What Game Are You Playing Right Now?

Mr. Charlie · 09-06-2015, 05:34 PM

Bought a copy on eBay for £30 so happy days. If it's s**t you three owe me £10 each for bad advice.

Crudivore · 09-07-2015, 10:51 PM

Batman Arkham City. Really enjoyed the 1st one, but this is seriously starting to piss me off.

Two Spirit · 09-10-2015, 04:27 PM

Been grinding through the Uncharted series for the first time. I'm currently halfway through the second one, and I can see why it's rated as one of the best gaming franchises of the past decade.

LoathsomePete · 09-11-2015, 09:52 AM

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (2015)

I finally decided to move on from Dark Souls one and onto it's sequel. The whole "Scholar of the First Sin" thing is sort of a fancy "Game of the Year" edition however it was made for the new consoles in mind so the game received a bit of a facelift and apparently they have changed up enemy spawn locations and added new ones to different areas. As far as I'm concerned that's the way to do a Game of the Year edition, all the DLC and enough new stuff to keep things interesting.

As far as the game itself, well after coming off 200+ hours in Dark Souls I had to laugh that my first death was because they remapped the jump button to the left analog stick which is somehow worse than when it was just the B button. Control issues aside it's pretty much identical and the differences come down mainly to a couple of things. It's actually kind of interesting how they varied things up for the sequel because it seems like for every thing they've "fixed" something else has gone away in return. So your weapons and armor now get repaired every time you rest at a bon fire yet now they degrade even faster. Another change they've added is that you lose 5% of your maximum health when you die and go hollow and can only get it back by going human, yet the items you need to do that can be a little rare so it adds this feeling of immediacy when you're stuck grinding in an area or going up against a hard boss. This is kind of helped by the fact that enemies won't spawn if you grind an area too much, which I find of a patronizing but I do see the purpose of it. For example I was getting stuck at this area called "No-Man's Wharf" where I had to fight my way through a decent amount of baddies just to get to the boss room and along the way probably used up half my estus flasks (oh you don't get 10 charges off the bat, only one and you have to upgrade it with estus shards) so having some of the enemies not spawn does make that a little easier but still does feel a little patronizing, like the game is taking pity on me.

The game definitely feels a little easier than its predecessor because in my 2 hour session last night I managed to beat 2 boss battles with very little difficulty. In fact the hardest area I've been in so far is this really tight corridor with three enemies all with fast attack knives. That said though, I don't think the game has abandoned the core players that loved the original and I do think there's a good balance in this to make it a challenging experience for me.

Mr. Charlie · 09-11-2015, 10:05 AM

I found Dark Souls 2 disappointing compared to the first, especially the level and enemy design, but then the original is a masterpiece and near impossible to live up to. What I do like about Dark Souls 2 is the much improved multiplayer.

LoathsomePete · 09-11-2015, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Charlie

I found Dark Souls 2 disappointing compared to the first, especially the level and enemy design, but then the original is a masterpiece and near impossible to live up to. What I do like about Dark Souls 2 is the much improved multiplayer.

From what I've heard a lot of the creative aspects found in Dark Souls is present in Bloodborne. So far though I'm enjoying Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin quite a bit, the game runs very well and looks gorgeous maxed out. I'm also happy that they've actually made darkness a core aspect rather than just the token acknowledgement of it like in Tomb of the Giants. I definitely haven't been that interested in the enemy design though, pretty much just been hollow soldiers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and giant knights in armor.

Mr. Charlie · 09-11-2015, 12:48 PM

Yeah, Bloodborne shares the original Dark Souls' clever level design, short cuts, and area connectivity. Should it ever come out on Steam, I highly recommend it. It's very Dark Souls like in some ways, yet the simple omission of the shield completely changes the way you have to play and approach the game. It's a very compelling and engaging experience.

The Batlord · 09-12-2015, 01:01 PM

Just bought this in my new quest to explore horror games. Annoying that I had to install the game onto my 360, leaving my old-as-**** system with less than a gig of space. I know this is because a lot of newer games are made for the next gen systems, making it necessary to install them on last gen ones, lest loading times become all-consumingly awful. I guess I should just be grateful that game developers are actually releasing next XBone games on the 360, or else god knows when I'd ever get to play them.

The text is also so small that I'll probably go blind trying to read anything, which makes recognizing door codes you get from terminals an absolute bitch. Half the time it's so hard to make anything out that I don't even try.

Luckily I've watched Markiplier's and Pewdiepie's playthroughs, so I won't have to miss out on the stories you get from the terminals, but it's still irritating. Unfortunately it also means that I know the plot of the game and some of the tactics I'd otherwise need to discover through trial and error.

But I imagine nothing will detract from or prepare me for the stress of dealing with the alien, so it's all good. I'm just looking to piss myself. Will make sure to smoke a giant bowl just before the alien finally appears. Weed makes me paranoid, so I'm sure I'll be absolutely terrified.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crudivore

Batman Arkham City. Really enjoyed the 1st one, but this is seriously starting to piss me off.

How can you not like Arkham City??? I love the first one for it's dark atmosphere and setting, Metroid-style game advancement, tight story and pacing, and use of Batman's rogues gallery, but the open world setting of Arkham City, improved combat system, and likewise awesome story, were brilliant as well. Absolutely love that both games are so different.

The setting wasn't as consistently immersive (the Penguin's museum and R'as al Ghul's underworld city being the obvious standouts), but it actually made it feel more like a Batman story. Also loved that after every plot section the enemies in the city would respawn and I could spend an hour taking them all down again -- some people might find that too tedious to do every time, but I loved it, and it added an element of RPG grinding that my OCD nature jerked off to.

