Support NeoGAF

[Crayon]

I started xenoblade chronicles definitive this weekend and I'm about ten hours in. I really like a lot of what Ive seen...

... but the battle system wtf. I'm not sure if I can do another 60-80 hrs of this if something doesn't change. It's a clusterfuck in terms of legibility. Things are starting to get a little easier to follow as I get used to looking at it, but there is just too much going on for the speed it moves. A huge part of it is using the dpad left and right to select your abilities, but the response is so laggy that it makes this little thing into a major blemish. It doesn't just lag, but seems to eat inputs if you go too fast. I end up staring at it as I slowly tap across skills. Very frustrating. And finally, wtf at not being able to issue commands to party members. It's a little tough to acheive the two-stage stagger (topple) state when I'm just hoping another character inflict it after I get break on an enemy. Or how I can't make my tank character do his aggro of sheild move. Or I can't make a healer heal.

Sad, but i'm not sure if I can go on with that. It's just not that fun to fight and crosses over into outright frustrating. If anyone knows of any mechanics that are introduced later that would alleviate this please let me know! I'd like to keep playing but I won't be able to with this wonky battle system.

 

[64gigabyteram]

Finished Sonic Generations. Brilliant game. Did the side missions and got all S ranks except the last level cuz it was boring. Also did all the hidden star hunting in the Genesis and Dreamcast era levels.

Man... that game was the best introduction to Sonic and video games I ever could have gotten

 

[64gigabyteram]

Besides that though, I played tales of symphonia. When I first started playing it I felt it was kind of lame and wondered if I was misremembering the game as being way cooler than it was. Then I decided to keep playing, and after the first 30 minutes I started really liking it and getting invested into the story. The voice acting leaves a lot to be desired though, especially Lloyd's voice. (Robin, is that you??)

 

[names are for friends]

Man... that game was the best introduction to Sonic and video games I ever could have gotten

Sonic Generations is great. I feel like it's the culmination of that period (starting with Unleashed) where Sega was actually investing in these games. Now it just feels like they're throwing stuff out there as cheaply as possible because they know childrens' parents will buy it anyway.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Currently Playing:
Trek to Yomi - Looks good, everything else is sort of average. Gamepass though, so I'm glad I didn't pay for it ($1 for 3 months GP FTW)

Finished most recently:
Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)- Truly excellent game. I was put off initially by Star Lord because he looks like a complete douchebag and skipped the game for months because of it. I made a big mistake though as I now find it immensely enjoyable. It's not perfect as it's got some bugs, audio problems (dialogue not appearing, directional awareness, dialogue cutting off etc.) and story/pacing issues but those are minor gripes though. A very solid 8.5/10 for me.

Guardians kinda sucks on console. I refuse to play it at 1080p but the 30 fps makes for horrible, unresponsive combat. I've tried and tried...the combat sucks

 

[The_hunter]

So I'm on the last level of DMC5, then I realized I played the game on hard by accident

 

[drganon]

Beat the quarry on ps5. Not as good as until dawn, but still fun. Also beat Astros playroom. That was quite the charming nostalgia trip. Also tried and gave up on Hades. I think I just hate Rogue likes/lites. Lastly, still playing xenoblade chronicles 3, with monark on the back burner.

 

[Orpheum]

Just replayed the last of us 2. And aside from the story being crap, the acting and gameplay loop definitely hold it up. Once i was starting to not give a shit about stealth if i got detected it was so much fun to just shoot everything to a pulp with headshots.

It took a long time for me to pick up this game again since i was so disappointed with the plot. But i never really appreciated how good this game can actually be

 

[Labadal]

Scribblenauts Showdown in local co-op.

 

[Hohenheim]

Currently playing:

Stray (PS5)
Cyberpunk (PC)
The House in Fata Morgana (Switch)
Dranius (PC)

Enjoying all four quite a lot.

Stray is the perfect 4-6 hour adventure, Cyberpunk is immersive, exciting and very good. Zero bugs so far, all good.
The house in fata morgana is a perfect "book" for playing (reading) in bed, and Dranius gives me the same great SHMUP-vibes as the masterpiece "Hyper Echlon" did earlier this year. I only wish it was available on Switch, since it's a perfect handheld game and I haven't got a Steam Deck.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Cyberpunk 2077 with 50 or so mods, in glorious RTX on my new massive TV.

I held off playing it till lately cause I wanted a good experience, I gotta say, 50 hours in and this game is fucking fantastic. The story, characters, gameplay (Netrunner Solo Shotgunner here) and RPing is awesome....quite chuffed I waited till now to dive in.

On launch I had it for PS4....and there it has stayed, banished to never be touched by anyone.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'm playing as a cat. Taking my time and meowing at all the doors.

