What game are you playing?

[Legion]

I don't have a clue what the Steam Deck defaults are, but I will say that the game is a LOT easier if you change the default controls if they're like they are on console. They stuck heal on up on the D pad way off where you have to take your hand off the left stick to heal, but then they bound Y to something that you never, ever have to access quickly (change tool), so I'd highly suggest you bind the heal to the easy to access button and the tool switch to the D pad. It's a million times easier to heal in clutch situations if you don't have to take your left hand off the stick to do it!

Other advice for sekiro is to practice parrying, a lot, on the first minibosses (other than the stupid ogre guy who is an infamously bullshit first boss cause the techniques you have to use on him, dodging everything, apply to exactly zero other mobs in the entire game, besides the other identical ogre guy). I got really stressed out my first playthrough and gave up pretty quick (in the flashback segment, before I even got to Lady Butterfly). Then I watched a walkthrough and played along with it and since then I've played it repeatedly and love it. I know a lot of people hate walkthroughs and think it's giving up, but I find with certain kinds of games, especially short replayable ones, that that's a great way to "get into them" instead of just being infuriated you can't figure out where to go or how to beat a boss.

EDIT: I've been playing a TON of easymode cheap-looking open-world Sekiro, aka Rise of the Ronin. This game is incredibly fun. It's like, a dumb ubisoft style collectathon, but somehow all the combat and just the general traversal and stuff (ex the super responsive glider and horse controls that were clearly tuned around fun instead of realism) combine that I actually want to go chase all those icons around the map and clear out all the repetitive bandit camps. The combat is GREAT. I'm playing on normal, and it's really easy compared to previous Team Ninja games like Wo Long or Nioh, and I've heard easy's a big step down in difficulty from that, so it should be a great intro to this kind of game for people. The game can be played either via dodging everything or parrying everything, and the parrying is really fun and rewarding so that's what I do most of the time, but the game's easy enough that you can pretty much facetank everything if you're at a high enough level and just heal all the damage and be fine.

Also the companion system is massively improved from Wo Long, on "missions" you can take along companions, and you can switch to them and play as them instantly. If you get killed and your companions are up, it just switches to them and then you can use them to rez yourself.

This game got really overlooked and trashed on release, I think mainly for the bad graphics and general "AA" feeling of it, but I think they're kind of a strength since it's clear all effort went into just making a really fun open world game with really fun combat. This may be my game of the year even though it has absolutely none of the polish of say, FF7 Rebirth, none of the uniqueness of Dragon's Dogma 2, and way, way lower production values and T&A than Stellar Blade.

Wow thanks for the advice!

The control scheme is a bit clunky, LB and RB the black/attack keys, LT and RT are prosthetic weapon/grapple. I hear you about the DPad-Up having to be the heal but that one doesnt bother me much- Jedi:Fallen Order is the same thing and its muscle memory to me.

About parry practice: you know that guy who cannot die in the temple? I'm just constantly practicing with him. My goal is to get 10 instant-perfect parries in a row. I can do a perfect deflect every 2nd or 3rd block, but it NEEDS to be better.

And yeah it absolutely clicked with me, its fucking painful but as my therapist says: embrace the suck.

 

[Werecow]

That's the ONLY one you've played? I thought it was just the one you can play the best, my God man, play Bloodborne or Elden Ring too; at least Bloodborne has a parry system that's worthwhile, whereas in ER I never bothered trying with the fucked up animation window timing.

I've watched quite a few youtube segments of Elden and the combat just isn't for me unfortunately (same for Dark Souls). I don't like the feeling of constantly rolling around, and when i've forced myself to do it before, on top of that, all i see constantly is myself definitely getting hit, but somehow i'm invincible I don't mind the roll feature so much in games when it's more of a true dodge, and more in conjunction with ranged combat. Even then, i think Horizon Zero Dawn is the only game i truly love like that.

