Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Kidfried Oh yeah, the graphics are lovely in Days Gone and the gameplay is... serviceable. I just hated being in the shoes of Deacon, I’ve never had such a severe reaction to a protagonist before. I just hate him.

@Kidfried If you waited about a month, that is part of the PS Plus collection on PS5.

Weird. I couldn't ever imagine having such a reaction to a fictional character... in anything really. Sure everyone say they hate certain characters, but they don't really mean it most of the time.

@JohnnyShoulder Bought it before it was announced of course. Just like I bought Vampyr two months ago.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Again, it’s been so long since I played it that I struggle to remember many details but I certainly remember that boss!

I’ve mentioned it before on here but the DLC was a challenge for me as I completed the base game before they introduced enemy scaling so when I came back to it after so long away, and with that now in place, I was getting murdered by lowly packs of wolves..

There are some good boss fights in the DLC though and I seem to remember the final boss of Blood and Wine being a really doozy!

@Thrillho That is one of the reasons I've struggled to get back into the expansions. Initially I thought I had become really rubbish at the game!

@Thrillho Oh yes, he's very memorable isn't he? Did you complete HoS & B&W in the end? What were your overall impressions?

@Thrillho Yeah, I think that I am going to go back and complete as many of the main and side quests as possible in order to obtain better gear and level up beyond the proscribed level. I mean, the basic witcher gear they give you for HoS only just won't cut the mustard against that boss, i need better armor too, so I will just return to the first quest in a new playthrough.

Edit: I think the basic witcher gear has been upgraded for a fresh Hearts Of Stone game, but I really want an OP sword so I can just go to town on that beast.

From what you can remember, what are the best silver swords and the best armor for fighting beasts in the base game?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Yeah, I did complete both.

Heart of Stone has a really good story and one part in particular is especially memorable. O' Dimm is a great character too and the combat was really good.

Blood and Wine is just another level though. It was perfect for me because of how over the top it all is as it goes all in on the medieval stereotypes and Geralt is at his moody sarcastic best among all these colourful characters. But the story goes into some really interesting areas, the main storyline can end in quite different ways, and there is another sequence and run of quests which is my favourite part of the whole game.

I seem to remember there even being a nod to the Dark Souls games in B&W for you too

@Thrillho Thanks, I look forward to playing through them with an appropriately equipped character. I am just going through the Beast of White Orchard quest at the moment - you know, the one where you kill the Griffin at the end of it, do you remember that? Right now I am just tracking the aforementioned beast. I am looking forward to discovering and crafting all sorts of legendary gear as I go along.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic That’s a proper early quest isn’t it? How has the mission and enemy scaling worked with your character?

And have you set yourself a point to get to before going back to the DLC or are you going to just keep going?

@Thrillho It is really early, yeah, I've only just started the base game again. I think that I will level up my character until he reaches level 34 ,at least, and then make sure I have enough decent witcher gear equipped before I take on Evil's First Soft Touches again.

With regard to enemy scaling, the griffin was fairly easy, defeated him on my first try. I did lose a lot of health, though.

What about you, what game(s) are you currently playing?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Good luck! TW3 is a game I would love to replay but there is just too much else for me to play first before getting sucked into a 100hr game I’ve already played. I also worry that the combat wouldn’t hold up so well but it sounds like you’re not having any problems

Personally, I’ve mostly been dabbling with some more low difficulty Civ 6 games to get some of the weird and wonderful trophies as I’m a bit busy to get into another big game right now. I just bought Death Stranding in the current sale so that will be my next “project”.

@Thrillho I’ll be excited to read your Death Stranding impressions when you get around to it. Such a great game.

I've just started Kentucky Route Zero. Cleared the first Act and its associated interlude.

And I can totally see how a lot of folks struggled with it, but I also recognised the seeds of potential which clearly grow to make others rave about it. On any other day, I might've dismissed it off-hand and subsequently walked away from it, but today it just seemed to click.

Looking forward to seeing how things progress, and hopefully daring myself to turn the lights out in more abandoned mineshafts (that was my favourite little touch, I think).

@Thrillho I am still playing TW3: Wild Hunt I am currently in Vizima preparing to speak to the Emperor, just outrode the Wild Hunt with Yen, great bath-time scene with Geralt, and then you have to answer questions whilst his beard is being trimmed. dunno if you remember that particularly amusing and charming scene?

@RogerRoger Ah, that's so cool that you started playing. As someone who writes themselves, what did you think of the writing?

First impressions of Ghost of Tsushima after a few hours' play: glorious.

More thoughts to follow.

@Kidfried It was all the Twin Peaks talk earlier. Got me in the right headspace!

Just finished the second Act, as well as its interlude (although I admit, when I realised that the latter expected me to sit patiently and watch an entire forty-minute play unfold via disjointed text boxes, I might've uttered an expletive and reached for my phone). I think I might've tested my tolerance by playing two Acts the same day and, judging from the unprecedented release schedule of the whole thing, I'm probably not alone. I'll stick to one a day, and play / watch something a little more mainstream in between, just so that I don't end up hating it through no fault of its own.

The writing is on-point for a game of this style, and a story of this tone. It's quite effective in conveying personality and character, and I'm already reading certain lines with specific voices in my head. I've also had gut feelings when meeting certain folks, which isn't something I usually get from text-only games, so it's obviously doing something right. Just curious to find out where it's all leading (or, perhaps more fittingly, whether my theories will be reinforced or undermined as I continue).

@RogerRoger Some great impressions. The chance of getting burned out by this game due to its text baseness and slow nature is pretty great, so be sure to take it slow.

At some point, you're going to be sad that it's over. So, yes, take it easy

@RogerRoger Act 3 was probably my favourite and has the best moment in the game in it for me. I played the whole game over a week and it was only after Act 4 I needed a break as that is a bit of a beast. Act 5 is incredibly short in comparison to the rest.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic I vaguely remember that part of the game and it’s a clever way of filling in some backstory and decision making from the first couple of games too.