What Video Games Are You Playing Right Now?

[Turnip Sensei]

Spent the last week playing through Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3, something I've been meaning to do ever since I played Metal Gear Rising and took a liking to the crazy world and story telling.

If I had played MGS1 when I was smaller I'm pretty sure that would have been a mind blowing experience. Sure, the graphics are really rough, but man. Frosty breath effects, lighting, the atmosphere... I can't even imagine what people thought when playing that in 1998. Too bad the gameplay hasn't aged that well. It's clunky and more often than not Snake gets stuck in the surroundings rather than doing what you want him to do, but luckily the game is paced really well with segments of different gameplay. The boss battles especially are pretty cool.
But the best part of the game is the story. I love how it manages to create such cohesive narrative combining serious and silliness, conspiracy theories and real nuclear politics, gene manipulation and super soldiers. Not to mention the titular Metal Gear. Codec conversations and numerous cut scenes present the story really well. All the twists and intrigue kept hooked till the end.  

MGS2 made some much needed improvements to the gameplay. Now it actually felt like a proper sneaking game, but at the same time these improvements made the already annoying fixed camera even more unbearable. There's nothing more annoying than failing a perfect infiltration because an enemy shows up from a place you can't even see or when camera transition fucks up your movement. 
But luckily the story is once again really interesting, so the little frustrations weren't that much of a problem.

First thing I noticed in MGS3 was that it's actually fun to just play. 3D camera makes moving around much less of hassle and now it feels you like you are actually in control; getting caught is only a result of your own mistakes. I personally found the jungle more interesting location as well, the methods of approaching objectives are more varied and that's only a good thing. The Sniper duel boss battle demonstrates this especially well and was one of my favorite moments of the game as a result.
The story was as good as in the others and the Cold War setting was nice change of pace. And Paramedic is the best Codec contact ever!

In conclusion: MGS games are cool, why didn't I play them earlier?   

[Akimoto Masato]

Started playing Watch_Dogs a little while ago....

[Vokoca]

On 01/01/2017 at 2:03 PM, Turnip Sensei said:

MGS2 made some much needed improvements to the gameplay. Now it actually felt like a proper sneaking game, but at the same time these improvements made the already annoying fixed camera even more unbearable. There's nothing more annoying than failing a perfect infiltration because an enemy shows up from a place you can't even see or when camera transition fucks up your movement. 
But luckily the story is once again really interesting, so the little frustrations weren't that much of a problem.

Spoiler

MGS2 gets spookier and more mindblowing with each passing year, god I love that game.

 

As for me, I'm making my way through Yakuza 6 - from a girl who migt've leaped through time to real life pseudo-porn, it proves that this is the end to the series we all wanted.  But on a more serious note, Yakuza 6 is amazing, and I'm enjoying it a whole lot. So much in fact that I've decided to do my best to finish as much of the side content as possible before finishing the story - I've never managed it with any previous Yakuza game, but let's see how it goes this time, haha. One thing is for sure, I'll be skipping the mahjong tournaments... I feel like I will never be able to comprehend that damn game. 

[Riku]

Playing Stella Glow, I'm at the last battle of chapter 8 (if you played the game), and damn I hate de AI...

EDIT: Well, it seems like I just had to post here to clear the fight...

Edited January 10, 2017 by Riku

[Turnip Sensei]

On 10.1.2017 at 5:55 PM, Vokoca said:

  Reveal hidden contents

MGS2 gets spookier and more mindblowing with each passing year, god I love that game.

It's unbelievable how on point MGS2 is, especially now when it's more relevant than ever.

What a great game.

