What are you currently playing?

[Bartholen]

I've been playing Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and Resident Evil 4, meaning the original's port on PS4.

Wonderlands is about what I expected: just Borderlands 3, but with the whole game being the DnD bit from the BL2 DLC. And it's fine. It's very colourful and varied, there's lots of cool enemies and DnD silliness (spoiler: Mr Torgue actually blows up the ocean this time), and the addition of melee weapons and replacing grenades with spells actually makes the combat distinct enough so it doesn't feel like a 1 for 1 retread of BL3. I'm not too far into the game yet, but so far the story and characters have been mostly just okay. Or maybe I'm outgrowing Borderlands's style of humor, which is feeling more and more dated in this day and age. One noticeable flaw are the weapon sound effects, which are just plain fucking weak. Which is weird, since BL3 had such punchy and satisfying sound, so it being so dramatically poorer here just feels weird.

RE4 has required something of an adjustment, because good god does this game feel clunky in modern day. Merely the inability to freely turn the camera while moving makes the environments feel so much more claustrophobic, and it feels like I'm never allowed to fully appreciate the level and environment design due to seeing it only small slices at a time. I get that it's intentional, and part of why the combat manages to still feel intense despite being slow and sluggish. I'm only 2 hours in right now, so there's a whole lot left to be seen. But damn, this game is so brown and grey it's ridiculous.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

RE4 has required something of an adjustment, because good god does this game feel clunky in modern day. Merely the inability to freely turn the camera while moving makes the environments feel so much more claustrophobic, and it feels like I'm never allowed to fully appreciate the level and environment design due to seeing it only small slices at a time. I get that it's intentional, and part of why the combat manages to still feel intense despite being slow and sluggish. I'm only 2 hours in right now, so there's a whole lot left to be seen. But damn, this game is so brown and grey it's ridiculous.

I believe there are high-resolution texture packs available if you'd at least like to splash a fresh coat of paint on the game.

 

[FakeSympathy]

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.

Now 33 hours in, And the game is still fun. Especially after I started to unlock champion abilities and getting used to the perfect dodge timing.

The weapon drops have been so far felt inconsistent. Because they drop frequently when my inventory is full, and when i don't have any weapons on me they are nowhere to be found.

Weather conditions are cool ideas in theory, but just made traveling really annoying. I.E. Akkala region almost always has thunderstorm going on, so I'm forced to switch to non-metallic gears to not get struck by lightning, WHILE there are enemies around me. During rain I just want to climb over, but jumping makes Link slide down.

I don't really ride horses because of the terrible controls. I get that they are living beings and sometimes scared to go in certain directions, but that just makes horseback riding all the more annoying. So I mostly stick to going on foot, which takes A LOT of time.

Shrine challenges are fun for the most part, save for some really tough ones like major trial of strength.

Zora and Rito race designs are great. Zoras no longer look all the same, and they have different marine designs and colors. Ritos all look really cool.

 

[BrawlMan]

RE4 has required something of an adjustment, because good god does this game feel clunky in modern day. Merely the inability to freely turn the camera while moving makes the environments feel so much more claustrophobic, and it feels like I'm never allowed to fully appreciate the level and environment design due to seeing it only small slices at a time. I get that it's intentional, and part of why the combat manages to still feel intense despite being slow and sluggish. I'm only 2 hours in right now, so there's a whole lot left to be seen. But damn, this game is so brown and grey it's ridiculous.

RE4 pretty much predicted how most of 7th generation games would act in terms of the "real is brown" art design. At least you get more variety of color when you reach the castle. Some people complained about Devil May Cry 3 suffering from this, but is literally only the first three missions, and even that is an exaggeration. At least the inside of the tower has plenty of rooms with color. Not all, but plenty.

I believe there are high-resolution texture packs available if you'd at least like to splash a fresh coat of paint on the game.

Even with the high-resolution texture pack, it won't solve all of the brown heavily featured in the early parts of the game. Their was color mod RE5 though. That game had way more brown and green than necessary. This is one of the few times where I envy PC players.

