What are you currently playing?

[laggyteabag]

The main downside is that like most hybrid classes your weapon selection is shit: limited to SMGs and Pistols in a game with a really anaemic selection of both and no baseline ammo powers to balance that. Once you hit the Collector base you can get training in one of the other three weapons - I personally chose Assault Rifles - and once a loyalty mission or two is done you can get an ammo power to round out your damage.

Oh man, the weapon restrictions in ME2 is by far my least favourite part of the game. Limiting all "caster" classes to Pistol/SMG for two thirds of the game is just so dull. It wouldnt have been so bad, if the guns were any good - but they aren't.

The Predator Pistol is weak, and the Carnifex has so few bullets. The Shuriken SMG fires in bursts, but still sprays everywhere, and the Tempest is inaccurate at basically any range other than in your face. If you have the DLCs, you can get the Phalanx pistol, which is a stronger Carnifex with slightly more ammo, and the Locust SMG with is actually really accurate - but whilst this improves the situation slightly, needing to spending real money for competant weapons isnt exactly much of a solution, and it doesnt stop the game from feeling pretty monotonous. Its why I have always really disliked playing the Adept, Engineer and Sentinel classes in ME2.

If the same system was ported into ME3, it wouldnt have been too bad, because at least that game has some variety - but im so glad it switched to a weight system, and just let you pick what weapons you want to use.

 

[Dalisclock]

Still working on AC7: Skies unknown. Just finished mission 15, the battle for Farbanti, was which quite epic. Honestly, most of the previous few missions have been awesome. Fleet Destruction is basically "Congrats for surviving the Penal unit. Here's a bunch of fat targets, a bunch of ammo and a generous time limit", Stonehenge Defense was quite epic and Cape Rainy assualt was just plain cool(even if you would think Someone would hear a jet flying through that canyon). Bunker Buster was a cool idea marred by being really annoying, because of the fake silos and trying to use the laser pointer for the bomb is...yeah. Also, trying to shoot down the IRBMs is much harder then I woudl think. One would think it wouldn't take much to knock a missile out of the sky(I mean, rockets are hard enough to keep them exploding when people aren't shooting at them)......

Played the Demo for the Destroy all Humans remake. I didn't it play it the first time and now it's coming to PC, so it's my first time. And it's quite amusing, for the one level that's in the demo. Bonus points for having voice of Invader Zim as the boss alien. The 1950's camp sci-fi thing works nicely.

I also played the demo for Cristales. It has a flat 2d storybook look to it, which so far works nicely. The game seems to take cues from JRPGs, using a turned based battle system, a minigame where hitting the action button at the right time in an attack and when being attacked can deal a critical or deflect/parry for reduced damage. However, the real draw of the game is the idea that your character, Chrisbelle finds out she's a time mage, which allows her to see and manipulate time.

The main screen, when walking around, is divided by 3 triangles/pyramids, where the left shows the past, the middle shows the present and the right shows the future of the area you're in. You can use this to maniuplate time to a limited extend as well, briefly jumping into the past or future to change something or gather a item not yet available to you.

This also plays a role in battle, where you can use CP(Cystral Power?) to put an enemy into the past/future. Notably, you face a boss, two women hold a big metal shield, that render themunable to be harmed. However, the key to the battle is in using a water spell againest the shield and then pushing them into the future where the shield has rusted and now allows them to be damaged.


So looks cool.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Playing around in No Man's Sky. Good for winding down at the end of the day with tea or some drink and a podcast in the background. It's nice to have a relaxing alt to the much more intense games I've been marathoning this quarantine.

 

[Gordon_4]

Oh man, the weapon restrictions in ME2 is by far my least favourite part of the game. Limiting all "caster" classes to Pistol/SMG for two thirds of the game is just so dull. It wouldnt have been so bad, if the guns were any good - but they aren't.

