What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm told Dead Cells has something along the lines of adaptive or predictive controls, that make it more likely your character will do what you intended for them to do, instead of what you actually fatfingered when you were jamming on the controller. I wish I could find the article about that again, it was damned interesting... and made me wish every game could do that. I'd probably still be a dedicated fighting game fan if I could count on my character doing what I want instead of my aging reflexes getting in the way.

For fighting games, you could try BlazBlue. It's designed around getting players past that initial difficulty curve of "How do I play", so that you're getting the most fun as soon as possible.

Each character's powers are different, but they all have the same patterns for their moves. For example, Down-Forward-Punch is always a move for every character, it might just be a Fireball for one character while another does a sliding kick.

It has a lot of subtleties with things like swapping to your partner mid-combo to maintain pressure or a chain, or countering their swap with a super-special.


I'd recommend the PSP Dissidia games, but getting the chance to play them nowadays is pretty slim. Probably the best fighting game for non-fighting-gamers I've ever enjoyed. The new version seems fun, but it also seems a lot more chaotic when the originals were very much a tactical duel game.

[NeoVid]

The XBox Game Pass keeps getting games that I've had on my Steam wishlist for years, so I just fired up one I've been wanting to try since I first heard about it: Control. And everything I heard was true, the Federal Bureau of Control could be slotted straight into The Secret World without anyone noticing. It also feels a hell of a lot like playing an SCP Foundation game, which is also a cool concept. I'm only a little ways in, but it's already grabbed me more than the last couple of story-heavy games I've played.

One thing, though... I was not expecting this game to require so damn much farming. If someone who knows the game mechanics could point out things a newbie should know about how to make a good loadout efficiently, I'd appreciate it.

For fighting games, you could try BlazBlue. It's designed around getting players past that initial difficulty curve of "How do I play", so that you're getting the most fun as soon as possible.

I played the hell out of the first couple of Blazblues, but that was also the time when I finally accepted that I never had the reaction times to be a high-level fighting gamer, as well as the fact that every day, I'm just going to be one day older and slower. (It's called 'pushing 40' because you're going "Stay back! STAY BACK!!!") I'm probably still going to get the new season pass for Skullgirls so I can see how that story ends, but I know better than to work my butt off trying to get decent at a fighting game these days...

[Zevox]

I'd probably still be a dedicated fighting game fan if I could count on my character doing what I want instead of my aging reflexes getting in the way.

For fighting games, you could try BlazBlue. It's designed around getting players past that initial difficulty curve of "How do I play", so that you're getting the most fun as soon as possible.

Each character's powers are different, but they all have the same patterns for their moves. For example, Down-Forward-Punch is always a move for every character, it might just be a Fireball for one character while another does a sliding kick.

It has a lot of subtleties with things like swapping to your partner mid-combo to maintain pressure or a chain, or countering their swap with a super-special.

Worth noting: I believe Man_Over_Game is referring to BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, the crossover team fighting game. There's four other BlazBlue titles that comprise the main series of that franchise, which are more traditional, at least as far as anime-style/airdasher fighting games go. Still easier to get past that initial difficulty curve with than in many other franchises though, or at least so I found, since it is the series that got me into the genre.

Also, you may already be aware, but if your trouble was the characters doing what you want and you were playing online, well, there's recently been an uptick in fighting games using much better netcode, rollback, which makes a world of difference in how well they handle online. Try out Guilty Gear XXAC+R (on steam specifically, only that version got the rollback update), or Them's Fightin' Herds, or the upcoming (June 11th) Guilty Gear Strive, I can vouch that all three play extremely well online, especially Strive. (I've also heard good things about Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid in this regard, but haven't tried it myself yet.)

Edit:

I played the hell out of the first couple of Blazblues, but that was also the time when I finally accepted that I never had the reaction times to be a high-level fighting gamer, as well as the fact that every day, I'm just going to be one day older and slower. (It's called 'pushing 40' because you're going "Stay back! STAY BACK!!!") I'm probably still going to get the new season pass for Skullgirls so I can see how that story ends, but I know better than to work my butt off trying to get decent at a fighting game these days...

