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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

VIDEO What are you currently playing?

Discussion in 'Archive: Games' started by Aragorn327, Sep 3, 2009.

  1. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    I would also accept reports on the state of mahjong.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2018
  2. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    I'm in the minority on this one: I rarely bother with the minigames in Yakuza.

    Smashing in some punk's head is just too much fun.

    Kiwami 2 is going to be spectacular - older-syle game with 6's engine providing the visuals.
     
  3. SensationalSean

    SensationalSean Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2014
    I started 0 a few months ago and only finished the first chapter. I loved the setting, but it didn't grab me as much as I was hoping. Can you offer any encouragement?! I really want to get into this series.
     
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  4. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Go do some side quests, they're great.
     
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  5. PimpBacca

    PimpBacca Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2015
    Had a few days off from work, so I took some time off from the third uncharted game to blitz God of war 3 remaster also whent and download Skyrim special edition witch I’m enjoying and Ori and the blind forest Definitive edition, witch I have to say has some amazing visuals and is also quite challenging at times.
     
  6. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Ramza's advice is good, the sidequests show more of the game.

    Without knowing what isn't working for you:
    • Story does tend to take a chapter or two to get going
    • If you don't like melodramatic, overwrought far eastern brand of bromantic relationships forged in manly battle, with special instant removal suits - the top half comes off dead fast leaving the trousers on for brawling....
    • An aging but satisfying combat system that allows all manner of pain to be inflicted upon your enemies
    • Heat moves - if you don't like these...
    Alternatively, just imagine the above list ran through by a Japanese voice actor really giving it his all! Full Yakuza-style.

    A lot of the time a Yakuza game is pretty much total bollocks, but of a highly enjoyable kind.
     
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  7. Reynar_Tedros

    Reynar_Tedros Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2006
    Finally started the new God of War last night. I'm surprised I didn't get any angry midnight knocks at the door from my neighbors telling me to turn the volume down. I'm a couple hours in, and so far it's lived up to the hype. It looks incredible (I bit on Target's PS4 Pro deal), it feels fantastic, and the characters I've met so far are incredibly realized and instantly compelling. I can't wait to play more of it.
     
  8. vw_jedi

    vw_jedi Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2002
    Farcry 5. Enjoying it more than the last few entries in the FC series. Though every time I play a game with this format, I get kind of depressed that no big sandbox style SW game exists yet. [face_plain]

    BTW, Any one else playing?
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2018
  9. Ahsoka's Tano

    Ahsoka's Tano Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2014
    Just caved and bought Overwatch (technically I got it for free because I participate in these online surveys; you accumulate enough "points" and you can transfer it towards different stuff like Gamestop vouchers). I saw the GOTY edition was on sale for $30 on PSN so I used the voucher on PSN store money and bought it from there.
     
  10. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    So, they've put Monster Hunter World on sale for £35 on PSN and, to my surprise - due to the size of the gameworld, the data size for it is 14.3GB only.

    That's kind of tempting. How is it really? In terms of its big fights, does it have much in common with HZD?

    For anyone with the space, the other offer of note is FFXV Royal Edition for £27, all 66-67GB of it!
     
  11. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    No. Everyone thought they might be somewhat similar (at first) because of the original E3 trailer, but HZD is much less deliberate and significantly less about the particulars of a given weapon, consequently they feel and play nothing alike despite superficial aesthetic similarities. Nioh might be the best comparison, maybe Souls. But I also like those a lot more than I've liked any of the MH demos I've tried; MH is nothing if not highly idiosyncratic.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2018
  12. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Good to know, thanks - I went with that as it seemed the most apt visual match.
     
  13. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Actually the closer one to MHW is probably the Toukiden 2 demo and I quite liked that.
     
  14. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Toukiden is MH with the serial numbers filed off so that makes sense. I forgot about that one. :p
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2018
  15. SensationalSean

    SensationalSean Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2014

    Most excellent advice, thank you both. I enjoyed the combat, but the stiff movement in general wandering bothered me, the story was moving a little too slowly and I hadn’t reached the point where I could engage in any real side quests.

    My one experience of karaoke was great though, it reminded me of playing Rock Band! I’ll play again soon.
     
