[Aptorian]

Played an hour or two of Days Gone yesterday. It's the open world zombie fighting biker dude game from Bend.

It's actually not half bad so far, pretty solid introduction sequence introducing the world, the mechanics and the characters.

It sure is bro'ish though. It's not great when you just look at your character and his biker friend and want nothing to do with them.

I'm sure the game is going to do the whole "Sons of Anarchy", bikers are misunderstood, it's about brotherhood, bla, bla. thing, but maaan do these guys look like assholes.

[Aptorian]

Just played 30-60 minutes of the Avengers game.

I'm sold. The controls can be a bit confusing or clunky and the writing is not great but it's a great super hero experience. You feel powerful playing it and there's lots of crazy cinematic sequences that look excellent.

Unless the reviews uncover some garbage flaw hidden in the end game, I'm there day one.

Now if only the cosmetics could also change the terrible character faces.

[Aptorian]

Played another 6-8 hours of Days Gone.

I run hot and cold on this game. At times I enjoy travelling around the forest on a bike, avoiding or ambusing zombies and crazy people. I doubt I've unlocked half of the map yet. And when you occassionally run into the games main selling point, massive hordes of zombies, you get a real oh fuck, oh fuck, shit, fuck, I'm going to die-feeling. I accidentally got into a wolf fight in front of a horde cave, where they sleep like Forkrul Assail, and suddenly I was in a mosh pit of zombies. When I unlock my fire bombs and Machine Guns, I'm going to come back and fuck those zombies up good. The character is also interesting, I can't quite tell if I hate him or love him, but the voice work is interesting if nothing else.

At other times it just doesn't seem very well designed. It's very similar to The Last of Us 1/2 and it's hard not to make comparisons to 2, despite 2 coming out a year later. You rummage around, collecting ressources and crafting weapons, bombs, bandages, etc. but the looting isn't as satisfying and most of the time it's pointless because you have everything already. You stealth around or try to flank the enemies but it's just not as elegant or satisfying because the starting weapons suck. Actually the stabby stabby knife going into flesh sound is pretty good but still. Generally the gameplay loop just isn't as fun as you'd want it to be, I've played at least 8 hours and I still haven't unlocked any good weapons because it takes for every to grind trust with the right settlement. Getting XP and upgrading your dude also takes a long time. In a way I like that. It means you feel like you've earned that next upgrade but it doesn't give you that constant dopamine injecting that Ghost of Tsushima delivers.

All in all, it feels like a budget Open World game, compared to Sony's other projects the past couple years. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they have that Open World itch.

[Aptorian]

I'm nearing the end of Days Gone.

The story is,... not terrible but not great either. It's mainly hurt by very uneven writing and voice work and a plot that seems weirdly low key.

I have reached a high level and gotten some powerful and accurate weapons so now I'm starting to eye the Hordes that roam the game. I took out my first horde yesterday, it wasn't that big a horde but I did it, mostly through sneaking and dirty hit and run tactics. But when I stood my ground and opened fire into the mass of charging zombies, I was actually doing some legitimate damaged. It's cool mowing down rows of freaks and seeing the piles build up.

Once I get a hold of the Napalm Bomb recipe and I unlock the biggest LMG, I'm going to war with the Sawmill Horde. That one is scary.

[Maark Abbott]

Playing Deus Ex again. Heard there's a patch or pack of some sort for it that makes it bearable because holy fuck it can't run well on a modern machine.

[Mentalist]

Maark Abbott, on 02 September 2020 - 11:52 AM, said:

Playing Deus Ex again. Heard there's a patch or pack of some sort for it that makes it bearable because holy fuck it can't run well on a modern machine.

? Really?

I mean, there's like a million mods for it, but last I checked, it just worked.

I may need to re-install it now.

New Vision and Give Me Deus Ex are 2 most common tweak mods.

[Serenity]

I finished Trails in the Sky the 3rd last night - well, early this morning, actually. Loved it. It was a separate story to the first two games, and essentially a long farewell to the characters, but it had some of the best boss battles in the trilogy. The final boss was a total bastard. Even when I'd figured out what I needed to do, it turned out only one of my party had regular access to the art that would prevent a party wipe at regular intervals.

I haven't quite decided which sequence to follow now - it's either the next game that was actually released (Trails from Zero), or Cold Steel 1. I'll probably go with the latter as Geofront are currently working on the translation for Trails to Azure, the immediate sequel to Zero, so I've no idea when they'll actually finish it.

[Aptorian]

I keep seeing various people mentioning these Cold Steel/Trails games.

Are they actually good RPGs or is it a weeaboo thing?

[Serenity]

Aptorian, on 04 September 2020 - 10:10 AM, said:

I keep seeing various people mentioning these Cold Steel/Trails games.

Are they actually good RPGs or is it a weeaboo thing?

They're fantastic. If you don't mind a slow burn at the start, a fuck ton of reading, and turn-based combat, they have in-depth world-building, rich lore and great characters. Suggest watching these videos to get a feel for them:

[Aptorian]

I finished Days Gone yesterday. A thoroughly mediocre video game experience. Fun enough if you just want to ride around a post apocalyptic rural area killing stuff but not much else.

[Serenity]

I decided to go with Cold Steel 1, then had to decide between PC or PS4. I already had it on PS4 so have gone with that, which has the advantage of remote play on my Vita.

[Mentalist]

130 hours into HZD, now that I'm actually getting into the story (having hit level cap already, because that game is essentially designed to be broken), and I'm contemplating replaying Witcher 3 now.

Probably gonna wait for "next gen patch", though.

