What are you playing right now?

I always say that we don't love action games, we just love games with good singleplayer gameplay, and action games just happen to have that in spades. Currently I'm playing Halo and Space Hulk Tactics, far from action-gaming's graces. There's joy in variety, no doubt. Let us know what games you're gonna play!

> FF14
A mate of mine keeps pushing me to try it too, it seems super fun though.

> bravely2
How is it?

>Started to pick-up Death Stranding again
This is one of those games I realized I wanted to play again ONLY after selling it and taking a long break.

>dropped it due to the roguelite elements
I'm sick of how many games have great mechanics but are ruined for me by this.

>these games are made with these elements to make them more replayable and keep them fresh each time you play them
I feel they constantly take away your stuff so you can't sit there testing stuff forever as I like to do. I get infinite replayability out of good mechanics.

Like recently I found this game called Crown Trick. I've never played but have researched it thoroughly. It's one of those tile Mystery Dungeon types where when you make a move, every enemy in the dungeon makes a move. My main issue is not so much random dungeons but the random starting weapons and ability pick ups. You can't test stuff. I want to know how certain things work on certain enemies/bosses. But in new runs it all resets. The game has some really cool stuff environmental stuff like setting the ground on fire, making little tornadoes, I think even flame tornadoes. Stuff like that. But I'll never buy it because of rougelike shit.

>Hyperlight dash
I can't remember now, but I think it's the type where it activates when you release the button. I think Furi is the same.

>Having fun with Bravely Default 2 so far
I dropped this due to a lot of aspects I dislike such as weight, the Brave/Default system, and looks like ailments take a backseat to huge physical damage. Been looking into it a little lately. Might play it again. We'll see.

>FF14
Didn't like any of them. Don't think there's anything wrong with them really, the combat just isn't my thing.

Tried to give Hotline Miami 2 another chance and played on Hard Mode. There's only two missions left. My opinion of the game only got worse, and while I still would like to get an high score in a couple of levels, the game just sucks. It's one of the few cases where a game gets a sequel only a few years after and by the same exact team, but just gets everything wrong. One of my most hated games. Replayed the first one and it was a much better experience.

Also started Cruelty Squad. I'm only a couple of missions into the game so far but it seems pretty good. An FPS with immersive sim elements divided into missions in which you have to kill one or more targets. The levels are prettty open and fun to explore, with secrets and interesting stuff scattered around. Also the physics of the main character are great, with b-hopping, rocket jumps and all of that. My only gripe is how sometimes there seems to be too much areas or rooms with nothing in them.
The visuals are interesting to say the least, as well as the general setting and themes. The game's satire of modern (and future) society is pretty well done imo, especially compared to other games.

>Hotline Miami 2 got everything wrong
I'm interested in these games. Will grab them when I eventually get a PC. What's wrong with the second game?

It basically nerfed every strategy except one. In HM1 you could play a level in different ways. Focusing on the guns, on the melee weapons, on throws, on executions, on baiting the enemies, and mixing these to create a dynamic experience. HM2 makes enemies more reactive, disincentivizing melee, increases their FoV and makes the levels with more straight lines of sights, making executions riskier, nerfs the throw physics, gives you less masks (which give you a different power/perk depending on which one you choose) per level and so on. The best strategy is always baiting enemies with gunshots and waiting for them to come to you (unless you memorize the layouts perfectly and kill them before they even get a chance to spot you, but even there you'll be baiting them regardless in a lot of cases), since they move faster and hear gunshots more consistently than the first game.
All of this would have been fine if they buffed the playable characters, but often they are weaker than the ones in HM1. It would be like if NGII Ryu was the exact same as NGB Ryu but enemies were weaker to UTs.
Also the level design is atrocious and only exacerbates the problems I described.

Played Cruelty Squad a bit more and got to the first ending. Now I'm trying to find all of the hidden equipment and secret levels. The game is so fun. Most levels can be broken in half if you know what you are doing but you can still approach every level in dozen of ways. Also exploration is great but most of the time certain rooms or buildings won't have anything in them, but they might get some new enemies and targets on more difficult modes.
Highly recommend if you are on PC and can get past the visual confusion.

Did a look at the game online, and found what I believe is the best description haha "it's like a geocities website turned into a game". Shit looks rough, both in a good and bad way. Interesting to hear it's so tight gameplay-wise! I'll be honest, not my cup from what I see, but might be mechanically. Do you think?

