What game are you playing?

[wankerness]

Connected my ol' xbox 360 to the internet and it promptly updated Dark Souls 2 to 1.10 instead of 1.00, instantly my lightning spam build became totally non-viable (it gave me 1/3 as many casts of each spell and also reduced their damage by about 30% - one of the most heavy-handed nerfs of all time). So, guess I'm going dark orb spam for the DLC! It was a great build to play through once as, though. Very good damage, but the tradeoff that the casts are INCREDIBLY slow. Sure took out darklurker with zero effort, though. The NPC invaders in OG DS2 are also comically stupid and all died to lightning spam easily. The ones in SOTFS have greatly improved AI and that would not have worked.

I am slightly tempted to try playing Dark Souls 1 1.00 off the disc (if my disc is a first pressing, not sure about that, I think it is). Apparently the game is monstrously more difficult, like everything will aggro on you from much, MUCH further away and bosses drop a pathetic amount of souls (ex 750 from the Gargoyles). Think that would get old really quick, though!

 

[Carrion Rocket]

Reached the point of no return in Cyberpunk. Taking care of the side content before I go through the endings.

I'm not even done with the side content and I've already hit it on PS5. I had to grind out the PS4 version to reach level 50. I don't know if CDPR reworked the progression system or what, but I'm just walking through the majority of armed combat. I've accidently taken more stimpaks than I've intentionally taken at this point.

 

[wankerness]

Hmm. I'll have to buy that game if it ever gets down to 20 bucks for the PS5 version. Kinda the way I feel about Lost Judgment. The initial reports were SO offputting that I'm in no rush even though I probably would like it.

I see that Cyberpunk is currently 25 and Lost Judgement is currently 27. Not cheap enough! Especially considering Lost Judgement has 30 dollar DLC.

 

[gabito]

Still replaying GoW 2018.

I have only one rule for GoW games, and that's "I really like these games, so I will get the plat for every one of them". I did it for all of the PS3 remasters and GoW III / Ascension, GoW III's PS4 remaster, and now - after 4 years and 3 playthroughs- I'm 8 Odin Ravens away from getting the plat for this one.

It's a stupid rule, I know.

And I fucking hate collectibles (shame on you and your game-padding techniques, game developers), so it took a while.

 

[wankerness]

Playing Dark Souls 1 on xbox 360 for the first time seriously. I had two save files when I booted it up, both level 12, both in firelink without even the taurus demon killed. I was really bad in 2013 and never tried to get better, I guess!

I'm to O&S. This character I loaded was a sorcerer, so I went with it. It seems that was the wrong choice for my playstyle - I can't deal with O&S AT ALL. Ornstein dodges 80% of my spells, and when I do occasionally manage to down him, I tend to get 1-shot by super-smough's bullshit hammer charge before I can take off more than 5% of his health with my few remaining spells. I think I need to go back to Sen's funhouse and find the stupid key to unlock Big Hat Logan and then run all the way back to firelink and buy actual good spells from him (ex homing soulmass) and then run ALL the way back to O&S and try again. Ugh. At least I got through Sen's Fortress with only one death (though I skipped all the extra bullshit with chasing rolling rocks and stuff and now that's biting me in the ass cause I can't unlock the shorcut). I have 36 int and 25 vitality so that shouldn't be the problem.

The technical limitations of this are shocking. DS2 honestly runs quite well on Xbox 360 - it's only 30 fps instead of 60, but there are very rarely any dips of any kind and the visuals really aren't much different from the SOTFS port on PS4. So, I was very surprised when I went back to DS1 and there are CONSTANTLY framerate dives, like every time you use a bonfire or even an estus flask. And Blighttown - holy shit! I always heard it had framerate problems, but I had no idea just how bad they truly were. It was going around 5 fps for some sections, and basically the ENTIRE LEVEL was usually hovering around 15. It felt like a slideshow at times. And it's like that all the way until you get into Queelag's room, basically! It's like this game wasn't designed to run on current gen systems at all, or something. I can't believe something this badly optimized was allowed to get out there. I wonder if the PS3 version is any better?

