What are you playing?

otbr87 said:
It's my understanding that Ishin is the Yakuza game that takes place in the samurai period that already came out in Asia but is now getting an American release?? Or is this an entirely different game from the Yakuza studio?
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Kind of. It’s a remake of an old Japan-exclusive title from 2014. I never played the original, but did have a chance to get a good look at the remake at TGS last year. It’s basically Wanted: Dead but without the jank.
 
tomboz said:
Kind of. It’s a remake of an old Japan-exclusive title from 2014. I never played the original, but did have a chance to get a good look at the remake at TGS last year. It’s basically Wanted: Dead but without the jank.
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Good to know, thanks! I played the 2014 Japanese original and it wasn't for me, too much like Yakuza, but might give it a try if there's a demo or trial period to see if they improved anything.
 
Free trial through EA Play/Game Pass. Played about 1-2 hours so far. First impression it feels like an EA game, and its somewhat unique in its presentation, but so far it's just kinda decent.

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tomboz said:
Kind of. It’s a remake of an old Japan-exclusive title from 2014. I never played the original, but did have a chance to get a good look at the remake at TGS last year. It’s basically Wanted: Dead but without the jank.
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Asia/JP-exclusive.

Brilliant title, was an, "All-Star," game of sorts for the series, taking a bit from the Bakumatsu period and injecting a bit of their own plot into it. It worked well and the end-result was a fantastic game from top to bottom.

They have remade it, modified it to be more PC in today's world and have added a bunch of stupid shit that the, "fandom," loves, like adding in a bunch of random Twitch streamers (and Kenny Omega) as, "cards," in a rather stupid-looking (don't know how it is in practice) side battle system that is optional to even use.

Nagosh and Yokoyama were keeping the series super-Japanese and within that universe: this being the first were they are not at the helm, they've gone full-out, "let's cater to the Western fans that are ruining the series and its reputation, with their idiotic, sophomoric memes and who think 0 is the greatest game ever."

As a RGG lifer, it is sad to see... but money is king and if it makes them more money to cater to these new fans, they'll do it.
 
So I decided to give Wanted: Dead another chance, only this time, I played it on easy mode rather than hard. I gotta say, it was a lot more enjoyable this time around, which I really wasn’t expecting. To be clear, I’d still only give it a 6/10 (maybe a 6.5, if I was feeling generous), but I definitely had a lot more fun with it when I wasn’t having to concentrate on not getting my ass handed to me by boring, repetitive enemies that eat bullets and sword strikes like candy.

I can’t help but feel as though they made a big mistake by trying to position this as an uber difficult game though, not to mention by hiding the easy mode away behind a code. I get that there is a market for challenging games (I myself usually enjoy them, although not when the difficulty is derived by making enemies take 100 hits to defeat while allowing them to OHKO the player with a basic attack), but it’s an incredibly niche one. I think a lot more people would have bought into this if it was just a fun hack and slash everything to pieces-style game with a plate of goofy on the side.

It almost becomes that on easy mode, but the inability to lock onto enemies, and, more importantly, the inability to string together meaningful combos between enemies really lets it down. Locking what in any other game would be standard attacks away behind a skill tree doesn’t help either (how can you not give players a dash attack when they’re constantly having to charge enemies down through a rain of bullets?), nor does the ineffectiveness of the assault rifle and wonky cover system.
 
So I'm not, "playing," it anymore (as I beat it), but I beat Alex Kidd in Shinobi World last night! :D I now have completed each of the SMS Alex Kidds, save for BMX Trial (which I probably won't be purchasing with Paddle Controller, anytime soon), with the completion of Miracle World, 2 weeks ago as well.

Looking back on those games in retrospect, You have one weird, out of place game (High Tech World), one above average at best game (Lost Stars) and two really good ones (Shinobi and Miracle Worlds), with Miracle World being the best. The series being bookended with those two games as well, makes for a nice beginning and end (ESPECIALLY if you include Enchanted Castle, which is still an 8/10 game or better).

So, to rate them:

MW: 9/10
LS: 7/10
HTW: 6/10
EC: 9/10
SW: For now, I call it at least 8/10, but am writing a formal review on Gfaqs this weekend, so we'll see where I stand.

I'm considering doing a retrospective video on the Strike series (on Genesis only) and if I do that, I may also do one for Alex Kidd, we'll see...

Back to hammering out that backlog! Now that my son is almost 1, I have a bit more free time :)
 
tomboz said:
am still not done with Hogwarts Legacy
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I've been pleasantly surprised with the game. I know little to nothing about HP, but I love open world RPGs, and my wife gifted me a copy since she likes both open world RPGs and HP. It honestly reminds me a little bit of Fable in terms of aesthetics and whimsey that's occasionally punctured by the surprisingly dark.