> Topic
MH Rise on PC, Dead Cells on Game Pass, new Crimzon Clover revision on Steam, misc other stuff. I'll probably do a Rise writeup eventually, gotta play it a lot more.

> Cruelty Squad
For what it's worth the visuals are intentionally like that, it fits the tone of the game extremely well. Need to get around to playing it, seems very cool.

At a glance it reminded me of Killer 7.

>Shit looks rough, both in a good and bad way
It's interesting for sure, but the mechanical polish is there. I encountered very few bugs. Also thanks to the insanity of the visuals the dev could put a lot of weird shit in the game which would have been out of place in a more visually conventional game, but here it works perfectly (won't spoil what, but some implants are incredibly broken and interesting).

>Do you think?
Most of the depth is found in the movement and the routing (and exploration) rather than the combat, so it depends. Not to say that the combat is mindless, it has some interesting stuff (OHKO weapons against unarmored targets, armor piercing weapons, silenced weapons, enemies that encourage a certain strategy, implants combination etc., and most stuff is viable) but most of it boils down to headshotting distant targets while they stand still (most enemies only start to move after they have been alerted). You still have to explore a level thoroughly to do that however, so it balances out. Also the highest difficulty and other modifiers change enemy placement, but I still have to unlock those.

>it fits the tone of the game extremely well
Yeah, the lore/story of the game is pretty fucked up, so fucked up visuals are the best way to convey that idea.

>Killer 7
Have to play this one some day.

>Hotline Miami 2 got everything wrong
Haven’t read such a true statement in a while.

Edit: Forgot what this topic was about.

Decided to do a run of FFX due to me being in to FFXIV a bit. Won’t go into too much detail since I think the game has its own topic but there are definitely things I still love about this game and things I don’t. I find that the bosses in the second half of the game and most of the forced encounters(in places like Home and Bevelle) are the true standouts, the game plays with its mechanics and tools very cleverly. Once your characters have enough abilities under their belt to break out of their designated roles a bit the game becomes a lot better. It just sucks that a good 1/3 of the game is spent going “okay wakka will attack fliers, tidus attacks dogs, auron the armored guys, etc”. The postgame is also a travesty but I had no intention of doing that crap again anyway.

Bravely Default 2 I’m enjoying but something about the game just makes it come off as bland, I don’t know what it is. FFX seems very full of life but this just seems dull for whatever reason. The battle system has a lot of neat stuff, and I even like exploring the world map. I’m a sucker for job systems too so I’m definitely going to keep playing.

I think the most notable thing I’m playing is a game I’m not playing, it’s a game I’m watching, which is BotW. My wife finally decided she wanted to play a game instead of watch and that’s the one we ended up going with. It’s really fascinating to watch someone who doesn’t play games handle problems a lot of us are so used to. Sometimes she way over thinks things, other times she had solutions that slipped my mind. The game having just enough things in view to draw your attention makes it so it’s hard to get her to stop playing as well. Watching also makes me realize just how good of a starting area the Plateau is, it does a wonderful job of stringing you along certain paths while giving you flexibility in how you do things.

>Bravely Default 2
How useful are your tools? Any stat workarounds (fixed damage, instant death, HP%, etc.)?

>I’m a sucker for job systems too so I’m definitely going to keep playing.
I keep hearing Bravely Default is better than FFV, but the things I read about it make me think otherwise. Whenever you feel like it, definitely give V a try.

Malcar wrote:It basically nerfed every strategy except one. In HM1 you could play a level in different ways. Focusing on the guns, on the melee weapons, on throws, on executions, on baiting the enemies, and mixing these to create a dynamic experience. HM2 makes enemies more reactive, disincentivizing melee, increases their FoV and makes the levels with more straight lines of sights, making executions riskier, nerfs the throw physics, gives you less masks (which give you a different power/perk depending on which one you choose) per level and so on. The best strategy is always baiting enemies with gunshots and waiting for them to come to you (unless you memorize the layouts perfectly and kill them before they even get a chance to spot you, but even there you'll be baiting them regardless in a lot of cases), since they move faster and hear gunshots more consistently than the first game.
All of this would have been fine if they buffed the playable characters, but often they are weaker than the ones in HM1. It would be like if NGII Ryu was the exact same as NGB Ryu but enemies were weaker to UTs.
Also the level design is atrocious and only exacerbates the problems I described.

No offence, but what I take from this summary is that you hold everything that is dear to you against this other game. Just for not being that game.
So, it's not for you, I got that. You just wanted more of the same. A refined consumer product. OK.

