MattyP

I really struggle with long games these days which is why I'm actually surprised that Zelda has a grip on me. Not sure what it's doing different.. Certainly a time sink that is for sure. Certainly not much time for anything else. Not that I want to play anything else at the moment mind..

Seems to be most of the bigger games released of late are fairly deep though. Guessing they try and keep on one game if your playing that you aren't playing something else. And while you are in there plenty of things they can tempt you with the stay in there playing.

Had a quick look at some reviews of StreetFighter 6 and even that looks to be an involved game with open world elements and lots of customisation etc!

1 hour ago, Broker said:

The upgraded battery really comes into its own when you’ve got a vehicle which is just made up of a control stick and a few fans. You can fly for miles without it ever blinking out of existence. It’s also great for reaching the really high or remote sky islands. 

Indeed really want to build some machines that are actually usable. Shame there seems to be so much busywork to get to the fun....

Well..... TotK has been keeping me busy... Had a break and played though Planet Of Lana which I really enjoyed and well been back to TotK since. 

Now over 75 hours not sure how I managed to rack that up 😳

2 minutes ago, Stifler said:

Yes, but you only need 3 pieces of large Zoanite for a bigger charge (worth 20 I think?) and you tend to find a decent mix of both large and small chunks down below.

 

I'm almost at 8 full batteries (one third of one short) with very little real effort.

Ah great been heading down to the depths....

So decided to go for some battery upgrading today . ..

So you need 3 pieces of Zonite for every crystalised charge and then a  100 of these for each 1/3rd of a battery upgrade? 

So unless in missing something effectively you need to mine 300 Zonite pieces for for every third of a battery. To fully charge to eight cells thats 2100 crystalised charges which is 6300 pieces of Zonite?! 

Does that sound about right? Lots of Zonite farming needed? Also it seems you can only get 10 crystalised charges smelted from Zonite per day? 

Must be a quicker way of upgrading batteries... Any hints from anyone?

Dordogne coming to GamePass soon... Looks like another very arty 2D platformer! Love the look of it ... Also on PC, PS and Switch... 

https://youtu.be/FJcsSXhxcbk

55 minutes ago, Stanley said:

GAAS or GaaS I think is the most cynical acronym of recent times, in that it’s barely concealed business speak.

 

It doesn’t describe anything about the game other than it’s designed to maximise profit over as longer time as possible. 

Actually I don't mind that one.... Because if the term is used anywhere near a game I just avoid it. So for me it's a big warning sign!

Never heard the term "cozy game" the amount of BS today flying around not just in gaming TBH. It's like people are trying to get attention by "inventing" some random phrase to market some social media channel or another... Seems that social media is just seen as a business.... Oh wait...

Glad I mostly ignore it all TBH. Like the "woke" stuff etc etc. Suppose language is an organic thing and changes over time I expect at some point I won't understand most of what is being said.. they'll be some sort of "somedspeak"

So completed my first temple tonight...

So I started my assault on my first temple....(wind). Epic trip just getting to it .. not looking forward to finding out what is lurking in there but well some busywork needed to actually get in .... This now feels like proper old school Zelda....

6 hours ago, Jamie John said:

Man alive, the fucking clustercunt lightning temple boss has got me absolutely spitting with rage. Enemies I can't see, fifteen of them at once, camera going haywire, missy babbling at me in untranslated Japanese and the frame rate falling out of its arse.

 

Fuck offffffffff.

Mmmmm on second thoughts regarding my idea of going for the temples...

11 minutes ago, Jarik said:

That one annoyed me too. I assumed that the

 

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lasers would damage me and so I avoided them.

I like the clues in the shrine subtitles subtle hint at what you need to do ... I've been taking notice of these. Nice feeling when things click and you realise what you need to do! I'll miss doing the shrines when I eventually complete them all - although staying some of the combat ones can do one! The vehicles one near the coast for example...

Well that's all the Skytowers unlocked - well I think so as the map is completely visible now. 52 shrines down... 11 hearts and two stamina wheels. Think it's nearly time to find my first temple.....

Must not get distracted by any green glows of a shrine...

11 hours ago, DaddyA58 said:

I was an avid gamer from the Master System era through to the Gamecube, but missed the previous two generations.  As my son has started to take an interest in gaming (Minecraft) I decided to plump for the Xbox Series S - it's £20.99 per month for 24 months, and that includes Game Pass Ultimate.  So, that's us both catered for over the next two years.  I see no reason to buy any games and am very much enjoying what's on offer. 

 

The hardware itself is very nice, and reminds me of the Dreamcast - it's white, it's compact, it's heavy, and it kicks out a lot of heat!  The controller is excellent, very comfy, albeit the plastic feels a little cheap.  We bought an extra controller and a rechargeable batter pack for both.  I also like that the Xbox button on the controller matches the power button on the machine itself, it's a nice detail.

Series S and GP is a great combo! Don't think there is a better deal in gaming TBH.

GP has certainly saved me some money over the years of using it and given me the opportunity to play games I might not have tried. 

