Prepare for an onslaught of information next week, as I’m heading off to the GDC in San Francisco! This week by comparison is a bit more staid, and I’ve been trundling along with Final Fantasy XV again in its many forms. I never really thought I’d be one of those guys who thinks everything is better on PC, but in the case of FFXV it really has been worth the wait. Now I can’t wait for Monster Hunter in the autumn, assuming that Capcom do as good a job with that.
Besides that I’ve finally made a start on Mario + Rabbids, and while I’m enjoying it, it hasn’t wholly put it’s claws into me. Maybe some more time with it this week will sort it out. I also managed to start on a couple of things in my backlog including Steep – it has the most unintuitive start to a game I’ve seen for a while – and Fable Anniversary, which I’ve managed to put off for years. Burnout Paradise Remastered also saw some play time thanks to EA Access and it’s fast and shiny – which is what we all want right?
Ade has been playing the latest, and final, DLC for Assassin’s Creed Origins for review this week. “The inclusion of historical elements in the gameplay is fantastic. From exploring the remnants of the battle of Kadesh in Ramses the Great’s afterlife, to discovering that Nefertiti’s final resting place is secretly linked to Tutankhamen’s tomb as some modern archeologists suspect, it’s a bit of a masterclass in historical fiction.”
Kris meanwhile has been Switch – Or Die Trying. “It’s a tough platformer that’s clearly modelling itself after Super Meat Boy but lacks the same finesse, polish, and refined controls.”
Steve has finally finished World of Final Fantasy “which was great fan service, but I couldn’t be arsed with the extra hard dungeons at the post game. Too much soulless grinding involved”. He’s also been playing through Knack “which isn’t as bad as its reputation but is just a bit meh”. along with Caligo, a bit of Sam Barlow’s #Wargames, Aqua Kitty and Volgarr the Viking. Finally, on top of those, he’s been tinkering with All Walls Must Fall and Fear Effect: Sedna. Both up for review and “both combining LGBT+ aspects with underwhelming strategy mechanics”.
Jake made an unbelievable sacrifice and gave his Switch to Tuffcub, so he could clear some PS4 backlog, which has included finishing Assassin’s Creed II and starting AC Revelations. He also started Jak II for the tenth time and seems to be progressing very quickly, despite the visuals looking poorer than the HD Trilogy previously released on PS3/ Vita. Still, “it’s Jak so I’m happy”. He’s also been playing Paladins with friends or his multiplayer fix, but played Fornite two days ago and placed #1 with his team. Finally, he’s also played Disc Jam and Fantasy Hero: Unsigned Legacy ahead of their upcoming reviews.
Miguel has played a “shit ton” of Yakuza 6 and Attack on Titan 2, which are both “amazing games that I can see on my GOTY list”. He’s also played a little bit of Celeste and Snipperclips. Jim meanwhile finished up Final Fantasy XV and all its DLC episodes. “I actually enjoyed it the more linear it became during the later chapters though wouldn’t put it on the same pedestal as other games in the series. The ending was definitely bittersweet – a little patchy in its delivery and definitely a bit melancholy.” He didn’t want to dive right into another JRPG, so instead he booted up God Of War III Remastered and had “a whale of a time”.
Dave has mostly been playing Kirby Star Allies, but also had been playing a game called Exorder which is “essentially Advance Wars but with fantasy elements” and a bit of Vermintide 2. He also started Ni No Kuni 2 last night, with a review bound for next week.
Aran has continued his run at Persona 5, beating the fourth Palace and is now about to start the path for the fifth one. He’s already 40 hours in with no end in sight. Tuffcub reviewed Burnout Paradise Remastered for us, played Assassins Creed III Liberation on PS Vita and that’s it, though he’s finally going to try some Nintendo this weekend thanks to Jake’s generosity. Maybe he’ll realise how amazing they are and stop snarking about them all the time? Probably not.
Last but not least, Tef has had another busy week. He joined the guys for Vermintide 2 when he could, but couldn’t play very often because he was building colonies in Surviving Mars and jetting off to Prague. Why was he in Prague, though? Well, it was to play World of Tanks and their massive upcoming 1.0 update, spending some of his travelling time on his Switch playing Puyo Puyo Tetris, Fe and Snake Pass. When he returned to the UK, it was then off to a dark basement – lots of game events are held at underground venues, for some reason – to play the upcoming arcade racer Onrush. You’ll hear more about that early next week!
Now then, what have you lot been playing?
TSBonyman
More Dark Souls 3, took out another boss – and almost had another one on my first try – and have cleaned out Undead Settlement and have moved through Sacrificial road and onto Crucifixion Woods.
Also this weekend i shall be receiving the trophy for achieving 50 years on this planet.
Pixel_nme
Many happy returns for your 50th this weekend,have a good one ;)
Andrewww
And I thought I was the elderly bloke in here… ;o) (I still got a few years to that, but not many.)
Quite an achievement, have a good weekend then!
ron_mcphatty
Happy birthday TSB! Have a great weekend!
TSBonyman
Thanks for the kind wishes folks :)
MrYd
Assorted things again, leaping between different games in a vague attempt to deal with the backlog.