I find that boring; playing it save because the fan base is already established.
"Give 'em more of what they want" (quoting Raeng: They don't know what they want. I'd add in my fashion: They only see what they're missing.), from a creating standpoint, is a cowards excuse. I think Indies are alternatives from fat and lazy cooperate marketing, or am I wrong with this assumption? That merit would set Wrong Number into art. The Golden Standard of More of the Same Thing is something that should be more under attack. But, alas.


As for what I am playing now: A certain comic book put me in the mood for a certain game. Yeah, same as pornography for everybody else, but with a caramel twist. The contents of the comic are new to me, alas not the era it was produced. The very early 2000. You didn't know me then, so I make it very brief. A time after graduation and a post-school social circle. Fighting games were still strong in itself in these days. And, my ticket into action. Of course I mean 3D fighting games. My pals were stoic Tekken grunts, and I looked beyond that and came very late into Dead or Alive via XboX. Now hold your prejudice.

I am playing DoA2 Ultimate on original hardware. And I marvel at what I and so many others missed out on back in the days. Playing single 20 years later spares me the sneering remarks from my former sexually-insecure cronies that would dismiss so many things while secretly being hype about it. To echo a ealier post from Raeng, I'm having a ton of fun with it. I honestly consider many stages works of digital art. In structure, aesthetics, and, yes, mood. Impressive. Even played alone it's heavy on the action. Not in visual effects as Tekken does. More WHAM in knocking the opponent around the multi-leveled stages. Most fighting games bore without some slob to play against. But not DoA. All that no one can see who does not get past some pairs of bouncing tits. DoA HAS MALE FIGHTERS?! Duh.

DoA2 Ultimate - I've heard many consider it being the best in the series.

I've never played fighting games before (beyond mindlessly mashing against friends in Tekken) and I've been interested in trying the genre lately, DoA being considered more beginner friendly combined with me being a big NG fan makes me want to start with DoA2U.

Currently playing Viewtiful Joe on V-rated, I really love this game, even more than adults. Finding new nuances regarding enemy behaviors, playing with Voomerangs and actually using mach speed during combat made it even better, like every good action game once you start experimenting more. I reached the boss rush level.

I also started P.N 03 thanks to Raeng's article, and oh boy, despite how rushed it is, and the confusing layouts due to same-y looking environments (I did like Venessa's design and the overall aesthetic) it's really fun to play after sort of getting used to the controls. Like VJ, it also feels very unique mechanically (though for different reasons obviously) And I'm already looking forward to trying more suits and experimenting with more energy drives.

>You just wanted more of the same
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't. The game became more gun focused compared to its predecessor, but that isn't a bad thing per se. I almost want to say that the first is a top down action game, while the second is a top down shooter. There is no problem in that. The problem is that HM2 is a terrible top down shooter (and I'll die on this hill), and I already listed some reasons why that is.

Also an interview came out about Dennaton and HM2 in general, which makes their creative process easier to understand.

As you noted they didn't want to do the same thing, but they also didn't want to change the core mechanics and gameplay. By the way they talk it seems that Dennaton was more focused on the story for this one rather than the gameplay (they also said that the game was playtested at half speed, so that also explains the overreliance on reflexes, which lead to the bait heavy playstyle).

On topic: played more of Cruelty Squad, unlocked the hardest difficulty and beat every level but the last one. Hope Eradicated (the hardest difficulty) remixes the enemies, upping the challenge but without becoming too annying (they could have just put a thousand armored enemies everywhere, but instead the placements are well thought out). Also you can break the game in half with some later implants, but the scoring system reflects that since to get an S rank you need to beat a level very, very fast. Like in under a minute in most cases.
Also finished my DMC3 DMD RG run. Always wanted to get more familiar with it in 3 but I didn't use it as much as I hoped, even though I definitely improved since I started. After this I replayed 5 to test out some mods (which I'll talk about after I'll play a bit more) and noticed that got much better with RG in it. Cool stuff.

> DOA2
It's a great game! Like many in the genre though, you need someone to play with, but with DOA2 that's very easy to arrange since it's so easy to pick up and play. I do kinda like playing against the AI, but it can be a bit hit-and-miss. DOA2U is really the pinnacle of the series though, especially in terms of unlockable content.

> started PN03 due to stinger
Great to hear! It's one of Mikami's hidden gems imo. He personally hates the game from what I know, but he really made some good with it imo.

On a Tecmo spree.

