What are you playing right now?

Did you play it on release? It has been a while you know...

No. I played it recently on PS4.

Allright, then. We played different versions.
I know only the 360, not the remaster. Fair to asume they re-did many things.
Glad you have fun with it.

The DLC is included but it's the same game. Better framerate and loading times I guess but that's it.

Yeah.



My turn to @ journalism

eurogamer wrote:Also, it's fair to say that both Dead Rising titles haven't aged in a particularly graceful manner, though there is a certain level of retro charm remaining - particularly on the original game. But these are very old games: the original Dead Rising launched a decade ago, very early on in Xbox 360's life-cycle. Meanwhile, the sequel is six years old now and was hardly pushing back the boundaries of technology even at launch. With that in mind, the notion of either PS4 or Xbox One having issues running the code seems rather bizarre.

Eurogamer.

"Retro charme". Can you believe it? Swerve 'em, there "old".

I don't remember any issues. Maybe a crash at some point.

You can check out my observations in the topic here.

Rolling Thunder 3 [GEN]. Studying how to be cool based on this game. Action-wise, throwing a grenade over a grunt's head and shooting them into the explosion with a pistol shot is incredibly satisfying. Great soundtrack too, particularly effective in the hurry-up sequence.

It is annoying you have to LVL first in DR before it is fun. But a quick zombie killing run and a restart and you are a monster on that game. The jump kick , double lariat, suplex, knee drop. So many cool options in that game. I also had no issues with the aiming. SoR does have that weird onimusha side step stuff i guess that is unique.

Might start FF13 today.

Just starting another new playthrough of Nioh, even though I could focus on other games like Ys, FF10, Tales of Symphonia, or Kingdom Hearts... Because it's one of those games where I'm sometimes just really in the mood to play.

Just beat The Messenger. It was fun but it really went downhill at the Tower of Time, when the game decided it wanted to ape stuff like Super Meat Boy, and then become a Metroidvania for some reason. Even though I knew it was coming, the second half of the game was a slog. Little new challenges or scenarios overall I thought, and the game isn’t really deep enough to prolong its length that much. Maybe I’ll give it another run.

I’m skipping my second playthrough of the Messenger. Actually really frustrated with the game, it seemed so promising for the first few hours but honestly trying to play it now the game just annoys me. A game with two melee attacks and one sub weapon should not be 12 hours long, and the shadow step thing is really overplayed(indies need to stop with the “create entire game around one idea” nonsense).

Realized that the upgrade tree is one of the worst ever, it’s almost all just things you should have at the start(why do I need an upgrade to hit projectiles? This is a side scroller!). The game also has a shockingly low variety of enemies, most are recycled between areas but just get a color swap. There’s also a huge contrast in difficulty between the levels and the bosses, the game is really not very hard despite being marketed as a NG tribute, yet the bosses can get crazy out of no where.

I find it interesting that this is supposed to be a NG-like when it’s really more of a mediocre PS2 Shinobi: small melee moveset, one projectile in the form of a shuriken, and hitting enemies to get access to another jump. But without the 3D space to take advantage of dashes, pitfalls, wallrunning, and of course no Tate(the game doesn’t even have heavies anyway), it gets old very quickly. Backtracking was the LAST thing this game needed!

You could argue I shouldn’t be comparing this to action games but I can’t help it. We have Curse of the Moon which has 4 characters with different sub weapons(dat ice arrow) and slightly different melees, as well as Mega Man 11 with its fantastic sub weapons and ways to use doggo. There’s next to nothing you can do here to be creative or experiment, but it’s almost pointless to want to do so since you’ll be so sick of going back and forth through the same easily levels constantly. The fact that the shuriken is basically just a long range melee attack is incredibly lame, it doesn’t have any unique properties aside from being able to pierce through two targets at max level.

I want to do some kind of review or something on this game because I’ve never played a game that started so fun only to end up being such a bore.

