What You've Been Playing This Week

[Deuteros]

I feel your pain...

I skipped EDF 5 entirely but I have EDF 2025 on the Xbox 360 and EDF 2: Invaders from Planet Space on the PlayStation Vita on my 'would want to 100%' list. I've crossed the 70% completion threshold on both, which certainly helps, but I've reached that point where it's almost impossible to progress further solo.

[Atticus]

PS5 - Slowly making my way through Persona 3 Reload. First time I've played it and it's a lot of fun. The ratio/loop feels just right ... and hard to put down as one thing leads to another. Though it does instill that anxiety of time-management and fusing the right Personas.

Series X - For months it's been a pure MWIII machine ... but last night I couldn't resist loading Cyberpunk 2077 up to finally play Phantom Liberty. Starting at the beginning, riding through Night City with Jackie, just looking out of the car window into the rainy night and neons, it's so amazing and atmospheric. I love the world. The game is in such great shape now.

[QualityChimp]

I feel your pain...

I skipped EDF 5 entirely but I have EDF 2025 on the Xbox 360 and EDF 2: Invaders from Planet Space on the PlayStation Vita on my 'would want to 100%' list. I've crossed the 70% completion threshold on both, which certainly helps, but I've reached that point where it's almost impossible to progress further solo.

It does feel like some levels aren't doable as all classes, like if you've got UFO dropships that are higher than you can reach with an Air Raider and those air strikes from above don't work, it has to be below.

When I'm with Prin and Kats, I'm playing as the Fencer as it's my least favourite class. It's sold as some mobile tank, but the armour isn't that much greater than the others (feels that way when swarmed!) and two of the weapons have to be dash-based so you're not taking 2 days to clunk across the map.
I can save any solo runs for the Wing Diver and Ranger.

However, played last night with them pair and blasted through a few more missions and it's great.

[Finsbury Girl]

FFVII Rebirth - it will be the only thing I play for a while lol

[importaku]

Been chipping away at the challenges in game centre cx 1.2 replay. They really went all out with this i didn't expect them to go so hard. If i never knew that they were originally DS games you'd never know they have managed to rework everything from the DS versions and then add in even more they have never looked so good. Even at the beginning when you boot it up there's now a new recreation of Arinos studio room as well as loads of secrets, the whiteboard changes depending on what you have been playing and there's secrets on that too. You can turn off the title screen logo and it will cycle through different angles however when the whiteboard is showing haguruman Arino starts singing a song all about it.



As well as added in new online rankings they also added in the phone help system from the 2nd game into the first one so if you get stuck at any point any you have played for long enough you can call Arino and ask him to let you skip the challenge. Thankfully because i played the hell out of the DS version the challenges are still in my memory so i haven't had too much problem getting through although the text rpg in the 2nd game is slowing me down lol i may have to get out the guidebook. All the fangamer ingame magazines are recreated from the DS versions including the scratch off panes in the second game.

The games themselves now are displayed on a bigger screen which you can zoom in totally if you like or how i prefer to play with you and kid Arino in the sidelines commenting on you playing it's been nicely thought out how to incorporate the elements from 2 screens of the DS into a single one.


What i really like is they actually added new games into this version there is now a new SP contents menu in the main title screen containing 3 new games 2 of them are simultaneous two player multiplayer versions of 2 of the games from the second title however one it totally new called salaryman Yattarou. It plays like the kuniokun rpg beatemup and it's pretty fun.

[wakka]

That's awesome.

I sunk a few more hours into Panzer Dragoon Saga earlier. Made some real progress. Man, it's a great game. I love it. So atmospheric and the combat is really fun and tense. Well balanced difficulty, too.

[prinnysquad]

EDF 5.
As part of my charity work, helping wagons to achieve their goals, Kat and I have been helping a particular small man through to 70%. Mission accomplished. The road to 100% is going to be more challenging.

EDF 4.1
As part of Kat’s charity work, helping wagons to achieve their goals, he’s been helping a particular wagon tick off as many small man levels as possible. I’m currently at 22% on this version. Gulp.

EDF Iron Rain
As part of a worldwide charity initiative, helping wagons to achieve their goals, some BIG MEN helped a couple of wagons through a few levels on Easy. Kat and I were so crap, and the controls/format/pace so slow and alien and weird, that we had totally forgotten what to do and how to play. Can’t believe this dev house made that magic little World Brothers. Iron Rain is a lumbering chubber of a game, and I really don’t know if I can get back into it. Nice explosions, though.

[wakka]

Onto the third disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga now. I really do think we lost something when we never had to change discs any more. Although it was purely a technical constraint, the best games shaped their pacing around disc changes as kind of act breaks. PDS does that really well and it's actually a very cool thing.

One thing I've noticed is that the difficulty in this game is very well tuned. Every boss battle is tense and requires concentration, but I rarely die and have to do stuff again. It feels just right.

Another observation is that there is a Soulslike element in how the story is told. It's not as oblique as Souls in terms of the overarching storyline - there are proper cutscenes and dialogue and stuff that are explicit about the narrative - but in terms of piecing together why this world is the way it is, a lot of that comes across in taking time to dip into the optional bestiary which builds as you encounter different enemies during the game. There are also pieces of optional documentation you encounter, like a 'Bible' dug out of a burnt pyre, that further contribute.

I like that and it feels quite ahead of its time.

I'm continuing to enjoy the game hugely.

[charlesr]

I've been snowboarding with my son in France. He took his Switch with us, so I've been playing Mario Kart and Smash Bros. Happy days.

[charlesr]

I've also been playing Portal 2 in Coop mode.

[Neon Ignition]

So... not much as like many it turns out Helldivers 2 has stolen my time. At weekends we're inching our way through Poppy's Playtime: Chapter Three and at work I'm now into the second half of Nier: Replicant ver 1.22

[QualityChimp]

I've been a BIG MAN and helped a couple of Tidgypuds out on EDF5.

Finally reached 70% and chipping away at the levels, so I'm nearer about 74%, but those tougher levels are going to be a challenge, even with the armour and weapon restrictions off.

I've been playing a few missions solo on Hardest difficulty, but realistically, some are a bit too tricky without someone at least distracting the enemies!

Really loving playing it again, though.

[prinnysquad]

QC = Wimp

[hudson]

and a walnut wimp at that!

[QualityChimp]

Dipped into Sifu.

I started in easy mode, because I want to learn the ropes and not get frustrated with it, but I'll definitely try it on normal mode if I get the hang of it or complete it.
Loved that opening level as you're smashing through dojos taking out the students as the rain lashes down.
I think I'll need to remember that it's not Streets of Rage where you're attacking multiple enemies, you have to pace yourself and thin the crowd.

I only made it to the opening credits (where you learn moves, in a cool touch), before EDF5 called again.

Been on every night again, chipping away at the percentages. (73%)
I'm not sure if it's on sale at the moment, but there seems to be a lot of low-level players jumping into our games.
The majority of them are decent and focus on pickups, but a handful just seem to think they can singlehandedly win the war with the Ravagers, get knocked out and keep shouting "HELP ME". Normally this is met with a "No", but you're doing yourself a disservice by jumping straight into games with unlocks off, rather than working through the game, gaining armour as you progress and tackling the difficulty inline with your player's level.

Which is why I'll go back to Sifu on a tougher setting, when I feel I'm ready.

Was saying to Prin that I really appreciate him getting me into EDF (2017 was my first) as the series just keeps getting better and has delivered some of the greatest memories I've had and it's still not stale for me.