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Crayon

Member
After the massive disappointment of destruction derby 2 last night, I figured why not try again with something new. I tried AMOK for the first time.

SAT_AMOK.jpg


This game kicks ass. Think desert strike from behind the mech and more fast paced. The levels are more linear but still have multiple objectives. Ammo management is a little different because you have unlimited guns but will need bombs and missiles for certain things.

The graphics are great. It actually appears to be a voxel engine and at these low resolutions I just love that look. Tones are all gritty and dark, as is the pervasive fog. The draw distance is short but it's alright: It fades in smoothly, there's a radar, shots and enemies are drawn a little further than the environment, and will persist past the draw distance.

The music is excellent. 90's techno rock. There's a slower track for the introductory level that combined with those graphics gives an impressive sense of atmosphere in like the first 5 seconds of the game.

The game runs great and the controls are snappy. There's a little intentional constriction of movement here and there to make it feel like a mech, much as desert strike makes it feel like a helicopter. Little scaling sprite soldiers and trees are fun to blow up. Anything larger than that including your mech is polygonal. The areas can get on the large side and are again comparable to desert strike with less, but more impressive destructible structures. The battlefield is lively with a mix of units running around enemy and friendly.

One issue is that there are only two difficulty modes. Easy and Hard. What's missing there? Both difficulties give you one life and back to the title screen. The default was hard and the first real level took me a couple tries. The third level was suddenly a much more difficult. I got my ass beat, starting from the beginning each time, until I decided to try easy. It's easy! Too easy! It's still more enjoyable this way, though. Now I find out that easy only lets you play half the game.

And I can't find where the game gives you your password lol. If anyone knows, please tell. I had to look up a level select cheat which I guess is just as good. If I can't continue somehow, I'll never see the end of this game. And I want to keep playing! I like it a lot.

ps I brought up desert strike a lot but if you cross that with magic carpet it would be more accurate.

90
 

Dazraell

Member
I have two very fond memories of this game separated by many years. One was in my young twenties. I had one friend who was raving about it. When he got me to play it, we played it outside on a summer night. Playing games outside is one of my favorite things. We used to smoke profusely and we used an cookie sheet on the ground as an ashtray. It was fun as hell.

The next time may have actually been champions of norrath ten years later. Me and my wife had very little money and when my launch ps3 broke. I was not too broken up. I plugged a a wii and ps2 into our small tv to roughly cover the functions of the ps3 between the two. My pc was a netbook and I could play emulators including dos games so I was fine. You could do the same way for me today and I would hope I didn't trip on it. Being grateful for what you have is very important, after all.

So at that time, she had just branched out in games. She always played games but is honestly a creature of habit and would generally go back to final fantasy 6-10, mario 64 , oot, and majora's mask. But recently, she had learned dual stick controls to play skyrim, which she became obsessed with. When the ps3 died, she played through sotn and that rocked her world. So after that she was much more open to looking for games new to her. That developed to today where she's got to have dragon's dogma 2 and elden ring, curious about wukong and enjoys watching a tekken match here and there. She can more or less tell if i'm playing well in a fighting game while putting aside the actual wins or losses. It's great!

Anyway with champions of norrath (pretty sure, now), That was the first of two games we ever played co-op. It was a great time. The second time we've played together is the game of BG3 we have going recently, which is already one of the greatest gaming experiences of my life.

Wow that was a lot of words. I really went down memory lane there.

Thank you for sharing this story, it's so awesome!

I'm playing Dark Alliance for the first time, so it's kind a new experience to me. That being said, I did played Game Boy Advance version when I was a kid and I have a very fond memory of it. We were sitting with friends outside on our neighbourhood and passing the console between each other every time someone cleared a location, completing entire game that way. These were such a fun times! And I actually do recognise some of the locations from it
 