Improving on Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. That is the NES NA version, and not the much milder JP Yomi no Hakubone. As if one wouldn't savour the stronger flavour. Think I got Stage 3 down now. Possibly because I am weird the changes made from the previous entries appeal much to me. I don't have that much fun using Iaido as with this one. And the weird bio-mutant theme is the icing.

Started the Zero/ Fatal Frame/ Project Zero original on Xbox. Noticing differences to my experience with Blacko Miko and 2 Wii Edition. There's a real rub with the collison detection. Moving at an angle to any lines in architecture is off. I am used to S*T*A*R*S members running moronically against walls without end and the two Masons, the one Sunderland, and the one Townshend bumping into walls, but this artificial behaviour is new to me. Somethig similar to praise: some spirits are a bag of dicks. The one female who is, oh, on her back afloat is a bit overstimulating. Not creepy, mind you. Just annoying in her movement is all. Suppose I'm just too soft from the other games, with their fancy lock-on. And I hate it when they get close and touch Miku, tearing at her. So this game does it all right then.

Ninja Gaiden NES - As a massive fan of NGB and NG2 I owe to myself to play the NES ones, glad to hear it's worth it.

Fatal Frame 1 - Collision detection is indeed a bit off, no way around it - But whenever that happens, a slight movement of the stick for turning should do the trick, especially when holding X for the autorun. It became a non issue for me.

Ghosts - I still haven't played 2 and beyond (will only happen once I'll beat nightmare and fatal difficulties), but 1 is considered a pretty challenging game, and the ghosts' agility and aggression are the reason for this (and a major factor to why I love this game so much). The combat here has its own unique flavor and it really is its own thing. It even has a mission mode.

Some tips - first of all, the Xbox version added the option to aim the camera with the right stick (IIRC it's option B) - use it, it's a big QoL feature.

Other than that I can say that consistently switching back and forth between viewfinder mode and your normal view to position yourself plays a big role in learning ghosts' patterns, including their zero shot moments (which is when they usually if not always go for grabs). You can even counter grabs, but the timing is strict and I don't remember which button does this.

> NES GAIDEN
Fantastic games. NGIII isn't that well loved in Japan, which was pretty interesting to me due to the paralels it had with NG3 nearly 20 years later. I still prefer NG1 on the NES though, that game just has that 'something'.

On topic:
Still chipping away at Sifu, it really is a fun game.

Sifu - I'm looking forward to it, I'm glad to hear it's good and not just from you.

Right now I'm early on my first playthrough of God Hand - I beat stage 1 and the first 6 arena challenges. The fight against the gay duo was really tough and counter hitting them requires great timing, but it's just so much fun, and I find it to be a really well balanced fight. Elvis was also a fun fight - It felt like I'm fighting a bigger version of a regular mob with some extra moves.

I love how by its nature God Hand rewards guard breaks and counter hits over bait and punish (especially at lvl 3 and lvl die), which not only emphasizes risk-reward gameplay, but also helps you deal with mobs and bosses in more fun and efficient ways.

The sound design and enemy hit reactions are also top-notch, both in terms of just feeling good and also in terms of letting you know what is going on, and that applies both to Gene's attacks and the enemy attacks.

Most of the time I'm hanging between lvl 3 and lvl die - I finished stage 1 with an average score of 3.3, and now it's the time to praise the enemy AI - The amount of states and hit reactions they have is truly astonishing, and even the most basic foes can be a real threat at lvl die.

So far I still didn't get the kick me sign off my back, and though I don't expect it to remain that way for long considering how challenging the game is, it did help me get better and be more observant of AI behavior. I have no doubt that I will attempt the KMS challenge later down the road.

GN1 wrote:the Xbox version added the option to aim the camera with the right stick (IIRC it's option B) - use it,

The default setting is Left Stick for Camera, Right Stick for movement in camera mode. Which takes getting used to, at least for me. Already checked other settings, didn't find an alternative to that. Will check again.

GN1 wrote:You can even counter grabs, but the timing is strict and I don't remember which button does this.

Yeah, it's A. As you say it's strict. 2 Wii Ed. has the Wiimote shake. And it is very lenient.

Another thing that tips the dense atmosphere slightly off is the dub. Not talking about quality here since most voices just moan and bitch. It's the idea that in a story placed in nihon with customs and (creepy ghost) culture it's plain weird to hear the native speak English. Yeah, I know. Game is 20 years old, that's what it was then. Same for 2 Wii Ed. which got English dub with an English slant. 5 did it right, though. 20 years in I am just snobbish about this detail.

