Topic: What are you playing?

[oohhboy]

Yeah AAA stories are pretty creatively bankrupt, usually pulling straight from the movies without any real consideration for the transition and willingness to go for cheap shots. *Looks at COD*. There is a reason why people dislike Far Cry 5 for needlessly removing player agency just to have a cut scene, a game where player agency is the bedrock.

There are stories that only work inside a game for example Deus Ex series. If you try to translate that back into a more tradition media it doesn't work as the story isn't just in the text but in player actions. The story is embedded into the level design, each air vent, the walls you punch through or computer hacked, newspaper read. The story is co-operatively authored by you and the game creator. They are also unique in that every plot line, the what ifs are equally valid.

If you translated a Deus Ex play through the movie would be a mess as player agency depending on game skill JC/Adam would be a badass spec-op or keystone cops. Deus Ex removes morality leaving that to the player by allowing you to kill just abut everyone which means the movie version would show our protagonist as some sort of next level confusion psycho arbitrary killing everyone in their way one minute then taking great efforts to save people. The movie must make the choice right from the very start.

Bizarre games embrace their excuse plots like Machete kills, Commando, Hobo with a shotgun. The connective tissue for those games is the gameplay reinforced by the environment's ambience landmarked by bosses. Contra 3 Alien Wars as a movie would have the audience walking out of the theatre at the experimental absurdity while as a game it's badass. Part of this came from the old material that came with the cart where they felt obliged to give it more plot for whatever reason so you had nonsensical blurbs about what you are doing.

The thing with most happy games is that for most part there isn't much of a plot, it's excuse plot in it's maximum purity. The princess has been kidnapped, rescue her in the next castle. You either rescue her or you don't. There is no message, no morality, no alternate takes, just point A to B. There is nothing to be sad about other than your own failure to make it through a level. *Insert flying controller*

It the case of Tetris I am not sure why you call it a happy game or any thing to do with story. It's ambience. Is a jigsaw puzzle a "happy game"? eh? It's more meditation than anything else.

[Evan_B]

Well, I'd say Tetris is an arcade experience, designed around score-chasing. It does have a level of rhythm and nuance that allows players to get into a groove- I think some of the most successful arcade games do have this, as falling into a pattern is far more cathartic and engrossing than games that constantly interrupt your flow.

Reaching a state of flow is often the objective in arcade-style games, however, and it can also be seen somewhat in rogue-like experiences. It's a term I often associate with momentum, where the player is engaged enough to keep gameplay flowing at an enjoyable and and well-executed rate. Sometimes, flow is achieved very easily thanks to developer intent and game design- Super Mario Bros. and its 2D platforming ilk often come to mind as an example, as their controls are responsive and have an intrinsic logic to them. In contrast, the newer Donkey Kong Country games are designed to have an unfamiliarity to them, requiring chaining of inputs and combinations of techniques that feel uncomfortable or alien for players who are familiarized with Mario's platforming systems. The result is all the more memorable because of it.

RPGs are often a pretty fascinating case study of flow, as they gradually layer on skills and abilities made to assist in reaching flow while also having loot and gear systems that artificially hinder flow.

...I'm rambling.

[oohhboy]

Arcade games among others tend to put me in a meditative state or as others might call it "The Zone", "the perfect play", Zen.

You become one with the game, your response can become unreal, capable of super human feats in precision, speed, perception, foresight and focus unfazed by outside influences. If not super human definitely well beyond what you think your limits are. I have rarely reached states where the game or sports seemed to slow down or saw the future in perfect clarity as if it was now.

This is completely different from immersion where you buy completely into the reality of the work presented to you during the running time. This transcends all mediums. Have you ever gotten lost reading a book or poem? Fully invested in your imagination of the world driven by the author? Shed a tear to death of a character as if they were real?

[segagamersteph]

I guess I can agree with that assessment. I just don't normally put this much thought into what makes me happy. Tetris is bright, colorful, repetitive, fun music, has a happy ending (I play the Game Boy version)I guess it has a story but it's not essential to the enjoyment of the game.
I feel things. I got hurt a lot in life. I avoid media experiences that put me back into those experiences. I actually do get inside the medium, the story, that is why I avoid anything that makes me hurt.I am damaged. I make no secret of that. Remove that, remove my personal experience and discuss story in games, I can give that a shot.

