Currently playing...

[funkstar]

So, I mostly enjoyed Tomb Raider but some aspects got very tiring in the end: chasing down collectibles for xp (in whatever guise) felt incredibly 'fillery' and, well, tacked on. They also didn't gel well with the Uncharted bits (incredibly scripted sequences of virtual corridors), which were themselves really out of place when you would afterwards return to the good bits. Being told that you're in an incredible rush to rescue X, but that you might simultaneously like to hunt the local wildlife and chase down completely purposeless GPS beacons was strange. Really, the best part of this was the Prince of Persia parts: get through this environment. I hope they return to this in the sequel. Then again, I've never been too fond of sandbox games, to be honest, so the parts they adopted from that genre may have jarred more than for your average Joe.

I also went through NaissanceE: beautiful city-scapes, some fairly head-scratchery (mostly environmental) puzzles. And my MacBook Pro was way too dark to play this on using default settings. One section I spent a loooong time on finding paths by outlining dark constructs against the sky, progressing slowly until I hit the "fuckit, I'll check on YouTube" wall. The walkthrough I found had a much higher gamma setting: the path, completely invisible on my screen, was clear as day. D'oh. Still, highly recommended for the feeling of space, and lovely abstractions.

I finished off Q.U.B.E. which, well, wasn't all that great. Unless you're starved for puzzle platformers I'd avoid it, to be honest. Mostly, it was the puzzle design which just wasn't as good as it needs to be for this kind of game.

Much better: The Stanley Parable is The Stanley Parable. If you haven't 'played' this yet, do so now. It's fantastic. I've think I've seen a lot of what it has to offer, but it is truly great. The less said the better (I think).

I've moved on to BioShock, the first one. So far, hm. Not sure what I think, really. It definitely isn't your ordinary FPS...

(Gunpoint is staring at me in the Steam Library list. "Why won't you play?" it is saying. "Don't you love me anymore?" Well, yes, but, look, I got distracted, and you're kind of needy, and whenever I play you I feel the compulsion to completely stealth the missions, so they take 10 times as long as they should, and really, it's not you. You're great. You're just... exhausting. I'll play you again, I promise. Just, not now.)

[venusian]

Overcame the motion sickness to finish the Talos Principle, minus the optional puzzles. Which I'm not feeling mindful to return to. Slightly disappointed with the denouement, was expecting something more complex. Still at least it had an ending which is more than most puzzle games get.

Have the most recent episode of Life Is Strange to go. And saw Defense Grid 2 on offer yesterday so bought that too.

[The ghost of raids past]

There are a few different endings to the Talos Principle, I choose the ascension of the Tower as my ending. I take it you found the motion sickness options in the game options without them I could barely play it, with them I had no problem.

[funkstar]

I made a detour through Battlefield 4 which was easily completable in the week Origin lets you play for free. Also, Homefront.

If Tomb Raider made me remember that some AAA can be sweet, then these made me remember why I have not played FPSs in the modern manshoot era in a long time. My god: the constant handholding. The absurdly narrow corridors. The complete lack of self-awareness. The utterly ridiculous plots. Regenerating health and boring cover use.

Battlefield 4 had a few good moments set on ships, and Homefront's last two levels were markedly better than the rest, but that's about as positive as it gets. Everything else was just... bad. Dull. Uninspiring. Really, there was nothing here that wasn't done as well in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, in 2007. Isn't it time for WWII to return? What happened to the Brother in Arms games?

[venusian]

There are a few different endings to the Talos Principle, I choose the ascension of the Tower as my ending. I take it you found the motion sickness options in the game options without them I could barely play it, with them I had no problem.

I found them with only a few levels to go.

I went up the tower too. I would have had a look at eternal life but was worried that it might actually be eternal i.e. make me do all the puzzles again.

[rowan]

Just finished Dark Souls 1 on PC.

This is about my 4th playthrough, previous ones on the 360 with different builds so I knew what I was up against.
62hrs it took, with some fair amount of sightseeing & sidetracking gaining most of the achievements and I loved every minute.

Anyone who liked DS1 and has not played it on PC should absolutely get it on steam & give it another playthrough with DSFix and be treated to unbelievably improved 60Hz visuals.
Can't believe there is so much richness just there in the textures, which was lost in the rendering on other platforms.

[funkstar]

Still on BioShock. I've abandoned the overly cautious play style I'm prone to in favour of something a bit more aggressive, and that makes me enjoy it a whole lot more - I keep forgetting that this isn't your average modern shooter (i.e. the usual cover based, regenerating health shtick.) Still, I took (another) detour through Legend of Grimrock which was absolutely great. Also dabbling with Quantum Conundrum which is light-hearted fun so far.

