@Thrillho Ha, it was incredibly satisfying to finally wake up Hypnos, if not very anti-climactic. All that time wondering and waiting for it to result in nothing major really. Glad you had no further issues getting to the end and presumably the epilogue conditions eventually. How's the platinum coming along?
@Tjuz Still not in the epilogue apparently. The completion level on the game screen in only at 50% at the moment and I still haven't found the Three Fates but have most of that prophecy fulfilled. Almost finished the Arachne one off but haven't really looked up which ones I need for trophies.
Apparently the rarest trophy I have is for maxing all my familiars' stats.
I'm currently just alternating which route to take, using whichever weapons gives me bones for the run, and then seeing if the fear level needed corresponds to the weapon I've got and route I'm on. Zero fear if not.
My best recent build I think was with the witches staff and Momus type (fires your omega attack itself twice more) which is a great feature but had a high level scorch ability on attack and freeze on special, with a duo boon that dealt bonus damage and instantly used the scorch damage when you froze them. Brutal!
I started and finished Hellblade 2 this week (it's not very long).
It's a beautiful experience and I highly recommend it, even if it's technically mostly a walking simulator.
Also, this may be a hot take but I really enjoyed the combat in it (unlike the first game).
@Voltan I’ve come really close to buying Hellblade II the last couple times it’s gone on sale. I really loved the first one. So many have said how disappointing the sequel is, so I’ve been reluctant to spend any money on it, but I think you’ve convinced me to just take a shot at it the next time it drops in price. I keep wondering if it will ever be a PS+ game too. With the studio on the brink of collapse I’m not sure how that affects things, as in if Xbox will have a fire sale on the game to recoup any money before they offload the studio.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Having finished off another 100 hr epic in Forbidden West, I decided to go for another first party showcase — Saros. I was deliberating about what big game to play next and decided to just try the first hour of Saros and see how it clicked and I’m already hooked. Man, Housemarque know how to make gameplay feel satisfying. I’m not very far along and have died a couple time in the opening area, but so far so good. Gonna have to get used to the shield mechanic though.
@CJD87 We’ll have to compare notes over on the game’s thread. Glad to see you’re liking the game and back on the PS5 train!
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I will say this: while the first game's main strength was how it approached the topic of mental illness - there's definitely less of that in the sequel, which is what I imagine some could find disappointing.
Instead it focuses on folk tales and what people can be to each other in difficult times.
Regardless, it's a beautiful game and I recommend it.
I’m travelling with work now for a couple of weeks, so very regrettably need to put it down now until later this month! (Taking my Switch2 though, just downloaded FF7 Rebirth at an incredible sales price)
So far Saros is a ton of fun… but probably not quite as great as Returnal? The shield mechanic is a nice addition, and makes the ebb/flow of combat feel quite interesting
I did some remapping which greatly improved my experience though. I have dash on R1, Shield on L1, and then fire/alt on R2/L2.
I prefer Returnal’s narrative style (‘show’ don’t tell) but I’m much preferring Rahul Cohle’s performance as the lead!
But it’s a cool game for sure, can see it being my personal GOTY probably
@Thrillho To be fair, the ''epilogue'' is basically just the post-game. It ''ends'' when you reach the requirements of finding the Three Fates, but it's nothing more than a little bow on top of your journey. It sounds like you're already well on your way to rounding that off! I think Arachne, like most story-focused prophecies, is necessary for the platinum, so it's good you're nearing the end of that particular sub-plot! I never reached the end due to the slower pacing of the encounters as mentioned before, so let me know how that resolves ultimately. I never even got to the end of the Echo/Odysseus plotline!
I enjoyed engaging with the Fear mechanic and usually aligned my weapon with whatever was needed for that particular run, but I never got as far as the full 32. Are you planning to do a full 32 run? I think there'd be no way in hell I'd ever survive one. Even if I would eventually, my patience would wear thin long before. I hope that's not one of the trophy requirements, or you'll be in for one hell of a run at some point. That build sounds great! I loved the Witches' Staff, as well as that particular variation, so I'm sure it was a lot of fun to burst through your enemies with it. Hope you're getting along well still!
