Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@GirlVersusGame haha, he's not my hero. He's... our hero, Henry 😁 in all seriousness, i'd never legitimately have a videogame character as a hero, but i'm happy to play along. Part of the charm of the games is that he's just a useless, carefree lad thrown into a very heated political climate due to... certain events early on, though. And how well he deals with that is really up to the player. You can be absolutely useless, or be a bohemian batman. The first game, especially, is very cerebral in design and investigation led. So no, it isn't really just a game where you swing a sword about a bit, it is very character and event driven. And because of the setting the events are quite interesting and historical. It is also full of satire, so there is plenty of humour.

Yes, Sapkowski's books certainly focus a lot more on the political side of things, and some of it is then carried into the games, the relations between different states, the impact of trade and currency, manufacture all that kind of stuff. The first few novels are really focused on that kind of thing and there are a lot of real world influences. A lot of it will be vague for neutrality, but i'm sure you would personally recognise a lot of the elements. I think Nilfgaard is kept vague enough that it could be seen as any great empire that has decided it is time to aggressively expand, though, and a lot of empires share similar traits in this way, but again, there will be things you probably recognise, especially in the books where he can go into detail about general politics, hidden plots, power struggles, war tactics, trade, finance. But if you want even more of that side of things, then maybe start with his Hussite Trilogy. You could even listen to that as you grind alchemy, sword fighting, and archery practise in KCD ; ) it just pairs so well. Although the music in KCD is also superb, so you'd maybe need an extra set of ears 😁

I would hope that Warhorse dare to fully explore the Hussite wars at some time. Only they could, and the ground work has been done to do so. Either in KCDIII or maybe an even more serious spin off/new ip. Rumours were they were also expanding into fantasy games, too (imagine if that meant they were actually just making the Sapkowski Hussite trilogy game and that was the fantasy project they were working on, the mostly historical fantasy set quite close to KCD's timeline in quite a similar location. That would be perfect, but maybe a little crazy and confusing to suddenly have magic in a very similar setting to KCD 😅 so probably unlikely it would be that)

I don't know how much people relate to the Witcher Universe like that, i'd assume at least 80% of players and fans just like the killing monsters and having, ahem, relations with witches. But Sapkowski's genuine interest in history is clear to me in the books, and because the games are pretty faithful then there is some of that carried over to those too. I'm sure other people appreciate and recognise these things, too. And I think because people are just people a lot of everything is relatable, even if you didn't grow up under certain systems, it's not like people with power are much different in different religions or under different political climates. It is all just people who have power or influence using it to hold down, exploit and control through various means. A lord and their serfs, a religion and their followers, an empire and their vassal states, an abuser and their victims. It is all different levels of the same kind of dynamic, and it takes many different forms and is universally relatable.

Quoting you from another topic but I just wanted to say, Spirit of the North 2 is worth checking out, especially if you enjoyed its predecessor.

My only regret is that I picked the wrong week to play it, as I've been quite antsy lately. I wanted to stick around and earn its platinum, but when I realised how long I'd have to keep playing in order to do so, I bailed, safe in the knowledge that it's on my shelf now and not going anywhere. Because it's a vast open world game, perhaps a little too vast. It's also all kinds of charming and chill (except for in its periodic boss battles, which can get surprisingly tasty). Things can get a bit scrappy and janky in places, but then watching the credits you realise how few people worked on it, which in turn makes it all the more impressive.

If you like getting lost in some hands-off exploration of beautiful landscapes (with a cute, customisable fox who can yap on command) then I highly recommend it.

@Werehog but when I realised how long I'd have to keep playing in order to do so, I bailed, safe in the knowledge that it's on my shelf now and not going anywhere. Because it's a vast open world game, perhaps a little too vast.

