General gaming discussion

[phonics]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3sBZ5Nr4hc

:drool:

If the new Battle System works then FF7 might be the best game on a console twice.

[Ian]

I like that in Dying Light there are things which can turn out to be safe zones even though they're not marked as such for your collect 'em all gallivant. I should probably do a couple more story missions so the day-night cycle becomes active but I'm being a coward and unlocking some safe areas first.

[CJay]

Don't worry, all the safe zones in the world won't save you from the fear and exhilaration of being out at night for the first time.

[Ian]

Only night time I've done was during the mission when it forces you to really early on. What scared/impressed me was how dark it was. Which sounds really stupid but most games during the 'dark' there's enough ambient light that you're still in control. I was shitting myself, hoping I wasn't about to crawl into some zombie twat on purposes.

That said, I've encountered a couple of 'normal' zombies that surprised me by being quite tough for my low level weapons. One with body armour of some kind so anything but a twat to the head didn't bother it.

First time some special zombie twat fists me in the dark there's going to be bodily fluids everywhere.

[CJay]

I didn't see there was a gameplay video posted of Far Cry Primal:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM47aBj6f0g

Couple of thoughts:
- Not sure how I feel about the owls, seems like you can just scout an outpost from miles away without fear of being spotted. And the owl can drop fire bombs. What? :D
- The scenery looks nice. I wonder what other ways there will be to travel the world, because not having vehicles will be a severe handicap.
- Spears. :drool:
- Double bow. :drool:
- It seems a bit easy to be able to summon all these beasts whenever you feel like it.

[Ian]

You'll be galloping about on animals, no doubt.

What I want to know is how an annoying American tourist is going to end up caught up in ancient mystical tribal beastmaster wars.

[CJay]

:D And I don't think riding a Mammoth of the side of the cliff will give me the same rush, unfortunately.

I just can't wait to see what shaman voodoo magic crap they force on us this time.

[Raoul Duke]

Primal looks pretty decent, although I'll definitely miss my silenced sniper rifle.

[Disco]

I'm not sure I care for this, the melee and bow stuff is my least favourite part of the game, with the animal summoning this smells too much like those awful Shangri-La missions that were horrible and that I hated.

[Ian]

As I said with explosives, I'd be surprised if there aren't some gun-a-likes. Surely they're not going from mega-successful games which mostly featured stupidly overpowered guns to running about with the options of chucking owls or spears at people?

[Shindig]

Okay, so I've decided not to cram Witcher 3 for GOTY consideration but Sony also stealthed out Yakuza 5 and I kinda want to review that. Hmm...

Also, I can never go back to console versions of Dark Souls now. DSFix makes it look so good.

[Andrew]

Totally had a hissy fit playing PES 2016 so loaded up Alien Isolation for a quick blast.....


Haven't come across the alien yet but I'm in love with this game dark room and surround sound whacked up loud and I've jumped no end of times.

[Disco]

Far Cry 4 is done and dusted...


... let Min go in the end because I guessed he would monologue a bit more and that would be more interesting than just shooting him (with the pistol that I never carry). Given that he was the only interesting person in the game I thought it was a shame he wasn't really in it very much. I liked his little speech at the end, perhaps the only piece of meta-commentary in the last two games that's made any sense. The implication that Pagan is merely an older version of the player character, as if this is the natural progression of things after the credits roll in a game like this, that part works. Which is great, because the game is devoid of much else , that's probably why Min stands out so much.


I noticed something during the end cutscene that I've never really thought about before, specifically that Pagan Min is characterised as a flamboyant guy with an interest in fashion who employed a Royal Tailor for at least part of his reign yet he wears precisely one outfit during the entire game. Now, is that because players can't be trusted to recognise a character without a 'uniform' or because writers and programmers don't create characters that be easily differentiated?

[Ian]

Probably both. Do any main villains not have a 'uniform'?

[Shindig]

Okay, Yakuza's continuing its grand tradition of treating Japanese society like a giant cartoon. Lovely. For anyone jumping into the series at 5, here's the gist:

Yakuza - The one where the tower explodes. 1,00.000,000 Yen or something.
Yakuza 2 - The one where you cage fight two tigers. Also mad 80s flashbacks. And 'suspicious foreigners',
Yakuza 3 - The one where you drop all your criminal intent to save an orphanage. And transexual Benny Hill sidequests.
Yakuza 4 - All the heroes decide to have their final boss fight on the same rooftop.

UP TO SPEED! FUCK SHENMUE!

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I feel like I've played every single Yakuza game now.

Thanks, Shinners.

[Shindig]

Noby Noby Boy is over. GIRL has reached the Earth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mV5QnfpikQ

[Shindig]

And then this happened.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annuTcmB1rw

[Demerit]

I love how Sony have tried to frame it as 'He's created a Sony studio!'

Hideo then clearly emphasises the fact that only his first game is a PS exclusive.

[phonics]

I love how Sony have tried to frame it as 'He's created a Sony studio!'

Hideo then clearly emphasises the fact that only his first game is a PS exclusive.

And a 'console exclusive' at that so it'll be on PC where it'll be superior anyway.

[Disco]

If only his games weren't full of overwrought rubbish and early-teen-essay standards of writing.

[Shindig]

Or they could pull a Bloodborne and lock it down. Plus we don't know how big Kojima's team will be.

[Disco]

Whatever it is will be on PC as well.

[Shindig]

Depends on what deal is struck. If it becomes a franchise then I've no doubt. Sony's brokering some serious deals this generation.

And Sega still makes games (http://www.playstationcountry.com/game-review/yakuza-5-ps3-review/)

Last review of the year from me. I think I've done less than last year.

[Disco]

The article I read confirmed it but seems to have been removed now so who knows.

[Ian]

So I've played about three minutes of Heavy Rain and I think I already hate it.

[P_3]

You need to engross yourself in the story. The gameplay is very dire.

[Ian]

Yeah that was just a genuinely atrocious tutorial bit. I'm now intrigued by the story but not yet sure how long I'm going to want to stick with QTEs: The Game! to find out what happens in it.

[P_3]

If you haven't already, stick the difficulty down to the lowest available. The QTEs will be much easier.

[Shindig]

I never had a problem aside from one bit which I just let the game skip.

[Disco]

Just played the first mission of Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and not only is is like a dose of nostalgia injected right in the eyeball but it makes me wonder why no-one ever did any Next Generation adventure games, it's such a perfect fit. This could have done with some easing in though, because it was 1992 it was apparently ok to just dumps you right into a battle with no explanation of how anything works. The voice acting remains superb and I even completed the first mission without losing the redshirt.

[Shindig]

Awesome Games Done Quick (3rd -10th Jan)

https://gamesdonequick.com/schedule

As usual, it finishes on an RPG run. There's a Bloodborne Any % in there but the time suggests its pre-patch so that's kinda shit.

[Raoul Duke]

I bought Just Cause 3 off the PS store yesterday at around 3pm. It's now half nine the next day and I've yet to be able to play it as it's been 'installing' since then :moop:

It's still progressing so I'll let it be for now, but it's fucking atrocious. I've done some searching and it seems to be a problem sometimes (although mainly for GTA). Fuck knows what's going on with it but it's been going so long I'm loathe to try and arse around with it now.

[phonics]

Downloading off Sony servers is hell on earth.

[Shindig]

So Yakuza 5 resolved a Santa side quest where you beat up a load of armed guys and gift their weapons to children as presents.

