What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[SuperGrafx]

Still working on that new Zelda game on the 3DS.
Still loving it.

[null1024]

Ys Seven [PSP].

At the Well of Souls now, doing a vaguely annoying light beam puzzle [which is mostly annoying because aiming the beam is the slowest thing ever and you can only rotate the crystals one way].

At least I remembered to finally give Dogi a skill on the square button -- most of his slots have been empty. 100SP cost, but it's like a mini version of your L button move, so it is totally worth it.


and damnit Vita, get here so I can play Memories of Celceta
Tracking has it "Out for delivery" in Texas [and it hasn't been updated since], so I'm worried the thing is probably lost in the mail... bleh. If it's not here by Wednesday, it probably is lost...

[DataDream]

Recently reinstalled Fallout New Vegas, will probably spend a while installing mods, shame I deleted a huge folder of mods I had back when I last installed the game.

[spadgy]

I cannot put down 2D Vita skateboarding twitch game OlliOlli. I bloody adore it.

[Marc]

Thief DS on Xbox. Fuzzy as hell, frame rate is gash, tear galore, but an enjoyable game nonetheless. Strange to see in just ten years how even this smaller, lighter Thief, which took a lot of flak on release, is a million miles away from most AAA games in terms of the patience it expects a player to possess. Sadly, though I've tried to remain positive, after the latest Eurogamer preview even I'm kind of loosing faith in the new one.

[Wyrmnus]

Lately started playing FFXI again. This whole Records of Eminence thing is a great new addition.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Thief DS on Xbox. Fuzzy as hell, frame rate is gash, tear galore, but an enjoyable game nonetheless. Strange to see in just ten years how even this smaller, lighter Thief, which took a lot of flak on release, is a million miles away from most AAA games in terms of the patience it expects a player to possess.

There should be a PC version mod making it more like earlier Thieves.
Having some fun times with Star Wars: Republic Commando (PC). Full version this time.
Dreamcast VGA cable allows me to play Star Wars Episode I: Racer PAL in 60 Hz. Means a lot of this picture staring back at me:



Not joking. This is the DC port's genuine loading screen.

[null1024]

Outrun 2019 [Genesis].
Going to probably start time attacking this soon, it's fun. Not as tight as a real Outrun, but it's got some interesting things to it and a super-neato graphic engine.


Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Extend [PSP].
huh

After ages of not playing that much, I'm suddenly much better at this. Just did SPiCa -39's Giving Day Edition, a song which gave me no end of trouble before and cleared with an 89% [and ever so slightly earlier, I failed with an 84%, bleh]. It has some rather nasty sections that used to murder me.

That one Len/Rin song with -39's Giving Day Edition after it is vicious though, fuck. [edit] and somehow I stumbled through passing it just now what the fuck -- absolutely dreadful play, dropped everything everywhere, but apparently I still hit 85%!

And of course I'm on Extreme, Normal is boring, Hard is only vaguely interesting, Extreme is where it's at!

[edit 2]
Well, I just passed Colorful x Sexy with an 86%, which used to be distressingly fast and I'd always fail with an 80%.
where did this sudden skill come from

I'm still shit [handed my buddy my PSP since he was bored, any time he forgot to abort the song before the results, he ended up leaving a score and percentage that I still can't reach], but I'm much better than before at this.


On an unrelated note, is Burnout Legends for the PSP any good?

[lilmanjs]

Call of Duty 2 [PC]
Back when this series was actually worth playing there was something amazing going on. Though I really hate the amount of MG-42 gunners I've encountered and wish them all to death. Though its been quite fun having to run around trying to find an anti-tank gun while a tank shoots the crap out of everything. Still a fun game.

Outrun 2 [xbox]
Yea, its outrun and its quite fun. Though some of my frustration is from my own lack of selecting the correct car for a mission. Go figure. Still a great game and made better once Night Flight Prototype got unlocked. At least with C2C 2006 that was the best tune, and so far it seems to be the best in this one as well.

