What You've Been Playing This Week

[wakka]

Always love your posts about unusual choices, @importaku!

To balance it out, I've been incredibly mainstream, hammering the races in GTA Online. They're surprisingly good, really varied and people can make their own tracks.

Last night I finished off Spider-Man.
I think the initial excitement faded once it felt like a repetitive collect-a-thon.
Arkham Knight followed a similar framework, but enjoyed every minute of it and mopping up the leftover achievements, but found Spidey to be a bit clunky in combat and Web swinging compared to Bat's graceful flight across Gotham.

NYC is a LOT prettier than Gotham's permarain!

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I've been playing the Miles Morales expansion (having previously played the main game back when it first released on PS4).

It's good. It's very well put together. Very frictionless and the opening couple of hours are a slick thrill ride where you're immediately thrust into the heart of the action.

But it has the same issues the main game does, that I think you've highlighted. The combat is merely OK. It is pretty fun, but it's pretty simple. I also think there is a complete overload of gadgets and other ephemera that you can deploy, the majority of which are not particularly useful. You can pretty much just focus on the normal punching, dodging, and the electric punch and ground pound and you're pretty sorted.

As you point out, there is a lot of collecting of stuff. I actually don't bother with any of that, as I just find it pretty boring.

This all sounds very negative, which is unfair, because it's fun! Swinging around the city is great. The graphics are awesome. I like the soundtrack and the main quest is well paced. It's a very solid adventure game. But personally I could lose most of the side quests and gadgets and it would actually feel better and more focused to me.

[QualityChimp]

I think I probably had more fun in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, which is also set in NYC, but you can play as so many different heroes, rather than just Spider-Man.

Spidey just feels like there's a lot less game, so to pad it out, stop these 50 crimes, or visit 20 sights or find 40 bags or defeat 10 criminal bases and 10 soldier bases and fight another 50 crimes.

That's normally catnip to me, but even I was bored and doing it for completion's sake, unlike Arkham.

Oh man, and what a bloody depressing ending!

[wakka]

Yeah I'm not into that 'find 10 backpacks' sort of stuff. Endlessly cycling through the map to look for a hidden lucky gonk for no reason. It's where games tip over into being chores. I hate that.

I was just reading a review of Resident Evil VIII. Apparently it's 12 hours and you can't go backwards once you've left an area. Sounds perfect to be honest

[Golgo]

Ori and the Blind Forest, which was on sale on Switch. Lovely game, really enjoying it. Plays like Rayman with a cheesy, spiritualist Gaia vibe.

[kryss]

I think I probably had more fun in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, which is also set in NYC, but you can play as so many different heroes, rather than just Spider-Man.

Spidey just feels like there's a lot less game, so to pad it out, stop these 50 crimes, or visit 20 sights or find 40 bags or defeat 10 criminal bases and 10 soldier bases and fight another 50 crimes.

That's normally catnip to me, but even I was bored and doing it for completion's sake, unlike Arkham.

Oh man, and what a bloody depressing ending!

I was happy to hear I could use my PS4 save on the PS5 remaster...until I found out I needed to have the game still. Oops. I'm now second-guessing my choice to buy the game in the future, and probably won't for another year, despite trading in the PS4 game at the end of 2018.

[phillv85]

I started Dragon’s Crown Pro on PS4. Enjoying it a lot, but just wish I didn’t have to remember to do everything before each mission. It soon becomes a chore.

[QualityChimp]

I started The Last of Us last night.
I'd literally installed it and mooched about the house as the daughter when I first got my PS4.

Good so far, but it's all on rails atm as you learn the controls.
I can't help exploring every (usually empty) room, when I should really just crack on with it.

[Atticus]

I can't help exploring every (usually empty) room, when I should really just crack on with it.

I love scavenging in the LoU games. Something very satisfying about keeping your inventory well stocked.

[QualityChimp]

I just seem to be unable to stop myself exploring every bloody corner!

You think I'd have learned my lesson from Bioshock, which ended up being a drawer opening Simulator with a dash of combat.

I found some gun upgrade parts and now I'm convinced I'll find something. :/

[wakka]

Yeah, I do that sometimes. Scouring every nook and cranny, you end up feel less like a brave adventurer/powerful cyborg/lone survivor and more like a diligent cleaner.

[Golgo]

I just seem to be unable to stop myself exploring every bloody corner!

You think I'd have learned my lesson from Bioshock, which ended up being a drawer opening Simulator with a dash of combat.

I found some gun upgrade parts and now I'm convinced I'll find something. :/

Fortunately it never escalates to quite the level of OCD and abjection as the Booker deWitt bin fetish.

[wakka]

There is nothing more video gamey than spending a good 50% of your game time smashing crates and searching bins for consumable power ups that you don’t even need.

[CMcK]

At last I received my code for R-Type Final 2. It’s definitely got the Delta / Final vibe feeling kind of heavy. Being able to adjust the ship speed is weird so I’ll stick with the default which feels like proper R9 speed. Looking forward to more time with this once my mangled wrist can cope.

[cutmymilk]

I thought I explored every nook and cranny in Uncharted and Lost of Us, but somehow miss half of the cards/comics/treasures. Where the hell are they?!

[Neon Ignition]

Currently ploughing through Mario Odyssey, about halfway. Interestingly the second playthrough of just chasing the end credits is more fun than going for 100% but makes the game feel more shallow thanks to how readily moons are doled out. Going back the quality in kingdoms varies quite a bit more than I recall too. If a sequel was made I'd like more balancing... and just to get rid of the horrid humans/realistic style stuff.


Also playing Crash Bandicoot 4. It's okay, serviceable stuff and very true to the original trilogy so great if someones definition of best platformers ever is a game that plays like a middling series from four generations and twenty five years ago.