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
So for the past week or so I've:
  • Finished Another Code: Recollection demo - really liked it and I'm planning on picking up the physical release if not at launch then maybe the following month.
  • Cleaned up the remaining files in Astral Chain (completed the main storyline a few months back). Overall it's one of the best action games I've played in quite some time.
  • Reached level 100 on my Sorc in season 2 of Diablo 4. Much, much more fun than the first season where I could only get my Rogue to lvl 50 before bailing out.
  • Currently playing Cyberpunk 2077 where I'm still early in the game as I've picked it up two days ago. Also, my Series X physical copy comes with the Phantom Liberty DLC so I have lots of content to go through in the following weeks. :p
Oh and even on console the game is great to look at and the character models even more so lol. This is a screengrab from actual gameplay and not from a cutscene or anything like that.
050ae674-3bc0-418c-b855-30fa9a402e05.png
 
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Mr Hyde

Member
20 hours in Star Ocean Second story R. This game is so good. I enjoyed the original quite a bit but this remake really makes the game shine. The story has been picking up the pace and the last couple of hours have been so much fun. And it's so beautiful. Easily the most beautiful 2D Jrpg I've ever played. GOTY contender, no doubt.
 

Duchess

Member
Finished Kena on New Game+.

Actually a lot more fun than playing the regular game, due to new enemies, new boss phases, etc. I felt forced to play more aggressively, and had a great time of it.

I'd almost finished the game on Hard, but had to drop down to Normal for the final two bosses, due to the insane amount of damage they deal. New Game+ I did on Normal.

I earned the trophy for finishing the game on Master difficulty by using an unpatched exploited (that I don't feel bad about, at all, having already been through the game twice).

Now to look into grabbing all the other trophies to get the platinum.

Recommended game, but be warned that the cute factor is something of a feint!
 

Crayon

Member
Thank you for sharing this story, it's so awesome!

I'm playing Dark Alliance for the first time, so it's kind a new experience to me. That being said, I did played Game Boy Advance version when I was a kid and I have a very fond memory of it. We were sitting with friends outside on our neighbourhood and passing the console between each other every time someone cleared a location, completing entire game that way. These were such a fun times! And I actually do recognise some of the locations from it

Whoa I never realized there was a gba version. I just looked it up. That really is such a good system. I know playing 2-players, the game gains a lot because you need to plan together. But now that I think about it, sharing it like you did would add a little of that, too.
 

poodaddy

Gold Member
Crysis Warhead. What an absolutely brilliant game. They don't make games this pure anymore, and that's a goddamn shame. No exp system, no tacked on DLC or micro transactions, no morals or virtue signaling. Just pure game design and player freedom to handle each objective the way they see fit. Your play style is completely your own, and it's totally valid.

Playing this on Delta difficulty is such a refreshing change of pace from modern shooters.
 
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Winter Games 2023 PS4

Bargain basement budget probably, but I'm enjoying the first few events so far.

This game seems to have gotten universally panned except for the site Video Game Critic. That's where I learned it even exists and they gave it a B. I might keep it from GameFly.

The balance of difficulty vs CPU seems to be all over the place but I always play these games to go against my personal bests anyway.
 

bender

What time is it?
Finished Chapter 14 of Ghost Trick and it continues to delight. The Rube Goldberg puzzles are always a treat and what a thought was a fairly predictable narrative has started to surprise me. I also love how cheerful it all seems considering the grim subject matter. I know I mentioned the animation previously, but it seriously belongs on the Mount Rushmore of animation work in video games.

I've also been saving the conclusion to a few games for the 52 game challenge for 2024. Along with Ghost Trick, I hope to wrap up Red Dead Redemption, Berserk and Condemned tomorrow.
 

Mossybrew

Gold Member
So, still playing:

My Time at Sandrock.90 odd hours in still enjoying it, game is still delivering new content.

Dead Island 2. Maybe about halfway thru? For a game with such an overdone premise it still manages to be fun and even surprising at points. Looks great too.

Call of Duty 3, picked it up during the sale, Zombie mode has been fun with my couple of friends, when solo the regular mp meatgrinder is still fun and addicting. Havent touched the campaign.

Fortnite. Still make time to get a few rounds of zero build in each week, still dabbling in the Lego mode.
 

Yerd

Member
So, still playing:

My Time at Sandrock.90 odd hours in still enjoying it, game is still delivering new content.

Dead Island 2. Maybe about halfway thru? For a game with such an overdone premise it still manages to be fun and even surprising at points. Looks great too.

