Topic: Games you've recently beat

Just finished Firewatch. I started it a few years ago but had the save corrupt after a crash shortly into it and never got around to restarting it. I fancied something chill so had another go. Suffered from a lot of framerate dropping but I enjoyed the game and thought it had some great writing.

It's been a productive weekend (in a gaming sense) with Control, Resident Evil 0 and Firewatch all being completed and knocked off my backlog.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks! It was pretty manageable, all things considered, thanks to the beefy NG+ loadout I started the game with. The main thing it changes is the damage scaling. EVERYTHING hits like a truck in UH, which makes the Deathbringer fights a bit... hairy at times. I would run around the arenas in a panic, stopping only to very quickly lob off a quick blast bomb or fire arrow before continuing the headless chicken tactic for survival.

Human enemies were actually a bigger pain than most of the robots in UH mode, so I learned to get really good about sneaking up on human enemies when the game forced me to fight them, even with their heightened alertness.

It's interesting how many encounters and setpieces are skippable, though. You can just tear through the majority of ambushes and fights on a mount if your goal isn't explicitly to kill everyone. My favorite moment was when I was rushing to a far-off story objective, and I basically tore through a bandit camp so quickly the enemies didn't even really register my presence before I was gone.

BTW, I heard you're teaching again? I hope you're being as safe as you can possibly be, given the circumstances.

@Arugula You enjoyed it after it (literally) went off the rails? You must be the first person I’ve seen that actually preferred FFXV once it turned into a linear experience 😂😂

@Arugula I guess if you played it recently then you’d have all those patches that seemingly fixed a lot of the problems. The game I played will have been very different but I personally loved just roaming about in my car doing terrible side quests.

Reminds me of when I tried Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen's speedrun mode @Ralizah! It's pretty cool as it allows you to go through the game from the beginning with all the items, equipment, level you have but not having worry about using them as it doesn't actually save anything...

The first time I did it on the PS3 version it took like 4 and a half hours... but on the ps4 I already knew the shortest quests to do, had forgeries of all the key items, had a bunch of blast arrows ready for some of the harder encounters and was at a higher level so it took just over an hour (It has a timer on screen)

It was pretty cool to do... if a bit sad lol 😅

Did make me appreciate those people who do things like that though...

You have all those Frozen Wilds goodies too which probably helps a bit more! I'll get round to doing myself at some point hopefully! I wanna get those face paints and focus skins even if it does diddly squat other then give me some bragging rights and make Aloy have a red focus or something 😂

@nessisonett I know I'm a bit late to the party for this one, but I'm glad to see you enjoyed Metro 2033. I've been looking into that game for a while now and have always held off on the notion that it would probably be too scary. How was your experience with it on that front? I'd love to know!

@BearsEatBeets Good to see you had a good time with Firewatch despite your previous issues. It really is an incredible game. How did you feel about the ending? It's quite controversial, so I'm curious if you don't mind telling.

@Tjuz It’s actually not really scary at all. There’s one section that’s kinda eerie but the atmosphere’s more overwhelmingly glum than particularly scary. You should be ok!

@Tjuz I would definitely say the ending felt a bit flat and downbeat but it didn't stop me from enjoying the game. I really liked the writing for, and performances by the two main characters. With how the game gave you flexibility with the dialogue it really seemed to me that the game could have been elevated by having alternate endings based on the choices you made. Still that's probably a lot of work and Campo Santo (who made it) is a really small studio.
I'm really glad I went back and played it and it's even more impressive as it's their first game. It's a shame their second (Egyptian themed) game has been put on hold after Valve brought them. Hopefully they will get back around to it sometime.

@nessisonett Awesome! I definitely will give it a try at some point then. Sounds like a good game, especially with your positive sentiment of it. Thanks!

@BearsEatBeets Fair enough! I'm glad it didn't take away from your enjoyment. I felt same way when I first finished it but I've come around to it being the perfect ending for what they were going for. I would've also liked multiple endings, but I appreciate a story that knows what it wants and has it set. The writing and characters were certainly good enough in and of themselves! And yes... it's a true shame about In the Valley of the Gods. I also hope they get back to it, since I love Egypt and this sounded very exciting.

Control. This game really surprised me by how good it is. Decent writing, very interesting story, good characters (Casper Darling was brilliant!) and the combat was excellent. I'd put this in my favourite top 5 PS4 games. I'm defo doing another playthrough.

