Topic: The "What are you currently playing?" Thread

[Mirby]

I got quite used to the alternate speeds in Mario Golf, and overall am quite happy with it.

[Phi]

Beat The Last of Us.

Personally, I loved it. More specifically, I really liked it when I finished it, but after reading other people's perceptions and point-of-views on the ending, I came to appreciate the game that much more. Naughty Dog is truly an exceptional company.

The story, as a whole, wasn't too out there and it didn't need to be. For the kind of theme it was going for, it works perfectly. It's emotionally invested and personal, and in some ways, focused more on the character development, rather than the world around them.

The gameplay needs a lot of fine tuning, and if a sequel is developed, I hope they learn from this game's design flaws. It's still fun to play, don't get me wrong, but it could use improving. The writing and story, though? Color me impressed.

Next up, Left Behind DLC.

[Da Dood]

Finally bought MMI-V (GB) on the 3DS Virtual Console, and played some of them after a long time. My notes and impressions:

MMI (clear time 1:29)

- Ice is beautiful in this game. Never noticed before. You can freeze enemies in a vulnerable frame of their animation, pause the game, and switch to another weapon to finish them off. This isn't a new strategy in the series, but in DWR, where you're in cramped spaces and enemies deal insane damage, it's a godsend. Works amazingly well vs. Sniper Joe and the... big stompy guy.

- Got tricked by the disappearing blocks in the castle, but I managed to just barely use Carry as I was about to hit the spikes. Felt awesome.

- At only 6 levels, this game is shorter and actually more expensive than MMII, III and IV on the shop. WTF. It's too bad mostly 'cause you don't get to see the MM2 weapons much. At least the sequels made an effort to fix this.

MMII (1:05)

- Easiest Mega Man ever? The level design is super dull, there aren't any unique stage gimmicks, and you practically have to dodge lives and E-Tanks that are just sitting there on the way. Maybe people complained about MMI being difficult... and maybe then people complained about MMII being a piece of cake too, 'cause III was pretty brutal. Hah.

- The music compositions are okay, but the sound in this game is really bad. Reminds me of Harmony of Dissonance.

- Feels like I'm playing a ROM hack when I use slide and Rush in MM2 levels. It's an interesting mix of both games, considering how many new things were introduced in 3. Too bad that the level design doesn't do much with this opportunity.

MMIII (1:40)

- Yeah, definitely an improvement in difficulty. I really like the challenge of this game, despite some unfair bits (nothing we haven't seen before in the series). E-Tanks are rare, and so are lives. Charge shot makes bosses a joke, but they sure compensate with those brutal levels. The MM4-based levels drag on and on.

- Charge shot also makes regular enemies simple, which is a pity 'cause I love the strategy of using boss weapons and conserving ammo. Maybe I'll do a No Buster run, although the weapon selection here isn't the greatest.

- Punk's weapon is so good in MM10. Didn't do much for me in this one. I only use it to kill the final boss, as MMGB protocol demands.

Probably won't have time to play IV and V today, but I'll do them tomorrow for sure. They're the best ones, too!

[Da Dood]

MMIV (2:26)

- Takes a while to get used to the buster knockback. Not sure I like it... I get tricked constantly by the new timing, 'cause you can't jump immediately after a shot, and (of course) sometimes the recoil will push you off a ledge.

- Like III, the second set of Robot Master levels are very long and difficult. I loved the challenge. They gave some familiar gimmicks a new twist, like those Napalm Man drills being used for platforming now. The final level is even longer.

- I don't understand the W I L Y items. I collected all 4 and a big gate opened after the second set of RMs. Dunno if they were mandatory or if I just opened a shortcut. Either way, they were pretty easy to find.

- Love the ending showing little demonstrations of boss weaknesses and how to dodge their attacks. Too bad they didn't show the lesser enemies, though.

MMV (2:12)

- Oh man, yes. This game. Easily on par with the NES classics. All new content, great additions, decent length, excellent music. And it wasn't as lag-tastic as I remembered, so yay. I should play this more often.

- Mega Arm doesn't seem like the kind of buster replacement I'd enjoy, but it's very well implemented, especially its upgrades. You don't need anything else, it's like having Arrow Shot in MM8. As a result, even though the weapons are pretty creative, they're useful more so as tools. And unfortunately, the 4 crystals aren't nearly as valuable as they should be... 2x ammo for 2 levels, with an overpowered buster and S-Tanks/W-Tanks already available, isn't the greatest deal. Good incentive for No Buster, though.

- Mercury's weapon saved my ass more than a few times. There was one time when I was at the end of the level, 0 lives, and I entered a room with a missile enemy. The enemy kept firing missiles, and I kept shooting the missiles down for 2 HP until my health was full. Made it through without using a continue there.

And that's it, all 5 games. I might grab X-treme 1 and 2 later this week, never played those.

EDIT: Where's that handy Double Post button?

