Thread: What Are You Currently Playing? |OT| Gotta play them all
Official Thread
PSA

8bitdo controllers are trash. I have two that worked fine for a while, but now any time I want to use them with my Switch or laptop there's a 50/50 chance these fucking things will properly connect via bluetooth, and sometimes even when they do, it's like whatever game you play just doesn't recognize them

Fucking garbage

These things are fussy and finicky, they only work when they want too.

On the plus side, after putting one on the floor and jumping up and down and slamming my feet on it multiple times out of anger, to my amazement the thing didn't break. They must use some high quality materials to build this trash. Too bad they don't fucking work reliably.
 
Heads up:
Aliens: Dark Descent is free on PS Plus, get it before the new year if you missed out.


It Takes Two and Temtem are the other monthly Essential games. PS+ Essential games swap on the first Tuesday of the month so you're safe to grab them until Jan. 6th.
 
Just finished Astro Bot + all DLC and had pretty mixed feelings about it. Definitely don't get the Game of the Year hype even though it's generally well-made. Game play feels almost completely unchanged from Astro's Playroom, aside from the new mechanics - which really makes the challenge levels stand out as being an awful fit for an otherwise fun game. Ended up making a really charming game feel really tedious by the end due to how many resets I had on challenge levels from attacks not landing or wonky platform detection. Not sure if the nostalgia bait just resonated with reviewers, but this game was the definition of a 7.5 to me. Good, but the comparisons to Mario games feel blown way out of proportion.

New mechanics also feel pretty good, but a bit undercooked because you use them for 3-4 short levels at most. Level design also feels restricted by the fact that they didn't overhaul the base mechanics to make the platforming and combat feel more precise. It's a solid game, but if you're giving a platformer a 9.5 and all this praise I'm expecting something more akin to the best Mario games that take the series to new heights instead of resting on their laurels.
 
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Path of Exile II - Witch build - This time with a better understanding of using contagion and flaming skulls. Absolutely melting my way through Act 1 using a setup I did not have until latter parts of Act 2. Only death so far was due to the bell boss getting a lucky swing while I was circling behind him.

Grim Dawn - One of my favorite games. Usual Necromancer/Occultist Cablism build. Grim Dawn has dated graphics but damn is its world building, hidden areas, potential class combos and loot are outstanding. Have gotten far more and better loot in Act 1 of Grim Dawn then 3 Acts of Path of Exile 2. I would like to have a familar able to sell loot like in Torchlight 1/2. Actually all games with inventory should have this option so I am not constantly running back to the hub just to rearrange storage.

Can't wait for Path of Exile 2 full release, Grim Dawn Fangs of Askerten Expansion and hopefully Titan Quest II. Very promising year for ARPG fans
 
Still plugging away at KCD, though taking my sweet time with it. Albeit I'm advancing the main questline (I've found out where the Bandits Camp is located), I'm working on a lot of the smaller regional sidequests to cut down on the schlepping back and forth that often happens. I knocked out Teresa's plot from the Woman's Lot DLC. It was pretty cool to see things from her perspective of events and add a bit more background to the other characters from the town, such as Fritz, Matthew, Bianca etc, the downside is from what I can determine nothing you pick up comes back with you from Skalitz to the Rattay Mill save money maybe? So don't bother packratting it like I did. With that said it does teach you all about using your hound effectively. If you haven't played it I'd recommend getting enough coin from picking herbs to buy a butcher's blade from one of the town traders in Skalitz. You get a bow and arrows, but a hand weapon proved useful during one quest outside the town walls. Also when things turn to shit, you have to do a lot of stealth to avoid/eliminate the Cumans and with a blade, you can stealth kill them, still save and save regularly as you're no match for them in a straight fight.
 
Playing Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2.

It's ... alright. Not sure why the adoration tbh, as it is just an ok game so far. I think I'm on the second mission. Very much on the rails and quite repetitive. Pretty enough and plays well, though I do find it slightly confusing with all the dodges and parries and the amount of enemies and effects obscuring your view.
 