 

[Captain Toad]

Just replayed the last of us 2. And aside from the story being crap, the acting and gameplay loop definitely hold it up. Once i was starting to not give a shit about stealth if i got detected it was so much fun to just shoot everything to a pulp with headshots.

It took a long time for me to pick up this game again since i was so disappointed with the plot. But i never really appreciated how good this game can actually be

I personally liked the story. But, I also found Abby the most likeable character by the end, so what do I know?

But, you're right in people hung up on the plot are missing a game that is genuinely great without a story at all. The gameplay is completely overlooked and under appreciated. The amount of detail in the world is right up there with Red Dead 2.

But, so many haters, only watch out-of-context YouTube cutscenes from the game and assume it's just a game where you walk from cutscene to cutscene or something.

 

[SSfox]

KH3, T7, SF5, GG Strive, waiting for Sumeru in Genshin

 

[darth.shrimp]

Will probably be Xenoblade though (the first one).

So, Xenoblade DE it is, and... why didn't I play this earlier?
Only just started chapter 3; a few thoughts so far:

• Combat feels nice. Simpler than XC2 for now, which isn't really a bad thing.
• The soundtrack is pure gold. I already knew that, I've been listening to it on youtube since 2014, but I didn't expect I wouldn't pay attention to the dialogues at times because I'm too focused on the music, holy crap, Mitsuda went above and beyond on this one.
• Can't believe they'd kill off the Colonel just like that

Last point was a joke (although I enjoyed him for what little we saw), but, real spoilers...

Spoiler: for real this time

Fiora, really? I mean, she'll obviously be back one way or another, they wouldn't have given her a full skilltree otherwise (unless they're deliberately trying to make us think exactly this), and I remember seeing fanart of her with shot hair years ago (which, now that I think about it, could have just as easily been a gender-bent Shulk).
Still, dammit, that entire part was so well done, from your first (tough) fights against the Mechon, to joining Dunban and witnessing the power of the Monado, and just as things start getting well, Metal Face shows up, bitch-slaps you, and although Shulk had foreseen it, he can't do anything to prevent Fiora's death... that was some gut-punch, for both Shulk and the player, right there...

 

[amigastar]

Two Point Campus
Good thing it's on Game Pass

 

[R6Rider]

Starting Cult of the Lamb today.

 

[Danjin44]

Still Xenoblade 3, god damn this game is the best game I played this year and my favourite Xenoblade game.

 

[FoundryMusic]

Still on it

 

[Mr Hyde]

Got a yearning for Skyrim again so I bought the Anniversary upgrade now that it was on sale. This is definitely the definitive version. 4K, Locked 60 (Vrr enabled so silky smooth), HDR, updated lighting and textures, lightning fast loading times (seriously, it's like 2 seconds. I remember Skyrim having pretty long load times). It really makes for a different experience playing on next gen system.

On top of that, it's a ton of new content via this Creation Club system. So I'm doing a new journey discovering all the cool things this game has to offer. What an adventure. I never get tired of this game. It truly is a landmark title. The freedom, the fun builds, just roaming around and see where you end up.

 

[John117]

Terminator Resistance on PC

 

[The Stig]

Ghost of Tsushima (PS5).

Just started last night. Holy smoke this is good.

 

[BigbyTheSheriff]

Last week finished Horizon Forbidden West, Uncharted 2 Remaster and Fire Emblem: Three Houses (probably my favourite Switch game).

Now I'm playing Uncharted 3 (first time actually), Gran Turismo 7, Cult of the Lamb and Bayonetta.

 

[HercRaato]

Finished Trails of Cold Steel 1-4, got the true ending. Such a fun 500 hours. I'm going to miss the team from class 7.

Trying to figure out what to play to cleanse my pallette, so to speak, before I start my next series. It's going to be hard to find a replacement for that story.

Decided to go older school and play Lost Odyssey. No waypoints, no quest icons unique turn based battle system. I'm really enjoying it but I do miss Class 7.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Still going through Baldur's Gate II.

So let me get this straight. I find this guy called Vin Diesel on a dank forest, and he took me to this place that's not what I would call Athkatla. I'm seeing freaking halflings and oh yeah, I'm travelling between planes! Yeah okay, guess that's something I do now.

Also, while trying to harness the infinite power hold inside an ancient scroll, my wizard ended up turning himself into a beatiful woman.

Amazing game.

 

[Captain Toad]

Starting Cult of the Lamb today.

Curious about that. Report back.

 

[R6Rider]

Curious about that. Report back.

I'm loving it. The art style, music, game flow, and character interactions and mechanics revolving around your followers. It's all charming and addicting. It even has decent usage of the DualSense haptics.

