What are you currently playing?

[FakeSympathy]

Ship of Harkinian, a mod engine to run LoZ: Ocarina of Time

This emulator let's you mod OoT to your heart's content. It also has option to run the game at higher resolution and framerate, right analog stick camera control, built-in fixes for graphical and texture glitches, make king zora move faster during that one cutscene (no seriously, the differences will be night and day), and so much more features.

The mod support has been amazing, and I saw so many great contents; There's general environmental texture mod to make them look better, 3DS character models, modern controller UI, replace biggoron sword with Dragonslayer from Berserk, etc. You can even create your own dungeon/scenario!

It's amazing. I feel I'm playing OoT for the first time again, but the graphics are just as amazing as I remembered.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Reached the “end” of ER Sherdtree with the consort fight (a few attempts but fuuuuck that for now…not as tough to dodge as I’d have thought but just relentless), and stuck to my blind progression but there’s a couple optional areas that I never found a way to. One is northeast of Cathedral of Manus, and the other is east of Midra’s Manse. I might end up looking them up because there’s a weapon I really want tied to the former. The one convoluted quest I must’ve gotten somewhat lucky with because I wound up getting another weapon I was looking to try. Still, will be a while before going after the other gear that requires a second playthrough.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Made some good progress in Black Ops Cold War. It's pretty fun, but there's some occasional bugs, like models clipping into themselves, a briefcase in someone's hand flying off on its own. The elevator at the end of 'Echoes of a Cold War', though, there's something seriously messed up with it. I was flying all over the place in that damn elevator, and even when I wasn't it was a pain in the ass to complete that section. Still, I got through it.

Then I noticed I'd collected enough intel to get the best result in one of the side missions. Before that, though, I need to analyze the intel I picked up previously to solve a puzzle. I'll think about it later. And if I don't solve it, no biggie, maybe on a replay if one ever happens.

 

[Ezekiel]

Ship of Harkinian, a mod engine to run LoZ: Ocarina of Time

This emulator let's you mod OoT to your heart's content. It also has option to run the game at higher resolution and framerate, right analog stick camera control, built-in fixes for graphical and texture glitches, make king zora move faster during that one cutscene (no seriously, the differences will be night and day), and so much more features.

The mod support has been amazing, and I saw so many great contents; There's general environmental texture mod to make them look better, 3DS character models, modern controller UI, replace biggoron sword with Dragonslayer from Berserk, etc. You can even create your own dungeon/scenario!

It's amazing. I feel I'm playing OoT for the first time again, but the graphics are just as amazing as I remembered.

I don't really have a problem with the camera in Ocarina of Time, because the systems accommodate it. After a lifetime, I finally 100 percent finished Ocarina of Time with Ship of Harkinian two years ago. Found those last Skulltulas and heart pieces. But I won't play this version again. It crashes between areas when I return to it now. Even when I played through it two years ago, I experienced three crashes. The Mario 64 port was more stable and simple.

It also has the wrong theme for the Fire Temple, because it's the Gamecube version rather than the N64 version.

There are aspect ratio issues. I could not find a way to play it in 4:3. The pre-rendered backgrounds are in 4:3, not widescreen. The Lens of Truth effect is in 4:3, not widescreen. The sand shroud in the desert is in 4:3, not widescreen. Lastly, Epona keeps galloping while stationary outside of the original aspect ratio in the ending.

 

[FakeSympathy]

I don't really have a problem with the camera in Ocarina of Time, because the systems accommodate it. After a lifetime, I finally 100 percent finished Ocarina of Time with Ship of Harkinian two years ago. Found those last Skulltulas and heart pieces. But I won't play this version again. It crashes between areas when I return to it now. Even when I played through it two years ago, I experienced three crashes. The Mario 64 port was more stable and simple.

It also has the wrong theme for the Fire Temple, because it's the Gamecube version rather than the N64 version.

There are aspect ratio issues. I could not find a way to play it in 4:3. The pre-rendered backgrounds are in 4:3, not widescreen. The Lens of Truth effect is in 4:3, not widescreen. The sand shroud in the desert is in 4:3, not widescreen. Lastly, Epona keeps galloping while stationary outside of the original aspect ratio in the ending.

I believe the newer version seem to address multiple of these critiques. Especially for the Fire Temple theme, there is a mod to restore the original version

 

[Xprimentyl]

I beat Ravenous Devils. It was somewhere between entertaining and fun but very short and very simple.

You weren't kidding when you said "very short."

Just finished Ravenous Devils as well. Like @Johnny Novgorod said, it was cute and really simple. Biggest downside for me though was the inability to put actions into a queue; you literally have to wait for each character to complete a task before inputting the next one despite the actions being highly repetitious. Example, you have to click the meat for the wife to pick it up, click the tray for her to put it down, click the tray again for her to pick it up, then click the oven for her to put it in the oven. There's very little autonomy despite the tasks being extremely basic and repetitive, but given the game can already be beaten in a couple of hours, I think more autonomy would shorten that even further.