[kyrt]

Just checked out the non-DRM demo of Tales of Berseria on PC...ran fine and I like the cast of characters which simply makes is sadder since I won't be picking it up until they remove the DRM...verdict is still undecided if I give in and grab the PS4 version though. I'm also having serious doubts about picking up Horizon Zero Dawn after the recent story trailer. I also pre-ordered a Switch and BotW and I'm like one of the most anti-nintendo people I know. I think the system itself sucks and has a ton of problems with it but that Zelda trailer looked really beautiful with the music and scenes that played out. I still have plenty of time to cancel if I decide not to go through with it but nintendo has never been about the game system it's been about the strong games. I also forgot I pre-ordered Fate/Extella ages ago and apparently my order went through so I'll likely check that out or return it.

[Eclipsed]

Finished SAO: Hollow Realization,

Fking it's just 50 hours of Kirito n' Friends fillers and fanservices, actually more like 15 hours, and then 30 hours of 'gameplay' where you just do a bunch of mindless kill X and gather Y quests while making your way to clear them area bosses, rinse repeat, all for a paltry 5 hours of 'story' involving the new character Premiere

But I had my fun. I'd take post-Aincrad SAO over other modern day friend based charamoeges anyday 



~~
Meanwhile I've also been playing Atelier Rorona, it's a legit Run-your-own-successful-alchemy-shop simulator; unlike Atelier Ayesha where you have to explore the entire world in your search to find Nio, Rorona is solely focused on keeping her recently-forcedly-inherited-atelier-because-her-alchemy-sensei-is-uber-lazy alive via completing alchemy tasks given by the Kingdom every three months-ish for three years; failure to perform adequately = bye bye.

I've had a few close calls where I have 30 days remaining for a deadline and it's like, "Pshhh I got this, that's plenty of time" but then BAM I have to spend 10 days travelling to hunt and gather ingredients, then another 5 days synthesizing other ingredients needed for the actual thing I need to make, then another 5 days to rest to restore MP to do more alchemies, then finally the last 10 days making the thing I need, cross fingers n' pray pray pray it's good enough. Pretty thrilling.

[Funyarinpa]

Downloaded Final Fantasy X to my Vita on a whim (all hail HENkaku!). Thought I would get bored and drop it right back down. 

3 hours in, and I somehow fell in love with the game despite the cringey cinematography at times and, well, Tidus. The music, the world, the characters, the combat all fell great and I love the religious themes being explored here. I love the prayer choreography, the hymn in temples, this game's CG cutscenes... Yuna performing The Sending was one of the most emotional scenes I've seen in a long time (up there with the likes of Transistor's beginning or FFVI's intro). 

 

Edit: Finished Transistor the other day. Beautiful, beautiful game. Bought N++ and Torment: Tides of Numenera yesterday, and both of those are amazing as well. Help meeeee

edit the next day: Played three more hours of FFX. I'm hooked, I'm afraid ;_;

P.S: Fuck blitzball, that one match was tough as shit!

Edited January 23, 2017 by Funyarinpa

[HotTrax]

Playing games 

Detention - A horror adventure game set in 1960s Taiwan. I picked it up on a whim cause it was on the front page of Steam and had pretty high reviews. I kinda fell out of it, it has been a few days since I played it, but I hope I get back to it. It seems very neat. (Not for the easily scared.)

Halo Wars 2 Beta - I don't remember too much of the first game since I never finished it. However, this one was super fun online. I could see myself getting it. 

Gears 4/Halo 5 - Horde mode/Firefight. 

Also, looking ahead for rest of the year. Not really anything that I am excited for. Maybe Star Citizen? (If that even comes out this year.)

Edited January 25, 2017 by HotTrax

[Fred the Barber]

@Funyarinpa if you can get past Tidus, FFX is a fantastic game. Blitzball is the shit, but if you missed getting Tidus the Jecht Shot, you should probably start the game over again

[Funyarinpa]

7 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

@Funyarinpa if you can get past Tidus, FFX is a fantastic game. Blitzball is the shit, but if you missed getting Tidus the Jecht Shot, you should probably start the game over again

Does it have any plot relevance? The Jecht Shot, I mean. Because you can't get me to play that first match of blitzball again. 

[Fred the Barber]

2 hours ago, Funyarinpa said:

Does it have any plot relevance? The Jecht Shot, I mean. Because you can't get me to play that first match of blitzball again. 

