[Malankazooie]

Red Dead Redemption 2.

It has the best horse mechanics of any game I've played. Head and shoulders above any other games I've played where riding a horse features prominently - The Witcher 3, MGSV: The Phantom Pain, and AC Origins. Never played Breath of the Wild - don't have Nintendo system so can't compare to that.

I would even argue that the original RDR horse on Xbox 360 played better then these other titles on current consoles. Although I did like my doofy friend Roach (Witcher 3) and his clumsy, love-able screw ups. I could forgive how bad he could be sometimes just cause he was happy go lucky, soon to be sent to the glue factory, but steadfast friend Roach.

[Mentalist]

Finished the main story of Shadow of Mordor-100% completion, time to credits- 57 hours 10 minutes.

It's certainly fun, even if the story's anemic.

I still have 2 story DLCs- Bright Lord and the Test of the Wild, but I'll get back to those if I have time between the 2 Darksiders games.

For now, moving onto Darksiders 2: Deathinitive edition. Warmastered upgrade by THQ Nordic was pretty terrible, I'll see how this upgraded version panned out.

Edit; the sound is good, the game looks gorgeous.
I picked "Apocalyptic" difficulty after all (there's one even higher called "Deathinitive") spent almost 2 hours trying to beat Thane the trainer in Tri-stone with my puny level 2 Death before heading out into the Forgelands open world to explore. He one-shots me with a single hit, so it's basically dodging practice (I forgot that Death didn't have a block button either, so I'm guessing Fury in part 3 won't play that different from Death.
Controls seem a bit finicky, but I guess it's because button-mashing leads to death, because I can't cancel attacks mid-move, so hitting the attack button too many times leaves me too vulnerable for attacks, because I'm too late to dodge. Arkham-style blocking with prompts this is not.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 29 October 2018 - 05:26 AM

[Maark Abbott]

Malankazooie, on 28 October 2018 - 06:46 PM, said:

Red Dead Redemption 2.

It has the best horse mechanics of any game I've played. Head and shoulders above any other games I've played where riding a horse features prominently - The Witcher 3, MGSV: The Phantom Pain, and AC Origins. Never played Breath of the Wild - don't have Nintendo system so can't compare to that.

I would even argue that the original RDR horse on Xbox 360 played better then these other titles on current consoles. Although I did like my doofy friend Roach (Witcher 3) and his clumsy, love-able screw ups. I could forgive how bad he could be sometimes just cause he was happy go lucky, soon to be sent to the glue factory, but steadfast friend Roach.

That FUCKING horse is a large part of why I've DNF'd Witcher 3.

[Serenity]

Malankazooie, on 28 October 2018 - 06:46 PM, said:

It has the best horse mechanics of any game I've played. Head and shoulders above any other games I've played where riding a horse features prominently - The Witcher 3, MGSV: The Phantom Pain, and AC Origins. Never played Breath of the Wild - don't have Nintendo system so can't compare to that.

Likewise I haven't played RDR2 so can't compare, but I love the horse riding in BotW, taming the horse, forming a bond with it. Plus I like that it follows the road without holding a button down (W3) or following a silly white line (AC Origins). I may have called my first horse Roach but it seems to be somewhat inappropriate as she has yet to get stuck on any scenery or appear in mid air

I've spent around 10 hours on it (the game, not the horse) since Friday, split roughly half and half between handheld and on the tv with the pro controller, and I'm finding the controls in both modes an absolute joy. It's one of those rare games where the controls are so natural that I barely notice I'm doing it.

Also spent a couple of hours on Octopath Traveler and am enjoying that muchly as well. Loving the art style and the combat system. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle has taken a bit of a back seat but what I've played was great fun and it's as close to XCOM as I'm going to get on the Switch at the moment so that's great.

It's safe to say I'm very happy with the Switch so far.


I haven't forgotten about Xenoblade Chronicles, though, but I have (ahem) switched back to playing it on 3DS so I can bring it on my commute and play it at lunch times.

[Maark Abbott]

Octopathen was quiteth funst whennen I player itten.

[Serenity]

Yeah, I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I've started with the thief, Therion, which I think was a good choice as I got the 'steal HP' skill first to give him some extra survivability. The only thing I can't decide is whether to go with the Japanese or English soundtrack.

[Maark Abbott]

Serenity, on 29 October 2018 - 09:08 AM, said:

Yeah, I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I've started with the thief, Therion, which I think was a good choice as I got the 'steal HP' skill first to give him some extra survivability. The only thing I can't decide is whether to go with the Japanese or English soundtrack.

Playest withen the Englisheth soundentracker. Oncen youst playen H'aanit, thou wills't'en understanden.

[Serenity]

Maark Abbott, on 30 October 2018 - 08:46 AM, said:

Serenity, on 29 October 2018 - 09:08 AM, said:

Yeah, I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I've started with the thief, Therion, which I think was a good choice as I got the 'steal HP' skill first to give him some extra survivability. The only thing I can't decide is whether to go with the Japanese or English soundtrack.

