What are you currently playing?

[The Rogue Wolf]

I played the demo for a game called Fossilfuel 2. It really, really wants to be a first-person Dino Crisis, but it makes a whole bunch of rookie mistakes- unskippable cutscenes, clunky controls, ugly fonts, poor optimization, telegraphed encounters. Still, it does have a couple of beautiful locations, there's a kernel of something interesting in it and it's not as if we have a glut of its like to sort through.

 

[BrawlMan]

@Chimpzy, I decided to get Penny's Big Breakaway. I am loving this beautiful looking Sega Saturn/Dreamcast/mid-life GameCube game. Still early in, but they've already out done themselves. I wanted to go with Penny, because I needed a break from the hack n' slash, and Slave Zero X has some really bad checkpoints, so I am holding off on getting it. Plus, it's been a minute since I've done a 3D platformer. Aside from Rift Apart.

 

[Worgen]

Grabbed Pacific Drive since Helldivers continues to have server issues and it looked really cool. So far, its pretty cool, but I didn't realize it was a roguelike. It also has very specific areas that can be randomly generated so you can go from one area to another or just return to the garage at any time with your resources. The resources are pretty much the standard open world resources. It is fun getting enough to replace parts of your car. There are also anomalies in the zone which mess with you, so far all of them are pretty predictable, but they feel dangerous enough that you want to be careful around them. Its pretty neat, but not quite what I was expecting.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Just finished Ultros. I'm the first person to get the Platinum on PS4!


(7th overall, six other people already popped it on PS5)

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Just finished Ultros. I'm the first person to get the Platinum on PS4!


(7th overall, six other people already popped it on PS5)

Cool, congrats!

Does the game hold up throughout its run time?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Cool, congrats!

Does the game hold up throughout its run time?

Very much, enjoyed the hell out of it. The limits of what you can do keep changing and expanding well into the game so it was a lot of fun to experiment with the gardening gimmicks and figure out how everything worked.

You could probably 100% everything in much less time than I did but I wasn't in no hurry.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Not sure what Pacific Drive's diagnostic machine wants from me, I'd assumed it was supposed to be there for answering car troubleshooting queries. Instead, it appears to be the one testing me, wtf?! That's not how this relationship is supposed to work!

 

[Worgen]

Not sure what Pacific Drive's diagnostic machine wants from me, I'd assumed it was supposed to be there for answering car troubleshooting queries. Instead, it appears to be the one testing me, wtf?! That's not how this relationship is supposed to work!

You have to identify what is causing the quark then it will tell you what you need to use to cure it. Like I had my front right car door open when I would put on the parking break, I had to put that into the machine as car-> parking break on -> front right door -> open. Then the machine told me I needed a mechanics kit so I made one and went to the machine where it gave me the diagnosis and just used it and it cured that quark.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

You have to identify what is causing the quark then it will tell you what you need to use to cure it. Like I had my front right car door open when I would put on the parking break, I had to put that into the machine as car-> parking break on -> front right door -> open. Then the machine told me I needed a mechanics kit so I made one and went to the machine where it gave me the diagnosis and just used it and it cured that quark.

Ooh thanks for the info! Had the bonnet randomly pop up of its own accord, so put "bonnet" then "opens" as entries and sat back smugly rubbing my paws together awaiting a simple answer, untill realising it wanted the 2 more qualifiers as well. Pointing at the car repeating" But 'bonnet'! ... 'open'! Bonnet open?!" did little to convince the machine neither. So basically need to figure what's triggering it first instead? though admittedly was too panicked to notice anything last time it happened due to desperately ploughing through trees away from quantum fuckery while pieces of the car were quicky dissolving around me lol.

 

[Worgen]

Ooh thanks for the info! Had the bonnet randomly pop up of its own accord, so put "bonnet" then "opens" as entries and sat back smugly rubbing my paws together awaiting a simple answer, untill realising it wanted the 2 more qualifiers as well. Pointing at the car repeating" But 'bonnet'! ... 'open'! Bonnet open?!" did little to convince the machine neither. So basically need to figure what's triggering it first instead? though admittedly was too panicked to notice anything last time it happened due to desperately ploughing through trees away from quantum fuckery while pieces of the car were quicky dissolving around me lol.

I just got through a section like that too.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Working through some of my backlog and played through Donut County. Quirky little katamari-like, doesn't overstay it's welcome, helps if you like raccoons.

Played a bit of Enter the Gungeon. Popular for a reason, I guess. Brutal roguelike curve though

Splatoon 3 Side Order came out, put about 8 hours in. Made it through the spire twice so far, first time up has a hilariously unbalanced set-piece boss fight that was fun to flex with. Probably a secret boss for running up the tower with all the weapons.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Conan Exiles.

Nothing has interested me much lately but I do sometimes watch Yogscast play those multiplayer build/survival games, the latest being Medieval Dynasty, and they always seem to have fun, so I think I might give them a go. Then I remember that I don't have any friends to play them with and that they are not much fun on your own and I don't want to waste the money.

