What are you currently playing?

[BrawlMan]

I'm going off what's in the posts, and what's in the posts is 'mid-boss checkpoints are bad game design'.

Which is complete bullshit from him. The entire point that is to ease in first time and new type players. No one is perfect on their run of a game. The entire point is convenience for the hardcore players and casual players. So they don't waste time on old phases again and adjust for new phase(s). That way on the next run, they can try for a no damage, no death for the stage or bosses better prepared and more aware.

Black Myth Wukong fits the above descriptions too, so maybe that one?

He like that even less.

View attachment 12835

An appropriate and accurate description.

 

[BrawlMan]

NG2B - I made it to Chapter 12 and no longer have to deal with the three ladies respective individual chapter. Now to tackle the rest of Mentor Mode.

 

[Ezekiel]

By any chance, Ezekiel, have you tried Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice? Genuine question. There's a non-zero chance you might actually like it.

Played it until the real final boss, tried him a few times, decided long before I would have given up on prior FromSoftware games that I didn't care enough to finish it, tried starting over a few years later, played even worse, deleted it and hid it in my Steam library so that I would never feel tempted again. I could pull a better fight system out of my ass.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I could pull a better fight system out of my ass.

Talk about a game you dislike without hyperbolic insults challenge (IMPOSSIBLE).

I'm disappointed, but not surprised.

 

[Ezekiel]

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (IV) remaster runs like crap for me, whereas I to III ran wonderfully. I don't get it. I vaguely remember this lame opening. Have 60 minutes logged on Steam in 2017. I don't want to know Lara Croft as a child, just as I did not want to see Indiana Jones as one. Keep them one-dimensional, barely saying anything.

The Angel of Darkness (VI) is far worse than I expected. Dislike the looser modern movement and heavy tutorials. Tomb Raider has lost its innocence. Now it's mainstream and has to treat the player with kid gloves.

I mean, the first Tomb Raiders did have tutorials, but they were in Lara's mansion, if you chose to go there, and still did not stop your movement like in The Angel of Darkness. I always went to Lara's mansion very late, usually after the story was over, choosing to learn the mechanics along the adventure. Didn't play either of them long. Will continue, although maybe not for a while. But, yeah, already see grave missteps.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Anyway, all that aside, here's what I've been up to in Elden Ring lately:
-Headed into East Limgrave to grab the Flask of Wondrous Physick; on the way I met Kenneth, and having nothing better to do decided to help him with his problem. I can't use the weapon he gave me, but at least I found a Golden Seed and another Minor Erdtree during the adventure.
-Went back into Liurnia and met Thops, who told me how to get inside Raya Lucaria; before I can worry about finding a key, though, I need to get over there first.
-Then I found a magic portal leading directly to the front gate, where I also found a map hinting at where I might, hopefully, be able to find a key. What I found instead was a dragon who killed me, nullifying my Great Rune and forcing me to back off. I'm not sure whether I should go fight it right away or go somewhere else...

-Honestly, getting bigger numbers probably won't make the dragon any easier, so maybe I should just go give it another few attempts.

 

[bluegate]

I hope you don't find the following to be too spoilerish

Anyway, all that aside, here's what I've been up to in Elden Ring lately:
-Headed into East Limgrave to grab the Flask of Wondrous Physick; on the way I met Kenneth, and having nothing better to do decided to help him with his problem. I can't use the weapon he gave me, but at least I found a Golden Seed and another Minor Erdtree during the adventure.

And half a medallion, I would hope?

-Went back into Liurnia and met Thops, who told me how to get inside Raya Lucaria; before I can worry about finding a key, though, I need to get over there first.
-Then I found a magic portal leading directly to the front gate, where I also found a map hinting at where I might, hopefully, be able to find a key. What I found instead was a dragon who killed me, nullifying my Great Rune and forcing me to back off. I'm not sure whether I should go fight it right away or go somewhere else...

-Honestly, getting bigger numbers probably won't make the dragon any easier, so maybe I should just go give it another few attempts.

Just remember, not all obstacles need to be vanquished to get past, some can just be run past.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I hope you don't find the following to be too spoilerish

And half a medallion, I would hope?

Ah yeah, I did find that.

Just remember, not all obstacles need to be vanquished to get past, some can just be run past.

I figured there was a possibility that might be the case.

