If you missed it, I’ve been somewhat enjoying Monster Hunter: World this week. It is a brilliant game, and I urge anyone to give it a go. It feels a little like a shame that Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT are launching at the same time, as I’d definitely be playing/buying both of them, were it not for the fact I’ll be continuing to hunt monsters for quite some time to come.
Besides Monster Hunter, I’ve played a spot of Super Mario Odyssey, which I think I must be near the end of, except that then I simply have to go find all those moons. It’s a good job that it’s one of the most fun games I’ve played recently.
Me, Steve, Ade and Cael also made a Pubcast, and Kris edited it so it won’t hurt your ears. Too much.
Aran jumped into UFC 3 and put together a Road To Review for your delectation. Miguel has been playing a bunch of Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] and he loves it, even if it has the worst name ever and had Tuff and Tef hypothesising about what the game entailed. He’s also been spending a bunch of time on Breath of the Wild, working through the DLC to get that awesome motorcycle, and also fallen off the wagon and played Fire Emblem Heroes. We need an intervention!
Dave has been binging the story mode of Dragon Ball FighterZ, eventually completing it after way too many hours. “I have no intention of going for hard mode, but not too far away from unlocking SSGSS Goku with Zeni, since trying to complete Arcade Mode on Hard Mode with 7 fights is just too much. That said, I’ve almost rinsed the entire practice mode of trials. All I need to do is wait for online to actually come online so I can see what that’s all about.” He also played through Full Metal Furies which is a relatively decent coop game, revisited Street Fighter V for the Arcade Edition (having fun playing as Sakura in the process), and a wee bit of Dragon Quest Builders on Switch, which he still can’t say too much about.
Tuffcub has been playing The Witcher 3, Friday the 13th, and tried to force himself to have fun in FIFA 18. Jim meanwhile has “put a solid dozen hours into Monster Hunter: World. As someone who’s played the series since its PS2 debut back in 2004, it’s what I had always envisioned it could eventually grow into. I’m completely transfixed. The only thing that’s slightly tearing me away is Overwatch and its filthy new spread of character skins. The new Blizzard World map is also fantastic!”
Ade has been playing the cute puzzle/adventure game Vesta for review, and has enjoyed the experience apart from the “double pants boss battles” very much. He’s also been dipping back into Assassin’s Creed Origins since the DLC came out. “I’ll be writing up my thoughts soon but it’s safe to say that after ploughing 60+ hours into the main game and then seeing seeing all those question marks again resulted in a feeling that was either euphoria or utter terror. I’m still not sure which!”
Steve is most excited that his wait for Monster Hunter is over, but has played through the Deadpool game as “it was sat on my drive”. He’s also finished Paper Mario: Sticker Star and started messing around with World of Final Fantasy on Vita which will “probably take me months alongside other games”. He also rattled through a big chunk of Lego Super Heroes 2 with his kids, while enjoying how obscure some of the characters in it are.
Jake has unexpectedly been busy with real work, but has been squeezing in bits of LA Noire on the Switch before bed, while also playing World to the West to see how that runs on the Switch. He also tried the new Pokémon Go update and caught some new Pokémon this morning.
Last as always, Tef finally bested the Raid Lair in Destiny 2, and has now likely sated his appetites for the game until Bungie can bring some more serious changes to the table. A few more goes at PUBG still hasn’t resulted in a Chicken Dinner in solo play, and he got so drunk that he fell off his boat and crashed into islands in Sea of Thieves – no food and too much alcohol shouldn’t mix!
So, what have you played? Will you be picking up Monster Hunter and/or Dragon Ball?
Avenger
Mostly Monster Hunter today. It’s brought all the memories flooding back, and is still very entertaining. Curiously the hunting itself feels like it’s lost an edge with scout flies and easy controls, nevertheless I’m hoping for more challenge the deeper I get into the game.
MrYd
Assassin’s Creed Oranges again. I’ve got the last bit of the main story to do, but I’ve run into a problem. The levelling system is a bit rubbish. It seems to assign totally arbitrary levels to quests and scale the enemies according to that recommended level. But 1 level above the recommended level, and they die too easily, and a single level below, and you die too easily. Just to force you to level up with the endless side quests and question mark icons scattered all over the map.