Playest withen the Englisheth soundentracker. Oncen youst playen H'aanit, thou wills't'en understanden.

Hah, yeah, I headed to the south first, so the wrong direction for her. I think I've got so used to the English accents in Xenoblade that the American accents in Octopath don't seem to fit with its world, somehow. Finished Alfyn's intro story last night so currently only have him and Therion. I think the next character in the direction I'm headed is the dancer, so maybe I'll go back northward and get H'aanit instead.


In other news, here's the full line-up for the PlayStation Classic:

http://epicstream.co...Station-Classic


I wasn't planning on getting one and nothing there has changed my mind.

[Mentalist]

Did the first dungeon yesterday in Darksiders II. Got some ok gear and was able to come back and kick Thane's ass good.

The evade controls are still a bit finicky (Death sometimes refuses to dodge sideways when I order him to), and the enemies have an annoying tendency to hit him even when he is very clearly airborne and should be out of reach of what look like oversized cricket bats. But the overall swim/climb/bust open chests/ mix'n'match sweet loot loop is fun.

I was on my way to the Drenchfort when I took a detour and ended up completing another dungeon (The Broken Forge) almost by accident. Been using skills more than usual this time around, putting all my points into the pet ghoul summons.

Overall, just having fun exploring every nook and cranny looking for moar loot. Nice and almost brainless.

[Maark Abbott]

Mentalist, on 30 October 2018 - 01:19 PM, said:

Did the first dungeon yesterday in Darksiders II. Got some ok gear and was able to come back and kick Thane's ass good.

The evade controls are still a bit finicky (Death sometimes refuses to dodge sideways when I order him to), and the enemies have an annoying tendency to hit him even when he is very clearly airborne and should be out of reach of what look like oversized cricket bats. But the overall swim/climb/bust open chests/ mix'n'match sweet loot loop is fun.

I was on my way to the Drenchfort when I took a detour and ended up completing another dungeon (The Broken Forge) almost by accident. Been using skills more than usual this time around, putting all my points into the pet ghoul summons.

Overall, just having fun exploring every nook and cranny looking for moar loot. Nice and almost brainless.

Broken Forge is the one with that climb away from the lava escape sequence isn't it?

[Mentalist]

Maark Abbott, on 31 October 2018 - 08:42 AM, said:

Mentalist, on 30 October 2018 - 01:19 PM, said:

Did the first dungeon yesterday in Darksiders II. Got some ok gear and was able to come back and kick Thane's ass good.

The evade controls are still a bit finicky (Death sometimes refuses to dodge sideways when I order him to), and the enemies have an annoying tendency to hit him even when he is very clearly airborne and should be out of reach of what look like oversized cricket bats. But the overall swim/climb/bust open chests/ mix'n'match sweet loot loop is fun.

I was on my way to the Drenchfort when I took a detour and ended up completing another dungeon (The Broken Forge) almost by accident. Been using skills more than usual this time around, putting all my points into the pet ghoul summons.

Overall, just having fun exploring every nook and cranny looking for moar loot. Nice and almost brainless.

Broken Forge is the one with that climb away from the lava escape sequence isn't it?

No, I think that's The Scar- the one with the crazy construct boss.

I finished the Drenchfort- including yet another insectoid boss battle, and now as I'm getting ready for the next dungeon, I gotta do the most tedious bit- backtrack to try to find and shoot the stone bite collectibles.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 31 October 2018 - 11:35 AM

[Mentalist]

Finished off yesterday's session right before the fight with the big guardian.

I got myself a life-stealing axe as a second weapon now, so dying only really happens with bosses now. Ideally, I want to find life-stealing arm-blades or claws, because I really prefer quick weapons.

Only real issues I have are the goddamn stonebites. I went through 2 dungeons now (Lost Temple and the Foundry), and I got like 1. Which makes me convinced that I missed a whole bunch. I'm totally gonna YouTube a guide for those.

I think I might have a decent chunk of free time this weekend, so maybe get a good chunk of Dead Lands done.

I also found 2 of the 4 named bosses. Gorewood kicked my ass before, but I'll try again once I'm done with the Guardian. The fiery bat I haven't tried, b/c I only now got the Deathgrip claw thing.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 02 June 2020 - 08:44 PM

[Maark Abbott]

Mentalist, on 02 November 2018 - 04:52 PM, said:

Finished off yesterday's session right before the fight with the big guardian.

I got myself a life-stealing axe as a second weapon now, so dying only really happens with bosses now. Ideally, I want to find life-stealing arm-blades or claws, because I really prefer quick weapons.

Only real issues I have are the goddamn stonebites. I went through 2 dungeons now (Lost Temple and the Foundry), and I got like 1. Which makes me convinced that I missed a whole bunch. I'm totally gonna YouTube a guide for those.

I think I might have a decent chunk of free time this weekend, so maybe get a good chunk of Dead Lands done.

I also found 2 of the 4 named bosses. Firewood kicked my ass before, but I'll try again once I'm done with the Guardian. The fiery bat I haven't tried, b/c I only now got the Deathgrip claw thing.

