Topic: What are you playing?

[MagicCow64]

GTA V (PC):

I thought I'd give a full play-through of a GTA game another shot after starting and stopping IV two or three times and hating it, and playing a few hours of V at my brother's house and finding the mechanics much improved.

As before, I find the driving much more tolerable than in the last game, but chase missions remain incredibly aggravating given the remaining underlying sloppiness and busy roads, with the added unwieldiness of shooting while driving. And it feels like every other mission is a chase mission so far. Every side mission I've tried has been a painful "parody" of some personality trope with shitty/annoying objectives. The main mission design has also been terrible in the first four for or so hours, though I've yet to start the first jewel heist, mainly because I ran out of mission markers and don't know what I'm supposed to do next. I ended up setting the aim-assist to basically automatic just so I don't have to sit through any on-foot section of the game twice. The in-mission dialogue is often unbearable, shifting wildly between awful frat humor, social "criticism", and what I think is supposed to be meaningful interaction between characters.

Still, though, the game is beautiful and at times jaw-droppingly detailed. Playing it is kind of depressing because I feel like the priorities are so botched.

Axiom Verge (PC):

I thought I would take a quick break from GTA V to try out the latest retro indie Metroid-a-like contender, and ended up getting completely sucked in. At about halfway through map exploration, I'm confident in calling this one of the few games to get anywhere near Super Metroid. And perhaps ironically, it might be the most slavishly derivative Metroid clone yet, in terms of aesthetics, world design, and controls, and yet somehow manages to feel fresh and surprising. It also might be the only game I've played that meaningfully incorporates its pixel-art into the gameplay and thus justifies the retro styling. The music is also excellent all around and contributes greatly to the atmosphere. I have no idea how the quick-select weapon function is supposed to work, but other than that I can't think of a single misstep or flaw. Totally blows recent lauded games like Ori and the Blind Forest and Guacamelee away. Probably also better than Shadow Complex, but we'll see.

[NWR_insanolord]

I started up Galactic Civilizations 3. This is a game I was immensely excited for, and I installed a Windows partition on my computer specifically to play it. Even with those lofty expectations, I am absolutely in love with this game.

I've never actually played a game in this series before, but I've sunk hundreds of hours into Master of Orion 2 and other similar games, and I can already see myself doing the same here. It's a bit different structurally from those games, with an open map instead of jumping from star system to star system, and  I really like that. It seems to offer a lot of depth, but lays it out in a way that makes it pretty approachable.

It's already getting hooks in me, with the whole "one more turn" urge very strong. I'm extremely excited to play more.

[MagicCow64]

So this isn't a game persay, but I have tried *VR*

A friend of mine running a tech start-up mentioned he had a unit, believed in the medium, and let me stop by his office last night to try it out. I was somewhat disappointed to see it was a GearVR and not the most recent Oculus dev unit, but he assured me the >$1000 phone hooked up to it produced a slightly better experience than the first Oculus that he'd tried elsewhere, though purportedly not as good as the most recent one.

So anyway, he explained the interface, plopped it on my head, and dropped on noise-canceling headphones to boot and let me have at it. I've been highly skeptical that the technology as currently formulated actually achieves the mystical "presence" spoken of. But it kind of does. The head tracking was immaculate, and goes a long way toward putting you "in" a virtual experience. I found this to be the most surprising part. I lost track of my meat-space bearings pretty quickly, though I had to avoid trying to look at my hands, as it kind of fucks with your head and sabotages the effect.

I tried a number of demos, but the undersea perspective one that I've seen written up elsewhere is definitely the most impressive. I was actually startled by a shark banging into the dive cage I was standing in. Even better were the dolphins, who swim right up in your face and actually feel like they're full-dimensioned animals cavorting around you. I would liken it to the moment of "startle" you first get in a full-on Imax 3D screening, when something flies in your face (plane wreckage in Superman Returns, e.g.), but actually persistent and solid. A hologram versus a magic-eye picture allusion you can wobble on for a few seconds.