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  16. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Yeah, the windup chapters are always a little rough, at least for me since I consider the definitive Yakuza experience to be undocumented hours wasted in the shogi and mahjong parlors and then I guess gangster stuff happens or whatever. Just power through to the open world and enjoy how goddamn weird it can actually get.
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2018
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  17. SensationalSean

    SensationalSean Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2014
    Part of my reason for playing is that I’ve always been fascinated by Shenmue, but never had a chance to play those games, and I know Yakuza is the spiritual successor to that series. So getting used to the slight stiffness of Yakuza will prepare me for how old school Shenmue is when that HD re-release arrives!
     
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  18. soitscometothis

    soitscometothis Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2003
    Elite Dangerous
     
  19. vypernight

    vypernight Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    Sniper Elite 4, which has become my favorite shooter.
     
  20. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    So Monster Hunter World...

    It tries, it really tries to screw itself over - a crappy story, weird control scheme, half-arsed cutscenes with cardboard characters, an erratic camera, a hard to get your head around map and a general failure to really give a sense of introduction at least.

    Yet, despite all of that - what does it have going for it? When you upgrade a weapon or armour, more so weaponry for me, it feels like an upgrade. When you put your new gear to use, there is a sense of progression, it hits harder than what you had before. So, where before the Great Jagras was a pain, now it's an easier adversary. (OK, so yes, to help in killing him, I kill all the Jagras as standard to prevent the bugger consuming a couple as a health gain.)

    For all its multi-tiered map display is a royal pain in the arse for pursuing a monster, the levels and the zone itself interlink effectively and it is very well designed. Graphically the world looks very, very good indeed - on one bit I was going on these vine ropebridges above the roof of the forest at night - it was stunning.

    The monster design itself is excellent, as are the other creatures. Whack a herbivore that didn't do anything to you and you will feel guilty. That not everything is instantly hostile makes it feel far more like a world, especially when combined with the world animations - water, breeze effects.

    The one potentially serious issue is the combat isn't precise enough to allow me to target specific body parts with any confidence of actually hitting them - but those parts are needed for specific armour sets / weapons. The capture net mechanism doesn't seem to do much either, had a Jagras on its belly, fired the net and it did... Bugger all. Both are more serious issues, but might get worked out in time.

    The game's hub is a wonderfully put together location, it's excellent in design terms.

    But the central mechanism of killing monsters and then using what you get to craft better stuff works very well, well enough to overcome the game's best efforts at doing itself in.
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2018
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  21. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2003
    Got some time in with Agents of Mayhem this morning. Was looking for some mindless, non-challenging fun, and I got it.

    It's certainly generic. The second area of the intro mission bugged out. Unsure if I'll ever go back to it, really.
     
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  22. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    A reply in the style of the game:
    That is the ****ing definition of all this ****, dude. Where did you get that from? Uranus?

    More seriously, it'll draw you back because you want something lighter.
     
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  23. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Well, I've now worked it out: Monster Hunter World is a wolf in sheep's clothing. They're selling this thing as a mainstream game when it really has more in common with super-bastards Bloodborne, Nioh and the Souls games, why and how?
    • Whatever weapon you have tends to forever need sharpening, you can only do this by stopping from combat or hoping to get time enough with the monster being distracted by your Palico.
    • Potions - take too damn long to drink and bar refill is sloooow.
    • When the monster legs it, you have no chance of keeping up.
    • You think 'near death' means 'fight over' ? Think again, it doesn't.
    • Game is premised on you observing the monster and working its attacks, but the camera does not support you in this - instead it's your biggest enemy. (Focus camera? Waste of time, much like "guard", which also does sweet feck all.)
    • Your 'Palico' heals you randomly, it should be 'your health hits x%, you get healed' but nope. That little bugger does whatever it likes.
    • "Mounting" - Just jump on a monster, easy right? No, because you cannot easily tell your jump range and the monster's position. If you do pull it off, what follows is an unholy mess of bad signposting so you don't know what to do or how, so you get thrown off.
    • Weapon range and speed - limited and slow. You will not believe how often you miss a huge monster right in front of you.
    • Sheathing weapon - the amount of ****ing of times this happens is supremely irritating, why not have an auto-draw function? Witcher 3 was only doing that four years ago.
    • The "evade" move - is pathetic. You want to see a real dodge move? Aloy in HZD, that's how you evade, not this weak arse imitation - also HZD allows a dam sight more tactics and strategy. (I'm sure if you get far enough, the game allows far more on that as you'd have the materials to craft superb custom weapons, but I'm nowhere near that so it doesn't count. Right now it's a shallow 'dodge and hit it until it dies', without precise targeting.)
    • Poison is overpowered - it made the entire Pukei-Pukei fight a nightmare, as you have to heal it quick, but the antidote takes so long you won't have time to drink it before being hit, you don't drink it all? No effect, so your health plummets, you get hit trying to heal, it's practically a one-hit kill move due to how the game's other mechanisms work.
    But, above all of these, is the fact that the game's story "works" by giving you quests you are manifestly not equal to and cannot become so to. You might think doing a sidequest will help, it'll give you materials so you can upgrade the armour and weaponry, right? Wrong. Each time the jump is such that whatever preparation you've done is torn through like paper. Nor do the Hunter ranks give you more health or stamina, it's purely on gear, which it restricts heavily. This is nowhere near the 'play as you want' game it's been claimed to be. Nor is it grinding in the sense if you do enough you'll be able to get a decisive edge on the new monster, you won't - the game doesn't permit it. Ah, but what about the research? Gives info only. Nor are all the zones open at the start - it's much, much narrower game than all the articles out there suggest.

