Through 10/4 on Persona 3 Reload. If anyone needs me, I'll be curled up in the fetal position on my bed sobbing.
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
- Start date
Recommended Videos
@Worgen, I am on the next to last main mission of Infinite Warfare. The mission before that one is practically a survival horror level. Dark Quarry is surprisingly creepy and effective. Right now I am on Operation Blackflag. Stopping for now to go out and eat, and will finish the game tonight.
Started elden ring.
Its... okay I guess? I'd definitely put it all the way at the bottom of my soul list (even behind some soul clone). I don't like parry, I think its a very boring way to play these game and extremely arbitrary (slam a giant sledgehammer into their face and they don't blink, but wave your shield and suddenly they're completely taken aback). The problem is that, as the franchise got older, it seems like parry became the central mechanic for melee combat, where everything is built around it. Enemy have tons of tracking, and really long combo that always feel a couple of hit too long. Trying to dodge them or block them all will nuke your stamina (plus most shield don't fully neglect damage). But parry, just do it once and you cancel the full attack and you're rewarded with a massive hit for tons of damage (which can usually be followed by a couple of cheap hit as they get up). Feel like maybe parrying attack should instead build some sort of stun meter, and the enemy would only stop once its filled up.
Unlike bloodborne or sekiro, both of which were very parry focus, elden ring doesn't really bring anything new to the table compared to the dark souls. So I'm just kinda disappointed with the gameplay without the new stuff to distract me, and wondering what was wrong with dark soul 1 gameplay style.
So I decided to play it as a mage (well cleric), just to get away from melee, problem is that the game just start you with this ultra close range fire attack and I've yet to find anything else to replace it. I'm not really having problem progressing, I've already killed stuff I probably wasn't supposed to yet like the tree monster underground and the 2 jailed boss. I can generally get trough by just using the magic, which does an absurd amount of damage so I just nuke stuff. But it really feel like I'm not playing the game like its meant to be played, something which I didn't feel like when playing early soul game.
I've picked up a shield that does have 100% phys block, so I'll try using that a bit to see how that goes.
Its... okay I guess? I'd definitely put it all the way at the bottom of my soul list (even behind some soul clone). I don't like parry, I think its a very boring way to play these game and extremely arbitrary (slam a giant sledgehammer into their face and they don't blink, but wave your shield and suddenly they're completely taken aback). The problem is that, as the franchise got older, it seems like parry became the central mechanic for melee combat, where everything is built around it. Enemy have tons of tracking, and really long combo that always feel a couple of hit too long. Trying to dodge them or block them all will nuke your stamina (plus most shield don't fully neglect damage). But parry, just do it once and you cancel the full attack and you're rewarded with a massive hit for tons of damage (which can usually be followed by a couple of cheap hit as they get up). Feel like maybe parrying attack should instead build some sort of stun meter, and the enemy would only stop once its filled up.
Unlike bloodborne or sekiro, both of which were very parry focus, elden ring doesn't really bring anything new to the table compared to the dark souls. So I'm just kinda disappointed with the gameplay without the new stuff to distract me, and wondering what was wrong with dark soul 1 gameplay style.
So I decided to play it as a mage (well cleric), just to get away from melee, problem is that the game just start you with this ultra close range fire attack and I've yet to find anything else to replace it. I'm not really having problem progressing, I've already killed stuff I probably wasn't supposed to yet like the tree monster underground and the 2 jailed boss. I can generally get trough by just using the magic, which does an absurd amount of damage so I just nuke stuff. But it really feel like I'm not playing the game like its meant to be played, something which I didn't feel like when playing early soul game.
I've picked up a shield that does have 100% phys block, so I'll try using that a bit to see how that goes.
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Blocking works really well in Elden Ring, you can block much more then you think you can. Really dodging is the main mechanic, no need to parry.
Besides, some enemies can't be parried.
Last edited:
@Worgen, Infinite Warfare is completed. I was not expecting that ending, and truly cared about the crew.Nearly everyone gone, and only about 4 survivors. Salter being one of the four, but the other three are never elaborated on. Hearing their final audio messages hurt too.
It was fun ride. Raycevick spoke bullshit about Reyes never fighting alone at all. He goes solo for a while in the second half of the next to last mission, and he goes solo in the last third of the final mission. I like Ray, but he was either lying, or misremembered really hard. I might try Specialist difficulty later on, but not now.
This difficulty walkthrough for you. On Specialist, and all in a playlist.
It was fun ride. Raycevick spoke bullshit about Reyes never fighting alone at all. He goes solo for a while in the second half of the next to last mission, and he goes solo in the last third of the final mission. I like Ray, but he was either lying, or misremembered really hard. I might try Specialist difficulty later on, but not now.
This difficulty walkthrough for you. On Specialist, and all in a playlist.
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Glad you liked it, it is one of those I have really been meaning to replay. As much as I enjoyed it, I only played through it once and I really should again.
