What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[null1024]

Ys Seven [PSP].
I forgot I still haven't beaten the last boss...
and holy fuck, what a bitch this boss is

It's divided into three segments, with three characters on the bottom, three in the middle, and then you have to solo a bit as Adol. Each section is fairly difficult on its own [maybe that's just me coming off of several really, really, really easy bosses in Celceta, where I don't remember even healing -- and healing in that game is a lot looser than in 7, here you have to reopen the menu [which is time enough for you to get killed], there are various items to heal just one person or everyone, revive items heal the whole party but you only get 3 of each type, etc].

Oh, and it comes right after fighting what's-her-face [her name is one of the spoilers in the game], who pretty much has these golem things spam a wind vortex that drags you in and it makes actually dodging anything a fucking nightmare. There's no break.

and man, blocking in Ys 7 is silly as fuck:
hold R, press L, keep tapping it like you're parrying in Street Fighter 3 [because that's exactly what you're doing, except you have a fuckton of hitstun to deal with, so you have to commit to the whole attack you're blocking, unless it has a huge fucking gap in it that you can use to dash away]

you almost can't block on reaction because of the blockstun, you have to be prepared for the attack -- even if you do block the first hit, if it has any more/another attack is incoming [one you didn't expect, of course], you have to try to block it or eat the attack

this is the first time in the game that I've seriously considered blocking though

[Lord Satori]

The Binding of Isaac Rebirth.... Though it's odd hearing her shout "ISAAC!" considering that's my name as well.

Haha, I won't spoil but it'll get a whole lot weirder for you.

Mom, aswell as most of the game gets easier once you get more and more exposed to the different enemy formations, your pattern recognition kicks in. Also you'll figure out little tricks to squeeze more potential out of your loadouts.
I shall now shamelessly brag about getting all the achievements in the original Binding of Isaac. k done.

Yeah, I'm getting more familiar with the game and I've beaten the Mother's Heart twice. Came close after unlocking Magdalene, but I was foolish enough to replace her Yum Heart with something else. If I get stuck with something hard, I try to consult the Wiki, but the game is so recent that the Rebirth material is still being found and constructed.

Also just found out about The Lost. Probably goes down in history as the worst super secret hidden character of all time.

[Acid King]

Finishing up the Gears of War 3 campaign on Insane, while playing a bit of multiplayer on the side. A friend of mine and I are trying to do all 50 waves of Horde but it's a real crap shoot as to whether we get teammates that will stick with the game for the two and a half to three hours it takes to finish it. We came close over the weekend, but we fell to 3 players by the end and our host bailed after half a dozen attempts on Wave 50. Man, could this game use some difficulty balancing. Turning all the enemies in to bullet sponges is not a fun way to increase a games difficulty, especially when you're stuck with limited amounts of ammo and the giant difficulty spike between the 9th standard waves and the boss waves.

[Blinge]

Came close after unlocking Magdalene, but I was foolish enough to replace her Yum Heart with something else.

Yum heart is actually quite bad because it takes so long to recharge, unless you can combine it with items that reduce that charge or cause you to recharge quicker, like the mitre or nun's habit i think, they cause you to recharge when you get hit.

[Bananamatic]

I'll just say that the game is amazing, and that the only flaw that really sticks out to me is some poor balancing. The Bracelet of Time and the earrings that transform you into the mech are insanely overpowered, and of course, Pulley's Butterfly is as godly as ever. All of those are practically "I Win" buttons (though some of the bosses are still a challenge to PP, even with the BoT). I also don't like how they removed the penalty for item usage. It would be fine if there were only items for health recovery, magic recovery, and even the attack power increase, but not when there's an item that literally makes you invincible. What a joke, lol.

Are all Platinum games like that?

I only played Metal Gear Rising and while it was really fun, it was nowhere near stuff like DMC3 or God Hand with encouraging item spam and cheap strategies(and there were plenty of those, not to mention restarting during a stage to avoid a bad ranking), IMO the game overall lacked the depth of the 2 above games(assuming it has any depth at all)

Plus the whole almost RPG system with directly upgrading weapon power(and the difference between min and max power is three times more damage at maximum, which is ridiculous) felt really out of place and it ruined the game balance completely(bosses at Revengeance difficulty die way faster than on Normal only because of weapon upgrades)

DMC3 had some serious pacing issues but the combat system has ridiculous depth, not to mention the rank requirements allowing no easy way out(SSS on DMD requires no damage, no items, high amount of red orbs, stylish play and being fast with no mid stage restarting on top of that)
God Hand is pretty much perfect in every way but sadly has no real ranking system

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Are all Platinum games like that?

