something of a help to my mental health which admittedly isn't doing too great at the moment.

I can't believe this was the next game to come after AC: Syndicate either, which although I did enjoy, was about the limit of what Ubisoft were able to do with the decade old Assassin's Creed formula at that point. Origins plays more like a big action RPG, which of course everyone knows by now, but I'm just amazed how different it is. The game had a 60fps patch just before it came to Gamepass too, so it feels as good as it looks. Yeah, enjoying this so far, and like I said, that bright, sunny world is a nice little oasis of calm right now.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ratsoalbion »

So good when games can act as a balm like this.

Hope things pick up for you soon, Alex - this will pass.
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Switchsayer wrote: June 7th, 2022, 1:34 pm Ghostwire: Tokyo. I wasn't sure at first, after playing a few hours, thought it was a bit clunky. But after while the eeriness of the deserted streets of Shibuya really gets to you, and I ended up getting to grips with the combat and fully immersed in the world.
Yes, its a standard open-world game, with side missions, collectibles, and clearing areas of the map obscured by fog by 'cleansing' Torii gates. But it's good fun, and quite horribly unsettling in places, seeing piles of peoples' clothes just scattered on the ground, prams empty and spirits floating in the air.
Definitely worth picking up now it's discounted!
I've always been on the verge of buying it but now, i'm one step closer. Good post!
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Cornelius_Smiff
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Alex79 wrote: June 11th, 2022, 8:44 am I've put a few hours in to Assassin's Creed Origins since it came to Gamepass earlier this week. I've found the sun-drenched beauty of the world you play in to be a really nice place to escape to this week and it's genuinely been something of a help to my mental health which admittedly isn't doing too great at the moment.

I can't believe this was the next game to come after AC: Syndicate either, which although I did enjoy, was about the limit of what Ubisoft were able to do with the decade old Assassin's Creed formula at that point. Origins plays more like a big action RPG, which of course everyone knows by now, but I'm just amazed how different it is. The game had a 60fps patch just before it came to Gamepass too, so it feels as good as it looks. Yeah, enjoying this so far, and like I said, that bright, sunny world is a nice little oasis of calm right now.
Hope things look up for you soon buddy, been there myself and it's not pleasant. You seem like a top bloke! I got quickly burnt out by all the icon chasing, but spent most of my time just going around hunting and making general mayhem. The beauty of the setting certainly makes it shine though.

I am currently playing Card Shark the new offering from Devolver. Charming as all hell with some very interesting mechanics. The linearity is probably the worst aspect but it's entertaining and rage inducingly unforgiving at times, which means I keep coming back for more.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

I’ve been playing lots of old stuff that no one else cares about recently, and Citizen Sleeper on Xbox Game Pass. This is by the guy behind my 2020 game of the year, In Other Waters, but this time we’re replacing xenobiology in alien oceans (and the most immersive submarine experience since Submarine Commander on VIC-20) with synthetic robots on ruined space stations! It’s a stylish, atmospheric cyberpunk narrative RPG that plays out like a visual novel built on a simple balancing act of dice-based survival. The meandering paths you can travel over it’s six hours or so of excellent writing offer more than you can feasibly take in during one play-through, and it’s brilliantly paced one more turn loop will have you struggling for that to not be a single session play-through!
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KissMammal
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KissMammal »

Just played the first couple of levels of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge and it's everything I'd hoped it would be. Feels like a game that's been made just for me.
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Rhaegyr
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Rhaegyr »

Managed to get a six player game of it last night with five other friends.

Tons of fun; brought back a fair few memories from our arcade days. Absolute chaos though.
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KissMammal
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KissMammal »

6 player co op sounds a bit too chaotic to be fun for me, but certainly looking forward to tackling the harder difficulty as online 2 player.

The combat in this game, while satisfyingly simplistic, is exactly what i wanted Streets of Rage 4 to be, especially the inclusion of the ability to dodge/roll. The enemy attacks also feel significantly less cheap than those in SoR4. I could also never get a consistent online game of SoR on switch without constant lag and stalling out issues. Hopefully this is better.

The level of background detail and little graphical and animation touches is off the chart.

There are 16 (i think) levels which is more generous than i expected (figured there'd just be 8-12).

Had high hopes for this game, and they have totally delivered.

