Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Arugula @RogerRoger I started to delve into Burnout Paradise a bit more today and I'm beginning to enjoy myself a bit more now I've memorised the map and know where some of the shortcutrs lead. You can really wipe the floor with your opponents if you take the right path. You can also end up on the other side of the map...

@RogerRoger I'm currently on my B License, nearly at A. It's beginning to feel a wee bit grindy. I was planning on going for the platinum, but now I'm not sure. I was also planning on making it my first 'User Impressions' review, so watch this space I guess

Death Stranding.
1. Kojima’s mind for cinematography is on another level
2. This is freakier than most horror stuff at times
3. What the freak is happening in front of me right now

@RogerRoger I hit that milestone today. By that stage I was expecting the requirement to rise again, so my body was ready. I've been saving up the Burning Routes for when my garage was a little bigger, so I'm working my way through them now. They don't seem to increase in difficulty like the other events, so I think I've hit upon a decent strategy...

Still plugging away at River City Girls according to my save file I am 54% complete. Still enjoying the game but the screen lock sections of the game are beginning to get annoying. They feel overly cheap like the game decided to throw them in when you either are doing too well or have to much money saved up. They are going to be a p.i.t.a to get one of the trophies.

The Last Labyrinth on PSVR.

I blew through the first 5 or six puzzles in the first hour, triggering the first credits screen, but since then the difficulty has gotten much more stiff (usually taking me 30 minutes to an hour to clear any given puzzle), with a new "ending" popping up every 3 puzzles.

It definitely has a creepy vibe, though.

Recently started up Batman: Return to Arkham City.

Not too deep into it yet, but I will say it is fun zipping across the city via the grapple gun & gliding (much more freeing than Asylum was), though the atmosphere has noticeably taken a hit as a tradeoff (the area is obviously run down, but it's not nearly as oppressive/horrorish as Asylum).

Not sure which upgrades to obtain first though, as there's more on offer than Asylum, especially given you have to upgrade Catwoman as well.

@RogerRoger Oh wow, so I'm not the only one who was kind of... underwhelmed by Arkham City.

It's not a bad game, but it does lack the atmosphere and level design of the first game, and, imo, despite the Bat-tank segments (which I didn't really mind, personally), Arkham Knight felt like the game City should have been in terms of the open world game design.

Although I still need to play Origins and Blackgate.

After a deep breath and a moment to come to terms with the fact that it's actually happening, I started Shenmue III. Early impressions are good, it seems to be roughly what I was hoping for, without getting too carried away; namely a graphical improvement on the first two while retaining some of the stilted dialogue of old.

Only one sticking point so far: In an attempt to please the patient fans, it feels like too much has been stuffed into the opening. From what we saw of Bailu Village at the end of Shenmue II, it's a tiny settlement in the middle of nowhere. To emerge from the cave and find toy capsule machines and lucky hit boards knocking about feels jarring. I'd have happily waited until a bigger settlement later in the game to encounter these old faves, they feel oddly out of place here.

I'm being very picky there though. This is clearly a game I'm going to enjoy a lot, and I'll be playing it well into the new year.

@Ralizah @RogerRoger I felt the same way about Arkham City. The claustrophobic nature of Asylum made it more atmospheric and feel like you're trapped in there with the inmates. City had so much unnecessary traversal around the city.

Picked up Shadow of the Tomb Raider dirt cheap on Black Friday. The gameplay is pretty much just more of the same from the last two games but not a bad thing in my book. The story is pretty meh tho. I find myself playing on my phone during cutscenes which is unlike me.

@Arugula I've always found the graphics and animations a bit off in this game. The reviews I've seen have looked a bit better than the previews a few months back though.

@Kidfried I found the story in Shadow a better than Rise but not as good as the first rebooted game, but I've always thought that it felt more personal for Lara in the first game. I really liked her character development in Shadow, she comes across not so one dimensional as in previous games.

The balance in the gameplay is much, much better in Shadow with less emphasis on shooting waves of enemies and more on the puzzles in tombs and cripts.

If only the supposedly bad story is holding you back from playing the game, my advice is to push those concerns to one side as you will probably be kicking yourself once you start it. I thought it was awesome game and would be a shame for you to give it a miss because of something like the story.

@Splat @RogerRoger @JohnnyShoulder Totally agree that the story in Shadow of the TR is somewhere in between the first and the second game, as far as quality. But the gameplay and overall world building is probably the best of the bunch. Love those tombs!

@RogerRoger Yeah, maybe having the focus to make the world that hub-world / semi-open structure hamstrung the narrative flow. In the end, I quite liked the story and it did have its moments, but I’ll always remember the game mainly for its great gameplay.

@RogerRoger I might. Talking about it makes me want to delve back in. However, I think I have plenty on my gaming plate right now, so I’ll likely not get around to it anytime soon. Let me know if you see it on a deep sale though.

I've been playing Ace Combat 7 for the last few days and it is pretty darn difficult.

I went for the normal difficulty with advanced controls (which essentially means you have to bank to turn, like you would when controlling a plane in GTA for example) and have been struggling on a couple of missions.

The sixth sees you having to hit a certain amount of points by destroying vehicles, buildings etc but the target score is pretty high. Plus, there are almost no checkpoints.

I got through most of the seventh mission but then got stuck trying to defeat the final plane who is extremely fast and flies through really dangerous paths. I got taken down or crashed loads but this morning just read that you don't kill him as he retreats after so long which should make things easier!

I still also have no idea what is going on with the story. I'm not 100% sure which side I'm even on when they're discussing the different countries

I've been playing 'they are billions' again.. The campaign was released on ps4 a few days ago. I really like it. Considering i bought a PSVR on Tuesday i guess that says something about it.. That's all i have to say..

Played a few hours of The Outer Worlds... and I'm liking it so far. Games have not been clicking with me recently since I completed Spider-Man, but I was into this pretty much straight away. The dialogue feels expertly written, and is acted and delivered flawlessly. It has made me chuckle on a few occasions too. It is not the best graphically, but I personally really dig the art style and it can be really colourful in places, a nice change from the brown wastelands found in Fallout 3 and 4.

It's good to hear your actions heavily impact the outcome of the game, a review I watched earlier said that he and a colleague had very different paths to follow because of the choices they made.

One negative thing I found is that the load times are a bit in the long side, especially going in and out from buildings. Fortunately there is not loading for every building.

I'd like to say I was having a little go/test of Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night and Divinity: Original Sin 2...

... But my love of physical media and it being near christmas has meant my Black Friday orders placed last week still haven't arrived yet 😅

Oh well... Least I have Soul Calibur VI still 😁