Discussion What are you currently playing? (Week 20 of 2023)

[Cacher]

New week, new thread! What are you playing?

Tears of the Kingdom for me! I am floored by how different this game is compared with Breath of the Wild. Sure, the chemistry engine, many animations and assets are the same, but the game is designed to be played very differently. There are more story cutscenes, a more lively world with tons of NPCs, and obviously the new arm powers. Even veteran like me who spent over 300 hours in Botw needed to scratch my head in some early game shrines. I played one single shrine twice and was able to make through it by two totally different approaches. The level design and the freedom given to the players is just unprecedented in the Zelda series, despite of the fact that the prequel was already a masterpiece in freeform gameplay.

I am also surprised to discover a gated area that I was not allowed to go in (name of the area: Lost Woods) whereas roaming in the previous game is completely free. The overworld feels fresh yet familiar, and there are many surprises like new enemies and caves. I am also very happy that creepiness in a Zelda game is back and some creatures are horrifying in the HD era.

I spent at least 15 hours on the game during the weekend (that's A LOT for me) and I have the feeling of just being able to scratch the surface of this game. Honestly? Zelda can wait. I am off to build my bomber or tank and terrorize Hyrule. Ganondorf doesn't stand a chance in face of Calamity Link.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

I finished the first chapter in Judgment and I may stick with it, though I miss Kiryu fighting style.

 

[Mivey]

Continue to make my way through Cold Steel IV, now about 3/4 through Act 2. I will say that while I like the game, CS IV already begins to feel a bit long in the tooth even for me, especially since pretty much every plot beat in Act 2 (it's divided into 4 smaller chapters) repeats itself four times, with very few new reveals in between. I get why Falcom is doing this. They have a cast of truly monstrous size and need to give the characters at least some presence, but it's also really holding the game back. But I am still interested in seeing the lead up to the finale in Act 3 and the ending itself, so it's not that bad.

Also started Deathloop last week, and I'm starting to get into it. I still wish Bethesda would let Arkane make actual, proper immersive sims, but as far as experimental spins on the immersive sim genre are concerned, Deathloop isn't bad. It's basically the DLC Mooncrash from Prey, but as an actual game. And it's fine. My issue so far is that it's not actually great, just fine, but maybe I'll change my opinion by the end of it.

 

[fantomena]

Playing Tears of the Kingdom and Marvel's Midnight Suns.

 

[C-Dub]

Doing a replay of Cyberpunk 2077. The last time I played it back on GOG - since got it on Steam to make playing on the Deck more straightforward.

The game is in a much better state now. Haven’t had any glitches. Still some weirdness with how NPCs interact with you/the world/conversations and quests completing, but I consider all of that par for the course for huge open world games like this.

Other than that it’s still good. I’ll finish this run and then do one more run once the DLC is out, and I think that’ll be it for me and this game.

 

[curi0usBystander]

Yakuza 6. In chapter 11 now, i laughed a bit at the scene where they keep throwing the baby. Wrapping up any side stuff that I missed and I found worth doing.

 

[Avern]

Still going through Cassette Beasts. It continues to be a delight.

I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Valkyrie Elysium, and I'm deeply mixed on it. Game has some genuinely interesting and fun moments, but it's got an awful lot of dull slog as well.

I've been going through the Mega Man Legacy Collection. I've finished 1 and 2, and am now entering the endgame of 3. 1 aged poorly, 2 held up pretty well, and now 3 is testing my patience with its obnoxious horseshit. Honestly, I'm not seeing why 3 is put on a pedastal by so many people.

Finally I've been continuing to chip away at Beton Brutal. I've nearly made it to 400 meters a couple of times, but still have a ways to go.

 

[Ascheroth]

Playing through Sable right now. Very much enjoying it! Very cool artstyle, interesting world and fun exploration.

 

[Parsnip]

More Atelier Ryza. I finished the main story last week, and now I have the DLC stories left.
HLTB doesn't have separate times for those so I'm not entirely sure how long they are, but I don't expect them to be very long.

 

[hersheyfan]

I played three games throughout the past weekend, just an unconscionable amount of play time.