Great console and enjoy GP.... You'll be spoilt for choice on there!

Have to say the official Switch Pro controller is a great bit of kit. I've had lots of sessions on Zelda with this and it's the most comfy controller I've used of late. It just sinks into the hands. Going back to the Xbox Series controller now and again and it feels odd. The sticks are slightly taller. Oh and the A button is in the wrong place

Anyway recommend picking one up if you haven't already worth every penny. Great controller my new favourite. Great battery life too... Only had two charges in 60+ hours of adventuring in Zelda 😳

9 minutes ago, Boothjan said:

Speaking of combat shrines, I did the one next to South Akkala stable last night - the Mayachideg Shrine (proving grounds - The Hunt)

 

My favourite shrine so far!  I died countless times on it before attempting a new strategy.

 

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There are so many ways you can approach this, but I found the most satisfying was fusing things to the homing devices (those spikes at the very beginning are superb!) and whilst the constructs are trying to attack the homing devices, I sneaked round the room activating even more of them.

 

At the very top of the middle section, there's a cannon - I attached one of these to yet another homing device and just sat back and watching the utter carnage that ensued.

 

Completed the shrine without firing a single arrow or even swinging a sword 

 

Enjoyed that one too... just set them up and send them in... Got a bit bored of watching in the end though and grabbed a long spear and finished some off! 

26 minutes ago, Boothjan said:

I'm now around 65 hours down, only done 2 temples, barely any korok seeds, around 56 shrines and I've not even encountered some of the monsters some of you have mentioned.

 

I've also yet to go anywhere near the Gerudo region and have several parts of the map still to unlock.

 

I must have another 65 hours left of this at least!

Well you are further ahead than me... Same amount of hours and around 48 shrines down.. Avoided any monsters so far as I find the combat bits a bit tedious if I'm honest (at the moment anyway!). 10 heart containers and two stamina wheels at the moment though and its amazing how just upgrading these a bit makes the game more approachable - especially when I have ran into the odd fight here and there.

Loving the shrine puzzles...

9 hours ago, Lorfarius said:

One thing that keeps coming to mind as I play this is.. why did Nintendo keep so quiet about it all for close to 6 years? Was always going to be a big hit and they seemed to go into secret overdrive about after the initial trailer several years ago.

It's the way Nintendo mostly work. They don't really do the hype train thing. To be honest I'm glad. Rather have something discussed when it's close to release rather than sometimes years away from release. Hate seeing showcase type events with things like... Here is what you can play... Next year. 

Also having too much coverage during development can raise expectations far to much only for people to be over critical when the expectation is way over what is delivered.

22 hours ago, Yiggy said:

I think the dad joke vibes are there as so many of those playing it will now be dads. I think overall it deals with moving on in a pretty good way but it’s just good rather than amazing IMO. 

Indeed played though this a bit back. Definitely more of a nostalgia trip than anything else and seems like a final farewell to Monkey Island from any staff involved in this that were in the original.

As you say it's a good game and not a must buy think I played it through when it was on GamePass and it's perfect for a digital service. Think I might have been a touch disappointed if I'd have bought it. Still evoked memories of a bygone generation of gaming though loved the LucasArts games back in the day. Remember playing Maniac Mansion on the C64. Revolutionary at the time... When we were largely used to text input interfaces.

39 minutes ago, Stanley said:

It’s baffling to me that they would even consider releasing it like this but here we are. 

Reactive response? MS have the xCloud branding and Nintendo have the Switch. Sony at the moment don't have anything really. Sure you can steam games to your phone but for some reason its not something they seem to push much on the marketing. 

I think its more of "we have presence in that space" message. 

5 hours ago, Azrael said:

 

Cheers for the recommendation, played it last night and again was exactly kind of game I was looking for. Chill, short and easy. Though might prove tougher if want to go back for achievements. 

Ah good stuff it's a nice little game as and beautiful experience. Think most of the achievements are finding the shrines... I'm busy doing that elsewhere at the moment

So since I focussed on building stamina this has transformed things a bit! Gliding and climbing longer makes traversing much more pleasant!

DId a few geoglyphs tonight and started to get snippets of the back story. 

This is all wonderfully addictive.... Combat now is getting much more approachable now I'm up at 10 hearts too.

Think it can feel a bit challenging when you first start off in this. My advice is to stick with it and keep doing shrines to start with to get some strength and stamina built up. I did bounce off BotW quite hard and tried starting and playing it a few times and gave up. Think breaking weapons and the open unstructured nature if it kind of didn't gel with me at all.  Just felt too un-Zelda like. This however I approached with a different mindset accepting the direction Ninty have took the series. This feels like they have got the blend between old Zelda and new Zelda perfect especially with the tears that give the story in bits and general feel of it. Reminds me a lot of Zeldas of old. With lots of new to have fun with.

Anyhow have to say really enjoying this coming up to 60 hours now. Insane. 

