Author Topic: What are you playing?  (Read 688793 times)

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline Gingerbeer

  • Score: 1
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1800 on: June 11, 2020, 08:26:20 AM »
I really enjoyed the Steamworld Dig games and Heist! I have Quest but haven't played yet.

For me, right now I'm playing Divinity Original Sin 2. I picked it up on Steam a while back (you know the buy the game because it's on sale thinking you want to play it one day). Played it for a few hours and it seemed like it could be something I would like and so many excellent critical reviews and fans singing its praises, so then I bought it on Switch for cross-platform saves. It's definitely much prettier on PC but having it on Switch will help me sink in much more time which will help immensely for a game like this.

It's quite different from my normal gaming tastes and I haven't played D&D since the 1990s. So I'm definitely feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the systems and options - reading a few different guides and hints/tips sites but don't want to ruin the experience exploring and experimenting. I'm still very early on in the game and it hasn't truly captivated me but I'll definitely stick with it for a while longer yet - but at this stage I really can't tell whether I'll stick with it all the way through.

Is there anyone else here who's played it on Switch or elsewhere?

Offline Adrock

  • Chill, Valentine
  • Score: 138
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1801 on: June 21, 2020, 11:26:41 PM »
Indivisible (Switch)

I didn't realize I would receive both a digital and physical copy of the game. I downloaded the game thinking I wouldn't get the physical copy until July or August. I got it in the beginning of June.

Finally booted this up. It's pretty good so far. I'm not good at combos, and there wasn't really a training section. A lot of battles require combos such as breaking an enemies shield. It isn't especially forgiving as you can waste whole turns dealing like a single point of damage. There's a quick tutorial in the beginning with Ajna's father showing her how to block attacks, but he doesn't offer to do the training again. You would have to restart from the last checkpoint. I thought that was little weird.

The battle system appears pretty deep so there definitely should have been more guidance. Indivisible's battle system is like a souped up version of Valkyrie Profile's (unless I forgot the complexities of the latter). Holding a direction and the attack button does a different move for every party member. I just reached the third area, and I've only recruited six other characters. Having to remember every party member's moves has proven to be pretty difficult especially since thus far, you can't farm experience. You fight the enemies that show up. I'm not getting a lot of practice unless you count all the times I've died.

The graphics are fine; I like how colorful the world is. The backgrounds are noticeably simple with the art direction doing the heavy lifting. The music is great so far. The voice acting is uneven. The cutscenes are odd. Indivisible has a really gorgeous animated opening. With the crowdfunded budget the game had, there was no way Lab Zero Games could animate every cutscene. That said, some scenes have splash images with some minor animation while others are merely dialog on the gameplay screen with character portraits appearing with dialog boxes. It's really inconsistent because some are fully voice and others aren't. I understand not voicing every NPC. However, not every playable characters is voiced in their introductory cutscene which was weird. Not a huge deal, but I would have liked more consistency.

Offline ejamer

  • Does he even know Khushrenada?!?
  • Score: 24
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1802 on: June 30, 2020, 09:59:04 PM »
So I've been bumming around playing Hexyz Force (PSP). This Atlus-published RPG was developed by Sting Entertainment, and sounded promising enough... but it's been a bit of a slog. The story and characters are (frankly) pretty bad, and the localization hasn't done it any favors in my opinion. That isn't to say the game is bad - it's not - but it's been almost entirely unremarkable. Perhaps it's a case of misplaced expectations, or the way I'm playing isn't the way it should be played, but the overall experience so far has been mediocre at best and a let down over all.


Which brings me to some happier news: I've started digging into Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (3DS) again and am just constantly reminded of how much I love this game. Playing on 3DS isn't the best way to go about it in my opinion - the small screen just doesn't convey the sense of scale and grandeur that you get from a bigger view on the Wii or Switch versions... but being able to play the game on a portable system at all is amazing.

Thanks to Khush for brining it back to mind with recent posts here: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=28408.700
NNID: ejamer

Offline Khushrenada

  • is an Untrustworthy Liar
  • NWR Junior Ranger
  • Score: 38
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1803 on: July 02, 2020, 01:04:18 PM »
Which brings me to some happier news: I've started digging into Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (3DS) again and am just constantly reminded of how much I love this game. Playing on 3DS isn't the best way to go about it in my opinion -  but being able to play the game on a portable system at all is amazing.

