Now Playing (Video Games)

[Onhell]

I'm currently stuck in several games. Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania Circle of the Moon, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia.... that's it for the Castlevania games lol, also stuck in Alan Wake II, Silksong and Wolfenstein II and Tunic.

Obviously I did the rational thing and just installed other games in my backlog instead of getting gud. I started with Robocop: Rogue City and I am LOVING this thing. It is far from original. It gives off Fallout/Metro/Arkham/Alien: Isolation vibes. I enjoy the linearity of it, the basic mission structure and straightfoward mechnics. I was getting overwhelmed with having to be quick, excessive back tracking, confusing fights, etc. Robocop is a great power fantasy where you gun down criminals, give out tickets and do investigative work. I've been playing it three days straight. That hasn't happened for at least a year, most games I've been playing lately I put down after an hour or less. Either because I reached a checkpoint or because I'm tired of it. With this one I just want to keep going the same way I did with The Witcher III, Fallout 3 and New Vegas. There's been others, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

 

[Tom Frezzo]

Still chipping away at Elden Ring, but man, some of these bosses are absolutely kicking my teeth in lately. I had to take a little break from the frustration, so I’ve been diving back into Hades for some quicker runs. It’s the perfect game to just pick up and play for twenty minutes while listening to some Maiden.

 

[Onhell]

Finished Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. It's supposed to be "alternate history," let me tell you, sure a as hell didn't feel like it. Had I played it upon release I would've laughed a lot more during game play and especially at Wyatt's speech at the end. Now I just said, "yuup."

Finished Robocop: Rogue City. What a fun romp through another supposed futuristic dystopia that just made me go, "yuuup."

Finished Killer Frequency. Fun short game, will definitely play again to try and save everyone. Only two people got killed which isn't bad for a first play through.

Currently playing the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. I'm really liking it and honestly don't see where all the hate is coming from. Sure it's basically any game from the last decade in an Indy skin, but it's still a lot of fun.

In an effort to continue making headway on my backlog I'll tackle Titanfall 2 next along with System Shock remake. I'm getting System Shock 2 tomorrow cuz my friends want to play it on New Years. So I'll play those two soon. After that not quite sure. Go back to the ones I'm stuck on I guess. Top of that list is Alan Wake II and Silksong.

 

[dickinson1978]

Still chipping away at Elden Ring, but man, some of these bosses are absolutely kicking my teeth in lately. I had to take a little break from the frustration, so I’ve been diving back into Hades for some quicker runs. It’s the perfect game to just pick up and play for twenty minutes while listening to some Maiden.

Ive finished elden ring it took me months LOL and yes the bosses are realy difficult. But i felt it was easier than dark souls 1. Ive never finished that one. Ive finished Demons souls and dark souls 2 and 3

 

[Detective Beauregard]

I got the Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC and I’ll jump into that as soon as I’m done with Metroid Prime 4, which while I’ve found to be decent so far, is still somewhat underwhelming. I really don’t like the bike and the big bland desert.

Finished Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. It's supposed to be "alternate history," let me tell you, sure a as hell didn't feel like it. Had I played it upon release I would've laughed a lot more during game play and especially at Wyatt's speech at the end. Now I just said, "yuup."

I liked this game the second time I played it a little more, but I think New Order was far superior. Colossus just got too silly for me.

Finished Robocop: Rogue City. What a fun romp through another supposed futuristic dystopia that just made me go, "yuuup."

Loved that game. Reminds me of modern-day Chicago. Unfinished Business is on my list for this coming year, too.

Currently playing the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. I'm really liking it and honestly don't see where all the hate is coming from. Sure it's basically any game from the last decade in an Indy skin, but it's still a lot of fun.

I wanted to give this a shot but I heard there was minimal gunplay, which seems odd for Indiana Jones.