I'm PC-only i'm afraid, but i'd totally give Bloodborne a go if they ever did a PC version.

I'm so practiced in Sekiro now that my current way of playing it is not letting myself past all but two bosses without getting a no-damage, perfect deflects fight. I'm working on Gyoubu and Isshin to complete the set. For some reason, Gyoubu is really easy to beat, but tough to get 100% deflects on.
I really want Sekiro 2

 

[Werecow]

Wow thanks for the advice!

The control scheme is a bit clunky, LB and RB the black/attack keys, LT and RT are prosthetic weapon/grapple. I hear you about the DPad-Up having to be the heal but that one doesnt bother me much- Jedi:Fallen Order is the same thing and its muscle memory to me.

About parry practice: you know that guy who cannot die in the temple? I'm just constantly practicing with him. My goal is to get 10 instant-perfect parries in a row. I can do a perfect deflect every 2nd or 3rd block, but it NEEDS to be better.

And yeah it absolutely clicked with me, its fucking painful but as my therapist says: embrace the suck.

Check in with that guy when you open up the Mikiri skill. He'll have a new training option for it.

 

[MFB]

I'd actually enjoy a Sekiro 2 as well, or at least a different IP with same mechanics for whatever reason; the game infuriates me to no end because it's so different from their main entries, but it's SO well made and works as a whole, I do put it as minimum #2 in their catalogue.

 

[p0ke]

Looks like I'll be getting a fair bit of gaming in this summer - wife just started her new job as a youth instructor, and she'll be supervising a few camps throughout the summer, which means she'll be away for a whole week at a time, so I get the TV all to myself once the kids go to bed

So hopefully I'll finish DS2 (or at least kill that mf Darklurker) during the first one, which starts tomorrow. Then I think I might start Sekiro.

 

[Kaura]

Fired up my trusty old Nintendo DS that has spent like 20 harsh winters in a "shack". Still works like a charm. My summer tradition back in the day was to play through Resident Evil 1 on it so I decided to keep that tradition up now. Man, the voice acting finally caught me. I didn't mind it as a kid but it truly is terrible.

 

[p0ke]

... Resident Evil 1 ... Man, the voice acting finally caught me. I didn't mind it as a kid but it truly is terrible.

Yeah, the voice actors are so hilariously bad, it just serves as comedy

I bought NHL24 yesterday. Me and my 13yo stepson wanted something to play together, and that just seemed like the obvious choice. But goddamnit, I can't seem to score in this new version! Mostly everything works just as I'm used to, but the goaltenders just catch everything, no matter how nice passing patters and stuff I do.

And then I played some DS2. I had one effigy, so I decided to try that Darklurker again (because I've had a little break, I thought maybe now I'll get him). He immediately does the fire thing that oneshots me, I forget to dodge, and that's that So then I went into the third DLC (I've got a few bosses left in the other two, but I'll get back to them later)... And there's a boss called "Aava, the King's Pet". That's funny, as my daughter's name is Aava

 

[p0ke]

Aava, the King's Pet

Ok, so that boss was way too easy considering how many souls it dropped.

But then there's the following fight in "The Old Chaos". Very cool, but tough. I got to the Burnt Ivory King a couple of times, but looks like I'll need some more help with it - I found one additional knight, but I'm guessing there's at least two more, guessing by the empty thrones around the misty hole.

 

[Jynx]

Yes!

 

[TedEH]

I'm completely unsure what to think this weird take on Doom.

 

[Werecow]

It's giving me Painkiller vibes. I really liked that game. I hope they haven't gone too crazy with Doom though. Trailer seemed pretty good at first, but then started to feel a bit like maybe they'd thrown loads of crazy ideas in a hat and used them. The flying scene that appeared to be actual gameplay?
I hope it's good. I really liked 2016, but wasn't so keen on Eternal, with its more "gamified" feeling combat balance, ammo limits, and world design as well.

 

[MFB]

I truly don't get what happened to DOOM, all we wanted was to rip and tear, and now we get ...that?