I finally sat down and knocked out most of the presently available content in Honkai Star Rail - just a few story quests left to go. One of the best JRPG type games I've played in a while - not just good for a F2P game, just good in general. The turn based nature of the combat also allows me to easily play on mobile while on the go, which I couldn't manage in GI.

Participated in the Diablo IV Server Slam (on PC) and leveled the Necromancer to 20 (I did the Sorc in the closed beta). Some solid balancing work, and the game remains really good. Probably going to pick this up on day 1!

Last but certainly not least, I played Tears of the Kingdom. Jesus fucking Christ, that game is incredible! The map design and atmosphere is just off the charts. In the six years since the first game launched, I had gotten around to thinking Hoyoverse had "improved" on the BotW formula (by taking its basic structure, and adding better combat, loot and anime bullshit to it), but playing the real thing again just underlines how much further they still have to go; Nintendo EAD is just in a class of its own. I've done around 5 hours so far, and I've been grinning like an idiot most of the way.

 

[Jonas]

I finished up RE4 remake during the weekend. I loved it back in the days but now I just started losing interest when I got to the castle. But that’s pretty much every RE game after two for me, starts strong and then it loses its way somewhere.

I’ve played Darktide for close to 300 hours now, I was pretty lukewarm in the beginning but now I love it, I’d go as far as to say it has ruined a lot of games for me, it just feels so damn good and the visuals and soundtrack is some of the best to me. And going by the community’s reception they should be doing things a lot better so I hope it does get even more fantastic down the road.

 

[Dandy]

I'm playing Honkai Star Rail AND Genshin Impact. Am I anime now?!

 

[hersheyfan]

I'm playing Honkai Star Rail AND Genshin Impact. Am I anime now?!

 

[Spamlynguist]

Been playing a lot of Apex Legends with friends with the start of the new season. Really like Ballistic and his kit, won a couple games with him now.

I've also started Dead Space remake this week and it's been really good so far. It plays well and it looks stunning.

 

[Acidote]

SF6 Open Beta Weekend

 

[LEANIJA]

World of Warcraft and Far Cry 6, just felt like doing a bunch of brainless open world stuff and both games deliver exactly that.
WOW changed around talent trees so I have no clue how to play my characters anymore, but my warrior still kinda/barely works. I hate it when they do that. And they love doing that. It always feels like they just randomly move sliders on a giant switchboard and hope for the best. ^^
FC6 is a Far Cry game. Not much more to say about it.

 

[Arc]

It's been one week later and 99% of my playtime has been in Tears of the Kingdom (I did sneak in a few runs in Monster Hunter Rise). I think I've explored maybe 1/3 of the map after about 30 hours. I haven't enjoyed a game this much since...Breath of the Wild. It may be premature, but this does feel like an all time great.

 

[Joe Spangle]

I decided to get cemu working again and do a new playthrough of Breath of the Wild. Seems there have been quite a few improvements to cemu since i last used it. Game is running pretty flawlessly, i can use my DS5 with motion controls for the shrines that need it. Overall great experience.

Man it's such a good game.

 

[Parsnip]

Finished all the story episode DLCs for Atelier Ryza, and I'm going to start Little Nemo on the NES.

edit: Actually started just now, played through 2 levels.

 

[Eila]

I decided to get cemu working again and do a new playthrough of Breath of the Wild. Seems there have been quite a few improvements to cemu since i last used it. Game is running pretty flawlessly, i can use my DS5 with motion controls for the shrines that need it. Overall great experience.

Man it's such a good game.

That's exactly what I'm doing as well, while the switch emulators get improvements for TOTK. Except I have an xbox controller so motion controls are really bad. I whipped out my old ass steam controller but I couldn't get motion control going maybe I can buy an old DS4.

 

[DrShrapnel]

The Last of Us: Just wrapped this up as well as Left Behind. Figured I’d uninstall afterwards, but damn the unlockables are so much fun! Going back on New Game Plus with unlimited ammo and crafting where I can just go on a murdering spree? Oh yeah! No more crouching Joel baby! I wish all games let loose like this after you finished them.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Picked this up at GMG for $14, and I’ll be starting it next.