What are you currently playing?

[Drathnoxis]

Still playing Warframe on the regular.


I did finish out the FF7 Remake. While definitely not really a champion of the original to begin with, I would give its initial chapter a lot of praise for atmosphere and pacing, the latter of which is usually horribly off in JRPGs.

The remake, I struggle to think of what value its adds in the end. And it definitely does a lot of that at the expense of those qualities. Shoving 10-12 hours of optional sidequests (most of which are pretty dull grindfests tbh) definitely kills your pacing. Another big one is that they predominantly stick these in during the daytime. Original Midgar had little or no daytime at all, which contributed superbly to the dystopian atmosphere (and also set up the end chapter climax when they escape in the sudden daylight, which the remake tries to do about two chapters early and it doesn't work because daylight has been commonplace).

All this talk of FF7R is really making me struggle against going back and replaying the original again. I really shouldn't because I have an ever growing backlog of games to play.

Speaking of, I started Xenoblade Chronicles and was immediately bored. The story is kind of weird and hasn't grabbed me. "In the beginning there was nothing but ocean, until two titans suddenly appeared complete with magic swords and fought for a couple minutes before dying." Then the real game starts and utterly dull NPCs start loading me up with fetch quests and I just want to stop playing.

 

[Dalisclock]

Started Playing Ori and the Blind Forest(Definitive Edition). Only played about 90ish minutes of the game but so far am digging it. The artwork is amazing and I thought Hollow Knight had beautiful artwork. The enemies don't seem particularly difficult so far but some of the platforming is tricky(especially in black root burrows, which is really dark until most of it is cleared).

Currently stuck a bit at the moment. I got the Wall Jump, wandered into the black root burrows and got the dash and now I don't know where to go next. I feel like I'm missing something but all the unexplored roots either require some ability I don't have yet. There's also a door I can't open yet due to lacking a key, so maybe I need to go find that. I'm no stranger to metriovanias so I know it's just a matter of finding a path I can traverse with my abilites, because there's always a path forward somewhere, if not mutiple. I'm just not sure where it is.

Update: Okay, so I figured out where I was supposed to be going and did the Ginso Tree and oh boy that was something. It was well done but I was getting severe flashbacks from Celeste during that escape run. When this game came out I saw "Oh, it looks very pretty" and "Huh, it's a metriodvania", not "Some of the platforming is really, really difficult". Celeste was famous for being difficult(with the option to scale down the difficult as needed) but somehow I missed the memo that Ori was like that.

And I thought I was walking into something significantly easier then Hollow Knight.

 

[EscapeGoat]

I've been spending a bit of time plodding through Fallout 4. I'm on my third or fourth try of the game, and this time is the one where I've made some real headway on the actual game. I've put the main plot to one side for a little while though while I help Nick out with what seems to be a huge fetchquest to get a bunch of holotapes. It's definitely a bit of a grind, and I find that I've not been able to play it for much more than short hour or so sessions at a time, which is just about enough time to do a bit of exploring and a sort out a dungeon or two.

 

[BrawlMan]

Got back in to Wipeout Omega Collection. Still the best racing game on a Sony console. Not that there is much competition.

 

[Hawki]

So, coming off the likes of Resident Evil 3 (and I guess Resistance), I've started playing Resident Evil: Revelations.

Thoughts so far are as follows:

-Really not fond of the episodic structure - RE's usually been better as a continuous experience with an interconnected game-space. I get why it exists, since this was a game that was meant to be played on the go, but it's not conducive for playing hours at a time.

-God, I'm missing the over-the-shoulder style of the RE2/3 remakes. The camera's too close to the character, they feel more stiff, I can't change weapons as easily, etc. I know, quality of life improvements have spoiled me, but still, something's better than the other here.

-Am I the only one who looked at the big white things and thought of the necromorphs? Not the dismemberment, but their mouth structure.

-So, maybe this is explained later on, but why would a terrorist group attack a solar-powered city? Who the heck is against solar power (insert joke about oil companies, Republicans, etc.)?

-So, the city was finished in 2004, and would have had construction begin in 1994. Christ, I know RE is effectively its own parallel universe at this point, given how history unfolded after Umbrella collapsed, but wow, they must have it good. Granted, this is a setting that also had rail guns existing in 1998, so...

-I know I'm not the only one to point this out, but is the series obsessed with cruise ships? Gaiden, Dead Aim, and now, Revelations. It's almost as bad as how if you're a helicopter pilot in this setting, you're pretty much guaranteed to die.

-Why yes O'Brian, you send Jill and Parker just wandering down a beach, interacting with viral samples without wearing any protective gear, and casually watch as blobs of meat attack them. Yep. You do that.

