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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 5, 2022 21:47:02 GMT
Picked up a couple (many) cheap games from the Nintendo Sale:
Oxenfree - 4/10
This really rubbed me up the wrong way! It's not really a game, it's a vaguely interactive story which presents as a kind of point and click adventure. The story itself is ok, Stranger Things/Buffy/Eerie Indiana type stuff, but the writing and dialogue had me cringing throughout. This would be fine but the game has you traipsing all over the place at a glacial walk speed for no good reason, literally no reason, and its actually quite easy to get lost and have to slowly walk all the way back from whence you came, which the game will have you doing anyway at multiple points. There is no gameplay, no puzzles, your decisions barely matter, it's just really boring and I found it actively annoying. It looks nice.
Steamworld Dig - 8/10
This on the other hand, I loved! Great gameplay loop, very satisfying, well paced progression and didn't outstay its welcome at all.
Both games cost <2 quid, each lasted about 6 hours, so overall I'm happy!
Deaths Door and Ori and The Blind Forest now.
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LTK
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Post by LTK on Jan 5, 2022 23:52:04 GMT
In my experience one's enjoyment of Oxenfree is inversely proportional to the amount of time that has passed since you were a teenager.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 6, 2022 8:11:29 GMT
In my experience one's enjoyment of Oxenfree is inversely proportional to the amount of time that has passed since you were a teenager. That would explain it then!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2022 10:20:00 GMT
In my experience one's enjoyment of Oxenfree is inversely proportional to the amount of time that has passed since you were a teenager. That would explain it then! For me too. Quite a few decades since I had a face full of spots. I didn't get on with Oxenfree either and for the same reasons as Harry. It was "okay", but I didn't like having to trudge slowly from one place to another and have to rush to come up with a response choice. I can't really remember much about the story either, so it didn't grip me.
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malek86
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Pomegranate Deseeder
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Post by malek86 on Jan 6, 2022 11:44:00 GMT
Sonic Generations (Series S)
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either? I still think the Sonic template doesn't work, not even in 2D. They want you to go fast, but you need to stop all the time so you can look for secret paths and stuff. While the 3D is basically a rhythm game with bad controls. Compared to SA2, it feels a lot less daring, even if that game didn't work that well either.
Anyway, it's pretty short if you are only trying to finish the game, so whatever. And it sure looks great and runs smooth on Series S. The music is as good as always, too. Even if they are really just remixed themes.
6/10
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Post by kilters on Jan 6, 2022 22:29:43 GMT
Firewatch: 6/10 I'd say it was a lot more impactful at launch. Reasonably interesting plot until it isn't. Voice acting is good. Saved by being quite short. Worth a.play
The Medium 5/10 Nearly binned this a few times. Second half is a lot better with a few decent puzzles that keep you motoring. Could do with being a bit shorter and the plot/voice acting is a bit meh. Fundamentally though, it's just not scary.
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Post by daibonehead on Jan 6, 2022 22:53:43 GMT
Halo infinite. A reluctant 5/10. A waste of time.
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Post by daibonehead on Jan 6, 2022 22:54:55 GMT
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Post by Aunt Alison on Jan 7, 2022 18:37:51 GMT
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Got the final battle left to do but basically finished as much as I want to before completing BotW itself (would rather see the final confrontation with Ganon in BotW first) Game has actually been a real surprise. Had pretty modest expectations going in but really loved it.
The presentation is spot on - it's BotW through and through. Gameplay is pretty straight forward (basic combos, pretty mashy) but the sheer scale of the battles and novelty of playing as so many BotW characters makes up for it. I just enjoyed seeing the animations for all the new combos and attacks as I unlocked them. You get into a satisfying rhythm of countering and building up specials for the bigger enemies. Very fun It's also great to just see so much more of the characters and locations from the game, many of which you see and fight in pre-BotW so they aren't destroyed yet. Some of the battlefield layouts are copied from and are completely recognisable from the main game as well which is cool Special mention goes to the Divine Beasts. They're all here and fully playable. AoC shows off just how powerful and majestic they're suppose to be. One mission has a requirement of killing 30,000 enemies and it's a walk in the park. Utterly devastating. Some of the main campaign battles feel pretty epic as well, especially the latter ones I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you just want more BotW or were disappointed by the lack of story. There's loads of great cutscenes in this. It's not a game I expected to have much to say about to be honest but I had a really good time with it in the end
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Post by RadicalRex on Jan 8, 2022 15:34:37 GMT
Stephen's Sausage Roll - 9/10
Best puzzle game I've ever played, I believe. So original, so clever. So hard. 3 or 4 times I had to look up a step on the internet, because I was stuck for an hour or more in a puzzle that felt theoretically impossible, where I felt like I'd tried anything that's even possible and I was utterly at my wit's end. I wish I had found out myself, but it was either looking it up or giving up on the rest of the game.