Well, your call, though personally, I know I'm never going to approach being a high-level fighting gamer, but I play anyway, because just playing at a basic to middling level is still a ton of fun in the right game.

[Anonymouswizard]

Still playing Stardew.

I spent most of winter rebuilding my farm and selling lots of cheese and mayonnaise, so on the first of spring I just placed a lot of crops and let the sprinklers do the actual work. Just a little bit longer and I'll be and to fulfil that Spring Crops bundle!

Managed to nab two Starfruits (from the Mines and Maru), but still couldn't plough the entirety of my crops area in one go.

I'm also setting up a shed as a brewery, so that when summer comes I can start producing Cat"s Cradle IPA, and maybe move into other things come autumn. Maybe I'll use it to appease the uncultured by making lager.

[Lord Raziere]

I have possibly delved too far into modding insanity in Skyrim as I've been trying to figure out how to fix a CTD whenever I try to enter Sleeping Giant Inn and have been checking a lot of places as to why while also having to update so many mods, because of really big load order. meanwhile my New vegas modding experience is going comparatively well with my Luck 10 playthrough, turns out combat is much more fun when you can crit a lot and have so much resources from picking stuff up that you can spend more of them to win. furthermore I've realized that perhaps modding so much is a blessing in disguise, for if I mod it and it works, I can play Skyrim and New Vegas. If I mod it and stops working, I can be free to play other games! Win either way.

[Cespenar]

The XBox Game Pass keeps getting games that I've had on my Steam wishlist for years, so I just fired up one I've been wanting to try since I first heard about it: Control. And everything I heard was true, the Federal Bureau of Control could be slotted straight into The Secret World without anyone noticing. It also feels a hell of a lot like playing an SCP Foundation game, which is also a cool concept. I'm only a little ways in, but it's already grabbed me more than the last couple of story-heavy games I've played.

One thing, though... I was not expecting this game to require so damn much farming. If someone who knows the game mechanics could point out things a newbie should know about how to make a good loadout efficiently, I'd appreciate it.

It's a lot more atmospheric and well-written/directed than your usual AAA game, for sure.

About farming/grinding, it lays out the mechanics for it, but you really can advance without any of it at all. It's not necessary in the least.

Some side quests are narratively interesting though, so you might enjoy doing them nevertheless.

[Eldan]

Honestly, my tip for Control is turning the difficulty way down and if you feel frustrated with the combat, cheat. There's way too much combat in this game and it's way too repetitive for a game that is otherwise so atmospheric.

[Rynjin]

I don't remember ANY farming needed for Control, you can kind of just breeze through the game until the last two levels when the difficulty curve decides to take a sharp turn straight up.

[Eldan]

Maybe not hard, but frustrating. I remember loudly groaning after a while every time I walked into another big room and there were a dozen glowing soldiers.

[Cygnia]

Finished up HZD. It's odd, started back in April, got some motion sickness in the beginning area, but as I progressed, things appeared to clear up or I finally got used to it.

Went back yesterday to that beginning area to do the Knock Over the Grazer Dummies achievement and my motion sickness came BACK.

[factotum]

Completed Subnautica: Below Zero. It's definitely shorter than the previous game--finished it up in about 20 hours, first one was 45 or thereabouts--and I didn't find it as much fun, mainly because they replaced the mostly logical and easy to navigate cave layout of the first game with a series of mazes. Finding that ruddy place where I had to rebuild AL-AN was an exercise in frustration, especially when I had to get out to repair the damage to my Seatruck every 30 seconds after a Shadow Leviathan had at it. As for the additions from the first game, I don't think I used any of them apart from the Seatruck--it was just easier to navigate subzero above-water areas using a PRAWN than to stock up on thermos and coffee!