Royta/Raeng wrote: I still prefer NG1 on the NES though, that game just has that 'something'.

Fair enough.
I just can't stand the bosses and find them lacking. It's no fun to figure them out, and it's a funk to rattle their health down faster then they can mine.
Hence me being weird for digging III. I like those bosses.

I haven't played Fatal Frame in like almost 4 months, but the option is there for the camera controls, it's option B. it also makes a slight layout changes to accommodate it.

Atmosphere - I'm never scared by games, but I found the atmosphere to be really tight and unnerving - The devs simply nailed it IMO, but I definitely get your point, it's just that I don't find it weird to hear the English voices for some reason. The sound design is masterful and really sucked me into the game. FWIW, I played it with headphones.

While I haven't tried it myself, there's an undub for the Xbox version so you might want to check it out if you have a modded Xbox. No idea if it works on a 360 though.

GN1 wrote: FWIW, I played it with headphones.

Me too. It wasn't for a long time, but now it is my default option for all horror games.

GN1 wrote: I owe to myself to play the NES ones, glad to hear it's worth it.

Just remember: pick the NA NES for III for the extra spice. And hands off of the SNES Trilogy, OK? Not only are art and sound altered, it's meddled down in difficulty for whatever casual reasons. Nothing compares. That also dismisses the unlockables for the Xbox Team Ninja Gaiden (Vanilla, not Black), since they are ports based on the Trilogy. Although one could figure differently for the method of unlocking them one at a time, not all at once.

> God Hand first time
Enjoy this blissfull moment! It is just such a grand game.

> rewards counter hits
There's a ton of fun openings, like being able to do a high-stepkick in the middle of a purple's combo to send him flying. I also loved how certain moves gained certain properties only with counter hits, like a step-kick sending them flying or an uncharged upppercut becoming 'charged' if landed as a counter. It's genius.
Be mindful of not falling into the 'boring trap' of optimal GH play. Jab>Jab>Guardbreak>updodge is very, very powerful and nukes basically the entire game's cast, and it can be aluring.

> KMS
Be sure to experiment with Roulette's at least. The God Hand itself is pretty boring imo, but the Roulette's are crazy fun so be sure to use them before going for limiting playthroughs. KMS on Normal is pretty doable, KMS on Hard is arguably the hardest challenge in action-gaming imo. I did it once, never again, nearly broke me. It is absolutely *brutal*.

> levels
This is the reason I'll always prefer normal-difficulty, there's this constant drive to play better. On Hard you're simply 'stuck' on the highest level (DIE) which takes a lot of the fun out of it for me.

I already love it so much - Almost as much as NGB and NG2 in fact, and I never thought any game would be able to come close.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytr-v4CAnHE - You should watch this if you haven't already, Mikami is a god.

I spent quite sometime replaying fighting ring challenge 6 (lvl3 Mr. Gold and Mr. Silver) and I enjoyed every second of it.

There are so many mechanics to toy around with as long as you are good, and it never feels limiting despite how challenging it is. I simply need to git gud and learn how to time my counter hits and guard breaks. This is the marking of a great boss fight: A unique and challenging enemy but also one that rewards skillful usage of the mechanics.

Counter hits - Such an awesome mechanic, and probably why bosses work so well in God Hand.

KMS - I'm not sure if I will do it for my first playthrough or not, but I just enjoy it so much that I don't mind endlessly replaying fights till I get them right (and not by cheesing), like how I spent hours replaying the church fight in my first NG2 MN playthrough until I did it no Ninpo no UT. I enjoy the learning process.

Levels - I sort of wish each level would have been its own difficulty, or at the very least have normal's minimum level at lvl2 (not that I dropped to lvl1 yet haha), but that's simply due to me not liking the words "adaptive difficulty". You have a very interesting take on this matter. Are there more differences between hard and normal when played at lvl die aside from the adaptive difficulty?

> Adaptive Difficulty
I like how the difficulties add a lot of layers, level 1-2 mostly changes enemy off-screen behavior (level1 forbids them from attack offscreen) while 2-3 increases agression. 3-DIE sees them get speedboosts and use their harder moves more often, while also having some unique spawns. For example the double-Purples before Gold&Silver only appear on level-3 or higher, which is a neat touch.

Personally if I was the designer, I'd simply give Hard Mode 'infinite' levels, have some structural changes per level, but past level 7 or something just have it be this every-stacking % of speed and damageboosts. Then it'd be more a matter of "how long will you survive" if you get me before you reach down to a normal humane level.

