What Are You Playing Right Now?
-
I've been playing Xenogears, which has been an odd experience so far. I loved Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2, so I decided to jump back and see where it all began, and I can already tell that story-wise this is typical Xeno stuff. Gameplay-wise, though, it's confusing and repetitive and weird. I'm powering through because the story interests me, and there ARE cool aspects to the turn-based combat. I like how you can input combos like a fighting game, I love the art style in general and it makes the battle animations even more fluid, and the idea that you can climb in mechs and fight in those? That's pretty damn unique. I just... can't discern whether I need to grind more, or if the fights just devolve into "press a bunch of buttons and wait for it to die" since there's little to no strategy.
I'm not very far into it but I'm hoping it will grow on me.
-
Resident Evil 2.
No, not that one. The original one. My only experience with Resident Evil before was a partial playthrough of 4 and while I was interested in the RE2make, I wasn't ready to spring for it on full price, so I've been emulating the PS1 original.
I really enjoy the atmosphere and sense of dread, along with the combat, but checkpoint starvation is real, along with long stretches of backtracking. I can totally understand why this game was such a hit though, I love how the police station feels really lived in and you always feel on edge.
In terms of playing classic PS1 games for the first time in my 20s, it's no Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy VII, but an enjoyable time nonetheless that will hopefully enrich my experience with RE2make when I finally get to it (aka when it goes on sale).
-
-
I'm gonna give the Daemon x Machina demo a shot, but when it comes down to full games, nothing really at the moment. I finished Kingdom Hearts III, and now I'm just waiting for the wave of games later this year to hit (Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Skull & Bones, Luigi's Mansion, Zelda, Crash Team Racing)
-
I started playing Life is Strange a week or two ago. I finished the first episode and am planning to play through it some more today. I love the concept behind the mechanic of reversing time by seconds/minutes (especially when Max messes up reaching something from a high place, haha). I think it's especially interesting with respect to obtaining information about others with complete discreetness.
-
@Ikarou said in What Are You Playing Right Now?:
@NGW said in What Are You Playing Right Now?:
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
What do you think of this game? I was a huge fan of NMH 1 & 2, but I was skeptical to say the least after watching the trailers for this one. If anything I was just disappointed that it wasn't a true mainline sequel, but I'm still curious if it's worth picking up as a fan of the series.
Recently beat Kingdom Hearts III, so now I'm just passively collecting all the lucky emblems, assembling the Ultima Weapon, and all of those typical postgame shenanigans.
I'm not super far into it, my girlfriend got me KHIII for Valentine's Day and I had only just picked TSA some days before that and obviously KH kinda won out in the "what game am I putting time into" battle there.
My biggest issue does indeed come from the fact that it's decidedly not No More Heroes 3. I loved the first two, the first more however. I think if it was a full priced title it would be harder to recommend than it is as a $40 release (the physical version of which comes with the season pass on top of that). The combat is simple and much less satisfying when compared to the first two games, the skill chips do at least make up for some of that and the little experience I have with bosses so far does at least add a bit more to it, but yeah..it feels like a budget, top down version of No More Heroes.
I really do miss the gruesome glory, finishing moves, slicing heads off, suplexing, etc. The story seems like it is meant more for fans of Suda's other work rather than fans of No More Heroes specifically, which I think is both cool but also a bit disappointing because as someone who is more or less just a fan of NMH (I've played a bit of Killer7 and Lollipop Chainsaw but that's it) I am getting much less out of my new No More Heroes game than fans of his other stuff.
Still, I am intrigued enough to see it through and there's a decent bit of variety in the different games you play through. There's stuff to buy and collect. It's far from a bad game, I'd even say it's good, but it's just..kinda hard to place I suppose.
-
I'm glad you're enjoying it! I've only seen the first episode played through twice while sitting next to two different friends on different occasions, but I genuinely couldn't get invested in the story or the characters at all.
I can appreciate what the game is going for with its mechanics, and how that can lend some interesting ideas to how a narrative is played out in a game of that genre, but the characters are just CARTOONISHLY bad and their dialogue felt incredibly stilted. Granted, my opinion is only being formed on the first episode, but in an episodic game format, I feel this should have been the place to hook me, if they were going to at any point in the entire experience.
Maybe I'm not giving the game a fair enough shake, because I've heard its praises for years now, but I find it hard to care about any of the characters involved. Oh well, maybe it's not for me! I'd love to hear your opinions on the game going past the first episode though.
-
I finished the game a few days ago and loved it! I definitely think you should give at least episode 2 a try before passing judgement. In my opinion, it's where the game begins truly moving forward. The first episode, I think, is trying to show you the characters and build the world.
