What are you currently playing?

[happyninja42]

Aside from a lack of writing chops, there’s still likely a cultural barrier of sorts where things get lost in translation too which compounds the combobulation.

I also liked the original Infamous best, and recall there being a character redesign for the sequel that had everyone (justifiably) up in arms. They backtracked but it always made me wonder if the one they settled on was some kind of compromise. I think they went bigger with Infamous 2 but it didn’t feel as cohesive technically or artistically as the first game. The vampire dlc (Festival of Blood IIRC?) was one of my favorite pieces of extra content back in the PS3 days though. It was just long enough and put such a cool twist on the formula.

I don't recall an uproar about inFamous 2? Do they just mean the textures on his skin or whatnot? If so...pssh. Yes inFamous 1 is my favorite as well, but I really enjoyed 2 a lot. It had one of the greatest endings I've personally ever played, as far as emotional impact. Plus, the way they took your sidekick from the first one, and actually made him the heart and soul of the story, was just priceless. I also liked how they had that 2nd act reveal that made your two other big powers do a role reversal, and how that felt entirely genuine and real to me. How the chaos girl would be like "yeah sure I don't like the government, but I'm not killing the entire planet!" and the cop, crippled by personal fear, goes to the dark side as a result. It just felt so well done.

If people are going to disregard all that good story content, and writing, because "urgmagurd Cole's nose textures are differents!!" then, well, I don't know what to say to that.

 

[BrawlMan]

I played a couple more rounds of Strive. I love unique feature of being able to save your progress in Survival mode after every 10 stages. I getting used to using Roman cancels in my combos. I do have heavy preference with Giovanna for now, but I am experimenting with other characters. I'll try some online play either tomorrow evening or later this week. I will buy the Season Pass later today.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I got myself a PS5, and I'm breaking it in by revisiting some older PS4 games first to see those upgrades. I played some TLoU2 and that game cetainly got a nice spit shine. The 60fps is already great, but the visuals got sharpend up significantly as well. I can't say this game was visually that appealing to me when playing it on the PS4, recognizing the technical wizardry but always seeming like I was watching it through a screen door. But now on the PS5 things actually look really damn nice, and I'm finding myself routinely gasping at what I'm seeing on screen.

I also played some Spider-Man Remastered cuz ray tracing I guess. It is neat to see even the tiniest objects, like a watercooler, reflect your character and the surroundings. Had a couple of glitches on this thing though, one console freeze and one time the backpacks had apparently sunk into the buildings.

Don't know how much a fan I am of the Dual Sense controller. First thing I did was turn down the vibration intensity, as playing Astro's Playroom made it feel like my hands were getting assualted by dozens of obnoxious, pointy fingers.

Also no optical port, meaning no way of getting my surround sound to work anymore unless I apparently spend over a hundred bucks on a mixamp. I can still hook it up to me TV to atleast get some nice bass, but yeah... nice one Sony.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I don't recall an uproar about inFamous 2? Do they just mean the textures on his skin or whatnot? If so...pssh. Yes inFamous 1 is my favorite as well, but I really enjoyed 2 a lot. It had one of the greatest endings I've personally ever played, as far as emotional impact. Plus, the way they took your sidekick from the first one, and actually made him the heart and soul of the story, was just priceless. I also liked how they had that 2nd act reveal that made your two other big powers do a role reversal, and how that felt entirely genuine and real to me. How the chaos girl would be like "yeah sure I don't like the government, but I'm not killing the entire planet!" and the cop, crippled by personal fear, goes to the dark side as a result. It just felt so well done.

If people are going to disregard all that good story content, and writing, because "urgmagurd Cole's nose textures are differents!!" then, well, I don't know what to say to that.

It started with this -

From the wiki:

When designing Infamous 2, Sucker Punch decided to look at everything that could be improved, saying "everything was on the table".[16] Due to negative feedback from fans, they redesigned the main character, Cole.[18] Cole initially underwent many changes, to the extent of making him look like a different character.[17][19] However, after being "taken aback by the uproar of fan support for the original Cole,"[20] Sucker Punch combined elements of the original with the new design.[20] Some of Cole's clothing was changed to suit the new setting of the game. Eric Ladin was also brought in to replace Jason Cottle as the voice of Cole because Sucker Punch felt that they needed someone who could perform Cole's physical reactions as well as his voice with the use of their new motion capturetechnology.[20][21]

I didn’t realize people were also complaining about how he looked in the original game. Always thought they just straight up changed his character, which would’ve been odd seeing as he’s…still the same character.

 

[gorfias]

I haven't played a normal game much since the kids got me Oculus Quest 2 for Father's Day. I keep hearing that VR is dead. I don't think so. They do need to up their online game by a ton. Tried to play my soon to be Nephew In Law "Arizona Sunshine" last night and we did have server related problems.

