Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

I've been playing Spider-Man 2 for the last week or so and an maybe three quarters of the way through so I guess I've played enough to state that, for me, it's just a bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong it's a fine game, plays well and looks great so I've been getting all introspective and trying to work out why it hasn't really clicked for me.

I really enjoyed the first one and even Miles Morales, though that was more like a DLC for the first one in my opinion. Maybe it's that superhero fatigue and I'm just not that hyped for Marvel stuff anymore. Maybe my expectations going in were too high and I was expecting a 8'or 9 out of 10 and it feels more like a 6 or 7. Maybe it's not really attempted to do anything new so it's just more of the stuff I was doing years ago. Or maybe I've just changed my tastes in the intervening period between the last installments and this one.

The combat seems repetitive, I can't really be bothered with the random crimes that keep popping up as I'm swinging around the city anymore, the collectables just seem like padding busywork and even the more cinematic main quest parts are just extended QTEs.

I am going to persevere and finish it, hopefully over the next day or two so maybe the climax will turn it around but it's not a game I will look back on particularly fondly.
How did anybody else feel about it? Is it just me?

@sorteddan I feel like you about most of Sony's first-party games in general, specifically the sequels as they're just more of the same. I mean sure, you can glide in Spider-Man 2 and I prefer the sequel to the first game. But it's largely more of the same game. I didn't even like the first Spider-Man to begin with lol. Although I did enjoy Miles Morales a lot. It could be because it was a shorter experience and Miles' abilities are more varied and fun than Peter's.

@LtSarge @sorteddan I really quite enjoyed SM2, and felt it was one of the best games I played this year. The final quarter of the game does mix things up somewhat so you might enjoy it a little more, although it doesn’t suddenly become a tactical shooter or a complete gameplay subversion or anything. I do think the Marvel fatigue doesn’t help with the feeling many people have of it feeling too samey with the last games. The short run times of the games makes it feel less monotonous to me than say, the final 20 hours of Persona 5 or Red Dead Redemption II, or even TLoU2, which are games I felt just dragged a bit toward the end.

There’s also just an expectation that I think we have now because of the long development times and the increased innovation and variety we have in games. So “safe” sequels are becoming harder to swallow when one has to wait 5 years between entries. The Uncharteds, the Assassin’s Creeds, the BioShocks (at least the first two), the God of Wars (originals), the Mass Effects, etc, etc were also really iterative with their sequels but often the second game was felt to be the best. I think back then the first of a series was a testing ground and then a couple years later the studio released the real polished version with all the tweaks on the first to make it better and it made for a real big splash for people wanting more. In the current environment, it’s so competitive for our game time that expectations are that each release is polished from the get-go and a sequel should innovate and give a grand new experience. I’m not saying it’s wrong to have these expectations, I just think that’s where we all are.

I have yet to play Forbidden West or GoW Ragnarok, but I do expect they will be just polished versions of the first game. Even Astro Bot, if you call that a sequel 😅. Also Ghost of Yotei. I think TLoU2 innovated the most among the first party sequels and the experimentation with gameplay seemed to be a hit but the subversion of expectations with the narrative made many fans upset. So I think there’s always a risk either way, whether the studio plays it safe or tries a new direction.

That's looking like a possibility... Although the myriad of reasons why I dislike P5 is completely different to my current annoyances with SMTVV! Aside from not liking either's soundtrack that is

Kozuka's compositions are definitely different than Meguro's work in older SMT games. I will say V's soundtrack, as much as I like it (and I really like it most of the time), isn't as consistently themed as his work on IV, which is still my favorite OST in the series.

... I would kill for a Battle B2 right now (That's admitedly the only SMTIV song I really know... But it's an absolute banger of a boss theme). The level up music is pretty good... That's really kinda it in SMTVV though. I've honestly muted the music and played something else instead.

My favorite thing about V is how fair the Hard mode feels. It's hard, but not, like, crazy, unplayable BS like in Nocturne.

... Funny you mention that as the bosses in this have actually made me restart a number of times compared to Nocturne where it was a rare occurrence.