Thanks to Khush for brining it back to mind with recent posts here: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=28408.700

I'm just such a bad influence on these forums.  8)

I've actually popped in my 3DS copy to see the difference between that and the DE and what the 3D effect is like. I actually learned something new for use in the Switch version I'm playing by doing that. I also can't help but wonder if getting XC to work on the 3DS was another factor in getting Nintendo to the Switch since you had a portable able to run a huge game like that which was still quite current. It just seems like at that point the ability to just make console gaming equivalent to portable was pretty much there for them and now it was a matter of making it work with third parties also.
Whoever said, "Cheaters never win" must've never met Khushrenada.

Offline Luigi Dude

  • Truth Bomber
  • Score: 4
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1804 on: July 11, 2020, 11:51:35 PM »
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2

Well I'm not sure what to think so far.  Two years ago I praised the first one for being the remake of Castlevania 3 that IGA always wanted to make.  Now this game is a more of the same sequel with some new character added.  The new characters are really fun to control and each is quite different from the last.

So on paper I should be loving it.  The problem is this game fucking hates me and anybody I might have every known as well.  I'm sure it hates whoever is reading this as well.  The difficulty is just insane and not always in a good way.  I finished Episode 1, and those last few stages were just bullshit.  The game is obsessed with literally putting you in situations where you're next to a bottomless bit, with an enemy shooting projectiles at you, and a flying enemy swooping down at the same time.  Some sections literally require you to keep track of enemies coming from both sides and the top, and if you don't have the right character and sub weapon equipped on that character you're fucked.

I have to wonder if because some complained that Casual mode was too easy in the previous game, Inti Create went our of their way to make it way more challenging in this game which as a result turns Veteran mode which I prefer to play into cheap BS mode.  Of course, I have to imagine some of these area's are just as cheap in Casual since some of the level design feels like Inti was trying to create another Mega Man Zero or Gunvolt game, and didn't realize the jumping mechanics of classic Castlevania do not fit that type of level design.

Oh well, I do like a good challenge and maybe after completing the later episodes I might appreciate the game in the end but right now a lot of the challenge feels more on the cheap side then fair, which is kind of disappointing since the original did a great job of being very accessible with it's regular mode while offering a good challenge with stuff like doing a solo Zangetsu run that was hard but still fair.  This game literally punches you in the face and steals your car by the halfway point of what should be the easiest part.  It makes me fear what's in store for me in the later Episodes.
I’m gonna have you play every inch of this game! - Masahiro Sakurai

Offline pokepal148

  • Inquire within for reasonable rates.
  • *
  • Score: -9967
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1805 on: July 17, 2020, 06:16:56 PM »
Hypnospace Outlaw Played on PC. Also available on MAC and I believe Linux. It doesn't seem demanding at all so pretty much any PC that you have that's in any kind of active use in the year of our lord 2020 should be able to run it.

This game is weird and wonderful. You play as an enforcer who moderates what is essentially a miniature Geocities thing. The game kind of relies on you having some kind of nostalgia for late 90s internet culture but even for someone like me who is way too young to remember any of that, there is plenty of great humor and writing throughout the game help carry the experience.

It's a bizzare experience and I don't want to go too into detail because I feel like doing so would risk spoiling things but the game has some really good logic puzzles, incredible writing, and more than enough charm to make it worth checking out.

What really strikes me about the game is how authentic it feels. The various hypnospace webpages you interact with feel like they were actually written by different people even though they were probably written by the same one or two people, the fake 90s era operating system the game is built around feels like an actual operating system and you can even "download" files and catch fake viruses on it (which in turn requires you to get a fake anti-virus).

Offline NWR_insanolord

  • Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor....DAMN!
  • NWR Staff Pro
  • Score: -18986
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1806 on: July 25, 2020, 04:13:55 AM »
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

The original Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is one of my favorite games, so I've been looking forward to the western release of the remake for a while. This is also the first time I've played a HM/SoS game since playing Stardew Valley, which makes for some interesting comparisons.

