[Official] What are you playing?

  • Picked up some games I missed: Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Far Cry 5, Spiderman, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Ni No Kuni II. I finished Uncharted quite quickly and fired up Far Cry last night. It started well and I've got to say, I really like the setting and villain so far.

  • Playing Path of Exile since it released on PS4.
    For those not in the know, PoE is a fantastic free2play ARPG. You can play the game without spending a cent (unless you REALLY want some cosmetics) though if you are going to get into the game's meta, which can be incredibly deep if you want it to be, it is highly encouraged to buy a few extra stash tabs, especially the ones that keep track of the various currencies and maps, though that will only cost you a few dollars at most.
    Other than that what you'll get is a really superb and engrossing game that is very regularly updated with huge amounts of content accessible to all players.

    PSN ID: ElShmiablo if anybody wants to hop on some time.

  • I tried playing a modern, realistic football game last year and didn't enjoy it for even a few seconds. Decided to try something on pretty much the exact opposite end of the spectrum this morning and started playing NFL Blitz 2001 on my Nintendo 64. I feel like a dumbass for getting so heated and trashtalking the AI when I play stuff like this but if anything that (and the fact that I've already probably played it for a good four hours despite not giving a single solitary shit about football as a sport) means it's probably doing something right.

  • Picked up Final Fantasy VII on Switch.

    I only played it back when it first came out, but I was young and my English was very limited, so I honestly don't even know how I made it all the way to the end of Disc 2, but then I got stuck there against a boss and could never beat him (I think my only save was right before the boss and I couldn't go back to buy items or anything).

    It feels very weird to replay it now, I recognize almost every location, every screen, every music theme is a like a huge nostalgia hit. But at the same time I feel like I'm experiencing (and understanding) the story for the very first time, so much flew over my head back then!

    The world and the plot are immediately engaging, and actually more relevant than ever. However the writing (or at least the localization) is downright abysmal. There are lines that are literally nonsensical, seemingly misunderstood by whoever translated them. Characters will say things that seem out of context, or it'll feel like another character should be saying their line, or you don't know what they're referring to. It makes some scenes very hard to follow.

    I'm loving it though. The soundtrack is god-tier and the combat system is classic JRPG but there's nothing wrong with that.

    I'm only 3 hours in but I can't help picturing how every story beat could be done in the remake and it's making me extremely excited. This game deserves a modern remake, I hope Square Enix doesn't mess this up because it could seriously be a masterpiece if done right.

  • Rocking Sekiro, pretty much almost finished (I think). Gunning for the platinum trophy has been a good uphill climb the whole way through. Really enjoying the music and environments more than any other Soulsborne game. All around a total pleasure.

    That being said, I've been pushing through so mang difficult games recently (Bloodborne and Hollow Knight earlier this month) that I'm feeling burnt out on getting stomped. Thinking of moving into something super chill like Captain Toad or maybe a visual novel.

    Happy gaming to everybody else!

  • After putting more time into Sekiro, I've become more and more convinced that it's actually a Naruto game in disguise.

  • @momohara Captain Toad is fantastic. It's probably my favorite Wii U game.

  • Sekiro: I beat Jiraiya!

  • Okami HD

    A game that has been recommended to me countless times and I've never had a chance to play finally entered my life recently. I don't even need to say it, but the visuals in this game are downright unique and mesmerizing. As a person that generally doesn't care for Zelda games, I was worried I would only appreciate the visuals here but they do a great job of building the world, characters, and the threat that I absolutely do care about what's happening. While combat isn't the most complicated thing ever, it's varied enough to be interesting and I still have quite a few weapons left to unlock. While I appreciate how creative some of the paintbrush techniques have been, they don't always seem to trigger when they should and they can sometimes be a bit of a burden - creating lily pads to cross water is slightly tedious for example. Still, I completely understand why this game is held in high regards and I can't wait to get farther in it.

    Path of Exile

    I've been playing a mobile game called Bit Heroes recently which has a severe grind and randomized loot so my urges to get better stats have been increased and Path of Exile is also helping to scratch that itch. While my sessions with this game have been short, it feels much more like Diablo 2 than Diablo 3 in the fact that you are given so much freedom in how to make your builds. The skills you gain are mostly up to you and the passive skill tree is one of the largest things I've ever seen. It certainly doesn't help that this is free to play but feels very much like a paid game.

