What Has Everyone Been Playing This Week? 4

[Brad]

Dirt Rally in VR.

Really cool. Doing pretty well when I pay attention to the co driver, which I’m getting better at. Does make me want a wheel though!

[Neon Ignition]

The same three as last week, really starting to get tired of Capcom Beat Em Up though, let's be honest... these seven games are all reskins of the same game

[QualityChimp]

A touch of Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. I did the boss levels for my son, but he's hoovered up all the diamonds up to that point. Proud!

A bit of EDF 2025. Everybody seems happy with limits on, so I did my own limitless room. I died.

Stuntman: Ignition. Tested it for 5 minutes. That turned into about 2 hours as I tried to string all the stunts on the first film.
Got to the penultimate scene and I can't quite do it. Two tricky bits sees me unable to find something to continue the chain with.
I decided to stop. I'm not sure how I'm not bald from 100%ing it on the 360!

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. I played a bit more of this as a wind down. Part of me dislikes the lack of structure and part of me likes just milling about about and investigating the village. I still want to pick up a weapon and am expecting to jump out of my skin when I turn around and somebody's there!

It's really beautiful and crazy-detailed. I like how the sun sets when you watch major plot developments. I was making my way to a windmill and triggered a flashback. The stars were beautiful.

[QualityChimp]

I was knackered and falling asleep at the end, but I pushed through to the end of EGttR last night and really enjoyed it.

I think the thing that surprised me was that it focuses on the interaction between the main characters probably more than the "event" that you're investigating. I really wanted to know how the relationships ended up.

This is my first "walking simulator" and, as I said, it's weird turning off my gaming sensibilities and just letting the story tell itself via interaction. Some games, like Bioshock (ironically set in "Rapture") does a similar thing with the tapes that you can listen to and hear how the self-modification drove everyone nuts, but has more shooty shooty.

It was a really interesting experience and a nice shift of speed. I'm glad games like this exist, showing the different elements of our hobby.

It wasn't a thrill ride and the open structure was a little too directionless at times, but I just stopped chasing the story and just enjoyed mooching and plot points just appeared.

The structure is really clever in that I never felt shepherded, but still ended up at the finale.
The "people" story can be told in any order, but the "event" story plays out as you pick up a new phone.
I only really followed the guiding lightning bolt at the very end.

I'm still not sure who my character is. I'm not a ghost because I have footsteps, but I don't cast a shadow.

Side note: I only got the "completed" trophy as the others are really random like "walk backwards for 50 seconds"!

[Neon Ignition]

I've dabbled with Starlink, seems pretty decent to be honest but as it's the Switch version it won't get touched till next week and even then I don't want to get distracted from Mario + Rabbids.

Just waiting for Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII to turn up so it's likely to be the main game, maybe return to Assassin's Creed: Origins yet again too if CoD fails to install it's stupid day one patch anytime soon.

[randombs]

I tried EgttR but the walking was a bit too much for me. I know they're doing it for the atmosphere but if I was there I'd at least be jogging around a little bit.

[Dogg Thang]

It's very much a journey game though so I think a big part of it is soaking in the setting. I think if you have the urge to run through it, it's probably not for you. The one thing about Rapture that I see as an issue is that you can easily stray off course and experience the story threads in any order. I did this (without really knowing) and, as a result, certain things were robbed of impact that I think probably would have had an impact if experienced in a different order. It's a beautiful experience though.

For anyone who gave it a go but want a bit more to do and an even more engaging story, What Remains Of Edith Finch could be the one for you.

[Atticus]

Still playing Spider-Man. For a game with elements of repetition it's still plenty of fun, thanks to top notch fighting, stealthing, swinging and a decent comic book yarn. This is exactly what blockbuster gaming should be.

For anyone who gave it a go but want a bit more to do and an even more engaging story, What Remains Of Edith Finch could be the one for you.

Seconded.

[QualityChimp]

I tried EgttR but the walking was a bit too much for me. I know they're doing it for the atmosphere but if I was there I'd at least be jogging around a little bit.

I totally get that.

There were times I wanted to just mooch but get to where I wanted a bit quicker.
There is a "sprint" button (hold R2), but it takes a few seconds to kick in.

It's like you can watch a DVD at 1.5x speed and get the gist, but it's not going to soak in and you're going to lose the subtle nuances of the actors' perfomances when they're talking like chipmunks.

As a compromise, I feel like there should be a sprint option on NG+, so you can get about the place quicker upon replay to explore the bits you missed a bit quicker!

[randombs]

Wow! I’ll try the game again, then!

[QualityChimp]

I just found it a nice little break from the norm of shooting stuff.

Like a sorbet to cleanse the palate between courses.

If you follow the lightning bolt, it'll guide you to the nearest plot point, which'll speed things up, but it's a pretty short game, anyway.

I liked rummaging through the abandoned houses like that bit in Come Dine With Me.
Secretly disappointed I didn't find a secret stash of jazz mags.

[Zen Monkey]

Divinity Original Sin 2, finally completed it after 6 weeks of playing nothing else.

A little bit of Shikhondo Soul Eater which is gorgeous but a little lacking in substance.

But I've mostly gone back to MK8, Splatoon 2 and Dark Souls 3 like the boring bastard I am.

[Nico87]

Cycling through:

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube, stuck at the second Raven battle as usual)

Okami HD (Switch, just finished the first part, stuck at the digging part in the capital as usual)

Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero (DS, love this game)

Spider-Man (PS4, on and off, got burnt out after playing too much after launch)

[CMcK]

Been playing a bit Titanfall 2, the Megaman 11 demo and Pang Adventures. I've found myself really quite enjoying Pang. The combination of puzzle and shooting elements has kept the old formula feeling fresh.

[MartyG]

Thought I'd give Graveyard Keeper a quick go as it's on Game Pass ... then it was several hours later.

It's a little bit Harvest Moon ish, but no where near as polished, yet it's kept me entertained far longer than I expected it too and I've still plenty to unlock. There is a lot of busy work to do though, but I'm not really finding it grindy, just a easy going no pressure fun experience.

I'd say it's worth checking out despite the mixed reviews it's gotten.