I'm tapping out after getting about halfway through the first Lords of Shadow on PC. I gave this game a lot of rope because they throw a lot of new mechanics at you pretty frequently, the art is amazing, and I thought it would all come together at some point, but you'll almost never do anything besides counter and Direct Attack spam because even the most basic enemies will easily hyper armor through your combos and you have a shitload of recovery on all your moves before you can parry and dodge. Combine this with generally very poor enemy choreographing and the combat becomes an exercise in waiting and tedium, made even worse by the camera and dark palette obscuring enemy movements.

The game also leans a lot harder on the "adventure" in action adventure (which I'm not opposed to- love the first Darksiders), which means a lot of chunky platforming and bad puzzles. The whole thing just gave me a lot more appreciation for how cleanly designed God of War is.

> Lords of Shadow
A really hard game to get into. I know some players swear by it, but I honestly never could get into it. I like a lot of its ideas but the execution is just weird. Especially in that moves ... don't really do anything I feel. You have moves that deal damage, and moves that deal less damage and some moves that deal okay damage. There aren't really any moves with any application I feel, like, at all. Even elemental weaknesses are barely present.

Agree that the art, music, story, exploration - all finely crafted. Honestly it is one of the action games where I dread the combat the most. God of War really pulled it off a lot better. Partially in thanks to its great magic and grab system.

> Messenger
Really sorry to hear that but on the other hand also good to hear someone I trust verify what I feared. Don't waste time on it I'd say, just enjoy other games instead.

I think pound for pound I might even prefer LoS' art direction, the thing it lacks is the seamlessness with which GoW meshes its gameplay with cinematics.

It's interesting because I think they were trying to be more technical than GoW, you have the gloves that work like Beowulf, moves for knocking enemies back and pulling them in, but they still imported the enemy philosophy from GoW that enemies have high priority and are difficult to keep in consistent states. It works in those games because everything cancels into everything and taking a hit isn't a big deal, but the Focus meter in LoS means a single attack can be killer.

The most egregious concept is the Area and Direct attack system, Area attacks basically do no damage and don't have much utility for building meter again because you can't cancel most of them. It's like they dedicated a whole face button to easily clearing the smallest enemies in the game.

On the lighter side, In the past week I've played about 30 hours of EDF4.1 after nabbing it in the Steam sale. That game is outrageously fun, playing as the Wing Diver is giving me the perfect glass cannon bug genocide experience I've been craving, and it's both surprisingly varied and challenging

Got Deadly Premonition 2. Story stuff is great, good music and voice acting. Gameplay doesn't seem terrible, there is a very quick dash while aiming. Decent melee combo too, so melee only is probably possible.

It is one of the worst running video games I have ever played. It runs at about 15 fps in the open world, with dips and stutters much lower. Luckily in dungeons and buildings it is around 40 fps.

No! 5!

I know that there two games I said I should be doing but I am going to finish Shadow Warrior 2. Shadow Warrior 3 is coming next year.

Finished Shadow Warrior 2 and I am now doing Ghost Of Tsushima.

Finished Ghost of Tsushima. Doing the missions in Ninja Gaiden 2, also picked up Onimusha Warlords.

Awesome! I assume you didn't pick up Genma Onimusha due to lacking an original Xbox?

Finished Ghost of Tsushima. Absolutely loved it and plan to platinum it.

Next will finally more fully dive into Nioh 2 and/or first play the new Samurai Jack game coming this week.

Royta/Raeng wrote:Awesome! I assume you didn't pick up Genma Onimusha due to lacking an original Xbox?

No Genma sadly. Just picked up the newish remake of the Warlords. Such a weird choice to leave Genma's content out. Oh well, hopefully we'll see more Onimusha games in the future.

Hicho9 wrote:Finished Ghost of Tsushima. Absolutely loved it and plan to platinum it.

I mostly enjoyed it too, especially the main missions. It is just a very cinematic game with tons of walking. Fortunately the theme is just so awesome so it didn't ruin the game for me.

Would you walk it again though?

Is there reason to start a new file? How's the replayability?

As a typical industry game it is quite bloated. So I'd probably wait for the possible NG+ and update to skip at least the cutscenes. I would probably skip the side missions, go for no upgrade run and try out more the lethal mode(which means that everybody dies faster, including the player). So right now I wouldn't walk it again, but who knows maybe later.

