Ulythium
Full Member
Lily-livered
Posts: 6,681
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Post by Ulythium on Jul 9, 2024 22:26:06 GMT
I finally managed to solo Radagon and his pet jellyfish, so that's Elden Ring NG+ done. Two endings down, one to go - well, technically there are others, but only one more with an associated trophy! - and looking at the wiki, it seems I've left the most complicated 'til last. Still a *phenomenal* game.
In the Soulsborne pantheon, it slots in alongside Dark Souls 1 and 3.
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hicksy
Junior Member
I'm good for some but I'm not for everyone
Posts: 1,549
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Post by hicksy on Jul 10, 2024 20:09:31 GMT
Still Wakes The Deep (PS5)
As good as I hoped and then some. Linear yes but terrific graphics, sound, voice work, setting and unrelenting in its anxiety driven horror. A somewhat tepid finale but not surprising given the trajectory of the story. Perfect length. Yes it’s an interactive walking sim.
(Accounting for the game price and accepting the game type) 8.5/10
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Post by Nanocrystal on Jul 10, 2024 23:32:37 GMT
Endling - Extinction is Forever (PS5)Wanted something a bit different coming off the back of Elden Ring and its DLC, so looked back through my catalogue of free PS Plus games and downloaded a few. This was one of them. A short and simple game where you play a mother fox looking after her cubs in an environment where humans are wrecking everything (it's not exactly subtle about its message). You leave your den to look for food, travelling along set pathways that branch across a decent sized 3D map, avoiding certain threats and teaching your cubs new skills. The cel-shaded art style is serviceable. The story is... ok... it's sentimental and sad and there's actually one very nice poignant moment towards the end that was unfortunately spoiled for me by the game's infuriatingly poor checkpointing, which meant that I had to sit through that unskippable moment four times. The very ending is quite bleak and a bit of a downer to be honest, which is not really much of a spoiler as it's what you'd expect from this type of game. Nonetheless it left me feeling underwhelmed and a bit disappointed rather than the bittersweet feeling the devs were obviously going for. Not as bad as the ending of Beyond Eyes though, which remains the most pointlessly depressing ending of a game's story I've ever seen. Overall, Endling is a fairly tough one to recommend really. It did just enough to keep me going to the end of its fairly short run time (about 4 hours). Give it a go if you want a little palate cleanser between larger and more meaty games.
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malek86
Junior Member
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,150
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Post by malek86 on Jul 11, 2024 4:51:53 GMT
Chop Goblins (PC)
A short shooter by the Iron Lung developer. It works pretty well as bite-sized fun. The goblins are all weird and it's hilarious to hear them go "avenge me!" when they die. For the ridiculously low price, it's a lot of fun.
I do wish it had a sort of roguelike mode with remixed enemy placement. As it is, once you are done, it doesn't give you much of a reason to come back.
8/10
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Post by dfunked on Jul 11, 2024 8:24:33 GMT
Hades 2 early access (Steam) - 9/10 I'm considering it finished as I'm just at the farming ingredients stage now and waiting for them to finish the endgame. Chronos has been taken down multiple times and Eris taken down once Rougelikes/lites really aren't my cuppa, but just like the first one this grabbed me from my first death. It's in a surprisingly complete state so far. There's some noticeable placeholder art for characters later on in the game, and it's missing an actual ending, but there's still plenty there to sink your teeth into. If you've waited this long without biting then you should probably just wait until 1.0 comes out hopefully later in the year, but I had an absolute blast with it and will be dipping back in every time there's an update.
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JonFE
Junior Member
Uncomfortably numb...
Posts: 1,805
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Post by JonFE on Jul 11, 2024 8:50:58 GMT
dfunked I really should play both Hades games! JuniorFE loved the first one; I didn't give it much time (which is a luxury nowadays), but I really should, considering I double-dipped (PC/Xbox) and even got Hades 2 EA...
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Ulythium
Full Member
Lily-livered
Posts: 6,681
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Post by Ulythium on Jul 11, 2024 8:53:33 GMT
JonFE The first game was superb. I'm really hoping that the sequel will come to consoles once its early access period is over!