[Cespenar]

Maybe not hard, but frustrating. I remember loudly groaning after a while every time I walked into another big room and there were a dozen glowing soldiers.

It could have been a case of the unbalanced powers, where if you happened to put your points on just one different power, you could have breezed through it, etc.

[Zombimode]

Finished The Talos Principle including the Road to Gehena DLC.

Fantastic game, fantastic DLC.

And a suprise to me as well. I bought the game on a whim without any knowledge of it.

[factotum]

OK, played the first couple of hours of SMT3: Nocturne HD Remaster on my PS4. It's really kind of odd the things they changed and the things they *didn't*. For instance, the intro movie is clearly the exact same one from the PS2 version of the game, complete with PS2-level resolution, and the in-game models and architecture don't seem to have been updated. On the other hand, they've definitely redone the translation, because I remember the text being significantly different in the original--don't know if they did that primarily as part of the voiceover recording or if it was incidental.

Oh, and the controls are a bit odd...they've retained the system the old game had, where the camera barely follows you and you press circle to swing it round behind you, but also added (slow) camera movement on the right analogue stick.

One thing missing: I thought they were supposed to be adding an easier mode? The only difficulties the game offered on startup were Normal and Hard, just as in the original. Don't mind that because I found Normal tolerable before, just odd it isn't there when I'm pretty sure it was promised.

[Kantaki]

One thing missing: I thought they were supposed to be adding an easier mode? The only difficulties the game offered on startup were Normal and Hard, just as in the original. Don't mind that because I found Normal tolerable before, just odd it isn't there when I'm pretty sure it was promised.

I think that's a DLC.

[oxybe]

Monster Hunter Rise's 2nd major title update added a few new monsters.

Apex (aka Thunderlord) Zinogre, a variant of the elder dragon Valstrax and [R E D A C T E D] the final boss of the story.

Apex Zinogre is Zinogre... but what if more lightning? once you beat him on the rampage you can fight him outside like any other hunt. big angy thunderpuppy. i like him.

Crimson Glow Valstrax is Valstrax with red racing stripes (as red wuns go fasta) and the ability to use a dragon element version of Vegeta's Final Flash. he's just a really cool dragon and a fun fight with a variety of hard hitting moves. His armour is really good for Lance and Greatsword users, maybe Longsword and his weapons are really cool looking with an only red and white sharpness gimmick. good stuff.

I won't spoil the final final for-realsises-final story boss but it's a nice spectacle of a fight with decent difficulty and doesn't really rely on the artillery like the previous two. they will pop up a few times, but their impact on the fight is comparatively much lower.

I'm still going through some of the content but it's a good and wild ride.

[MCerberus]

I find Valstrax as the jet fighter monster, finally freeing us from the tyranny of Bazelgeuse.

[Cespenar]

Finished The Talos Principle including the Road to Gehena DLC.

Fantastic game, fantastic DLC.

And a suprise to me as well. I bought the game on a whim without any knowledge of it.

I found it a bit too long and samey (after a while), honestly. But it's not bad at all, though.

[oxybe]

I find Valstrax as the jet fighter monster, finally freeing us from the tyranny of Bazelgeuse.

hahaha...

Bazel and Valstrax are both in Rise.

And can be found in all maps.

Potentially together.

Balls up in fetal position remembering attempting to dodge a Bazel bombing run sequence and seeing "Crimson Glow Valstrax : Ambush" appear as Valstrax zips across the minimap...

[Zevox]

So I'm finally at the point where I've tried all of the weapon aspects in Hades - game took its sweet time letting me unlock the fourth for the sword and shield. By and large, I'm impressed by how much some of the variations change up how the weapons work. Like a lot of the rest of the game's gameplay and mechanics, they did a very good job there.