[Serenity]

I've switched to playing Cold Steel on PC. I thought I'd give it a try and refund it on Steam if I preferred it on PS4, but I love playing these games on PC for the QoL features, non-existent load times, plus I don't have a big screen tv so sitting at the pc monitor actually feels bigger, crisper and more involving. I'd only got a few hours in on PS4, so it's not a problem. Must seek out the HD textures mod, too.

[Aptorian]

Played a bit more Paper Mario: Origami King.

That game is very comforting in it's low stakes gameplay and humor.

Also just started Persona 5 Royal.

This game has a ton of style. Not sure about the actual game yet. So far it's mainly been introduction and weird life sim stuff. It's like a more interactive visual novel.

[Malankazooie]

Going to jump into Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck sometime this weekend. If I make it out on the other side and I only post - "I'm the conductor of the poop train!"- you know why.

[Aptorian]

Malankazooie, on 12 September 2020 - 05:49 PM, said:

Going to jump into Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck sometime this weekend. If I make it out on the other side and I only post - "I'm the conductor of the poop train!"- you know why.

Those Psyco Krieg trailers do look fun but I'm so disappointed in BL3 that I can't really see me bothering with more of it.

I've played around 7 hours of Persona 5 Royal now. I'm in the process of breaking in to the first palace and stealing their brain treasure.

I can't really tell how much I'm really enjoying this game. It's very linear and very hand holdy, mainly because it continues to introduce more and more mechanics and facets to the game world. I hope when I finish this first palace that I get some down time where I can focus on earning money and grinding skill xp by doing tasks.

I like the relative low stakes, teenage plot of the game. We're not out to save the world in this game. We're just trying to mind fuck an abusive teacher. I'm sure a bigger plot will unfold after we finish our first heist but right now I like the concept.

I'd say the game is very easy but I just got steamrolled by a red color guard and lost 20-30 minutes of progress, so there is that.

[Mentalist]

Wrapped up Horizon Zero Dawn.

Need a break from open world blockbusters. Gonna switch it up. Think I'll give Hollow Knight another try.

[Serenity]

Aptorian, on 12 September 2020 - 06:53 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 12 September 2020 - 05:49 PM, said:

Going to jump into Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck sometime this weekend. If I make it out on the other side and I only post - "I'm the conductor of the poop train!"- you know why.

Those Psyco Krieg trailers do look fun but I'm so disappointed in BL3 that I can't really see me bothering with more of it.

I've played around 7 hours of Persona 5 Royal now. I'm in the process of breaking in to the first palace and stealing their brain treasure.

I can't really tell how much I'm really enjoying this game. It's very linear and very hand holdy, mainly because it continues to introduce more and more mechanics and facets to the game world. I hope when I finish this first palace that I get some down time where I can focus on earning money and grinding skill xp by doing tasks.

I like the relative low stakes, teenage plot of the game. We're not out to save the world in this game. We're just trying to mind fuck an abusive teacher. I'm sure a bigger plot will unfold after we finish our first heist but right now I like the concept.

I'd say the game is very easy but I just got steamrolled by a red color guard and lost 20-30 minutes of progress, so there is that.

It takes a good few hours before it really lets you off the leash - I can't remember exactly when it happens, but you will be allowed to manage your time how you want to, apart from on specific dates/story beats, and you'll be able to grind to your heart's content.


I'm into the second chapter of Cold Steel. At first I didn't think I was going to like it as much as the Trails in the Sky games, but the addiction has well and truly kicked in now. I'm not sure the characters are as brilliant as Estelle, Joshua etc, but they're really starting to grow on me. They seem to have dumbed down the quartz mechanics. In Sky, each quartz had a value (5 x water, 8 x fire etc etc) and you had to juggle combinations of them on your battle orbment (the device that gives character access to 'arts' - magic to all intents and purposes) to get the right values to access the arts you wanted. In Cold Steel you have named quartz that automatically give you particular arts. Not sure how I feel about that at the moment. It's easier, but it also takes away some of the satisfaction of getting that combination you'd been working towards for a while. On the other hand, it'll limit the amount of arts any one character can use, which should make for some interesting decisions, and I assume more and more powerful quartz will appear as it progresses. I like that each character's master quartz levels up with use.

[Aptorian]

Serenity, on 14 September 2020 - 11:21 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 12 September 2020 - 06:53 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 12 September 2020 - 05:49 PM, said:

Going to jump into Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck sometime this weekend. If I make it out on the other side and I only post - "I'm the conductor of the poop train!"- you know why.

Those Psyco Krieg trailers do look fun but I'm so disappointed in BL3 that I can't really see me bothering with more of it.

I've played around 7 hours of Persona 5 Royal now. I'm in the process of breaking in to the first palace and stealing their brain treasure.

I can't really tell how much I'm really enjoying this game. It's very linear and very hand holdy, mainly because it continues to introduce more and more mechanics and facets to the game world. I hope when I finish this first palace that I get some down time where I can focus on earning money and grinding skill xp by doing tasks.

I like the relative low stakes, teenage plot of the game. We're not out to save the world in this game. We're just trying to mind fuck an abusive teacher. I'm sure a bigger plot will unfold after we finish our first heist but right now I like the concept.

I'd say the game is very easy but I just got steamrolled by a red color guard and lost 20-30 minutes of progress, so there is that.

It takes a good few hours before it really lets you off the leash - I can't remember exactly when it happens, but you will be allowed to manage your time how you want to, apart from on specific dates/story beats, and you'll be able to grind to your heart's content.

Halfway through the month the team sort of figure out what they have to do and then I was free to decide if I wanted to do teenage life stuff to build skills or just focus on beating the Palace.

I stole the first treasure yesterday and now I've got five days or so to wait for the resolution.

I'm really enjoying the design of every activity giving you some kind of reward or progress.

[Cause]

Playing Luigi mansion 3 and crash n sane trilogy. Fees good to be gaming again.