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Post by dfunked on Jul 11, 2024 9:15:51 GMT
Definitely get stuck in! It's very much more of the same, so might be worth playing the first one now and then giving it a bit of a break until 2 is finished (unless you fancy more of the same straight away of course!)
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Vortex
Full Member
Harvey Weinstein's Tattered Penis
is apparently a mangina.
Posts: 5,183
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Post by Vortex on Jul 13, 2024 12:03:39 GMT
Finished Little kitty, big city a few days ago. It was fun, little bit annoying with the light platforming.
Gentle, but slightly unengaging. Overall, worth a go as a short & light palate cleanser between heftier games.
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hicksy
Junior Member
I'm good for some but I'm not for everyone
Posts: 1,549
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Post by hicksy on Jul 14, 2024 7:24:27 GMT
DPA: House of Ashes (PS5)
Went in to this expecting an average game… but to my tastes it was very good!!
High on action (for a QTA based interactive filmic adventure game) creature feature with good consistent levels of action horror. Likeable set of characters with good acting throughout. Certainly the strongest of the anthology I have played so far in order (3 of 4) and a keeper as I can see myself playing it again in a few years time once the details of the story are faded memories to see if I can save more characters (managed 3 of 5).
Highly recommended for enthusiasts of this genre.
8/10
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zisssou
Junior Member
Posts: 2,338
Member is Online
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Post by zisssou on Jul 14, 2024 18:45:19 GMT
Shadow of the Colossus remake. I held off since release as how could it hold up to the original and it did in some parts. The new controls are welcome, but still has some incredibly infuriating moments that bogged down the original.
I still class this as one of my favourite games despite the frustration, perhaps that’s part of the enjoyment to overcome.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Jul 15, 2024 12:56:04 GMT
I'm finally done with Titan Quest again and have uninstalled it. Perhaps I'm going to come back to it again at some point, but for now it's really time that I got back to Far Cry 2.
I had wanted to use a more developed character to be able to get to the Atlantis and Ragnarök DLCs without delay, but as that ultimately didn't work out, I started over with a pet-based Ritualist and just finished off Ragnarök some minutes ago.
Overall a pretty mixed bag. Ragnarök is by far the larger of the two and is placed as Act V right after Act IV (the old Immortal Throne expansion). I don't have a good comparison on playtime as I did play on Normal speed back then, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was the largest of all acts. They tried to cram in a bit too much, even starting out in a greek city again and requiring the player to do a number of quests before being allowed to leave. It's just a bit too familiar and then after that there is a long section in celtic areas before one eventually arrives in nordic lands and then goes on from there to various mythological realms.
It's all very well done in terms of landscape and the music is also quite good. In fact, I'd say these two are the biggest strengths of both DLCs. Atlantis' pacing wasn't perfect as it starts off in some visually bland areas with little of interest going on. It also has the issue that it is not a continous journey like in Act I or III. Instead one mostly visits various islands and the "african" shore. But it was also much shorter than Ragnarök. The latter on the other hand has a lot of fairly big and often somewhat open areas, so that there is a good amount of backtracking. I felt that the game was usually at its worst when it was forcing the player to slowly fight through visually bland environments and there was definitely some fat that could have been cut.
Monster variety was fine. There are a lot of humanoids and semi-humanoids and such early on in Ragnarök and they rarely stand out mechanically or otherwise. Though my wolves usually ate through any opposition very quickly, so my impression may be somewhat superficial. Overall there were some relatively memorable enemies as well as quite a few reskins. A lot of it did just start to blur together. Atlantis was a little better with more genuinely original models, from what I remember.
Difficulty-wise I didn't often run into trouble even though the early stretch of Atlantis has one pretty nasty boss that led to a few deaths. Strong area-of-effect attacks would often lead to my pets getting killed, but the wolves can be re-summoned fairly quickly.