• That's why I never played much of Death Stranding 2. I had this odd moment of realization that 'I need to not play this right now'. I'd put in a couple of hours and something clicked that told me to shelve it for another day. I don't think it was intimidating or even overwhelming after I'd put hundreds of hours into the first one and one hundred percent-ed it twice (including the Director's cut) The timing just felt off and I still haven't felt the urge to pick it back up. I think some games don't need to be rushed and the first Spirit of The North was one of those rare experiences where I was lost in the character themselves and not the story because there was no real story as a distraction. If someone asked me what I did in that game I wouldn't know what to say, other than fox goes yap. And there was a lot of walking.

Death Stranding is one big convoluted complex story, I've never related to any of it. Instead I related to the connection between Egyptian mythology and Spirituality, the rest of it for me was just task completion, literally delivering packages. I could never enter that mindset with a game like Spirit of The North, it was one hundred percent 'what's over here?' I don't even remember it having enemies. I thought Endling Extinction would be similar, it was horrifying and about as relaxing as being stalked by a Velociraptor.

That's an owl eating my child. It's rare I'll step away from a game, I did with that one. I went into it thinking it would be another Spirit of The North. It was like Manhunter meets The Long Dark Night. I have nothing but respect for anyone who manages to stick with it and pull that one hundred percent. I thought the focus might have been on what happens when humans push heavy industry too hard and destroy the environment, I didn't expect the environment and other animals to be a threat. It was really unique, well made, but brutal.

If you like getting lost in some hands-off exploration of beautiful landscapes (with a cute, customisable fox who can yap on command) then I highly recommend it.

• That sounds like perfection and entirely relatable in a very funny way. Thanks for the update I'll definitely get around to it. What do you think you'll play next? I'm speeding up Infinite Wealth, I couldn't play for the last couple of days so I'm making up for it now. That platinum has a lot of requirements.

@Metonymy @Th3solution Early impressions of playing SOTE (I am at Shadow Blessing Level 2) - In other words, Sol, the DLC has it's own system of levelling up, separate to the base game, you can still level up with Souls, but it is more effective (I think, Jim?) to level up with the separate DLC levelling system, either way, I intend to do both. (Currently at level 142 for my character), and I think, you said, Jim, that you were about level 130 when you started the DLC, what Shadow Blessing Level did you reach before tackling the final boss?

I am finding the early game within the DLC fairly easy so far, enemies are going down in one or two hits after levelling up with the scadutree fragments (in-game currency for the DLC levelling, Sol) twice, and I intend to get many more scadutree fragments (intend to get to Shadow Blessing Level 10, before the first boss) as I continue my journey.

The world, so far, appears to be darkly beautiful, and is truly satisfying my needs for a Dark Souls 4 game, set in an open-world ,in a way that the base game did not, with all it's bright and cheerful, chirpy colours Plus playing it all out with my Sekiro-style build is immensely satisfying, thus far.

N.B. Gonna get as many Revered Spirit Ashes as possible too ,early on, as I can. (in-game currency for levelling up your Spirit Summons, within the Land of Shadow, Sol.)

In short, I would say that playing SOTE is a far less intimidating experience than I thought it would be, and would be for most players ,I'd say, if you go in at about level 140 ,and have levelled your summons to the max before starting the endgame of vanilla ER/ beginning the DLC. A friend of mine said he found it too easy on NG, so went in at a higher NG+ cycle and found it much more challenging, but NG level at character level 142 ,with a +24 Nagakiba (Long Uchigatana, Sol) and 80 Dex, 60 Vig, is absolutely fine for me, to the extent that I feel like I may not need to play any more FromSoft games after this if the opening hours of the game have truly set the tone for the rest of the DLC - and I've only heard good things.

How is Indy going, Jim? Nearly done?

And are you any closer to that long-awaited final showdown in BG3, Sol?

@Ravix I don't know how much people relate to the Witcher Universe like that, i'd assume at least 80% of players and fans just like the killing monsters and having, ahem, relations with witches.

• Good point, I forgot about the monsters and the relations. I'll probably try The Last Wish when I need to start farming levels. It's unabridged so ten hours plus.

in all seriousness, i'd never legitimately have a videogame character as a hero, but i'm happy to play along. Part of the charm of the games is that he's just a useless, carefree lad thrown into a very heated political climate due to... certain events early on, though. And how well he deals with that is really up to the player. You can be absolutely useless, or be a bohemian batman. The first game, especially, is very cerebral in design and investigation led.

