What are you currently playing?

[Dalisclock]

More Elden Ring. It'd have been nice if someone told me that Rennala opened up her second phase with a one-shot attack, but I managed to take her down in about three tries.

Also finally nabbed the Hoarfrost Stomp Ash of War, and it's not nearly as good as people have said, at least not for me. I've seen videos of people using it to rock large groups of mobs in a couple stomps, but mine doesn't fan out very far and that's if it comes out at all; there's been several occasions where I'll stomp and nothing happens. Not too mad, though; the Bloodhound Fang is carrying me along nicely and can't use ashes anyway.

The Hoarfrost stomp was apparently Broken as fuck around launch and got nerfed not long after. I'm not sure if the videos you've seen are from around that time or much more recent. I started playing like 3 week after launch and it'd already been nerfed by that point so I suspect not.

 

[Bedinsis]

Playing Zero Time Dilemma. So far it does its best to remind me of the worst parts of the earlier games.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Hoarfrost stomp was apparently Broken as fuck around launch and got nerfed not long after. I'm not sure if the videos you've seen are from around that time or much more recent. I started playing like 3 week after launch and it'd already been nerfed by that point so I suspect not.

Ah, that makes sense; I shoulda guessed it was something like that.

 

[Samtemdo8]

Venturing into the Prince of Persia Trilogy of the PS2 era

Just beaten Sands of Time and currently on Warrior Within.

I'll be honest to this day I've yet to beat the whole trilogy, I've only beaten Sands of Time once and in this case twice.

Now Sands of Time is a good game but holy shit is it repetitive. And the narrative is very sparse I mean vast stretches of this game is the pure gameplay of the repetitive combat and the complex level design of the platforming gameplay. The best way I can say is this game is to this its franchise what Assassin's Creed 1 was to it, but with AC 1 both the gameplay and the narrative are on equal footing, I am more compelled by Altair's journey then I was with the Prince in Sands of Time.

Anyways continung onto Warrior Within which I'll be honest I'm liking a bit better despite some roadblocks that happened to me in my playthrough

 

[Drathnoxis]

Venturing into the Prince of Persia Trilogy of the PS2 era

Just beaten Sands of Time and currently on Warrior Within.

I'll be honest to this day I've yet to beat the whole trilogy, I've only beaten Sands of Time once and in this case twice.

Now Sands of Time is a good game but holy shit is it repetitive. And the narrative is very sparse I mean vast stretches of this game is the pure gameplay of the repetitive combat and the complex level design of the platforming gameplay. The best way I can say is this game is to this its franchise what Assassin's Creed 1 was to it, but with AC 1 both the gameplay and the narrative are on equal footing, I am more compelled by Altair's journey then I was with the Prince in Sands of Time.

Anyways continung onto Warrior Within which I'll be honest I'm liking a bit better despite some roadblocks that happened to me in my playthrough

I played it before and, honestly, I don't get what Yahtzee sees in it. The story didn't grab me at all, but he holds it up as the best love story in gaming ever, or something.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Frostpunk: Played for about an hour. I like it, but it feels very stressful. I've already run out of food and coal at least once and a lot of people are sick now and I'm only 6 days into the default scenario "A New Home". I'm desperately trying to get a coal mine online after getting some hunting lodges up and running for food(and building roads) but I kinda feel like I'm already fucked and won't be ready for the next cold snap. Maybe if I burn enough coal I can reverse this iceball earth thing and warm the earth up again? So this one is on hold for a bit.

I liked Frostpunk well enough when I played it. Only did the one campaign and then watched a no-death speedrun that was completely amazing. I can't remember the game well enough to offer ,many tips though, but I think you've gotta push your guys pretty hard with overtime and stuff. And hunter shacks don't need heat.

My only gripe with WW so far is that the controls feel a bit wonky at times and I'm pretty sure that's because it's trying to emulate the N64 controller using a XBOX gamepad.

Well, obviously. You should try setting it to emulate a Gamecube controller instead, that'll probably work a lot better for this game.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Ah, that makes sense; I shoulda guessed it was something like that.

The other thing is if it’s not spreading frost at all you might’ve just been too low on FP. Certain enemies are also invulnerable to frost and can even counter it if the animation just started.

Having said that it’s generally still considered high damage and pretty damn good for grounded enemies even after the nerf, but no longer busted like some of the others *cough Corpse Piler cough*.

 

[wings012]

My New Year's Resolution of trying to beat Hollow Knight is not going well, as I hit an incredibly frustrating point where I was about to buy the lantern after spending hours accumulating the preposterous amount of currency required to buy it, but made a wrong term somewhere, can't go back to where I came from, and it's dark- which, of course, I can't do anything about because I was just about to buy the lantern! Ugh, I remember why I quit this stupid game before.
I haven't decided if I'm going to go back and try to get out somehow but the combination of literally not being able to see in some areas, not being able to backtrack, and not being able to load previous saves certainly makes me want to quit. I think the popularity of this game is like a giant video game community troll conspiracy against me.

