Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Jimmer-jammer Forbidden West was my game of the year last year, so I'm glad it finally really clicked for you as well. The side content is one of the game's biggest strengths, as it's usually more interesting than not given that they are stories specific to that particular area rather than just random quests. I really don't think the game got enough credit for that.

I do hope that your next 50 with it goes good too. It should as I thought the Las Vegas portions of the game were quite enjoyable as well, with some really good and also comical character interactions.

@KilloWertz Thanks! Yeah, the three Oseram fellows you run into there are a charming bunch and the ensuing underwater expedition was quite memorable. From a gameplay perspective, the gear you acquire there is pretty game changing as well. It’s all come together and I’m glad to join in on the excitement 😄

@Jimmer-jammer You're welcome, and the gear from that set of side quests is definitely awesome. Finally being able to swim underwater for as long as you want to was great.

It's a real shame it got overlooked for basically every game award it could have won, but us loving the game is more important obviously.

Marvels Midnight Suns. The funny thing is, before the game came out, it wasn't really on my radar. Never been a big strategy RPG fan and the only card game i played was Magic the Gathering, but that's totally different. When i was looking for a Christmas present for myself i decided to read a bit more into this game because it got some pretty good reviews (83 and 90% recommendation on Opencritic).

I gotta say this game surprised me in every possible way. It is basically a mixture between a social sim and something like Xcom. It has a day/night cycle like Persona. During the day you work on friendships with the other heroes. You do this by talking to heroes, spar with them or join a hangout. With these hangouts you can chose dialogue options which can increase or decrease the frienship as well as your light and dark balance. So dialogue option do matter even though it is just a little bit. The hangout events include several things. One moment you're painting with Blade and the next one you're hanging by the pool with Captain Marvel.

The game also has a lot of RPG elements. It mostly is upgrading buildings, improve cards or even create cards for the heroes, which can make them stronger. You can also opt to use specific resources to change the outfits of heroes of the room where the main character the Hunter stays, but it is truly optional and doesn't take resources away from the important parts.

The best part of the game are the missions. You can do 1 mission a day which can be either a story mission or a side mission to get materials for research, making and upgrading cards etc. Each mission has goal and if you complete that goal you will be rewarded. Difficulty and how fast you do a mission will affect the amount of resources you get at the end. There are 8 difficulty levels, from story mode to super difficult. Each turn you start with 8 cards and the cards you didn't use will stay in your hand on the next turn. There are basically 2 types of cards: normal and heroic. Normal cards generate heroic points. Heroic points can be used on heroic cards or be used to use certain "elemental" attacks, like exploding barrels. It requires some tactics to decide which cards are best to play in which situation.
The game definitely flew under the radar of a lot of people while it is such a good game. It isn't a short game, i am a pretty slow game and currently clocking at 60 hours and am at 2/3 of the story. Length can vary based on how many side missions you do. If you don't mind longer games, social sim elements and like strategic battles, i would highly recommend this game.

@sorteddan i promised to tag you in when i would share my impressions so hereby

@Lavalera
Thanks for remembering. I imagine I will definitely get to it somewhere down the line and have little doubt I will enjoy the battle system. I'm still more concerned at the 'social' side as that's honestly the main reason I've never bothered with Persona 5 despite all the hype. Who knows though, I may enjoy painting with Blade?!

Glad you're enjoying it though, hope it continues for the final third.

@Lavalera Thanks for your thoughts on the game! It’s one I’ve got on my wish list for some point in the future but it’s cool to hear someone actually playing/enjoying it.

@sorteddan Same here with the social stuff, but the glowing report from @Lavalera has piqued my interest.

@Lavalera Glad to see that you highly enjoyed Midnight Suns despite not being a huge fan of the genre. I plan on getting it at some point. I probably would have gotten it now that it's on sale for $50, but I already committed to buying Forspoken a while back, so definitely when things settle down this will be high on my priority list.

@KilloWertz Yeah, the salt in the would is that it appears to have turned into a bit of a replay from Zero Dawn’s release, what with being overshadowed and all. I have had my ups and down with it thus far so I suppose I can see someone feeling underwhelmed by it but by all accounts it’s a very well made game and I’m glad for the opportunity to absorb it.

