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Post by theguy on Aug 1, 2022 22:10:35 GMT
Batman Origins via PSNow. 7.5/10 It's not quite the standard of the Rocksteady games which I really loved (even Arkham Knight) but it's still enjoyable being in that world. I couldn't put myself through more Riddler nonsense though so only did about 15% of his mission. Surprised someone else hasn't came in and taken up the Batman mantle, did the games not sell well? I liked Origins as well. I remember some of the level design being pretty good, boss fights were also better than some of the stuff in the main trilogy. The games sold very well iirc. Rocksteady just created a fitting ending for the series though and I don't think they really knew what to do with it after that. The upcoming Gotham Knights game is just an extension of the Arkham formula, but I've no idea why it's taken WB this long to try it.
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Post by dangerousdave on Aug 3, 2022 7:37:28 GMT
Power Wash Simulator (Game Pass)
There's not much more to say that hasn't been said already. It's way more enjoyable than it sounds. There's just something very satisfying about slowly cleaning something. Washing away strips of dirt is like pulling protective plastic off a new phone or tv screen.
Its also better with a cup of tea and a podcast. That way the other half of your brain is still being stimulated, whilst the first half is getting some visual therapy.
Personally I recommend the Off Menu podcast, but gaming ones work well too.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Aug 3, 2022 8:02:45 GMT
Tomb Raider (2013) Had a lot of fun with it in the end The story is bobbins. The villain is rubbish and makes no sense given his motivation for all the horrible shit he's done is to get off the island and Lara just destroys the queen's body at the end and achieves literally that. And would it have been that bad to just settle on the island? They have food, water, cool ruins to explore and new people all the time, even women if he didn't keep killing and sacrificing them. Her mentor sacrificing himself to save her had me rolling my eyes - just so cliched. The fight against the samurai at the end was great though and they didn't throw in a big final boss for the sake of it which I appreciate. The end was just really well done
The game is sold really heavily on the survivor angle but it didn't really work for me and seems to be an excuse to knock Lara about every 5 minutes. It was fun to play though and the action sequences were enjoyable, even if some of them went on a bit long. After half an hour of things constantly blowing up around me, I couldn't remember why they were blowing up in the first place. Probably because Lara's solution to any problem is to destroy something. The challenge tombs and general exploration were good. Way too many collectibles, like 3 or 4 different types for each area, some, like the GPS things, just the most generic collectible you can imagine with no purpose whatsoever, especially when their location is already drawn on your map. Ignored most of it
Decided to skip Rise for now and go straight to Shadow as from what I can tell Rise is more action focused and Shadow tombs/exploration. I've played a little bit and the opening sequence of Shadow is better than anything in the first game. Lara is older and more confident, which is great. Playing on Hard so no white markers to tell you where to go, no puzzle hints or survival vision (thank god). Already a huge improvement. Looking forward to playing more of it
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2022 9:10:28 GMT
Stray
Charming little game that looks and sounds great, and the cat animation is spot on. Very simple but kept it short so didn't outstay its welcome.
7/10
Can see cat owners giving it another point.
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Duffman5
Junior Member
big cook, little cook welcome to our cafe
Posts: 1,332
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Post by Duffman5 on Aug 3, 2022 13:40:58 GMT
Stray Charming little game that looks and sounds great, and the cat animation is spot on. Very simple but kept it short so didn't outSTRAY its welcome. 7/10 Can see cat owners giving it another point. ...amiright
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Post by Samildanach on Aug 3, 2022 23:46:04 GMT
Romancing Saga 2 (on phone)
I'm not really a phone gamer so this one has taken many years to beat. The Saga series is the weird stepchild to the golden boy of Final Fantasy, but there is no denying they have their charms. This one had the usual sparking skills, non-linear storyline and very obscure and deep turn-based gameplay. It also has the series tradition of an absolutely brutal final boss, basically a battle that you spend the whole game preparing for, rather than the Final Fantasy last bosses that are a mild challenge only if you don't over-level. It's story and translation are pretty bare-bones but the music and updated graphics are nicely done.