[Snake]

Nuclear Throne [PC]
If you play as Melting, who dies in one hit from most enemies, things can get pretty hairy.

[null1024]

Duke Nukem 3D [PC].

I'm pretty bad at this. But damn, it's fast and fun. Picked it up with Shadow Warrior on Steam for cheap.

[Renmauzo]

Dr.Mario...for some reason, I find the game REALLY addictive.

[spadgy]

When I manage to escape my addiction to OlliOlli, I just got the 3DS Korg M01D package, and have been enjoying that. Not a game, I guess, but as I've no serious idea of what I'm doing, I really am playing around with it like a toy. I have my music production nerd neighbour to thank for my ability to use it with any grace at all.

[null1024]

I want to like M01D more than I do, but I dunno. If there's one thing it really needs, it's the ability to zoom the piano so you can liveplay sections more easily.

---

Tales of Xillia [PS3].

I'm on some ship with a Z in its name [airship? I can't remember]. Just took out the two generators, took ages because I forgot the game gives you a full map of the area and I kept getting lost [since all the passages on the ship look the same, and I'm pretty sure there's a bit of asset reuse here from that research place in Fenmont].
Bought Leia's Farah costume and giggling a bit because the game's story is currently reminding me of Tales of Eternia at the moment.

I'm so glad I got the Limited Edition DLC [even though I ordered the regular version of the game ], since I can't get enough of Jude's Cress outfit either. Dat cape. Makes him look like a real main character.

And for whatever reason I decided to play as Elize today, but I really wish she had a good non-Dark AOE spell, fuck.


[edit]

More Tales of Xillia, lots of exposition, slight timeskip, and I just fought what-her-face.
Fuck, Rowen dies in one hit from her. Being able to hit for 400-1200 damage every few seconds [and reasonably interrupt her attacks as long as both Elize and Leia aren't dead, since then I'd have to focus on trying to bring them back] isn't bad though.
I pretty much ended up taking direct control of him and spamming that one bell spell forever. I did manage to use Rowen's Mystic Arte once, too [but the startup on his arcane arte is awful -- it's a great move since it hits the entire field, but not for this fight against one opponent].

This here seems to describe Rowen's ability to take a hit perfectly.
Oh, and I bought Burnout 2 [PS2] on recommendation from Ghegs and co.
It's damn good. Probably my biggest peeve seems to be that what causes you to crash seems counterintuitive -- I'll scream into something at seemingly lethal speed and get away fine, and then I'll barely graze something else and be going relatively slowly and them BAM! The same kind of odd collision feeling I get from Split/Second, really [at least that game has the excuse that the cars are, as I quote, "rigged to blow" ].

But yeah, it's great. Really honestly great.

[Ed Oscuro]

I guess this is the place to drop this:
http://tcrf.net/File:TMNTArcUnusedDialogue2.png

hur, hur

[KAI]

I'm playing the harrdest game ever made. Dark Souls: Prepare to Fucking Die Edition [PC]
Took me 2 hours to configure my Dualshock 2. Really liking the game so far.

[BIL]

I guess this is the place to drop this:
http://tcrf.net/File:TMNTArcUnusedDialogue2.png

hur, hur

bah gawd

[Chaos Phoenixma]

I'm up to the final boss on Atelier Ayesha. I'm early into Year 3(time limit is 3 years), so I'll definitely beat at least the final boss, but won't likely get everything in postgame. Got this game to try out the series, and it's definitely interesting. I like that the story isn't about saving a world for once, the characters are interesting, though the battle system does leave a lot to be desired. I'm doing my playthrough without a guide, so I'll almost surely miss some endings and stuff, but I'll want to play through again with a guide and actually get everything if I don't get it this time.


As for Ni no Kuni, I'm going for the platinum trophy on it. I really like the game and want therefore want to get all of the trophies for it. Just need 250 familiars and the Alchemy trophies and maybe some other thing I might be forgetting.