The Predator Pistol is weak, and the Carnifex has so few bullets. The Shuriken SMG fires in bursts, but still sprays everywhere, and the Tempest is inaccurate at basically any range other than in your face. If you have the DLCs, you can get the Phalanx pistol, which is a stronger Carnifex with slightly more ammo, and the Locust SMG with is actually really accurate - but whilst this improves the situation slightly, needing to spending real money for competant weapons isnt exactly much of a solution, and it doesnt stop the game from feeling pretty monotonous. Its why I have always really disliked playing the Adept, Engineer and Sentinel classes in ME2.

If the same system was ported into ME3, it wouldnt have been too bad, because at least that game has some variety - but im so glad it switched to a weight system, and just let you pick what weapons you want to use.

And even then, the Phalanx is a shit to use because it’s laser sight is dicky as all hell. And the Locust is accurate but it’s clip size is 20 to the Tempest’s 50 and honestly at lower levels Kasumi’s mission is kind of hard because you don’t have a third squad mate.

All in all, yeah, ME3’s system is easily the best one from the original trilogy.

 

[SupahEwok]

Still working on AC7: Skies unknown. Just finished mission 15, the battle for Farbanti, was which quite epic. Honestly, most of the previous few missions have been awesome. Fleet Destruction is basically "Congrats for surviving the Penal unit. Here's a bunch of fat targets, a bunch of ammo and a generous time limit", Stonehenge Defense was quite epic and Cape Rainy assualt was just plain cool(even if you would think Someone would hear a jet flying through that canyon). Bunker Buster was a cool idea marred by being really annoying, because of the fake silos and trying to use the laser pointer for the bomb is...yeah. Also, trying to shoot down the IRBMs is much harder then I woudl think. One would think it wouldn't take much to knock a missile out of the sky(I mean, rockets are hard enough to keep them exploding when people aren't shooting at them)......

Stonehenge Defense and Farbanti are even more epic if you've played AC4.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I managed to defeat the Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls, though I had to call in Solaire to do it. Rang the first bell, and now I'm going... somewhere. I don't actually know where to go next, but the next major place I haven't really looked yet is Darkroot Garden, not counting that graveyard near Firelink Shrine. So it's probably going to be somewhere around there.

I'm still not 'gud' by a long shot, but I think I'm starting to get a feel for all my options at last.

 

[Hawki]

I've continued my Resident Evil binge and started playing RE7. And of what I've played so far (up to where Ethan escapes Jack through the floor hatch after dinner), I've got very mixed thoughts.

I'll be honest, this is probably the least-RE game I've ever played, and that includes titles like RE5 and Umbrella Corps. I know there's more connections to the series that come in later on (e.g. Chris and Blue Umbrella), but of what's been presented so far, the game feels completely isolated from its larger series. I've seen a grand total of one reference to the wider lore via O'Brian's detective novel. Even RE4, which also functioned as a soft reboot, felt more connected, since its opening cutscene reminded us of what came before, had Leon, and the Ganados had a common thread with zombies in terms of gameplay and feel. Being stalked by a crazy man with an axe in a closed area? Not so much. He's no Nemesis or Mr. X that's for sure. RE7 is horror, sure, and it's certainly effective horror, but it's a very different kind of horror from literally everything that's come before (or at least everything I've played).

Gameplay-wise, it's okay, but really not fond of the first person view. Feels much too clunky. And I get that it's kind of meant to feel clunky, but even so, I prefer the third person scheme used in stuff like the RE2/3 remakes, which used the same engine as far as I'm aware.

 

[Worgen]

Still working on AC7: Skies unknown. Just finished mission 15, the battle for Farbanti, was which quite epic. Honestly, most of the previous few missions have been awesome. Fleet Destruction is basically "Congrats for surviving the Penal unit. Here's a bunch of fat targets, a bunch of ammo and a generous time limit", Stonehenge Defense was quite epic and Cape Rainy assualt was just plain cool(even if you would think Someone would hear a jet flying through that canyon). Bunker Buster was a cool idea marred by being really annoying, because of the fake silos and trying to use the laser pointer for the bomb is...yeah. Also, trying to shoot down the IRBMs is much harder then I woudl think. One would think it wouldn't take much to knock a missile out of the sky(I mean, rockets are hard enough to keep them exploding when people aren't shooting at them)......

