[Mentalist]

Okay, finished DMC2 as Dante. Not sure what happened to controls, but had much more difficult time with combos on M&K than the original. Also, not a big fan of the linear level design. And that gorilla boss can go F itself.
Will try Lucia's path next, then probably move on and try Resident Evil 4. Seems unlikely we are ever getting a Code Veronica port, so might as well catch up on this before the remake is out.

EDIT:started RE4 yest. Killed El Gigante, but that took literally all of my ammo. May need to replay that section.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 29 December 2022 - 03:23 PM

[Mentalist]

All righty, made it to the castle. Ashley's becoming an actual liability now. In the village, she was mostly okay.

I continue upgrading my starter weapons (the shotgun and the handgun I got for target practice. I can't help but feel this is a mistake.

[Mentalist]

Well, I could afford to upgrade the shotgun. The new one's pretty sweet.

Had to play most of a chapter as Ashley. It wasn't too bad, except the dodge QTEs suck, b/c I remapped keyboard controls, but the prompts still show the original keys? About half my deaths in this run are failed QTEs.

Still, things aren't too bad in the castle.

[Aptorian]

RE4 was around that time QTEs were really fucking annoying if I recall correctly.

[Maark Abbott]

RE4 was when I dropped off the series. I didn't want an over the shoulder run and gun. I wanted fixed cameras, Sheila and slightly gimpy two-character control systems.

I've just finished up Pokemon Scarlet. Despite technical flaws with framerate, it was really good, very fun. Area Zero was REALLY good in particular.

[champ]

Midnight Suns is such a good game to play, the turn-based-card-based combat is so fun with the over the top hero powers and the story is keeping me interested too. Thought I would get bored as there is a lot of dialogue but nope, getting to know the characters and the story development is pretty cool. Recommend!

[Mentalist]

Some QTEs plain don't work unless I set refresh rate to 30 FPS. Leon fell to many a death off ledges until I went online and figured this out.

Finished the game today, as well as Ada's mini-story. The game was seeming pretty tame until the Island, then the monsters went off the rails.
Overall, it's a decently fun title.
Some detours got a bit too much, with the interfering setpieces not really justifying it all (I'm talking about the minecarts specifically).

The whole "Leon turns into a turret when he aims" thing is cute, but fits here. I don't think I need to spend 90 CAD on the remake anytime soon just to see better character models and slimier hi-rez beasties.

Installed "The Chant", gonna be checking that one out tomorrow.

[Mentalist]

So having played 4 chapters of The Chant, I can pretty confidently say the game's story isn't particularly special.

But I'm actually liking the combat and the light puzzling/scavenging mix. It's primarily a linear action/adventure with a horror theme and survival elements. You need to balance your 3 stats (Sanity, HP, Mana), and keep cobbling together weapons to fend off cosmic horrors. The materials are just scarce enough that you never feel secure and well-stocked, but also there's typically just enough for most encounters. It's pretty neat overall, albeit most systems are pretty basic.

[Cause]

Celeste is a masterpiece, Wish i had listened sooner.

I need more games like it.

[Mentalist]

Finished The Chant a few days ago. It's a 10 hour game, but to see all endings you need to play it 3 times (one each boosting each one of your core attributes)

After that I tried booting up DMC3, but had to stop after 2.5 levels, because my left index finger started to spasm and throb.

Switchign gears to something slower-paced, I started Second Sight. it's a stealth-y TPS with a rudimentary cover system and psi powers. definitely clunky, but kinda neat.

[Maark Abbott]

Picked up Stranded Deep on Game Pass. Feels decent so far.

[Aptorian]

Cause, on 08 January 2023 - 04:46 PM, said:

Celeste is a masterpiece, Wish i had listened sooner.

I need more games like it.

I remember playing Celeste for a bit but feeling that the difficulty curve was a bit off. Probably because I was constantly trying to get the berries or what ever they were.

I've since heard the game has pretty good accessibility options, that can make the game easier. I should try it out again sometime.

