What are you playing right now?

[Joseph Kony]

Finally a sequel to Dying Light where you play as Crane


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tkwem4M1uw
Really hyped for this one tbh...just hope it's a good length. DL2 was extremely disappointing in comparison. not a bad game but just did not live up to its predecessor which is one of my all time favorite games

[baseline bum]

Really hyped for this one tbh...just hope it's a good length. DL2 was extremely disappointing in comparison. not a bad game but just did not live up to its predecessor which is one of my all time favorite games

I thought DL2 was a dogshit game, though I played on PS5 instead of PC. Literally 1/3 of story missions some bug would fuck it up and I'd have to reload my save at least once in the mission. Usually it would be a character not spawning or the scripting fucking up and when the character was supposed to come talk to me and say initiate a cutscene they'd just stand around, but my favorite was when I was when I spawned in a bedroom after a cutscene and I hear all these zombies making aggressive sounds at me but the only door out of the room is locked and all the windows are blocked off so can't jump out those either. I could live with that if either the combat was good or the story was fun but neither of those held either. I ended up trading it into Gamestop an hour after I beat it since I knew I had no interest in ever playing it again and just slogged through it stubbornly waiting for it to get good after loving the previous game (did the same shit with GTA IV :lol). Only good thing about the game was it was effectively only a $2.50 rental for me since I bought it for $30 plus tax from Walmart and then traded it into Gamestop for $30 worth of PSN credit. Fuck that game, it was a 3/10 at best.

God I hope they make this one more like the first which was a 9.5/10. So much fun chopping off arms and heads with swords or throwing motherfuckers into spiked fences and the story was great too in the first.



2027??? lame. That Naughty Dog game looks interesting but of course the main is another non-binary looking female :lol i'll still play it but i'm sure the neckbeards are raging about it already

LOL yeah I love the bitter anger whenever I tell people online I liked TLOU Part II better than the first. :lol

[Joseph Kony]

I thought DL2 was a dogshit game, though I played on PS5 instead of PC. Literally 1/3 of story missions some bug would fuck it up and I'd have to reload my save at least once in the mission. Usually it would be a character not spawning or the scripting fucking up and when the character was supposed to come talk to me and say initiate a cutscene they'd just stand around, but my favorite was when I was when I spawned in a bedroom after a cutscene and I hear all these zombies making aggressive sounds at me but the only door out of the room is locked and all the windows are blocked off so can't jump out those either. I could live with that if either the combat was good or the story was fun but neither of those held either. I ended up trading it into Gamestop an hour after I beat it since I knew I had no interest in ever playing it again and just slogged through it stubbornly waiting for it to get good after loving the previous game (did the same shit with GTA IV :lol). Only good thing about the game was it was effectively only a $2.50 rental for me since I bought it for $30 plus tax from Walmart and then traded it into Gamestop for $30 worth of PSN credit. Fuck that game, it was a 3/10 at best.

God I hope they make this one more like the first which was a 9.5/10. So much fun chopping off arms and heads with swords or throwing motherfuckers into spiked fences and the story was great too in the first.

Damn that sounds awful :lol guess i was lucky then because i didnt experience any bugs on the series X. story was just very meh in comparison and the gameplay just was not as fun. i dont think they even had guns when the game first launch if i remember correctly. Just a big letdown compared to part one

[DJR210]

ElNono (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=8054) man you see this shit? Even 10GB cards like the 3080 getting skullfucked at 1080p by weaker 12GB cards :lol

Ouch never would have thought I'd see the day a 6700 XT would wreck a 3080 with raytracing turned on

1864829722221514798

:lol I'm still waiting for a 9800x3d to be in stock, but looks like my 10GB 3080 is on it's way out as well

[baseline bum]

:lol I'm still waiting for a 9800x3d to be in stock, but looks like my 10GB 3080 is on it's way out as well

If you set the texture cache setting to medium the 3080 still runs it great per Digital Foundry. Might even be able to set it to high with a 10GB card. 8GB card needs medium though if I remember right, and 6GB cards won't even launch the game.

[baseline bum]

Playing the Episode Aigis DLC for Persona 3 Reload. Just basically a straight 15-20 hour dungeon crawl so plays like an easy version of a Shin Megami Tensei game. Feels like about a 7/10 game, so worth checking if you're really into the Persona games but if not just stick to the base game that's more like a 9.5/10.

[spurraider21]

Spider-Man 2 feels like a very safe sequel to Spider-Man. its not necessarily the wrong approach... dont overdo changes to a winning formula, but i dont think it added a heck of a lot to the earlier installments.

the web wings are fine, but i prefer swinging anyway, so thats not an addition that feels particularly useful.

combat wise they didnt really change much, they kept the free-flow arkham style combat. from the first game they subbed out those OP "suit powers" for just a set of 4 skills akin to runic attacks from god of war, and they've actually scaled back on the web gadgets to only 4 now instead of the wheel of what... 8 gadgets from the previous game. i havent reached the point in the game where i get access to the symbiote, so will reserve judgment until then.

havent really had a serious boss fight yet though, wonder to see how that goes. enemy mobs/bases feel about the same.

OTOH arkham city added enough from arkham asylum to make it feel like its own game while keeping the skeleton of asylum. ragnarok added enough to god of war to feel fresh (drastically different enemy types, various shields with different abilities, better traversal with the blades, different modes of spartan rage). spider-man 2, at least so far, feels a little less ambitious to me.

[Joseph Kony]

Black Myth Wukong is pretty damn good, glad I decided to play this instead of continuing to slog through Veilguard :lol feels a lot easier compared to Dark souls imo though

I also got myself a Quest 3 for xmas which came with the Arkham VR game so gonna get on that at some point in the coming weeks

[DJR210]

If you set the texture cache setting to medium the 3080 still runs it great per Digital Foundry. Might even be able to set it to high with a 10GB card. 8GB card needs medium though if I remember right, and 6GB cards won't even launch the game.

I'm gonna upgrade the GPU to a 5080 anyway, it's all good. I'm just worried about the CPU at the moment

[Joseph Kony]

Been messing with my Quest 3, playing Arkham Shadow and Asgards Wrath 2 here and there. pretty neat experience, wish the technology was better so it doesnt look like im playing a PS3 game but it's been cool regardless. i wanted to play Skyrim and Fallout 4 in VR but after reading the comments on steam it sounds like it takes a ton of mods to get it to even be what it's supposed to be like in VR :lol bummer

[baseline bum]

Been messing with my Quest 3, playing Naughty America VR here and there. pretty neat experience, wish the technology was better so it doesnt look like im jacking off to a wmv video from 20 years ago but it's been cool regardless. i wanted to get the Fleshlight integration in VR but after reading the comments on steam it sounds like it takes a ton of mods to get it to even be what it's supposed to be like in VR :lol bummer

FIFY

[Joseph Kony]

FIFY
:lmao

tbh i'm not really sure where to go for VR porn, cant access Pornhub in this shitty state and not going to pay for a VPN just to watch porn :lol

[ElNono]

:lmao

tbh i'm not really sure where to go for VR porn, cant access Pornhub in this shitty state and not going to pay for a VPN just to watch porn :lol

Murica :lmao

[baseline bum]

:lmao

tbh i'm not really sure where to go for VR porn, cant access Pornhub in this shitty state and not going to pay for a VPN just to watch porn :lol

You're supposed to get the VPN so you can torrent porn tbh. And also 100% discounted PoorC games.

[jeebus]

:lmao

tbh i'm not really sure where to go for VR porn, cant access Pornhub in this shitty state and not going to pay for a VPN just to watch porn :lol
xvideos fwiw

[baseline bum]

xvideos fwiw

You can go there from Texas? So I'm paying for NordVPN for fucking nothing?

[jeebus]

You can go there from Texas? So I'm paying for NordVPN for fucking nothing?