Nothing else was as impressive. I watched a few omni-directional camera clips, but these looked grainy and felt kind of tacky (think the panoramic videos on WiiU, with your head as a camera). I booted up a few games, but they were fairly shitty looking and more similar to playing a N3DS than not, again with your head as a camera. Temple Run VR was the most involving, as you could look around behind you and see the monster chasing you, but it made me nauseous and wasn't compelling as a game.

After about 25 minutes my eyes would only focus with great effort and I felt increasingly carsick, which lasted for about ten minutes after I took the goggles off. Overall I would say that there is the kernel of something worthwhile and "new" in VR, but at least in the unit I tried it feels kind of like a giant engine powering a dim lightbulb. Long ways to go. I also really wanted to walk naturally, and every time I did so instinctively the whole thing went haywire. Ditto again for hands. There are quite a few hurdles to clear, and I'm not convinced something like an omni treadmill or a positional tracking black box space is a real answer.

[azeke]

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (360):
I like it so far.

It's Portable Ops done right. Just like in PO you have a base that you can manage and assign people to upgrade your equipment. Good thing i can just use auto-assign, because i don't want to deal with stats anymore.

No need to drag bodies anymore -- just attach a helium balloon to an unconscious dude and he'll fly away right to your base. In fact, you can't drag bodies at all. Andi t's okay since fulton recovery makes it obsolete, but i really wish i could at least drag dudes that i am choke holding.

For the first time in the series, you can retry missions to get better ranks. It's a smart usage of portable format where they make short missions and you're graded after completing it. I can see how people could spend so many hours with that game.

Controls are very easy, it feels like it was tailored for PSP and aiming is very generous which is good i guess. Three variants of control schemes is also appreciated: there is one for MGS3 one for MGS4 and one for Monster Hunter (?). I used MGS3 scheme but then switched to 4.

I do wonder how useful new feature of chain CQC take downs is, especially that there is an achievement for slamming seven dudes in a row? Do they expect them to randomly stumble upon on a crowd of guys who will just stand there waiting for their turn to be slammed into the ground?

Models in-game look worse than Portable Ops which was stealing them wholesale from MGS3, but the game overall looks much better, because it's not just drab concrete walls and containers anymore.



Uncharted 1:
Shooty bang bang is really getting old. I like environment and overall feel of adventure, but it's ruined with formula of coming to a new place then getting locked and surrounded by crowds of goons that i am supposed to slaughter. It works in action games when actual combat gameplay is good, but third person shooting is bad in general and especially terrible here. I try to go for melee once in a while, but get killed as i am finishing my automatic combo.

Platforming is also pretty wonky. I have compared how movement and hitboxes in Uncharted 2 feels floaty and not really rooted in the environment, especially compared to say Assasin's Creed. It's not fair to do the same comparison with Uncharted 1, because AC1 and UC1 came out the same year, but you can compare it to previous games Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia. And it's pretty bad in comparison to those PS2 games. sometimes it feels like Drank is not really walking and jumping but rolling and bouncing in an invisible hamster ball.

What i like how game unlocks extras as your get collectables. Not sure if that was intentional but after i unlocked the first "making of" video, all gameplay footage in it was from the parts i already did, thus avoiding spoilers. Also nice Wind Waker poster, random Naughty Dog designer.


Super Meat Boy (Steam):
Started randomly playing it again on work and i realized how much stuff i still have to do even if i "beat" the game. Playing it on a keyboard was awkward and you can't rebind keys to more comfortable ones layout. Run button is on Shift, so i have to use my pinky or ring finer to press it.

It has stupid amounts of content most of which is nearly impossible to beat -- all the more challenge for those who want to do it. And achievements are even crazier.

But i kinda went for the "simpler" ones. I already did the one where i had to beat all levels in the first world without dying. So i picked up from there and did the same for second world.

