Topic: What (Non-PS4) game are you playing??

@RogerRoger I think if Sony ever decides to finally close down the PS3/Vita stores, this would be one series I'll absolutely need to get before it's gone. I've only played a bit of the first Syphon Filter but it's really good and I've heard great things about the sequel. The first three games are on PS3/Vita (although I do think the third one isn't on Vita for some reason) and the two PSP titles are available on Vita as well, so that's how I'll be experiencing that franchise. Are you playing the game on PS3 by any chance?

Also, I feel like this series is perfect for you considering it's kinda like Sony's own James Bond.

@Ralizah If you haven't played XCOM2 yet, you really must at some point.

It's a fantastic game and builds on the previous one so much. And if you get the War of the Chosen DLC, it's almost like another game again. The Chosen themselves are absolute hardcore enemies and use a Nemesis style system to pick up traits too (positive and negative).

I seem to remember the DLC also gave you a new room which let you unlock new abilities for your squad outside of their normal class so you can create some fantastic combos. The fatigue mechanic also meant you couldn't rely on the same soldiers for every mission either which makes things even more interesting.

Fantastic game and one I'd love to replay (again!) if there is ever another lull in new releases/the backlog for me.

@Thrillho Yeah, it's one of so many games that I've intended to play for years now.

I definitely want to make time for it someday.

Does the pacing improve at all on the original?

@Ralizah It's probably been a few years since I last played and even longer since I played the first.

The one big improvement from the first game is that you're not punished for not researching things quick enough. I remember that if you didn't get the laser and plasma weapons quick enough in the original, you may as well just give up. Also, with the first game it sometimes felt that no matter how well you did, if you didn't focus on satellites at the right time then you were never going to win.

The sequel doesn't suffer from those problems so much but you certainly do have phases where it feels like you're treading water waiting for something else to happen. The DLC means there are more things going on but it also means the game lasts even longer.

There are some slightly different mission types as well to mix things up but some of them can be pretty frustrating, although I think this works with the game as the frustration often comes with the mission being difficult!

I think the PC version has loads of mods too if that's your thing.

I set up Moonlight on my Vita which makes my laptop think it’s a Shield device. So I’ve been playing through 007 Nightfire for the Cube on my Vita! I might use this to play the rest of Ao no Kiseki as well, I just prefer the form factor of the Vita.

Started playing Ecco the Dolphin on PS3 and honestly, it's not really my cup of tea. It's basically a 2D underwater puzzle game where you have to constantly manage your air supply and health. The key mechanic is to find these crystals that you interact with, which will help you move other crystals in order to progress. And it's not really that fun. It's a very hard game as well, which I didn't know going into it. So I think I'm just going to skip it and its sequel. It's definitely a very cool concept for the time though.

@LtSarge yeah I remember it being reviewed very well back on Megadrive… but even then it didn’t appeal to me. I seem to remember it getting crazy review scores, like 96% and the like… but for whatever negative connotation it has on me, I do like some combat in my gaming, so I refrained.

Also, although there are exceptions… quite a few of those 16-bit ‘classics’ play like arse.

@LtSarge @colonelkilgore I love Ecco. Gets incredibly dark towards the end and a bit of a mindf**k but one of the more interesting Mega Drive games for sure.

@nessisonett well the fact that it gets dark interests me tbh… bit like the under appreciated Babe: Pig in the City. I didn’t watch that for years as I heard that it was ****… turns out it was just surprisingly pitch-as-black… and I loved it!

@colonelkilgore This is the final boss for reference 😂

Ni no Kuni PS3

@nessisonett oooh, nice! 😃

@colonelkilgore I mean, it is a very unique game even by 2022 standards so I'm not surprised that it got great reviews. It's hard to believe that it was a full release on the Mega Drive because the game is so experimental, I haven't played anything quite like it. I think I would've definitely enjoyed it more back when it came out.

@nessisonett Well that makes it even more interesting! Hard to believe that this kind of game came out in the early 90s.

2/3rds or so through The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap now. It's a fun game, although I'm not as impressed by it as I was by the Seasons/Ages duology on GBC. Progression gating also sometimes feels somewhat arbitrary, and I hate the way these games hide wallet upgrades behind easily missable side activities.

Still, so far, I think Capcom was better at making 2D Zelda games than Nintendo.

Ni no Kuni PS3

Disney Universe PS3

@RogerRoger Jak 2 is possibly one of the worst games I’ve ever had the misfortune of playing so I just never went onto Jak 3. I really liked the first one as well. It’s quite an odd series actually, never really knows what it wants to be.

