Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Th3solution I believe you wanted an update on TLoUP1 when I'd played a little bit more.

Early impressions are... (and as I've said, I know the entire story just didn't actually play it and "live it" as such)

...the tension is real. Actually trying to avoid Clickers is definielty more stressful than just watching it, and what do you know, it's instant fail stealth and something that adds to the experience 😱 but people seem to just complain about that these days, rather than see it as a way of building tension to encounters 😅

My own main frustration that was feeding my stress was just that I had no awareness of where I was going, and wasn't sure on the exact mechanics right away, so I failed a few times in stealth, after getting quite far but being lost, although I did find a nice safe full of goodies, then I tried experimenting with frantic combat and the molotovs (I assumed they were there for a reason) and that actually led to me being eaten alive by burning Clickers, which I should have clipped a video of, come to think of it, as it was bloody epic 😭😂

I got a feel for what I was doing though and eventually found where the heck I was going and burned them all in a big pile, as I expended a few rounds into the ones that were coming for me (apparently they can see when they are on fire? 😅) I guess there's a way to do it fully with stealth, but the one guarding the ladder I lured away with a brick, but it just got them all together in a group, and there was no option to then use the ladder anyway, so I had to take action 😅

The audio on headphones is noice. The thunderstorm really set up the atmosphere. Game looks great, plays well enough (little bit clunky) but for a 2013 (2013, that's mad, right?) game rehashed into its new form it's okay mechanically.

I'm still not really that far in having not played it much until yesterday, but the visuals are fantastic, apart from when vehicles go by, that's something that still looks like a 2013 game. And the unlocked frane rate means i'm getting snooth 70/80fps (interested what changes are on pro and if you can push that higher too) But yeah, I'll probably stick with it, as I can always turn the difficulty down if I do struggle at any point 😅 but I'm sure Joel gets more skills and abilities to deal with situations anyway, so, should be okay on that front. It will mostly be me becoming unaware of my surroundings that will lead to f*** ups, I imagine. But if there are options to initiate combat and clear an area before exploring a little, that appeals to me, greatly.

@Ravix Very nice. Glad that it’s holding your attention for the moment. I don’t recall many issues with getting confused about where to go, but it’s been many years since I played it. Certainly Part II ramps up the size of the areas and is a little more open but I recall Part I being fairly linear. Although I realize you mean that you’re not sure where to go to in the context of navigating around enemies to reach an exit, and in that sense Part II is actually better, I think. There’s more options on how to approach a combat/stealth encounter in the sequel, versus just a limited way to play it them in the first game.

But yes, I do think your options open up as you progress and you get access to a few other tools to use. It’s still not ever going to be COD or a looter-shooter or anything, but it’s more forgiving than say, the early Resident Evil games.

@Th3solution With regards to the difficulty spike, as I'm sure the great bard Shakespeare might have said if he were alive and playing Souls today "t'isn't farming always available?"

@Th3solution yeah, it was very situational, not quite panic or anything, just a loss of direction and observation about what I was actually looking for with it being the first Clicker 'maze'. I realised checkpoints seem quite forgiving though, so that is maybe going to take any anxiety in encounters away as I can just experiment with it and not immerse myself to the point where it feels like game over for all of us if we get caught by one clicker 😅

Those noises on headphones though, eesh 😅 I'll learn to love encounters at some point, I think, the same as in Elden Ring I learned to enjoy the potential death in every encounter and ask for many more and much bigger foes to challenge me 😛 and just like runes really don't matter in Elden Ring as they are so easy to obtain by just playing the game through normally, and thus dying doesn't really matter that much, I expect the same will be true of TLoU when I get used to being eaten alive a few times and death will become just a part of it.

@LtSarge You’re probably right about Valhalla lacking landmarks as such. A lot of the cities have burned down over the years and all the Roman stuff is essentially gone by now too. The cliffs of Dover and Stonehenge are probably the best ones in the game, along with the cathedrals. Make sure to visit Hadrian’s Wall at the top of the map too, that’s pretty cool. The DLC’s settings are more interesting and I loved the Isle of Skye free DLC.

