Topic: Games you've recently beat

@RogerRoger I actually have had my playthrough dormant since I last posted on the game, I’m embarrassed to say. I started the game because I was away for a while and had only had access to my Vita. Now that I’m back with my PS5, I’m finding all my free time is spent with that blasted Dark Souls Remastered game. They’re like a plague upon the minds of gamers, these Souls games are. Once it gets inside you, you just can’t shake it. 😅

Anyhoo, I’m at the early parts of The Plant and so I have much to go. I was roaming around the adjoining struts and bridges looking for secrets prior to advancing the storyline.

I do wish I had played this before MGS4, because I was a little lost about Raiden import when I played that game. Perhaps a revisit to MGS4 will be in order after I complete MGS2, although it’s the one MGS game that I’ve played through twice already.

@RogerRoger incredible game! Only played it for the first time in 2021 and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Into my all-time top ten with a silenced bullet. Glad you got so much from your return.

@RogerRoger oooh… 40%… you’re almost half way there 🤔

@RogerRoger For the trophies, of course! 😊

But yes, there’s a lot of worse ways to spend one’s time rather than replaying MGS4. The first time I played it there was a lot that I didn’t understand (presumably because of skipping MGS2) and yet I really enjoyed the game. I played most of it with a friend at the time too, which if I’m honest, isn’t my preferred way to experience a game. If someone is watching me play, I feel obligated to not experiment around and explore as much and therefore feel rushed. Also, I think we passed the controller back and forth taking turns playing, and let’s face it — that sucks when you’re really enjoying a masterpiece game. So when they added trophies a couple years later I was champing at the bit to do a replay and get all the ‘dings’. I never platinum’d it though; it looks like I’m at about 55% trophy completion. I do think I enjoyed the second playthrough better though, except some of the cutscenes did seem to drag, as I recall.

Yakuza 4

Slow to start, an inconsistent middle and a pretty great end. The final boss with Tanimura is the worst fight in the series though. Just rubbish. I actually liked Yakuza 3 even though it’s divisive but this one I wasn’t that big on at all.

@nessisonett I also liked Yakuza 3, specifically for its tropical setting. Really cozy game. Yakuza 4 and 5 is when you start to see the developers running out of ideas and just mashing together a bunch of random stuff in order to keep the player entertained, which doesn't work out at all.

Although I do have to say that Yakuza 5 has one of the coolest fights in the entire series, so look forward to that. But that's about it, unfortunately. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it though!

Yakuza 4 and especially 5 are a pair of my favourites in the whole series. Saejima became one of my favourite characters and I loved Tanemura in 4 and Haruka in 5 has gotta be one of the most fun segments in all of the Yakuza games imo

I finish The Quarry last night. I really really enjoyed it, I thought it was so good. Absolutely brilliant cast, Lance Henriksen from Millennium, Halston Sage from The Orville, Ethan Suplee from Evolution and American History X. I could go on but it's a long list! I really enjoyed it though, wicked game.

Judgment ps5.

The usual amon fight can get in the bin this time though.

@ralphdibny Yeah i finished The Quarry some weeks ago and it really felt like some 90's teen horror flick. And i mean that in a positive way. it put me on the edge of my seat several times and had the right atmosphere. I do need to replay it again some day since in my playthrough i made some wrong choices I ended up with only Abby at the end. And it should be possible to save everyone from what I've read.

@Lavalera I think I liked the writing and the characters most. I loved the relationships and trying to pair certain people up 😅 but I'm not sure you can physically pair up anyone other than Nick and Abby (oh and whoever you pair up during spin the bottle), could be wrong though!

While it wears it's Evil Dead influence on it's sleeve (Ted Raimi's involvement, the POV wooshing through the bushes camera angles) I think the horror aspects reminded me a lot more of Neil Marshall's The Descent. I can't give more detail as I haven't seen The Descent in such a long time but it felt familiar. You would think Dog Soldiers would be a more apt comparison but I think it plays a lot more like The Descent. I think it has the feeling of a British horror film despite its setting. I liked how it sets itself up as a "slasher" but goes a slightly different way with it.

Most of my characters survived thankfully. In terms of the counsellors, I only lost Jacob and much to my chagrin, a one handed Dylan who I was hoping to pair up with Ryan 😅. All of the Hackett family died on my playthrough except Ted Raimi's character, again much to my chagrin as I wanted to see more of Lance Henriksen's character (but I wanted Laura to survive in the moment). I felt like I had to kill the dog boy, it was kinda my plan as soon as I realised it was a possibility but I kind of didn't want to at the end. There wasn't much point as I'd already cured my surviving friends by killing Chris and Caleb but I thought it better to end the lineage there.

I thought it was well paced and it done that kind of thing where the audience can figure out plot points from clues just before it's made obvious in the story really well. Also, trying to work out which werewolf was which character was a fun wrinkle. I think Chris was obvious but not knowing about chimney/scrapyard wolves was fun - I think it was up in the air because you don't know if it was Chris or Caleb who bit Nick. I think I prefer it to Until Dawn but I haven't played that in many years so I'd have to give it another go to be sure of that opinion.

The only thing I might have wanted more of is the Epilogue, to see how the characters dealt with the aftermath rather than just a quick rundown of their status.

