Out of curiosity, what’s the most recently released game you actually enjoyed overall?
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Out of curiosity, what’s the most recently released game you actually enjoyed overall?
Ugh, not just childish, but garish.
Tears of the Kingdom, but I'd take Zelda in a different direction.
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The thing that always got to me was Link's gormless expression in the game. He looks so dumb.
Also, be glad you aren't playing on the Wii, man was the aliasing abysmal.
- Apr 1, 2009
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I think I'm getting near the end of Persona 5 Strikers. Been pretty damn good, the overall story is good, but Persona 5 proper still had a better story, even if the localization is better in Strikers. Some of the fights are damn hard, doesn't feel as natural to hit the enemy with debuffs and such in strikers since those don't feel like they last long and you never feel as in control of the amount of SP you have. Like in the prime persona games you are mostly using your persona powers, but in Strikers, you feel much more limited in your SP and its never as fluid feeling to regain it. You can get plenty of items to regain it, but I hate using items since I might need them later.
I'm playing Signalis.
It's a solid imitation of the fifth gen survival horror typified by Resident Evil and Silent Hill. If you like fixed camera angles, scarce resources, no auto saves and managing a very limited inventory system, this is it.
Some annoying design choices. There's contact damage, which should be verboten in a game about maneuvering around enemies in tight spaces. And enemy patrols are autonomous of your movements, so there's always a chance you'll walk into a room and bump into an enemy who just happened to be shambling past the door. No real way of anticipating or avoiding.
It's maybe a little too cryptic about its mechanics. The healing system is confusing: there are four kinds of items that will heal you to varying degrees over a varying amount of time, and combining them is touted as a plus but never explained why. The game will never tell you this but there's also an ability to shove enemies that only works if you're unarmed.
I like the atmosphere, the black and red lighting, the old school adventure game close-ups of puzzles, the eerie scratches and flashes, the Killer7-esque hodgepodge of styles, the creepy background details that go unacknowledged by the character description. Although again, I think the game is a little too inscrutable for its own good. Even a simple or false premise ("I got a letter") helps involvement. Signalis doesn't give you anything to cling to. You just bump around opening doors and turning on things.
Some cutscenes kinda kill the mood with DeviantArt-grade weeb character portraits (all the characters are conspicuously female robots who look like a cross between Bayonetta and the fembots from Austin Powers).
It's a solid imitation of the fifth gen survival horror typified by Resident Evil and Silent Hill. If you like fixed camera angles, scarce resources, no auto saves and managing a very limited inventory system, this is it.
Some annoying design choices. There's contact damage, which should be verboten in a game about maneuvering around enemies in tight spaces. And enemy patrols are autonomous of your movements, so there's always a chance you'll walk into a room and bump into an enemy who just happened to be shambling past the door. No real way of anticipating or avoiding.
It's maybe a little too cryptic about its mechanics. The healing system is confusing: there are four kinds of items that will heal you to varying degrees over a varying amount of time, and combining them is touted as a plus but never explained why. The game will never tell you this but there's also an ability to shove enemies that only works if you're unarmed.
I like the atmosphere, the black and red lighting, the old school adventure game close-ups of puzzles, the eerie scratches and flashes, the Killer7-esque hodgepodge of styles, the creepy background details that go unacknowledged by the character description. Although again, I think the game is a little too inscrutable for its own good. Even a simple or false premise ("I got a letter") helps involvement. Signalis doesn't give you anything to cling to. You just bump around opening doors and turning on things.
Some cutscenes kinda kill the mood with DeviantArt-grade weeb character portraits (all the characters are conspicuously female robots who look like a cross between Bayonetta and the fembots from Austin Powers).
I'm roughly 30 hours in Metaphor, just got my fourth party member. Man, am I happy to be wrong. I thought he was a short bunny-person from the very limited promotional material I had seen. Huge white ears, red eyes, mobile etc. (he had the thief archetype in some scans) But nope, he's an actual bat-person. And he's a ninja too. Bat-ninja. And his personality is kinda like Auron from FFX, sad old man who almost gave up on life. He looks like he'd be the mascot but no he's actually like the dad of the party, despite being like 2 feet tall.
Best game ever.
Best game ever.