On Normal now I kinda feel rewarded for playing well (higher moneyflow) while also motivated to keep a high level of play going, while on Hard - since it's locked - I don't have that urge. It's a weird thing haha.

> small things
Also note how you are technically immortal, you cannot be OHKO'd in this game. Every killing blow will always reduce you to 1HP, which is a fantastic touch imo that every action game should have in my opinion.

Also note that your 'basic moves' like Shoryuken and SpinKick are upgraded for free behind the scenes per chapter. They did this (I think) so that you always at least have some moves that deal solid damage regardless of choices.

That is though my biggest gripe with the game (aside from its stretched length), the damage-values. I get that they show them, which is great, but I'd have prefered no "Jab 1, Jab 2, Jab God" etc. If you don't level up your specific attacks you'll end up with very slow and drawn out fights. If you do level up your specific attacks, you can overkill early fights if you're not careful. It takes away sometimes that you won because of skill, or lost because you weren't good enough.

I loved seeing how the difficulties (1-die) were implemented, I just have a thing against reducing the difficulty at will (nothing major, just a little personal gripe and even that can change).

Infinite hard mode - Interesting take! That would make if insane. I haven't beat RE4 yet, but that one also has adaptive difficulty for normal mode while professional is always capped at the highest level right?

Never being OHKO'd - Such a great thing, and it also saved my life when I beat Mr Silver and Mr Gold at the fighting ring - the joint grab got me down to 1hp and I managed to survive and beat it, I was so ecstatic.

I'm about to start stage 2, and I already got the option to purchase some level 2 moves. In order to keep the challenge balanced (I'm always trying to play between lvl3 and lvl die) when should I start purchasing them?

> adaptive
Note, I personally hate adaptive systems but GH is an exception since the game revolves around it. I.e. you get more cash rewards for better play but to compensate it, it makes it harder. It can be manipulated as well in funny ways, like the "Begging roulette" where Gene begs on the floor to his enemies haha, hilarious.

Games like DMC4 and RE4 do it in the worst way possible imo, as it's this invisible hand that's helping you in the background. And yeah PRO in RE4 locks the difficulty-scaling thankfully.

> level 2 moves
Yeah generally speaking, buy the upgrades. You can slack off on them for a stage or two, but eventually the powerscaling will creep up on you sadly so you should buy them. Don't be afraid to try out new moves though.

Personally I had the most fun replaying GH with weird movesets. I did a fist-only and kicks-only run at one point too and it was just a ton of fun honestly.

>Most of the time I'm hanging between lvl 3 and lvl die
That's great for a first playthrough. I only got to lv. die like 5 times the first time around. I need to play it again.

Anyway, replayed NG2 on MN on NG+. Got to CH12 but can't get continue because of a bug with Xenia. I was surprised by the fact that I surpassed 100 hours of playtime with it, it didn't seem like it. The game's mad fun as always.
Tried Mission Mode more and it's a mixed bag. Disappointed that higher difficulties don't change enemy placement, and the missions themselves vary a lot in quality and difficulty. I'm trying to beat all of them on MN but it's not easy. I'd also like to get to Genshin in at least one of the survival missions, but that'll take more time surely.

Also played more of Cruelty Squad. I feel like I'll revisit this one over the years thanks to his structure. It's very easy to pick up and play. Tried to do missions on the highest difficulty without implants and with stock weapons and it has been pretty hard.
It's also one of the most insane game I've ever played. Despite being talked about a lot this summer, it didn't get that much traction (for the best). Shows how well of a gatekeeping job the graphics and sound do.

Just finished making a 100% Sifu file, bit annoyed that you can't respec the shrine-bonusses. Made a lot of bad calls on it and I'm basically stuck with them right now. Other than that I made a max-age file, which is basically a forced NUR with single-death. So far haven't died yet and am in Stage 4.

Once you nail the bosses, it really isn't that bad outside of a few fights, but with proper planning and meter management, you can get by pretty easily.

> Mission Mode NGII
There's a lot of stinkers in it imo. The best ones are the 100-man melee's and the survival missions, but the rest are kinda...missed oppertunities. This was THE part where they could finally play with the enemy compositions, but they still don't dare.

> survival
It's a lot of fun to go ham in, but aiming for score/loops is a bit boring to me personally. I got a gold-medal on all of them, but only did the Master Ninja one on Flails iirc. Doing that means fighting Fiend Genshin 4 times which takes an hour or so.