[Ian]

80 Days is a wonderful thing.

RPS describe it better than I do (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/12/80-days-review). I got round the world in 69 days and all I can feel (other than that I was perhaps lucky, or that the timer simply really isn't the point) is that I wish I'd taken in a few more cities on this first run rather than fearing the day counter and looking for the easiest ways to progress. Some of the Choose Your Own Adventure-type bits are really well done, as is the writing of the characters you meet and the places you visit.

[Raoul Duke]

Downloading off Sony servers is hell on earth.

The download was fine - it's the install which took forever. It's done now and the game's pretty good. It's just soured it a bit to start with.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

My arms are actually sore from playing Fallout 3 since about half 11 this morning more or less solidly.

[Ian]

Another run at 80 days and this time I only just made it on the 80th day, thinking I was done for when I found myself in Benin with five days to go. Such a good game. Next time I'm going to do a run through Russia and Canada, I think.

[Shindig]

Picking off some more bosses in Dark Souls 2. So far I've found one of the big four souls (Lost Sinner) but haven't beaten him. Should be closing in on the second one as I've unlocked Iron Keep. This game is actually daunting and I think I understand why people take the glass cannon approach. You will always take hits and armour does nothing to negate it. Looking to level up adaptability and vigor now.

[CJay]

Dishonored is great so far. I love the environment, all the lore, the equipment, blinking... :drool: I had high chaos on the first mission, but I think from now on I'll be focusing on stealth and choking people out.

Also got Metro Redux for Christmas so I'll giving those a playthrough in the new year. Probably on Ranger mode for Last Light. Love the idea of a game that is designed to be playable without a HUD.

[Andrew]

Mrs bought me Fallout 4 for Christmas god bless her cotton socks.

First I need to finish off Alien Isolation(currently lvl6)

Also sold PES 2016 and bought Witcher 3 on the PS4 with the trade in voucher from CEX.

[Ian]

You been poking your nose into every nook and cranny in Dishonored, CJay ? There's plenty of good stuff to find to build up the lore and Dunwall and whatever.

[Pepe]

I think I'll give 80 days a try, sounds fun.

[Ian]

I've done three playthroughs now and I've got at least one more in me. Perhaps two. I've yet to make a dent in Russia, South America or much of Africa.

[CJay]

You been poking your nose into every nook and cranny in Dishonored, CJay ? There's plenty of good stuff to find to build up the lore and Dunwall and whatever.

Of course, although sadly sometimes I feel (wrongly) like I'm wasting my time reading some of the random books. It's an awesome setting with really in-depth lore, factors which go a long way to making me love a game.

[Bartholomert]

I bought Battle Front for Xbox and it fucking sucked. Does anyone have it and bought the expansions? Does it make the game less shitty?

[CJay]

Is there a strategy to Eurotruck Simulator 2? I've made around 50k by taking quick jobs. Should I take a loan from the bank now and buy my own truck or what? I don't really know what I'm doing, just doing the quick jobs again and again. I'm so bad at parking. :D

[Disco]

Quick jobs are great to start with, try out all the different trucks and see which type you prefer, whether you save up and buy outright or get a loan it doesn't really matter. If you want to have several trucks/drivers then a big loan will be enough to get you set up quite quickly.

Edit: Basically no there isn't any strategy above 'drive about doing stuff and money will happen'.

[CJay]

Nice, cheers. Think I'll go for a loan soon.

[Shindig]

Yakuza's 5 has now dropped the whole "Win the Princess League to save the orphanage" angle in favour of "Solve this murder."

Also, apparently The Witness is out this month.

[Ian]

Still don't really understand exactly what The Witness is, other than it being a first person puzzle thing. I want it though.

[Ian]

RPS 2016 preview:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/01/pc-games-of-2016/2/

[Shindig]

Someone's still holding out for Beyond Good & Evil 2?

[Ian]

It's still real to me, damn it.

[Shindig]

It'll come out when I finish Dark Souls 2. Took down the first of the big souls today. Lost Sinner seemed kinda easy but the lock-on and the darkness was an issue. Still can't beat the Ruin Sentinels but now I don't have to. Iron Keep is hell. I feel like now I should head in the direction of The Gutter. I keep wrapping back on myself, though.

Slowvbeef's started a Scholar of the First Sin run so I'm looking to stay ahead of that. And I watched DarkSydePhil's (Well, Sebastapol Queen's edit) run. The state of it.

"Awesome, I have a shield now" <spams roll for 100 hours> That's mainly the incentive. If he can force it, so can I.

Yakuza 5 continues to be amazing. Its dawned on me the 'Japanese GTA' moniker no longer applies. It's a Japanese Saints Row.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11LgY1K-Ulk

[Yevrah]

Is this accurate?

http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a779263/game-piracy-will-be-dead-in-two-years-according-to-pirates/

[Ian]

You'd think they'll continue to find ways if they really want to.

I won't shed a tear if it is true, though I'm sure there've been devs saying they believe the effect on their takings is actually pretty negligible because most who pirate wouldn't buy the game if the option to play it for free wasn't there anyway. No iea how accurate that is either.

[Disco]

Is it still only Just Cause they haven't gotten into yet? In any case it isn't the end of pirated games as the vast majority of devs/publishers don't go to the same lengths to protect their games and many don't use DRM of any kind. In a wider sense I think it would be a shame if DRM became reliably impenetrable, I feel like the existence of piracy has encouraged (or at least highlighted) other ways that developers have of offering value within their games. If there's less incentive to provide a better service then there will be some who simply won't.

[Boydy]

It says in that article they still haven't managed to crack FIFA.

I haven't pirated games in ages now but like Disco says it'd be worrying what might happen to pricing if it piracy was no longer an option.

[elth]

Can't say I'll shed much of a tear for pirates. It's not like Steam sales are expensive, even povvo students can afford 30-40 games a year these days as long as they don't absolutely have to have the shiniest new game RIGHT THIS SECOND which is just entitlement bullshit and can fuck off.

Finally ordered a new, proper gaming PC. It is awesome.

[Kikó]

I'm having a go at the trial of Arc. Beautiful graphics but absolutely shite on initial inspection.

[Mike]

Bought Punch Club earlier. Seems fun!

[Shindig]

Yeah, Dark Souls on the PC has some odd item drops. It gifts me things like the Stone Greatsword and Shield and a Demon's Spear which I've never seen drop in my console runs. I'd go for the toughest achievement if I could ever get Priscilla's tail cut.

[Ian]

I've only just learned that Steam has a sequel to Vox Populi, Vox Dei (a werewolf thriller. (http://www.kongregate.com/games/weremsoft/vox-populi-vox-dei-a-werewolf-thriller) Will be picking that up at some point.

[Shindig]

One more primal bonfire to go in Dark Souls 2. Maxed out my hand axe so I fancy mopping some stuff up before tackling Iron Man.

[Andrew]

Finally completed Aliens:Isolation.

What a game...

Now lads, I've installed Dark Souls 2 and Fallout 4 which you recommend I crack on with next?

[SincereTheRebel]

Made a list of the games i need to play on the ps4 before the year i done

Driveclub Bikes
metal gear solid 5
Project cars
God of War III: Remastered
Uncharted 1,2,3
Resident Evil HD Remaster
Need for speed
WRC 5
Moto GP 15
GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas Remakes
Tonky Hawk 5

[Baz]

Cross Tony Hawk off your list; it's meant to be (and looks) terrible.

[Shindig]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnQ1Wuo90pQ

Rich seemed to like it but definitely something you should get on the cheap.

