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Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

Posts 1,121 to 1,140 of 6,458

Ralizah

@Th3solution Nah. While I'm enjoying it, and I think it's a legitimately fantastic example of classic Sonic game design, I also have my issues with how these games are constructed (which I'll get into when I beat the game and talk about it on here).

A few things:
1) Rings aren't really health. Rings do keep you from dying, though, so make sure to always grab at least one. The only advantage to having more, health-wise, is that it's easier to grab some when they spill ot from you. Don't be too concerned about spilling them when an enemy hits you, though, because, unless you really learn these levels, you ARE going to lose rings frequently.
2) At the checkpoint markers, if you have a certain number of rings saved up, there are special minigames you can play by jumping into a portal above the marker.
3) The levels are labyrinthine in design, but, no matter which route you go (other than back the way you immediately came, obviously), you'll always wind up at the end of the level eventually. Some routes are just far more circuitous than others. So don't be afraid to explore.
4) You can drop dash in this game. It doesn't really explain how to do the move, though. When you jump, holding the button you'd normally hold to charge up a dash, and then you should dash once you hit the ground.
5) Don't worry too much about going fast. And, if you do, just make sure Sonic is curled up so that he kills enemies when he hits them.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Th3solution

@Ralizah Thanks for the beginner tips. Those are all useful points that I didn’t know about.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Gremio108

@Th3solution Hmm, yes. All valid criticisms but LOOK HOW COOL HE IS!

This must be a very trippy experience for you. When you actually think about it, the early Sonic games explained practically nothing. No wonder my dad found them so confusing.

Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.

PSN: Hallodandy

Th3solution

@Gremio108 Trippy is one way to describe it. Antiquated (but certainly viable and enjoyable for some people) gameplay and presentation is one thing, but man, for the love of Pete just give me a menu option that shows the basic moves, goals, and rules and a dossier of character background info or something. I’m going to have to go see the movie to know anything about the Sonic world, it’s heroes and villains, and why gold rings float randomly in the air!

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Gremio108

@Th3solution "I’m going to have to go see the movie to know anything"

Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down, let's not do anything crazy. As for why rings are floating about everywhere, I have played many a Sonic game and I'm still completely unable to answer that question.

Basically Eggman aka Dr Robotnik aka Jim Carrey wants to imprison all the cute animals of Mobius (Sonic's planet) just like he did in the old games, but this time he has access to a time machine so he can send his robots to do it in all the old levels, as well as some new levels. I think that's what Mania is about. Knuckles is a good guy in this one. Knuckles is the pink echidna and the third playable character. Tails, as you say, is the fox with two tails, which enable him to fly. I don't know why he has two tails, possibly some sort of chemical spill-related accident when he was born.

Incidentally, echidnas are one of the only mammals which lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young. That isn't relevant in this game though, it's just an interesting fact. At no point in Sonic Mania does Knuckles lay an egg.

Sorry, this is the worst explanation of a game anyone has ever written. I don't think I'm helping your confusion.

Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.

PSN: Hallodandy

Ralizah

@Th3solution If you feel the need to consume Sonic media other than games, you could always watch the incredibly cool and surprisingly dark Saturday morning cartoon.

If the show and its infamous cliffhanger ending leave you wanting more, you could also check out the famous Archie Comics adaptation of Sonic, which is based in roughly the same continuity as Sonic SatAM, and is a massive epic of a story that was published from 1993 - 2016.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Th3solution

@Gremio108 @Ralizah 🤣 ... the more I learn about Sonic, the more confused I become.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Ralizah

@Th3solution LMAO

No reason to become confused. Every old Sonic game is basically the same. Morbidly obese man imprisons animals for dubious reasons. Sonic and friends ain't having none of that, so they run forward, collect rings, chaos emeralds, and defeat bosses to stop said morbidly obese man from doing evil stuff. There's also a lot of unnecessarily complex lore structured around these simplistic 2D adventures, but you REALLY don't need to go down that rabbit hole.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

themcnoisy

@Th3solution Tails full name is actually Miles 'two tails' Prower. He pilots aircraft although he can fly himself. No idea how a fox became a hedgehogs best mate, fortunately he is as together they form one of the best levels in Sonic history. Sky chase.