I am not really good at reacting on my legs, and i mostly rely on my reflexes and repetition of patterns.
To do "hospital boy" (achievement for beating second world without dying) i had to memorize all the actions and find the most safe approaches to do all 20 levels. After doing hospital boy, i started doing the same dark world version on the first world.

It's very repetitious but i kinda like it. And it's much easier to do than just trying to beat impossible later levels. I don't think i beat a single set levels in warp dimension. I completed a few retro worlds though.


Fire Emblem: Shadow dragon:
I recruited Tiki.

I didnn't leave her map right away and collected all the stuff opening all rooms and chests. There were a few master seals and bullions which will come in handy cause i am running out of weapons.

All inventory management and levels and number are really tiring me out. But you kinda have to do that everytime you start a chapter.

Also i randomly warped Marth into the sea, and the game didn't crash or anything, Marth just stayed there and was able to walk on it sea surface back to the shore.

[broodwars]

I'm struggling to think of a more boring experience I've had lately than playing through Halo 1 CE's SP Campaign for the 1st time, especially after playing through Halo 3 ODST for the first time just last night. Just a lot of big, empty, monster closet-infested areas that remind me way too much of any area of Doom. For a game that sparked so much, I'm kind of shocked by how little is in here. There's no real sense of "place" and you don't really see any characterization whatsoever. And they spun books off of this ****. Unbelievable.

And yeah, I will go to the mat to defend the nature of the Call of Duty games at times, but the "URAH!" tone of both this game and ODST really irks me. Everything I've seen about this nature pretends that it's some epic Sci-Fi experience, and then you play the games and it's Starship Troopers.

[Phil]

I'm trying to balance my time between the single player and multiplayer pieces of Splatoon. It's hard to shy away from multiplayer because I want to keep ranking up and earning money.

I'm also playing Puzzles & Dragons, both games in the double pack, and trying hard to up my ability to pull off at least 3+ combos more effectively and often.

Fossil Fighters: Frontier I'm about 24 hours into, and I'm enjoying it. Digging can become repetitive, so I'm trying to pace myself to not wear myself out on the game. However, I want to see the ending since I've come so far.

[Evan_B]

With the recent Humble Nindie Bundle, I've acquired a number of games I already own as well as some new ones at greatly reduced prices- so I've dipped a bit into Stealth Inc. 2 and Olli Olli. Both are quite good, though I'm gravitating more towards Olli Olli because it's been a while since I've played a skateboarding game. Stealth Inc. 2 is fun but I find the structure a bit weird, I'm still early in the game so I won't pass judgment on it yet.

I've also been slowly chipping away at Box Boy for a while, and tough I find the bite-sized worlds rewarding and the numerous puzzle gimmicks impressive, I'm starting to become tired of the formula and I really just want it to end. I'm somewhere around world 16 and I feel as if there's no end in sight, though it was a relatively low-priced game.

Like Phil, I've dipped into both versions of Puzzles and Dragons. I started with Z and then finished the first region before switching to Mario edition, and I find both charming in their own ways, though I'm not sure which I prefer more.

[broodwars]

Just a brief update on my playthrough of the Halo Master Chief Collection, but I've played through Halos 1-3 ODST and am now near the end of Halo 4:

Halo 1 - sucked. Also, **** the Flood.

Halo 2 - average. It tried to incorporate more storytelling and actual characterization (and the new cutscenes from Studio Blur are amazing), but the actual story is all over the place and expects you to just accept certain aspects rather than showing or explaining them. Also, the Flood are back. See Halo 1 for more on that.

Halo 3 - average. Less storytelling than in Halo 2, oddly enough, but better level and encounter design. However, all logic; reason; and good game design go flying right out the window when the Flood show up...again, more cheap and annoying than ever. REALLY see Halo 1 for more on THAT.

Halo 3 ODST - I actually liked this one. Above average. The game's on the short side, but I like how the game incorporates storytelling into its world design, and how combat is often quite optional. It also has one of the more coherent stories in the series, even if no other game in the entire franchise references it or anything you do in it. Also, THE FLOOD AREN'T IN IT.

