General gaming discussion

[Disco]

I've been playing the original Red Dead, someone left a copy in my old Xbox what must have been years ago and I just found it. Every character is a filthy weirdo to some degree and the map is all portioned off (so far so Rockstar) and it feels very much like GTA4 without cars. It seems to have held up pretty well though, minor gripes being that the horse controls are poison at anything other than top speed, it always seems to be night (seriously, how hard is it to set the time to morning after each save) and the fast travel system is a bit bonkers but then they always are.

Makes me curious about the second one and how much dress-up fun they added (I hope it's a lot or I'm not bothering).

[wullie]

I remember Blood Stone was pretty decent, wasn't based on any existing Bond but they did sign up Daniel Craig and Judi Dench all the same. I'm still hoping they get a Lego James Bond collaboration set up

[Kikó]

Hi 2013 here, GTAIV is fucking brilliant.

The three characters are all interesting enough, I'm modelling the yokel type one (he's not really) on one of my mates which is adding a new dimension. LA is just glorious.

[Shindig]

I've been playing the original Red Dead, someone left a copy in my old Xbox what must have been years ago and I just found it. Every character is a filthy weirdo to some degree and the map is all portioned off (so far so Rockstar) and it feels very much like GTA4 without cars. It seems to have held up pretty well though, minor gripes being that the horse controls are poison at anything other than top speed, it always seems to be night (seriously, how hard is it to set the time to morning after each save) and the fast travel system is a bit bonkers but then they always are.

Makes me curious about the second one and how much dress-up fun they added (I hope it's a lot or I'm not bothering).

I didn't fast travel at all in that game. I like the mood of being in the middle of a massive nowhere.

[Raoul Duke]

I've been playing the original Red Dead, someone left a copy in my old Xbox what must have been years ago and I just found it. Every character is a filthy weirdo to some degree and the map is all portioned off (so far so Rockstar) and it feels very much like GTA4 without cars. It seems to have held up pretty well though, minor gripes being that the horse controls are poison at anything other than top speed, it always seems to be night (seriously, how hard is it to set the time to morning after each save) and the fast travel system is a bit bonkers but then they always are.

Makes me curious about the second one and how much dress-up fun they added (I hope it's a lot or I'm not bothering).

There's lots of dress-up stuff. Plus you can grow an excellent beard and/or get fat from eating loads.


Hi 2013 here, GTAIV is fucking brilliant.

The three characters are all interesting enough, I'm modelling the yokel type one (he's not really) on one of my mates which is adding a new dimension. LA is just glorious.

You need to get involved with the stock market. Lester's missions :nodd:

[Kikó]

Alright Mellin.

[Disco]

If you want to do all that stuff it's worth reading up on how to maximise the profits, but it's a bit pointless when there isn't that much to spend your money on. It's such a shame they only ever added things to the poisonous online mode, the map/city itself has so much potential.

[Kikó]

I'll see if I can be arsed with online but quite content with roaming around LA and completing the main story. I know the hick is called Trevor since yesterday.

[Disco]

It is good for just tooling about, doubly so once you get in a plane.

[Shindig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/console_generations/zvcjkty?xtor=CS8-1000-

I think I love this. All the BBC footage of business shit and then people out of their depth completely winging it. :D

Newsnight Review's take on the Wii was .... something else.

[Ian]

I ended up loving Druidstone. It does a great job of making you care about the characters by the end, the plot isn't ground-breaking but has a pleasant number of twists and turns in there, it's got a little darkness to it without being 'gritty' or grimdark, it looks absolutely gorgeous and it manages to pull off being tonally all over the place. Like it looks and seems pretty cutesy fantasy at first but a number of the characters speak like normal 21st century humans, it has some twangy string music but the final boss emerges to a bangin' guitar riff and then a lively metal track blares throughout the fight. I like it very much.

Still time to kill before Cyberpunk (is delayed again) so I've gone for Slay the Spire off gamepass as I doubt I'll have time to knock off some meaty story-heavy thing. It seems fun so far, I dunno for how long it'll make me want to come back and play more but when I start it's pretty compulsive so we'll see.

[hfswjyr]

Slay the Spire is my time-killing game. It's ridiculously easy to come back to and play on repeat, as the ascension levels get harder and harder. So many combos to be discovered.

[Shindig]

Metal Gear Solid remake confirmed. No, not the Gamecube one.

Nevermind: WhatCulture's reporting a rumour as CONFIRMED. BluePoint has been allegedly working on it for 3 years.

[Mike]

Hope it’s not a console exclusive.

[Shindig]

It won't be. Bluepoint did the HD collections and they made it to the 360.

[Mike]

Haven’t they just done the Demon Souls one that’s PS5 only?

[Shindig]

That was because Sony owned the Demon Souls property. That's how they could do that project without asking From Software for original assets.

[Gray Fox]

Metal Gear?!

[Shindig]

And Solid Snake's been cast for the movie. The bloke from Ex Machina who seems up for it.

[Mike]

Boss

[Disco]

It should be enshrined in video game law that every open world game should let me pick what time of day it is whenever I like, your day/night cycle is not as clever as you think it is.

[Shindig]

Especially when you get games like GTA / Red Dead forcing missions to start at certain times so it's all moody.

[John Arne]

It should be enshrined in video game law that every open world game should let me pick what time of day it is whenever I like, your day/night cycle is not as clever as you think it is.


Especially when you get games like GTA / Red Dead forcing missions to start at certain times so it's all moody.

Yes, a thousand times yes. I have shitty eyesight, and half the time can't see jack shit in these dark, foggy games. I want bright, over-exposed sunshine... and I want it all the time.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Night time in fog whilst trying to get some sunken treasure...

I could not see shit in Arse Creed Valhalla and it actively hurt my eyes.

[Ian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg-Ctg6k_Ao

Well that sure is Liara so maybe not set in Andromeda after all. Hmm.

[phonics]

It's set in both.

[Shindig]

You know what'd be good? If you played an alien race. None of this, "OH, HUMANITY'S HERE! THE GALAXY IS SAVED!"

[Disco]

I want to be one of the little molemen.

[Ian]

The correct new game would be Mass Effect: Blasto.

[Shindig]

The Elcor need the representation they deserve. And the Hanar. Crazy mind-control Jellyfish THAT CAN EXIST OUTSIDE OF WATER.

[Ian]

I just don't want the same main races again. That's part of what wound me up about Andromeda. I've gone a billion light-years to another galaxy and I'm still spending most of my time dealing with the same Milky Way races.

[Shindig]

A billion light-years and 600 years in stasis. :dc:

[SincereTheRebel]

Ive now got a steering wheel and rig setup. Im looking to take things to the next level.

[Yevrah]

Hey Sincere, good to see you back buddy.

[SincereTheRebel]

Hey Sincere, good to see you back buddy.

Its good to be seen.

[Yevrah]

Any FIFA this year?

[SincereTheRebel]

No. I decided to not Fifa this year. Too many things I don't like that look like they will never be changed like GKs showing how many goals they have scored and not having a filter in-game, to show gold cards that are left-footed.

Im not even playing ProClubs for the lol.

[Pepe]

Sincere :cool:

What wheel you got? What games are you playing?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

No. I decided to not Fifa this year. Too many things I don't like that look like they will never be changed like GKs showing how many goals they have scored and not having a filter in-game, to show gold cards that are left-footed.

Im not even playing ProClubs for the lol.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FIFA/comments/k6kfx6/reached_the_1000_goal_milestone_with_petr_cech

This is why they include goals for keepers. Get good.

[SincereTheRebel]

Sincere :cool:

What wheel you got? What games are you playing?

I have a Fanatec CSL F1 with a loadcell and FG-T lite stand

[SincereTheRebel]

https://www.reddit.com/r/FIFA/comments/k6kfx6/reached_the_1000_goal_milestone_with_petr_cech

This is why they include goals for keepers. Get good.

I would launch my console out the window if I conceded any of these.

[Pepe]

Nice. I also have a CSL wheel, but with clubsport pedals, and a GT1-EVO rig.

I haven't used any of it in like six months. :uhoh:

[SincereTheRebel]

Nice. I also have a CSL wheel, but with clubsport pedals, and a GT1-EVO rig.

I haven't used any of it in like six months. :uhoh:

You should have Sent it to Wolves then with next day shipping

[Dark Soldier]

Epic doing their 17 days of free games again.

Today's is Cities Skylines.

[Ian]

And claiming it gives you a "tenner off a £14+ spend" voucher.

