What are you currently playing?

[Casual Shinji]

Playing Alan Wake 2, about 3 chapters in.

I'm digging it, but the way this game handles its save system in conjunction with its level design can be a bit of an annoyance. It has dedicated quick/manual save spots, but because it auto-saves as well you're less inclined to use those spots, only to die and find out you just lost 15 to 20 minutes of progress, as the auto-saves are weirdly placed.

 

[BrawlMan]

Playing Alan Wake 2, about 3 chapters in.

I'm digging it, but the way this game handles its save system in conjunction with its level design can be a bit of an annoyance. It has dedicated quick/manual save spots, but because it auto-saves as well you're less inclined to use those spots, only to die and find out you just lost 15 to 20 minutes of progress, as the auto-saves are weirdly placed.

That is why I am never afraid to go back and manually save when I can. I only choose manual save. You always have a safety save. Always!

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

still going through Alan Wake 2 at mo so can't click on those intriguing spoiler opinions yet, but mark these words I shall return once completion occurs! Meanwhile, the little (non spoilery I think?) things it does;

 

[MrCalavera]

Catching up with a critical darling. Resident Evil 2 (2019) Claire B

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Finished Trek to Yomi. It's very pretty and there's an undeniably tasteful cinematographic quality in how the fixed camera angles go for desolate/majestic compositions while replicating traditional samurai movies.

It's also very boring and repetitive for such a short game. You're saddled with a few dozen skills but there isn't a single enemy in the game that won't go down with a stun combo and a finisher. You don't even have to perform the full attack on them. If you hit any enemy at the end of a stun combo they're immediately primed for a finisher. So it's very easy to simply time a combo so enemies will run into it single file. Looks badass because there's a variety of finisher animations but it all gets quite repetitive soon. Nothing is really being tested. You do the one thing that works over and over.

Bosses are decent. Actually the most fun I had in the game was trying to defeat each boss without taking damage, purely for the trophies.

 

[AllMondayEveryday]

I beat Alan Wake. I still need to go through the DLC and American Nightmare. In some ways it's held up really well. In others, it just reeks 7th gen 3rd person shooter bullshit. I just wanted to know who thought it would be a good idea to use flying inanimate objects as an enemy. Not only are they not scary (but in fact, very goofy and stupid) but also extremely frustrating and annoying to deal with due to Alan's shit dodge. Also, you can tell this game was made in 2010 because has this obsession with janky physics engine bullshit that games from that era have due to Half Life 2's influence. The game was at its peak when Alan was with Barry and the Sherrif. Alan by himself is joyless jackass. He needs someone to bounce off of. The game is fun when it doesn't take itself seriously and is more experimental and out there with the setpieces e.g. the rock stage bit. Otherwise it's not scary or interesting enough to take as a straightforward horror experience. In fact it wasn't very scary at all. You can tell this was made during the dark age of AAA horror games because of how sanitized and anemic the horror experience was. During the peak popularity of things like Resident Evil 5.

 

[BrawlMan]

I just wanted to know who thought it would be a good idea to use flying inanimate objects as an enemy.

Sam Lake. This is one of the aspects AW II improves on. No more possessed objects as enemies.

Not only are they not scary (but in fact, very goofy and stupid) but also extremely frustrating and annoying to deal with due to Alan's shit dodge.

Alan's dodge does work, but it is clearly meant for human sized enemies. You're not wrong though.

Alan by himself is joyless jackass.

I've heard that from some critics back in the day, but most either don't have a problem with Alan by himself, or the team ups make thing even better. I never found Alan to be joyless. Serious? Yes. Joyless? No.

The game is fun when it doesn't take itself seriously and is more experimental and out there with the setpieces e.g. the rock stage bit. Otherwise it's not scary or interesting enough to take as a straightforward horror experience. In fact it wasn't very scary at all.

The first game wasn't never meant to be scary. There are a couple of scares that got me on the first playthrough, but AW was always meant to be suspense-thriller with action than survival horror.

You can tell this was made during the dark age of AAA horror games because of how sanitized and anemic the horror experience was. During the peak popularity of things like Resident Evil 5.

While RE5 is scarier by comparison, at least Alan can move and shoot at the same time. A man with no combat experience, has more mobility than two highly trained soldiers. WTF? Also, it wasn't exactly the Dark Age of AAA horror yet, as Dead Space came out a year prior. Then its sequel got announced and revealed later in 2010. I still say AW is still better than most of the cover shooters that came out on 7th generation consoles. There's a reason why Alan is still here, while most of those shooters are stuck on the consoles they debuted on. I will admit that games such as Dead Space 1 & 2, Shadows of the Damned, and even RE5 to an extent have either way better shooting, enemy variety, or all of the above.