In an effort to continue making headway on my backlog I'll tackle Titanfall 2 next along with System Shock remake. I'm getting System Shock 2 tomorrow cuz my friends want to play it on New Years. So I'll play those two soon. After that not quite sure. Go back to the ones I'm stuck on I guess. Top of that list is Alan Wake II and Silksong.

The System Shock remake is incredible; one of my favorite games in recent years. I played the SS2 remaster and while I loved it, I do wish it had gotten a proper remake like SS1 did.

Good luck with Silksong. Fun game but damn is it hard. Loved AW2; gotta go back and play that final DLC they added.

 

[Onhell]

I got the Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC and I’ll jump into that as soon as I’m done with Metroid Prime 4, which while I’ve found to be decent so far, is still somewhat underwhelming. I really don’t like the bike and the big bland desert.

Is Shadows any good or are people hating on it just because it's Ubisoft?

I liked this game the second time I played it a little more, but I think New Order was far superior. Colossus just got too silly for me.

I like New Order and Old Blood more too. Colossus is... uneven in it's balance of seriousness and humor, but I'm glad it stuck the landing.

Loved that game. Reminds me of modern-day Chicago. Unfinished Business is on my list for this coming year, too.

LOL, when I used to do stand-up and the Robocop reboot got announed I joked that the original was about a futuristic, dystopian, Detroit, and if the Reboot was going to open with "Present Day"

I wanted to give this a shot but I heard there was minimal gunplay, which seems odd for Indiana Jones.

Sooo.... kinda. There are guns, lots of them, but there's hardly any ammo. Also this isn't call of Duty or Halo where you go in guns blazing and take out a bunch of people. Stealth is the name of the game. I've been enjoying sneaking behind enemies and knocking them out, using my whip to disarm them and then use their batons or rifles to beat them senseless lol. Also, you can fight one or two enemies hand-to-hand, but if you fire a weapon you alert half the planet and so many enemies descend upon you and kill you within seconds. So fire arms are best to be used sparingly and strategicly. The one I've used the most and mostly as clean-up is the shotgun.

The System Shock remake is incredible; one of my favorite games in recent years. I played the SS2 remaster and while I loved it, I do wish it had gotten a proper remake like SS1 did.

yeah, can't wait to jump into both.

Good luck with Silksong. Fun game but damn is it hard. Loved AW2; gotta go back and play that final DLC they added.

ugh, I know, I'm stuck on this one level, I could go do other things, but I'm adamant on getting through it. It's a hidden dungeon you can access once you got the grappling hook thing that can attach to hanging rings. You fight a few enemies in a lava pit, then the lava starts to rise and for whatever fucking reason Hornet (me, skill issue, i know) either doesn't stick to the side of the platforms, doesn't jump far enough, high enough or falls short and I keep dying on the climb up.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

Thanks for the details on Indiana Jones. I’m a fan of stealth (see below) so I’ll check it out!

Is Shadows any good or are people hating on it just because it's Ubisoft?

I think it’s the best one since Odyssey. Definitely stronger than the repetitive underwhelming Valhalla and the bleak Mirage, and while I loved Origins, I prefer Shadows (the desert scenery gets old, and I love Asian ninja stuff).

That said, I mostly play as Naoe since I prefer stealth to smashing through things and alerting everyone. You have to play as Yasuke at some parts, and he’s fun for a while, but it doesn’t feel like AC at all as him.

In Silksong I got stuck at Lace like a month ago and have been distracted by too many other games to go back. But I will.

 

[Onhell]

Thanks for the details on Indiana Jones. I’m a fan of stealth (see below) so I’ll check it out!


I think it’s the best one since Odyssey. Definitely stronger than the repetitive underwhelming Valhalla and the bleak Mirage, and while I loved Origins, I prefer Shadows (the desert scenery gets old, and I love Asian ninja stuff).

That said, I mostly play as Naoe since I prefer stealth to smashing through things and alerting everyone. You have to play as Yasuke at some parts, and he’s fun for a while, but it doesn’t feel like AC at all as him.

