Currently Playing

[Snowy]

Nice work mate, I never had the patience to 100% games but props for doing so!

[DjchunKfunK]

Danganronpa v3
Finished my journey though all the Danganronpa games and I love them. They have their Japanesey cringe issues like when you max out a social link you get their underwear as a novelty item (a 10x10 pixelart icon to be exact) but the good is so much silly fun and the murders and trials are satisfying and often it pokes you in your feelings. I think this is my least fav of the mainline games but it certainly goes places at the end! Yeah, not for everyone but I do love these daft games.

You should give The Hundred Line - Last Defence Academy a look, it's by the creator of the Danganronpa series and very similar to those games.

[Lenny Solidus]

Nice work mate, I never had the patience to 100% games but props for doing so!

Ta Ian. Hence as to exactly why both Mordor and War games contain that certain aspect of pure uniqueness that genuinely compels you to want to complete the lengthy story arc between yourself as a Human and any one of a mounting bunch of what feel like very personal Orc grievances you share over time - an often complicated history with, so often as a one time ally turned foe that purposely and continuously steps into view letting you know how they truly while felt under your command ever taunting you. It's fucking genius is what it is, Nemesis that be. As soon as I saw his head fly slowly away from his body I can't describe the real sense of release and finalisation. Especially one so long in the making that it was a thorn in me, I could no longer bear it and the only action was to dispense of him at last. (Yet even in his last words he mocked my victory as both hollow and meaningless and that I would once again lose the fortress) the twatter.

Being as I am these days with games in which 95% of what I tend to play never amounts to anything remotely close to building to a sense of closure or completion before I swiftly move on this was a big one and now rather than simply walk away feeling my job is finally done - I've now instead taken to taking over Online player Fortresses too which while perhaps not as completely gratifying fully serves its purpose to keep me coming back still.

Edit: I know I'm somewhat making it sound perhaps as if such consistent foes/true nemeses are not present in other titles, which obviously isn't the case. More that losing that fort in 2020 and never being able to ever retake it after numerous attempts and essentially giving up playing the game was cause enough to try again - that is on top of being called pathetic weak sackless and obsessed with my continued failure.

He was right.

[Animalmother]

Was the Nemesis System ever used in any other games? I'm think WB realised how cool it was and immediately decided no one else could use it or something similar so it just went to waste.

[Wrathbone]

I think they tried to patent it, but I'm not sure whether they were successful.

[ManBearSquid]

I recently read this about it.

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-w ... exec-says/

Interesting.

[Lenny Solidus]

Apparently so, back in 2021...

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160279522A1/en

The patent will go into effect on February 23 and, providing they continue paying the fees, could be maintained until 2035.

So besides it being completely untouchable until 2035 the now very dead Black Panther game developed by Ex-Monolith leads was due to incorporate it into the game and feature shape altering Skrulls utilising the system. Not something any of us could ever have wanted, right EA?

[Stormbringer]

Playing a point-and-click adventure called Strangeland.

It's by the same studio (Wormwood) that made Primordia, which I loved a few years ago. It's quite...strange...but, somehow compelling. The art is stunning, if a little disturbing. Seems to be some kind of psychological horror, set in a twisted dimension which I am predicting is either some kind of afterlife or, more likely, a case of being trapped inside one's own mind.

Used to be into that sort of thing twenty years ago; now, not so much, but I got it on sale for less than £2 so I am not complaining.

[Stormbringer]

Playing a game called Kill the Crows, a 'weird west' arena-shooter. Pretty simple, but very fun, and at the time I bought it, it was less than £3 on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/2441270/

[Lenny Solidus]

Darksiders 3

I'd honestly say this has one of the most frustrating level traversal experiences that I've ever had, heaven forbid I ever play the likes of say Elden Ring. All that you are offered is a boss icon on the navigation at the top of the screen and told "head in that direction" though the game constantly splinters off in dozens of directions at once at all times. It's taken me, and I wish I were kidding here...since September 2019 to actually make any kind of substantial progress on it, that's how much the level design has broken me. I saw my first new open area just this evening, then the game said I hadn't yet spilt enough blood to continue and sent me right back again. Well fuck you too game. Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. And I promise you I shall once I've done precisely that upon whence I return, ie I'm going to end up completely lost again and entirely unable to find my way back given my current track record of utterly abysmal path finding. Part of me is happy then that I did finally make a breakthrough, part of me knows that that might not last as long as I'd like.