[Raoul Duke]

I'm most looking forward to No Man's Sky and Ark: Survival Evolved this year. Both out in June.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/15/half-life-2-add-on/

I wonder how many people initially got overexcited and/or trolled with news of a "new Half-Life game."

And Hitman is going "fully episodic."

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/15/new-hitman-episodic/

You'd think Hitman should be perfect for episodic stuff, hopefully they don't bork it.

[wullie]

Firewatch is the most intriguing one for me. I still have no idea what it actually is or does, but it looks so good.

[Shindig]

Its Dark Souls 3 for me. As much bother as 2 was giving me, I'm making headway and enjoying it. It makes me appreciate Bloodborne's balance but I absolutely caned some bosses recently. Shrine of Armana or whatever is next but my build is pretty much set so death's not a bother.

[Andrew]

Shindig what build do you recommend for a newbie starting out in Dark Souls.

Some tips for a DS newb be great as well.

[Shindig]

I go with strength, health and endurance. Add adaptability to that if you're playing Dark Souls 2. Anything that makes you hit harder, do things quicker and so on.

[Andrew]

Just started now, found some giant footprints at the start followed them round a corner and discovered a big old beast.

Said beast then promptly killed me....

[Andrew]

Got a shield and sword now!! Off to get some pay back off that beast.

*Edit*

Maybe not..

[SincereTheRebel]

Cross Tony Hawk off your list; it's meant to be (and looks) terrible.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnQ1Wuo90pQ

Rich seemed to like it but definitely something you should get on the cheap.

I rent most of my games now (Boomerangrentals.co.uk). Tony hawk is decent. I played the HD remake a few years ago. This new one isnt that bad. Its playable.

[phonics]

Got a shield and sword now!! Off to get some pay back off that beast.

*Edit*

Maybe not..

Run round it and go through the door.

[Shindig]

Yeah, just go to the first hut you see and start your journey. Those hippos are no joke. Try to get your adaptability up early so you can use items quicker and have a more effective roll.

[wullie]

American Truck Simulator is going to actually be California and Nevada Truck Simulator at launch, with Arizona to come. Extra parts of the map will be paid DLC. I'm going to wait until they've got the country done and nab it all for cheap instead. See you in 2021, truck stop hookers.

[Spammer]

Anyone still playing FIFA 15 on PS3? Fancy a game.

Username is Davenblade

[ItalAussie]

Just burned through Tales of Monkey Island.

It was really good! Obviously the puzzles weren't as sophisticated as the originals, and I was a little disappointed not to get the Monkey Island puzzle staple: reinterpreting an old task list in a new context. Although they did at least make a subtle nod in that direction within the opening sequence, which effectively kicked off the plot. So that was enjoyable. So yeah, there weren't any puzzles that particularly taxed the player, and none that showed the particular craftmanship which LucasArts managed to generate. But they were fun enough to keep me going back.

The gags were good, and fitted in perfectly well with the LucasArts games. The voicework was fantastic, and they didn't mess with perfection by trying to revoice Guybrush. Dominic Armarto is the voice of Guybrush, and you'd have to be particularly game to mess around with that formula.

A worthwhile successor to Curse of Monkey Island. With absolutely no games made in between the two, no sirree.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/20/the-westport-independent-review/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/20/oxenfree-review/

Both of these will be sale-fodder for me but they sound decent.

[wullie]

Definitely maybe going to get back into Cities Skylines again. I've been getting a taste for it by looking on Simtropolis at the city journals of people with way more patience and ability than me, but I noticed that you can export a real-world height map (http://terrain.party/) and use it to import real road maps for cities (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416064574)

I'm going to redo Coventry and make sure that for the football stadium in the North, NO RUGBY TEAMS FROM LONDON ALLOWED

[Disco]

Did anyone else ever finish Ronin?

I seem to have reached a level where the first part is impossible to finish with no alarms, silly civilian notices when her computer has been monkeyed with even if she doesn't see it.

[ItalAussie]

Did anyone else ever finish Ronin?

I seem to have reached a level where the first part is impossible to finish with no alarms, silly civilian notices when her computer has been monkeyed with even if she doesn't see it.

Yep. I don't know about that one specifically, but there are a handful of levels that you can't do without being noticed unless you picked all of the improvements in just the right order. In particular, you need to be able to teleport back on command.

Annoyingly, you can't replay levels either. Still, I missed five or so points and had no trouble in the back end of the game.

[Disco]

Well that's annoying, I don't have the decoy thing yet. I don't think it would make any difference anyway, she isn't alerted by me killing the guard only when she paths back to her computer and must notice it's been hacked.

Oh well, she's getting murdered then.

[ItalAussie]

Well that's annoying, I don't have the decoy thing yet. I don't think it would make any difference anyway, she isn't alerted by me killing the guard only when she paths back to her computer and must notice it's been hacked.

Oh well, she's getting murdered then.

I think I remember that one actually. Couldn't crack it. That was one I missed out on.

Apparently it's possible, although I'm buggered if I know how.

[Disco]

I've just watched a walkthrough for that level and the guy simply breezes through doing exactly what I was doing but no lockdown. :moop:

The only difference was how quickly they moved into the rest of the level, maybe there's a trigger that only fires when the sprite is on screen. Either that or the game just hates me.

[ItalAussie]

I honestly think the game is more fun if you permit yourself a few lockdowns. There are two or three levels where, even if it is possible to get through, it's going to be a nightmare to pull it off.

I missed four in the end, and didn't miss any powerups of consequence.

[Disco]

I'm onto the Boss level with no lockdowns so far, it's very tricky in some places but I like that puzzle part of it. Slightly confused how I'm now not insta-killed by bullets but I'm not complaining as the level itself looks a complete nightmare. Do you end up rubbing out everyone in the photo (apart from you and your Dad obviously) or is this the last one?

[CJay]

Is it not possible to post videos on here that start at a certain time? Anyway, this video from a guy who plays Rust had me in stitches earlier. The music at the end gets me. Is this what all open world multiplayer games turn into?

https://youtu.be/dD-bJaDIESs?t=675

[Disco]

I had some fucking hilarious times playing with a group in DayZ, the mod was maybe better as it had that added wonkiness that could get you killed by trees and stuff.

TTHard should get a squad going, being totally shit is the best part.

[ItalAussie]

I'm onto the Boss level with no lockdowns so far, it's very tricky in some places but I like that puzzle part of it. Slightly confused how I'm now not insta-killed by bullets but I'm not complaining as the level itself looks a complete nightmare. Do you end up rubbing out everyone in the photo (apart from you and your Dad obviously) or is this the last one?

It's the last one. You don't take everyone out - just five. I really enjoyed the boss level actually; I've replayed it a number of times to get the most "efficient" win.

The reason for not being insta-killed is simply to allow for two different endings, depending on whether you're in the death countdown or not when you finish the level. Once you've been hit, you're still as good as dead. Although it's fun to deliberately take a bullet at the start of the level and then see how long you can chain it together (the counter resets every time you kill someone).

[Shindig]

Witcher 2 is free on 360.

[Disco]

No checkpoints on the entire last level, dick move game.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Is it not possible to post videos on here that start at a certain time? Anyway, this video from a guy who plays Rust had me in stitches earlier. The music at the end gets me. Is this what all open world multiplayer games turn into?

https://youtu.be/dD-bJaDIESs?t=675

Brilliant.

[Shindig]

"We could be LARPING in a forest but there's not one near us so...videogames?"