-On a related note, the dialogue is pretty clunky. Not RE1 clunky, but still, clunky. Again, the remakes have spoiled me.

So, yeah. Overall, pretty meh so far.

 

[BrawlMan]

-Am I the only one who looked at the big white things and thought of the necromorphs? Not the dismemberment, but their mouth structure.

I noticed a little bit too.

-So, the city was finished in 2004, and would have had construction begin in 1994. Christ, I know RE is effectively its own parallel universe at this point, given how history unfolded after Umbrella collapsed, but wow, they must have it good. Granted, this is a setting that also had rail guns existing in 1998, so...

Because Capcom has no idea what they're doing and just throwing darts at what works. Hence why I tend ignore Revelations 1 & that minor part in the good ending for Revelations 2

-I know I'm not the only one to point this out, but is the series obsessed with cruise ships? Gaiden, Dead Aim, and now, Revelations. It's almost as bad as how if you're a helicopter pilot in this setting, you're pretty much guaranteed to die.

2 gaiden games and a non-canon GBC gaiden game hardly count as obsessed. Especially when taking all of the mainline games in to account. The RE series is more obsessed with labs, mansions, and harborsdocks/ports than cruise ships.

I will say this, Revelations seemed to take some ideas from Cold Fear. A game that was the first RE4 clone ironically enough. The difference being, that you're on a tanker instead of a cruise ship. I will give Cold Fear this, it does more with the being trapped on a ship premise than Revelations 1. There are plenty of environmental hazards inside and outside of the ship that can cause as much harm to the enemies as much as the player.

So, yeah. Overall, pretty meh so far.

Revelations 1 & 2 (to a lesser extent) were apology games to RE6. Rev1 was this weird in-between of action and horror that only some time worked. Rev2 pulls it off a lot better. Though Rev2's influences were The Evil Within 1 (look at the enemies design and compare them to the Haunted), Saw, and Last Of Us (Barry and Natalia's sections). Also, Shinji Mikami worked on the level design for one of the stages in Rev2. The Evil Within elements shows up in the plot and characters too, if you're familiar or remember the story for both games.

 

[FennecZephyr]

Mostly bouncing between Animal Crossing, FF7R and Grim Dawn at the moment.

I've been wanting to do FF7 more, but I've been lacking a lot of time lately with my final semester of school.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Just beat the Twin Princes in Dark Souls 3. Now I have all five Lord Souls so guessing by SoulsBorne standards the end is nigh. But then there’s the DLC too. In any case, I made a USB backup save for safe measure.

 

[laggyteabag]

Finally finished Divinity Original Sin 2, after somewhere around 150 hours.

I feel like it has kind of set the bar for RPGs for me - at least in terms of gameplay. It is just how interactive your items and abilities are, with the rest of the world. The teleport ability and teleportation pyramids are absolute standouts, and their usability both in and out of combat is just commendable.

Honestly, it was so much fun, that I just want to run through it again.

In terms of the story, it was suitably fun. I enjoyed the characters and the world, even if I did find the last "level" to be comparatively weak compared to the rest of the game - and the epilogue slideshow thing was pretty poor.

But yeah, Divinity Original Sin 2 was probably one of the best games I have played in a while, and im super excited to play Larian's Baldur's Gate 3.

---------

Other than that, I have decided to play Killzone Shadow Fall, and whilst Divinity 2 ended up being one of the best games that I have played in a while, Killzone has just proven to be one of the worst.

There is just so much wrong with it.

The most aggregious is the framerate. By default, it is set at an unlocked FPS. There is an option to lock it to 30FPS, not that there is much point though, as the game can barely even reach that target. Doing literally *anything* other than staring into a corner, and you are getting sub 30FPS, and it just feels DREADFUL. And this is on a PS4 Pro.

The game's levels have a lot of verticality, but you cannot look directly down. This makes you feel less like you are controlling a person, and more like you are controlling some kind of tank.

Like Star Wars Republic Commando, you will always carry this special assault rifle that can change modes, as one of your two weapons. Unlike Republic Commando, this gun is terrible. You can fire 24 "bullets", or 2 shots from the railgun before reloading, and when you flip up the railgun scope, the magnification doesnt change - it just has a really obtuse surrounding, which makes it harder to aim. The ADS reticle on this gun is also light blue, so when you are looking at any bright surface, you cant see what you are aiming at.

The game use's the PS4's touchpad like a secondary DPAD, which is used to control your drone's ability. This is nice in concept, but in reality, because I have big hands, whenever I am pushing the analogue sticks up (ie, most of the time), I end up thumbing the touch pad, and swapping my drone's abilities ALL THE TIME. I cant quite tell if this is the fault of the PS4's controller, or the game for using it this way. Maybe both. Probably both.