Halo 4 - OK, I'm really surprised how much I'm digging this one, considering I wasn't so hot on it when it first came out and I played an hour or so of it. For one thing, it can't be understated enough how gorgeous this game is. Compared to Halo 3, it looks like a ****ing Xbone game. And I'm not just referring to polygon counts and shaders. This game's artistic design is just incredible, as to be expected from the folks who once made Metroid Prime in largely 9 months. So far, the levels have had varying scenario types, so (unlike nearly every other Halo game) you don't spend 99% of your time running into a room; watch it flood with enemies; massacre them; wash; rinse; repeat. The storytelling is well above-average, with easily more actual characterization for Cortanna and Master Chief than in the rest of the series combined. It also helps that those two talk fairly constantly, as opposed to previous games in the series where MC only talked maybe 3 times in an entire game and you rarely saw Cortanna at all.  Also, the new enemy type (the Prometheans) are The Flood done right (who, by the way, AREN'T IN IT), and they're actually fun to fight instead of frustrating.

So yeah, so far the MCC may be the biggest and best collection of mediocre titles ever assembled on a disc, but at least Halo 3 ODST & Halo 4 have been the saving grace.

[oohhboy]

Convoy

VORRROORMMMM VOORRROOOMM VROOROORM

What do you mean you want a mini review?

VVVORRMM VORRRM

It's a bit ugly, but the gameplay is pretty solid. It's FTL-like, but not nearly as brutal as it doesn't have the tight tolerances that FTL has which requires near perfect play even on normal. The event tree's results are pretty much random outside of a same handful, where in FTL most of the event trees are fixed.

There also is't any running away, once combat starts, it's do or die. Another problem is armour which is sort of like shields become near useless about half way through the game as it gets shredded and there is nothing you can do about it. It becomes a DPS/healing fight opposed to FTL's deeper and more clever combat where it is more than possible to not take any damage and are encouraged to so do. There are actual shields ingame, but the enemy will almost always gun for your MCV meaning any shields you can place on it gets dropped very quickly just from the amount of damage from the opening salvo.

That said there are some clever things in this game. Ramming is something that is quite viable and sending bandits into walls or off cliffs never gets old. The Boss fights are a hybrid of pattern recognition moment ot moment manoeuvring. It offers more over-world freedom with no hard time limits, although there are some soft ones. Jostling for position for line of sight or to ram is speed chess like, although there is a pause if you want to take your time.

If you want a SUV based rogue-like with a handful of pop culture references this is your game.

[Evan_B]

I've heard Halo: Reach is one of the better titles in the series, Broodwars. If you feel so inclined, you should check it out.

[broodwars]

I've heard Halo: Reach is one of the better titles in the series, Broodwars. If you feel so inclined, you should check it out.

Funny...Reach was actually my first Halo game many years ago when I borrowed it from a friend at work. Got a few missions into it, and it really didn't click with me. Now, that could be because at that time you couldn't swap Halo's wonky control scheme with the now-standard CoD one. It could also be because it was a prequel to a lore I wasn't familiar with at the time. Regardless, when Reach is added to the MCC (which is inevitable, really, give that it's the only FPS title in the series not in the collection now), I'll give it another shot.

[Triforce Hermit]

I find it hilarious that your statements on the Halo games goes against what the entire fan base believes.

[broodwars]

I find it hilarious that your statements on the Halo games goes against what the entire fan base believes.

Regrettably, recent visits to the Master Chief Collection's GameFAQs board have made it clear that the Halo fanbase is perpetually 8 years old and despises change of any kind. I nearly did a spit take when I saw one of them claim that Halo 3 looks better than Halo 4. -_-'

[Triforce Hermit]

I find it hilarious that your statements on the Halo games goes against what the entire fan base believes.