[Dark Soldier]

Yeah I love those vouchers, ya just keep getting em after every purchase. Big sale on too, Ghostrunner is like £8.50 with the voucher

[SincereTheRebel]

The rig setup with a wheel and pedals is the most enjoyment ive had on game, since resident evil 2 speed runs on the psone.

[Mazuuurk]

Just finished Horizon Zero Dawn after restarting after a lost mid-game save and it was amazing. Best game I played since Witcher 3 I think. Maybe Divinity 2 edges it but honestly it's close. I love games like that where you play as a fleshed out character who is part of a well-crafted story surrounding them.

Anyway, I'm running out of things to play on PS4. I'm not looking likely to be able to get a hold of a PS5 until in a couple of months earliest, and I'm holding off on playing Cyberpunk until I have one.

So far on PS4 I've played:

Witcher 3 & DLCs
The Outer Worlds
Divinity 2
Horizon Zero Dawn
Fallout 4
Red Dead Redemption 2
God of War
Dragon Age Inquisition



Now I'm a little at a loss. Anyone have any suggestions? I basically want to play Rich Story RPGs, and I don't like games that are too hard (which is why I'm a little put off by the idea of Bloodborne for instance as I read it was difficult).

I was looking a little att Nier: Automata but it seems a little weird?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ghost of Tsushima?

I haven't played it yet (need to clear some backlog first) but it's got great reviews.

[Shindig]

Bloodborne or is that not up your alley?

[ItalAussie]

I've been playing Spelunky 2 a lot, and I don't think it's as nicely balanced as the original.

It errs on the side of being too difficult - I've finished it, so this isn't a "git gud" situation - and also has a lot of periods of waiting very early on in the game which make repeated plays tedious. There's a bunch of tanky, fast, randomly-moving enemies in the first area that are just very poorly thought-out, as they cause everything to grind to a halt. The other big strike is that health is essentially meaningless. You aren't going to die from gradually losing your health points - you're going to die as one of the lots and lots of instant kill mechanisms gets you.

Dying in Spelunky wasn't so bad. You laughed at some Spelunky-flavoured nonsense, and then you jump in again. But it takes over 10 minutes just to get through the first area (if you don't die, which is far from a given), which makes repeating incredibly tedious, and death therefore stops being fun. It's still a good game, just not as good as the original.

[Mazuuurk]

Bloodborne or is that not up your alley?

It sounds like it could be but I read it's insanely difficult and I'm a "Story Mode" type of player. Like I'm a completionist, so I'll always try to do everything in all games but usually on an easy or the easiest setting.


Ghost of Tsushima?

I haven't played it yet (need to clear some backlog first) but it's got great reviews.

Will have to check it out at least. Kind of seems to lack the RPG elements I usually look for but so did Red Dead and God of War kind of and I enjoyed those two anyway so.

[Ian]

Is the first Divinity: Original Sin on PS4/ have you also played that as well as 2?

[Mazuuurk]

Is the first Divinity: Original Sin on PS4/ have you also played that as well as 2?

Not sure, but I played it on PC way back when I had one!

[SincereTheRebel]

The wheel and pedals are amazing. I should have bought it years ago. Even my mom jumped into it and had a go. Nothing but laughter for 5 minutes.

[Shindig]

I forgot how quickly Witcher 3 shoves an arse in your face.

[Mazuuurk]

@Mahow I went for Ghost of Thushima in the end. It's basically Horizon Zero Dawn but less dynamic somehow, and set in feudal Japan. And you fight people instead of massive machines which I suspect may end up getting a bit old after a while.

But It's pretty, and so far quite captivating.

Also downloaded FFVII Remake which I keep "saving for later" as it's only a part 1 - i don't feel very rushed to get into it...

[Shindig]

Back to where I was in Witcher 3. Beat the erm ... skeleton cave bloke after a few failed attempts. It's a simple fight but I'm a greedy git. I do not care for Geralt leaping into strikes and his movement outside of combat is ... sudden. But the actual RPGing is mint. I don't know what the point of a quick item select is when you can't heal in combat. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Vercetti]

I'm quite into Horizon: Zero Dawn, at the moment.

Well, I have been over the last couple of weeks. It's starting to become a bit of a slog. Lots of trekking back and forth across the map (I don't really like fast-travel), and it still takes quite a bit to off the robots. Mind you, I haven't really looked into too many weapons or upgrades, so far.

I do know that Corruptors and Deathbringers are cunts, though.

[Ian]

I've not played HZD yet but it's on the list and I may get to it soon.


Back to where I was in Witcher 3. Beat the erm ... skeleton cave bloke after a few failed attempts. It's a simple fight but I'm a greedy git. I do not care for Geralt leaping into strikes and his movement outside of combat is ... sudden. But the actual RPGing is mint. I don't know what the point of a quick item select is when you can't heal in combat. Maybe I'm missing something.

Is it four items you get or something? I tended to have a healing item for out of combat, Cat for the frequent dark bits and whatever the one is that does heal over time in combat which is ace at the higher levels.

But yeah, the combat has only ever been so-so in Witcher games, the RPGing/writing /characters is where it's one of the best.

[Shindig]

I have bread on my quick bar but the game has nowt of it. Not that the combat's hard like. Just a bit daft having to go in, poke, get out and repeat. I probably need to read some tutorials at some point. Outside of combat, it's piss. Just meditate and crack on.

[Pepe]

This is good:

https://toughlovearena.com/

[Mazuuurk]

I'm quite into Horizon: Zero Dawn, at the moment.

Well, I have been over the last couple of weeks. It's starting to become a bit of a slog. Lots of trekking back and forth across the map (I don't really like fast-travel), and it still takes quite a bit to off the robots. Mind you, I haven't really looked into too many weapons or upgrades, so far.

I do know that Corruptors and Deathbringers are cunts, though.

You just have to do fast travelling after a while. I did the same and then got to a point where trekking back and fourth just got a little too tiresome. Maybe half-way through the main story or so. How far along are you? It's quite worth making sure you explore all regions relatively early. Have you done all the cauldrons?

[Ian]

Having finished Cyberpunk and deciding I should have a palate cleanser before getting into something big (probably either Control or GreedFall, while the latter is on Gamepass) so I did a few hours of Carrion. It's fun, and the bundle of tentacles, eyes and teeth moves in a genuinely unpleasant way around the levels. I hope it's not too much longer but I'm liking it for now and it captures the feeling of being the B-movie monster quite well.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

I've majorly gone off games in the past few years, apart from an occasional FM 2012 addiction streak, natch, but I've just got back into Skyrim after 4 years off. Forgot just how much there was to it, barely scratched the surface with the 70 odd hours I'd originally put into it.

[Mazuuurk]

Just re-read the IGN review of GreedFall and it says:


but I have a feeling this is going to be a crowd-pleaser for those of us who still shake our canes and talk about how the genre peaked a decade ago.


That is absolutely grandpa Maz in a nutshell, so might actually give it a go as well, once I'm done with this Ghost of Tsushima.

[Ian]

Yeah the RPS review was very much flawed gem, worth a go if you want to see somebody trying something a bit (good) BioWare-y.

[Shindig]

Onward to Novigrad in Witcher 3. I've got one more contract within my level range but she was surprisingly annoying. Also, a big arse city with no recognisable blacksmith. Bugger.

[Ian]

Novigrad definitely has blacksmiths.

What was the annoying contract?

[Mazuuurk]

Yeah the RPS review was very much flawed gem, worth a go if you want to see somebody trying something a bit (good) BioWare-y.

Gonna give it a go after Ghost of Tsushima :thbup:

[Ian]

I think I'll do Control first (just so I'm not doing big RPGs back to back) but I think GreedFall will be next after that.

[Mazuuurk]

Sounds good then maybe we can manage to align our playing :cool:


(for at least the first week it's gonna take you to get through it while I'm doing the prologue or whatever :D)

[Ian]

Yeah I was gonna say I have waaaaaaay more free time than you so that probably wouldn't last. :D

[Shindig]

Novigrad definitely has blacksmiths.

What was the annoying contract?

I assume so. He's ditched Blacksmithing for bakery. I don't fancy fast-travelling back to the dwarf one everytime I need a repair / offload some weapons.

[Ian]

There's one who eventually becomes a master smith or whatever but there are definitely others knocking about.

[Ian]

https://kotaku.com/former-xbox-executives-say-nintendo-laughed-their-asses-1846000965

:D

[Shindig]

Bold. In other news, I found the blacksmith. And a transperson. I'm starting to get why the LGBT lot aren't that keen on CD Project Red.