And fiddled with the camera to improve the tracking in some VR games. Putting it up even higher makes it awkward to adjust, but helps a lot. And now I can play Shooty Fruity properly. I’m enjoying it lots, and the grenades feature the cutest little VR trick I’ve seen in ages. Can’t pull the pin because you’re busy shooting evil fruit? Just bring it up to your face and the pin pops out as if you used your mouth.
Also, more of Skyforge which seems to have involved a big jump in my level after some recent changes and switching to a different, somewhat overpowered class.
And because that backlog isn’t big enough, I got Nioh in the current PSN sale. Which I’m enjoying a lot. Yes, you die a lot. But it’s fairly easy to get stronger and actually get somewhere without it getting annoying. The first boss got a bit annoying, but then I realised how some of the gameplay mechanics work and it’s got a lot easier since then. Mainly after I realised how important equipment weight is and why going over 70% is bad.
For some reason, I tried to get some more trophies for Killing Floor 2. Where you accidentally collect the collectibles. Only 5 more trophies to get for the Platinium now I’ve collected all those things.
tactical20
Sniper 3 (inc. DLC version) was a fiver in Smyths, so thought I’d give it a whirl. Seems pretty good so far. I like games where you can do things in whatever order you want. The open world isn’t too vast either, so you get to learn it well, which obviously helps considering the nature of the game. I’m only playing on easy. Not got the skill to account for balistic trejectory through humid air over 280m. It’s still quite a challenge though. Fuck up by missing a couple of shots and alert the guards and you’re basically dead.
Andrewww
Started to play Bloodbourne and got seriously hooked. After giving up on the Souls series with Dark Souls (not getting past one of the bosses there), this game is truly excellent, and I remember why I liked Demon Souls so much. So, I was going all Wow..! this week. :o)
The downside is that I’m not really that good with my reflexes and often not quick enough in the fights, so almost everything takes several/many tries (well, I managed to finish Father Gascoigne in one go…).
But being somewhere deep in a level, slowly running out of resources, and suddenly a massive werewolf type beast jumps right in front of you is just so brilliant…!
So, there’s two possible paths forward: one is I cannot stop playing it, and all my gaming plans for 2018 have just been thrashed, as I might have to catch up with Souls 2 and 3, too. The other is that I’ll get stuck at some point, and will give up, again, sadly. We’ll see, but for now it’s gaming at its best.
TSBonyman
You did Fr G in one go? That’s pretty impressive, he’s a tough boss for the early game and i had to summon assistance to beat him! Delighted to hear you enthuse about the game, it really can get it’s hooks into you and overcoming the challenges can be very satisfying. Have you tried any Chalice Dungeons yet? I can’t remember at what point they become available but they’re great fun too! ;)
Andrewww
Well, that must’ve been a lucky punch then… no idea how I did that…
I’m constantly struggling for resources, use up too many molotovs and oil urns und stuff, and then I die for some stupid reason (usually a werewolf…), and have to play through most of already completed Central Yharnam again, just to be able to restock and take on the level I actually want to explore.
But I’m only in Old Yharnam / Cathedral district still, somehow lost in between there, and not sure where to go next.
But then, I only found out, I can actually speedrun through most of Old Yharnam, so it wouldn’t take me ages each time just to get to this boss I want to fight (again). So, it feels I still make progress in managing what the game throws at you.
Chalice dungeons? Nope, no idea what you’re talking about…
Nate
I’ve just started Bloodbourne as well, don’t worry it’s kicking my ass too! Took me about 4 hours to beat the first boss. I am finding though even when I’m doing horribly I’m slowly improving, either with levelling up, unlocking shortcuts or generally learning the mechanics more. I stumbled across Father G before the first boss, he wasn’t a pleasant surprise!
Crazy_Del
Long list incoming…. had an insane week of nabbing 11 Platinums…. that’s right 11
Thanks to Wilbossman who made a wee guide on nabbing 10 Platinums in 10hrs I decided to give the other 3 games a miss due to the price and used the Vita for a double. These games for the PS4 and the Vita were – Midnight Deluxe, 36 Fragments of Midnight and My Name is Mayo.
As for others on PS4 only are – Mr Massagy, Suicide Guy, Nubla and The World of Nubla.
I also obtained Bravo Team VR Platinum.
I have also been playing Arizona Sunshine VR and have to do another playthrough on Apolyptic Mode and it is bloody difficult!
And lastly Call of Duty: WWII multiplayer with B_Cambo and some Zombies as I am two trophies away from the Platinum.
Now excuse me I am off to play Burnout Paradise and hope to nab this as my 350th Platinum :)
JR.
Played ‘The Bunker’ this week, which I found a bit odd. From the trailers, I expected it be be a slasher-style movie/game but it was something quite different. I’m not really sure what to make of it.
Also completed the first episode of Telltale’s Batman: The Enemy Within and thought it was brilliant. I love that they play around with the different characters – you really don’t have a clue what will happen next. Not 100% sure about their take on the Riddler but I appreciated the risk all the same. Can’t wait to play the next chapter.
Finally, played the first level of Unravel and it wasn’t half as annoying as I thought it would be.
tactical20
Unravel gets extremely annoying, don’t worry!