Regrettably, recent visits to the Master Chief Collection's GameFAQs board have made it clear that the Halo fanbase is perpetually 8 years old and despises change of any kind. I nearly did a spit take when I saw one of them claim that Halo 3 looks better than Halo 4. -_-'

They are all Halo 3 obsessed. I believe the first two were the best in the series. Halo 3 is really bland and bad. Truthfully, everything past Halo 3 is actually bad because I personally think the series is dead.

[oohhboy]

Never liked the Halo series. Couldn't figure out what the hook was. When I played it on PC, the controls were unimpressive, the enemies were bullet sponges, the level design was awful, weapons lack punch, sound track was ok, but felt repetitive quite quickly. Oh and **** the flood.

If this was your first FPS and never developed any perspective, then I guess your stuck?

[MagicCow64]

Yeah, I'll jump on the bandwagon here and say that I also never understood what the big deal about Halo was. I played through 1 and 2 near release, and then years later got Halo 3 from Gamefly and got bored after two hours and couldn't bring myself to slog through one of these games again. I also have the apparently uncommon opinion that 2 was significantly better than 1, because the Arbiter was an actual character with an interesting ability, and you could skip the atrociously un-fun Flood because they were fighting the bad guy aliens.

I also have more strongly negative feelings toward this franchise than I would otherwise because it standardized game design concepts that should not have been standardized, like health regeneration and only being able to hold a few weapons. Finally, I remained baffled that people hold the art design of the Halo games in such high regard. It's always looked like a generic fake video game you'd see someone playing for a few seconds in a movie or commercial.

[Triforce Hermit]

Eh, not everyone's slice of cake.

PC versions of Halo are universally bad.

[oohhboy]

They might be bad ports, but it had nothing to do with the mediocrity of the games.

[broodwars]

Visually, I thought Halo 1 & 2 Anniversary looked "fine". Nothing especially exceptional, but they got the job done. Halo 3 just looks terrible, though: a relic of being an early-gen 360 game, looking particularly muddy. ODST looks better, but not by much. Halo 4's really the only one of the bunch to marry fantastic artistic direction with technical prowess.

From a gameplay perspective, I really don't think any of the Halos stand out as being particularly noteworthy. Frankly, I don't understand the attraction this series has gotten, as its insistence on "shoot from the hip" and generic monster closet design is particularly dull. ODST & Halo 4 tried to change things up with more varied scenarios that incorporate a variety of vehicles and environments with varying elevation and tactics, but they still feel constrained by the Halo legacy. I've noted this on Twitter, but the Halo series has to be the only series I've ever seen where its fanbase is fighting to keep it from becoming more strategic and interesting.

It's certainly been an interesting experiment playing these games, as you can pretty much see the gradual evolution of the shooter genre over the course of the series. I can certainly see how the lore sunk in with some folks, as there's a rich universe to explore here that's...almost nonexistent in the games themselves. I still don't get the insane fervor for the series itself, though. Everything it does has been better done in other shooter series like Killzone; Resistance; GoldenEye 007; Perfect Dark; CoD; etc.

[azeke]

Viewtiful Joe:
I came back to this to see if i got better at action games enough to appreciate playing this game more.

Nope i am still incompartible with it, it seems.

Same complaints: obnoxious environmental hazards, claustrophobic screen not showing you the entire area -- i just can't jel with this game.

I am at the beginning of second level and i am already facing a roadblock -- two cowboys that can shoot you offscreen. So you have to go by audio cues and time activating slow-mo just right and you have to account that there are two of them. Usually i just run out of juice and then run around in civilian form until i get killed by a shot from off screen.

There is an optional fight before two cowboys and boy it's a slog. Four black mook and two flying bombers after a while two mooks come in to play. One of with grenade launcher and the other homing rockets launcher. You really need to be "on it" constantly to know where guys with grenade launchers come in because you need to give them full priority or they will kill you simply by moving towards the edge of a screen and shooting you dead from there.
incompatible

Super Mario World (VC on Wii U):
Used Club Nintendo points to get it for free on wii mode and then transferred it too Wii u for 2 euros.