So that makes just the original Romancing Saga, Saga Frontier and the new Scarlet Grace that I haven't played in the series. Perhaps I'll finish one in another 5 years?
7(Heroes)/10
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Post by Nanocrystal on Aug 4, 2022 2:29:11 GMT
Final Fantasy XIV Online (PS5) - 10/10
If you're a fan of Final Fantasy games who hasn't tried this because it's an MMO, and you don't play MMOs, this review is for you.
I "completed" this about a month ago, in the sense that I finished the main story questline of the most recent expansion, Endwalker. The Endwalker story also finishes off the main story arc of the game and all of its expansions up to this point. I wanted to give it a bit of time before putting a review together as it was a mammoth experience and my playtime sits at 600+ hours. I consider that time very well spent. Probably about half of that was doing side content such as sidequests, raids, optional dungeons, and some gathering and crafting. Really, this is five full Final Fantasy games (at least) that tell a single story.
Which brings me to the biggest strengths of this game - the story and characterisation (things that I think have been sorely lacking in recent mainline FF games). Be warned, though, the plot starts slow. The first 50 hours are a bit underwhelming and can feel repetitive, and the voice acting is dismal at times. But these 50 hours serve to slowly and gently introduce you to the world, the various systems and MMO aspects, and in hindsight the game does an impressive job in establishing things, including events, characters and plot points that are important hundreds of hours later.
As soon as you hit the first expansion, the quality starts improving significantly across the board, including the voice acting, cutscenes, level and dungeon design, and storytelling, and these improvements only continue to accelerate as the game progresses. By the time of reaching Endwalker, the game has established a huge cast of distinct, memorable and lovable characters each with their own backstories and relationships to each other. You will cheer when certain characters get their heroic moment, you'll laugh at a particular look one character gives another knowing the history between them, and you'll well up during the emotional pay-offs (of which there are many). You'll end up sympathising with, or even rooting for, characters who you previously hated. And you'll be impressed at how well the various plot threads are brought together and resolved in a way that is extremely satisfying on both an emotional and intellectual level. It manages to be epic and very personal storytelling at the same time.
Another strength of the game is the music. Each expansion brings about two hours worth of original score and although you'll inevitably keep hearing certain songs over and over, the quality is consistently high and many themes are reused in smart ways (e.g., with a more chilled remix of a theme that plays at night time).
So, what about the MMO aspects that may put some people off? I went into this having never played an MMO before. The learning curve is very shallow and you'll spend the vast majority of the game essentially playing solo. However, you will regularly encounter quests where it's mandatory to team up with other players and cooperate (though I understand the developers are intending to patch in new systems that will eventually allow the whole main story to be played through solo). I was a bit scared, at first, to play with others, being new to MMOs and finding the mechanics and visuals overwhelming or confusing at times. But the community is incredibly helpful, welcoming and polite, and there are lots of useful resources such as tutorials and a mentor system (I never felt the need to use the latter, but it's there). There are also heaps of online guides to the multiplayer dungeons and raids that you can watch to give yourself a bit more confidence before going into them.
I initially intended to ignore the more intimidating optional multiplayer content, such as the 24-player raid dungeons, but in the end I totally got into them and had a great time teaming up with random players and learning the boss mechanics. You can over-level for much of this content, making it a bit easier, but you still receive the rewards. The Nier Automata raid series was particularly fun, visually stunning and a real treat for fans of that game.
Playing on console was pretty painless. Solid 60fps on PS5, though some textures look a little ropey (these will soon be patched I believe). The game features a fully customisable HUD and it's worth spending time on this to set it up in a way that works for you. It's fairly easy to map your various skills and spells to controller buttons in different ways. Some of the jobs (character classes) are easier to learn and master than others, and you can switch between them seamlessly and without any penalty, so anyone can find a playstyle that feels comfortable. I invested in a small wireless keyboard for communicating with other players, but this is only really necessary for things like raiding. You can use M+K on console, but I found the controller to be perfectly fine even for some of the harder content.