Knuckles was a baddie in Sonic 3 as Robotnik / Eggman tricked him into believing sonic was on the Rob. He's a goodie at heart and looks after the chaos emeralds on whatever planet he comes from. The Echindas are on the critically endangered list as Knuckles is the last remaining one. That moniker does little to stop him climbing without a harness up mountain ranges though.

The rest of the cast are incredibly dull and stupidly thought out.

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

themcnoisy

So I bought a few cheap games this week.

Super stardust
Demetrios cynical adventure
Enigmatis trilogy

Weirdly Enigmatis the ghosts of maple creek is in my top 3 games I have played this year as my wife has helped me. She wouldn't usually play ps4 but was quite happy to help out The ambience is quite spooky and the story is dark too. The map screen and navigation is brilliant for an indie game. Gameplay wise you view a mural and find a list of objects, which is about as fun as it sounds - until you add alcohol. The sporadic puzzles are also way better than anything telltale ever cooked up.

Edited on by themcnoisy

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

RogerRoger

@Th3solution @Ralizah @Gremio108 @themcnoisy Can't stop laughing.

Also, I cannot disagree with a single word anybody has said, good or bad, about Sonic on this page.

Except calling the extended cast "dull and stupidly thought out" because an edgelord amnesiac superweapon hedgehog and a feline flame-powered princess cat from another dimension are personal favourites of mine. Not to mention the telekinetic time-travelling hedgehog from the game in which Sonic's lifeless corpse was kissed by a human ladygirl.

In all seriousness, sorry to hear @Th3solution is struggling with Sonic Mania. Best of luck if / when you do return to it, and if you need any other pointers feel free to tag me someplace.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Thrillho

@RogerRoger I like the idea of not being able to play Sonic because you don't understand his motives. @Th3solution is the method actor of gaming.

Thrillho

RogerRoger

@Thrillho Blimey, could you imagine having to be a method gamer?

"Sorry, I can't play the new God of War. I've never been a bearded mythological weightlifter before, and when I tried to replicate the experience I was arrested for disturbing the peace."

Literally, we'd all be stuck playing really boring versions of The Sims. Or we'd get Grand Theft Auto and drive towards our first bank robbery, but end up having to stop at every red traffic light because it just doesn't make sense to draw unnecessary attention to yourself on the way to commit a crime. Which you wouldn't then commit because you want a better life for your protagonist.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Th3solution

@Thrillho Lol, I think you’re on to something. Games have to make sense inside my head for me to fully enjoy them. Drop me in the middle of a fictional world and then have me do random stuff for no reason with characters that don’t make sense?! Ppffshh... preposterous.
Now excuse me, I’ve got to go and pretend to be a high school student in Tokyo who carries around a talking cat and uses an app on his phone to enter a world where I fight shadows with the multiple demonic personalities in my mask in my pursuit of making the world a better place by stealing people’s hearts.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Ralizah

So, four or so hours into Horizon: Zero Dawn, here are my first impressions:

  • The environments are beautiful. Absolutely stunning. I've been abusing the screenshot button like mad so far.
  • The environments might be a bit TOO detailed for their own good. It's... a bit difficult to pick things out on the ground. Tracks are difficult to see. Robots you've downed can be difficult to find without detective mode because they just blend right in to the scenery. I've had to do a ton of squinting at the screen so far.
  • The character models in this game, on the other hand, are hideous. I won't go so far as to say they're Mass Effect: Andromeda levels of bad, but they're not too far off. The slightly robotic body movements and the frequently 'off' faces make these people fall on the wrong side of the uncanny valley. Child Aloy, in particular, was almost hard to look at; it was like her proportions were out of whack, and she looked sort of like a CG troll doll without the tall hair. She's easier to take in as a teenager/young adult now, but the faces... ugh.
  • Why does the camera like to hug Aloy's back? It's a little better now that I'm out in the open world, but it was almost making me claustrophobic in earlier sections of the game when it was right behind her shoulder.
  • I've only encountered two or three types of robots so far, but I can tell I'm really going to like these encounters. Every battle forces you to think strategically, and I think that's pretty cool. Seems a bit Monster Hunter-ish, in fact.
  • This game makes me wish Sony supported gyro aiming. The DS4 has a great gyroscope, so it could totally happen if people pushed for it. Trying to line up precise shots with the right analog stick sucks, unfortunately.
  • Photo mode is awesome. I'm going to be using this a lot to take nature shots in-game. I already have.
  • More open world games need proper climbing systems. Every time Aloy needs to go off the beaten path, she is either forced to awkwardly Skyrim her way up a hill or else, if she finds handholds, the game suddenly turns into Uncharted. Seriously, the climbing in this game is identical to the climbing in Uncharted.
  • Not sure if it's just because I'm early in the game and need to actually unlock more of the map, but I've run into that message about not being able to go any further in a certain direction twice now. It sucks, and really destroys the immersion. I'd prefer they set up natural barriers instead.
  • I'm having good fun completing side-quests, finding loot in the wild, and killing mobs of enemies so far. I'll probably continue ignoring the main plot as long as I can manage.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Th3solution