Halo: Infinite Campaign

In but a few months time, the release of the newest Halo title will be turning a ripe four years old...and I've only just started my journey with it. So far, yeah, I'm super into it. For me personally, I'm finding the visual aesthetic before my peepholes is extremely gratifying, there's just such a fantastic look of care and incidental detail given to everything around you and Master Chief himself, fuck yes, he never looked so good. And this once again is some four years later, it's very impressive to me how it holds up in this is the next gen Halo kind of way. The colour grading, the massive amount of detailing given to his armour coupled with the game engine lighting is just spectacular. Gameplay wise it's honestly everything I feel I could have ever wanted from a newer experience, the grapple is a game changer (obviously) but the combat feels so very refined this time out, it is generally fun as hell to engage with combatants both big and small every step because that thirty-second Halo gameplay loop of pure fun is eternal.

I feel quite guilty in all honesty that I only ended up paying ten pounds for it, so far I don't understand the backlash it received at all...yet. Basically then, I don't think it was necessary for it to reinvent the wheel...and I've yet to experience any of the open world structure at this point, and I'm already having a lot of fun with it.

Halo: CE is one of my all-time favourite shooters and though 343 are as of today no longer the studio that made Infinite some years ago now I'm fully expectant given what I've already experienced that this campaign will deliver something far more in line with everything I thoroughly enjoyed in the original and best iteration compared to where the series went in 2, 3, ODST and especially with 4. All of which delivered their own unique perspectives, I'm honestly excited to see where this goes.

Edit: Of course, I manage to completely disregard my favourite part...the throwable explosive canisters. Stop shooting, pick one up and toss that thing for an instant sense of greatness...KA-BOOM!

Edit: Having now reached the open world sandbox, I must say I'm more than satisfied and all my concern of how it would play have been pretty much put to bed. It's hard as nails though, and I'm only on Heroic difficulty.

The Division 2

Long story short, the last time I played this, it crashed for the final time and bricked my PC. I've told that story a billion times to whoever would listen, now it's your turn. Glad to be back on it in all honesty, I find it rather underrated and quite oddly dismissed as pure LOL UBISHIT when as a true looter shooter there's nothing quite like it that scratches that particular same itch. Besides the amount of new content they have now poured into it is rather nuts and as there's so much to do both with Crossroads and Brooklyn our little group will have plenty to keep us all occupied even without touching some of it, here's genuinely hoping it finds its common place among our regular play schedule. Time will tell on this one.

Edit: Not to sour on Division 2 being a great game (which it is) I can't say that I ever did directly connect my PC woes to that specific game, it was what I was playing at the time per se but honestly could have been anything that did what it did.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows

Steam will tell you that I have thirty-five hours on this...yet Uplay states that I have closer to sixty hours...which one is it? I do not know. What I do know though is that for all that aggressive anti woke/anti ubisoft bullshit that went on surrounding it leading up to release, not only is it currently the best-selling game of the year, but it's also one of my favourite entries mostly due to that it delivers and delivers well on the shinobi/ninja adventure that I always dreamed of. That's not to say it's perfect, visually the world is stunningly well realised though the character models feel like several generations behind, as sometimes do the animations. Saying that the more I've unlocked the more it's started to impress me, though It is still most certainly not on par with say AC Origins which was just crazy levels of character production and animation production. What it does serve up though is a stealth experience above all else, hiding in shadows, crawling on your belly, hanging from a ceiling and then silently dropping on all unsuspecting samurai of which their several layers of armour cannot save them now...and the like...fantastically well realised overall. If you ever enjoyed Tenchu, this is honestly a dream come true...with some slight reservations, that is.

It's a truly continually inviting atmospheric experience that I hope they keep improving as they have, the big update comes in September then an entire new DLC island and here I am yet to unlock near sixty percent of the map.

I've not yet triggered the story point to play as the Samurai quite purposely...the ninja adventuring is genuinely that strong, yet I know I will have to do so at some point soon. For now though I can continue hunting down Daisho's within full on skull level fortresses I really have no reason to be as yet to see what loot I can nab before I make my stealthy leave unseen and unheard...but that's all part of the fun when you're an invisible ninja.

