Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@TheBrandedSwordsman Ohh okay, no I can't say I've played it since PS1. With Control I'm gonna give it another go to see if it grabs me, might just breeze thru it since it's about 12 hours long. Gotta say though you guys are making me wanna play Tomb Raider based off of the survival mechanics.

@TraCuz- Absolutely, give it a go. Let me know if you do and then we'll be able to chat more about it.

My younger brother started Shenmue today. Much hilarity ensued 😂😂

@RogerRoger I SEE

I'll go ahead and copy-paste my comment from the weekend article:
Started Persona 5. It's my first contact with the series. So far it's very foreign, confusing, and everybody in it is kind of a d*ck

@Th3solution In SotTR I've just reached the Hidden City and completed the trial of the serpent I thought it was a great puzzle and the environment reminded me of areas like Blighttown and Farron Keep from the Souls games. Hint hint

@TheBrandedSwordsman yeah always on the lookout for better gear, got a few bits and pieces so far. Also found sharpening stones and mending tables, very useful! Back in Velen now after doing everything I could in White Orchard. Totally engrossed now, loving it.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Oh yeah, there are some rather creepy and dark areas and themes in the game. I figured that would sit well with your love of the Souls games. 😄

@Th3solution I cleared another area in SotTR this morning and am now in Cenote, I thought that Unaratau's dissuasion of Lara' s interference in the civil war, even though it came at the cost of her freedom, was a nice story beat.

@Arugula I play a lot of Road to The Show, I have a 1st baseman, a starting pitcher and a left outfield and try have different career paths, my first world series win was with my first baseman in his 3rd season in the majors with the colorado rockies after being traded 3 times lol my left outfielder is a stud and plays with the Dodgers but only made the playoffs twice in 5 year and my starting pitcher is now with the Yankees after spending 4 years with the brewers and constant disappointment but 2 world series titles in 3 years with the Yankees.

@Th3solution In SotTR I just escaped from the box of Ix Chel area, and all those strange creatures, it reminded me of fleeing from the undead night-sisters in Jedi: Fallen Order!

I am still playing through SotTR and finding it quite challenging as you have to be quite precise with the jumps and whatnot. Still, fun and rewarding game imo. Thus far, I am finding the platforming elements harder than the ones in the Uncharted games. (2 & 4, as that's all I've played of that series)

Ratchet & Clank (The 2016 reboot) is what I'm currently playing, having just finished up collecting all the Telepathapus brains on Gaspar.

I have played it before and my thoughts are still line up the same as before. Whilst it's a good enough Ratchet & Clank game I feel it's nowhere near as good as the original version and I feel most of that is due to it having to tie itself to the not very good movie.

The new characters added in this, and thus from the movie, are completely forgettable and thoroughly uninteresting.

Grim... ummm... whatever who's supposed to be Ratchet's guardian? Yeah I can't even remember his whole name so that should tell you all you need to know (And I really don't care about his twin on Pokitaru). The galactic rangers are a complete snorefest too.

Ratchet's dewy eyed hero shtick is also incredibly bland compared to his slightly more jerkish and selfish role he had in the original where he eventually becomes a hero... But in this he's best buds with Clank from the moment they meet and nothing ever goes wrong.

Chairman Drek gets a bad hand too as he was a fairly intimidating, charismatic and intelligent villain in the original (wonderfully voice acted by Kevin Michael Richardson) and I loved the little gag that every time you saw him he gave himself a new title (Becoming something like Ultimate Mega Supreme Executive Chairman Drek by the end?).

But he's just typical cartoonishly evil in this, a lot more stupid and his new voice actor... Is ok I guess. It's not all that memorable though and with him being booted out towards the end for Dr Nefarious (Who's a bit overused as a villain (Though I do love him as a villain))... Eh.

Some of the personality of the original I feel was lost upon it being remade. There's some cut planets that's a damn shame, some more weapons from the original would've been nice and the soundtrack isn't as good as what I recall either.

The reboot DOES bring back the Glove/Agents of Doom though...

It looks really nice as well despite what I can only imagine was given a bit of a lower budgeted (And perhaps focusing on a number of different titles like Spider-Man). The alien planets really do pop despite this and there's some really nice lighting here and there.

I do like how the story is being told by Qwark with him interjecting every now and again and whilst he's more sympathetic and buffoon-ish in this version (Being MUCH more egotistical and selfish in the original with him getting a redemption arc over the PS2 trilogy) he's just a delight to listen to thanks to Jim Ward's stellar voice acting.

The selection of weapons in the game are quite nice and varied too with the Pixalizer being a highlight to me of the newly added weapons and the Groovitron making it's return is nice too. It plays much better then the original too.

I'll be seeing it to the end though as it is fun to play even if I don't like most of the changes and giving challenge mode a go.

@TraCuz- @Th3solution What game(s) are you two currently playing?

@TheBrandedSwordsman I hammered through about 10-12 hours of Persona 5 over the weekend. I’m trying to finish that beast off before starting anything else. I have an Outer Worlds playthrough going also which I have put on pause because I really feel like I need to put P5 to rest. The game just keeps going though 😅

I’d like to wrap up P5 so I can jump in feet first into Hitman when the game club starts that soon.

@TheBrandedSwordsman You can alter the difficulty for exploration so that the saving grab timer is longer. That may help if you are struggling a bit with the timing of the jumps?

Tried Maquette, but I don't see the appeal. The puzzles aren't hard, and there's way too much time in between the puzzles.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That's pretty much what I thought of Ratchet and Clank (2016) as well. I would have liked it more if it was my first Ratchet and Clank game. But having already played the original, there were a lot of changes I didn't like.

The missing planets was the big one for me, but I also felt that it was missing a lot of its charm with the story and the characters. As well as what you've said about Ratchet and Chairman Drek, a lot of the minor characters were also dealt a bad hand.

The original had a lot of minor characters that were only in one or two scenes, but were very memorable. Examples include Helga, who would berate Ratchet for disgracing her obstacle course, or the Gadgetron Chairman, who's completely unfazed by the invasion because they have the best military defence system. A lot of these characters were removed entirely, and those that remained were toned down or changed.

The remake naturally improved on the graphics, and made the controls and combat much less janky. Personally though, I still prefer the original.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I enjoyed it. Admittedly, it's the first (and only) R&C game I've played, but it was a decent fusion of PS2-esque game design with GORGEOUS visuals. The range of weaponry on offer was a lot of fun to use.

@Th3solution I tried Persona 5 but I couldn't get past the turn-based combat. I hated that and thought it was awful. More of a responsive melee-based guy, see: Dark Souls 1 & 3. Glad you're making steady progress through it though, and apparently it has a great jazz soundtrack? I'm nearing the end of Shadow now.