At some point I need to pick that game up again. The gameplay was really cool, but the story just... eghhhhh. The plot just annoyed me, having your solder be part of a penal unit is just annoying, prisoners being trusted with expensive weapons is just weird at best.

 

[Dalisclock]

At some point I need to pick that game up again. The gameplay was really cool, but the story just... eghhhhh. The plot just annoyed me, having your solder be part of a penal unit is just annoying, prisoners being trusted with expensive weapons is just weird at best.

I keep hoping the story(outside the missions briefings) is going somewhere and so far......not really. Avril dropped off the radar once the Penal unit was dissolved, Creepy scientist dude and Old Man Ace Pilot.....I guess it's going somewhere eventually. Princess Cosette keeps getting hinted to be important but so far she hasn't contributed to the plot in any meaningful way. The scene with her singing with the kids and the fake dog was cute though.

And yeah, the whole "Let's give Prisoners cool planes and send them on missions" never really makes a ton fo sense, though it does make up for it a bit by having a lot of dark comedy banter among the cons, Bandog and the Unit commander. Especially the running joke about "We're sending these cons on suicide missions. Any fuck ups will result in time in Solitary confinement". Oh no.....Solitary confinement. NO PLEASE! SEND ME ON ONE SUCIDIE MISSION AFTER ANOTHER!

 

[Worgen]

I keep hoping the story(outside the missions briefings) is going somewhere and so far......not really. Avril dropped off the radar once the Penal unit was dissolved, Creepy scientist dude and Old Man Ace Pilot.....I guess it's going somewhere eventually. Princess Cosette keeps getting hinted to be important but so far she hasn't contributed to the plot in any meaningful way. The scene with her singing with the kids and the fake dog was cute though.

And yeah, the whole "Let's give Prisoners cool planes and send them on missions" never really makes a ton fo sense, though it does make up for it a bit by having a lot of dark comedy banter among the cons, Bandog and the Unit commander. Especially the running joke about "We're sending these cons on suicide missions. Any fuck ups will result in time in Solitary confinement". Oh no.....Solitary confinement. NO PLEASE! SEND ME ON ONE SUCIDIE MISSION AFTER ANOTHER!

Yeah, I just wanted a plot as good as Shattered Skies, but I would have settled for something like Assault Horizons with just different country names.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Yeah, I just wanted a plot as good as Shattered Skies, but I would have settled for something like Assault Horizons with just different country names.

Zero had the best story in the series. And Assault Horizon's is significantly worse than Skies Unknown's, if solely for the fact that it doesn't have any thematic depth at all. It's like a late Call of Duty story, all U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! without any real thought put into it. Which also puts it at tonal odds with the entire rest of the series.

 

[Worgen]

Zero had the best story in the series. And Assault Horizon's is significantly worse than Skies Unknown's, if solely for the fact that it doesn't have any thematic depth at all. It's like a late Call of Duty story, all U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! without any real thought put into it. Which also puts it at tonal odds with the entire rest of the series.

I don't think I played Zero, but I would say that Assualt Horizon's story was fine, but I really would have preferred it with not real countries since real countries have baggage and actual military organization and the planes used matter more.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I don't think I played Zero, but I would say that Assualt Horizon's story was fine, but I really would have preferred it with not real countries since real countries have baggage and actual military organization and the planes used matter more.

Not to mention that Markov as a villain is no Yellow 13 or Pixy, or even Mihaly. "Grr, I'm evil and you can tell just from this first cutscene, and that's all there is to my character because I am Russian."

 

[Hawki]

Not to mention that Markov as a villain is no Yellow 13 or Pixy, or even Mihaly. "Grr, I'm evil and you can tell just from this first cutscene, and that's all there is to my character because I am Russian."