I avoid them for those reasons. But, I can comment on the ones I am familiar with.
Mortal Kombat comes to mind. The original arcade game presented a mythology I was fascinated with. It was the characters and the story that drew me in. The violence was therapeutic but the story is what kept me coming back.
In the original arcade game the story was depicted using static cut scenes. It was enhanced by the game play but it was possible to play the game and not care about the story, or even pay attention to it at all.
I can also think back to Centipede. The story for that game was told in the instruction book. Giving the protagonist a reason for needlessly shooting insects for no good reason made it more interesting. Most people can get motivated to kill insects without motivation. I think, maybe those of us who remember a time before video games had a story aren't as drawn to the ones who do because we've been spoiled by pure video games where the game play was all that mattered?

[Adrock]

I put some time into Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Iā€™ve been playing on Veteran. Iā€™m tempted to look up if there are bonuses for playing on Veteran. If not, Iā€™ll switch to Casual. I got to Stage 4. Iā€™m definitely a post-Symphony of the Night Castlevania fan. I struggle with platforming when there are Medusa Head-like enemies flying around.

[Luigi Dude]

I put some time into Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Iā€™ve been playing on Veteran. Iā€™m tempted to look up if there are bonuses for playing on Veteran. If not, Iā€™ll switch to Casual. I got to Stage 4. Iā€™m definitely a post-Symphony of the Night Castlevania fan. I struggle with platforming when there are Medusa Head-like enemies flying around.

The later stages really ramp up the platforming difficulty so switching to Casual might be preferable to you.  Especially if you try a Zangetsu only run since some of the checkpoints are character related so Zangetsu only reduces the amount you'll get in the levels.

[broodwars]

Started playing some Vampyr last night (the latest game from the Remember Me & Life is Strange Devs), and so far I have really mixed feelings about this one. The game is kind of the embodiment of "Euro Jank": a very thoughtful & deep construction of an interesting world w/ interlocking mechanics, but it also runs like garbage."

I really dig how the different NPCs play off each other in realistic ways with interlocking relationships. If you're playing Evil, you're exploiting those relationships to add more XP to the pot those NPCs award when you decide to drain them. If you're playing what Vampire: the Masquerade deemed "the Path of Humanity", you're doing sidequests; curing citizens of their ailments; & gaining that info for miniscule XP that keeps you in the game since you're not embracing anyone. It leads to a very living world.

Unfortunately, then you get into combat, easily the worst aspect of the game. It plays like a half-assed Dark Souls, but is so easily exploitable that I'm taking out guys 14 levels higher than me simply by isolating & stun-locking. This hurts the moral choice aspect of the game because I'm not feeling tempted to drain the NPCs. I'm getting along just fine without them.

The game world is also incredibly annoying to navigate: sometimes you can bampf over to a far off platform or high ledge, and sometimes you can't for purely arbitrary reasons. The environment is also FLOODED with locked gates and doors, leading to both a great deal of frustration getting lost in the city AND hilarity because it brought back memories of running into " JAMMED!" and "WON'T BUDGE!" every 5 seconds in Clive Barker's Undying. I literally spent 1.5 hours circling through the city trying to get back to the starting location because I missed one door off to the side that was the original way I got in. And all during this, the game is easily running at sub-30 FPS with LONG load times.

Oh, and you can only spend your XP when you rest for a night in a safehouse, which doesn't sound bad until you realize that this game's world functions on a hidden timer, with NPCs dying of illness or assault unless you find & aid or cure them first. So you can do what I did last night, running around the city doing quests & racking up 4,000 XP, rest for a night so I can raise my level from 6 to 12, and then suddenly the game tells me that a citizen I never saw died of an illness during the following day, and now their story content is just gone. It's a goddamn trap.

So yeah...that's Vampyr. Now I'm looking at starting over because  trying to keep all the citizens alive my 1st play through.

[NWR_insanolord]

I've been playing a lot of N++ lately. I've finally completed the Intro section, which is 25 sets of 5 levels, and am now moving on to the next part. The "really hard short-level platformer" is a genre that's very strong on Switch, but this one is refreshing for not focusing as much on speed as some of the others. It's a very deliberate game that's more about building the right kind of momentum than blasting through at top speed. Getting all the gold pieces can be really tough, especially in a certain few levels, but I keep getting drawn back into it.

[Evan_B]

I've been trying to sink time into Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Challenge Mode, but it's been very difficult. I caught a bug recently, and its wormed my way into my heart. Now, I come to talk about Hollow Knight.

Quite frankly, I adore this game. The moodiness and atmosphere is just sublime, probably one of the best aesthetic combinations I've seen in a long time. The OST matches the mood of every area almost perfectly. The combat is methodical and fair. The exploration is constantly rewarding, yet melancholy and isolationist, even with a diverse cast of NPCs. This, people, is how you do Metroidvania.

