What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[ryu]

I don't mind investing a lot of time in an rpg, I'm fine working through one an hour a night, completing it a year later.

I played RPGs like that all year long last year. And was fine. The thing with Persona is really that a lot of its playtime comes from these filler events where you skip through some text you've read before, constantly changing locations etc. Then there's a lot of nonconsequential information in the game that it could live without, like the classroom sessions and smartphone convos. The latter are new in this game and especially bad. There's a couple dozen of events where your party communicates over a chat app - and it's always the same stuff. You can skip them all and not miss anything.

Nope, quick search says you have to be on the "2nd Cycle" to fight Margaret. That's NG+ right?

I assume that's what it means.
But wow, I don't remember that at all about the game. Could swear it was available on a first playthrough.

[Squire Grooktook]

Also Squire does that include P4, i thought you liked that game?

Yeah. I do like it, and I don't hate the script, it's just in my college days it's not at the tier it needs to be in order to sell me on a 40-90 hour experience. The characters haven't stuck with me as well as some other games, and the plot ends on a slightly disappointing note IMO (nice mystery and build up of tension, but the ultimate reveals are pretty weak. Was hoping for something more relevant to the characters lives and worldview, not "oh it was a big demon" doomsdsay special).

Part of it is I've come to realize that I really hate the silent protagonist + character driven combo. I feel like it completely gimps organic character interaction when one party is always talking at the other. Good for lonely stuff like Dark Souls or plot driven/lite stuff, but bad for something with lots of small talk and an emphasis on getting attached to characters. I know it's supposed to be "you" but even (actual) dating sims know enough to give the main dude some characterization: it makes the other characters feel less like characters themselves if you don't.

[Obscura]

GTA V.

It's not perfect (it sure is really "point-A-to-point-B" for an ostensibly "open world" game, and the shooting sucks), but indulging my sociopathic tendencies in zany satire-land is enough for me to forgive it.

[stampfer]

Started playing "Owlboy", it's some form of exploration platformer, very well executed and pretty (even though I'm not exactly a fan of games like this, I find it very appealing and engaging).

[Ed Oscuro]

Any comments on Toukiden 2? It's not out yet, of course. Seeing the phrase "Monster Hunter clone" a lot. This review's comments about the playstyle seem a bit offputting to me, personally, I'm not a big DW fan.

[Obiwanshinobi]

The Last Story actually made me wanna post about a video game for the first time in months.*
Took me roughly five years to unseal this copy of mine and I'm liking it. Looks like the first one of its ilk (a story-driven kind) I'm about to complete since Final Fantasy Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (if memory serves). Well, I guess the second playthrough of Freelancer (story part) happened in the meantime.

Pretty hard to put my finger on the things I like about it so much at this point (it doesn't quite excel at anything in particular so far). I wouldn't recommend paying the inflated (last time I checked) asking prices for it, either.
It is one where even the - barely legible in 480i on RGB CRT - captions don't get on my nerves much. I feel so forgiving of the lot it may well be something with my head rather than the game's inherent qualities, but it works for me.

*) Seeing as the only thing I've posted about the very game above is that I have a problem reading captions, let's see what else is there... One battle (where I had to pick up, carry around, then throw items) reminded me of Power Stone (2).

[null1024]

Sonic Heroes [GC].
It's a bit better than I remember so far, but still a dumb game. Controls are solid and responsive, at the very least.
Stages are drawn out as hell because of the slow-fuck combat, a stage that should be only 4 minutes long is taking 8+ minutes because I'm going around in locked rooms full of enemies and hitting things until they finally die and the door opens.

I'm playing in Dolphin, mostly as a test. I also heard that the actual PC version of Heroes is kind of screwy, but I don't know the details.
Other than some weird random color dots on player models and bosses [using a dev build, been too lazy to check it against the last stable one to see if it's a regression because I haven't heard of anyone else with issues like this in Heroes], it's been pretty smooth.
probably some shit related to the Intel video in this thing

Also, when the hell did Dolphin get so fast, anyway? I'm on a MacBook Air and the tiny handful of games I've thrown at it so far have been running really smoothly, I distinctly remember this machine barely not being able to keep a solid 60 with Dolphin, and now I'm able to hold down fast forward and get like 90-120fps.

[WelshMegalodon]

There was a lot of hubbub about the 5.0 release being faster than previous builds of Dolphin.

[mamboFoxtrot]

Yeah, Heroes is definitely where Sonic Team started getting out of control with the level lengths. Even if you factor out the enemy gauntlets, there's still quite a lot of overly-repeated gimmicks and sometimes entire segments of levels feel copy-pasted.
Funnily enough, though, over time I think I've actually come to enjoy the combat more than the platforming in Heroes, or at least when playing with Knuckles. Destroying entire rooms of enemies (or waves in "boss fights" like Robot Carnival) with a Level 3 fireball-geyser-thing is pretty satisfying, as is using the Fire Dunk.

Controls are solid and responsive, at the very least.

Except when trying to use the Rocket Accel

[Immryr]

so i had to go home to newcastle for just over a week and wasn't playing any games. managed to finish off hollow knight when i returned though. it took me 47 hours in total - but that is not a 100% completion :O. i got all the grubs and charms, but didn't get all the entries in the hunters journal, finish the colosseum or do all the dream fights. i was hoping when i got back the patches the game has received would make it run better on my laptop but they haven't so some of the harder boss fights are just really frustrating for me.

i cannot overstate how great i think this game is. it feels like sacrilege to say but it might be better than super metroid. i feel like the only things super metroid has over it are the amazing freedom of movement you get with the basic set + bomb, and obviously its place in history.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm playing in Dolphin, mostly as a test. I also heard that the actual PC version of Heroes is kind of screwy, but I don't know the details.