And the voice acting and hippo animations are still terrible. Still, it’s fun, and I’m now running around the map doing all that extra stuff until I probably finish the last main quests off with no challenge at all.
GT Sport has also got me hooked this week. Finished off the single player stuff (well, apart from the GT League stuff) and unlocked the annoying unskipable credits, and a trophy. I need to go and get gold medals for all that stuff though. At least one of those mission challenges gave me bronze for just finishing (which I guess is a good thing, since it took an hour or so). 4 laps of the Nurburgring in a car I’d accidentally tuned to be fast but uncontrollable wasn’t so good.
And some VR stuff. Starblood Arena (which I’d bought in a sale ages ago before it was on PS+) is now playable, having more people playing it and bots to make up the gaps. Shame it kicks you out to the main menu after every match, but a good way to lose an hour or 3. Spinning around in 6 different directions in VR is surprisingly comfortable and not confusing. Might be worse without the Hotas controller though.
And more Rec Room. Lots of paintball, which is still fun. Most people still laugh or congratulate you if you shoot them, which is a pleasant change. And I’m deadly on the 1 map where a pair of grenade launchers are easily available to grab and cause carnage. One young man was being a bit of an idiot and wouldn’t shut up, but forgot that it’s very easy to track down where the sound is coming from in VR. He got shot repeatedly. Many times. It was only fair. Worse fates await anyone who inquires as to your knowledge of the way.
JR.
The level-up system was a bit messed up in Origins. I remember trying to kill a level 40 guy at level 38 and I may as well have been level 2. But as soon as you reach the same level, they’re easy as pie.
MrYd
It’s pretty much the same with even a 1 level difference. And it means I’ll just clean up all those icons, be stupidly overpowered and finish the last bits off without a challenge.
Which is a shame, because it would have otherwise been the best AC game since the PS3 games. As it stands, it’s the worst since Black Flag.
But still a very good game.
JR.
I didn’t mind Origins as a one off experiment but knowing this is probably how all AC games will play going forward makes me sad. It just didn’t feel like AC. Funnily enough though I really enjoyed Black Flag. Can’t wait to replay AC Rogue in March but you probably won’t like it if you didn’t like Black Flag.
Andrewww
Given I only had little more than a week with my consoles this year, I’m quite proud I’ve already finished the second game from my backlog/catch-up-with-2017 list. :o)
I played through Observer, which is a rough gem, another excellent indie title, which feels much more inventive and interesting than the usual repetitive AAA junk. It’s quite spooky and disorienting, and half the time you wonder what’s reality and what illusion, until you realise the whole game is about dropping the distinction.
And for a while, you perceive framerate issues, but then you realise, they may as well be part of your character’s perception in the game. So cool…!
Some ideas are similar to brilliant SOMA, some of the VR sequences are extremely good, and I highly recommend Observer, I liked it a lot more than their previous title, Layers of Fear.
And, of course, the TSA website works fine for me again..! After not doing it since about last October, it now promptly reloads after submitting a comment and I get a mail for replies, which is excellent..! :o)
Crazy_Del
Where to begin…. daily fifa from Squad Battles as usual.
Completed Vikings on Valhalla mode with highest difficulty (insane) and we both didn’t get the trophies …. well I got the Valhalla one but not insane and B_Cambo got nowt!
I am playing this difficulty again with my wife so here is hoping it’ll pop sometime soon.
Booting up the good ‘ol PS3 and firing up Killzone 2 to help out Cam with Killzone trophies and maybe a wee bit of fun MP sesh as I missed them old days!
I have bought The Inpatient and planning on playing that tonight after Killzone 2
Steelhead
Finished off the base game for Final Fantasy 14. Unfortunately the last two story dungeons were ruined for me by other players speed running them for the rewards and leaving us newbies in the dust while bitching at us in the text chat. Also when I asked my free company for help it sparked an argument that resulted in the only person willing to help me being booted out of the FC. A frustrating end to a very enjoyable game.
After that I went back to my FF12 playthrough, played the Project Octopath demo and a little bit of Fast RMX
JR.
Strange gaming week this week. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to play so I played a bit of everything.
