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

[madmaltese★ 2,549]

1 hour ago, Remij_ said:

So I just finished Gears 5.

 

First off, it visually it's incredible.  However, it's quality is uneven if I'm honest.  Act 3 didn't look that visually impressive to me and I didn't really care for the whole aesthetic of that area.  The other acts all look ace though... but as typical with all games, there's always areas which don't seem to get the same amount of love as others.  The cutscenes however, are insane and it's unbelievable seeing them running at 4K+ completely maxed out in HDR.  Can't knock this games hustle.  

 

As for the gameplay, it's typical.  It plays it safe again and doesn't really change up the feel of any of the games systems.  For Gears 6, I'd love to see them ditch the roadie run and make movement more agile.  Change the cover mechanic and so on.  I appreciated that they didn't shoehorn any hoard moments into the main campaign.. which was nice... but I would have liked some new gameplay ideas.  Gameplay is polished, but now it really needs to be changed up.

 

Story thoughts

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Honestly, I don't really even understand what the story of this game accomplished.  It's like nothing happened, except a character dies.  We're not really any closer to understanding Kait and her mothers shit... and despite alluding to something that happened with JD, they don't ever touch on it at all..  Del, despite being a character that I like and feel COULD be something better... he's just nothing more than a support role for Kait.  So in the end I killed Del.  I thought the whole cutscene leading up to the choice was just extremely abrupt.. she was there in an instant and had them all restrained within 10 seconds.. and it just seemed forced just for the sake of having that "choice moment"..

 

The other thing that I didn't really care for, was that Marcus really didn't play much of a role in this one.  At least not as much as I wanted him to.  I actually like Kait, JD, and Del.. I think as far as characters go in this series, they are just as good as any others besides Marcus of course.  So I don't know which ending is canon.. but that's one character gone that I felt could have come into their own in the next game.

 

So yea, I just don't understand what purpose this story served.  It feels like you're always waiting for the next one to hit a major story beat.  Here they introduced some things, but never really went into any detail.  Mind you I should say that I honestly didn't read many of the documents and shit found in the game lol..  I hope they aren't relying on that to tell their story because nobody wants to read that shit in a Gears game.  You need to tell the story up front.

 

So yea, overall I'd give it an 8/10.  It's better than Gears 4.. but there's just oversights in a couple key areas which keep it from being incredible.

Pretty much exactly how I feel

 

Story spoilers:

 

Spot on with your thoughts on the story. Just a giant missed opportunity and one that I just don't understand how it happened. It's like they got different writers after Act 1. The whole JD stuff is totally ignored after the time jump and they don't try go any deeper into the issue and then to make matters worse it actually gives you the option to kill him meaning they are happy to just end his story then and there. Also suggest that both he and Del will have to be written out of sequels since it was choice based. I also killed Del, simply because there was nothing to his character while JD had that arc that I at least want to see some resolution to. 

 

But yeah they've now done 2 games in a row where practically nothing happens story wise. This is an area where they are so far behind Sony first party that it is ridiculous and it matters now more than ever in these giant blockbuster titles.

[JonDnD 2,607]

11 minutes ago, madmaltese said:

Runs fine on Pro so I assume it would be even better on X. Has Performance and Resolution modes too for whatever is your preference 

The gunplay is vastly improved over past Borderlands. Just feels a lot better. The rest is more of the same but bigger and more polished. 

Won't make any new fans but current fans get everything they could want. 

I thought you got it on PC.  That's what I was curious about. 

[Remij 4,670]

4 hours ago, madmaltese said:

Pretty much exactly how I feel

 

Story spoilers:

 

 

  Hide contents

Spot on with your thoughts on the story. Just a giant missed opportunity and one that I just don't understand how it happened. It's like they got different writers after Act 1. The whole JD stuff is totally ignored after the time jump and they don't try go any deeper into the issue and then to make matters worse it actually gives you the option to kill him meaning they are happy to just end his story then and there. Also suggest that both he and Del will have to be written out of sequels since it was choice based. I also killed Del, simply because there was nothing to his character while JD had that arc that I at least want to see some resolution to. 

 

 

But yeah they've now done 2 games in a row where practically nothing happens story wise. This is an area where they are so far behind Sony first party that it is ridiculous and it matters now more than ever in these giant blockbuster titles.

 

 

Spoiler

Yea, it's really strange.  The JD stuff was like... ok sooooo what the fuck happened to him???  lol  

 

They set up the first Act really well.  It does a good job of creating the opportunity for character growth... and then it just falls flat after that.  About them writing out both characters.. yea, I mean, if they did that then I dunno.  I had the thought while playing through the mid part of this game that since Gear 4 focused on JD (Connection with Marcus Fenix) .. Gears 5 currently is focused on Kait (connection with Swarm) and that towards the end of this game, they would set up something with Del, and then Gears 6 would be Del's game.  Then, one final Gears game with Marcus as the playable character, JD, Kait, and Del together where they finish shit once and for all and end their arcs.

 

They actually did a better job of giving Fahz a character arc than anyone else in this game, ironically.. lol.  They're doing nothing to move the story along in any meaningful ways... just adding some questions here and there type shit.  Well, hopefully the next game is better in that regard.

 

And yea, I certainly see them TRYING to make us care more about these characters, as well as try to go a bit deeper and realistic with it... but yea, they're certainly no Sony FP.  God of War pulled off that transition beautifully.  So if that game/character could do it, there's no reason they couldn't with Gears.