The story is pretty weak in both cases. Atlantis barely has a story and it only ocurred to the writers towards the end that they needed some kind of bossfight. It honestly seemed pretty random. Ragnarök is much more involved, but also quite convoluted and just not well written. The voice-acting is also pretty bad throughout and somehow massively improved in Atlantis. They tried to go with the original approach of TQ, where people in various areas of the world contributed to the charm of the current area by speaking with a somewhat appropriate accent. But the voice acting is simply too weak here. They also somehow decided that even proper nouns should be pronounced as if they were english terms.
Overall I was fine with them. Not great, but they did a better than expected job with many environments and especially the music was often genuinely enjoyable.
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Duffmangb
New Member
Locust Forever
Posts: 173
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Post by Duffmangb on Jul 15, 2024 13:40:27 GMT
Police Simulator: Patrol officers on ps+ "Completed" as in done multiple shifts across all unlockable locations on map and unlocking a lot of items to use in the day to day life of a rookie cop and several trophies. I enjoyed it, I am happy it was "free" however as it does have numerous bugs and glitches, it also repeats lots of the same dialog and situations, but not enough to take away the fun factor of dropping in for a 20 minute (real time) shift, speaking of which you can do anything from 15 mins to 1 hour, actually may be 90 mins. if I had to score 5/10
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Post by dfunked on Jul 17, 2024 20:21:02 GMT
Callisto Protocol 6.5/10 (SX/GP)
Fairly decent stuff. Combat can be a bit frustrating at times and stealth is utterly pointless, apart from against one specific enemy type. The last chapter made me laugh with them suddenly remembering that this thing is supposed to have an actual story and throwing a load of shit against a wall and seeing what sticks.
It doesn't overstay its welcome, and it looks and sounds absolutely excellent. A perfect bit of GP fodder really.
If anything it made me want to drop it and replay Dead Space instead, but I soldiered on to the end.
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apollo
Junior Member
Posts: 1,439
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Post by apollo on Jul 18, 2024 18:00:55 GMT
Journey to the savage planet: employee of the month aka complete edition
Its on gamepass and played some of it in co-op on psn now/plus when ever it was on there for ps4. The snarky AI gets a bit tiresome although some lines are ok although not as good in single player. As I remember some of the game from before I knew where to go etc. its ok, its gamepass fodder in solo play. Its a shame the port studio didn't improve anything, not that the game needed series X/ps5 only version
Comes with the DLC they released called Hot garbage - a fitting name as its shite. They add a new feature of purple rings that power your jetpack and the game is not built for flying and some arsehat dev thought it was good idea for you to be forced to fly through some rings and get electrified if you go near these vines to get some story pick up and then do it again to get back (I just went back to the menu and reloaded) Also you have to scan 3 logos at 3 bases to progress the story to pad out the DLC as there is fuck all content. To quote the game AI to the devs: you did your best, it wasn't very good, but it was your best
main game 6.5/10 (solo play) DLC - 2/10
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Post by timmywimmywoo on Jul 19, 2024 19:43:21 GMT
Dark Forces Remastered (PC)
I remember reading reviews of this in PC Zone and PC Gamer (I think) as an 8-year-old, and although the Star Wars bug didn't bite me until the remasters of the films (1997? I remember the gold VHS cases), I really wanted this game. Sadly it passed me by - my first Star Wars FPS was Jedi Knight, so this remaster's been a good opportunity to finally play the OG.
And y'know what? It's great. I waited for it to drop in price to about £16, which in retrospect feels about right for the amount of content.
The stand-outs for me were the level design, and actually the swarms of Storm Troopers in the later levels, which you can plough through with the more serious weaponry, feeling incredibly powerful. I only really ended up using a few of the guns (the storm trooper blaster is useful even at the end of the game), and there's not a huge variety in enemies. But the sense of location in the levels is just brilliant, the design is intricate and there were surprisingly few annoyances - I only had to resort to walkthroughs two or three times. The random proximity mines strewn about the levels can absolutely do one though.
The shooting was surprisingly satisfying, and the mouselook in the remaster works well enough. The music was a bit all over the place (apparently the timing isn't right in the remaster), but it didn't spoil the Star Warsiness of it all. I enjoyed finding secrets, although it took me a few levels to realise you have finite lives, and because there's no mid-level saving you do have to be a bit careful at times. I also wasn't a fan of how each level finished by saying 'erm can you press escape and click next mission please'.