I'm 17 hours into Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and I have mixed feelings about this game. First, it took way too long for things to get going. Second, I'm on chapter 4 now and the game has opened up too much at once. You have basically access to half of the game's substories at this point (even though there are 15 chapters). Moreover, a lot of substories are connected to the main story, which feels a bit lazy and ruins the pacing. I feel like I haven't progressed at all through the story because of how much there is to do on the map now. It's very easy to get distracted.
I've also unlocked the Sujimon League, which is a fun take on the Pokémon formula. The problem is that it's not very interesting to play considering the main game's already a turn-based RPG. Had this mini-game been in e.g. Lost Judgment, i.e. a real-time action game, it would've been way more cool and compelling to play. But it doesn't feel special at all to play a Pokémon mini-game in a turn-based RPG.
The game just feels overall rather slow and therefore underwhelming right now. I wish they would've spread out the content a bit more.
@LtSarge If you run into problems with the island part of the game craft builders hats, they are small and increase the stat (the name I forget) it means you won't have to spend days grinding that island. Getting XP became such a grind near the end, I cheated and bought some levels on the PSN. I can't remember how long it took me to finish but I know I played it in five different countries and the night I hit one-hundred percent I turned the game off and just lay on the floor feeling a wave of finality that put me out like a light. It wasn't a bad game, the grind just didn't feel balanced, those dungeons especially. I've never played Pokemon though so the Sujimon feature was really different, and easy to exploit. It's worth using the pee collector man trick for that great weapon too, it made things feel a little more balanced. I'm checking how long platinum took, yikes, almost three-hundred hours. It will go faster if you aren't going for full completion, but the story is still really really really really really long.
These violent delights have violent ends & in their triumph die, like fire & powder Which, as they kiss, consume.
@GirlVersusGame I'm shuddering just thinking about that there's even more extensive side content besides Sujimon. It's just insane how much there is to do in this game. I love side content as much as the next person, but there's a limit before I get fed up.
The whole point in playing a certain game is because you want to experience that type of game. If I want to relax and read, I'll play a visual novel. If I want exploration, I'll play an open world game. And so on, and so forth.
If I want to play Pokémon or Animal Crossing, then I'll just play those specific games. Now I want a Yakuza experience. I want a compelling and dramatic story (barely anything has happened so far). I want to experience bonkers substories (most of which have been very lackluster so far). I've been fine with the change of combat to turn-based instead of real-time, but Infinite Wealth just keeps on deviating from the main formula. This just doesn't feel like Yakuza anymore, it feels like a mess of a series with no focus anymore.
On a side note, I'm very interested to see how Stranger Than Heaven will turn out to be. I feel like RGG needs to just start over, so hopefully that game turns out well.
Anyway, you can bet that I'm not going for the Platinum lol. 300 hours is absolutely nuts. Right now, I'm contemplating just focusing on the story and doing side content whenever I feel like it until the game is over. Which is unfortunate because I tend to enjoy doing most stuff in a Yakuza game, but this game has just too much going on.
@LtSarge I love side content too and I went from 'oh wow there are so many activities this will be brilliant!' to 'this is getting painful'. I think the problem is that so much of it is focused on real world activities and while that works culturally, when everything is an activity it starts to feel like slow torture. I think there was a trophy for eating every meal in every restaurant and eatery too, it's all slowly coming back to me. It was the more crazy side-content that stood out like Crazy Taxi food delivery, taking photos of those weird naked men, wacky worked but they layered it with mundane activities and all it did was clutter the map. It feels like I watched hours of cut-scenes too, it's odd complaining about too much content but I do think the story got buried under a lot of it for me and because the campaign does get harder side-quests and grinding is needed to get through in one piece.
The island definitely slowed things down, as did trying to get across the game map without activating group after group, it's a good thing they have the auto-skip for when you are stronger than them but late game they get really strong and fights drag on. Finishing the story felt like a huge achievement. I was playing from midnight until three in the AM almost nightly and for weeks, I tend to not play narrative heavy games either so that definitely added to the fatigue. I'm glad I did stick with it because the story does get progressively better, it just felt exhausting getting there. It must be great for a person who loves the franchise, has limited games, and has a lot of time on their hands but for me it felt more like a job than a game and I play supermarket simulators so that's saying something.
These violent delights have violent ends & in their triumph die, like fire & powder Which, as they kiss, consume.
