This week has all been about Final Fantasy XIV. News that I was going to be covering the Frankfurt Fan Expo meant that I’ve returned to the fantastic world of Eorzea in a bid to prepare for talking to the über-fans I’ll undoubtedly encounter there in a couple of weeks time. Admittedly it took me at least two days to re-learn how everything worked, and I’m currently trying to retrace steps from three years ago to work out why my Marauder doesn’t have a skill he should have acquired ages ago. Still, it’s reminded me what an amazing world it is, and I can see myself falling deeply under it’s spell again quite easily – the music alone is worth the price of admission!
I have still managed to play some of The Lego Movie Video Game with Noah, after I’ve now flat-out ruled out playing any more of Lego Jurassic World. Somehow the Jurassic World save game has disappeared again – as things are wont to do under a five-year-old’s over-eager button pressing – and I can’t bring myself to start over yet again when our household must have spent over 200 hours watching/playing it. Even the timeless Jurassic Park theme is currently banned. The Lego Movie Video Game is lots of fun anyway, and works the film in really well, and ultimately feels incredibly fresh on what is only its second play-through!
A certain Tuffcub came over all retro(ish) this week by firing up Warhawk on the PS3. Sadly only two other people were online which somewhat hampered the fun, as did the twitchy controls. Besides that he managed a bit of Titanfall 2, despite the inescapably sexist banners, and R-Type Dimensions. The rest of his time has been spent hurting himself on purpose at the gym and trying not to buy a PS4 Pro every time new footage for Horizon: Zero Dawn appears.
For a number of the TSA team this week has obviously been pretty packed with other things besides gaming, as Kris only playing Mr Jump on iOS, Dave got into Nioh, Jake jumping on for a spot of Titanfall 2, and Miguel carried on his time with Gravity Rush 2 and Overwatch.
Aran’s week was a bit better in terms of gaming, taking a first run at Furi on easy mode, as well as enjoying a return to the world of The Order 1886. Besides that he’s also been making a start on Invisible Inc. and carried on with his stewardship of Ebbsfleet in Football Manager.
Jim’s commitment to Overwatch meanwhile has definitely paid off this week;
This week I finally hit Competitive Rank 3000 in Overwatch! It’s hardly the top tier but I’m still mighty chuffed. Reaching that milestone meant that I could finally turn my attention to other games without feeling a certain angst.
I managed to polish off the last few missions of Watch Dogs 2 before dipping back into Resident Evil 7 for its new DLC. I also decided to give Rainbow Six Siege another punt. It’s a tough old game to get into, but there’s a certain brilliance to it, too.
Tef has also been playing Overwatch, though much less competitively than Jim. He’s still devoutly sticking with Mei though, also rushing to play as the Chinese climatologist and chuckling with laughter as he freezes people, stops and then shoots and ice crystal at their noggin. He’d really quite like Mei’s Lunar New Year skin, but the loot boxes have not been favourable to him just yet…
Alongside that, he’s been trying out the upcoming iOS version of the still excellent Kingdom, briefly played an indie puzzle horror game called 2Dark, and went to the Pokémon TCG Sun & Moon launch do, where he managed surprise everyone and somehow win the impromptu little competition they had going.
Finally Steve is slowly working his way through the original Uncharted on Crushing difficulty as well as just downloading the new Fire Emblem game on Android while finishing off his review of Memoranda.
Now then, how’s your week been? And, of course, what have you played?
ron_mcphatty
On Monday I finished The Last Guardian. Ueda and his team totally nailed it, the storytelling and atmosphere are spot on and the Trico is a triumph of a character. The post-credits ending totally floored me, I was like a weepy middle aged woman at a kitten drowning. What a game!
Youles
Platinumed Lara Croft GO – really decent little puzzler, the first DLC is quite tough too and I had to use a guide just the once, to my annoyance.
Played some Machinarium. That’s a tough game too, some puzzlers really aren’t obvious so you just resort to ye olde trial and error, which isn’t a fun method of puzzle solving.
Overcooked. What a brilliant, and frustrating couch-co-op game that is. Playing with my boys is a no-no, as I’m just too competitive. Imagine it’s satisfying getting 3 stars with some well organised mates though, as some levels are tough.