Protip with the icy deadlands bastard boss (optional): Roll between his legs. You're welcome.

[Aptorian]

Besides playing Red Dead Ive been playing some Celeste. It got raving reviews when it came out in the spring and to it's credit I think it's a very good platformer.

But then I reached chapter 4 and the difficulty spiked to a ridiculous level where you needed pinpoint precision and timing to get through levels where there was far too long between check points.

I rage quit after spending 30 minutes trying to get through the same stage.

[Khellendros]

Alternative Goose, on 05 November 2018 - 09:20 AM, said:

Besides playing Red Dead Ive been playing some Celeste. It got raving reviews when it came out in the spring and to it's credit I think it's a very good platformer.

But then I reached chapter 4 and the difficulty spiked to a ridiculous level where you needed pinpoint precision and timing to get through levels where there was far too long between check points.

I rage quit after spending 30 minutes trying to get through the same stage.

I and a friend completed it together, swapping over every new screen. One of the levels took us over 600 deaths to complete, but the feeling of triumph you get after finishing a particularly fiendish section is awesome. Yeah, it got frustrating, but I could also see myself measurably improving. Sometimes it's a good idea to walk away from these types of games for a day or so, because you find yourself after a while on the same section just making mistakes you didn't used to, and then come back to it.

[Serenity]

Maark Abbott, on 30 October 2018 - 08:46 AM, said:

Serenity, on 29 October 2018 - 09:08 AM, said:

Yeah, I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I've started with the thief, Therion, which I think was a good choice as I got the 'steal HP' skill first to give him some extra survivability. The only thing I can't decide is whether to go with the Japanese or English soundtrack.

Playest withen the Englisheth soundentracker. Oncen youst playen H'aanit, thou wills't'en understanden.

Ha! Yes, now I understand.

[Mentalist]

Making decent progress in Darksiders II. Level 16, and making okay progress through The Kingdom of the Dead, having collected all 3 members of the Dead Court.

The newest Legendary weapon is a pair of life-stealing claws, so now I feel I might be up for fighting that damned fire-bat. Went back to the Forge Lands to try to do that, and kill the 3 Bloodless (which is a new quest that wasn't in the vanilla release). Been collecting a slew of stones and artifacts, too, but I suspect I've still missed a whole bunch.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 02 June 2020 - 08:45 PM

[Aptorian]

Khellendros, on 05 November 2018 - 11:33 AM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 05 November 2018 - 09:20 AM, said:

Besides playing Red Dead Ive been playing some Celeste. It got raving reviews when it came out in the spring and to it's credit I think it's a very good platformer.

But then I reached chapter 4 and the difficulty spiked to a ridiculous level where you needed pinpoint precision and timing to get through levels where there was far too long between check points.

I rage quit after spending 30 minutes trying to get through the same stage.

I and a friend completed it together, swapping over every new screen. One of the levels took us over 600 deaths to complete, but the feeling of triumph you get after finishing a particularly fiendish section is awesome. Yeah, it got frustrating, but I could also see myself measurably improving. Sometimes it's a good idea to walk away from these types of games for a day or so, because you find yourself after a while on the same section just making mistakes you didn't used to, and then come back to it.

I am not fond of overly difficult games. The fact that the difficulty suddenly spiked half way through tells me that I don't want to power through because the rest of the game could be equally challenging or frustrating.


My time is not worth it.

[Maark Abbott]

Alternative Goose, on 05 November 2018 - 08:32 PM, said:

Khellendros, on 05 November 2018 - 11:33 AM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 05 November 2018 - 09:20 AM, said:

Besides playing Red Dead Ive been playing some Celeste. It got raving reviews when it came out in the spring and to it's credit I think it's a very good platformer.

But then I reached chapter 4 and the difficulty spiked to a ridiculous level where you needed pinpoint precision and timing to get through levels where there was far too long between check points.

I rage quit after spending 30 minutes trying to get through the same stage.

I and a friend completed it together, swapping over every new screen. One of the levels took us over 600 deaths to complete, but the feeling of triumph you get after finishing a particularly fiendish section is awesome. Yeah, it got frustrating, but I could also see myself measurably improving. Sometimes it's a good idea to walk away from these types of games for a day or so, because you find yourself after a while on the same section just making mistakes you didn't used to, and then come back to it.

I am not fond of overly difficult games. The fact that the difficulty suddenly spiked half way through tells me that I don't want to power through because the rest of the game could be equally challenging or frustrating.


My time is not worth it.

Someone prepare a frame because me and Goose just agreed on summat.

[Mentalist]

Killed the final boss in the City of the Dead, thus wrapping up the Kingdom of the Dead portion of the game. Got the access to Stage 2 of the Crucible, as well as the first DLC dungeon for my troubles.

Since I also killed the last of the 4 optional bosses before I even started the City of the Dead, I basically did everything here, so I can move on to the 3rd world, in theory.

But I'm more interested in checking out the DLC, since my char carries over back and forth b/w campaigns. Also, I should be probably do at least some of the Crucible, so that it doesn't just burn me out towards end game, the way it did when I first played DSII