@GirlVersusGame Oh right, I forgot about the Crazy Taxi and Pokémon Snap (RGG really loves Pokémon lol) mini-games. I've completely disregarded them after playing them once as they just didn't have enough substance. In all honesty, they could've expanded upon them way more and added more elements to make them more engrossing to play instead of having Sujimon and The Island mini-games.
It really sounds like it was a tough Platinum trophy based on the work you've put in. I admire your dedication! However, the way you describe it, it really could've been handled better by the developers. It's like you say though, the developers think that people who play their games have an endless amount of free time. I can't imagine how long it'll take for me to simply complete the story.
Another thing I recalled is just how much small stuff there is to do while your walk around. Picking up fortunes, herbs, metal cases, looking under cars or trash cans/containers, not to mention greeting people and saving people from enemies, on top of all the now added Sujimon stuff. This game is literally the worst nightmare for a person with ADHD.
Well, I'm hoping that I'll be able to make some progress in the story today and perhaps finish up chapter 4. Hopefully I don't get interrupted by another substory with an extensive mini-game..
So for the first time in weeks, months? I tried a game that's not Rimworld. I was inspired by @LtSarge and their new game adventure and everything that goes with it. It was one of those awful new Plus+ games, but not truly awful at all. The game was For The King 2 and like most games on the service I'd never heard of it before. I did a little research before playing and most of the reviews talked about it looking like a cosy game but being very difficult. So I gave it a try and my first run before my entire group wiped (four characters) lasted four-hours.
I went in there not really knowing how to play but the tutorial more than made up for that. The classes had all kinds of visual and mechanical customizations and each one seemed fun and unique in their own ways but the Ranger was easily the best especially when a really strong heavy bow dropped. I was constantly being rewarded weapons, armor and consumables, gold too for the overworld maps stores and taverns. The map itself spawns enemy encounters and they refresh after a couple of turns, they can perform ambushes, but so can you. It's possible to sneak through them, RNG based though.
I didn't run into any bugs, crashes, the whole presentation was charming and because it's turn-based the pace was relaxed, and that's even with the chaos meter on the overworld map (which can be reduced at the start of a new game) My only complaint is that unlike some other games in the genre the currency that carries over seems to be locked behind campaign progression. In for example Vampyre Survivors you can easily jump in and gather up gold, eggs and such. That progress carries over making future runs more fun and less of a slog. It can be done very fast, and that's part of why that game works. Survivors games like that (of which I've played many now, perhaps eight) focus on quick doses and top-ups of fun and action, and For The King 2 focuses on an actual campaign/story.
It seems to only have lore books and the unlocks themselves (from what I've seen so far) aren't fantastic but I only saw early game so it probably improves. Many are hidden and might be specific to optional challenges and discoveries. There was a particular sting to earning armor, weapons, gold, then watching it all vanish into the ether (once that character was permadead) but there are ways to resurrect them and upon starting a game you can increase the life pool, which is what I'll do for my next run. Manual saving is a thing too meaning you can experiment a little without as much risk.
All in all it's a nice little game but millage may vary, especially if you don't like RNG based combat or moving each character on your own (if you aren't playing multiplayer) Auto end turn helped me there. Millage may also vary if you don't like the idea of losing all your shiny things upon death. In most games I collect everything shiny and horde it up but never end up using any of those things, consumables especially, I did in this game. Watching my team slowly dismantle and embrace death wasn't a great feeling but it's part of the games core mechanics. When I did finally lose all four characters I felt a very strong 'and I'm not playing this game again' but then I remembered I'm not a quitter so that quickly turned into 'perhaps I should try again with some new characters and spend some lore points'.
@LtSarge This game is literally the worst nightmare for a person with ADHD.