 

I'd like to see one more Gears game, and then MS allow the Coalition to move on.  New console, new IP.  They are clearly talented.. all the potential is there.  They just need a blank page to fully realize it, I think.

 

 

[madmaltese★ 2,549]

4 hours ago, JONBpc said:

I thought you got it on PC.  That's what I was curious about. 

Coop games will always be on PS4 for me

[jehurey 3,227]

I went to this place that's a VR entertainment company that is supported by AMC movie theaters called Dreamscape.

 

And they offer group VR experiences in which they design a stage for you to walk in while in a VR show.

 

So, I was with my group of friends and we did The Blu VR experience, which is why being a deep diver and going underwater for a mission.

 

 

 

So, they're using Samsung VR headsets, and they have pretty good visibility.  We're given sensors that go around our shoes, and hand sensors that go over the back side of our hands.

 

And we wear backpacks that we need to clip-on across our chest, and tighten it so that we can support the weight (probably weighs close to 15-20 pounds).

 

So that makes it a VR set that you can walk around in because its battery powered. They walk you into a room, there are metal railings and areas to walk through. You can see within the first few seconds of that video the platform area that you walk around in.  If there's a rail in real life, the VR demo acknowleges there's a rail there and you can see it.

 

There are some unseen metal railing in the room, but the VR demo still knows they are there and if your hand gets close to it, you see the blue transparent outline of the metal railing.

So it does cool things like when you start the demo you walk into the middle of that platform and grab onto a curved railing, and you are above-water in the ship, and that platform then lowers you into the water. So the room has vibration to go along with that. And when you go underwater, they cool the room in that moment to give you a chill.

 

Near the end, they say you have to go to some stations where there are jetskis, and you walk to the edge of the railing, and you grab these metal handles, and the jetskis break apart and all 6 people start moving away from the platform. In VR, however, in the room, all 6 of us are just standing there moving these metal handle bars that are one a swivel.

 

It feels like something you'd see at a Universal Studios theme park. Its immersive VR because you have space. I see my buddy in VR, I can give him a punch in his shoulder, and that's exactly where his shoulder is at in VR. You start getting comfortable moving in that space.

 

That would be really tough to do in your own home, but if they started making VR smarter and you had sufficient open space, that should would be fun.

[JonDnD 2,607]

Sounds lame 

[madmaltese★ 2,549]

A bunch more Borderlands 3. Game is great but can be it's own worst enemy sometimes. The biggest complaint about the game is the atrocious and slow/clunky UI. Which for a game that requires constant inventory switching and quest/map checking, it is a huge annoyance. Next issue I have is that the game gets in its own way. The gameplay and gunplay is so good, quests are fun, world is fun but then you get into these long ass sections between main missions where you just stand there listening to multiple ppl when you're just dying to get back out there. The addition of a hub world again a major cause of this issue. Seriously, hub world can fuck right off. 

[JonDnD 2,607]

Tried Uplay+. Free trial hopefully I can knock out WD2 New Dawn over the next 12 days or so

[Casual 726]

48 in WoW now. The 40-60 zones are my favourite...Tanaris, Feralas, Winterspring, WPL, EPL, Searing Gorge, STV, Felwood. Top tier shit.

 

Might take a break to get through Links Awakening. 

[madmaltese★ 2,549]

More Borderlands 3

 

Chapter 18 of Fire Emblem

[-GD-X★ 7,729]

Playing Zelda. This game owns! Just finished the first dungeon. 

[Twinblade★ 3,892]

5 hours ago, -GD- said:

Playing Zelda. This game owns! Just finished the first dungeon. 

Nice, I definitely think i prefer the top down zeldas to the regular 3D ones.

 

Anyway i updated my phone and gave apple arcade a try. I've only played Grindstone so far but thats a really cool little game. Its good to see apple finally take the gaming business seriously.

[Remij 4,670]

40 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

Nice, I definitely think i prefer the top down zeldas to the regular 3D ones.

 

Anyway i updated my phone and gave apple arcade a try. I've only played Grindstone so far but thats a really cool little game. Its good to see apple finally take the gaming business seriously.

Absolutely.  As good as the 3D games are.. to me Zelda is perfect with the top down perspective.  A Link to the Past is one of the greatest games ever made.  The Zelda formula perfected.

[Hot Sauce 2,727]

2D Zelda is best Zelda.

[James Skywalker 528]

46 minutes ago, Hot Sauce said:

2D Zelda is best Zelda.

Zelda having two dicks is better than one.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Optimus Jim

[Twinblade★ 3,892]

AI The Sominum FIles is ok, but its not really my cup of tea compared to the zero escape games. It leans a lot into its anime/fantasy themes, and so far that hasn't been much actual puzzle solving at all.

[-GD-X★ 7,729]

1 hour ago, Twinblade said:

AI The Sominum FIles is ok, but its not really my cup of tea compared to the zero escape games. It leans a lot into its anime/fantasy themes, and so far that hasn't been much actual puzzle solving at all.

Damn, disappointing 

[Casual 726]

Started Zelda tonight, got halfway through the second dungeon. Amazing so far. 

[-GD-X★ 7,729]

8 hours ago, Casual said:

Started Zelda tonight, got halfway through the second dungeon. Amazing so far. 

Right? It reminded me why I used to love Zelda. 

[-GD-X★ 7,729]

On the third dungeon in Zelda