But before I learnt that lesson I bought Conan Exiles. So I reinstalled it and this time, crucially, I altered the server settings to make the game a bit less of a slog, made sure I specced into the tree that basically removes the carry weight limit and as a sort of open world exploration/action game it's quite entertaining, and fortunately for me not as all consuming as something like Skyrim.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Finished FF7 Remake again just in time for Rebirth. I never played the INTERmission DLC, and I played the first few hours of it, but is it really necessary or is it just some ultimately inconsequential sideplot to introduce Yuffie? Because so far I'm not that into it - it has that typical single-player DLC downgrade feel, and Sonon is boring as hell.

Needed to take a break from FF7 Remake's not quite action RPG gameplay, if I don't wanna feel already exhausted when Rebirth comes out, so I went back to Tears of the Kingdom for a while.

 

[BrawlMan]

Finished FF7 Remake again just in time for Rebirth. I never played the INTERmission DLC, and I played the first few hours of it, but is it really necessary or is it just some ultimately inconsequential sideplot to introduce Yuffie? Because so far I'm not that into it - it has that typical single-player DLC downgrade feel, and Sonon is boring as hell.

Needed to take a break from FF7 Remake's not quite action RPG gameplay, if I don't wanna feel already exhausted when Rebirth comes out, so I went back to Tears of the Kingdom for a while.

I recommend you do play it as it is necessary. The stuff that happens here to Yuffie, will factor later on how she acts in Rebirth. Also, the stories has really goof moments that hit.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Very much, enjoyed the hell out of it. The limits of what you can do keep changing and expanding well into the game so it was a lot of fun to experiment with the gardening gimmicks and figure out how everything worked.

You could probably 100% everything in much less time than I did but I wasn't in no hurry.

I'm sure I couldn't because I suck at games and am hella slow but I also will be in no hurry.
These days I'm much more deliberate with my gaming choices. Looking forward to it, thx.
And I'm guessing since it's a metroidvania you could 100% it because you can just go back to wherever and do whatever.
I'll be patient because I finished Lysfanga (or at least got as fas as I'm gonna) and my next anticipated new game doesn't come out 'till April (Zau).

 

[laggyteabag]

Replaying Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and well, its a bit boring, isn't it?

The ship stuff is fine, but has zero depth. The theming and flavour of the game is quite excellent, but it is just the surrounding stuff that is a bit dull.

The melee combat is terribly easy, and has even less depth. The on-land stuff is almost always a low-point for the game, and there aren't really any locations worth exploring. I don't really care about the characters. And that is about half of the game.

I do enjoy how the main character really isn't convinced by much of the "Assassin's" stuff, which was quite novel considering the previous games, but of course you still end up hunting templars, and working with Assassins anyway, so this isn't really explored as much as it probably could have been.

Its whatever. 2/5

 

[BrawlMan]

More on Penny's Big Breakaway. I love the level variety and level design variety. Don't let the cute look fool you, as the game gets tough fast. I only thing I don't like about this game is the checkpoint system can be a little ass at times. If you complete a side mission, but didn't make it to a checkpoint, because you fell into a pit and lost a health point or died, then you have to start that side mission all over again. That's bullshit. Also camera can be a problem at certain angles making some jumps pretty spotty and hard to tell. The R3 sometimes let's you control the camera, but for the most part, you're at the mercy of the game's camera. To be fair, the camera is usually wide enough, but at the same time, it's old-school design that's not needed. R3 is also used to control your yoyo, with SQR being your only other option, so you'll be using the face button 90% of the time.

I am currently at the halfway point on World 5.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm sure I couldn't because I suck at games and am hella slow but I also will be in no hurry.
These days I'm much more deliberate with my gaming choices. Looking forward to it, thx.
And I'm guessing since it's a metroidvania you could 100% it because you can just go back to wherever and do whatever.

It's a very chill (if obtuse) game that rewards you for curiousing around with the mechanics and wants you to take your time to explore and experiment. And the Rogueli*e discourse has really gotten out of hand with this one. The time-loop structure never felt like a punishment or a downgrade or a me. By the end you gain so much control over what you can do you'll be bending the world and its rules at a whim, which is a nice reward for how limiting the beginning feels.

You can 100% at leisure. I don't think anything is missable. I suppose in theory you could lock yourself out of a few of the "bad" ending trophies for some bosses but you'd have to really go out of your way to do so.

 

[CaitSeith]

I finally started playing the INTERmission DLC for the FF7 Remake. And I didn't expect the Fort Condor minigame to appear like this.

For those who haven't played the original FF7, Fort Condor is a Mako reactor outside of Midgar that has been occupied by a giant condor incubating its egg, and a resistance group who is keeping them safe from Shinra's forces. In that place the original game was where the Fort Condor minigame happens: a basic RTS of deploying units to stop the Shirna's forces from reaching the condor until either their commander unit is defeated or they reach the condor and your party has to fight the commander in a boss battle.

It's funny (and fitting) to think that someone in-universe saw that onging armed conflict and said "hey! Let's make a board game out of it!"

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Back to PowerWash Simulator to to finish the challenge trophies. Supposedly they're finally patching the career trophy tomorrow, which has been bugged since the last update in December. What a nuisance.