What We Played #340 – Dragon Ball FighterZ, Monster Hunter: World & The Witcher III

This week I’ve been lucky enough to make a start on Monster Hunter: World. I can’t tell you much about it – the embargo is next week – but suffice it to say, like the creatures within, it’s pretty big. Besides that I’m getting towards the end of Mario Odyssey and it’s been amazing, while I enjoyed finishing the first part of Battlefront II’s campaign.

We also did a pilot episode of a TSA pubcast – it seemed like a good idea at the time – and you can listen to our drunken ramblings next week!

Ade is playing Vesta for review, which is “charming fun”, and he’s also been enjoying Horizon Zero Dawn, “other than its godawful jump function. Aloy leaps like a broken legged gazelle. Unless it’s yellow she seems incapable of clambering over it. It’s still very good mind.”

Jake meanwhile has played ChromaGun, which he’s still writing his review for. He also played Dragon Ball FighterZ’s open beta, which was “quite fun”. He’s hopped into a bit of LA Noire for the Switch and says that it’s pretty impressive in how well it works, and he also grabbed NBA Playgrounds for Switch. He thinks he may have gone a bit Switch crazy, as he hasn’t properly touched his PS4 for a while.

There hasn’t been much gaming this week for Steve. A touch of Paper Mario: Sticker Star here, which he’s always on the verge of giving up on, and a bit of Rayman Legends there, which he gets roped into playing when his son gets stuck on the harder parts, while his daughter has hijacked the Steam Link so she can play Minecraft! He also said, “I thought about finally starting Bloodborne, but then I remembered next week is Monster Hunter time.”

Dave played a bit of The Lord of the Rings LCG and Dragon Quest Builders when he’s on Switch, but he’s got a few reviews on the go. There was plenty of the Dragon Ball FighterZ beta… and the full release as well (more on that next week), as well as Street Fighter V Arcade Edition which is “a significantly more complete package now than it was when I reviewed it back in 2016”, and he also has Full Metal Furies in his backlog for what looks like a busy weekend!

Aran has cracked on with Shadow of War, and lost every match in his Dragon Ball FighterZ beta play. Beta luck next time! (I’m sorry, I’ve even managed to upset myself with that)

Amongst others, Tuffcub finally got into one of the best games of this generation:

I have played Destiny 2, Sky Force Anniversary, Sky Force Reloaded (yes, still) and Pineview Drive. The latter was on my rental queue, one of those games I had never heard of so rent to see what it’s like. Short answer: Bloody awful! It looks like a PC game from the 1990s and has terrible screen tearing, I suggest everyone avoids it all costs.

I have also started The Witcher 3 which a friend lent me. It’s very wordy isn’t it? I’m already skipping dialogue and bejesus that intro training sequence goes on forever. It’s not too hobbity so far, so I’ll continue to play. Other than that I’ve been starting up lots of games that were patched for HDR and 4K and just looking at how pretty they are.

Finally, we come to Tef, who’s bounced back and forth between quite a few games. There was a review of Beholder which was a promising idea, but rough around the edges, he and Miguel teamed up to finally get a review of Furi on the site, shared thoughts on Metal Gear Survive and Monster Hunter: World, he’s played PUBG every little while, and is getting back to Destiny 2 to tackle the Raid Lair.

Written by
TSA's Reviews Editor - a hoarder of headsets who regularly argues that the Sega Saturn was the best console ever released.

17 Comments

  1. Just finished of the Telltale Batman game from PS+. One of their best ones, I think. More gameplay than others, even if the gameplay is still all pressing buttons as they pop up. But it’s all entertaining, and another Platinum trophy. (Weirdly, the platinum trophy is rarer than the trophy for finishing the last chapter of episode 5. How does that work?? Some people haven’t finished previous episodes, but finished episode 5?)

    Also, lots more Assassin’s Creed Oranges. Which I’m enjoying. Except the modern day bits are shit and I just want them to end when they happen. And I’m one of those people who didn’t hate them in all the previous games. I’m still riding a chocobo, and I’ve taken to humming the appropriate music to myself.

    And plenty of VR bits from sales. VR Batman is very good looking, and has annoying things to try and find. Which is a good excuse to go back and admire the graphics again.

    Arizona Sunshine surprised me. Decent-ish movement with the Move controllers. Satisfying zombie head exploding. All reasonably good fun. But it seemed like a good idea to try playing it standing up. That was a bad plan, and my legs went all weird every time I moved. Teleporting for movement might be the only option for standing VR. But teleporting is horrible.

    And then Crystal Rift, which is a weird little game. Probably a bit rubbish without VR. Or if you’re young and can’t remember when games were like that. But I’m 46 and own a fancy hat. So it’s strangely enjoyable. Old fashioned grid based movement doesn’t bother me. Random jump scares are fun in VR. And it was only £3 something.

    And finally, What Remains of Edith Finch was in the sale, so I finally got around to that (so it’s probably on PS+ next month). Loving it so far. All a bit mad, really.

    • Noticed that platinum disparity with Tales of the Borderlands. Puzzled me then too.

    • How do you rate Edith Finch? All I’ve heard is people raving about how great it is. I almost bought it in the sale but I went with The Solus Project, Metro Redux The Long Dark and Hellblade. Sale ends today, is it worth it?

      • From what I’ve played so far, it’s very good. If you like walking and don’t think that’s a bad word to use to describe a game, like some people.

        One of the better ones too. Without giving anything away, they’ve done a great job on building the house it’s set in. I’d put it up there with the village in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. Good voice acting too. And a collection of slightly odd, possibly a bit depressing stories.