I had to look online what that was. For me it was OCD, and to 'collect all of the things' and then upgrade all of the things but I don't mind exploiting either so I used that island slog and turned it into a money machine, I quickly maxed the best tourists, took all of their money, converted it into USD, slept, rinsed and repeated. With this method I earned fifty million USD and bought/upgraded my way into 'hold my tea watch this'. That's how I balanced a lot of those dungeons and ridiculous constant groups of enemies. I should feel bad about it but I don't, there were far too many enemies on the map at all times and it made wanting to explore or just feel the world a lot more restrictive. I did feel the obsession with picking up those suitcases and herbs too, and the friendship mechanic where you greet everything, I was constantly running into stores to buy food for cats, birds even cows. I also cheated many stats by using those millions to treat my friends to stripclubs and high priced ladies of the night and of the pole, the friendship meter shot up unlocking more combos and team attacks. Getting that weapon from the pee man was definitely a game changer, it was pretty simple. I'd travel over to a particular street, see if he spawned, run around the corner, jump in a taxi, travel down the street, jump out (it respawns the district) if I saw him then buy the pee, and other items like stat upgrades (yes I cheated that much) it took perhaps one hour to get the best weapon in the game. Oh and shark fins for upgrades I got from fishing, very easy.
School helped with progression too.
These violent delights have violent ends & in their triumph die, like fire & powder Which, as they kiss, consume.
@Tjuz I assume you mean Echo/Narcissus which I've done. I still can't get the Athena dialogue to trigger to move the Arachne one along but did finish the Dora/Prometheus story off.
I've still got two people to finish to progress the Fates plot line which is a bit annoying but I know they're both people at the Crossroads in Moros and Hectate so it's easy to check in on them.
I'm still picking off runs in both places and have the first Gift of the Veil after sufficient Fear level runs in both. I've also beaten the Vow of Rivals versions of Hectate, Scylla, and the cyclops so far so need to beat Eris next. I've got all keepsakes now though after two victories against Zagreus and find using the Jewelled Pom, that final keepsake, and Chronos' ones in that order really useful as the effects for them all carry on even after you swap them out.
So still plodding along and enjoying it. I might have a lot threshold for enabling God Mode if it starts to drag as I get close to finishing stuff off, particularly as there are still so many little bits I need to complete for the Platinum.
Palworld because 1.0 finally went live. I have over two-thousand hours on the game going all the way back to the earliest access build on Steam years ago and everything unlocked, maxed, and so on between PC and console. I almost forgot the update went live today, it's blowing up on steam too but I'll be doing this playthrough on PS5. It's going to be really weird starting again with absolutely nothing but I'm excited to see all of the improvements in this more complete build. I saw an article about it on Forbes earlier, it's doing really well on the Steam charts today with over half a million concurrent players. They've added another seventy-two new Pals too, bringing the total to almost three-hundred. I've seen the game go through so many changes over the years, and I'll see a lot more once I finally leave the character creator.
My first catch and it's one of the new ones for 1.0, Pupper.
And there's the basic early footprint for my first home, it's only reachable from a bridge which will be very useful when raids start. My new friend Pupperai helped gather the lumber.
@Thrillho Ah, I did mean Narcissus! I wasn't quite sure I used the right name to begin with, and this proves my memory failed me. I think I was also able to round off the Dora/Prometheus stuff, but I'm not a 100% sure. I definitely got far enough into it that I got the gist of the major revelations, but whether I hit the conclusion, who knows? Sounds like it shouldn't be too long before you manage to tick off the Fates prophecy then! Don't expect anything major. It's really just a fun little scene that doesn't involve anything more than that.
I think I finished about the same amount of the Rivals versions of each boss as you did. I definitely managed Eris and Cerberus eventually, but I never beat Prometheus or either final boss if memory serves. It was good enough to be able to get the second statue at least, but never made it to the third and final one. I'm sure Skelly was disappointed, but I felt I had served my time well enough! Hopefully you've managed to make some progress on that part since.
Does God Mode not disable your ability to get trophies? I don't know, but I always assumed it did. Felt like when you would turn down the difficulty on a game mid-playthrough and the game would punish you by saying no trophies for you! If it makes the trophy hunting easier though, go for it. I'll never be the one to look down on turning down the challenge just to keep the fun going.
***
@GirlVersusGame Glad to see you dipping your toes into some long-form gaming again! I played a bit of Palworld when it was all the hype and enjoyed it. I stopped after a few dozen hours, mostly because my co-op partner got tired of it. I totally understand how you ended up getting 2000 hours on it however! It's a very neat and addictive gameplay loop, and the way the creatures are a lot more than just set dressing was very appreciated. Anything that helps eliminate some tedium from the usual survival mechanics is a bonus in my books. Pupperai seems like the perfect first catch for you too! Good luck on your base. I saw your updated screenshots on the other thread. It looks like it's coming along well. You're a great builder in any game that I've seen screenshots of yours from!