Also loved that the Riddler trophies actually meant something other than just collecting **** for a 100% completion. And the addition of puzzles made the whole enterprise far more entertaining.

I do wish that the story had concentrated more on R'as al Ghul though, and less on the Joker. It made the central plot feel less important, and the endgame less climactic than it should have been. I love Mark Hamill and the Joker as much as the next Batman obsessive, but it felt like Rocksteady wanted to (over)use him just to milk DC's cash cow villain. Not that I didn't love the Joker's plotline, but it still took away from what the core story should have been focusing on.

I dig Arkham Asylum maybe a bit more, since it was more immersive, but Arkham City has more replay value. But both games are essential to me, and even if I still traded in games, I'd never even consider getting rid of them. Arkham Knight is actually the game that will single-handedly make me get an XBone over a PS4.

P.S. Is Arkham Origins really as broken as they say? I know it's not supposed to be as good as the first two, but as a Batman/Arkham junkie, I still feel the need to play it. I'm just worried that the epic bugs will make it unplayable.

Key · 09-12-2015, 08:35 PM

Diehard Dungeon

Picked this up from Steam for .99 and I am loving it. It sort of adds the mutation aspect of Nuclear Throne into a room by room generation / rogue like along the lines of Binding of Isaac. The 16 bit graphics style also works really well, and the music alongside it compliments the game really well. So far, a pretty good game to play when I don't really know what else to play.

The Batlord · 09-12-2015, 08:40 PM

Pretty sure I'm at the part in Alien: Isolation right before the alien drops out of the ceiling almost directly on top of you and the game really begins. I hate video games so much right now and I don't wanna do this. I'm going for a cigarette.

09-11-2015, 09:52 AM	#7894 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (2015) I finally decided to move on from Dark Souls one and onto it's sequel. The whole "Scholar of the First Sin" thing is sort of a fancy "Game of the Year" edition however it was made for the new consoles in mind so the game received a bit of a facelift and apparently they have changed up enemy spawn locations and added new ones to different areas. As far as I'm concerned that's the way to do a Game of the Year edition, all the DLC and enough new stuff to keep things interesting. As far as the game itself, well after coming off 200+ hours in Dark Souls I had to laugh that my first death was because they remapped the jump button to the left analog stick which is somehow worse than when it was just the B button. Control issues aside it's pretty much identical and the differences come down mainly to a couple of things. It's actually kind of interesting how they varied things up for the sequel because it seems like for every thing they've "fixed" something else has gone away in return. So your weapons and armor now get repaired every time you rest at a bon fire yet now they degrade even faster. Another change they've added is that you lose 5% of your maximum health when you die and go hollow and can only get it back by going human, yet the items you need to do that can be a little rare so it adds this feeling of immediacy when you're stuck grinding in an area or going up against a hard boss. This is kind of helped by the fact that enemies won't spawn if you grind an area too much, which I find of a patronizing but I do see the purpose of it. For example I was getting stuck at this area called "No-Man's Wharf" where I had to fight my way through a decent amount of baddies just to get to the boss room and along the way probably used up half my estus flasks (oh you don't get 10 charges off the bat, only one and you have to upgrade it with estus shards) so having some of the enemies not spawn does make that a little easier but still does feel a little patronizing, like the game is taking pity on me. The game definitely feels a little easier than its predecessor because in my 2 hour session last night I managed to beat 2 boss battles with very little difficulty. In fact the hardest area I've been in so far is this really tight corridor with three enemies all with fast attack knives. That said though, I don't think the game has abandoned the core players that loved the original and I do think there's a good balance in this to make it a challenging experience for me. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

09-06-2015, 05:34 PM	#7891 (permalink)
Mr. Charlie Shoo Thoughts Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: These Mountains Posts: 2,308	Bought a copy on eBay for £30 so happy days. If it's s**t you three owe me £10 each for bad advice.

09-07-2015, 10:51 PM	#7892 (permalink)
Crudivore Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 51	Batman Arkham City. Really enjoyed the 1st one, but this is seriously starting to piss me off.

09-10-2015, 04:27 PM	#7893 (permalink)
Two Spirit Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 332	Been grinding through the Uncharted series for the first time. I'm currently halfway through the second one, and I can see why it's rated as one of the best gaming franchises of the past decade.

09-11-2015, 10:05 AM	#7895 (permalink)
Mr. Charlie Shoo Thoughts Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: These Mountains Posts: 2,308	I found Dark Souls 2 disappointing compared to the first, especially the level and enemy design, but then the original is a masterpiece and near impossible to live up to. What I do like about Dark Souls 2 is the much improved multiplayer.

09-11-2015, 12:48 PM	#7897 (permalink)
Mr. Charlie Shoo Thoughts Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: These Mountains Posts: 2,308	Yeah, Bloodborne shares the original Dark Souls' clever level design, short cuts, and area connectivity. Should it ever come out on Steam, I highly recommend it. It's very Dark Souls like in some ways, yet the simple omission of the shield completely changes the way you have to play and approach the game. It's a very compelling and engaging experience.

09-12-2015, 08:35 PM	#7899 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	Diehard Dungeon Picked this up from Steam for .99 and I am loving it. It sort of adds the mutation aspect of Nuclear Throne into a room by room generation / rogue like along the lines of Binding of Isaac. The 16 bit graphics style also works really well, and the music alongside it compliments the game really well. So far, a pretty good game to play when I don't really know what else to play.