Birdman wrote:Would you walk it again though?

Is there reason to start a new file? How's the replayability?

I will definitely be doing another run through of Ghost of Tsushima on Lethal difficulty. The game really hit a sweet spot for me...just very enjoyable and satisfying experience in an amazing setting. Just got the platinum for the game (my first ever platinum as I typically could care less about trophies).

I think I will first take a break though and play something else for a bit—Samurai Jack most likely!

Just started Shining Resonance Refrain.

Basic attacks uses a stamina meter. It shows as a green ring around your character that shortens and changes from yellow to red as you get lower. Regens in around 2-3 seconds.

You can block but it only lowers damage.
Dashing uses stamina and you can cancel recovery but the character with the bow is slower and gets stuck in her shots. That's fine.you just have to be careful with positioning.

There are special/magic attacks. MP can be regained from normal attacks.

There's a break system. Hitting enemies at certain points can put them into a stunned state called break where they take more damage. Seems similar to FF7. You have to use break attacks to do this.

There's all kinds of other systems I haven't got my head around yet. The main one being bonds. There's this chart and depending on what trait each character has and their position on the chart in relation to others, many effects can be generated. Not sure how it really works yet.

You have 4 characters in battle but only control one. You can switch but you have to do so in the pause menu. No idea why. You can issue 4 orders. Offense, heal first, do nothing, and I forgot the last one. No comment on the AI yet and how well it works with these orders. I've only fought basic enemies.

I did fight a boss but got wiped out due to a weird but interesting mechanic. The main character can become a dragon, but if he runs out of MP he goes berserk and attacks allies and enemies indiscriminately. While normal you control him and can't switch. You lose control if he goes berserk and force switch to another character. I wasn't paying attention and he wiped us out. Managed to beat the boss when he changed back but reloaded and will try again.

Any further info I'll post in a dedicated topic at some point.

Quit. Just wasn't enjoying it.

Moved on the Lost Sphear and it's pretty good.

Mainly Death end re;Quest 2, but this weekend I decided to test out some games I haven't played yet to see if I actually like them. Here are some notes.

>Metal Max Xeno
This is a turn based RPG with a little action elements. You have human and tank combat. You mainly play as humans when you enter dungeons or anywhere too narrow for the tank.

The world is a Mad Max setting where machines have taken over and the world is a desert. Out here you use the tank to fight, though some dungeons allow it. I've barely progressed though.

On the map you can actually shoot enemies with any of your equipped weapons so long as you're within range. This can outright kill them on the map, or do some free damage. Not killing them instantly forces an encounter.

Battles have a few interesting mechanics like intercept which is random as far as I know but some weapons have a higher rate. When you attack, the enemy attacks at the same time.

You can get parts and weapons to customize your tank. Not sure how deep it gets but it's ok so far. I've got a machine gun, the main gun and a missile launcher equipped. Also have a beam weapon.i think as you upgrade you get more space for attachments. Maybe like a more basic Armored Core.

Tanks and humans get skills. Weapons use ammo, except for my current machine gun which is weak but infinite.

The graphics look like a PS2 game and the animations are stiff but I don't care about that. I enjoyed what little I played.

>Dragon Quest 11
Borrowed the PS4 version from my brother. It seems like a pretty standard TB RPG. I love the designs. Got the Switch port preordered.

>Dragon Star Varnir
From the Death end re;Quest devs. It's been sitting in my box for over a year I think.

It's turn based but has some unique elements. Battles are fought in the air and you can switch between 3 levels of altitude. Certain attacks might only be able to hit certain levels. Some can hit all. Some skills and knock an enemy up or down.

Interesting enough to keep but won't be getting to it any time soon.

>.hack//G.U. Last Recode
This is has 3 full games in one disc. Insane amount of content here.

Did the tutorial battles. You can move, attack and block freely. They throw quite a few mechanics at you then you're watching cutscene for 20 mins. I haven't reached a point where I'm free to go outside and fight. Going to to put some time in.

