Topic: What games are you playing at the moment?

[emergency exit]

Yeah I was going to say for those timing issues all you can do is grind out the practice until it clicks and you'll celebrating as if Liverpool had just scored

That Mantis Lords fight was a ballache but I was a bit of a completionist with it to a point so wanted to do it all! Can't for the life of me remember what you get for doing it.

Haha, I'll keep at it, cheers.

Do you remember if you challenged the Mantis Lords straight away or was theirs a fight you saved up for later when you were a bit stronger already?

As far as I can tell, the main reward the is the Mark of Pride, which seems to boost the amount of damage you deal with your nail. I'm trying to gauge if I should grind first so I can enter the City of Tears with a bit more punch.

[JerseyKloppite]

Haha, I'll keep at it, cheers.

Do you remember if you challenged the Mantis Lords straight away or was theirs a fight you saved up for later when you were a bit stronger already?

As far as I can tell, the main reward the is the Mark of Pride, which seems to boost the amount of damage you deal with your nail. I'm trying to gauge if I should grind first so I can enter the City of Tears with a bit more punch.

I wish I could remember I think I just went for it there and then rather than saving up but it's been a while.

I think the fight is one you can grind, from looking at a youtube vid of it now it plays out in quite a neat pattern and you should be able to beat them once you get the hang of their moves.

[emergency exit]

I wish I could remember I think I just went for it there and then rather than saving up but it's been a while.

I think the fight is one you can grind, from looking at a youtube vid of it now it plays out in quite a neat pattern and you should be able to beat them once you get the hang of their moves.

Alright. I'll go for it tomorrow after work then. Shame the closest bench is quite a bit away, as I estimate that I will die over a dozen teams before I make it past them :-D

[JerseyKloppite]

Alright. I'll go for it tomorrow after work then. Shame the closest bench is quite a bit away, as I estimate that I will die over a dozen teams before I make it past them :-D

If it helps I just saw a comment on the YouTube that says "If you walk past the lords and let them close the door, you can wall jump using the door into the top left corner of the room to reach a lifeblood cocoon that is hidden behind a breakable wall, it can be very helpful during the fight "

[emergency exit]

If it helps I just saw a comment on the YouTube that says "If you walk past the lords and let them close the door, you can wall jump using the door into the top left corner of the room to reach a lifeblood cocoon that is hidden behind a breakable wall, it can be very helpful during the fight "

That‘s the one that gives you two extra masks, correct? Very helpful, thanks!

[stoa]

Played loads more Bannerlord and have come to the conclusion that it has to be the most overhyped game ever. The start to games is great, but in the mid-game it just gets so fucking boring. There's fuck all to do except doing the same old shite over and over again and I don't really get why people are so fond of it. Did play around a bit with mods and there's some good stuff out there that should really be already part of the vanilla game (like the diplomacy mod or other QoL improvements). I get that this is not a triple A title made by a big studio and there were issues during development, but so much of the love for the game seems to be about what it could be (with mods or developer-patches) rather than what it is, which in the end is a pretty dull experience...

[Buck Pete]

Played Return of the Obra Dinn last few days. It’s a challenging game, that does take a bit to click and by design chooses not to teach players how to play - but it is also one of most memorable gaming experiences I’ve had in a while. Lucas Pope is a game design genius, no doubt about it.

Got the urge to play a puzzler

Appreciate its 4 years old now but still seeing good reviews about this game

Gonna give it a go.

[AndyMuller]

Mafia: Definitive Edition surprised me. Fucking great story and looks gorgeous at times.

I'm on the sequel now and it hasn't grabbed me like the first one.

[KillieRed]

Getting into Warframe. Very interesting so far, a bit overwhelming so far but I do like  deep mmorpg thing to research. I can’t believe it’s so old, yet constantly updated & massive.

[classycarra]

Got the urge to play a puzzler

Appreciate its 4 years old now but still seeing good reviews about this game

Gonna give it a go.

Report back mate, got it on my own mental 'to play' list based (I think) off a recommendation here - but haven't got round to it yet.

[Buck Pete]

Report back mate, got it on my own mental 'to play' list based (I think) off a recommendation here - but haven't got round to it yet.

I'm an hour in and loving it so far.  Had to stop as my missus selfishly came home

Its exactly the type of game I wanted to play.  Its a really clever game and based around logic and deduction to determine the fate of 60 crew members of the ship Obra Dinn as you unravel the story of what happened but not necessarily in the order of actual events. Not saying any more than that re: game premise.

Graphics and atmosphere are very interesting but still top notch. Like nothing i've really played before to be honest.  Harks back to the adventure games of yesteryear but doesn't feel dated.

Gonna play much more over the weekend.

[classycarra]

I'm an hour in and loving it so far. Had to stop as my missus selfishly came home

Its exactly the type of game I wanted to play.  Its a really clever game and based around logic and deduction to determine the fate of 60 crew members of the ship Obra Dinn as you unravel the story of what happened but not necessarily in the order of actual events. Not saying any more than that re: game premise.

Graphics and atmosphere are very interesting but still top notch. Like nothing i've really played before to be honest.  Harks back to the adventure games of yesteryear but doesn't feel dated.

