Popular Post Joe Dubz Posted January 24, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 24, 2022 What's up buddy, great to have you back!! Man, sounds like you have a whirlwind of stuff happening right now... First and foremost I hope your lil tyke is feeling much better! Secondly, I hope everything goes well with the move, this sounds like quite the upgrade for you! 6 hours ago, Arcesius said: Super Meat Boy Forever So, I wanted to try something out... I took out my old, loud PS4 from its box, and hooked it onto a monitor instead of my 65" TV. I had a go at the game and noticed that it is just much easier to play this game that way... It doesn't make the game easy, not at all... but I went from a PB of 5 deaths in the first Dark World, to 1 death after just a bit of practice. Thus, I declare my return to SMBF once the move is over! I am actually looking forward to making more progress in this game, I think the break I took was a good idea. However, I'm still undecided about something... You see, I am NOT having as much fun with this game as I hoped I would. And so, while it would be cool to play on my own seed and figure out the levels myself, I am on the fence about starting a new save file and playing on a known seed... maybe the one from the guide that @Joe Dubz used. It wouldn't make the game significantly easier, as I would still need to execute everything flawlessly... But it would get rid of the "trial and error" and "trying to figure out how to beat the chunks in each level", a process which can take hours upon hours. And so, while this would result in me not having unique runs and videos to show, I would probably save many hours of playing a game I'm not enjoying as much. We'll see... Then of course, who knows which seed would be the best one to copy That is great to hear that your new monitor is working wonders in that regard... I had been playing on my crappy 32"(??? maybe lol) TV that whole time... I wish I had known a better monitor could've made all the difference! As for trying the seed I was on, that would definitely cut down on your playtime, not having to optimize the routes yourself. Especially if you aren't necessarily having a fun time with it! That would undoubtedly be the path of least resistance, but good luck tackling that beast whatever you decide to do ? 6 hours ago, Arcesius said: Bleed Another game I took a break from. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun, but difficulty-related trophies do not stack... So far, I have played through story mode 4 times (one for each difficulty), and meanwhile completed 2/4 Arcade runs. The game was getting old, so I though I break might be a good idea. And I think it was. I feel like returning to this game soon. I still have to complete an Arcade run on Hard and Very Hard, which will probably require a fair deal of practice, so I might not do them back-to-back. But I will start practicing Arcade on Hard this week Yessss, Bleed.... I started this one a few years back, got everything done except for Normal, Hard, and Very Hard arcade mode clears (and maybe 1 or 2 of the boss trophies too anyway?). I actually picked this as 1 of my Tier 1 games, but haven't had the motivation just yet to dive back in. This one is definitely going to require gobs of patience and practice to get right! Definitely a solid choice for one of the Most Wanted games, IMO ☝️ I'll get back to it eventually, but I've got plenty on my plate rn trying to tackle THE BEAST that is Trials Fusion ??️ That game is so ridiculously fun and satisfying tho once you get in the rhythm! I've made really good progress, as I've knocked out almost all of the easy stuff so far. I've been able to complete every Extreme track too, except for Inferno IV and Way of the Machine (fuck that looooooooong ass level, seriously tho ??). We'll get there tho, it's like every single day I boot it up, I'm slightly better than the day before! Kinda crazy how far I've come at this point, considering the first time I played an Extreme track and was like "fuck this, no way I'm getting all the way through this game" ? Practice definitely makes perfect, and there is no half-assing a game of this magnitude! I'm determined to cross the finish line by the end of March deadline, so wish me luck ? It's kinda fun seeing yours and @KindaSabbath's times when I'm playing through (esp seeing your 0 faults on those few extreme tracks that require them ?)... I've even managed to beat a few times from you both on random levels! But I've still got a long way to go... Only been able to beat 1 Redlynx time on that last set so far, still have the obviously challenging Pipe Phobia and Top Roach challenges to do, which are undoubtedly gonna take the most of my time and patience to get through. But I have completed Anger Management, which Arc I know is one of the hardest challenges you had mentioned to me in a PM! I did take the bitch way out and did it without fire, but whatever lol... It was hard enough just to get through 4 laps without worrying about that too! At any rate, enough of me rambling about Trials... I'm glad to see you back in the mix and look forward to hearing more updates about you smashing through things! Best of luck with everything in the move and chat with you soon! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arcesius Posted January 25, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 25, 2022 (edited) On 1/24/2022 at 11:00 AM, DrBloodmoney said: Dude - I cannot wait to read you're It Takes Two review... and I think you know why! Someone... SOMEONE has to be a revolted by that game's ending as I was! I know that person exists somewhere... will it be you? ? Hahaha, we'll see! ? I'm not too sure about really spoiling the ending in the review though, I'll have to see how I approach this since for once the story is actually a big part of the game... Quote Seriously though - congrats on the apartment, that's gotta be getting exciting now! Also, good to hear you're wee fella is feeling better - it's rough when the younglings get sick! Thanks! And yeah, it has been a wild ride. We bought the apartment before the building was constructed, so really needed to make a LOT of decisions (kitchen furniture, bathroom tiles, which wood for the floor, etc...) which at times was a bit overwhelming ? And now that the move is so close, I'm starting to get excited about furniture and stuff, especially for my own office / gaming setup! I'm just a bit impatient that way ? And not only the usefulness of it all, I'm also kinda obsessed with the aesthetics, already thinking about cable management even before having both the desk ? On 1/24/2022 at 0:07 PM, KindaSabbath said: Oh - good move man. This is something I’m toying with the idea of too! In preparation for my PS5, I went out and bought a massive fucking Oled thingy… It looks awesome and I assume that big cinematic games pop on the bad boy… I say ASSUME because I don’t play any of them ?. So really when you think about it, I paid quite a lot of dosh for latency. Yes Sabbath, you’re a dickhead ?? Yeah same here.. I insisted on getting this monster of a TV, and sure in our current place it served its purpose. But for the new place I would like to improve my gaming experience with a neat, low latency monitor that's closer to my face ? But it also depends. If you don't have the space for a desk + monitor somewhere, then playing on the common TV is a good solution. Having to work from home now (forced Home Office), I'm working on our living room table since I don't currently have the space for my own desk. Thus, playing on a monitor is just not an option just yet. I couldn't just leave the monstrous PS5 hooked to a monitor on our dining table all day ? Quote I don’t know too much about this one but I know that the thought of trying to complete it scares the shit outa me ?