When using a zipwire (this happens a lot), your weapon will change to your rifle/railgun thingy, for no apparent reason

The sound mixing is all off. Gunfire, ambient noise, and voice, all appear to play at the same volume, so important story beats are just being drowned out by... well, everything else. I have no idea what is going on in the story, though from what I understand of the game's premise, it doesnt seem like im missing much.

In the end, I spent £3 on this game. This shitty, shitty game. At least I have something to play when im drunk.

 

[Chimpzy]

Well, my copy of Trials of Mana remake arrived in the mail yesterday, so I'll be playing that for a spell. Finished the demo and had a good time. Seems like it'll be a charming light-hearted romp and a bit of throwback to a simpler age of action jrpgs. And that's fine. Voice acting is kind of hokey tho, which I suppose is kind of apt.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

---------

Other than that, I have decided to play Killzone Shadow Fall, and whilst Divinity 2 ended up being one of the best games that I have played in a while, Killzone has just proven to be one of the worst.

There is just so much wrong with it.

The most aggregious is the framerate. By default, it is set at an unlocked FPS. There is an option to lock it to 30FPS, not that there is much point though, as the game can barely even reach that target. Doing literally *anything* other than staring into a corner, and you are getting sub 30FPS, and it just feels DREADFUL. And this is on a PS4 Pro.

The game's levels have a lot of verticality, but you cannot look directly down. This makes you feel less like you are controlling a person, and more like you are controlling some kind of tank.

Like Star Wars Republic Commando, you will always carry this special assault rifle that can change modes, as one of your two weapons. Unlike Republic Commando, this gun is terrible. You can fire 24 "bullets", or 2 shots from the railgun before reloading, and when you flip up the railgun scope, the magnification doesnt change - it just has a really obtuse surrounding, which makes it harder to aim. The ADS reticle on this gun is also light blue, so when you are looking at any bright surface, you cant see what you are aiming at.

The game use's the PS4's touchpad like a secondary DPAD, which is used to control your drone's ability. This is nice in concept, but in reality, because I have big hands, whenever I am pushing the analogue sticks up (ie, most of the time), I end up thumbing the touch pad, and swapping my drone's abilities ALL THE TIME. I cant quite tell if this is the fault of the PS4's controller, or the game for using it this way. Maybe both. Probably both.

When using a zipwire (this happens a lot), your weapon will change to your rifle/railgun thingy, for no apparent reason

The sound mixing is all off. Gunfire, ambient noise, and voice, all appear to play at the same volume, so important story beats are just being drowned out by... well, everything else. I have no idea what is going on in the story, though from what I understand of the game's premise, it doesnt seem like im missing much.

In the end, I spent £3 on this game. This shitty, shitty game. At least I have something to play when im drunk.

For what it’s worth

Although yes, this was by far the worst Killzone game I’ve played other than the original, but even that had better design concepts going for it at times.

Does the DS4 cause issues with other games for you too like shooters in general, or is it just the control scheme for Shadow Fall?

 

[laggyteabag]

For what it’s worth

Although yes, this was by far the worst Killzone game I’ve played other than the original, but even that had better design concepts going for it at times.

Does the DS4 cause issues with other games for you too like shooters in general, or is it just the control scheme for Shadow Fall?

Thats super strange, because it just feels super choppy to play. Maybe its bad frame-pacing?

Ive got it on the 30FPS lock, but it feels terrible. Im used to playing shooters and other games at 30, but nothing has ever felt this bad.

Otherwise, I dont really play all that many games using the DS4, as its not really my controller of choice. But when I have played games using it, ive never really had the same problem - but that being said, very few games actually use the touch-pad as a touch-pad. Having played Spider-Man PS4 recently, its just used as another button when you press it in. This is really the first game that I have played where the touch-pad is actively involved in the core gameplay loop, which is probably why this is the first time that I have encountered such a problem.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Thats super strange, because it just feels super choppy to play. Maybe its bad frame-pacing?

Ive got it on the 30FPS lock, but it feels terrible. Im used to playing shooters and other games at 30, but nothing has ever felt this bad.

Otherwise, I dont really play all that many games using the DS4, as its not really my controller of choice. But when I have played games using it, ive never really had the same problem - but that being said, very few games actually use the touch-pad as a touch-pad. Having played Spider-Man PS4 recently, its just used as another button when you press it in. This is really the first game that I have played where the touch-pad is actively involved in the core gameplay loop, which is probably why this is the first time that I have encountered such a problem.