@JohnnyShoulder @Jimmer-jammer Did a bit more exploring in Elden Ring and, without a map for the most part, and using minimal YouTube assistance and relying on hints/deduction from the source material, managed to increase the number of my flasks up to 8 and have increased their potency up to +4 .

Stats have increased slightly, Vigor is at 45 now, planning to make it 60 and increase Str from 55 to 80, also got my Greatsword up to +15, dunno if I mentioned that part previously, and after I level Endurance to 25, with my Jellyfish Ashes +3, Margit shouldn't stand a chance!

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Hope you enjoy Stormveil Castle and good luck with Margit! I don't think he will pose you with too much trouble.

I played through the demo for that Chinese Soulslike with the anime artstyle AI Limit.

I thought it was rather solid. I chose the twin blades when I got the chance to chose a weapon and the moveset was pretty decent.

You don't actually lose all your crystals (Souls) upon death, only a portion. But after beating the first boss I gained an item that would permanently change the portion I'd lose, how much crystals I'd gain per enemy and I believe how much energy/mana I'd gain.

You have an energy/mana bar that you can use for weapon skills, your arm powers (That can be a shield or a parry but there's two other functions I didn't get) or magic.

Each attack you do regains some of the bar, each attack you take removes some of it. Weapon skills and magic can't be used when your bar is under 50% so there's a nice risk vs reward I thought for the mechanic.

The English voice acting was... Okay. Nothing remarkable. The framerate seemed solid and there was a good sense of exploration though I actually did get a little turned around at times in these sewers.

But yeah... I thought it was pretty good. I'll keep my eye on it!

I've been playing too much Helldivers 2. It's just addictive and so easy to pick up, especially when it always feels like you're helping progress the narrative. A true innovation of how live-service games are done that felt so obvious but hasn't been done until now.

I've started Ys X: Nordics. I know I'm going to really enjoy it. My one complaint so far is that I can't help but compare the boat sections to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. They look pretty bad compared to a game that was released in 2002.

@Jimmer-jammer Yes, indeed I have, I've been into a few catacombs and defeated the Crystalian (early) and the Cemetery Shade (later) the second when I was already quite op for Limgrave mini-bosses and killed him in like two hits! What did you make of the catacombs yourself?

Edit: With my character's long hair, Knight armour and Greatsword my character is also now starting to look a bit like William from Nioh if he was wearing the Knight armour from the prologue and hoding a refashioned B*stard sword to make it look like a lengthier weapon. — (I played a bit of that game - not much, but enough to know you can create that sort of build in the game)

Edit II: What build did you go for?

Edit III: Vigor now up to 60, moving on to Endurance next
(getting it from 10 to 25) and then finishing off Strength (from 55 to 80).

I think I’m 60% through Dragon Age Veilguard. This game is very good despite what the internet discourse says. The writing isn’t as bad as it is made out to be. In fact, I think when you get halfway through the game and make some meaningful choices the writing becomes peak BioWare, or at the very least very good. If you take the time to talk not only to your companions, but the town members themselves from various factions, you’ll discover excellent characters. The writing isn’t perfect. It can be Marvel-esque at times. But the game has a lot of positives that largely outweighs its negatives. I’m hoping I can beat/platinum the game before Dragon Quest 3 HD Remake releases.

I've also been playing Into the Radius, great game. Weapon Maintenance and general prep/inventory management has never been so fun and engaging.

@Jaz007 I’ve never heard of the game until recently on these forums, but I’m gonna check it out.

@Kraven It’s VR game. It’s kinda like VR Stalker from what I’ve heard (haven’t played Stalker).

Instead of buying new games while I can't buy a disc drive for my PS5 Pro, I decided to push the new console with some games in my backlog.

Currently using all that raw power for: The Plucky Squire
Runs great

@Voltan If you have PS Plus Extra, Dead Island 2 is available and is Pro enhanced.

@JohnnyShoulder I might check it out

@Jimmer-jammer Oh! A hint of what's to come, perhaps, Jim? Looking forward to it!

@Jimmer-jammer

😁