Usagi Yojimbo dlc character pls!
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Scrustle »

Currently making my way through Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. Another game I've wanted to clean out of my backlog for a long time, although I have played a decent amount of this many years ago. Combat is pretty fun, feels good and you have a decent range of abilities. You have a parry move where if you time your blocks well you can follow up with a string of really powerful dash attacks that cut through multiple enemies. It's weird coming back to it now, as some of it I do remember well, but a lot is completely unfamiliar somehow. It has a lot of strange quirks to it, some of which I have no recollection of playing it before. The bosses are weirdly hard. A lot of them can kill you in just a couple of hits. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it feels odd. I'm not sure it really suits the feel and pace that this game is going for. It also has a habit of putting several bosses together in a row, so once you finally inch your way through one, there will usually be another immediately after. The game also doesn't recharge your health at checkpoints, so if you just scraped by on one boss, you can very easily be put in a bad position for the next one. The non-recharging health was familiar, but the general boss difficulty was not. It makes me wonder if there was some difference between the regional versions of this game. Before I was playing my own physical PAL copy, while now I'm emulating the NTSC version. I guess it's not impossible that there would be a difference, but still very odd.
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KissMammal
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KissMammal »

Hopefully they will patch in an option to opt to play online with only one or two other players in Shredder's Revenge - any more than that playing at once totally breaks the game imo.
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by dezm0nd »

Struggling to get into anything this year but I put on Trover Saves the Universe and it's making me laugh. A lot.

The characters all sounding like Rick and/or Morty gets a bit tiresome but considering some of the stuff you encounter along the way, i'll let it slide. Very funny stuff if you're into that sort of humour.
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Cornelius_Smiff
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Jedi Fallen Order, currently suffering with COVID and it's cheered me up a little. Not a perfect game, but it has enough of a fun challenge and cool mechanics to kill some time.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

On Xbox Game Pass I’ve been playing lots of Shredder’s Revenge. Twice through the story, once through arcade plus a bit of collectible collection with various characters. Game of the year for me so far! Also had a great time with Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion over its 2-3 hours. Not as cute as its Zelda meets Munch Bunch aesthetic makes out!

And I’ve been playing a bit of Darkstalkers and a bit of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo on the new Capcom Fighting Collection on Switch. I’m not a huge fighting fan but I do like Darkstalkers and there’s loads of it here. Always fancied Red Earth too, which I’ve only had a quick go on but I’d like to get to know a bit better! Overall, the collection is nicely presented and as far as I can tell plays alright too.
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Feirsteax
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Feirsteax »

Enjoying A Short Hike. Nice one to chill out with. Very pretty all round.
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Jon Cheetham »

I love A Short Hike, often play it to decompress.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Played a load of Fall Guys on Switch, and as soon as I logged on to play on Xbox I got loads of achievements for the stuff I'd done in the Switch version, which is pretty cool.
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stvnorman
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by stvnorman »

I’ve been away on holiday this week so the Nintendo Switch got a bit of love…

I bought Wonder Boy Returns Remix in a sale a while ago, then it got totally overshadowed by the Wonder Boy Collection that came out not long after, so this was pretty much first time playing. It’s pretty much a remaster of the original 1986 side-scrolling platformer with a few tweaks to gameplay under the hood. And that makes it a really wonderful way to play Wonder Boy, even if it is the original I’ll always return to!

I’d honestly forgotten that Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection even existed, let alone made a push through most of the second half of the game where I’d last abandoned it! I did actually completely abandon all of that though and just started again. Marvellous game, lovely atmosphere, still old-school platformer hard, but unlike its predecessors it’s not averse to giving you a helping hand one way or another.

Finally of note, I played through last year’s Switch release of Panorama Cotton for review but never really took the time to properly savour it, so that’s what we’ve done this week! It’s the third game (I think!) in the witchy cute ‘em up series, but in this 1994 Mega Drive exclusive they dropped the regular 2D side-scrolling action and went for a 3D Space Harrier vibe instead. It’s also gone a bit more cartoon fantasy over the regular gothic environments, but the polish is still there, as well as a really great soundtrack. It’s not my favourite in the series but having just also spent a bit of time with the Cotton 2 arcade game, it’s a nice change and a nice time all the same.
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ThirdDrawing
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ThirdDrawing »

I'm three characters into Live A Live and this might be my game of the year.

Thoroughly enjoying everything about it. Well written, looks pretty, great music, fun combat.

Should be on Leon's List if it's not already.
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