What are you currently playing?

[MegaMan52 | 2,452]

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I was getting a little bogged down in the middle of Tunic due to the nature of the gameplay, but now I'm really digging into the endgame and I'm 100% back on board. There are multiple endings and I went ahead and got the bad one out of the way. Now I'm working on deciphering some elaborate puzzles in hopes of getting the good ending without a guide. I wish I could elaborate, but anything I say would border on spoiler territory. I will say that this is the first time I've taken notes for a video game in quite a while. 

A good spoilery description of this game would be 

Spoiler

a combination of the gameplay of Zelda and Dark Souls mixed with the puzzle solving and discovery of Outer Wilds, The Witness, and Celeste. It might not make sense reading that, but if you truly dive into the game and try to beat it without a guide, you will eventually understand.

This game really rules. I think it will top a lot of game of the year lists. It's one of those games you wish you could forget and go back and play again.

[T-Pac | 7,568]

I'm trying to get 10k on Planet Patrol [2600], but the 5th wave scrolls faster than my brain can process. (I never thought I'd say that about an Atari game...)
This is definitely among the better space-shooters I've played on the system, and the distinct gameplay sections in each wave keep things interesting (as does the fuel-regulation mechanic, which I don't hate as much as usual here).

-CasualCart

[Webhead123 | 679]

26 minutes ago, CasualCart said:

I'm trying to get 10k on Planet Patrol [2600], but the 5th wave scrolls faster than my brain can process. (I never thought I'd say that about an Atari game...)
This is definitely among the better space-shooters I've played on the system, and the distinct gameplay sections in each wave keep things interesting (as does the fuel-regulation mechanic, which I don't hate as much as usual here).

-CasualCart

You know...I don't think I've ever actually played Planet Patrol but it looks interesting. May have to give it a spin. Part of the problem with the 2600 library is a) the sheer volume of games and b) not having easy access to instruction manuals makes playing some of them difficult.

[a3quit4s | 4,107]

Guys I took a live video of me playing elden ring before the latest uninstall. 
 

 

[DefaultGen | 5,414]

I just became the avatar in Ultima 4 on NES. All random battles get grindier the more you level up, so you actually feel weaker as the game goes on which is pretty lame.

This game is super long for an NES game and has a ton of things to keep track of that the game doesn't do for you. It would probably be cool to have as a clueless kid since it is for sure a game you would get lost in forever if you didn't meticulously write down everything you heard or did. I imagine few kids beat this one.

Ultima 3 had a bunch of shortcuts that made navigating faster. You could avoid world map battles, AOE kill every random encounter at a certain point, and had a spell that let you skip through dungeon levels without having to navigate them. Ultima 4 removed all of that and now it's too grindy by comparison.

[spacepup | 2,405]

Currently playing:

* Cubivore (woo! so strange, but interesting), about halfway through I'd guess

* Rogue Legacy 2 (almost have it beaten).  If you liked the first Rogue Legacy, definitely check out the sequel - it's awesome!  Nothing earth shattering in terms of changes, but they have expanded on everything from the original, and have lots of new characters and abilities, etc etc.

* Shin Megami Tensei V (still relatively early in, need to get back into it!)

[Webhead123 | 679]

Just finished Monkey Island 2 and now moving on to Curse of Monkey Island. Although I had played a wee bit of Secret of Monkey Island on a friend's PC back in the mid 90's, Curse was my first complete experience with the series and, to this day, is my overall favorite. Yeah, I know most people say it was all downhill after Part 2 (and that's certainly true of Escape and the Tales games) but I personally think Curse is the pinnacle of the series. Not just because of the pretty graphics, memorable music or introduction of voice acting (which absolutely slaps) but because I find the puzzles to be generally more fun and a little less obtuse and the interactions that Guybrush has with objects feels more varied and more open to humor. Some of this is probably just due to less restriction based on available storage space. But whatever the reason, Curse is just the game where Monkey Island comes most alive for me. I love the whole series but this is the one that excites me most to play.

Plus...Murray. 'Nuff said.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Webhead123

[TheGameCollector | 18]

This week I played:

Defender II for Arcade (via Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for SNES) - played a few times on default settings and didn't get very far. I changed the dip settings to max starting lives, most frequent bonuses, and lowest difficulty. Then I abused smart bombs to get to level 61.

 

Gex for Playstation - played thru the first area

 

Joust for Arcade (via Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for SNES) - played a few times on default settings and didn't get very far. I changed the dip settings to max starting lives, most frequent bonuses, and lowest difficulty. I rolled the level counter back to 0 and decided to stop playing at wave 2 (102)

 

Pokemon Blue Version for Game Boy - obtained more Pokemon by playing and trading with other files of Pokemon Blue, then leveling some of them up

 

Robotron: 2084 for Arcade (via Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for SNES) - played a few times on default settings and didn't get very far. I changed the dip settings to max starting lives, most frequent bonuses, and lowest difficulty. The furthest I made it was wave 13. A new record for me.

 

Sinistar for Arcade (via Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for SNES) - played a few times on default settings and didn't get very far. I changed the dip settings to max starting lives, most frequent bonuses, and lowest difficulty. I was able to smash 14 Sinistars. Another new record for me.

 

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64 - First I completed 1 player mode on very easy with Jigglypuff then Ness which were the last 2 characters. Then I played vs mode as every character vs every character once. I unlocked item switch in the process. I also unlocked sound test by redoing Mario's board the platforms challenge. So basically everything is unlocked on this file.

 

X-Men: Children of the Atom for Playstation - Beat arcade mode on difficulty 1 as Wolverine, but had to use save states on Juggernaut and Magneto.