Call of Duty 3, picked it up during the sale, Zombie mode has been fun with my couple of friends, when solo the regular mp meatgrinder is still fun and addicting. Havent touched the campaign.

Fortnite. Still make time to get a few rounds of zero build in each week, still dabbling in the Lego mode.
I'm playing Dead Island tutu, because I really liked the first one. I found it's pretty boring or just unfun until you finally get a few levels. They should have given a few weapons to create in the beginning instead of just one.
 

Blindy

Member
Cookie Cutter which was a Metroidvania released late last year, it has a weird Earthworm Jim style of art vibe to it but it's a solid game thus far. Few areas covered. I wish the enemy design was bit better and the stage level is very samesy thus far but the gameplay is fast and it def. has some difficulty to it which is appreciated.
 
Monster Hunter Rise [Series X]
So much gameplay depth - so much room for playing with skill - playing creative with a style all your own. So much to learn and master - and just a simple weapon switch turns the entire game into a different one. This is pretty much exactly what I want out of a videogame.

Since really digging into this one recently - I have a much greater appreciation of this game and series in general. The living ecosystem - the plantlife - how the animals feed - the million boss patterns and weaknesses to learn. The years long legacy of many of the monsters and their new modern day updates.

There's really nothing else like it in gaming. Yet another Capcom crown jewel series in their legacy of many.

Yeah I had a thought to check out Wildhearts but there’s something about the entire Monster Hunter franchise that is just very charming and unique. I don’t want to discourage other games but they feel like ripoffs in comparison. Capcom is on a whole other level.

I played Replicant and Automata in order, but my first playthroughs were only about three years ago. I doubt I'll ever understand how anybody could prefer Replicant. To me it felt like such a cold, lifeless game. Whereas, ironically, Automata was just bursting with soul.

Replicant has a better story and characters, but Automata is the better game.

I only played MHW, solo, and not even the expansion. I thought it was brilliant, but there's a lot of stuff to play so I never went back for more.

I want to ask how much different is Rise to World? I was there when the first mh released in the states and I never got around to trying it, but I understand there is a pretty strong core that the game sticks to. So I guess to get more specific, I would put the question like is this game going to punch me with a real improved sequel feel? Like better everything aside from the core gameplay? Graphics, gimmicks, qol improvements, etc?

Similar in overall structure but different in the details. Combat is faster, more fluid, arcade-like. Quests are separated into village vs hub quests (single player story only vs multiplayer). The environments and monsters are not as fleshed out as World. The basic gist is that Rise is a portable game meant to get you in and out of hunts quickly, where as World is a bigger and slower game with a greater focus on exploration. I personally like World better, but the combat enhancements in Rise would be hard to come back from.
 
Finally finished RDR1 remastered. Love John and his story, voice acting. But the gameplay was pretty dated and the open world was straight up barren and pointless. Still a decent game but nowhere near the hype it got, even for a game from that era.

I am definitely planning on playing RDR2 since that is supposedly an infinitely better game and I want to see the gang’s dynamics. Also want to know how literally everyone came to hate Uncle, and I have a feeling they’ll go into that. Hopefully.
 

Crayon

Member
We just did another 10 hour day of BG3. This is one of the best gaming experiences of my life playing this with my wife. It's like we are going somewhere together but it's dangerous and there's treasure and mystery. Like... an adventure. idk.

I was a little hurt last night when I saw how much gold she had. Her theory was that while I'm pruning my shortcuts, she's running around raping the land for anything that's worth more than 1 gold. It's okay though because she buys gifts for me.

I have to mention the bugs in this game though. I heard nothing about this going in. There are a bunch of little ones that tend to reset easily, but I can hardly be bothered with those when there are big nasty ones. We had a real scare last night when it seemed our game had been saved with a glitch. It was crashing getting progressively worse, and thinking back to where it started, it would have been many hours back. Luckily, I found a ridiculous fix on reddit that actually worked. That one had us spooked.
 

bender

What time is it?
Finally finished RDR1 remastered. Love John and his story, voice acting. But the gameplay was pretty dated and the open world was straight up barren and pointless. Still a decent game but nowhere near the hype it got, even for a game from that era.