 

[Werecow]

Jesus christ

 

[Grindspine]

I have had a standing game night on Thursday nights with some friends who moved to another part of the country. On those nights we've been playing a lot of Nintendo Switch; Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Kart, along with some PC-based games; Diablo IV, Starcraft II, Overwatch, Halo Infinite, The Finals, Portal 2, and Back for Blood, over the past several months.

Over the weekend, one of those friends sent me a game code for a MetroidVania style adventure called AfterImage. So far it's engaging. I grew up on Castlevania and Metroid games. My wife used to steal my GameBoy Advance and DS so she could play some of those Castlevanias.

Vs other Metroidvanias on Steam, like Ori and the Blind Forest or Hollow Knight, Afterimage has a somewhat brighter atmosphere in parts, but at least has a Normal mode to it, which lowers the difficulty enough to not be frustrating. The map is huge so far and the music is great. I think that I put about 5 hours into it today, which is the most time I have put into a single player adventure game since I beat Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on Switch.

 

[TedEH]

all we wanted was to rip and tear, and now we get ...that?

2016 Doom was something specially, and since then it feels a bit like they're trying to recapture lightning in a bottle. I can't tell if I should feel like this is VERY doom-like in that they're going "if it makes me say HELL YEAH then it goes in the game" or if it's very NOT doom-like in the "boardroom attendees awkwardly calling everything 'metal'" kind of way.

 

[TedEH]

I think I'm more confused by the Perfect Dark trailer though. It doesn't look "bad" per-se, but you could have slapped any title or IP on it and I'd have never known it had anything to do with the N64 game.

I can feel myself being slowly sucked back into that grumpy "the industry feels like it lost its soul in a boardroom somewhere" mode. I just can't get very excited for the next batch of blocky and pixel art Souls-Rogue-RPG-Likes, CoD clones, and Very Aesthetic Online Hero-with-a-side-shave Shooters.

 

[Werecow]

I think I'm more confused by the Perfect Dark trailer though. It doesn't look "bad" per-se, but you could have slapped any title or IP on it and I'd have never known it had anything to do with the N64 game.

I can feel myself being slowly sucked back into that grumpy "the industry feels like it lost its soul in a boardroom somewhere" mode. I just can't get very excited for the next batch of blocky and pixel art Souls-Rogue-RPG-Likes, CoD clones, and Very Aesthetic Online Hero-with-a-side-shave Shooters.

I have zero experience or knowledge of a previous game (i didn't even know the name) , but the Deus Ex fan in me perked up my ears at that trailer. Is it a pure shooter? Because i thought the trailer had immersive sim vibes.

 

[wankerness]

Ok, so that boss was way too easy considering how many souls it dropped.

But then there's the following fight in "The Old Chaos". Very cool, but tough. I got to the Burnt Ivory King a couple of times, but looks like I'll need some more help with it - I found one additional knight, but I'm guessing there's at least two more, guessing by the empty thrones around the misty hole.

Yep, it’s a really cool mechanic and also that dlc has the best level design so it’s well worth exploring everything. Just do not go on any coffin rides.

If you don’t get all four knights the boss spawns adds the whole time and it’s bad news. Still doable I’m sure, but not by me.

 

[wankerness]

Both doom and dragon age look dumb, but then I’ve got a big backlog so maybe that’s a good thing. I like DA2 and Inquisition a lot, and I liked Doom 2016 a lot, but…eh.

Anyway I just got the platinum on rise of the ronin, that game is crazy fun, and a good length for a Ubisoft collecathon (I got basically 100% of collectibles/sidequests in 50 hours).

Now I’m going on a trip to merry old England, and I get back the day after the Elden ring dlc launches, so I’m not going to be playing anything else for a long time!

 

[BlackMastodon]

Just give me more Monster Hunter directly on my veins. Here's hoping the PS5 runs it like sweet, smooth butter.