Must be a reason why it got such great reviews.

[Mentalist]

Finished "Second Sight". The story went in an interesting direction. Possessing enemies and having them start shooting each other was a pretty neat mechanic, made stealth portions significantly simpler.

Dunno what to play next: will probably give DMC3 another shot.

EDIT: once I moved "lock on" away from LShift and onto Num0, closer to the arrow keys, the strain on the left fingers got a lot less. Killed the first 3 bosses in DMC, pulling solid B grade for the missions.
I am now beginnig to realize just how much influence Legacy of Kain: Defiance took from DMC.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 14 January 2023 - 06:49 PM

[Maark Abbott]

Very interested in 'Surviving The Abyss' that's on early access today. No idea if it would play well on my lappy so something to maybe explore...

[Mentalist]

That siren has to be the most annoying DMC boss to date.

Beat Vergil the second time. I've been demoted to a "C" student now for 2 missions in a row. At least the story's fun.

EDIT: oh, FFS. Make me re-fight moss of the bosses before the final showdown? Make me kill the goddamn siren AGAIN?????????

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 19 January 2023 - 07:44 AM

[Mentalist]

FUCK YOU VERGIL, STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM LOCK-ON SO I CAN HIT YOU

All right, finally got the slimy bastard. Now my fingers hurt again.

Guess it's time for another shooter. I feel it's time to play "Cold Fear", Ubi's own take on the survival horror genre.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 20 January 2023 - 06:45 AM

[Mentalist]

So I played "Cold Fear" in a single sitting (about 8 hours)

So many comparisons with Resident Evil, but also weird.
-basic view is fixed camera, but you can shift to over-the-shoulder
-it's like Resi4, but you can move while aiming. Also, there's only 3 short "protect your female partner" sections, and one of them is the final boss fight.
-the gameplay loop is key-hunting and managing ammo and health; but there's no inventory, you get to juggle 7 guns as you find them old-school shooter style, and there's locations (armories) where you can backtrack to to restore your ammo stocks between encounters. Also, plenty of health packs (even enemies sometimes have them)
-also, an option to stomp on corpses' heads/shoot them off to prevent parasites from reanimating them. Dead Space would be out 3 years later.

Overall, a really neat little game. Not a masterpiece, obviously, and it obviously feels derivative overall (down to unearthing a colony of parasites and trying to weaponize them in a remote location). Enemy variety isn't huge, but it's enough for the game's length. Combat and animations can be a bit clunky, and i didn't feel like I wanted to replay it on "hard" (or unlock "very hard"), so I wouldn't say there's significant replay value. But it's neat for a few evenings.

EDIT: moved on to Alan Wake. Played chapter I so far.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 22 January 2023 - 04:45 AM

[Mentalist]

Chapter 2 of Alan Wake done. Missed a few manuscript pages, but overall vibe is quite spooky. Nice hook for Episode 3, too,

EDIT: so Episode 3 gives a lot of the backstory, so I get most of what's happening now. Also I'll need to replay this on Nightmare difficulty to get those extra manuscript pages? bah.


Started Chapter 4 before calling it a day; got through the "intro" and now I got a gun and a flashlight again.

EDIT: Finished Ch 4. Game's gotten a lot more action-y in Ch5. Gotta say, there's a lot of variety for such a mundane setting.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 27 January 2023 - 06:04 AM

[champ]

I finished Midnight Suns, probably one of my favourite games of 2022. I just wanted to dive back in and play NG+ but figure I will wait for the full DLC to be out first before starting again.


Battle system really grows on you, only downside is that I would have liked more cards for the rest of the cast, similar to what you get with the Hunter but I can understand why they didn't, time, budget and balancing wise.


Not sure whether to play Monkey Island next or Tactics Ogre...

[Mentalist]

Finished "Alan Wake". That ending was something.
Will need to replay at some point on Nightmare, just to get all the manuscripts, and probably play the Episodes and American Nightmare.

but for now, I think I'll play Outcast.