I have played so many attempts at the genre- if you can even call it a genre- honestly, I prefer exploration-based action platformer. Too many rely on kill rooms and over-extended linear design, sometimes using character progression in all the wrong ways. Not Hollow Knight. The difficulty isn't as brutal as Dandara thanks to the amazing Soul System, which grants heals in a way that can prolong extended fights and rewards aggression. It's map is expanse, but uses a combination of purchase-able maps and player curiosity in order to extend the experience of discovery. The economy is just extremely valid yet completely balanced by the "regrets" system.

I could go into the actual level design, which is just brilliant and looping in ways that I loved about Atooi's Xeodrifter but on a much greater scale. I could touch on the enemy design and attack patterns. I could talk about the lore. But I don't want to give too much away. This is a game that needs to be played, and I am so glad I chose to hold off on watching gameplay and reading any spoilers. Hollow Knight is a delight.

[Order.RSS]

I've been trying to sink time into Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Challenge Mode, but it's been very difficult. I caught a bug recently, and its wormed my way into my heart. Now, I come to talk about Hollow Knight.

Is this the one that's really difficult or am I confusing it with Ori in the Blind Forest?

[Khushrenada]

Hollow Knight is the game that AdmanAbou says in his review of it for this site:

I have ā€œso frustratingly hard that I cannot recommend this gameā€ angrily scrawled in my notes, and the quest for the true ending remains locked behind a stupid, cheap, BS fight with a giant mantis whom I hate so, so much.

That said, he did give it a 10 so he ended up recommending it after all but that doesn't negate that fact that he found it quite difficult.

[Evan_B]

Yeah, Iā€™m not entirely sure I agree with that assessment, but the way this game cushions Death (in a similar fashion as Dandara) makes it feel much more manageable. Dandara often felt like smacking your head against a brick wall, this one feels more like sponge.

[broodwars]

I beat the 1st 2 bosses in Hollow Knight, and I don't much care for the game. The absolutely idiotic way the game handles its map system just makes every new area feel like you're aimlessly wandering until you find the map seller & a bench. It's Dark Souls-level of punishment without Dark Souls' more forgiving check pointing & navigation.

[Evan_B]

Iā€™m sorry you donā€™t enjoy being lost.

[segagamersteph]

I tried to download Pokemon Quest and it told me my phone is not compatible. I downloaded it for the Switch instead. I might try to put some time into it later this weekend.

[lolmonade]

Since it's a demo/teaser for Life is Strange 2, not sure if it belongs here or "last game you beat" thread, but I played through The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit last night.


I'm a little frustrated after having gone through it.  Based on the trailer they released at E3, I was hoping for a departure from Life is Strange's generally downtrodden/heavy narrative choices.  It was definitely a bait-and-switch, as you're playing a child Chris who lives in a tiny trailer home with his father, a broken alcoholic man after the loss of his wife.  A child who uses his imagination as a coping mechanism for a lost mother and an at-best absent father.


It's still a good experience if you like LiS, but instead of giving you a guided narrative with step-by-step actions to take, they give you a list to do and let you do it in order. you choose  I clearly ran into some of the emotional gut punch stuff early, which put a bad tone on the silly/fun stuff you do on the list afterwards.  Think they could have better made it a crescendo if they gave you an order to complete the tasks in.


Still recommend.  Still a good thing to spend a couple of hours with, and definitely whets my appetite for the 2nd season.  Just think the trailer they released threw me off my expectations.

[broodwars]

I just finished Captain Spirit as well, and I found it rather tedious and pointless. The checklist design of the game just emphasizes how the game is all about aimless wandering. I actually got stuck for a long time because I couldn't find one of the key items to complete Chris' costume. I had to look up online where it was because I got tired of walking through the same 3 areas in circles for an hour.

When the actual plot arrives after 2 hours of aimless, boring wandering, I just rolled my eyes because it's the obvious storyline for a single father who recently lost his wife & succumbed to alcoholism. It's so by-the-numbers & blatant it makes David Cage look subtle by comparison.

The ending teases something actually interesting happening in Life is Strange 2, which tells me nothing because that's kind of the minimum one would expect from a sequel to Life is Strange.

Meh. I like adventure games, but I like them to have a point & tempo and this really...didn't have that.

[lolmonade]

I just finished Captain Spirit as well, and I found it rather tedious and pointless. The checklist design of the game just emphasizes how the game is all about aimless wandering. I actually got stuck for a long time because I couldn't find one of the key items to complete Chris' costume. I had to look up online where it was because I got tired of walking through the same 3 areas in circles for an hour.

When the actual plot arrives after 2 hours of aimless, boring wandering, I just rolled my eyes because it's the obvious storyline for a single father who recently lost his wife & succumbed to alcoholism. It's so by-the-numbers & blatant it makes David Cage look subtle by comparison.