[phonics]

Something made me want to post about Jedi Knight recently but I couldn't find any clips that adequately showed how awesome it was.

http://gfycat.com/DependentRecentAlbertosaurus

[Shindig]

Liking The Witness so far. When Johnathan Blow said it would be massive, he wasn't kidding.

[Ian]

Didn't even realise it was out. It's a wander-y, puzzle-y thing right?

EDIT: Far Cry Primal hands-on.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/26/far-cry-primal-preview/

Yeah, I'm almost certainly going to like that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

PC? Bit of Co-op?

Edit: Just read that there is no co-op, ffs.

The bants we would have had at me somehow accidentally destroying a whole village type thing with a wholly mammoth :(

[Shindig]

Didn't even realise it was out. It's a wander-y, puzzle-y thing right?

Yes. Imagine Myst but with a weird Proteus / No Man's Sky-ish visual look.

[Ian]

I never played Myst but I do love that it can be beaten in under 2 minutes or whatever. Was that a bug or a Far Cry 4-esque "Well if you'd just done this..."

[Shindig]

I think its something along those lines. I don't want to find that out til I've beaten it proper which, going on current estimates will be 20+ hours.

[ItalAussie]

I never played Myst but I do love that it can be beaten in under 2 minutes or whatever. Was that a bug or a Far Cry 4-esque "Well if you'd just done this..."

Not a bug. There's a clue you can't get until very late in the game that tells you how to unlock a door in the first room. The end is on the other side.

I enjoyed Myst a lot. The first sequel, Riven, has the one of the best, and certainly the most difficult (but scrupulously fair), puzzle I've experienced in gaming.

[Ian]

Sunless Sea is free to play over the weekend on Steam. I'm giving it a go.

On sale as well, in the meantime.

[Andrew]

Dark Souls 2 I'm trying to like it but I think playing BloodBorne has spoiled it for me.

Finding it tough going so far as I'm so used to attacking as soon as I get hit which just results in me getting my arse handed to me.

I'd say BB is way easier than DS and I found BB to be the toughest game I've ever played!!!!!!

Got to a point now where I'm hollowed to 50% of my original HP being killed Tower of Heides is kicking my arse.

[Shindig]

That area has a useful ring you probably need.

[SincereTheRebel]

PSN is undergoing maintenance on a saturday morning.

Fuck out of here.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/29/beyond-good-evil-2-michel-ancel/

Stop lying to me, Ancel. :cry:

[Andrew]

Just succumbed to using a FAQ for Dark Souls and upon reading it I realise that Tower of Heides is not the beginning area should have headed to the Fallen Giants place.

Twat.

*Edit*

This area is just as though, spent all morning on it and I am stuck by the area where the merchant hag Melentia sells you stuff.

This game is a lot harder than BloodBorne.

[Shindig]

Yeah, it doesn't funnel you well like Bloodborne. Doesn't help that the boss in Heide is easy street.

[Andrew]

50% HP no way to regain my humanity and the last giant is one hitting me.

Last chance now start a fresh save and see if I can make progress as 8 hours of getting nowhere fast is gripping my shit.

[Shindig]

You're making me want to stream this again.

[Andrew]

Who came up with the idea "let's punish them for dying" in a game where all you do is DIE!!!!!!!

I thought the frenzy shit in BloodBorne was a cheap shot but this......

[Dark Soldier]

Dark Souls 2 is way easier than Bloodborne. Just get up close and circle most enemies, instant fucking win.

[Shindig]

www.twitch.tv/shindigpsc

Streamed from the Cardinal Tower to the Pursuer. In this run I'm trying to keep the boss souls but there's no shame in spending them to boost yourself. Last Giant's fairly comfy although this wasn't one of my finer efforts. Explorers. Good for i-frames, shit for damage. Features me forgetting how keys work.

[ItalAussie]

So, if you die a bunch in Dark Souls, can you mess up a save beyond return?

[Dark Soldier]

Nope, every death returns you to the last used bonfire. In Dark Souls 2 you go hollow and lose up to a Max 50% health unless you turn human again. It's a completely fair system. In Bloodborne you just die and resurrect at bonfire. Only real punishment is losing all souls (aka money) which can be recovered if you get back to the area you died, and after any death or usage of bonfires all enemies reset. You can just run past them though if you wish.

Oh also if you die before reclaiming your lost souls, they're gone forever.

[Shindig]

Yeah, its nice to have death mean something for the first time in the series since Demon's Souls. I thought I'd be screwed but you can negate the health loss with gear and I wound up with plentiful effigies to restore it.

[Mike]

I had £20 in my PSN account. Dark Souls 2 is £18 on PS4.

I now own Dark Souls 2. What have I done!?!

[Shindig]

Joined the cool kids club. Well, maybe the 'not as cool as Dark Souls' club.

[Andrew]

I had £20 in my PSN account. Dark Souls 2 is £18 on PS4.

I now own Dark Souls 2. What have I done!?!

Have you any experience of these games mate?

As much as I rage on this game and Bloodborne nothing I have ever played has even come close to matching the euphoric feeling of finally defeating a boss!!!

I think I am struggling with DS2 so much as I am so used to the combat system of BB and attacking to regain my HP.

[Andrew]

So, if you die a bunch in Dark Souls, can you mess up a save beyond return?

I have, I don't have any effergies to burn my HP is 50% of its max and I'm stuck as a hollow and keep getting twated with one hit by the last giant boss!!!

[Disco]

It's salvageable though surely, you can go back and farm an easier area. You can get stuck, but you don't tend to get trapped.

[Shindig]

Yeah, just stay under him and watch his stomp attacks. Farm for some levels in vitality if you need to.

[Dark Soldier]

I have, I don't have any effergies to burn my HP is 50% of its max and I'm stuck as a hollow and keep getting twated with one hit by the last giant boss!!!

how 2 do last giant lol


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftovVrwJ-Fg

Protip: Don't be a pussy with DkS2, get in close, circle and roll. Only retreat if you need to heal.

[Dark Soldier]

And Pursuer when you get to him:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX33AQdZWok

[Mike]

Have you any experience of these games mate?

As much as I rage on this game and Bloodborne nothing I have ever played has even come close to matching the euphoric feeling of finally defeating a boss!!!

I think I am struggling with DS2 so much as I am so used to the combat system of BB and attacking to regain my HP.

Played the first, was utterly useless and gave up inside an hour. Enjoyed Bloodborne a lot though, but I was again rubbish but at least had some fun. Did an hour or so tonight. Think I went to the wrong area as it was full of giant guys who beat me up.

[Andrew]

I only hit the last giant for 35 each attack if I'm lucky.

Started a fresh save now as I found the short cut to the boss so going to have another crack at this.

Mike I made the same mistake mate did you head straight to the Tower of Heides?

If you go back to bonfire in Majula and head right along the sea front and follow the tunnel down you will enter the Fallen Giants.

*Edit*

Well it was going well until some big dude got dropped off by an eagle and promptly battered me.

I'm guessing that was a random mini boss of some kind as he's not been back since.

[Shindig]

Just done that area. The boss is arguably the easiest in the game. I've found with Dark Souls 2 learning how to roll is key. I've got a shield but I've barely used it. Pick and choose your battles, too. The Old Knights are big and powerful but they have long attacks which you can bait them into and then scarper. Enjoying it more second time around but then they're all like that.

The Pursuer is a proper boss once and then a mini-boss thereafter. He's guarding some proper gear. Hope you learned how to parry.

