Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Thrillho I appreciate you remembering my review given it was like six months ago since I wrote it.

But yes, @ThereThere I think Andromeda is overall the best game in the series. If you'd like to read my review of it, here's a link: https://www.pushsquare.com/forums/retro_and_other_gaming/user...

Or if you just want to read my summary of why I think it's the best game:

So as an overall package, I found Mass Effect Andromeda to be the best game in the series. While I didn’t like the story as much as in Mass Effect 3, the game delivers much improved character interactions, more open worlds with lots of things to do in them and a massively improved gameplay system.

Did you get round to checking your playtime for Ghost @Th3solution?😄

I've started up Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition after ditiching Ghost.

As I said in the WAYPTW article

I'm a bit disappointed about only being able to make a human but it makes sense that was one big area of improvement for the sequel with Elves, Dwarves, Lizard people and undead options for character creation (and I can honestly only hope the next Divinty game adds more).

I was surprised that you get to make two characters here though so I made a mage with Fire and Water magic and a Rogue with dual wielding. Can only hope the party members I'll eventually get can help balance my duo out further...

It's especially interesting playing this game second thanks to the sequel showing Source Hunters in a much more negative light throughout it with your character being a Sourcerer and thrown into jail.

My duo in this on the other hand are Source Hunters so I do wonder if the shoe is going to drop and reveal they aren't as noble as an organisation as they may seem or if Source Hunters are shown in a much more heroic light throughout the entire game.

Either way it's an interesting switch of perspective!

I'm already having fun though having met a magical talking clam called Ishmashell. As you can probably imagine there was a Moby Dick reference in his first line too

Pretty good time so far!

Still playing Youtubers Life 2.
I have cleared two main quests to get NT codes, have accumulated more than 600K subscribers, reached 9th position from Top 100 Youtubers.

@HallowMoonshadow Boy was I way off. So according to my PS5’s statistics, I played a total of 84 hours of Ghost of Tsushima. 😮
So I significantly underestimated. 😅

But I did spend a few hours with the multiplayer expansion Legends. Maybe 3-4 hours or so. So my platinum time was a lot closer to 80 hrs than 60 hrs.

Good to see you’re finding enjoyment in DOS I. Maybe one day I’ll finally get around to playing DOS 2. Or maybe DOS 1, depending. I wonder if you’ll end up feeling it a better game than the sequel. Based on how much you liked DOS2 I think that will be hard task.

@Th3solution And the PS5 statistics on the Games page is usually off too, so maybe you played it even longer than that. It's usually lower than what the game itself says if it tracks that in game.

@LtSarge Blimey, was it 6 months ago??

I just remembered it as it was interesting to hear the opinions of someone on the game after it got slated so much at launch. I’d almost pulled the trigger on buying it in the past but your thoughts renewed my interest.

But now I’m a 60fps snob I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to it as it stands.

@KilloWertz Yeah, I am fairly suspicious of the time played stats the PS5 gives. It’s good for a rough estimate, I guess. I think it does sometimes overestimate the time also, as it must count time while paused in certain games. Some games don’t actually “pause”, you just have the game running in the background when pulling up the menu.
According to my PS5 my BioShock 2 playtime is 44 hrs so far and I’m not even done with the game. Probably I’m 75% through. That’s a game that usually take people less than 20 hrs to complete 😅. I know I’m slow, but I think I’ve had more than my average use of pause and suspend mode for the game.

Youtubers Life 2 PS4.
I have finished 3 main quests to get NT codes.
Still working on Ziggy quest as I have to take 5 photos on specific random people with hashtag that being a trend on that day and upload the photos to InstaLife.
Also, I have built relationship with Robin until heart level 6, tried to flirt him and I kissed him. 😘

@Th3solution Yeah, it is indeed better than nothing even if it is usually wrong.

I have seen it basically forget I was in the middle of playing a game before. An example of that would be when I was replaying Assassin's Creed Origins a little while back, it had said I had last played the game about 55 minutes ago even though I was in the middle of playing it. I can't confirm, but I'm assuming it stops counting it then, which would obviously be a big reason why it shows a lower total than it should sometimes. You are right that it probably counts time in menus, but I've never really paid close enough attention to see if they overestimate. In the end, we both know that the counter is basically a relative guideline.