It's kind of funny with Assault Horizon how literally every single Russian character is an antagonist, including the one you think was on your side until it's revealed he was a buddy of Markov.

Also, I can't help but wonder how the people of Moscow got to face winter after being nuked, while the protagonist gets his USA! moment in Washington after sparing it from a similar fate.

 

[Worgen]

Not to mention that Markov as a villain is no Yellow 13 or Pixy, or even Mihaly. "Grr, I'm evil and you can tell just from this first cutscene, and that's all there is to my character because I am Russian."

Yeah, I mean, it had problems but it didn't actively annoy me so at least it had that going for it. But it certainly was bland military story.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Yeah, I mean, it had problems but it didn't actively annoy me so at least it had that going for it. But it certainly was bland military story.

Still, the important thing in a game is gameplay. And on that note, Skies Unknown has pretty good mission variety and map design. Even the worst levels like Bunker Buster still have good elements to them, like how the silo closest to your starting position is always real and has no defenses so you can practice using the laser designator. Meanwhile, Assault Horizon forces you into DFM to do almost anything, creating "cinematic" moments that feel cheap because you aren't actually in control of them at all, unlike instances like chasing Mihaly through the lightning canyon or the sunken district.

You can skip cutscenes, but you can't skip bad core mechanics.

Also, I can't help but wonder how the people of Moscow got to face winter after being nuked, while the protagonist gets his USA! moment in Washington after sparing it from a similar fate.

Wow. I didn't even remember that part. Compared to that, "Prisoners use nothing without supervision, not even a pencil" seems like good writing.

 

[Dalisclock]

I managed to defeat the Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls, though I had to call in Solaire to do it. Rang the first bell, and now I'm going... somewhere. I don't actually know where to go next, but the next major place I haven't really looked yet is Darkroot Garden, not counting that graveyard near Firelink Shrine. So it's probably going to be somewhere around there.

I'm still not 'gud' by a long shot, but I think I'm starting to get a feel for all my options at last.

You might have missed it when you first talked to the gloomy knight(and he won't repeat it because nobody repeats anything useful in this game), but he mentions that the two bells are 1.) Up in the Parish/Church and 2.) Down in blighttown.

So from here you need to start working your way down if you're ready to go find the next bell. If you're unsure where to start, go back to the Undead Burg and look for a way down to the lower part.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

You might have missed it when you first talked to the gloomy knight(and he won't repeat it because nobody repeats anything useful in this game), but he mentions that the two bells are 1.) Up in the Parish/Church and 2.) Down in blighttown.

So from here you need to start working your way down if you're ready to go find the next bell. If you're unsure where to start, go back to the Undead Burg and look for a way down to the lower part.

I didn't actually ask for any help, thanks. "I don't actually know where to go next, but the next major place I haven't really looked yet is Darkroot Garden" =/= "Where do I go?"

 

[BrawlMan]

Played more Streets of Rage 4. I finally unlocked the Perfect achievement. Completing a stage without taking a hit. The best part: I wasn't even trying to get the achivement, and did it unconsciously. I was playing as Cherry on Hard, Arcade Mode, Stage 3. All need to do now is beat the campagin with the SOR1 and SOR3 characters and I will have the platinum trophy.

 

[Worgen]

Still, the important thing in a game is gameplay. And on that note, Skies Unknown has pretty good mission variety and map design. Even the worst levels like Bunker Buster still have good elements to them, like how the silo closest to your starting position is always real and has no defenses so you can practice using the laser designator. Meanwhile, Assault Horizon forces you into DFM to do almost anything, creating "cinematic" moments that feel cheap because you aren't actually in control of them at all, unlike instances like chasing Mihaly through the lightning canyon or the sunken district.

You can skip cutscenes, but you can't skip bad core mechanics.

I liked the DFM mechanics, except when they were used for some cinematic bs where the game just forced you to chase a plane a certain time to show you something cool but you kept wasting missiles on it since you weren't sure.