The ending teases something actually interesting happening in Life is Strange 2, which tells me nothing because that's kind of the minimum one would expect from a sequel to Life is Strange.

Meh. I like adventure games, but I like them to have a point & tempo and this really...didn't have that.

Yeah, it was telling the thing was hidden in the "Demo" section of PSN, rather as a game.  Maybe they felt like since it had its own isolated story of sorts that they could tout it as something more, but this is very much a Demo for the 2nd LiS game.  It's missing decisions that actually seem important, and it's a very quiet story even by LiS standards. 


I told my friends to use a walkthrough if they want to play it, because I had that very same problem you did with the costume.  I found all the costume items, but overlooked you having to hold L1 (or is it R1?) to open up the special "Captain Spirit" button prompts  you need to.  The marker was a little too subtle for me until I was about halfway through.  Not only that, but the padlock and phone passwords seemed a little too obscure for me to figure out.


I kinda disagree with your characterization of Captain Spirit's story (especially that it's David Cage-ian, if we're using that as a pejorative).  LiS 1 used pretty typical tropes too (Chloe being an angsty rebellious teen after losing her dad/constant struggle with the stern Man her mom is dating/lots of the Blackwell student population fitting into typical cliques), but the well-thought out parts of the storytelling has always been around the character building that comes form you exploring, having your character observe and make commentary on things in the environment, how the characters interact with you and the decisions you make, and those choices also giving a tilt to the kind of personality the protagonist has.


I'd suggest Captain Spirit is a half-success in that regard.  Chris' character is well developed, he's a believable child in that situation, struggling with the loss in his own way that a child would - deeply affected by his Mother's loss and his father's absence/abuse, but resilient.  He loves his father because any child that age would, even in those circumstances, which makes it heart wrenching if you choose to try and be helpful.  Both this and David Cage games like Heavy Rain use the mundane tasks as part of the story, it's there for pacing as well, but especially in LiS games, it's all about how you build the characteristics of the protagonist.  You can choose to go to breakfast the first time your Dad calls out to you that breakfast is ready, or if you dawdle, the third time he'll threaten you if you don't come out.  You can choose to do all the chores your dad should be doing as the parent, or run out and start your play, you can cover for your Dad when the neighbor comes to the door, or you can not try, you can call out your dad on his daydrinking, or you can be quiet about it.  You can sneak a cigarette, or not touch them.  Things that don't have consequence in the larger story, but all small actions that build the larger tapestry of the character you're playing.


Was the game fun to play blind and trying to fumble around blind?  No.  If you find a site to give you a step-by-step of how to progress the demo, I think it's worth going through to whet your appetite, and has some tough moments (I teared-up when you find the secret treasure, it doesn't hurt that Chris reminds me a lot of my oldest son). 


What I'm really curious about is how the demo ended.  Are we to believe that Chris awoke some power in a tense moment to save himself?  Or was his neighbor kid who witnessed it actually the one with powers?  Is this going to be about a younger set of kids than LiS1 and more like the age of the kids from Stranger Things, or is there going to be a time skip from this demo so they're teens? 


Either way, the table is set for LiS2, and i'm looking forward to the full game, which I expect will have less of these problems.




Looks like I had this game on my mind more than I thought.  Sorry for the dissertation.

[ShyGuy]

I'm still playing Battle Chasers: Nightwar and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. The back half has started to get grindy though, so I hope it doesn't detract to much from the game.

[BranDonk Kong]

Donkey Kong Country (original, SNES). Classic game, forgot how hard it is...I think I'm at 22%.

[broodwars]

Been playing a fair amount of Switch stuff lately, but I already talked about Splatoon 2 & its DLC in the official thread.

One thing I didn't expect to get really into was the Mario + Rabbids DK DLC. I kind of bailed on the main game towards the end of the 2nd world just due to all the other stuff there was to play, but I got the season pass back when the game came out so I figured...sure, why not try the DK DLC since I own it anyway and it's standalone.

It's interesting. It addresses some core issues I had with the main game (the multi-battle gauntlets & the really stupid upgrade system) while creating new ones (i.e. the game railroading you down a series of battles with the occasional puzzle & no optional challenges until you beat the game). I feel like focusing on 3 characters leads to maps being better-designed to make you really learn the characters. It's also way easier than the main game is, IMO.

I'm towards the middle of the 4th & final chapter of the DLC, but it's well-made. Some of the Perfect requirements in that chapter are really insane, though.

