What game are you playing?

[p0ke]

Made some serious progress in DS2 today. I finally killed the Ruin Sentinels - one on one they're easy but after killing the first one the remaining two were pretty tough. Especially since one of them has a shield.

Then I went back to Heide's Tower and managed to kill the dragon. I hope he didn't drop anything nice because the normal enemies ganged up on me and killed me before I could pick it up. Then I lowered the gate and went and fought the Dragonslayer, killed him on my first attempt. His running animation is funny af by the way, it's like he's out jogging or something.

Then I went back to the Lost Bastille, got to the Lost Sinner and killed him on my first attempt as well.

I'm starting to like this game now that I've got a hang of it, but all the bosses have been really boring so far. Where are all the "wow, I have to fight that thing!?" bosses? For example Sif in DS1 was like that for me.

 

[CTID]

Made some serious progress in DS2 today. I finally killed the Ruin Sentinels - one on one they're easy but after killing the first one the remaining two were pretty tough. Especially since one of them has a shield.

Then I went back to Heide's Tower and managed to kill the dragon. I hope he didn't drop anything nice because the normal enemies ganged up on me and killed me before I could pick it up. Then I lowered the gate and went and fought the Dragonslayer, killed him on my first attempt. His running animation is funny af by the way, it's like he's out jogging or something.

Then I went back to the Lost Bastille, got to the Lost Sinner and killed him on my first attempt as well.

I'm starting to like this game now that I've got a hang of it, but all the bosses have been really boring so far. Where are all the "wow, I have to fight that thing!?" bosses? For example Sif in DS1 was like that for me.

unfortunately:

until you realize that 50% of them are just "a dude in armor"

there's some genuinely solid bosses in 2 but it definitely has the weakest selection of the 3, even with having more bosses than 1 and 3. imo of course

there's also a couple fuckenings in DS2. you're past the first hurdle, but the second fuckening is to come, and the third after that

 

[TedEH]

Bit of an unexpected one, but I started Sly Cooper. Always looked fun to me, it came up in a youtube video, and I remembered there's a streamed version available on PS+. Would have preferred a locally running copy, but hey, it works. Pretty fun. Very classic platformer feeling.

 

[wankerness]

Made some serious progress in DS2 today. I finally killed the Ruin Sentinels - one on one they're easy but after killing the first one the remaining two were pretty tough. Especially since one of them has a shield.

Then I went back to Heide's Tower and managed to kill the dragon. I hope he didn't drop anything nice because the normal enemies ganged up on me and killed me before I could pick it up. Then I lowered the gate and went and fought the Dragonslayer, killed him on my first attempt. His running animation is funny af by the way, it's like he's out jogging or something.

Then I went back to the Lost Bastille, got to the Lost Sinner and killed him on my first attempt as well.

I'm starting to like this game now that I've got a hang of it, but all the bosses have been really boring so far. Where are all the "wow, I have to fight that thing!?" bosses? For example Sif in DS1 was like that for me.

Ds2 bosses like that are in the three dlc areas mostly. There’s a Sif equivalent that’s a nightmare thanks to horrible hit boxes and four adds you have to kill at the beginning of the fight. The executioner chariot is kind of a difficult boss compared to most of the other base game ones, but the run back is the part most people remember about it I bet. Basically just look up how to get to the dlc areas in sotfs, they’re great besides the optional subzones. All three need a key, and they’re in weird places. The flame dlc key is in the fire salamander pit in the forest, the poison temple dlc key is in a chest at the bottom of the well in majula, and the frost one is I think in drangleic castle?? I remember I got it shortly after walking past the portal that you use it in.

Other decent base game bosses are the big spider in the mines and the smelter demon. I dunno, I sort of like all the filler bosses, you feel like you’re cruising through tons of zones and going on a big adventure. Plus you level up a ton. Ds1 has fewer bosses and a higher percent are memorable, but I’d also argue that a lot of them are crap, too. Pinwheel? Bed of chaos? Ceaseless discharge? The latter two are definitely way worse than any boss in ds2. I am not a fan of Nito or Seath either.