I'm sure you can. I live in Utah and can get it there. If the mormon shariah laws allow xvideos, I'm sure texass will as well lol

[spurraider21]

last act of spider-man 2 feels like a boss rush. the pacing really dials up to 11. not sure if it was rushed or if thats how it was intended. but the abilities with the venom suit are pretty busted, almost turns combat into just a spamming of gadgets, abilities, then when everything is drained, pop into surge mode where you are already overpowered, and then when you get out all your abiliites are fully restocked again.

i still have 1 mission to go, its giving me the point of no return message. game has been quite fun, but i still think the first game was the best of the group

[TDMVPDPOY]

9800x3d basically sold old out, then i check the prices down here, it jump from 840aud to 900aud...dunno if im going to do a new full build or just stick to the current laptop im on

[Joseph Kony]

:lol this thread is fucking dead lately


Been eyeing Kingdom Come deliverance 2 for awhile, finally decided to buy it, installing now.

[chubbs]

tokyo xtreme racer (2025 version) - currently in early access mode on steam. it's absolutely great if you liked the original series

[baseline bum]

Currently playing the PSP version of Persona 3. This version you can play as a female but kind of surprised one of the romance options in the game is grooming a ten year old boy (you're a HS student in the game).

https://images.rpgsite.net/image/da49c9a1/121549/original/persona-3-portable-ken-social-link-choices-dialogue-guide-walkthrough-s-link.jpg

[baseline bum]

Man this is peak Playstation to be remastering Days Gone after telling Bend to not make the fucking sequel.

[DJR210]

What a fresh breath of air playing all these games has been now having a proper processor to push them. 128 player Battlefield, 100 player Squad have definitely shown the most difference in having the 9800x3D

[DJR210]

9800x3d basically sold old out, then i check the prices down here, it jump from 840aud to 900aud...dunno if im going to do a new full build or just stick to the current laptop im on

Yeah I don’t see an end. You basically have to check Amazon daily and order when you see it’s “in stock” but the truth is they’re selling you a shipment they won’t actually have for a month and a half. But hey at least I didn’t support scalper faggots

[ElNono]

Been playing Dead Cells recently... bit of an older game, but it's pretty good if you need a roguelike fix.

[baseline bum]

spurraider21 man, you have less than two months to play The Last of Us Part II

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/the-last-of-us-season-2-release-date-hbo-1236268901/

[spurraider21]

spurraider21 (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=31905) man, you have less than two months to play The Last of Us Part II

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/the-last-of-us-season-2-release-date-hbo-1236268901/
gotta take the game out of its packaging:lol

havent played anything since finishing Spiderman 2

[Leetonidas]

I'm actually playing LoU2 again :lol such a good fucking game

[Joseph Kony]

I played KCD2 for awhile and while it probably is one of the GOATs it is simply too much for someone like me with limited time to play. Great game, so much depth, but it's a game that demands time and attention, not really meant for a causal playthrough. for that reason i had to refund it. some day when i have more time i'll probably pick it up on sale

Decided to check out Avowed instead. Much easier to play casually. I've seen a lot of videos trying to shit on it by comparing it to Skyrim because you cant pick up every single object and you cant kill NPCs etc...but i think people assume because its first person that its an RPG and it really isnt. its more of an action adventure game with some RPG elements imo, and examining under that lens makes it more enjoyable. definitely not a 10/10 or a game people will remember in a decade but its a solid time killer with an interesting story and exploration bits. a solid 7/10

[DJR210]

AC Shadows is the shit.. feels like 2025 Tenchu

[baseline bum]

AC Shadows is the shit.. feels like 2025 Tenchu

You think it compares well to Ghost of Tsushima? Not graphically but gameplay. Also does CODEX Store have it?

[Joseph Kony]

Finally beat Avowed. Gotta say i was surprised, it was actually pretty good.

On to AC Shadows

[DJR210]

You think it compares well to Ghost of Tsushima? Not graphically but gameplay. Also does CODEX Store have it?

I mean all these games are similar these days.. it's the "enemy attack is blue which you can block, if it's red it's unblockable" style of combat. Having two completely different characters with unique fighting styles adds a new layer as well. The graphics and details are insane, and it's easy to get caught up in exploring. It's the best one since Origins for sure.

I checked if it was on 100% off sale but didn't see it. Went ahead and bought it

[baseline bum]

I mean all these games are similar these days.. it's the "enemy attack is blue which you can block, if it's red it's unblockable" style of combat. Having two completely different characters with unique fighting styles adds a new layer as well. The graphics and details are insane, and it's easy to get caught up in exploring. It's the best one since Origins for sure.

I checked if it was on 100% off sale but didn't see it. Went ahead and bought it

Nice thing is Ubisoft games fall off in price quick and steep so may not need a CODEX sale to pick it up. Shit, prob be on PC Game Pass at some point this year too.

[resistanze]

I'm still at the Butch girls arc in LoU2. Need to finish in next 2 weeks.

[scott]

Might be too mainstream for you fucking dorks, but got a PSVR2 and GT7 is epic in VR. Did the first 5 minutes of Horizon Call of the Mountain which was pretty cool, but I'm not familiar with this series so didn't spend much time with it.

[baseline bum]

Might be too mainstream for you fucking dorks, but got a PSVR2 and GT7 is epic in VR. Did the first 5 minutes of Horizon Call of the Mountain which was pretty cool, but I'm not familiar with this series so didn't spend much time with it.

I wish I didn't get sick from VR. Ten minutes in VR makes me feel like I just drank a 30 pack of Budweiser.

[scott]

I wish I didn't get sick from VR. Ten minutes in VR makes me feel like I just drank a 30 pack of Budweiser.

Good thing you only need 4 minutes with Naughty America VR, right?

The first time I played it, it definitely gave me some car sickness-like feelings, but I got over it pretty quick. My wife tried it for about 30 seconds and said fuck no. It's the most immersive VR experience I've ever seen (GT7 specifically), picked it up right when the most recent price drop went into effect.

[baseline bum]

Get in here ElNono, it's time to go close a billion Oblivion gates!

Can't believe they stole their soundtrack from North Korea though


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKC0vB5PfNY

[Joseph Kony]

already installing Oblivion tbh

[Leetonidas]

I've missed oblivion so much tbh...so glad they finally remastered this instead of rereleasing Skyrim for the 100th time. Game runs really well so far on my 4070 super. Bout to start the dark brotherhood questline which imo was much better in this game than Skyrim

[Joseph Kony]

Oblivion has been fun. They basically just reskinned it and updated the leveling system but otherwise its the same, jank and all :lol

I have also been playing Clair Obscur Expedition 33 here and there, only like 3 hours in but i really like it, too bad Oblivion had to drop right before it came out otherwise it'd be getting talked about a lot more

[baseline bum]

Oblivion has been fun. They basically just reskinned it and updated the leveling system but otherwise its the same, jank and all :lol


But can I train athletics to 255 and hop over city walls still? Made a lot of dungeons easier when I could just jump over the gate instead of finding the key or solving the puzzle to unlock. :lol

[ElNono]

Get in here ElNono, it's time to go close a billion Oblivion gates!

Can't believe they stole their soundtrack from North Korea though


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKC0vB5PfNY

I have it installed, tbh... I'm finishing up Khazan, which has been a lot of fun...

[baseline bum]

Oblivion has been fun. They basically just reskinned it and updated the leveling system but otherwise its the same, jank and all :lol


You still running a 3060 Ti? Guessing you need to go 1080p with a heavy dose of DLSS to get half decent performance? What res/settings/upscale/framerate you getting? Wondering if it's worth hitting up CODEX Store.

[Joseph Kony]

You still running a 3060 Ti? Guessing you need to go 1080p with a heavy dose of DLSS to get half decent performance? What res/settings/upscale/framerate you getting? Wondering if it's worth hitting up CODEX Store.

Recently upgraded to a new pc with a 4070 super so i'm good tbh. I usually play in 1080p anyway since i need to upgrade my monitor but have no problem running this maxed out at that res

[baseline bum]

Recently upgraded to a new pc with a 4070 super so i'm good tbh. I usually play in 1080p anyway since i need to upgrade my monitor but have no problem running this maxed out at that res

Really? Digital Foundry was showing bad frame drops even with a 5090 and a 9800x3D on 1080p with DLSS and software lumen.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0rCA1vpgSw

So did you go slay Umbra right away to have an end game sword from the beginning? Was always my favorite thing to do as soon as I escaped the sewer.