It's okay i guess (i'm in a cave, i think it's third world). Feels less momentum based that 3 so that good, but Mario is still a bit too slide-y for my tastes.

There are still too many open spaces with nothing going on especially in pipe shortcuts, i don't get it. What's the point of creating a pipe shortcut only to place a few coins in there?

Stealth Bastard Deluxe (VC on Wii U):
5-6 is a level meticulously designed to be as annoying as possible. First part is very finicky and requires very precise movement, second part is a slow ass slog taking a minute where you are manipulating robots and switches and mostly just stand there waiting for things to happen. It's also very trial and error and not very puzzley at all.

I gave up and just looked up the solution. I'm glad it's over.

Also some Bayonetta (finished tutorial) and some Super Meat Boy (collected 50 bandages and currently completing Dark Work Salt Factory).

[Evan_B]

Halo is highly regarded mostly because of it stable multiplayer scene, I think. I has a lot of options and has always been reliable, so consumers feel they can trust it.

I've never heard a single person praise the single player campaign, so that's my assumption.

[NWR_insanolord]

I appreciate its "shoot from the hip" nature, pretty much specifically because it's different from other things. Aiming down sights gets old after a while.

[ShyGuy]

Sometimes in Viewtiful Joe, you just have to button mash your way to victory.

[Triforce Hermit]

Halo is highly regarded mostly because of it stable multiplayer scene, I think. I has a lot of options and has always been reliable, so consumers feel they can trust it.

I've never heard a single person praise the single player campaign, so that's my assumption.

Maybe its just nostalgia, but the campaign with someone on the couch with you is really fun. I never played the multiplayer until like 2011. Level design and story are more or less ****, but it was still fun.Then again, I'm not the average Halo fan either since I think Halo 3 is crap.

[MagicCow64]

@Azeke per Viewtiful Joe, I'm fascinated that you're relatively down on this game. Like, I felt like W101 was essentially impossible for me to ever get good at given how chaotic it is and how many moving pieces are in play at any given time, but I understand this as a personal limitation. But I was able to complete a rainbow V run on Viewtiful Joe when I was in college.

I've been playing:

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS):

I'd heard not-so-great things about this game, but given that Bowser's Inside Story is one of the best RPGs ever made in my opinion, I went in optimistic. But yeah, the standard complaints are pretty glaring. The game feels like you're moving through molasses somehow with everything you do, from drawn-out battles, slow movement speed in the overworld, laggy menus, cumbersome Luiginary object sections, dull "story" scenes, overabundant tutorials, etc. The 2D dream world sections are also consistently boring, a real shame given how the Bowser gut elements really shined in the last game. I actually do like the articulated sprite approach to the characters in the 3D environments, but the overall art design is quite bland. Lastly, the witty and subversive writing the series is known for is very toned down this time around, with only that golden globe helper guy poking through. I'm about halfway through, and I'm thinking I might just walk away.

The Witcher 3 (PC):

I'd never been interested in this series, what I gathered was a fairly technical PC-ey take on the genre, but I gave this a shot given the very positive critical and player consensus. I was surprised by how much I liked the opening section of the game leading up to the griffin hunt. It looks really good, imbues the world with a unique, colorfully melancholy tone based on swampy psuedo Eastern Europe locals. Pandora's Tower did enough to familiarize me with crafting systems, so it's not overwhelming as I'd feared. Now that I'm in the first full-sized region, though, I'm getting bogged down quick, with close to 20 quests backed up in the log, and no clear direction about where to go next on the main story line with the Bloody Baron. Similar to Assassin's Creed, the controls get more and more aggravating as the game goes on, to the point where I dropped the difficulty because I was sick of dying in sloppy, staggering fights. And the more I play, the more the veneer of the game wears thin and it feels more like open-world game 439. I like it a good deal more than Elder Scrolls or Fallout, but suspect that I will become fatigued before the end.