While this game includes quite a few quality of life improvements compared to the original, it's still missing a couple things that I'd become used to because of Stardew. The biggest adjustment, even though it seems like a relatively minor thing, is going back to having your sold items picked up at 5 p.m. instead of overnight. Largely, though, it's pretty faithful to the spirit and overall structure of the original, but with some very nice updates in areas that prevented me from enjoying it as much on the Virtual Console, like inventory management and being able to walk over crops.
Insanolord is a terrible moderator.

J.P. Corbran
NWR Community Manager and Soccer Correspondent

Offline Adrock

  • Chill, Valentine
  • Score: 138
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1807 on: November 28, 2020, 05:59:41 PM »
Resident Evil 4 (PS4)

Hot take: Resident Evil 4 with traditional controls does not hold up. I haven’t played the game with a traditional controller since like 2005. Now that I’ve tried, woof. It’s difficult going back. I almost want to say the controls are actively bad by 2020 standards. I’m tempted to dust off the ol’ Wii U just to play it with motion controls again. I feel like I started replaying Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition in 2013/2014 and thinking it held up.

There’s a rumor going around that Resident Evil 4 is getting the remake treatment similar to Resident Evil 2 and 3 (ignoring Code Veronica for some reason). I don’t know if a full remake is necessary. However, Capcom could have gotten some extra mileage from Resident Evil 4 if it went out of its way to add at least the Type D controls from Resident Evil 5 (though all control types would have been preferred). That would have made a world of difference.

Resident Evil 5 (PS4)

Still holds up. The better frame rate is *chef’s kiss* It also still kind of sucks playing single player. I won’t dock points from the game as it was built for multiplayer, and I’m too cheap to pay for PlayStation Plus.

Offline nickmitch

  • You can edit these yourself now?!
  • Score: 82
    • View Profile
    • FACEBOOK!
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1808 on: December 06, 2020, 03:13:46 PM »
I don't normally like rogue-likes, but I've really been enjoying Hades (Switch).  I don't have much to say about it that Jonny didn't already say on the RFN live episode.  I picked it up because of the praise and GOTY attention it got, and I don't regret it.  I recently got past the second boss on a run that I didn't think would go the distance, but I had some of my favorite boons and finally worked a strategy for it.  That moment kind of sealed it for me because I honestly went into that run thinking "Guess this'll be to just grind for stuff" but then it turned into "teh urn" for me.  I'm still a ways off from escaping, but I really like the loop of progressively getting stronger or unlocking random stuff/seeing dialogue with each attempt.
TVman is dead. I killed him and took his posts.

Offline MagicCow64

  • Still no title
  • Score: 9
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1809 on: March 19, 2021, 07:22:34 PM »
NSO NES and SNES Libraries (Switch):


I've finally hit a point of pandemic boredom in which I signed up for the free NSO trial to check out the pre-modern game libaries. I've poked around a good bit, and probably would have gotten the $4 worth for the month already. I'll probably let it go at least one billing cycle to pursue a few of the titles further.

The good:

-Fire and Ice (NES): I'd never heard of this before, but it's right up my ally in terms of puzzle platforming, and has a really nice presentation to boot for an 8-bit game.

-Rygar (NES): I'd heard of this, but never played it, and after putting in 30 minutes or so it seems like a smoothly executed and ambitious semi-open adventure.

-Joe and Mac 2 (SNES): Not the deepest experience in the world, but it looks great and plays well, with a pleasing overworld map that lets you chart your own path through the levels.

-Pop'n Twinbee (SNES): This is I think the first official US release? Regardless, I'm really enjoying the atmosphere even if I'm not the biggest shmup guy.

-Super Punch Out (SNES): The greater complexity compared to the NES/Wii game is throwing me off, but I didn't give it long. I intend to give this one the old college try, though, as I really liked the NES game from the Wii virtual console and loved the Wii remake, one of the undersung games of that gen.

-Kirby's Dream Course (SNES): I had a bad rental of this or something as a young one, and wasn't intending to put much time into this, but I surprised myself by clearing the first world, and think I'll enjoy the rest as well now that I "get" golf as an adult (the game does a really lousy job of introducing its mechanics, though, and applies the concept of spin incorrectly).

-Crystalis (NES): Haven't gone too far, but this seems like a promising late-era Zelda-like.

-Nightshade (NES): I don't know how much time I'll put into this, but I'd somehow never heard of this before, an ambitious, wry point and click adventure game (shame about the real-time combat).