[Joseph Kony]

Really? Digital Foundry was showing bad frame drops even with a 5090 and a 9800x3D on 1080p with DLSS and software lumen.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0rCA1vpgSw

So did you go slay Umbra right away to have an end game sword from the beginning? Was always my favorite thing to do as soon as I escaped the sewer.

weird. idk man, i have a Ryzen 7 7700 cpu, 4070 super gpu with 32gb of RAM and no problems for me. i just cranked all settings to ultra on 1080p and havent had much issue besides a crash here and there. but routinely getting 110-130fps in the open world and 95-110 in the imperial city.


but no i havent killed umbra yet :lol trying to actually play the "right" way and not cheese thru it

[baseline bum]

weird. idk man, i have a Ryzen 7 7700 cpu, 4070 super gpu with 32gb of RAM and no problems for me. i just cranked all settings to ultra on 1080p and havent had much issue besides a crash here and there. but routinely getting 110-130fps in the open world and 95-110 in the imperial city.


but no i havent killed umbra yet :lol trying to actually play the "right" way and not cheese thru it

No way, killing Umbra then training athletics to 255 is the best way to play the game though that high jump doesn't help much in the arena sadly.

[baseline bum]

GTA VI delayed until May 2026

[spurraider21]

after not having gamed for ~5 months... decided to start up Dark Souls 2

this'll be a while

fairly confident if i didnt play that next i'd probably never play it with Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring still in my backlog as well

[Leetonidas]

Still not playing last of us 2? smh

[spurraider21]

Still not playing last of us 2? smh
tbh i have at least half a dozen "still not playing x????" type games in my backlog. bb has been on my ass about elden ring as well.

i just know DS2 is the one most likely to be left in the dust if i dont play it :lol

it all went to shit when i started playing Warzone with my buddies for a better part of 2-3 years :lol

[NASpurs]

If Expedition 33 is the evolution of the turn-based RPG, then I'm here for it. I'm 6 hours in and it's so good. Normally I don't say this because I'm not one to pay attention to it but the music is fucking great.

[baseline bum]

tbh i have at least half a dozen "still not playing x????" type games in my backlog. bb has been on my ass about elden ring as well.

i just know DS2 is the one most likely to be left in the dust if i dont play it :lol

it all went to shit when i started playing Warzone with my buddies for a better part of 2-3 years :lol

:lol After all the grief you gave me about backlogging Sekiro

Anyways that's not how backlogs work. You will never play all the games you buy so why opt for the FromSoft game universally considered the worst instead of playing arguably the best one?

[baseline bum]

If Expedition 33 is the evolution of the turn-based RPG, then I'm here for it. I'm 6 hours in and it's so good. Normally I don't say this because I'm not one to pay attention to it but the music is fucking great.

Damn I really gotta check this out. So many RPG in my backlog though from FFVII Rebirth to SMT V Vengeance to Metaphor ReFantasio. Still never finished Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth either.

[spurraider21]

:lol After all the grief you gave me about backlogging Sekiro

Anyways that's not how backlogs work. You will never play all the games you buy so why opt for the FromSoft game universally considered the worst instead of playing arguably the best one?
i will not concede this

also, sekiro is by far the most stand-alone of the major FromSoft titles. unique combat, world design, etc. no weapons/armor to find or upgrade, no blacksmiths. combat arts.

elden ring by all accounts is one of the GOATs but from what i know is very much an extension of the souls games as far as core game mechanics. playing the newer shinier versions tends to make the older ones feel shitty and hard to play (unless you've already played it before and have some nostalgia). from what i can tell dark souls 3 holds up remarkably well to the point i can comfortably play elden ring before that one without it feeling bad.

and im aware DS2 is considered the worst of the FromSoft games, but that has some "skinniest kid at fat camp" vibes. just feel like i'd literally never play it if i play DS3 and Elden Ring before it

[NASpurs]

Pretty crazy

1920089990157021371

[spurraider21]

enjoying Dark Souls 2 so far. just cleared out the first main area. frankly took a long time to actually get to the first boss which was a letdown, the last giant. i think he would have made more sense as a tutorial boss if he came much earlier in the game. by the time you get to him you've had to go through quite a bit, unlike Asylum Demon from DS1.

at least the next boss, pursuer was a good fight. he stomped me with the surprise appearance earlier by just instantly grabbing me with his sword. still took me a few attempts to get the timing down. i played DS1 like a coward with heavy shields and whatnot, trying to avoid that this game, trying to just roll through stuff more and two-hand my weapon instead.

interesting changes from DS1. way more consumable healing other than estus. feels a little cheap. but at the same time, feels like the animation to use heal items is ridiculously slow and punishing. losing a bit of your max health with every death also adds an element of strategy of deciding to go human, but the human effigies arent all that common, whereas i felt like i was never short on humanity items in DS1. so ive spent a ton of the game hollow and at lower health, which seems to go as far down as 50%. if i had a sense of how common the human effigies were i would be more inclined to stay human more, but never really seems worth until i feel im ready to beat a boss and just need the health back.

having immediate ability to teleport between bonfires is a nice quality of life change.

[spurraider21]

really glad i decided to play DS2. though i think the gameplay holds up well enough that i dont think playing DS3 or Elden Ring first would have "ruined" it or anything.

im very much enjoying it and for the most part i think the areas are well designed. i think the runbacks to bosses are probably the single worst part of the game. the runback to the chariot guy is just insanely long and tedious.

weapon durability also seems like a bigger issue than other entries, so i just have to make sure i carry some repair powder. really just feels like an unncessary nuisance.

other criticism is the stone statutes that you need the particular items to move out of the way. theyre not that plentiful and its hard to keep track of "if i get a spare one, i should remember to go back and clear this stone". i think its a pretty dumb mechanic. the typical locked door with a key somewhere else in the level is a much more intuitive version of that mechanic. they already have the locks with the pharros key or whatever, but those keys are more plentiful. the stone statue things just seems unnecessary

otherwise the mechanic of losing some of your max HP each time you die is kind of interesting, and early game it made it a very fun decision of whether or not to consume a somewhat uncommon human effigy to undo it or not. you didnt want to use one every time you died until you felt like you really mastered the area up to the next boss. and then by having to play through that area with decreased health, it really does force you to get good, and then you pop one when you feel you actually have a good enough feel for the boss where you can actually put your max health to use. i rather enjoyed that tension, but its has become trivialized because the human effigies are more and more common as you go.

[Leetonidas]

Took a break from Oblivion to play Doom the Dark Ages on game pass. Pretty fun. As usual with Doom it's super fast paced and the new mechanics are pretty neat though I'm not a fan of the focus on melee and the constant different attacks or counters you need to memorize for various enemies. But it looks and runs great for a new game which is atypical these days

[baseline bum]

i think the runbacks to bosses are probably the single worst part of the game. the runback to the chariot guy is just insanely long and tedious.


One of the best things about Elden Ring is most of that crap is eliminated. You can usually activate a checkpoint right before a boss fight.

[spurraider21]

One of the best things about Elden Ring is most of that crap is eliminated. You can usually activate a checkpoint right before a boss fight.
good to know. sekiro was great that way too. usually had pretty close spot to the boss, and if not, your character was so damn fast you could usually sprint to wherever you needed without having to engage many enemies, if at all.

[spurraider21]

while the game is still enjoyable, i can see why its considered the weakest of the series (i havent played DS3 yet, but by all accounts that game is phenomenal). the areas definitely lack the interconnectivity of other games, and even within the levels, there arent the same nifty shortcuts that i've been used to.

the boss quality is also subpar. i know they have a ton of bosses in the game, so im not expecting them all to be bangers, but hardly any of these are memorable at all.