Gonna play much more over the weekend

sounds really good mate.

given I've just binge watched The Terror series this last week (about the HMS Terror & Erebus expedition through the North West Passage), I might just follow your lead/copy you - seems perfect timing for a mystery game like that

[Zlen]

I’m playing PES 2021 Master league. After a week or so with it, I may never play FIFA again. It’s a crying shame that this strange and imperfect abandonware game is at the same time the finest football recreation I’ve ever played.

I am still sucking hard at manual shooting. Games where I have three times the number of shots on goal yet somehow lose, are all too common. Yet I’m drawn to it, hopelessly so. I could spend my time just passing that juicy ball around and still get my kicks.

Every time I slow things down and take deliberate actions - game rewards me. So much is just fucking right. Sprint is for use in bursts, stamina matters, form matters, midfield is important, ball is faster than man so passing is the way to create space - not sprinting, shooting is heavily contextual and there are no guarantees. And momentum, that sweet body in motion inertia you can use to your benefit - it doesn’t even exist in FIFA.

Konami you mad fucks, how did you fuck this up?

[emergency exit]

Yeah I was going to say for those timing issues all you can do is grind out the practice until it clicks and you'll celebrating as if Liverpool had just scored

I put the game aside for a couple of days, started it again today and finally made it through on my first re-try :-) It also helps playing when not dead-tired in the evening after work, I guess!

[Crimson]

sounds really good mate.

given I've just binge watched The Terror series this last week (about the HMS Terror & Erebus expedition through the North West Passage), I might just follow your lead/copy you - seems perfect timing for a mystery game like that

Great mini series. That said, the second one is terrible.

[classycarra]

Great mini series. That said, the second one is terrible.

I thought it was amazing. Brilliant writing, and so many great performances from a lot of character actors who I recognise but can't always remember why.

Luckily knew going in that the second season is unrelated, and rubbish, so wasn''t gonna try it!

[Darren G]

I’m playing PES 2021 Master league. After a week or so with it, I may never play FIFA again. It’s a crying shame that this strange and imperfect abandonware game is at the same time the finest football recreation I’ve ever played.

I am still sucking hard at manual shooting. Games where I have three times the number of shots on goal yet somehow lose, are all too common. Yet I’m drawn to it, hopelessly so. I could spend my time just passing that juicy ball around and still get my kicks.

Every time I slow things down and take deliberate actions - game rewards me. So much is just fucking right. Sprint is for use in bursts, stamina matters, form matters, midfield is important, ball is faster than man so passing is the way to create space - not sprinting, shooting is heavily contextual and there are no guarantees. And momentum, that sweet body in motion inertia you can use to your benefit - it doesn’t even exist in FIFA.

Konami you mad fucks, how did you fuck this up?

Yeah, I agree with all of that and have been banging the 'much better than FIFA' drum for some time. 

Honesty though, manual shooting actually robs you of a lot of complexity and choice if anything in PES 2021. 

With semi auto, you can learn to use your players body-shape, ball position and movement whilst shooting to get a myriad of different results and learn to get the player to use different parts of the foot etc.  I don't feel that exists to anywhere near the same extent in manual shooting. Semi-auto or whatever the fuck it's called (haven't looked at the menus in eons) is actually really complex and not simply a matter of 'diagonal down-right means top right corner'.

I like manual stuff in general and like to feel that I'm choosing my own actions rather than the ai doing it for me, but I feel that manual shooting in the PES 2021 is an inferior experience. 
 

[Zlen]

I think my main issue with manual shooting is that, unlike in FIFA to which I’m hardwired, you need to give directional input before you press the shoot button. No corrections while holding the button, which I’m very used to.

But I’m getting there. It’s all I want to play these days, very meditative game. Bumped my game length to 20 minutes and slowly making my way through the season.

I can’t figure dribbling at all though. It’s making my attacks bit limited as I need to wait for an opening. Also AI shoves me off the ball a bit too easily.

[Buck Pete]

Never mind PES Zlen!

How did you get on with Obra Dinn?

(No spoilers though please)

[Zlen]

I managed to finish it, but did consult internet for a few hints. Mostly as I get antsy. It’s such a unique game. Burned in my memory like some weird dream I’ not sure I really had.

[JerseyKloppite]

Was gutted to miss Obra Dinn on sale. Want to get it and Thimbleweed Park on Switch and both were heavily discounted in the past few weeks, but missed it 

Am sure they'll drop again.

[Buck Pete]

Obra Dinn reminds me of a cool graphical version of one of those logic problems you do with a grid, pencil and an eraser. 

Its really good as you progress.  Especially once you learn to really take in every minute detail of every visual and audio clue presented to you. 

Its SO satisfying when you string 3 correct answers together and trigger a cut-scene that informs you which guesses you got right.

[classycarra]

How are you Hollow Knight players getting on? By coincidence a couple of my friends are playing it at the moment too, maybe its a winter thing.