-Overall, I really enjoy the texture of these apps. Everything is super-quick and the library presentation reminds me of that game show from my childhood where the winner gets to run through an obstacle course full of game boxes velcroed to wall, grabbing them and sticking them on their jumpsuit. The games all look great to me on a modern screen and the save states and rewind feature make a bunch of these games actually playable in a modern context.

The bad:

-Most of the non-Nintendo games on there. Granted, just having the first-party library up is a very good persistent value, as these are some of the best games ever made to this day, but I've played most of those to death long ago. I'm sure it's a tough sell for Nintendo to get third parties to put their roms up on there compared to the virtual console days, but there are some real headscratchers that would probably be better off not being available on the service at all. It would be a harmless novelty for stuff like Tuff E Nuff or Psycho Dream to be on there if there was 100+ games on the SNES app, but as it is that kind of thing is a real headscratcher and probably not great to have up for a naive audience just checking out the earlier generations for the first time.



Offline ThePerm

  • predicted it first.
  • Score: 64
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1810 on: March 26, 2021, 07:57:26 PM »
Resident Evil 4 (PS4)

Hot take: Resident Evil 4 with traditional controls does not hold up.

When I bought that game one of my complaints was the controls. The Gamecube version still holds up. The ps4 version is mapped wrong.

For game companies mapping controls for games based on Gamecube games:

B is Square, A is Cross, Triangle is Y, Circle is X

apparently the ps2 version also had different and better controls than the ps4 version. But I just read you can remap controls for all ps4 games in accessibility settings. I haven't checked it out.

I never liked the Wii version of the game either, just preference, but I never got around the playing the ps4 version of the game because the controls were so much poorer.  You should be able to play Gamecube designed games with a ps4 controller.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2021, 08:30:54 PM by ThePerm »
NWR has permission to use any tentative mockup/artwork I post

Offline Adrock

  • Chill, Valentine
  • Score: 138
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1811 on: March 27, 2021, 03:24:04 PM »
-Crystalis (NES): Haven't gone too far, but this seems like a promising late-era Zelda-like.
I literally just bought Crystalis on Gameboy Color about a week ago. I keep forgetting about Nintendo Switch Online.

It's fine. I'm trying to bolster my Nintendo handheld library (I'll get into that in another thread). Crystalis only cost me like $25. There was this weird brown funk on it that I had to clean off so I guess I paid in other ways.

I watched some comparison videos between the NES and GBC versions, and it seems like the ultimate version of the game would be somewhere between the two. The viewing area and music are better on NES; the translation is better on GBC. Nintendo Software Technology handled the GBC port, and in hindsight, what it did to Crystalis'seses overworld music was the first hint NST would eventually be relegated to the low-budget Mario vs. Donkey Kong factory. This is a shame because I still think Nintendo needs a stronger development foothold in North America beyond Retro Studios and more recently, Next Level Games.
I never liked the Wii version of the game either, just preference
I presume you mean strictly motion controls because I believe you can use the Gamecube controller as long as you have the best Wii model with the GCN controller ports. I don't think you can use the GameCube adapter on Wii U if you attempt to play Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition via backwards compatibility because nothing is good in this world and the gods have abandoned us.

Still, the Wii Version is still the definitive version of this game for me because it's the Gamecube version with the PS2 extras and all the controller options. If the Switch ports was just an HD Wii Version, I don't think I would have cared about the even higher resolution and frame rate on PS4.

Offline JoshuaLoveGames

  • Score: 0
    • View Profile
    • webpage
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1812 on: March 31, 2021, 05:03:55 AM »
What games do you recommend for a beginer who has never played anything?  :-\

Offline ThePerm

  • predicted it first.
  • Score: 64
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1813 on: March 31, 2021, 07:46:04 PM »
-Crystalis (NES): Haven't gone too far, but this seems like a promising late-era Zelda-like.
I literally just bought Crystalis on Gameboy Color about a week ago. I keep forgetting about Nintendo Switch Online.

It's fine. I'm trying to bolster my Nintendo handheld library (I'll get into that in another thread). Crystalis only cost me like $25. There was this weird brown funk on it that I had to clean off so I guess I paid in other ways.