… You will crush it now that life seems to be more permitting. Exciting stuff!! It is genuinely the hardest platinum to achieve on Playstation. No jokes. And requires a ridiculous amount of practice that I'm not even sure is justifiable when you are already at an age where you have responsability for your work, your kids, etc... I would at least like to go back to it and do the stuff that I have left that doesn't require 500+ hours of practice ? and then we'll see where we go from there. Quote If you’re not having fun dude, don’t make it any more stressful than it needs to be. I’d just take the least stressful route and be done with it. It’s a shame that the game didn’t hit for you like I know you hoped it would, but I’d just wrap it up and move on ? Absolutely agree. It's the sensitive thing to do, but then there are times where I think that going down that path means that I "failed" at owning my seed ? But that's a stupid thought. I will probably finish the first dark world on my seed since I've already optimized the run, and then probably swtich to a known one to reduce the time I still need to practice this game. On 1/24/2022 at 5:47 PM, Joe Dubz said: What's up buddy, great to have you back!! Man, sounds like you have a whirlwind of stuff happening right now... First and foremost I hope your lil tyke is feeling much better! Secondly, I hope everything goes well with the move, this sounds like quite the upgrade for you! That is great to hear that your new monitor is working wonders in that regard... I had been playing on my crappy 32"(??? maybe lol) TV that whole time... I wish I had known a better monitor could've made all the difference! It very much depends... How far are you sitting from your screen? ? For me, playing 3m (~10 ft) away from such a huge screen just doesn't feel comfortable when I'm playing something that requires the finesse and precision of something like SMBF. Playing anything that does NOT require precision, where I can just sit back, feels great though. But it also does feel great on a monitor, so I think the latter is the way to go for me Especially since I have a UHD one, while my TV is only Full HD. Quote Yessss, Bleed.... I started this one a few years back, got everything done except for Normal, Hard, and Very Hard arcade mode clears (and maybe 1 or 2 of the boss trophies too anyway?). I actually picked this as 1 of my Tier 1 games, but haven't had the motivation just yet to dive back in. This one is definitely going to require gobs of patience and practice to get right! Definitely a solid choice for one of the Most Wanted games, IMO ☝️ Yeah the game is no pushover! Having no option to refill the health bar at any point during the run is very punishing... And on the higher difficulties, some of the levels are really tough to traverse without taking damage ? My goal is to finish the remaining 10 levels I have left in Badland, and then return to Bleed when I'm playing solo. I just want to finish it before it disappears from the temporary Bounty list ? Quote I'll get back to it eventually, but I've got plenty on my plate rn trying to tackle THE BEAST that is Trials Fusion ??️ That game is so ridiculously fun and satisfying tho once you get in the rhythm! I've made really good progress, as I've knocked out almost all of the easy stuff so far. I've been able to complete every Extreme track too, except for Inferno IV and Way of the Machine (fuck that looooooooong ass level, seriously tho ??). We'll get there tho, it's like every single day I boot it up, I'm slightly better than the day before! Kinda crazy how far I've come at this point, considering the first time I played an Extreme track and was like "fuck this, no way I'm getting all the way through this game" ? Practice definitely makes perfect, and there is no half-assing a game of this magnitude! I'm determined to cross the finish line by the end of March deadline, so wish me luck ? It's kinda fun seeing yours and @KindaSabbath's times when I'm playing through (esp seeing your 0 faults on those few extreme tracks that require them ?)... I've even managed to beat a few times from you both on random levels! But I've still got a long way to go... Only been able to beat 1 Redlynx time on that last set so far, still have the obviously challenging Pipe Phobia and Top Roach challenges to do, which are undoubtedly gonna take the most of my time and patience to get through. But I have completed Anger Management, which Arc I know is one of the hardest challenges you had mentioned to me in a PM! I did take the bitch way out and did it without fire, but whatever lol... It was hard enough just to get through 4 laps without worrying about that too! At any rate, enough of me rambling about Trials... I'm glad to see you back in the mix and look forward to hearing more updates about you smashing through things! Best of luck with everything in the move and chat with you soon! No man, there is never enough rambling about Trials! You know how much I love that game, feel free to spit everthing out you have to say Trials-related! (or otherwise ?). But you are right, you are making some solid progress! Especially having done Meteorain already... Finishing that track is what made the game "click" for me... Those last three CPs really required some advanced techniques, and there was no way to brute-force them. Have you come close to finishing Inferno? (Nvm. I just saw that you beat it... your trophies weren't synched when I wrote this message Congrats!) And how is your progress in terms of track-challenges? Which RedLynx time did you manage to beat? And what you describe is one of the things that make this game so addictive... Going from "How am I supposed to finish this track??" to beating it on an invisible bike ? Improvement is just so noticeable, which brings tons of motivation. And the controls are just so freaking crisp ? Good to hear that you are enjoying your time with this gem of a game! And good luck with the remaining challenges! Edited January 25, 2022 by Arcesius 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Congratulations on the big move! I think you’ll really enjoy having your own gaming space. I have my PS5 hooked up to the big living room TV, and when I want to slink off and be by myself I use Remote Play on my Gaming PC upstairs. Not perfect, but it’s a nice compromise. Deep Rock Galactic is fantastic! I am playing it on PC as that’s where all my coop buddies are, glad to see someone else is enjoying it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Dubz Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 5 hours ago, Arcesius said: It very much depends... How far are you sitting from your screen? For me, playing 3m (~10 ft) away from such a huge screen just doesn't feel comfortable when I'm playing something that requires the finesse and precision of something like SMBF. Playing anything that does NOT require precision, where I can just sit back, feels great though. But it also does feel great on a monitor, so I think the latter is the way to go for me Especially since I have a UHD one, while my TV is only Full HD. Actually I am sitting about that same distance away, ~3m i would reckon to guess! No UHD for me either, just the basic old HD... I mean it works fine, but I never even considered how helpful having a low latency monitor could be, especially for a game like SMBF that requires such precise timing! 