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Playing Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2.

It's ... alright. Not sure why the adoration tbh, as it is just an ok game so far. I think I'm on the second mission. Very much on the rails and quite repetitive. Pretty enough and plays well, though I do find it slightly confusing with all the dodges and parries and the amount of enemies and effects obscuring your view.

How's the performance on your rig?
 
My No Man's Sky addiction continues somehow. The timing was great that I got back into it right when they were re-running the old expeditions.

During one of them, I found this awesome black-and-white planet but was too stupid to make a base so I could go back. I looked through the entire page of discovered systems and still couldn't find it but I really wanted to make a cool noir base.
 
I don't like to call something not released or endorsed by Sega the definitive way to play a Sonic game, but Sonic 3 A.I.R. really is an incredibly polished and fully customizable way to play Sonic 3 and Knuckles. This is the kind of fan made stuff I can't help but be impressed by
 
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I remember never getting that far into the game, and damn I know why.

I remember this game from my childhood 1996, as 10 years old. I always had fund memories of the fight out from the bar where you die and get turned to a vampire, and then the woods.

Now I know why. Damn that game is hard. You get tossed so much into your face that is poorly explained. But damn that game is so cool.

isn't this game one of the first open world games? The game is huge. I know theres loading times between each zone, but still it is really technically impressive from its time.

Playing it on my Evercade, and it's a little game me and my GF plays when our daughter has been tossed to bedtime.

I can't imagine how people figured everything out and completed it back then without any help though.

Cool thing is I still got the PS1 version with me.

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DS: Wrapped up at around 100 hours. Probably one of my favorite games I've ever played. Really interested to see what they do with the sequel.

I think I'll wrap up some outstanding deliveries and such for a while. Nothing else I'm really itching to play at the moment.

Hey good shit, I wrote a spoilery piece if you'd like to read my thoughts:


As for DS2, I will try and not repeat the same mistake by not watching any more trailers, the bastard spoiled too much of the game across the trailers in the first DS.

The other mistake I won't repeat is listening to what bitches say on the internet, so I could play the game sooner and not take 5 years to give it a try.
 
Just finished Astro Bot + all DLC and had pretty mixed feelings about it. Definitely don't get the Game of the Year hype even though it's generally well-made. Game play feels almost completely unchanged from Astro's Playroom, aside from the new mechanics - which really makes the challenge levels stand out as being an awful fit for an otherwise fun game. Ended up making a really charming game feel really tedious by the end due to how many resets I had on challenge levels from attacks not landing or wonky platform detection. Not sure if the nostalgia bait just resonated with reviewers, but this game was the definition of a 7.5 to me. Good, but the comparisons to Mario games feel blown way out of proportion.

New mechanics also feel pretty good, but a bit undercooked because you use them for 3-4 short levels at most. Level design also feels restricted by the fact that they didn't overhaul the base mechanics to make the platforming and combat feel more precise. It's a solid game, but if you're giving a platformer a 9.5 and all this praise I'm expecting something more akin to the best Mario games that take the series to new heights instead of resting on their laurels.

I loved the Rescue Mission, but yeah, I got highly suspicious of this one. Not saying it's not a good game, but the usual "this is better than a Nintendo game" inferiority complex from Sony ponies leads me to believe it's a quality title at best. The OT and reviews just seemed to go on about the nostalgia and "feels". I'd love to play it and would probably have a great time but there's no way in hell I buy a PS5 with the price tag and the 2 maybe 3 exclusive titles worth checking out.