I am definitely planning on playing RDR2 since that is supposedly an infinitely better game and I want to see the gang’s dynamics. Also want to know how literally everyone came to hate Uncle, and I have a feeling they’ll go into that. Hopefully.

Just wrapping up RDR remastered which is probably my 3rd or 4th playthrough and 2nd in as many years. I actually want to play through it again for a project in my head but the gist is that I agree with you in terms of it feeling dated. Most of the missions just have you pulling left trigger, right trigger and then activating dead eye to paint targets and the variety comes from turret sections which was common in shooters back then. The shooting mechanics, while functional, aren't really the problem, it's just that there is too damned much of it. That can be said for the amount of enemies in any given activity or the overall lack of variety in the mission design. Mexico is particularly bad as you have a string of missions which boil down to: ride with me while the character does an exposition dump and then ride with me some more as the start and end of the missions are generally across the map only to finally slaughter a horde of enemies. Your quest to kill two men has you slaughtering hundreds upon hundreds of men.

All that said, there are a lot of reasons to love the game. The setting is great, the music is great, and it has some of the strongest characters that Rockstar has ever written. The open world has some merits with hunting challenges, survivalist challenges, bounties, duels, strangers, random activities and, treasure hunting which is real star of the show. Doing the treasure maps without the help of a guide is really satisfying.

RDR2 is kind of a mixed bag too. I do like the story and characters in RDR better, but RDR2 is still worth experiencing and has some really high highs.

edit: I also experienced way more bugs in the remaster than I ever remember from the original releases. Maybe I just got lucky on those playthroughs though.
 
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amigastar

Member
Monster Hunter Rise [Series X]
So much gameplay depth - so much room for playing with skill - playing creative with a style all your own. So much to learn and master - and just a simple weapon switch turns the entire game into a different one. This is pretty much exactly what I want out of a videogame.

Since really digging into this one recently - I have a much greater appreciation of this game and series in general. The living ecosystem - the plantlife - how the animals feed - the million boss patterns and weaknesses to learn. The years long legacy of many of the monsters and their new modern day updates.

There's really nothing else like it in gaming. Yet another Capcom crown jewel series in their legacy of many.
I've installed Monster Hunter Rise from Game Pass also, will give it a try. Never played a Monster Hunter game before.
 
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Naked Lunch

Member
I've installed Monster Hunter Rise from Game Pass also, will give it a try. Never played a Monster Hunter game before.
Going in cold will be a slow burn for awhile - and tons and tons of (annoying) tutorials popping up on the screen every 5 seconds.
Stick with it though.
If you enjoy boss fights - MH is basically 'boss fights the game' - with literally infinite replay value.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Trepang2 - I'm enjoying it so far, but it's not quite like FEAR. It has some similar things to FEAR, but playing it, it feels like a much different game.

Speaking of which, I'd love a FEAR remake some day.
 

amigastar

Member
Going in cold will be a slow burn for awhile - and tons and tons of (annoying) tutorials popping up on the screen every 5 seconds.
Stick with it though.
If you enjoy boss fights - MH is basically 'boss fights the game' - with literally infinite replay value.
Aha, sounds good. Will do.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Uncharted 4 PC: I’m enjoying this more the second time around on PC, and I’m now a bit further than I left off in my PlayStation days. Trying to power through it as my main game though because I’m dying to start Dead Island 2 lol

Steam Deck

Fired this up again for some smaller games…

Souldiers
Trek to Yomi

Both are very enjoyable. Yomi reminds me of classic Onimusha/RE in terms of design.
 
We just did another 10 hour day of BG3. This is one of the best gaming experiences of my life playing this with my wife. It's like we are going somewhere together but it's dangerous and there's treasure and mystery. Like... an adventure. idk.

I was a little hurt last night when I saw how much gold she had. Her theory was that while I'm pruning my shortcuts, she's running around raping the land for anything that's worth more than 1 gold. It's okay though because she buys gifts for me.

I have to mention the bugs in this game though. I heard nothing about this going in. There are a bunch of little ones that tend to reset easily, but I can hardly be bothered with those when there are big nasty ones. We had a real scare last night when it seemed our game had been saved with a glitch. It was crashing getting progressively worse, and thinking back to where it started, it would have been many hours back. Luckily, I found a ridiculous fix on reddit that actually worked. That one had us spooked.
What was the fix?
 