.hack is horrible. I can't really be bothered going into it but I just hated the combat. You can turn on cheat mode and get max stats, equipment and skills from the start so I had access to pretty much everything and it still wasn't fun.

>Trails of Cold Steel 3
Really like this. You can move freely within the battle area but enemies could be outside of it and moving costs your turn, unlike Death end re;Quest and Lost Sphear where you can move freely AND attack when you're in position. So in this you need to put in a bit more thought, especially since enemies and bosses can charge attacks/spells which will activate on their next turn giving you the option to move out of range or attack but take the hit.

The way you attack is similar too. Some skills have an indicator of their range and area of effect in the form of lines or circles.

Alot of other mechanics like link attacks, assists, orders, rush attacks, break status and orbs. Orbs can be slotted in and looks like there could be a lot of customization.

>Final Fantasy Type 0 HD
Really like this too. After the intro stage you get more characters and I instantly went for the ones with a bow and gun. No ammo requirements and you can dodge cancel.

I got up to the first mission and did some fights on the world map. After each fight you can do another immediately or retreat. The more you do in a row the tougher enemies get. I like the ranged combat so I'll be keeping this. Might be a while before I get to it though.

>Fairy Fencer F Dark Advent
Trying this now.

Hi! Just signed up.

Last week I started playthroughs of both Gungrave: Overdose and Nightshade, both on PS2.
On the whole I've been pleasantly surprised at how thrilling both can be in their best moments. They rarely make 'em like that anymore.

I always found Gungrave: OD to be one of the ugliest games on the PS2 *despite* its art direction, and it is a little rough--the lock-on is extremely temperamental and it could've used a mini-map or something to indicate where enemies are--but overall it's really a ton of fun and reminds me of how innovative games used to be before there was any consensus on how, for example, shooting controls had to be. It's a shade apart from PN03, a "stand-'n-gun" rather than a run 'n gun, although technically you can run while shooting. Occasionally I cause such all-encompassing destruction that the game feels like it's about to melt in my DVD drive. I know performance issues normally count against a game, but in this case it feels like it suits the overall feel of the work--a budget title with a rowdy, almost punk rock-like sentiment. I keep thinking this game feels like Suda 51's games wish they did.

I'd remembered Nightshade being a fine but somewhat underwhelming follow-up to Shinobi, but I could never place why. Replaying it last week, my first impression was "What, no, this is a total refinement." The few new mechanics they've added are fun and meaningful, the UI has been given a slick overhaul, the levels are often prettier and more interesting, and at least for awhile, there are fewer frustrating deathtraps (bottomless pits in particular).

But there are a few problem areas that really hurt the entire experience. One boss in particular felt like an unlearnable maelstrom of crazy crap and screen-filling attacks that often begin out of frame, with very ambiguous hit detection. After 35 deaths or so, I had to watch a YT video, and even then I couldn't tell exactly what I was doing wrong or what they were doing right. In general the bosses seem to be the weakest moments, often due to unclear hit detection.

The game also introduces "on rails" segments like Shinobi III had and Shinobi (PS2) didn't have. Most involve you jumping from one moving platform to another while fighting enemies. These are cool in concept, but falling from the platforms results in instant death and resets the entire stage. Some of the later segments get pretty mean and suffer from camera issues, resulting in a lot of deaths that feel unavoidable. In fact, I'm stuck on one such segment now and I'm not sure if I have the will to power through it.

These rough spots are a real shame, because mostly the game is a fantastic thrill. That said, many Sega action games feel kind of miserable until you're awesome at them, at which point they become a mesmerizing sort of performance art. This game is at least fun for novices much of the time.

I don't have that much to say but welcome! Currently I am playing Spirit of the North. So far it is just a simple 3D adventure game. A couple of game related questions: Have you ever been in an area where you were just surrounded by unlimited enemies? Not something like survival mode though. I can only think of a few games though. Have you ever played Endless Eden in FOTNS Lost Paradise? I'm just wondering since I think the scaling is kind of weird.

