The Official "What Are You Playing?" Thread (Post Screens)

[Rusty Shackleford 7]

Redbox didn't have tr a couple days ago I'll check again after work

[-GD-X★ 7,819]

I'm definitely digging tomb raider. I do like how open some sections are, while maintaining a good amount of detail. I don't think it looks as good as uc 2 or 3 (Certain objects and effects don't wow me), but it still looks good enough to flesh out the atmosphere it's aiming for.

[Guest]

the fire effects are pretty awful 

[-GD-X★ 7,819]

the fire effects are pretty awful

Ya. They look ok from far though. The water running down the hillsides looks like a flat 2d animation lol. Hell, gears did a better job, back in 2006. I do like all the detail in the areas though. I also like how open certain parts are. It's quite refreshing for a cinematic action adventure game.

[Guest]

im uninstalling a bunch of crap off my pc so i can get tomb raider to run smoothly

[Guest Golem]

So, I'm into the third act with Trevor Belmont on Mirror of Fate now, thought I'd share a recap;

 

- While the traversal sections do still feel like a chore without reward, it can be fun to return to areas in order to reach new places with freshly gained abilities. It's just a shame that MoF doesn't borrow from the Classicvanias and throw more enemies at you during these sections. 

 

- Music is fantastic. It's obviously very Lords of Shadow, but where that game suffered from a soundtrack that blended together a little too well, this game has more defined themes for areas,and they're a welcome, ambient feel.

 

- Bosses are a strange mix of hard, yet forgiving, the latter due to regular checkpoints. Like with all the enemies in the game, bosses offer large windows in which you can pull off ferocious combos, however the counter attacks that follow are always devastating. The special attacks of the later bosses cover almost every eventuality, and will get you dodging back and forth and jumping through the air throughout your battle. The pattern for these attacks is more or less the same each time, and they're always clearly indicated, pair that with tight controls and as long as you don't get sloppy with your attack, you're stay ahead just enough not to end up cornered and beaten.

 

Mirror of Fate is at its best in these boss fights though. Making it through a fight without taking a single hit is a tremendous thing to pull off, and will have you making every dive and dodge, using every item you have, and pulling out your special abilities when most needed. It's frantic, and satisfying, and you really feel the intensity of the battle as you weave between enemies and attacks.

 

- The level up system is a much more streamlined approach to Lords of Shadows store where you buy additional moves. Instead, each level unlocks a new move and it's yours from that point immediately. No currency to earn, no need to browse and buy. I prefer it since it's not an especially deep system to begin with, but helps you to build up your combo arsenal piece by piece. 

Levelling up is achieved in two ways; defeating enemies, and finding fallen knights, who are sometimes hidden or unreachable initially.

 

I've stayed on top of finding all the fallen knights as I go along (part of the reason why, I'll get on to), so I've been racking up experience points the whole way through. By the end of Act II, I was level 13 (I think the cap is 20) so I'd say you're only going to max out if you find everything or retread areas to grind some more. It's not a big deal, but some of the later moves you unlock are invaluable to your combos.

 

- Collecting the scrolls of the fallen knights is one of the most fascinating things about Mirror of Fate. Each soldier you cross has a scroll featuring their last thoughts and moments described by knight as they meet gruesome ends. Each story adds a little more to the narrative of the castle itself, and gives the monsters that dwell in it a greater depth than just being creatures in your way. 

 

- The game is beautiful. Probably more beautiful than the console can handle to be honest. While 3D can suffer ghosting in cutscenes and during extreme close-ups, it works perfect during gameplay, and particularly stunning during the more dramatic angled camera shots throughout the game. Everything has a lot of detail, and it's very difficult to tell where some aspects gain more attention than others. It's just a consistently good looking game with crisp textures. Mercurysteam made one of the most gorgeous games with Lords of Shadow, and the eye for visuals isn't waning here, this is easily one of the best looking 3DS games. Screenshots don't do it justice.

 

- However, we have to talk about performance. 

 

Framerate wasn't a strong point in Lords of Shadow, and it's no better here. Combat cutscenes suffer this the most, but in rare instances, the framerate with shutter if a little too much is going on. There are no differences between 2D and 3D performance, so don't feel not using 3D will remedy the problem. The frame rate doesn't make the game unplayable by any stretch, but it's best not to think about how much the game is missing out from not having 60 FPS. 

 

- This game really enjoys celebrating Castlevania!

 

Lords of Shadow shied away from the series almost entirely so it could set it's own folklore-inspired mythology, but Mirror of Fate openly draws the series back to more familar places. Enemies, while mostly new, are much more grounded in the wackier styles of monsters found in older games.

Abilities and items are all inspired by games throughout the series. From mist, to axes, to wolf forms, to stop watches, and some power ups even conjure spirits to protect or fight for you, similarly to familars in SotN.

