Not to boast or anything, but I platinumed Sekiro in a span of 11-12 days back when it released - it took 4 back-to-back playthroughs
Funny thing, I never touched it again, not even when they patched in the boss rush mode...
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Funny thing, I never touched it again, not even when they patched in the boss rush mode...
RE4R! Professional Mode has been beaten! That was tough, but was able to make it through with not too many deaths. The mine cart section kind of sucked on this difficulty and gave me the most trouble. I guess I will goof around with Mercenaries some more later on.
So after many years, i am finally trying out Breath of the Wild. This is my first mainline Zelda game since Twilight Princess on GC
And you know what? I like it and glad I’m getting to play this. It’s certainly no god-tier, holy-shit-why-didnt-I-play-this-sooner type of game, but about 5 hours in and I think it’s a solid game.
Graphics? Absolutely beautiful. The cellular graphics are amazing, and there hasn’t been a single area where I wasn’t blown away.
The world building is great. Zelda and Link practically lost the battle, and what im looking at is a post-apocalypse Hyrule. The somber music of recognizable landmarks is reminiscent of what they once stood for all those years ago.
I also like resource gathering. It’s not too overbearing….yet. All the stuff i gather seem to always have uses.
The idea of climb everywhere sounds good on paper, but all the rough terrains are obviously too tall to climb, and even the simple ledges seems to use up all my stamina. Paragliding is so much fun tho.
Weapons breaking is a topic i am not gonna get into.
And you know what? I like it and glad I’m getting to play this. It’s certainly no god-tier, holy-shit-why-didnt-I-play-this-sooner type of game, but about 5 hours in and I think it’s a solid game.
Graphics? Absolutely beautiful. The cellular graphics are amazing, and there hasn’t been a single area where I wasn’t blown away.
The world building is great. Zelda and Link practically lost the battle, and what im looking at is a post-apocalypse Hyrule. The somber music of recognizable landmarks is reminiscent of what they once stood for all those years ago.
I also like resource gathering. It’s not too overbearing….yet. All the stuff i gather seem to always have uses.
The idea of climb everywhere sounds good on paper, but all the rough terrains are obviously too tall to climb, and even the simple ledges seems to use up all my stamina. Paragliding is so much fun tho.
Weapons breaking is a topic i am not gonna get into.
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More Tails of Iron.
I still think the combat is solid Soulslike, with some pretty demanding bosses. The game has cute-but-creepy storybook graphics that are wasted on lots of mines, crypts and sewers - basically everything that isn't the two or three main towns, and the halls of forest connecting them.
I think the main quest is generally pretty good and compelling enough, with some questionable design choices that boil down to busywork. Like you're done with Town B and instead of going to Town C you have to go back to Town A so you can go back to Town B so you can go to Town C. They're going for downtime but it feels like busywork. Sidequests have a similar vibe. Most of them tell you to go down a basement and kill a thing. You can only track one sidequest at a time, even though most of them take place in the same sewer system, which gets annoying. You're always going down to the same place and doing the same thing. Wish they'd let you package quests within the same area.
I still think the combat is solid Soulslike, with some pretty demanding bosses. The game has cute-but-creepy storybook graphics that are wasted on lots of mines, crypts and sewers - basically everything that isn't the two or three main towns, and the halls of forest connecting them.
I think the main quest is generally pretty good and compelling enough, with some questionable design choices that boil down to busywork. Like you're done with Town B and instead of going to Town C you have to go back to Town A so you can go back to Town B so you can go to Town C. They're going for downtime but it feels like busywork. Sidequests have a similar vibe. Most of them tell you to go down a basement and kill a thing. You can only track one sidequest at a time, even though most of them take place in the same sewer system, which gets annoying. You're always going down to the same place and doing the same thing. Wish they'd let you package quests within the same area.
Boss Rush mode seems like something that's fun to do when you're into the game and have the block / parry / counter system still fresh in your head, I wouldn't want to go back to the game after years and then doing boss rush.
I guess I'm in a medieval mood, or just going along with a certain GamePass trend, 'cause...
Pentiment
This dialogue/story game has been described as a murder mystery but after finishing it I think that is inaccurate. It is really a classic story based adventure, like Monkey Island or something I guess, in its core structure. You go around talking to people and making choices, and you go through a story, that's pretty much it. Yes there are murders but it's not really about "solving" them, per se, they are just the major events that are part of a larger story.
And I much to my surprise, I really got into it. The draw- so to speak- is the art style, a loving tribute to European middle ages leading into Enlightenment era art and scholarship. The game also references pre-Christian culture.