It's really a pretty robust release for a studio that hasn't done anything to this level before. It is on the easy side and it takes its time introducing new gameplay mechanics (I learned about stealth kills hours before the tutorial quest for it popped up), but that makes me think it'd also be a great entry point into the genre for kids or casual players.

There are some frustrations, like the PS5 getting an exclusive quest that's apparently quite good, and some odd omissions from an otherwise surprisingly deep game. For example, there's a deep, expansive wardrobe system, but it lacks a dye system to support it! On the other hand, I'm on PC and there are already mods to fix some of the omissions and issues.
 
tomboz said:
So I decided to give Wanted: Dead another chance, only this time, I played it on easy mode rather than hard. I gotta say, it was a lot more enjoyable this time around, which I really wasn’t expecting. To be clear, I’d still only give it a 6/10 (maybe a 6.5, if I was feeling generous), but I definitely had a lot more fun with it when I wasn’t having to concentrate on not getting my ass handed to me by boring, repetitive enemies that eat bullets and sword strikes like candy.

I can’t help but feel as though they made a big mistake by trying to position this as an uber difficult game though, not to mention by hiding the easy mode away behind a code. I get that there is a market for challenging games (I myself usually enjoy them, although not when the difficulty is derived by making enemies take 100 hits to defeat while allowing them to OHKO the player with a basic attack), but it’s an incredibly niche one. I think a lot more people would have bought into this if it was just a fun hack and slash everything to pieces-style game with a plate of goofy on the side.

It almost becomes that on easy mode, but the inability to lock onto enemies, and, more importantly, the inability to string together meaningful combos between enemies really lets it down. Locking what in any other game would be standard attacks away behind a skill tree doesn’t help either (how can you not give players a dash attack when they’re constantly having to charge enemies down through a rain of bullets?), nor does the ineffectiveness of the assault rifle and wonky cover system.
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I played it on easy(with the cat ears) and still found it to feel like drudgery to get through a few levels before I decided I was done with it. I dont like this trend thats popular right now where games are designed to be super difficult without an option to reduce the difficulty (like Wo Long). Steelrising wasnt good, but at least there was an option to reduce the difficulty. I play games for the story and character development and to relax and enjoy myself, not be stressed from difficulty settings. I'm honestly shocked given how much easier games were 15-30 years ago in general. I understand controls and general jankyness was an issue back then that couldn't be helped, but now games arent generally janky and they intentionally make them brutally hard, its shocking to say the least. Wanted Dead still wasnt good for me in general, I was expecting a passable game (which is an 8/10 minimal for me and it isn't that).
 
Still got more Hi-Fi Rush to get through among others I started last year I haven’t done yet (namely Dusk Diver 2, Evil West, Neon White) but I couldn’t skip out on Hogwarts Legacy, and I was pretty ecstatic about the Metroid Prime remaster - even more so when I found I could use gyro controls. People claim the IR sensor made the Wii version better but I just can’t with that bs. This way you don’t even have to aim at the screen and don’t have to worry about losing the cursor. That and people seem to forget how long recalibrating took in the Wii version.

Really hoping they do 2 and 3 as well, though honestly a lot about these games do hold up fairly well and I’d be fine with simpler ports with better resolution. 2 is my favorite and I’d just like to play it again without much hassle.

So at least I finished one game this year…at least I think it’s the first I’ve done so far. Had gone through MP1 once on GameCube and Wii but this time I went for 100% items and scans. Only missed a couple war wasps and thankfully it wasn’t too long to get those on the new file.
 
I tried Gnosia last night. It's among us but anime version and more complex and dark. Really liked it. But now it's time for Atomic heart.
 
I had about 45 minutes to game yesterday and (as mentioned in the, "favourite games," thread) got a new 6 button controller for the Genesis, so I tested it out.

Also as mentioned in that thread, I achieved my personal bests, first time out, on Time Attack on Final Fight CD. I think I finally have a good shot at 1CCing it on Mania, as my old controller was just way too worn out to get the timing of certain things right :(

I also finally beat Enduro Racer on the SMS as well, third time out. Yes a lot of it is just memorisation, but it's a frustrating game and a half lol.

