What Was The Last Game You Played?

[ConcernedReferee]

Finally got round to starting Prey, not usually a sci fi guy but I loved the Dishonored games and I'd been meaning to play it almost since the pandemic kicked off, it's just fantastic, really detailed environment that's a joy to explore. Cracked 6 hours into it today, it's got a bit of the Aliens/Predator about it, has a fantastic opening too, won't spoil it but a proper "OH SHIT!" moment within the first 20 minutes. 

[BFTD]

After reading a bit of HP Lovecraft recently, I started playing through The Sinking City again this weekend. If anything, I'm enjoying it more now I know what to expect, and know what the game's limitations are. The world is very cool, I love the music and ambient sound, and I really like the mix of detective work and occasional simple combat in a small open world. It was criticised a bit harshly for the things that it isn't - it's just a nice atmospheric wee mid-range game set in a fucked-up dreamlike world. I'd be all over a similar sequel, especially if they made the sleuthing more complex, and could let you come to wrong conclusions that would affect the story.

Definitely not something you should be paying £60 for, but would recommend bigly for £20 or so.

[NotThePars]

13 hours ago, BFTD said:

After reading a bit of HP Lovecraft recently, I started playing through The Sinking City again this weekend. If anything, I'm enjoying it more now I know what to expect, and know what the game's limitations are. The world is very cool, I love the music and ambient sound, and I really like the mix of detective work and occasional simple combat in a small open world. It was criticised a bit harshly for the things that it isn't - it's just a nice atmospheric wee mid-range game set in a fucked-up dreamlike world. I'd be all over a similar sequel, especially if they made the sleuthing more complex, and could let you come to wrong conclusions that would affect the story.

Definitely not something you should be paying £60 for, but would recommend bigly for £20 or so.

Isn't that the one where the devs removed the copies off Steam and said that the publishers had released an unfinished copy or something???

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k93xe/the-sinking-city-developer-doesnt-want-you-to-buy-their-game here it is

Edited May 24, 2021 by NotThePars

[GFARAB82]

fifa 21 but proper game skyrim

[BFTD]

On 24/05/2021 at 10:35, NotThePars said:

Isn't that the one where the devs removed the copies off Steam and said that the publishers had released an unfinished copy or something???

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k93xe/the-sinking-city-developer-doesnt-want-you-to-buy-their-game here it is

Yep, that's the one. Quite the saga, and it just keeps on going. Frogwares say the original publisher is now distributing cracked copies taken from other distribution channels, is including extra content that they've no rights to, and the publisher has their own version of events...just a very odd state of affairs. The devs had trouble with their last publisher too, as Focus Interactive refused to hand over the rights to their back catalogue once their contract had expired and pulled all of their games from sale out of spite in order to strangle their finances. Well, according to Frogwares. They've either got terrible luck or something weird is going on.

Despite this, The Sinking City was apparently successful enough that they consider it to have been a big hit, so hopefully we'll get another game in the same vein after they've finished with their new Sherlock Holmes title (Crime & Punishment was also pretty entertaining). They're definitely filling a hole in the market.

[Ocelot1877]

Currently making my way through Dark Souls 3 atm. Back on it after hitting a huge road bump in the Dancer of the Borreal Valley, was stuck there on and off for like 3 months, just couldn’t get it. Tears were flowing once I got it

[SANTAN]

.

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Stormzy

[Miguel Sanchez]

Gravel (PS4, 2018)

Back when I was too young to buy my own video games my mother would get me them, mostly from the local supermarket. As a result I used to have a pile of PS1 and PS2 games that were about various forms of motor racing, usually with really generic names like "Rally Championship." With this in mind we come to Gravel, an offroad racing game from the people who make the MotoGP games. 

You have an assortment of vehicles to drive including classic rally cars, modern rallycross cars and racing trucks. You have an assortment of courses and race types to race them in, with lap races around original tracks and real-world rallycross tracks and checkpoint races in point to point courses across a varied range of locations. In addition to the slightly bizarre Off-road Masters career mode which I'll expand on shortly there are free race, time attack and multiplayer options where you can set up any event you like.

The bulk of the game is in its career mode, titled Off-road Masters. It's basically a sequence of events like I've just described, only occasionally there's a race against a named driver in a specially painted vehicle, with an intro video from some guy in racing overalls posing and gurning at the camera. Throughout the races there's a voiceover from a guy introducing the races and the series as if it's a genuine racing series shown specially on "Gravel Channel" and it's all a bit... odd. The overall tone of the game feels like it's attempting to copy Driveclub in terms of the culture and off-track immersion in the cars and races but it all comes off a bit cheap and pointless. The guy doing the voiceovers only has one speech for each location for instance, so every time you race in Alaska you'll hear the same speech about how great Alaska is. At least you can skip them.