I still prefer Jedi Knight's levels, but there's a real charm and quality to Dark Forces - I'm so glad I finally got to play it through. It only took 7 hours, but given how little gaming time I have it still kept me entertained for a good few weeks.
I think playing it in-era with Doom, this would've felt like a viable alternative with a bit more thinking required, and certainly a bit more variety in the levels (including the classic 'oh you've got no guns now').
I'm going to give it... 8/10.
Now I need to work out where to turn for my next singleplayer fix. Maybe Jedi Academy, maybe the System Shock remake...
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Tuffty
Junior Member
Posts: 3,374
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Post by Tuffty on Jul 20, 2024 6:47:24 GMT
Tomb Raider 2 - 7/10
It's funny to come back to a game which you know you enjoyed, but it's that long ago that you can't even really remember why. Going in, I remember there being levels in Venice and Tibet but there's a very clear gap inbetween that I couldn't remember anything on. Well it turns out there's a good reason as the Oil Rig/Shipwreck levels seemed to go on too long and weren't particularly interesting. The game leaned way too heavily into combat for my liking too, felt like each level had you killing more enemies than the entirety of TR1. Wasn't a fan of how the game would just put you in situations you had no control over. Like you can see through a window into a room and see it's empty only to walk in and have a guard swinging at you around a corner. Or you'll have 2-3 guards spawning behind you and shooting without giving you a chance.
Level design and puzzles were generally good, though the shipwreck levels were by far the worst. The Remaster had the same issue were key items or locks have a habit of blending too well into the environment or hidden in shadow, which adds annunnecessary level of frustration. In all, I don't think I prefer it over 1, but it was good to go back and revisit it. Now moving on to TR3, a game I know even less about other than a jungle level (the first one) and an Antarctica level.
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Post by starchildhypocrethes on Jul 21, 2024 18:23:55 GMT
Trails of Cold Steel - 8.5/10
92hrs later and fuck me, I actually completed a JRPG! This is almost unheard of and probably says more about the game than anything I could type out.
Once you get passed just how thirsty everyone is for the main character and the weird thing the game seems to have for brothers and sisters, the characters, story and word-building is fantastic. The combat system is really nifty too and I just really enjoyed the whole thing.
On to the next one!
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Post by heavysalad on Jul 21, 2024 19:13:03 GMT
Nobody Wants To Die - 7.5/10
Looks very pretty. At times felt a bit more like a tech demo than a proper game. Gameplay was fine for what was essentially a glorified walking sim/visual novel. Story was engaging enough, without being really gripping. I liked the setting and noir feel of it. Finished in just over 5.5 hours, which was fine for the price point I think. I think I got a bad ending, which might have knocked half a point off the score as it didn't feel that satisfying.
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Post by richyroo on Jul 22, 2024 11:11:32 GMT
I also just finished Nobody Want's to Die 8/10
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Along with Still Wakes the Deep, two of my favourite games this year have been walking simulators.
The investigations were really cool, think 'Detroit Become Human' and how you could rewind/fast forward. This same mechanic is used in Nobody Wants to Die, but the whole room changes around you when you do this. It looks really cool and is quite impressive at times as you watch gun fights & explosions while conveying the scene from all angles.
Graphically the game was excellent. It conveyed a much larger game world than it actually is.
I also got the 'bad ending', I hear most people get this on the first playthrough. Although I am not one for happy endings, so that was fine with me.
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hicksy
Junior Member
I'm good for some but I'm not for everyone
Posts: 1,549
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Post by hicksy on Jul 22, 2024 11:48:27 GMT
Glad you enjoyed it heavysalad & richyroo - definitely on my list
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Post by andytheaverage on Jul 22, 2024 12:48:09 GMT
I've been playing a lot of old games over the last 18 months.
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 - hard to decide which was my favourite as I loved them both. By far the best JRPGs I've played. Going to play 9 next as I only played it for a couple of hours on initial release.
Half life - the first 10 hours puts pretty much every FPS to shame in it's level design and story telling, but the final 2 hours leave a bit of a bad taste.