[phonics]

Nope, every death returns you to the last used bonfire. In Dark Souls 2 you go hollow and lose up to a Max 50% health unless you turn human again. It's a completely fair system. In Bloodborne you just die and resurrect at bonfire. Only real punishment is losing all souls (aka money) which can be recovered if you get back to the area you died, and after any death or usage of bonfires all enemies reset. You can just run past them though if you wish.

Oh also if you die before reclaiming your lost souls, they're gone forever.

In Dark Souls 2 you can. Enemies stop respawning after a certain amount of kills so if you were to kill a couple, die, not pick up your souls afterwards and repeat you could be level one and at 50% hp forever

[Shindig]

That would take some doing but you could wind up in that situation early on. Although the bosses rewards kinda negate that, provided you can take them. Coming to this from Bloodborne would be iffy, mind.

[Andrew]

That would take some doing but you could wind up in that situation early on. Although the bosses rewards kinda negate that, provided you can take them. Coming to this from Bloodborne would be iffy, mind.

Really looking forward to Dark Souls 3 that's why I'm determined to get into this game.

Totally agree with the point you made about playing this after BloodBorne though I find myself comparing DS2 to BB and find it lacking each time.

[Dark Soldier]

You can cheese the Tower of Heides boss very very easily if you get stuck btw. Easy 15k or so souls.

[Dark Soldier]

Totally agree with the point you made about playing this after BloodBorne though I find myself comparing DS2 to BB and find it lacking each time.

DS2 is easily the weakest of the series. Its definitely a good game, just lacks a few things that put Demon's/Dark/BB on the God tier level.

[Andrew]

Going much better this time, managed to get all the way to the first boss without dying was able to summon a npc to help with the fight and died.

Next attempted beat the giant quite easily, pumped all my Souls into my hp, str and stamina.

The Pursuer will take me a while to beat not even making a dent in his hp before I bite the dust.

Parrying seems to be a bit hit and miss so far, BB I had it down to a fine art but I suck at it so far on this.

[Shindig]

I tried to fight the Pursuer for 5 hours before deciding to do what everybody does against him.

[Dark Soldier]

Most important thing is get your ADP to 20 as soon as possible. Improves your i-frames massively.

[Andrew]

After spending all day trying to beat The Pursuer I come across a YouTube video of how to beat him in seconds.....

So he drops something I can trade for a ultra great sword where do I find the vendor to get it?

Just been whisked off by a big ass eagle to some place big ass wizards are lobing fireballs at me.

Really enjoying this game again.

[Disco]

ATS is going to release a day early. :drool:

Rather brilliantly it's because the devs can't be bothered to stay up late for a midnight launch as they'd originally planned.

[Shindig]

After spending all day trying to beat The Pursuer I come across a YouTube video of how to beat him in seconds.....

So he drops something I can trade for a ultra great sword where do I find the vendor to get it?

Just been whisked off by a big ass eagle to some place big ass wizards are lobing fireballs at me.

Really enjoying this game again.

Yeah, the vendor's in that level but you'll revisit that place a few times. That's one of the weapons I'm thinking of going for. After beating the Pursuer it gets a lot more open. You've got maybe 4/5 options for your next area.

[Andrew]

So making headway now downed a ton of bosses and got a few areas open to explore now.

Bosses killed so far

The last giant
The Pursuer
Flexile Sentry
Lost Sinner
Ruin Sentinals
Old Dragonslayer
DragonRider

Got some sweet armour, a huge shield and an even bigger sword.

Although if I use them all at the same time I start walking round the place like I've shit myself....

[Shindig]

I just beat Flexile Sentry. Would've beat him on the first attempt but got greedy. Going to see how much the Pursuer stuff is and then heading to Huntsman's Copse. Feels weird that I'm miles under the level I was when I first came through these areas. Liking my damage output on this +4 Shortsword.

[Andrew]

Think it's around 1500 Souls plus the soul token.

Was tempted to go for his shield but opted for the bow and the ultra great sword.

[Andrew]

Smashed another boss the Skeleton Lord, clocked upto 40 hours now on Dark Souls good game but don't seem to draw me in as much as Bloodborne.

I love the tanking class in games like this love soaking up damage but I think I've gimped myself by limiting my abilty to dodge hits.

Also picked up the drangelic armour which looks pretty sweet.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/08/wot-i-think-firewatch/

Well that sounds smashing.

[Shindig]

I don't like their sense of humour. That might be a dealbreaker if its constantly, "Yeah, well, snark, snark, snark."

[wullie]

Day 1 of Firewatch. I got settled into the cabin, went to investigate some fireworks to find two skinnydipping teenage girls who called me a virgin pervert, then went back to cabin through a canyon as someone shined a torch down on me from above and left. The cabin was vandalised, the lady on the radio will contact the park rangers.

The entire time I spent it on edge waiting for something weird to happen or to be set upon by something, having intentionally exposed myself to nothing about the game other than the lovely screens. I like it so far, although my trepidation over what may or may not be coming might shape my overall view of the game.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/11/unravel-pc-review/
It looks fantastic but this sounds like a Steam sale game to me.

[Shindig]

Firewatch was pretty good. Might knock up the review whilst I'm at work tomorrow. Although my sense of direction failed me a couple of times.

[wullie]

It started getting weird so I've turned it off at Day 77 as it's late at night and I don't have the nerve to go further yet.

[wullie]

Finished. Really liked that, even spending most the time with the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

[Ian]

Is it quite short, then?

[phonics]

Day 1 of Firewatch. I got settled into the cabin, went to investigate some fireworks to find two skinnydipping teenage girls who called me a virgin pervert, then went back to cabin through a canyon as someone shined a torch down on me from above and left. The cabin was vandalised, the lady on the radio will contact the park rangers.

That was one of my favourite lines in any videogame ever the moment you see that guy. The "There's this weird place where everyone walks around as they please, it's called outside"

I've just absolutely butchered it but it definitely convinced me to pick it up.

[wullie]

Is it quite short, then?

Yeah. I lost track of time a bit so I can't tell you exactly how long it took me, but it couldn't have been more than maybe four hours overall. It's worth it though as far as I'm concerned (if it goes on sale at any point I'd recommend it to anyone, but £15 might be a bit of a push), that review you posted summed it up nicely.

[phonics]

NBA 2K16 is free on Steam this weekend. I urge everyone to buy it just to play through 'A Spike Jones Joint'.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdE2Eg-x4XM

It's incredible. It's like playing the video game version of a straight to DVD Spike Lee movie.

Shazam, indeed.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I wasn't able to get into 2k16 like I was 15.

I blame Spike Lee probably.

[phonics]

It's because the games barely changed since 12.

[Shindig]

Yeah. I lost track of time a bit so I can't tell you exactly how long it took me, but it couldn't have been more than maybe four hours overall. It's worth it though as far as I'm concerned (if it goes on sale at any point I'd recommend it to anyone, but £15 might be a bit of a push), that review you posted summed it up nicely.

Yeah, I was quite satisfied with the way it played out although others seem to disagree. The pacing seems a little dumb but I liked how that game stuck with its themes. So, err, how did you roll?

I played Henry as a guy still attached to his wife which seemed to work a treat. Its funny how all the sexual tension seems to come from Delilah but I never felt like my Henry would leave his wife. Not when he's thinking about her constantly. The guy needed to clear his mind. Plus Delilah's a fuck up. Also, I've heard a load of folks go nuts over how a guy could build a ton of gear out in the woods in three years. He had a nerdy son who could build his own shit and Brian's body wasn't decomposing much when you found it. Brian died recently so its conceivable Ned and Brian were having some quality family time until the accident. Ned retreats into the wilderness out of guilt and life goes on.