Even infamous Matador only took like 2 attempts and yet my first fight against Naamah took like 4 and Nuwa was no slouch either with her gargantuan health pool.

Though Nocturne's hard mode is completely ridiculous

... I will give it one last chance when I'm not as sick as a dog (Which may've made me more irritated). But it's on very thin ice at the moment!

@Th3solution God of War: Ragnarok was so underwhelming to play compared to the previous one. It definitely felt like more of the same. I agree though that The Last of Us: Part II is the most innovative one, I had an absolute blast with that one.

The fact that so many games in general are just more of the same is making it easier for me to avoid buying them at launch. I don't feel a sense of urgency to play them as soon as they are released.

Imagine growing up in the 90s during the PS1 era. Most of the new AAA releases were such unique experiences, like Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and so on. That'll never happen again, which is so unfortunate.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Level grinding in the postgame.

@HallowMoonshadow Bah, more blasphemy against P5's utterly incredible soundtrack. You're lucky you're so likable.

So, that's the thing with Nocturne: the hard mode is utterly ludicrously hard, to the point where it's not fair, but on Normal, you can cheese 90% of the bosses with Fog Breath + Charge + [Insert Strongest Current Physical Attack on Demi-Fiend]. There's no balance whatsoever. While I'm not necessarily a fan of the Persona-esque approach to buffs/debuffs taken in SMT V, it is a game that feels wonderfully balanced in the Hard mode, always keeping me just on the edge of what would be too hard, but never falling over that line.

The big downside to it in the original was the narrative, but Vengeance adds just enough to not feel unfinished like the original campaign. I'd actually say, on the whole, it's better than Nocturne in terms of making the main campaign finally feel substantive, whereas that game hid its extra narrative behind infodumps in an optional dungeon instead of making a better campaign like they did with Vengeance.

Nocturne slander aside ( ), I'm sorry to hear you're ill. Is it the flu?

Advancing in The Witcher 3 but the game throws too much at you from the start. Also, the controls and movement are clunky.

And I hope the other zones feel better than Velen ... what a depressing HOLE!

Currently I am doing a quest for the Witches of Crookback Bog.

I started playing Crisis Core Final Fanrasy 7: Reunion. Or is it Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core: Reunion? Or is it Reunion: Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core? How many subheadings are allowed per title? 😂

Anyway, that FF7 spin-off with the dark-haired Cloud, Zack, that was first a PSP game. You know the one. So far I’ve just made it through the prologue but it looks pretty good. I like the combat system but it does throw a lot at you in the opening hour. After 120 hours of Dark Souls 2, I habitually tried to play the first boss like a Souls game and it really doesn’t have that accurate of a dodge system. 😅 It’s a much more dynamic combat system than I was expecting. For some reason I thought this was turn based, but it’s actually quite similar to the modern FF7 games and their action-ey combat. Trying to learn a good flow state of spamming sword attacks alternating with materia magic and special attacks, whilst trying to learn the timing of mashing guard or dodge.

The story seems ok so far but I’m barely starting into the main events. There’s that familiar old JRPG cheese evident already. The melodramatic dialogue and line delivery is so… typical of those early Gen games. My tolerance for that tone is waning, but I think I’m settling in. Zack is no Clive Rosfield, I guess I’d say. We’ll see though. Maybe he gets some depth of character soon.

@Zulijaras Yeah Iam like always irritated when a game throws to much at you in the begining. I want a slow a opening where you like have limited options at the start.

@Th3solution interesting choice to follow up the gargantuan playtime you had with Dark Souls 2 with Crisis Core as it’s also pretty meaty from what I hear. As a relatively new FF fan (and someone who also has it tucked away in the backlog) it’ll be good to hear your take on it as you progress.

Personally, I remember being really excited by the announcement that they were remaking Crisis Core but now I kinda feel a bit concerned by the fact that it was simply a PSP game and with the exception of tarting-up the graphics, how different could it be? I’m pretty sure that I’d probably end up enjoying it if I gave it a go but there is a bit of doubt.

