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BrawlMan

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Playing Sackboy: A Big Adventure. This is Sony's answer to Mario 3D World. It's fun casual game that is more on the easy side no different from Astro Bot. It's a fun game, and I appreciate the arts and crafts art direction like Little Big Planet. I really don't know why some fans give this game a bad rep. It's sucks there are custom levels like the prequels, but the game is crafted and designed real well with the level design and platforming.
 

NerfedFalcon

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Finished the first chapter of Black Myth Wukong; I now possess the first sense of the Great Sage and Equal of Heaven.

For all the trouble I had with several of the boss fights in this chapter, with a few attacks that just didn't seem avoidable that I had to power through to win the fights, I am enjoying this game a lot. So far, all the spells are useful and interesting, and most of the other combat techniques too, though some of them seem overly limited; recharging enough Qi during a fight to use your summon and vessel a second time so far seems impractical, and I haven't really found a use for charged heavy attacks. It's also interesting to not have any kind of block or parry except one that stops small projectiles, meaning that you really have to focus on dodging to avoid taking damage, and for all that I've played a fair bit of Devil May Cry, actually getting back in that mindset has taken me a little while.

As for the 'dressing', the lore is told in an interesting enough way, though it's one that's fairly difficult to fully grasp for me; the cutscene at the end of the chapter was fairly impressive, as a high note. Honestly, the only thing I don't super care for (other than occasionally raging at a boss I can't beat, and that doesn't count) is the extremely linear level design; From Software's areas are a lot more interconnected, at least within themselves, and learning the lay of the land is made less important by the linearity.

I'm definitely interested to keep playing it and see where it goes from here, what else it'll give me to play with and expect me to fight with those toys. Though even with the setup of seeking five MacGuffins I have no idea how long it'll take to finish from here.
 
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Worgen

Follower of the Glorious Sun Butt.
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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Finished chapter 1 in FF7 Rebirth. Pretty cool so far, does a good job with new mysteries and its a compelling retelling of the past story with Cloud on his mission with Sephiroth.
 

Bedinsis

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But on that note... it got me thinking. How many other games are there where the main character is American... and the primary game loop is shooting other Americans... AND the main character is without a doubt portrayed as the hero, the good guy? I honestly couldn't think of any.
The Division and The Division 2?

I don't think it's an American thing; I think it's a matter of games that want to focus on gameplay either do not bother to invest much in making the protagonist look like a good guy or that they want the enemy to be effectively be portrayed as "the other".

Like in Bioshock: Infinite the protagonist is not unquestionably a good guy (and one can most certainly make the case that he is a bad guy) but having an emphasis on the story means reflection on the protagonist himself, and adding more nuance to a character means they are harder to portray as unquestionably the good guy, at least when the main activity they do is killing other people.
 
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Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
I'm into the open world in FF7 rebirth. Its pretty open world, tons of things to do and collect, but it also feels like they shouldn't have made the starting area so rocky cause you will be running and then hit a rock or ledge that stops your character for a sec while he climbs. This is even more noticeable with the chocobos, which are awesome, but if your not running on a road then you will rather constantly have little stops from rocks. Either way, I am still quite enjoying it, but I worry my desire to do everything will hurt my long term enjoyment. FF7 remake was pretty tight, there might have been a bit of padding with occasional areas where you had a few side quests but you were never too far from the story doing something, but since Rebirth is open world... it feels like I have to do everything in an area before I dare do the main story.
 
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BrawlMan

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I completed the first two chapters NGII: Black. The game is literally the definitive version of II and Sigma 2, with the gore restored, in the UE5 engine. The great news is that upgrade system works like it did in the Vanilla II, and not Sigma 2. So you can upgrade your weapons however you choose when you're at Muramasa's shop.
 
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Maybe I mentioned it earlier but got back into RE7. I’m warming up to it more than the first time I played it a year or so ago. Not very far yet; just got thru the first bout of Mr. Brady doing his best impression of Mr. X, and he succeeded in raising my heart rate. Need to figure the big locked door puzzle.

I don’t mind the perspective for this one because so far it feels more exploratory in this new fucked up place. There’s also kore mystery to it with however the hell body parts can just be reattached, and the new twist to the undead formula. I’m intrigued, and really liking how I finally have a monitor to take advantage of HDR too. It’s funny how it makes both this game and the Roundtable in ER give off a more golden/amber hue.

Also played some more Stanley Parable, now with the game adding a “2” to it. Kinda losing steam I think, as it’s repeating motifs almost verbatim but using props to apparently make up for it? Eh.
 

BrawlMan

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Maybe I mentioned it earlier but got back into RE7. I’m warming up to it more than the first time I played it a year or so ago. Not very far yet; just got thru the first bout of Mr. Brady doing his best impression of Mr. X, and he succeeded in raising my heart rate. Need to figure the big locked door puzzle.

I don’t mind the perspective for this one because so far it feels more exploratory in this new fucked up place. There’s also kore mystery to it with however the hell body parts can just be reattached, and the new twist to the undead formula. I’m intrigued, and really liking how I finally have a monitor to take advantage of HDR too. It’s funny how it makes both this game and the Roundtable in ER give off a more golden/amber hue.
My problem is not so much to perspective as it is that Ethan moves too slow for a guy his age. I get it supposed to be closed or probic. And everything, but I have my limits. RE8 sorta fixes this, but I only played that for the third person update.
 