- pursuer fight and intro was cool. so good that they have him return throughout the game several times, at which point the novelty is completely worn
- bringing back ornstein was kind of funny and fan service-y. but if you need a retread boss in what, the second main area a player goes? thats a sign of desparation
- some of these boss fights dont deserve health bars. the skeleton lords were so weak. the one where you just kill a bunch of rats. theres one with a "congregation" or whatever which just feels like 7-8 regular enemies
- youd think the "great souls" would at least have good quality. old iron king feels like ceaseless discharge from DS1. the spider one was solid. but rotten and lost sinner just feel like generic bosses with swords. ok they have a slow, telegraphed combo of swipes. they have a slow, telegraphed overhead smash. and then... rinse repeat?

drangleic castle feels like it should have been somewhat climactic like anor londo was culminating in ornstein and smough. the castle was mostly ok. but the 2 boss fights there? doing dragonrider again (this time theres 2! so createive!). and then at the end the looking glass knight... yes he looked very cool. the raining atmosphere and music was great. but the fight itself? same general theme as what i just described. telegraphed swipe combo. telegraphed overhead smash. except at the end he slams his shield down and summons one guy to help him who isnt that good.

this is where ive left off. maybe the boss quality gets better in the endgame.

otherwis this game is otherwise more unintuitive than other entries in the series. i had to look up wtf to do after getting the 4 great souls. i had come across a few doors that wanted a sign of the king before, figured i could go there now. no. no shot i was going to remember some shrine i hadnt encountered for days in a nondescript area. maybe when i returned to the level up lady she should have told me to proceed through the woods, instead of just telling me i can go to the castle. how tf do i get to the castle? had to look it up which felt sad.

at least in DS1, when you ring the bells, it SHOWS you the gates of sens fortress rising, and you remember it. when you place the lordvessel, it SHOWS the big yellow doors open up. i hadnt visited all those spots before, but had seen the one in anor londo, demon ruins is easy to tell even if you havent explored it yet. and then i knew i hadnt explored new londo or the crypts yet, so those made sense as progression points. no such epiphany in DS2, just not designed as well

still glad i decided to play thorugh the game though, the souls formula resonates with me, even if they can be exhausting

[Arcadian]

Just finished Clair Obscur, which is definitely my frontrunner for game of the year.

Now playing Doom TDA, Onimusha 2 remaster, and Fantasy Life i.

[resistanze]

Still laboring through TOU2 :lol

Can't start season 2 till I finish :lol

[Leetonidas]

Still laboring through TOU2 :lol

Can't start season 2 till I finish :lol

I'm been replaying this too here and there. What part are you at? I'm at the Seraphite island

[baseline bum]

Still laboring through TOU2 :lol

Can't start season 2 till I finish :lol

Where are you in TLOU Part II? Season 2 of the show does not correspond 1-to-1 with Part II of the game and a lot of Part II of the game will be in Season 3 of the TV series.

[baseline bum]

Just finished Clair Obscur, which is definitely my frontrunner for game of the year.


Does it play like a classic old school JRPG like the Dragon Quest games or Final Fantasy up to say VII? Kind of interested in it but currently playing through a very classic style turn based JRPG in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth (plays just like Dragon Quest) and near the top of my backlog is Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance which is a turn based dungeon crawler JRPG so might be a little hesitant to check it out for a while unless it has a gameplay twist unlike those kind of games.

[Joseph Kony]

Where are you in TLOU Part II? Season 2 of the show does not correspond 1-to-1 with Part II of the game and a lot of Part II of the game will be in Season 3 of the TV series.

Season 2 was ok but considering the TLOU2 is my favorite game of all time, kinda disappointed with the season as a whole. season 1 was better

[Joseph Kony]

Does it play like a classic old school JRPG like the Dragon Quest games or Final Fantasy up to say VII? Kind of interested in it but currently playing through a very classic style turn based JRPG in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth (plays just like Dragon Quest) and near the top of my backlog is Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance which is a turn based dungeon crawler JRPG so might be a little hesitant to check it out for a while unless it has a gameplay twist unlike those kind of games.

sort of, it's combat is like that but with the added twist of being able to time parry/blocks. there is also a lot of timed button usage to execute certain moves to great effect/damage. it's damn good but i havent gotten much time to play it

[baseline bum]

sort of, it's combat is like that but with the added twist of being able to time parry/blocks. there is also a lot of timed button usage to execute certain moves to great effect/damage. it's damn good but i havent gotten much time to play it

So kinda Super Mario RPG esque combat? Nice, definitely gonna have to play it this summer then.

[Splits]

Anyone planning on playing Dune Awakening?

[resistanze]

I'm been replaying this too here and there. What part are you at? I'm at the Seraphite island


Where are you in TLOU Part II? Season 2 of the show does not correspond 1-to-1 with Part II of the game and a lot of Part II of the game will be in Season 3 of the TV series.

Still at Seattle day 2, with Abby finding supplies for the girl with the fu cked up arm

[Leetonidas]

Still at Seattle day 2, with Abby finding supplies for the girl with the fu cked up arm

Nice...enjoy the hospital. I won't spoil anything but when you get to the ambulance in the garage make sure you're stocked up

[Leetonidas]

Anyone planning on playing Dune Awakening?

Yes, Im not an MMO guy but it looks pretty good and I am a Dune fan

[Splits]

Yes, Im not an MMO guy but it looks pretty good and I am a Dune fan

they shed the MMO tag pretty staunchly. It looks awesome, can't wait to play it, paid $70 for the preorder with DLCs

[Splits]

don't play many games on the CPU but bought this for $350 so I can run Dune/modern games. Thoughts?

https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/gaming-pc-nitro-50-intel-i7-gtx-1660-super-16gb-ram-1282206816/

[spurraider21]

i still havent started S2 of TLOU, nor have i started the 2nd game either. will be a race

i loved the first game and season 1 of the show though

im pretty far into DS2, ive been told to go the throne room. presumably behind the big locked kings door in drangleic. figured it was as good a time as any to jump into the DLC, so im doing the sunken king one. the sunken city level design is fucking phenomenal. best in the game so far. best interconnectivity since forest of the fallen giants. i just fought the first boss there which was just 3 NPC guys in a gank fight. was pretty fn annoying

[Arcadian]

Does it play like a classic old school JRPG like the Dragon Quest games or Final Fantasy up to say VII? Kind of interested in it but currently playing through a very classic style turn based JRPG in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth (plays just like Dragon Quest) and near the top of my backlog is Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance which is a turn based dungeon crawler JRPG so might be a little hesitant to check it out for a while unless it has a gameplay twist unlike those kind of games.

In some ways yes, but the combat is heavily reliant on a timing-based dodge/parry system. It is entirely turn-based, so you can take your time choosing commands on offense, but on defense you constantly have to be on your toes. The dodge/parry have very narrow timing windows, so it's like a hardcore version of Mario RPG.

It does have an old-school world map where you move between towns and dungeons with different methods of traversal, so it is like classic FF and DQ in that regard. Story and music are amazing.

[spurraider21]

The run back to blue smelter demon can eat my asshole

[Joseph Kony]

they shed the MMO tag pretty staunchly. It looks awesome, can't wait to play it, paid $70 for the preorder with DLCs

tbh the combat kinda looks like dogshit. looks like its from 2010. game overall looks cool but disappointed by the lackluster combat


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RghgO6qtniU

[spurraider21]

The run back to blue smelter demon can eat my asshole
stand by this, but the fight itself was really good. honestly the iron crown DLC was overall amazing other than the smelter runback. brume tower is one of my favorite areas ive ever encountered in a FromSoft game. the 3 bosses in this DLC, Smelter Demon, Fume Knight, and Sir Alonne were all great A+ fights, and maybe the 3 best bosses ive played all game, or at least top 5 for sure.

