Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@LtSarge Congrats on getting past the first boss. That’s a really large obstacle for most new players.

I was a little confused about the astronaut at first, but yes, it’s a power up item that you picked up on that house sequence, and it’s just one time automatic respawn consumable. I was under the impression that I’d be able to get a new one on my next run and that’s not always the case. Now that you’ve unlocked it, it may pop up as a option to purchase in the vendor, and rarely also might be a random pickup, but I only recall that happening like once or twice in my 50ish hours with the game. But I do recall I was quite frustrated on subsequent runs that I didn’t see another astronaut item for quite a while. Eventually I started having it randomly show up in the vendor, but there’s no predicting when you might get another one. But whenever there was an option to purchase one I tried to grab it because it can definitely mean the difference between beating a boss or failing.

@Kidfried I’m glad you’re enjoying FF7R. It really is a well crafted game and has some fun areas. The part you just finished is particularly memorable. Hopefully you still end up liking it as you make your way through to the end.

I really liked this version of Aerith. She’s really cute and fun and has great chemistry with Cloud, which I never really felt in the original. I was always more on team Tifa for the original game, but I think I liked Aerith as a ‘ship’ better in the remake.

@Kidfried I adored that Chapter of the game as well (I would hope everybody who liked the remake did). So many good and fun moments in it. The Aerate/Cloud conversation about Zack being one of the good and the whole Cloud dressed up as a woman sequence being one of the fun moments of course.

I loved Final Fantasy 7 Remake as well. I played it on my PS4 Pro and then gladly again via the PS5 version, which is rare for me to do. It ended up being one of my favorite games of both generations so far.

Alas, that's exactly how I felt about Forbidden West. It's such a shame because the game gets so, so good later on, but its extended re-introduction to Aloy's world is real clunky.

Try to stick with it, if you can. Hopefully everything'll click for you pretty soon!

I’m currently playing Marvel Midnight Suns at the moment and quite enjoying it.

I normally avoid deck building games so I don’t know how it compares to others but the combat is good fun but pretty tough going. Most fights have low level grunts who die with one hit but who provide reinforcements seemingly every go, plus the heavier hitting enemies who have health bars. So it makes it tricky to know whether to clear the little guys or focus on the main ones.

I’ve still only got a small roster of heroes but they’re all useful to play with so far which is a nice change from having a small handful that you stick with.

All the stuff outside of combat is such a pain though and there is so much faffing about to build relationships, research gear etc.

Always save your game folks, just lost 6 hours of progress in Trails of Cold Steel 2 thanks to a hard crash. It just had to be in the most tedious section of an incredibly tedious JRPG as well.

@nessisonett

Three rolling manual saves every time for me.

But it sucks when something like that does happen though and it’s always on a section like you describe too.

@Thrillho 😂 Yeah, after being burned in the past, I probably over-save. I can relate, @nessisonett I’ve been lulled into forgetting to save in the past and lost several hours of progress.
So now, three rolling saves is a minimum. For a game with missable trophies or content you can get locked out of, I often have more rolling saves, like up to 10 for a game like Persona or Final Fantasy. I know, it’s excessive. 😅

Yeah games that don't auto save are pure evil! Final fantasy 15 I hated for this reason, as you couldn't even manual save in most dungeons, so ended up losing a lot of progress at one point when real life got in the way.

@Th3solution I can’t remember if I posted about it but my rolling saves were vindicated in ME1.

There’s a bit near the end where I somehow missed getting into the Mako and so spent forever traipsing down long corridors and having to fight off difficult enemies. There were cut scenes etc but then suddenly one section with a timer that was impossible on foot.

The game hadn’t factored in my stupidity so without those backups I’d have been forever stuck on that section as the autosave would just keep sending me back to replay the one impossible area

@Thrillho That’s fortunate you were on top of that situation with ME1. That’s another huge fear of mine — that I’ll be stuck in an unachievable situation or trapped in a glitch by an autosave.