I decided to avoid this game, as it seems to slavishly ape the stupid difficulty of earlier games as if that was what made them good.
This is why I will never get the game even on a sale. I rather just get crow country or play a mainstream survival horror game.
Especially when people like Avalanche going about how this game is "true survival horror" and the more recent modern examples nor mainstream examples don't count. When I last checked, a random youtuber with 200, 000 plus follower don't dictate what counts as a survival, horror or nnot Who to hell gave you authority, Avalanche? Right, no one. There is more to survival horror than limited resources and inventory, nor cryptic constant backtracking. If every single horror game played like the classic Capcom games did, then it would be a boring genre to be in.
Nah, its pretty darn easy actually, the hardest part is inventory juggling but its not that hard, just mostly annoying.
Its also not that great in most area, story is mostly vague symbolic mumbo jumbo, gameplay never really evolve and its actually pretty short.
This one wasn't on my radar, but this description's gotten me interested. Probably going to wait for a Steam sale though, if only because I've got too much already on my 'to play' pile.
Friend of mine's been asking me about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War lately, which he got me as a Christmas present I think last year; it's taking up a lot of disk space and the campaigns are never that long, so I might knock it out soon. Heard this is one of the better ones, too. The original Modern Warfare's still unbeaten IMO, but I've enjoyed plenty of others, so it's not like "Call of Duty isn't for me" or anything.
If you've ever played an atlus Jrpg before, it's got a ton of dna from all of their past series, most of all persona, but it has its own identity on top. Mechanically it is the first game to do the FF style job system, but it does it in its own unique atlus style. It's really fun.
As for the story, it's a really refreshing take on politics and discrimination (the core goal is you're running to win an election to become the next king by helping the people of the land) I've not seen such a nuanced take on politics and cultural issues since Disco Elysium. And while this is still an epic fantasy story so you do get a bit more shoehorned in one end of the spectrum, you do hear the arguments every side makes and there's a heap of nuance. All this of course being on top of epic fights with Hieronymus Bosch inspired monstrosities mysteriously called "humans" and while listening to music that's a mix of bhuddist chanting and fantasy land speak.
Been a little while!
Finished Orcs Must Die, and decided to play Shadow of Mordor on my Steam Deck. I managed to crank it up to high settings, and lock it at 50FPS, which ran like a dream.
The combat good, but it is ripped straight from the Batman Arkham games (this is not an exaggeration). The open world is suitably depressing, but there is never anything interesting to do in it. The Nemesis System is promising, and it did have a few standout moments for me, but the campaign doesn't do a particularly great job of showing it off. The game starts off being somewhat challenging, but it becomes markedly easier after you unlock the ability to brand enemies, and there are no difficulty options.
Its an enjoyable game, but everything that I like about it is immediately followed by a "but..."
Once I finished it, I decided to give Shadow of War a brief go (again on the Steam Deck), but I quickly realised that I couldn't be bothered.
At this point, I've dropped Frostpunk 2 because I don't really find it all that interesting at the moment, with its lack of content (that isn't a sandbox mode).
I have Ghosts of Tsushima shared with me on Steam through family sharing, so i've dabbled with that. Its a pretty game, but I so far don't find it particularly remarkable.
Mostly, I have been playing Hearthstone Battlegrounds, which is that auto-chess/pseudo-battle royale game. Playing it on mobile makes me realise that the game doesn't actually have an advertisements, which is nice. Definitely a time sink though, I might have to go cold-turkey on it soon.
Finished Orcs Must Die, and decided to play Shadow of Mordor on my Steam Deck. I managed to crank it up to high settings, and lock it at 50FPS, which ran like a dream.
The combat good, but it is ripped straight from the Batman Arkham games (this is not an exaggeration). The open world is suitably depressing, but there is never anything interesting to do in it. The Nemesis System is promising, and it did have a few standout moments for me, but the campaign doesn't do a particularly great job of showing it off. The game starts off being somewhat challenging, but it becomes markedly easier after you unlock the ability to brand enemies, and there are no difficulty options.
Its an enjoyable game, but everything that I like about it is immediately followed by a "but..."
Once I finished it, I decided to give Shadow of War a brief go (again on the Steam Deck), but I quickly realised that I couldn't be bothered.