>The best ones are the 100-man melee's and the survival missions
Agreed, but they are hard as fuck for me. Barely beaten the one on the plane on Warrior. Throwing the Red Dragons on the last wave is just mean.

>but they still don't dare
You see sometimes some unusual compositions, but it's mostly just a couple of enemy types max and they only very rarely throw ninjas in the mix for some reason.

>Doing that means fighting Fiend Genshin 4 times which takes an hour or so
Yeah it sounds too much tbh. If I can beat him once I'll consider myself happy.

> hard as fuck
Definitely, the airplane one is by far the hardest of the bunch imo. The sewer-one is my favourite, I eventually did it NoNinpo/NoHeals with each single weapon which is a real thrill and a ton of fun.

> survival
Going for max-loops is honestly, as noted, really boring since you're basically playing super, super efficient and doing very specific loops to get UTloops here and there while killing others with specific ranged attacks or regular kills to refill health.

I had the most fun with them after I got GOLD on them honestly, since then I'd just style and see how long I could last which is pretty challenging.

> ninjas with others
That is my biggest gripe. I've always been curious to see ISninjas paired with Van Gelfs for example, but I rarely (if ever) happens.

There's a spwan mod for NG2 on Xenia, you can fight Van Gelfs with IS ninjas in chapter 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFBS7PuSbF8

Modders always coming in saving the day. Probably won't use it since I'm still pretty bad, but I'll keep it in mind.

How does NG2 run on Xenia really? I play it on my XSX, but I'm still looking to playing it on Xenia as well one day.

OG resolution but you can bump it to 720p with a patch. Solid 60 frames aside from a couple of spots and generally pretty stable. It has a couple of visual glitches every now and then but nothing worth mentioning really.
The biggest problems are the crash at CH12 and the fact that after completing a chapter/mission you have to reset the emulator. The former can be fixed with a patch (although I still have to find a solution since I've updated the game with the costumes and Mission Mode) but the latter is not fixable atm.
Still a good experience overall and I honestly didn't think I would have been able to play the game this soon on PC.

Beat OG God of War last night (PS3 version, real hardware for a change) and beat Returnal last week, although I believe I still have the true ending to unlock so I'm not quite done with it yet. Ended up enjoying both, might post in their topics with some thoughts.

Curious to hear your thoughts on GoW Classic for sure!

Haven't played a lot lately due to spending days on testing games and finding optimal settings on PCSX2 now that all the input lag issues I had are solved. Combined with performance improvements of Vulkan I think I'm going to spend years playing PS2 games I missed before lol.

Still on my first playthrough of God Hand, finished stage 2 on normal and the first 12 fighting ring challenges (still KMS, still trying to mostly stick to lvl3 and lvl die).

I don't have too much to add over my previous posts, still in awe of how such a grand game was only developed in 12 months. So far the only bad things I can say about it are mostly bland environment designs (Not that I care about it, and I love the character designs and overall aesthetic) and perhaps the whip ladies having a massive hitbox (I really felt it in stage 2-2 fairy challenge).

So far stage 1-4 (Mr. Gold and Mr. Silver) was definitely the most difficult spot, though eventually I replayed that fight a lot in the fighting ring (lvl3) which I feel helped a lot just learning the game - counter hits, crowd control, usage of walls etc...

I love how the bosses feel like more advanced versions of regular foes, which means you have lots of ways to tackle them with all your tools not only being valid, but also beneficial.

One last thing to note is that I love the humor and OST, I was really surprised they are barely talked about even if the game is all about the gameplay.

I absolutely adore the constant jokes between Gene and Olivia. My absolute favourite you've probably not seen yet (the fight scene in the bathroom). Just hilarious.

> OST
Devil May Sly~

> Ring challenges
Note, there's a few of them that are exclusive to NG+. So if you want to see all the content the game has on offer, you have to do ALL of them again on NG+. Something to keep in mind (NG+ only carries over your money). It's probably one of my bigger complaints next to the damage-values of later moves scaling things.

> whip ladies
The game is a bit hit and miss with its foes. Some of the later ones and also some bosses are just hairpullingly frustrating and not that fun to fight. While I adore the game, it is one that really loses its luster the longer it goes on imo. It's length is a big weakness in that case (game is like 15 hours long or something, it's crazy).

I will give it props for being the only game in existance where fat-guys are actually fun to fight.

> 12 months
Just goes to show not only how talented an unhinged Mikami is, but how experienced they were as a team and masters of their engine and craft.

