What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[stampfer]

I would be playing Thimbleweed Park if I did not have to work this fine weekend.

[kaicooper]

just started Hollow Knight
amazing atmosphere and getting harder

[gbaplayer]

I startet Persona 5 yesterday, so far i´m 3 hours into it....i can not say if it is better than 4, but it is certainly great and stylish.

[Squire Grooktook]

'nother tabletop session

>Party member about to lose their soul and be permanently eliminated from the game
>I dive into the midst of the enemy (a boss and an entire legion), and manage to save fellow party member while risking the same happening to me
>kill everything till my leg and both arms are torn apart and hanging by threadS, can't escape
>hold sword in teeth and continue to kill everything
>bad roll, sword breaks
>rip out enemy throats with teeth
>bites off the last enemies face and then collapses with 1 hp left

My character started out as the scared timid one.

Genuinely thought I was going to lose her there too. Probably one of the most epic battles I've had in gaming. Out of the next session though because I need to wait and regrow some body parts.

RPG's are fun.

[BIL]

Non-tabletop, but coincidentally I was playing Phantasy Star II for the first time last night, managed to end up far from town with Rolf DEAD and Nei unarmed (lmao what is "iron bar") at 6hp/0mp. Made it back to Shitty Ruined Town by jamming on "Run" at every encounter, getting blocked a few times - was surprised to find myself really getting into it and feeling palpable relief when defenseless catgirl finally dragged her bro's dead ass to the cloning facility (medbay: "I'm afraid Rolf is DEAD"). I can never quite give myself over to the time investment of these games, but RNG-fuelled peril is some universally addictive stuff.

[Blinge]

Haha, Yeah those desperate moments are pretty cool birru.

Any further stories/thoughts are welcome
report to the Phantasy Star Thread!

[Some-Mist]

I would be playing Thimbleweed Park if I did not have to work this fine weekend.

I kickstarted it and was dying to play it but I had to wait until I beat torment: tides of numenera which I finally did on Sunday. I really enjoyed my time with tides. The combat wasn't great but the story/environments more than made up for it. I used

Spoiler

castillege, erritis, and matkina

for my playthrough, and of course when it comes to making choices in a story... I always choose the worst ones but I still got an ending I was happy with. I'm looking forward to the upcoming patch that will include 2 new playable party members. took me about 50 hours to beat.


then I moved onto thimbleweed park and it's been everything I hoped for. spent 3 hours on Monday and 5 hours last night. the puzzles have been a little bit on the easy side though I've been stuck for about 10-15 minutes a handful of times. the writing can be hit or miss with some really great jokes and some duds. regardless you can tell Ron has real knowledge in developing adventure games.

I got stuck on

Spoiler

trying to get the stamp off of the letter, but luckily I already had a glass full of water which led to a quick solution once I figured out what needed to be done.

trying to get the map, which I figured out last night when I noticed the police scanner which seemed like an odd place to have one

and how to pickup the popcorn to feed the gerbil - then finding more popcorn to fill the 2nd half of the bag

looking forward to playing more tonight even though I'll be sinking some time into the quake champions beta

[soprano1]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
Damn good. Starting the fifth case, not sure if i'll go for the DLC exclusive sixth.
Anyone played Spirit of Justice, which came out last year? Is it good?

[Marc]

Wonderboy: Bored of this now. For some reason I had it in my head that it was four sets of four stages. It’s getting majorly memorisation heavy by area 6, and even though I’m pretty sure I could beat it if I used the interrupt data to practise the last 2, I’ve had my fill.

Yakuza 0: Every time my attention starts to wander, the game throws something else at me that drags me back for another few hours. On chapter 12 (I think – just done the Virtua Cop-style car chase), but want to sink some more time into both businesses and the fight club. I probably wouldn’t play another one as it does get pretty repetitive (the bit where Kiryu fights through Sera’s place was particularly tedious), but overall I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s also not very often a video game makes me properly laugh, which this has on quite a few occasions. Still bugs me with games like this when they convert arcade games, but don’t include any sort of DIP settings – surely couldn’t be that much more work?