No plot relevance, really, except that when it happens (it's really early) you get to see a much better cutscene, and Tidus looks like less of a wimp. But nothing long-term, and nothing important. It does, however, both look sweet in blitzball and make blitzball a lot easier (and more fun, IMO).

[littleshogun]

2 hours ago, Funyarinpa said:

Does it have any plot relevance? The Jecht Shot, I mean. Because you can't get me to play that first match of blitzball again. 

No really, although the technique was good though ie cool. Speaking about bliztball, I remember that I tried to win the first match but I couldn't even understood the tutorial properly because it's too much. In the end, I'd never tried bliztball again. End of story.

Oh, and by the way if you win the prize was not quite worth it because it was only allowed to made one empty node had +4 Strength which is not quite worth the effort imo. Besides as long as you not running from every encounter and keep activating your node with the spheres, your usual status should be enough.

[Funyarinpa]

Clocked 10 hours of FFX. 

NO spoiler tag on mobile right now :lolipb: 

So I'll post better impressions later, but I'm loving FFX so far. 

Edited January 25, 2017 by Funyarinpa

[Funyarinpa]

Okay. FFX impressions time. Oh btw, I didn't realize you were talking about the Jecht Shot on the ship lol, I pulled that one off and I do have that Tech apparently. Other Blitzball matches are a breeze.

Spoiler

Overall, I'm loving this game. Playing a pirated copy on Vita. I clocked about fifteen hours and I'm at the part where the party is waiting for Yuna to come back from telling Seymour her decision about marrying him to bring happiness to Spira.

The battles are really fun, something about the camera work just clicks in FF games. The after-battle poses are great as well, the music is nice, and I don't really have any qualms except the fact that most enemies have 1 or 2 characters that can reliably damage them and the others can barely do any damage. This somewhat limits the usefulness of being able to switch any character in or out. I vastly prefer 4-character (or more!) parties, though.

The story is quite nice as well. Yuna feeling that she can trust anyone she comes along with her life is kinda weird ("oh this girl who showed up on the beach can be my guardian sure"), and Tidus is quite cringeworthy, but the guy was dropped into a world with a whole new religion and culture everywhere, so part of it is understandable. I have somehow grown attached to the characters as well, the cast is amazing (especially love Lulu, Yuna and Auron's designs). I really like the whole religion aspect of Spire, because honestly it's managed to create a culture based around Yevon. The whole prayer sign, Sending (that Kilika sending cutscene, holy fucking shit), the machina debate, they are all quite interesting although I think I find it somewhat depressing since I can really relate to Tidus' situation of being stuck in a place where everyone believes in a religion that you do not. It puts a distance to how I can relate to the cast, sadly. That's not to knock the game, though. 

I only just discovered that there's an affection system based on who you talk to first after a cutscene when you can move around, lol. I'll try to improve Rikku, Lulu and Yuna (because they're all beautiful pretty much, #lolhormones), I think I'm doing well with Lulu so far. Rikku seems so much better as a party member.

I don't find the story as intriguing as wanting to see the cast spend time together and bond during Yuna's pilgrimage. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Kenshin_sama]

11 minutes ago, Funyarinpa said:

Okay. FFX impressions time. Oh btw, I didn't realize you were talking about the Jecht Shot on the ship lol, I pulled that one off and I do have that Tech apparently. Other Blitzball matches are a breeze.

  Hide contents

Overall, I'm loving this game. Playing a pirated copy on Vita. I clocked about fifteen hours and I'm at the part where the party is waiting for Yuna to come back from telling Seymour her decision about marrying him to bring happiness to Spira.

The battles are really fun, something about the camera work just clicks in FF games. The after-battle poses are great as well, the music is nice, and I don't really have any qualms except the fact that most enemies have 1 or 2 characters that can reliably damage them and the others can barely do any damage. This somewhat limits the usefulness of being able to switch any character in or out. I vastly prefer 4-character (or more!) parties, though.

