What game are you playing?

[thebeesknees22]

Yay.

True to God of War's tradition, the new game seems to be more or less the same game as the last one (which I'm OK with). So, this time we don't get to have 7 or so of almost-the-same-game, because this one will be the last one... but who knows, maybe Kratos will move to the Middle East later and fight Jesus and the apostles or something.

Ooooooooooohhhhhhh
I can't wait for this one. It already feels like it's going to be another instant classic.

GOW4 is imho the best game ever made. This one looks like it'll be a solid follow up/continuation.

can't wait for it to come out

 

[wankerness]

I work for (a company owned by) Sony.


Hm..... Demon's Souls in on there for sure, and Bloodborne I think as well. I have access to a PS3 copy of DS1 and 2, but that means busting out the PS3. There's some stuff that I thiiiiiiiiink is in the genre, but kinda tangentially maybe? Like Ghost of Tsushima is there. If Eldin Ring was on there, I'd be grabbing that, but no dice - which is part of what draws me to the genre - there's so much hype for that one, and it's good looking in screenshots, so I figure if I dip my toes into the genre a bit, maybe it's worth a purchase later.

Nah, ghost of Tsushima is basically just an improved version of assassins creed. I’d say start with demons souls or bloodborne. The original version of dark souls is notorious for frame rate frustrations in one of the hardest parts, and the original release of dark souls 2 is very different from the remastered/remixes version that’s become the standard since then.

If the remastered DS was on the service I’d say start with that since it’s considered the biggest classic (I definitely think it’s far from the best, but it’s easily one of the most influential games of this century). But...yeah. Not sure about the previous generation version. I should play it on 360 to see just how bad it is, since I do have it. I played it for like three hours, accidentally went two very wrong ways at the start (first the graveyard, then Anor Londo) and promptly quit, to not play again for 8 years.

Elden ring would be the best entry point but yeah, doubt that’s going to be free till it starts getting price cuts.

Demons souls is just full of weird punishing and frustrating mechanics that aren’t in the later games (ex dying in “human form” even once making all enemies get stronger, locking you out of npc quests, as well as you losing half your max health - basically the easiest/safest way to play it is to kill yourself in the hub world any time you’re in human form so you never risk the enemy strength penalties for dying in human form in the regular levels). It’s mechanically the easiest in terms of boss difficulty and is a classic for a reason plus the ps5 version is probably the best looking game on the system. Just...it hurts and you should be aware of some mechanics going in cause the game does not explain any of them. “World tendency” being the worst one.

Bloodborne is less arcane but has by far the hardest starting bosses in the series, I know a substantial portion of people that have played it gave up on the first bosses without killing either.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Been way too busy for gaming lately, but finally finished the Live A Live remake last night with 2 bad endings and the good one. Beaten all the new elite bosses as well, sans one where you were required to flee from battles 100 times, and I couldn't be assed anymore.

My complaints still stand, and it loses it's momentum on the second half of the game where it shifts to open world grindfest. But at least the combat is simple enough to get through, and it's worth seeing to the end.

I was just about to pull the trigger on Xenoblade 2 and it's Torna expansion, but it's only a few weeks until the localisation of Trails of Zero drops... and that usually means me getting back to hibernating in the fridge again.

 

[Nicki]

I restarted my Final Fantasy XIV addiction.

Good-bye life.

 

[StevenC]

I work for (a company owned by) Sony.

So, uh, are you guys making a game or anything?