Played some Rush this AM:

 

[Dalisclock]

Ace Combat 6: The Fires of Liberation.

Finally finished this. Overall pretty good, though the cutscenes are pretty awful from beginning to end. The last mission is kinda obnoxious and I swear that replayed it more then almost every AC final mission except for Zero's. Also what could be the best mission in the game, the liberation of Gracemeria, is undercut by having to fight a poser in a super plane that dispatches like 20 million drones, all of which fires fucking missiles at you and the plane is cheap AF, getting hit only when the game feels like it and at one point taking 20 fucking missiles in the tailpipe but it doesn't die until.....something triggers and you're allowed to kill it for real. It's basically the pixy fight from zero but far more annoying(which is saying something because Pixy was a mememaster whose plane was literally covered in plot armor, but he Pixy fight was much better set up, in part because it was a one on one duel and partially because you knew Pixy from the start, whereas Pasternak was some dude you meet for the first time in mission 13 just before kill him.)

The fact this game has checkpoints(thank fucking god) is much welcome due to how long some of the missions would be otherwise(and especially in the final mission, where it's super easy to die trying to take down the final cooling unit). Though I do appreciate how most missions give you like an hour or something close to that, so you're rarely under much time pressure. In fact, I got S ranks on most of the missions just by playing AC like I normally do because used to having a lot more time pressure.

On a side note, you know the game dropped the ball on the drama front when Shamrock starts losing it because his wife and kid died during the war and he just found out and literally all I can think of is "Oh my god, stop fucking whining!" I should be sympathetic to this but it feels so fucking hamfisted that I just roll my eyes whenever it comes up during the last two missions. I guess I should be happy he didn't defect to Zany Spanish Terrorists and start reading Posadas.
Seriously, there's a ton of shit in the cutscenes that bug the shit out of me(and the fact the Chandelier is perhaps the most idiotic doomsday weapon in the entire series that I've seen), but I'm gonna leave that alone because likely nobody here really cares much.

Overall, it felt like the a much higher budget interpretation of AC4, including the attempt to show life in occupied territory(though with far worse writing). Some of the missions even map almost directly onto AC4(Intercepting cruise missiles, the Chandelier basically being a bigger version of megalith). Either way, it was worth the play.

 

[happyninja42]

It started with this -

From the wiki:

When designing Infamous 2, Sucker Punch decided to look at everything that could be improved, saying "everything was on the table".[16] Due to negative feedback from fans, they redesigned the main character, Cole.[18] Cole initially underwent many changes, to the extent of making him look like a different character.[17][19] However, after being "taken aback by the uproar of fan support for the original Cole,"[20] Sucker Punch combined elements of the original with the new design.[20] Some of Cole's clothing was changed to suit the new setting of the game. Eric Ladin was also brought in to replace Jason Cottle as the voice of Cole because Sucker Punch felt that they needed someone who could perform Cole's physical reactions as well as his voice with the use of their new motion capturetechnology.[20][21]

I didn’t realize people were also complaining about how he looked in the original game. Always thought they just straight up changed his character, which would’ve been odd seeing as he’s…still the same character.

Huh, I guess that's what you get when you watch the development of something way too freaking early. Still, I don't really care about things like that for the most part. In the time between games...he grew out his hair...and changed his shirt. Ok? I mean, yeah? And? People change hair styles, and change clothes. Just a minor thing to me.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Huh, I guess that's what you get when you watch the development of something way too freaking early. Still, I don't really care about things like that for the most part. In the time between games...he grew out his hair...and changed his shirt. Ok? I mean, yeah? And? People change hair styles, and change clothes. Just a minor thing to me.

Apparently his physical look overall was based on an entirely different person though, because they wanted to use a different VA who could also do motion capture.

I also liked the way Cole moved in the original more personally. He felt more grounded and connected to whatever was underneath his shoes, whereas the sequel he felt kinda floaty and weightless IIRC.

 

[happyninja42]

Apparently his physical look overall was based on an entirely different person though, because they wanted to use a different VA who could also do motion capture.

I also liked the way Cole moved in the original more personally. He felt more grounded and connected to whatever was underneath his shoes, whereas the sequel he felt kinda floaty and weightless IIRC.

I don't really recall any issues either way personally. It still felt like Cole to me. It just felt like his powers had altered and grown, which is exactly what happened. And of course the realistic part of "we've made engine tweaks and changes, so things will be slightly different" on the real world angle. Still, whatever changes they made on the visual design, completely went under my radar, as I didn't care. It didn't bother me, I attributed it to improvements in graphics/resolution like always, and slight model tweaks and alterations. Nothing felt out of place by the final product.

 

[09philj]

Got bored with Pokemon, playing some other things.

Wind Waker sure is a 3D Zelda game. I like the puzzles and the art style and exploring the ocean, but the controls are a bit wonky and the game often demands more precision than they offer.