[Suppercut ♡]

A very generous, very lovely friend of mine gifted me Bastion, Broforce, RPGVXA, and a Greenlight pass.

Bastion is an amazing game, sad that it doesn't support Directinput because who really says the X360 controller is well-designed at all like come on. I especially liked the area where Kid slips into a coma when trying to get a shard amidst toxic gas, and a pseudo-Rucks starts narrating mean stuff.

Broforce was great for a good ten minutes, but it really lacks luster when I'm the only one on my friends list with the game, aside from that friend who is rarely online to begin with.

[Amatiramisu]

I'll get 'ya Transistor come Summer Sale.

Still waiting on Watch_Dogs. I have to pause torrents and DL in chunks because I'm on a wi-fi stick and it overheats if I put it under too much load for so long, and throttling the client's bandwidth doesn't help.

So I'm playing TF2 and CS:GO in-between.

[Suppercut ♡]

I'll get 'ya Transistor come Summer Sale.

Still waiting on Watch_Dogs. I have to pause torrents and DL in chunks because I'm on a wi-fi stick and it overheats if I put it under too much load for so long, and throttling the client's bandwidth doesn't help.

So I'm playing TF2 and CS:GO in-between.

Dude what rank are you in GO? We should lobby sometime if I'm not dragging you down too much (Silver III myself but I get pretty good streaks when I'm focused and not distracted by my gratuitous locks ).

[Amatiramisu]

Dude, you're like, way ahead of me. I'm complete noob degree. I think I'm Bronze.

[Flame]

Recently started NG+ in Dark Souls 2. Got two areas down. deciding where to go next

[Amatiramisu]

Alright, I'm actually PLAYING Watch_Dogs now.

It's pretty good. Like a modern AC with some GTA and maybe a bit of Splinter Cell mixed in.

But that's it. It's a good GAME, but a real [parasitic bomb] port. Before the optimized driver came out, it crashed my GPU twice. Now I just get a random lockup once in a while and the game resumes.

[Fxeni]

Alright, I'm actually PLAYING Watch_Dogs now.

It's pretty good. Like a modern AC with some GTA and maybe a bit of Splinter Cell mixed in.

But that's it. It's a good GAME, but a real [parasitic bomb] port. Before the optimized driver came out, it crashed my GPU twice. Now I just get a random lockup once in a while and the game resumes.

Heh, port... afraid not.

Anyways, still Dark Souls 2 on my end.

[Flame]

I discovered Nitronic Rush.

Amazing [parasitic bomb].

[Reaperoid]

Torrenting Watch_Dogs. Gonna see what all the hype is about. Might buy if I like it.

You made sure to get the crack that didn't have the bitcoin miner in it, right?

[Arikado]

Mega Man X: Command Mission

[Splash]

Finished CV - Order of Ecclesia
[spoiler]I thought that you shouldn't use Dominus at all and dodge his nuke attack with Wing Glyph and hiding in upper corners. I was wrong.[/spoiler]

[Amatiramisu]

You made sure to get the crack that didn't have the bitcoin miner in it, right?

Made special effort to do so.

Anyways, currently playing BF3. Gonna get back to Transistor soon.

[ViperAcidZX]

So far I've been messing around with Doom 95, Doom: Custom PlayStation Edition TC while I wait for Doom 64 EX's next update, Doom on the original Xbox when can't play it on my brother's computer, and finally finished all of the Mega Man Zero games. Then I finally got around to playing some arcade games on MAME (mainly to play RayForce since SSF is giving me problems) and play some games I wanted to try out (my brother and I had a lot of fun with Armored Warriors). I also started playing PowerSlave (PS1) since I heard that the console ports was better than the PC version and it was one of the earliest Metroidvania FPSes out there long before Metroid Prime came into the scene. Speaking of Metroid Prime...

Still, I want to beat it legitimately before I go and steal some "unlock everything" save file to compensate for the fact that I have no Friend Credits.

I think I have some but it has been ages since I checked all of the tokens that I have on my save.

-EDIT-
Forgot to mention that I finally got a working emulator to play the original Shantae and lovin' it.

[Phi]

Beat the Left Behind DLC (from The Last of Us).

I liked it. However, for $15, it was way too short. I'd understand that amount of content for $10, but nothing more. Granted, there are multiple difficulty levels, but I was left unsatisfied.

The gameplay was decent, and I loved Ellie and Riley's chemistry. I wanted to see so much more of their relationship, but as soon as I was getting comfortable with them, the credits rolled. Frankly, the ending was sloppy. I feel we, as the players, deserve a proper conclusion.

If anything, I'd like to see a follow-up to Left Behind, although it's highly unlikely.