10/10 DLC for what it was. S-tier area outside of the smelter demon runback area, and A+ tier bosses

sunken city was also a very cool area but the fights there were more meh. one boss fight just being 3 NPCs was lame and followed a shit area with statues spitting status at you. Elana fight was solid, and Sinh was easily the best dragon fight of the game. i'd give the area, similarly an S, but the bosses themselves on the whole were a B-, which is still better than most of DS2.

i have one more DLC to go then will run through whats left of the endgame, as ive been told to go back to the throne room. i know there was the big kings door down at the bottom floor of the castle so i imagine its through there

the ability to reset stats in DS2 is such a great change from DS1 even if it kind of cheapens the experience. should be a little more stakes when deciding what to level. at the very least resetting your stats should cost you a few levels so theres some penalty for doing it. the weapon/build variety in this game is much better than either DS1 or bloodborne. powerstance with ultra greatswords was fun to fuck aroudn with. not practical for bosses, but ridiculous heavy attacks one shot basically any common enemy

[vy65]

Witcher IV gameplay video is out. It looks absolutely fucking insane.

[Joseph Kony]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nthv4xF_zHU

it does look damn good, but that's to be expected. i just hope it runs well on day one. Witcher 3 is one of my GOATs and CP2077 was the 2nd best game I've played this decade so i have no doubt this game will be on par

[baseline bum]

Witcher IV gameplay video is out. It looks absolutely fucking insane.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nthv4xF_zHU

it does look damn good, but that's to be expected. i just hope it runs well on day one. Witcher 3 is one of my GOATs and CP2077 was the 2nd best game I've played this decade so i have no doubt this game will be on par

Looks amazing but ugh at the thought of having to buy an RTX 7080 with AI boom + Dotard tariffs pricing to get it to run like in this trailer being it's UE5.

[spurraider21]

didnt get through all of it yet, but the snow DLC of Dark Souls 2 is yet another incredible area. the regular area enemies are also fun and engaging to deal with other than the little hedgehog fuckers. the castlevania vibe to it is also great. i have to go back and re-explore everything now that i got to the end and turned off the wind/storm. the tiger boss was ok but kinda of meh. not much different from the giant rat fight, just scaled up for endgame when it comes to health/damage.

but the area itself is outstanding

the DLCs of dark souls 2 are really high quality content

[spurraider21]

that witcher footage is NOT gameplay. the bottom of the screen outright says it is a tech demo and not gameplay

[spurraider21]

LOL you'll never get through your backlog. I see no reason why playing Elden Ring commits you to never playing Dark Souls 3. They're pretty different games. It's like saying I'll never play Spiderman because I want to play GTA.
Dark Souls 2 has been slain

having played bloodborne, dark souls 1, and sekiro... i can see why people are lower on DS2 than other entries (DS3 and Elden Ring have phenomenal reputations), but man it was still a great game to play through.

negatives

- id say my biggest criticism is their quantity over quality approach. i think the game is too long (and some of the progression in true FromSoft form, can be a little obscure). and there are some very unimaginative bosses. dark souls 1 had its fair share of snoozer bosses too, but dark souls 2 base game has over 30 bosses in the base game and many of them are either bad or just very forgettable

- this also plays out with general enemy placement as well. in what presumably was an effort to make the game challenging for the sake of being challening (to carry on the reputation of dark souls), their solution just seemed to be to gank you with a lot of enemies. crowd control is WAY more heavily emphasized than the other FromSoft games ive played. some areas do a good job of placing 1 or 2 well designed enemies that are engaging to fight. may have rooms where its just an ambush and a chore to deal with 3-4 enemies going aggro with another 1-2 pelting you with ranged attacks. just seemed like a lazy way to make the combat engaging

- may of the areas just feel very linear, very few shortcuts, doors that open from one side, elevators, etc. there are a handful of terrifically designed areas, but many that just feel kinda linear. is that necessarily bad? i guess not, but that was one of the most charming elements of dark souls. similarly, the larger world is less interconnected. its more of a spoke-and-wheel where from the hub you have a few ways to branch out that lead to their own dead ends. i found that less interesting, though it jives with the immediate ability to warp between every bonfire.

- honestly, the boss runbacks were worse than the bosses more often than not. runback to the smelter demon, the executioners chariot (two of my favorite bosses from the base game) were not great. the rotten, the lost sinner. but more frustrating... the DLC's were the highlight of the game, the best overall designed areas, and the best bosses in the game, also had abysmal runbacks. blue smelter demon, the double tiger fight, sir alonne (less so, imo), the 3 NPC "boss fight"... just cancerous runbacks.

- armor isnt really a thing in this game. it felt closer to bloodborne than dark souls 1 in terms of the effect of armor, but unlike bloodborne, the armor sets are still somewhat heavy and can affect your movement. so it is penalizing to wear armor, and the benefits felt virtually non-existent other than certain sets that that give stat effects (mostly limited to helmets). i ended up playing without armor/shield and just two handing big swords most of the game, so it was fine, but i dont like that armor is as ineffective as it is

- the statues that require a relatively rare (esp in early game)... its hard to know blind which ones are important (or required!) to open, and which one you should just save for later as a luxury. just do the thing every other From game does where you find some key later in the level and circle back to open the door.

- your rolls by default have less i-frames than dark souls. but you can level a freaking stat to increase dodging i-frames up to dark souls 1 levels. just atrocious design, and felt bad to dump stats into adaptability in early game so my rolls feel useful as opposed to pumping stats to meet weapon requirements.

- painfully slow and deliberate animations to use estus flask. worse than dark souls 1. i guess its by design but just didnt feel fun


pros

- i think the atmosphere of the game and the feel of most of the areas was quite good. i enjoyed areas that benefitted from the torch mechanic. in dark souls 1, many of the areas felt pretty bland. undead parish on the way to gargoyles... not really interesting. darkroot garden was boring. lower undead burg was nothing. the depths werent interesting. and some of the late game areas like lost izalith and demon ruins sucked. the standouts to me from DS1 were Sen's Fortress, Blighttown, Duke's Archive, Anor Londo, and thats basically it. i do think the opening undead burg area was quite good, but DS2 really tops that with forest of the fallen giants. again, the shortcuts/interconnectivity isnt there, but the areas themselves look and feel a lot more interesting

- weapon/build variety is SO much better than the other From games ive played. ill grant that in bloodborne, the trick weapon mechanic was amazing and every weapon truly felt unique. but in dark souls 1, so many generic weapons, and the better versions of them had virtually the same moveset but maybe better damage, more weight, etc. in ds2, even weapons within the same category felt very different. different movesets with 1 hand, 2 handed. duel weilding is very viable, and then above and beyond that you can "powerstance" which adds even more unique flavor to duel weilding with some hilariously strong attacks. also, weapon scaling isnt nearly useful as dark souls, so you basically just need to give your character the min stat requirements for the weapon and level other useful stuff like stamina until late game. most damage increases come from upgrading the weapon itself as opposed to increasing your stats. this means you dont need to pour 30-40 points into strength to be viable in mid-late game, so you are incentivized to have more hybrid builds that include some casting, which i found really cool

- its apparently a very unpopular mechanic, but i actually loved the hollow penalty in this game. each time you die, you lose something like 5% of your max health, and can get as low as 50%. you can fix this by using human effigy (humanity in DS1) to restore your humanity and resetting your health. or you can equip a ring to mititgate that effect, losing less health each time, and capping the worst penalty at still being 75%. it did force you to learn the game better, and at least in the early game, be strategic as far as when it makes sense to use a limited resource (you get way more later and can farm in some areas if you really wanted to). i thought it added some thrill

- bonfire ascetic is super fun. use it at a bonfire, and the area basically resets. items/chests (not metal chests) are restored. the boss of the area repopulates, and every enemy including bosses are back in an NG+ variety (and goes up one with each use). i would still love FromSoft to basically add an unockable play mode where you can just replay bosses on demand, but the bonfire ascetic is the closest thing to that. also lets you farm boss souls in case you wanted to trade one for a special weapon, consume one, or get the other weapon variant.