So I figured I'd just mess around without for a few hours, enjoy the art and whatnot, but then I actually got hooked into the story. The whole thing is rather cleverly structured and takes place over decades and I actually got emotionally involved with the characters. I highly recommend this to anyone up for a visual novel type of experience.
Inkulinati
Also in the medieval drawn art vibe, this is a turn-based tactics game and it's still in early access. I just played through the tutorials. Also normally not my thing but what the heck right...
I don't play a lot of these so I can't really compare how "good" it's systems are or whatever but it looks really cool- kind of silly animations in that medieval style. The matches revolve around you having a main character you gotta protect and kill the opponent's version while you each spawn other combatants. Positioning and obstacles are key to winning. The basic combat and style are the game's strengths for sure, while the big weakness for me is understanding the UI. All the icons and whatnot- I don't like that sort of thing and I don't know if my discomfort is due to my general lack of interest in tactics games or if it's a failure of the game.
So I'm gonna start the campaign and whether or not I stick with it for more than a little will likely depend on if I get used to the UI and feel comfortable playing matches.
It's still in early access apparently so this could be a game that one goes back to every now and then.
Both are on GamePass and if, like me, you're looking for some nice little chill cool games in between the bigger releases I would definitely check them out.
Pentiment
This dialogue/story game has been described as a murder mystery but after finishing it I think that is inaccurate. It is really a classic story based adventure, like Monkey Island or something I guess, in its core structure. You go around talking to people and making choices, and you go through a story, that's pretty much it. Yes there are murders but it's not really about "solving" them, per se, they are just the major events that are part of a larger story.
And I much to my surprise, I really got into it. The draw- so to speak- is the art style, a loving tribute to European middle ages leading into Enlightenment era art and scholarship. The game also references pre-Christian culture.
So I figured I'd just mess around without for a few hours, enjoy the art and whatnot, but then I actually got hooked into the story. The whole thing is rather cleverly structured and takes place over decades and I actually got emotionally involved with the characters. I highly recommend this to anyone up for a visual novel type of experience.
Inkulinati
Also in the medieval drawn art vibe, this is a turn-based tactics game and it's still in early access. I just played through the tutorials. Also normally not my thing but what the heck right...
I don't play a lot of these so I can't really compare how "good" it's systems are or whatever but it looks really cool- kind of silly animations in that medieval style. The matches revolve around you having a main character you gotta protect and kill the opponent's version while you each spawn other combatants. Positioning and obstacles are key to winning. The basic combat and style are the game's strengths for sure, while the big weakness for me is understanding the UI. All the icons and whatnot- I don't like that sort of thing and I don't know if my discomfort is due to my general lack of interest in tactics games or if it's a failure of the game.
So I'm gonna start the campaign and whether or not I stick with it for more than a little will likely depend on if I get used to the UI and feel comfortable playing matches.
It's still in early access apparently so this could be a game that one goes back to every now and then.
Both are on GamePass and if, like me, you're looking for some nice little chill cool games in between the bigger releases I would definitely check them out.
Yeah for a game that's 10 hours long it feels like a good half to third of that is basically filler quests to pad the game length. That was my big issue with the game that I otherwise really enjoyed.
I got that impression around the part the main path became "go back to base, be told how much money you need to proceed, go back to where you left, take three quests that make you go down the same sewer system three times in a row for 2-3 coins a pop, repeat". It's been a while since the game introduced any new locations at all.
You haven't reached the fighting pit yet, I take it? It's a cool idea. Sadly the game decided it's so cool it needs to be mandatory...several times.
I guess I haven't. Just left for the mines with Denis.
Tha about sums like half the game for me right now!
Well I've had enough of cutesy medieval themes video games that aren't really video games, to for a real video game...
Ghostwire Tokyo
I was all set to not really care about this 'cause it's got stuff I don't usually like: first person "shooter" style gameplay, Japanese stuff (it's the anime-adjacent stuff that makes me wary), and it's all dark and cyber-punky, and I've seen very mixed reviews.
Well dangit if this ain't hitting the spot. It is basically that "ubisoft formula" with the map and the icons and the quests and the combat is pretty simple, which a lot of folks seem to be disappointed in- you just point at things and go zap and that's the whole combat- but the game excels in vibe. Atmosphere. Setting. Whatever you wanna call it.
I did not know I needed an FPS Witcher / Yazuka mashup in my life but I guess I did. Not only am I determined to finish the campaign but- and here's how you know you're buying what a formulaic open world game is selling you- as many side quests as I can. And there are a lot of side quests- NPC quest givers are ghosts so each one is a little story of tragedy or comedy and that is what reminds me of Yakuza. Help a parent discover the mystery of their haunted child or a ghost wipe his ass after taking a poo, whatever... it's great.