 

[BrawlMan]

@hanselthecaretaker2 and @NerfedFalcon,

Mentor Difficulty has been beaten in Ninja Gaiden II: Black! So all of the third costumes are unlocked for the ladies now. I am not touching Master Ninja Difficulty. I don't care enough about Ryu's fourth costume.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Beat Escape from Tethys and overall it's a pretty good (small) Metroidvania, comparable to stuff like Xeodrifter, Super Skelemania and Oliver's Adventures in the Fairyland.

 

[Dreiko]

So the Garou beta came out last night, already played around 80 matches and the tutorial. I'm using Kain and there's no training mode but I was able to figure out enough things to keep an above 60% winrate, which is pretty bad for me normally but I've never played these games seriously before so it feels like a new challenge. And you can clearly tell when you're facing someone who has prior history with the series, thing is, you can kinda survive with fundamentals, and you wanna keep your eyes open and see what they do. So far, the brake and feint systems I've not utilized well, but the rev stuff I'm using a ton of.

 

[BrawlMan]

Operation Wolf is still a fun rail shooter. I did something different by playing the PC-Engine version. Pretty good conversion of the arcade game. The only flaw is the sound, but it's not much of a deal breaker.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

For Christmas last year, one of my friends got me the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 campaign, citing it as the best that CoD's been in a long time. Decided to finally boot it up now, if only to get it finished and uninstalled. So far I've played through the first three missions, and it's been a pretty decent time. It's Call of Duty, so if nothing else the guns feel pretty great to fire at various bad guys, and more than any other Black Ops game I've played it actually feels like we're doing spy shit. Scrounging for cash in each mission to unlock perks is a neat little touch, the forced stealth section is fairly forgiving with guards that tell you to clear off before failing you (even if it is a knockoff of a BOCW mission), and surprisingly, having a visible health bar has actually helped quite a bit. Overall, I think it's still too early to say much, but I'm having a better time with it than I expected.

But for real: quick time events? In 2024? Taking off a whole-ass point at the end just for that.

 

[BrawlMan]

But for real: quick time events? In 2024? Taking off a whole-ass point at the end just for that.

If it makes you feel any better, action commands and finisher button prompts still exist.

I've been playing Ninja Spirit. A fun and decent action platformer by Irem. My only complaint is that even in the T-16/PC-Engine version, certain enemies and most bosses can kill you in one hit! Why? What's the point of having hit points, when they can do that, and you're not going to know until it happens.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

If it makes you feel any better, action commands and finisher button prompts still exist.

Specifically I mean mid-cutscene insta-death QTEs. Those weren't good in 2004 and they're arguably worse in 2024 when everyone should know better.

 

[BrawlMan]

Specifically I mean mid-cutscene insta-death QTEs. Those weren't good in 2004 and they're arguably worse in 2024 when everyone should know better.

Fucking really?! Never mind then!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

In between games and not sure what to start next. I replayed a bit of Celeste, the first few levels, just for the hell of it, getting all the strawberries. Been a while. I'm a big fan of the beginning of Celeste but man if the levels don't get stupid fast after that. Or maybe I'm just remembering the B-side and C-side levels, which were a nightmare of their own and would've been the last I ever saw of the game.

 

[Worgen]

In between games and not sure what to start next. I replayed a bit of Celeste, the first few levels, just for the hell of it, getting all the strawberries. Been a while. I'm a big fan of the beginning of Celeste but man if the levels don't get stupid fast after that. Or maybe I'm just remembering the B-side and C-side levels, which were a nightmare of their own and would've been the last I ever saw of the game.

I think you are thinking c side, I remember pretty much all the normal and even b side being just good if hard, but c side gets stupid.

 

[Silvanus]

Recently played through 2 games that I enjoyed far more than I expected to: Space Marine 2, and Cult of the Lamb.

Never played Space Marine 1. The gunplay looked sluggish, the enemies looked uninspired and zerg-ish, didn't think it looked like it had much character. But I can't deny I enjoyed the campaign (though gameplay is repetitive and there aren't any interesting characters, the moment to moment combat just feels impactful and satisfying at its base). The multiplayer, which I'm playing with a couple of mates, is also bloody fun.... though they desperately need more than 3 maps.

Cult of the Lamb I avoided because I usually dislike procedural generation and rogue-lites. But the combination with a management/building-type game really helps to keep it fresh. Got the Platinum for it.

Now playing SH2 remake, which seems excellent so far (just arrived at Brookhaven). I played the OG and I remember most of it quite well. Though the trophy list requires 5 different endings... fuck that. I'll play it maybe twice.