[Ian]

I get that maybe in Poland the way they deal with such things isn't deemed to be backwards but you'd think they could just hire one writer who knows what's up to keep 'em right with these things.

I mean progressing from trading card woman isn't difficult but it's progress, I suppose.

Is it the Elf you've found?

[Mazuuurk]

Has anyone tried Persona 5?

I'm considering adding it to the To Do list but the setting just seems so oddball (even for a JRPG). By reviews it sounds like it's basically some Japanese version of a Disney channel high school drama or something.

[Ian]

I haven't but a games journo I like a lot had it on his games of the year.

[wullie]

I dismissed Watch Dogs Legion early on but I've got to the point where I've embraced all the rubbish characters and terrible accents and it's like a high-tech Saboteur, clunky and a bit rubbish but really enjoying it. The driving however remains dogshit, but luckily the tube and drones means you don't need to bother

[Yevrah]

Have you played with the perma-death option on? That really intrigues me in terms of getting attached to your squad.

[Ian]

Are the people you recruit to play as not really copious and entirely disposable?

I've not watched anything in depth so I dunno.

I'm probably also slightly underestimating my own ability to become attached to plentiful goons in games.

[Raoul Duke]

They are a bit generic, but it's about finding the right mix of type, look and skills. You can always bin them off and replace if you need to. It's a decent blast though and as an ex-Londoner made me super nostalgic, visiting where I used to live/work/take drunken night buses to shit indie clubs in Camden etc.

[Yevrah]

Is it actually a fair bit of London to scale? Enough to recognise where bus stops were?

[Ian]

From what I understand it's obviously scaled down but as well as what Raoul said there I've seen a bunch of games journos, streamers, etc. saying they can retrace their old commutes, etc.

I don't know London so that aspect of it would be lost on me.

[Raoul Duke]

Yeah, it's mostly to scale and has the majority of major landmarks in place, but even where I used to live is there a bit condensed) but there's even a mapping of shop types (so the Tesco I used to live near is a fake brand supermarket), which is a nice touch. My old workplace is there and there's been several times when I've navigated from A-B just by knowing the routes IRL.

[Yevrah]

Ok, that is immense.

[wullie]

I wish I would have turned permadeath on because I basically play just as the people who have the disguises and there are a lot of completely disposable team members, that's one of the big missed opportunities with it I think, there's not a huge reason to switch between people outside a core handful you might gather.

[Shindig]

Today's Witcher 3 bugs - The main quest halted because my objective was a sconce. Geralt refused to interact with the switch and instead set it alight. Reloading an older save fixed it. Also, I had the game lock on me because I had just finished a fight and hit a loot prompt before the game tried to launch into a cutscene. The game decided to load indefinitely.

Also, I've went to Skellinge early. Fuck Skellinge. It's not horse friendly. I'm amazed I had the money for the boat ride.

And all this talk about London makes me want to pick up a copy of The Getaway or something. I know Driver technically had a chunk of the Gateshead Quayside but it was nowt, in the grand scheme of things. Places you know in games is cool.

[Disco]

It seems a shame that maps like that aren't used for more things, imagine the great stuff you could make in a reasonable representation of London. Ubisoft will use it for their dumb hacker game then throw it in the bin.

[Shindig]

I'd rather walk around in that than click my way through google street view. I have had half a mind to go back to GTA IV now that I've walked parts of New York. Apparently The Getaway has 10 square miles of London which seems small.

[Ian]

Carrion completed. I really like it, the way the creature improves and levels is fun and I like that after the last more difficult combat bit it just let's you do the "the b-movie monster is free!" bit and rampage through a bunch of defenceless mooks to end the game.

Control next I think.

[Raoul Duke]

It seems a shame that maps like that aren't used for more things, imagine the great stuff you could make in a reasonable representation of London. Ubisoft will use it for their dumb hacker game then throw it in the bin.

My long-term bet is that sometime soon somebody will get a pretty decent 1:1 mapping of the entire globe and build something like Watchdogs Legion with it. Microsoft Flight Sim has something like this and the map data is there and available. Don't think it's too far-fetched that we'll be playing something like this in our lifetimes.

[ItalAussie]

The remake of FFVII really hit the spot for me. I enjoyed it a lot, and I liked being able to deep dive into the earliest (and some of the best) bits of the game.

I really like that they embraced the weirdness of FFVII, rather than trying to pretend that it was sensible and grounded. I didn't enjoy all of the additions, and there's a few things I really don't love at all. But - without wanting to spoil a months-old game - the ending kind of untethers them from the original game a little bit that will make the story interesting going forwards. I assume they also did this because rendering every FFVII city in the same detail as Midgar seems like it would be a gargantuan task.

One place the remake dramatically improves on the original is the emotional beats involving the destruction of Midgar. In the original, I hadn't even really comprehended what had happened, and it was all a bit "oh well, the extras died and it's time to get out of here". In this case, it was genuinely devastating.

Combat's great too.

[ItalAussie]

I warmed a lot to Spelunky 2 in the end. It has the same incredible addictiveness that the original had. I still don't think it's as tightly designed, but there's a lot more packed into it. Once you're good enough to reliably get through the first section, and also access the secrets, the game changes a lot.

I still play it, even though I've cleared out everything except the very final crazy challenge, which I have no intention of doing.

[ItalAussie]

After reading a thousand amazing reviews of Hades, and really liking Bastion and Transistor, I decided to give it a try. Seemed like a slam dunk.

It's boring. Combat is kind of fun, but you reach a plateau where you're essentially just replaying the same battles over and over and over and over again, solely to incrementally drip feed in some more storyline. Pass.

[Ian]

Yeah while everybody's going nuts over it the repetitive side of it is what's putting me off Hades a bit.

[Shindig]

Yeah, roguelites don't really work for me unless I can reliably get to a decent point. Dead Cells was great until the item pool got so big the drops I wanted no longer happened.

[Dark Soldier]

I fucking love roguelikes/lites. Isaac, Spire, Hades, Dead Cells are all God tier. Neon Abyss is really, really good too.

[ItalAussie]

Yeah, roguelites don't really work for me unless I can reliably get to a decent point. Dead Cells was great until the item pool got so big the drops I wanted no longer happened.
For me there needs to be significant variation between each iteration. Hades just kind of felt like running the same game each time.

Spelunky and Nethack are two of my go-to ways to kill an hour, and they're great examples of how no two games are ever remotely the same. They aren't even really Roguelites - nothing about my loadout changes. It's just that each procedurally generated world is totally different. In Hades, the worlds feel exactly the same every single time.

I haven't tried Dead Cells, but I'm interested.

[Vercetti]

You just have to do fast travelling after a while. I did the same and then got to a point where trekking back and fourth just got a little too tiresome. Maybe half-way through the main story or so. How far along are you? It's quite worth making sure you explore all regions relatively early. Have you done all the cauldrons?

I think I'm pretty much on the last knockings of the main story, now.

I've just explored GAIA and nabbed Sylens' lance.

Only cleared one cauldron, but have opened up most of the map. And I've started fast-tracking all over the place. I enjoyed trudging 3000+ paces between map points initially, but to hell with doing it after every second mission.

[Shindig]

Act 1 of Witcher 3 done. Judging by my level, the other two acts are quicker and I was barely in Skellinge for the main stuff. I might keep with my usual light armour setup and keep some heavy guantlets because it's funny seeing Geralt in cutscenes with big oven gloves on.

[ItalAussie]

What I'm looking for now is a really tightly-designed Metroidvania. I've done Hollow Knight, Steamworld Dig 2, Guacamelee, and Ori & the Blind Forest. Is there anything else of that ilk floating around that I've missed?

[hfswjyr]

While I understand the complaint against Hades, I just wanted to add a comment on how impressed I was around the polish of the game. There is so much depth (narrative, secrets, seemingly endless upgrades and voicelines) that they've packed into that game. Not to mention the incredible artwork.

But yeah, I've for the most part stopped playing due to the repetitiveness of each run. I can basically always get to the final boss, but always struggle to beat the game. The only motivation now is to unlock more options.

[Shindig]

Axiom Verge?

[Ian]

What I'm looking for now is a really tightly-designed Metroidvania. I've done Hollow Knight, Steamworld Dig 2, Guacamelee, and Ori & the Blind Forest. Is there anything else of that ilk floating around that I've missed?