Anyway I beat most of ds2 today (got through all the giant memories, only Vendrick/nashandra/dark lurker left) but I think I’ll need to respec for the dlc cause they gave all the monsters in all three dlcs huge spell resist, I guess as a counter to hex builds being too popular before the dlc came out. Sucks bigtime for those who went all in on magic though!

I’ve also been plugging away at FF7 remake, I’m on chapter 8 of 18. Still generally like it, but wish you could skip all the awful npc dialogue, and it’s kind of shocking how bad the character models and animations are for everyone other than the main characters. It’s definitely sub-Witcher 3 which is odd considering how many more years of development they had. Ah well, I think all modeling effort went towards making Tifa and Aerith attractive and they just didn’t have time to make all the quest givers look better than Skyrim.

 

[p0ke]

Ds1 has fewer bosses and a higher percent are memorable, but I’d also argue that a lot of them are crap, too. Pinwheel? Bed of chaos? Ceaseless discharge? The latter two are definitely way worse than any boss in ds2. I am not a fan of Nito or Seath either.

Yeah, those three bosses were definitely rubbish.
I remember getting to Pinwheel and beating him on my first attempt, and then thinking there's gotta be a second part or something. Bed of Chaos didn't even feel like a boss fight, it was just an annoying puzzle, and Ceaseless Discharge I don't even remember other than having to hide behind some rocks for the majority of the fight. But at least those were still memorable.

Nito and Seath were crap to actually fight, but I still thought their designs were pretty cool compared to the random armored guys in DS2.

 

[CTID]

Been flipping between Pacific Drive, STALKER GAMMA and a little bit of Elden Ring in between me working on game projects in Unreal (which I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that I switched engines/languages again). Pretty sure I'm getting close to the end of Pacific Drive, still really enjoying the atmosphere, but I will say that the lack of gameplay beyond the car maintenance/driving/avoiding hazards has worn a little on me after 32 hours, but not enough that I won't see it through to the end.

Other than that I think I'm just in a holding pattern waiting for Baldur's Gate 3 to get crossplay so my wife and I can finally start it or waiting for whatever the next game I'm excited for is, which I guess is probably the Elden Ring DLC or Frostpunk 2?

Wife also just beat Infinite Wealth earlier this week after about 150h, seemed to like it a lot. Definitely didn't enjoy the story as much as LAD7, though, and I can see why. Still, she got her money's worth out of it for sure.

Spoiler: More Pacific Drive Pics

 

[wankerness]

I think Infinite Wealth's got way, way more nostalgia pandering for series fans (the Kiryu substories are like a nostalgia tour, you get all sorts of cameos from minor characters from 1-6) and the combat's a LOT better than it is in 7. 7's story might have been slightly more coherent? I dunno. I liked 8's characters a whole lot and really liked the ties to older Yakuza games. Objectively it might be a worse story, but I enjoyed it more. And the combat being so much better was a huge selling point. Plus the weapon upgrade grind is absolutely nowhere close to as bad as in 7. Though the endgame is also a lot shallower. If you're just going to play through the game and not bother with endgame challenge, I think Infinite Wealth's definitely the better game.

Also, the Animal Crossing/Sujimon giant side-minigames are incredibly better than the mario kart and business debate or whatever from 7. Not that those were BAD, but these are great.

I need to play 7 again. I think I can do all the trophies again if I get the PS5 free upgrade, so maybe I'll do that. It's possible it's better than I remember. I mean, I remember loving it, but I remember a lot of jank and I didn't remember being particularly involved in the story with the coughing guy and the babies in lockers and stuff. Plus I like the couple of new characters in 8 - Seon Hee in particular is really amusing. 7's basically just got fewer characters than 8, and while I love Nanba and Saeko, I was never that big on Zhao or Joon Gi and I'd miss having the two additional female characters with actual personalities (I used Eri for much of 7 because that Gambler job was frickin overpowered, but they really half-assed the writing on the character cause she's basically a bonus character, like she just isn't in most plot cutscenes even if she's in your party).