@Ralizah Yeah, I was put off by the early character animations and the somewhat strange bobbing head movements when they are speaking close up. But yeah, there’s really nothing as bad as child Aloy anymore in the game. She was the worst. The robotic movements during dialog choice scenes is here to stay, but the character models get better. In fact they are very well done when static. The art direction is fabulous. Sometimes I would just admire the costuming while I was interacting with an NPC. The hairstyles alone are other worldly. 😄
Specifically the open world will yes, er.. open up. 😄 So I think you’ll be fine with that soon. You’ll get accustomed to climbing too, but I do remember being a little frustrated a few times when I couldn’t see the handholds on a few areas. Especially as you’re searching for collectibles and climbing random mountains later, there will be a time or two that can get you frustrated not knowing how you’re supposed to traverse the cliff after trying for 30 minutes, only to find the handholds hidden in the wall right in front of you the whole time. In general Aloy is a lot more quick and automatic in her climbing than Nathan Drake. More catlike in how she jumps from handhold to handhold, as long as you point her in the right direction. I really like the animation of how she moves.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Ralizah

@Th3solution Eh. Still feels like Uncharted 4 climbing to me.

I'm liking how you can target and knock off specific parts you need from a robot. I have to send an arrow through a cannister on a Strider's back to get the flammable material I need for fire arrows, for example.

Is there anything to find in the wilds beyond materials and robots, by the way? The scenery is breaktaking, but I feel like there's not a lot to find out in the woods. It might just be because I'm still in an introductory area or something, though.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Kidfried

@Ralizah To me Horizon is about fighting robots - just like Monster Hunter is about fighting monsters. I've played that game for 150 hours or so, constantly looking forward to my next encounter - switching up styles and trying different approaches, but also setting up challenges for myself, et cetera.

The rest to me was a bonus.

I would recommend to anyone going in to not expect more than that. I don't think the game needs it either. Regardless of everything it remains one of this generation's best games.

I often heard people compare this game to Zelda, which I think is irrelevant. Zelda is about exploration, and through its focus on exploration it manages to stand out. Horizon is about fighting robots - and through it's cool combat system, it manages to stand out.

Kidfried

JohnnyShoulder

Playing Mass Effect Andromeda as I've been fancying some sci-fi recently. They definitely fudged up some of the human faces! 😂 Some of them look quite bad, almost last gen. I went for the default female character, and in some scenes she seems to be smirking when she shouldn't be. Her eyes and lips also look a bit wierd sometimes, the latter almost like she really bad liposuction done! 😂 The alien races are bang on however. And what is up with some of the dialogue? "My face is tired" wtf. 😂

Anyway those are my only grievances with the game thus so far. I found planet scanning such a chore to do it in the previous games, and although I can see the way it is done in this game to become a bit boring, it definetly seems to be more streamlined than before. Traversal is cool with the dash boost and hover abilities offering more options in combat. The nomad vehicle also seems a lot better to drive stohnf in than in previous games.

I really dig the sense of wonderment you get whilst exploring the planets, especially when you get to the monoliths. I love it when games do this, the last game that i got this from was God of War and before that Horizon Zero Dawn. I'm in my first vault and I'm getting strong HZD vibes from when you go into one of the Cauldrons.

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

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