So back to Witcher 3, lol

I do feel Hollow Knight is very well made, but it's also not my thing. It's a bit too unforgiving for my tastes, and there's not too much you can do to 'even the odds' compared to some other -vania games where you might be able to reasonably grind up new gear, levels, skills or whatever. I also hate platforming and the crazy spike jump mazes you need to traverse in HK to get some extra gubbins that MIGHT even the odds for some bossfights are quite nasty.

I feel like the vania type games that have some mechanics for me to figure out and abuse the tits out of to trivialize the game are more my speed. Bloodstained, Dungeon Munchies, Ender Lilies to some extent.

I haven't played Hollow Knight for a while and I doubt I could get back into it since I probably don't remember how to play the game nor where I am in the bloody game anymore.

===

Anyway I tried out High On Life, just because Gamepass. It... really doesn't have much going for it. It plays like a janky 2000s console shooter for most part and having Morty not shut up 24-7 is pretty grating, and most of its jokes come off as completely obnoxious rather than funny at all. I like Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites but this really doesn't work. It's also kinda buggy, and often the map won't load properly so I end up wandering around the map and none of the triggers will activate nor will the enemies spawn so it's just kinda fucked until I reload. But it's kind of hard to tell when the game is 'fucked' since I'm still kinda walking around on some of the more open maps, until I eventually find an empty base, and eventually just terrain that terminates at completely empty space.

I'm kinda just playing it slowly just to justify holding on to my Gamepass, but I might just unsubscribe and stop caring. Or play something else. But some of the Gamepass titles I'm interested in kind of rub me the wrong way - they provide the base game without DLC or the unenhanced game, so it's not like I'm getting the full experience. Instead of purchasing the DLC, I think it's cheaper for me to just wait for a Steam sale and grab like those full package packs. Examples of this include Doom Eternal, Mechwarrior 5, Death Stranding(you get the regular one instead of the Director's Cut which honestly goes for pretty cheap on Steam sales these days....).

Well I did play Persona 5 Royal for mega cheap so I've already more than profited from it even if I haven't really done shit with the past 1-2 months of gamepass subscription.

 

[Dalisclock]

Well, obviously. You should try setting it to emulate a Gamecube controller instead, that'll probably work a lot better for this game.

That...explains a lot.

I feel like a dummy now.

Update: Yeah, I remapped the controls to match my controller and I'm a lot happier now.

Except those stupid little spikey balls in the tree dungeon that stick to you. Fuck those guys, Well, not literally because it would be painful but those little spikey dudes fucking suck.

 

[BrawlMan]

Just beat Shadow Warrior 3! Best of the reboot trilogy. A nice way to end it, if they're not making anymore. I beat the game on Normal and got most of the achievements. Thankfully they're all possible and not super frustrating to obtain. The game does have an explosive finale. There are 11 stages in total, but most are plenty lengthy. Which explains the 6-7 hour mark. I'll list my pros and cons.

Pros:

• High paced weapon switching action and mix of platforming that mostly works.
• Levels are varied, great visuals and coloring, an each one is different.
• Combat arenas are engaging, and I find much better here, than in Doom Eternal. I do love the arenas with the environmental hazards/traps, but you see less of them the further you go. Aside from explosive barrels.
• Wang and the other 3 characters, Zilla, Motoko, and Hoji are hilarious as all hell! I didn't hate a single joke or lampshade hang.
• Weapon upgrades are unique and varied. There are not as many permanent weapons, but you will take weapons/power ups off of an enemy after executing them.

Cons:

• Platforming can be finnicky at times. It usually works, but I've had a couple moments where my grapple hook didn't register to the green ring and fall to my death. Sometimes Wang wouldn't stick to the wall even though was just on it. This didn't happen too often, but it does get annoying.
• There are only two bosses in the entire game. The first boss in the 4th stage, and the final boss in the last stage. The latter is basically a final Contra boss, but in 3D. Not the issue, but both bosses have no checkpoints. Dying means starting them all over again. Why? There is no reason not to have checkpoints in-between phases. Once you get the patterns down, it becomes manageable, but it's no excuse for no checkpoints.
• There are some stuttering issues when loading into cut-scenes. This seems to happen no matter which version you're playing. I don't know why the game does this, but it does not happen too often. Still odd though.

I do recommend you get this game while it is on sale at PSN store. Sale ends this Thursday.

