Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Tjuz 36 hours according to my console, and I'm near the end of the old folks home, with 2 of 3 Night Springs episodes done. Those are integrated into the main game, so have played them as I come across them.

@Ravix The whole first come, first serve definitely is a more realistic way of going about it, yeah. It does also make more sense in the context of the sequel since the character you use to approach an NPC is more important as well, while it didn't really matter in the original except for a select few cases. I think it just feels less engaging when your partner has the better character for talking to people most of the time, leading to you kind of always just sitting back whenever a conversation is happening. At that point it feels like you're watching a playthrough on YouTube more than anything with how much text that game has! Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if you have a good co-op partner who will talk things through with you instead of pretending like you don't exist during dialogue. My co-op partner was good on that front so it wasn't really an issue, but I still preferred the way of the first simply for having a feeling of choosing together also on a mechanical level.

Speaking of Wasteland 3 which I mentioned in the other thread, I think that one did it best. It had a mix of both. Conversations were initiated and decided by one person like D:OS2, but all skills between you were shared during the conversation. That meant that even if the person with bad speech or the wrong character initiated a conversation, you'd still get the appropriate dialogue or options for if someone else had initiated it who was probably better in that scenario. It removed the FOMO or forcing one person to always take the dialogue and streamlined the whole system to not make it so finnicky about who's controlling who at the time of the dialogue. Maybe CRPG puritans would speak against that being less immersive or whatever, but I'd argue that backing out of conversations because you chose the wrong person at the time is less immersive than just having dialogue options enabled as per your full squad's characters and skills.

Well, if ever you are tempted into action on the co-op Baldur's Gate 3, count me in if we can make the times work! I've been meaning to give that one a proper shot after falling out of it so early on, but I'm so used to playing these Larian games in co-op now that it almost feels wrong to me to make it a single-player experience. First-world issues! That face though... I fear you may have outdone all of my previous efforts. So stoney, so hard.

I got my character to level 135 in ELDEN RING. 60 Vigor, 20 Endurance 28 Strength and 80 Dexterity with an upgraded Keen Nagakiba +12. My Sekiro build is finally complete for this early to mid stage of the game. Now the game can truly begin! .

Edit: Next I am looking at upgrading the Keen Nagakiba to +18, then +24, after acquiring the Mimic Tear and upgrading that to +10, then I intend to acquire and alter the Ronin Armor and the Rivers of Blood, levelling the latter to +24 as well, and acquiring the Lord of Blood's Exultation Talisman, and then my build will be 100% complete and ready for the DLC.

Edit II: Within the DLC I will scale my build to the demands of the foes within with scadutree blessings and revered spirit ashes, and become an unstoppable Shinobi monster! .

Happy New Year!!

Returnal:

Into the fifth biome and I just can't get the 3 keys I need to unlock the boss. I've only got one but I end up getting hammered by all the enemies and using all my heals. Nightmare.

@Decoy_Snake
Good luck, I thought that level was verging on unfair and felt like they were trying to drag out the game.

It's relentless with the amount of enemies it throws at you, it wouldn't be so bad if you kept the keys you've found.

Should’ve actually started this on Christmas Eve but reason(dent Evil: Revelations)s… but I finally got around to Gears of War: Reloaded and… I’m feeling a bit disappointed. I know it’s an old game at its brass-tacks but I didn’t remember the actual gunplay feeling so poor. It just doesn’t feel like your bullets have any impact on the enemies you hit. I don’t know about anyone else… but the visible and aural impact that a bullet has on its target really elevates the ‘feel’ of a gun for me.

It looks pretty great considering it’s basically just a lick of paint on a 20 year old game and I am enjoying the music and sound effects etc. The in game dialogue is very by the numbers though and I’ve already found myself mashing through cut-scenes.

I’m playing through solo in Hardcore mode first, before starting a co-op playthrough on Insane later this month. While I haven’t really got very far yet, I’m pretty surprised by how easy Hardcore is (at this stage at least). It’s definitely given me some confidence for taking on the more difficult mode.

I acquired the Mimic Tear ashes in ELDEN RING, this morning, after defeating the Mimic Tear boss, now gonna upgrade the Summon before taking on the next few bosses.

Played a little more Gears and it is growing on me tbh. The heavy-on-the-machismo sci-fi does appeal, not gonna lie… and I’m acclimating to the gunplay a bit too.

