Last Game You Finished And Your Thoughts V3.0

It's ok. An unfocused technical marvel with pacing that makes the Tom Bombadil sections of the Lord of the Rings books look like a Fast and Furious film.

When it's good, it's really good. Breathtakingly good. A wonderful homage to traditional westerns, engendering an interesting voyage through the human condition at turn of the century America.

But to be honest, you could surmise almost the entire game as "angry men being sad and wasting their time." There's a lot of stuff to do, worthwhile things to explore, exciting story missions and side quests, all buried under a sea of Western psuedo-realism. You spend an inordinate amount of time rambling from one location to the next, unable to fast travel and with the main character being perpetually complaining but doing nothing about the situation for almost the whole game. And that's despite Arthur being a ludicrously skilled gunslinger.

For as brilliantly lifelike as the open world is, and it really is bloody impressive, you are ad-nauseum thrust into ridiculous shootouts. And don't get me wrong, the shooting is fun. It's just that rather the going the whole-hog into doing a fully old-school Western homage, Rockstar constantly remind you that in a pinch you're the west's Rambo. This wouldn't be a problem, but for the aforementioned story pacing and the turgidly endless unskippable story missions that involve you riding to point A, having a talk, riding from point B with your posse and having a big talk, and then doing a thing. I guess the point I'm making is that it's difficult to be immersed in a game that so frequently pounds home a sense of realism, be it through slow travel, the environment, the survival elements or the hundreds of characters you meet doing a sad, when you're basically a god on legs. By Chapter 2, it's already comically farcical how often Arthur winges without doing a damn thing to change anything.

It's one of those open-world games that says, "hey, player, you can do anything you want." And you can do a lot of things. But the one thing you can't avoid is the story. In fact you can barely exert any agency over that at all. In the first RDR, John went out and got shit done. Yes, things pick up by Chapter 4, and yes Arthur's self-loathing and RDR2's environment is probably a way more realistic exploration of the human condition in the wild west. But by then the damage is done. I don't like spending a bajillion hours playing a game without a sense of purpose. Especially in game with an unavoidable story.

Guacamelee! 2

I enjoyed my time with Guac 2. I always platformed with the face buttons and then fought with the control stick - it was a fun balance between puzzle-platformer and beat-em-up. That said, it could get mentally exhausting at times - knowing on paper what I was supposed to do to get through a room, but not having the reflexes to do it on the first few attempts. It got to the point where I stopped trying to get some of the secrets because I just thought "life's too short". The respawn points were forgiving enough that I didn't give up, but had it gone on much longer I might have. Overall, though: the plot was fun and the chicken transformation was great and the fighting was grand and the levels were clever. 8 nachos



Bulb Boy

It's good! Reminiscent of Courage the Cowardly Dog or Ren and Stimpy in its weird, uncomfortable cartoony aesthetic, and it isn't afraid to get unpleasant. It lasted less than two hours, and it isn't difficult (it takes some trial-and-error, but the only particularly annoying thing about that is reload pauses being slightly too long). This is on sale reasonably regularly in the Switch store - I picked it up when it was on offer and I don't know that I would buy it at full price. That said, it's characterful and well-made, and an atmospheric way to spend a couple of hours. 2spooky

Rum Rapture wrote:

Guacamelee! 2

That said, it could get mentally exhausting at times - knowing on paper what I was supposed to do to get through a room, but not having the reflexes to do it on the first few attempts. It got to the point where I stopped trying to get some of the secrets because I just thought "life's too short". The respawn points were forgiving enough that I didn't give up, but had it gone on much longer I might have.

This is my worry. It's probably what's put me off coming back to it, actually. It's a shame, because what I've played has been very good.

That's the same thing that's putting me off of Guacamelee 2 too. I really liked the first one, but I'd have liked it the same if it finished four hours sooner.

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Beasted through Raging Justice on Switch, a throwback to side-scrolling beat 'em ups of the 1990's. It's a throwback to the 1990's in every kind of sense by the way, from the pre-rendered 3D graphics, heavy grunge soundtrack and it's lack of fresh ideas beyond the second millennium. Everything here's been done before, though this has probably got stiffer controls. Apart from the way it looks, there's nothing remarkable about Raging Justice. Blah, 5/10.