  • Hitman 2 - awesome. Don't know why I waited so long to get it. Actually it's because I'm cheap - but it finally went on sale! Only completed the first 2 missions but really enjoying it.

  • Got to mission 8 of DMC V, it keeps getting a bit better by each mission. I'm also finally starting Persona 4 Golden on Easy just because I think I'll enjoy the combat way less here than in P5, and because I want to rush through it a bit. Really good first impressions story wise.

  • Finally started making some solid progress on Trails in the Sky SC. Just hit chapter 4 and I'm really enjoying it so far. Does anyone know where (or if) I can find information on when the cutscenes should play? I'm playing through Steam Play on Ubuntu and you have to disable the movies to play through Wine. I'd like to watch them, but would like to do it while I'm playing the game and not spoil anything.

  • Borderlands on PS4, specifically hoping back and forth between BL1 and the Australian one.

  • I got my hands on a copy of DBZ fighters, everything from the visual presentation to the music has made a huge impact on me. Would love to see Dragon Quest or Sailor Moon get this same treatment. I feel at odds with Yakuza 0, Sega including games like Outrun are a huge plus along with dance and karaoke games. The story can take a back seat too often and the side quest do a great job of building the world but feel like fetch quest.

  • The Elder Scrolls: Blades

    Despite the internet deciding this game is trash, I figured I'd give it a spin for myself. I honestly don't understand why everyone is calling it garbage but I still don't think it's fantastic either. Combat is pretty dull (as it is in all Elder Scrolls games), environments are surprisingly varied, and I do like the aspect of rebuilding a town. Everyone seems focused on the timers used to open chests but they didn't bother me much - I can't think of a free-to-play mobile game that doesn't have some sort of timer system used to limit how much you can actually play. To be fair, you can play as much as you want with this one, you just won't obtain new chests until the old ones open. Fallout Shelter also had timers that were very similar but no one batted an eye, yet The Elder Scrolls following suit makes it trash. This seemingly follows the same trend of Fallout 76 getting slammed by people for issues that were present in the very much praised Fallout 4. It's trendy to hate Bethesda I guess.

    Will I personally keep playing it? I've been rather addicted to Bit Heroes lately and my life has only room for one mobile game at the moment. It's still installed on my phone though, so I'll check in from time to time.

  • After what must have been ages, I finally returned to RDR2. I definitely missed this game, gonna progress through the story for a bit before jumping to Sekiro.

  • I'm on chapter 6 of Blue Reflection, a game I really shouldn't have dropped.

    I've a few niggles so far. While the opening chapters are admittedly quite strong, the game soon drifted into a quite lot of repetition. The pacing isn't very good and I could see it turning quite a few people off. The other issue I have lies in the design in that it's far too easy to break the game. While this is still all down to the player and how they wish to approach the game ,a limitation to the social mechanics, as seen in the likes of Persona, could have easily remedied the problem; as it is now, you can abuse the social ability to bond with your friends over and over again and thus become overpowered far too early in the game.

    Thankfully though the setting, characters, robust battle system and a wonderful new twist on the magical girl genre keeps you invested. The graphics are gorgeous and it all just really settles you. I can't recommend it enough to be honest, that is if you like relaxing, slice of life RPG'S.

  • F1 2018
    Driving games are the best way for me to deal with gaming fatigue. After Sekiro I didn't feel like playing nothing and as this one is on gamepass I decided to give it a try. Oh boy, this is intense and a well needed change from the last games I've played (RDR2/Below/Ashen/RE2/DMC5/Sekiro).

  • Watching MK11 gameplays made me boot up Injustice 2 once again. Working up on playing as Red Hood now, just to mix it up a bit since I basically main as Supergirl ever since finishing the story mode.

  • I'm about to say something that is going to make me lose my street cred.

    Path of Exile is better than Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. Yep. I said it. It's true. No dissenting opinions can be proven accurate.

    I've barely made it two Act II (with two separate characters) but I just love the amount of freedom you're given with your character. The skill tree may be set in stone but it's so large you can go any direction with it. You can equip whatever you want, you can use whatever skills you want, you are just given the choice to make all sorts of different builds if you want. This game is giving me a feeling I haven't had since the first time I played the original Diablo and it's a very, very good thing.

    @El-Shmiablo I'm glad I listened to your recommendation and tried it out!