So what didn't I like about the game? My main criticism would in fact be the cost of it. That feels a bit unfair to say as the free trial version is one of the most generous "demos" I've ever seen, with literally hundreds of hours of content (base game plus first expansion), and it's a brilliant way to dip your toe in and have a go without making any commitment. But having to then pay essentially a full game price for later expansions in addition to the monthly fee felt like a lot. I think it should have been one or the other. That said, I have no regerts and do feel like I got my money's worth.
Other minor criticisms would be the occasional long queue times for multiplayer content (though you can do side stuff like crafting while you wait), the jarring change in voice actors going into the expansions (the quality of the acting improves massively, I just would have liked the new actors to go back and voice the base game content too), and the slight over-reliance on "they're not dead after all!" in the story telling.
The TLDR: this is right up there with the best FF games, with a brilliant and cohesive, character-driven story, and if you haven't tried it just because it's an MMO and you think you only like single player games, you're truly missing out. Give it a go, you will thank me.
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Post by uiruki on Aug 4, 2022 12:12:55 GMT
I tried it and had to stop after ARR when it was just forcing me into raid after raid. I’m not touching it again until all forced group content is gone, which I accept may well be never. It was fine but at no point did I enjoy the feeling that I was being carried by other players or slowing them down, however true that may be, and frankly everyone was so overlevelled they just sprinted past me as tank as they didn’t need to care - the final quest in ARR was the worst as everyone just sprinted to the end.
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Post by Nanocrystal on Aug 4, 2022 12:24:54 GMT
Yeah that final ARR mission (Praetorium) is a low point in terms of the multiplayer experience, especially with the unskippable cutscenes. The alliance raids at the end of ARR are mandatory for a good reason, they set up a key character. After that it's only really 4 man dungeons and the odd 8 man trial that you have to do. But the further you get in, the less you feel like you're being carried by people who are way over-levelled. As I said, I started out preferring to go solo and enduring the multiplayer bits but ended up finding some of the later raids to be the highlight of the game for me, gameplay wise at least.
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Quasi
New Member
Posts: 162
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Post by Quasi on Aug 5, 2022 1:34:58 GMT
Decided to skip Rise for now and go straight to Shadow as from what I can tell Rise is more action focused and Shadow tombs/exploration. I've played a little bit and the opening sequence of Shadow is better than anything in the first game. Lara is older and more confident, which is great. Playing on Hard so no white markers to tell you where to go, no puzzle hints or survival vision (thank god). Already a huge improvement. Looking forward to playing more of it Shadow has a lot of action, too (and a lot of fetch quests), as you may have learned by now, and Rise is a much better game altogether. Also, if you thought the story in 2013 was ridiculous, buckle up for what this one is going to throw at you. That said, the discrete "tombs" are actually fantastic, so be sure to seek them out!
I recently completed Raft; a bit funny, since I didn't even know you could do that, going in. Though it initially seemed like a sort of cartoony Stranded Deep you could play with friends, one of its many, many surprises is that it is, basically, a single-player game with a story you progress through. And that story—and, really, that sense of progression—makes Raft feel like a proper adventure rather than a simple game of survival and crafting.
It's not perfect, though. I had the good luck to start the game after the "final chapter" update, and the story locations it added, while not bad, feel stretched thin compared to what came before; particularly what was previous the "final" location, a real showstopper. There's also less stuff to discover, they added platforming and boss battles(?!) into the mix, and the game's earlier bad habit of letting you gather mission items before knowing why you'll even need them occurs even more flagrantly. The endgame doesn't ruin things, and I know this was made by a small studio, but it is disappointing that the place you're searching for the whole game doesn't even feel that special. I'm hoping that update wasn't quite a final as they said.
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Post by Nitrous on Aug 5, 2022 4:28:28 GMT
Stray
Nice and simple game that looks and sounds great. The cat animations are really well done but despite it being a short game I'd had enough by the time it ended.
I found all the collectables within 6-7 hours but I'm not going back to attempt the speed trophy for the plat.