On top of that, the lighting is absolutely horrible. I mean, the game's never looked great, even in the remastered versions, but a lot of the levels felt almost like Tomb of the Giants. I had to jack the brightness on my TV to 100% and the game to 100% to be able to even see what I was walking on in a lot of places (ex Valley of the Drakes, Blighttown, the indoor sections of Anor Londo). The graphical upgrade for DS2 on xbox 360 is pretty astonishing in terms of playability - I find it even more odd how much backlash there was to that game. That said, I did also immediately notice how much tighter and fluid the controls seem in comparison to DS2, so there's that.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

damn EA's version of Monster Hunter looks neat:

 

[TedEH]

Continuing my way through the Halo Infinite campaign and I have mixed feelings about it so far. It's not a bad game by any stretch, but it feels like there's a lot of trade-offs going on. The open world allowed them to flex some tech, but from a design standpoint kinda doesn't make sense - it just feels like grind between main missions. It's like the game is actually pretty linear with the veneer of an open world game. I'm not very far in though, maybe it'll open up more at some point.

Another trade off is the sound design - where I think it comes across very polished, but there's a lot to nit-pick - like I'm not sure how I feel about such a prominent "you have killed something" sound. It's helpful, but maybe too helpful? The grunt chatter is pretty great though. Voice acting is.... mixed? Some of the characters sound great and others sound grating - like the Not-Cortana lady sounds like I'm listening to a commercial or something. Like they overshot "charm" and landed in something "campy" instead. It's definitely got that 2020s "every voiced character has to be a funny/sassy/dramatic caricature that talks too much" thing going for it.

Then the combat - again, feels like something got traded off somewhere. There's a level of polish in most encounters, especially during the linear levels, the guns have been balanced to the point where it barely matters what you use, for better or worse - but every "boss" encounter I've seen so far has had a frustrating difficulty spike to it. Like you'll be breezing through swarms of normal enemies, just to be put up against several hulking tanks of enemies with names that soak up all your ammo and still won't die. Oh - and enemies have extraordinary vision and memory -> they can spot me from across the map when they're like 2 pixels tall and still always see me and still be able to hit me. As soon as I'm in line of sight of a sniper-type enemy, I have to sneak around 'cause it's too far away for me to see it, let alone shoot it, but he can hit me with no problem.

It's not that the game isn't fun, 'cause it is. And it's not that the game isn't flashy, 'cause it's that too. And it's not unpolished in terms of presentation. But it's a game that'll be fine for an hour, then get frustrating for the next hour, then be really cool for an hour, then pull some really cheap deaths, then show you a really well executed set piece or cutscene, then pit you against an unfair boss, then you explore for a few hours and find some cool stuff, then you get back to the main missions and wonder what that grinding actually contributed to anything, etc etc.

 

[p0ke]

I bought the remastered version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 yesterday. Goddamn, I used to love these games and the new version didn't ruin it. The only slightly annoying thing is that the soundtrack isn't identical - I don't wanna hear Machine Gun Kelly when I'm pretending to be back in the 90's (even though the new tracks kinda fit it... ) I didn't check if it's possible to disable individual songs like in the originals though...

 

[wankerness]

damn EA's version of Monster Hunter looks neat:

The fact this is made by Koei Tecmo and published by EA gives me no faith it's not going to be primarily a vehicle for DLC. The last Dynasty Warriors was a nightmare. Hyrule Warriors 2 wasn't like that, but that was probably cause Nintendo was the publisher. I don't really see EA telling them to knock it off with all the monetization.

