What You've Been Playing This Week

[fallenangle]

Actually started PS2 God Of War yesterday.

Not quite what I was expecting; halfway between a Devil May Cry/Bayonetta type hack n' slash and a more conventional sword and magic action/adventure but clearly more skewed towards the former type of game. That meant I felt distinct resistance to it initially as I'm not a fan.

The combat system is not overly elaborate so far, it has a good learning curve and whilst the path is very linear and clearly from that school of games there's more to it, places to explore, items to find etc. Give me Prince Of Persia and some proper platforming in a more elaborately designed open world environment in preference every time. But from a position of not hating it immediately it definitely grew on me over the three hours I've played so far.

[Cepp]

Saw that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is on Game Pass so giving it a quick go. It looks a bit....cheap tbh but I'll stick with it.

[randombs]

Actually started PS2 God Of War yesterday.

Not quite what I was expecting; halfway between a Devil May Cry/Bayonetta type hack n' slash and a more conventional sword and magic action/adventure but clearly more skewed towards the former type of game. That meant I felt distinct resistance to it initially as I'm not a fan.

The combat system is not overly elaborate so far, it has a good leaning curve and whilst the path is very linear and clearly from that school of games there's more to it, places to explore, items to find etc. Give me Prince Of Persia and some proper platforming in a more elaborately designed open world environment in preference every time. But from a position of not hating it immediately it definitely grew on me over the three hours I've played so far.

I'm around halfway through right now(I'll be entering the huge man with the castle on his back). There have been a few more silly push-pull puzzles, and there was an annoying bit with a woman hanging from a rope shouting at me a lot. Telling me Athens was burning while I dilly-dallied. I checked all the corners of the area just to waste time and annoy her

[Neon Ignition]

Final pre-Jr3 update before play time gets seriously disrupted:

Nintendo 3DS
I'm on Chapter 09 of Kid Icarus: Uprising. Frankly every revisit reveals the game to be even more astonishing for the host hardware. Grown to adore this.

Nintendo Switch
Holding off on the 3D All-Stars so I don't indefinitely lose focus on Paper Mario: The Origami King where I'm just about to hunt down the final streamer.

PC
Clearing out the last of the guff small games to be honest, I've really held back because I know it'll be a while before I can dedicate proper time to something more meaty.

[fallenangle]

I'm around halfway through right now(I'll be entering the huge man with the castle on his back). There have been a few more silly push-pull puzzles, and there was an annoying bit with a woman hanging from a rope shouting at me a lot. Telling me Athens was burning while I dilly-dallied. I checked all the corners of the area just to waste time and annoy her

Did that bit on Friday. Hell's teeth she was deeply annoying indeed. There's old Kratos leaping across the arena trying to make it to her in time and she's whining on at him. I found the gameplay there a bit stupid TBH - he can take as long as he likes setting up things so he can get to her or just wandering about the area looking at the scenery but the moment he starts the run suddenly it becomes time critical.

I've had to redo a section in the castle last night. I had trouble with one area fight (7? Medusae) and at that point I must have been given the option of changing to Easy and accidentally clicked Yes. I only realised it half an hour later.

I really hate that sort of thing - just give the player the option to play on the difficulty setting of their choice, don't bloody patronise them halfway through a game just because they're having a bit of trouble in one place.

There are some good puzzles in this game, nothing mind bending but they make you stop and think a bit. A welcome change of pace I've found.

[randombs]

I’ve started playing all my games on easy, including this one

[fallenangle]

Go stand on the naughty step.

I'm not one for playing on excruciatingly hard difficultly and I've come to despise games which do nothing less than cheat to make the game harder. That can ruin an otherwise good game. But I like a challenge and God Of War is pitched quite well for me on Normal (Hero).

However difficulty level is so random. I've done games on the hardest level available and breezed through them, others, even on the default 'normal' have been frustrating as hell right from the start.