And then the main quest is, storywise whatever, I dunno what's going on lol, but the missions are good. Every so often in addition to just "go here" and "fight that" you get to run through some trippy mind-bending visual nonsense and I just love when the main quests offer something unique from the rest of the game in terms of visuals or mechanics.
A pleasant surprise and highly recommended if you want to run around a creepy urban spookscape.
Ghostwire Tokyo
I was all set to not really care about this 'cause it's got stuff I don't usually like: first person "shooter" style gameplay, Japanese stuff (it's the anime-adjacent stuff that makes me wary), and it's all dark and cyber-punky, and I've seen very mixed reviews.
Well dangit if this ain't hitting the spot. It is basically that "ubisoft formula" with the map and the icons and the quests and the combat is pretty simple, which a lot of folks seem to be disappointed in- you just point at things and go zap and that's the whole combat- but the game excels in vibe. Atmosphere. Setting. Whatever you wanna call it.
I did not know I needed an FPS Witcher / Yazuka mashup in my life but I guess I did. Not only am I determined to finish the campaign but- and here's how you know you're buying what a formulaic open world game is selling you- as many side quests as I can. And there are a lot of side quests- NPC quest givers are ghosts so each one is a little story of tragedy or comedy and that is what reminds me of Yakuza. Help a parent discover the mystery of their haunted child or a ghost wipe his ass after taking a poo, whatever... it's great.
And then the main quest is, storywise whatever, I dunno what's going on lol, but the missions are good. Every so often in addition to just "go here" and "fight that" you get to run through some trippy mind-bending visual nonsense and I just love when the main quests offer something unique from the rest of the game in terms of visuals or mechanics.
A pleasant surprise and highly recommended if you want to run around a creepy urban spookscape.
Well, I can now say: you were not kidding.
Finally managed it. But damn, that was surprisingly difficult in an otherwise easy game.
It's a fun game, but really is one of those "less than the sum of its part", or maybe more that it waste its crazy good potential. The world is amazing and I love just travelling in it. But the story is so generic I forget about it while watching the cutscene and the combat is really plain with a crippling lack of variety on both weapon and enemy, made trough half and once in awhile I go back to it, but I don't think I'll ever actually finish it after getting about of the soul that you can rescue.
Alright, beat Tails of Iron! Game's pretty good but way too short to have so much filler in it. And the structure is kind of a mood killer.
Your brother gets captured and dragged into a poisonous area right in front of you, what do you do? Game tells you to leave the area, go back to base, fast travel to another town, go buy a gas mask, fight in a series of arena boss fights to wrack enough money for the gas mask and then fast travel back to base so you can travel down the crypts again so you can go rescue your brother, who after all this time is only now being escorted away in the slowest escape vehicle possible.
They should've just removed all these "go make enough money to proceed" segments. It would be 4 hours instead of the 8 it took me to beat it and Platinum it, but it'd be a way better game.
Your brother gets captured and dragged into a poisonous area right in front of you, what do you do? Game tells you to leave the area, go back to base, fast travel to another town, go buy a gas mask, fight in a series of arena boss fights to wrack enough money for the gas mask and then fast travel back to base so you can travel down the crypts again so you can go rescue your brother, who after all this time is only now being escorted away in the slowest escape vehicle possible.
They should've just removed all these "go make enough money to proceed" segments. It would be 4 hours instead of the 8 it took me to beat it and Platinum it, but it'd be a way better game.
Pretty much my take. I love the fact the world seems to recover from the initial invasion as you drive the frogs out and little by little over time. I hate how you're tasked with so much busywork along the way and very little of it is optional.
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Beat Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. Not that its hard or anything but it is pretty charming, really nice art, fun writing and... a ring collecting mini game thing that was a really weird choice to put in, but its free and charming as hell.
Thinking about replaying Serious Sam 4 or getting Horizon 4 since they apparently fixed the nvidia crashes.
Thinking about replaying Serious Sam 4 or getting Horizon 4 since they apparently fixed the nvidia crashes.
FAR: Lone Sails
A melancholy metaphor about moving left to right, until you've moved all the way to the right and kindled the metaphor for hope. You pilot a sandcrawler... Well, not really pilot it. You fuel it up with junk you pick up while going right. Sometimes you have to release the steam that builds up in the engine room. Sometimes you have to put out fires or weld machinery. If the wind is blowing right, you raise the sails to save fuel. It's all moderately entertaining busywork although I'm not convinced there's any way of fucking any of this up. This is more about play-acting through set-pieces than it is a genuine survival game. The most exciting thing that happened was the vehicle clipped through the ground and fell the eternal fall of glitchy games.