Tales of Xillia, I can currently not really get that into at the moment. There's so many things that just piss me off about it in terms of gameplay. The story seems fine so far, but I prefer good battle gameplay in my RPGs, though I can sometimes forgive somewhat lacking battle. Why couldn't the battle system be closer to Vesperia or Graces f than this?


So I started SO: Last Hope International. I'm currently on the second planet on Galaxy Mode. Difficulty still seems easy to me, but then I have beaten Chaos on the 360 twice. I plan to complete the missable Triom quests and Aeos quests just in case I decide to go completionist on this run. Though Wandering Dungeon is pretty bad, so I might not necessarily be willing to do it again, but I might change my mind when I get there.

[BulletMagnet]

I like that the story isn't about saving a world for once, the characters are interesting, though the battle system does leave a lot to be desired.

It's something of a shame, since Gust CAN do a good battle system: several of their PS2-era releases (particularly the Mana Khemia titles) have good battle mechanics, though it sometimes seems the more they lean in the simulation/time management-ish direction (as with most of the "main" Atelier titles), the less they bother with combat. I guess it probably comes down to available development time to some extent, but I sometimes wish they'd build on the better stuff they've done rather than reinvent the wheel (often more crudely than before) when they move on - Ar Tonelico 3's woeful battle system was another disappointment, especially compared to its predecessor (hopefully Ar no Surge can fix that).

[Chaos Phoenixma]

I actually have Mana Khemia 1. Beat it twice. Should finish watching the endings and beat that optional dungeon sometime. Never did pick up 2, but I think it's available on PSN, so maybe I'll grab it there someday.

[EmperorIng]

Resident Evil 3 is a lot like Silent Hill 3; the plot isn't as good as the previous game (it's mostly run through the city to random places with many of the memos you pick up being unimportant and mostly for flavour/mood) but the combat is vastly improved, making it super fun to replay through. It's got quickturns, dodges, custom ammo creation, a way better knife (it actually does damage now, and the quickturn makes it a lot easier to use effectively). The Mercenaries mode is totally unrelated to the plot and yet it's amazingly fun to blaze through.

The last time I played it seriously I think it was when I was doing a knife-only run. It's the easiest RE game in the series to do knife-only because unlike 1&2 the knife actually is pretty strong (it takes forever to kill things in RE2 with it) and unlike pretty much any other RE game, there's only one boss fight in the entire game you have to actually use the knife on to inflict damage for the win: Clock Tower Nemesis. Every other boss fight you can either run from, or there's ways of killing the boss without poking 'em with the knife (activate the switches to escape from/hit lamp posts to electrocute Grave Digger, splash acid on nemmy and then railgun him later). If you've never fought Nemesis with the knife, even if you go into the Clock Tower fight with an inventory full of health items, he can be rough to knife down (I cheesed it by getting him stuck on part of the map and knifing him as he walked back 'n forth). Very satisfying game.

Two weeks later, I respond!

I think I agree on the plot being better in RE2; there the game felt like more was happening, and more was being built up with Birkin, Sherry, Chief Brian "PUUUUUTRIFY" Irons, and Ada. Leon being a pussy-whipped loser and Claire injected with liquid GURL-POWER give it a lot of hammy charm as well. Less so with Jill's self-righteous blathering, though I found it enjoyable and the side characters suitably evil (Umbrella's villainy, even at THIS early point, is so ridiculously overstated that it is completely comical).

I am surprised you feel confident in a knife run. I admit to being no RE expert, but the knife never seems to work for me, nor does dodging make any sense. I guess another playthrough will be in order one day! The improvement in combat and movement did make it very satisfying to play, even if the atmosphere wasn't as good as RE2 or RE1.

===

RE3 and Deep Fear did start me off on a severe horror kick. I recently purchased Silent Hill and RE:Code Veronica (DC), and I have never played either. I am especially excited for Silent Hill. My older bro has SH2 and 3 at his place, so I will have to snag them when I get the chance.

I've also explored the games of Kenji Eno, and picked up D and Enemy Zero for my Saturn.