        If you like that sort of game, it’s definitely worth picking up in the next 3 and a bit hours.

      • Just bought it :D I need to stop!

    • You don’t have to play Chapter 1-4 to play Chap 5. Some people may have skipped a chapter so not go the platinum.

      • But why would people do that? That’s just weird.

        Oh, I think I’ve answered my own question. People are just weird.

  2. Finished Blaster Master Zero, which was a decent little romp. I initially thought the final boss was going to be really hard, but realised on my fourth attempt that I could stun lock both of his forms into oblivion for a cheap win.

    Started Valkyria Chronicles 2. Not sure on it so far. It has a kind of trying too hard comedy feeling to it, which is really jarring when you compare it to the first game. Also the gameplay limitations caused by the move to handheld are quite irritating, and engineers have lost most of their abilities, which have been given to a new and completely pointless melee class. I have a feeling I won’t be putting much more time into it.

    Also resubbed to Final Fantasy XIV and made some good progress in the main story.

  3. Played quite a bit this week.

    Got the plat for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. I’ll be honest… about half way through, I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about and thought it was a bit overhyped. But as I approached the finish line, I didn’t want it to end. Not sure I’ll ever play it again but it definitely made an impression. I really enjoyed it overall.

    Also, got the plat for The Solus Project. I didn’t know anything about this game but I saw it in the Decembruary sales and the cover art caught my attention. An astronaut, standing in front of a moon – SOLD. It reminded me a little of No Man’s Sky with the survival aspects but The Solus Project has atmosphere in spades.

    I played the non-VR version of the game and getting lost in the expansive cave systems was probably the most claustrophobic I have ever felt whilst playing a game. Making it out of the caves into the outside areas was a huge relief and I can only imagine how great (or terrifying) this would be in VR. Those little jumping cave urchin MF’s can go to hell – got me every time :D The smoke monsters can do one too! Brilliant game.

    And Finally, Outcast Second Contact. I hadn’t even heard of the original game until recently, when I read about the remastered release coming to consoles. I thought it looked a bit like Uncharted on an alien world from the few images I saw online but it’s really not anything like that.

    Initial impressions were as bad as bad can get and after an hour or so, I came very close to calling it a day. There’s so much wrong with the game, I don’t know where to begin. Archaic gameplay, awful voice acting and audio quality, animations that are almost as bad as Mass Effect Andromeda… ;D (and I’m only half joking about that).

    Still, I decided to give it a chance and strangely found myself wanting to play a little more – to the point where I was actually enjoying it. Even the archaic gameplay started to feel refreshing. I’m pretty close to the end now (I think) and I’m so glad I stuck with it. The orchestral score is fantastic and the scope and complexity of the game is massive when you consider this was originally released in 1999 (I think it’s mostly unchanged other than the visuals). I keep meaning to watch some comparison videos on youtube, to see how the original game looked compared to how it does now.

    It’s certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and you definitely need to set aside your modern gaming expectations. It’s a pretty rough remaster for sure but the game’s charm does shine through if you look past that and give it a chance. Quite an easy and enjoyable plat too.

    • Reminds me to finish The Solus Project. And yes, it’s great in VR. And then a tornado happens. I’m sure they’re lovely playing the flat version, but in VR? They look suitably massive and terrifying.

      • A few of my friends got PSVR for xmas and they’ve been making me jealous every day since. I think I might need to get one :D

  4. Some Battlefront 2 for me, I’ve been trying to get that trophy for getting a triple vanguard shotgun Killstreak five times, despite spending a lot of crafting parts on star cards I think it’s beyond me :(
    I picked up Resogun at Christmas, I’ve never been into scrolling shooters but it’s great fun, much more than Sine Mora, and very pretty.
    Hopefully I’ll get five minutes to try Metal Gear Survive this weekend, anyone tried it yet?

  5. I was finally back home this week after a longer Christmas break, and back to some gaming.

    First, I played through What remains of Edith Finch, which I just got in the January sale, and which is very good. It’s one of those indie games that feel so much more creative and fresh, and it tells an interesting story, all of which most AAA games nowadays sadly lack. I also liked the length of the game, as it’s easily played through in one or two evenings, so you don’t have to give up your life besides gaming for weeks and months. It could be criticised for being very light on the gaming side, but I’m fine with a walking sim if its story is that good.

    Then, I started playing Observer. That one needs a little longer to get into, I still feel somehow disoriented in it, but it’s interesting enough to keep me going.

  6. After a very dry 2017 (gaming wise, thanks to a woman, baby etc :D) I’ve managed to get a bit more time on the old PS between feeds and played through Uncharted Lost Legacy and a regular run through Modern Warfare Remastered. Now torn between replaying on harder difficulties or trying to tackle some of the backlog instead…

    • I made the mistake of trying MW Remastered on Veteran difficulty. I was doing fine, until the “One Shot, One Kill” level. The endless swarm of enemies coming for you while you wait for the helicopter in Pripyat. Spent about 2 hours on that one section before swearing very loudly and creatively at it and vowing never to touch the game again.

      I’ve got to give it another go now, haven’t I? And do it first time, probably.

  7. All i’ve been playing is Horizon Zero Dawn. I’ve reached level 15, still in the easternmost edge of the map, completed my first cauldron and now i’m about to mop up the last side/errands before the main questline takes me westwards.

  8. Still daily fifa and bought a LB Icon – Maldini :)
    Completed Vikings and on a 2nd playthrough on Valhalla mode with the highes difficulty with B_Cambo in a Couch co op with a few beers and Jack Daniels =D
    In Valhalla mode if we get killed we lose all our progress and start all over again. Took me 35hrs to complete the campaign.

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