 

[CTID]

I think Infinite Wealth's got way, way more nostalgia pandering for series fans (the Kiryu substories are like a nostalgia tour, you get all sorts of cameos from minor characters from 1-6) and the combat's a LOT better than it is in 7. 7's story might have been slightly more coherent? I dunno. I liked 8's characters a whole lot and really liked the ties to older Yakuza games. Objectively it might be a worse story, but I enjoyed it more. And the combat being so much better was a huge selling point. Plus the weapon upgrade grind is absolutely nowhere close to as bad as in 7. Though the endgame is also a lot shallower. If you're just going to play through the game and not bother with endgame challenge, I think Infinite Wealth's definitely the better game.

Also, the Animal Crossing/Sujimon giant side-minigames are incredibly better than the mario kart and business debate or whatever from 7. Not that those were BAD, but these are great.

I need to play 7 again. I think I can do all the trophies again if I get the PS5 free upgrade, so maybe I'll do that. It's possible it's better than I remember. I mean, I remember loving it, but I remember a lot of jank and I didn't remember being particularly involved in the story with the coughing guy and the babies in lockers and stuff. Plus I like the couple of new characters in 8 - Seon Hee in particular is really amusing. 7's basically just got fewer characters than 8, and while I love Nanba and Saeko, I was never that big on Zhao or Joon Gi and I'd miss having the two additional female characters with actual personalities (I used Eri for much of 7 because that Gambler job was frickin overpowered, but they really half-assed the writing on the character cause she's basically a bonus character, like she just isn't in most plot cutscenes even if she's in your party).

It's worth noting her first game in the series was 7, too. I think she just liked that the story was more personal to Ichiban as opposed to how much larger scale IW goes compared to it.

she also loves Zhao and Joongi, also fwiw Seon Hee is in 7, just as a more minor character.

she also bought every single other game in the series during the PS5 winter sale so I think I'm gonna get a lethal dose of Yakuza this year

 

[JDB123]

Started a new RDR2 story campaign this past weekend after last playing it like nearly three years ago.

The dialog and story progression feels much clunkier and poorly written than I remembered, but the actual gameplay and open world is so fun and immersive the best parts are obviously in-between the cutscenes and the interactions you as the player instigate and participate in.

 

[gabito]

Finished Nier Replicant v1.22etc.

I liked what they did to the combat, and there are some other nice updates too. Even a full new boss you have to fight at the sea, but it's basically the same game (which I liked).

Did only endings A and B, not feeling like playing half the game ~3 more times to see the rest. They invented Youtube for that.

 

[wankerness]

The only thing that's really interesting is the final "playthrough" (it's like, 30 minutes if I remember right) where you play as Kaine. It is all-new and has some direct ties to Automata.

 

[wankerness]

Well, I beat FF7 Remake, at around 30 hours. It really was starting to feel bloated by the end with absurd amounts of bosses and cutscenes and the plot going way out into wacky land to the point where I zoned out in chapter 18, but the combat remains fun throughout, and I think the final bosses segment is really good. Good multi-stage fight with split party, it's exciting and pretty.

This game could have been great if it was like, 10 hours shorter. Which I realize sounds ridiculous with a game that's only 30 hours, but there's a LOT of padding. Backstories for all sorts of characters that we don't need backstories for (ex, everyone from Jessie to Don Corneo's goddam doorman).

The writing remains bad throughout, the voiceacting highlights it a LOT more than reading awkward text did on the original, but the main characters' voice performances are pretty good, except for Sephiroth. Tifa especially sounds like a really good VA. So, the end result was that I really liked the main characters, but really cringed at a lot of dialogue and wished that a lot of the random NPCs were not voiced, partly because it would have made it faster to just pick up a damn quest if I didn't have to listen to a paragraph of dialogue before doing a squat challenge or killing some monster in the junkyard or whatever. The most aggravating NPC is definitely Chadley. I'm guessing Johnny is widely hated, but I was kind of amused by him in a partially ironic way.

