What are you currently playing?

[Dalisclock]

Playing The Last Door.

It's an episodic point and click adventure game with a Lovecraft/Machen style plot. Never seen it mentioned or referred to by anybody, and only know of it because it's from the same people that made Blasphemous (basically their only other game). It's pretty good so far, good ambience and some decent scares. They don't overdo the written part which is usually mistake number one for these kinds of games. Puzzles are somewhere between low to mid-range in difficulty and mostly boil to combing each room. You can hold down a button that tells you everything you can interact with, which feels like cheating a bit but I'll take it over pixel hunting.

I've mentioned playing it a couple times in the past but it's a an adventure game so has limited appeal to most people. I'm glad you're enjoying it. There's only 2 "Seasons" but I felt it turned out well. Just don't expect everything to be explained at the end because a lot of things are basically left as mysteries and I'm sure that's intentional.

 

[Dalisclock]

Finally made it to the Lost underworld in Earthbound(being tiny to show how big the area is in comparison is a cool idea I don't think I've seen used anywhere else) and ready to go to the fire fountain. Despite the enemies being a tad tough at times I haven't needed to grind at all and I've unlocked most if not all of the high level gear that isn't random(1/128!) drops and I have more money then I know what to do with at this point. Also, Multi-bottle rockets break bosses clean in half. You're only limited by how many jeff can carry into battle but they can 2-3 hit kill late game bosses.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Finally made it to the Lost underworld in Earthbound(being tiny to show how big the area is in comparison is a cool idea I don't think I've seen used anywhere else) and ready to go to the fire fountain. Despite the enemies being a tad tough at times I haven't needed to grind at all and I've unlocked most if not all of the high level gear that isn't random drops and I have more money then I know what to do with at this point. Also, Multi-bottle rockets break bosses clean in half. You're only limited by how many jeff can carry into battle.

The final boss of Bonk's Adventure kinda does this in reverse; to demonstrate Bonk growing to the same size and eventually larger than the boss, his sprite stays the same, but the background zooms out and the boss's sprite gets smaller.

OT: Just finished the 7th story quest of Arceus, defeating the first major boss in the process. Definitely really enjoying the game and looking forward to seeing where it goes. Also spotted a Pichu once but I failed to catch it, and I haven't seen another one since. I like Pikachu a lot so I'm hoping I can get another one to appear, but the only thing for it is to just keep rolling RNs. Pokemon as usual in that regard.

 

[BrawlMan]

Beat'em up Bundle - I played some Battle Circuit and Armored Warriors.

 

[CriticalGaming]

I have been almost solely focused on Gran Turismo 7 after having my spirit broken by Elden Ring and not wanting to play anything that could remotely resemble a challenge right now. Just driving around various tracks, watching MasterChef on Youtube has been a wonderful way to chill and unwind after work these past few days.

On the 18th another ball buster comes out in the form of that Nioh-like Final Fantasy game. So....yay.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Sekiro platinum achieved. FINALLY.

I did it in a pretty inefficient manner over the course of a while but it got done. The NG+ run was brutal because I only had 5 necklaces which means both version of Owl pummeled my ass into the ground but dammit I finally got my i-frame game so freaking perfect it got done.

And not it's on to Demons Souls. I knew it would be weird to go back to a Dark Souls after Sekior but... yeah, it's so weird. It's so SLOW. I like my parries, and I'm smashing that button way too fast because my fingers are still in Sekiro mode.
But I also used the internet's advice to pick a mage class- and also just for variety after playing tough sword game- and I dunno if it's how Demon's Souls always worked or the fact that it's a shiny new remake but shooting Soul Arrows is so much smoother here than it was in Dark Souls (remastered). I also don't understand how the magic meter works, oh well.

Killed the first boss, after already resorted to walkthroughs, I have no shame. Frankly, I have the worst sense of direction and besides combat, that big difference between Souls games and Sekiro that I'm reminded of is level design/progression. Souls games are mazes, Sekiro games avoid a lot of that fun/misery by letting you jump and grapple.

One of the complaints I read about Demon's Souls is that the boss fights are like "puzzles" not straight fights. I'm actually looking forward to that! I like when a game makes you do something kind of quirky and cool looking to achieve something important.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Sekiro platinum achieved. FINALLY.

I did it in a pretty inefficient manner over the course of a while but it got done. The NG+ run was brutal because I only had 5 necklaces which means both version of Owl pummeled my ass into the ground but dammit I finally got my i-frame game so freaking perfect it got done.

And not it's on to Demons Souls. I knew it would be weird to go back to a Dark Souls after Sekior but... yeah, it's so weird. It's so SLOW. I like my parries, and I'm smashing that button way too fast because my fingers are still in Sekiro mode.
But I also used the internet's advice to pick a mage class- and also just for variety after playing tough sword game- and I dunno if it's how Demon's Souls always worked or the fact that it's a shiny new remake but shooting Soul Arrows is so much smoother here than it was in Dark Souls (remastered). I also don't understand how the magic meter works, oh well.