Goldeneye - never played it when it first came out. Some of the levels are a bit shit and it's spectacularly ugly, but really enjoyed it still.
TimeSplitters 2 - I loved this back on the PS2 but didn't expect it to have aged well. The controls were a bit awkward but it was surprisingly good still.
Broken Sword 1 & 2 - 2 is good, but 1 is the best ever point and click game in my opinion.
Curse of Monkey Island - good but not as good as MI2 (or Broken Sword).
James Bond Nightfire - started this for a bit of nostalgia, but it's aged surprisingly well, apart from the submarine level.
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 - absolute classic, probably even better than 2 (or at least on par). I was really looking forward to 4 too but wasn't a big fan of the change in level format so I never completed that one.
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Rich
Junior Member
Posts: 1,943
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Post by Rich on Jul 22, 2024 13:19:59 GMT
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 - hard to decide which was my favourite as I loved them both. By far the best JRPGs I've played. Going to play 9 next as I only played it for a couple of hours on initial 9 is a better game than 7, though 7 probably has the better story. 8 is a horrible mess on all fronts and I will die on this hill.
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Post by andytheaverage on Jul 22, 2024 13:42:29 GMT
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 - hard to decide which was my favourite as I loved them both. By far the best JRPGs I've played. Going to play 9 next as I only played it for a couple of hours on initial 9 is a better game than 7, though 7 probably has the better story. 8 is a horrible mess on all fronts and I will die on this hill. The draw system can be a bit annoying, but I played the remasters with the X3, no random battle and invincibility options, which I used to quickly do the boring grindy bits. I played the main story/bosses etc. properly though
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Post by richyroo on Jul 22, 2024 13:59:40 GMT
andytheaverageFinal Fantasy IX is probably my favourite FF game, it is just so charming with such memorable characters. The story can get quite dark at times too. If you liked VII and VIII, then you are in for a treat.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jul 22, 2024 14:50:12 GMT
Played the living shit out of Time Splitters 2 and Nightfire at uni. the latter had surprisingly great multiplayer.
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Post by dangerousdave on Jul 23, 2024 11:26:54 GMT
I still Play TimeSplitters 3 on Series X, though the second game is the pinnacle of the series.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Jul 24, 2024 4:33:43 GMT
I finished Greed - Black Border (10 hours) yesterday.
It's a rather basic ARPG with a token dodge mechanic. Not sure what happened there as the game the same studio made before that - Avencast - actually had dodge mechanics which worked and were pretty important. In Greed though I never used the dodge as it felt awkward and had a long cooldown. It makes the gameplay less engaging and it doesn't help that Chapter 1 is quite long and takes place in the fairly dull interiors of a spaceship.
There are three character to choose from, which have a main weapon and different skillsets. Playing with the Pyro (short range) the main weapon did eventually get replaced two times, but it still used a very similar firing pattern. I'd assume it's handled similarly for the other characters. It's better than nothing, but definitely not great and neither is the itemization.
The story was quite basic as well and it ends on an unnecessary cliffhanger. But the game actually looks decent and the soundtrack is serviceable as well.
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Duffmangb
New Member
Locust Forever
Posts: 173
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Post by Duffmangb on Jul 24, 2024 5:26:05 GMT
Completed Dishonored Definitive edition on xbox a few days ago, loved it all over again, shamefully still finished in high chaos! for the first time I am playing through the dlc's well at least the 2 story expansions. Completed The Knife of Dunwall this morning, really enjoyed it, only took me around 4 hours. Moving on to The Brigmore Witches today.
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Post by rhaegyr on Jul 24, 2024 9:20:09 GMT
Pikmin 4
Really enjoyed this one.
Stuffed with content and properly opens up/gets tricky when you hit the post-game content (which in all honestly is around half the game) after a fairly easy ride. It's so incredibly moreish and the dog as a tool is genius. Great variety of modes.
Special mention to a side-quest which mimics the original game - loved the stripped back simplicity of it.
Only downsides are the limit to three different Pikmin types at once and visits to the hub area breaking the flow of the game too often - just let me play the bloody thing!
8/10
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