At this point, I've dropped Frostpunk 2 because I don't really find it all that interesting at the moment, with its lack of content (that isn't a sandbox mode).
I have Ghosts of Tsushima shared with me on Steam through family sharing, so i've dabbled with that. Its a pretty game, but I so far don't find it particularly remarkable.
Mostly, I have been playing Hearthstone Battlegrounds, which is that auto-chess/pseudo-battle royale game. Playing it on mobile makes me realise that the game doesn't actually have an advertisements, which is nice. Definitely a time sink though, I might have to go cold-turkey on it soon.
Completed Gris. I'm pleased to say that it delivered exactly what I had hoped, which is now my favorite style of game: short, artistically beautiful, generous with its progression, light to moderate difficulty level puzzling and platforming, and minimal tutorializing or text or dialogue.
In fact Gris has absolutely no dialogue and the only text or tutorializing is the three times you get a new ability, a simple graphic to tell you which button to press. With lovely art and music and level design that tunnels you into a limited space so that you're focused on your immediate surroundings instead of wasting time endlessly backtracking into dead ends, the game conveyed a similar experience to Cocoon, my standout game of 2023.
Another comparison I can make is Journey- that feeling of wandering around a broken world with an emotionally rich yet abstract climactic ending.
I played this because the studio's new game Neva just came out so likely I'll be getting that next and will start early next week. Until then, if Gris looks at all interesting to you then you won't be disappointed.
In fact Gris has absolutely no dialogue and the only text or tutorializing is the three times you get a new ability, a simple graphic to tell you which button to press. With lovely art and music and level design that tunnels you into a limited space so that you're focused on your immediate surroundings instead of wasting time endlessly backtracking into dead ends, the game conveyed a similar experience to Cocoon, my standout game of 2023.
Another comparison I can make is Journey- that feeling of wandering around a broken world with an emotionally rich yet abstract climactic ending.
I played this because the studio's new game Neva just came out so likely I'll be getting that next and will start early next week. Until then, if Gris looks at all interesting to you then you won't be disappointed.
- Apr 1, 2009
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Beat Iron Meat. Took me much longer then it should have since I was just playing it on hard and would just start from the beginning each time. The short of it is, that its contra and its very good. The pixel graphics look great, the enemies are suitably bloody and meaty, the weapons feel good. Bosses are mostly rather easy, but a couple of them are pretty brutal. One of the interesting things it goes is that each weapon pick up has 2 levels, so when you get something you like you might not want to use it so you can get an upgrade for it. Highly reccomend for anyone who likes the run and gun. Just be aware that its short, but most run and guns are. I did get 10 hours out of it since it gets rather hard and just starting over on hard mode made it last.
That's Contra 3 and 4. Great know.
Whenever I get around to it I'll of stick with normal.
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I'm not sure how enemy behavior changes based on difficulty, but the amount of lives you have sure does. On hard you get 8 lives per stage and each stage sets you back to 8, I think normal is 15 and easy is 30.
So I've put a bit more time into Ghosts of Tsushima, and I've done a complete 180 on it. This game rocks.
First of all, this game is just stunning to look at, and its environments are some of the best that I have ever seen. The grass density is probably the best-in-class, and makes every landscape look so verdant. When it is sunrise or sunset, and the sky is orange, and the sunrays are just bleeding through the trees - wow. When I play most of my games, i'm not really one to stop and stand around to take in the environment, but in this game, i'm doing it all of the time.
And its beauty isn't just for aesthetics either. Some of my famous bits of game design is how developers can bring UI elements into the game world itself. Dead Space is probably the easiest thing to point at, but in this game, instead of having an arrow on the minimap, or a compass, or some floating icon in the game world, the wind blows in the direction where you need to go. At any point, you just need to look at which way the grass is blowing, and run in that direction. Masterpiece.
On a similar note, every now and again you will come across an animal like a fox or a yellow bird that you can follow to lead you to a nearby point of interest. The fox works really well, because they spawn at fox dens, and then (presumably) follow a scripted path. The birds though, not so much, as they seem to spawn dynamically, then are constantly headbutting terrain like trees, buildings and rocks, which makes them harder to follow than I would have liked.