In terms of cars there's a genuinely surprising selection. I didn't know much about Gravel before going in other than seeing it described as a bit soulless and boring. I wasn't expecting the amount of classic rally cars to drive - Lancers, Imprezas, Celica, Delta, 037, Renault 5, they're all there and they all look really good. There are several different classes to choose from with lots of different vehicles in each, although this isn't as promising as it sounds. Pretty much every vehicle in a class sounds and handles the same. The specifications for each vehicle aren't very detailed, with power and drivetrain being the only ones that seem to make a difference. (Tip: pick the most powerful 4WD car and you'll probably do well) Weight isn't even listed. 

There is visual and physical damage but you need to really crash into something hard to cause it, and even then it only manifests as pulling your steering slightly to one side, or making the engine sound funny. You'll still reach and maintain your top speed. And even then, there's an unlimited rewind feature so you can go back and undo your crash anyway. As fun as they are to drive and as close as the racing can be, I'm trying to think right now and can't remember any car being especially memorable for its performance.

In addition to the (slightly dumbed down) real world rallycross circuits there are courses set in a range of locations including Alaska, Namibia and Iceland. Each location looks really distinctive and has a different type of surface to race on - Namibia has sand and absolutely massive jumps, for instance. Similar to the cars however regardless of whether you're driving on sand, mud or ice there's basically no difference in how a car handles. You slide at the same rate, you go at the same speed, you have the same reaction to landing from a jump. The only real difference is in the visuals and thankfully they're varied enough to keep the interest up, so I never really felt bored.

Although graphically the game isn't very impressive - there's very little dust kicked up behind cars for instance, although cars do get dirty - there's something charming about it that I could never really fully explain. In a way it's like it doesn't feel like the full-on, fully licensed cars original circuits that it is. It feels like something made lovingly by a small group of people who wanted to make their own game with real cars but didn't have an unlimited budget or resources. The result is something I'm probably not going to think about again, and which I only spend 15 hours on, but which I quite enjoyed.

One final note has to go to the noise my PS4 made while playing this. It's warm right now, but I've never heard a noise like I heard from this game. Concerning, but at least it was quick. 

[BFTD]

Played a wee bit of XCOM: Chimera Squad lately. For those who don't know, the series is turn-based strategy, where you control a small squad of human resistance fighters battling against the invasion of hostile aliens, and they're brilliant.

This one is something of a cheapo spin-off, presumably for the devs to try out some ideas before the proper XCOM 3 and make a bit of extra cash too. It's not bad; there's some obvious creaking from the budget restraints, like the cut scenes are all cartoon slideshows, but I can live with that. There's a nice Alien Nation/District 9 style spin this time round - the head aliens were vanquished in XCOM 2, and the alien races they'd enslaved to conquer Earth are now left kicking about on their new home planet, slightly embarrassed about the terrible misunderstanding.

You control a multi-species police squad that's trying to keep the peace in City 31, a former stronghold of the invading forces. There's an overarching investigation that is revealed through completing missions, and there's a certain amount of freedom as to which order you take them on. Instead of randomly-generated characters, this time you get fully voiced squadmates who are fleshed-out characters with backstories - goes against the XCOM grain a little but, as this is an experimental spin-off, it's quite a fun addition. There's plenty of banter between your team, radio broadcasts that are occasionally tongue-in-cheek, and generally more of a light-hearted atmosphere.

Missions aren't the expansive exploration that they were in previous games - you arrive at a small location and immediately battle a crew of alien miscreants. Once you've emptied the room, you might immediately jog to the next room, then possibly a third, before you complete your objective. It's a zippier experience, and it seems a bit shit when you first play it, but it becomes entirely acceptable once you get your head around the fact that you aren't playing a full XCOM game. The turn-based combat isn't as simple as "this is my go, now you take a shot" - control switches back and forth between player and enemy characters during each round, and it requires a slightly different way of thinking. I wouldn't necessarily want it to be in XCOM 3, but it's a nice change for this game.

I'm quite enjoying it, although I'm not very far in. You start with three long investigations that you pursue in the order that you choose, but I chose the wrong one first and had to start again, as the final battle is almost impossible with a squad as green as mine still was. It's a much easier game than regular XCOM - Veteran difficulty usually kicks my arse, but it feels like Normal XCOM difficulty here - which might make it a good entry point for newcomers to the series, although they might be wondering who all these aliens laddies are. I bought the game for £6, which feels like a bargain, but the regular price of £17 seems entirely reasonable for what I've enjoyed so far.

[SANTAN]

Currently playing the Uncharted 4 game, I know nothing about the series and haven't seen anything from it but so far I'm loving it, throughout enjoyable, usually cba with the cut scene patter but I'm pretty invested in this, after playing Jedi Fallen Order you can definitely see some similarities but bizarrely to me this seems a lot smoother, don't know if there'll be much difference considering I'm playing it on the PS5 but the graphics look incredible for an old game, shooting is a bit janky but other than that I'd easily believe the game came out last year or something. 