 

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for Switch - All I did in each game was download the Membership Card mystery gift that will allow me to go find Darkrai in each game whenever I get far enough into them to do so.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I finished up Tunic which has one of the best endgame puzzles I've ever experienced. You get a tough boss fight if that's what you're looking for, but if you want to look a little deeper, the game will have you digging out the pen and paper to take notes. You'll feel like a genius when you finally figure everything out. There are a few additional small puzzles and one very intimidating post-game puzzle that I'll probably pass since I'm pretty satisfied with the game at this point. After all was said and done, I'd rate it as a solid 9/10 and highly recommend it for those who enjoy solving clever puzzles and prefer more organic introduction to gameplay concepts and story. If you enjoyed Outer Wilds, give this one a try.

I started A Way Out with one of my buddies since I enjoyed It Takes Two so much. The opening level is decent with a heavier focus on the gritty story than the gameplay. The fantastical setting in It Takes Two allowed for a crazy amount of variety, so I think I'll be missing that a bit as I go through this one, but it seems solid so far.

Lastly, I jumped back into The Ascent (XSX) after bouncing off it last year. I am still blown away by the aesthetic and environment of this game. It's probably the best Cyperpunk game ever created from a purely stylistic standpoint. The gameplay is quite fun too, but it has some real problems with the UI and progression system. It is a very PC-ish game in terms of design and I think that turns off a lot of console players (especially when you have to wade through pages of menus with miniscule text). With a little tweaking to these systems I think it could easily have become a hidden gem, but in its current state, it will probably appeal mostly to those who are looking for style over substance.

Edited April 13, 2022 by DoctorEncore

[MegaMan52 | 2,452]

Played some Super Kirby Clash and reached level 100: 

I've had a lot of fun playing this game, but I think I'm done with it (for a while, anyway). I've beaten the story mode, memorized many of the boss patterns, completed most of the tasks, and have earned platinum medals on just about every boss. I want to play my Japanese copy of Kirby 64.

Edited April 14, 2022 by MegaMan52

[Nintegageo | 582]

Playing Hob. Neat game.

[PII | 1,886]

I looped Burgertime (Arcade) last weekend for the first time.  Made it a couple more levels before crapping out.

I was also well on my way to a record Q*bert run when the house shut the power down on me sometime shortly before 2:30 = ¡RATS!  Guess from now on I'll have to make sure I don't play that one unless I've got at least a couple of hours handy...

[NostalgicMachine | 239]

Mega Man II for a new article for Gaming Manual.

[NZCollector | 107]

Been playing a bit of 3DS in the bursts of free time I have (mainly stuff like the 8-Bit Sonic games). Before the eShop closes, does anyone have any recommendations for some good unknown exclusive games on the eShop? Price doesn't matter, want to fully see what the store has to offer before it shuts down. 

[Brickman | 3,995]

14 minutes ago, NZCollector said:

Been playing a bit of 3DS in the bursts of free time I have (mainly stuff like the 8-Bit Sonic games). Before the eShop closes, does anyone have any recommendations for some good unknown exclusive games on the eShop? Price doesn't matter, want to fully see what the store has to offer before it shuts down. 

If they’re still available I highly recommend Crimson Shroud and Liberation Maiden. Two very awesome Level 5 games.

[Gloves | 11,800]

Resident Evil 2. >_>

[Sumez | 2,968]

Resident Evil 1. <_<

[Gloves | 11,800]

Just now, Sumez said:

Resident Evil 1. <_<

*internet high five*

[avatar! | 1,820]

3 hours ago, Sumez said:

Resident Evil 1. <_<

Which version?

[Sumez | 2,968]

PS4 version of the remake. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? 

[avatar! | 1,820]

1 hour ago, Sumez said:

PS4 version of the remake. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? 

Didn't know there was a PS4 version, I assume it's a port of the GameCube?

Well, the down side is that you miss gems like this...

 

[Sumez | 2,968]

5 hours ago, avatar! said:

Well, the down side is that you miss gems like this...

Yes, I was actually quite disappointed when that happened. I picked Jill basically only for that reason.

Yeah, the PS4 version is just the GameCube remake. I'm not sure how much they changed, I think very little outside of running at a higher resolution - it looks really good, but honestly I think the GameCube one just already happened to look real good and manages to upscale nicely. Some of the textures you're expected to look at are notably low res, but the 3D models generally hold up super well.

edit: Ok it seems some visual effects and stuff were redone entirely for the PS4 version, which makes sense. Generally my impression is that it's a quality job, but I really have no idea what the consensus is among the RE fanbase.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Sumez

[MegaMan52 | 2,452]

21 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Yes, I was actually quite disappointed when that happened. I picked Jill basically only for that reason.

Yeah, the PS4 version is just the GameCube remake. I'm not sure how much they changed, I think very little outside of running at a higher resolution - it looks really good, but honestly I think the GameCube one just already happened to look real good and manages to upscale nicely. Some of the textures you're expected to look at are notably low res, but the 3D models generally hold up super well.

edit: Ok it seems some visual effects and stuff were redone entirely for the PS4 version, which makes sense. Generally my impression is that it's a quality job, but I really have no idea what the consensus is among the RE fanbase.

The music was also changed in the HD versions (and really isn't as good): 

GameCube: 

HD versions: 

Edited April 21, 2022 by MegaMan52

[Sumez | 2,968]

That sounds like a really tiny difference to me, especially for a track that's mostly atmospheric sounds in a game where barely any music plays in the first place. Kind of weird they'd make that downgrade though. Recording licensing issues?