What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Finally quit dicking around in the DLC for a bit, and decided to try and complete base game Elden Ring. Godfrey was tough; took me about 5-6 failures before I was able to get something of a read on the openings, but I got him on the 8th-9th attempt. His attacks are bullshit, all those delayed stomps that knock you down that are followed by a second shock before you can even get off the ground, pssh, I call hacks. Anyway, my blood pressure is too high now to have my first go at Radagon and Elden Beast, so I turned the console off. Might give it a go tomorrow with a refreshed tank of rage.
(And for any who might be curious, I just clocked over 300 hundred hours on this ONE playthrough! Yep, been playing ER for +2 years now and still haven't beaten it! Granted, a good chunk of those hours are idle time where the game was on and I was away working, and only playing in 5-10 minute spurts; I'd say actual playtime is probably closer to 250-ish, but still +2 years! Guess that's what you get when your playtime availability is limited to about 1-2 hours a week.
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(And for any who might be curious, I just clocked over 300 hundred hours on this ONE playthrough! Yep, been playing ER for +2 years now and still haven't beaten it! Granted, a good chunk of those hours are idle time where the game was on and I was away working, and only playing in 5-10 minute spurts; I'd say actual playtime is probably closer to 250-ish, but still +2 years! Guess that's what you get when your playtime availability is limited to about 1-2 hours a week.
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After 38 hours, I still have no idea how Red Dead Redemption 2 wants me to handle gunfights. Feels like moving with ball and chain on the character's ankles. I sluggishly proceeded with right mouse button pressed and camera wobbling over the shoulder and then one of Arthur Morgan's partners lightly busted through the other side of the store and immediately shot dead two standing on opposite sides of him. I've played fewer games with more of this disconnect. The evasion options are also shit.
I love Tony Soprano, but the character ruined everything. Far too many antiheroes followed, the majority of their writers not understanding that fine line and just making ugly unlikable assholes.
I love Tony Soprano, but the character ruined everything. Far too many antiheroes followed, the majority of their writers not understanding that fine line and just making ugly unlikable assholes.
Ironic, coming from the guy who has a picture of him as is avatar for over a decade.
That's a load of shit and you know it. Tony didn't "ruin" anything. A bunch no talent or hack writers did that themselves. He nor his creators told other writers' anti-heroes to be exactly like him. Besides, you've been looking in the wrong places again. There are plenty of video game anti-heroes whom act nothing like Tony Soprano. Sounds like a you problem again.
Galaga '88 & '90 - Great classic SHMUP games that surpass Galga and Galxian.
After giving up on getting to Volcano Manor and fighting Rykard for a while because I couldn't figure out how to reach the upper part of West Altus Plateau, I broke and looked at a guide that finally revealed what I'd been missing. Now that I know there's a ladder to climb up the cliff, I can get to Mt Gelnir proper and finally enter Volcano Manor. And since I have that, I've decided I might as well get that done, finally clean up the last of the original list of demigods, before I move on with the Fire Giant fight.
It's unlikely that I'll get around to Mohg or Malenia this playthrough, though.
It's unlikely that I'll get around to Mohg or Malenia this playthrough, though.
I read once that Koji Igarashi, when he was directing Castlevania games, wouldn't allow a designer to add a boss to the game unless they could defeat their own boss without getting hit even once. I think about that a lot. And especially right now, because - not to sound like a whiner - but I would bet any amount that Miyazaki never had such a rule, and neither did any of his underlings independently decide that it might be a good idea.
Rykard is 3D bullet hell, in an engine that really isn't built for it. He can corner trap you where you can't dodge or get out of the lava pool he generates. He can spam two types of projectiles at the same time, and you can barely see either of them. The timing on the skulls is really weird, so either they might wombo combo you or they might not. And if you get his health low enough, he'll start chaining moves together that he never did before on any of the prior 15 attempts and kill you that way.
I'm starting to think that trying to finish this game might not be good for my blood pressure. Not that I'm going to quit when I'm this far into it already, but at the very least I may have to write off ever defeating this boss in particular.
Rykard is 3D bullet hell, in an engine that really isn't built for it. He can corner trap you where you can't dodge or get out of the lava pool he generates. He can spam two types of projectiles at the same time, and you can barely see either of them. The timing on the skulls is really weird, so either they might wombo combo you or they might not. And if you get his health low enough, he'll start chaining moves together that he never did before on any of the prior 15 attempts and kill you that way.
I'm starting to think that trying to finish this game might not be good for my blood pressure. Not that I'm going to quit when I'm this far into it already, but at the very least I may have to write off ever defeating this boss in particular.
Going out on a limb here, but are you using the Serpent Hunter? The big sword standing upright to your left as you enter the arena? Rykard is a gimmick fight, more a test of patience and timing than one of skill.
I did know about it, and I have been using it this entire time. What I didn't realize, until after I'd taken a break, eaten dinner and gone for a walk outside to clear my head, was that it also has a Weapon Art (sue me, I played a lot of DS3 and the name is better than 'Skill'), and that deals a huge amount of damage. Even with my paltry max MP, it was still enough extra damage compared to my best previous runs to get over the line. Still didn't really enjoy the fight that much once the initial spectacle wore off.