I'm stuck on the Hive Knight at the moment. Was socked to realise how many hours I'd sunk into the game. Hoping a few of them were from earlier in the year where it didnt really click for me, and I was just getting lost going round the first underground part

[UntouchableLuis]

'Golf Story' on Switch is class. Got it for a fiver on sale. The mechanics are great, the Story is full of good humour and you get hours worth out of it. Not finished yet just unlocked the third course and it's difficult!

[JerseyKloppite]

'Golf Story' on Switch is class. Got it for a fiver on sale. The mechanics are great, the Story is full of good humour and you get hours worth out of it. Not finished yet just unlocked the third course and it's difficult!

I loved that game, great fun. Gutted they've not made another one.

Just picked up Sonic Frontiers on PS5 for £23, looks like it should be good fun.

How are you Hollow Knight players getting on? By coincidence a couple of my friends are playing it at the moment too, maybe its a winter thing.

I'm stuck on the Hive Knight at the moment. Was socked to realise how many hours I'd sunk into the game. Hoping a few of them were from earlier in the year where it didnt really click for me, and I was just getting lost going round the first underground part

Finished it years ago, but as mentioned just above it's a brilliant game. I know what you mean about it clicking.

There's another metroidvania coming out soon called Astronite which looks very promising for Switch (and other consoles).

[Ed-Zeppelin]

I loved that game, great fun. Gutted they've not made another one.

The follow up, Sports Story, is out next month. More of the same from what I’ve seen, just bigger and more sports.

[JerseyKloppite]

The follow up, Sports Story, is out next month. More of the same from what I’ve seen, just bigger and more sports.

Nice

So many game on my "to get" list at the moment, I don't enough money or time to play them

[KillieRed]

Gotham knights on the series X. Quite fun.

[Ed-Zeppelin]

Nice

So many game on my "to get" list at the moment, I don't enough money or time to play them

I know the feeling, although I’ve got such a backlog at the moment it’s actually saving me money as by the time I get round to buying more games they’re in the sales etc.

[Buck Pete]

Completed Obra Dinn on Saturday.  Needed one tiny, tiny hint at the very end as I genuinely thought there was bug preventing me from solving one of the final fate's. 

Helped me though the weekend sat in the house full of cold and flu symptoms.   £18 well spent.

Can't wait to see what Lucas Pope brings us next.

[stoa]

Seems like I'm in a strategy-game-phase at the moment. Had two weeks off and played a lot of Civ6 at the start and have now moved to Total War:Warhammer (3). I like the mixture of turn-based management of your provinces and then the real-time strategy aspect of the individual battles. I foolishly decided to get parts 1 and 2 of the series aswell as they combine into a huge sandbox campaign with the third one. So, I know have to find which faction to start with and it's a bit overwhelming...

[Zlen]

I started playing this new skateboarding game called Session. No idea how I never even heard about this until it popped in front of my on the Xbox store. It's basically like a super hardcore version of Skate - minus any campaign objectives. In a masochistic and punishing way it perfectly mimics what actual skateboarding feels like. You'll fail and fall most of the time - but then you nail a trick and it's oh so rewarding. In many ways it's a complete failure as a video game, yet as a skateboarding simulator it's incredible. Basically it's much closer to those weird 'Build my PC', 'Comb my dogs hair', 'Drive a tractor' simulator type games - than to THPS, OlliOlli and Skate, both of which offer a constant stream of tasks and challenges to propel the player forward. There is none of that here - it's all about mastering the controls, figuring out tricks and finding cool spots to execute them on. You can make it interesting by editing videos from your lines and that's about it.

Did I say I love it? Yeah, I do. Not for everyone this, but it's a strange sort of meditation that I find appealing.

[ScottScott]

Picked up the Mafia Trilogy so playing through Mafia Definitive Edition at the minute. About an hour in, great little game. Remember seeing bits of it when it 1st came out but completely missed picking it up. Looks great on the Series X

Still dipping into Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 as well

[KillieRed]

Great game!

[TheKid.]

Gotham knights on the series X. Quite fun.

Same (but PS5). Really enjoying it. I can see why it didn’t review well (30FPS, crashes etc) but it is fun to play. I’m just playing through as Red Hood and not changing character at all. Reminds me (understandably) of Arkham Origins

[Crimson]

Haven't been a fan of the CoD/Warzone-games for the past decade, but having great fun playing DMZ with a mate. 

[KillieRed]

Same (but PS5). Really enjoying it. I can see why it didn’t review well (30FPS, crashes etc) but it is fun to play. I’m just playing through as Red Hood and not changing character at all. Reminds me (understandably) of Arkham Origins

I change after every mission. No gameplan or anything, just having fun.

[boots]

Trying to play Warzone DMZ. I am solo, never played cod or warzone before, im 57. Ive managed to loose all my weapons before I realised what you leave behind is lost. Ive now managed a couple of exfils to get some contraband weapons. I havent a clue what Im doing, but its fun.

[stara]

TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children. Anime style art work and XCOM style of game play set in gangland metropol. Small korean indy developer and low price of purchase + free DLC.  I think it wil take hundreds of ours of my time during xmas period 

[stoa]

Nice one, stara. Not necessarily a fan of that anime style, but looks like a very interesting game if you like tactical RPGs...