There are 4 difficulties to choose from, and I picked medium (normal) for this first time through. So far I haven't died yet, and the combat is simple, but enjoyable. There are tons of unlocks and upgrades too.

There's more detailed posts in the other (review?) topic about the game.

 

[small_law]

Forza Horizon 5 and Vampire Survivors. FH5 is the perfect level of commitment for me. All the weeklies take a few hours to finish up, you get your exclusive cars, and anything more than that is up to you. Perfect.

As for vampire survivors, man, I didn’t think anyone made good video games anymore. I don’t know if it’s a great game, but it’s the most fun I’ve had with a video game this year, possibly the past several years. And all for three dollars.

 

[Aurelius]

Finished the first part of the Great Ace Detective Chonicles. Now started Dragon Quest XI. Such a nice, relaxing game.

 

[The_hunter]

Finished Devil may cry 5. First DMC game, was amazing.

 

[Stinkbug]

Resident Evil Revelations 1. It definitely feels like low budget Resident Evil, but it's not bad. I'm on episode 3 of 12, so far it's been switching between action sequences like in RE5/latter RE7/8, and sequences that play like classic RE, though less complex. The cutscenes are cheesy and adorable. At one point Chris fell and couldn't move and was getting attacked, and his partner radio'd him and said like "Me and my sweet ass will be there soon" and I was like lol why would she say that. I'm glad I am finally seeing this game. I have no idea how the dodges are supposed to work though.

 

[names are for friends]

Decided to go older school and play Lost Odyssey. No waypoints, no quest icons unique turn based battle system. I'm really enjoying it but I do miss Class 7.

I wish they'd re-release Lost Odyssey. I remember it being epic (and much better than Blue Dragon, Mistwalker's other 360 exclusive) but I haven't been able to play it since way back then because of its exclusivity.

Cold Steel is ftw but I don't necessarily look forward to replaying all like, 300 hours of it lol

Resident Evil Revelations 1. It definitely feels like low budget Resident Evil, but it's not bad.

It's fun for what was a Nintendo DS game originally. I like it more than 5 and definitely 6. Revelations 2 isn't so bad either.

As for me I just finished Gunvolt 3 and it's actually sick, I don't like most of the prior games but everyone should play this one if they like good 2D platformers and score attack games where you do long aerial combos while a hot idol sings songs at you.

 

[Clover904]

Im playing the brilliant Yakuza Like a Dragon game! The game has been an absolute blast. Im grinning from ear to ear from its absurd action, characters and presentation. And to Yakuza newbies like me, its newcomer friendly.

 

[names are for friends]

Some SICK video game songs here for anyone doubting they should play Gunvolt 3

 

[SZips]

PowerWash Simulator is my main solo game right now. There's just something so relaxing and addicting about this one.

Battlefield 2042, Fortnite no-build, and Destiny 2 (though on hiatus until the new season starts) are the main games I play with friends at the moment.

Just finished a replay through of Dead Space 3 with a buddy earlier this week.

 

[GeekyDad]

Resident Evil Revelations 1. It definitely feels like low budget Resident Evil, but it's not bad. ...

You're referring to the 3DS game? Low budget? Are you serious?

 

[engstra]

Finished playing Stray last night. Gameplay wise there's not much to say but it was a really cool environment to explore.

 

[Cao Cao]

Needed a good JRPG again so I started Grandia 2.

 

[Neolombax]

Was playing DMC5, when I got Aliens Fireteam Elite on sale. So glad I did, I absolutely love the simplicity of this game. Choose a mission, shoot some xenos and repeat. The progession system is just enough to keep me going through the missions over and over again. No bounties, no randomized loot, its very satisfying.

 

[JimmyRustler]

You're referring to the 3DS game? Low budget? Are you serious?

Perhaps he doesn‘t know it was originally a 3DS game.
I think Revelations should really be played on a 3DS too. The 3D effects are outstanding and do make up for a lot of the gameplay deficits.

 

[Duchess]

I'm coming to the end of Tales of Arise. Mostly enjoyed it, but ... yeah, the endgame is a complete slog, unfortunately. My last session involved watching cutscenes for an hour, with little interaction other than walking about and pressing X.

Other players have remarked that the pacing of the final part goes downhill (fuelled by far too many long cutscenes), which is a great shame.

I've enjoyed what I've played, but at this point I'm keen to get it over with.

Spoiler

Also, it was really weird how after beating the 5th lord the game "ends", but then doesn't end. Everything changes, including the intro sequence, but then we get into what feels like an extended epilogue. Another shame, as the 5th lord battle was great.