I had to draw a lottery on what to play next. Got Dragon Quest Builders. Never finished it and have the sequel waiting as well.

I've started this a few times and then just left it. I'd always forget what the last thing I did was. This time I'm totally focused though.

Yeah I can't do it. Takes way too long to get anywhere.

I only really wanted to play it before DQB2 but I'll just skip straight to it. DQB2 has way more options, mechanics and QoL features. It's also easier to get to free mode which is all that matters.

Right now I'm playing metal Max Xeno. Will make a topic later.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is amazing. I can't stop playing it.

Metal Max is on hold for now.

Mostly Death Stranding again and when I can I play Untamed with my girlfriend (cardgame ala Magic), sometimes Warhammer 40.000 with another friend of mine (the miniature game).

Loved Death Stranding! I submit that it is the game of 2020. Even though it came out in 2019, this is the year it is of.

Just bought World War Z on PC to play with a friend tonight. It's 50% off on the Epic Store and I had a £10 off coupon I didn't know about, so I got it for £8. It's basically third-person shooter Left 4 Dead with typical class based action RPG skill trees. If you like your Left 4 Deads, Paydays etc, it's quite fun! Gameplay isn't really any more complex than your average shooter, but the gunplay feels pretty good and the game manages to render a pretty impressive number of zombies on-screen. It has cross-platform play between PC/PS4/Xbox, too - played with my friend on Xbox (it's included in Game Pass) and had no issues. Happy with it so far, especially for the price I paid.

Gregorinho wrote:Just bought World War Z

Oh yeah, this game is great! I was amazed at the disparity between its level of quality and how little attention it got, but I guess that's what happens nowadays. I think you're the first person I've ever seen mention it. The swarm mechanics are really stunning to watch, and there's some flexibility with the difficulty in case you're terrible at shooters like me!

Wasn't there also a WWZ game that started this whole Battle Royal trend, an Arma mod or something similar if I'm not mistaken?

Been oscillating between Dead to Rights (PS2) and Titanfall 2 on the stream this week (twitch.tv/lacquerware ^_^).

I went through a phase where Dead to Rights was my favorite game. I was afraid it would have aged terribly, and while it has in some ways, like the stupid striptease minigame that always sucked but now feels downright deranged, the shooting action holds up pretty well! The difficulty definitely has some ugly spikes here and there in the latter half, but if often comes together really nicely and still feels among the best the "hard-boiled" subgenre ever had to offer. The fisticuffs stuff is...okay. It's sort of a more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts game, in that it's full of side diversions that aren't at all innovative but do help give the game contour that makes the whole thing feel like more of a wild ride. The dog ties it all together :)

With Titanfall 2 I've been going in completely blind and am really impressed. I don't play a ton of AAA stuff these days but the production value and polish is just staggering. Mostly great pacing as well--they keep introducing new mechanics and no one of them overstays its welcome. First-person platforming is kind of Mirror's Edgy, but much more forgiving since the platforming is never the sole focus. I heard from a viewer that EA basically abandoned the game after a disagreement with the developer re: microtransactions, and apparently that's why it's so undervalued. I think I saw it on sale for like four bucks last week. Madness.

> World War Z
I'm genuinely surprised by how good it is - definitely one that went under the radar, as mentioned. Haven't played a good coop shooter for years, but I'm getting flashbacks of the hundreds of hours I put in to PAYDAY 2. I miss that game...

I think you're referring to DayZ, Raeng. Yes, it was basically a precursor to the battle royale games everyone is playing today. I think it was an Arma mod like you suggested, and then ended up becoming an official game on a different engine. I only played about an hour of it, it wasn't for me. Found it incredibly dull.

> Dead to Rights
I never played that but I remember one of my friends from school back in the day loved it. Namco published (and developed) some pretty interesting looking action games on the PS2, even if their quality was a mixed bag.

> Titanfall 2
Another title on my never ending backlog! I'm glad you're enjoying it, I've heard plenty of good things about it. I have so many FPS titles to play but I'm still stuck in this mindset of "it's not gonna be as good as DOOM though, is it?"