Combat wise then of course it is no Ghost of Tsushima, nor was it ever going to be realistically speaking. The combat design in that game is near flawless, the best in the business as of right now, until something better comes along - most expectedly from Sucker Punch themselves. It is however completely serviceable (if somewhat jank inspired when it comes to enemy AI reactions/animations) with a few fun surprises as you unlock your ever-growing tree pathways, of which there are multiple. As someone again who is primarily in it for the stealth it's all delivered well enough functioning and most of all of it's more than adequate increasingly rewarding and as always with post release Ubisoft there's lots more quality of life updates expected to come.

I think that all the controversy aside, Ubisoft have at the very least made a valiant attempt to truly reign in a little the rpgness of what AC has now become and bring it back to its stealth roots with Naoe, she can and does play exquisitely when you level her up somewhat and when you are clad head to toe in traditional ninja gear under the stillness of night (plus the wonderfully realised wind) with added night only damage buffs sneaking your way around heavily patrolled enemy camps - it truly can and does shine.

40K Darktide

And finally last on the list the ever present ever rewarding bad boy that is Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Coming up to three hundred and sixty hours played in total very soon well, that's just ridiculous. Admittedly, I did rather stupidly think my time with the game was about to sunset yet after several great runs with El Gaucho/Raid and Snowy today I'd say meats back on the menu boys. There truly is no getting your head completely kicked in like getting it kicked in playing alongside your fellow TGA's in Darktide, a game that will decimate you spit on you mock you and then do it all over again just because it can. But that's why we play...to get even on a game such as this is its own beautiful reward, to make it through a run together mentally exhausted as a party of four all left wondering how the fuck you even managed a single portion of it sometimes, that's Darktide in a nutshell.

Case in point before I sign off on this stupidly overly long post (comparatively to what I was originally intending to scribble down in one go that is), this was me earlier today - getting ragged on from every possible angle by every conceivable type of enemy...and I loved every second of it...the guys clearly had no idea what I was going through given the comms at the time, but man did I go through it during that minute or so. Do enjoy.



I always find it funny how recording DT never truly captures the madness of it all in a recording, oh well.

At the end of the day I feel that as of right now I'm in that very particular place you find yourself when you feel you are thoroughly engaged and enjoying my gaming hobby in the various forms of my own choosing, my hardware upgrade path allowing me a sense of true satisfaction that you so often can feel is slowly waning away as the years pass by. Not today, not today. I'm extremely appreciative of it and how I no longer have to pick and choose what it is I can play in the here and now.

[Snowy]

Phew, epic post Dave

[eny]

Good to see a resurgence of Div 2, as you know, I have been buried in it these past years, and the state of the current game is well worth the investment, with lots of future content coming: Companions, Snow, Survival 2, all in the pipeline. The current Master Mission has the Tinkerer mask that allows you to use your secondary talent at the same time as using your primary, as long as the guns are of the same type and not Named items. It really is transformative, LMGs with Frenzy and Killer on a Striker/Obliterate chest build, for example, are like a permanent semi-Golden Bullet! Hit me up if you'd like a bit of punch to back up your grind.

[Animalmother]

You can get a dog in Dark Tide now?

[Raid]

You can get a dog in Dark Tide now?

You can, they introduced a new class (the Arbites, defender of the Lex and definitely not a thinly veiled Judge Dredd ripoff) a month or two back. You get a Cyber Mastiff that follows you around and pounces on enemies to lock them down. They're a bit overpowered at the moment, but a lot of fun to play.

[Snowy]

Good to see a resurgence of Div 2, as you know, I have been buried in it these past years, and the state of the current game is well worth the investment, with lots of future content coming: Companions, Snow, Survival 2, all in the pipeline. The current Master Mission has the Tinkerer mask that allows you to use your secondary talent at the same time as using your primary, as long as the guns are of the same type and not Named items. It really is transformative, LMGs with Frenzy and Killer on a Striker/Obliterate chest build, for example, are like a permanent semi-Golden Bullet! Hit me up if you'd like a bit of punch to back up your grind.

Mate you are always welcome to jump into any co-op gaming we have going on