That prologue really set me up for how I was going to play it, though. GOD! THAT PROLOGUE IS AMAZING!

EDIT: Also I'm playing Demon's Souls again. This time to the finish to make it all of the series in the space of 12 months.

[wullie]

I can't remember the specific answers I chose throughout, but I had Henry as a man exasperated by his life and in need of a distraction or a friend, but no funny business with Delilah

[Boydy]

Started playing Empire Total War recently having not given it a proper go when I bought it years ago. The laptop I had then couldn't really run it properly. It runs grand on my desktop now.

I'm fucking awful at it though. Started as Russia and fucking Dagestan has taken one of my regions already, the bastards. I've been throwing troops at Crimea as well and their shitty little armed militias keep fending off my armies. I had a load of cannons there and they were just useless. Thought them combined with some cavalry would've done the job but nope. My cavalry were useless too.

[Disco]

Important techs to research early (having two or three schools spread about is a good idea) are grape shot and decent bayonets. Grape shot is particularly good as it turns cannons into giant shotguns.

[Boydy]

Thanks. I think went for some stupid horse military tech first.

[Disco]

On the subject of artillery you're going to want to micromanage it. Have anything that's direct fire on manual aiming, let them fire at will and they won't bat an eyelid at turning and firing straight through your own formations.

For all it's flaws I really liked this one, might just be the period but I think i played it more than any of the others apart from Rome.

[Shindig]

Layers of Fear, then. Kotaku called it P.T. on drugs.

I disagreed. (http://www.playstationcountry.com/game-review/layers-of-fear-ps4-review/)

Seems to be reviewing fairly well. Blame youtube.

[phonics]

Jet Set Radio and the Sega Genesis Collection are free on Steam if you want to grab 'em.

[SincereTheRebel]

I had sega colleciton on the ps2. It was solid. The games back then, i find super hard.

[Shindig]

One of these days I'll finish one of the classic Sonics. In the meantime, I'm back to where I was with Demon's Souls. Actually I'm further as I never beat Tower Knight last time around. Fools Idol down at the second crack which I'm quite chuffed with. I've gained some real appreciation for the bosses in this. They're all gimmicks but they execute it well.

Guys, Hideo Kojima's still talking to Norman Reedus about doing a project together. Hushed Mountains is back on, kids.

In the meantime, here's IGN's video review of Layers of Fear. The comments are golden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTZ-Kwi24eM

[phonics]

It only gives you Golden Axe. Golden Axe sucks.

[ItalAussie]

I really want to grab Jet Set Radio, but my computer is busted. :D

[Raoul Duke]

It only gives you Golden Axe. Golden Axe sucks.

What? Golden Axe is the bees knees.


I really want to grab Jet Set Radio, but my computer is busted. :D

Use the mobile app?

[Mike]

GiantBomb are currently playing American Truck Simulator live at the moment, they've just started and it's very entertaining
www.giantbomb.com/chat


EDIT: The archive http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-american-truck-simulator/2300-10991/

[phonics]

What? Golden Axe is the bees knees.

It's really, really crap. Everything from terrible sprite alignment to slow control responses, it's awful. Streets of Rage 2 makes it look an absolute joke (which is free next week btw)

[Raoul Duke]

If you start cussing Streets Of Rage then we are going to have to have a srs talk.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

If you start cussing Streets Of Rage then we are going to have to have a srs talk.

Indeed.

There was a Streets of Rage machine at the local swimming pool when I was a kid.

An hour of swimming and then a few games on the machine with a carton of strawberry Ribena :cool:

[phonics]

Condemned and Streets of Better Than Golden Axe 2 are free today.

[Shindig]

Sonic CD, please.

[phonics]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYWC6ob8uA0

So, so good.

[Shindig]

Did somebody mention someone finally beat Dark Souls without taking a single hit on the 14th? For a four year old game with that kind of fanbase, this is nuts. Look for The_Happy_Hobbit on twitch. Be warned, its a tough watch 'cos ... its twitch. Took him about 3 hours but it wasn't quick.

[phonics]

This is getting ridiculous.

Sega's free games today are: Company of Heroes 2, Total War: Atilla and Dawn of War 2.

edit: Oh those were the ones on sale. Bastards. It's Gunstar Heroes, Renegade Ops & Viking: Battle for Asgard.

[Shindig]

Rattling through Demon's Souls now. Last boss i thumped was Leechmonger. He should be called Shit Flinger.

[SincereTheRebel]

Done with driveclub bikes and motogp 15. Driveclub was a £15 add-on and moto gp was the same as the last one. Still, both were OK fun. Im on to project cars now which i hear is a great game.

Playing
Project Cars

Completed
Driveclub Bikes
Moto GP 15

Unplayed
Metal Gear Solid 5
God of War III: Remastered
Uncharted 1,2,3
Resident Evil HD Remaster
Need For Speed
WRC 5
GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas Remakes
Tony Hawk 5

[Shindig]

So, Demon's Souls has a notorious boss fight which is a PVP encounter with another online player. Initially entertaining, the battle is determined by who has the most healing items. I.e. not me.

[Gray Fox]

Just picked myself up an Xbox One last week, but I need a headset. Since the last time I saw an Xbox controller it seems to have grown a 3.5mm port in the bottom, so does this mean I can get any headset that connects via 3.5mm jack and it'll work fine, without needing that adapter that costs about £25?

[Shindig]

Not sure. Microsoft love their proprietary bullshit.

[Gray Fox]

Not sure. Microsoft love their proprietary bullshit.

Yeah they got a lot of shit for that, which I thought was why they added the new 3.5mm port to the new controllers. No one seems to be 100% sure on whether or not you still actually need the adapter or not.

[Shindig]

Now I've done them all, I might as well rank the Souls series from best to worst.

Dark Souls
Yup. It's ran close by its predecessor but the world and lore push it to the top. Contains one of the few bosses in gaming I genuinely fear and a couple of really nice swerves. Bleak atmosphere, too with plenty of build options.

Demon's Souls
In comparison with the others it's the shortest and probably one of the hardest ones for me to get into. My first crack of the whip saw me struggle to get to the third boss after 21 hours. This time around I was into the home stretch in that time. It's arguably got the toughest levels and they haven't perfected the art of shortcuts yet but its probably a Souls game at its most memorable. Most bosses have a trick or spectacle to them which can be figured out and all you have to do is get to them. The guard break on bigger weapons is bloody stupid, though. This weird little shove that completely immobilises you. Also, bad translations and a lack of feedback knack you up on weapons breaking, status ailments, etc...

Bloodborne
It has the most consistent challenge by far. All the others follow a pattern of valleys and peaks in difficulty whereas this feels like leaving one challenge to tackle the next. The lack of weapon variety wasn't initially bothersome but its hampering my impetus to replay it. The combat is the best of the series, though. Being controlled with your aggression, rather than passively waiting to punish an opening just feels more fun and its better to watch. And I'm not sure I want the DLC, still. The bosses look cool but the new weapons are handed out so late in the game that pursing a different build requires an very early rush of it.

Dark Souls 2
Some people are dead against this in some unhealthy ways. I feel its the weakest game but that's mostly due to the game not being so memorable. I could forgive the world being a deformed jigsaw as you could just slap a lore reason on to it. I.e. you're going hollow and can't trust your own eyes. It does provide a ton of weapon variety and bosses but it feels a little overweight. Demon's had trivial bosses but they served up memorable situations. Dark Souls II can't match that. Smelter Demon and Velstadt were top fights and the walk up to the Ancient Dragon felt like something special. That game taught me how to roll, though. Travel light, kids.