I watched some comparison videos between the NES and GBC versions, and it seems like the ultimate version of the game would be somewhere between the two. The viewing area and music are better on NES; the translation is better on GBC. Nintendo Software Technology handled the GBC port, and in hindsight, what it did to Crystalis'seses overworld music was the first hint NST would eventually be relegated to the low-budget Mario vs. Donkey Kong factory. This is a shame because I still think Nintendo needs a stronger development foothold in North America beyond Retro Studios and more recently, Next Level Games.
I never liked the Wii version of the game either, just preference
I presume you mean strictly motion controls because I believe you can use the Gamecube controller as long as you have the best Wii model with the GCN controller ports. I don't think you can use the GameCube adapter on Wii U if you attempt to play Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition via backwards compatibility because nothing is good in this world and the gods have abandoned us.

Still, the Wii Version is still the definitive version of this game for me because it's the Gamecube version with the PS2 extras and all the controller options. If the Switch ports was just an HD Wii Version, I don't think I would have cared about the even higher resolution and frame rate on PS4.

Oh Well that could be an oversight on my part. I'm not sure if I tried to play it with a GameCube controller. I just wasn't a fan of motion controls in general. I like being lazy and relaxing when I play games. Though, Wii Sports was great, and Twilight Princesses waggle was just the minimum amount for me not to feel like it was more burdensome than fun.
NWR has permission to use any tentative mockup/artwork I post

Offline Khushrenada

  • is an Untrustworthy Liar
  • NWR Junior Ranger
  • Score: 38
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1814 on: April 05, 2021, 10:30:25 AM »
What games do you recommend for a beginer who has never played anything?  :-\

I recommend playing all the NES games you can then. With the NES, the videogame industry was still in its infancy so a lot of games are quite simple and controllers didn't have the amount of buttons that they do now. Since the games are simple they are quite easy so you should have a great time playing them, Mr. Spambot. A few good choices to start would be Metroid, Zelda II, and Ninja Gaiden. Happy gaming.
Whoever said, "Cheaters never win" must've never met Khushrenada.

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1815 on: April 08, 2021, 08:35:57 PM »
Well, my TV's out of commission...seemingly permanently...so now seems as good a time as ever to cover the stuff I've been playing for the last month or so on my new PS5 (+ 1 Switch game). Gonna break this thing up over several posts for easier reading:

Astro's Playroom - Already talked a bit about this game in the New Console thread, but this little game is just delightful. Yeah, it's a tech demo, but it's a good tech demo. To this date, it's the only game I've played on PS5 that actually makes full use of all its features, from the Haptic feedback of the Dualsense controller to the Activity Cards w/ built-in hint videos for the collectibles. It's a celebration of Sony's legacy at a time when Sony could not be working any harder to kill its legacy due to the incompetence of Jim Ryan.

The Pathless - This is actually the 1st PS5 game I bought, as I found it on 50% off sale before I even got a PS5. The people who made Journey (and left ThatGameCompany) and Abzu basically made their own Team Ico game, from the empty world filled with puzzles to the magical companion you bond with to the minimalist storytelling. I could have done without the repetitive auto-target shooting to maintain your Sonic-esque running speed, but in general I found this game quite relaxing and (at times) atmospheric. I do think $20-$30 is the right price for it, though.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1816 on: April 08, 2021, 08:44:09 PM »
Persona 5 Royal - Well, this one's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I'm not the biggest fan of the original Persona 5. Despite it being the best-PLAYING Persona game, I found its characters recycled and dull and its story repetitive; poorly-written; and really poorly-paced. Unfortunately, Royal doesn't do much to change that. It adds a bunch of quality of life improvements and minor tweaks at the start of the game that initially made me feel like they understood why Persona 5 kinda sucked. However, after clearing the 1st dungeon it became clear that all the big updates were front-loaded and back-loaded, with very little new or tweaked in-between outside of adding EVEN MORE generic mob fighting during the boss battles. The social links still suck, with Mementos used as an excuse to not have characters develop of their own free will.

The new villain introduced for the extra month at the end of the game is nice and their story is very well-integrated into the original story. However, the quality of the extra month is poor and feels like an utter anti-climax after the events of the original game's Christmas encounters. It's also severely pointless, as you will see when you finish it.