Curious about this but I don’t have the game anymore, and I also only played on base PS4. It could be something to do with triple buffering or whatever they use to prevent screen tearing which can cause some lag or sluggishness.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Well, my copy of Trials of Mana remake arrived in the mail yesterday, so I'll be playing that for a spell. Finished the demo and had a good time. Seems like it'll be a charming light-hearted romp and a bit of throwback to a simpler age of action jrpgs. And that's fine. Voice acting is kind of hokey tho, which I suppose is kind of apt.

I'd like to know what you think of the full game. Because I played the demo and I hated it.

I hated the voice acting, i hated the fact that the animations don't match the dialog at all, I hated the story they are setting up. Except I really liked the gameplay and battle system. I think the combat is fun and great, I just don't know if I can tolerate the crap that is the foundation of a JRPG, being the story and a badly acted badly told story at that.

 

[Dalisclock]

Well, my copy of Trials of Mana remake arrived in the mail yesterday, so I'll be playing that for a spell. Finished the demo and had a good time. Seems like it'll be a charming light-hearted romp and a bit of throwback to a simpler age of action jrpgs. And that's fine. Voice acting is kind of hokey tho, which I suppose is kind of apt.

I played an emulated, fan translated version of the original years ago and dug it a lot. I never finished it though and was stoked to hear it was getting a modern re-release. I do plan on picking it up in the near future.

Speaking of which, does Kevin talk like a normal person in this one? Because in the fan translation he talked like he had some form of brain damage and it was never really explained because nobody else in the game(not even the other beastmen) talked like that.

 

[Chimpzy]

Speaking of which, does Kevin talk like a normal person in this one? Because in the fan translation he talked like he had some form of brain damage and it was never really explained because nobody else in the game(not even the other beastmen) talked like that.

No, he speaks normally. It's Charlotte in this version. She has that annoying Elmer Fudd-like speech pattern where R's and L's are pronounced as W's i.e. she tawks wike this, fow the whowe game.

I hated the voice acting, i hated the fact that the animations don't match the dialog at all, I hated the story they are setting up. Except I really liked the gameplay and battle system. I think the combat is fun and great, I just don't know if I can tolerate the crap that is the foundation of a JRPG, being the story and a badly acted badly told story at that.

Sure, I'll let you know. Might take a while, since I'm guessing it's about 20-30 hours long like the original. I agree on the voice acting tho. It's awkward and stilted. Has a bit of a late 90's/early 00's feel to it. And yes, I rolled my eyes at several of the story beats. Then again, I'm in it for the battle system, which like you said is quite fun.

 

[Dalisclock]

No, he speaks normally. It's Charlotte in this version. She has that annoying Elmer Fudd-like speech pattern where R's and L's are pronounced as W's i.e. she tawks wike this, fow the whowe game.

Oh my god, that sounds even worse.

It sounds like she's gonna edge out Tidus from FFX as the most obnoxious voice acting I can think of.

 

[SupahEwok]

No, he speaks normally. It's Charlotte in this version. She has that annoying Elmer Fudd-like speech pattern where R's and L's are pronounced as W's i.e. she tawks wike this, fow the whowe game.

Alas, rhotacism. The curse of our age.

Back in the old days, we knew what to do about such developmental rejects: bash their skulls in and leave the bodies for the coyotes.

 

[Agema]

I've mostly been playing Panzer Corps 2 recently. It's technically a strategy game, but almost feels a bit more like a puzzle game. I've also checked out Stoneshard, an early release sort of Rogue-like, which looks promising - it's pretty tough and slow.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Finally finished Divinity Original Sin 2, after somewhere around 150 hours.

I feel like it has kind of set the bar for RPGs for me - at least in terms of gameplay. It is just how interactive your items and abilities are, with the rest of the world. The teleport ability and teleportation pyramids are absolute standouts, and their usability both in and out of combat is just commendable.

Honestly, it was so much fun, that I just want to run through it again.

In terms of the story, it was suitably fun. I enjoyed the characters and the world, even if I did find the last "level" to be comparatively weak compared to the rest of the game - and the epilogue slideshow thing was pretty poor.

But yeah, Divinity Original Sin 2 was probably one of the best games I have played in a while, and im super excited to play Larian's Baldur's Gate 3.

I just started playing Divinity 2 and playing with a bunch of mods. There's this Divinity Unleashed mod that changes how armor works where it's basically damage reduction and refills every turn so you can play mixed damage parties and be able to CC without reducing armor. I also have a Tactician mod that pretty much just keeps the better AI and not the stat buffs because the extra armor/vitality would cause battles to last forever with the Divinity Unleashed mod.