Crayon

Member
What was the fix?

It seems fairly common with people playing split screen. This fixed it:

  • PS5 Internet on
  • Launch the game
  • Created a Larian account and connected it
  • Don't connect player 2 at the main menu
  • Load your last save (with only one player connected)
  • Go to camp
  • Talk to any NPC
  • Leave camp
  • Connect 2nd player
I posted it in the ot with keywords in case someone out there is googling for it.
 
Just wrapping up RDR remastered which is probably my 3rd or 4th playthrough and 2nd in as many years. I actually want to play through it again for a project in my head but the gist is that I agree with you in terms of it feeling dated. Most of the missions just have you pulling left trigger, right trigger and then activating dead eye to paint targets and the variety comes from turret sections which was common in shooters back then. The shooting mechanics, while functional, aren't really the problem, it's just that there is too damned much of it. That can be said for the amount of enemies in any given activity or the overall lack of variety in the mission design. Mexico is particularly bad as you have a string of missions which boil down to: ride with me while the character does an exposition dump and then ride with me some more as the start and end of the missions are generally across the map only to finally slaughter a horde of enemies. Your quest to kill two men has you slaughtering hundreds upon hundreds of men.

All that said, there are a lot of reasons to love the game. The setting is great, the music is great, and it has some of the strongest characters that Rockstar has ever written. The open world has some merits with hunting challenges, survivalist challenges, bounties, duels, strangers, random activities and, treasure hunting which is real star of the show. Doing the treasure maps without the help of a guide is really satisfying.

RDR2 is kind of a mixed bag too. I do like the story and characters in RDR better, but RDR2 is still worth experiencing and has some really high highs.

edit: I also experienced way more bugs in the remaster than I ever remember from the original releases. Maybe I just got lucky on those playthroughs though.

You are right on about all of the endless riding and exposition dumps. It’s funny because everyone said the game gets good once you go to Mexico, and I thought that was one of the most boring parts of the game with how much riding back and forth there was. It seems like almost every mission takes place halfway across the map, I ended up just fast traveling as much as possible to stop wasting time. Some of the conversations were decent but really only the last 1/3 of the game at the end of Mexico and going back for Dutch and beyond that interested me at all. The challenges and sidequests were basically done once, you’ve seen it all.


I never liked GTA and don’t understand what people saw in the games past 3/VC, so I’m not surprised I didn’t love the game. But I am definitely surprised by how dated it was in everything but presentation and story.
 

RAIDEN1

Member
Mass Effect 3 (only my 2nd ever playthrough) Oxen Free, and Top Spin Tennis 4....(cannot understate, such a great game Top Spin is for tennis fans, more than a decade on!!)
 
Been playing Warm Snow a lot lately. Pretty solid Roguelite although it takes a while to get used to. There's a LOT of reading when it comes to picking upgrades but it pays off with how engaging progression is in this game compared to other Roguelites. Mobs are busted easy but they aren't easy AND damage sponges which is a common pitfall for these type of games. The levels are very compact too. Very fun game.

I recently downloaded Crymachina too, can't wait to get started soon.
 

Zephir

Member
Been replaying FFX for the first time in decades and wow, i forgot how much I hated every single npc there aside from Cid
 
Just finished Carrion like an hour ago. Awesome game, very clever mechanics. Atmosphere is amazing, very unique take on a metroidvanvia style of game. Was really surprised how much I enjoyed it. It's cheap right now too on every digital store I'm pretty sure. 5.99 definitely worth it.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Believe it or not I have never played Elden Ring for more than like an hour or so. I played it back when it first came out, but I played it coming off the heels of recently playing several soulslike games and I just had Souls burnout and was not in the mood to play another game of that style, especially not one that's hundreds of hours long. So I dropped it and just have always been playing other stuff or on my downtime I haven't been in the mood.

I'm kind of in a little bit of a lull. My next two games on the docket are short. If I finish them quickly, I may try to squeeze Elden Ring in before FFVII Rebirth comes out at the end of Feb.
 

