What are you playing?

I really need to do my Claire B run on RE2, been putting it off for a while working on other games but with 3 coming up I should definitely get it done.

Meanwhile I've managed to 100% all of Shovel Knights feats (including its main DLCs). Kinda sad its done, I loved that game so much. But hey, I still have a Switch port to play if I want to do it all again!

I've also been playing loads of Death Stranding, which is great fun. Its a really relaxing game and I love tackling the different areas - hills, mountains, really unstable surfaces etc. make reaching my destination really fun. Its a weird experience, since its a pretty desolate/empty landscape in terms of landmarks, yet still manages to have this really unique atmosphere that keeps pulling me in. So yeah, consider me a fan.

Also been playing Shakedown Hawaii on the Vita. Its ok. Missions are just way too short and the story isn't all that great at the moment. I honestly think I prefer Retro City Rampage at the moment, it may have basically coasted on its nostalgia/references to 80s stuff but the missions felt more fun at least. I'll see how I feel about it after I play more.
 
Virtua Fighter 2 (PS3) -- Went back to VF2...Learning Body Check in Shenmue III and having that "holy shit! It's one of Akira's best moves!!" moment just made me want to go back and play Akira in VF2. Imagine if Shenmue had continued on with the VF engine?...we literally would have learned Body Check within the constraints of the original VF engine...I mean I'm happy with what we got, but just imagine what could have been with the VF engine.

Oh well, Akira still alludes me. Especially his god damn counters. I can pull off most of his stuff, but I can't for the love of me figure out the timing of his counters in this game. I've been going onto the virtuafighter.com website to see if there is any help, but alas, can't find a thing. I still can't master Akira for shit in this game even after years of playing it.

My two mains in VF2 were always Sarah and Shun Di, but yeah, Akira remains as tricky as he ever was. Still, it is a wonderful feeling when you pull off Body Check correctly and watch 75% of your opponents health deplete in one hit. (at least in the earlier rounds...until the AI smarts up and starts magically blocking and punishing it in the later rounds)

I wish there was an online community for this game, but it seems like online is dead (every time I try to go online I can never find a match so its AI or nothing.)

Yakuza 3 (PS4) -- Still chipping away at side content. Put about 25 hours into it so far.

Persona 5: The Royale (PS4) -- Went back and played a bit more of P5: The Royale. Waiting until New Years weekend. I'm on holiday from the 24th until the 2nd of January so I figure P5: Royale will be my deep dive game during that period of freedom from adult responsibilities.
 
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I could never do Akira's body check either. I love his moves but completely suck at using him in any VF. And yeah, the moment Ryo learns the body check stuff in Shenmue 3 is some of the best moments of the game for me, even with its plot issues, I feel there's not enough gravity placed on just how incredibly important those moments are to his character. But that's just me...
 
shadowman16 said:
I could never do Akira's body check either. I love his moves but completely suck at using him in any VF. And yeah, the moment Ryo learns the body check stuff in Shenmue 3 is some of the best moments of the game for me, even with its plot issues, I feel there's not enough gravity placed on just how incredibly important those moments are to his character. But that's just me...
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There is one method that works me for with body check. Especially in earlier rounds where the AI is kind of dumb. Get enough distance from them, they usually end up running towards you...as they run towards you that's when you hit them with the Body Check (<-, -> -> P+K). Depending on how much force you get, you can sometimes knock off 75% of their health with one Body Check. It's a wonderful feeling when you do hit it though. But it's tricky to do at times. Especially against later AI when they just seem to block and punish it with ease.

VF2's timing window is so incredibly tight on a lot of things, but I love it still to this day.

I kind of agree about SIII. It was one of my favorite moments, but for me, it's more so the fact that there are no throws in the game so you're limited to when and where you can pull it off. Just makes me think "imagine learning this in the original DC engine where I could pull it off anytime I please...would have been awesome"...it's that lack of being able to truly learn it, master it and apply it in free battles that was missing most for me.

Much like learning Swallow Flip in the first game and mastering the timing in the second game.
 
Finishing up Yakuza 4, might actually try to do every sidequest and get some extra trophies. May restart Judgement afterwards since I forgot where I left off. After that, I’m uncertain what I’ll play until the next big game comes out, whether that’s Yakuza 5 or something else.
 
BloodyHeartland said:
Finishing up Yakuza 4, might actually try to do every sidequest and get some extra trophies. May restart Judgement afterwards since I forgot where I left off. After that, I’m uncertain what I’ll play until the next big game comes out, whether that’s Yakuza 5 or something else.
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side stories in the Yakuza series are always worth doing in my opinion, aside from some really entertaining ones I love the secret bosses you get at the end of each game, feels like a nice bonus extra for those that do all of them. Now the completion lists on the other hand... that's only for crazy people like me to attempt, damn expert Pool...
 
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Virtua Fighter 2 — Probably my best time with Akira. I’m not much of an Akira player and in the past when I’ve tried playing him I usually got it done Somewhere around 30 minutes. As opposed to Sarah or Shun Di who I can beat the game with in under 9 minutes now days. But I’ve been forcing myself to learn Akira and more importantly, forcing myself to learn Body Check and Reverse Body check. After many years, I think I finally got the rhythm down and have been pulling off more stuff with Akira than ever before. I could probably get his run down to 12 minutes if not for the mirror match at the end. Which proves to kick my ass every time and drag down the counter.