I do think newer games are better about that, and they tend not to have these types of flaws. I have noticed that a lot of newer games that autosave will do them in a rolling fashion also, so there is an older autosave from several minutes prior that one can manually go back to. But those older games will just ruthlessly leave you in a Groundhog Day scenario if you let them! 😅

I have used my rolling saves recently to go back a few minutes when I go down one path and realize I missed an optional collectible or chest down an alternate path and a door has closed and locked me out of it. I actually utilized that just the other day during a main campaign sequence that wasn’t something I knew I could go back to pick up the chest later.

@Thrillho By the way, I’m interested to hear more about Midnight Suns. It’s one of those games that I had no interest in at launch, mostly because of the card based tactical gameplay which I don’t usually engage in. Also, the Marvel saturation point is almost maxed out for me. However, I have to admit that as time has passed I’m finding myself curious about it. Mainly because it does seem to offer something familiar yet different. Familiar in the sense it’s got all the characters I know, and different in that it’s not merely another action adventure or rpg type of game.

The relationship portions actually sound intriguing to me, but maybe it’s not as well implemented as it looks. Is it like a Persona style of harem and buddy building mechanic where it adds additional story elements, or is it more of a tool to build up a relationship to enhance combat maneuvers?

Playing Octopath Traveller II. I’m finding it pretty difficult, but I’m going to try and stick with it. I love the look of the game. The modern lighting combined with the retro graphics really appeals to me.

I really want to like the game… and I do when I’m not getting my ass kicked!

@Bentleyma how far through are you? I am 40 hours in, over halfway on quite a few of the stories - not finding it too difficult tbh but I am well over levelled. Some of the bosses are starting to trip me up a bit now, though.

I love “my little lamb” Temenos, so much sass. I thought I’d dislike Partitio but he’s my favourite character and story so far. What a great guy!

@kyleforrester87 Not far in at all. I’ve just collected all the characters and am now starting Chapter Two for each character. It’s mainly the bosses that trip me up, but it’s my own fault. I need to level up and buy better equipment before rushing ahead.

I actually like all the characters so far. Not sure if that’ll change once I get to know them a bit more.

@Bentleyma yeah, if you’re at or just below the required levels the bosses will be really hard. I have just been enjoying exploring and have ended up at a much higher level than I need to be.. but even then bosses can be kinda tricky sometimes. I tend to rely on brute force over tactics in these sorts of games, it gets me so far but I think if you dig into the job system and abilities you can make your life a lot easier. That said, I haven’t really had to grind much, aside from bringing a few unused characters up to a higher level in difficult areas supported by my stronger characters or when I have 10 minutes of playtime left.

I have not really played them in any order, I got Hikari last actually and was already half way through Throne’s story when I did that.

Yes, all the main characters are good. I do find some better, but there is not one I find unenjoyable. The first game had me frequently rolling my eyes by comparison. Really impressed with it.

TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 2 REFUSES TO END

You'll be stuck there for all eternity @nessisonett

I assume you've done the... Castle thingy and are either at the very random and awkward playing as the guys from Trails to Azure/Zero bit that goes on for far too long?

@HallowMoonshadow The tacked on sort of final final with a cherry on top place. End already! Although the second bit you’re talking about all spoilery was really good but insane to think it came out years before those were localised 😂

I will have thoughts when the game is done, that is to be sure!

Seeing as I'd only played Cold Steel 1 and 2 that part unfortunately didn't do much for me out of context @nessisonett!

And yeah... Like you said in your intial post... It refused to bloody end and wore me the hell out!!!

Gimme a tag when you finally beat it and write something down ness as I look forward to seeing what we agree on (or not) and can finally have a good chin wag with someone about what didn't work for me

Just about to reinstall Horizon Forbidden West in preparation for the DLC. Really can’t wait to play more Horizon, Call of the Mountain has hyped me up even more.

On a side note, this is amazing work, especially how it explodes.