Still plugging away on Dark Souls on 360. It's amazing how badly this runs. Fighting Sif and going through the Demon Ruins were just about as bad as Blighttown in terms of framerate. Demon Ruins, when you're anywhere close to the lava, additionally has this ungodly bloom effect that makes the screen look like a really blurry low-res picture taken with a flip phone at all times. It's horrible and makes it almost impossible to see anything. That said, it does look like a stylistic choice and it certainly makes things look steamy and boiling, while the remaster just kinda makes the area look like anything else, just with bright lava floors. However, I'd prefer that over 10 fps and no ability to identify items since you're blinded.

After running back to free Logan and getting homing soulmass and soul spear, I ran all the way back to O&S and proceeded to have the easiest fight against them I've ever had. Used Soulmass like 4 times and that was the end of Smough, then used it a few more times and one soulspear and that was the end of Super Ornstein, who I never even had to get into melee range of. I guess I see why sorcerer builds are considered easy mode. However, it took a lot of work to get it to this point, since I had no chance against them with the soul arrow spells.

Tomb of Giants wasn't as bad as normal, just very slowly crept through and 1-shot those awful skeleton dogs with soul spears (since they 1-shot ME with the jump even if I blocked it). However, Nito seemed way, WAY harder than I remember, with scads of skeletons chasing me around including a few giant ones that I didn't remember being involved. I had to run around in circles around the arena and spam estus and pray, basically.

I screwed up Onion Knight's questline (i saved his daughter, but then he wasn't in demon ruins, and I killed those monsters he's supposed to fight, and then I found him in blighttown, and then he came back to demon ruins but those monsters didn't respawn). Bed of Chaos only killed me once which I guess is a blessing.

The bulk of duke's archives was surprisingly easy, I always thought those stupid crystal guys were strong vs magic, but nope. Stopped at the crystal bridge shit though cause I absolutely hate it and not having an xbox live subscription that would allow me to see the bridges would make it all the worse. Plus those huge crystal golems really are nearly immune to magic and have a shitton of HP so I don't stand a chance of actually killing them.

 

[Albake21]

Any Saints Row fans here? I was a massive fan of 1 and 2, but then 3 and 4 lost me with how wacky it got. I was pretty excited for the reboot, but wow has it fell VERY flat. As a longtime fan though, I had to give it a shot for myself. 22% into the game and I'm absolutely pulling my hair out with how mind numbingly bad the writing is and how horribly outdated the gameplay is. Glad I bought it at a discount, but man this is just painful to sit through. Hoping to just quickly get through it, see all it offers, and then back on eBay it goes.

 

[CanserDYI]

Playing through Breath of the Wild again, god it's so much easier second time through and way more fun, now that I kinda know my way around and can take my time just enjoying the game instead of just trying to beat the story.

 

[BlackMastodon]

I think I've finally done enough side stuff in BotW that I'm ready to fight Calamity Ganon and be done. It's been a great experience and I'm still loving it, but I can't be arsed to find more shrines and koroks and I'm not a conpletionist. Good timing before Tears of the Kingdom come sout this spring.

 

[StevenC]

Splatoon 3 is the best game I own

 

[CanserDYI]

Splatoon 3 is the best game I own

Honestly that good? My son is obsessed with number 2 and I figured how different could 3 be?

 

[Carrion Rocket]

Any Saints Row fans here? I was a massive fan of 1 and 2, but then 3 and 4 lost me with how wacky it got. I was pretty excited for the reboot, but wow has it fell VERY flat. As a longtime fan though, I had to give it a shot for myself. 22% into the game and I'm absolutely pulling my hair out with how mind numbingly bad the writing is and how horribly outdated the gameplay is. Glad I bought it at a discount, but man this is just painful to sit through. Hoping to just quickly get through it, see all it offers, and then back on eBay it goes.

That new Saints Row requel looks like something that would've been outdated on even the PS3. That Agents of Mayhem game they did looked outdated on the PS4. I personally stopped at three. I have Gat out of Hell (and I think I might have 4) as PS+ games, but I've never bothered to boot either up.

