[Aptorian]

Just finished Rage 2. Terrible ending to an at best mediocre game. The gunplay is okay and that's about the best thing you can say about the game.

[Kanese S's]

Playing my first Hearts of Iron 4 campaign.
Parts of the user interface are really different from previous games in the series and so really confusing.

[Maark Abbott]

Aptorian, on 23 January 2020 - 05:31 PM, said:

Just finished Rage 2. Terrible ending to an at best mediocre game. The gunplay is okay and that's about the best thing you can say about the game.

Par for the course with Id these days

[Tiste Simeon]

First time playing a game in ages but I've made it onto AC Odyssey. Liking it so far, more thoughts in the dedthread.

[Mentalist]

Tried Hollow Knight last night, cuz I didn't feel like booting up Shadow of War right before bed.

Meant to only check it out briefly.... ended up playing 2 and a half hours. Killed the first boss I could find (False Knight), so that was nice. Still getting the hang of controls, because jumping and the way each time you hit something you're pushed back is something that takes some getting used to.

[Traveller]

Oh man I shouldn't have picked up Sekiro again.. I just wanted to have a play after my boy had been on, and bang, straight into ng+, hacking and stealthing through Hirata Estate, only this time with a load of new tricks. Killed the Drunk first try; reached Lady Butterfly but I think I'll leave it there for now.

Such an amazing game.

[Mentalist]

Got the dashing cloak. And then I lost almost 2K Geo because I died on a bunch of platforms and then my ghost re-killed me.

I might need a break from the game now. That was annoying, especislly since right after I went in a different direction and unlocked 2 stores where I could've actually spent that money.

[Traveller]

Went to put on Death Stranding; ended up fighting Lady Butterfly on Sekiro.

Took me longer than expected tbh. Need to speed up. Once I'd remembered to just constantly sidestep her attacks and whirlwind her from the side I finished her pretty quickly. I just love the speed, agility, silent drops from great heights; zipping about taking out... everyone. It's awesome.

Dont want to get too much further into it right now though, got other things to play.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 07 February 2020 - 11:32 PM

[Malankazooie]

Too much poopin' and peein' in Death Stranding. Not a game for someone who has an aversion to bodily functions. Necessary though, gotta get them poop and pee mushrooms - uh, poorooms? prooms?

[Traveller]

Weird isn't it?

Hope to get on today, I'm ready for my next trip out.

[Aptorian]

Just finished Death Stranding. I think. You never know with this game.

It's at the same time one of the best and worst games I've played, for the complete opposite reasons of what I was expecting.

I started this game out dreading how tedious the gameplay would be, playing a Fed ex walking simulator but actually it's incredibly addictive in a meditative kind of way. Meanwhile the crazy story I was looking forward to turned out to be completely nonsensical, a bunch of cool and weird ideas that never come together and have no emotional impact because the story doesn't show anything before the ending, it only tells you stuff through phone calls and uninteresting interviews that show up in a submenu.

If it wasn't for the fact that I had a blast hauling cargo through a dying landscape I'd have dropped this game ten hours in, as it is I played around a hundred hours before the credits rolled for the last time and I think I'm going to play some more because I want those five star ratings and I have a high way that needs to be finished.

[Traveller]

Same feelings about it really. The hiking/building elements are addictive and really capture that feeling of travelling a wild countryside.

The repetitive interior stuff is already grating. Even a 2 yr old game like KCD let's you walk into a room, sleep, read, wash, in an immersive and realistic way, in your own time. All the video clips, including the story ones, are ultimately unnecessary. The story could have been steadily revealed through the holograms and people in the bunkers. Bit like HZD I guess.

Having to constantly skip he scenes in DS every time I need a rest takes the edge off arriving somewhere successfully.

That goddamn drinking animation is the worst, who the hell flails their arms about like that after having a drink?!

Anyhow, just caught the Giant horse, and Zeldas white horse in BotW. The giant one must be Ganons, it's a monster.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 22 February 2020 - 12:22 PM

[Aptorian]

Clicking start and skip quickly became an instictive reaction every time an animation began in Death Stranding.

[Malankazooie]

Well that's disheartening. I was going to play Death Stranding eventually, but if the story is lacking or a let down then I'll probably give it a pass. Based on what I've read about the game, a solid story would be essential, full stop, for me to play it. A glorified walking simulator with cool mechanics w/ point A to point B fetch quests would not be enough for me. The game Firewatch was a walking simulator and people here would hate it, but the story was just so fucking fantastic. Some of the batshit crazy footage released leading up to Death Stranding had me intrigued and suggested an engrossing story, but it sounds like it doesn't pay off at all. That's disappointing.

[Aptorian]

The trailers for Death Stranding are like the marketing for Metal Gear 5. It's a highlight reel of the most potent scenes in the game but what you see in those trailers is all there really is. There's no cohesion and poor writing and directing mares Death Strandings narrative.

Still, the gameplay, just like MGS5 is stellar. I'd love to play a game where Kojima is the creative director and a lead writer but the game itself is handled by somebody from Naughty Dog or Santa Monica studios.

[Mentalist]

So, Warlander is a roguelike where you go from one arena to the next, killing stuff.

The combat is largely based around dismemberment, because you need to cut off heads, hands and feet off enemies to pay for your skill upgrades. The combat is fun, once you get used to the weight.

It's basically light sabers, without the Star Wars license.

Tried a few other indie games today... but all these small team/solo projects made in Unreal tend to hardcode their movement to WASD... and I can't play with WASD very well, I need my arrow keys.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 03 March 2020 - 04:59 PM

[Aptorian]

Played 2-3 hours of Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order: Force Souls yesterday.

Pretty cool so far but somehow also oddly old school. I feel like I'm playing a "level" rather than the more seemless "segment" of a narrative experience you get from many story driven AAA games now a days. It's obviously an artifact of the Dark Souls inspiration on the level design. That and the metroidvania design. Lots of stuff I can't interact with so far.

The character's and writing has been top notch so far. I still find the protagonist's pouty face highly punchable but his personality isn't necessarily grating.

[Morgoth]

Stellaris is still a lot of fun. I'm exited about the new major expansion coming out in a couple of weeks. Especially the improved federation system and diplomacy. More megaengineering is neat too though

[Mentalist]

Beaver Killia, on 05 March 2020 - 10:25 PM, said:

Just finished Death Stranding. Probably the single best fucking game I’ve ever played that had me from beginning to end. The emotion that went into that game and the performances that were delivered were utterly stellar. I’m so sad that this didn’t get GOTY. I have no idea what I’m going to focus on now. I’ve seen things online ripping the acting...leaves me raising my brows if they are even humans with souls or just empty vessel meat bags! This game to me was perfection that reduced me to emotional fits I haven’t felt since my grandfather died in 2003. And the ending was pure perfection!

Strong reco from me.

Yeah, I'm getting some IRL reccos for this as well. I'll probably pick it up in June, depending on how the PC version reviews.

[Traveller]

Go and see what's drifting around in space. Also pick up an egg from the nexus while you're at it...