Ori and the Will O' The Wisps is the obvious if you liked Blind Forest.

Owlboy is also superb and a bit metroidvania-y if memory serves.

EDIT: A check of RPS tags also throws up a glowing review for https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/08/09/sundered-review/

Is Waking Mars a metroidvania? I'm sure it has a bit of that while also of... gardening platformer? it's excellent so maybe give that a Google and see how you feel about it.

[ItalAussie]

Ori and the Will O' The Wisps is the obvious if you liked Blind Forest.

Owlboy is also superb and a bit metroidvania-y if memory serves.

EDIT: A check of RPS tags also throws up a glowing review for https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/08/09/sundered-review/

Is Waking Mars a metroidvania? I'm sure it has a bit of that while also of... gardening platformer? it's excellent so maybe give that a Google and see how you feel about it.

I've got Will o' the Wisps, but my laptop can't handle it. :D

I forgot that I'd bought Owlboy, so that might be my next port of call. Sundered and Axiom Verge can go into the to-play list.

[Ian]

I've been dipping in and out of Reigns: Game of Thrones. It's fine, much like Reigns it can be a bit of a grind sometimes trying to unlock stuff / hit objectives and if you play too long at once managing the four meters becomes a bit of a chore but it's reasonably diverting.

I've also started Control. I've just picked up my first power and lobbing really mundane items like desks and stuff at enemies is a laugh. It generally does a pretty good job of its environments too, they look like believable mundane places (offices, etc.) before the mad shit starts fucking them up. The story is not that original but is fine as a fairly loving take on "secret government organisation messes with things which should not be messed with" and it's delivered well. The checkpointing / save system is annoying (it's 2021, just give me quicksaves that turn off in the middle of combat or whatever.) Like, I finished a story bit and then some enemies came in to test me on my new ability. I lost the fight so I went back to the not-a-soulsborne-bonfire and it looked like I was going to have to do that bit again. So I jogged through the bit I'd cleared, got there and the story bit was done.... but then a couple of random mooks had been suddenly spawned elsewhere and surprise-shanked me. It was an easy, throwaway fight so it wasn't the end of the world, just annoying.

On the whole I'm enjoying it so far.

[ItalAussie]

I almost forgot! I also played a fun little Metroidvania called Sheepo.

I finished it completely (105%) in a bit over four hours. It's not very long, but it's not very expensive either. You don't have any attacks - the challenges are mostly platforming, and the bosses are a combination of dodging and bullet hell-lite. I actually really recommend this one.

The plot is perfunctory - you're exploring a planet looking for an egg of each species for DNA preservation or something. Once you find an egg, you can turn into that creature for a limited period of time (there are 6, but only 4 are transformations). One can fly, one can dig, etc. The art is minimalist and nice, and the music is really worthwhile.

[Mazuuurk]

I think I'm pretty much on the last knockings of the main story, now.

I've just explored GAIA and nabbed Sylens' lance.

Only cleared one cauldron, but have opened up most of the map. And I've started fast-tracking all over the place. I enjoyed trudging 3000+ paces between map points initially, but to hell with doing it after every second mission.


Yeah you are.

You should definitely do all 4 cauldrons before you proceed with the main quest. AND - make sure you do the Frozen Wilds before ending the game as well! You don't have to do that, but it plays out better IMO.

[Ian]

I wonder why we didn't have an ArseCreed Black Flag thread, then Google confirmed it's because the game is two old for this board. Fuck's sake.

Anyway, Twitter tells me that for whatever reason sea shanties are doing the rounds on TikTok and I wish it'd had this one in it:
1349811010849415169

This version with Kermit added to it, of course.

[Kikó]

1349824512544698369?s=20

This is just amazing.

I've listened to this at least a 100 times.

[Ian]

Yeah but that one's just miming and doesn't even feature a muppet.

(I've left you an open goal there.)

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah but that one's just miming and doesn't even feature a muppet.

(I've left you an open goal there.)

It's also from a photo.

[Ian]

Oh, I'd only watched about 5 seconds and then moved on to bemoaning the lack of Kermit. :D

[Raoul Duke]

I listed to the Black Flag soundtrack the other day. Some absolute bangers on there :cool:

[Ian]

If I were to replay an AssCreed game it'd definitely be Black Flag.

Just sailing around the West Indies singing sea shanties with the lads. :cool:

[Disco]

This is the third place I've seen a sea shanty posted today, is whaling making a comeback or something?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

If I were to replay an AssCreed game it'd definitely be Black Flag.

Just sailing around the West Indies singing sea shanties with the lads. :cool:

By far the best AssCreed game and it's not even close.

[Raoul Duke]

If I were to replay an AssCreed game it'd definitely be Black Flag.

Just sailing around the West Indies singing sea shanties with the lads. :cool:

I actually restarted it a while back but never finished it a second go around. I didn't finish up killing all the big baddie ships either. Might head back once I'm done with Cyberpunk.


This is the third place I've seen a sea shanty posted today, is whaling making a comeback or something?

There's some Tiktok trend of people singing them. Also, they are awesome

[Ian]

This is the third place I've seen a sea shanty posted today, is whaling making a comeback or something?

The Wellerman was a Scottish guy just singing that then people kept adding extra layers to it (baritone, bass, etc.).... and Kermit. :cool:


By far the best AssCreed game and it's not even close.

I think AssCreed 2 (vanilla or Brotherhood) runs it close. I do love me some Ezio. I think Brotherhood is my favourite of the Ezio ones but that'd require some thought.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The Wellerman was a Scottish guy just singing that then people kept adding extra layers to it (baritone, bass, etc.).... and Kermit. :cool:



I think AssCreed 2 (vanilla or Brotherhood) runs it close. I do love me some Ezio. I think Brotherhood is my favourite of the Ezio ones but that'd require some thought.

Those are next on my list. From there it's a serious drop.

[Ian]

Yeah there are others I really like (Syndicate, Odyssey) which are definitely after those. Freedom Cry was also good DLC for Black Flag. Just cutting about as Adewale fucking up slavers with machetes.

The original is obviously rock bottom, of course. What a load of fucking snooze that was. 3 comes after that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I liked the original I think but I don't know if I actually liked it or if I wanted to like it so much that I "liked" it.

[Ian]

For your own sake let's hope it's the latter because it was definitely a load of repetitive tedious old dross.

[Vercetti]

Yeah you are.

You should definitely do all 4 cauldrons before you proceed with the main quest. AND - make sure you do the Frozen Wilds before ending the game as well! You don't have to do that, but it plays out better IMO.

Finished.

Pretty decent stuff, overall. I found the cauldrons pretty boring, but that goes for pretty much all of the interior stuff, to be honest.

I'm hoping to slap the taste out of Sylens' mouth in the sequel, the moody slag.

Lance Reddick, though :cool:

[Vercetti]

I've tried starting the Assassins Creed series a few times, now, and each time I've given up within a few hours of starting the first one. There must be about two-thousand of the fuckers now, too.

Always liked the idea of Black Flag, but never pulled the trigger.

[Shindig]

I stopped at Brotherhood. They made a lot of those games and they have a lot of stuff in it. Speaking of which, I'm going to mainline Witcher 3. I'm only a few missions out from the end now and feel powerful enough to smash it. Picasso tits made me laugh. I'm going to force the strongest sword and amour I can before hitting the second point of no return.

[Shindig]

God, Witcher is finally done. I wish that final boss was quicker. Death by a thousand cuts, unless I was using the wrong sword or something. Got what I assume is the best ending.

Ciri makes her choice and everyone lives happily ever after. Apart from her dad who is fucked. And Radovid continues to be a prick. Yen and Geralt live out the rest of their days shagging.

Anyway, here's a list of all the good glitches I found:

- I ended a fight and went to loot a corpse when a cutscene triggered. The game didn't know what to do so put me in a loading screen forever.
- A quest couldn't be completed because the game wouldn't let me activate a switch. The switch is a sconce which Geralt felt compelled to ignite and extinguish.
- Geralt knocked on a door. Door opens. Geralt cannot move past an open door.
- Going into the sign menu before a fight seemed to place the action in permanent slow-motion. Geralt had no conventional movement so I had to close the gap and fight bandits by rolling and hoping they were close enough to stab. The controls were responsive so there was no timing issues. Normal service was resumed as soon as they got a hit in.