    If you like the super-bastard genre then you'll probably love every single factor that pisses me off about this game, you'll love the realism of slow actions, of the monster's speed, that it's so, so uneven and you can't do much to even it up - as might be evident, I don't! So, I generally, as a point, avoid it - I know it's not for me. Monster Hunter World's biggest sin for me is it's a lying scumbag about what it is!

    When I was able to, when the game wasn't upping the difficulty every chance it got and throwing into fights I didn't want - or starting cutscenes to trigger said boss fight way, way early - when I was able to take time exploring the two zones, seeking out materials to upgrade specific gear, that really work. What didn't was the next bit, where you do all that, think you have a chance, and of course you don't. That removes my incentive to play, if all I'm going to hit, every damn time, is a brick ****ing wall, then why bother? They've screwed the entire 'reward / progression' cycle that is their big thing. Nor is it that you defeat the big monster you get parts, no, you need to do that several times at the same level you more or less are, which again really detracts. I only just did the damn Pukei-Pukei before, the only way I'll have a chance is with better gear but that's locked off until I kill it again. Excellent. That's impressive but for all the wrong reasons.

    I just about managed to take out a Baffour, but only by switching to using a big bastard hammer. Each boss fight also became a tedious affair because the monster legged it so often, threw out special mud whirlpools, it took so damn long to chase after it, stamina doesn't last long enough - basically all it's "realism" aspects drain away the sense of engaging in an epic fight. Again, the one I look to in terms of how to do epic fights against huge adversaries is HZD, but this game is nowhere near that. It relies on hobbling the player too damn much.

    Monster and creature design is excellent, as is the world aesthetics - well, the ones I've got to see - but, for me, the gameplay is severely lacking.
     
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  24. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Have persisted with MHW, got Investigations active but guess what:
    • I scope out a cavern of Kestadon, there's about 5 in there and I have to kill 10. The problem? One is that the investigation fails to make it clear that it's 10 adult Kestodon, so I'm killing these things, but only a handful count. Second, the game is teleporting them in. It's not even being subtle about it. It did the same thing on a main quest - I kill a load of Gaiju to stop them interfering in the Juryductus fight, pursue it to another area, we go full circle, the little bastards have already been regenerated!
    • In other respects that fight got quite interesting, as this time I was more strategic. Evaded its attacks, made it come after me, let a Barroth beat the hell out of it, before finally killing it - was the first time I felt like I was close to having a sense of knowing what I was doing.
    • What's is very strange is I have about 90% materials I can't use - you'd think it woulkdn't happen, but the materials used to upgrade gear are a very slim subset of everything you get. For armour, only armour spheres count. There's different investigations, so you'd think a more major quest gets bigger reward in terms of those spheres, right? Wrong. I do harder quest, I do easier quest - I still get one sphere only.
    With the fights tonight, especially the big one with that piscine wyvern, I did really notice the way it was animated and behaved - that's quite superb, but a whole lot of things stop the game being as awesome as it could be.
     
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  25. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
    Metal Gear Solid 5. Coming up to 1/2 complete.
     
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