@ralphdibny @Lavalera You two have convinced me to give this a try - particularly talk of the Raimi and Neil Marshall influences (I think "The Descent" is one of the best British horror flicks ever made) so I had a look around at some prices. It's £20 for the physical copy brand new on PS5! I might not get around to it until next Winter but it's hard to say no at that price. Looking forward to it.

@LN78 oh cool, I'll be interested to see what you think. I'd probably like to temper your expectation somewhat because it does still play like a teen slasher early on and those sorts of things tend to live or die based on how well you get on with the writing. I liked it a lot (especially in combination with the familiar faces and enthusiastic performances) but I can see how YA banter and relationships might not be to everyone's tastes.

It's a lot less "camp" than a Raimi film but it pays homage to his stuff. I will stand by the British feel to it though, it's just kind of efficient and effective at what it sets out to do. Something that I think is a defining trait of some of the better British horror out there.

I paid 22 quid for the Series X version (no free upgrade/smart delivery as it was published by 2K games) and I thought it was worth the money. I explored a lot of the areas and probably finished it in around 10 or so hours. I'm not sure if I'd play it again to see how different it can be but I'm more inclined to do so than I was with Until Dawn.

@ralphdibny I quite liked "Until Dawn" and I'm certainly not averse to a well done teen slasher flick so I'm quietly optimistic. Like you said, the value proposition with these types of games is largely tied into how willing the player is to replay them to see how the different narrative paths unfold, so good writing and likeable characters are very important. I've always found those David Cage/Quantic Dream games a little lacking in those departments.

@LN78 fair play. I've only played Heavy Rain out of the Quantic Dreams games and while I enjoyed it, I can't say I had a great desire to replay it. I do still want to play the other two PS4 titles at some point though

Dragon Quest III.

Another step up for the series, with a really interesting second half. The HD-2D remake could be real good with a base this solid.

Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark.

What a brilliant little game! Only cost me £5 during the New Year’s sale & had me hooked for almost 74 hours.
If you like turn based RPGs & SRPGs this is an easy recommendation. It’s not as in depth as Disgaea, but it’s more than competent gameplay wise.
The customisation options are vast so that you can tailor make your own experience. I ended up going with a custom difficulty were the opponents would level match my characters, carry some equipment & have a ‘smart’ AI.

The story is pretty straight forward. Classic JRPG. Visit 4 temples & defeat the bad guys along the way. The game also has multiple endings & I somehow got the ‘best’ one by accident.
There are also ‘events’ that are cutscenes between characters around the world that are highlighted on the map. These usually allow you to find new quests or reward you with items. I ended up seeing all the ‘scenes’ in my first playthrough without looking for it.
There are about 20 human classes-6 of which are unique, 14 or so Monster Classes & a max of 5 story class all of which have a unique class so there’s some variety.
Each battle zone also has a patrol option which allows you to revisit past maps with new enemies & allows you to pick up chests you might have missed first time around.

I’ve enjoyed the game a lot & reckon I’ll go for the platinum. It’s available in one playthrough but I made the game a bit too difficult for myself. Reckon I’ll speed run NG+ on easy with all my gear & lvls.
@Th3solution As a fellow Sacred Symbols listener, this might interest you. Was Colin’s GOTY 2019. If you get it on sale it offers some insane value.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Oh yes, I do remember Colin championing Fell Seal a couple years ago. As good as it sounds, I’m surprised it hasn’t received more attention. I like a good turned-based RPG from time to time, so I will keep it in mind. Perhaps it will drop onto PS+ at some point. I’m overloaded with game options at present, but nice to hear a second endorsement for it. Thanks!

Edit: It’s weird that Push Square doesn’t even have a review on it, or even a game page for it. I wonder what gives. They at least mention many of the smallest indies and will usually do a short spot on lesser known games. Sammy and crew dropped the ball on this one! 😜

@Fight_Teza_Fight
Congrats on beating it and thanks for the info. Don't think this had ever been in my radar but I do love me a bit of Disgaea from time to time so may have to check out some reviews and wishlist it for the next time it drops to a fiver!

@Th3solution Yh that’s surprising. The game has only 7 reviews on PS4 but has a 86MC (14 on PC with 82MC) & successfully smashed through its kickstarter goals. I’m really trying to stop myself from buying games, but when I saw it for £5 I was like ‘fine I’ll give it a go😂’.

@sorteddan When I first booted it up my immediate reaction was negative. It looked like somewhere between mobile & an indie game with a budget.
The game only took me that long because I did almost all the optional stuff & I ramped up the difficulty (enemy scaling, AI, etc.). Could probably be beaten in about 30-40 hours but there’s a lot of optional content.
It certainly isn’t on Disgaea’s level (which is one of my favourite franchises ever), but it’s still very good- especially if you can get it for the price of a Tesco meal deal & an extra snack haha.

I finally beat Control, third attempt over the years - I always really liked it just never got to the end. I heard a lot about how tough the final sections could be (and experienced some spikes myself in certain parts during past previous part-play throughs) but I didn’t have too much trouble this time round. I don’t think they made the base difficulty any easier through patches, so I’ll put it down the the 60fps PS5 version and my awesome skills!

Either way, glad to have that one ticked off as it’s been bugging me for a long time. Bring on Control 2!