I did most of the achievements, did all the sidequests besides the ones that get locked by others, and plan on leveling to 50, grinding out the damn revival materia's AP for the last Chadley intel, and at least trying the hard VR challenges, but I don't see myself playing through the whole game again on Hard anytime soon. I did do what seems to be widely considered the worst/hardest trophy in the game, which is the terrible PULL UP CHALLENGE where you have to press a whole bunch of the same button combo in perfect rhythm and occasionally having to mash QTEs while the display of what buttons you have to press fades in and out. Yakuza prepared me well for it, it only took about 10 minutes of profanities as opposed to topics I saw online where people generally seemed to say "2-3 hours" of attempts. Yikes.

So, now I'm interested in Rebirth, but I've read that it's 90 hours to play through as opposed to 30, and this one already feels bloated. Also, I've heard a LOT of complaining about constant minigames and lots of stuff gated behind them. Again, I'm guessing my Yakuza fandom will mean that will be no big deal as long as there's not another pull-up challenge and as long as it doesn't make you learn mahjong or something, but this all has me apprehensive. Maybe I should just hold off until it's on sale! Does anyone else have any opinions about this? I know thebeesknees22 was complaining about "getting minigamed to death" and lamenting the fact that they aren't made easier by easy difficulty. I completely agree with the easy difficulty thing, when I hate a minigame I just want to get through the darn thing, and frequently they're harder than the base game, so having it be the one thing unaffected by difficulty seems extra unfair.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Finished Kiryu's side story The Horse With No Name. It was a nice appetiser to Infinite Wealth and yeah, the ending is fantastic, the most emotional out of every Yakuza game.

I was indecisive with continuing to Infinite Warfare or just get Xenoblade 3 + DLC for larger time sinks until Trails Through Daybreak comes out, but ultimately being still fresh in the world, I went with the former. Interesting that I managed to amass enough Silver Plates for a small fortune before the second tutorial battle. It was only just to kill time while the rest of the game was installing.

 

[wankerness]

Infinite Wealth definitely has higher money requirements for things, I noticed plates were a lot more common, too, since they're far more irrelevant to your pool of money. Basically I was usually broke until going through a bunch of the Dondoko Island questline.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Debating on getting a fighting stick for Tekken 8. I kind of hate playing fighting games with a controller, and the d-pad is irritating the shit out of my thumb.

 

[p0ke]

Got a bit further in DS2 again. I got to the Skeleton Lords and defeated them on my first attempt. At least it was a boss that wasn't just an armored guy for a change. But holy shit what a pain in the ass the following area is! Of course I died before discovering the next bonfire, and then getting back there I got pushed over a ledge by a skeleton, so I lost ~30k souls which is a fair bit at this point in the game... And when I got back I discovered that the bonfire would've been right after the boss if only I had crossed a little poison river to the right instead of going left at the fork in the road. And now I'm getting ganged up by these big chained guys with scythe-looking weapons while pyromancers burn me with their flames and I'm trying to avoid falling into the poison swamp... I already found the next area luckily, but didn't reach a bonfire yet before getting toasted by a pyromancer.

 

[wankerness]

Got a bit further in DS2 again. I got to the Skeleton Lords and defeated them on my first attempt. At least it was a boss that wasn't just an armored guy for a change. But holy shit what a pain in the ass the following area is! Of course I died before discovering the next bonfire, and then getting back there I got pushed over a ledge by a skeleton, so I lost ~30k souls which is a fair bit at this point in the game... And when I got back I discovered that the bonfire would've been right after the boss if only I had crossed a little poison river to the right instead of going left at the fork in the road. And now I'm getting ganged up by these big chained guys with scythe-looking weapons while pyromancers burn me with their flames and I'm trying to avoid falling into the poison swamp... I already found the next area luckily, but didn't reach a bonfire yet before getting toasted by a pyromancer.