Mantis Burn Racing. A really good skidmarks-esque racer with some beautifully detailed tracks. Shame it doesn’t seem popular – the online is dead and the devs only have 3K followers on twitter. Albeit that’s not any kind of reliable measure of a games success or popularity, just expected it to be more, and they’re a UK dev.
The Division Survival DLC. Still tough as fucking nails, and McProley and I haven’t extracted together. I think it’s defo a solo game, since you won’t have to share resources. Shame.
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2. Tried the monthly Boss Hunt. It was impossible. Will have to wait an entire month to get the final 2 DLC trophies to restore 100%.
Some Goat Simulator split screen with my 3 year old. Apparently it’s still a hilarious game. Yet to be convinced.
Still haven’t started Hitman or Resident Evil 7, and it’s unlikely I will as I have the Ghost Recon Wildlands beta to abuse this weekend.
aerobes
Overcooked is a blast. I’ve had more fun with that than any amount of half baked AAA games.
Youles
It really is! Trouble is my 3 year old just laughs at the rats and runs around with the fire extinguisher, and I’m like “get the onions, I need chopped onions, the soup is burning!!!” My 6 year old insists we go back for more but I find it so stressful, haha!
aerobes
Stessful is the word! The tension becomes so high, I’m gripping the controller so tight it starts creaking and I’m sweating!
I’m making it sound terrible but it’s awesome! Usually my wife is very softly spoken but listening to her is expanding my curse word vocabulary and yet she has a huge grin the entire time. Haha!
aerobes
Finished the awesome Rise of the Tomb Raider and played a tiny bit of PES 17 and R6 Siege.
Next on my list is one of Metal Gear 5, The Witness, Skyrim Remastered or Xcom 2. I’m refusing to buy a new game until I at least clear a little bit of backlog.
The Lone Steven
I completed XCOM:Enemy Within and am doing a Marathon run. Injuries are just as bad, if not, even worse then Panic as I have 25 Soldiers but only 4 are usuable. :O Tis more challenging due to it making everything longer and I expect to lose two countries at the end of April. Literally don’t have enough to do another sat uplink but that is part of XCOM.
I’ve been playing Far Cry 4. Tis wonderful but the side activities are starting to be repetitive and I am tempted to not do all of them and just focus on the remaining 4 campaign missions.
Did a bit of Sleeping Dogs. I remembered why I don’t play this. It’s a bit boring. :(
Andrewww
First, I finished the Titanfall 2 campaign, which was the best shooter I played in a while. The level with the time jumps was excellent. I played some of the multiplayer, which is very good too, and to which I’ll come back to.
Then, I dusted off my PS3, to work on my backlog. I’m playing Tomb Raider, the one we got with Plus back in the days when we still got good games on the service. It’s really good fun, a good mixture of collecting stuff, platforming and fighting, and there’s even an interesting story there that keeps you going. I’m definitely taking the sequel on my wish list, it reminds me a lot of Uncharted.
TSBonyman
My third attempt at getting into Watch Dogs 2 was once again in vain. Not sure exactly why i’m not feeling it as i quite enjoyed the original.
I think i’m on the last mission of Dishonored 2 now, off to face Delilah and then i’ll learn the final consequences of my somewhat merciless playthrough.. :/
I started playing The Last Guardian, trying to take my time with it so i’ll keep it for weekend treats. Loving it so far, minor quibbles with the controls seeming a bit laggy and those big hints which often interfere with my desire to grab a screenshot – but seeing Trico animated in the here and now smoothes all of that away.
Also played the Bound demo which was delightful but short. I’ll watch out for a deal on it later on.
And finally, some ftp bubble-popping game whose name i forgot because i already deleted it. And i like bubble popping games. And they should go like this.. play level, play next level, play next level.. etc. And nothing else.
aerobes
I’m in the same boat with WD2. I have no idea what’s going on.
I know I said somewhere else I was banning myself from buying new games until I worked on my backlog but I saw TLG for $30 and couldn’t resist. Told myself I got it for my wife as a gift to make myself feel better. :D
Eldave0
Resi Remasted for me again this week. Rattled through the game three times, picking up the 5 hours, Hard and Real Survivor achievements.
Just Invisible mode and 3 hour playthrough to go and the game will be 100%’d :)
Copy of Resi7 finally arrived in the post today so I’m hoping to make a start on that this weekend. Looks terrifying, lol.
DividSmythe
Only been playing Diablo 3 RoS for the last week really. I’m just doing my hard core mode really.