The major surprise for me personally is how it’s stacking up against Uncharted. I originally played Gears on 360 before my first playthrough of Uncharted on PS3… and at the time I think I preferred Gears. So as I’ve gone back to the Uncharted this last few years and been really pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying them… I was kinda expecting the same reaction (if not more) from Gears but that hasn’t really been the case. So my current sentiment, is that I prefer Uncharted, which I wasn’t expecting. That could change though, especially if Gears 2 and 3 also get ports (which are generally perceived as the better entries).

Overall vibe then, I’m enjoying it… if a little less than I expected.

@JohnnyShoulder Ah, so you're well into it already then! How did you feel about the Night Springs DLC you've played so far? I played them concurrently with the main campaign as they showed up much like yourself, and as I'm sure you can tell by my forum avatar, I loved the first chapter. Such a fun, silly change of pace that had me laughing my butt off on more than one occasion! The second didn't really hit for me. Not sure if that's because I'm largely unaware of the Control characters and lore, but the location they reused was already one of my least favourite of the main game. I just didn't find the short campaign they had going on there to be particularly interesting too. I get that it was going for like a surreal Twilight Zone-y vibe, but I think they missed the mark on that one. The encounter design was also just rather uncreative and didn't really introduce anything interesting for this short narrative. I enjoyed the third one a lot more again since the creativity is on full display there!

I upgraded my Mimic Tear Ashes Summon to +5 this morning, with materials I found throughout the world, the next step is to upgrade it to +7, then hopefully ,if I can be technology-savvy enough, record and upload my upcoming battles with Godfrey, Golden Shade, and Morgott to PushSquare, to share it with you guys! ,show you how the build is coming along, sorta thing.

@Tjuz Yeah they were a blast to play! Especially the third one with all the different styles, I really liked the comic book and retro sections , which had me grinning from ear to ear! The second and third episodes do tie the events of Control, so if you have not played that game they maybe won't leave such an impression, something that you will not get from watching recap or similar.

I can't stress this enough to anyone that has not played Control, please do! It is an amazing game. As it plays quite differently to Alan Wake 2, you could easily play them back to back without fear of getting burned out.

I was able to start Star Wars Outlaws the other day, first game of the New Year. Struggled through a real rocky start, but thankfully "got" the game in subsequent sessions.

Will go and leave more detailed thoughts elsewhere but yeah, broadly speaking, fun game is fun!

Still Elden Ring Nightreign for me, to be honest. I don’t really have any interest in playing anything else at the moment. Whether that’s due to an obsession with the game or a lack of interest in others remains to be seen.

Apologies if I'm telling you people something you already know but.... Silent Hill 2 is tremendous. It's exceptional and it's bab inducing. It is certainly the most terrifying game I've played this year so far.

Now the franchise does hold a special place in my heart as it was the first real survival horror experience I had back on the PS1 (oh I played that game so many times!) long before I found RE and others. It just has a way of keeping me on edge and making me feel vulnerable. Now I don't really mind if my character dies from time to time but I'm constantly worried about what's in the next room or taking hits from unseen enemies.

It looks great (playing on quality mode) but I think it's the sound design that really keeps me on edge and unsettled, every time that bloody radio static starts up I have to run to a dead end or a corner so I can't be ambushed. I know how unsettled its making me as I start off quite relaxed but get closer to the edge of my seat and creep closer to the screen whenever I'm playing!

At last check my character is carrying 20 health drinks, 11 syringes and a whole bunch of ammo so I shouldn't be as worried and cautious as I am while playing but hey ho.

Just lost around half hour progress as I realised I'd left the prison section without picking up the last weapon so had to revert to a previous save. Though it did me a favour as I then managed to defeat Abstract Daddy using only melee (good couple of boshes round the back of the head with a pipe after a well timed dodge) whereas the first time I pretty much unloaded all of my shotty shells into it.

Now am exploring some Escher inspired labyrinthine hell hole and running away from something I haven't seen yet that keeps roaring at me and occasionally hitting me round the nut.

Ah Silent Hill, how I've missed you.

In case you didn't pick up the point I think it's bloody brilliant. (Though those wall climbing legs can eff right off!)

@sorteddan
I’m pleased that you are enjoying SH2, unfortunately it didn’t gel with me but i think I’m just in the wrong mindset at the moment for that game so hopefully will return to it at some point.

I’m playing AC Mirage atm which is ok, not great, it also has a few bugs and today I was ten minutes into a mission and got stuck under the map at which point I turned it off. Coming to the end of this and on course for the platinum, just have to decide whether to do the dlc.
Also I’m about to start playing Subside, a VR swimming game which hopefully will transport me from this frozen winter land that we have at the moment.

