What you playing PS4 / PS5 Style

Bit late on the DMC talk but I'd say DMC5 is the best, followed by 3 which I still think is really solid. Still has great combat - laid the foundation and more for later DMCs and Platinum Games' titles, great sense of style and great characters/character arcs. I think DMC5 was right to abandon the metroidvania-like exploration elements in this game and earlier titles though, to focus on what the series is really good at. The platforming did go back to being about as bad as it used to be, but it's kind of endearing and doesn't detract from the good stuff.

Would normally say 4 comes after them but not so sure anymore. DmC has a lot more 'game' to it. 4 has even better combat than 3, like by another dimension if you're really mining for depth but there are few actual levels which are recycled for the latter half of the game and not in a very good way. The story felt similarly unfinished. Then Definitive Edtion fixes some of DmC's shortcomings whereas DMC5 makes 4 somewhat redundant because it offers most of what it does combat-wise and then some.

Also unsure about where I'd put DMC 1 because I also really like it and I think it's still worth going back to since it's a bit different from the others. Great atmosphere as a some-time Resi game, which in part is what makes the exploration shine more.

And then yeah, DMC 2 because it's just awful. Would also say it's one of the worst games I've played. Just so mind-numbingly boring.


As to why DMC was rebooted with DmC, it wasn't that people thought 4 was only okay, it was most likely because sales didn't meet expectations. It was the first title to go multi-plat but only sold a bit more than 3. Still decent sales, but yeah.

You're not late at all - in fact, I've genuinely just got around to starting DMC V so I'll pop up some thoughts on that in this thread when I'm done. So far, so very very good!

I didn't mind the recycling of the levels in the latter half of DMC4 - I felt it was neat coming at them from the opposite direction as you're spending the second half of the game travelling backwards and I don't remember any of them being particularly awful outside of the castle area where I think I got lost trying to find where to head next. The story felt fine too - maybe this is something that the PS4 version of DMC4 has sorted, but I don't remember the story feeling unfinished.

But you're absolutely spot on in saying that DMC5 abandoning the exploration elements the series clung on to was the right move. I think that should have been ditched much earlier as it was only there in the first place as a holdover from its roots as a Resident Evil game. Devil May Cry is at is best when you're, in the words of Nico from DMC V, kicking demon ass.

What a gorgeous game DMC V is, by the way. The RE Engine is serving them well in a big way.

Andy essentially forced me to download Destiny 2 and it's the worst thing I've done to myself in a long time. It is sinking its MMO tendrils into me and I can't stop playing it. Send help.

On and off with Yakuza 0 at the moment. It's ace even though it's like more of the same of what I've played from the series (1-5).

Yakuza 5 was so massive and came with some quality of life improvements I really appreciated. Despite the plot being a string of anime plot twists I enjoyed it a lot too. Yakuza 0 removed the quest-starting markers which I didn't like at first, but it means you more naturally bump into side quests like you do in the previous games. Otherwise it has a similar feel to that game, which is mostly a good thing.

Probably playing a few other games after, but when at some point I plan onto playing Yakuza 6 and then Judgment. Don't know if I'll bother with the Kiwamis.

I'd imagine if you've already played 1 and 2 that there'd be little point to bother with the Kiwamis, but I enjoyed my time with Kiwami a lot as my first exposure to that game's story. I actually found it stronger than 0's story, but I wonder how much of that was to do with it essentially being a second chapter of Kiryu's story for me as opposed to the first. The stakes felt high and I was really invested in Kiryu and Nishiki's relationship and seeing Majima's transformation was shocking following his story in 0.

Since playing Nier Automata I've been curious about Yoko Taro's other works like Drakengard 3 and Nier Gestalt. The original Nier is going to have to wait as I'm not buying some overpriced copy but waiting until I can borrow it from a a friend. Have had Drakengard 3 on PSN for a while now since I got it in a sale but have only given it a go today.

I knew it was going to be a wild experience from what I've heard about it, but I wasn't prepared for quite how eccentric it was going to be. Really is Yoko Taro doing whatever the hell he wants.

Combat is fun. Bit on the simple side but there's a nice fluidity to it and you can quickly switch between different weapons. I also like how you can't just spam dodge like in Automata.

Have heard that the dragon flying sections got a bit of a flak -I guess because the action is even more simple here =-- but they're flying dragon sections. They're awesome.

It helps as well that there is pretty much constant dialogue between your characters and a lot of it is hilarious.

