BadgerFarmer

Clicked the link but stopped reading pretty quickly. Realised I've already heard enough to know this will be special, and don't want to know more. Nothing to do but wait...

The Witness.

You're effectively in tutorial through much of the game, but learning rules by doing, as opposed to being told or even shown. There are no words, written or spoken, and no demonstrations, yet by the end you have an amazingly complex set of rules in your head. It's all in the patterns of experimentation, success, development and reinforcement. It's genius.

Probably quite a few on Dark Souls, especially as I was playing offline the first time and hadn't played Demon's Souls before.

Worst one was playing the first number of hours holding my shield up at all times, which seemed like a good tactic. But of course your stamina only recharges very slowly if you do that. I thought that was just the way it was - it was supposed to be hard after all.

The equip load thing is another one. I noticed my character getting slower and slower but there was no indication exactly why. 

Zelda BotW - I haven't played it yet so this would be my chance

Bayonetta 2 - same as above

Dark Souls - because it's the best game and I could play it endlessly

Invisible Inc. - so many character combos to play, and every game on a knife edge

Spelunky - I've never been that into it but this would be my chance to do more than reach the normal ending

MGS V - could spend so many hours mucking about with it and trying to complete all mission objectives

Disgaea 5 - so easy to put hundreds of hours into these games and never be done

Dragon Quest XI - hey, nobody said these games had to be out yet

Anyway it seems to work now.

There's a double pack with both games in. That should become unavailable if you've bought either one, but they've fucked up and made the other game unavailable as well.

Or they realised after all that subjecting us to both Beyond and Heavy Rain in such quick succession was too much to bear.

14 minutes ago, Mr Cochese said:

Nice work. Your video shows how manageable most of his moves actually are, if not a canonical explanation for why he becomes colossal when his pal dies.

I thought I remembered him having a 3 or 4 hit combo which was very difficult to deal with, but apparently not. The only major thing to worry about is getting skewered.

Just done Smough & Ornstein. Still such an amazing fight. Took about 5 attempts, and I decided I wanted to go the hard way (for me at least) to get Ornstein's soul and make his spear.

Actually a little surprised that the second phase wasn't tougher, because I remember having a terrible time with it in the original game and nearly always did Smough last because of it. Also managed it after an awful start. Here's a vid and the first 90 seconds or so is an absolute nightmare - could barely get a hit in without Ornstein smashing me about.

7 hours ago, Mr Do 71 said:

All about the waves.

The smart thing about that is it only draws the waves in a few metres in front of you, but you just don't notice it while playing.

3 minutes ago, mdn2 said:

I need a Titanite Slab to get my Lightning Zweihander +5. Any ideas? I can't for the life of me remember where to get one.

Stray Demon?

Mega Man X Collection will certainly be worth having at some point. Always liked the SNES Xs over the original series.

£30 for the download is more than I'll be willing to pay though. Wait for a sale.

How does it compare to others in the series?

I've played Memories of Celcetta and Ys Seven on the Vita and quite enjoyed them. But they were a little too similar and I don't think I've got another one in me unless it changes things up a fair bit.

I was doing Sen's yesterday. Got knocked to my death a few times but I love it all the same. One of the best bits of level design ever, IMO. Will have to go back and clear it out all the optional stuff later.

Helped someone out with the Iron Golem after that and managed to knock him off the wall for an instant win. Knew it was possible but hadn't done it before.

3 minutes ago, Darwock said:

I tried to use photo mode, but after adjusting all the settings I couldn't find how to actually take a picture? Is it just using the built in share function for that bit? I was expectiing it to be more like Gran Turismo Sport. I had a similar problem with WipeOut's photo mode in PSVR.

Yep, just hit share then triangle to save the pic.

I remember spending ages on Horizon ZD trying to figure out which button actually took the damn photo, then that moment of realisation. Doh.

1 hour ago, klargon said:

Out of interest (and perhaps to feel slightly less inadequate!) how long do you guys spend on the tracks to get these times?

 

edit - I should probably reveal that I’ve been spending 2-3 hours.

About the same for me, although without such good results.

I often have a quick go just to set a time, then maybe another hour to learn the track reasonably well, then one more to refine it and try to get a time I'm happy with.

Here's me thinking the cliff edge around the hydra would be easier to see in this version. Dodged the water attacks, approached shield up waiting for its lunge, plummeted to my doom. Didn't even think I was that close.

I haven't played Demon's. Would love a remaster.

For me, Dark Souls 1 (and its remaster) are head and shoulders above the others, and any other game for that matter. The open structure and potential for different play throughs is unparalleled.

Bloodborne is great, in switching the play style and giving you a quicker moveset to match, but the overall structure can't match DkS1.

I thought the first two thirds or so of Dark Souls 3 was as good as anything in the series first time I played it, but then found the final third a real drag (especially the bosses). It also really lacks replay value for me because of the more linear journey - the only one I haven't platinumed.

Dark Souls 2 is still a very good game, but the level design and bosses just aren't as inspired. Enjoyed it a lot playing co-op nonetheless. Also, I haven't played the DLC and that's supposed to be a highlight.

56 minutes ago, K said:

So much stuff I don't remember in this game. What's the deal with that giant knight with the full-length shield in the chapel in the Undead Parish? I don't remember him at all, and he seems incredibly hard to kill. He only seems to be there sometimes, too. What determines whether or not he shows up?

He doesn't respawn once you kill him. Other than that I assumed he was always there.

It's pretty easy to circle round him and hit him in the back when he attacks. I generally coax him outside first though.

Hmm. I might have to try again.

Should've beat my own time by considerably more yesterday. Was 1.7 secs up after 2 sections and lost a second on the last. Would like to get in the 1.41s if I have time.

I dunno. I played it at the time and felt the same.

Getting back into the swing of things.

Blighttown was almost a different place with the new framerate and lighting. Felt like I was really seeing it for the first time.

Spent some time down in the swamp 'helping' others with Queelag and reacquainting myself with her ways before getting through it myself. After that it was actually a bit of a struggle to get back out to the surface. Always so great when you finally emerge and make your way back to Firelink. One of the things that's lost with instant fast travel in the other games.

Think I'm going to wander around Darkroot next, before tackling Sen's.

Compared to the immediacy of old arcade style games there can certainly seem to be a lot of bloat in many modern games, and it can get tedious having to do a load of resources management, item collecting or map coverage to get to the meat of the game in many cases.

But, I've had more fun with MGS V than with pretty much any other game ever, and plenty with Horizon: ZD too. They both have their dips (not least the beginnings) and an amount of busywork, but much of that is very much part of the complex set of systems that allows you to play creatively and have such a laugh. If they were simplified and reduced for immediacy I don't think the highs would be as high.

35 minutes ago, Nequests said:

Assault Android Cactus looks terrible but is actually great. One of the only twin-stick shooters I've enjoyed in recent years.

It's certainly decent. I didn't get more than a few hours out of it, because replaying didn't hold much appeal, but I enjoyed that much.

Yep. That could have been a more interesting dilemma really, but the transient curses last so long it becomes an easy decision. Just be careful when it does run out though...