The end of week has drawn near, which means it’s time for another edition of What We Played, the piece that keeps you up to date about what your favorite TSA staffers have been playing. Maybe you don’t have a favorite TSA staffer? That’s ok, we don’t really like each other that much either, but we’re going to share our gaming highlights from the past week anyway.
We’ll start this week with Mark, who is making his first appearance on What We Played, and did so in style with a bit of Dragon Age: Inquisition. He managed to sink about 10 hours into it over the past several days, and although he’s really enjoyed it, he did note just how involved the game is. To wind down from such a big game, he often played a bit of Never Alone, a game that reminded him “a little of Limbo but with much more hope.”
Miguel is also making his first stop here this week and was very excited to get his hands on Mortal Kombat X. Unfortunately, other priorities in life made it tough to spend much time with it, but he did manage to continue with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Bloodborne. His thoughts on the latter are just below.
I’m around 20 hours into Bloodborne and I’m finally starting to see the complaints people had about Dark Souls 2. It wasn’t terrible, but it just didn’t feel iconic or noteworthy, especially with the boss battles. So far, every boss battle in Bloodborne has been memorable and significant to me.
As for Dom, he apparently really wanted to round the video game bases this week so he played a variety of games. He started by continuing his drive across the French countryside in Forza Horizon 2, but then moved on to Codename STEAM. After that, he finished up his week by diving into the sheer brutality of Mortal Kombat X in action. He’s nothing if not diverse in his choice of games.
Jim checked in next with a bit of MOBA action to start his week. Those who have kept up this piece for a long time might remember him playing a bunch of DOTA 2 in the past. Well he describes Heroes of the Storm, his new MOBA of choice, as “far more approachable while still offering that same core gameplay.” Finally, he finished up his week with some Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, which he had the following to say about.
What a game! After a several year hiatus from the series, I can safely say that I’ve fallen back in love with Capcom action series. Although admittedly grindy in places, the emergent gameplay moments make up for it, as do MH4U’s new weapons and features.
Stefan has been maybe the busiest of us with his gaming this week, checking out a variety of upcoming PSN titles, starting with Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and Shadow of the Beast. As for what else you’ll see soon, Stefan also got to check out Housemarque’s Alien Nation, Guns Up!, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, so keep an eye out for all of those in the coming days.
Next up is Dan, who only had time for one game this week but it was a doozy, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. He never managed to play the original on PS3 but he was quite glad he gave it a go now, and he’s described it as a brilliant game. A few more of his thoughts can be found just below.
It doesn’t look fantastic, but the mechanics thankfully haven’t changed, and still remain to be the best of any RPG I’ve played. The bosses have been a mixed bunch in terms of difficulty. Some are quit easy whereas others are impossible without a phantom to summon. And, of course, I have died a lot of times. Most of the time it’s me getting too cocky when fighting a lesser foe only for them to teach me a lesson. I’m currently halfway through my second play-through, and it starting to get a lot tougher now, if it wasn’t tough enough already.
Although Blair spent a small portion of his week daydreaming about what a Daredevil video game would be like, he also spent some time with Tower of Guns. He’s a bit stuck on it right now, but certainly not because of the difficulty. He’s become so powerful that his special attack can kill with just one shot, and he feels like he could go on forever in the endless mode. He said that at some point he’ll come to terms with losing his potentially high spot on the leaderboards and just end the game.
Tuffcub was the last to check in this week, and he’s been playing a bit of Destiny, and bit of We Are Doomed. He also managed to fit some time in for Planetside 2, and he wrote a nice piece about it, describing it as a game that can be fun for a few hours with friends, but maybe not so much by yourself.
As for me, I continued my onslaught of PC games with my shiny new rig, starting with a bit of Eastside Hockey Manager’s early access. I enjoyed it, but it’s certainly not for the casual hockey fan. I ended my week with South Park: The Stick of Truth, which has been pretty good. I managed to pick it up on sale, and even though I’m not traditionally a fan of turn-based games, I’ve quite enjoyed this one.
So there you are, sorted for another week. We’re willing to bet that you’ve been playing games too, and we’re hopeful that you’ll head to the comments and spill the details of said games and keep us in the loop. Go on now, don’t keep us waiting!
MrYd
175 Diablo 3 bounties done since last Friday. I now have a character who can plough through hundreds of enemies without stopping. Or, somehow, getting dizzy. At which point, a nice Platinum trophy popped, along with a whole bunch of even better equipment.
And another platinum for some very, very crap game I’m too embarrassed to mention again. Took about 3 hours and at least provided good proof that a certain beta service I’m not sure we’re really supposed to talk about publicly just works. And works very well.
Back to Piratey Musou Shenanigans this weekend I think. Or the last 5 episodes of Daredevil.
Youles
GTA heists on PS3 and PS4. Just need one more platinum award on PS4 for the final Heist DLC trophy!
Plenty of Battlefield Hardline – offline and single player. Just a couple of episodes from finishing my first playthrough.
Tried PS Now which I was rather impressed with.
Also tried the RIDE demo which I actually enjoyed – may even pick it up when it’s a bit cheaper. Not because it isn’t worth full price, just that I have lots of other things to play.
Played the Exo Survival co-op thing of Advanced Warfare – thought the graphics were awful, really basic and the arenas really dull. Hopefully the single-player will be more impressive. I have to say I’m glad I didn’t pay more than £20 for it, as I suspected I don’t like the silly jumping around.