The story is quite nice as well. Yuna feeling that she can trust anyone she comes along with her life is kinda weird ("oh this girl who showed up on the beach can be my guardian sure"), and Tidus is quite cringeworthy, but the guy was dropped into a world with a whole new religion and culture everywhere, so part of it is understandable. I have somehow grown attached to the characters as well, the cast is amazing (especially love Lulu, Yuna and Auron's designs). I really like the whole religion aspect of Spire, because honestly it's managed to create a culture based around Yevon. The whole prayer sign, Sending (that Kilika sending cutscene, holy fucking shit), the machina debate, they are all quite interesting although I think I find it somewhat depressing since I can really relate to Tidus' situation of being stuck in a place where everyone believes in a religion that you do not. It puts a distance to how I can relate to the cast, sadly. That's not to knock the game, though. 

I only just discovered that there's an affection system based on who you talk to first after a cutscene when you can move around, lol. I'll try to improve Rikku, Lulu and Yuna (because they're all beautiful pretty much, #lolhormones), I think I'm doing well with Lulu so far. Rikku seems so much better as a party member.

I don't find the story as intriguing as wanting to see the cast spend time together and bond during Yuna's pilgrimage. Looking forward to the rest.

 

Enjoy the game. It's still one of my favorites to date, and I plan on playing the HD remake myself once I have a little more time to enjoy it.

On 1/25/2017 at 0:08 AM, Fred the Barber said:

@Funyarinpa if you can get past Tidus, FFX is a fantastic game. Blitzball is the shit, but if you missed getting Tidus the Jecht Shot, you should probably start the game over again

You're right, it is so much fun! There would be days where I wouldn't even touch the main game and all I would do is play Blitzball, lol. I didn't get the Jecht Shot in the opening scene on my 1st time playing it, but I did on my 2nd. Definitely does make the mini a lot easier and more enjoyable (especially towards the beginning with the super OP goalie the Al Bhed had).

[Fred the Barber]

I remember following the Blitzball guide on gamefaqs religiously, recruiting all the best players from around the world and training them up to have ridiculous skills. Blitzball is quite possibly my favorite mini-game ever, though FFVIII's Triple Triad gives it a run for its money.

Also, it's hilarious that the story portrays the Luca Goers as a great team, when they're actually probably the second-worst (only better than the legitimately terrible Besaid Aurochs the game hands you). If I'm remembering right, if the game simulated the Goers vs. the Al Bhed game, instead of just showing you the fixed result that the plot requires, the Al Bhed would wipe the floor with them nine times out of ten.

[littleshogun]

2 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

I remember following the Blitzball guide on gamefaqs religiously, recruiting all the best players from around the world and training them up to have ridiculous skills. Blitzball is quite possibly my favorite mini-game ever, though FFVIII's Triple Triad gives it a run for its money.

Regarding blitzball, after I lose I decided to just never play the game again. To me here, the rule was quite complicated while Triple Triad was more simple if one want to talk about the rule (Although there's some complication though in regard of some rules). Besides I think Triple Triad was had more benefit imo, especially if GFs learned refine spell. In the end, for now I prefer Triple Triad over Blitzball here imo.

[Funyarinpa]

Me at midnight: "Hell somehow forgot to play FFX between all the shitposting, might as well give it a go for a few minutes" 

It's 5a.m. right now. Fuck, I love this game. 

 

Started from the part where you go into the Thunder Plains and just got to a place called the Oasis. The story was alright, I liked it. Still don't get the whole Sin Is Jecht rigmarole lol. 

Really can't pick what to do with the affection system, I'm really drawn to all the girls. That said, I think I have a small crush on Lulu so I will probably focus on her. Dunno if Tidus x Yuna will still happen (I want it to, their aesthetics fit each other).

Loving this game, its cast, its music, and its world.