​

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Destroy All Humans

I'm assuming this is the relatively recent remaster of the old PS2(?) game. I saw it leaving GamePass soon and it looked like dumb fun and I had heard the title so I'm checking it out.
And yeah it's dumb fun- you're a shitty little alien running around 1950's suburbia killing people and taking brains. It's very PS2-era, despite the glow-up: missions fail easily and you gotta start over at checkpoints inelegantly, controls and basic but there many actions so you gotta remember where everything is (I mean that's true for any game I guess but I mean like that thing were completely different functions are mapped to the D-pad for example). Humor is very broad and satirical.
Most missions have you start with "stealth" missions then your boss says "ok kill things" and then you reek havoc, and it's all quite silly.

 

[BrawlMan]

I'm assuming this is the relatively recent remaster of the old PS2(?) game.

PS2 and XBOX.

 

[BrawlMan]

I've been playing Bayonetta Origins. I'm in the middle of Chapter 3, and man is it a long one. I am looking at my progression bar, and I am already 20% through the game. That said, there are lots of areas to explore and hidden items or power ups to find. This game has more emphasis on exploration and puzzles than combat. Odd, but works for a Bayo spin-off. The combat is there, but more simplified. You can upgrade Cereza and Cheshire's skills, and each have their skill points as separate currencies. That's a good thing. I have not made it to a boss yet, but you encounter new enemies at a nice pace.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I've been playing Bayonetta Origins. I'm in the middle of Chapter 3, and man is it a long one. I am looking at my progression bar, and I am already 20% through the game. That said, there are lots of areas to explore and hidden items or power ups to find. This game has more emphasis on exploration and puzzles than combat. Odd, but works for a Bayo spin-off. The combat is there, but more simplified. You can upgrade Cereza and Cheshire's skills, and each have their skill points as separate currencies. That's a good thing. I have not made it to a boss yet, but you encounter new enemies at a nice pace.

I remember a review saying it was weird to simultaneously control both Cereza and Cheshire, are you finding that to be the case?
Also is this supposed to be the same Cheshire that the other playable witch (Viola or something like that?) had with her?

 

[Worgen]

Started replaying Serious Sam 4. Still so damn good, I enjoyed SS3 but 4 blows it out of the water and is up there with Second Encounter. Even with lingering technical issues.

 

[BrawlMan]

I remember a review saying it was weird to simultaneously control both Cereza and Cheshire, are you finding that to be the case?

It's awkward at first, but your mileage might vary. I got used to controls by the third chapter. Keep in mind, I haven't touched this game since the first two chapters of the demo last month. I was able to snap back in really quickly. There is a rhythm to it, but it looks like most players got used to it.

Also is this supposed to be the same Cheshire that the other playable witch (Viola or something like that?) had with her?

No. A completely different one. The demon doesn't even have a true name, and Cereza named him that.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Missing: J.J. Macfield etc

Finished the game, then completed the trophy list (no Plat). It's alright but I wouldn't play it again unless showing it to someone. Swery came up with a neat gameplay mechanic that honestly isn't used that much in the second half of the game. The whole tearing off body parts for throwing/setting yourself on fire stops being a part of puzzle solving pretty quickly. Most of the puzzles towards the end involve inverting gravity with concussions and, at most, playing as JJ's head. As for platforming, I don't love how slow and clunky the jumping/grabbing ledges feels, or how finicky hitboxes are.

As for the story... It packs a twist I didn't see coming (because a different twist appears to be so obvious), so props for that. But it's all a bit tacky and I got the sense that Swery, for all his stated sympathy ("This game is a work of blah blah") was being kinda condescending to his protagonist.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Played some more of Jedi Survivor, and it's honestly quite good. Once you get to that first planet (that isn't the tutorial) this game really starts to hit its stride. Of all the games I've played that do this 'linear open-world/wide linear' level design Jedi Survivor does it the best so far. Which is kinda tepid praise to be fair, since I don't think either Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the recent God of War games, or TLoU2 make much of it. The open spaces in those games kinda reek of empty, static design. Jedi Survivor has a far more organic flow and deliberate design to its map (atleast on that first planet).