7 hours ago, Arcesius said: No man, there is never enough rambling about Trials! You know how much I love that game, feel free to spit everthing out you have to say Trials-related! (or otherwise ). But you are right, you are making some solid progress! Especially having done Meteorain already... Finishing that track is what made the game "click" for me... Those last three CPs really required some advanced techniques, and there was no way to brute-force them. Have you come close to finishing Inferno? And how is your progress in terms of track-challenges? Which RedLynx time did you manage to beat? And what you describe is one of the things that make this game so addictive... Going from "How am I supposed to finish this track??" to beating it on an invisible bike Improvement is just so noticeable, which brings tons of motivation. And the controls are just so freaking crisp Good to hear that you are enjoying your time with this gem of a game! And good luck with the remaining challenges! Right on man, sounds good to me!! As a matter of fact, I was on fire and hit a triple last night... I got Unyielding III, Inferno, and Way of the Machine all completed ? I was just on a roll!! For Inferno, man it was just that one section pretty early on (maybe cp4 or 5?) where you have to jump from the wheel over to a stack of uphill barrels, then jump across and hit the tiny ledge to boost yourself over to the next ledge/cp... I probably had to try that at least 600x before it finally clicked!! After that, I really didn't have much issue with the rest of it... I wanna say I finished it in like 300 faults or so? As for Way of the Machine, that one was just long and there were a few tricky sections... The one I struggled with the most was the steep uphill incline, then you have to do a quick bunnyhop to reach an even steeper hill... It took me a shit ton of tries just to finally get that part down! Oh yes, and Meteorain... That was the last one I finished right before these and definitely took me several attempts ? I kept telling myself with the DLC extreme tracks that I only need to complete them once, then I never need to touch them again if I don't want to!! hehe That just leaves me with the 3 Stratosphere challenges in one go, Redlynx times, Speedcuber, the one for scoring 40k on the trick track with the Roach, the one which you need the fully upgraded Biotech suit (need level 100 I think it was? and I'm at 92 right now), then last but not least of course the track challenges! Which I've done a vast majority of them, except for the extreme ones. I was struggling for a bit with the finish on fire ones, as well as the fusion ball across the finish line... Also finishing the Fusion Factory without using the loop sucked!! The rest weren't too bad tho. I want to say I have less than 20 challenges total for just the base game left. So I'll keep plugging away at those! Do you have any advice you can offer about riding and maintaining a proper wheelie?? I feel like I'm just terrible at it... My instinct tells me to lean forward at certain points, but that just ends up making me bunny hop which basically ruins the wheelie! If you have any tips in that regard, I'd appreciate it ? Honestly man, as fun as this game is, if I'm able to finish this one off I def plan on swapping in Trials Rising to the challenge!! These games are seriously so much fun and I'm thankful for you guys putting it on my radar ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arcesius Posted February 2, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 2, 2022 Alright, I'm only here to drop a quick review... Over the weekend, I started and finished Valfaris, which added a third game to my review queue ? Let's get one more done! It Takes Two The Pitch Two parents facing divorce are magically transformed into small puppets and forced by an insufferable book to work together in order to "fix their relationship". The Best Even though I don’t agree with it (not even in the slightest), you will find many statements of people stating that “It Takes Two is the best coop game out there". Hell, it even won GOTY 2021, and while I think it is undeserved, there is no denying that there is a lot of good things to be found here. But I also think it is necessary to mention that my non-gamer coop partner, Ms. Arc, found the game much more interesting and fun than I did. I think for someone that is used to experience fantastic, creative, unique games, It Takes Two is not quite as exceptional as all the critics might lead you to believe. Ok, but were are here to talk about “the best” It Takes Two has to offer In this coop game, the two protagonists, May and Cody, are turned into puppets and embark on a journey that starts in their shed, continues in their garden (or rather in the tree that stands in their garden), their daughter’s room, a cuckoo clock, … And all stages feel unique, and are full of visual creativity. I think it works this well because we are watching everything from the perspective of two characters no larger than a mouse. Riding on frogs, fighting wasps or just running around in Rose’s room (the daughter) with every piece of furniture being as tall as a building, and small toys suddenly being actual threats felt great. There is always a new surprise around the corner, and you never really know what will happen next ? No two chapters ever feel similar, not only due to the setting and environments, but also due to the changing gameplay mechanics. The core message of It Takes Two is, as the name suggests, that cooperation is key. During each of the chapters, Cody and May have complementary powers, both of which are always required to be able to proceed in the level. For example, Cody might be able to shoot nails and call them back, while May might have the ability to swing from those nails to reach otherwise unreachable places. In another section, May is able to leave a clone of herself in a place, and then instantly teleport to it… While Cody is able to manipulate time, leading to interesting puzzles. All of those mechanics really feel different, and make the game feel very varied from start to finish! The Worst With gameplay and level design both earning a spot in the “positive” section, what is there left? Well, for one, not all of the gameplay is actually good. As creative and fun the puzzle sections are in this game, there is also a fair amount of combat… Aaaand that did not really work for me. There are some combat sequences that do work, as they happen to be more “puzzle fights” and “avoid attacks” type of sequences. Straight up “defeat the enemies” combat sequences can be pretty boring and just not feel