I thought it was going to look hideous when you posted that, but it actually does have quite a nice style to it!  Shame about the substance.

~~~



I saw the credits of Baba Is You last night (hopefully the nearest I'll get to completion for a while as I get distracted by Yoshi), and I think it'll be a pretty divisive game.  Its presentation is minimalist, its music is barely there, its rewards for completing its puzzles are more puzzles... and yet it's one of the finest games I've played on the eShop.

It comes down to the puzzles being so clever, I think.  In a way it's almost like a Zelda or a Metroid: you'll be given a new linguistic building block ('EMPTY', 'TELE', 'NOT'); you'll be given a few simple puzzles to ease you in ('WALL IS EMPTY' to get rid of a wall, say); and then suddenly you'll be doing all sorts of complicated gymnastics with it.  It's an entirely ingenious form of puzzling, the like of which I've never seen before.  And it gets hard, fast.

I think overall, it comes down to how much satisfaction you get from clearing the puzzles.  I get a huge amount: I feel genuinely smart.  More so than sudoku or picross or what have you, certainly.  For me, the puzzles are their own reward.

BABA IS WIN (8/10)

Lara Croft Go

After enjoying Hitman Go I gave this a download. The formula is similar - move your character across a small grid-like level, avoiding (or killing) enemies in order to advance to the next level. The game lacks some of the charm that the Hitman game has despite doing more with its levels, and I found the difficulty really ramped up in the latter puzzles. It was also quite glitchy in places, which gives the game a cheap feel (the jewels you collect look like early N64 graphics). Altogether, a fun few evenings, but not a game I'd ever revisit.

7/10

Balladeer wrote:

I think overall, it comes down to how much satisfaction you get from clearing the puzzles.  I get a huge amount: I feel genuinely smart.

You should definitely check out The Witness then. It starts on such a simple level that you'll be wondering why it's so highly praised, but it keeps ramping up and there were a few moments that genuinely blew my mind in how the puzzles were laid out.

Don't tempt me Moyles, I have a cute crafted collectathon to battle through first...

I've had my eye on Fe for a while, but never got around to it closer to launch and even didn't play right away when it came to EA Access but at the moment I'm just going through my backlog and this was oddly pinned to my dashboard, so why not give it ago.

And it's just sort of alright, as a stopgap sort of game till I find something that I really want to stick time into or does things this doesn't.

Balladeer wrote:

Don't tempt me Moyles, I have a cute crafted collectathon to battle through first...

You've got cute and endearing line puzzles waiting for you...

Yes... in Baba Is You.

I first heard about FAR on the GOTY edition of TCGS, I had no idea what it was and some of the guys on that didn't either. I remember it was one of the games I said maybe should have been replaced by Florence.

Now FAR has come to consoles and whoever put it forward as a GOTY was right as it's very very good.

It does fall into the mas type game as it's an indie, has an amazing art style, brilliant sound design, the train thing sort of its own character and the story is told through what happens not through dialogue or anything like that.

Reminded me very much of Inside but better

Never heard of it but that art looks right up my street!

Ooh I didn't know that was out now, gonna get straight on that.

So. This is a game.

In certain respects, I'm glad I didn't play this until now. It is so full of Japanesenness, and references to the history and mythology of the country, and I appreciated it in ways I never would have done even a couple of years ago.

On the other hand, there are some aspects which have not aged well. The dungeoneering, minigames and handholding could be really frustrating at times in the year of our lord 2019. My knowledge of Japan also made the latter part of the game very uncomfortable, where it is revealed that Hokkaido is full of monsters. This is based on real japanese mythology . . . which is pretty much routed in racial hatred for the region's indigenous Ainu people :/

All of that aside, though, there were huge swathes of this game which I loved. The characters, the music, the fucking visuals, were all absolutely captivating. And the combat was a genuine delight. It felt like Bayonetta light- it had the satisfaction of a Platinum game, but it was never frustrating in its challenge: somehow, it made me feel like a boss when I did well, but it also let me ALWAYS DO WELL. I ended up with obscenely high EXP and money because I was seeking out fights for my own amusement!

Ultimately, I'm very glad I played this and it will hold a special place in my heart, but I'm so glad Kamiya took what he was good at, cleaved off the fat, and gave us Bayonetta.

10/10

Curse you and your knowledge of the region, ruining things! I'm amazed that this is the first time you've played it and I'm not surprised that you enjoyed it. I am surprised at how well the dungeons seem to be holding up for me on my (interrupted) run-through, though.

Can't add much but can keep on the Capcom theme


MVC recently came to Game Pass that I'd thought I'd give it a go, well:

It's ugly this could be at 800k 1200fps but with this art style the resolution would not matter a dam

A small roster of 20 fighters (I think)

Arcade Mode is 6 fights