Killed the first boss, after already resorted to walkthroughs, I have no shame. Frankly, I have the worst sense of direction and besides combat, that big difference between Souls games and Sekiro that I'm reminded of is level design/progression. Souls games are mazes, Sekiro games avoid a lot of that fun/misery by letting you jump and grapple.

One of the complaints I read about Demon's Souls is that the boss fights are like "puzzles" not straight fights. I'm actually looking forward to that! I like when a game makes you do something kind of quirky and cool looking to achieve something important.

If you are trying to platinum Demon's Souls then a walkthrough is basically required because some of the requirements are obscure as fuck.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Sekiro platinum achieved. FINALLY.

I did it in a pretty inefficient manner over the course of a while but it got done. The NG+ run was brutal because I only had 5 necklaces which means both version of Owl pummeled my ass into the ground but dammit I finally got my i-frame game so freaking perfect it got done.

And not it's on to Demons Souls. I knew it would be weird to go back to a Dark Souls after Sekior but... yeah, it's so weird. It's so SLOW. I like my parries, and I'm smashing that button way too fast because my fingers are still in Sekiro mode.
But I also used the internet's advice to pick a mage class- and also just for variety after playing tough sword game- and I dunno if it's how Demon's Souls always worked or the fact that it's a shiny new remake but shooting Soul Arrows is so much smoother here than it was in Dark Souls (remastered). I also don't understand how the magic meter works, oh well.

Killed the first boss, after already resorted to walkthroughs, I have no shame. Frankly, I have the worst sense of direction and besides combat, that big difference between Souls games and Sekiro that I'm reminded of is level design/progression. Souls games are mazes, Sekiro games avoid a lot of that fun/misery by letting you jump and grapple.

One of the complaints I read about Demon's Souls is that the boss fights are like "puzzles" not straight fights. I'm actually looking forward to that! I like when a game makes you do something kind of quirky and cool looking to achieve something important.

Nice. How much grinding did you do for the last few skills? That made up the last three or so nights of my Platinum run lol, and probably at the most efficient spot.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Rent fist. F.I.S.T. forged in shadow torch. Forged in the what now? Doesn't matter! Cute widdle bunny wabbits riding mechs and smashing robots with giant fists. And also steampunk. And Metroid. Vania. It'll do. Better than self harm!

 

[Worgen]

One of the complaints I read about Demon's Souls is that the boss fights are like "puzzles" not straight fights. I'm actually looking forward to that! I like when a game makes you do something kind of quirky and cool looking to achieve something important.

Maybe, but isn't the solution to that puzzle usually "stab them in the ass"?

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

CriticalGaming:
> If you are trying to platinum Demon's Souls then a walkthrough is basically required because some of the requirements are obscure as fuck.

Well I did peak at a platinum guide and it doesn't seem that bad. Certainly less crazy than Sekiro with it's weird endings getting snake fruit or Dark Souls 3 with the whole "wedding" bit.
Demon's Souls completion is this whole world tendency bit but it looks like I can just focus on normal progression of finding and beating bosses up until the very end before dealing with that stuff.

My reason for walkthrough is to just avoid running around in circles getting janked for no reason and especially because sometimes, I just miss a dark corner turn or something.
So I'll explore on my own as much as a I can until I'm lost and frustrated then look it up.

hanselthecaretaker:
> Nice. How much grinding did you do for the last few skills? That made up the last three or so nights of my Platinum run lol, and probably at the most efficient spot.

Oh yeah, quite a bit. I did a bit of grinding in NG+ so that I went into NG++ with the first three branches all leveled up. In NG++ I acquired the temple and master level skill branches.
NG++ was all about getting to Fountainhead to get Lapuz Lazuli and I was going to mix progression and skill grinding, but I could not help myself from taking a speed-victory lap run of annihilating bosses and burning through levels. So yesterday was all about being on Zoom calls while murdering the same two guys in Ashina Chamber a million times.

Worgen:
> Maybe, but isn't the solution to that puzzle usually "stab them in the ass"?

Well like the one boss I beat so far is surrounded by things with shields so you can't just wack him in the ass, you gotta use bombs to kill the shield guys first.

I guess Bed of Chaos in Dark Souls is the most infamous puzzle boss where you gotta do some non-fighting thing that involved understanding the area. As opposed to like Asylum Demon where you just whack 'em in the ass.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Well I did peak at a platinum guide and it doesn't seem that bad. Certainly less crazy than Sekiro with it's weird endings getting snake fruit or Dark Souls 3 with the whole "wedding" bit.
Demon's Souls completion is this whole world tendency bit but it looks like I can just focus on normal progression of finding and beating bosses up until the very end before dealing with that stuff.

There are also qutie a bit of obscure items to get that are just confusing. I beat the whole game and never found a single spell. So I dunno I should probably look up a walkthrough myself tbh someday.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

> I beat the whole game and never found a single spell.
!