I did plat the PS5 version of Cyberpunk. I had one issue with the Autojock trophy where I stopped getting alerts about cars to buy from a fixer, but I was able to look up a workaround that finally got them to start popping up. I'm ready for the DLCs. And the new run of figures. Panam, Judy, and Smasher were supposed to come out last month, but they've been pushed back to March 2023.

 

[StevenC]

Honestly that good? My son is obsessed with number 2 and I figured how different could 3 be?

I mean, to an extent it's an online multilayer game and it's just the fanbase migrating. However, the campaign mode is sooooooooo good. Even better than Octo Expansion imo. They haven't added a whole bunch of stuff, but the new weapons are fun and so is the improved Salmon Run. Haven't done a threeway Splatfest thing yet, but looking forward to it.

Table Turf Battle is worth the price of admission alone for me tbh.

 

[Albake21]

That new Saints Row requel looks like something that would've been outdated on even the PS3. That Agents of Mayhem game they did looked outdated on the PS4. I personally stopped at three. I have Gat out of Hell (and I think I might have 4) as PS+ games, but I've never bothered to boot either up.

Heh, yeah I'd say it's on par with a game from the PS3/360 generation. Absolutely nowhere near worth a AAA price tag. 3 was pretty bad for me. 4 even though way too wacky, was at least a fun game on its own and it surprisingly had some SR1 callbacks. Agents of Mayhem was straight up bad. Gat out of Hell I didn't even bother with, the reviews were bad enough for me to skip it. It's sad what Volition has done with this franchise.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

So I caved and finally bought and started Xenoblade 2 knowing I will immediately put it on hold the moment Trails of Zero drops in the Oceanic regions (in a few days). So that'll keep me busy from leaving my JRPG hole, aside for the occasional sunlight and nourishment here and there.

Heh, yeah I'd say it's on par with a game from the PS3/360 generation. Absolutely nowhere near worth a AAA price tag. 3 was pretty bad for me. 4 even though way too wacky, was at least a fun game on its own and it surprisingly had some SR1 callbacks. Agents of Mayhem was straight up bad. Gat out of Hell I didn't even bother with, the reviews were bad enough for me to skip it. It's sad what Volition has done with this franchise.

Personally I thought Saints Row 4 was on par with 2 as the best in the series (also 2 of my favorite sandbox games of all time). Going full Army of Darkness off the leash was the logical conclusion Volition had to go after introducing the quirky wacky stuff in 2. The Third has it's moments but has serious pacing issues that takes it a few notches off greatness for me.

Also the problem with Saints Row as a franchise is that Saints Row 4 (and Gat Out Of Hell) going full over the top wacky has killed the story stone dead. There was nowhere to go but Agents of Mayhem (which didn't work), and finally rebooting the series. Though I'll probably skip the current reboot unless it hits ridiculously cheap bargain bin prices. From what I hear, it's exactly a classic last gen Saints Row game to it's own detriment. So it's giving a vibe that's dated and unnecessary.

 

[gabito]

Got the plat for GoW 2018 last week.

And just finished Stick it to the Man, a fun little game.

There's nothing I really want to play now, so I guess I'll keep playing The Witcher 3 (my go to "I have nothing else to do" game) until GoW Ragnarök is released.

 

[wankerness]

Finally bought Returnal. Sony refuses to discount it an acceptable amount (last sale was 45 bucks) but the physical discs are cheap (just bought one new and sealed off ebay for 20 bucks with free shipping, which is about the going rate). Glad I bought the disc version of the PS5!!

Similarly there are some switch games I want to check out but they all cost way too much digital. Guess I have to wait for cheap copies on ebay. If they even have physical copies! (Live a Live, Pokemon Legends, Kirby) I really want to try out Steelrising on PS5 too, but again, no way I want to pay more than about 25 for that. I'll probably be waiting a while!

I am still waiting for the PS5 version of Witcher 3 to play that again. I remember REALLY liking it, but it was also one of the first games I played on next gen consoles and I know I was maybe overly impressed with some of them and would be less so today.