My thoughts:

D: Great first disc; mediocre second disc. First disc is full of the unknown, horror elements, and nice, dark atmosphere, with some mediocre puzzles. Second disc is nothing but mediocre puzzles. Spinning wheel room = the biggest waste of time ever, and takes you immediately out of the game.

Enemy Zero: Great first half, not-so-great second half. Is this a theme in Eno's work? While it is definitely clunky, it is less so than D, and more enjoyable as a result. I really liked the FPS segments, with the cool hook of invisible insta-kill enemies. I didn't like it that right at the beginning you are thrown into a labyrinthine air-duct, with a gun with only one shot, and two enemies. Meaning you need to find one, kill it, run all the way back to the recharge, wait 30 seconds, find the second one, etc etc. Hope you don't miss, asshole!

I liked the story (ripoff as it was of Alien), but the game gives you no clue of how to proceed, and assumes a knowledge of binary digits to solve some puzzles! Low blow, Eno. I had to FAQ things up constantly, which I hate, and dislike that the game drove me to that since there is not a clear cause-and-effect line running through the game. The final levels are dog-shit, given that the corridors all look the same and the game is an out-and-out maze at this point, with no maps to refer to. It brought down my enjoyment quite a bit. however, this is a game I am sure I will like the second time through, now that I know what to do and can just enjoy the experience.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I am surprised you feel confident in a knife run. I admit to being no RE expert, but the knife never seems to work for me, nor does dodging make any sense.

I actually got into using the knife seriously thanks to RE4. It's a fantastic weapon there that absolutely murders stuff when you know what you're doing with it, and it's pretty darn strong in Code Veronica too.

The knife in RE3 is only really effective against zombies, and Nemesis in a pinch if you're really good at not getting hit. Most other enemies are too quick to safely kill, so you'd end up trading hits with them; Vincent Merken has a fantastic 100% kills knife only guide on GameFAQs (this is what I used to learn to knife with!), so it is possible to knife down pretty much everything and have the health to make it through the game, you have to run from traincar Nemmy as there's no room to fight and when his health gets low you're interrupted by the same run away cutscene. Seriously recommend reading it, it's pretty awesome and has lots of handy information like HP/attack damage values for enemies, so it's useful as reference material even in normal runs.

Basically, aim low with the knife, slash 3 or so times (more if zombie drops), quickturn and get some room, then repeat. Low slashes have more range than medium/high slashes (and for RE2 characters + Carlos/Nicholai, their medium height slash animations are slower!). If a zombie runs at you, you need to quickturn and exit the room, then when you reenter hope that the zombie's speed is reset (zombie speeds are randomized each time you enter a room, the only zombies you can't safely knife are runners). Mostly, using the knife to kill zombies is about patience, you'll have to leave the room a few times if you get multiple zombies attacking at once or one runs at you, and in many cases it's just easier to run past them and avoid them completely. Dogs you can knife too, but you have to be quick about running up and slashing them, then constantly slashing them on the ground to keep them from getting up (especially before another dog in the room reacts to you).

Dodging is easier once you understand how it works. Basically if you try to shoot/attack and an attack is about to hit you, instead of shooting, you'll perform a dodge (kinda random if you do a backstep or a duck, it varies depending on the attack). This is why when you try to shoot, you'll sometimes see yourself dodge instead! It's easiest to try dodges against Nemesis's first encounter. Hold R1 to aim, and wait to shoot just as his arm reaches out to grab you or he tries to punch you. You can also do this by holding the shoot button and tapping R1 I think, so it's possible to be running and tap R1 just before you're hit. Dodges don't give invulnerability frames though, so you can get hit out of some things (Nemmy's running punch has a habit of doing this) but dodging is mostly handy. It's also possible to do a rolling dodge and end up in a kneeling stance where you can shoot from a handgun I think, but I don't know how to reliably execute it.