- the DLC's... man. 3 separate DLC's (not too long), and i thought each was very good. the level designs in each of them were peak. the best bosses in the game are all DLC. and the reward for doing all of them gives you a helmet that prevents hollowing, so in a future NG+ run you can just wear that helmet all game and never lose health or your humanity when you die. i dont plan to do an NG+ run, but thats such an awesome reward for those who want it.

overall i'd still recommend to anybody who is a fan of the genre. the hate ive seen in get in some corners online seems unfair. is it the weakest of the series, maybe... but being the worst player on an nba team still makes you a top 0.1% player on the planet.

[spurraider21]

man, dark souls 3 plays so much faster than dark souls 2. not saying that in a good or bad way, but DS2 just felt like a natural continuation of DS1. but the DS3 rolls are insanely quick, seem to cover more ground, and barely use any stamina. theyve also made the attacks of some of the enemies more frenetic than the mechanics of DS1 or DS2 would reasonably have allowed

this feels a lot like bloodborne in that sense, but it would also have been nice to have the rally mechanic from bloodborne if the combat is going to be this fast.

the leap in visuals and the smoothless of movement is very noticeable this time around

to me the biggest quality of life change is the direcitonal audio. so much better than DS2

[baseline bum]

man, dark souls 3 plays so much faster than dark souls 2. not saying that in a good or bad way, but DS2 just felt like a natural continuation of DS1. but the DS3 rolls are insanely quick, seem to cover more ground, and barely use any stamina. theyve also made the attacks of some of the enemies more frenetic than the mechanics of DS1 or DS2 would reasonably have allowed

this feels a lot like bloodborne in that sense, but it would also have been nice to have the rally mechanic from bloodborne if the combat is going to be this fast.

the leap in visuals and the smoothless of movement is very noticeable this time around

to me the biggest quality of life change is the direcitonal audio. so much better than DS2

Damn I don't know how you can play two games in the same series back to back

[Joseph Kony]

Clair obscur is the GOTY at this point imho

[spurraider21]

Damn I don't know how you can play two games in the same series back to back
honestly i dont know either... usually i need a nice palate cleanser after a Fromsoft game

i think i just got hooked while playing DS2 and wanted more of it

i died once to the tutorial boss, but beat the weird dog/beast Vordt thing in one shot, then the big rotted tree in one fight, though that one was tougher

i think so far my least favorite part of DS3 is firelink shrine. its a little annoying to navigate and find the right NPC, and it functions more like the Hunter's Dream in bloodborne as some completely remote, disconnected hub that you just have to constantly warp to and from, as opposed to the more clever Firelink Shrine from DS1 or Majula from DS2 which were central, connected hub points. also much easier to find folks in those

[spurraider21]

:lol Vordt's great hammer is obliterating this game...

crystal sage boss felt like a joke, almost like Pinwheel from DS1. reasonably strong magic attacks, but just very squishy.

i took a detour and went into the poison swamp area with the 3 flames. that was actually one of the more fair feeling poison swamp areas ive played in a souls game. progressed all the way and beat the abyss watchers boss in one try, although that fucker had me down to my very last estus, much harder fight than the rest. still, vordts hammer is absurd :lol. oh and there was some random stray demon hanging around on top of some big wall/bridge in the area. he technically had a boss bar, but didnt feel like it

i realized given he was a much tougher fight than crystal sage that this was probably not the next intended area, so i went back to the crystal sage area and just hit up the big cathedral.

fun game, i hope the general game progression remains pretty straightforward. the only real element of the souls games i dont like is sometimes the very obscure things that have to be done to progress. i mind that less if its an optional area, but i dont like the "ive hit 2 dead ends, now where the f am i supposed to backtrack to" scenarios. like i just recently received some key from one of the firelink shrine NPCs and for the life of me i cant remember a specific unopened gate. hopefully its for an area i hadnt been to yet...

i still think stamina is way too forgiving in this game when it comes to rolling.

[Leetonidas]

Tried playing Dune Awakening but ended up refunding it. Game has potential but the combat is so ass, felt like it was straight out of 2010.

[spurraider21]

dark souls 3 is nice, but the game feels like its incentivizing a lot of roll spam. bosses attack much more frequently and more quickly than the other souls entries. dancer of boreal valley had a combo where she swung around like 7-8 times in a row.

i also really dont care for the enemies with the big black abyss snake head thing coming out of their heads. they take up so much of the screen that its really hard to get a sense of their attack windups. usually im fighting the camera more than those enemies, so its not satisfying.

i did find it hilarious that when going through the lothric castle you can tell you are treading over the same area that was the undead burg and undead parish in dark souls 1. very nice touch by them tbh .

just got stomped by champion gundyr. talk about a hype aggressive boss. felt almost like orphan of kos in that there simply is no let-up. i only fought him once before i had to call it a night, so i dont think he's nearly as hard as orphan, just a little similar.

so far there have been quite a few good fights. dancer of boreal valley, champion gundyr (based on the one attempt so far, feels like a very satisfying fight, no BS), dragonslayer armor was good until the off-screen enemy started spamming ranged attacks... ruined an otherwise great duel. watchers of abyss was also a lot of fun. old demon king was a very good mechanical fight.

but otherwise a lot of the bosses have been meh as is the case in souls games. high lord wolnir was a dumb gimmick fight with his curse breath that kills you really quick without any real tell as far as i could see. the consumed king guy was a pretty boring fight. first phase he barely attacks, or does so slowly. and then second phase he's just wildly flailing that is not satisfying to fight. deacons of deep was an abysmal boss. the big curse tree thing sucked.

i wonder how the later game bosses hold up

[spurraider21]

played for a bit yesterday, and the next 2 bosses were... puzzle fights. kinda lame. i didnt mind ancient wyvern one as much, since there were notes plastered all over the floor saying "plunging attack" (and im not online, so the only notes i get are the dev notes that are part of the game), so it was pretty clear i just had to climb the towers off to the side.

though first time i made it up i missed the attack and fell to my death, so that was lame. then the plunging attack one shot him which was hilarious. i think that one was fine.

but then i fought Yhorm the Giant who was one of the lords of cinder. and what a piss poor fight that was. i realized my weapon wasnt doing shit so it was some puzzle boss. then of course there was an item at the end of the room which was a weapon called storm ruler with a note saying something about using the storm. but then wtf, having me do inventory management mid fight to find the particular sword in a game without a pause button. just awful design. he nearly killed me as i was fumbling through the menu, and then even that sword barely did shit and he killed me

then after i died i looked at the weapon description and saw that its weapon art was something about a storm. ok cool, let me fight him with the weapon art. weapon art R1 or R2 attack still didnt do shit, and i kinda just flailed around doing chip damage until eventually i just gave up and let him kill me. nowhere does the game mention that holding down L2 for the weapon art for several seconds will unleash some special thing. no other weapon functions that way. the claymore i was using early game just had L2 hold the sword in a specific stance, and then you use either R1 or R2 while keeping L2 held down to do a special attack. and now the hammer im using, you juse press L2 and it triggers its buffed state for a few seconds

but i had to look it up online, and apparently, if you hold down L2 for several seconds (i dno, 5+), THEN the sword becomes imbued with the storm. and THEN you have to specifically use the R2 weapon art to launch the projecitle attack. and then you just repeat that over and over until he's dead. took like 5-6 swings or so.

completely unintuitive design. very frustrating. the game should give you enough info to know what to do. this one required you to fumble around, equip the weapon, AND read a weapon description to know what to do while the boss is swinging his giant machete at you. and even then, the description is inadequate. just an awful boss

really funny to play 2 puzzle bosses in one night and have one be executed just so much poorly than the other

[spurraider21]

got all the lord soul thingies and clapped nameless king (took me 4 tries, but the big bonk vordts hammer continues to carry). i have access to kiln of the first flame but feels like final boss, so putting that off until after i finish the DLCs

nameless king was a really good fight. an actually engaging dragon fight since you dont beat it just by infinitely poking its feet, which is always a really anticlimactic way to kill a fucking dragon. but then the second phase is quite better. nameless king's attacks are good and engaging to deal with. so many of his attacks have delays so you have to really be patient and not dodge on his windups which is the go-to move for most bosses. but i didnt think it was as good a fight as champion gundyr or dragonslayer armor as far as fight mechanics (i just didnt care for off-screen magic spamming in the dragonslayer armor fight). i also felt it was kind of too easy to stagger nameless king? like i wouldnt expect it given a boss fight but i bopped him a few times then he just kind of keeps over and lets me get in a visceral attack. i think i got in at least 2 of those viscerals in my win against him and none of them felt quite earned lol. very good fight

the aldrich fight in anor londo sucked. anor londo in general was kind of a letdown, i wish they did a little more with it given it was such a cool callback in DS1 even with having the silver knight archers. but it was just a few knights standing outside the building, and then a big room with a few of the fireball enemy guys and a bunch of those ceiling slugs. and then straight to the boss. really? letdown area followed by a kind of boring boss. really felt like an inferior reskin of the cyrstal sage fight, which itself was a bad fight in the early game

the archives area was very cool though, and the prince lothric fight was fun. an actually engaging and fun teleport mechanic where he winds up for an attack, then teleports, then finishes the attack so you have to remember which way to dodge after you see where he's coming in from. very well done.