• That sounds like Don Quixote mixed with Disco Elysium, in a good way. I can't think of even one game character I'd have as a hero either. I haven't really clicked with any of them yet. I'd say Batman but that would be cheating. I hope you slept after, I didn't realize how late it was until I saw people wake up for the day. When I was asked how I spent my night I said doing school exams in my game, technically I did.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Sounds really good so far. From’s DLC is known for its difficulty, and so I’m glad to hear that you’re not struggling. All the prep work has paid off for you.

I’ve entered the final run toward the end game on BG3. Made one of the critical late game decisions, and have won the first main battle in the run to the final boss. I, like you, am reaping some rewards now for the thoroughness of my playthrough to this point. There’s certain buffs from the game’s NPCs that are handy if you took time to do side quests for some people.

Playing Visions of Mana and hopefully will be finished by next week for DQ 7 Remake

I'm going to push Infinite Wealth hard today, it's so easy to be distracted and the XP from those distractions doesn't really add up. It looks like the story is the way to go and I'm only half way through, I did do something to get the strongest end-game weapon early. That should help move things along.

I'm even getting a hang of this Sujimon thing.

@GirlVersusGame If I’m remembering correctly, this is your first real Yakuza / LAD game, right? Do you feel lost at all with the narrative or setting? Do you think you’ve missed out on significant context from the prior games?

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Great to hear you’ve had a good start in things, and that your build is paying off! Yes, the scadutree fragments are a must. I think having a separate leveling system for the DLC was a very smart approach, and in typical From Software fashion, it’s been woven to fit beautifully within the world they’ve built.

Couldn’t agree more on the aesthetic! I experienced a real sense of melancholy - almost as if being in the eye of a storm - while in the Land of Shadow. Hope it continues to go well for you, as it really is like a whole new game.

I’ve been rather busy with various things as of late so Indy’s been on the back burner. Hopefully I can wrap it up this week. In what limited game time I’ve had, I managed to rip through the Nioh 3 demo with our son. Needless to say, I can’t wait Friday!

I've been currently playing Cult of the Lamb, cute indie but it does get dark and violent.

After I finally platinum it (waiting for a patch), I plan to 100% God of War: Ragnarok next.

@KidRyan I loved that game, it does get a bit dark and violent but the art-style is great and so is the gameplay loop. I never managed to get one hundred percent, I'm not sure why I stopped but I did really enjoy it. There was a similar-ish game called Nobody Saves the World, I've rarely seen it mentioned. I liked also Graveyard Keeper but that game was a little dark too, really fun gameplay loop. I'll probably try Spiderman over the next couple of weeks. Maybe an Indie before it. I pushed Infinite Wealth hard last night, almost to level forty. Is it Spider-man Remastered 2023?

@GirlVersusGame Spider-Man Remastered 2023 yes, you'll want to start with that first.

If you like it enough to beat the story, then you'd play Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2.

@Metonymy Well done on making it through the demo, man, and as for Indy, well it's like you said, priorities, y'know? Especially if real life stuff is keeping you busy and active outside the world of video games, anyway, I hope the game lives up to the expectations set by the demo when it releases tomorrow. Here's to many more happy adventures ahead! 🍺

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Thanks! I find Nioh is the type of game that really suits a particularly busy season of life. First, the amount of customization on offer allows me to tailor an experience that largely mitigates any gameplay frustrations while also wrestling back a sense of control that may be lacking in my day to day. It’s also super easy to jump in and out of. Whether I have 10 minutes or an hour, I can scale my goals with ease. Also, the high octane action and constant sense of progression lock me into a resilient and productive frame of mind, which bleeds into my day to day. I assume something like this is the allure of live service games as well, and I can roughly relate.

Indy’s pacing is almost lackadaisical by contrast, which is by no means a criticism, by the way. Eventually, the time will be right to jump back in.