[Flame]

Dark Souls 2 loses some of it's fun factor when you get invaded 3 times at Harvest valley by the same invader all within the timespan of about 15-20 minutes. Sure, I have life protection rings, but it's just one of those things. you play with the constant fear that you will be invaded at the worst possible time. And considering 95% of the brotherhood of Blood is full of shitters that abuse the op weapons and or go full Havel's, it makes the game lose something. NG+? nah. that's not that hard part. The hard part is being constantly invaded. Gee, I sure wish my Blue Sentinel Ring summoned me nearly that often.

[Da Dood]

I assume you don't want to burn effigies at bonfires? That reduces invasions greatly for that area.

Finished Mega Man Xtreme for the first time... and second... and third.

At first I was very disappointed, but suddenly the game pulled a Symphony of the Night and added completely new levels after I beat the final boss. That was a nice surprise. It's still not without its share of flaws, though.

Controls are not perfect, especially dashing, but for a system with 2 buttons, it's not like there's a better choice. The foot upgrade makes you climb walls as if you're holding dash in the console games, which isn't always what I want. Reminds me of X7, and that can never be good.

I wish the level design was unique... that's something the classic GB games did very well, for the amount of recycling in there. Some items are switched around, but the stage layout in Xtreme is exactly the same as in the SNES. I dunno, I feel this would be a more exciting Mega Man game if I didn't know exactly where I'm going.

Still, it's quite fun. For what essentially is a de-make of MMX, they did a great job (love how fast the gameplay feels). I was going to complain that you can't skip cutscenes, but then I played Xtreme mode. Great stuff.

I never used the Zero powers, though. Wonder if they're any good.

Xtreme 2 tomorrow.

[Phi]

Back to Ace Attorney Investigations.

Young Franziska is so adorable!

[Flame]

I assume you don't want to burn effigies at bonfires? That reduces invasions greatly for that area.

IIRC, burning effigies outright turns off multiplayer for like an hour. I LIKE the multiplayer. I just don't like getting invaded constantly.

Finished Mega Man Xtreme for the first time... and second... and third.

At first I was very disappointed, but suddenly the game pulled a Symphony of the Night and added completely new levels after I beat the final boss. That was a nice surprise. It's still not without its share of flaws, though.

Controls are not perfect, especially dashing, but for a system with 2 buttons, it's not like there's a better choice. The foot upgrade makes you climb walls as if you're holding dash in the console games, which isn't always what I want. Reminds me of X7, and that can never be good.

I wish the level design was unique... that's something the classic GB games did very well, for the amount of recycling in there. Some items are switched around, but the stage layout in Xtreme is exactly the same as in the SNES. I dunno, I feel this would be a more exciting Mega Man game if I didn't know exactly where I'm going.

Still, it's quite fun. For what essentially is a de-make of MMX, they did a great job (love how fast the gameplay feels). I was going to complain that you can't skip cutscenes, but then I played Xtreme mode. Great stuff.

I never used the Zero powers, though. Wonder if they're any good.

Xtreme 2 tomorrow.

You'll like Xtreme 2 if you enjoyed 1. It's FAR better. i'd call it once of the best X games ever, period. [parasitic bomb]'s brilliant.

[Da Dood]

You weren't kidding. Just finished Extreme mode/real ending. Great game.

Man, X is so powerful with all the parts. You lose two parts if you complete the armor, so during Extreme mode I just ignored the head enhancement and was able to equip 4 parts. Regular buster shot deals 4 damage to any boss. Amazing. To be honest, I didn't like Zero as much here. He has (wait for it) zero range, can't double jump, and his powers are, for the most part, the same ones you unlock in Xtreme 1.

I do appreciate tag team and how you have to choose who gets each boss weapon, although I ended up using Zero only when I was low on health/boss recon.

The level design is actually different this time around, though they still borrow entire sections of previous games. It's funny when the stage is closer to a Maverick who's not even represented in the game, like Neon Tiger's level pretty much ripping off Sting Chameleon. Some brutal platforming in later levels, too.

I'll definitely revisit both games at some point.

[Flame]

try X + Rapid fire enabled + Speed shot + Buster+2 + ultimate buster some time.

[Blue Valkyrie]

IIRC, burning effigies outright turns off multiplayer for like an hour. I LIKE the multiplayer. I just don't like getting invaded constantly.

That is just how Soul games are though, any advantages often come with an equal disadvantage. Co-Op is a huge advantage but you run the risk of being invaded as a result; honestly from my NG+ experiences Iron Keep is waaaaay worse than harvest valley for invasions.

Harvest Valley is pretty easy even on NG+ and onward, the area is pretty short and strait forward and the Covetous Demon has a pretty simple attack pattern with some clear tells (if you shot out the pots hanging from the ceiling the hollows that drop will keep it busy for a few moments), the battle is even easier with magic. Banefull queen is also pretty easy; once you drain the poison she's really easy to dodge, you could summon the NPC phantom (the jester) and let him solo the boss (not sure if burning human effigies effects NPC summons).

That being said Smelter Demon isn't getting any easier; might want to summon human help for that boss fight; serious that boss can go die.