Did all the contracts, most of the side quests as well. The combat was decent, although I didn't bother much with potions and oils. I made the bulk of my potion stash as we headed out to the final missions. Most of the quests are really well written but I definitely felt it peaked with the Bloody Baron stuff. Geralt's movement outside of combat is horrific and any time you have to take a long boat ride, fighting Sirens on a boat can be a complete waste of effort. Really good game, overall. Possibly the best of that year if Metal Gear Solid V didn't exist.

[Ian]

I killed Radovid so he didn't get to continue being a prick.

Also with the final Dettlaff fight I was surprised how much I coasted through it on my recent replay. Which I know sounds dumb because obviously I'd beaten it once by then but it's not like the first time I hadn't worked out what to do but it still took a lot of reloads. I think it's just that the second time I invested in and used Quen more which I reckon makes a big difference.

There's part of me really wants to go back to MGS V but I know fine well that same as the first time I'll endure the worst hour in gaming history, then really enjoy myself until all the Kojima story wankery comes in and starts ruining an excellent stealth game.

[Shindig]

I only failed it once and found that if I threw more heavy strikes, I could get the damage done quicker. Quen did some work in that fight because it's so easy to reapply. When it came to the last point of no return, I just did everything I could. I had the best armour available to me, the best weapons (no thanks to the Master Smith and Armourer) and finally put some runes / glyphs in the sockets for more buffs.

Bookending MGS with the hospital missions is the worst. That game should've ended at the Sehalanthropus fight. It's the only thing resembling a climax in that game. If you had to do the reveal, you could've had it happen on the base. "Time to go Ahab." <Midge Ure kicks in, credits roll and they all setup shop in Outer Heaven>

[Ian]

I don't even know what half of that second bit of your MGS chat is. I got as far as a really good mission where you're infiltrating a cave base thing and then that skull twat and his dickhead army turned up and ruined everything and I didn't last long after that.

[Shindig]

Oh. The ending would upset you greatly, then. Man, there's a lot of shit in that game that just doesn't belong.

One more glitch for the Witcher pile. NG+ won't start. I have an endgame save and New Game doesn't give me the option. Turns out you have to download it from the PS Store. The prompt it gave me implied I already had it.

[Vercetti]

I've gone through the initial part of Greedfall, and I'm not sure I'll stick with it.

Everything feels really floaty and unfinished. And I find the voices really irritating.

Puts me at a bit of a loss for what to get into next, as this was my pick to start after I finished Horizon.

[Mazuuurk]

That doesn't sound promising. Greedfall is next on my list as well.

But do give Ghost of Tsushima a try, Vercetti. It's combat isn't quite as dynamic since you're fighting Mongols instead of massive dinosaur robots, but apart from that it's got a lot of stylistic similarities to Horizon.

[Ian]

That'll be the good thing about playing it from Gamepass, if it does turn out to be meh then I can just bin it.

I am in the mood for an RPG along those lines so if Greedfall is crap or doesn't scratch the itch I dunno what plan b would be, I shouldn't be replaying stuff when I've got so much other stuff I could be getting on with.

[Vercetti]

I tried it out on PSNow, so I may go back to it, at some point, if it stays on there. I didn't think it was bad, just not really my cup o' tea. I only played about two-hours, or so, and I was quite intrigued by some of the story. Just not enough to listen to the accents for too long!

I definitely plan on getting Tsushima at some point. Just waiting for a price drop/payday.

[Ian]

Just not enough to listen to the accents for too long!

:D

The RPS review for it they had the same actors doing different voices so probably trying really hard to differentiate them.

[phonics]

Maz, you seem in prime for a Yakuza game. Yakuza Zero is the great action version and they made a turn based rpg one recently called Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon based off the DragonQuest battle system.

[Shindig]

Play all of them. They're absurd.

[Shindig]

I decided to see how many of the Metacritic top 100 I've played. In this case, the top 100 is full of doubles for different platforms and shit so I just kept going down the list til I had 100 different games. I've played 49 of them and beaten 37 of them.

The main thing I took from this is how console-centric Metacritic's ratings are. There's very few classic PC things in there. Deus Ex, System Shock 2 and Thief miss the cut. There is no DOOM. Madden's in there twice, along with NCAA 2004. Must've been a golden age of gridiron or something. I was also kind of surprised World of Goo was so high up. Soul Calibur in the top 5 is interesting but the list doesn't really feel that cultured and varied, if I'm honest.

Ocarina of Time having a perfect score miffs me. Not a fan.

[Ian]

Yeah I came to Ocarina of Time late so I dunno if that contributed but it didn't do a lot for me. I'd be interested to play Breath of the Wild because the Zelda games I have played have left me a little cold.

[Shindig]

What gets me is they always review well. Even the ones that are critically seen as not that great (Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword), get ridiculous scores at launch. In that top 100, the only 3D mainline Zelda that isn't there is Majora's Mask and that's only because it's yet to be re-released on anything other than the Wii Virtual Console.

I'm hoping Wind Waker turns me around on the classic 3D Zelda formula but not holding out much hope. Ocarina of Time just felt so stakes free and kinda boring.

[Ian]

Are you talking about having played it for the first time at the time or are you just going through them for the first time now?

Also it probably just isn't worth the hassle of giving a new tentpole Nintendo game a shit score even if you felt it deserved it.

[Shindig]

Played it for the first time last year. There's no nostalgia to it and no, "Wow, they made this work in 3D!" revelatory moment.

[Ian]

No but I think with a game like that it's hard to judge it when you're playing it so long after the fact. I think there are a lot of classic games you can go back to and, with the benefit of having played the games that bettered what they did, think "So what?"

That said I played Twilight Princess when many reviewers were wetting their pants about it and while I enjoyed it it left absolutely no mark on me at all and from what I've seen (not the same as having played it, of course) of BotW I don't quite understand why everybody got so excited about that either.

[phonics]

Going back and playing NES games make me amazed that the entire video game industry didn't go under because they're all fucking awful.

[Pepe]

Punch Out still holds.

As for Zelda, I also did not enjoy Ocarina of Time that much, and that is with me getting it right at release (even had the special gold cartridge edition and everything). I liked it, but didn't think it was BEST GAME EVAR or anything. Breath of the Wild, on the other hand, I liked a lot, even if the story is a massive pile of shite.

[Danny]

Xbox live going up. $60 for 6 months going forward...

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/01/22/update-on-xbox-live-gold-pricing/#:~:text=Going%20forward%2C%20new%20pricing%20will ,after%20you%20receive%20the%20messages.


Going forward, new pricing will be 1-month for $10.99, 3-months for $29.99, and 6-months for $59.99, or your local market equivalent. You can always visit your account to manage your membership, and prices won’t adjust until at least 45 days after you receive the messages.

[Shindig]

That's absolutely shite.

[Disco]

The thing that was always a rip off is now even more of a rip off, shocking.

[Shindig]

"Oh, I'm sorry. You want more free games with that deal? We have another service for that."

[Gray Fox]

They've gone back on it after all the hate they got.

[Shindig]

Plugging the 360 in for the first time in a while. Gears of War remains kind of bland.

[phonics]

Hitman 3's constant online issues are so annoying.

[Shindig]

Gears of War is done. The most action packed campaign I felt absolutely nothing for. Kept making me wish I was playing Vanquish or something.

[Disco]

You cut aliens in half with your chainsaw gun, that one feature has successfully sustained the entire series.

[Shindig]

That and co-op.

[Mazuuurk]

Finished Gjost of Tsushima. All in all great game, even if it did get a bit repetitive to basically fight the same enemies over and over (the fact that it was still fun is a testament to how well battle was designed in that game though).

Now on to Greedfall I think. Runningnout of RPGs on the PS4 I think :(

Also pondering Nier Automata, anyone tried that?

phonics - i dunno about Yakuza... the setting just doesnt seem to float my boat at all.

[phonics]

Finished Gjost of Tsushima. All in all great game, even if it did get a bit repetitive to basically fight the same enemies over and over (the fact that it was still fun is a testament to how well battle was designed in that game though).

Now on to Greedfall I think. Runningnout of RPGs on the PS4 I think :(

Also pondering Nier Automata, anyone tried that?

@phonics (https://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/member.php?u=1) - i dunno about Yakuza... the setting just doesnt seem to float my boat at all.

This one is a turn-based RPG is why I bring it up. I'm not a big Japanese Mob movie guy either but IIRC you are an anime guy, right? You spend as much time doing mob stuff as helping a dominatrix win over a client who has a fetish for licking armpits. Or running a bar with your best friend, a chicken.

