Just completed - The Bear and Badger

acemuzzy

barren_sky wrote:

superflyninja wrote:

I completed Gone Home in one sitting. I loved it. .

If you liked Gone Home, definitely give Everybody's Gone to the Rapture a shot. Strolling through that cute little town, trying to figure out what the heck happened there was mesmerizing for me. The story is not as grounded in reality as Gone Home, but the characters are. Excellent voice acting and music too.

Probably best you don't read my reviews of these two from earlier in the year....

hylian_elf

Good job no one cares about your views.

barren_sky

acemuzzy wrote:

Probably best you don't read my reviews of these two from earlier in the year....

Can totally understand why folks would hate that sort of game. If someone really enjoyed one of them though, they'd probably like the other.

EvilRedEye

Loved Gone Home, did not think Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was very good, personally.

barren_sky

EvilRedEye wrote:

Loved Gone Home, did not think Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was very good, personally.

It's becoming clear to me that I know shit about shit.

acemuzzy

All opinions equally valid, especially mine :-p

hylian_elf

EvilRedEye wrote:

Loved Gone Home, did not think Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was very good, personally.

Bollockoff

acemuzzy wrote:

All opinions equally valid, especially mine :-p

Is this Emily is Away

yourfavouriteuncle

hylian_elf wrote:

EvilRedEye wrote:

Loved Gone Home, did not think Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was very good, personally.

Yup

EvilRedEye

Further to my previous comment, if you're thinking of going down that route I'd definitely play Dear Esther, the previous game by that studio first, to give you a taste of whether you'd be into EGttR. It's cheaper, shorter and better - at worst it's an hour-long trip through some visually pleasing assets. If you don't get on with it, there's no point touching EGttR.

Dark Soldier

Which is better, Rapture or No Man's Sky

SLEdge

Gone on a bit of a completion frenzy lately, finishing off the (story modes) of Yakuza 0, ME: Andromeda, Horizon Zero Dawn and Zelda BotW. All of these games were sitting for ages at around 2/3 or 3/4 done... as is Dishonored 2, which I'm working on now.

Facewon

Destiny 2 (Campaign/to the point where the grind begins)

Gut instinct is this is amazing. Thoroughly enjoyable game. Easily the best Bungie campaign since Halo 3/ODST.

And it's no surprise that there's some heavy Bungie/Halo staples and nods throughout the game.

Any negatives, to me, are small, but also a result of the bad taste in the mouth from the previous game.

There'll be plenty of reviews/opinions that'll use the angle that this is what the first game should have been.

And some of the improvements in this are clearly things that should have been in the first. Fast travel and multiple spawn points on planets is the obvious one, and it's something they could have added to the first too. Allowing more glimmer is also an obvious and easy improvement.

The upgrade/levelling system is heaps better this time, and I'd give them more credit for this. Yes, it took a bunch of different attempts and systems in the first to get to this point, but having the clean slate and getting it right the first time goes a long way.

It seems flexible and smart from the off, and there's room for easy additions.

The story chooses a pretty staple sequel trope, and does fine.

Spoiler:

Graphically, the game is stunning, it's been repeated by all, but lighting and music are top notch throughout.

(And the 30fps bone version still feels great after hammering 60fps pc beta version, which is nice.)

There are a few clunky graphical touches - the spawn doors all around maps, some of the hive shield doors, some of the water effects - but they're all minor, IMO, and having seen what the game tries to push out as far as visual bells and whistles and enemy numbers, I can forgive them.

Public events with multiple fireteams and multiple supers going off are pretty well insane.

The campaign doubles as a tutorial, and if you go through and dabble in all that it shows you without overdoing any one section, it flows beautifully. (I'd advise not over doing hanging out and finishing all adventures in the EDZ, for instance, as you'll just end up OP for the later campaign missions.)

They've done a great job of putting together the first 20-30 hrs of the game, basically. And there's proper cool stuff to do post campaign to find out more about each different location. Basically, the vendor on each planet has a bunch of missions separate from the campaign, and the Strikes are given their own lead-up missions and context.

Last few proper missions of the campaign are epic and it's just a really solid, enjoyable, and meaty playthrough. Unlike the first one, I'd say this is worth a purchase even if you just want to playthrough the campaign and do a little of the end game/grind. Playthrough once, try a few Strikes, finish a couple of the planets story arks and you'll have really gotten your money's worth.

This and Hollow Knight fighting for GOTY top spot now.

barren_sky

EvilRedEye wrote:

Further to my previous comment, if you're thinking of going down that route I'd definitely play Dear Esther, the previous game by that studio first, to give you a taste of whether you'd be into EGttR. It's cheaper, shorter and better - at worst it's an hour-long trip through some visually pleasing assets. If you don't get on with it, there's no point touching EGttR.

Wait a minute, I didn't get much out of Dear Esther but really liked EGttR! Nothings working right here.

