Topic: Games you've recently beat

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is done and dusted.

A much improved sequel that easily blew the first out the water.

As I said before in the PS4 games thread the plot was better with the mystery/treasure being more facinating, the set pieces were a tonne more interesting and bombastic (The tank sequence in particular was a highlight), the villains were much more intimidating, Chloë was better (then dull as dishwater Elana). Hell I even enjoyed the combat a bit more then I did the first.

Was some pacing issues though that hampered the experience sonewhat with the last couple of chapters being far too long (Looking at you Monstary chapter) and didn't advance the plot much at all. Some of the combat encounters got rather annoying as well in the later chapters.

Also the lack of Victor Goddamn Sullivan was frankly criminal

Was good though and definitely a step up over the first by a decent margin.

Still has that summer blockbuster sorta vibe going for it for me. Nothing mind blowing but fun enough amd unlike the first I'll look at it a lot more fondly and maybe even replay at some point down the line 😄

Also the casting gag with the Dragon Age Va's with Morrigan (Claudia Black) as Chloë & Alistair (Steve Valentine) as Harry Flynn was cute.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Congrats! Sounds like you had a great time with Uncharted 2. Will you be playing Uncharted 3 next or are you taking a break from the series now?

Just finished Journey on PS4 after 1.5 hours of playtime. Even though the game has been out for almost a decade now, I never played it until now despite hearing nothing but great things about the game. And it was an absolutely magical experience! At first it felt kinda slow but the pacing increased by a lot after a while. Not to mention that when I discovered another player in my game, I was so surprised. They hid from me for some reason, so I was thinking my eyes played a trick on me or something because I had no idea this game had multiplayer. But then I saw him and it was so cool to be sharing the "journey" with another person. I think this coupled with the amazing soundtrack made for an excellent experience.

I have to be honest though, I wasn't even sure if the second player was real or not. I don't have PS+ so I genuinely believed that the other player was a bot because it wouldn't make sense to let me play online for free. Not to mention that in the paintings that they show in between levels, there was a depiction of two red figures, so I thought this has to be a bot if they're even showing it in the cutscenes. But at the same time, the second person moved around sporadically and seemingly already knew what to do e.g. in the stealth sections. So throughout the entire playthrough, I was so confused as to whether it was a real person or not, lol. But it turned out to be a real person because you get their PSN name after the credits.

All in all, phenomenal game and I'm so glad that I finally decided to play it after so many years.

Wow. I just beat Bloodborne. Admittedly it was probably the worst ending but as didn't think I'd be able to do it and after drifting away from it many times i am pretty happy to see the credits. Had been stuck on a particular boss the last time I gave up on it a few months back but after checking a guide it turns out they were only optional boss anyhow. So to finish I only had the two bosses to beat and did so this afternoon. Now I am a happy Dan.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I still think the scene where you jump from vehicle to vehicle in the convoy is one of my favourite set pieces in the series as it feels like you’re in complete control but when you look back it’s completely linear. Cleverly done.

@LtSarge I had the exact same feelings when I played Journey with regards to the “multiplayer” experience as do most people who aren’t aware about it. It’s very cleverly done and only enhances the overall experience.

@LtSarge If you enjoyed Journey, I can highly reccomend Abzu and The Pathless. Although a different developer in Giant Squid, a lot of people from thatgamecompany formed the company, including the composer Austin Wintory.

@Sorteddan well done mate, hope you enjoyed the masterpiece that is Bloodborne.

@JohnnyShoulder I actually have Abzu, I think I got it through the Play At Home initiative from earlier this year. Never thought much about it but now that you've brought it to my attention, I might just have to play it one of these days.

Never heard about The Pathless. Is it a PS5 or PS4 game?

@LtSarge The Pathless is available on both PS4 and PS5… runs pretty similarly on both but I’ve heard it makes use of the dual-sense’s adaptive triggers etc. so the PS5 is the better experience. It released to positive reviews but was overshadowed in the public perception by Demons Souls, Spider-man: Miles Morales and Astrobot.

I picked a copy up the other day as @Jimmer-jammer was very positive about it. Check out this review from Skill-up for more info:

Oh yeah that convoy was really fun sequence too @Thrillho, definitely a highlight as you say it's cleverly presented to you.

