Currently playing...

[MattyP]

Currently working through The Last Of Us on the PC and enjoying it*.

* Well when it lets my play and isn't patching.... beginning to loose my patience with PC gaming these days. 79GB initial download, graphics driver - 790MB then start to play... need shader compilation another 45mins... play and then when I come back to it a couple of days after another 11GB download... stopped playing for another couple of days and gone back to it tonight to have another session and... ANOTHER 10GB patch. What the hell are they doing?! Seriously makes me think perhaps I should have just picked up a cheap PS3/4 and played through the game on that.

Really starting to question if I actually enjoy this anymore...and I used to complain when waiting for 8bit games to load of tape...

EDIT. Patch has downloaded... and its compiling the shaders AGAIN. WTF.

Seriously think this might be the last game I buy for the PC.... Certainly making me doubt upgrading the thing for sure....

[venusian]

I recently played through the main story of Hifi Rush. It's pretty good: very linear, not to hard, doesn't demand nanosecond running, likeable (if clichéd) characters. It feels like a Dreamer era game to me in terms of complexity, fun, and blue skies.

But also, I downloaded it exactly once. Didn't see any patching and no sign of it needing to compile shaders. It can be done on PC. I wonder how much incentive PS devs have to make good PC ports.

[MattyP]

I recently played through the main story of Hifi Rush. It's pretty good: very linear, not to hard, doesn't demand nanosecond running, likeable (if clichéd) characters. It feels like a Dreamer era game to me in terms of complexity, fun, and blue skies.

But also, I downloaded it exactly once. Didn't see any patching and no sign of it needing to compile shaders. It can be done on PC. I wonder how much incentive PS devs have to make good PC ports.

Think there is an element of it being a poor port too... Must admit its the first time I've had this for a while. Also think its partly my PC to blame it could really do with an upgrade... still running a first gen Ryzen 5/16GB memory and a GTX980Ti. Although it runs TLOU OK(ish) 1080p low textures @30fps mind... But its playable. Think it was 30fps on PS3 all those years ago...

[Whiteball]

Was thinking of looking at this game myself, but heard it was a really poor port.
There really is no excuse these days to release things in such a bad state, you can only blame publisher pressure, timeframes etc so much.

There needs to be a base level of competency at least in the devs doing the port otherwise don't bother.

[Rhythm]

What is it with Sony and MS console ports recently? MS have been terrible for a few years now, with just god-awful ports that have to do the "recompiling shaders" bit almost every time you launch. (Forza Horizon, I'm looking at you). Add in the complications of a Microsoft-funded "independent" assessment team running puff pieces on why it's OK that these ten year old games run so terribly on modern PCs and it's all kind of a shitshow.

FWIW I've been dabbling in a few things, trying to find something that'll grab me full-time. Ended up settling back on Noita, a *superb* 2D physics platformer thing. 4 years since it came out and it's still hugely satisfying to get a good run. The physics (which are akin to those old sandbox simulators) are always fascinating too

[MattyP]

Well finished up on The Last of Us the other night. In the end it played OK - certainly looked prettier than the last time I played it through on the PS3!

Think the main issue with the PC is it doesn't have dedicated texture decompression in hardware (like the PS5) so it uses the PCs CPU instead which of course also has to provide the game logic etc. So some areas it appears a bit stuttery until all the textures have loaded in. To compound the problem I guess the SSD in a PS5 is super fast too.

Can't say ultimately it was game breaking or anything just something that was noticeable at odd times especially with some of the larger areas.

Still a great game that holds up well. Like the stealthy gameplay and it's more of a slower paced exploration game than a all guns blazing zombie shooter. Still feels refreshing now and still one of the best story games I have ever played. Great characters, interesting story and fun game too.

[WiteWulf]

Oo, top tip for Noita. That looks ace, and Deck Verified, too. I’ll be having some of that.

[Rhythm]

Oo, top tip for Noita. That looks ace, and Deck Verified, too. I’ll be having some of that.

It's great. Very mod-friendly too. Given how hard the thing is I'd totally say that enabling mods for regenerating health etc is a good move. But it's fun as hell straight out the box

[guythp]

A bit late to the Vampire Survivors gig but, damn, it's good!

Even later here but absolutely! Even playing on a phone I've already lost a few hours with it.

[grue]

Continuing on the "late to the party" front, I'm punishing myself on Dark Souls Remastered.
Still trying to kill the Capra demon, 3rd-4th boss depending on how you play. It's been a week...

[merman]

Demon’s Tilt - excellent pinball game, got me even more hyped for the forthcoming sequel Xeon Tilt

[MattyP]

Gameboy Tetris on the Switch... Oh still as addictive as ever!

[Misfit]

Demon’s Tilt - excellent pinball game, got me even more hyped for the forthcoming sequel Xeon Tilt

I tried this back when it was on Game Pass.

As a huge fan of Devil's Crush, which seems to have heavily influenced this, I was really disappointed with it.

Don't remember why. Perhaps I need to revisit it as it obviously appeals.

[MattyP]

Having a bit of a marathon gaming session this weekend. Keep buying things on sale to play whilst waiting for Zelda on the Switch.

So finished up on a couple of games over the past few days:-

The Suicide Of Rachael Foster (Switch) - essentially narrative based story game - some would say a walking simulator but think along the lines of Everyones Gone To The Rapture on PS4 and you won't be far off. Set in a remote deserted hotel in winter has vibes of The Shining to it. Creepy as hell especially with the headphones on - makes good use of surround sound.

11-11: Memories Retold (Xbox) - Again a narrative based story game set in WW1. Lovely art style and sound. More of an experience than anything else - a few very tame puzzle bits in it. Its like walking through a painting to the backing of some beautiful music. Lovely experience if not a touch sombre given its theme. Nice mechanic where you switch between the two characters (German and a Canadian) so you get a different perspective. Mutiple endings so might go back and have another go to get the other ending (chose the sad one!).

Both are on sale at the moment. Worth a look if you want something to play that doesn't outstay its welcome (both around 5 hours or so each).

Right back to Red Wings : Aces of the sky now... Seem to have a WW1 themed weekend going on here....

[MattyP]

Currently really enjoying this on the switch tight gameplay loop and just a bunch of fun....like they took the best bits of the old flight sims and made something that is quick to pick up and enjoy. Works really well on the Switch... You can even control the plane with the gyros in the joycons if that is your thing...