Yep the PS5 count includes time in the game app, so that includes even you pause or in the main menu it but I don't think when you suspend the console and are in 'appear offline'. Whereas an in game count will usually only include time actually playing the game. I'm pretty we have been through this before, as I'm getting a sense of deja vu! 😂

I thought the combat in Ghost of Tsushima was fine. It took a bit to get used too, but I was soon clearing out whole camps. Think I played a mixture of stealth and all out hack n slash, just to mix things up a bit.

@RogerRoger Thanks for confirming that I've not totally lost the plot!

Yeah I happened to notice that too Rog when I went to reply and found Sol's and Thrillho's notifications out of sync. I'm curious at who it was as well...

Did I say that? I forget. I remember saying I was looking forward to trying out using a bow (which I actually didn't like very much) but I don't recall saying that. Oh well. I did actually use a lot of standoffs towards the end as it meant I could get through most fights as quickly as possible and typically make them 1 on 1... or as little as possible 😅

So... Just a smidge off there Sol ha ha 😄

I'll keep telling you to play DOS II Sol!

As for whether DOS I is better then II?

Do you want the short answer or the long answer? Cus the long answer kinda lives up to it's name

I am curious, yes. But no pressure. You can feel free to go as in depth or as brief as you want! It’s an oft debated issue but the consensus usually goes with DOSII.

I've sunk about 17 hours or so into DOS I now and I'd say you're definitely right @Th3solution in your assumption that it'd be a hard task for it to top DOS II in my eyes.

I will say most of these coming up mostly just little nitpicks or observations at the moment. Nothing wild.

Music

The music is a LOT worse. Like objectively so. There's no two ways about it. Easily the worst thing in my opinion.

DOS II's Soundtrack was extremely memorable to me (not to mention very unique with it giving you a choice of whether you wanted a Bansuri, Oud, Cello or Tambura to be the main instrument in given tracks) whereas the music in DOS I on the other hand has been rather bland and forgettable.

(Though admitedly I haven't listened to any of DOS I's soundtrack outside the game yet).

Characters

So in DOS II your chosen party members could be changed to whatever you wished class wise once you recruited them (Though they do have a default class) whereas in DOS I they're predetermined classes that you can't change at all.

That's not inherently a bad thing of course as most other games do this (and in both DOS games you can of course put points into other skills and completely change your skills from what you started off with if you wish).

However there are only 4 companions in DOS I and as such I've had to pick the two women (Madora & Bairdotr) to get a more balanced party as the two men start off as a Rogue and Mage (which my main characters already are).

I haven't had anything happen for them yet either.

In DOS II for some party members I had stuff relating to their main questline I could do within the first few minutes of meeting them at Fort Joy wheras Madara and Bairdotr have nothing to show for it so far aside from a few dialogue choices that haven't seemingly meant anything at the moment.

Madora has a southern accent that really grates if I'm being honest and that feels a bit out of place compared to everyone else who typically have english accents. It doesn't help she's also written as a bit of stereotype too with her hating wizards and technology, bit of a conspiracy nut seeing sourcerers in the shadows and the likes.

Bairdotr meanwhile is just kinda there. She's a wild woman having been raised by bears (... Her name is pronounced Bear Daughter) and that's kinda it.

It's relatively early days and my opinion could change but the companions don't feel anywhere near as interesting as the sequel's

Plot/Set up

I will say the set-up is more intriguing for me too in DOS II. It's personal with the whole being a sourcerer and thrown into the hell hole prison "Fort Joy" whereas DOS I has you sent to investigate a murder of a councillor and feels more passive in comparison.

Without saying too much but with a title like "Divinity" you shouldn't be surprised at there maybe being some plot points revolving around a higher calling... And again at the moment DOS II's was more interesting.

Considering it took 130 hours to beat DOS II (Pretty much doing every sidequest) it's still very early days.

I quite like the "trait" system DOS I has mind you that depending on what dialogue options you pick for your two main characters. It'll give you points on a scale between two different personality traits like Pragmatic or Romantic, Bold or Cautious, Compassionate or Heartless and so on.

It does mean you might focus on the extra buffs/stat points more then the dialogue choices for your character though. Why roleplay as a nice guy if being blunt will make you immune to charmed or some such?

But yeah. There are other things I could point out but you can tell they learned a lot between making the two games.