Driveclub: Bought the season pass as it was on sale, and loving it again. No nonsense – pick a cup, pick a car, race. Still looks glorious as well.

Speedball 2 Evolution: It’s not evolved at all, it’s the Amiga version with a few extra pitches, and that’s just fine by me.

Strider 1 & 2: The first is just godly, and that soundtrack… one of the finest in the history of gaming. Made it to the 4th stage on pure muscle memory, though I was getting patchy by then. I’ve only had a mess around with 2 – I played it way back when but can’t have spent a huge amount of time with it as most of it doesn’t really ring a bell, but despite being ugly as sin it seems fast, responsive and fun. I’ll finish up the first, then get stuck properly into the second.

My backlog is ridiculously huge, but I’ve just added Thumper thanks to the thread on here, and just noticed Demon’s Souls on sale for £3.99…. though it’d take two days to download on my broadband.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Wii solo gaming times have been had these nights, Rayman Origins first and foremost, as well as Kororinpa and such. The latter increasingly Wii-defining a title in my book. In fact, I would gladly discuss the series in greater detail, but I've learnt too little of 2 yet (whenever I get busy to it, the handling reminds me it's 1 I would rather be playing now).
Unlocked a Star Soldier music theme in the first Kororinpa last morning. How's that for fanservice? I believe Hudson to have made a Caravan title exclusively for the Wii too.

[Stevens]

I've played sparingly in the past, but have started to get into Shock Troopers a bit more.

Strider, Strider 2, and Baseball Stars 2 are also getting time.

I have a few fighting game friends and recently at our meet ups we have left the streets for the baseball diamond. Even odder considering I hate baseball, but the game is really fun.

I don't play heavy tabletop RPG's, but some of the games we play have what I guess you would call light RPG elements - Zombicide probably being the one I enjoy the most. If there are any other board game players here and you like Sunset Riders (and why wouldn't you?) I suggest Colt Express and its expansion.

Is there enough interest here for a straight up board game thread?

[Durandal]

I've unconsciously been at a Platinum binge these past months, starting with the perfectionist getting the better of me in Metal Gear Rising and going as far as impulse-buying Bayonetta without a second thought. Unlike with Automata, I've no issues with Bayonetta's port(s) at all. I remember playing Bayonetta some five years ago and scrubbing my way through it while getting a Stone Award around every turn until I somehow lost the fucking game disc, but now I'm getting Silver Awards on my first try, so I guess I improved in the meantime. Can't say I've regretted anything, including finally getting myself a receiver for my wireless X360 controller. But I swear that thing is trolling me when the batteries are getting low by disconnecting me each time I get hit. I'll get your fucking rechargeables soon.

[kaicooper]

still playing Hollow Knight
this game just came from nowhere..its epic experience
its like Castlevenia + Dark Souls..perfect

[NYN]

I remember playing Bayonetta some five years ago and scrubbing my way through it while getting a Stone Award around every turn

Same here. Took it more seriously around 2 years ago and boy did it open it up for me. The Alfheim are the moderate lessons to improve your capabilities. Can't say enough high things about the game as a whole. Aesthetics, combat, swag - I eat it all up.
Maybe the most fun is playing Jeanne in hard mode, including all Alfheim. The things they throw at you and your own expectation to conquer them all in sparkling, platinum style is amazing.

I crashed my Gamertag recently and the first game I fired up to rebuild my saves was Bayonetta, alright. So much fun.

[Some-Mist]

beat thimbleweed park after 17 hours. best point and click adventure I've played since the lucasarts days - and I've been a big fan of jonas kyratzes output as well as some one off projects like the dream machine. you can tell ron gilbert really has a knack for adventure game design & puzzles.

started an hour of yooka laylee last night. it's been getting some poor reception, but I enjoyed my time with it (handing off the controller with the gf while also making dinner). curious to see if the novelty wears off quickly or not.

also waiting on my ps vita to arrive so I can do remote play more often in bed.

[EmperorIng]

That sounds encouraging! I've been kind of interested in the game myself, though I didn't play any of the LucasArts games back in the day (Only sorta dabbled with the Sierra adventure games).

Speaking of adventure games, I downloaded Myst recently and beat that for the first time ever. Any other old-timers remember playing that when it was new?