Personal favorites:
- Sword: Aspect of Arthur, to my surprise. The chunky hits it gets are very satisfying, that aura is more impactful than I at first thought, and the 50 extra starting hp is just gravy. Plus, well, it's kind of the only one that differs much from the regular version. Aspect of Poseidon can let you do cast-spamming builds if you feel like it, but beyond that, the sword is one of the few with disappointing variations IMO.
- Spear: Probably my favorite overall weapon, and my favorite aspect is definitely Achilles'. The extra mobility that being able to bull-rush to where your spear lands after tossing it allows is nice in and of itself, much less the huge damage bonus, which lends itself to a lot of different possibilities. Plus you don't even lose the option to recall it, which I at first thought you did. This one does have the fourth aspect that I like the least though; I don't know what parts of its moveset they think makes up for Guan Yu's massive health penalty, but I don't feel that they do. Even the healing that spin attack can provide seemed pretty paltry. Cursed Slash it ain't.
- Shield: Overall probably my second worst weapon, I struggled to get this one to work for me for a while. But I really like the Aspect of Zeus - turning the special into basically a Blade Rift and not removing your ability to use your regular attacks while it's out makes it a very fun tool to have, and with some boons it can just shred things pretty hard. I've only used it once since it was the last aspect I unlocked, but I kind of like the Aspect of Beowulf too - I was nuking things pretty hard having Aphrodite's cast loaded into that bull rush. That one does feel like a bit of a one-trick pony though.
- Bow: My worst weapon and the one I least like playing, for sure. Also, like with the spear, I'm not a fan of its fourth aspect, Rama - though in that one's case it's just because the main attack charges so slow. My favorite aspect is probably Chiron for general use, but Hera provides a neat alternative.
- Fists: One of my preferred weapons, and I'm torn between the Aspect of Talos and Aspect of Gilgamesh for my favorite. Love the magnetic thing on Talos, and the natural speed of the regular fist attacks and how that synergizes with certain boons, but Gilgamesh's claws version is just so savage and satisfying.
- Gun: I like this a lot more than I expected to when I first unlocked it - and it's the only weapon where one of my preferred aspects is Zagreus'. Because my biggest problem with it is the ammo limit and need to reload, so getting a lot more ammo on that aspect trumps the conditional damage bonuses of the other two regular ones (which, like the sword, are actually disappointingly minor variations on the original I should say). My other preferred aspect of course being Lucifer, because why wouldn't I like have a beam weapon? Especially when it reminds me of the Prothean beam weapon from ME3. Plus it gets more ammo than the non-Zagreus aspects too.

Also, random aside: Poseidon attack boon on the gun is very satisfying, both because it's effective (pushback on enemies on a rapid-fire ranged weapon, and hopefully you can get the rupture boon to go with it), and because it looks like you're fighting your way out of hell with a super soaker, which is hilarious.

[MCerberus]

hahaha...

Bazel and Valstrax are both in Rise.

And can be found in all maps.

Potentially together.

Balls up in fetal position remembering attempting to dodge a Bazel bombing run sequence and seeing "Crimson Glow Valstrax : Ambush" appear as Valstrax zips across the minimap...

It could be worse, Val could be flying escort for Bazel. They find some hapless hunters and drop the payload.
Picklejo!

[oxybe]

I still remember my first meeting with Jho in World.

He carted me through consecutive bludgeoning via Odogaron.

[Kantaki]

Started playing Miitopia for Switch.
It's just as great as it was on 3DS, and the new stuff makes it even better.
Sometimes I just mess around with the expanded Mii editor, the horse is just great and the outings (saving Miitopia can wait, we go watch a movie) add even more funny moments.

[GloatingSwine]

I still remember my first meeting with Jho in World.

He carted me through consecutive bludgeoning via Odogaron.

I think my first introduction was a high velocity Tobi-Kadachi to the face...