@Tjuz What you described with Palword fits to a similar experience I had with V Rising. Remember the logs I showed you where that guy went extremely abusive in his words etc? It was with him, that was the last game we played together. I think the game added to him melting down because I fell for the game in a big way, especially the building and interior designing. We started playing together and we'd quest, run bosses and explore the world. Then he'd log-off for work in the morning and when he'd return he'd be met with my new builds and additions. He'd shown no interest in base designs in any of the other games we played but that one set him off. I put all of the work thinking it was a nice thing to do, he wasn't building, just living in a room with four walls and a roof. So I built a castle overnight and moved his crypt in there, I'd even built him a bedroom. Instead of 'oh thank you kat' he hit the roof and managed to drag my real life surroundings into the games/build, so after a week of what I showed you before he was gone and I never gamed with another person again.
That was the bedroom, I thought he'd like it.
I don't know that he got tired of the game, but I don't like the idea that I perhaps ruined it for him either. I wasn't levelling up while he was offline, just building and gathering so many resources to even make it possible. I know they market survival games towards multiplayer but the reality is that someone will always put in more effort because they have more time and I suppose others don't like that. The reason I like Palworld so much is because the majority of survival games have no companions, in Deep Stranded I had a football with a face on it for example. But in Palworld I can have (checks) 287 friends each with their own abilities, looks, personalities and so on. I can also talk to the screen without Anyone offline looking at me funny because I do form a bond there.
I can understand why you might stop playing had you already played it with a person, I'm glad I haven't. With V Rising it went from a really good game that I enjoyed and looked forward to the multiplayer to then sort of just standing around in a big castle solo, adventuring and bosses didn't feel the same, the experience probably ruined the game for me too. I was standing around like that offline too, there was no point in keeping the game installed. Most days I forget that multiplayer even exists. Which might sound like a negative but I find the extra grind to be more meaningful and I don't think people are needed when you have Pals.
I was raided right after I took that last picture. Less than two-minutes later I saw the raid warning and rushed to craft arrows. I've now increased defenses and relocated the main entrance to the back to funnel the A.I. into a kill-box situation like Rimworld.
It's now looking like this, the back is all new and subject to change. It's a really early design but I'll get there eventually. I'm working on getting my Pals comfortable, I forgot how many materials were needed for luxury beds, a lot and I lower all my server settings so it takes even longer.
I saw on Discord you were playing Baldur's Gate? I haven't been online much, if it says I'm online it's because I'm dualbooting my encryption/devices so I'm there but not there. It basically means my phone or other devices are running off of two operating systems. If someone happened upon my screen it would look like any normal device, then with the right combination I can switch systems and chat with you and others etc without worrying too much. Or just hit the deadman switch and it all goes poof, it's extreme measures perhaps but the alternative is standing around solo like V Rising. Either way it did show what you were playing, Baldur's Gate, a lot. I haven't tried it but did buy a day-one copy to support the Developers. You'd never return to Palword solo or you like humans more? if you know Pokemon are they direct copies in your eyes? I think not knowing Pokemon helps to separate the two and see the game for something special and to not have exceptions in design or function. Each new discovery is a new Pal, not a new 'oh they look like such a Mon', because to me they just look like Pals.
Been playing AC Black Flag Resynced over the past week and have been really enjoying it. I beat the original back in the day, but it's been so long that I don't really remember the story, so it's been nice to revisit.
I know most people don't like the "battle pass" stuff that they've thrown in for the last two games, but they have a couple crossover ones, which have actually prompted me to dip back into Shadows to help progress them along. It's pretty fun to jump between the two games to get the battle pass XP. I just unlocked Naoe's outfit for Edward and it looks damn fine on him. I typically hate outfits that don't fit the world, but Naoe's is pretty understated and it seems reasonable that a pirate would put on whatever was comfortable, while also being a bit of a brag for worldly endeavors. I think I'll be skipping Yasuke's samurai armor, though. That's too much of a stretch.
Maybe someday I'll find the energy to post some images of my Shadows hideout here. I put scores of hours into it for no one to see... 😔
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