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Johnny Novgorod

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Finished It Takes Two with my girlfriend. Corny story and suspect message aside, we enjoyed it a lot. It didn't escape us that the game very deliberately flips around the traditional gender roles in the couple - the husband is a wimpy stay-at-home parent with a passion for gardening, while the wife is the no-nonsense breadwinner with no time for their daughter - and nothing wrong with that particular dynamic, just something that stood out for us. We developed a running commentary that turned into Bergman-esque relationship drama, like Scenes From a Marriage, as recently adapted and gender bent by Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac (she's the cheat and breadwinner, he's the stay-at-home mope).

Playing Ender Magnolia, I'm really enjoying it too. First impressions were more of the same, but now that I'm about a third of the way (I think) I can appreciate just how more streamlined and versatile the sequel feels. It's still maybe a little too easy by comparison, and grounding the story into familiar RPG turf instead of playing up the dark, esoteric Souls angle is going to be a matter of taste. But it's still prime Metroidvania.
 

BrawlMan

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I finished Ninja Gaiden II: Black. Fun going through again, but that final boss still sucks. Elizbeth, the next to last final boss, should've died in cut-scene, because I hate fighting her. Most of her moves are a model swap of Alma, and there are times where I am clearly hitting her, and she just auto dodges. Other times, she just lets me slice on her for free. This has always been a problem with Ninja Gaiden games. Shitty final bosses. Here is hoping the 4th mainline entry improves upon this greatly.

My favorite weapon is the Lunar Staff. It was the first weapon I fully upgraded. I managed to upgrade all of my weapons on Normal Mode. The Lunar Staff is a downright game breaker at times, if you know how to the exploits and timing right. I was able to juggle Genshin in the air each time, except for his final form, as he can't be juggled in the air.

All that's left for me is Chapter Challenge Mode. I am never doing Master Ninja difficulty, because I like having my sanity in tact.
 

NerfedFalcon

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Started another run of Resident Evil 4 Remake, and decided to try Hardcore difficulty this time since my last run was on Standard. Over a year ago, but I felt like challenging myself a little without going into actual masochism territory (which is what Professional is). Died twice in the opening village square (once to Salvador, and once to a random knife in the back), but I didn't die any other times. Did have some close calls though, and I think I got the time out ending to the village fight instead of the kill-lots-of-people one.

Well, for all other (real and imagined) faults of the game, they nailed that the opening village fight is the hardest thing you have to do for a pretty long time. And removing mid-cutscene QTEs, as well as the randomness in dodging enemy attacks, is always appreciated.
 
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Ezekiel

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This Tomb Raider III "Lud's Gate" underwater section with the harpoon gun that can't shoot for shit, opening one door after another with the levers, is absurd. Trying to find if I passed a diving mask somewhere. NO ONE did it correctly and lived the first SEVERAL times.
 

BrawlMan

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Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold/Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha - No arcade run this time. Just doing various runs of Dramatic Battle (2 players vs CPU). I did one with Guy and Akuma. The next was Sakura and Ken. My third run was Chun-Li and Charlie. The next one I am working on his Ryu and Sakura. It's best to do Custom Combo/Install Super, because you can create nasty exploits that work better than the standard supers. Especially if you have two human players doing it.
 

Ezekiel

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Okay, wasn't as bad as I thought. Found the air pocket only after I was almost done. Meaning that I kept driving the craft all the way back through the long tunnel for air while wasting medi packs.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Started another run of Resident Evil 4 Remake, and decided to try Hardcore difficulty this time since my last run was on Standard. Over a year ago, but I felt like challenging myself a little without going into actual masochism territory (which is what Professional is). Died twice in the opening village square (once to Salvador, and once to a random knife in the back), but I didn't die any other times. Did have some close calls though, and I think I got the time out ending to the village fight instead of the kill-lots-of-people one.
I nope'd the fuck out of Professional difficulty after getting a taste of the village in RE4R. That way lies madness.
 

BrawlMan

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I nope'd the fuck out of Professional difficulty after getting a taste of the village in RE4R. That way lies madness.
Started another run of Resident Evil 4 Remake, and decided to try Hardcore difficulty this time since my last run was on Standard. Over a year ago, but I felt like challenging myself a little without going into actual masochism territory (which is what Professional is). Died twice in the opening village square (once to Salvador, and once to a random knife in the back), but I didn't die any other times. Did have some close calls though, and I think I got the time out ending to the village fight instead of the kill-lots-of-people one.

Well, for all other (real and imagined) faults of the game, they nailed that the opening village fight is the hardest thing you have to do for a pretty long time. And removing mid-cutscene QTEs, as well as the randomness in dodging enemy attacks, is always appreciated.
I beat Professional mode once in RE4R. Fun, but I will never do it again.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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I beat Professional mode once in RE4R. Fun, but I will never do it again.
I only beat Pro on NG+ with bonus weapons. I then tried to do it "legit" on a new file for the S+ Hardcore-and-up speedrun required for Platinum and decided I was better off just doing it on Hardcore. I forget what even was the advantage of doing it on Pro first, the cat ears?
 
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Johnny Novgorod

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Same.


That, and the getting powerful upgrades early enough from the Merchant.
Ah, now I remember - the S+ trophies only stack on Professional difficulty for some reason. So I had to either beat Professional with an S+ to knock off the Standard/Hardcore speedruns in one go, or do S+ runs separately on those difficulties.

Tried to S+ on Professional and chickened out. Sometimes the long way is the quickest.