Dark Souls III is six weeks away.

[Andrew]

Just finished Dark Souls 2, and feel a bit "Meh" even though I have all the dlc included on the disk don't think I'm going to bother with its.

Ploughed over 100 hours into it and did enjoy it a little but it feels a little bit miss mashed going from one area to another and none of it feels connected to the last area.

Where as in Bloodborne you could see areas in the distance that you had just travelled from or areas you needed to get to etc.

Combat was way to easy most of the bosses I managed to down on the first attempt, hardest part was stopping myself playing the game like Bloodborne.

Dark Souls 3 looks very Bloodborne(ish)

Genuinely excited for its release!!

[Shindig]

The best bit is when they expect you to take a lift from the top of Earthen Peak (You know, the peak of it) straight UP to the lava land of Iron Keep. I will revisit it for DLC purposes and I always look at these games and think I want to do it better.

[Ian]

Just done the first three episodes of Telltale's Game of Thrones. Good stuff, albeit exactly what you'd expect. Though I do like that while it includes some of the series main characters it's not, so far, in a way that has you going "How the fuck would this not have come up in the books/series?" It's just another set of struggles in a world that's going to shit. And that it's jumping between you controlling several characters (more on that in the spoiler below) gives it a feeling similar to the source material as well.

I was genuinely astonished when Ramsay knifed Ethan in the fucking throat. A stroke of brilliance in the writing, that. Even though you're playing as multiple people you just don't expect a player character to die like that.

[Shindig]

http://www.playstationcountry.com/game-review/ironcast-ps4-review/

Yeah, review work's looking like it'll balloon over the next couple of months. Pray for backlog. Also, Final Fantasy X is starting to grab me.

[Dark Soldier]

Now I've done them all, I might as well rank the Souls series from best to worst.

Dark Souls
Yup. It's ran close by its predecessor but the world and lore push it to the top. Contains one of the few bosses in gaming I genuinely fear and a couple of really nice swerves. Bleak atmosphere, too with plenty of build options.

Demon's Souls
In comparison with the others it's the shortest and probably one of the hardest ones for me to get into. My first crack of the whip saw me struggle to get to the third boss after 21 hours. This time around I was into the home stretch in that time. It's arguably got the toughest levels and they haven't perfected the art of shortcuts yet but its probably a Souls game at its most memorable. Most bosses have a trick or spectacle to them which can be figured out and all you have to do is get to them. The guard break on bigger weapons is bloody stupid, though. This weird little shove that completely immobilises you. Also, bad translations and a lack of feedback knack you up on weapons breaking, status ailments, etc...

Bloodborne
It has the most consistent challenge by far. All the others follow a pattern of valleys and peaks in difficulty whereas this feels like leaving one challenge to tackle the next. The lack of weapon variety wasn't initially bothersome but its hampering my impetus to replay it. The combat is the best of the series, though. Being controlled with your aggression, rather than passively waiting to punish an opening just feels more fun and its better to watch. And I'm not sure I want the DLC, still. The bosses look cool but the new weapons are handed out so late in the game that pursing a different build requires an very early rush of it.

Dark Souls 2
Some people are dead against this in some unhealthy ways. I feel its the weakest game but that's mostly due to the game not being so memorable. I could forgive the world being a deformed jigsaw as you could just slap a lore reason on to it. I.e. you're going hollow and can't trust your own eyes. It does provide a ton of weapon variety and bosses but it feels a little overweight. Demon's had trivial bosses but they served up memorable situations. Dark Souls II can't match that. Smelter Demon and Velstadt were top fights and the walk up to the Ancient Dragon felt like something special. That game taught me how to roll, though. Travel light, kids.

Dark Souls III is six weeks away.

Good post Shinners.

RE: DkS Boss you fear: O&S?

[Shindig]

Yup. Its the difficulty spike for me in that game. A better fight than Throne Defender and Throne Watcher, mind. O&S give you some space and time.

[SincereTheRebel]

Should have listened to the reviewers about tony hawks 5. It is terrible. Seriously bad. Easily one of the worst games ive ever played.

[Andrew]

The wait for Dark Souls 3 is killing me, tried delving into Fallout 4 but finding it a bit crap so far...

[Shindig]

Decided to get back into Bloodborne's chalice dungeons. It scales independently from NG+ so I've taken my level 70 character and decided to batter them.

[Andrew]

How far you get into them shindig?

I always get lost and end up getting killed I'd love to find the beast claw weapon as it's the last trophy I need for the platinum achievement.

Have you tried the dlc?

[Shindig]

Never bought the DLC. Might consider it if it goes on sale. I'm in the lower Pnuemru dungeon or whatever. One-shotting most stuff. Mainly going for trophies and seeing if I can get some gems that might make NG+ interesting. Just beat the second Chieftain/Watcher/Something fight.

[Andrew]

Have you seen all 3 endings to get the achievement?

The beast claw I need now for the all weapons trophy and I'll get the platinum trophy.

[Shindig]

Nah, I took the easy option first time around. This refight with Rom's annoying. Pretty low HP but I always get greedy.

[Andrew]

I just saved the game before the final fight and replayed it for all 3 endings.

Just upload the save to the ps+ online and you can get the achievement.

If your good at parrying Gerhman is a pretty easy fight and the Moon Presence boss battle right after him on the alternate ending is the easiest boss fight in the game.

Love Gerhmans weapon you get for defeating him, looks pretty swish switching from 1h to 2h.

I'm really looking forward to Dark Souls 3, looks to be a perfect hybrid of the best of DS and Bloodborne.

[Ian]

I made a start on Pillars of Eternity and I'm very much enjoying it. The character creation is ace which is always a good start for an RPG. Interface is slick, they've spent their kickstarter money in the right places, they introduce you to the controls and stuff in a good way and not with an excruciating tutorial.

I'm also really liking that both during conversations and the little text adventure-esque cut-scenes that everything ranging from your race to your attributes, class and even stuff in your inventory will change which options you get. So for example:
In one another character was about to get done in by a bandit during an escape but it gave me the option of throwing my weapon at the bandit. So I did and it saved the guy... but it meant after this scene was done I no longer had a weapon.

I've also chosen to be a druid so I can turn into a bear which is nice.

[Shindig]

I'm at another grind spot in Final Fantasy X. Being nearly 3/4ths through this kind of annoys me. I don't get much AP from victories but health is 2k at the minute and the game has decided my main healer lass is AWOL. Basically, if you're a female lead in a Final Fantasy, you're a liability.

[Raoul Duke]

I'm on a little Fallout 4 break and am getting started on God Of War 3. I loved the first two and played them yonks ago on PS2, missed the PS3 and have just picked it up now on PS4. Still a cracking game/series.

[Mike]

Anyone playing Stardew Valley?

[Shindig]

Christ. Beat a 20 minute boss, die on the next encounter. No save. Fuckpisscuntshit.

[Disco]

Anyone playing Stardew Valley?

I've avoided it because I fear it would consume my entire existence.

[Andrew]

God of war 3 on the ps4 is a classic it's only bland textures here and there that give it away as a ps3 really.

The boss battles are excellent.

[Mike]

I've avoided it because I fear it would consume my entire existence.