I think I'm getting close to the end of Ys, as I've wrapped up the "main" conflict from earlier in the game. Had a huge dungeon too compared to the rest of the game. I think I'll be reaching the finale in the next day or two. It's actually a bit shorter than I had anticipated, even with modest side quests/adventuring. Kind of a good thing though, I'd rather an RPG hit the 30 hour mark and leave you wanting more than drag to 50 hours and you want it to end already. I get the feeling they kept this game shorter to lay down the groundwork for the naval combat and then the next Ys title will be truly next gen and it bit larger in scope.

Antonblast is still amazing. Will have to post a track or two in the VG music OT
 
Progressed KCD further. I have established where the bandit camp is, but I figured time to get some of the myriad sidequests out of the way before I dig into that too far. Just wrapped up the Heretic quest for Hanush, and am about to head out to Talmberg to get the Millers quest done as well as activate the mission for Lady Stephanie. On an earlier save, I tried the horse race for Sir Divish, but I need to build my horsemanship up. Had a couple of tough fights with bandits. 4 peasants jumped me, which wasn't too bad, but then I ran into some Axe Wielding knight who fucked me up good as proper despite using masterstrikes against him. Still, thankfully I got the better of him in the end and his armor will likely come in useful. On the positive, good for maintenance skill (always be Repairing).

I pre-ordered KCD II Gold Edition via Steam as well, as I've been watching many videos about it for the OT to gen up on it and I'm truly looking forward to it now. Seems like they've brought a lot of refinement to the game and some much-needed quality-of-life aspects, such as clothing presets.
 
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I pre-ordered KCD II Gold Edition via Steam as well, as I've been watching many videos about it for the OT to gen up on it and I'm truly looking forward to it now. Seems like they've brought a lot of refinement to the game and some much-needed quality-of-life aspects, such as clothing presets.

You'd probably save a whole bunch if you pre-order on CD Keys mate. Think the Gold Edition is only like £45 on there.
 
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I'm starting to really appreciate the value of mods, emulators, rom hacks, and cheat engines. These tools all help mitigate the problem of many game developers being idiots. That's what I love about Sonic 3 A.I.R. The mods gives you so many tools that should have already been in the game to begin with. One mod lets you restart the blue sphere bonus levels if you fail, a feature that should have been in the game to begin with. Another mod actually saves your progress after you finish the first part of a zone, like it always should have been.

Now I wish someone would mod the Mega Man X8 16-bit demake to make boss weaknesses actually stun them or put them in a weakened state, since the moron who developed this game decided to remove one of the most fundamental aspects of a Mega Man game. Someone's already working on putting Zero into the game too.

You can't count on developers to just get shit right, so fans have to come in and fix everything.

Sonic 3 A.I.R. is the definite way to play Sonic 3 or Sonic 3 and Knuckles.
 
You'd probably save a whole bunch if you pre-order on CD Keys mate. Think the Gold Edition is only like £45 on there.

Yeah but then Warhorse get less. I've sunk hundreds of hours into KCD. I like to reward developers I care about versus short-changing them (I backed the KCD Kickstarter back in the day). It's a given I'm going to get hundreds of hours out of KCD II so I don't mind paying through Steam and knowing they will get the full wack.
 
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Just got the base game Platinum trophy for Ghost of Tsushima last night. What a ride.

I wish this had become the tentpole series that Sony had backed over Horizon, it's a stunning looking game. Every locale could honestly be framed as art. I really enjoyed the combat, which rides a good line on the default difficulty of being fun but still being somewhat challenging. The story is great, it perhaps suffers from being a bit too morose but given the context of the situation it is wholly appropriate. There are great character moments, the map is fun to explore and there's a wide range of abilities and tools at the player's disposal to make combat engaging in every fight.

I have started the Iki Island expansion post game but I might shelve it for something a bit leaner and easier to cleanse the palate, having played Death Stranding and now Ghost back to back, I am a bit burned out of open world type experiences.

What a jewel in the crown this game is for Sucker Punch though, it might be their best work to date.

It makes it all the more galling that we won't see a continuation of Jin's story in the sequel, it is rife with possibilities at the end of Tsushima.