[Leetonidas]

I remember greatly enjoying DS3 and one of the only souls like games I ever played to completion. I remember having a tough go of it against Pontiff Sulyvahn but don't remember anyone else pissing me off as much :lol

[Leetonidas]

If youre really into the Souls like games I would definitely suggest Stellar Blade at some point. While gooners love it because of the tits it's actually got a pretty engaging story and it's fairly challenging. I believe it has like 3 different endings also

Black Myth Wukong is another id recommend in the genre. Though I haven't beaten that yet because I got stuck on a really annoying boss fight but I'll get back to it eventually

[spurraider21]

I remember greatly enjoying DS3 and one of the only souls like games I ever played to completion. I remember having a tough go of it against Pontiff Sulyvahn but don't remember anyone else pissing me off as much :lol
pontiff was one of the best fights in the game tbh (so far. i havent fought final boss or any DLC guys left)

off top of my head, the best fights in the game so far were Champion Gundyr, Dragonslayer Armor (minus second phase off screen magic dudes), Dancer of Boreal Valley, Pontiff Sulyvhan, Nameless King and Abyss Watchers. i would put Prince Lothric fight right after those.

Pontiff feels great because its another good implementation of a duel weilding enemy. Fume Knight was such an incredible fight in DS2 because of the duel weild, but he was a little more fun because one was just a straightsword with quick attacks and the other was the big bonk ultra greatsword with slower, more deliberate attacks. So it felt like two unique movesets, whereas Pontiff was just two fast swords. but still great. and the second phase of pontiff when he summons the spectral version of himself was such a great mechanic, since it telegraphed what he was about to do. they always duplicated attacks about a second apart, so you dodge the first one, and you know exactly how to position yourself to dodge and punish the main one. just a very cool and unique mechanic

gank fights can feel really bad, but if done right like 2nd phase of pontiff, just adds to the experience

i really wish dark souls series had a boss rush mode like sekiro where you can just replay bosses. only one that had something like this was DS2 where lighting a bonfire ascentic brings back the boss of the area but at NG+ level

[spurraider21]

If youre really into the Souls like games I would definitely suggest Stellar Blade at some point. While gooners love it because of the tits it's actually got a pretty engaging story and it's fairly challenging. I believe it has like 3 different endings also

Black Myth Wukong is another id recommend in the genre. Though I haven't beaten that yet because I got stuck on a really annoying boss fight but I'll get back to it eventually
i thought Jedi: Fallen Order was a very cool souls-like and i have Survivor i'll get around to eventually. also Lies of P seems like a must-play.

i still have Elden Ring in my backlog as well, so im good on those for a while :lol

[spurraider21]

fucking a

had a break in. assholes barely took shit but managed to snag my ps5 with dark souls 3 disc inside. they didnt grab my controllers or bin of games 10 feet away

i didnt have ps plus so i dont think any of my saved data will be recoverable

:lol i was about to finish the first DLC and fight freida too

all they grabbed was my wallet and ps5. luckily i barely keep much cash on me, just the nuisance of having to cancel all cards etc

[baseline bum]

fucking a

had a break in. assholes barely took shit but managed to snag my ps5 with dark souls 3 disc inside. they didnt grab my controllers or bin of games 10 feet away

i didnt have ps plus so i dont think any of my saved data will be recoverable

:lol i was about to finish the first DLC and fight freida too

all they grabbed was my wallet and ps5. luckily i barely keep much cash on me, just the nuisance of having to cancel all cards etc

Look at it this way: the boy wasnt ready for Sigrun anyways. Also too bad they don't sell fake XBox cases for peoples' PS5s as a security measure.

[koriwhat]

fucking a

had a break in. assholes barely took shit but managed to snag my ps5 with dark souls 3 disc inside. they didnt grab my controllers or bin of games 10 feet away

i didnt have ps plus so i dont think any of my saved data will be recoverable

:lol i was about to finish the first DLC and fight freida too

all they grabbed was my wallet and ps5. luckily i barely keep much cash on me, just the nuisance of having to cancel all cards etc

Man that blows! I hate thieves! Sorry that happened to you man.

[spurraider21]

Man that blows! I hate thieves! Sorry that happened to you man.
thanks. ultimately its more of an inconvenience than anything. its just disturbing that it happened while we were home asleep at night, 2 kids upstairs, etc

[koriwhat]

thanks. ultimately its more of an inconvenience than anything. its just disturbing that it happened while we were home asleep at night, 2 kids upstairs, etc

Omg! SR, idk if you own a gun or not, don't answer, but get one if not and get a shotgun especially for the house. No need to aim, just shoot!

[baseline bum]

Omg! SR, idk if you own a gun or not, don't answer, but get one if not and get a shotgun especially for the house. No need to aim, just shoot!

Ugh one time on my day off I had a guy knock on my door and I didn't answer because I figured it was Spectrum or AT&T trying to get me to change my internet or some bullshit like that then two minutes later I hear someone try to kick in my front door when I was in the other room. Grabbed my loaded 45 and was about to kill a motherfucker but he didn't manage to get it open and ran like hell off my property before I could see who it was. Called the police to report it, they didn't even send anyone to the block, and the piece of shit broke into my friend's house across the street and a couple of doors down an hour later. He at least got his shit back thankfully then he fucked the guy up a couple weeks later. :lol

[koriwhat]

Ugh one time on my day off I had a guy knock on my door and I didn't answer because I figured it was Spectrum or AT&T trying to get me to change my internet or some bullshit like that then two minutes later I hear someone try to kick in my front door when I was in the other room. Grabbed my loaded 45 and was about to kill a motherfucker but he didn't manage to get it open and ran like hell off my property before I could see who it was. Called the police to report it, they didn't even send anyone to the block, and the piece of shit broke into my friend's house across the street and a couple of doors down an hour later. He at least got his shit back thankfully then he fucked the guy up a couple weeks later. :lol

Scary stuff. Pretty brazen for someone to break in. Thieves suck! Glad you and SR, and family, weren't harmed.

[spurraider21]

Ugh one time on my day off I had a guy knock on my door and I didn't answer because I figured it was Spectrum or AT&T trying to get me to change my internet or some bullshit like that then two minutes later I hear someone try to kick in my front door when I was in the other room. Grabbed my loaded 45 and was about to kill a motherfucker but he didn't manage to get it open and ran like hell off my property before I could see who it was. Called the police to report it, they didn't even send anyone to the block, and the piece of shit broke into my friend's house across the street and a couple of doors down an hour later. He at least got his shit back thankfully then he fucked the guy up a couple weeks later. :lol
not armed tbh. dont like the idea of having that in the same house as little kids. or i gotta keep it locked in a safe which somewhat defeats the purpose of having something instantly available if i wake up and hear shit already going down in the house.