Mini Metro is brilliant. One simple idea pulled off pretty much flawlessly.

 

[happyninja42]

Plugging away at the plethora of missions in ME: Andromeda. Just, SO many missions and tasks all over the place. Ran into a mission breaking bug, that actually impacts 2 missions on Voeld. A bit of research shows that I'm apparently just going to have to reload prior to the bug, as the solutions presented by players didn't work for me. Namely just DIE to reset the various assets, or leave the planet entirely. I actually haven't done the 2nd option yet, as I went to bed after returning to orbit, so hopefully that will fix it. But, it's annoying since I have to complete that mission, before I can work the other mission. And they're some of the last missions I have left on this planet...for now at least. So it's a tad irksome.

Still enjoying the game. Still think it got way more flak than it deserved, and I think a lot of it is just people with extra salt in their diet, coming off the ending of ME: 3, and being overly critical. I still don't really like the angaran physical design. The way they walk is just weird to me. I get it, they're aliens. But every other alien species in the franchise walks pretty human standard. The angarans don't, and it doesn't look natural, it looks like a human sat down and said "ok let's make a non-human posture/gait for these guys" , but didn't really have good frame of reference for movement based on anatomy. So every scene with them is just kind of uncanny valley. Which...kind of sucks, because they are a major faction in the entire story so far. I really wish there were more aliens than just the kett and angaran, and maybe more will be introduced later. So far though, this brand new galaxy, is pretty sparse in sentient species.

Still, the game itself is perfectly fine, and I'm enjoying it as much as any of the previous titles.

 

[melissa_th]

Far cry 5

 

[Dalisclock]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild-

Finished the final Divine Beast, the Camel. So the desert was kind of interesting, since it gets really hot during the day(as deserts are wont to do) and really cold at night(a lesser known aspect of deserts) so you have to keep cold and hot resistance armor/items on hand. After fucking around somewhat, eventually went to the Yiga Clan hideout and after making a valiant attempt to sneak through/over the totally the narrow totally-not-a-trap canyon then realizing the desert ninjas just spawn in and you have to fight them, before going into a forced metal-gear style sneaky section except not as bad because you can climb the damn walls, I fought their boss. Who is a fucking joke and I guess that's the point. I mean, he acts like a clown and gets crushed by his own hilariously huge metal ball and, that was wierd.

The camel was an interesting puzzle, far more then initially gave it credit for, followed up by an annoying ass version of ganon because he fucking teleports and has lightening because of course he does.

After that, I finished Tarrey town and that was nice. Been working on getting enough cores to get the complete set of Ancient Armor so I can deal with guardians easier, working on the shrines to get enough hearts so I can grab the master sword, working on finishing the last few memories, doing some more exploring across the land, etc. Ended up leaving the yiga hideout and wandering around the damn mountains for like an hour or so just exploring and looking for a shrine and never really finding one(but I did find a massive sword or something like that near the top), but there's a massive symbol on a mountainside with what might be a shrine in the middle but I have no idea what to do with it. But apparently there's not much up there but a tower which I'm gonna do for the same of completion before I go to fight ganon.

I have a bunch of thoughts about the geography of hyrule and how it relates to the rest of the games in the series but I'll save those for another post. I mean, just trying to figure out how it connects to the rest of the series is it's own topic and geography is just a layer on top of that.

 

[laggyteabag]

Im still playing Dragon Age Origins, and I am about at the same point as where I was, when I dropped the game during my previous attempted playthrough - which is to say that I have completed the Dalish Elf questline, and I am just about to complete the Circle of Magi questline.

Playing as a Mage is a lot more fun than my previous Rogue. I've got a pretty decent combo which allows me to immediately wipe about about 50% of a group's health in about 3 seconds. Its pretty fun.

In questioning the point of bring a Rogue along with me, though. In player-controlled hands, they definitely pack a punch, as you are able to directly control where the rogue is standing at all times, for optimum back-stabbing damage. Leaving the character in the hands of the AI, though (I cannot be bothered to take direct control), they're not really that effective - especially compared to me and Morrigan just nailing them with a constant barrage of spells and debuffs. Its not even like their lock-picking ability is particularly useful, because most of the loot found in locked containers is just random trash that is destined to be sold.

Maybe I will toy around with just subbing Leliana for Wynne.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild-

Finished the final Divine Beast, the Camel.

Im still playing Dragon Age Origins

Continuing the theme, for Sekiro, Divine Dragon defeated. Also all mini-bosses defeated, all prayer beads and gourd seeds collected. Now to hunt down the Demon of Hatred before carrying out the Kuro endings.