No. Bayonetta originally penalized rank for item use. Items are super powerful - they're there to help beginners when they're learning the game on a first or second playthrough, but not meant to be used when you're on a more serious run aiming for a Plat/PP ranking. The game was designed to make them available but motivate you to wean yourself off of them as you get better and rely more on the powerful accessories you can but.

Giving players access to the Magic Recharge and Invulnerability lollipops in the sequel without any rank penalty strikes me as a move to cater to more casual players. Oh well, we knew that would happen (lol WiiU).

Vanquish also doesn't have any of this sort of thing. On God Hard difficulty, you can no longer upgrade your weapons, so you have to rely on the weapons at their unupgraded level. But by then you should realize that upgrades are mostly a bonus for upgraded ammo capacity, and they're still quite useful even at their base level. There's also the DLC weapons (which are included automatically in on-demand digital download versions of the game) but they're actually balanced enough that they feel useful without being too overpowered. Except maybe the Anti Armor Pistol which is really, really good, and only setback by a low ammo capacity.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Some The Red Star co-op with my buddy. Then we decided to play Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams 2 player, only to call it a day before the 2nd playable character appeared.
He seemed to have a harder time issening than me (although he used to kick some arse in 1&2, I'd completed 3 last year or so, thus the muscle memory awoke sooner).
The bloom looks a lot like in Monster Hunter Tri and... is the new camera derived from Shadow of Rome? I thought it was just for kicks in DMC3.

[system11]

Finished Driveclub tour mode (PS4) - a couple of the later events stand out as motherfuckers which induce rage.

1) Norwegian event near the end. If you're not in a car club you have to use the Ariel Atom. If you can master it, it's the fastest thing in its class to be point of being broken. Online races with this car in the mix see all the Atoms at the front, or at the back. The handling is horrendous in every sense of the word, the AI will crash you out frequently on the few corners you don't spin out yourself. I fucking hated it. I hated every minute. If you join a car club you can get the BAC Mono, which is a joy to drive. After wasting hours on the Atom, the Mono (a slower car) got me the event in one attempt.

2) Venom Hot Lap. Get good or go home. This one is a real skill wall and you can't use a different car. Just you and the road, and a car with too much power.

Also finished CoD:AW campaign (PS4) - it was better than Ghosts. Went online. Shot people. Also better than Ghosts.

Also finished Time & Eternity (PS3) - unfairly panned IMO, it has many flaws but the graphics are really unusual and the story is uncompromising.

Also finished Counterspy (PS4) - nailed expert mode, pretty great cold war spy game in the form of a stealth platformer.

[Mischief Maker]

Some The Red Star co-op with my buddy. Then we decided to play Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams 2 player, only to call it a day before the 2nd playable character appeared.
He seemed to have a harder time issening than me (although he used to kick some arse in 1&2, I'd completed 3 last year or so, thus the muscle memory awoke sooner).
The bloom looks a lot like in Monster Hunter Tri and... is the new camera derived from Shadow of Rome? I thought it was just for kicks in DMC3.

You may already know this, but if you wanna play some co-op, if Dante uses the Doppelganger style in DMC3, the second controller can play as the shadow for 2-player co-op. I think player 2 has to hit "start" first. Play with super dante and it's permanent co-op.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Read something about 2 player DMC3 back when, but forgot, admittedly. Capcom did not know moderation that gen. As if they had some short life karma...

[Mero]

Elevator Action Returns

I got to the end, killed the bloke in the pink suit, destroyed the computer like it said, the rocket took off and then it just showed me the staff roll.

Did I get the bad ending or is the game supposed to end like this?

[BIL]

Yeah, the good ending is the one where

Spoiler

the nuke detonates in the silo killing your guys. Bad ending it launches and millions die.

LOL Taito!

Fantastic game, I want to play it just typing this.