9 minutes ago, Stifler said:

So, I wanted a hovercraft to cross some grassland (and then deliver a little bastard Korok) but when I tried to sail with it it began to sink (wtf!)... but then I found another Korok near some wheels, so I made it a car... but then I still wanted to go on the water...

 

 

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and now I own. an aqua-car!

 

Slow as hell on the water (where you want to relax). Surprisingly nippy on land - saved it to my auto-build favourites  

 

Nice I really need to upgrade my power only have one battery which you start the game with. Just focussing on the shrines still to get my stamina up at the moment!

Lots of collecting busy work in this.... However I guess it makes you feel like you have achieved something when your rank up on something.

Currently 40 shrines in so over a hundred left to find.. kind of reminds me of hunting for orbs in Crackdown....

At this rate don't think I'll be playing another game all year.... 

So in a bit of dialema at the moment build stamina or strength?! Have 10 hearts and 2 extra bits of a dial on my stamina ring (8 shrines worth if you will). 

Thinking about alternating now between building both up in sequence - so every 4 shrines completed add a strength next four add stamina and so on.... Sound reasonable? How did you approach it?!

Been going after some glyphs tonight enjoying the unfolding story and visited my first temple.... 

Can't believe I've currently racked over 55 hours on this! 😳

27 minutes ago, Stanley said:

I mean, yeah, it’s a game in which you are constantly encouraged to use what you have or what’s lying around. Just as it innovates it asks the  player to as well. Nothing ever lasts forever. 

Just convention isn't it? This is what happens when developers try to break out of convention...  

Must admit when things started breaking on BotW found it irritating because it felt like another resource to manage and in general the game felt like work instead of fun.. keep the health topped up, keep the weapons handy etc. Cook food...

Its a difficult thing to get the balance right I guess. Think they got the balance about right in TotK. Seems to be plenty of weapons around and if not plenty of things you can use as weapons. As always though always takes a bit more work on behalf of the player - to learn the game and systems.

Like when your weapon is nearly broken you can hurl it at the enemy too for an extra bit of damage. Oh and the fact you can hit the enemies and just grab their weapons anyway etc. Breaking weapons actually adds a bit more strategy into the mix. Plenty of options.. and really.. you can always rrrrrruuuuunnnnn.....  (tactical withdrawal!)

3 hours ago, kiroquai said:

The below does involve slight, vague spoilers for a small side quest.

 

Yesterday, I got a quest that involved me trying to ride a deer like a horse. It took me ages (and I mean ages) to track one down and then a cunning mixture of clothing and potions to be stealthy enough to successfully mount one, but I did it! I was so proud of myself that I sent my wife a photo. Here it is.

 

 

My wife was suitably nonplussed. Anyway, yes. Being as vague as I can, the quest required me to take the deer to a stable. Now, steering a deer is... er... troublesome. It wanders all over the place, doesn't stop when you want it to, screeches to a halt when you want it to get going and will panic and try to buck you off at the merest hint of trouble. It took me ten minutes to get down to the stable. Ten minutes of scurrying around monsters, trying to stop the deer veering off into bushes, trees and rocks by itself and repeatedly soothing it when something like a squirrel crossed our paths. It was a journey. We did, however, get to the stable as the sun began to set.

 

It was then that I became aware of an issue: the quest giver wasn't there. Panic! Was I just there at the wrong time? No. I open the map. Then it dawns on me. I am at the wrong stable. The one I need is at the very north tip of the map chunk I am currently at the bottom of. Now, any normal person would likely just ditch the deer, fast travel and catch another one nearer the required location. Not me. Oh no. No, I set off on a vast trek on a very, very reluctant deer. It was akin to starting a marathon whilst pushing a badly broken shopping trolley.

 

About thirty (yes, thirty) minutes later and came across a main bridge across to where I needed to go. It was then I noticed there was a significant enemy presence on the bridge, and that I needed to find a route around. You know those movies where they timelapse a character struggling across the desert? That was me for the next twenty minutes. However, finally I found my way out of the rocky hillsides and had open field in front of me. There was the smoke from the stable in the distance. I'd done it...

 

... except, in my euphoria I hadn't noticed a wandering bandit gang of Bokoblins to my right. I tried to hide, but my rather nervy steed made that impossible. I had one option: to hightail it past them. I mashed the Go! button and crossed my fingers.

 

We almost made it. We'd made it past three of the Bokoblins when the fourth fired an arrow that hit my deer. It knocked me off it, and in its panic it ran straight into the other three. In an instant my somewhat reluctant companion of the past hour was turned into a single piece of raw meat on the ground. I was dumbfounded.

 

I then spent the next thirty minutes riding around Hyrule exacting painful revenge on any and all Bokoblins I could find. When I was done I estimate I must have cut/burned/electrocuted/exploded my way through at least fifty of the bastard things. My bloody deer! You wrinkly leathery pig bastards! Argh!

 

(Needless to say, this game continues to be wonderful and throw up many a moment like this for me).

 

(RIP Dennis the Deer. 2023 - 2023, likely to be almost instantly forgotten).  

Hope you picked up the meat and cooked it... Never waste a resource in this game...