Was on vacation (The Canadian province of British of Columbia is very lovely and is a great place to "touch grass," as the kids say), which involved a 5 hour flight each way, plus I generally wake up like 2 hours before my wife which leaves me free solo time in the morning. Brought my ROG Ally and played some stuff:
Turnip Boys Robs a Bank
This sequel changes style from the previous' RPG-like to a roguelite. But as these games are so short and simple it kind of feels silly to call them genres. In this one you get a time limit as you go around exploring rooms and powering up. It's as silly as the Tax Evasion game, and I like it the same. I was able to beat the game with all achievements in ~10 hours of play time.
Summer Games Fest demos:
1- Dead As Disco
Brawler type fighting game (kind of Arkham-y meets Sifu style) where you get boosts from hitting the beat of the song playing. Basically if you like the aesthetic and button mashing violence you can't go wrong.
2- Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
A new side-scrolling spin-off game of the old Ninja Gaiden series which seems to be really pushing for a revival of sorts these days, with varying remakes and sequels and whatnot coming out (it's like their publisher saw everyone going ga-ga over all the Sekiro-likes and are like "hey what about us?!"). Well I never liked these games personally as much as I liked the idea of them so I checked this one out and I really liked it for the first hour or so. The action is smooth and it adds a couple of clever quirks to the standard action platformer style, specifically this move were you can jump off of any attack or projectile if you time it right. The game thus encourages you to string together slick sequences where you fight and platform simultaneously.
Unfortunately it then did that Ninja Gaiden thing where "challege" gives way to "bullshit" and they wanted me to do those timed jumps but like 20 of them, so it ran up against the limit of the controls, and I rage quit before finishing the demo. But it is a very meaty demo, I got through like 2 or 3 mini-levels by that point.
I feel there was a third one but I can't remember so I guess it wasn't important...
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo
This game caught my eye during last year's summer games festivities so now I'm (still) playing the full game.
It is a 2D indy style, inspired by the Game Boy Advanced aesthetic. The demo showcased the setting and the movement/combat/yo-yo, so I didn't realize this would be more of a metroidvania/Zelda-like. I mean the whole game really is going from screen to screen solving environment puzzles. You have to get across, but there's a gap, but your yo-yo lets you grab a thing, and if you figure out how to get around an obstacle, you can get across, etc, that kind of thing.
It's generally very good and I'm impressed how many variations they do on a couple of things. I kind of like that your only weapon and tool is the yo-yo and every additional power-up or skill is just something else you can do with the yo-yo.
I also like the aesthetic and humor, though that might not fly with everyone.
I'm towards the end of the main story part but I am trying to find as much side stuff and extra as I can, which I suspect is actually most of the game content. I think I'll even resort to walkthroughs and such to help me find everything.
It also has good difficulty options- foregoing "easy/medium/hard" and just letting you change specific things like enemy damage.
Most likely will be my GOTY since I didn't like Clair Obscure, not buying a Switch 2, and won't be able to play Yotei until it comes out on PC in a couple of years.
Turnip Boys Robs a Bank
This sequel changes style from the previous' RPG-like to a roguelite. But as these games are so short and simple it kind of feels silly to call them genres. In this one you get a time limit as you go around exploring rooms and powering up. It's as silly as the Tax Evasion game, and I like it the same. I was able to beat the game with all achievements in ~10 hours of play time.
Summer Games Fest demos:
1- Dead As Disco
Brawler type fighting game (kind of Arkham-y meets Sifu style) where you get boosts from hitting the beat of the song playing. Basically if you like the aesthetic and button mashing violence you can't go wrong.
2- Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
A new side-scrolling spin-off game of the old Ninja Gaiden series which seems to be really pushing for a revival of sorts these days, with varying remakes and sequels and whatnot coming out (it's like their publisher saw everyone going ga-ga over all the Sekiro-likes and are like "hey what about us?!"). Well I never liked these games personally as much as I liked the idea of them so I checked this one out and I really liked it for the first hour or so. The action is smooth and it adds a couple of clever quirks to the standard action platformer style, specifically this move were you can jump off of any attack or projectile if you time it right. The game thus encourages you to string together slick sequences where you fight and platform simultaneously.
Unfortunately it then did that Ninja Gaiden thing where "challege" gives way to "bullshit" and they wanted me to do those timed jumps but like 20 of them, so it ran up against the limit of the controls, and I rage quit before finishing the demo. But it is a very meaty demo, I got through like 2 or 3 mini-levels by that point.
I feel there was a third one but I can't remember so I guess it wasn't important...
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo
This game caught my eye during last year's summer games festivities so now I'm (still) playing the full game.
It is a 2D indy style, inspired by the Game Boy Advanced aesthetic. The demo showcased the setting and the movement/combat/yo-yo, so I didn't realize this would be more of a metroidvania/Zelda-like. I mean the whole game really is going from screen to screen solving environment puzzles. You have to get across, but there's a gap, but your yo-yo lets you grab a thing, and if you figure out how to get around an obstacle, you can get across, etc, that kind of thing.