all to great to play through, as that is not the focus of the game, and controls can feel off ? But the absolute worst part of the game… are the characters. They are insufferable, starting with the “comedian” of the game, the Book of Love, Dr. Hakim. Holy balls, what the hell did went wrong in the studio when they came up with this character… This book is supposed to help Cody and May reconcile, and for a moment I actually thought that it is as obnoxious as it is on purpose to give Cody and May something common to focus their annoyance towards, to have a common target… But after finishing the game, I don’t think that’s the case. I think the book was meant to offer some comic relief in a game otherwise dealing with serious topics, but man… I don’t usually use the word “cringe”, but I honestly cannot find a better word in this situation ? Now, let’s talk about the main characters themselves. Cody and May are two parents drifting apart, and facing divorce. Their common daughter, Rose, feels responsible for her parents constantly fighting, as is probably the most natural feeling for a child in that situation. Cody is a stay-home dad that spends a lot of time playing with his daughter, or pursuing other projects around the house, while May is a hard- and over-working engineer that is evidently proud of being a very rational being. Both are self-centered and full of resentment, with Cody complaining that May does not support his hobbies and is never home (come on, dude... she is the only one working), and May being constantly working and tired (come on, girl... you have a family at home that also wants to have time with you!). To make this short, Cody and May start the game fighting about everything, and over the course of the game start to be kinder towards each other, eventually agree on some things, and even start to show some support and understanding for the other person towards the end of the game. That’s all nice and whatnot… but some of the solutions they come up with during the game, some of their goals, and some of their reasoning, just do not make sense. “Oh, we need to make our daughter cry! Let’s destroy her favorite toy!” (a tough-to-watch murder scene follows). “Ah, that didn’t work. Oh well. Let’s not discuss any further that we are purposefully hurting our child, let’s have fun ice skating instead!”. They never discuss the situation ever again. They don’t reflect upon what they did. Despite May being the “rational” one, she sure doesn’t act that way. That’s only one example (although admittedly the most disturbing one) in this 15h game (yes… it’s that long… and it’s no coincidence I mention it in this section) of how annoying these two guys can be that you and your partner will be controlling throughout the game. But there are more, and Cody and May do never, not once, challenge their decision making. Now…I'm about to somewhat spoil the ending. Let’s just say that it is a somewhat happy one. After having played as Cody and May, having had to listen to their fighting, to their reasoning, to them being childish and self-absorved… What in any other game would have been the “good” ending, felt entirely anti-climactic here. It just doesn’t work on an emotional level, at least it didn’t for me. Let these guys have their divorce. They aren't happy together, and having a child cannot and should not be the only reason they staty together. Not everything needs to be fixed. Maybe living apart is the better solution for them. But as you can see in my scoring above, the narrative elements in this game were not impactful enough to ruin the game for me. I had a lot of fun playing this game, especially because Ms. Arc was constantly getting surprised, and she enjoyed the game a lot. And playing a game like this with someone that is visibly enjoying herself just makes you look past most insignificant little flaws The Challenge It Takes Two is a split-screen coop game that is definitely not aimed at the hardcore crowd. This is a family game. Challenge is not what the game is about, it’s about cooperation, puzzle solving and creative level design. Regular fights and Boss fights are varied, but always very forgiving (with unlimited respawns as long as at least one player is alive at all times), the puzzles are straightforward (but clever), and the platforming rather basic. Ms. Arc needed a bit of time to get used to the camera controls, but didn’t have much trouble with anything once she did. She probably would not have been able to climb the Helltower if her life depended on it, but she didn’t have to and I had no trouble with that either. Overall a very easy game by design, even for casual gamers. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 9 minutes ago, Arcesius said: It Takes Two Now…I'm about to somewhat spoil the ending. Let’s just say that it is a somewhat happy one. After having played as Cody and May, having had to listen to their fighting, to their reasoning, to them being childish and self-absorved… What in any other game would have been the “good” ending, felt entirely anti-climactic here. It just doesn’t work on an emotional level, at least it didn’t for me. Let these guys have their divorce. They aren't happy together, and having a child cannot and should not be the only reason they staty together. Not everything needs to be fixed. Maybe living apart is the better solution for them. Thank you! I'm glad at least someone out there had the same reaction to that repugnant ending and charmless characters - I agree, the game is pretty light and breezy, and mechanically works more often than it doesn't but holy HELL does Joseph Fares need to stay way from writing dialogue, or creating characters! You're absolutely right about how Cody and May just don't seem to ever address the terrible things they do to their daughter - the stuff they did before their imprisonment in the rag-doll bodies, or during that time! They're really the archetypal sociopaths - doing awful things gets them excited, and brings them together in a shared orgasm of wanton, irreversible emotional damage they wreak on their unsuspecting daughter! I feel like Joseph Fares could have solved the whole issue - and avoided the Take Two copyright problems - with one simple name change... ... ...just call the game "Terrible People doing Terrible Things and not Caring"... ...or even just take a cue from one of his own rubbish Dr. Hakim jokes. ...just call the game "Relationshit" ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 Intriguing…how were the trophies? Are they like other Fares games where you have to go out of your way to collect them? I played A Way Out with my gamer brother, so going after trophies was something he appreciated. I’m interested in the thought of introducing this game to my non-gamer partner (who enjoys watching me play time to time, especially if there is looting of chests involved!), but I could see us playing with a guide and me going “hey hey hey, do that thing over there for the trophy! No, wait, not like that!” I guess it really would…take two….ba-dum ching. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrooba Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 It's interesting how you mention the shrunken duo reacting to the world around them; basking in the nature their garden, embarking on adventures on frogs, exploring the room of their daughter in a whole new context... It reminds me from what I've seen of Little Nightmares. It's unique how one game takes that concept to enthrall you in a charming adventure fit for a co-op experience, where as the latter uses this tiny viewpoint to make the surrounding world more imposing and daunting. It's always fascinating to see how such ideas can be changed into so many different ways, in entirely new contexts. Great read man, good luck for your next games! ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 First of all, awesome review! But most importantly? 7 hours ago, Arcesius said: I had a lot of fun playing this game, especially because Ms. Arc was constantly getting surprised, and she enjoyed the game a lot. And playing a game like this with someone that is visibly enjoying herself just makes you look past most insignificant little flaws ??? This warmed my icy heart. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arcesius Posted February 3, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 3, 2022 22 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: I'm glad at least someone out there had the same reaction to that repugnant ending and charmless characters - I agree, the game is pretty light and breezy, and mechanically works more often than it doesn't but holy HELL does Joseph Fares need to stay way from writing dialogue, or creating characters! Right... And if this would have been a single player experience, it would have been a bigger issue for sure. Playing in couch coop, however... Well, you tend to focus more on your gameplay interactions with your partner and less so on the story, at least we do ? And at least we had something to laugh at together whenever the story would proceed ? 22 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: You're absolutely right about how Cody and May just don't seem to ever address the terrible things they do to their daughter - the stuff they did before their imprisonment in the rag-doll bodies, or during that time! They're really the archetypal sociopaths - doing awful things gets them excited, and brings them together in a shared orgasm of wanton, irreversible emotional damage they wreak on their unsuspecting daughter! Yeah and overall, I think this is the part of the narrative that irritates me the most. They are trying to fix their relationship for Rose, yet they simply ignore the past and keep doing horrible things to her throughout the game. It's just not well executed at all, and if you really care about the story, then most people I would think should notice this aspect. How this could win "Best Family Game" (let's not even talk about "Best Game" alltogether) is beyond me, given how it fails to encapsulate what makes up a Family in the first place. You know, compromises and sacrifices, honesty, awareness, ... 16 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Intriguing…how were the trophies? Are they like other Fares games where you have to go out of your way to collect them? I played A Way Out with my gamer brother, so going after trophies was something he appreciated. I’m interested in the thought of introducing this game to my non-gamer partner (who enjoys watching me play time to time, especially if there is looting of chests involved!), but I could see us playing with a guide and me going “hey hey hey, do that thing over there for the trophy! No, wait, not like that!” I guess it really would…take two….ba-dum ching. ?? The trophies are similar to those in A Way Out. Besides those for finishing the game and finding all Minigames (not even playing them... though we always did try them out), you will earn trophies for miscellaneous things. We didn't play with a guide and by the end we had missed 3 minigames and had failed to earn three misc trophies. But everytime we would reach a new place, we would also take our time exploring the environment. The game is well made, so exploring a new place was always fun. And we did in fact earn most misc trophies simply by interacting with pretty much everything. However, cleaning up the trophies is no pain at all. There is chapter select, and so our clean-up time was not even one hour. If you do decide to play with a guide, I don't see that as problematic. The trophies on the trophy list are in order of occurrence, so you could just read what the next one is and play blind until you reach that point. That would not spoil much 15 hours ago, Shrooba said: It's interesting how you mention the shrunken duo reacting to the world around them; basking in the nature their garden, embarking on adventures on frogs, exploring the room of their daughter in a whole new context... It reminds me from what I've seen of Little Nightmares. It's unique how one game takes that concept to enthrall you in a charming adventure fit for a co-op experience, where as the latter uses this tiny viewpoint to make the surrounding world more imposing and daunting. It's always fascinating to see how such ideas can be changed into so many different ways, in entirely new contexts. It adds a lot of magic to the game, since you are playing among things that are very familiar to you, but from a very different perspective. A child's playroom suddenly turns into a magical place filled with alive toys, wasps and mice have an ongoing war inside the tree, ... It just made the environments feel fun to navigate, and of course allowed the developers to be really creative 15 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: First of all, awesome review! But most importantly? ??? This warmed my icy heart. ?? Well thank you! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arcesius Posted February 10, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2022 Darksiders Genesis The Pitch Introducing the fourth Horseman, Strife, Darksiders Genesis departs from the open structure of the previous entries in the Darksiders franchise in favor of a chapter-based progression system and an isometric perspective. The Best First things first... Overall, Darksiders Genesis is not a good game. It is a passable one, and had it not been for @Mori, with whom I played this game from start to finish, the enjoyment rating would have been a bit lower ? So thanks once more, my man, for seeing it through yet another game with me! Darksiders Genesis is the first game in the franchise to let you play as the fourth horseman, Strife. This guy is the "funny one", constantly cracking jokes and keeping the mood light. This works particularly well as the second playable character is our well-known horseman from the first game, War. He is the complete opposite from Strife… Serious, focused, never smiles… And so the interactions between the two make for really hilarious conversations. Luckily, there is not an overwhelming amount of storytelling in this game (there's just the right amount), and so the humor doesn't get old. There is also something positive to say about the gameplay itself. While one of the gameplay elements will unfortunately make an appearance in the next section, the exploration aspect was enjoyable. Darksiders is a franchise that borrows from the Metroidvania genre… You will usually find new powers in later sections that allow you to go back to previous places and