Ok, wow, that is weird. I was just assuming it's like Dark Souls where you're gonna find most spells by talking to NPC's and exploring areas a bit, with only a few that require some extra work. I know Demon's Souls, like Dark Souls, has spells available only in NG+.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

> I beat the whole game and never found a single spell.
!

Ok, wow, that is weird. I was just assuming it's like Dark Souls where you're gonna find most spells by talking to NPC's and exploring areas a bit, with only a few that require some extra work. I know Demon's Souls, like Dark Souls, has spells available only in NG+.

Unless the Remake streamlined things a bit, then there’s a few items that can only be attained with Pure White & Pure Black World Tendencies, and getting to those extremes can be pretty hair raising. As in, I myself needed to do it offline to prevent a loss of progress since different events can influence it. Also, I recall it being much easier to get the Pure White stuff first and then go for Black, because coming back from Black could be more grueling.

Another thing, unless they added a QoL on how crystal lizards spawn per game cycle…oh fuck, have fun with that one.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Unless the Remake streamlined things a bit, then there’s a few items that can only be attained with Pure White & Pure Black World Tendencies, and getting to those extremes can be pretty hair raising. As in, I myself needed to do it offline to prevent a loss of progress since different events can influence it. Also, I recall it being much easier to get the Pure White stuff first and then go for Black, because coming back from Black could be more grueling.

Also, unless they changed the rate at which crystal lizards spawn per game cycle…oh fuck, have fun with that one.

The tendancy is rather easy, but the game never explains or even hints at how it happens.

Basically as you beat bosses in a zone, the tedancy shifts to white. But if you die while human the tendancy shifts to black.

The trick is to never be human. After you kill a boss and become full human again, go to the nexus to kill yourself (because death's there do not count). Then continue the level. This will prevent you from ever loosing white tendancy.

Then when you are ready for black, simply use the consumable that turns you human, die, repeat until the tendancy for that world is pure black.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The tendancy is rather easy, but the game never explains or even hints at how it happens.

Basically as you beat bosses in a zone, the tedancy shifts to white. But if you die while human the tendancy shifts to black.

The trick is to never be human. After you kill a boss and become full human again, go to the nexus to kill yourself (because death's there do not count). Then continue the level. This will prevent you from ever loosing white tendancy.

Then when you are ready for black, simply use the consumable that turns you human, die, repeat until the tendancy for that world is pure black.

Yeah I’d already forgotten about repressed that trick.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Unless the Remake streamlined things a bit, then there’s a few items that can only be attained with Pure White & Pure Black World Tendencies, and getting to those extremes can be pretty hair raising. As in, I myself needed to do it offline to prevent a loss of progress since different events can influence it. Also, I recall it being much easier to get the Pure White stuff first and then go for Black, because coming back from Black could be more grueling.

Another thing, unless they added a QoL on how crystal lizards spawn per game cycle…oh fuck, have fun with that one.

Well I have no choice but to do it offline because I don't feel like paying for PS+

But, yeah, there is the pure white/pure black thing as you describe.

I beat my first boss so my next act when I play will be to figure out how to level up then, as @CriticalGaming describes, commit suicide before moving to the 2nd area.
Video games are silly.

 

[gorfias]

Holy Moly. So, if you are already a member of Amazon Prime (which I am: free shipping alone makes it worth it to me) you also get Amazon Games. Well, now I find out they have their own Google Stadium like Application, Luna. Only, you don't have to buy their controller. I just used an Xbox 360 controller on my PC with the Luna App and played streaming. It was great, though, I'm downloading Immortals Fenyx Rising which came with Prime games this month if you use Ubisoft, which I am. Really good so far!

 

[Bartholen]

I recently bought Vampire Survivors for about the price of a bottle of soda. It's perhaps the purest mindless game there has ever been. There's no story, hardly any mechanics, and the controls are literally just the movement keys. The only meaningful mechanic is choosing upgrades, the only challenge is staying alive for as long as possible. And it's so satisying. It has that same visceral lizard brain satisfaction of blowing up 20 enemies with one RPG shot in an FPS, except that's basically the entire gameplay loop. It's still in early access and right now the Garlic is massively overpowered in comparison to everything else, but I've already gotten more than my money's worth out of it. Perfect for zoning out and listening to a podcast.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

In between expeditions in Arceus I wanted to play something that'll keep my edge sharp for when (likely) I pick up Elden Ring, so I started another run at God Hand. Finished the first world on Normal difficulty with mostly LV3 and LV2 KOs with a couple on LVDie, though I accidentally hit Grovel against Elvis and lost the groove. Least I only died 11 times.

Things ramp up a fair bit in world 2, but with the world clear bonus and the first few arena missions unlocked it's possible to buy a lot of things to get strong and handle it. It's not until world 4 in my experience that things start to get really hard again.