Back to the gear, I was just starting to log some quests and find some points of interest that I couldn’t complete/explore without this gear so I was quite happy to acquire it!

About 2 hours in on Biomutant. I'm having a great time. There is a lot of talking, but I skip through most of it. The combat is fun and varied enough so far. I also like the weapon and gear modifications. Hopefully it holds up the rest of the game.

@Jimmer-jammer Yeah, it pretty much is a replay of Zero Dawn in that it has gotten overlooked for things like awards but still ends up being pretty successful sales wise. Maybe luck will be there for Horizon 3, but in the end as long as Guerrilla sticks the landing for the end of the trilogy, that's what really matters in the end.

Yeah, it does allow you to finally complete a few quests. I tried one of them beforehand not knowing, but obviously was never able to complete it until I got the gear to make it much easier.

Talking about Forbidden West again is making me really look forward to diving back in with he DLC (Burning Shores).

@Elodin It didn’t hold up for me sadly as it gets very repetitive. Two big pieces of advice would be not to worry about doing everything possible on the map as you don’t need to and will probably drive yourself insane, and turn the narrator’s input down to zero in the settings so you don’t hear the same lines from him over and over again.

You can also turn off the chattering from characters too so you can get through the mostly pointless dialogue quicker too!

@Thrillho thanks for the chatter tips. I'll definitely turn that down. I was afraid of the repetitiveness creeping up as I unlock most thing early. I will focus on main world eaters and hope it holds up enough if I streamline my approach. Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

It's not a PS5 game, but I'm playing it on my PS5. It's Life is Strange 2. The game is ok so far. I'm halfway or something.

But it's weird how story games always stress me out more than any other type of game. I need to keep reminding myself not to be too immersed, because I should keep an eye out for collectibles. And I wanna make the right choices too, but some things are times, which is making me so anxious.

So I bought Sifu, so I can play a relaxing game next.

Quoted for truth! If we don't count the tutorial, then this evening was my first real introduction to Sifu. The combat is amazing, the game looks amazing and the tone is just right. The game is very focused, and I am all there for it.

Kung fu fighting, it will be hard, that is all.

So far the game felt really fair. I beat the first level at 28 (and afterwards at 26) and every death was on me. I felt pushed to perform as well as I could, but dying doesn't feel frustrating (yet?). So far: a very, very good game that I can't wait to play more of.

@Kidfried Superb game. My favourite indie of last year by a mile. Really hope they patch in some more weapons and costumes with the next update.

@Kidfried Really glad you're enjoying Sifu so much, and I hope it continues to be a rewarding experience right through 'til the end. I'll admit, I did a double take when I saw that you called it "a relaxing game" but hey, each to their own, right? Huge congratulations on beating the first level in your late twenties; I think I was already in my mid-thirties at that point, spamming those age-reduction shrines!

@RogerRoger I wrote "relaxing game" thinking of you. I'm playing both Sifu and Life is Strange next to each other. And I just notice that the repetition, the knowing I'm going to get my ass kicked, the focus on gameplay is easier for me to handle, than a game like Life is Strange that is constantly taking turns.

I replayed the first level and I now am 21. My problem now is the second level's boss, who on their aged me 10 years.

Still have to 'get good's.

@Kidfried I can understand that, despite being the total opposite! In fact, it's because I'm the total opposite that I think I understand, if that makes any sense?

Something tells me that you're playing Sifu the way it was intended to be played. Funnily enough, since you mention Life is Strange an' all, I think Sifu might've worked well as an episodic release; give players enough time to "git gud" and lower their age before allowing them to move forward. I think I came undone because I just wanted to sprint through a power fantasy, and didn't take the time to hone my skills. In fact, I don't think that, I know that's what happened, so that's on me.

Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll soon have that second boss licked. I actually did okay with him, although I was playing on the easier difficulty settings. Something about him felt familiar to me.

Whilst we're here, it's Life is Strange 2 you're playing at the moment, isn't it? How're you finding it?

Currently playing and enjoying Forspoken. I’ve been trying to stick to one game at a time, but I’ll have Forspoken and Dead Space on the go this week. I have a week off work, so I’m hoping to finish both of them.