Super Mario Galaxy Wii on yesterday.
Hannah Montana Rock Out the Show PSP just now. 😁

Just finished A Plague Tale this morning. Whilst I thought I would enjoy it from playing the demo I considered it a 'worth a go' game if it's price dropped. Ultimately I'm glad it did because I found it a well made and written game. Sure I had a few frustrating times at sections with continued dying but it ultimately came down to me figuring out exactly what I needed to do through a fair bit of trial and error. This mainly pertains to what would be considered the 2 'boss' fight sections of the game but slightly in other bits too.
It has some surprisingly good visuals too despite the often bleak settings and some good characters to push the story. It's not quite in top AAA standards but I would recommend it to people to give it a go, especially now it's in the sale.

Just deciding whether to go for the Platinum. There is chapter select after completing for getting collectibles and stuff but looks like I missed something in almost all the chapters. I may just replay the whole thing with a guide to what I missed as it's not very long and see if I do better with what I learned the first time.

@Tjuz Yeah a fixed narrative can often make for a more compelling and taught story but divergent endings based on choice can be very rewarding when done well. Even if the choices of the dialogue make little to no difference to the progress of the story it certainly helps provide a nuanced feel to the interaction of the two characters and is definitely one of the games strongest points.

Let's both hope they get a chance to go back and complete Valley of the Gods, maybe even for the better with Valve's help/resources.

Well I managed to actually get through some games over the last week as I had some time off work and steered clear from the internet for a few days.

Ghostbusters 2008 (on Switch) - Finally got round to playing this as had never actually played it back in the day. As a Ghostbusters story/nostalgia, I really liked it and the original cast really did play it for real which was nice. Gameplay wise... well it was frustrating in places etc. If you liked the film, give it a go, if not... don't.

Over the Alps (Apple arcade/PC) - wonderful little indie visual novel, set in 1939 and about a spy travelling over the Alps from Italy to Switzerland. The story is told in postcards where you can dictate what to respond etc. and this affects the story. It is only about 90 minutes long however I am tempted to give it a second go because I get a sense that my choices really made the story veer into different territory. If you can get it, worth a go.

Mirror's Edge (PS3) - continuing my playthrough of older games, I finally started this game as I never actually got round to it last gen. Oddly though, I had listened to the soundtrack. The controls, to me anyway, were hit and miss but I must say i am terrible at first person platforming at the best of times. When it worked it felt great, but when you would jump over and fall off, it shattered the illusion. Loved the aesthetic and music though the story was fairly average. Anyway, a fun few hours and I may, just may, give Catalyst a go on PS4.

So I beat Resident Evil 3 Remake this morning and I loved it. The way I play going around and trying to find every item and collectible in the game meant I played for over 8 hours before getting to the credits. I wouldn't have said it's much shorter than 2, it's just the 2 character playthroughs which add to the length of that. Admittedly I like the puzzle elements in Resi games and they are greatly reduced in this but the gun-play is great and the dodge button is brilliant. It's something 2 could be improved with by adding.
I personally like that Nemesis was restricted to mainly scripted/story sections as they made them more cinematic and dramatic. I'm definitely going to be doing more playthroughs to find the things I missed and try and do better. Not sure If I'm good enough for the 'No item box', 'Only one heal' and 'Less than 2 hour' runs but maybe if I unlock some good bonus stuff.

This is the result of my run

plenty to improve upon (from me).

Now give us Code Veronica Capcom!

@RogerRoger Yeah - I current pricing on catalyst is nearer £15 digitally which is more than currently willing to pay but have seen it cheaper in the constant EA sales.

it is a shame in a way as this is exactly the type of game I hoped EA would do more of with some of their talented studios but since Catalyst didn't set the world alight, I imagine that is doubtful.

I defo had lots of moments of frustration. I watched some speed runs of Mirrors Edge though and that stuff is insane!

@RogerRoger Sounds like my experience. I dont know about the open world for Catalyst and it has put me off because the semi open corridor approach to the first was one of things that felt refreshing playing in 2020 because everything is... well... open or very large.

Catalyst is frequently very cheap in the PSN sales @Rudy_Manchego and well worth a play. Agreed with @RogerRoger that the open world is pretty pointless and has EA's grubby corporate mitts all over it, which is a real shame as so much could have been done by expanding the tight concepts of the original.

I found the linear levels in Catalyst rather good - especially the optional server buildings - but would say the game actually comes alive with the various "races". A lot of the fun there is derived from finding the best route to the finish. Level design aside the game certainly refines the parkour platforming of the original.

One aspect of the game I found particularly odd is that it completely reboots the story. Was that necessary after just one game? Oh, and the writing sucks so just ignore that. 😂

I just finished Dead Or Alive 5 Last Round Story Mode and loved it. An Amazingly fun Fighter.

@mookysam @RogerRoger Reboots the story? Well that seems very unncessary, the original left it pretty open for more stories. It practically said 'to be continued'. Oh well.