[Mazuuurk]

Dunno what being an Anime guy really encompasses...? But I don't watch like Animé series and stuff like that. But I do like pretty much all the old Final Fantasy games, is that enough?

[Ian]

I'm still going through Control in short bursts. It's fun enough and I like the tone but the combat is a bit rinse-repeat. For all that it has decent physics and you can lob desks at baddies faces there's nothing especially fun happens with it even when you unlock new forms for the gun or gain a new ability.

I've started to mix it up with a replay of the first new Hitman because I want to get onto Hitman 2 and 3 at some point.

I have also done a bit of Star Wars Battlefront 2 as it's free on Epic and it is supremely meh. Gives you nearly all the cosmetics so there's little to aim for on that front, it's luck of the draw if you get a chance to play as a special character and not even that exciting when you do, the class upgrades you earn by playing do have some that change things up but are largely just increasing the stats of your existing abilities. It's a fairly soulless thing with repetitive gameplay and it just doesn't generate anything especially fun or anecdotal. Like if I was talking to somebody about TF2 or Apex Legends or something I could illustrate what I'm talking about with specific things I remember happening. With this there's not really a fun way to say "And then I respawned as another flavour of Stormtrooper and ran into the battle for the 23rd time that round." The closest I've come was when we tried the night on Endor thing, where you're one of a bunch of Stormtroopers plonked down in the middle of the forest and have to fend off the killer teddy bears. Even that wouldn't survive too many rounds of it but I expected it to just be like the rest of the game where it's third person and relatively visible even in the dark. Instead it forces you into third person with only a basic rifle and a torch that needs to recharge so when I first landed in that it was a bit "Oh nooo."

[Ian]

Reports doing the rounds that following EA not having Star Wars all to themselves any more there's a new KOTOR game in the works, and according to Jason Schreier "nobody will guess" who's making it.

Well it ain't Bioware as that'd be EA, I assume not Obsidian as that'd be the obvious next guess, Ubisoft already have a Star Wars game announced, Bethesda a) would be an obvious guess just for a big stupid who make "RPGs" but b) let's be honest their games are barely RPGs any more and are working on Starfield anyway. Larian are a bit busy...

Who else?

[Shindig]

Hello Games. That's the wildest guess I could offer.

[Pepe]

Nintendo.

[Shindig]

"Let go, Luke. Do a barrel roll."

[Mazuuurk]

Ok Greedfall was jarring. Just the UI was impossible to read for me (i dont have the largest of TVs), everything had a brown saturated hue that made me instantly dislike the environment and the facial animations are jarring. Not that they are bad, cause many are, but they are just so damn weird.

The controls felt very unintuitive.

It all sort of made me just go fuck it, i’m not even gonna bother.

Gonna give either Control or Nier Autamata a try instead.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Hello Games. That's the wildest guess I could offer.

Surely the wildest is the company that made those Strawberry Lemonade Kisses or whatever weird games you were "reviewing".

[Shindig]

They aren't made by real people.

[Mazuuurk]

Ok I started Nier Automata, rather than control. It seems so much more captivating than Greedfall.

I have read a bunch of different opinions on Nier Automata and it sort of seems like one of those divisive games that some people absolutely swear by and others cannot really get into because of a long, convoluted plot. The gameplay does seem insanely fun and it makes you switch things up a lot in a good way, turning into like a (fun) platformer or arcade like game at times by the looks of it. And anyway I'm generally a fan of classic JRPG convoluted & implausible plots (in Final Fantasy games anyway) so I'll roll with it.

[Mazuuurk]

Completed first runthrough of Nier Automata. It was good. But really short, and felt like it cut off early. Which I suspect is the idea since apparently the game is designed to be replayed.

From what I gather, it's worth replaying it 3 times which seems crazy but I'll do it because man it's quite a fun game even though you really just do the same thing over and over.
2B is pretty saucy as well.

[Mazuuurk]

Ok all of Nier Automata is now done and fuck me that was a trip. The game was all in all great.

It lacks in some areas. Notably it's a little short, the enemy types are maybe a bit limited, and it does make you replay a bunch of stuff which is a little annoying. The world is a little too small in a sense. And the story moves at such a frantic pace that it doesn't quite give you the space to breathe in between main quests. I mean, you can, but it just doesn't seem like you should so you don't.

But having finished it now, I just had that feeling of woah, what the fuck just happened that was insane and great at the same time. That feeling after finishing a great book or series or, well, game, you know. So I really can't complain.


Now what. Control? Or maybe I finally take on FFVII remake.

[Ian]

I mean if you play Control more regularly than I have been I don't think it'll take you that long so depends if you wanna get that done before diving into Final Fantasy which I assume is long.

I am finding that Control is reasonably good fun and I like the setting well enough but I'm not hooked on it.

[Raoul Duke]

Control is free on PS+ right now, btw

[Mazuuurk]

Ah well that sort of settles it I guess. Or, at least the fact that I'm installing it.

I'm very much not into horror or zombie games, but I'm also thinking about The Last of Us since I never played that back when.

Is Assassins Creed Odyssey any good?



Can't believe how quickly I seem to be out of stuff to play all the time.

[Baz]

Do more people here have PS5 or Xbox Series X?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

PS5.

I believe it's Me, Gray Fox, Sincere, Lofty, Wullie & Danny v Mike.

Edit: I think Raoul might also be on the PS5.

[Raoul Duke]

I've been trying to get one for ages but they just don't ever seem to get any stock here :moop:

[Ian]

Is Assassins Creed Odyssey any good?

I think it's my favourite since Black Flag. There's probably too much of it but that's all AssCreeds now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've heard good things but I skipped it.

Might pick it up though.

[Mazuuurk]

Assassins Creed Odyssey was on sale so bought it for later. Will be my first Assassins Creed game so we’ll see how it is.

Any tips for playing?

Also got Control and Shadow of the Colossus remaster (i played the original but never actually finished it so).

So now we’ll do:

Control
SotC
Assassins Creed Odyssey
FFVII remake


And after that something new had better be released.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Climb synchronisation points.

It's really annoying whenever you have a quest that is miles away from where you are and you've been there before but you can't fast travel there because you couldn't be fucked going a little out of your way to climb something tall.

[Ian]

Oh blimey your first ArseCreed ever? Crikey.

Alright well my recommendation, because the map of Odyssey is ludicrously big, is to don't get caught up doing activities you don't enjoy. Whatever you enjoy doing, even if that's just the main story, there is enough of it.

[Vercetti]

I've put thirty-eight hours into Assassin's Creed: Odyssey over the last couple of weeks. :|

For me, that's a bit of a marathon. Definitely gets a bit samey, but it seems fucking massive, to the point of overwhelming when I first started it. I'm still having a blast kicking the shit out of bounty hunters and climbing stuff to look at the views.

[Shindig]

I find myself throwing the towel in and rushing to the end with games like that.

[Raoul Duke]

The new Far Cry will be along soon (looks like May).

[Baz]

PS5.

I believe it's Me, Gray Fox, Sincere, Lofty, Wullie & Danny v Mike.

Edit: I think Raoul might also be on the PS5.Wow, really? You lot honestly don’t care about the aesthetic of the console? eg PS5 is massive, bright white, awkward shape, etc. I just don’t want that in my living room.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I don't buy a console based on how it looks.

[Gray Fox]

I’m looking at the Monitor not the PS5 when I’m using it.

I also think it’s nicer looking than the big black box but that’s personal preference.

[Pepe]

"Personal preference". We have another name for that, mate.

[wullie]

The look of it doesn't bother me as much as the shape, the stand it perches on is a bit wobbly when you have to pull the plug thanks to Watch Dogs making the thing crash again.

[Shindig]

Yeah, the stand has me worried. I might have to think of something when I finally get a hold of one.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

My stand feels stable.

[Raoul Duke]

There was a company who were going to make all-black custom PS5s (https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2021/01/05/heres-your-chance-to-order-a-gorgeous-black-custom-ps5/) but they got cancelled due to "credible death threats" :cab:

They looked miles better than the massive iceberg

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

There was another company doing custom faceplate but Sony lawyered them to fuck.

I imagine that Sony will do their own custom ones soon enough. They slide off so easily.

[Shindig]

There was a company who were going to make all-black custom PS5s (https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2021/01/05/heres-your-chance-to-order-a-gorgeous-black-custom-ps5/) but they got cancelled due to "credible death threats" :cab:

I like the idea of Mark Cerny dishing those out.

[Mazuuurk]

Climb synchronisation points.