Also, you can now customize your Cal Kestis to a far greater degree other than giving him a differently colored poncho, and I'm enjoying him with long red hair and a full red beard, so I can imagine him being Ulysses from Ulysses 31. All the while singing the Ulysses 31 intro song to myself while chopping up droids.

 

[Absent]

so I can imagine him being Ulysses from Ulysses 31. All the while singing the Ulysses 31 intro song to myself while chopping up droids.

I'm sold.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'm sold.

Well, maybe hold off till they patch out a good 60% of the artifacting, cuz Jesus Christ...

What is it with current gen games and all the artifacting issues, by the way?

 

[BrawlMan]

What is it with current gen games and all the artifacting issues, by the way?

It's "cinematic"!

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's "cinematic"!

I mean, maybe if you compare it to watching a 70's movie on VHS, but games can and have been cinematic without the graphics breaking into literal crumbs. This shit wasn't (as) present in most PS4 era games, so I don't know what developers are doing differently now on consoles.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Started replaying Serious Sam 4. Still so damn good, I enjoyed SS3 but 4 blows it out of the water and is up there with Second Encounter. Even with lingering technical issues.

Serious Sam 3 was... okaaaaayyyyyyy, but holy crap did it betray its origins as a failed Modern Warfare clone. I'm waiting for SS4 to go on sale.

Well, maybe hold off till they patch out a good 60% of the artifacting, cuz Jesus Christ...

What is it with current gen games and all the artifacting issues, by the way?

My guess would be a heavy reliance on upscaling in order to hide performance issues.

 

[BrawlMan]

Serious Sam 3 was... okaaaaayyyyyyy, but holy crap did it betray its origins as a failed Modern Warfare clone. I'm waiting for SS4 to go on sale.

I still have never played SS3, and I know I never will. I have the HD Collection (360), but after the huge wave of old-school/boomer shooters, SS3 keeps aging worse each time. Bulletstorm aged better than Serious Sam 3, and the former has regenrating helath.

 

[Worgen]

Serious Sam 3 was... okaaaaayyyyyyy, but holy crap did it betray its origins as a failed Modern Warfare clone. I'm waiting for SS4 to go on sale.

I enjoyed SS3 well enough, it just took a bit to really feel like Serious Sam, SS4 does that really quick even with the story bits. SS4 is just straight up better then 3, even on the highest difficulty. They managed to balance it really well, its challenging without feeling like it will just fuck you.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I played a (Russian?) mini metroidvania called Oliver's Adventures in the Fairyland. As a mini MV I rank it under Xeodrifter, about on par with Super Skelemania and well above Paradox Soul. It was a fun, very brief Platinum.

You're a kid playing on his NES who gets accidentally whisked into a retro style videogame by a wizard and tasked with cleaning up a dungeon. That's it for story, context, character, etc. Even the theming feels slapdash - you're ostensibly in a medieval underground but for some reason you run into a Princess Leia expy (???) and the final boss is an armadillo (???) and the trophies refer to Gen 6-7 pop culture characters (why not retro gaming?).

The game doesn't do anything novel with the metroidvania formula but I think it's generally solid design, in terms of giving feedback and rewarding the player. It's weird the map is fully visible from the beginning, and there isn't much pretense of exploration; mostly you'll go down one of the three branches extending from the main hub until you're given a key or a new ability, then backtrack all the way back to the hub and go down one of the other two to hopefully put it to use.

The combat is limited; mostly you're put through platforming gauntlets. Generally the game will make you go through a mildly annoying hurdle in order to reward you with the item that would've been incredibly appreciated one hurdle ago.

Super Skelemania has a similar slapdash, tongue-in-cheek feel to it but unlike Skelemania the controls are finicky and movement isn't tight at all. Oliver skates a little bit when landing from a jump, so I was jumping in one direction while frantically pulling in the other when landing. It takes a while to get used to it and it's nowhere near as frustrating as I initially feared.