@RogerRoger Jak and Daxter is an amazing game, Jak II is the biggest atrocity to ever touch this earth and Jak 3 is better than the second game, but that's not saying much. I actually played through Jak 3 last summer and I wrote down my thoughts on Pure Xbox. I managed to find them, so I'll post them here:

"Just finished Jak 3 on PS3. This game was much better than the second one. Better checkpoint system, less frustrating missions (but still quite a few frustrating ones that feel like they should belong in Jak 2), more variety, better weapons (without the rifle that bounces shots around, I think I would've honestly enjoyed this game a lot less) and a more interesting story. Not to mention that it was much shorter than Jak 2. I finished Jak 2 in 15 hours and Jak 3 in 9 hours, which is nice to see because Jak 2 had a lot of padding in my opinion. At the end of the day though, I didn't like Jak 3 that much. I thought it was a decent game but it just doesn't feel good to play and it leaves you frustrated more often than it should.

I honestly just don't see the appeal of this franchise anymore. The first game was brilliant because it had a clear focus, which was to be a 3D platformer collectathon game. And it worked out great, I loved that game! Then Naughty Dog decided to switch up the formula for the second and third games and I think the series became worse as a result. The mechanics just weren't as good as the platforming mechanics. Shooting sucks because you can't aim and there's no strafing either. Racing sucks because of wonky controls and dying instantly if you drive into a wall and you have to start the race over from the beginning. Driving in general was an absolute pain in Jak 3 as well. Like I just don't find these games to be fun at all and I don't understand how anyone would want another game in this franchise. I know people have been wanting Jak 4 but I don't want one at all if it's going to be just like the second and third games. If it improves the shooting and driving mechanics then yeah, I'm all in. But based on what I've played so far, I don't want to play more games like these. They're awful, I want more games like the first Jak in that case.

And I mean, just look at how the other PlayStation franchises have evolved compared to Jak. Ratchet & Clank is an amazing series because the satisfying gameplay has been preserved ever since the first entry. Sly Cooper is phenomenal as well, I played the second game last year (might play the third one soon as well) and it felt like such a huge step-up compared to the first game and most importantly, it still felt like Sly Cooper! These franchises have evolved nicely, while Jak seemed to have just poorly replicated whatever was popular at the time.

Regardless, I'm finally glad to be done with the PS2 trilogy after almost a decade of having it in my PS3 backlog. I won't be playing Lost Frontier on PSP because I'm done playing Jak games in the style of 2 and 3. However, I do have Daxter on my Vita because a lot of people have spoken fondly of it so I'm definitely giving that game a shot"

@RogerRoger To be fair, I wrote that post right after I had finished the game so I was still very frustrated, lol. If I had written a piece today, it probably would've been more mild (but also less detailed). I think the post I wrote for Jak II was even harsher lol.

It's interesting that you feel like that about The Lost Frontier and Daxter because people usually feel the opposite about those games, i.e. Daxter is better and TLF isn't that good. Would love to read your thoughts about TLF after you've played it again. You might change your mind about it just like with Jak 3.

@nessisonett @LtSarge @colonelkilgore woah ECCO ze Dolphin. That's a proper blast from the past. Hated it then, hate it even more now. It had a terrible gameplay loop and was boring as heck. No idea why it's reviews were almost perfect. As it wasn't.

Compared to say Sonic, SoR or Thunder force it was a load of crap.

I've been playing on the x1x

Forza Horizon 5
Truly spectacular, great controls, awesome scenery, brilliant in the moment action. Ruined by having to trek for miles to get to a race and the Fortnite esque presentation is embarrassing. I would love to get rid of Avatars and to have a list of events you can click on, which transports you there. Otherwise it really gets it nails into you with a billion events all over the place and 700+ cars to collect which all look amazing so far. I have 50 cars in my garage right now, including a Supra (nearly ticked all its skills) I wanted to have for reals if it wasn't for my kids. Unfortunately my real car (Coralla GR Sport which has room for kids) is locked behind the bloomin season pass / car pass paid dlc. Forza has always been a great game and Horizon 5 is no different, truly is best in class control for a controller equal with GT. But the bloat makes me yearn for a next gen Forza racing sim or Gran Turismo.

Microsoft Flight Simulator
Truly a technical marvel I could fly from my house to yours @Ralizah and scoop up @RogerRoger on the way back ROFL. Issue here is the controller binds are such a wall to overcome. But I'm into planes and eager to learn so once I've finished Horizon will give this a proper go. Amazing game.

Spartan Assault
One of the worst twin stick shooters ever made.

Among Us
You've all played it. I wasn't impressed. (Mainly because I got murdered first, twice in a row).

One last thing which has worryingly become a thing is recurring spending. Both Horizon and Flight simulator have stores which encourage you to dip in. Although they are 'extra' content, as someone who wants the full experience it's alluring. Playing Minecraft with my daughter, the add-ons are essential really - these add-ons are pocket money. In Forza the first big add-on is £35 and in Flight sim there are planes for £10 and even city night lighting packs for equally absurd amounts of money.

@themcnoisy That'd probably require a good deal of gas in order to cross the atlantic in both directions.