 

[Casual Shinji]

More Alan Wake 2.

I like that this game feels like a return of the "silent horror" in AAA, the closest comparison I guess being Silent Hill during its heyday. Where it's more about letting the environent get to you rather than the monsters in them. The forrests in this game in particular make me wonder what a Team Silent game would look like in the modern age.

That being said, I'm not too big a fan of how this game handles enemy encounters. Things already look kinda dark and foggy in this game, some enemies being literal vague shadows. And getting hit into the danger zone will obscure your sight even more, where it almost feels like playing the game blind. The fight against Nightengale was maddeningly frustrating, because I couldn't see most of the time what with him being grey surrounded by grey foliage, and not feeling fast enough to dodge his attacks or heal when I was close to death (and sight restricted even more as a result).

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Finished Spiderman 2. It's great.

Then I played Jusant. It was pretty good- if you see the trailer and like me were charmed, it's worth playing because it delivers exactly what it looks like.
I didn't go back and platinum though because while the climbing mechanics are pretty good and I enjoyed the exploring and platforming, it was also frustrating a bit here and there. So one play-through was just the right amount of this game.

 

[BrawlMan]

I like that this game feels like a return of the "silent horror" in AAA, the closest comparison I guess being Silent Hill during its heyday. Where it's more about letting the environent get to you rather than the monsters in them. The forrests in this game in particular make me wonder what a Team Silent game would look like in the modern age.

Funny enough, Sam Lake and Kojima have collaborated with each other, and featured a cameo in each of their respective games. Hideo in Control, and Same Lake in Death Stranding. It's pretty obvious Silent Hills is another inspiration for Alan Wake II.

The fight against Nightengale was maddeningly frustrating, because I couldn't see most of the time what with him being grey surrounded by grey foliage, and not feeling fast enough to dodge his attacks or heal when I was close to death (and sight restricted even more as a result).

Nightengale I didn't have much problem spotting, but main issue is that Saga has to go through this dumb animation prioretry when trying to pick spare ammo from those cooler containers. Nightengale moves fast for a middle age out of shape fate guy. I know he's possesed and all, but it's ridiculous. The later boss fights are so much better. I did restart the checkpoint in my first fight, and what didn't help matters was that I was somewhat low on ammo for one of my guns.

 

[AllMondayEveryday]

Sam Lake. This is one of the aspects AW II improves on. No more possessed objects as enemies.


Alan's dodge does work, but it is clearly meant for human sized enemies. You're not wrong though.


I've heard that from some critics back in the day, but most either don't have a problem with Alan by himself, or the team ups make thing even better. I never found Alan to be joyless. Serious? Yes. Joyless? No.


The first game wasn't never meant to be scary. There are a couple of scares that got me on the first playthrough, but AW was always meant to be suspense-thriller with action than survival horror.


While RE5 is scarier by comparison, at least Alan can move and shoot at the same time. A man with no combat experience, has more mobility than two highly trained soldiers. WTF? Also, it wasn't exactly the Dark Age of AAA horror yet, as Dead Space came out a year prior. Then its sequel got announced and revealed later in 2010. I still say AW is still better than most of the cover shooters that came out on 7th generation consoles. There's a reason why Alan is still here, while most of those shooters are stuck on the consoles they debuted on. I will admit that games such as Dead Space 1 & 2, Shadows of the Damned, and even RE5 to an extent have either way better shooting, enemy variety, or all of the above.

Let me rephrase it. I think he is a pretentious unlikeable douchebag who only becomes somewhat bearable when bouncing off other characters like Barry.

 

[BrawlMan]

Let me rephrase it. I think he is a pretentious unlikeable douchebag who only becomes somewhat bearable when bouncing off other characters like Barry.

I heard you the first time; I just never got that vibe from him. Yes, he starts as a stressed out jerk, but he does develop into a better person. Especially so in the sequel. With all that said, there are way worse video game protags that are jerks you're supposed to like or find sympathetic, but don't work. As far as I'm concerned, Alan's jerk level is barely even at 3 on a 10 point scale.

 

[Worgen]

Pistol Whip has a free weekend going. Its fun and a workout and I like the music.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

ffs I gave that Nintendo online 7 day trial a go. And ffs had to play f-zero 99 problems out of curiosity and yearning for more wipeout. online and battle royale trends are bullshit but god fucking damn it this one here got me and it got me good. can I not just buy the game separately though instead of having to sub to online sub? They clearly programmed AI racers already to not require other players for offline bot practice and whatever, lemme just buy it once plz? sttill need to finish Alan wake 2 as well!, this was only meant to be a brief distraction!