Sometimes the way a game lands is a bit like a game of Jeopardy, where we have an answer in search of a question.

From what I understand about the Death Stranding games, that makes total sense and yes, as much as I loved both Spirit of the North games, they fit into that same bracket. It's like they've taken one element of the open world sandbox formula (namely the exploration and rewarding curiosity) and made it the entire point of the experience. That's to be commended and when it's all you want, it can hit just right, but quite often there's a reason curiosity leads to an apocalyptic combat encounter or tightly scripted set-piece. I mean, gosh darn it, I'm a gamer! I need my instant gratification!

For the record, Spirit of the North 2 doesn't have any enemies, either. It just has boss battles (and when I call them "battles" I'm being generous, they're structured more like puzzles).

And thank you for the warning about Endling Extinction, by the way! I'd never even heard of the game but like you, I might have made the same mistake had I ever discovered it for myself. Based on what you've shared up there, I will most definitely be steering well clear!

I just got underway replaying Uncharted 4: A Thief's End via its remastered PS5 version. It's been a while, but... well, let's just say it's a reminder that my opinions are constantly evolving.

How about you? You still pushing towards that Infinite Wealth platinum, and is it still fun?

Tried Pragmata demo and I'm convinced %100. I was already positive about it but playing it made me sure. It's going to be fun adventure. That's why we need demos!

Hacking is simple yet a good addition to shake things up and I'm sure it will evolve even more in the future levels etc. Gunplay feels solid.

If Onimusha is good too(which I'm expecting demo for that too to show people how it is like) Capcom will have the best year probably with Trinity.

@Werehog If you ever read the Egyptian Book of The Dead, that's basically Death Stranding and most definitely where Kojima pulled a lot of the lore from.

When humans die, their ka escapes their ha. This was a concept that had been investigated by the ancient Egyptians and explored the two elements that made up life. When the body, or ha, necrotizes and lingers in this world, the soul, or ka, becomes lost in search of it. It remains in the area where it died, looking for it for the rest of eternity. - Taken from the Death Stranding Novel. It's still on my Kindle.

Endling is good in it's mechanics, game-play loop and definitely in it's art and aesthetics but it's brutal too and I love hard survival games but the focus on animals made it cut that deeper. The Long Dark and Stranded Deep are two of my favorites. I lost everything in Stranded Deep multiple times and still kept coming back to it. One time I fell off my raft and watched two weeks worth of work sail off into the horizon without me. Weeks later (I played it for months) I found it washed up on an island. I'll never forget the day I fell overboard. There was no catching up to that raft, the sails had the wind and I had nothing. All of my containers were on it, every item but my compass. I swam for maybe forty minutes until I found land and then had to gather everything up again. I had a vague idea where I was but without a raft I couldn't set off to find resources and depending on that new tiny island for everything. It's such a good game. I need to try Raft too, it recently made the jump to console. It uses a hook to pull in items from the ocean then you slowly build your raft so you can explore further and survive longer.

That would have been on Stranded Deep on PS4, I believe they upgraded it to PS5 and added co-op so the only friend doesn't have to be a sportsball like in Castaway (Tom Hanks movie)

The Long Dark was much harder, finding food and resources was really hard and even when you get to the point where you can set traps the meat needs to be thawed, without fire that can't happen. I don't think I went for one hundred percent in the end but I did for Stranded Deep. I remember one trophy meant putting one of each animal on a raft and sailing off Noah style, I sailed off into a storm and everyone including myself drowned so I was back to having nothing again but it was fun. Something like Subnautica is a lot more forgiving, hopefully people give it a try this month. I saw Subzero was added. Abiotic Factor was the most recent survival games I played and loved every minute of it. I'm so glad I tried it, the story, the mechanics, all of it was brilliant and gathering resources from inside a facility was such a unique way of doing it. The whole game was one big love letter to Half Life.

Oblivion Remastered:

Working my way through the thieves guild and I've messed up on the last mission, I didn't pick up the scroll I needed and I can't get back into the place where it is.