-edit- Edge gave it a 9, so there you go

Bollockoff

I think I had a bout of mania this weekend and burst-completed a "short" Greenskins campaign in Warhammer: Totes Warring.

Only on normal but played it more or less iron man. Some damn enjoyable set-piece battles win or lose.

superflyninja

Thanks for the recommendations. But I've promised myself not to buy anymore games until I finish my pile of shame. Gone Home was free on ps +

JonB

Rapture was also on PS+ if you had it then. Not that I would recommend it to anyone.

Skondo

I enjoyed Rapture. Can't compare with Gone Home or Dear Esther as I haven't played those yet. I also enjoyed The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

Bollockoff

Ethan's ending shat the bungalow.

superflyninja

I didnt have + for Rapture

I used a 2 day trail code to grab Gone Home though. But now Im a fully fledged + member(for 15 months anyway...)

Skondo

Bollockoff wrote:

Ethan's ending shat the bungalow.

So long ago I can't remember it.

JonB

Prey

This was good and very nearly something special, but just let down by a few things.

The scope for creative play is great, and in those terms out does Deus Ex at its own game a lot of the time. There are probably a load of things I didn't even think of trying, as well as a bunch of powers I didn't install at all which would have opened up a range of new solutions. The gloo gun in particular is a wonderfully versatile invention. Plus the setting feels like it was a functioning space station the way it's connected together and with all the stuff that you can find that adds background detail. It adds to the sense of what you're doing and makes a lot of the optional missions seem worthwhile. The narrative is also full of nice ideas.

What spoils it some is its enemy design and clumsy controls (Deus Ex does much better on that count). Indistinct squiggles just don't have much of a presence, and their movements and attacks are too erratic, making it a frustrating experience to actually try out some of the solutions you've thought of to get rid of them (especially when you're getting stuck on scenery). I ended up using the quick save feature far too much, just because sudden, confusing deaths are regular occurrences, which then reduces the stakes in any encounter, or sticking to tried and tested methods to avoid risking another restart. They should've also either aimed at making it properly scary or gone for more dark humour. The tone is kind of flat as it is. And then, towards the end, when you're being sent all over the place to do various bits and bobs, the loading times really start to take their toll.

So, great effort, but a bit more polish and some better monsters would have gone a long way.

Blue Swirl

Sounds like my experience of the demo. Great setting, great mechanics, poor controls, awkward combat with uninspiring blobs.

hunk

Never Alone (win10)

Great little Indie co-op platformer reminiscent of Limbo. Based on Eskimo folklore it makes for a charming little videogame. Nice single player but probably best enjoyed in 2 player co-op.

Mechanics remind me of Disney's oft forgotten classic Pocahontas on the Sega megadrive. Similar themes too, native Americans, spirit animals and of course the co-op gameplay.

It's a short game but engaging enough for younger kids to keep them playing.

6 friendly polar bears out of 10

JonB

Child of Light

This was decent, but didn't really develop enough from the early stages. I liked the turn-based combat, and the boss battles in particular were nicely balanced. Not really tough (playing on the higher difficulty and still only saw the game over screen a couple of times), but at least making you use different tactics. Could have been a couple of hours shorter in the end, due to the lack of variety, but I was happy enough to see it through.

yourfavouriteuncle

The Last Days of June.

Wasn't too sure at first but stuck with it and whooboy I'm glad I did. It's bound to end up in the year end PS store sales and I heartily recommend you all keep an eye out for it. It's probably only around 4 hours long and is pretty linear but it slowly grows more complex and involving and ho you know what's coming and maybe you don't want it to and maybe you can change the outcome and maybe if you try something different you won't have to see it through and maybe maybe maybe. And that sums the whole thing up pretty nicely, maybe.

8 (maybe 9 maybe) out 10.

Facewon

Is that the one about

Spoiler:

Looked promising

Vela

Steamworld Dig (3DS)
The perfect short game for playing for a few days. Ten hours and done, but not one bit of filler. Dig Dug with great jumping, exploration and a simple loop of mining, selling and upgrading to get deeper underground.
The real Rio Tinto simulator.

I'm struggling to think of what else it's like. It feels like it has Ghosts and Goblins jumping albeit without the difficulty. It is not unlike pixeljunk monsters in the broad unlocking structure for upgrading your kit. And it has some similarities to Gunman Clive in that it is a nice nod to old western shticks.

It's an old game by now so most of you probably have seen it in its various incarnations but I still have trouble describing why I liked it. Just a nice and tidy experience with a good ending.

The developer, Image and Form, are basically up there with Yacht Club and WayForward for me. I'll buy most of their games now. They just feel comfy like a nice pair of slippers.

[8] warm bedtime Milos

acemuzzy

I've completed a few. Nobody tell Moot.

Moot_Geeza

How many is a few?

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