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I played a bit of the Ghost Runner 2 demo and I'm going to recommend it to anyone who looks at the trailer and thinks "oh that looks cool."
It's in first person so therefore I was doomed to hate it personally but it's basically running/platforming very fast and picking off enemies, where I think everyone including you die in one hit. Sort of Neon White-ish in feel, I guess.
I hated the control mapping but I wasn't interested enough to try and change it so ymmv.

Now I dunno what to play next, I have a couple of possibilities like maybe Ghost Trick Detective because I enjoyed the demo or Streets of Rage 4 which was brought up earlier if I'm in the mood to punch sprites. We'll see.

 

[BrawlMan]

Sort of Neon White-ish in feel, I guess.

The first Ghostrunnerr came out first. If anything, it's like the old school Ninja Gaiden games in first person. I can understand how you feel that way, as all three games share a similar soundtrack aesthetic.

Streets of Rage 4 which was brought up earlier if I'm in the mood to punch sprites.

Yes. If you do, have the wife play along with you, it'll be fun.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Pistol Whip has a free weekend going. Its fun and a workout and I like the music.

Speaking of VR, finally tried out an Oculus. Played the above, Super Hot, Crashland, Job Simulator, Arizona Sunshine and a mini golf in that order. The first two and mini golf were standout’s. I started getting eye fatigue by Sunshine but felt some disorientation in Crashland too. It’s pretty neat tech; fun and the shooting stuff felt really smooth but it’s also not something I could comfortably play for more than maybe a half hour at a time I think. Face started sweating about half way through lol.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Face started sweating about half way through lol.

It's a pretty common problem, not helped by the fact that the included head strap likes to basically seal the headset to your face. I got an aftermarket one that lets me tilt the headset upwards a bit to allow airflow.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Alan Wake 2

So far I'm enjoying the Saga sections a lot more than Alan's. Makes sense I guess since her's are more traditionally game-y in terms of setting and action, but I also just like the midwestern town environment far more than the shadow city that Alan seems mostly relegated to. However, she also just has a more engaging story with uncovering the mystery, being new to all this. And she has a lot more interactions with other characters.

More than that though I feel Alan's sections get a bit too cute with itself. This game obviously wants to clown around in contrast to the dark mystery, and with Saga I feel we're getting the right amount of eccentricities. But Alan just constantly hammers that 'clown' button, where his sections are 50% 'look how quirky we are'. It's like that guy at the party who tells a really good joke, but than repeats it ad nauseam, and while it's still a good joke... we get it.

 

[Dreiko]

So I replayed the ff7 remake to prepare for the second part since I originally beat the game like a week after it had just come out, also since I got a ps5 now it was a good opportunity to play that version, and after beating it I finally got around to playing that Yuffie dlc...and man, that stuff's amazing! You can clearly tell the improvements they did from the base game. Yuffie is so ninjalike and her gameplay is so much more intricate with all those ninjutsu and air combos and element infusions and so on, and she got parries and teleports and whatnot too, I soloed Ramuh with her by parrying everything, we're doing Sekiro now lol. This did exactly what I expected and hoped it would in exciting me for Rebirth.


Also storywise, seeing her perspective (love her brash and hyper personality, full of old timey ninja Noh theatrics and cuteness) gives you interesting context about what was transpiring when Cloud was with Aeris. Also the new char with the bo is pretty interesting too, he has that older brother vibe and is a balancing force to Yuffie's hyperness, keeping her centered.


Oh and the minigames! That RTS minigame was so addictive I beat the grandmaster before even doing the turtle quest that lets you buy new units, just using the base loadout and the few things you get from beating other people. So much fun.


Did about 8 hours of the dlc so far and had to take a break after grinding that crate challenge, but I did manage to clear the top difficulty one.


Overall though, this applying to the base game too, the gameplay was actually not as deep as I remembered it. It may be that I got onto it not too long after playing XVI, and yeah, it's nowhere near as deep. Funnily enough though, both games would benefit from letting you use the hard difficulty mode from the get, and not only in new game +. Here's hoping Rebirth does.


Oh and one thing which this game does but XVI desperately needs is it offering you a teleport back to the quest giver right after completing a quest, so you don't have to walk back and forth needlessly. I don't know if they just neglected to add that feature or found it too "unrealistic" and "videogamey" but whichever it is, it needed it all the same.