If it's about the same job as Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg PC port (complete with captions referring to GameCube controller left intact), then it's playable (if you're lucky enough to configure your controller of choice properly), but very unsteady framerate (in a way I somehow doubt any newer computer than mine would ease much).
So in case emulator gives you desired resolutions and a solid performance, I see little reason to look back.

Speaking of Dolphin, if it runs The Last Story at full speed (that is - nowhere near even steady 30 fps, sadly), give it a go there (absolutly none of the Wiimote-specific features appears to be utilised; it's way more playable with a Classic Controller Pro - if only for its better camera handling). I mean it, folks - if you're gonna try one game before you buy it this year, make it The Last Story. Quite precisely THIS kind of good nowadays.

[reckon luck]

Almost done platinum-ing Bloodborne, currently stuck on Defiled Chalice Amygdala while working towards Queen Yharnam. I hate how incredibly easy the fight is, until it isn't and OHKO. Might be the least fun I've ever had in a FromSoft game.

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah the Chalice Dungeons really aren't worth it. I've replayed the game like 5 times and I've never bothered with them beyond getting the Beasts Claws.

[reckon luck]

I feel like I should enjoy Chalices? Bloodborne is an excellent game, I love the randomly generated dungeons of traditional roguelikes, and I've spent my fair share of time grinding for gear in ARPG's. They tick some good boxes and yet they just don't work. Doing chalices just to get materials for more chalices that will get you different chalices... and the half hp modifier is particularly egregious when it turns a significant number of threats into instadeath. Ugh.

I wouldn't mind them trying again in the next game.

[reckon luck]

Platinum get! After 30+ attempts at Defiled Amygdala, I managed to cheese his final phase. What an awful fight. Everything that came after was easy.

[Wachenroder]

Currently working on DKCR on the Wii with the wiimote shake > B button code

For Genesis im playing Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Corp JP version

[Leandro]

Playing GTA IV - the single player campaign feels long, that's good. GTA V felt too short.

[KAI]

I'm about to finish The Legend of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon [N64], one of my top 3 games on that console.
Haven't played it since the late 90's and it's still awesome as hell. Wish more games from this franchise were translated

[ArcadePT]

I'm playing atm Tetris: The Grand Master

[Immryr]

Played a bit of the new dark souls 3 dlc after not playing the game for quite a while. I only had one saved character and it was at the end of NG+ so I just used that. I really didn't enjoy it. I dunno how long the set up of having those stupid angels shooting at you from the sky lasts, but it just made me not want to play. After getting annoyed at trying to explore and dying I found a spot where I could get in a couple of bow shots on an angel then hide behind a rock. I spent ages whittling him down only for him to heal to full when one hit from death. -_-;

I dunno if I'm just not in the mood for playing this right now or what. I've never had this feeling with any of the souls games before.

[Obscura]

People over at TTLG have all been saying similar things about Ringed City -- general opinion seems to be that the difficulty level is too far over-the-top, and the new gimmicks are too overbearing for the game to be fun. Haven't played it myself yet (will probably be getting to it this weekend), but it doesn't make me optimistic.

Edit: Oh god, apparently

Spoiler

it's got a Mirror Knight-like boss that actually succeeds at summoning an invader for the host most of the time

. Time to get ready to pull the network plug...

[Sumez]

I've never had this feeling with any of the souls games before.

So you never played DS2?

[Immryr]

I have played ds2, it was the first souls game I played!

To be honest I think I was just really tired when playing the dlc. Gonna try again tomorrow when I hopefully feel a little fresher.

[Mischief Maker]

I think this was my fourth of fifth try, but I officially give up on "The World Ends With You."

I thought I'd reach a point where the gameplay just "clicked" but it never happened. This game is an irritating mess and an excellent example of the difference between "deep" and "complicated." Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword did gesture-based touch screen brawling a zillion times better and it wouldn't have been improved by having a QTE going on in the opposite screen.

A pity, because the plot was threatening to become interesting. But the gameplay is too much of a chore.

[iconoclast]

I didn't like TWEWY much either. The combat always felt like a mess to me and was rarely any fun. I think I got around half way through it because the story was interesting, even though I hated the main character. Great soundtrack too.

[Sumez]

TWEWY is a strange thing. I can completely understand why people will dislike it, but I was completely compelled by it, and even played quite a bit into the endgame thing. I hardly even remember anything about the story, but I remember it being unique and entertaining which was a pretty fresh breath of air for Square at the time. And I was very pleasantly surprised by the elegant 180 degree turn that it makes towards the end, changing what I thought was a pretty mixed message into a cute point about pop culture and identity. Nothing ingenious, but very well delivered.

[Squire Grooktook]

Just got done with a session of a Japanese Table-Top RPG. Was every bit as weird and wild as I hoped.

Uh oh her torso just got exploded too
I think you can recover from that sort of thing in this game. I think
yeh she's still movin'
Always make a point to play the indifferent damage sponge

[Immryr]

played a bit more of the dark souls 3 dlc.... turns out i was just tired / stupid and missed something early on which made things much more enjoyable. i'm not too far in yet, just killed the first boss.

[kaicooper]

finished these:-
Zelda Wind Wake..Best Zelda so far
Zelda Twilight Princess..Slow pace but amazing dark creepy atmosphere
Kona..its like Fargo and Twin Peaks have a baby(Kona) atmospheric but dissapoint and boaring

now gonna play these
Zelda Link btween worlds
Styx 2

[lilmanjs]

Grim Fandango Remastered
Never played this before and picked it up on a sale. I'm enjoying it as expected. A highlight of the adventure genre for sure.