[factotum]

Did some playing around with older Atlus-published JRPGs last night from outside the Persona/SMT series. One in particular had probably the most annoying combat system I've seen. It was called Magna Carta: Tears of Blood (so obviously a very light-hearted romp), and it has this really weird system where, in order to attack anyone, you have to get within range of them and then tap a button three times. Sounds simple enough, except the timing of the button taps has to be ridiculously precise in order to land a hit--while practicing, out of a good 20 attempts, I only actually managed to hit the enemy twice. It's not like missing a tap just results in a poorer attack, which would at least help for fat-fingered old folk like myself, if you miss any then the entire attack whiffs.

I'm sure people with better rhythm than me would find it really easy, but definitely not going to be playing that one again myself.

[Cespenar]

So I'm trying Griftlands, and it's looking rather good. Slightly above-average card battles, good writing, good worldbuilding, pretty good art (it's a Klei game, makes sense), some very interesting social mechanics where bystanders can help or hinder you on encounters based on your current standings with them, etc.

[Man_Over_Game]

Been playing Children of Morta, a Diablo-esc roguelike that leans heavily into telling the story of the family that defends their world against evil.

My wife's been playing with me, as it has local coop, and it's been a blast. First thing we noticed, though, is how friggin' hard this game is. The mechanics feel on-point, although I would have liked it if traps worked on enemies as well as players (they don't set off spike traps or aren't affected by gravity wells).

Pretty stellar game so far. Looking forward to playing it more. It's on sale for the Switch for the next couple weeks, you should check it out.

[Zevox]

So, after putting it off a bit as I edged up to 10 heat on each of my weapons in Hades, I finally did a run with full Extreme Measures enabled. And I did beat it - though I kind of feel like I cheated a bit, because I wound up with an Aspect of Achilles spear run with Demeter's cast and the Demeter/Artemis and Artemis/Poseidon duo boons (and plenty of levels on the cast, and other boons that supported it...), so all I really needed to do was endlessly repeat "get bull rush buff -> place crystal lasers -> dodge attacks while they do all the work for me." I did more than that, granted, but still, that's kind of a crazy easy-mode build. So I think I need to make it a goal to get a win against that with my other favorite weapon, the fists, to feel more legit.

Otherwise, thinking I'm about done with the game - I've seen the true ending, and am close to maxing out everyone's... affection meter? Whatever you call the hearts you get for giving people nectar and ambrosia. Really good game, I'm surprised I stuck with it this long, but the core gameplay really is just that good.

[oxybe]

So fortnite season 6 ended and season 7's new trailer came out.

I dunno if they're just abandoning the season 6 metaplot or just continuing it, but it does seem like aliens are involved this time around.

it also looks like we're getting the most ambitious of crossovers, as the 2 standout skins seem to be Superman and... Rick Sanchez.

Supes looks to have a Clark Kent version along with his recognizable blue onesie while Rick has the evil goopy green rick as alt skins.

the other skins we quickly saw don't seem to jump out at me, but a historically speaking, they unlock more visually striking forms as you progress through the battlepass.

Also: fun Easter egg in the trailer, when Clark Kent is at his desk and hears about the aliens invading fortnite world, he's not working... he's playing fortnite and customizing his cosmetics... and he has the Batman skin. lol.

Curious to see how it all pans out in game once the update is done and loaded.

[factotum]

I upgraded the PC I have sat under my TV--it now has 12Gb of RAM (found 4Gb in an old PC) and a GT1030 graphics card (had to buy that one). Still hardly a gaming powerhouse, but I decided Fallout 4 would be a pretty good test, so I installed that and gave it a go. It works pretty well, all told--getting a reasonably steady 30+ FPS, although it does stutter a bit in heavily built up areas. And I actually got really in to the game again, so I'm now doing another playthrough! Just finished the Secret of Cabot House, mainly because I wanted the Charisma bobblehead--I'd built my character as a low-CHR loner, but I forgot that Lone Wanderer (you know, the perk that's all about you doing better when you don't interact with other people) requires CHR 3 for some bizarre reason. And I did get the fairly well-known bug during the Cabot quests where Emogene disappears from the back room of the ampitheatre and you have to run a bunch of console commands to fix it.