[Mero]

Haha, is that what happens if you run out of time on the last stage?

[BIL]

AFAIK, yeah - I don't think there's any alternate way to see it (like Metal Black's semi-hidden Bad End for a game over in the last stage).

[drauch]

Hell yeah, love Elevator Action. Playing through myself at the moment. Any character considered top tier, or they pretty well rounded? I mean, obviously I'm just playing the babe, regardless.

[BIL]

I always use Serah Conna, her firebomb rocks @ shutting off enemy entry points (and who doesn't love the burning enemy animation?! dance, muhfucka!). Similarly her firing speed makes it easy to keep enemies at bay even with the handgun. Also her hair real purdy. ^__^; TBH I never really explored the other two, I tend to find a character I like and stick with them. Ahnuld can floor chumps just by running into them, which is always amusing.

[Stevens]

Hmm...

Dreamcast-

RRR Racing
3rd Strike
Toy Commander
Daytooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaa - Controls are rubbish, but still some fun to be had.

[Mischief Maker]

Dominions 4

I missed out on the Master of Magic/Master of Orion/X-Com trifecta. I've heard people tell tales of playing master of magic for years, despite the hopeless AI, experimenting with different race/spell combination strategies.

Dominons 4 is that experience times a thousand. You could lose a lifetime in this game, easily.

[Mero]

Hell yeah, love Elevator Action. Playing through myself at the moment. Any character considered top tier, or they pretty well rounded? I mean, obviously I'm just playing the babe, regardless.

I did it with Jad The Taff and his mighty weapon "Dessert Eagle". He's built like a tank which means he can take more hits than the others and his bomb is good for survival and scoring. His main disadvantage is that at walking speed he's like an OAP walking through treacle, but he can still get a bit of a spurt on when he's running, you just have to be careful not to accidently fall down any lift shafts, falling even one floor will kill him (I think the other two can safely fall 2 floors?).

[drauch]

(I think the other two can safely fall 2 floors?).

I'm not sure. I distinctly remember falling a single story the other night as the girl and died instantly. I don't remember if my current health state had anything to do with it, though. I plan on playing tomorrow, hopefully, and I'll check it out.

[trap15]

Nope, everyone is the same on that matter. One floor = death. Falling from an elevator that's moved down a little is ok though Phenomenally fantastic game though.

[Mero]

Ah ok I was mistaken then, thanks for clarifying.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Dreamcast-

For some reason I was thinking of Dreamcast at work today. Something weird as rarely do I turn the thing on these days [have yet to find the REALLY essential DC game that simply isn't (quite the same) on anything else, be it the "feel" of that, erm, controller, or some other thing this marginal, yet precious to me]. So, I was thinking SoulCalibur as I remember it looks nice (not even much of my genre).

That out of the way, there's no real competition with King's Bounty: Legend anymore. Why isn't there a jRPG like it (that I know of)? The Japanese games that, to me, felt a bit like it sometimes would be Steambot Chronicles (Bumpy Trot) and FFCCh: The Crystal Bearers, but I can't think of a single traditional jRPG quite like it. Maybe - just maybe - some SaGas came near it, but the most hyped title that SHOULD have been like it - DQVIII - seems desperately inflated (hollow) in comparison.

Hell yeah, love Elevator Action. Playing through myself at the moment. Any character considered top tier, or they pretty well rounded? I mean, obviously I'm just playing the babe, regardless.

About the only game where - given a choice - I choose a dude instead of girl is Contra: Shattered Soldier. I blame that inforgettable NES Contra title screen.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I've been playing COD Advanced Warfare mostly. I do like how the exo suits were implemented. It kind of gives me the vibe of a dumbed down fps version of Virtua On.

Cabela's Big Game Hunter Pro Hunts - I picked this one because it was really cheap and I've been pleasantly surprised by it. It is really unique compared to any other fps that I've played. It has a very strong focus on stealth. It even goes as far as to make you stay downwind of the animals so they don't sniff you out. I also liked the emphasis on shot placement. If you don't hit the target correctly the animal will end up running off and the worse the shot was the longer they will have to be followed. And even then you might end up losing the trail if they get too far away. All in all I think it's a really nice change of pace from the standard respawn die respawn die over and over nature of most fps these days. It's also oddly relaxing to play. I guess it's all that walking around in the woods. Becoming one with nature and all that.