I also didn't expect to enjoy kitting out Jin with new outfits!
 
Playing Quake 2 co op with the kids. 4 players at once, infinite ammo on, grappling hook on. They're loving it. They couldn't find their way through one of the stages and then discovered the compass function, so then they were roaming around in a pack exploring and grappling to whatever areas they wanted to explore. Even my 5yr old daughter is having a ton of fun.
 
PSA

8bitdo controllers are trash. I have two that worked fine for a while, but now any time I want to use them with my Switch or laptop there's a 50/50 chance these fucking things will properly connect via bluetooth, and sometimes even when they do, it's like whatever game you play just doesn't recognize them

Fucking garbage

These things are fussy and finicky, they only work when they want too.

On the plus side, after putting one on the floor and jumping up and down and slamming my feet on it multiple times out of anger, to my amazement the thing didn't break. They must use some high quality materials to build this trash. Too bad they don't fucking work reliably.

Had this happen to my 8bitdo M30. Literally stopped working out of the blue for the setup I used it for. Feels great but the internals are garbage.
 
Had this happen to my 8bitdo M30. Literally stopped working out of the blue for the setup I used it for. Feels great but the internals are garbage.

Damn. I've never had any 8bitdo controller issues except for one time when the controller was fully charged and wouldn't wake up or power on. I had just used the controller an hour previous before putting it back on the charging cradle.

Sad to hear anyone is having issues with them. They're my favorite third party controller maker.
 
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Damn. I've never had any 8bitdo controller issues except for one time when the controller was fully charged and wouldn't wake up or power on. I had just used the controller an hour previous before putting it back on the charging cradle.

Sad to hear anyone is having issues with them. They're my favorite third party controller maker.

I've been using the Ultimate controller for over a year now and I forgot that controllers can suck for a solid few months until I turned the PS4 and had to use the Dualshock 4 one time. 8bitdo's my favourite brand as well.
 
Finished it yesterday, at 59 hours playtime. What an experience.

I'll just focus my thoughts on the individual characters rather than the story as a whole since for 90% of the game that is what is focused on and isn't buried under complete mystery until the last 2 hours in the game.

Deadman: Although his character picked up in the later half of the game, I ultimately thought they didn't hit their goal set for him perfectly, I think Kojima tried his best to give us an Otacon here, but for half the time the only thing I think about when he's on display is Del Toro being awkward as hell and unhelpful. I think if they spent less time at the start making Deadman feel weird and more on his lack of friends and inability to make connections, I'd have liked him better, because at the end his charactrer does get so much better and I loved that hugging scene.

Fragile: same deal, at first I was disappointed especially as she's the first character we meet in the game. She gets better later on especially when Higgs comes to the picture, and her backstory with saving the city and losing her body in the process was great. I also liked that she's one of the few characters that isn't sold on the whole "build America" and all that crap and in fact only helps Sam to get a chance to get back at Higgs, felt like a good contrast to most characters being all patriotic and altruistic. Shame her dialogue is atrocious at times, we don't only get that stupid Fragile but not Fragile line twice, but also the lamest comeback in gaming history when she No u'd Higgs with the 'damaged goods" comment of his. Unfortunately this isn't it as the worst dialogue is yet to come.

Mama/Lockne: Mama's episode is when I first understood what Kojima was trying to do with these episode style theme here. We're going through these levels examining each character's case and in the process try to help them with their problems and 'reconnect'. Everything about Mama/Lockne's story is great, one of my favorite levels in the game. There's a lot of converstaion and story potential to be had with pregnancy and mothership and I appreciate Kojima for tackling the subject.