What build are you? Next area is one of the worst in the game by far for ganks. You either need a greatshield or to have a bow to carefully aggro the hiding mobs one at a time so you don’t get swarmed and destroyed.

That room with all the scythe guys is optional, you just get some items. I skip it usually cause otherwise you have to run away kiting those guys through the whole level for a long time.

 

[p0ke]

What build are you? Next area is one of the worst in the game by far for ganks. You either need a greatshield or to have a bow to carefully aggro the hiding mobs one at a time so you don’t get swarmed and destroyed.

That room with all the scythe guys is optional, you just get some items. I skip it usually cause otherwise you have to run away kiting those guys through the whole level for a long time.

STR build, though the last bunch of levels I've been focusing on adaptability. I have 99 agility now though so now I can get back to strength. My current weapon is a Bastard Sword +4, which does some pretty nice damage but is slow af. That's my typical playstyle in these games though. I also took enough DEX to be able to use a bow/crossbow, but I don't use those much.

I decided to back track a bit as I realized I had skipped the chariot boss. What a pain in the ass, once again The boss itself doesn't feel very hard but getting there, holy crap. I figured out a strategy to run past all the enemies and then right after the bridge I jump to the ledge on the side. The enemies can't reach it, and then as they start backtracking they collide into each other and fall off the bridge Then there's the phantom guy guarding the boss mist, took me a few attempts to kill because of various unlucky situations...
Then the boss. Doesn't seem that bad, but... the damned skeletons and necromancers while you're trying to avoid the chariot to get to the lever... Argh! And basically if I get hit at all during the fight I'm done for, because drinking estus is so goddamned slow in this game! I could literally chug down a beer IRL faster than the guy takes a sip from his bottle. It also doesn't help that you can't move while drinking (which was a huge QOL improvement in DS3).

 

[p0ke]

Oh yeah and I realized what's making the graphics look like crap for me - it's my TV. When I played it remotely on my phone everything looked all smooth and nice, but on the TV the edges look really rough and pixelated. I don't know if the streaming runs it in a lower resolution and sort of smoothens it out as it scales to the phone's screen (which is higher res than my TV) or what, but it looks much more pleasant that way anyway.

I've been planning on buying a new TV for a long time, so maybe it'll be time for it soon... My current one is 11 years old, and even though it's generally pretty good, the age is starting to show. It also randomly shuts down sometimes, and a couple of times it would only turn the backlight on with no picture until I pulled the power cord and plugged it in again... So I guess I can justify buying a new one soon. Problem is, my demands keep increasing Now I want a 70-75" 120hz one... Which should be a huge improvement, given that my current one is a 47" 60hz 1080p one (top of the line back in 2013).

 

[CTID]

Oh yeah and I realized what's making the graphics look like crap for me - it's my TV. When I played it remotely on my phone everything looked all smooth and nice, but on the TV the edges look really rough and pixelated. I don't know if the streaming runs it in a lower resolution and sort of smoothens it out as it scales to the phone's screen (which is higher res than my TV) or what, but it looks much more pleasant that way anyway.

I've been planning on buying a new TV for a long time, so maybe it'll be time for it soon... My current one is 11 years old, and even though it's generally pretty good, the age is starting to show. It also randomly shuts down sometimes, and a couple of times it would only turn the backlight on with no picture until I pulled the power cord and plugged it in again... So I guess I can justify buying a new one soon. Problem is, my demands keep increasing Now I want a 70-75" 120hz one... Which should be a huge improvement, given that my current one is a 47" 60hz 1080p one (top of the line back in 2013).

are you streaming over wifi? we had a similar issue with streaming Talos Principle 2 from my PC to our steam deck, and though we have gigabit and my PC is hardwired to the router, the deck isn't. probably not noticeable (or as noticeable, at least) on the phone because the pixel density is so much higher than your TV's