What are you playing, stupid?

[Tad]

Finished the main story of FFXV.

Overall, it's better than anything after X, but it does have issues. Most of the issues are kind of made worse because they have clearly built a interesting world. The characters and story are all there, but Square-Enix have really flopped on the execution.

It's probably the shortest FF game in terms of plot in a long time, but there's plenty of things to do outside the plot.

[max_cady]

So I've done two of the three scenarios from Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force. If you wanna do a re-release, Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force is a good example. The original game came out in 2014 for PS3 and PC / Steam the following year.
The original game is a largely linear experience that's fun and acessible for the most part. The new PS4 version like I mentioned before:


- Has a branching storyline with three scenarios;
- You can have 6 characters during a batlle instead of only 3;
- Easy, Normal, Hard Mode;
- New characters, new maps (one in particular is "yuge") more scenes, different dialogue in existing scenes;


Despite having Dark in the title and the game does deal with some heavy subjects (death, destruction and such), the characters and the dialogue are often times upbeat, Dragon Quest-esque optimism mixed in with the snarky / flirty 4th Wall Breaking dialogue that's heavily featured in the Hyper Dimension Neptunia games.

[Team Andromeda]

Just picked up this

[max_cady]

Ah, man, just my luck that Resident Evil 7 and Yakuza 0 just happened to come out on the same day. And I can only pick one at the moment!


Anyway, Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force...

After I finished all the 3 storylines, I'm doing a deliberatly slow 4th run to get the missing S-rank Furys. Doing everything, step-by-step, finishing all the Guillermo's Pub quests, making sure I don't miss of Lola's sidequests.


The problem with some of the quests (and I don't tell you this in the game) is that enemies only drop certain items on the higher difficulties. So on Easy and Ammateur, you can kill the same monsters over and over again and with furys with item drop plus... and never get the actual item. But after overcoming that stupid hurdle, I've having fun so far.


As JRPG, it's a pretty short game overall and all cutscenes are skippable, it facilitates multiple playthroughs. I noticed a few things on the japanese dub though, the Pub guy actually has voice as well as the lady who owns the item shop also has a voice, instead of a mute version in the english. Same with some optional events.

[Tad]

Uncharted 4

I'm not of those who think the series was incredible, but it has been a lot of fun. In U4, the same issues of iffy mechanics and Hollywood style action are there for all to see, but the characters, graphics, story and it's execution really do a lot for this series. It probably wouldn't be liked, but I really think the series would have been better if the shooting was taken out and the game sat on it's two much stronger elements in puzzles and platforming. This really was a great way to finish the series and I'm glad I got to play them all.

[Tad]

Forgot to add this:

The Last of Us Remastered

It was a lot of fun and without story that doesn't rely on the "monsters" to the point of being really repetitive. Probably my only gripe is the ending. Sure it was a good twist, but I'm kind of tired of these types of games not really having a happy ending. Sure, it's a bleak game, but it seems like every game in this setting thinks it needs to end that way too. In a way, the ending actually makes the whole story a bit pointless as nothing is gained.

[Team Andromeda]

Just got RE 7

This game is the most utterly terrifying experience in gaming. Capcom has done wonders with this game, they've got the horror back to the series and the game setting is genius. It's classic RE all the way ... The lock picks are back, the store rooms are, the saves are back, the item management is back and best of all so its horror, so to the puzzles! Best horror game I've ever played, love the setting, the sense of terror and dread of what is coming next and the gfx and lighting some of the best this gen, best use of HDR too.

Can't play it in VR mode its just too much and too scary

[Team Andromeda]

Also loving Yakuza at the mo to, Yes It's more of the same and the team are reusing the same old assets and all that, but  I'm really enjoying this one Loving the 80's Arcades and 80's vib but more so I am  really enjoying the brilliant and quite powerful story in this one (something which Yakuza 3/4 lacked imo) and the fights are class.[/size]This for me is the best one since part II and I'm enjoying it[/color]

[max_cady]

YES! YES! YES!


I got all the Furies in Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force! Did all of Lola's optional missions, so she naturally joined, thus triggering the optional event in which I got the first S-rank Fury, used to get one more floor to the big Tower and beat the boss to get the other S-rank Fury! Finished the game on Easy. I'll started another playthrough on ammateur so I could now focus on getting all the different CG endings.


But for now... I'm focused on Life is Strange.


It's got an interesting premise, I like the whole small town mistery angle and the characters are likeable, for the most part. If you can stomach the melodrama and many of those long drawn out indie movie-esque sequences, it's been a fun experience.

[Tad]

I really enjoyed Life is Strange. I found it to be one of those games not just about the ending, but the journey to get there too.

Just finished playing The Detention.

This game does not pull any punches. It's a really tragic tale of how a such a simple desire can go so wrong and quite literally destroy many lives.

[Tad]

Due to all the recent Power Stone talk, I've booted up the old Dreamcast. I managed to finish the arcade mode with Ryoma with only a couple of tough battles towards the end. After that I played around with other characters for a bit...then sort of started a Dreamcast night which has only just finished.

I played a bit of Ready to Rumble 2, Toy Commander and thought I'd give SA1 and SA2 a quick spin. It's been a while since I've played them, but despite some annoying issues I found them fairly enjoyable still. Sure, they have all the marks of a dated 3D game and after seeing the Sonic series progress, it's painfully obvious that the team weren't entirely sure how to make the jump into 3D with Sonic, but it's still good.


Ended the night with Marvel vs Capcom 2.

[George]

Doom. At first I wasn't feeling it but then I started to get the hang of it and its fantastic.

[max_cady]

So I finished Resident Evil 7... In roughly 3 sittings. Make no mistake, it's a good game. And certainly a breath of fresh air in the Resident Evil universe. However, having played Alien: Isolation, Outlast and both Condemned Criminal Origins games, RE 7 didn't feel as revolutionary as it likely should. Truth be told, I felt nothing, if a little underwhelmed.


It's not as gruesomely scary as some have said, but it's certainly tense. Especially very early on. And the tension never really gives up. It's actually got a whole more puzzle solving and exploring than actual combat, which is certainly different. But as it was getting really interesting, the second half was basically your standard action-oriented Resident Evil that we've seen since 4.

[Tad]

I think it's a good mix personally. My only issue was the puzzles as they seemed rather simple really. Still, it was pretty good and I think a direction Res needed to go in.

What a start to the year though. Grav Rush, Yakuza and Res 7

[max_cady]

After two playthroughs of Resident Evil 7, I've taken a it of a break from video games. But since early Friday, I've booted the Xbox 360 one more time with Naruto: The Broken Bond, the sequel to the sandbox game Naruto: Rise of a Ninja. For the moments, it's been more of an adventure game with far more minigames (more diverse), an stronger emphasis on teamwork as Naruto tags along with Kida, Shikamaru, Choji and Neji. And two and three ninjas are sometimes required to do certain missions, almost Lost Vikings-ish if you will.
N: TBB uses ingame engine cutscenes instead of anime clips. It certainly make the presentation less jarring.