 

[wankerness]

As I'm sort of in a holding pattern in Stardew Valley (maxed rep with everyone, got perfection statue, now have nothing to work towards besides the frickin million G items and it takes me multiple seasons to get that much money), I booted up Dark Souls 2 for 360, on my machine that has no wireless adapter and is on the wrong floor to be wired. So, I'm playing version 1.0, with all that comes with it! Aka, Miracles aren't nerfed into the ground. So, I'm playing as a cleric and just got lightning spear, and have more than 3 times the number of casts as in all later versions of the game, plus it actually does pretty hefty damage (took 9 casts to take out that boss in noman's wharf even with summoned help). It's nice! The enemy placement is weird, some areas feel incredibly deserted. Like, Heide's Tower on the SOTFS version is loaded with not just those big stone guys but Heide knights. This seems to have all the stone guys, and NOTHING ELSE. So there are big empty gaps. Like, no dragon landing outside the Ornstein fight, no heide knights activating after you kill Smough, no guard on that big ramp, etc. The pirate ship area was also pretty deserted (but still dense). The first big open area in Forest of Fallen Giants had about 1/3 the number of dudes. Etc. The lost tower area seems about the same so far, though. Placement of estus shards and bone dust seems similar but with some differences already, so that's kind of fun.

I sure died a bunch of times struggling through pursuer. The early game in this is brutal even with way more lenient enemy placement. Your character handles like garbage and can't possibly drink estus in the time between attacks from the likes of Pursuer until you're at about 20 adaptability, at which point the game suddenly starts becoming much easier. Using my old standard, the 1h mace, which is incredibly overpowered against most bosses.

 

[TedEH]

So, uh, are you guys making a game or anything?

If I was, I'd likely not be allowed to say, hah. That was the case with the previous job - I waaaaas actively working on actual games that at least some people would actually care about (I can't spill unreleased details of course). This new job (started 3-4 months ago) isn't in game-dev directly - it's instead working on audio middleware that happens to be used by a lot of games - which for me felt like a natural transition.

Having been in something games-related for quite a while though means I've stacked up a good amount of free stuff. I've managed to get a year each of Gamepass and PS+ without paying for them, which reaaaaaally compounds the backlog problem. You'd think that means I don't spend much on games, but I still somehow end up buying more anyway. If I can somehow swing a free Switch Online voucher, I can complete the mooching trifecta.

 

[Choop]

If I can somehow swing a free Switch Online voucher, I can complete the mooching trifecta.

 

[gabito]

Went back to GoW (2018) for my 3rd (or 4th?) playthrough. Last time was in 2019, so I barely remember anything besides it being a good game that I liked a lot. Like every time I replay a game everything looks smaller and less impressive, but it's still a great game.

The influences from other games / companies are clear: TLoU, some Arkham Asylum metroidvania-ish stuff, and more. But it's still its own game, and some of the landmarks of the earlier GoW games are still there.

I still despise the small white reticle. I can't believe you can't change that, there's snow and clear skies everywhere and I can barely see it most of the time. Just being able to change the color would be enough.

And I can barely stand BOY. I understand Kratos is (or was) a lousy father (and all-round asshole) and the kid is angry about his mother's death, but he sounds almost like a contemporary teenager most of the time. I know nobody in the game talks like they used to talk in whatever era the game is set, but for some reason he sounds out of place (to me at least). It's like he's only missing an iPhone and AirPods to finally go all "yeah yeah, whatever dude" on Kratos before uploading something to TikTok.

Anyway: 9/10

"Did I tell you the story where I murdered my last kid for way less than that, BOY?"
"No, but I'm well aware that killing your father runs in the family, old man..."

 

[wankerness]

Dark Souls 2 1.0 is kind of a bastard in sections. That whole Drangleic Castle basement with the stone guys waking up and the sentinels is way, WAY harder than it is in SOTFS since the guys revive in groups, attack faster, and the sentinels have at least 50% more HP. There's still fewer enemies in general, making some sections WAY easier than in SOTFS, but some stuff is blatantly imbalanced and was rightly nerfed. I feel like SOTFS really smacks you in the face with difficulty in the early game but makes the late game easier.

It also doesn't help that playing at 30 FPS with the ratchety buttons on an xbox 360 controller and occasional hitches while the game loads things makes things more difficult. I am currently getting stomped by the demon of song, a boss I don't remember ever having trouble with before! I think I just need to level health more, my stats are spread way too thin (I think I have 25 points into health) and as a result I'm getting 1 shot sometimes even with a human effigy up.