I have the vaguest memories of Myst as a kid, through a demo disc that I think we picked up in a flea market. This is all pretty sketchy, but I do seem to remember thinking to myself "wow, this looks amazing!" and giving up not too much longer since after clicking around and flipping switches I had no idea what to do.

Internet reviewer Matthewmatosis recently made a convincing pitch to try out Riven, Myst's sequel, so I decided I would do just that by way of playing the first game first (and the second game second!). Despite a host of compatibility headaches running this game on Windows 10 (commonly freezing during some of the FMV movement segments, like elevators), I was able to beat it in a couple of days. I admit I scrubbed out and occasionally took advantage of the "hints" option, as well as a FAQ a few times, mostly due to not understanding how some of the interface worked (like lighting a match: I had no clue that all I had to do was drag the match over the matchbox to "light" it).

I have to admit that I am surprised at how much the game engrossed me. The way the game tells its story through the environment is still extremely impressive, 20+ years later. I think the fantastic art direction helps in that regard. Seeing all of the different "ages" - that you first read about teeming with life, and later finding their abandoned and empty husks - makes for an adventure that is equal parts eerie, unsettling, and captivating. I loved finding the leftover evidence of the handiwork of the some of the NPCs; you really get a good sense of their twisted minds through what they left behind in the different worlds. That there were so many incidental details that had nothing to do with the puzzles, that you could nonetheless interact with and learn more about the different worlds, was really quite nice. At first I was frustrated that I was getting distracted by "pointless" stuff, but then after a while, it clicked with me that not everything in the game had to have a "point" in regards to a puzzle solution.

I was able to get through most of the puzzles fairly well, with an exception being mostly when I started and was less familiar with how the game worked. Pretty soon I was taking notes and zipping across the island into different ages like a real pro. I think the only real complaint, other than some obtuse or archaic design choices (waiting for the tree elevator slooooooowly, or the underground maze), is that there really isn't an ending - though from what I've read Riven more or less is the "ending" that Myst was lacking.

The game is really an immersive experience; I am really looking forward to playing the sequel! If it's good enough, I might half-consider Myst 3 and 4, ha.

[Some-Mist]

Myst is still a bucket list game I have to beat since I'm a big fan of adventure games.
I hear riven is super hard which is intriguing.


back on thimbleweed park tho - it's kind of strange that average review scores from critics are around 85% whereas user reviews on gog average 5/5 and on steam 96%. It seems critics are being a bit more harsh than the players.

[Sumez]

85% is a very good score for an adventure game.

[Some-Mist]

I just thought it was funny how user scores are averaging much higher than critic scores.

it's also rated worse than (and in some cases the same as) many of the walking dead games

[Mischief Maker]

Just finished The Signal from Tolva.

It's pretty good. It's essentially Far Cry meets F.E.A.R. with No Man's Sky's aesthetic.

You help the green robots capture spawn points from the red and blue robots so you can investigate archaeological sites unmolested.

The story's alright, though I don't think the game's 8 hour length justifies the included lore book's length of 48-pages in small print.

One warning: Money is finite in this game and you can't afford all the weapons. IMO only the scoped sniper rifles and beam cannons are worth it.

Solid B+ effort in every area.

[kaicooper]

first sorry for my Eng

i just wanna talk about Yooka-Laylee
it has some solid ratings and many negative too..but wtf man
2/10 or 4/10 wtf is this? did they really play the game or Microsoft pay them
to make these shitty ratings? cus the game is like the middle finger for Microsoft

this game is the one i've been waiting for long time..nostalgia man
some shitty complains like :
-big map and nothing to do? wtf..eatch map has 25 golden page to collect and 100's of collactables
and 5 ghosts to find and mini games and many guests to do..wht r they talking about?
-frustrating and some hard levels..seriously ? this what we need actually
-no guides where to go or what to do next ! ok..Zelda and Dark souls tells u what to do? NO..
no guides is the best thing in this game for more exploration ofc..
-we r in 2017..no need for this kind of game..!! all i can say go fk urself
-poor camera and frame rate issue..They already fixed these before game release
but on PC i dont have any frame rate issue..

all i can say..enjoy this game..this's one of the best..it has lot to do

[Blinge]

Haha, I'm glad someone likes it.