It's really annoying whenever you have a quest that is miles away from where you are and you've been there before but you can't fast travel there because you couldn't be fucked going a little out of your way to climb something tall.


Oh blimey your first ArseCreed ever? Crikey.

Alright well my recommendation, because the map of Odyssey is ludicrously big, is to don't get caught up doing activities you don't enjoy. Whatever you enjoy doing, even if that's just the main story, there is enough of it.

Cheers lads. That's good advice!

Still a while from getting going with this, anyway.



I've put thirty-eight hours into Assassin's Creed: Odyssey over the last couple of weeks. :|

For me, that's a bit of a marathon. Definitely gets a bit samey, but it seems fucking massive, to the point of overwhelming when I first started it. I'm still having a blast kicking the shit out of bounty hunters and climbing stuff to look at the views.


Are you and I basically not playing through the exact same list of games :cab:

[Shindig]

Two shrines into Breath of the Wild and I wasn't prepared for the cold weather mechanic. Bastards.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/desperados-3-devs-next-game-is-all-new

I don't care what it is, Mimimi, just give it to me.

[phonics]

Desperados is on Gamepass now btw for anyone that shares Ians passion.

[Baz]

It’s solid.

[Mazuuurk]

Two shrines into Breath of the Wild and I wasn't prepared for the cold weather mechanic. Bastards.

Yeah. Just playing that with my son atm and that is a dynamic I both kind of love and hate.


https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/desperados-3-devs-next-game-is-all-new



I don't care what it is, Mimimi, just give it to me.

Explain. The link just gives me an alluring image of isometric perspective... but i know nothing of these games?

[Ian]

Explain. The link just gives me an alluring image of isometric perspective... but i know nothing of these games?

Just look up Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and Desperados 3 on Youtube.

If you liked Commandos / Desperados back in the day these lads are for you because both Shadow Tactics and Desperados 3 were fucking superb.

[Vercetti]

Are you and I basically not playing through the exact same list of games :cab:

Seems that way.

Impeccable shared taste, clearly!

I've no idea how far I am along with the main story thread in Odyssey, but there's a shit-ton of map still unexplored.

[Ian]

The Odyssey map is absolutely ludicrous.

Also gorgeous. I love Korinth.

[Shindig]

I've settled on The Surge 2 to work on. I played it a little bit previously but struggled to get into it. They've really expanded on the first game in some good ways but they bloody love their enemy ambushes.

[Pepe]

I played Odyssey and really enjoyed it (only Ass Creed I've played) but eventually just dropped it. It seemed like I was nowhere near done. Just so much to do. Open-endedness doesn't work that well for me anymore.

[phonics]

Was enjoying Desperados then I quicksaved myself into oblivion with my closest save being 20 mins previous...

[wullie]

Same as Pepe for me, Odyssey is the first of the series I've got into and really enjoyed but there's so much of it that I'll never get round to seeing. If the setting of the next one interests me I'll definitely take the plunge now

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Valhalla is even bigger apparently.

I haven't played Odyssey yet but Valhalla is MASSIVE. It took me 70 hours (some idle obvs) to complete the story.

[SincereTheRebel]

Im now rank A in Gran Turismo with the wheel. The highest it has ever been. Im also ranked #1 in Wolves and the West Midlands in my class at the end of the season. I dont think there are many people ranked from my area though, the lowest ive ever been is 13th.

[Ian]

Still dipping in and out of Control. I won't be doing all the side missions and I'll see how I feel about the DLC once I've finished the main story.

It's odd that despite giving you different powers, etc. it just doesn't ever feel like it's mixing stuff up that much.

Between that I've been redoing Hitman ahead of going onto 2 and 3 at some point and it really is a great game. Some missteps (the boring virus bit in Sapienza being the obvious because the level which comes before it is so good) but a lot of excellently put together levels. Not sure I want to chuck £40 at Hitman 2 so I may just keep trying to cross off challenges or do the little extra missions while I wait for it to be at a price I want to pay.

[Raoul Duke]

I'll definitely pick up Hitman 3 when it comes down in price at some point in the future.

The add-ons for 2 are good (the bank level especially comes to mind).

[Mazuuurk]

Still dipping in and out of Control. I won't be doing all the side missions and I'll see how I feel about the DLC once I've finished the main story.

It's odd that despite giving you different powers, etc. it just doesn't ever feel like it's mixing stuff up that much.



I'm playing only this right now. I definitely get what you mean. To me I don't get that feeling like "Oooh I can't wait to play more tonight" or whatever, so I can easily imagine jumping in and out of it. When I do play, however, I quite enjoy it.

I like the story and setting is intruiging enough and as you get to explore more dimensions and weird parts of the house, the monotony of the setting doesn't seem quite as imposing as it first did. But I do actually sort of miss having a sky to look on, weird as that may seem.

The gameplay is fun I think but it can become a little tedious when your average Hiss-soldiers just pop up right when you are on your way to doing something you actually looked forward to. In a world of multiple dimensions and realities or what not it also does seem like you didn't have to make 95% of all enemies you face some sort of indistinguishable humanoid variety (not much difference between the Mold and the Hiss humanoids, for instance).

I also constatnly find it incredibly hard to find my way around. The map is not very intitive, there are no pathfinding aids in the UI etc. That gets annoying. So does these little time-limited alerts you get all the time, but I mainly just ignore those.

But yeah all in all I'm having fun with it.

[Ian]

Yeah, I'm never mad enthusiastic to get back to it but I enjoy my time with it well enough.

On your point about the combat variety (or lack thereof) I find that a lot of the enemies ultimately boil down to just needing more firepower to deal with too. Sure you may need to mix it up whether you're hitting them with vending machines you lob at their heads or guns (I'm rolling with Spin and Pierce right now, have them both levelled - fully in Spin's case)but when you're revisiting part of the map for a sidequest and a load of shit respawns and you're having to deal with the tankier enemies I'm not keen to get into another fight I just want the game to let me go where I'm going.

Once I'm done I'll probably see how long the DLC is meant to be and decide whether I want more or to just get on with another game.

[Shindig]

I've finally settled on playing the RE2 Remake. Being in a tight location helps keep the routine of the original nicely packaged. I'm clearing the place out and hoarding supplies and Mr. X has shown up. I thought he turned up earlier so I avoided his spawn point for ages. I've been very slowly picking my way through it but I'm enjoying the loop. The map's great and the triggers do allow you to not completely piss ammo away with the handgun upgrade. Unfortunately, with the big man on the loose, I might not have the luxury of tiptoeing around lickers.

Having an option to buy RE3 in the main menu is a bit much, Capcom.

[Ian]

I hope when ever he turns up you have "X Gon Give It To Ya" ready to play.

[Shindig]

He's already hit me.

[Mazuuurk]

On the topic of Remakes, I saw that the Mass Effect Trilogy is getting one and getting launched on PS4 in spring and I will be ALL OVER that as I miraculously never played any of the ME games at all and the longer it went, the more it seemed like a lost cause (there's a point where some old games just become too old - but it's weird because it doesn't quite apply to like SNES games and old isometric RPGs etc for some reason).

[Ian]

You're in for a treat.

I expect Mass Effect one getting more ME2/3 style gameplay will be divisive but I thought the combat was the weak part of the game so I'm not unhappy about that.

[Disco]

I played them all recently, the first one is a bit lumpy in places but it's still fine.

[Shindig]

I still think the first is the best one. It sets all that groundwork and it's the only one of the trilogy that really feels like an RPG.

I'm out of the police station in RE2 now. Mr. X immediately broke the illusion by teleporting to the third floor of the library when he was following me into the entrance on the second floor. I've missed a lot but I'm not going back for the other club door and the heart stuff. I really hate how they've done the Alligator fight but the Kendo stuff was nice.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/can-you-escape-a-town-watched-by-a-giant-policeman

This seems like it'll be a nightmare to get right but could be interesting if they do.

[Mazuuurk]

Finished the main story bit of Control.

It felt a little inconclusive and pre-emptive. Like it was almost the first part of a trilogy or something like that. Maybe that's actually the intention. Still though, solid story, and Jesse as a main character is very likeable. The characters and the world-building is what really make this game.

I do wish more of the Lore would have been shared in better ways than little recordings and files for you to read scattered about - I didn't bother with them.



As for the game all in all, I still have the DLCs to do so I'll get on those pretty soon. They any good, anyone knows?

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/controls-new-awe-dlc-doesnt-have-much-alan-wake-but-it-has-a-great-monster

Broadly positive.