Still, had fun; I've spent $5 on worse.

 

[BrawlMan]

I finished playing all of the characters in X-Men vs. Street Fighter. I'll go for MvC1 next.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Been playing some of that Metaphor: ReFantazio demo. It's been a little over 2 hours, which in non-Atlus time is probaly 30 minutes. It's been alright, though it's really just Persona with a neo-Fantasy chocolate coating. The whole 'characters who live in an extremely unjust world and than use the power of the outcast to fight back against injustice', so yeah, Persona. It throws a lot of nonsense fantasy terminology at you, where a human isn't called a 'human' but an 'alba', and elves aren't called 'elves', and what inhabitants call 'humans' are actually giant monsterous nightmare creatures. Kinda like Valkyria Chronicles.

There's also this plot point where the main character has a storybook about a utopia in which there is no discrimination and everyone is treated equally, but it's actually our world. Which I guess sort serves as a wink, seeing as we read and watch (and play) fantasy stories to escape the discrimination of our world.

The voice acting is fine, but it is a little weird hearing some of these gruff british voices come out of those pristine anime faces.

Also has probably the prettiest menu screen of any game I've ever seen.

 

[BrawlMan]

I am almost done with Shadow Generations. I'll finish the rest when I get home.

EDIT: Shadow campaign is finished. Great job Sega. I am not exact fan of the Doom Wings controls, but they work better in the final boss battle. It basically becomes Panzer Dragoon with melee options. My completion times is about 5:53:00.

 

[BrawlMan]

@Chimpzy, I am playing Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered and I love it! The 60 FPS is a God Send, and you can now restart chapters if you wish. Cut-scenes are now skippable, and you get 4 unlocked costumes at the start. I'm sticking with the default though for my fresh run. I can't wait for NG+. The game is just as colorful as I remember, but in a dark and not shitty way either. I find it hilarious out the many 7th gen games, this game managed to survive and age better than all of the grey and brown shooters still suck on the 360/PS3.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Finished GrimGrimoire OnceMore and got the Platinum. Happy Halloween!

 

[Kyrian007]

I believe the newer version seem to address multiple of these critiques. Especially for the Fire Temple theme, there is a mod to restore the original version

Speaking of LoZ, I recently decided to go for my 2nd run through Tears of the Kingdom. And I'm having a problem that I didn't have the second time through BotW. I'm heavily overestimating my ability early on to survive hostile encounters and I'm jumping into fights and getting one-shotted here and there. Not sure what's going on. My second time through BotW I breezed through it, no longer fearing Guardians... even at low level where a hit would one-shot me. It seems like attack patterns and exploits were easier to pull off. But it isn't even big boss fights that are really the issue this time through TotK, it's getting cheapshotted by some random mob from behind who has a bizarrely higher level weapon than I was expecting them to have. It's like after the first blood moon, I'm already getting 2nd and even 3rd tier monsters respawning, and the basic level ones have soldier and knight level weapons rather than wooden sticks with sharp rocks attached. The difficulty is ramping up way faster than I remembered in my first playthrough.

Now, some of this is probably me. I'm without question not being as cautious as I was that first time through. Example, that first time through I remember seeing a Talus in the distance through the gloom of the depths and painstakingly sneaking a huge path around it to get where I was going. This time I spotted a Talus in the distance and said to myself, "oh yeah, I remember how to take those things down. CHARGE!" At the time, I had 4 hearts and starting armor only. Now, I can beat a Talus without taking damage... but "can" and "have to" are different things entirely. It's still a great game, but I just think it is weird I'm finding it harder this time than I did the first time.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Playing more Metaphor and I'm liking it well enough so far. It did telegraph the fate of a character quite heavily by having said character be an old grisled guy. I mean, this is an Atlus game, one that is extremely Persona coded; you honestly expected me to think this character was going to stick around as a party member? You think the Persona dev team is going to make you look at and invest in a character who isn't a sexy youth?!

 

[BrawlMan]

God I love Shadows of the Damned. This darkly beautiful game looks even better running at 60 fps. I'm about 2 hours in and in the middle of chapter 3. This game is surprisingly easy, if you're into over-the-shoulder action/horror shooters and aim carefully. I stocked up on 20 beers (booze and alcohol heals you in the hell/demon world) just by finding them. The white gems I always save for buying red gems to upgrade the damage on my guns or upgrade the speed of my light shot. You always want to go for damage on the guns in this game. I never go for reload speed, and only sometimes to do capacity. You're usually already stock piled and there plenty of ammo crates to keep you full or near full.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Finished Black Ops Cold War. It was a lot better than I was expecting from a 'modern' Call of Duty title, though I was kinda disappointed by how short it is (even for Call of Duty) and the ending felt kinda weak. I did finish both puzzles, though I needed a lot of help for the first one, and to replay a mission to get one of the evidence pieces. Might recommend it for someone who's played CoD campaigns in the past but not for a while, if you can get it on sale. Wouldn't suggest it as a starter though; always go for Call of Duty 4 if it's your first time.