Sometimes it was a little annoying, when it's an endless back-and-forth over a thousand moves because the space is too cramped or because of your movement or whatever. It was a bit of a chore at times. But other than that, great game. Also longer than expected, amazing how the guy just didn't run out of creative new ideas for puzzles.
Playthrough time: 26 hours
Now I feel like giving Spacechem another try.
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LTK
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Post by LTK on Jan 8, 2022 18:00:15 GMT
Glad you managed to finish it. If you want more puzzles in the same vein, I would actually suggest A Monster's Expedition or Bonfire Peaks, but Spacechem is never a bad choice.
Bloody hard though. It broke me and I never finished it. Stopped around the space station level, I simply could not manage to invent a solution that fit the constraints. Infinifactory and Opus Magnum were much less grueling, which I'm grateful for. Opus Magnum became my favorite Zachlike but I respect the hell out of Spacechem for going as hard as it did.
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Post by RadicalRex on Jan 8, 2022 21:11:46 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions, I may check those out at some point (e.g. next Steam sale). But right now, I actually want something different, so Spacechem is perfect. I also never finished it, it indeed gets gruelling, we'll see if I push through this time. What I noticed in SSR is that I tended to overthink it by making plans from the beginning of the stage, while for a large chunk of the game trial and error is actually the best way to go, the solution becoming apparent because something happens you didn't expect. Spacechem is so different, it's all planning until smoke comes out of your ears.
I like how it's similar to programming (well technically that's exactly what you do), and the three mutually exclusive high score challenges for every stage which is like different ways of optimising code, once for speed, once for memory efficiency, and once for... well, cramming your entire program into a single function, I guess.
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Quasi
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Post by Quasi on Jan 8, 2022 21:36:49 GMT
Having finally escaped Stellaris's orbit, I went back and finished Hitman: Absolution, which I'd dropped months ago. Its reputation had kept me away all these years despite my fondness for the series, and that reputation was well-earned: it's remarkably bad at being a Hitman game. Complicating matters, it's not much fun as a stealth-centered cover shooter, either. Blood Money was an admittedly tough act to follow, but it was also the result of a clear iterative process; Absolution abandons that process and runs in a different direction. But a game is never simply good or bad. Absolution is weird, an anomaly not just in gameplay but style. The series has always put you in 47's head, but here that means something like typical gaming "grittiness" taken to surreal extremes: the characters are a parade of grotesques; the locations are all hellholes, whether sun-baked or rain-soaked; there's a layer of grime over seemingly everything (and everyone). I'm slow on the uptake, so it was probably only around the time that Kane & Lynch literally show up in the game that I realized, oh, they're pulling a Kane & Lynch here. You start the game by killing your only point of human contact, and from there things only become an increasingly absurd nightmare. It's not enjoyable, but I think I'm inclined to admire it. So I moved on to, and am now basically done with, Hitman 2 (not to be confused with Hitman 2), which also contains the entirety of the first Hitman (not to be confused with the first Hitman). It is, certainly, like a drink of cool water after Absolution's prison toilet wine. And while I'm very happy with it on the whole, I'm not entirely sure I'd call it a return to form. It's still a sequel to Absolution, and takes from that not only the Instinct ability (x-ray vision, basically) but also the emphases on treating a level as a scored challenge rather than a sandbox that players will inevitably want to replay, as well as story as a driver rather than a context for discrete assassinations. And sure enough, before the first game's missions are even up, you find yourself back to not killing people for money, a narrative decision I hope IO grows tired of soon. Beyond that, there's another influence at play here, one you get hints of even before your first outing sees you donning a tuxedo to do a job for MI6: the Craig Bond films. You see this in the general jet-setting slickness of things, the preponderance of spy gadgets, even the specificity of a SPECTRE-like organization—with ties to you, personally, of course—being behind all the game's events. More naggingly, you see it in your targets. The series has always had your quarry be some kind of baddie, but this time you get the impression that killing them makes you the good guy. That finely-tuned amorality is gone, and the new ability to quickly knock people out makes it even less likely you'll be forced to make any especially morally unpleasant decisions. IO are apparently working on an official 007 game and I'm sure they'll do well. I'd like Hitman games to make me feel like I'm killing people without a license to do so, though. Okay, time to go submit this dissertation to my advisor.