Amelie/Bridget: thinking about it now having finished the game, I like her better and I think her purpose was met well. I say this because while playing the game I wasn't as sold on her, the whole bit of she's captured but they allow her to do video calls felt so strange and weak, but I guess it's to make you suspicious of her from the very start, even the scene when Bridget dies between Sam's arms it's a clear giveaway they are in fact both the same person, but the player can't make that realization so early on knowing nothing about the story and its rules at that point. When they finally start revealing what she actually is is when her character picks up. Of course Kojima has to ruin it with absoltely the cringiest line I ever heared in recent memory, I honestly wish Nintendo sued the game or something to get that shit out, I get it's a meta joke on the "beat the bad guy, win the girl" trope, but it didn't have to be so excruciating. This is the price of allowing that maniac full creative freedom, for better or worse.

Heartman: just like Mama, I really liked his story segement. The scene when he first died but was resurrected and pulled out of the Beach is among my favourites in the game, such a great visual. Honestly wish we stayed in his quarters longer, especially as he's the only character where his theories turn out to be correct and don't mislead and confuse the player like everyone else. Unlike Deadman,I didn't feel the celebrity fatigue with his model too, despite the fact he's Nicolas Winding Refn. I didn't get 5 stars for him becuse I'm a dumbass but apprently he emails you later saying he stopped looking for his family and started seeing someone else, which is a nice ending to his characters especially since he's the only one we couldn't directly help reconnect like we did with all the other characters.

Higgs: he's simultaneously the coolest character and the most wasted potential at the same time. His design is one of my favoruites in gaming, just looks cool as fuck, gotta give it to Yoji Shinkawa here, a fuckload of games later, and his character designs are still as fresh as they were in MGS 1998, like Higgs looks even sicker in the DS2 trailer, how does Shinkawa keep one-upping himself every time? Higgs dialogue is actually a hit and not a miss too, I always thought Kojima is one of the few creators with 4th wall breaks that don't piss me off, but with Higgs it's on a different level, the meta sarcasm with his lines "aren't getting tired of the grind?" "isn't this want you wanted?" "No bullshit, just some good old fashioned boss fight" mocking the players who are used to just kill and get high scores in games, he even spoils the ending outright to your face in his first apprearance when he says "The girl, she's an EE" which most players myself included totally missed this. This portyal is enhanced even further by the outstanding performance of Troy Baker, which in my opinion is his best performace to date and it's not even close, he brings so much life and energy to the character, it's the perfect match. Love or hate the actor, but there is a good reason why he's in all games, he's just that damn good.
So what's so dissapointing about the character after all that praise? his story in general. Like, beyond all that cool presentation and sick fights, he's a shallow and one dimensional edge lord, we learn nearly nothing of him by playing the story missions, and even his pizza side missions don't open up the crux of his backstory until you beat him in the following episode, which at that point I was already disappointed with the character and the lore for him came all too late, I don't know why kojima insists on giving essential backstories for his villains after you beat them. Still haven't read all his Interview entries but I can tell it would've helped his character a lot more, especially during his final fight, where you get the feeling it's raw and personal, but you don't even know anything about the damn guy, so it falls apart with it just being a cool spectacle with no story backbone.

Clifford Unger: unlike Higgs, he's both cool looking and his story doesn't suck, in fact he has the best one out of all the characters in my opinion. Again with the character design, you can't help but just spam the screenshot button every time he and his skeleton squad make an entrance. And I absolutely loved the way his character was handled, from the great twist that all the flashback's you've been seeing are Sam's and not BB's, to the moment he stopped fighting when he realised his son is alive and well. Even though they spell it out in the final hour in the game when they show all the flashbacks as they happen back to back, the prior episode when you beat him for the last time was a dead giveaway for me that the BB was Sam, I mean that was a father-son hug if I ever saw one. I also love how all the characters thought he's fighting the way he is because he's too angry to die and wants revenge, while in fact he only wanted to save and see his son. Mads Mikkelsen definitely deserved his best acting award for this role, which is saying a lot with a game packing with S-tiers actors, especially with the acting of the next character.