Online is dead and I've tried Casual, Ranked and League at different times with no one online, which I was a tad shocked due to it being on Game Pass surely someone else is giving ago

Story Mode is okay but lacks polish which is due to the art style, why it's here over DoA6

Only 2 fighters in the team, not 3 like previous games

People say Capcom is back due to Res Evil 7, Monster Hunter World, Onimusha, Res Evil 2 Remake etc but somehow Capcom who are known for fighters haven't got one right for ages.

That I can only think Capcom needs to bring back

Drunka: I did not know that about Hokkaido and Okami. That's sad to see, to say the least.

Mas: Yeah, Capcom have been shitting the bed with fighting games. SFV was a disappointment and MVC:I was just miserable and in the meantime Namco, Arcsys and NRS have been firing on all cylinders. You've got to hope they're going to blow us away with SFVI.

JayMoyles wrote:

Drunka: I did not know that about Hokkaido and Okami. That's sad to see, to say the least.

I mean, it's not a clear cut thing. There are the Oina tribe of heroic warriors who I think are actually intended to represent the Ainu, it's just unfortunate that the mythology the developers were working with comes from a dark place which Japan still hasn't really confronted. I mean, western myths are all rooted in some kind of racism or misogyny or other combination of ignorance and fear of the unknown.

Quote :

Mas: Yeah, Capcom have been shitting the bed with fighting games. SFV was a disappointment

This is so weird to read when I also see fgc folks talking about SFV being the dog's bollocks. I guess it depends if you go into these games expecting more than the one on one combat.

SFV was always great to play (MVC isn't) and now has plenty of stuff, just Me and Jay bought day one and wasn't much to do.

Plus you can only play so much only and get beat, soon gets fed up, where if you're part of the FGC that wouldn't be a thing.

This is going to be a bit of a mess - sorry

I've played through the main missions of this with a buddy of mine, so I guess it counts. It's great fun being "on a Star Trek", being a fan of the older shows; I did the flying while he captained the (sometimes dipshit) UI peeps. I don't know if I'd want to play a public game with randoms, but it was a good laugh with friends. However, it's quite expensive for the brevity of the scripted storyline (although, conversely, means it's more appealing to play in VR - I do admit I'd like to try it, so it feels like I'm really there, but not enough to warrant spending on VR).
However, we happened to get it on sale last week, and I think I'd recommend waiting for that to happen again; it does feel a bit slight, and, although it's cool sitting on a starship, the Aegis feels like a ship designed in one of the new films, or Discovery - a bit soulless and utilitarian, the opposite of Gene Roddenbury's idea of what should be going on.

BUT

You can also play on the original enterprise bridge, and - just now in DLC - the Enterprise of the Next Generation.
Right. So.
Despite its repetition ad nauseum on Sky and SyFy channels for that last 30 years, I still have a high amount of nostalgia for Star Trek TNG. It was something we watched as a family when I was a kid; it tidied up its initial clankiness and became a great TV show regardless of science fiction, and the characters actually developed and felt real.
Basically, I can't begin to explain my excitement when I sat in the Wesley seat and looked around. There's JLP's Ready Room! There's the Turbo Lift! There's the conference room - I didn't know that was on the Bridge floor! You know what? Fuck the missions; I want a game where I can go round and explore the Enterprise.

Score of This Doesn't Work As a Score/10

I know someone that has it on PS4 with VR and saw a video of them playing it with a few of their friends, it looked like a great laugh. I've always been keen to get myself but part from him who has a group, I know no one that has it and playing with randoms has put me off plus never seems to be cheap on PS4.

I'd be very up for this, if I had the gear. I bloody love me some Star Trek.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Quote :

Mas: Yeah, Capcom have been shitting the bed with fighting games. SFV was a disappointment  

This is so weird to read when I also see fgc folks talking about SFV being the dog's bollocks. I guess it depends if you go into these games expecting more than the one on one combat.

They'll say that now, but the game launched in a sorry state with some shonky online features and its reputation was at its worst after this monstrosity was released and ended up stupidly powerful.

I think they've redeemed themselves with Season Three which was really well received and kicked off with one of my favourite trailers that I've seen yet which eventually became the opening for the Arcade Edition of SFV.

TMNT Mutants in Manhatten isn't a 46 like it is on OpenCritic, it's more of a 6ish but you could argue the whole 10 point scale isn't used quite right.

I can tell you why I enjoyed my time 6hrs or so with TMNT because it's just a fun simpler Bayonetta which is kinda the point and why I thought it was for ages 7+ (it's actually a 12+) and that's fine.

The only thing I could see being an issue is that the game has 9 stages which they sort of repeat as in oh look it's another sewer, again it's TMNT who live in sewers and Manhatten would also only have so much you could do with it, above ground as well.

That as a game yes it has issues but then you look at the source material, the intended audience then it does most things right.