@colonelkilgore Crisis Core is not a long game at all unless you are going for the platinum. Then it can be quite long, but the side missions annoyed me enough that I stopped worrying about trying to do all of them.

@KilloWertz must’ve been the time-to-plat that was in my head then… without checking 60ish hours occurred to me.

Edit. Just checked and it’s a mere trifle at 40 hrs

@colonelkilgore Well, I finished Deliver Us the Moon in between for a short palate cleanser. It was a nice little 6-7 hour simple ‘explore and piece together a story’ type of game with light puzzles. Very reminiscent of Tacoma or Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. And a lot like Gone Home, Firewatch, etc. It has a very achievable platinum if you’re ever in the mood. There’s a chapter select to go back for missed audio logs and collectibles and do little tasks if you didn’t do it the first time. I could probably get the platinum in another hour to two but I’m not going to right now.

I also have done a little Balatro since finishing DS2 to rest my action rpg brain a little. Such an addicting little game, that is. I have to limit myself to one run a night so I that don’t let it take over my life. 😅

As for Crisis Core-FF7-Reunion, HLTB has it estimated at around 21 hrs for a “Main + Extra” run and a “Completionist” is 48 hours. I usually fall somewhere in between, so I reckon 30-35 hrs, maybe. So not too bad. But then again, Scholar of the First Sin Completionist run is listed at 104 hours and I definitely went over that! 😆 And I didn’t even get the platinum! But I did do everything and beat every boss, so that’s reasonable.

Anyway, I’ll be sure to drop more impressions of FF7 CC when I get more under my belt.

Yeah I've never played more then an hour of Nocturne's hard mode for good reason @Ralizah! I would like to give a legitimate try one time but... I'm good for now

I constantly felt like I was spamming the debuff spells in VV to not get steamrolled in the boss fights... It feels needed more then ever before. Granted I missed all the in-between SMT games from Nocturne to VV so I didn't get the affinity system at first.

Yeah so I had the flu halfway/tail end of November. I was finally getting over it only to get knocked off my feet with this chest infection bug that's been going around over here. It's been an exhausting and frustrating month and a half.

I'd already put Baldur's Gate III on the backburner (Cus I did NOT want that ruined) and now SMTVV's going there too til I'm 100% back to normal. Gotta find something even less taxing... Probably look for a visual novel or something less mentally taxing to play

@Th3solution ahh fair enough, was probably a good idea to get something short and sweet done in-between the two bigger games to be fair. I have heard that Deliver Us the Moon (& it’s sequel) are pretty decent… and obviously Balatro is meant to be more addictive than crack, so kudos for keeping that in control! 😅

I've been delving into the Astro Bot speedrun levels. @Quintumply your times are tumbling boyo

@colonelkilgore Yeah, I’m not sure how much you’d get along with Deliver Us the Moon, as it’s quite light in the gameplay department. But it doesn’t overstay its welcome and it’s decent enough, if not a smidge janky. I got stuck in the environment more than once and had to load a previous save. There was one point where a door didn’t open that was the place to walk through to progress and I wasted about 30 minutes rummaging around, not sure how to continue and get out of the tram I was stuck in. Since there’s often cryptic puzzley ways to move from room to room I just assumed I was being daft and couldn’t figure it out. Finally I searched a walkthrough on YouTube, and saw that the door was supposed to have just opened automatically and for some reason it didn’t for me. Grrrrr…
Thankfully the last save point wasn’t far removed but it was frustrating all the same.
But yeah, AA misses aside, I’ll still be playing the sequel because it’s a type of game I enjoy doing from time to time.

@Th3solution yeah that door-issue would’ve annoyed the hell out of me 🤣… I’ll probably still play it (& it’s sequel) at some point though, as it sounds like a nice change of pace between the longer more involved games that I tend to play normally.

@Th3solution I didn't realise Deliver the Moon was a walking simulator, which admittely does put me off trying the game any time soon. Not that I was going to though, but will bear that in mind next time I come across it. I always assumed the gameplay was more involved when I've seen it previously.