My favorite mission was 'Redlight, Greenlight'. The setting of a fake American suburb was pretty fun, and the mannequins added an interesting complication that didn't lead to a lot of frustrating resets.

Friend wants to play Zombies together so I'll probably leave it installed for a little bit. In the meantime I started Dead Space Remake again, so either way that's gonna be a lot of dead zombies.

 

[BrawlMan]

I started Dead Space Remake again, so either way that's gonna be a lot of dead zombies.

How far did you get?

I'm almost done with Chapter 3 in Shadows of the Damned. The end chapter boss I'll do when I get home.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

How far did you get?

So far I'm up to chapter 3, though in the original I think I got to the start or a little bit into chapter 6. So far my impression of the remake is that they improved on basically everything over the original, with the possible exception of the PC optimization. I don't know what the problem was, but I couldn't get it to run at more than single-digit FPS, so I had to get a Steam refund and buy it on PS5 instead.

 

[BrawlMan]

I don't know what the problem was, but I couldn't get it to run at more than single-digit FPS, so I had to get a Steam refund and buy it on PS5 instead.

Smart decision.

So far I'm up to chapter 3,

Oh, this is when the game starts to open up with its exploration and goes full-on System Shock 2 style level design.

EDIT: My physical copy of Shadows of the Damned came in today. I did buy digitally too, but the CD was supposed to come in near the end of November.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Speaking of LoZ, I recently decided to go for my 2nd run through Tears of the Kingdom. And I'm having a problem that I didn't have the second time through BotW. I'm heavily overestimating my ability early on to survive hostile encounters and I'm jumping into fights and getting one-shotted here and there. Not sure what's going on. My second time through BotW I breezed through it, no longer fearing Guardians... even at low level where a hit would one-shot me. It seems like attack patterns and exploits were easier to pull off. But it isn't even big boss fights that are really the issue this time through TotK, it's getting cheapshotted by some random mob from behind who has a bizarrely higher level weapon than I was expecting them to have. It's like after the first blood moon, I'm already getting 2nd and even 3rd tier monsters respawning, and the basic level ones have soldier and knight level weapons rather than wooden sticks with sharp rocks attached. The difficulty is ramping up way faster than I remembered in my first playthrough.

Now, some of this is probably me. I'm without question not being as cautious as I was that first time through. Example, that first time through I remember seeing a Talus in the distance through the gloom of the depths and painstakingly sneaking a huge path around it to get where I was going. This time I spotted a Talus in the distance and said to myself, "oh yeah, I remember how to take those things down. CHARGE!" At the time, I had 4 hearts and starting armor only. Now, I can beat a Talus without taking damage... but "can" and "have to" are different things entirely. It's still a great game, but I just think it is weird I'm finding it harder this time than I did the first time.

You know, I had a hard time describing the gameplay of BOTW and TOTK, and I finally got it; it's a gmod/sandbox tool + Zelda.

Because as you said, I feel the game was designed for players to find exploits and how far they can break the game.

Now I do think the game looks great and the locations are interesting, but when the game actually gets hard when you try to play it the traditional way, and the sequel game adds even more gadgets for you to test your at-home engineering skills, it's clear where their priorities lies. I mean ffs, instead of addressing the weapon durability directly, they just said "just weld some shit together. It might look like bigger shit but hey at least now it lasts 5 hits instead of 4".

OoT does have some exploitable glitches as demonstrated by the speedrunners, but those are usually hard to pull off, and not to mention it's unintentional by the devs. There are rules you have to follow. BOTW/TOTK actively asks players to break the game's rules, and punishes you for playing normally.

What saddens me is that we'll probably never go back to the traditional format, unless it's a smaller release like Echoes of Wisdom.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

BOTW/TOTK actively asks players to break the game's rules, and punishes you for playing normally.

But when they're "asking you to break the rules", doesn't that mean that the rule isn't so much broken as just a different rule? For most of the game, you have access to a lot of different approaches to each problem, and 'just go in there and kill them all with your sword' is still an option for most of them, even if it's not the "best" one compared to sneaking around, stealing their weapons, taking some of the monsters out while they sleep, and then when you get spotted, going in there and killing the rest with your sword. You don't need to go as far as actual glitches to get things done at any point.

I admit I didn't play much of TOTK, but within BOTW's framework, it's less about exploiting glitches or "breaking the rules", and more that you just need to think about it differently. And I get that that's disappointing to you as a fan of the older games, but I don't agree with your framing of it.