Also a small amount of Dying Light.
R1MJAW
A quieter week for me this week in terms of number of games played.
Dying light co-op last Friday night (and some more tonight).
Borderlands 2 co-op with Forrest and Pixel on Monday and Tuesday, and with hunterstryfe and Waxbull on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I’ve also become re-addicted to Diablo 3 and have just passed paragon level 303.
I also made a start on Titan Souls which is fun but hard.
MrYd
303??? I was at 130something when I got the platinum. Although things were getting a bit silly by that point. I was mowing down everything in sight and levelling up rapidly. A nice bit of equipment that makes any blessings last 10 minutes helped (although it doesn’t work in greater rifts)
Right. Paragon 303 is my target for this week then ;) My PS4 is going to love me. (And if anyone wants to pop a friend request to MrYd, random Diablo gifts may be sent your way. They’re dropping all the time lately. Do attempt to put something in the friend request though, as random empty requests may be met with cries of “Oh FFS! Not another. Did I shoot someone in the head once and now they want to be my friend?”)
R1MJAW
I can’t remember what paragon I was when I got the plat, probably somewhere between 80 and 100. I’ve mostly done it solo too, probably about 95% or so.
However I have done about 1400 bounties, 600-700 rifts and probably about 100 greater rifts.
I mainly just run on T1 or 2 as it’s faster for clearing stuff.
If you fancy some co-op just gimme a shout, PSN ID is same as TSA ID.
MrYd
T1 and 2 are a bit too easy now. Even T3 gets a bit boring. On T4, things don’t just fall over the second they see you, and you get that nice boost in experience. I think it’s T3 to T4 that goes from 800 to 1600% anyway.
Those greater rifts are much more fun. Seems to be quite a leap in difficulty, you can’t change the difficulty (or anything else) once you start, and my 10 minute blessings don’t work. That’ll be my next challenge. To see how far I can get on greater rifts. Got my eye on a 6 piece set of equipment which should help there, but they’re kind of stupidly rare drops and the sets don’t seem to be that great unless you’ve got all the pieces.
R1MJAW
Agreed on the difficulty front, however I prefer to run through T1/2 rifts pretty quickly as I’m mainly just farming ancient legendaries. Strangely T6 is pretty difficult for my Crusader yet I can do Greater Rifts at level 25-27 without having too run away too often (which is apparently equivalent to T6).
Carrot381
I played nothing of note early part of the week but since Now beta arrived I’ve been enjoying Dirt 3 a bit and The Wolf Among Us an awful lot. Playstation Now has been working really well for me and the chance to play some freebie games is always nice.
TSBonyman
I returned to The Swapper after a break and managed to solve a few more areas.
Also played some Counterpoint, i’m still alternating between progress and Defcon 1.
I have now mastered Central Yharnam (including the spelling of it).
Since last week i have beaten the Cleric, who was actually quite easy when i finally plucked up the courage to face him – or should i say – stayed behind him.
Then it was onto Fr G, whom i managed to cut down to a sliver of health before.. i died. I almost had him though, so armed with some confidence i returned to face him again twice, and needless to say i fared worse than the first time. Stocking up now for another attempt so hopefully i’ll have him out of the way by the wknd and then it’s a new area with new enemies and a completely new sense of dread to look forward to :)
tactical20
Having not played anything on my PS4 for actual months, I gave in and bought Zombie Army Trilogy, even though I wasn’t really interested in it. I didn’t really enjoy Sniper Elite 3, but this was only £15 in Sainsburys. Pricing error? Anyway, I’ve played a couple of levels and it’s better than SE3, but still not the kind of experience I bought a PS4 for. How much longer until Batman FFS!!!!!!
Pixel_nme
Well it’s been quite a bit of Destiny some Borderlands with R1M and Forrest also Dying light with Zerka R1M and Forrest,a bit of NFS Rivals and quite a bit of MKX and a game or 2 of Hardline.
Forrest_01
Love that I get loads of mentions on these articles these days. If the destiny lot posted as well, there would no doubt be even more.
It’s like I don’t play anything on my own any more.
… Which is probably a good thing, as I was getting blisters from playing with myself.
Pixel_nme
If your getting blisters your doing it wrong ;D
double-o-dave
HellDivers – Been playing an hour or so most nights this week. Like I said last time, I’m really enjoying it, but only in short sessions. After an hour or 2 it does get a bit boring. I’ve actually now started to join in some games on ‘hard’ now I’ve reached rank 19 & got a better collection of weapons.
GTA Online – I’ve now done all the heist 1 or 2 times so I think it’s time to put it away again but who knows. I have discovered my new favourite car… The Panto (smart car). Add a nitro, spoiler & a few other bits and bobs and it’s bloody awesome! Taking that into account, I have got another reason to still play it next week.
PS Now Beta – Gave this a quick go last night and was pretty impressed. Played Dead Space 3 – It was a little jerky but I have only got a 5mb download speed, so overall it seems pretty good.
DriveClub – Believe it or not, I’ve actually avoided playing it this week and decided to wait for this months Tour packs, although I’ll probably be on it this weekend.
BF4 – Done a few games of Rush, easing my way back into it as I don’t Hardline. Might hit it heavy next week.
Steelhead
Some Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 co-op with the wife and a few hours of Final Fantasy VI. Also needed to test a couple of dualshock 2’s that I bought off ebay so I played through Timesplitters Future Perfects main campaign. Great fun, it remains one of my favourite games of all time.