 

[Drathnoxis]

My New Year's Resolution of trying to beat Hollow Knight is not going well, as I hit an incredibly frustrating point where I was about to buy the lantern after spending hours accumulating the preposterous amount of currency required to buy it, but made a wrong term somewhere, can't go back to where I came from, and it's dark- which, of course, I can't do anything about because I was just about to buy the lantern! Ugh, I remember why I quit this stupid game before.
I haven't decided if I'm going to go back and try to get out somehow but the combination of literally not being able to see in some areas, not being able to backtrack, and not being able to load previous saves certainly makes me want to quit. I think the popularity of this game is like a giant video game community troll conspiracy against me.

So back to Witcher 3, lol

There is a thing you can equip to give you a marker on the map. That's not to say the game can't be frustrating, I think the final boss took me like 6 hours of retries to beat.

Anyway I tried out High On Life, just because Gamepass. It... really doesn't have much going for it.

It has like 3 or 4 full-length B-movies in it. So if you ever wanted to watch Tammy and the T-Rex, but with a couple UI elements blocking part of the screen, then there you go. Does that sell you on the game?

 

[BrawlMan]

The story didn't grab me at all, but he holds it up as the best love story in gaming ever, or something.

I don't mind the love story, but Yahtzee definitely over praises the romance. I like both characters, but romance wasn't my greatest memory or moments for this game.

 

[Dalisclock]

It has like 3 or 4 full-length B-movies in it. So if you ever wanted to watch Tammy and the T-Rex, but with a couple UI elements blocking part of the screen, then there you go. Does that sell you on the game?

Is it bad that I know what Tammy and the T Rex is?

Is it worse I know that because I watched it once?

 

[meiam]

Is it bad that I know what Tammy and the T Rex is?

Is it worse I know that because I watched it once?

It's a cult classic of the bad movie genre, fun fact, the only reason it was made was because they had access to the prop T rex and built a movie around it super fast cause it was getting shipped soon. The female lead (who does a strip tease at the end so they could pad the running time) went on to play a scientist in a James Bond. The movie director also directed mac and me.

 

[Dalisclock]

It's a cult classic of the bad movie genre, fun fact, the only reason it was made was because they had access to the prop T rex and built a movie around it super fast cause it was getting shipped soon. The female lead (who does a strip tease at the end so they could pad the running time) went on to play a scientist in a James Bond. The movie director also directed mac and me.

Oh god, I remember Mac and Me now too.

Thanks Meiam.

 

[wings012]

Is it bad that I know what Tammy and the T Rex is?

Is it worse I know that because I watched it once?

I only know this exists because I watched the movie recap of it...

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

There is a thing you can equip to give you a marker on the map. That's not to say the game can't be frustrating, I think the final boss took me like 6 hours of retries to beat.

You mean the Wayward Compass charm? Yeah, I have that. It helps orient me on the map, but it doesn't solve the key issue where I can't see in the dark because the game killed me before I bought the lantern AND doesn't let me traverse back up the hole I fell. AND that even if I do figure out how to escape and get back, I lost all the currency I spent hours grinding.

 

[Samtemdo8]

Venturing into the Prince of Persia Trilogy of the PS2 era

Just beaten Sands of Time and currently on Warrior Within.

I'll be honest to this day I've yet to beat the whole trilogy, I've only beaten Sands of Time once and in this case twice.

Now Sands of Time is a good game but holy shit is it repetitive. And the narrative is very sparse I mean vast stretches of this game is the pure gameplay of the repetitive combat and the complex level design of the platforming gameplay. The best way I can say is this game is to this its franchise what Assassin's Creed 1 was to it, but with AC 1 both the gameplay and the narrative are on equal footing, I am more compelled by Altair's journey then I was with the Prince in Sands of Time.

Anyways continung onto Warrior Within which I'll be honest I'm liking a bit better despite some roadblocks that happened to me in my playthrough

Now I have finished Prince of Persia Warrior Within. I have bipolar opinions on this game

A FAR better game then Sands of Time imo. But holy shit is this game LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG. And worse then long, the second half of the game requires you to pretty much re-experience the first half again but with a twist. When the platforming in this game is technically so easy and automated I feel like I am playing this game on auto-pilot mode, that I am controlling.

But as is, the game is still worth the experience. Combat is far better but no where to the degree of God of War or Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, but still good.

And yes I don't mind the shift to a dark and gritty tone of the game, because ultimately it still feels like the same Prince I followed in the last game. But its not completely edgy.

The edge of this game came from the dominatrix skimpy warrior woman Shahdee who is unimportant to the plot at all. And the use of Heavy Metal music the latter I didn't mind too much because A. Sands of Time used heavy metal guitar too and B. I grew up on this, I played 2000s Sonic the Hedgehog and Devil May Cry so I vibed with the gritty rock music.