On the PS4, I was always curious about Gundam Versus as a casual fan of Gundam (i.e. 8th MS Team, 0083, Gundam Wing, & Gundam Seed), but I'd heard that it was nowhere near worth full price. Well, the game went on sale today at GS for $20, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Wow, this game is bare-bones: challenge stages, horde mode, & online. That's it. They also spent a whole $5 on the localization, as all the dialogue is in Japanese with NO subtitles outside of your helper character (who just spouts the same 5 lines regardless of the situation). I'm surprised the menus are even in English, Bandai gave so few ****s. There is a tutorial mode that pretty much involves just scrolling through pages of text and then destroying a 1 HP enemy when you want to move on. The in-game UI has no button prompts telling you what icons on your screen represent which buttons.

One thing I was not prepared for is that the game still has to do an install after it does the main PS4 install. Oh, but don't worry, the game will throw you in a combat arena to beat up on a couple of AI opponents while it takes 10 minutes to do the second install...while the same 30 second loop of the terrible original 70s Gundam theme song blares in the background. On top of that, the game doesn't even try to teach you have to play the game. You just hammer buttons & eventually figure out how the controls work.
Oh, but I hope you don't take that 10 minutes of required play as an example of how all the mobile suits play...because while the RX-79 you play in the install period has a pretty basic move set, it's also the only suit I've seen that plays like that. If you like a particular suit from a particular series, be prepared to spend a lot of time learning how to play it. I assumed that 8th MS Team's RX-79 Custom would play like the RX-79 original, but no. It doesn't. It's a range-oriented build where you swap between equipment in your backpack to switch between mid-range & long range attacks. You only have a token charge attack with your beam saber. Seed's Strike Gundam has 3 different modes you switch between for aerial combat, melee combat, & ranged combat. Etc.


Combat is pretty basic: drop into a combat arena, the enemy drops into the arena, and then you attack the other suits until they're dead. It's quick & arcade-y, and there's charm in that. For $20, you could do worse.
Oh, but I hope that you're not a G Gundam fan, because both of its suits in the game are DLC. Because.

[MagicCow64]

Crash Bandicoot Trilogy: Recootered (PC):

As far as I can recall, I never touched this series on the original Playstation platform, so I figured I might as well dip my toes in after condescendingly dismissing it for years.

I'm nearing the end of the first game and . . . yeah, I was mostly right so far. When it's 2D it at times approaches the level of okay-ish Donkey Kong Country clone (right down to the jungle theme), but the "3D" levels range from annoying to awful, particularly the bridge, boulder chase, and animal riding outings. Having to break all the boxes in a level to get the gimgam is an obnoxious hook in a forward-momentum-based design like this, and as far as I can tell the game doesn't explain what the gimgams do or which levels have alternate paths (that also prevent you from getting all the boxes on first runs without indicating why). The Cooter himself also doesn't feel great to control, I'm assuming because it's kind of an awkward middleground between 2D and 3D movement that has to work for both styles present in the game. There is still something a little compelling about a challenging, semi-competent platformer, though, which I've been starved for. Supposedly the sequel is a big improvement, so I'll give that a shot at least. As of now, though, particularly given the mash-up of shiny HD graphics and very limited gameplay, I'm reminded of junky games my nephews play on their tablets.

[ejamer]

Freedom Planet (Wii U)


Haven't played a real game in a while, but enjoyed dropping a couple of hours into this silly romp over the weekend. It controls very well, with bright and fun graphics. Individual stages might be a bit too long, and (despite aiming for a "so good it's bad" story) the narrative is mostly just bad. The ridiculous voice acting is entertaining though.


Really glad to start playing this, as it seems to be just what the doctor ordered: a welcome return to fun in gaming after playing many games that took themselves too seriously.

[ShyGuy]

I tried Prey and I kinda like it. Feels like Deus Ex meets Bioshock.

[broodwars]

I've been playing Unravel 2 off & on since it released at E3. I just finished it, and it's...OK, I guess? It's certainly pleasant, gorgeous to look at, and a MUCH faster game than the first Unravel. It also feels like it features a lot more swinging on hooks Bionic Commando-style & less physics-based stuff than the 1st game did.

Where I feel like the game falls flat on its face is the story. It makes no goddamn sense. Something about kids escaping an orphanage & taking down an evil logging company, which results in a forest fire? Hell if I know. The story's so spectacularly vague, it could be a lost Captain Planet episode. That's especially weird because Yarny was a metaphor in the 1st game for the threads that bind us to others over our lives, and we followed a family over the course of their lives. But Unravel 2? I have no idea what this game wants to say, because the text pop up that appears before the credits seems to have nothing to do with what I saw & did over the course of the game.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Unravel 2, but despite it being a better "game" this time it feels like it lost a lot of what made the 1st game memorable.