@CaptD
Oh sorry to hear that though looking back I think maybe the first hour or so is not the best (the long mooch into and around the town). Think it gets good when you reach the apartments and proper good at the hospital.
Couple of tips for it you do go back.
1) explore everything, all the nooks, crannies, corners and buildings you can access (lots of map checking).
2) in the same vein, smash every window you come across (lots of ammo and health stuff hidden in vehicles, shops and cabinets)
3) don't try to take down most enemies with guns - you won't have enough ammo so couple of shots to the knee/hip area and when they falter run in and bash those bonces... Oh and learning attack patterns of various enemies so you know when to dodge really helps as well (Though they still catch me out plenty)
4) when you are in town near the beginning you should probably just avoid the enemies, there is no bonus for killing them and there are lots. Just outrun them and only bother with the ones you can't avoid, like if they're in the building you need to explore.
Hope some of that helps

I think I played one of the first AC games and didn't like it, too much stealth and sneaking which I generally suck at, so I never went back. I have been tempted by Origins and Odyssey though as I read they're a lot more open world and enjoyable stories if a bit of a grind/chore. Good luck finishing it off and popping that shiny!

@sorteddan
Thanks for the tips although I did give it a fair shake and made it past the first puzzle in the apartments. It was the apartments that made me bin it, every apartment being the same (as you would mostly guess) and not really knowing where I was going or what I was trying to do.
But it is a me issue I think as I’m rushing through games atm as my PS sub is ending so I’m trying to clear backlog and also take on new EXTRA games in the remaining days. I will be pleased when I’m free of the shackles.

As for Creed games both Origins and Odyssey are great, Odyssey’s Kassandra character is brilliant and it feels like Ubisofts attempt at a Witcher style game so if you like the Witcher perhaps give that game a go.

@JohnnyShoulder I definitely intend to give Control a proper shot after having previously just booted it up for one or two hours! I wonder how it'll be to experience the AWE expansion after having played the follow-up. I'm sure it'll still stand on its own since it needed to appeal to players who only played the main game and are not familiar with the Alan Wake lore, but I wonder if my having played the sequel will spoil the experience or just have it add more context to the going-ons of what I've already seen play out. Glad you enjoyed the Time Breaker episode! It really was very creative. Do let me know what you think of The Lake House DLC when you finish it as such a fan of Control. I really enjoyed it despite lacking context, so I can only imagine how satisfying it must be for someone already heavily invested in that lore.

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@sorteddan Glad to hear you've been enjoying Silent Hill 2! I think you nailed it with the sound design particularly being what makes the atmosphere of that game stand out so much. I do wish I'd be less desensitized to horror so that I could experience the full fear in its intended form. As it stands, it sadly takes a lot for any piece of entertainment to truly scare or unsettle me. There's no denying that they nailed the atmosphere even to me though, which in and of itself already is plenty of praise! The amount of health drinks and syringes you have frankly shocks me. I think I was running low on them basically at all points! Maybe I was too trigger happy with using them or simply not cautious enough when engaging in combat.

Funnily enough, my friend had the exact same experience missing out on the gun in the prison. It seems to be a shared horror for many! Unfortunately, he had to revert even further since it had been a while since he saved. He basically had to replay the entire prison section and lead-on to it, but he persevered through the repetition. Not that I think he minded, since he's already replayed the whole game once a few months later. Happy it doesn't sound like it detracted from your fun either having to replay a part... plus saving on shotgun shells is always useful in survival horror! Do you think you'll move onto Silent Hill f quickly after finishing this one? I haven't gotten to it yet, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts as someone who's been with the franchise for a long time and the changes it has made to the formula.

@CaptD
Ha yeah I did a similar approach when my extra was running out last August... Then they added SH2 and around black Friday I saw that to resubscribe till next August would cost around the same as I was looking to pay for that game so was kind of a no brainer. I've already played a handful of shorter games from it (Sword of the Sea being the standout) and reckon it I can beat this and TLoU 2 then it will have been worthwhile... Damn Sony and their ways!

@Tjuz
To be fair I've just wasted a bunch of healing stuff to get past the Eddie encounter, though having the rifle and an abundance of ammo for it may be saved some time. Probably not looking to pick up SHF any time particularly soon... Need to tackle some of the backlog and prioritise the games I want to play that I've been putting off for too long. Am definitely going to immediately head back into this one though cos those baddies are gonna get some chainsaw wrath on NG+... May even stick around and see how many endings I can pick up.

Anyhow, just made it to the hotel which I think is the last major location so will hopefully complete first run by the weekend.