I did end up dying the first time round on it though as I think the car with the turret didn't spawn on me or something as I was just left stranded with nowhere to go before I got blown up

I wasn't planning on starting Uncharted 3 as I really need to make more headway in Pathfinder Kingmaker whilst I still have the time @LtSarge ... But then I ended up playing about 6 chapters of UC3 yesterday 😂

I probably will space playing the third one out a bit more though as it's easy to dip into for a chapter or two thabks to it's short length.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Congrats on your Uncharted 2 completion. Glad you clicked with it better than the first game. You’re in for a treat with Lost Legacy if you like Chloe. Of course you’ll have to play UC4 (and 3, which sounds like is well underway) in order for it to be the best experience, due to plot dependent beats and characters.

thanks @colonelkilgore
Admittedly now have mixed feelings about it.
Enjoyed? Not sure. Experienced? Definitely. Endured? At times.

Now, this was the only From Software games I've played, and therefore completed, and only did so as it's always prominent on lists of best PS4 games and best horror games etc.

So I now kinda get it. There is a massive sense of relief and maybe exhilaration that comes from overcoming the challenges of a boss who had kicked your backside numerous times or a thrill at discovering some new section of an area you thought you had searched every corner of.

Still, glad I can now say I did it but strangely subdued knowing I don't have to overcome anymore of its monstrosities.

I may return in time.

@LtSarge
I would also recommend ABZU. I preferred it over Journey to be honest. It is probably the most relaxing and zen like game I've played. Just found it massively chill to grab a ride on a passing fishy or go exploring for collectables. The soundtrack was also great and also a highlight.

@colonelkilgore Man it looks really good, I can't believe I haven't heard about that game until now. Will definitely add it to my watchlist on PS4 now!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Haha, it happens to the best of us! I tend to save certain games for later but always end up playing them straight away anyway, lol. The Yakuza series is a good example of that, I just can't get enough of those games.

@Sorteddan I can definitely see how that game would be relaxing since it's so quiet and calming when you're underwater. Definitely looking forward to giving it a go, hopefully during a stressful day where the game can just take away all my anxiety!

@LtSarge you’ve been in Xbox land too long mate, PlayStation console exclusives have complete radio silence over there 😉. Speaking of console exclusives, have you given Death’s Door a go yet… it’s the only Xbox exclusive I would love to play right now?

@colonelkilgore Haha maybe that's why! I actually haven't played Death's Door yet but I do know it got glowing reviews when it came out. Couldn't try it out since it's not on Game Pass but I will definitely buy it eventually once I have less games to play on Xbox (which I don't know when that will happen, lol, I'm already so busy playing Psychonauts 2 and Quake among other titles).

I do know that it's basically Zelda mixed with Souls-like, so it definitely sounds very appealing.

@LtSarge ahh, I thought it was on GamePass for some reason. Yeah it looks awesome, hope it comes to PlayStation eventually.

So since I completed Journey yesterday, I decided to play through Flower today and finish off the PS3 trilogy of thatgamecompany games. It was pretty good! Definitely prefer Journey but at least it was better than Flow. I just don't like that these games have forced motion controls. The controls were absolutely atrocious in Flow, but at least they were fairly decent in Flower. Problem is that I looked like an absolute idiot when playing Flower, lol. It's like when you were playing Mario Kart Wii with the Wii wheel and you were doing all these drastic motions. But yeah, Flower was overall a good game and I'm glad that I got to experience it.

@LtSarge I'm playing through The Pathless at the moment on PS5 and really enjoying it. Makes a nice change from the usual stuff out there.

Returnal. Finished the story today, won't be doing platinum as I don't like going for 100%.

Great game, very fun, controls extremely well. Visuals and level setting are also very good. Can be tough and can frustrate you at times, but that does add to it as well!

Anybody looking for a decent challenge on PS5 should really consider it.

@JohnnyShoulder I've been considering the pathless for a while as a nice small indie game. What sort of game is it? And is it the sort you can just drop in, spend 30-60 minutes on and feel like you've progressed?