[NotThePars]

11 minutes ago, SANTAN said:

Currently playing the Uncharted 4 game, I know nothing about the series and haven't seen anything from it but so far I'm loving it, throughout enjoyable, usually cba with the cut scene patter but I'm pretty invested in this, after playing Jedi Fallen Order you can definitely see some similarities but bizarrely to me this seems a lot smoother, don't know if there'll be much difference considering I'm playing it on the PS5 but the graphics look incredible for an old game, shooting is a bit janky but other than that I'd easily believe the game came out last year or something. 

My flatmate's playing it atm. Naughty Dog know how to make a gorgeous game. 

[SANTAN]

46 minutes ago, NotThePars said:

My flatmate's playing it atm. Naughty Dog know how to make a gorgeous game. 

Same guys that do the last of us series? Had a horrible flashback where I had to find some crate to climb up somewhere even though these man are clearly distant relatives to Altair and Ezio during the cut scenes. If the game wasn't so lovely to look at I'd probably find that aspect a bit silly, at least in the Star Wars game the guy is meant to be a Jedi, I don't really know this guys back story but him and his bro certainly pull of some utterly unrealistic displays of upper body strength. 

If I had one gripe it would be how everytime you die your bro shouts "NATHAAAAN" even after he's just let the guy with the shotgun walk straight past him and fully focus me. I've noticed most of the AI practically ignore your brother and just streamline towards Nathan. You can't trust your team mates to hold positions or anything like that. 

I dont know how far through I am, I'm probably midway through Madagascar but it's already a strong game, probably would have made my top 10 if it keeps up the pace. 

[gkneil]

Having quite the time of it with Outer Wilds. Gorgeous game that is a fairly mind-bending experience. 

 

[NotThePars]

11 hours ago, gkneil said:

Having quite the time of it with Outer Wilds. Gorgeous game that is a fairly mind-bending experience. 

 

Superb game. Unique as well.

[Mr. Brightside]

On 27/05/2021 at 11:44, Ocelot1877 said:

Currently making my way through Dark Souls 3 atm. Back on it after hitting a huge road bump in the Dancer of the Borreal Valley, was stuck there on and off for like 3 months, just couldn’t get it. Tears were flowing once I got it

Dancer and Midir were the absolute worst bosses for me.

[gkneil]

8 hours ago, NotThePars said:

Superb game. Unique as well.

Incredible game, and beautiful to look at. Frustrating at times, particularly when you make stupid errors. That's offset by the sense of achievement when progress is made.

I'm delighted to have not yet succumbed to googling, but there are a couple of locations that I'm currently stumped on how to progress and that urge grows daily. Hoping the next couple of days sees me figure a couple of things out.

[NotThePars]

Incredible game, and beautiful to look at. Frustrating at times, particularly when you make stupid errors. That's offset by the sense of achievement when progress is made.
I'm delighted to have not yet succumbed to googling, but there are a couple of locations that I'm currently stumped on how to progress and that urge grows daily. Hoping the next couple of days sees me figure a couple of things out.

I was playing in the early days of the release so the guides were near non-existent and the extent of the help was a Discord and forum with tips like “look at the waves!” or “tread carefully in Dark Bramble” which was really cool if also made it impossible for me to figure out how to complete the game.

[Ocelot1877]

15 hours ago, Mr. Brightside said:

Dancer and Midir were the absolute worst bosses for me.

She was the worst so far for me probably in the whole series. A combination of huge damage attacks, how mobile she is and her range just had me absolutely rattled. Couldn’t come up with a strategy, decided to get in below for some big damage then in her later phases used projectiles.

Really enjoying this play through but I feel that it lacks the magic of DS1. Loved the interconnected world and different feels of all the areas in such a small place. 

[Mr. Brightside]

1 minute ago, Ocelot1877 said:

She was the worst so far for me probably in the whole series. A combination of huge damage attacks, how mobile she is and her range just had me absolutely rattled. Couldn’t come up with a strategy, decided to get in below for some big damage then in her later phases used projectiles.

Really enjoying this play through but I feel that it lacks the magic of DS1. Loved the interconnected world and different feels of all the areas in such a small place. 

Another thing that always threw me was the janky way show lopped about, found it off-putting and hard to read most of the time.

If you don't have it already I would recommend getting the DLC, there's a good amount of content and some of the bosses are challenging and rewarding (apart from Midir)

[Steve_Wilkos]

On 14/07/2021 at 14:59, Ocelot1877 said:

Really enjoying this play through but I feel that it lacks the magic of DS1. Loved the interconnected world and different feels of all the areas in such a small place. 

Dark Souls > Bloodborne > Dark Souls 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dark Souls 2