 

[TedEH]

Just finished Last of Us pt 1. It's not bad. Certainly looks good on a PS5, and the story is put together reasonably well. Characters are likable. I dunno that there's much to comment on regarding gameplay, since it's a pretty straitforward action / survival kind of deal. Levels are linear. Some off-paths to find small rewards / caches, but it's clearly pre-open-world design, and I'm ok with that. I know they pointed to audio being a selling point for this one, and I could see it. Spatial stuff was done pretty well. I wasn't expecting the stealth mechanics going in, but appreciated them for sure. Was forgiving enough, in the sense that AI never did / saw anything that made me go "aw, well that's just unfair", except for maybe one special encounter. But I appreciated that you could fail the stealth and still recover the situation by running or trying a fire fight. Can't decide if I'm "hooked" enough to do the DLC or just move on.

I might be leaning towards moving on because the new Monkey Island is out and that's got my name written all over it.

 

[BlackMastodon]

I'd recommend doing the DLC. It's relatively short and to the point and gives some good background exposition on Ellie's character.

 

[gabito]

Yeah, the DLC is good (and short).

 

[wankerness]

I didn’t think it was very good. I do think it’s funny how many CHUDs got furious about it including non-straight people, though. And how that fury carried right over into Last of us Part 2 reactions!!

 

[Carrion Rocket]

Finally had enough time to sit down and get to Act 2 of the PS5 version of Cyberpunk. It did all the available side gigs in Act 1 so I could just steam roll through the rest of the early game. I was weird not having Silverhand in your head to deliver a few quips on a couple of them, but they went by quick enough. Found a optical camo upgrade early enough that it made a few of the stealth optional gigs a cake walk.

 

[wankerness]

Trombone Champ - this is definitely the funniest rhythm game I've ever played. So simple, but so brilliant. Basically guitar hero except your mouse's vertical position corresponds to your slide position, and the pitch of your trombone in game corresponds to your mouse position with the accuracy of about a quarter tone. Needless to say, everything you play is comically out of tune until you get very good. It's great.

 

[Werecow]

Trombone Champ - this is definitely the funniest rhythm game I've ever played. So simple, but so brilliant. Basically guitar hero except your mouse's vertical position corresponds to your slide position, and the pitch of your trombone in game corresponds to your mouse position with the accuracy of about a quarter tone. Needless to say, everything you play is comically out of tune until you get very good. It's great.

I saw this just last night. Looks like a really funny game with friends.

 

[wankerness]

I saw this just last night. Looks like a really funny game with friends.

Yeah. I got a couple middle/high school band directors addicted to it yesterday. It apparently derailed their afternoons and every student that saw it had to get in on watching it.

It also gets points for having a semi-amusing sense of humor even beyond the gameplay. Like, the intro that plays when you start appears to be some kind of Dark Souls parody. Plus all the terminology it uses (toots, etc) and the ridiculous "facts" that appear on loading screens.

 

[TedEH]

Y'all weren't kidding - that Last of Us DLC was really short. Not bad, but short. And didn't add anything mechanically. And narratively you could have inferred everything, so I guess it's more fleshed out character details, but you don't really learn anything about the universe or have any plot-relevant reveals or anything.

 

[rokket2005]

I beat Ys Origin last night as Yunica and it's pretty good. Started a second run with Hugo the 2nd character you can use right away as I didn't really want to jump right into another game right away. That was before I got an email from Amazon this morning that said my switch copy of Trails from Zero, which I preordered a month ago and comes out the 27th, won't ship to me until November. Why they can't fulfill preorders even is ridiculous, especially since I don't imagine it's going to be a mega seller, and I have to imagine it's just NISA being shitty with stock amounts. I'm picking up a Bayonetta 1 preorder from Best buy on Friday, and if they have it I'll grab it then, but otherwise I might as well playthrough Ys Origin again or Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Great Ace Attorney chronicles if it turns out i really do have a month before trails.