SpiceRacz

Member
Alan Wake 2. I never played the first but I have a general knowledge of the story. The production & presentation here is above anything else I've played in 2023. Very impressed with it so far.
 
Still playing wotlk classic. I have a feral dps druid up to 80 with a 5.6k gear score. Currently leveling a feral tank druid and level 73 lol. Druids are so much fun to play!
 
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Beat Mage's Initiation and absolutely loved it and now I'm currently playing through Dishonored. I think I played this some years ago for a short while and enjoyed it, but put it down for whatever reason, but I'm really digging it. Love the quasi-open levels with multiple potential objectives or side objectives to complete and that you revisit certain areas in subsequent missions, makes it feel somewhat real. I think I'm pretty close to the end, but considering going ahead to buy Dishonored 2 while it's on Steam sale, I think I have it for console already but just controls much better on PC. Downloading Kingdom Come: Deliverance, kind of hoping for an Elder Scrolls lite experience, maybe that's not what I'll be getting but yeah.
 

bender

What time is it?
Wrapped up Ghost Trick. This is why I love video games.

Also finished up the final sections of BERSERK (blah even by musou standards), Condemned (pretty weird game that feels like it is held together by bubblegum and popsicle sticks but at least the melee combat is fun), and RDR (age has not been kind to this one).

Me and a buddy are also continuing our Souls co-op adventures with a return to Dark Souls after having completed Bloodborne and DS2 before that.

Not sure what I'll play next but I did pick up D on Steam so maybe that.
 
Just finished Carrion like an hour ago. Awesome game, very clever mechanics. Atmosphere is amazing, very unique take on a metroidvanvia style of game. Was really surprised how much I enjoyed it. It's cheap right now too on every digital store I'm pretty sure. 5.99 definitely worth it.

Very unique premise, fun execution. The only thing I didn't like much about the game was the lack of a map. I had trouble playing in shorter sessions over multiple days. Understood why there isn't one, but it would have been convenient.

Been replaying FFX for the first time in decades and wow, i forgot how much I hated every single npc there aside from Cid

No like FFX NPC? Small ronso problem.

Wrapped up Ghost Trick. This is why I love video games.

One of my favorite endings. Great characters, great music, awesome story.
 

dreamstation

Gold Member
Still playing THE FINALS every day but I'm home alone the next couple of days so might try and get stuck into some single player goodness. Probably continue with CP2077.
 

Dazraell

Member
Whoa I never realized there was a gba version. I just looked it up. That really is such a good system. I know playing 2-players, the game gains a lot because you need to plan together. But now that I think about it, sharing it like you did would add a little of that, too.
Oh yeah, definitely. Co-op always makes everything more fun. I was looking for a shorter rpg to play on Steam Deck and this worked really well

I've finished Dark Alliance yesterday. I liked it and had a lot of fun, although the third act felt very rushed and everything was wrapped up in a very anticlimactic way. But I enjoyed it to the point I will definitely try out the sequel down the line
 

Crayon

Member
Oh yeah, definitely. Co-op always makes everything more fun. I was looking for a shorter rpg to play on Steam Deck and this worked really well

I've finished Dark Alliance yesterday. I liked it and had a lot of fun, although the third act felt very rushed and everything was wrapped up in a very anticlimactic way. But I enjoyed it to the point I will definitely try out the sequel down the line

There also the pseudo-sequels champions of norrath 1&2. Just in case you're looking for four whole games worth ha.
 

Mortisfacio

Member
Finally finished Lies of P. BG3, Phantom Liberty and Lies of P are now currently my top 3 2023 releases. Will probably start Alan Wake 2 this week.
 

sedg87

Member
Lies of P
Just been exploring the opera area. Easily my favourite part of the game, I think. Mostly down to the design and behavior of the enemies inside. Love those big spider-like foes.

Halls of Torment
Unlocked the sorceress. Think she's my favourite of the characters so far. Seems pretty strong

Livestream: Escape from Hotel Izanam
Fancied a horror game to play on the Steam Deck so I bought this. Pretty simplistic gameplay. The environments are nice and I like the hotel setting.
 
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