It's generally very good and I'm impressed how many variations they do on a couple of things. I kind of like that your only weapon and tool is the yo-yo and every additional power-up or skill is just something else you can do with the yo-yo.
I also like the aesthetic and humor, though that might not fly with everyone.
I'm towards the end of the main story part but I am trying to find as much side stuff and extra as I can, which I suspect is actually most of the game content. I think I'll even resort to walkthroughs and such to help me find everything.
It also has good difficulty options- foregoing "easy/medium/hard" and just letting you change specific things like enemy damage.
Most likely will be my GOTY since I didn't like Clair Obscure, not buying a Switch 2, and won't be able to play Yotei until it comes out on PC in a couple of years.
Last edited:
People in their 20-30s say it too, but I appreciate the effort. Glad you had a wonderful vacation.
My laptop can't handle the game, even at the lowest settings. So sadly, I have to wait for this game to actually hit consoles.
I will wait on Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and Ninja Gaiden 4.
@Worgen, how do you feel about Call of Duty (2017): World War II?
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
It annoyed me, it plays really really well, like it feels so good to play, but I'm really burned out on WW2 stuff and its plot was very ww2 action propaganda movie to me. Which can be fun, but since I'm so burned out on it, it just annoyed me. I didn't get around to beating it, but it did the expected WW2 events, Normandy, French resistance, taking out AA, then using it to shoot down enemy aircraft. But, if you are in the mood for WW2, it feels really good to play.
Okay then. GameStop still has the buy two, get one free, so I might pick that up, along with Advanced Warfare, since they got them on the cheap. I admit, I mainly getting WW2 because it has an honest to God health meter, and the Nazi Zombies mode is super fun.
@Worgen, I got both Advanced Warfare and WW2. The buy two, get one free ended yesterday, but both games are at the same price for $9.99.
Installing AW right now.
Update: AW won't install properly and keeps giving me an error, even though I am installing on a 1TB drive with an abundance of space. So I returned the game. I will pick up a copy from somewhere else. WW2 installed fine.
Update: AW won't install properly and keeps giving me an error, even though I am installing on a 1TB drive with an abundance of space. So I returned the game. I will pick up a copy from somewhere else. WW2 installed fine.
Last edited:
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Nice, I enjoyed Advanced Warfare, its another of those that is close to brilliant but flawed. The set pieces are quite cool, but the narrative could have used another pass to be really great, as it is, its fine.
You've might have missed my update, but I had to return the game. I might just get a new copy on Amazon or something, or find a used in a much better condition.
I am playing WW2 right now.
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
My laptop won't be able to handle the game, and I prefer playing COD on consoles. I decided to order a copy on Amazon. I paid $12, and it should be in by Tuesday.
WW2 is fun so far with the main campaign. I know the campaign has about
EDIT: I can't get Nazi Zombies to work locally, so fuck it; back to the campaign.
Last edited:
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Yeah, my main take away is that it plays really really well, and cod is a series that plays well, but WW2 comes out ahead even there. I'm just sick of ww2.
- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Been playing FF13 and I got the Crysis triple pack so playing Crysis 1.
FF13 is pretty good, but holy crap does it make a bad impression. The beginning of the game is really bad, lots of jargon and things happening with no explanation, characters who do stuff without explaining and long straight paths. After you get a bit in, things greatly improve, but you do want to read the datalog since so much of the game is poorly explained and uses generic terms for things, like the "governments" name is "the sanctum" not out of place in a FF game but just stacks to make things take longer to comprehend. So far its a good story, poorly told.
It feels good coming back to Crysis, the first was kinda rough but did a lot of interesting things and the way the introduce the alien threat is pretty good. I just got past the tank level and the mountain is starting to crumble so I'm over half way there, if I remember right. Game also looks quite good, especially with the extra graphical flair the rerelease added. Doesn't seem like it includes the dlc for some reason, but the pack has all 3 Crysis games. Looking forward to finally really playing 2 an 3, despite them being more... consoly.
FF13 is pretty good, but holy crap does it make a bad impression. The beginning of the game is really bad, lots of jargon and things happening with no explanation, characters who do stuff without explaining and long straight paths. After you get a bit in, things greatly improve, but you do want to read the datalog since so much of the game is poorly explained and uses generic terms for things, like the "governments" name is "the sanctum" not out of place in a FF game but just stacks to make things take longer to comprehend. So far its a good story, poorly told.
It feels good coming back to Crysis, the first was kinda rough but did a lot of interesting things and the way the introduce the alien threat is pretty good. I just got past the tank level and the mountain is starting to crumble so I'm over half way there, if I remember right. Game also looks quite good, especially with the extra graphical flair the rerelease added. Doesn't seem like it includes the dlc for some reason, but the pack has all 3 Crysis games. Looking forward to finally really playing 2 an 3, despite them being more... consoly.