In Silksong I got stuck at Lace like a month ago and have been distracted by too many other games to go back. But I will.

Ah, excellent. I'll check it out.

I also got stuck on Lace for like a week, then beat her fairly easily. I don't know what's more frustrating, getting stuck or eventually beating that particular section with ease a few days later.

 

[Onhell]

A friend of mine came over to play video games last Saturday. We started Stray and I have to say I really like it. The cat is cute AF, our NAVI stand-in is nowhere near annoying as the actual NAVI lol and so far I feel like I've found a lot of optional side content by accident and being who I am, I'm doing it anyway.

We also played Castlevania II: Simon's Quest with a guide, we would switch back and forth, and even with that, we didn't finish it fast enough to get the "good" ending, but we did get the so-so ending. With many games, even with a guide, they still present a certain level of difficulty and challenge. Just because you know what to do and where to go doesn't mean either of those will be easy. In the Case of Simon's Quest, that is the difficulty, not knowing where to go or what to do. Once you do there is ZERO difficulty or challenge. It's only a hard game, because of the exploration required. It was actually a fun game, but it was also an easy game. Do not recommend, can be skipped, just did it to heal my inner child who was still hurt from the endless frustration it suffered at the hands of that game in the early 90s.

 

[chaosapiant]

I started playing Elden Ring a couple weeks back. Got about 80 hours in it so far and while it can be a real ball-buster sometimes, the game is absolutely gorgeous, fun and super engaging. 10/10 would play again.

 

[Vaenyr]

We also played Castlevania II: Simon's Quest with a guide, we would switch back and forth, and even with that, we didn't finish it fast enough to get the "good" ending, but we did get the so-so ending. With many games, even with a guide, they still present a certain level of difficulty and challenge. Just because you know what to do and where to go doesn't mean either of those will be easy. In the Case of Simon's Quest, that is the difficulty, not knowing where to go or what to do. Once you do there is ZERO difficulty or challenge. It's only a hard game, because of the exploration required. It was actually a fun game, but it was also an easy game. Do not recommend, can be skipped, just did it to heal my inner child who was still hurt from the endless frustration it suffered at the hands of that game in the early 90s.

The English translation made this game even more difficult. Not only is it incredibly cryptic, a few things were outright misleading. The Japanese version is apparently much more straightforward.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

Slay the Spire 2 got delayed to March, so I decided to try Slay the Princess in the meantime. It's basically a visual novel version of Slay the Spire, except instead of adding cards to your deck you add funny voices to your head. Great and hilarious game, and I'd 100%, but I began getting too anxious from the horror elements (although it's pretty mild I think) to boot it up eventually lol. So I watched playthroughs instead, it's more calming this way. 10/10 throw her out of the window.

And then I watched a playthrough of The Stanley Parable because I saw that name show up a lot next to Slay the Princess (there are many similarities for sure) and had a great time with that too.

 

[Onhell]

The English translation made this game even more difficult. Not only is it incredibly cryptic, a few things were outright misleading. The Japanese version is apparently much more straightforward.

I've read similar comments in some other forums and articles. My friend and I were also talking about how at least it is different, at least it showed experimentation. It's not a BAD game, it is a DIFFERENT game. Nintendo was experimenting a lot back then. Zelda II, Castlevania II, Mega Man 2 all were vastly different from the first entry. Castlevania and Zelda ended up reverting to a "safer" formula when most people didn't respond well to the experiment, while Mega Man 2 solidified the formula going forward. I mean, just to name a few. Either way seems to have been for the best.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

The English translation made this game even more difficult. Not only is it incredibly cryptic, a few things were outright misleading. The Japanese version is apparently much more straightforward.

Reminds me of the original Resident Evil 4 from 2005, where the English dialogue was much different than the Japanese dialogue. Most of Leon’s jokes and wisecracks were removed from the Japanese version, which was more straightforward and serious.