Different weapons seem to have different dodge windows. Normally, you can't dodge if you're in a shooting animation, so anything with a long animation like the knife or shotgun is hard to dodge with. Handgun + Magnum seem to let you dodge even before your firing animation ends, so they're the easiest weapons to activate dodges with. There's also a special zombie dodge maneuver where you can shove zombies back before they get close enough to bite you, but it seems to be activated by button mashing just before you're grabbed (I think it's described as an Emergency Escape in the tutorial memos?).

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Got my ship in Assassin's Creed IV. The sailing extremely cool. It so rad sinking a ship by running into it. I really want to keep playing this just for the sailing.

[null1024]

Tales of Xillia, I can currently not really get that into at the moment. There's so many things that just piss me off about it in terms of gameplay. The story seems fine so far, but I prefer good battle gameplay in my RPGs, though I can sometimes forgive somewhat lacking battle. Why couldn't the battle system be closer to Vesperia or Graces f than this?

What don't you like about ToX's battles? The only thing I've noticed that I've really disliked about fighting in it is that sometimes fights will run at way below fullspeed. Maybe the silliest thing is being able to get a guaranteed combo by repeatedly doing Demon Fist until you run out of CC.
Linking and in-battle character replacement is great, and the wide selection of Lilium Orb skills are great [probably the most important thing is to remember that on Orb 2, make sure you get the artes in the first ring because your single Arcane-level arte is there, which is silly].

also, are you playing on at least Moderate? default makes me sad because it is depressingly easy

Haven't played Vesperia, and I started Graces f. I do know that free-run was nerfed like hell in both games [compared to TotA], and it's really important in ToX [back up to TotA speed and usefulness]. Fighting is a lot more like a really fast TotA than like Graces.

BIL, you win an internet today


I would be playing Ys: Memories of Celceta [Vita]... if my damn Vita wasn't definitely lost in the mail. Gonna yell at EZCORP and the post office, see if they know anything about it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Silent Hill released in the US on January 31, 15 years ago!

I've been meaning to load it up but keep getting distracted. Soon...soon...

assumes a knowledge of binary digits to solve some puzzles!

How could you fail that, there's only 10 choices per two digits!

[Moniker]

HAST THOU SEEN THE WHITE WHALE??

(Just killed Moby Dick in AC4. Nooice.)

[broken harbour]

I've been busy and I've just been playing Rayman Fiesta Run on my iPhone lately.

It's actually pretty fun, way better than I expected.

Am I still allowed on this forum?

[rapoon]

Got my ship in Assassin's Creed IV. The sailing extremely cool. It so rad sinking a ship by running into it. I really want to keep playing this just for the sailing.

^ fantastic game. i love the shanties. was pleased to find out an old friend was jamming out to them at work and in his car (as was I). ffs, they released a shanty version of
the OST. who'd of guessed.....

killer is dead is waiting for me at home. looking forward to that bizarro experience.

[Formless God]

Dragon's Dogma.
Surpassed my expectations. It's a large, open-world game ... of fucking something. SotC with effort, WRPG with gameplay, etc etc

The combat feels a lot better than Souls, for sure. Boss grabs can go, though. Most big bosses just fuck around so that you can grab onto them. I prefer they attacked more often.

There are all sort of fancy level designs you could come up for the jump and ledge grab mechanic but I've only ever had to use it for the occasional oddly placed items. It lacks the fun levels of SARK DOULS as well. There aren't a lot of traps, just branches.

Framerate and save/load times are beyond shit. This forced me to downgrade from Hard to Normal. While dying is fun, it takes twice my PC boot time to reload a save and my console doesn't enjoy it too much. Don't get hit? Can't do that when the game's constantly running at 10fps and Mage/Sorc spells make your screen look like Vanquish with a Lightning Returns overlay.

The game should've had a PC port.

I'm playing the harrdest game ever made. Dark Souls

Is this sarcasm? You play IIDX.

[null1024]

FF13: Lightning Returns Demo [PS3].

Dunno what to make of it. Is there really no way to move faster in a fight? It seems completely wrong to be facing an enemy and walk as slowly as she does.