A melancholy metaphor about moving left to right, until you've moved all the way to the right and kindled the metaphor for hope. You pilot a sandcrawler... Well, not really pilot it. You fuel it up with junk you pick up while going right. Sometimes you have to release the steam that builds up in the engine room. Sometimes you have to put out fires or weld machinery. If the wind is blowing right, you raise the sails to save fuel. It's all moderately entertaining busywork although I'm not convinced there's any way of fucking any of this up. This is more about play-acting through set-pieces than it is a genuine survival game. The most exciting thing that happened was the vehicle clipped through the ground and fell the eternal fall of glitchy games.
Got a bit forlorn with all the realistic AAA games I've been playing in recent times, so I jumped back into Persona 5 Royale and been playing some Animal Crossing: New Horizon. And man, do I love designing little clothes and shit for my character. I find myself spending a good hour in that design app.
I've not had much of an opportunity to post much recently, because my computer has spent an extended amount of time behind my TV, since Hogwarts Legacy came out. My girlfriend's interest in that game has (thankfully) come and gone, but I have just really enjoyed playing games, whilst sat on my sofa, with a controller.
Most of my time has been spent playing Dragon Age Inquisition, which has surprisingly intuitive gamepad controls. Or at least, I don't feel handicapped by using one, because the game limits you to 8 active abilities, regardless of whether or not you are using a keyboard, or a controller.
This is the first time that I have touched the game, since the Tresspasser DLC came out (September 2015).
I think what is the most surprising thing about this game, is just how vast this game is. I have so far spent about 60 hours (according to my Save data), and I feel like I have done relatively little. This is one of those games where, should you choose to do so, you can just wander off, into one of the game's many side-zones, and disappear for hours, collecting things, and doing little side quests. Unfortunately for me, I feel compelled to do a lot of this stuff.
I feel like I have barely even touched the main story, there are a few zones where I haven't even set foot in, and there are still three DLCs that I need to get to.
This feels like such a massive overcorrection from Dragon Age 2, which was repetitive, but pretty dense. This is definitely massive, but pretty empty of much meaningful content.
Im going to be here for a while.
The thing is though, I feel quite conflicted on how I feel about this game. Im having a good time, but Im not having a great time, and every now and again, I kind of feel like my time could be better spent playing many other games.
But im still enjoying myself. It is just a vast ocean of "pretty good".
Otherwise, I have played a couple of smaller games on my Steam Deck. I finally ticked off Thomas Was Alone from my backlog. This was a cute little puzzle game, but maybe it was a little too long.
I also played a tiny game called Florence from my girlfriend's recommendation (who is trying to play more games this year), and that was a really adorable little puzzle game, with basically zero dialogue, but it does a really really great job at communicating how these characters feel, just through imagery, and game mechanics. Really impressed with this one. Though the game just kind of ends.
Otherwise, back to the Dragon Age grindstone. I hope to come up for air again, soon.
Most of my time has been spent playing Dragon Age Inquisition, which has surprisingly intuitive gamepad controls. Or at least, I don't feel handicapped by using one, because the game limits you to 8 active abilities, regardless of whether or not you are using a keyboard, or a controller.
This is the first time that I have touched the game, since the Tresspasser DLC came out (September 2015).
I think what is the most surprising thing about this game, is just how vast this game is. I have so far spent about 60 hours (according to my Save data), and I feel like I have done relatively little. This is one of those games where, should you choose to do so, you can just wander off, into one of the game's many side-zones, and disappear for hours, collecting things, and doing little side quests. Unfortunately for me, I feel compelled to do a lot of this stuff.
I feel like I have barely even touched the main story, there are a few zones where I haven't even set foot in, and there are still three DLCs that I need to get to.
This feels like such a massive overcorrection from Dragon Age 2, which was repetitive, but pretty dense. This is definitely massive, but pretty empty of much meaningful content.
Im going to be here for a while.
The thing is though, I feel quite conflicted on how I feel about this game. Im having a good time, but Im not having a great time, and every now and again, I kind of feel like my time could be better spent playing many other games.
But im still enjoying myself. It is just a vast ocean of "pretty good".
Otherwise, I have played a couple of smaller games on my Steam Deck. I finally ticked off Thomas Was Alone from my backlog. This was a cute little puzzle game, but maybe it was a little too long.
I also played a tiny game called Florence from my girlfriend's recommendation (who is trying to play more games this year), and that was a really adorable little puzzle game, with basically zero dialogue, but it does a really really great job at communicating how these characters feel, just through imagery, and game mechanics. Really impressed with this one. Though the game just kind of ends.
Otherwise, back to the Dragon Age grindstone. I hope to come up for air again, soon.
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