Die-hardman: I liked the tiwst of your handler turning out to be on the antoginst side all along, even though the game doesn't really stick to this and I thought the buildup and the conspiracy Deadman and Heartman were suspecting wasn't as good in my opinion. Tommie Earl Jenkins steals the show in his only scene with the mask off, it almost feels like a waste having such talent covered behind a mask for most of the game lol, and his story hits even harder when you later on realise why he broke down in front of you asking for forgiveness, he basically fucked Sam's entire family up, even if it wasn't really up to him, he still felt guilty about it, and it further hits when you start connecting the dots and realise why he got so jumped when Cliff showed up in Amelie's beach.

In general I really loved the final scenes and the merging of storylines between the characters Die-Hardman, Cliff, Sam and Bridget. Probably the strongest storyline in the game as the other characters are more isloated cases and don't converge like the ones I just mentioned.

Sam and Lou: is there a better duo? Sam's journey and growth was another highlight of the game, even though I don't think they gave Norman Reedus justice, I mean, in arguably the most important scene for Sam, where he addresses all our friends before heading to Amelie's beach, the camera wasn't even showing his performance as it was from his back. I know Norman Reedus can act so I thought that was a bit dissapointing. For Lou, one of my favourite moments in the game is when she protected Sam from Higgs' bullets with the Ordadek, and that cute angry face, lol. Even though I was aware of her survival, the "one last delivery" still hit so hard, despite the cargo being the lightest yet, and the route having no BT's, no Timefall, no MULEs or terrorists, it was the hardest delivery in the whole game, especially coupled with that music, which this game has no shortage of excellent ones. I like that the one thing all people agree on when it comes to Kojima, is that the bastard has excellent taste in tunes.




















































In classic Kojima fashion, the story felt like it was going nowhere until the last 2 to 3 hours where he masterfully brings everything together. Of crouse, while I loved my time in this game, it wasn't perfect, far from it, and even though I appreciate having a no-constraints Kojima, deep down I do wish someone could tell him to settle down sometimes, but like I said, this is the price to pay to get such a unique experience not just in gaming but entertainment in general. That DS movie is probably gonna suck because that's not what the game is about, many people think his games are better as movies but they couldn't be further from the truth. I checked and apparently the game has 7 hours worth of cutscenes, putting that next to my near 60 hours playtime, and considering I had to finish the game in a hurry and would've otherwise had many more hours on it, his games couldn't have been more game-y games. I want to talk more about the gameplay, but my fingers are already tired writing all this shit so I'll stop now lol.

I can't wait for 2, knowing Kojima and his opinion on sequels, I'm ready to get my expectations subverted (in the good way) and see what he's having in store for us.

Lastly, this image below from DS2 makes me so damn happy, I couldn't stop smiling when I first saw it.

After finishing Death Stranding, I went back to smaller games, here's what I playd since then:

CULTIC: this game is incredible, "boomer shooter" fans should not skip this one. The first and most striking strength the game has is the presentation, pixel-art and stripe goodness, just check the screenshots below, it's so pretty to look at that my friends got immediately interested and wanted to know more about the game just from looking at a couple screenshots I sent. The gameplay itself is great as well, gunplay is badass, with a surprisingly brilliant level design that elevated the game even more with masterful moment to moment action, like, at times it fels as if Valve made a horror game. The soundtrack and sounds in general were great as well, just all around brilliant game.

Despite being "chapter one" only, I'm already satisfied with my 9 hour playtime, and even though the second chapter will be a separate purchase, which at first I didn't like before playing the game, now I'm right behind this solo dev and I'll be buying it for sure.
















