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

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

I wasn't really in the mood for Spider Man yet but I got Miles Morales just because I needed something to show off these next gen rendering features. And I have to say, the ray traced reflections on the buildings as you're swinging past them are pretty awesome to see.

 

Im not really sold on HDR yet though. I have it on but nothing about the lighting seems to stand out from how it looked before.

 

And the game itself is fine even if it is just more of the same. I think it being short (from what i've heard) is actually a good thing because I could use a shorter game right now.

[Mr. House 3,371]

The Killer 7 remaster is amazing, they have done a real good job cleaning up the graphics, it still looks amazing today. This game aged like fine wine, what a masterpiece.

[-GD-X★ 7,728]

9 hours ago, Twinblade said:

I wasn't really in the mood for Spider Man yet but I got Miles Morales just because I needed something to show off these next gen rendering features. And I have to say, the ray traced reflections on the buildings as you're swinging past them are pretty awesome to see.

 

Im not really sold on HDR yet though. I have it on but nothing about the lighting seems to stand out from how it looked before.

 

And the game itself is fine even if it is just more of the same. I think it being short (from what i've heard) is actually a good thing because I could use a shorter game right now.

There are sections that are so gorgeous 

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

50 minutes ago, -GD-X said:

There are sections that are so gorgeous 

 
that bridge scene  and the cutscenes are honestly naughty dog quality.

[-GD-X★ 7,728]

1 hour ago, Twinblade said:

 
that bridge scene  and the cutscenes are honestly naughty dog quality.

Yup! The last sequence has some nice visuals too!

[-GD-X★ 7,728]

Damn, getting the swim dash in ori was fun af. I love how every skill can be valuable.

[bhytre 2,753]

I won't be playing anything for months or close to a year probably, stuck in bumfuck nowhere Montenegro in the middle of endless mountains, imagine Rocky IV's training location without the snow (yet)

No TV either, thank god some internet at least

I made a primitive mallet today using a saw and a flathead screwdriver turned into chisel and a potato knife because even buying proper tools here is a challenge. These are the type of games I'll be playing

 

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

Finished Yakuza Like a Dragon after 60 hours

 

Some parts of the game really left me torn on it. The difficulty spikes were the worst, it took me longer to finish than other Yakuza games only because of the time I had to spend grinding. Also, the battles in general jus take way longer overall.  Some are either hard enough that you're barely scraping by while others are easy and only problematic because the enemies have a insane amount of HP, and even the most expensive skills (in terms of MP cost) are only good enough to take off a sliver of health. It just doesn't feel that balanced and if they do return to this format they have a lot of work to do. Theres some other minor issues, for example sometimes when enemies are getting up after being knocked down, you actually have to wait before attacking because your skills will miss if they're still in the 'getting up' animation. Also, when you're out on the street your party members will trail behind and if a battle breaks out, you have to wait a while for them to close the distance with the enemies. Im not sure how stuff like this passed QA.

 

And while theres a surprising amount of different equipment and gear, there are a lot of items that aren't always identifiable as whether they're head/chest/leg armor or a mere accessory. So you spend a lot of time digging through menus trying to find newly obtained items.

 

So yeah, while theres a lot of interesting ideas here I think gameplay wise its one of the rougher ones in the series. Since this is their first attempt at this style of combat, I can't be too harsh and I do think they can improve things quite a bit. And like I already mentioned, the issues don't really become that egregious until you're deep into it. The first 40-45 hours are consistently great (this takes into consideration doing most of the side content).

 

Story and character wise its honestly fantastic overall. The side characters are all likeable and there are more systems in place to flesh them out than in previous games. You'll eat at one of the restaurants just to replenish your HP and MP and then the characters will have a completely unique conversation about the cuisine, or some other topic and its just really cool to see. You also have a bond level with each character, and for each level you gain you'll be able to have a drink with them that leads to other events which help flesh out their backstory. They kind of reminded me of the companion missions from your typical Bioware game when all is said and done. Ichiban is a great protagonist too, I actually hated him at first but he quickly grew on me. Personality wise he is the opposite of Kazuma which makes his interactions with other characters way more entertaining (and also funnier).

 

So yea, game swings wildly from being cool as fuck to annoying as fuck, but I definitely go a lot more of the former vibe in my time with it, so Im definitely not disappointed. I somehow missed 13 sub quests so im going to be hopping back in from time to time to try and finish those up.