I also took down the Fire Giant, in a lot fewer attempts. Investing very slightly in Faith actually made a difference, with a few hits survived by Flame Fortification that might have dropped me otherwise. Also, having learned that for some fights, lock-on is only useful occasionally, and otherwise you're better off manually tracking the enemy and aiming your blows. Not much farther left to go now.
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Lol, the Serpent Hunter's weapon art is the game changer by design. And not sure if you noticed, but for that fight uniquely, its weapon art doesn't consume FP since the gimmick is to use it to win, and it isn't reasonable to expect every player to have invested heavily enough in Mind to carry the whole fight. Anyway, glad you figured it out and didn't give up!I did know about it, and I have been using it this entire time. What I didn't realize, until after I'd taken a break, eaten dinner and gone for a walk outside to clear my head, was that it also has a Weapon Art (sue me, I played a lot of DS3 and the name is better than 'Skill'), and that deals a huge amount of damage. Even with my paltry max MP, it was still enough extra damage compared to my best previous runs to get over the line. Still didn't really enjoy the fight that much once the initial spectacle wore off.
I also took down the Fire Giant, in a lot fewer attempts. Investing very slightly in Faith actually made a difference, with a few hits survived by Flame Fortification that might have dropped me otherwise. Also, having learned that for some fights, lock-on is only useful occasionally, and otherwise you're better off manually tracking the enemy and aiming your blows. Not much farther left to go now.
Now, unfortunately, this is the part where I have to actively root against you. I've been playing ER for +2 years and STILL haven't beaten the base game yet. I'm on the last boss as of yesterday, but given my limited time to play, there's not telling how long it'll take me, and I can't let you beat it before me!
Miyazaki has gone on record stating he sucks at these (his and others in the genre) games, and he likely has someone else directing combat anyways because his primary focus with direction is world design, creature design and lore. That said, there are still YouTubers out there with no-hit runs on every boss including dlc, so it’s *technically* possible. Sax Slave Gael in particular did a Redmane Knight cinematic for the dlc end boss and in the comments said he grew to love the fight after learning it, but initially hated it like most. Not to say that’s the norm though by any stretch, since most don’t play these games to such a degree required to attain that mindset.
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Welp, took my first stab at Elden Ring's final boss just now. Managed Radagon fairly easily, and got the Elden Beast down to near half health on my first try. So it looks promising, but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. I've played too many of these games where a first attempt goes well, then I spend the next 30 attempts shitting the bed while clawing at my own eyes. I think this is a good pace for me, one attempt a day so the anxiety and rage don't spike. Hell it's already been 2 years; what's another several weeks?
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Beat FF7 rebirth. Pretty damn cool despite the fact I have only vague ideas of what happened at the end. So, I did quite like the game, but there is so much faffing about which is torture for a completionist like me. Still didn't get everything done, didn't bother with pirates, or do all the simulator battles and the final protorelic bit is annoyingly unfinished. Yuffie also drags the game down a bit, she takes screen time from interesting characters like Tifa so she can be stupid and annoying. She does have some good scenes and she plays well and is probably the most powerful character, but shes annoying. The stuff with Zack is neat but confusing. Dio needs to join the party or be a summon, hes so fantastic in this game, he is a man of character and if I was as buff as he is I would be posing while talking also.
Some more Demon's Souls classic. It's interesting going back after so long and noticing all these little things I didn't really see before. Like how this is probably the only Fromsoft game where the differences between bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage genuinely makes a huge difference... and this is also the only game that doesn't tell you what damage each weapon deals, you have to infer that from their type, moveset and flavor text. The difference in damage between bludgeoning and slashing weapons against the skeletons in the Storm Shrine is night and day for example. On one hand I like that the game actively pushes you to consider your loadout when heading to new worlds, and on the other I don't like how it basically forces you to use weapon types not suited to your build.
This game's incredibly unbalanced. Due to the basically open from the get go structure, it's incredibly easy to become completely overpowered within like an hour of gameplay, and without even using any kind of hidden tricks or magic. You can farm souls ridiculously easily at the Adjudicator Archstone, and then head out and buy all the weapon upgrades you want at the tunnels. It almost feels like the soul farm was deliberate, because the amount of souls enemies drop is ridiculously lopsided between the different worlds. The leveling curve is also indrecibly steep, with levels costing 10k+ souls before you even hit level 40, so that's another way the soul farm feels intentional. There's also some jank with the shops and prices: Sticky White Stuff costs 5k souls apiece, but you can farm infinite amounts of it with basically zero effort once you've beaten the Old Hero.