Lost Ruins: this is an alright slightly-perverted Metroidvania that feels like its the devs first foray into making games, it's especially evident in the amateur-ish story. a couple hours in I was going to flush the game because it wasn't really interesting to play but just as I was about to turn it down for good, the gameplay got good enough just enough to keep me interested to keep playing, it's a short one too so I just decided to keep going. The highlight here is some of the quests and how they affect the ending of the game in a surprisingly cool way, it's just a shame since the rest of the game wasn't on the same level, I didn't catch on and didn't bother to do these story-altering quests. Like I said it's just an okay game, if one likes Metroidvanias, I guess you'll stay interested for the 6 hours or so this has to offer, nothing outstanding though, I even forgot to take screenshots.

Next up: the original Mafia and SOMA, both of which I already started, won't share any initial thoughts now, it'll have to wait till full overview in the next couple weeks.
 
After finishing Death Stranding, I went back to smaller games, here's what I playd since then:

CULTIC: this game is incredible, "boomer shooter" fans should not skip this one. The first and most striking strength the game has is the presentation, pixel-art and stripe goodness, just check the screenshots below, it's so pretty to look at that my friends got immediately interested and wanted to know more about the game just from looking at a couple screenshots I sent. The gameplay itself is great as well, gunplay is badass, with a surprisingly brilliant level design that elevated the game even more with masterful moment to moment action, like, at times it fels as if Valve made a horror game. The soundtrack and sounds in general were great as well, just all around brilliant game.

Despite being "chapter one" only, I'm already satisfied with my 9 hour playtime, and even though the second chapter will be a separate purchase, which at first I didn't like before playing the game, now I'm right behind this solo dev and I'll be buying it for sure.
















Lost Ruins: this is an alright slightly-perverted Metroidvania that feels like its the devs first foray into making games, it's especially evident in the amateur-ish story. a couple hours in I was going to flush the game because it wasn't really interesting to play but just as I was about to turn it down for good, the gameplay got good enough just enough to keep me interested to keep playing, it's a short one too so I just decided to keep going. The highlight here is some of the quests and how they affect the ending of the game in a surprisingly cool way, it's just a shame since the rest of the game wasn't on the same level, I didn't catch on and didn't bother to do these story-altering quests. Like I said it's just an okay game, if one likes Metroidvanias, I guess you'll stay interested for the 6 hours or so this has to offer, nothing outstanding though, I even forgot to take screenshots.

Next up: the original Mafia and SOMA, both of which I already started, won't share any initial thoughts now, it'll have to wait till full overview in the next couple weeks.

Yeah Cultic!!! Such a good shooter. Try out the standalone side-story that takes place in the police station (if you haven't already)

The level design really is superb. Boomer shooters tend to do a pretty good job of making good stages but Cultic is a masterclass
 
The next game for the game club has been selected and it's Killer 7. So that''ll be interesting!

Currently playing through Killer7 and it's unlike anything I've ever played before. It's essentially an adventure game crossed with a lightgun game. So far it's nonsensical, but in a fun way. Very weird, bizarre, and unsettling.

I am also playing through Pikmin 2 with my girlfriend. It's very fun, although the lack of the timer definitely makes the game feel way more relaxed. At least it's more lethal to make up for it.
 
This is my favorite one! The power creep got out of hand in Dual Strike. The challenge missions are really good:) Story is trash, but it's fun to get out of the Saturday Morning Cartoon into teenage "edge" haha. Plays great on the XL with stylus controls.

The last mission was a nightmare. So dumb and unfair. Kinda soured me on the game, but it seems to be a tradition of Advance Wars to go nuts at the end. Had to read walkthroughs to figure out whats going on. In the end got lucky when enemy chose to ignore one bomber and it managed to destroy the last tower.

Did a few trial missions but I think I had enough of the game. It's pretty good overall.
 