The dragon took less time than I thought it would. Made an initial attempt the other night, getting a taste of its main form, then got a bit lucky with lightning volleys last night to take it out on a second. I doubt it’ll be that easy with the demon.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Installed and started playing another game that I picked up from the Steam sale: Ghostrunner. As someone who really enjoyed both Mirror's Edge and Katana Zero, a game claiming to be a fusion of the two of them sounded right up my alley, and so far I'm happy to report that it has been. Platforming is intuitive and controllable, combat is fast and fairly varied, and the plot is... well, it's enough to have a goal to move towards other than to find more left arms to chop off. I've beaten the first few missions, and I have no idea how much game there is left ahead of here, but I'm definitely still interested in moving forward.

Barely found any secrets so far, though. Then again, I've never been especially good at that.

 

[happyninja42]

Installed and started playing another game that I picked up from the Steam sale: Ghostrunner. As someone who really enjoyed both Mirror's Edge and Katana Zero, a game claiming to be a fusion of the two of them sounded right up my alley, and so far I'm happy to report that it has been. Platforming is intuitive and controllable, combat is fast and fairly varied, and the plot is... well, it's enough to have a goal to move towards other than to find more left arms to chop off. I've beaten the first few missions, and I have no idea how much game there is left ahead of here, but I'm definitely still interested in moving forward.

Barely found any secrets so far, though. Then again, I've never been especially good at that.

I....fucking...LOVED Ghostrunner. It hit a really specific sweet spot for me.

I like how you compared it to Mirror's Edge and Katana Zero (didn't play that one so no real comparison), but I always said it's like Mirror's Edge and Hotline Miami. Given how fast and lethal everything is, but then you reload instantly right before you fucked up, and go at it again.

I wouldn't sweat the collectables too much, they are mostly just...things. Like random stuff from the old world. So they give you sort of a lens into how the world has changed and evolved, and how old world objects are used now, like as decorations or whatever. The only one I would say you should try and find, are the audio logs, as they do provide context into the world from the viewpoint of the human the Architect was based on, as they're his audio logs pre-collapse.

As to how much game there is....it's not very long. Depending on how good you are at the platforming and combat, you can beat it, without any cheats or clipping exploits, inlike 45minutes? It took me a handful of hours, and that's with many.....many deaths.

But given how much the game costs, I don't really mind it's only a few hours of gameplay for the average player. It doesn't overstay it's welcome, it does what it came to do, and then takes it's ball and goes home. I hope you continue to enjoy it, and I'd like to hear your thoughts when you beat it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Made a few feeble attempts at Demon of Hatred. Probably one of the more hardcore FROM bosses across all their games. What sucks about it is there is no easy way around having to go through at least two thick health bars before getting to use a “trick” in the final phase and gain an advantage. Just…hit and dodge, and bring enough dousing powder . Actually feels more like a SoulsBorne fight but at least it’s snappier with no stamina drain.

 

[happyninja42]

Made a few feeble attempts at Demon of Hatred. Probably one of the more hardcore FROM bosses across all their games. What sucks about it is there is no easy way around having to go through at least two thick health bars before getting to use a “trick” in the final phase and gain an advantage. Just…hit and dodge, and bring enough dousing powder . Actually feels more like a SoulsBorne fight but at least it’s snappier with no stamina drain.

Really? Odd, I found him to be one of the easier enemies to take out. His attack patterns are pretty easy to read, as he's so big and slow, he broadcasts what he's about to do pretty clearly. I didn't even know that if you use the whistle, it stuns him, letting you whip his ass for a bit.

I think I only needed....uh...maybe a dozen attempts to take him down? Now, maybe he's different on ultra NG+27 difficulty or something? *shrugs* On first run through though, as someone who does not like FROM's games, or their overall game design ethos, he didn't seem overly difficult to me.

Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by "easy way" ? You say hit and dodge. What are you looking for? Like, some pattern to just tank all of his stuff with uber parry skills or something?

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Really? Odd, I found him to be one of the easier enemies to take out. His attack patterns are pretty easy to read, as he's so big and slow, he broadcasts what he's about to do pretty clearly. I didn't even know that if you use the whistle, it stuns him, letting you whip his ass for a bit.

I think I only needed....uh...maybe a dozen attempts to take him down? Now, maybe he's different on ultra NG+27 difficulty or something? *shrugs* On first run through though, as someone who does not like FROM's games, or their overall game design ethos, he didn't seem overly difficult to me.

Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by "easy way" ? You say hit and dodge. What are you looking for? Like, some pattern to just tank all of his stuff with uber parry skills or something?

Well I’ve only tried literally three times so far, but yeah he’s pretty tanky himself. Other bosses often had some specific weak point or more effective item/prosthetic to use on them for bigger damage, along with being able to simply outperform them with the parry/strike rhythm, but here it’s just…it kinda reminds me of Vendrick from DS2 (pretty sure he’s under “attrition” in the gamer dictionary).

I’ve read to save the malcontent for the last phase, so haven’t tried that yet either.