@HallowMoonshadow Good summary there. I hope you’ll drop some updated impressions as you make your way through. Sometimes things change, but it sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid feeling of what this entry is like. It’s possible that the characters or plot line will improve through the latter segments, but you never know.
Either way, it seems like you’re enjoying it a bit more than Ghost of Tsushima. 😄

Oh for sure. Much easier and enjoyable time @Th3solution. I'll be sure to give some more impressions. Maybe actually write a proper impressions piece on it too

If I recall correctly @kyleforrester87 on the other hand was much more enamoured with Divinity Original Sin I then II and maybe didn't even finish II? I definitely remember him saying he never got past the fort joy map to me when I was playing it... but I think he went back to it too?

Regardless I know he for sure liked the first and'll give you even more positive thoughts for the first DOS 😄

@HallowMoonshadow Strongly disagree that the music in OS is worse than OS2, although it is quite different. Having enjoyed the soundtrack for OS1 I learnt it was scored by Kirill Pokrovsky who did all of the music for the Divinity games and was apparently a bit of a hero as far as the fanbase were concerned, perhaps the equivalent of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu. He'd have undoubtedly written the music for OS2 but died after the release of the first game.

From the developers:

"Thank you for all the gifts you’ve given us. We each have our own Kirill story and many of us have Kirill presents on their desks. All of them demonstrate how rich a person you were," Larian wrote in the update. "We’ve all hummed your music and we have marvelled at how far your virtuosity went. You were truly somebody unique, a true artist, and we were very lucky to have you as a colleague."

He looked like a bit of a dude, too:

There is a nice interview from Borislav Slavov, who composed for OS2, where he talks about picking up after Krill and his process:

http://www.vgmonline.net/borislav-slavov-interview-3/

"I had been playing and loving the Divinity series since its start in 2002. The reason I had never gotten in touch with the guys from Larian before was simple – I love the music of my fellow composer Kirill Pokrovsky. He made the music such a special part of the Divinity universe . I was shocked and sad to hear the news of him passing away. It took months before I decided to get in touch with Larian and offer them my heart. Then, I had to ask my self the real though question: How should I approach the music in DOS2? From one hand I had to continue the legacy and from the other I had to make a next step forward in the future of the series.

I thought about it for a while and I told to myself – It would be stupid if I try to mimic Kirill’s music. Kirill was unique and people would be rather disappointed than satisfied with an imitation. So instead, I decided to come up with my own approach, inspired by my love for the music in the Divinity series. I was a huge fan after all. I did my best to remain faithful to some core features of the music in the universe and make it as varied as possible, as well as thematic, playful and quirky. And on the top of it – an emotional and dramatic orchestral part, to give a frame of the soundtrack."

Overall I do think OS2 has a brilliant soundtrack and certainly the main theme (and the slight variations of it) are very epic and it's easy to put the music on and just enjoy it. OS1 feels a little less generic and more personal, though. Overall they are both great soundtracks! I would have loved for OS2 to have had music from both composers.

Otherwise, OS1 has better combat in my opinion - the magic/physical damage shields in OS2 do add a layer of challenge to encounters but can just be really frustrating - and it feels like so many spells and attacks in OS2 have AOE damage meaning you often trigger environmental damage accidently in a combat round and well laid plans turn to absolute chaos. I do struggle to remember aspects of OS1 these days though as it has been 8 years (!!!) since I played it. Perhaps the problem was as much me trying to approach combat in OS2 just as I did in OS1.

OS2 does loads of stuff better, mind you. Story, character, voice acting, graphics. Lots more in-your-face refinements. Just an easier game to like, I think. Still havn't finished it though, I am near the end of Act 4! Stuck on a crazy encounter.

So ready for Baldurs Gate 3!!

Youtubers Life 2
Still working on raising my Youtuber rank.

@HallowMoonshadow sick of this yet, "Yellow and green The finest veggies Cyseal's ever seen!" Still stuck in my brain many years later. DOS is fun, but for me it was the rough draft to DOS 2. The system of moving around the teleportation devices was fantastic for solving puzzles and getting around obstacles. Hearing about your journey and myself playing Dungeon of Naheulbeuk now makes me want to go back to play DOS 2. Such a great game and system.

@Elodin Not in the mood for cheese?