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Wrapped up Pentiment, which I definitely recommend in spite of its writing foibles. It was refreshing to see something set during historical times and actually be respectful and true to the time it was set during, even if the location and characters are fictional. Being able to see the way a small village changes over time makes me wish people would make more comprehensive simulators about having an impact on the lives of the locals. Writing is mostly stellar, with a few minor 'modern audience'-isms that thankfully didn't ruin the immersion, though a lot of the dialogue options feel like different ways of saying the same thing rather than feeling like real choices. Really enjoyed the story, at least until the end of Act 2
where the game suddenly rips control out of your hands and the characters go full retard.
Didn't end up enjoying Act 3 as much since you feel like you're spinning your wheels, revisiting the town's past until
Andreas came back via dumb exposition
and helps you put a bow on the overarching mystery, which doesn't resolve in a particularly logical or well set-up manner. Despite those issues, the characters are charming enough and the time span is very interesting to me, so it's still worth a play just to see the different outcomes of your time in Tassing.
 
I'm playing both Sekiro and Stellar Blade at the moment. Sekiro I have played before.

I have to say, I'm a little underwhelmed by Stellar Blade so far. I'm still in Eidos 7 but I am not a fan of the area and traversal so far. Everything else is fine, it's just the linear nature of the current area. I'm hoping the game will mix things up a bit as far as the locations are concerned.

Sekiro is just 👌
It's a masterpiece
 
Playing Dragon's Crown Pro on PS4 Pro

This game was suggested some time ago by D-Pad. It's some kind of sidescroller Diablo. Seems to be designed primarily for the Vita, its small dungeons are fun in short bursts. Presentation is nice, has some Soulcalibur vibes. But in the heat of the battle it's hard to tell what's going on, very messy. Ok game so far.
 
Made some good progress in Sekiro. Took down Juzou the Drunk, general horsey and the flaming bull. I'm at the point now with the rooftops and nightjar ninjas. Edging very close to the Genichiro boss fight.

I've persevered with Stellar Blade also. And I'm still not enjoying it as much as I hoped I would. I'm in the wastelands now. Given I found the starting area boring, I think the wastelands may potentially be even worse. This game may not be for me. It has good points, but I just can't get over how boring the locations are so far.
 
Made some good progress in Sekiro. Took down Juzou the Drunk, general horsey and the flaming bull. I'm at the point now with the rooftops and nightjar ninjas. Edging very close to the Genichiro boss fight.

I've persevered with Stellar Blade also. And I'm still not enjoying it as much as I hoped I would. I'm in the wastelands now. Given I found the starting area boring, I think the wastelands may potentially be even worse. This game may not be for me. It has good points, but I just can't get over how boring the locations are so far.

If there's a Sekiro 2, I hope they have a lot more sections like the castle-town area before Genichiro. It's kind of disappointing they didn't do more of that. Fun Tenchu vibes. Rise of Ronin did a great job of giving players small to large sized towns with a lot of buildings to hide behind and rooftops to climb.
 
If there's a Sekiro 2, I hope they have a lot more sections like the castle-town area before Genichiro. It's kind of disappointing they didn't do more of that. Fun Tenchu vibes. Rise of Ronin did a great job of giving players small to large sized towns with a lot of buildings to hide behind and rooftops to climb.

It is a fun area I agree. Probably one of the standout areas in the game for the scope of free movement on offer.

I have Ronin installed on my PS5. I've only tried the first half an hour so far. It will probably be my next game. And may be quicker than anticipated as I'm considering dropping out on Stellar Blade.
 
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Made some good progress in Sekiro. Took down Juzou the Drunk, general horsey and the flaming bull. I'm at the point now with the rooftops and nightjar ninjas. Edging very close to the Genichiro boss fight.

I've persevered with Stellar Blade also. And I'm still not enjoying it as much as I hoped I would. I'm in the wastelands now. Given I found the starting area boring, I think the wastelands may potentially be even worse. This game may not be for me. It has good points, but I just can't get over how boring the locations are so far.

I wonder how much of your distaste for Stellar is coming from simultaneously playing a goat like Sekiro.

I tried playing Witcher 3 after Dark Souls 3, and the combat looked like it was made by retards in comparison. But if my experiences with them were spread apart, maybe I'd not have thought that.