Bayonetta was one of those; I really did not like it at all, the repetitive combat which makes up 90% of the game just bored me but I persevered and got to the final part of the last level. After multiple failed attempts I thought I just can not be bothered, turned off the game and have no intention of ever going back to it.

Perhaps if I'd played it on an easier setting I would have liked it but I doubt that.

What I enjoy about GoW is that whilst the repetitive fighting is not unlike those type of games, DMC and its ilk, there's so much more to it than just the combat. Its a good mix of adventure game elements and they have been put together pretty well.

Currently in the Temple of Hades.

[QualityChimp]

On GoW, I found this too tough on Normal. Swapped to Easy (story), but by that point, I had lost momentum and never went back to it, even though I tell myself I will.

Last night's co-op sesh saw three of us heading onto Red Dead Online for the first time.
Created an old grizzled guy called "Ol' Plumpouch" because "Grizzly Scrote" is deemed a profanity.
Some dude at Rockstar had to work through a list of rude words to ban.

Anyway, we did a little bit of stuff like bounty missions, played poker and moseyed on into town.
I can feel it getting its claws back into me...

[Dogg Thang]

On GoW

Gears or God?

[QualityChimp]

Sorry, God Hand.

No, God of War, sorry.

[Dogg Thang]

I’m playing Mario Sunshine on the All Stars collection and it’s a constant reminder of why it’s my least favourite 3D Mario. I’m enjoying it but the enjoyment and frustration come in equal measures. The camera is all over the place but at least it’s adjustable, sometimes, for a certain amount. Some of the level design is poor and there are some really weird choices like one bit where you have to run and jump over rotating wooden platforms and they’re all the same visually yet not at the same scale and it’s really hard to tell. So sometimes judging the depth is next to impossible. And generally the game is full of little frustrations that don’t feel fair and that’s very rare for a Mario game.

And yet it looks really pretty and I love the music and it’s still fun when it’s not frustrating.

[randombs]

Go stand on the naughty step.

The naughty step! We had the naughty chair in my house.

My wife asked me recently why I was making things unnecessarily difficult for myself. I didn’t have any justification beyond “my pride!” so I relented and switched Halo to easy...

I’m enjoying games a lot more now. I’m also finishing more games which brings the associated mental bliss of completing a task. For games I’m not interested in replaying down the line, I won’t have that nagging feeling of leaving something unfinished. For games I'd like to replay later(Halo), I can bump up the difficulty when the time comes. Or maybe I'll just play them on easy again

[QualityChimp]

Played Minecraft and Pinball FX in PSVR.

Also played some more RDR2 online.
Joined my mate, but had to wait for his mission to end to play together properly, but once we did, we had a good laugh.
Met some strangers and did some bounty missions ("You know I’m waiting, Just anticipating, Things I may never possess"), which were great fun. Did a mission where we had to get some cowpoke back to the police that let him escape. You shoot your way to the bottom of a valley, then have to shoot your way out on foot.
He then says if you let him go and take a corpse in, he'll give you his loot stash. His great hat and moustache were enough to convince me!

I also need to re-mention the weather.
Last night alone, we saw beautiful sunsets, foggy mornings and moonlit nights.
The rain lashed down on us on a night ride and the light from the lightning bolts lit up our clothes, slick from the rain.
The sun fought to break through the clouds during a shower, creating a haze around us.
We rode out of a valley and the plains opened up before us.

I also got an award for shooting off some hats.

[randombs]

Forza Horizon 3 Demo (PC)

Well, not playing. It crashes on startup. I've tried a bunch of fixes but nothing works.

Not a good start, but making a Series S even more interesting.

[QualityChimp]

More RDR2 Online.

Daily challenges included pick some creeping thyme and eat some seasoned pork, so I killed two birds with one stone.

That was the theory. Nearest pigs were on the left of the map, thyme was in the middle and on the way to this task I got attacked by two bears, a cougar, wolves and two different gangs!
Not only that, but the challenge was to pick 5 thyme and eat 3 seasoned pigs, so I didn't even do that!

I had fun though from all the adventure!