solve puzzles you were previously unable to solve, leading to secrets, upgrades, items, weapons... This is also the case in Darksiders Genesis, despite the Chapter-structure of the game... Only that instead to simply being able to go back to previous areas, you will have to replay previous chapters from the start in order to find all collectibles and upgrades once you find specific powers in later chapters. In addition to these fixed powers (which are mostly used for puzzle solving), all creatures in the game drop (randomly) their creature cores, which can then be slotted in a "skill tree" and enable creature-core specific perks, such as increased health, increased gold drops, chance of leaving a fire trail behind when dashing, etc… And while this system does not offer the same flexibility as a proper build-system would, it does at least allow for some sort of character customization ? Personally, I played Strife exclusively. And I had quite a bit of fun experimenting with the different types of ammo he gains throughout the course of the game, I enjoyed the boss design and boss fights themselves, and simply exploring, trying to figure out everything without consulting a guide (our first playthrough was entirely blind). The Worst This one is easy. The game might feature fun exploration and funny dialogue… But the platforming, which is also an essential part of the gameplay, is atrocious. I mean it. It's baaaaaaaaaaad. It's "@Copanele writes a ranting status update" type of bad ?. Well, actually... it's worse. The isometric perspective doesn't help, of course. You can never gauge if you are jumping / gliding in the right direction, and holy hell, I stopped counting the times I tried to glide straight into a collectible just to miss it entirely. Some of those collectibles can only be reached by jumping from a place you cannot easily go back to, making each failed attempt even more frustrating. In addition to the bad, baaad platforming, the game unfortunately has quite a few performance issues. Attacks suddenly not working, accidental softlocks out of bounds, long loading times,… these issues don't make the game unplayable, but they are noticeable and often resulted in an eye roll or two. The Challenge Unlike previous entries, the highest difficulty (Apocalyptic) is not unlocked from the start in Darksiders Genesis (whyyyyyyy… Let me decide when I'm ready, game! ? this could be its own topic: Why do games lock difficulty-related content?... Maybe another time ? ), but unlocks after beating the game once instead. By that time, if you were thorough and managed to collect all upgrades, skills etc, you will have no trouble whatsoever with Apocalyptic. @Mori and myself simply speedrun through the game on that difficulty in 2-3 hours, and no chapter stood out as being particularly painful. You can dash past most enemies and only fight when you are forced to, and while bosses take a while to go down, their attacks are easy enough to avoid, and so the fights turn rather into an exercise in endurance. Besides playing through the game on specific difficulties, you also have a wave-based game mode. What was known as the Crucible in the other games is here called the Arena. Each of the 20 arenas leading up to the "Endless Arena" consist of 10 waves each and are very easy to beat. The trophy list will then have you amass 70k points in the Endless Arena, which is a mindless, boring task, as the waves by the time you reach that amount of points (60-70 minutes) are still at a very low difficulty. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Copanele Posted February 10, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2022 19 minutes ago, Arcesius said: The Worst This one is easy. The game might feature fun exploration and funny dialogue… But the platforming, which is also an essential part of the gameplay, is atrocious. I mean it. It's baaaaaaaaaaad. It's "@Copanele writes a ranting status update" type of bad . Well, actually... it's worse. We really need to do a "on a scale of Copanele Rant to Arcesius appreciation, how nasty the platforming in this game is? " metric in Platformers ? Anyway, reading your review, there's a game I won't touch in this lifetime then but yet again, if you said the platforming is bad, then truly is unbearable to even touch. Still congrats for clearing this one up! And yes I also vote for the Why do games lock difficulty-related content? topic, since it's annoying when games do that. Let me suffer on my own terms, don't forcefully add training wheels to my experience! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 6 hours ago, Arcesius said: Darksiders Genesis Nice completion! I’ve completed the previous 3 games and enjoyed them all to various degrees (liking Darksiders 2 the most). Where you would rank Genesis in the series? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, Arcesius said: Darksiders Genesis Dude, this was a great write up! I actually super appreciate this one in particular, as DS:G is a game I’ve seen around, and seen the odd screenshot of, but feel like I never really had a handle on exactly… well… what it was! TBH, I had no idea it would even contain platforming… from the visuals and marketing, for some reason I had it in my head it was some kind of turn-based tactics thing ? At least now I know what it is… even if it does seem a bit of a let down, and maybe best given a wider swerve… though TBH, as much as I dug the first two games, I haven’t managed to get around to even the third one yet ? Edited February 10, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mori Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 12 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: TBH, I had no idea it would even contain platforming… from the visuals and marketing, for some reason I had it in my head it was some kind of turn-based tactics thing Oh I also had no idea at all. I went into the game fully expecting a twin-stick-shooter game from what little I had seen before. Suddenly I am playing a War(rior) with a sword. But playing with Arcesius made it okay again. ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 3 minutes ago, Mori said: Oh I also had no idea at all. I went into the game fully expecting a twin-stick-shooter game from what little I had seen before. Suddenly I am playing a War(rior) with a sword. But playing with Arcesius made it okay again. ? Well, they really did a bang up job with the marketing on this one, didn't they! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcesius Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 22 hours ago, Copanele said: We really need to do a "on a scale of Copanele Rant to Arcesius appreciation, how nasty the platforming in this game is? " metric in Platformers Anyway, reading your review, there's a game I won't touch in this lifetime then but yet again, if you said the platforming is bad, then truly is unbearable to even touch. Nah, don't... Not because the platforming is bad, it's just not a game that you should spend your time with ? 