It is pretty sweet. I've just found these too...
http://community.playstarbound.com/threads/pok%C3%A9dew-valley-pok%C3%A9mon-retextures.108431/

[Shindig]

I'm broken. The Bevelle Cloister of Trials is where I stop caring about Final Fantasy X.

[Ian]

Pillars of Eternity is the business.

The conversations are just all sorts of :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I might pick that up in the next Steam sale.

Anything before Summer or is that the next one?

[Mike]

Anyone playing Stardew Valley?

Got some Scarecrows installed yesterday, if you talk to them they tell you how many crows they've scared :D

[Disco]

Stop it Mike, stop tempting me to ruin the rest of my life.

[Mike]

I'm also chasing the affections of the girl who is meanest to me. Got to work for it.

Did you watch the GiantBomb quicklook?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxDh03tqaoE

:wub:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Pre-ordered a game on the PSN which is downloading now but seeing a 2 day countdown clock until I can play it is fucking torture.

Just hide it from me, don't wave it under my nose :(

[Ian]

I might pick that up in the next Steam sale.

Anything before Summer or is that the next one?

There's usually a spring sale at some point these days, I think.

[Shindig]

Salt & Sancturary's downloading for curiosity and review purposes.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just done the first three episodes of Telltale's Game of Thrones. Good stuff, albeit exactly what you'd expect. Though I do like that while it includes some of the series main characters it's not, so far, in a way that has you going "How the fuck would this not have come up in the books/series?" It's just another set of struggles in a world that's going to shit. And that it's jumping between you controlling several characters (more on that in the spoiler below) gives it a feeling similar to the source material as well.

I was genuinely astonished when Ramsay knifed Ethan in the fucking throat. A stroke of brilliance in the writing, that. Even though you're playing as multiple people you just don't expect a player character to die like that.

Just started episode two and:

Maester dickhead says Rodrik will never walk again, then his little sister reiterates that before asking him if he feels he can walk and then him hopping up.

Brilliant.

[Ian]

I wondered whether there's meant to have been a jump forward there. There were a couple of bits later where I felt there must have been and they didn't bother to mention it.

[Patje]

I'm also chasing the affections of the girl who is meanest to me. Got to work for it.

Did you watch the GiantBomb quicklook?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxDh03tqaoE

:wub:

So, Harvest Moon with a different skin.
That one gets added to my list. :D

[Disco]

Harvest Moon but on PC and without all the shenanigans currently surrounding the people who made the good Harvest Moons and the company currently releasing games under the name.

[Shindig]

5 bosses down on Salt & Sanctuary. Its sticking to its '2D Dark Souls' marks and the exploration makes it feel a little like a classic Castlevania. I'm a bit lost at the minute but it has its hooks in me.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/16/oppressor-obsidian-rpg/

The idea of being the "bad guy" is intriguing. I don't think that's really how it's going to turn out but I trust Obsidian to make it interesting either way.

[Shindig]

Man, I hate Salt and Sanctuary with all my black heart now. "Here's a massive, tough area. Checkpoint and boss is at the bottom. Tee hee."

[Dark Soldier]

I'll be streaming that either tomorrow drunkenly, or Saturday when sober, Shinners. It'll give you some pointers.

[Shindig]

Got to the bottom, beat the boss then got to another boss and died. Teleporting enemies have no place in 2D. Especially if they warp into boss arenas. Gimme a shout when you're on.

Actually, fuck it. Its out of my life.

[Ian]

RPS lists space games:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/17/best-space-games/2/

[Ian]

Still loving Pillars of Eternity, though it took me a little while to accept that the quest log simply IS going to get out of hand during this middle stage. The conversation stuff really is brilliant, even though I think it flatters to deceive in places.

Also, I've gone from having literally zero interest in The Division to thinking I might give it a bash at some point. I had it in my head that it was purely multiplayer with a heavy PvP element. I've now learned that the PvP is (mostly, at least, I think?) optional and if you really want to solo it you can. Appealing, potentially as a The Third Hard effort.

[Disco]

I dislike what I've seen of the combat, which I'm guessing is a pretty major part of the game.

[Shindig]

Evolution Studios are done. :(

[Alex]

Also, I've gone from having literally zero interest in The Division to thinking I might give it a bash at some point. I had it in my head that it was purely multiplayer with a heavy PvP element. I've now learned that the PvP is (mostly, at least, I think?) optional and if you really want to solo it you can. Appealing, potentially as a The Third Hard effort.

I'm really enjoying it. I didn't think I would either, but I just picked it up on a whim and I've ended up sinking more time into it than any game I have in a long time.

I've been clearing all the side mission stuff solo and then teaming up with other people for the main missions. Not a set group or anything, just matchmaking with random people on each one.

The PvP stuff as all confined to "The Dark Zone", which is constitutes probably about a third of the map where you can either work together and fight the NPCs or turn it into a big free for all and kill each other. There's better loot in there, and you can steal other peoples if you kill them. It's actually really well done. People tend to just leave each other alone though for the most part.

[Shindig]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjY99zF3_to

Dark Souls III Launch Trailer. Japan gets it tomorrow. The English version's had the go ahead to be streamed.

[Boydy]

I've been playing Deus Ex Human Revolution recently. I'm enjoying it a lot but the hacking is annoying.

[Ian]

Deus Ex. :cool:

I still reckon Invisible War would be considered a cracker were it not a Deus Ex game.

I want Mankind Divided so much.

[Browning]

Just seen the discussion on Telltale GOT. I played it ages ago and really enjoyed it until episode 5 which I thought was horrendously bad and ruined the entire series. It's easy to get those games wrong and leave you feeling like everything you did was a waste of time and that's how it felt for me. Hopefully you both won't feel the same.

[ItalAussie]

I really enjoyed the Telltale version of Monkey Island (and I'm very picky about modern adaptations of games I loved). I'm steadying up to give Sam and Max a go now.

I think I'll pass on the more serious ones though. I prefer my adventure games light-hearted.

[Browning]

The Walking Dead (both seasons) and The Wolf Among Us are both amazing Telltale games, and I'd rather they focus on them than trying their hands at stuff like Game of Thrones and not quite getting it right, for me at least.

However, they are making Batman soon.... that has the potential to be great.

[Disco]

Samarost 3 was released yesterday. :drool:

[Disco]

And the screenshots look as weird and beautiful as ever.

http://i.imgur.com/WF51urL.png

http://i.imgur.com/FwR2B8x.png

[Shindig]

Done with Salt and Sanctuary. Got half-way through the last boss and decided enough was enough. There's maybe 2-3 heavily RNG dependent bosses in the late-game and it really pisses me off. Seeing how they'll make that game marathon safe to speed run will be fascinating, mind. The last boss doesn't give you a moment's rest so your best bet is to tank and hope. Or magic.

[Dark Soldier]

That Dark Souls on Xbox One trick is a joke. Play it in English already, but you have to wait 3 weeks for the official release. Spoilers fucking everywhere.

[Disco]

Regional releases are a joke in general, can it be anything other than willy waving to stagger digital release dates?

[Dark Soldier]

More than likely, but anyone with an xbox one can buy the japanese version, change their region to wherever they are (UK/Germany/US/whatever) and have the game there and playable in full, perfect English.

The main idea behind the staggered date was translation of text, but its already on the store and ready to go. Absolute joke tbf when the majority will have to avoid a ton of sites to avoid any spoilers. Its not the way to sell your game, especially in the modern era.

[Disco]

It really isn't. Also lol at them using localisation as an excuse, that is the definition of weaksauce.

[Shindig]

Yeah, I'm laying off my usual haunts for fear of spoilers.