Topic: Games you've recently beat

@colonelkilgore I’m pleased that you ended up liking Hellblade. It’s a game that grows in your mind over time, imo. I think it’s because of the emotional impact it carries. How a game hits emotionally tends to have longer legs in my memory that just mere moment-to-moment “fun”.

What did you think of the permadeath threats in the game? For me, I honestly felt twinges of anxiety and fear each time I died and really believed I might end up losing all progress, so I think the bluff had its intended effect on me. Thankfully the ruse hadn’t been spoiled for me because the whole point of the game is instilling fear, panic, paranoia, and questioning reality and having a permadeath threat was part of the design to accomplish that. Obviously if you already knew it was an empty, or more symbolic, machination then it wouldn’t hit as hard.

@Th3solution yeah the old permadeath thing did get me a bit twitchy… even though I was aware that it was bs 😅. I can only imagine how twitchy I’d have been without that knowledge 🫨

Dead Space Remake Oh boy this was a lot of fun, the most fun I’ve had in a long time in fact. Unbelievable game feel (Phantom Pain sprung to mind) and atmosphere. I never fully felt ok on the Ishimura and I loved that.

Until the end of October I was ready to throw in the towel with gaming as it had been a pretty miserable year in terms of finding something that clicked or was fun. I couldn’t quite escape the feeling of playing something horror themed as is it is the time of year.

Thank you Dead Space you’ve reignited the fire 👍

10 plasma cutters out of 10

@Bob_Salat nice dude, glad that your fire has been reignited. I haven’t actually played the Remake but I have been playing the PS3 Dead Space games this year and I’m also a massive fan… so much so that the series as a whole is now one of my fave games series ever.

What’s up next… now that you’ve re-caught the bug?

@colonelkilgore That’s boss, I noticed you’ve skipped 2 or am I reading that wrong? Nice to be able to nosey at your trophies again 😜

At the beginning I really struggled, my skills weren’t honed at all but once It clicked it felt like nothing else. I’ve thrown all 3 OG titles on my Series wishlist.

I think Cocoon is up next as my wife hasn’t shut up about for nearly a year haha and then I think Red Dead Redemption over Christmas and new year. Possibly some other smaller stuff sprinkled throughout. How about you pal?

@Bob_Salat yeah I lifted the privacy the other day so peruse away 😉… and yeah I’ve left 2 for my next milestone. It’s meant to be the toughest plat out of the series and arguably the best game in the series too, so looking forward to taking on the challenge.

Cocoon does sound good, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

@colonelkilgore I had a suspicion it would be trophy quest related haha. I had the ‘Set a Benchmark’ trophy bug on me which I’m gutted about, but no doubt I’ll come back to the game for the Impossible run one day…maybe 😅

That's good to hear you finally got over your gaming slump @Bob_Salat!

I had a similar sorta thing a few years back. Wasn't quite the ordeal compared to you (Nearly 11 months is brutal) but I was ready to put down the controller for a good while myself.

Never actually played Dead Space aside from an old PS3 demo but I've always been tempted. Probably should at some point... The PS5 remake does look gorgeous in a creepy abandoned space station and terrifying body horror monsters kinda way

@Bob_Salat more than anything I was paranoid about the online stuff on Dead Space 3, so wanted to clear it to alleviate my worry that something might’ve been missed when I did the online back in 2021… which it turned out I had tbh.

So just checked and you got #75 coming up next, Dead Space Remake coul fit that bill 🤔

@HallowMoonshadow Aw thanks! It hasn’t been a totally barren year to be honest, just felt like I was going through the motions for the most part and questioned wether it was for me anymore. Vampire Survivors and Still Wales the Deep have been highlights. Actually it seems like horror has become my most enjoyable genre haha. The remake is indeed utterly stunning and atmospheric I highly recommend it.

@PorkChopExpress Haha yeah thanks. It’s ridiculous that EA have done the dirty on the franchise for a second time. I couldn’t really fault any part of the game which is pretty rare.

@colonelkilgore Ah those confounded online trophies. There’s an argument for publishers/studios to update trophies for an offline equivalent in the instance of servers shutting down. Oh man, #75 feels a long way off but could be enough time to come back and appreciate it all over again.

@Bob_Salat Glad you have finally flubbed your way out your extended gaming funk. May you find simialr enjoyment in your future gaming, brother.

@JohnnyShoulder Peace! Brother ✊likewise, wishing you happiness in gaming and life.

@Bob_Salat
Oh yeah I had the same fantastic experience with Dead Space when I played it last month, it really is great when, like you say, it clicks. And the impossible mode trophy is far from impossible... As long as you're prepared to use cloud save back-up or are really quick at quitting to main menu before you die. Just sayin.

@sorteddan Aw thanks mate, I have seen this trick across that internet. It is strange when a game lives in legend for you for ages and you eventually get round to it and it doesn’t disappoint, very refreshing. I started a new game plus last night to polish off schematics and such, probably leave the impossible run for another time but who knows, I’m still enjoying it.

Just finished my first run on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and it was decent tbh… a fair bit better I thought, than the general consensus. It definitely has its issues but I liked how creative the devs were with how they evolved the gameplay-loop and the narrative... and felt that more than made up for the negatives.

Gameplay-wise, its core combat is very similar to its predecessor but it differs in how you inhabit the game-world. Where as the original was your bog-standard character-action game (featuring various levels), this is basically a character-action game set in a 3D metroidvania map… it’s pretty cool. It takes a fair bit of time to begin to memorise your routes etc. but it does feel like an admirable attempt at a 3D take on the post SotN-vania games.

Narrative-wise, they go balls-out fair play. The fact that the LoS games aren’t canon afforded them this luxury… and they use it. The writers basically went as bat-**** crazy as DC and Marvel writers go with their Elseworlds and What If… projects… and I appreciated it a fair bit.

A notoriously tricky platinum, so I’ve only really got the easy(-ish) stuff done so far but pretty happy that I gave it a go.

Just got the platinum on Astro's Playroom - my first PS5 game as only got the console recently!

As a long-time Xbox/Nintendo gamer, I have quite a long PS5 Wishlist to work through next

@Dimey congrats buddy, hopefully the first of many.

@colonelkilgore Man, I enjoyed Lords of Shadow so much but was one of the ones disappointed by the sequel. Despite desperately wanting to like it, I eventually completely fell off of it and never did finish it. The world was confusing to me and the more centralized location worked against one of my favourite aspects of the original: the feeling of embarking on a sweeping, epic journey to the ends of it all. Honestly, I think I just wanted more of the same and was sore that they went a different direction. More of a me issue than anything. Glad you enjoyed it and good luck on what sounds like a sweeping, epic platinum journey 😄

@Dimey Congrats! Here’s to a fun time chipping through the extensive PlayStation library.

@Jimmer-jammer yeah I can see why it didn’t click for you and in all honesty… you’re definitely in the majority feeling that way. It’s real easy to get lost trying to navigate the world… and then much frustration ensues 😅.

While I’ve been pleasantly surprised by 2 and some of the changes made make it more my personal kinda game (over-the-shoulder view, open game-world etc.) I’d still have to rate the original as the better actual game.

@Jimmer-jammer I am definitely in the same camp as preferring the original Lords of Shadow to the sequel, it's a very long game ,from what I remember, but the plotting/narrative is so consistently good throughout that it makes the journey worthwhile. I didn't get very far with the sequel, at all, but completed the first, back in the day, on my old console, before I was on PSN.