[Remij 4,666]

13 hours ago, -GD-X said:

Damn, getting the swim dash in ori was fun af. I love how every skill can be valuable.

You're making me want to play it again, but I'm playing AC:V and Dirt 5 atm.  Dirt 5 is no Forza Horizon, but it's a pretty good game.  The racing feels good when you get in your groove and nail some corners.  It feels quite a bit different from Forza so it's fun getting used to how the vehicles handle.

 

It also loads super quick, so it's fun to just jump in, do a few races and out again.

 

AC:V is good, but it's a massive time sink. (of course)  I really do love it though, despite it's many issues.  It can look really gorgeous at times as well... but the amount of funny bugs and animations jank typical of AC games is here in full force.  This is another game I'm going to keep chipping away at.

 

It all gets pushed aside though when CP2077 drops  

[-GD-X★ 7,728]

3 hours ago, Remij said:

You're making me want to play it again, but I'm playing AC:V and Dirt 5 atm.  Dirt 5 is no Forza Horizon, but it's a pretty good game.  The racing feels good when you get in your groove and nail some corners.  It feels quite a bit different from Forza so it's fun getting used to how the vehicles handle.

 

It also loads super quick, so it's fun to just jump in, do a few races and out again.

 

AC:V is good, but it's a massive time sink. (of course)  I really do love it though, despite it's many issues.  It can look really gorgeous at times as well... but the amount of funny bugs and animations jank typical of AC games is here in full force.  This is another game I'm going to keep chipping away at.

 

It all gets pushed aside though when CP2077 drops  

Yup! I just beat another section of ori (the one where you can create flames to jump off of). Bro, that shit had some frustrating parts  awesome, though. And yup, after ori (may try to push through gears 5), I will only be playing cyberpunk  

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

I've been a lot of Valorant ranked for some reason, and its such a miserable experience because of the community. Are ranked matches in competitive games always like this?

 

- People who randomly leave or go AFK mid match, resulting in a 4 vs 5 matchup that kills the balance

- 'Smurfs' AKA really good players who create new accounts so they can get matched up with noobs and completely wipe the floor with them

- People who 'throw' AKA idiots who deliberately fuck with the team or play badly because they're trying to downgrade their rank or just like being dicks in general

- The toxic idiots on your team who start talking shit and blaming everyone else when you're losing. Being a dick to everyone is hardly going to improve our chances of winning.

 

I don't know why I keep playing because I feel like im constantly frustrated and not having a good time.

 

[Mr. House 3,371]

12 hours ago, Twinblade said:

Finished Yakuza Like a Dragon after 60 hours

 

Some parts of the game really left me torn on it. The difficulty spikes were the worst, it took me longer to finish than other Yakuza games only because of the time I had to spend grinding. Also, the battles in general jus take way longer overall.  Some are either hard enough that you're barely scraping by while others are easy and only problematic because the enemies have a insane amount of HP, and even the most expensive skills (in terms of MP cost) are only good enough to take off a sliver of health. It just doesn't feel that balanced and if they do return to this format they have a lot of work to do. Theres some other minor issues, for example sometimes when enemies are getting up after being knocked down, you actually have to wait before attacking because your skills will miss if they're still in the 'getting up' animation. Also, when you're out on the street your party members will trail behind and if a battle breaks out, you have to wait a while for them to close the distance with the enemies. Im not sure how stuff like this passed QA.

 

And while theres a surprising amount of different equipment and gear, there are a lot of items that aren't always identifiable as whether they're head/chest/leg armor or a mere accessory. So you spend a lot of time digging through menus trying to find newly obtained items.

 

So yeah, while theres a lot of interesting ideas here I think gameplay wise its one of the rougher ones in the series. Since this is their first attempt at this style of combat, I can't be too harsh and I do think they can improve things quite a bit. And like I already mentioned, the issues don't really become that egregious until you're deep into it. The first 40-45 hours are consistently great (this takes into consideration doing most of the side content).

 

Story and character wise its honestly fantastic overall. The side characters are all likeable and there are more systems in place to flesh them out than in previous games. You'll eat at one of the restaurants just to replenish your HP and MP and then the characters will have a completely unique conversation about the cuisine, or some other topic and its just really cool to see. You also have a bond level with each character, and for each level you gain you'll be able to have a drink with them that leads to other events which help flesh out their backstory. They kind of reminded me of the companion missions from your typical Bioware game when all is said and done. Ichiban is a great protagonist too, I actually hated him at first but he quickly grew on me. Personality wise he is the opposite of Kazuma which makes his interactions with other characters way more entertaining (and also funnier).