[Mischief Maker]

first sorry for my Eng

i just wanna talk about Yooka-Laylee
it has some solid ratings and many negative too..but wtf man
2/10 or 4/10 wtf is this? did they really play the game or Microsoft pay them
to make these shitty ratings?

Worse. The developers stepped in gamergate after they fired popular youtuber jontron from their voice talent after a furor arose about his politics. So now hordes of people are either trashing or praising the game based entirely around the jontron issue.

That's why I haven't trusted any reviews.

[kaicooper]

most ppl and my friend says the game is pure Shit..i asked them
DID U PLAY IT ? they say no but the ratings so bad lol

so pathetic

[Some-Mist]

Yea, I've been playing yooka laylee on ps4 and I've been having a lot of fun. There's been a few sections with wonky camera (I'm not a fan of when it goes fixed/forced) but the negative reviews are baffling.

[Stevens]

Why did it take me 20 years to play Shock Troopers? It's so good.

And that music, on a cart no less.

Had to download Kiwaks to play set 2 (blood and actual lives) and joy2key so my stick would work with Kiwaks, but so worth it.

[Sumez]

Jim Sterling's 2/10 on Yooka-Laylee is too obvious trolling.
I can accept a 7/10 for Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there are a lot of good reasons why you could argue that the game doesn't deserve more (even if I couldn't bring myself that low, I have to admit I loved the game way more than I was expecting to). The thing is, he KNEW it would cause an oproar, and that was his reason for the score moreso than any genuine opinions he might have about it. His income is directly proportional to the amount of salt he is able to create among Nintendo fanboys, and that makes his opinions as biased as they come.
His 2/10 for Y-L tells us nothing other than that he likes attention and moneys.

I've even seen a lot of people following up on that, it's like people are afraid of declaring it a good game after it has received so much criticism - I've seen people go pretty much: "It might not be as polished as we'd hoped for, and it's really just what it says on the tin, a classic 3D platformer like Banjo, but personally I really had a lot of fun with it!.... 5/10". WTF man?

[soprano1]

Jim Sterling's 2/10 on Yooka-Laylee is too obvious trolling.
I can accept a 7/10 for Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there are a lot of good reasons why you could argue that the game doesn't deserve more (even if I couldn't bring myself that low, I have to admit I loved the game way more than I was expecting to). The thing is, he KNEW it would cause an oproar, and that was his reason for the score moreso than any genuine opinions he might have about it. His income is directly proportional to the amount of salt he is able to create among Nintendo fanboys, and that makes his opinions as biased as they come.
His 2/10 for Y-L tells us nothing other than that he likes attention and moneys.

I've even seen a lot of people following up on that, it's like people are afraid of declaring it a good game after it has received so much criticism - I've seen people go pretty much: "It might not be as polished as we'd hoped for, and it's really just what it says on the tin, a classic 3D platformer like Banjo, but personally I really had a lot of fun with it!.... 5/10". WTF man?

What moneys? Isn't his site ad-free?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Been playing two GameCube versions of games originally played a lot on PC back in their day (but not finished at the time): I-Ninja and Beyond Good & Evil. Both do the kind of thing I found very welcome in The Last Story lately - never afraid of being silly (as valuable in entertainment business as it is genuinely rare) and, to me, nothing here comes as forced. Respectable character animations, too (less so in The Last Story, where I, however, think the budget simply wasn't enough - development cost must be the sole reason why it's a Wii exclusive to begin with; resolutions remarkably higher would not favour some of its features at all - otherwise, it does nothing on the Wii that wouldn't be perfectly portable to anything else stationary).

[Mischief Maker]

This Yooka Laylee mess is why I always said gamergate should be about ethics in gaming journalism, not fighting SJWs.

The whole goddamn scandal was game critics giving unreliable reviews because of their lefty political beliefs and/or relationships in the industry.

Now in the name of fighting SJW free speech suppression critics are giving unreliable reviews because of their right-wing political beliefs and/or relationship with jontron.

The snake has swallowed its tail.