7/10
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Post by Chopper on Aug 5, 2022 12:17:21 GMT
Monster Slayers, a deckbuilder which predates Slay the Spire but has all its moreish qualities.
I completed the game with all 12 default classes, on Normal difficulty. There's also a Legendary difficulty and some trophies for doing all 12 on that but I'll come back to that in about ten years.
Superb game, best 1.49 I spent in a long time. It's on all platforms, so keep an eye out for it. Would be really nice on the Switch or Deck.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Aug 5, 2022 17:42:19 GMT
Shadow has a lot of action, too (and a lot of fetch quests), as you may have learned by now, and Rise is a much better game altogether. Also, if you thought the story in 2013 was ridiculous, buckle up for what this one is going to throw at you. That said, the discrete "tombs" are actually fantastic, so be sure to seek them out! I'm up to the second village and I'm loving it so far. I've spent far more time just exploring and solving puzzles than in combat. The combat has been great though. Rather than enemies streaming in like in 2013, encounters tend to have only a handful of enemies and you have a lot of options for how to take them out. The pacing and ratio feel just about right
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malek86
Junior Member
Pomegranate Deseeder
Posts: 3,176
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Post by malek86 on Aug 5, 2022 20:57:02 GMT
Monster Bash HD (PC)
Another remastered Apogee platformer of old. But this one never had the same precision as the puzzle-oriented Secret Agent. It's a bit more like a console game, with some Commander Keen thrown in for good measure. It's good fun, but with issues, like the zoomed camera, the difficult to avoid enemy damage, and the occasionally bland level design. Not to mention, some very annoying stages in the last chapter.
7/10
Guess this was the last of the trilogy. Maybe we'll see more in the future, but there isn't much they could remaster now. Hocus Pocus? Lords of Chaos? Probably not worth it.
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Post by Samildanach on Aug 5, 2022 22:47:49 GMT
Dragon Saber (Arcade Archives PS4)
The 1990 sequel to Dragon Spirit and retains all the good and the bad of the original. The fantastically inventive worlds are the highlight with top class music for the time. Once again your dragon has aerial and ground shots to take out respective targets as well as cracking eggs to get power-ups like multiple heads. I would fricking love these two games if they gave you a fast dragon with a small hitbox to deftly weave between the mayhem...but oh no, its got to drain you of all your quarters as your lumbering monolith dies again and again from some enemy/bullet scenery clipping the most distant pixel on your outstretched wing or tail. It is such a shame, because the gameplay would have been SO good if it was how I would prefer, but it is a game of its time, and the concept of a hitbox much smaller than the sprite had not yet been done. At least I eventually saw the credits (by save state spamming) unlike the horrendous last section of Dragon Spirit (PC Engine).
Graphics, soundtrack and general awesomeness: 4/5 Goddamn pain-in the arse hit box and slow ship 1/5 Final score 2.5/5 then.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2022 9:07:51 GMT
Finished RE7 last night. Man. I bloody love that game.
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Post by drhcnip on Aug 7, 2022 14:11:21 GMT
recent completions:
as dusk falls - 8/10 resi 3 remake - 8/10 deliver us the moon - 7/10
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Post by drhcnip on Aug 8, 2022 8:41:22 GMT
and the forgotten city - 7/10
both that and deliver us the moon surprisngly better than expected
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Post by theguy on Aug 9, 2022 9:23:19 GMT
Flipping Death
Nice little game. 2D, you solve puzzles by possessing different people who each have a specific thing they can do, which helps you achieve your larger goal per the few levels. Nothing too taxing but engaging enough with some decent moments. You switch between worlds when you possess a body, though both worlds are flipped versions of each other. There aren't really any unique gameplay twists using this, it's more just to give you 2 areas to run around in with different gameplay elements in both.