 

[RAIDEN1]

I'm coming to the end of Tales of Arise. Mostly enjoyed it, but ... yeah, the endgame is a complete slog, unfortunately. My last session involved watching cutscenes for an hour, with little interaction other than walking about and pressing X.

Other players have remarked that the pacing of the final part goes downhill (fuelled by far too many long cutscenes), which is a great shame.

I've enjoyed what I've played, but at this point I'm keen to get it over with.

Spoiler

Also, it was really weird how after beating the 5th lord the game "ends", but then doesn't end. Everything changes, including the intro sequence, but then we get into what feels like an extended epilogue. Another shame, as the 5th lord battle was great.

I am in a similar situation with Judgement, which I have talked about previously here, recently I checked how many chapters are left....(I am on chapter 8) after while you get bored of Kamarucho considering you've been there in Yakuza 5, 6, Zero, Kiwami and Kiwami 2 (for a short-while..)

 

[stn]

Played Fist of the North Star (PS4) last night, going to continue with that until I beat it. I'm on chapter 6 after 5 hours, so based on my pace I'll probably beat the whole game within 10 hours.

 

[darth.shrimp]

Continuing through Xenoblade DE. Just reached the marsh area after Colony 6 (absolutely gorgeous during the night) so not that far yet, but I absolutely love Dunban, I've been maining Reyn so far but changed to him. I'll have to look up a guide, but I don't want to risk seeing spoilers (speaking of avoiding spoilers, thanks to whoever linked me to the combat tutorial in another topic btw); although I have a feeling his bonuses when naked won't compensate whatever you can get from gems.

The story has also picked up quite a bit (a lot of exposition lately through visions), and I'm starting to put together some parts of the puzzle...

Spoiler: theories so far

• We know the Monado is one of the few weapons able to damage Mechon. Not sure if the legends about it being the sword used by Bionis against Mechonis are true (seems a bit small for that, you know?) but it might have been designed exactly for that?
• On the other hand, it has no effect on humans, which is weird because it harms other organic beings. What about Nopons?
• It also doesn't seem to work against Mechons with a "face". Is it just because they're just that much stronger than other Mechons?
• The first masked Mechon you beat (Xald or something?) mentions "becoming" this way; forgot the exact phrasing, in Japanese he implies that he was "given" or has "obtained" his current body.
• When you hear Metal-Face speak for the first time... his Japanese VA is the very easily recognizable Norio Wakamoto, who also voiced someone that... we actually didn't see die during the prologue. And yet Dunban or Dickson didn't react when hearing him. Hmm...

Putting all this together, I guess the reason Mechon "harvest" humans is to find strong individuals to act as "hosts" for the real Mechons?
Still wondering what's the deal with Fiora; killing her off that soon, while still giving her a full skill tree and arts upgrades? Dunno, seems suspect.

So far I'm enjoying it a lot more than I did XC2.

 

[Hydroxy]

Lost in Random. Fun little game so far.

 

[drganon]

Finally beat monark. Decent game,but way too grindy and too long for its own good. On ch5 in xenoblade chronicles 3 and screwing around with side missions in cyberpunk.

 

[lachesis]

Normally I can only play 1 game at a time... but I've been playing 2 this time around.
PS5 - Gravity Rush 2 (I just do a few missions a day and call it a day)
XSX - Scarlet Nexus (via game pass - been sitting on it, but realized that it may go away in a few months)

Honestly I'm more on the anticipation mode for my Steam deck that I may be able to get in a month or so. Tons of Falcom games lined up for it.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Soon finished with Miles Morales on PS5. It's good, but it definitely feels like a side dish while waiting for Spider man 2. It looks great and plays great, I'm playing the 120 Hz mode that was enabled with VRR and it's a smooth ride through NY. MM can look gorgeous sometimes, and the Dualsense adds a lot to the immersion. However, the game is bogged down with the repetitive stuff I didn't like with the first Spider man.

The story is okay. I like Miles, he's a sympathetic character, and pretty well written too, but the villains are kinda meh. Roxxon feels bland and forgettable and it makes the game feel less impactful as a result, despite Insomniac doing their best to entertain. I'm certain they will come out swinging with SM 2 and Venom as the main baddie.

 

[Captain Toad]

You're referring to the 3DS game? Low budget? Are you serious?

He's right. Not sure how you feel differently.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I've finished Chorus and loved it overall for beautiful graphics, good controls (assuming you'll learn how to drift) and cool space combat. I just wish the game had some big codex or other ways of learning the lore, because in many scenes I didn't fully know what was going on. It's not like the game is BSG or Star Trek and people know the lore or can easily read about it. Definitely hoping for Chorus 2.