Overall, it's...fine, I guess. It is a better game than Persona 5 Vanilla, but it wasn't the huge leap in quality promised by Atlus.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1817 on: April 08, 2021, 08:51:45 PM »
Bugsnax - A neat little environmental puzzle game that's just oozing with charm. I don't think the developers fully thought out how the player's tools can interact with the environment (in particular, the spring board doesn't allow for much experimentation despite it opening up so many possibilities), but in general I had a good time and the game doesn't out-stay its welcome.

Demon's Souls (remake) - I got about halfway through this one before I hit a severe wall and just gave up on it for a while. In case you're interested, it's the Twin Maneater fight. The game has superb atmosphere, and I generally enjoy this sort of game, but I just feel like Demon's Souls is just way too restrictive and punishing, even for this sort of thing. Levels don't generally HAVE shortcuts and boss corpse runs are extremely long and cruel after the first real level. This game would have been so much better if Bluepoint hadn't made it so faithful to the original, as the Soul series in the intervening years has gotten so much better about things like checkpoints.

Also, world tendency can just **** off. What is the point of punishing struggling players by locking them out of side content IN ADDITION to also sending them back to the beginning of the stage; taking away their souls; and halving their health? It mandates that you beat the entire game at half health or miss out on content. This system sucks. It wasn't brought back ever again for a reason. It should have stayed dead.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1818 on: April 08, 2021, 09:08:48 PM »
Finally...

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville (PS4) - I adored Garden Warfare 2. I played it almost exclusively for over 6 months, and probably would STILL be playing it if I hadn't forced myself to stop checking in on the Daily Challenges. It's probably in my Top 10 best PS4 games.

Naturally, when this got announced for quasi-Early Access for a cheap $30 pre-order price, I jumped right in. However, having learned my lesson about Live Service games with GW2, I let it sit on my digital shelf until I had a good window to play it without it intruding on other stuff...so yeah, basically now.

Garden Warfare 2 was heavily criticized by bloated, egotistical idiots like Jim Sterling for its microtransactions. However, had they actually played the game for more than an hour, they would have seen that the beauty of GW2 is that it SHOWERED you with coins for basically doing ANYTHING. The "sticker packs" you could buy with in-game currency were reasonably priced, you got a bunch of character unlock/cosmetic "stickers" in every pack, and you could pick different types of packs to get better odds for specific drops. Garden Warfare 2 is the embodiment of this sort of game done well. I never put a cent into that game's microtransactions, as I always had more than enough coins for whatever I wanted.

Likewise, Garden Warfare 2 had very basic, but extensive, SP content and a wide variety of settings for its maps and modes. There were also literally over a hundred characters, as each class had tons of variants like a Sunflower that could stealth health by damaging players or a Citron that that swapped out its orange ray for a freezing ray. There was so much customization and freedom of choice. Later updates also added the Gnome battles you could jump into to get Rainbow Stars you could spend on special unlocks.

Why do I bring all this up about Garden Warfare 2? Because Battle for Neighborville is everything the critics claimed Garden Warfare 2 WAS. There are NO character variants; the single-player is boring (outside of the boss fights) and lazily implemented; they absolutely BUTCHERED Garden Ops (my favorite mode in GW2) by halving the number of waves & removing both friendly bots AND player choice in where to plant their base; and Turf Takeover (my second favorite mode) has been neutered into this Overwatch-style "sieze the point/push the payload" mode.

In fact, it's widely suspected that one of the reasons EA took the hatchet to this game was to try to turn Garden Warfare INTO Overwatch, as all the characters are now grouped into "Attack/Defend/Support" classes and they removed all the variants that made this game fun.

On the microtransaction front, there are now a whole bunch of currencies (one of which pretty much requires paying real money and which is used for most of the best unlocks) and the sticker packs have been replaced with an expensive 1 item gatcha system.

There is fun to be had in Battle for Neighborville, but considering that EA halted development on that game's content a year after its initial release AND apparently closed the studio who MADE the game, I don't know why this game got ported to Switch recently. It's a shitty sequel to a fantastic game. It also crashes CONSTANTLY in my experience.

I thought I'd also talk about Panzer Paladin, but I have very mixed thoughts on that game and probably need to think about it for a while. I should also probably finish it, as I've been picking away at it for a few months.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1819 on: April 10, 2021, 03:47:30 PM »
Might as well chuck another opinion into the void since I forgot it earlier, but I did play roughly about half of Sackboy: A Big Adventure (why isn't it just called "Sackboy's Big Adventure?"), and I quite enjoy it but I had to stop play it after a while because my completionist side was starting to make the game a grind. I was trying to get all the collectibles and the "no death" awards in one run per stage, leading to frequent restarts.