I also checked out World of Tanks. For being a free to play game I thought it was alright. I guess the players who forked out the cash for better tanks probably have a strong advantage. It seemed like it needs more levels. Plus it seems like such a huge time sink to get everything unlocked and upgraded that it comes off as a little overwhelming. But I can definitely see myself putting in some more time on it.

[Mischief Maker]

I also checked out World of Tanks. For being a free to play game I thought it was alright. I guess the players who forked out the cash for better tanks probably have a strong advantage. It seemed like it needs more levels. Plus it seems like such a huge time sink to get everything unlocked and upgraded that it comes off as a little overwhelming. But I can definitely see myself putting in some more time on it.

That's how they make their money. The game's alright, but not so much fun that it's worth sinking the time into unlocking shit. So why not pay $X and get it over with now, so you can play the high level game?

Freemium isn't free!

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I also checked out World of Tanks. For being a free to play game I thought it was alright. I guess the players who forked out the cash for better tanks probably have a strong advantage. It seemed like it needs more levels. Plus it seems like such a huge time sink to get everything unlocked and upgraded that it comes off as a little overwhelming. But I can definitely see myself putting in some more time on it.

That's how they make their money. The game's alright, but not so much fun that it's worth sinking the time into unlocking shit. So why not pay $X and get it over with now, so you can play the high level game?

Freemium isn't free!

Yeah, that's for sure. I guess need to do some research on which ones to buy. I was considering the retail version in hopes that it had most of them unlocked, but it looks like it only includes one premium tank unfortunately.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Me and my pal did some PS2 gaming this evening and I finally converted him to OutRun 2006 (he wasn't so enamoured of it on PC back when; ended up borrowing my PC copy) and Burnout 2 (the ever-loopy Time Attack wins over just about everybody). Good times were had. We did some 2 player Crash too (first time I've experienced it in a party situation).

[lilmanjs]

Last games I played were Unreal Tourney 2004 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14.
Great time running through some of my less played maps I have downloaded, and of course the rage that is the Tiger Woods game in every final round. Unless you are leading, you usually end up with the game suddenly thinking your golfer is just starting out and you do horribly.

[Stevens]

Me and my pal did some PS2 gaming this evening and I finally converted him to OutRun 2006 (he wasn't so enamoured of it on PC back when; ended up borrowing my PC copy) and Burnout 2 (the ever-loopy Time Attack wins over just about everybody). Good times were had. We did some 2 player Crash too (first time I've experienced it in a party situation).

Outrun 2 is freaking awesome!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Spent over three hours playing the original Burnout (GameCube version on my Wii). Such a shame it's in 2's shadow, as it does certain things better than any other Burnout game I've played.

- Not ever since 1 has been the driving so DANGEROUS. Scoring Perfect Lap in 2 is a piece of cake compared with 1 in this regard.

- The A.I. is most fun to race against. Fails EXACTLY the same way as you would, or so it seems, and the rubber banding is spot-on (so there's pretty much always competition going on during a race). Remarkably, the opponent cars don't have any headstart (no free boost for them from the word go). To be fair, I can't remember if the latter's any different in sequels.

- The sound with mere headphones (surround option ON even without Dolby Pro Logic II receiver) is among the very best I've heard on SD consoles (up there with Omega Boost and Twisted Metal: Black). Meanwhile, in 2 it's botched (I believe car games that favour the bumper camera should work a treat with headphones).*) Better music than 2 as well (the less said about music in 3, the better).

- I say play it having just watched the movie Ronin. Just saying.

- What little split-screen I've played was more fun than 3 and 2 in that respect. Only 30 fps, but the comedy value goes through the roof.

- Unlike 2 and 3, there's no reason to neglect old cars when you unlock new ones. I'd say each has most "character", for lack of a better word. I'm not sure whether bus and tow truck are any good for racing, though (seemed to slow to meet the game's own time requirements).

*) I thought the - pretty innovative alright - sound Criterion put in Black was also pants listened to with headphones, that is pretty lame for an FPS. I had no problem with sound in Burnout 3, mind, the majority of songs notwithstanding.