Will review on Gfaqs on Saturday :)
 
I am playing Like a Dragon Isshin on the ps5 now and have reached chapter 3 already. So far my impressions are alright. It is Yakuza set in late Edo Japan. As a big fan of Japanese History I really like the game so far and I will have fun playing it to the end. Graphics and gameplay wise it is nothing special though. Just solid standard Yakuza Quality. Just like I expected.
 
im playing ghosts of tsushima - ps4 disc on ps5.... yeah i know, it would of been best to buy the ps5 version but the standard graphics are ok.

i started off playing it really slowly, i would play a little bit then stop.. start up again, but forget what i was mean to be doing lol now im getting into it.

ive said it before but i love the flashback story telling technique most new games are using (i mean you get a flashback to childhood or what ever, then you learn a new technique to help you play the game) ...shenmue could really do with that type of story telling/gameplay.

the game started off really bog standard, like a hack and slash game, then you get to upgrade your wepons and get new techniques and weapons, now its really fun - before you know it, in the game, your a ninja to rival tenchu (ps1) hacking off arms and heads lol.

normally openworld games are boring, empty and void of any real purpose but sucker punch games has done a really good job at making a openworld map with interesting and fun things to do.. shame not all games this good.
 
red said:
I’ve said it before but i love the flashback story telling technique most new games are using (i mean you get a flashback to childhood or what ever, then you learn a new technique to help you play the game) ...shenmue could really do with that type of story telling/gameplay.

the game started off really bog standard, like a hack and slash game, then you get to upgrade your wepons and get new techniques and weapons, now its really fun - before you know it, in the game, your a ninja to rival tenchu (ps1) hacking off arms and heads lol.

normally openworld games are boring, empty and void of any real purpose but sucker punch games has done a really good job at making a openworld map with interesting and fun things to do.. shame not all games this good.
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Yeah if Shenmue 4 is the final game using flashbacks and time skips could be one story device to cover the vast amount of story and chapters remaining.

Ghost of Tsushima was a really enjoyable experience on PS4. I have the PS5 version and DLC but haven’t tried it yet since I wanted to give it some time before revisiting the game. I loved how you could navigate the open world without pulling up map or objective marker.
 
Just as I finished my last work call before my break, the door knocked with my PS VR2. First real VR experience. The setup was pretty surreal. Seeing how augmented reality worked was pretty amazing and a good sign of the future. The eye tracking is ridiculous. There's a test you do when you look at dots around the screen and it's amazingly accurate. During gaming, you can just look at the menus and it just works, even if they are close together.

I only played Horizon Call of the Mountain in the short time I had before I went back to work. I have a feeling that game may spoil other VR games for me. The graphics are very good and it gives me a very surreal feeling. The finger tracking is pretty impressive to. It mainly track the thumb and index finger, but you can do a thumbs up and it works pretty much all the time.

I do have to make a few amendments. When mapping out my area, I took some liberties which meant I was bumping into the TV and sofa a bit often. The focus could also be better and I'm hoping my contact lenses come soon and that improves things.
 
That’s awesome @Nathanial Essex

I’ve been always interested in VR but haven’t jumped in yet outside a few outings with Oculus. The technology looks really good for PSVR2 and I might jump into later this year. As always the hope is there’s sufficient software to support this through the console lifespan.

Horizon, Gran Turismo 7 and RE Village get me most excited. Also would love to try new version of SuperHot on this.
 
code l name said:
That’s awesome @Nathanial Essex

I’ve been always interested in VR but haven’t jumped in yet outside a few outings with Oculus. The technology looks really good for PSVR2 and I might jump into later this year. As always the hope is there’s sufficient software to support this through the console lifespan.

Horizon, Gran Turismo 7 and RE Village get me most excited. Also would love to try new version of SuperHot on this.
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My thoughts on VR have mostly been that I would enjoy it for a bit, but quickly the novelty will wear off when there's no top tier games. I think the same thing may happen with the PS VR2, but just had this "YOLO" mentality and decided to treat myself.
 
I'm excited for PSVR2, and from what I've seen from reviews it's a pretty big step up from the original. VR will never replace traditional gaming anytime soon, but I don't think it's going to be a temporary fad, either, as there are some experiences that can only be done in VR.

One of the biggest obstacles for me with VR is the set-up and total footprint. It's pretty nuts that the PSVR2 only needs a USB-C cable, so that should be a huge improvement over the breakout box that required 2 thicc cables and a camera to work.

Also, I think everyone here with PSVR2 is obligated to play Rez in VR, as we are Sega fans ;)
 
The setup process is like stepping into an Iron Man suit. The way it scans your room and you can use the controllers to map out your space is pretty amazing.

Another thing that's quite surreal is how it shows you where your controllers are when the headset is on. I was playing Horizon and put the controllers down for a bit to do something. With the headset on, you could see the controllers like they were actually there. It's a graphical representation, but it looks so real, I initially didn't even realise it was just graphics. I grabbed it, put it on and the I clocked I couldn't see my hands.

It also helps why trying to find the buttons. Again on Horizon, a tutorial popped up saying to press a certain button. I instinctively looked down at my hands/the controller and instead of the in game hands, I saw the controller with the button highlighted.

Main thing is in disappointed with the graphics in No Man's Sky. Looks extremely blurry.
 
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