And while we're on the jank: world tendency. The most fuck-stupid game mechanic of all time, and has actually gotten worse after the online servers were shut down. Because of how this rat's anus of a mechanic works, a noticeable amount of content in the game is basically inaccessible now for anyone playing the game normally. The only way to get to Pure White world tendency, which opens up several doors, pathways and NPCs, is to defeat every boss of its area without dying in human form. Which means that after defeating every boss, you're basically required to yeet yourself off the top of the Nexus so you never die in human form out in the world. Which is just so fucking dumb. The mechanic is never explained in any way, and even if online messages were still available, they wouldn't be able to do that either. It's a godawful mechanic in its execution, and I'm glad they never brought even a semblance of it to their other games.
This game's incredibly unbalanced. Due to the basically open from the get go structure, it's incredibly easy to become completely overpowered within like an hour of gameplay, and without even using any kind of hidden tricks or magic. You can farm souls ridiculously easily at the Adjudicator Archstone, and then head out and buy all the weapon upgrades you want at the tunnels. It almost feels like the soul farm was deliberate, because the amount of souls enemies drop is ridiculously lopsided between the different worlds. The leveling curve is also indrecibly steep, with levels costing 10k+ souls before you even hit level 40, so that's another way the soul farm feels intentional. There's also some jank with the shops and prices: Sticky White Stuff costs 5k souls apiece, but you can farm infinite amounts of it with basically zero effort once you've beaten the Old Hero.
And while we're on the jank: world tendency. The most fuck-stupid game mechanic of all time, and has actually gotten worse after the online servers were shut down. Because of how this rat's anus of a mechanic works, a noticeable amount of content in the game is basically inaccessible now for anyone playing the game normally. The only way to get to Pure White world tendency, which opens up several doors, pathways and NPCs, is to defeat every boss of its area without dying in human form. Which means that after defeating every boss, you're basically required to yeet yourself off the top of the Nexus so you never die in human form out in the world. Which is just so fucking dumb. The mechanic is never explained in any way, and even if online messages were still available, they wouldn't be able to do that either. It's a godawful mechanic in its execution, and I'm glad they never brought even a semblance of it to their other games.
World tendency and stone farming (and hell, probably those crystal lizards) are the reasons this game is and will always be my most prized platinum back when I still cared about that kinda thing. I was even crazy enough to swear off the Stockpile Thomas duping glitch.
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Well, I've still got all of Farum Azula plus the final three to go, and none of those are easy. By the time I reach Radagon, you'll probably be done already.
Seems like you’ve been ripping through at a good pace, especially beating bosses like Fire Giant with little issue. Having Torrent for the final boss will be a big help too (was only patched in when the dlc launched).
I've also gotten stuck in some weird places (Rykard, Rennala P1, not finding a lot of dungeons) so anything could happen.
sorry we're closed
for some reason thought this was that brexit game about nightclub entrance guard in similar vein to papers plz, but apparently that's called not tonight, which kinda feels like part of the same sentence and may explain the otherwise inexplicable presumption. this is not that. this is, for lack of an elegant word caterpillar alternative *deep breath*: a lesbian punkish london break up story metaphorically and literally told through the subgenre of the old school resident evil/silent hill survival horror games, fixed camera angles, low poly graphics and all. Sprinkled with more of a homely hub populated by colourful (literally n metaphorically...L & M'lly?) NPC neighbours each with their own progressing narratives. The writing is actually kinda good, no VA so is committed to text throughout. has shit to say, in its own special way, gloriously gay, I just wanna stay a whiiiiile with the London lesbians todaaaaay
for some reason thought this was that brexit game about nightclub entrance guard in similar vein to papers plz, but apparently that's called not tonight, which kinda feels like part of the same sentence and may explain the otherwise inexplicable presumption. this is not that. this is, for lack of an elegant word caterpillar alternative *deep breath*: a lesbian punkish london break up story metaphorically and literally told through the subgenre of the old school resident evil/silent hill survival horror games, fixed camera angles, low poly graphics and all. Sprinkled with more of a homely hub populated by colourful (literally n metaphorically...L & M'lly?) NPC neighbours each with their own progressing narratives. The writing is actually kinda good, no VA so is committed to text throughout. has shit to say, in its own special way, gloriously gay, I just wanna stay a whiiiiile with the London lesbians todaaaaay
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I've started replaying FF7. I still wish this game had gotten a proper remaster. I think the pre-rendered backgrounds are still really nice, detailed, and atmospheric, but are so low res that they just kind of look blurry and muddy on a modern screen. It might be better if I had a decent CRT, or was playing it on RetroArch, but I'm not sure my computer is good enough to handle the filters. All I want is the original renders at a higher resolution and maybe some very slightly tweaked models. They probably deleted all that stuff 20 years ago, though.
Edit: actually my one CRT is actually pretty decent still. I have it set up to do a direct comparison now and I'll take some pictures to post once my camera has charged up. The only problem is that one of the capacitors in the TV is making a high pitched whine that is absolute murder on the ears.
Edit: actually my one CRT is actually pretty decent still. I have it set up to do a direct comparison now and I'll take some pictures to post once my camera has charged up. The only problem is that one of the capacitors in the TV is making a high pitched whine that is absolute murder on the ears.
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