I can understand your feelings about the dialogue. I think the word-choice can be aloof at times, but I don't mind it so much (in fact, I find it endearing). It feels to me that the writers were attempting to emulate the speech of young adolescents, but didn't properly research much (or ask someone younger for advice even). I will admit though, seeing Max in a tragic situation and hearing her say something like "This can't be for reals!" is quite the mood-breaker. But again, it's endearing!
I'm surprised that you didn't like the characters! Personally, I feel the characters are quite well-written with ample nuance. I think this becomes more prominent in the later episodes though. Of course, your perspective on the characters will be dependent on many of your choices, haha.
-
Recently completed The Talos Principle and it's dlc. It's a pretty praised puzzle game even though it looked ok at best so i got it on sale to check it out. And it was pretty much how i expected it to be, the puzzles were nothing special and the philosophy story is kinda meh, though i was really surprised by how good the writing was. The dlc fared far better, most of the puzzles were similar but there were a few that were good and the story was a lot more interesting then the main game, and of course the writing was still good. Overall a ok puzzle game.
Also recently finished Hand Of Fate 2. It's a good game but it's kinda frustrating that they managed to improve basically every aspect of the game but the combat. Which is ridiculously easy compared to the first game.
I'm currently playing Thief Gold, janky start due to it being so old but i been enjoying it so far, even though i have probably killed/knocked out a few small towns by now. :/
-
Right now I'm playing through Dark Souls Remastered and having a blast. It's crazy because I still haven't beaten Dark Souls 3 or Bloodborne but I've beaten Demon's Souls 3 times and am almost done with playthrough 2 of Dark Souls. I think it goes to show that I definitely prefer the slower and more methodical games in the series. I think Bloodborne and 3 are too focused on reaction and dodging for me, where I prefer the more deliberate tactics of Demon's Souls. Idk, I also really liked Dark Souls 2, which I didn't expect.
I also played the demo for Yoshi's Crafted World and was largely disappointed. I get what the game's going for, but I think they're straying a bit too far from what I like about Yoshi games, leaning more towards the Yoshi's Story side of the spectrum instead of the Yoshi's Island side. It's fair for them to make that shift given how closely Woolly World resembled Island, but I don't expect to like Crafted World as much.
I also finally beat the last level in Tetris Effect a few weeks back and I was super super happy when that happened.
-
At the moment, I'm playing through the original Turok, still playing the Arcade Mode of Ape Out, and I'm replaying both the original Crash Bandicoot Warped and Super Mario Galaxy 1. Also getting ready to play Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen for the first time and replay Tak and the Great Juju Challenge to form a more critical opinion on it.
-
I've been playing the original Paper Mario for the first time, and I absolutely love it. While I enjoy TTYD's characters and scenarios by a country mile, the original game's pacing is phenomenal. There's so much to customize and strategize with in such a short amount of time. I love stocking up on badges and making my way through the dungeons here, it's flying by - despite being challenging regardless. I'm surprised I'm enjoying it as much as I am. Pacing is definitely key when creating a good RPG, I find.
-
I absolutely adore the original Paper Mario! And you're right that it has excellent pacing. One other major strength that I think the original has over TTYD (which, while I prefer the original, I think is the better game) is that it has more interesting level design. Most of TTYD's chapters are basically just long hallways that you walk back and forth along, while 64 tends to have more branching paths and even a wide open area, not to say that it's anywhere near perfect in that regard.
-
I got pretty burnt out in the middle of Dream Drop Distance, which somehow turned into me marathoning Steins;Gate Elite and Steins;Gate 0, the latter of which I'm reading through now. I've had a growing interest in visual novels over there last year or so, and this series is blowing me away compared to other VNs I've played. Really great SciFi storytelling. I know I was pretty much the last one to the party on this one, but if you haven't played them and want to cry a lot, these are the games for it.
-
-
-
-
This post is deleted!
-
-
Hello LLF peeps, I'm just bumping this old ass thread because I feel like participating on the forums and not solely on Discord. I also realized that after the revamp, I technically haven't exactly made any posts. So that said, here's a simple update of what I've been playing:
-
I just beat Kirby & The Rainbow Curse. That was quite an interesting exercise in fun and frustration alike.
-
Additionally, I am working through the beginning of Alan Wake. What a fascinating mind fuck it is so far, and I'm admittedly quite obsessed with finding the thermoses...
-
Live A Live: I'm halfway through the various stories in this clever and fascinating re-make. The sheriff section/old-west chapter was chef's kiss one of the most unique things I've seen in any game I've played in awhile. What a delightful adventure. Also can we talk about the Imperial China section?! Wow!
-
Splatoon 3: Side-Order DLC. 'Nuff said there.
That about wraps up where I'm spending the majority of my gaming moments lately. I'm playing a few others like PalWorld and Animal Crossing, but those aren't narrative-driven, so unless you'd like to discuss specific aspects of them, it's a little hard to provide an update (feel free to ask if you are inclined though).
-
gameplay so cool!