 

Edited February 4, 2017 by Funyarinpa

[littleshogun]

30 minutes ago, Funyarinpa said:

Me at midnight: "Hell somehow forgot to play FFX between all the shitposting, might as well give it a go for a few minutes" 

It's 5a.m. right now. Fuck, I love this game. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Started from the part where you go into the Thunder Planes and just got to a place called the Oasis. The story was alright, I liked it. Still don't get the whole Sin Is Jecht rigmarole lol. 

Really can't pick what to do with the affection system, I'm really drawn to all the girls. That said, I think I have a small crush on Lulu so I will probably focus on her. Dunno if Tidus x Yuna will still happen (I want it to, their aesthetics fit each other).

Loving this game, its cast, its music, and its world.

 

It still happen, don't worry if you talk about Tidus x Yuna shipping (I think it's canon). Speaking about affection, never focused on that when I played FFX and probably never will if I replay this.

[Fred the Barber]

Wait, what, there's an affection system in FFX? I don't remember anything like that. Maybe there are some choices that give you brief different dialogue, in the early game? There's no way you're not ultimately stuck with the game's chosen pairings, and nothing's really going to change that; Tidus + Lulu ain't gonna happen.

As far as the whole thing with Sin... well, I suggest you keep thinking about it while you play.

[Soulless Watcher]

OH MY FUCKING JESUS BANGING BUDDHA CHRIST! No one ever play Darkest Dungeon, it is probably the most stressful game I have ever played in my god damned life. I know the whole point of the game is to get royally fucked over and to keep throwing meat into the grinder, but Jesus does it still get under my nails whenever my group of heroes get mawed to near death during one of those bumfucking night ambushes. 

[Funyarinpa]

4 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

Wait, what, there's an affection system in FFX? I don't remember anything like that. Maybe there are some choices that give you brief different dialogue, in the early game? There's no way you're not ultimately stuck with the game's chosen pairings, and nothing's really going to change that; Tidus + Lulu ain't gonna happen.

As far as the whole thing with Sin... well, I suggest you keep thinking about it while you play.

Apparently it changes small things about scenes, some examples:

You talk with Lulu while waiting for Yuna in Guadosalam and she and Tidus talk about what marrying means. I think there's a different scene if you talk to someone else. Or (this one is guesswork) when you use some jet ski like things after Rikku's brother tries to kidnap Yuna again, you board the jet ski with the person your affection meter is highest with. There's an FAQ on GFAQs about it, just Google "ffx affection system"  

 

[Funyarinpa]

FFX has this fucking boss.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Spoiler

Fuck Seymour's boss appearance on Mt. Gagazet. Seriously. Fuck. Araaaaaaergh. Mt Gagazet was shit enough (it was so fucking bad I had to bail from 90% of fights). I looked at guides but I'm still like 5-6 levels off from every single skill recommended. Jeez. Now I'll have to grind. FFS. Any tips that don't involve going back down the mountain?

 

[Kenshin_sama]

1 hour ago, Funyarinpa said:

FFX has this fucking boss.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

  Hide contents

Fuck Seymour's boss appearance on Mt. Gagazet. Seriously. Fuck. Araaaaaaergh. Mt Gagazet was shit enough (it was so fucking bad I had to bail from 90% of fights). I looked at guides but I'm still like 5-6 levels off from every single skill recommended. Jeez. Now I'll have to grind. FFS. Any tips that don't involve going back down the mountain?

 

Lol, nope. I do like FFX's gameplay, but it is a bit of a grind game.

 

Yeah, Seymour is unfortunately a stat check. If you were having a hard time with the fights before him, then you're definitely not going to beat him. In my first playthrough, I had a hard time beating him myself and I did not have trouble with the regular fights on Gagazet. If you can, try fighting near the save sphere at the end of trail and just refresh your HP after each fight. If you can't, enjoy your unreasonably long hike! I've never had that problem because I like training so hard before each boss and then just roflstomping them when I get there. Did it with the final boss too, lol.

Edited January 31, 2017 by Kenshin_sama