I really like the story its telling: a samurai taught to be honorable in battle, facing an enemy that does not care, and having to choose between trying to stick to tradition (which hasn't worked, and got everyone killed), or embracing a path that your peers will look down on you for. But admittedly, im still in Act 1, so I have no idea where else/if it will go.
The combat isn't particularly groundbreaking, but it does sell the fantasy. Combat is your usual light or heavy attack, dodge, block and parry. Other than unblockable attacks, the game doesn't telegraph the attack other than watching the character model. Individual fights usually don't last for longer than a few hits. Animation quality is good though, and I do really like the "Face me!" standoff ability, where you announce yourself to the enemy, and then have a quick 1-on-1 fight with them, which allows you to kill them in one hit. Otherwise, you have your usual sneak/instant-kill assassinate move, a variety of throwable bombs etc, and a bow. Nothing too dissimilar from some games that I have played before, but you definitely feel like a samurai.
One thing that I thought would mix the combat up a bit more, were the stances. Each one is more effective against a certain enemy type - Stone vs Sword, Water vs Shield, etc. I would have liked/expected this to introduce new or different combos, but this does not appear to really be the case. Other than the animations, effect against a certain enemy type, and flavour of your Y combo, it doesn't appear to introduce much. I can't really see the skill ceiling being particularly high here.
I'm looking forward to playing more, and I hope it doesn't run out of steam before the conclusion.
First of all, this game is just stunning to look at, and its environments are some of the best that I have ever seen. The grass density is probably the best-in-class, and makes every landscape look so verdant. When it is sunrise or sunset, and the sky is orange, and the sunrays are just bleeding through the trees - wow. When I play most of my games, i'm not really one to stop and stand around to take in the environment, but in this game, i'm doing it all of the time.
And its beauty isn't just for aesthetics either. Some of my famous bits of game design is how developers can bring UI elements into the game world itself. Dead Space is probably the easiest thing to point at, but in this game, instead of having an arrow on the minimap, or a compass, or some floating icon in the game world, the wind blows in the direction where you need to go. At any point, you just need to look at which way the grass is blowing, and run in that direction. Masterpiece.
On a similar note, every now and again you will come across an animal like a fox or a yellow bird that you can follow to lead you to a nearby point of interest. The fox works really well, because they spawn at fox dens, and then (presumably) follow a scripted path. The birds though, not so much, as they seem to spawn dynamically, then are constantly headbutting terrain like trees, buildings and rocks, which makes them harder to follow than I would have liked.
I really like the story its telling: a samurai taught to be honorable in battle, facing an enemy that does not care, and having to choose between trying to stick to tradition (which hasn't worked, and got everyone killed), or embracing a path that your peers will look down on you for. But admittedly, im still in Act 1, so I have no idea where else/if it will go.
The combat isn't particularly groundbreaking, but it does sell the fantasy. Combat is your usual light or heavy attack, dodge, block and parry. Other than unblockable attacks, the game doesn't telegraph the attack other than watching the character model. Individual fights usually don't last for longer than a few hits. Animation quality is good though, and I do really like the "Face me!" standoff ability, where you announce yourself to the enemy, and then have a quick 1-on-1 fight with them, which allows you to kill them in one hit. Otherwise, you have your usual sneak/instant-kill assassinate move, a variety of throwable bombs etc, and a bow. Nothing too dissimilar from some games that I have played before, but you definitely feel like a samurai.
One thing that I thought would mix the combat up a bit more, were the stances. Each one is more effective against a certain enemy type - Stone vs Sword, Water vs Shield, etc. I would have liked/expected this to introduce new or different combos, but this does not appear to really be the case. Other than the animations, effect against a certain enemy type, and flavour of your Y combo, it doesn't appear to introduce much. I can't really see the skill ceiling being particularly high here.
I'm looking forward to playing more, and I hope it doesn't run out of steam before the conclusion.
Ghost is a mood game is how I put it. It's not super exciting or intense, but it kinda takes you on a trip and if you're a fan of kurosawa movies and period japan material you can get lost in it. Also Jin being voiced by Kazuya Nakai doesn't hurt either (Roronoa Zoro!).