Plot still has the issue of Sands of Time in that its rather spars with the majority of the game being pure gameplay. But I find it more interesting then Sands of Time and it still has a bit more cutscenes and such. And the acting is still pretty good. This was one of the early games I've seen where I was like "Dude games are like movie's yo" but as is, you'll find more engagement if you watch all the cutcenes in order youtube.

Basically the game is good, better then Sands of Time but I think they could have made it a bit more shorter because it felt so padded. Heck Sands of Time felt this way too but even more repetitive.

Now off the finale of the trilogy The Two Thrones

 

[Piscian]

So I acknowledge that this could just be whiplash from having just finished God Of War, but I played a couple hours of GOW Ragnarok and I put it down and haven't come back to it. It feels different and not in a good way. They've decided to add some kinda crafting mechanic with no explanation and I'm just so tired of that being in games when it doesn't need to be. Additionally I started running into enemies with multiple health bars, something about needing to break their ice bar and then normal health or something and its just a headache. I canceled my Ubisoft subscription specifically to get away from this kinda shit. I may be overreacting, I did like that God Of War added RPG elements, but I already work 8-12 hours a day I don't need a second job.

I've since moved on to playing Remnant: From the Ashes, co-op with a friend. I can kinda see why people would tell me, if I like Outriders I would like this. For better or worse it seems very designed towards co-op. Not only do enemies try to swarm and overwhelm you but many enemies and Bosses have omnidirectional weaknesses that benefit from one player leading the enemy while I another hits it from behind. Additionally theres a lot of "feel good" co-op elements like I big charging monster is coming after one player who only has one shot to take off their helmet and the other player gets the headshot. Lots of "assist" mechanics.

The game itself is pretty dated. I'd liken the graphics to something around xbox360-PS4 where theres mostly flat textures and very little environmental ambiance effects. On the flip side the environments are huge. You could be fighting a boss in an arena thats a square mile or running through a city with multi-level buildings and no loading screens or slow down. My buddy and I both agreed Remnant: From the Ashes is akin to something like STALKER if it were an action co-op shooter with ROG elements.

I think if you can get over it feeling like a 2023 game made in 2015 I can highly recommend it for co-op. I'd go as far as to say I wouldn't play it solo. Its clearly a fun party game. Even last night, we solved some kinda optional puzzle where we saw plates we had to stand on in from of a temple that seemed to unlock something my saw the answer randomly scribbled on some wall so I stood there reading him the answer steps and covering him from enemies while he solved the puzzle and we both got new suits of armor. Super rewarding to play with a friend.

 

[Dalisclock]

Now I have finished Prince of Persia Warrior Within. I have bipolar opinions on this game

A FAR better game then Sands of Time imo. But holy shit is this game LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG. And worse then long, the second half of the game requires you to pretty much re-experience the first half again but with a twist. When the platforming in this game is technically so easy and automated I feel like I am playing this game on auto-pilot mode, that I am controlling.

But as is, the game is still worth the experience. Combat is far better but no where to the degree of God of War or Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, but still good.

And yes I don't mind the shift to a dark and gritty tone of the game, because ultimately it still feels like the same Prince I followed in the last game. But its not completely edgy.

The edge of this game came from the dominatrix skimpy warrior woman Shahdee who is unimportant to the plot at all. And the use of Heavy Metal music the latter I didn't mind too much because A. Sands of Time used heavy metal guitar too and B. I grew up on this, I played 2000s Sonic the Hedgehog and Devil May Cry so I vibed with the gritty rock music.

Plot still has the issue of Sands of Time in that its rather spars with the majority of the game being pure gameplay. But I find it more interesting then Sands of Time and it still has a bit more cutscenes and such. And the acting is still pretty good. This was one of the early games I've seen where I was like "Dude games are like movie's yo" but as is, you'll find more engagement if you watch all the cutcenes in order youtube.

Basically the game is good, better then Sands of Time but I think they could have made it a bit more shorter because it felt so padded. Heck Sands of Time felt this way too but even more repetitive.

Now off the finale of the trilogy The Two Thrones

Wierdly, my big issue with WW isn't so much the "edgy" tone it has at times(though the "butt intro" of a certain character is a bit cringe).. It's more that the Fortress of Time, where you spend the entire game, isn't very interesting as a setting. In the first and last game you're in an Arabian Nights setting and those have some character to them. In WW, you're in a big Generic looking fantasy fortress with two time periods but neither of them are particularly interesting. Sure, there are difference between them because one is in the past and one is in the present, but neither of them seem to feel like anything in particular.

Honestly, I guess I'm just disappointed that someplace with the premise of "The Sands of Time/Empress of Time live in the Fortress of Time" I guess I expected something more interesting visually and designwise then what we got and the fact we got something that feels so bland feels like a wasted opportunity.