 

- The characters themselves share movesets, but they're defined by their abilities. It's a welcome relief, as I had presumed the three might play almost identical to each other. But after playing both Alucard's and Simon's acts, the way I approached fights was entirely different in light of what was at my disposal. Simon, a more upfront powerhouse, and Alucard, an agile, evasive force handing out damage across all enemies in waves.

 

- Enemy encounters are fun, but the way in which you engage them feels off. Like in Lords of Shadow, you're almost always ambushed, which makes confrontations a very closed off affair. I've mentioned this already, but this game is crying out for more enemy placements, because despite the waves of enemies you do face, you have to cover a lot of ground between them.

 

Holy shit, that was more than I expected to write. Hope people find it helpful.

[soup 105]

I'm definitely digging tomb raider. I do like how open some sections are, while maintaining a good amount of detail. I don't think it looks as good as uc 2 or 3 (Certain objects and effects don't wow me), but it still looks good enough to flesh out the atmosphere it's aiming for.

Finally, some real opinions. I think Lara is a stiff character in terms of animations, none of them look as fluid as they do when NaughtyDog is behind them.

 

 

Though, the contextual cover system is one of my favorite things in awhile.

[JonB 150]

Hey jb, did u like Layton?

nope

[Powie 16]

Holy shit, that was more than I expected to write. Hope people find it helpful.

How long does it take to kill enemies? That was my biggest issue seeing the footage.

[-GD-X★ 7,819]

I'm definitely digging tomb raider. I do like how open some sections are, while maintaining a good amount of detail. I don't think it looks as good as uc 2 or 3 (Certain objects and effects don't wow me), but it still looks good enough to flesh out the atmosphere it's aiming for.

Finally, some real opinions. I think Lara is a stiff character in terms of animations, none of them look as fluid as they do when NaughtyDog is behind them. Though, the contextual cover system is one of my favorite things in awhile.Yeah the cover system is extremely well done. I hope more games use it! I mentioned in another thread, how the animations and character models aren't that great. While Lara's reactions to environmental hazards, such as fire, are definitely a welcome nod to UC, the general movements look stiff.

[Guest Golem]

Holy shit, that was more than I expected to write. Hope people find it helpful.

How long does it take to kill enemies? That was my biggest issue seeing the footage.They can take plenty of hits, but you can also pull off combos that can have them down in about five seconds if you're good. That likely won't happen a lot though, since some use shields and blocks you can't penetrate, breaking up your combat.

[-GD-X★ 7,819]

I'm really enjoying tomb raider a lot now. I love the newer gadgets.

[-GD-X★ 7,819]

I'm quite surprised by how good tomb raider is. I'm basically at the fire/sacrifice part (how far in am I?) like I said in another thread, this does feel like an evolution of the uncharted formula. I love how open certain areas are (the level design is quite good) and I like the alternate tombs you can explore. The ability to upgrade weapons/skills is a welcome feature. The combat is much deeper than uc's and the platforming is better too.

[Powie 16]

I'm playing battle for middle earth 2. Still pretty good.

[Guest Golem]

I'm playing battle for middle earth 2. Still pretty good.

I regret selling my copy all those years ago.

[Sabo 448]

Just finished Darksiders 2 and I must say I enjoyed the game. The game has problems but compared to it's predecessor DS2 improved on a lot of things. Darksiders was a solid game IMO but I think everyone who has played the game will agree it never quite felt like it's own game. It was just a mix of other games and even though the overall package was well made the game never had it's own identity. Not the case with Darksiders 2, you can find similarities to other games (in this case Prince of Persia and Zelda) but DS2 finds a way to stand out from it's influences and become something unique to itself.

[Sick Cinema 20]

Been playing Hitman: Absolution.

 

Game started really slow and kinda meh at best. But after the first 3-4 levels or so, holy shit does it get better. About halfway through the game right now and I'm having a blast, makes no fuckin sense how this could get an 7.5

[Guest C.M.]

Been playing Hitman: Absolution.

 

Game started really slow and kinda meh at best. But after the first 3-4 levels or so, holy shit does it get better. About halfway through the game right now and I'm having a blast, makes no fuckin sense how this could get an 7.5

good to hear. I stopped after the train station mission which was pretty cool. Don't remember why I stopped though.

[nitric 472]

Been playing Hitman: Absolution.

 

Game started really slow and kinda meh at best. But after the first 3-4 levels or so, holy shit does it get better. About halfway through the game right now and I'm having a blast, makes no fuckin sense how this could get an 7.5

good to hear. I stopped after the train station mission which was pretty cool. Don't remember why I stopped though.

ROFL. Same, for whatever reason as well.

[-GD-X★ 7,819]

I'm loving tomb raider, but fuck...Lara's friends are annoying and their voice acting is awful lol.