Finished Titanfall 2 last night, clocking in at about six hours I think. This is how I wish more games were--no padding, just a super lean campaign where every moment feels distinct and hyper-polished. I've never understood the mindset that longer play time means more value. BETTER play time means more value. Nobody struggles with this concept when it comes to movies.

Anyhoo, this game gets a recommend from me!

Picked up Resident Evil Revelations. It's the first RE game that I am actually gonna play myself. I have nothing against stressful situations in games, au contraire, but horror is not my thing. The reason why I picked the game is that managing resources, methodical and careful playstyle are right in my alley.

Played until I met the absolutely horrifying mayday-boss. Must say that I am kinda enjoying myself and sort of anticipating the next gaming session. At the sametime I have this dreary feeling in my stomach, which I dont enjoy. Anyways I am determined to fight through my fears and finally beat the Resident Evil.

Great to hear Ninja! Resident Evil is close to my heart. If you find it too heavy, maybe try one of the older ones? A game like Resident Evil 2 on the N64/GC/PS1 is a great way to start. Not too scary due to the graphics and still classic resource-manageing fun!

Oh it's getting worst, isn't it? The reason I chose Revelations was shorter chapters, original designed for 3DS. Those are just perfect for my current situation. Now that you mention I should probably start searching my old N64 stuff from the basement.

I can't say, I've never played Revelations sadly haha. Only the sequel. That said I can understand with time being an issue the classics can be stressful, since they rely on savepoints. Have you considered The Evil Within perhaps? Same idea, but uses (frequent) checkpoints.

Cheers!

Been drowning in great games. Played through Dead Space 2 for the first time(Zealot) and loved every minute of it. Absolute beast of a game. Been playing as much Spelunky 2 as possible and so far it seems like another masterpiece, super tight game with tons of details and depth with surprises everywhere. Controls and runs beautifully too.

And I obviously had to pick up the Mario collection, mostly been playing Galaxy since it’s one of my favorite games ever. Have to say though, 64 isn’t really doing it for me anymore. The controls and camera are just rough now. Still a good game, and a very important one, but it’ll be the one I play the least out of the three.

> Spelunky 2
I loved the first one, one of my favourite platformers and the roguelite elements were brilliant. I think I'm going to wait for the PC release and pick that up.

> Mario Collection
I got a chance to jump in to my copy today. I'll be going through them chronologically, so Mario 64 is up first. I agree with the above comments on the controls and camera, particularly the camera. It's instinctive to try and move the camera, but the limited perspectives quite often feel unhelpful. I can see why the game was so well received in 1997, and the core platforming still holds up quite nicely. The controls aren't quite as responsive as I'd expected them to be - possibly down to the 30fps framerate or maybe latency from the emulation.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is my new game of the generation. It's got a few similarities to Okami like getting gratitude (praise) from NPCs and rejuvenating areas.

The progression of getting new recipes and areas feels great. I'm on the second island now. The first was a large farming tutorial. The one I'm on now is a desert/mines area where I'm learning about metals.

The exploration is fantastic. I love running around these huge areas grabbing new materials and finding new enemies. There are also large stronger types around and puzzles where you have to use your building abilities to solve for mini medals.

Combat is super basic but fun. You have a melee weapon with a 3 hit combo. You can just do this continuously. You can cancel with jump which is nice. I got a weapon on the first island that's very weak but has a chance to instantly kill any non-boss. This include that large, stronger types. I find the chance is reasonably high but sometimes it hasn't kicked in on a big type. Good thing you have a permanent partner who is pretty strong especially if you've been creating stronger weapons for him.

You can also use your building skills in combat. I've done stuff like put blocks down to block projectiles or used the hammer to make pits.

There are other islands not part of the story but you need enough praise to access them. I've been to the first one. They're pretty much huge gathering grounds and you get a checklist. If you find everything on the list you get an infinite supply of a material. I assume it's only the basic ones though because that island only gave me infinite wood and grass. It was constantly raining on this island and I really loved the atmosphere.

There's also fishing and animal taming but I haven't been introduced to these yet.