Also, on the Wii (the Wii!) I've begun Red Steel 2. I've been joking that I'll probably make it through the Wii backlog around 2020. That's looking increasingly optimistic (in great part due to Humble Bundle.)

[OochyKoochy]

Just finished Dark Souls 1 on PC.

This is about my 4th playthrough, previous ones on the 360 with different builds so I knew what I was up against.
62hrs it took, with some fair amount of sightseeing & sidetracking gaining most of the achievements and I loved every minute.

Anyone who liked DS1 and has not played it on PC should absolutely get it on steam & give it another playthrough with DSFix and be treated to unbelievably improved 60Hz visuals.
Can't believe there is so much richness just there in the textures, which was lost in the rendering on other platforms.

Hi Rowan, how did you play on PC? 360 pad?

[SuperMappy]

Having completed several of my older PC games recently over the summer and in anticipation of Fallout 4's release, on Nov 10th, I have started playing Fallout 3 again.

Windows 10 greatly enjoys warning you that it wont work, but if you use the same methods that worked with windows 7 the game still runs fine on 10. To that end I anticipate no problems with New Vegas when the time comes.

It's still amazing to me that I can remember all the little tricks and tips, in Fallout 3, that I picked up over the years. I still manage to die, the first time, the exact same way though. I keep forgetting that it is a very bad idea to duck behind a car or truck in a fire fight just to be reminded with the vehicle explodes and blows me about 100m down the road.

I'll probably explore Fallout 3 till around the middle of October than switch over to New Vegas.

[TFO]

Got the final DLC for Dragon Age Inquisition and have started that. It closes the story off after the end of the main game - but is a proper winding-up the tale adventure. Good job too as

Spoiler: show

the ending of the main game left more questions than answers

Hadn't played the game at all since completing it back at the time it came out so I had the age-old problem of not remembering how to control the damn thing and having to re-learn the intricacies of the tactics. The DLC looks pretty good too - it has a good dozen hours of gameplay I would guess

[MattyP]

Still playing racers at the moment Forza Horizon 2 (still!) and more lately some Forza Motorsport 6 too....

Did have a quick diversion and have a look at Deer God (freebie indie game on Xbox Live Gold this month). Nice art style...

[VNVObit]

Finally finished the Witcher 3 main story. Easily my favourite game this year. Will leave it a while before going for the DLC (wait for it all to come out)

Finished the main story within Arkham Knight though haven't completed the game but have given up on it TBH as the various side missions left have become a chore so leaving that to one side for a very long time. Played one of the free DLC levels (Harley Quinn) and found it tedious and a bit too easy.

between bouts of games on the PS4 looked at my steam backlog and picked Wolfenstein New Order. I hadn't played a FPS for sometime and the last one was Borderlands 2 (which was a hoot). I only ever play the single player campaigns and really enjoyed Wolfenstein's one. Story clipped along at a reasonable pace and the whole vibe was reminiscent of the Man in the High Castle (looking forward to the series on Amazon based on the pilot I saw) which helped. Weapons were interesting and allowed for some varied play (especially liked the shrapnel shotgun with bouncing bullets, great for rooms with loads of unarmoured guards ). The use of checkpoints rather than user saves meant a few rooms needed to be redone but overall no real frustration (played on normal level). Just finished that and feel the rest of my steam backlog nagging me before I return to the PS4 for Fallout 4.

[venusian]

LEGO Dimensions! I've emptied my pockets.

[VNVObit]

LEGO Dimensions! I've emptied my pockets.

That's arrived but present for son at Christmas so playing before hand

[venusian]

LEGO Dimensions! I've emptied my pockets.

That's arrived but present for son at Christmas so playing before hand

Is there a missing "not" in there? Can't tell; could work either way. It had a big day 1 patch with the promise or more so worth booting at least once before Dec25 to avoid disappointed waiting on the day.

We're playing co-op on WiiU with mirroring off (i.e. separate views for P1 on gamepad and P2 on TV) so the frame rate frequently drops from "okay" to "awful" but I knew that was going to be the case in advance having done the same on Lego Marvel. It's a shame the U doesn't have a bit more oomph because it's a brilliant way to play co-up games.

The base platform is a really cool device. The "puzzles" it creates are trivial but having to move real minifigs and vehicles around is very cool. It adds much more to the game than it sounds like it would.

Favourite level so far is probably the Simpons. Although the grow/shrink mechanic in DC is pretty cool. Also the way they've dealt with the weeping angels in the Dr Who level is excellent. Worst: the Ninjago level - just a series of dull boss fights.