But yeah, 17 minutes with Akira is my best time for Akira so far. Finally getting Body Check and Reverse Body Check nailed works wonders and feels so damn good to pull off. Thanks Shenmue III, you forced me to start learning Akira in VF 2...something I avoided for MANY years as I stuck to my old favourites over and over again.

But damn if reverse body check doesn’t feel so damn good to pull off once you nail it.

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Went for another round. Got it in 8 minutes this time around. Granted, yes, I cheesed a little bit. With Sarah, I can beat this game pretty fairly in 9 minutes or so since I know what moves punish what with Sarah. With this run of Akira, I had to cheese it a little.

I did a lot of forcing distance between me and the AI and forcing them to run towards me and then hit 'em with the Reverse Body Check as they run into it then follow it up with the Double Kick. Takes off a fair chunk of their health pretty quickly. Worked 9 out of 10 times. And with the two grapplers, you can very easily just mash his one-two punch combo and they won't do a damn thing against it. Hence the 8 minutes above.

I'd love to learn him more though. The one thing I've always said about the AI in this game is that it is incredibly tough but fair if you know how and when to block and punish. I found that out extensively learning the game with Sarah. But yeah, nice to finally beat the game with Akira in under 30 minutes for a change :D
 
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Much more Death Stranding. Loving it, climbing mountains, building zip line routes for easier delivery up mountains and just exploring in general. Its an odd game, definitely not what you'd expect from a big AAA game (in that 90% of the game is just walking/climbing delivering packages) but that's what I love about the game - instead of some GaaS type thing it very much does its own thing.
 
Shenmue 3 was the last game I played.

Now, I think I'm gonna not play video games for some weeks.(Since I played a lot in the past months. before Shenmue 3 I played Tomb Raider 12, Original Battlefront 2 for the 1000th time , Thief Gold on expert difficulty , Stranglehold 1 more time , Half Life 1 , Indiana Jones 3 pc game a little etc.)
 
Started playing JoJo Eyes of Heaven Again. Not a big fan of the gameplay but the story is interesting enough to want to finish. Also redownloaded Rogue Galaxy, might focus on finishing it and some other PS2 games I’ve never played before.
 


VF2 -- Akira Playthrough -- Cheesing out the AI with Body Check, Reverse Body Check and Surprise Exchange.
 
Welp, my last gaming purchase of 2019 is Omega Labyrinth on Switch. Normally dungeon crawlers are not my sort of thing but I want to support companies not needlessly censoring third party games, that and there’s really nothing else that interests me out right now to use this gift card on.

Also got a bit further in Judgement recently. Maybe I just suck but I seem to be really bad at it or the bosses are just cheap. All kinds of super armor to the point where it feels like my character is made of paper. Felt like Kiryu had a lot more weight behind him in 6.
 
Yokosuka said:
That stages 6 & 9
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when the AI is stupid enough to fall for it, I say it’s fair game ;)

Also, I despise Jeffery’s reliance on that power bomb. After all these years, I still have no clue how to tech that powerbomb
 
Working through more of my backlog...
Dead Cells I've cleared normal difficulty a couple of times now. I'm working on unlocking more before challenging hard mode.
River City Girls - a fun brawler that evokes the older RCR games, with a great soundtrack and artstyle. Combat sometimes feels a bit unfair, but I'm still really enjoying it.
Blazing Chrome - another homage, this time to Contra 3/Hardcorps and I'm loving it. Cleared the first four stages and just love how the game plays, super fast paced and well designed enemy placement which makes the game challenging, but not unfair.
 
Yakuza 3 - Chapter 12 with 70 of 109 side quests complete. Man, I forgot how intense Chapter 11 is. Tamashiro still just might be one of the most easy to hate bosses in the entire franchise. Fuck that guy! Might finish up the final chapter later today then leave the rest of the side quests to post game. Last side quest I hit was the ever continuing saga of Mizuki and Akimoto (the Millennium tower suicide tease)...entertaining as ever. Yeah, Yakuza 3 is still pretty high for me in the series...for whatever reason, I really do like the orphanage stuff in this game.

Nights: Into Dreams (PS3) - After watching John Linemann play Christmas Nights on Digital Foundry, it inspired me to pull out my copy but I remembered my Saturn CD drive is pretty much dying (sadly) but I have the PS3 version of Nights none the less so it kinda filled the void. The Saturn CD drive is slowly dying (I'm still waiting for that Satiator card or a decently priced SD Card ODE)...so I spent a few hours with the PS3 version instead. Man, I can't wait for that Satiator card to become a reality. I miss playing my Saturn and emulation (while improved) still just doesn't cut it.

Persona 5: The Royale - Been dipping my toes back in on and off. It's as good as it was, only with more content.
 
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danielmann861 said:
Yakuza 3 - Chapter 12 with 70 of 109 side quests complete. Man, I forgot how intense Chapter 11 is. Tamashiro still just might be one of the most easy to hate bosses in the entire franchise. Fuck that guy! Might finish up the final chapter later today then leave the rest of the side quests to post game. Last side quest I hit was the ever continuing saga of Mizuki and Akimoto (the Millennium tower suicide tease)...entertaining as ever. Yeah, Yakuza 3 is still pretty high for me in the series...for whatever reason, I really do like the orphanage stuff in this game.
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Best chapter in the series maybe for me. At least for the emotional beats, I love the entire thing with Nakahara, Saki, Rikiya etc.
Last chapter has one of the best fights in the entire series - really long fight, lets you mess around with your entire moves list, some awesome bosses to fight, amazing music to rock along to...
 
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