From what I played, though, it's shamelessly a Mario 3D World clone (as well as a Rayman Legends clone somewhat, given the musical levels), but if you're going to steal you might as well steal from good games. I wish the cosmetic options were better and the music and gameplay had a bit more variety, but what I played was perfectly enjoyable. There's just a good, relaxing flow to the platforming. The game has 4 Player Co-Op if you care for that sort of thing.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline M.K.Ultra

  • is late to the party
  • *
  • Score: 15
    • View Profile
    • Games I'm Playing
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1820 on: April 10, 2021, 09:25:02 PM »
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (why isn't it just called "Sackboy's Big Adventure?")

or "Little Big Planet 4"?

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1821 on: April 10, 2021, 10:10:30 PM »
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (why isn't it just called "Sackboy's Big Adventure?")

or "Little Big Planet 4"?

No, there's a very good reason why this game doesn't use the LittleBigPlanet name: there is no level creation utility at all. The game is sole-ly based on playing content created by Sumo Digital.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline Order.RSS

  • Resident Evil 420
  • Score: 32
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1822 on: April 11, 2021, 04:50:06 PM »
So at this point you've played most PS5 exclusives right? Anything you're currently looking forward to on the platform?
If I had one I'd probably be excited most for Returnal, I wish HouseMarque were still a multi-platform developer but they seem pretty firmly in Sony's camp at this point. Not sure what else is out soon though, Ratchet and Clank in June and then DeathLoop in September?

Offline broodwars

  • Hunting for a Pineapple Salad
  • Score: -1011
    • View Profile
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1823 on: April 11, 2021, 05:38:56 PM »
So at this point you've played most PS5 exclusives right? Anything you're currently looking forward to on the platform?
If I had one I'd probably be excited most for Returnal, I wish HouseMarque were still a multi-platform developer but they seem pretty firmly in Sony's camp at this point. Not sure what else is out soon though, Ratchet and Clank in June and then DeathLoop in September?

Yeah, I haven't play Miles yet because I'm really not in the mood for that sort of game, but I suppose that's not really a PS5 "exclusive" anyway.

I am hesitantly looking forward to Returnal. Housemarq is a studio that's never really made games that clicked with me long-term (there tends to be one correct way to play their games, and you don't succeed otherwise), but I liked their short-term gameplay loops. I'm using the last of my credit from my PS4 trade to bring that $70 price tag down to basically free, but I am one of those people that doesn't think Roguelikes should be $70. If you have a game that largely demands on repetition of content and assets like Indie games do, you aren't justifying the full price IMO.

I don't know what to make of Deathloop at this point. I like Arkane, but it's not only another Roguelike, but one you have to play while either another player or an AI griefs you. That's assuming the damn game even gets out the door. Given the timing of this latest delay, I strongly suspect that game failed Sony's Certification process BADLY.

Ratchet is DEFINITELY the next PS5 exclusive I'm eagerly looking forward to. A Crack in Time is one of my Top 10 favorite PS3 games, and god only knows the next time we'll see a fun mascot platformer from Sony, given the edgelord "too big to fail" AAA game direction they're going. If only Sly Cooper was getting the same treatment... *sigh*

It's not a PS5 exclusive, but I'm also really looking forward to Kena & the Bridge of Spirits in August, as well as potentially Scarlet Nexus in June.
There was a Signature here. It's gone now.

Offline unorules

  • Score: 0
    • View Profile
    • https://www.unorules.org/
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #1824 on: June 06, 2021, 01:45:36 PM »
What games do you recommend for a beginer who has never played anything?  :-\

I recommend playing all the NES games you can then. With the NES, the videogame industry was still in its infancy so a lot of games are quite simple and controllers didn't have the amount of buttons that they do now. Since the games are simple they are quite easy so you should have a great time playing them, Mr. Spambot. A few good choices to start would be Metroid, Zelda II, and Ninja Gaiden. Happy gaming.

Great tip! Thank you very much! I am a beginner as well and appreciate the explanation a lot!