> favourite stages
I'm still a big fan of the Carnival levels, and the Devil Hand encounters which are just...wow. I mean DMC3 had Vergil, which was cool, and Raiden has Sam..but nothing beats God vs Devil hand.

NOTE: special mention should go to the item-weapons, which are a ton of fun too.

I got to stage 3-4 (Mad Midget Five) and I just can't nail that fight, even after dropping to lvl2 (lvl1 I think can be pretty trivial, hence I don't want to drop below lvl2). I'll keep trying, but is it just me or is it considered a hard fight?

I should note that up until now I mostly retained my original moveset, with the exception of upgrading some attacks to level 2, while upgrading my square combo to 6 (I added pimp smack and elbow spin). So far it worked very well for me, but perhaps it's time to change it.

> midget five
They play into certain moves very well, or you can Roulette them to death. There's a few infinites on them too using Mach Punch(? or lightspeed jab or something like that). They're mostly a fight about positioning and divide&conquer.

For example their mass-laser shooting has to be side stepped or backdashed through, you can't weave it, so it's best to run around it to punish hard.

They all juggle immediately, and have low-HP, so it's best to try and do a quick juggle into jumping-roundhouse for high damage and safety. Use them as projectiles into each-other.

> original moveset
I'd say ditch this, there's a TON of unique and great moves to play around with. While the regular moveset has a lot of bases covered, there's just so much to experiment with you're doing your run a disservice almost I'd say haha.

I finally managed to kill them without dropping to lvl1.

Reverse hell kick is amazing (Made me realize I have to experiment more with different moves), and with time I also learned how to better dodge their projectiles and roll attacks. Knowing when they are about to line up and shoot together and running to their backs was also very helpful. I used that for free punishes on them. Still don't like that fight but I'm glad I'm doing better at least.

Step Back Kick I think it's called is also fantastic, as it has a back-dash in it which is great for added mobility since you can cancel its dash with a dodge. Drunken Moves will start popping up too soon, they're a bit broken but super fun to use as well. A personal favourite of mine is I think High-Moon Kick or something, it's a sweep that ends in a launcher. Fantastic animation too and very practical.

You're getting close to the KMS run-killer for nearly the entire world and where most people became staunch lovers of fruit (on Hard).

Beat Shadow Warrior 3. I…think I liked it. Don’t really have a ton of complaints and on paper the game does a lot of things I should love but I rarely had any fun in my playthrough(then again, it was over before I even realized it). The game feels like it’s missing the glue that really holds it all together, if that makes sense.

I plan to give it another playthrough but not right now. Need to actually put some time into Elden Ring and catch up to you guys.

@Infinity_Divide - do you feel it's got enough of it's own identity (in gameplay) to separate it from Doom Eternal? It does look interesting, but from what I've heard/seen it seems a bit Doom-lite. I was really hoping it'd take Doom's ball and run with it.

Started playing MHFU since I wanted to try a bigger game for once and read here that is one of the best MonHun games. My only experience before this with MH was 4U, but I remember almost nothing of it (played it for like 100 hours).
I just unlocked the lv.4 quests and the game is a ton of fun. Using both Gun(fun)lance and Long Sword, since they seemed more interesting than the rest. It's pretty nice to have multiple weapons to choose from, while in 4U I only sticked to the Charged Blade.
The grinding and gathering are pretty bad, but X4 speed on PPSSPP really does wonders.

I've also seen that MHGU is considered very good. Does it still have that slow gathering from the other games?

>MHFU
Yeah the gathering is kinda annoying, but with speedup it's fine. Gunlance feels amazing to play, LS is a good pickup for beginners as well. I fucking love FU, me or Tai can answer any questions.

>MHGU
There's some at first, but it's way less overall than FU. You can get a free item pack that has a ton of stuff, and there's more ways to get things in general.

>Gunlance feels amazing to play
->Tri is so good. Great damage and mobility. Everyone complains about Plesioth but I made him my bitch with the GL.
It's a shame that the shelling isn't that great aside from combo extension, at least from what I've played/read. I will still go for the Popcorn + Gunnery King though. Spread lv.5 seems to do respectable damage compared to the melee hits.

>but it's way less overall than FU
Good to hear. Will play it after I'm done with FU, which will take a while.

Be sure to try the Training School arenas as well, they put you against a monster with a choice of 5 pre-made equipment and item sets. The monster has lower HP than usual but fainting fails you instantly. It's a great way to try different weapons, and the later ones also give decent Pokke Points which you can use to upgrade your farm. Honestly a highlight of the game for me.