 

So yea, game swings wildly from being cool as fuck to annoying as fuck, but I definitely go a lot more of the former vibe in my time with it, so Im definitely not disappointed. I somehow missed 13 sub quests so im going to be hopping back in from time to time to try and finish those up.

Lol dude, Im 45 hours in and nowhere near the end.  No doubt you had difficulty spikes cuz you didnt spend enough time with the side content and dungeon grinding. Anyway, Ill see for myself, still no issue so far.

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

9 hours ago, Ramza said:

Lol dude, Im 45 hours in and nowhere near the end.  No doubt you had difficulty spikes cuz you didnt spend enough time with the side content and dungeon grinding. Anyway, Ill see for myself, still no issue so far.

 
dude I exhausted almost of the side content that had any bit of plot or story to it. I shouldn’t have to bother grinding in the dungeons in order to stand a chance against the game’s hardest bosses. That is called time wasting filler and its there for completionists who want to check all the boxes and unlock everything. It should not be necessary for people who just want to get through the story.
 

 

[Mr. House 3,371]

11 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

 
dude I exhausted almost of the side content that had any bit of plot or story to it. I shouldn’t have to bother grinding in the dungeons in order to stand a chance against the game’s hardest bosses. That is called time wasting filler and its there for completionists who want to check all the boxes and unlock everything. It should not be necessary for people who just want to get through the story.
 

 

Ive done the side dungeon once and left before the second part. lol Its not even necessary, really.

 

Minigames leads to great rewards in this one, usually a godly weapon or a lot of money like in the case of Ichiban Confection, thats probably the only truly mandatory minigame though. 

 

Ill get back to you once Im done with the game, but so far I got no difficulty spikes. If anything Im always a tad overpowered when I get to a story boss fight.

 

 

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

1 hour ago, Ramza said:

Ive done the side dungeon once and left before the second part. lol Its not even necessary, really.

 

Minigames leads to great rewards in this one, usually a godly weapon or a lot of money like in the case of Ichiban Confection, thats probably the only truly mandatory minigame though. 

 

Ill get back to you once Im done with the game, but so far I got no difficulty spikes. If anything Im always a tad overpowered when I get to a story boss fight.

 

 

 
Lemme know once you get deep into chapter 12 then we’ll talk 

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

Sega dun fucked up

 

I just found out that if you played the game in english, the indicator that shows which attacks enemies are vulnerable to was just straight up missing 

 

 

 

No wonder it was so fucking hard, this would have made the difficulty way more manageable  They only patched this yesterday according to gaf, after I had already finished the game...

 

[-GD-X★ 7,728]

29 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

Sega dun fucked up

 

I just found out that if you played the game in english, the indicator that shows which attacks enemies are vulnerable to was just straight up missing 

 

 

 

No wonder it was so fucking hard, this would have made the difficulty way more manageable  They only patched this yesterday according to gaf, after I had already finished the game...

 

with this patch, is it something i should play in the future? 

[Twinblade★ 3,889]

29 minutes ago, -GD-X said:

with this patch, is it something i should play in the future? 

 

Yeah, I think if you like Persona you'll find a lot to like about this game. And while theres nods to the previous Yakuzas and its characters, its an entirely standalone story so you won't feel like you're missing out not having played the previous games.

 

But honestly I think you should start with Judgment. You can probably find it for cheap, and its another awesome standalone story. The gameplay is a lot simpler (its a 3D beat 'em up like the older games) but I think you would dig its detective and mystery vibes.

[-GD-X★ 7,728]

8 minutes ago, Twinblade said:

 

Yeah, I think if you like Persona you'll find a lot to like about this game. And while theres nods to the previous Yakuzas and its characters, its an entirely standalone story so you won't feel like you're missing out not having played the previous games.

 

But honestly I think you should start with Judgment. You can probably find it for cheap, and its another awesome standalone story. The gameplay is a lot simpler (its a 3D beat 'em up like the older games) but I think you would dig its detective and mystery vibes.

thanks bro! 

[Ike★ 2,906]

@-GD-XI think a lot of the Yakuza games are on GamePass now too.