To address the elephant in the room: yeah the performance of this game is laughably bad. It'll almost never hit its 30fps cap and will frequently tank to the 10s and even single digits in combat when it gets hectic. Stutters are frequent. There are some graphical issues as well. Can't say it has really bothered me that much though as it's not as if the action requires that much precision.

I tried playing the original Drakengard and it is an _experience_

I got Death Stranding for Christmas so started it last night, did the first couple of chapters and so far I have a feeling it won't be for me but I'll persist.

My initial impressions are it's a beautiful game and whilst it's early days I can see why it won best sound at the Game Awards, its very easy to get lost in the game. The downside is how limited the gameplay feels so far, that may improve but I'm not sure I can do another 40 odd hours of what it currently is. The story also seems peak Kojima to the point I'm just laughing at the serious moments because they're so odd but to its credit the more I understood what was happening the more interested I've become.

When you get past the first 3 or 4 chapters which will be about 25hrs, it becomes much more faster pace, think that's been the biggest for a lot of people the start.

Yeah I'd heard that which had me worried because I don't wanna have to play that long to start enjoying it but thankfully I think I'm already enjoying it enough to get to that point.

OrangeRakoon wrote:

I tried playing the original Drakengard and it is an _experience_

I read/watched a Let's Play of this on LP Archive and man alive, I'm glad I did. That game did not look like fun to play, but some of its story beats are insane and a treat to behold.

I finished Drakengard 3 a couple of nights ago.

Or at least I got as far as I was willing to go with it - right up until

Spoiler:

My thoughts on it are pretty much the same as those I last expressed. Enjoyed my experience of it and had a good laugh, and the grind/level-trawl required for the lategame didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Also I do love a good mess of a game from time to time.

That said I may give the other Drakengards a miss. Also came across one of those old text LPs of Drakengard 1 so may give that a read. Pretty cool that those are a thing since they are probably more digestible than a video LP and I'd guess they'd come with more analysis/breakdown too.

I knew exactly what was going to be in that spoiler box.

Drakengard at least sounds interesting in regards to its plot - Drakengard 2, meanwhile, sounds dull as dishwater. Is the text LP you're reading on LP Archive? That's where I got my Drakengard info from.

Yup, seems to be one and the same.

Next game may be Witcher 3. Admittedly may be a bit influenced with all the talk about it now spurred by the show, but I've always heard great things about it. Seems a good a time as any.

About five people on my Xbox friends list are playing it along with myself, also load of talk about it on social media.

Put a few hours into Horizon Zero Dawn the other week and found it pretty boring. Stopped around the time I got a mount and wondered if I should bother continuing. Don't have my PS4 on me at the moment so that'll be something I'll decide on later.

Just don't really find the characters or story interesting. The game looks really nice, especially the characters, but it's jarring during conversations where the facial animation is kind of bad. Most other things about the game just feel okay or have been done better in other open world games. The machine enemies are cool though.

Also played a bit of Final Fantasy XV after a friend gifted it to me for my birthday. Steam version, but thought I may as well just mention it in this post since it's on PS4 too. Had played a bit of it before already, but I'm enjoying it. The only pad I have access to at the moment decided not to work, but mouse + keyboard controls actually work pretty well for it. I was probably going to go back to FFXIII, but this will probably be the second FF game I beat.

See that quite a bit now about HZD, like it's a game that I almost put in Top 10 of the Decade and pushing my Top 25 of all-time but I think it's one of those that may have been over hyped to some because of people like me holding it in high regard.

I liked Horizon Zero Dawn, but I don't think it's a classic like some people acknowledge it as. I think it's a solid 8, but getting around that world was a real slog.

I'll be interested to hear more of your thoughts on FFXV as you progress, Kriken.

Yeah Horizon Zero Dawn was a looker that had its moments but it's definitely not a classic. I enjoyed the theme enough to see it all the way through the boring bits.

You're all crazy

It’s a game with cool combat and a totally forgettable story Mas, there’s plenty of them out there.

Well I've not played them, then as I honestly would put HZD up amongst best games of this generation at least.

Days Gone > Horizon

I really should go back to Days Gone as I was liking it, but seemed rather generic or paint by numbers.

I quite liked Horizon Zero Dawn. It's actually the story I liked I think. I got more fed up with having to stop to slowly bash in a big dinosaur robot. I enjoyed more than I'm currently enjoying God of War at the moment.