I've not read your spoiler but I'm gonna try and power through the rest of it this weekend.

[Ian]

@Mazuurk Well I've finished it and it was fine but I'm not gonna bother with the DLC.

The Ashtray Maze is so far ahead of everything else in the game I was gutted it came so late and ended so soon. That was great fun.

Also I never had any interest in Alan Wake so this whole "Remedy Connected Universe" stuff doesn't hold much interest to me.

[Shindig]

Resident Evil 2 finished. That's really well done. Wasn't too keen on some of the changes around the sewers but the big blobs are about as avoidable as the spiders from the original. I'm glad Mr. X isn't a constant threat. I might jump straight into Claire's story. One thing I can't really manage is to juke zombies like you can in the originals. I found myself shooting everyone to clear the way for any revisits.

[Ian]

Rather than going onto any of the things I have available to play via Game Pass I have instead started a replay of KOTOR 2 with the restoration mod.

The writing (especially Kreia, obviously) is good from the get-go but I'd forgotten how slow that start is. Too much T3, lots of traipsing about the corridors of Peragus, then the corridors of a big spaceship, then the corridors of Telos station. I am looking forward to getting on the ground on Telos proper just to not be so hemmed in.

Also I'm probably setting myself up for a pasting here but I think I even found these earlier sections a bit trickier previously. I dunno if I just have a better understanding of RPGs and can get my head round KOTOR's stats better (though honestly there are still things that even after Googling are a bit of a mystery to me) but I'm absolutely rinsing every fight at the moment.

[Disco]

I played it last week and it ended up being a different version than I think I'd ever played before (there was a whole new level I don't ever remember). I was struck by how well it stands up though, the writing of most of the characters is spot on and such a leap forward from the first. Levelling is still a bit of a mystery to me but I;ve always gone by this rule: Strength for fighty/Guardian, Wisdom for force powers/Consular, Charisma for conversations and using non-aligned force powers (I wouldn't bother), Dex for shooty characters (although also for melee as the 'Finesse' skills allow you to use Dex over Str). For the first time ever I went Light Side this time and pumped Wis, that is true easy mode as you can stun pretty much everyone in the first round of combat.

I picked up the last Mass Effect game at the weekend. Wow is it a wonkfest; conceptually, the writing, the bizarre animations and faces (despite these being fine in the previous installment), and the fun lottery of which object in this room will violently vibrate until I leave. I paid about £8 and I think I've been had.

[Ian]

Was it the droid factory which was the new level? That's in the restored content stuff. But yeah, so far I've only got Kreia and Atton but the writing has been bang-on so far. I know I've got Bao Dur coming up, can't remember who else you get on Telos, if anybody.

As for Andromeda, check out the thread on here re: the faces now you've played it for Cord making a searingly up to date pop culture reference.

I was listening to the Back Page podcast the other day (it's excellent) and they were talking briefly about Andromeda and how apparently somebody at BioWare claimed the stuff with the missing Ark (quarians, drell, elcor, hanar, etc.) wasn't being kept back as DLC / sequel content which is so very obviously a lie.

[Disco]

It was not the droid factory, that was in last time I played but I think I was too nice this time around for HK to give me the mission. I won't spoil the new level but it was appended to one of the other 'planets' and it was never there before. I think you get T3 on Telos but maybe not until you get off the station, then one more possible companion at the end depending on the gender of your character.

[Ian]

I mean I've no idea how much of this I'm going to remember and therefore whether I know if any other new bits would stand out to me or not other than the droid factory.

And yeah I think I'm meant to get T3 on Telos though I dunno if the TSF have him or if he's on the Hawk. He's not that exciting as a companion to have following you about anyway.

[Disco]

I've remembered it wrong, you get T3 on Peragus, Telos is Bao Dur +1.

[Ian]

Ah I just thought you meant when you get T3 back. Because yeah, as I said initially part of the slow start (especially if you do the prologue) is just too much solo play as T3.

[Disco]

Instant skip, the Peragus prologue is long enough. You going to be naughty or nice?

[Ian]

I've been mostly nice so far, though in attempting to deal with the attempted hostile Exchange takeover on Telos station I ended up murdering both the Quarren and the spandex tits lady but no dark side points because I gave it a "Can't we all try to get along?" and then they did a gunfight. If there are options that aren't moustache-twirling-ly evil I may take some but Star Wars dark side runs tend to be comedically evil (even if they're not meant to be comedic) and therefore I struggle to stick with them.

I'm still currently able to fling lightning about so that's something.

[Mazuuurk]

@Mazuurk Well I've finished it and it was fine but I'm not gonna bother with the DLC.

The Ashtray Maze is so far ahead of everything else in the game I was gutted it came so late and ended so soon. That was great fun.

Also I never had any interest in Alan Wake so this whole "Remedy Connected Universe" stuff doesn't hold much interest to me.


Yeah the Ashtray Maze was pretty unique and amazing. Did you do the Mold sidequest though? That was pretty good as well.


I'm into the DLCs now, doing the AWE one first and it's pretty good. It's got some weird references to Alan Wake that I don't get, but doesn't really matter as you're basically just chasing around a creepy huge dude who has turned into a shadow monster.

The setting almost feels better with Jesse as the director proper, so to speak.

[Ian]

I've had one reference to Wake and knew there's a DLC where he's more involved but yeah, those games are tied together.

I did do the mold one and it was fine? Like, just more of the same really. I find the Mold even less engaging to fight than the regular enemies.

[Mazuuurk]

@Mazuurk Well I've finished it and it was fine but I'm not gonna bother with the DLC.

The Ashtray Maze is so far ahead of everything else in the game I was gutted it came so late and ended so soon. That was great fun.

Also I never had any interest in Alan Wake so this whole "Remedy Connected Universe" stuff doesn't hold much interest to me.


Yeah the Ashtray Maze was pretty unique and amazing. Did you do the Mold sidequest though? That was pretty good as well.


I'm into the DLCs now, doing the AWE one first and it's pretty good. It's got some weird references to Alan Wake that I don't get, but doesn't really matter as you're basically just chasing around a creepy huge dude who has turned into a shadow monster.

The setting almost feels better with Jesse as the director proper, so to speak.

[Ian]

How has that happened an hour and 20 minutes apart?

Are you trying to make me question my existence here? Pretty fitting when we're talking about Control, I suppose.

[Mazuuurk]

I think it was multiple tabs and one of those ’didnt I already post this...?’ situations.

[Shindig]

Decided to replay some of Hitman's first season. It's still awesome but I love how you can play fast and loose with it. I spent ages in Paris collecting hammers, screwdrivers and rat poison and ended up slinging scissors at my two targets. Escaping down a drainpipe was piss and I'm starting to understand more about how the clockwork stuff operates. I'm doing it to try and get my mastery back up but got sod all out of it from killing 16 non-targets.

I'm playing with opportunities not being tracked because it's too fucking handheld otherwise. The downside being that you have to keep your ears peeled for everything and figure things out for yourself.

[Ian]

I chose the middle option for the opportunities on my replay the other week. The proper handholding setting does rob it of any fun but the zero assistance option requires more effort and patience than I'm interested in now.

[Shindig]

Yeah, all my best laid plans wound up going sideways in favour of throwing knives at throats. The game's quite happy for you to get away with it. Line of sight is king which meant I could murder the second target without the bodyguards going straight after me. It said I was compromised but that really only means something to the immediate pursuers.

They're not that hard to figure out but you need some serious wanderlust to uncover them. I now know what I think I need to do for the showstopper. I now know where to sit as Helmut Kruger to do that stuff. And I now know that security always trails the target, rather than leading hem. If the target's the first into a room, they're first to die, taking out your only real witness. Worked on the fashion designer as well. As long as you've got a place to hide, you're golden.

[Ian]

I'll go back through again I think for some more of the opportunities but I think some.ofnthe challenges are more interesting to me now I have more of an understanding of the levels again.

[Ian]

I'd forgotten Atton's past was so dark, and also that you can convert him to being a Jedi so early. I now have force users on the shit and nary a lightsaber among them.

[Shindig]

Today I discovered in Hitman you can kill someone by pushing them over any waist-height window. Even if it's a security booth at ground level, they are dead. :D

[phonics]

What's happening with this womans breasts

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/812390848686850069/unknown.png

[Ian]

I can't even think of a bad joke to explain that one, let alone a good one.


Today I discovered in Hitman you can kill someone by pushing them over any waist-height window. Even if it's a security booth at ground level, they are dead. :D

What? :D