16 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Nice completion! I’ve completed the previous 3 games and enjoyed them all to various degrees (liking Darksiders 2 the most). Where you would rank Genesis in the series? Thanks! I have completed all three previous games as well (1 and 2 on the X360), and Genesis is definitely the weakest of them all. I think I enjoyed 2 the most as well despite it dragging on and on at points, but I really enjoyed playing as Death. Darksiders 3 had probably the best combat in my opinion, but the game was unfortunately filled with technical issues when I played, with constant freezes on area transitions, long loading times and bugs... But I still enjoyed it thanks to the fun combat and decent level and enemy design Genesis... First of all, as you can see from the screenshots, you don't see shit ? I play on a 65" TV and still couldn't really recognize details on enemies or the characters due to the zoomed out perspective. Then, I enjoyed the open world structure more than the chapter-based progression... And while I didn't mention puzzles in the review above, in Genesis they are all reeeeally basic and boring... I don't know, Genesis is not awful, but it's not a game worth your time either. Unless, like myself, you just want to have played all entries in the franchise ? 13 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: I actually super appreciate this one in particular, as DS:G is a game I’ve seen around, and seen the odd screenshot of, but feel like I never really had a handle on exactly… well… what it was! TBH, I had no idea it would even contain platforming… from the visuals and marketing, for some reason I had it in my head it was some kind of turn-based tactics thing At least now I know what it is… even if it does seem a bit of a let down, and maybe best given a wider swerve… though TBH, as much as I dug the first two games, I haven’t managed to get around to even the third one yet You know, during our first couple of sessions, I was actually saying to @Mori "Hey, this game really isn't as bad as people say". I remember saying that, and I remember actually enjoying the game. And I think if the game would have been a couple of chapters shorter, it actually would have stayed fun. But after a while, once you have tried all of your skills and start just using the one that works, once you have seen all enemies and notice that the puzzles will stay THAT basic... Once the levels start becoming more platforming-intensive and you notice how atrocious the platforming mechanics are... You just want to stop playing the game. And then you still need to finish the game.. and play through it once more. Spend hours in the arena. Farm creature kills to get all cores... It's just one of those games that would be alright for 10-15 hours. But you will spend around 25h with it, and by that point I just wasn't having too much fun with the game anymore ? It is indeed a bit of a letdown, given that I enjoyed playing the other three games, and from what I had seen before starting this one, it looked like a ton of fun a priori... 47 minutes ago, Mori said: Oh I also had no idea at all. I went into the game fully expecting a twin-stick-shooter game from what little I had seen before. Suddenly I am playing a War(rior) with a sword. But playing with Arcesius made it okay again. ?? Well to be fair, my character controlled a bit like in a twin stick shooter ? But yeah, it's a bit all over the place. I didn't expect it to have such an emphasis on platforming, for example, while keeping the puzzles that simple. That wasn't the case with the previous entries. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 7 hours ago, Arcesius said: I don't know, Genesis is not awful, but it's not a game worth your time either. Unless, like myself, you just want to have played all entries in the franchise That’s my interest in it! I bought all the Darksiders games in a bundle last year and worked through the first 3 almost consecutively before getting distracted. I enjoy them, and I think they have a little bit of a “cult classic” mystique as they ape so much from other games and aren’t really that popular. I find the aesthetic cool (especially the color palette in DS3) and appreciate their relative simplicities. DS2 had a miserable collectible system and I’m glad the third one (and it sounds like Genesis) have something much simpler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ_Radio Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 On 2/11/2022 at 1:16 AM, Arcesius said: I have completed all three previous games as well (1 and 2 on the X360), and Genesis is definitely the weakest of them all. I think I enjoyed 2 the most as well despite it dragging on and on at points, but I really enjoyed playing as Death. Darksiders 3 had probably the best combat in my opinion, but the game was unfortunately filled with technical issues when I played, with constant freezes on area transitions, long loading times and bugs... But I still enjoyed it thanks to the fun combat and decent level and enemy design Genesis... First of all, as you can see from the screenshots, you don't see shit I play on a 65" TV and still couldn't really recognize details on enemies or the characters due to the zoomed out perspective. Then, I enjoyed the open world structure more than the chapter-based progression... And while I didn't mention puzzles in the review above, in Genesis they are all reeeeally basic and boring... I don't know, Genesis is not awful, but it's not a game worth your time either. Unless, like myself, you just want to have played all entries in the franchise Darksiders 2 has been on my backlog for a number of years now. From the various Twitch.tv livestreams and game coverage across all games in the series, Darksiders 1 still appeals to me the most. It had that perfect blend of Legend of Zelda and God of War, two franchises I adored when I was much younger. Really liked going thru the dungeons, finding that item that would help you get past the midway point or the boss (ie Legend of Zelda) and then being told I'm to venture to a new area. The sequel looks quite good by 2012 standards and it's more open world, with a different protagonist. I heard you can reduce the freezing by removing the numbers that pop up on screen but I didn't play more than 30 minutes of the game. Look forward to it when I finally get around to the game, even though it's been sitting on my backlog for years at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HusKy Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Hello mate, where are the reviews? Regards, Review reader HusKy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Vice Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 2 hours ago, HusKy said: Hello mate, where are the reviews? Regards, Review reader HusKy ? I'm just as interested to know how everything had changed since moving into the new apartment. And Arc is in a very interesting place in the world right now, I'd be keen to know just how he's doing in general with world events. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mori Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Hello mate, where are the reviews? Regards, Review reader Mori 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Baker Posted May 18, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted May 18, 2022 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arcesius Posted June 29, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 29, 2022 Ok let me answer some questions here... How did the move go? Very well! Man, our new place is absolutely amazing, we have plenty of space both inside and outside now (despite it being an apartment in a city and not in the outskirts), I have my own room now for both home office and gaming, etc... Everything went much better than expected, and we are only dealing now with a few issues that come with every newly built apartment, but nothing worth complaining about, and all stuff that is being taken care of. Ok, great. Now, where the fuck were you then? Hear me out... During my time away from PSNP, I noticed two things. First, that I usually spend a LOT of time on here. I keep checking my phone while I'm away with my family, I keep reading and sometimes contributing while at work,... Secondly... I also noticed that the time I spend here is mostly spent reading meaningless stuff that has been discussed over, and over, and over, and over again. Or reading status updates from people that treat the PSNP forums as if it was their facebook pag. Participating in the discussions about EZPZ games, about the state of trophy hunting or the "lack of quality control" at Sony, about how Sly doesn't give a fuck anymore is all great at first, when it's your first time participating in those discussions. When you think that you can have a meaningful discussions with the community. But with time, I just noticed how meaningless those interactions are. I understand. But you can just keep chilling in the Trophy Checklist section then..? I could... And that is what I had been doing for some time already. But this still costs a lot of time. Maintaining my own checklist is already time-consuming enough (as everyone with one such list knows), but trying to keep up with what others do (which is what makes hanging around here interesting in the first place) takes even more time. And that time I should spend working, gaming, or just hanging with my friends and with my family instead. Why did you make this update? Because I didn't want to leave things unexplained. I got some messages on PSN (I'm still very active there! So if you want to keep in touch, that's the way to go I'd say ) asking where I am, and I also saw some messages here. So I thought I'd make a quick update explaining my situation. I'll probably keep updating the OP in my list, just for documentation's sake, but I won't be making tons of substantial game reviews going forward. But since we are here... I haven't finished a ton of games since my last update, but the ones I have finished are worth mentioning. One paragraph per game: Valfaris. A game in the style of Slain: Back from Hell (and from the same developers), but with a focus on ranged instead of melee combat. A fun and short game that can offer a challenge, but whose challenges are trivialized due to the exploitable save system. Elden Ring. Difficult to write only a paragraph about this game... In one word: massive. It's a massive game that kept me in awe for a long time. But the more I kept playing, the more I started seeing things that I didn't like. The two aspects I disliked the most: Recycling of Bosses (why would you put such an epic, gorgeous boss such as Astel in a forgettable dungeon... I don' t get it), and balancing issues both due to the open world structure (especially in the early game), and boss design in the late game. Probably FromSoftware's most incredible achievement to date, but not my favorite game of theirs and the one with the lowest replay value in my opinion. Also the most accessible game, and for veterans their easiest for sure. Even if I only wrote the two negatives, I had a fantastic time with this game! Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr Coop game played with @Mori, @Koro249 and @Exhuman1988. Not a game worth writing about. Very mediocre, though a bit better than Warhammer: Chaosbane, but very forgettable. The worst part: After playing through the story together, we all needed to do everything else solo. Always great when such "coop" games implement trophies in such a way that you are forced to play solo. Bravo. Deep Rock Galactic I had high hopes for this PS+ coop offering from the beginning of the year. I played through most content with @Mori, @Exhuman1988 and @HusKy, and especially playing the highest difficulties and completing the Elite Deep Dive was a ton of fun. Then... the grind started. Playing the same missions over, and over, and over, and over again, simply to level up all four characters and promote them all the way to Gold. The first 40 hours were incredibly fun. The subsequent 120 hours had me endure the dumbest grind I have done in my entire gaming "carreer". I've seen it through, but fuck me if it wasn't stupid. Badland The game that started my friendship with @Mori. Or well... The first game that Mori asked to play with me. After prioritizing many other games for the last two years, we finally decided to start this one. First, we each completed the single player portion of the game, which I'd say was pretty fun. Then... The frustration began. With no online-coop, we needed to play the coop missions via shareplay... twice (once for him, once for me). What's worse than having to deal with a laggy connection is that the coop missions don't feel playtested. There are levels where a mission can be "Nobody dies", and then contains multiple RNG sections that can kill you without much you can do about it. There is a mission towards the end of the game that will randomly crash the level. There is even one mission where the developers made a gap too small to collect one of the power-ups, with one of the missions for that level being "collect all power-ups"... The list goes on and on. But we kept at it, session after session, both committed to get this done, both dealing with the increasing frustration by keeping each other motivated, by keeping the atmosphere positive (most of the time ). Thanks Mori, as always... You are the man! And thanks @Exhuman1988, @Koro249 and @HusKy for the times you were hanging with us in party chat and had to listen to us bitch and curse ? Slay the Spire I had been wanting to play this game for a long time, so when it came to PS+, I couldn't wait any longer. The game definitely didn't disappoint! I'd say that it is one of the better card games (especially on-the-fly deck building games) that I have ever played. Slay the Spire seems complex at first, but once you get to know each character, its challenges become very manageable. I did most challenges with the DLC Character, The Watcher... One-relic run (starter relic upgraded solves the energy issue), only common cards (Pressure Points deck), minimal 5-card deck (infinite stance-switching loop), and Ascension 0 --> 20, and only did the speedrun with the Ironclad, since you don't really need to think much when you play him (especially on A0). I didn't get bored once in the 51 hours I spent with this game. Fantastic experience, and I cannot recommend the game enough! That's it guys... Thanks for stopping by 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted June 29, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted June 29, 2022 Hi bud, Welcome back! /End of Meaningless Interaction ? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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