As for negatives, writing is hit and miss, the same bgm plays in most levels which gets tiresome and the controls are very floaty. Part of it is probably to try and fit the quirky tone but it just doesn't feel great to move around. Also wish there were more unique levels, some are just areas you had before but expanded a bit with new characters. Still, it doesn't outstay its welcome and I had fun with it. Was only £2 or so in the PS sale.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Aug 9, 2022 10:30:38 GMT
Sonic Mania
It's a good, if a bit cheaty making it exactly like Mega Drive Sonic, Sonic game
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2022 10:38:04 GMT
Aunt Alison I miss John's smiling face. Bring him back.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Aug 9, 2022 10:43:11 GMT
If you can find me a gif of John playing in the water, I'll use it. In the meantime, I hope this can raise your spirits
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2022 10:57:16 GMT
No. It's just made me violently sick.
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Post by Aunt Alison on Aug 9, 2022 11:01:11 GMT
Hopefully at least your mood was lower than feeling violently sick before that
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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 Aug 9, 2022 16:05:05 GMT
Catch up post…
Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) - main game + expansion
Main Game - 9/10 Rarely have I played a game with such a fantastic progression and sense of growth of power on the backdrop of a great story. The open world they created is stunning in most every aspect and the gameplay wonderful. I had a bit of burnout after reaching the northern isle and getting to the middle of it but took a break for a couple of weeks and came back to finish it and all in from there to the end which was so enjoyable headed straight into the Expansion.
Expansion - 10/10 A masterclass of content perhaps better paced across the map than parts of the main game. Different enough I style while still familiar and a continued growth in powers. Again a great story.
Overall - 9.5/10 One of the best open world style action games I have played and highly recommended to all - exceptional in almost every aspect, if I had a small criticism it would be that some of the villages felt a bit copy paste in the main game and I would have liked the ability to affect conversations and some outcomes rather than it all be scripted. That said what a script it was!
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Post by Aunt Alison on Aug 9, 2022 16:09:27 GMT
hicksy!
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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 Aug 9, 2022 16:14:37 GMT
Mass Effect Trilogy (PS5)
2nd play though since finishing the original games but with limited dlc so wonderful to play through them again with close to complete dlc and such good performance.
ME1 - 9/10 Showing it’s age a little now especially with the mako sections but still a fantastic start to the trilogy when everything felt so fresh as the universe opened up and the beloved characters began to arrive. Still terrific.
ME2 - 10/10 The best of the trilogy IMO and the most committed in terms of story development and best dlcs. Masterful and standing the test if time.
ME3 - 8.5/10 Perhaps a product of the time as the cover shooter dynamics of design and a little cloying at times especially with the “drop and rescue” style short missions but still fairly playable if a little dated and clunky now. Perhaps the most epic in scale of all main storys in final delivery and while quite dark in tone still some great nods to the fans along the way and.most of the beloved team are along for the ride.
ME Trilogy - 9.5/10 (even now) - we can only wish for future games of this ambition and scale which such impeccable delivery - the very pinnacle of rpgs still
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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 Aug 9, 2022 16:25:51 GMT
Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5) - 9/10
After sitting tight for long time for the PS5 version it was worth the wait as played out the game in a good finished version and came across few bugs and only one occurrence of a broken quest after trying to complete the steps in the wrong order requiring a reload of an old save.
What a game world Night City is a terrific selection of characters you meet during the main story and many side quests along the way. Very adult in tone and took a while for the gameplay style to gel but once it did could not for the most part get enough of it and left me looking forward to the expansion.
Didn’t mind JS for the most part and at times felt truly next gen how they blended the action scenes into such a complex rpg world,
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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 Aug 9, 2022 16:33:43 GMT
Dark Pictures Little Hope (PS4 on PS5) - 6/10
An improvement over Man of Meden imo played solo in both so no opinion if coop style improves. Pretty oppressive at times adding to the tension. Gets a bit predictable through the middle of the story and not the most original of settings but enjoyable for the most part none the less. Good enough to keep on going with the Anthology.
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Post by steifybobbins on Aug 11, 2022 21:25:49 GMT
The Portal Collection (Switch)
I know, I know, praising portal is boring but I just have to. I Had an absolute blast from start to finish. Clever, funny and perfect in short bursts or long sessions. Valve really do, do brilliant world building and just great games.
10/10
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