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lew
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Post by lew on Jan 9, 2022 15:12:20 GMT
Been going through Halo games as I was late to the party on 1, 2 and 3- playing them midway through the 360's life so it had no sort of impact whatsoever.
Halo Reach
Probably my favourite so far. Rides the line of being shlocky and somewhat serious very well. The gameplay is outstanding. Finally got me engaged with the Halo universe 9/10.
Halo CE
It's really silly. But the gameplay just feels great. Master Chief is such a dickhead and fits into the sort of protagonist they'd be critiquing on RedLetterMedia's 'Best of the Worst'. Still, good fun. 8/10.
Halo 2
Along with 3, my least favourite in the past. Howver with the MCC lick of paint, it feels much more engaging. Only into Cairo but it's a great start so far.
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Post by stuz359 on Jan 9, 2022 16:37:01 GMT
The Last of Us part 2:
Largely pointless/10
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EMarkM
Junior Member
Well, quite...
Posts: 2,149
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Post by EMarkM on Jan 9, 2022 16:45:12 GMT
The Last of Us part 2: Largely pointless/10 I got about halfway through the first one - the bit where you're hanging upside down, from memory - and did not see the need to continue. Maybe I'm too old these days, but I'm almost never impressed by the "big story with a big meaning" games anymore. The Bioshock game was widely lauded in the press for its moral decisions and their grave implications, which, as far as I could see, was just a very simple "do you want to get the stuff from the little girl or leave her be?" matter. Humph.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2022 16:47:32 GMT
Bioshock's story was always extremely overrated to me, and I played it on release. But Last of Us 2, man. That's the best writing I've experienced in video games full stop.
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Post by pierrepressure on Jan 9, 2022 19:26:26 GMT
Yeah I still think about tlou2 regularly. Gonna go through it again soon but this time enjoy that sweet PS5 framerate.
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Post by stuz359 on Jan 9, 2022 21:25:41 GMT
Bioshock's story was always extremely overrated to me, and I played it on release. But Last of Us 2, man. That's the best writing I've experienced in video games full stop. I'm going to qualify this, I loved the first one. Absolutely one of my favourite games of all time. But it didn't need a sequel. The story the sequel told felt like a season of The Walking Dead, but told in two different seasons and then brought together at the end. Then kept going for another hour or two, just because. The acting and the mo-cap were top notch the production values amazing, but still, a story that did not need to be told. There were some lovely moments, but a lot of it felt like a slog to get through. They may have had more luck just telling Ellie's story and then releasing Abby's story as a DLC or as a separate release (like Uncharted Lost Legacy) rather than splitting the story, or potentially telling the story as Ellie day 1, then Abby day 1. It felt like it was a pacing issue more than anything else. The basic gameplay loop was fine, there was just a lot of it. Kind of like a Netflix season, where they have ordered 13 episodes but they have to pad it out with flashback shit that's unnecessary. But still, the story didn't land with me, but because I was invested from the first game, I kept going.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2022 21:33:25 GMT
Abby's side of the story is by far the more interesting half, IMO, and I'm not sure people would purchase and experience her side if they released it as DLC as you suggest. The first half is a slog, but it completely picks up at the halfway point.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Jan 10, 2022 16:58:37 GMT
35 mm:
Small game by a small russian developer. Basically a Walking Simulator as we tend to call them nowadays. There are some action sequences, but they weren't great. Interaction with some elements of the environment worked better. I especially liked lighting old campfires while travelling through a very dark tunnel system. Otherwise it's mostly picking up items that are needed for progress. There also was food, but I never had to eat and batteries, but my Flashlight never ran out. And I only was out of breath once even though I basically ran everywhere in the last location. Strange. I'm also not sure what exactly the point of the camera was - except as a story element and perhaps for added immersion. According to the achievements it seems that at least the story outcome can be influenced, but I didn't notice what I could have done differently or when.