Completed What Remains of Edith Finch and enjoyed it for the most part. I was certain there would be a more supernatural angle to it but I must be thinking of another game? Loved the section with John Carpenters Halloween theme. Very clever.
Finished my speed run on Virginia and unlocked the platinum in the process. I forgot just how fantastic the soundtrack was and downloaded it as soon as I’d finished playing.
Also, completed Day of the Tentacle Remastered. Easy plat. Quirky. That’s really all I have to say.
Fired up the PS3 and browsed the 500 PS+ games I downloaded years ago and never found the time to play. After spending 30 minutes trying to pick something, I decided to go with [PROTOTYPE]. It looks pretty dated now. Really dated even. Although I suppose it should for an almost 9 year old game. I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more 9 years ago but there have been so many games like it, in the years since and [PROTOTYPE] feels like well, a prototype. I’m committed to finishing it now, if only so I can play [PROTOTYPE 2], which looks much better.
Also had a quick go on Playstation All-stars Battle Royale, Worms Battlegrounds, The Walking Dead (Vita), LEGO Ninjago & Metro 2033 Redux.
So yeah, lots of games… but I still don’t feel like I’ve found that PSVR/4KTV-shaped thing that I’m looking for :D
MrYd
Glad you enjoyed Edit Finch. And yes, the section with the John Carpenter music is one of the best bits. Along with the bit where you’re slicing fish.
Didn’t realise until afterwards that the music was by the bloke that does the music for Star Trek: Discovery, along with several other TV things I’ve enjoyed recently.
JR.
Yes he also composes music for the tv show, Fargo, which I love.
The fish slicing tale was brilliant. I kinda zoned out listening to the story and continued slicing fish the whole time without even realising I was doing it. At least I got to ‘live’ happily ever after with my prince :D
Didn’t realise that the team behind Edith Finch also made The Unfinished Swan. Really looking forward to seeing what they do next.
tactical20
Nothing this week, however just dowloaded the AC Origins DLC, so will give that a whirl this weekend.
TSBonyman
I renewed my PS+ sub so so i grabbed Telltales Batman and Uncanny Valley. The latter is interesting but i’ll put it aside for now. I’m enjoying Batman, just completed chapter 3.
Mostly Horizon Zero Dawn, i’ve just raced back to a particular bunker to excitedly insert the last of a pair of power cells required to open a door which allows me get up close to some advanced tech armour … and now i see that the armour so firmly clamped in place that i will require three more power cells to release it .. :/
Apart from that, i must commend Guerilla on a great new IP. They’ve really got a lot right with this and it’s a pleasure to play.
JR.
Loved HZD but that Shield Weaver armour was hugely disappointing.
They show you this cool AF futuristic suit, make you collect several power cores to access it and then Aloy just takes a few pieces off it and attaches them I her godawful Pocahontas dress made of garbage.
The armour abilities were pretty cool but I thought most of the standard costumes in the game were butt-ugly and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the SW armour, only to be let down.
Great game though. I just hope they make the outfits look cooler in the next one. Authenticity be damned (especially for the special armours).
TSBonyman
It’s a bit annoying how tantalisingly close the armour is and how it takes two trips in with the first two power cells to then discover how much more out of your reach it actually is. I can understand they don’t want to make it easy to grab early on in the game but they should probably have placed the bunker at a location that you wouldn’t travel to until later in the game, or made it apparent from the start that you needed to gather all five power cells.
And the fact that you then only rip a few pieces off is disappointing but not hugely surprising – it looked dense like a robot to me rather than hollow like armour and i had been wondering how Aloy was going to fit into it! :)
ron_mcphatty
Don’t worry too much about the armour TSB, it’s not necessary and too powerful anyway so could ruin the end of the game. It ties into the plot slightly though so worth getting the power cells as I think it adds a cutscene to the end of the game. Oh and it’s almost essential for the Frozen Wilds which is hard as nails!
gernboes
Got the Patinum in AC Syndicate, now i only have to finish AC III, and Rouge, then in ready for origins :)
Also played a bit of Gravity Rush 2, and started Dragons Dogma – The Dark Arisen on PS4… I have played a bit of thatvon PS3, and somehow got the idea i should start over on PS4. Im curious if i will finish it this time…