The atmosphere is clearly its strongest point. At four hours it also doesn't outstay it's welcome. It can be very slow at times, but I certainly preferred that to the relatively frequent cutscenes.
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Post by deekyfun on Jan 10, 2022 19:56:14 GMT
I'd describe 35mm as small, moody, janky and weird, and I was desperately hoping for it to end, until I suddenly hit the end and though 'oh, I could have maybe had a little more of that'. I think maybe I'm the problem.
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Post by Nitrous on Jan 10, 2022 22:42:44 GMT
PS4/5 - It Takes Two
After someone on the swapsies discord channel (they know who) was talking about how good it was one morning I decided to look into it a bit more. I don't usually do co-op gaming especially local but this was excellent.
The story won't be for everyone but look past that and the platforming and game level design is brilliant with each location being fresh, colourful and interesting.
Me and the wife played it through and earned the platinum trophy along the way. One of the best games I've played in awhile.
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Post by Chopper on Jan 11, 2022 7:02:39 GMT
Ha, chalk me down as another who found 35MM, underwhelming. Alec Meer did a review of it which was excessively gushing, in hindsight. That must explain why so many of us have played what is a fairly obscure game.
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Jan 11, 2022 7:37:44 GMT
I'd describe 35mm as small, moody, janky and weird, and I was desperately hoping for it to end, until I suddenly hit the end and though 'oh, I could have maybe had a little more of that'. I think maybe I'm the problem. That reminds me a bit of how I often want to stop watching certain slow movies in the first half hour, but then increasingly cannot pull myself away anymore until it's done. They never become "fun", but seem to gain ever more "weight" so to speak.
Ha, chalk me down as another who found 35MM, underwhelming. Alec Meer did a review of it which was excessively gushing, in hindsight. That must explain why so many of us have played what is a fairly obscure game.
Yeah, I was a little surprised how many of the RPS-people had at least tried it. I think it depends a lot on how important atmosphere is to you and how much you are willing to tolerate the slow tempo.
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Tomo
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Post by Tomo on Jan 11, 2022 9:02:22 GMT
Been meaning to play 35mm for absolutely ages. Didn't expect to see it pop up on here! Have to give it a go and see what the fuss is about.
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Post by theguy on Jan 11, 2022 14:20:46 GMT
Psychonauts 1
Since the sequel came out, I finally got round to playing this for the first time. You jump into different minds and basically complete mini contained stories within them, relating to the characters mental state. The gameplay holds up mostly but you do have to make allowances. It's a bit floaty and the combat is dead simple to the point of being dull. I started avoiding it. It has a lot of nice ideas, some things that are impressive even today, let alone when it released. Good atmosphere, great voice acting and I thought it was cool how each character reacted to you differently, even at different points in the game.
That said, I'm not sure why, but at around the halfway mark, I just felt completely fed up of the game. Could barely play an hour without feeling bored. I pushed on though and then started having fun with it again. Can't really explain it, it's not even a very long game. Maybe I just didn't like certain levels.
Overall a good time and I hope to get the sequel at some point
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2022 15:48:49 GMT
If you have GamePass, it's on there, as MS owns Double Fine now.
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Post by erekose on Jan 11, 2022 17:25:34 GMT
Psychonauts 1
Since the sequel came out, I finally got round to playing this for the first time. You jump into different minds and basically complete mini contained stories within them, relating to the characters mental state. The gameplay holds up mostly but you do have to make allowances. It's a bit floaty and the combat is dead simple to the point of being dull. I started avoiding it. It has a lot of nice ideas, some things that are impressive even today, let alone when it released. Good atmosphere, great voice acting and I thought it was cool how each character reacted to you differently, even at different points in the game. That said, I'm not sure why, but at around the halfway mark, I just felt completely fed up of the game. Could barely play an hour without feeling bored. I pushed on though and then started having fun with it again. Can't really explain it, it's not even a very long game. Maybe I just didn't like certain levels. Overall a good time and I hope to get the sequel at some point Probably would have blown me away if I’d played it back in the day but.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 11, 2022 22:53:26 GMT
Ori and the Blind Forest
I don’t know how to rate this! I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed it, I found it intensely frustrating and did not like the gameplay loop of dying repeatedly until my hands and brain fell into line. There really is just no let up. Compared to this, Returnal and Sekiro are relaxing.
Obviously it’s a very good game, and artistically it is ahead of most animated movies, but I’m so glad it’s over!
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