[spurraider21]

im also deeply confused about how some of these games work

my ps5 got stolen with the Dark Souls 3 disc inside. I had the Fire Fades edition which includes the DLC. i still had to go to the PS Store and select and download the DLC (no charge of course) at the time.

my ps5 just got in today, and i had already ordered another copy of Dark Souls 3 (i like disc versions, call me old fasioned), which is set to arrive tomorrow. when i was installing my ps5, i logged into my account, went to my game library (i do have a few digital games). within the library included the Dark Souls 3 DLCs, which i downloaded. figured may as well do it now, i will have to download/install the DLCs at some point anyway.

but then when the download finished, i was literally able to boot up Dark Souls 3 and start playing. and i figured ok maybe its just the menu then ill get locked because it cant detect the license or something, but no... i went through the tutorial area, cleared Iudex Gundyr, got to firelink shrine, etc. and i dont even have the copy of the game.

i cant imagine this is the intended function, or else anybody could buy the Fire Fades disc, download the DLC which is free with that disc installed, then just sell/return the disc, and continue to be able to play because you have already downloaded the DLC? but right now thats kinda how its working for me.

[baseline bum]

Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth has this Animal Crossing like minigame where you're trying to build a new red light district and save a dying island resort that's crazy addicting. Which is wild because it also has a Pokemon Snap clone minigame that's a lot of fun where you're taking pictures of perverts in the street instead of Pokemon and then it was a Pokemon Stadium clone minigame too that's worth putting a few hours into. The Yakuza / Like a Dragon / 龍が如く series has to have the best sidequests of any series I have ever played. Really need to get the Pirate Yakuza game with Majima.

[spurraider21]

i didnt think Ashes of Arniandel DLC was that good. kind of just a big bland snowy area with a lot of hills. only interesting area was the little settlement/village area where you had to navigate rooftops, etc.

Sister Friede boss fight was ridiculous though. very fun, challenging. i found the 2nd phase with Father Ariandel to actually be a lot easier. he moves very slow and i kinda just wailed on him while Frieda was very passive in the background. then third phase Frieds goes super saiyan and that was pretty tough, took me several attempts to get past her.

i went on to Ringed City... which really ups the difficulty well beyond any other content in this game. those fuckers shooting lasers out of the sky are a nightmare to deal with, but luckily they dont respawn once you kill their respective summoner guys. i couldnt find the second one's summoner, but i think i was able to loot everything i needed. Demon Prince boss fight was so fucking good tbh. a gank fight done remarkably well

but man, in the next area you have those giant fuckers that summon ghost archers and that was a brutal stretch to progress through. died several times trying to kill the summoner himself, finally succeeded. but those guys respawn again. fuck that tbh.

but there are ridiculously powerful items all over Ringed City. the +3 rings is not something i was expecting to find. and i just got Ledo's greathammer. i'd been using Vordt's great hammer all game, figured it swap it out. Ledo's hammer is stupidly heavy though so i need to pump some points into vitality and endurance.

[baseline bum]

Donkey Kong Bananza is fun as hell with the breaking shit mechanic. Mario Kart World better than I expected too, though that's the kind of game I'll play a race or two and then put down and probably wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't required to be able to get a Switch 2 (seems like all the restocks have been only Mario Kart bundles).

[spurraider21]

finished DS3 yesterday. man the boss quality in the ringed city is phemonal. i thought demon price was an outstanding fight but Midir and Gael were abusrd

and soul of cinder is easily the best final boss of the Dark Souls trilogy.

the boss quality in DS3 on average clears the first 2 games, but i think this game lacks in the mystery. world design, vibe of the earlier two. i think given the linear nature and boss quality it probably would be the most replayable of the 3. DS1/2 felt more fun to explore the first time around, but once you lose that novelty that aspect kinda matters less

definitely need a palate cleanser at this point though. i played DS2, jumped directly into DS3 which i basically had to play twice after my shit got stolen (i was already at DLC near endgame)

[Leetonidas]

Finally scored a Switch 2. Should be here next week. gonna check out that new DK game first

[baseline bum]

Finally scored a Switch 2. Should be here next week. gonna check out that new DK game first

You get it at Best Buy? They have had a grip of them since the big restock for the Bananza launch. Damn I wish I would have saved playing Tears of the Kingdom until getting a Switch 2 like how I skipped Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II until getting a PS5. Tears has gotta be so awesome at 60 fps.

[Leetonidas]

You get it at Best Buy? They have had a grip of them since the big restock for the Bananza launch. Damn I wish I would have saved playing Tears of the Kingdom until getting a Switch 2 like how I skipped Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II until getting a PS5. Tears has gotta be so awesome at 60 fps.

Yup best buy. I got the notification on my phone and decided to jump on it before they sold out again. Almost got the Mario kart bundle just because but decided to just get the console by itself for now

[baseline bum]

Yup best buy. I got the notification on my phone and decided to jump on it before they sold out again. Almost got the Mario kart bundle just because but decided to just get the console by itself for now

Thankfully this system was a lot easier to get than PS5 or Switch 1. Didn't even have any interest in the system until seeing how awesome the DK Bananza Direct was. Reminds me a lot of Mario Odyssey, as it's from the same dev team. Which also means awesome haptics playing with split joycons when on a display. Haven't even tried the system out handheld other than doing the initial setup. :lol

[Joseph Kony]

Finally got around to playing Horizon Forbidden West. At basically the end of the main quest, finished all of the side quests in the main game with a few errands left, though didn't do much of the arena/pits/scavenger contracts.

It's definitely not as good as the first but still a very solid follow up. the story gets a lot more sci fi but I found it engaging. The enemies are a bit too tanky for my liking but once you get to a certain level only the real heavy hitters are a challenge. i enjoyed the depth of the side quests, no "go here and kill this machine/get this item" stuff which is appreciated. Also one of the better looking games i've played, looks absolutely gorgeous on my 4070 super at max settings in 1080p

trying to decide to play once i finish this. maybe I'll continue Jedi Survivor

[spurraider21]

Finally got around to playing Horizon Forbidden West. At basically the end of the main quest, finished all of the side quests in the main game with a few errands left, though didn't do much of the arena/pits/scavenger contracts.

It's definitely not as good as the first but still a very solid follow up. the story gets a lot more sci fi but I found it engaging. The enemies are a bit too tanky for my liking but once you get to a certain level only the real heavy hitters are a challenge. i enjoyed the depth of the side quests, no "go here and kill this machine/get this item" stuff which is appreciated. Also one of the better looking games i've played, looks absolutely gorgeous on my 4070 super at max settings in 1080p

trying to decide to play once i finish this. maybe I'll continue Jedi Survivor
really enjoyed forbidden west as well, even if the mystery behind zero dawn was substantially more compelling. i just didnt like having to farm for parts that only dropped sometimes. i dont want to have to constantly reload the game and hunt yet another bigass elephant because maybe it does or doesnt drop a specific part i need

[Joseph Kony]

really enjoyed forbidden west as well, even if the mystery behind zero dawn was substantially more compelling. i just didnt like having to farm for parts that only dropped sometimes. i dont want to have to constantly reload the game and hunt yet another bigass elephant because maybe it does or doesnt drop a specific part i need
yeah upgrading shit is a huge pain in this one, i've only got my current gear upgraded halfway because of it :lol though you can buy some rare machine components from a couple salvage contract npcs, but you need a lot of processed metal blocks which are also annoying to farm. definitely a lot more tedium in this game than zero dawn

[baseline bum]

The breaking shit mechanic is still fun as hell two weeks later in DK Bananza. Really didn't see myself buying a Switch 2 the first year, especially with Mario Kart the launch title, but seeing the Direct for Bananza really sold me on it. Will jump right back to PS5 once I finish Bananza though at least until Metroid Prime 4.

[spurraider21]

so i cant for the life of my explain why, but after finishing dark souls 3, something called to me and i booted up bloodborne (which was my first fromsoft game, hadnt touched it since my first playthrough about 6 years ago)

my god, i am reminded of just how phenomenal bloodborne is. between DS1, DS2, DS3, Sekiro, and Bloodborne, imo it stands alone as the best

[Leetonidas]

It's absolutely criminal that Bloodborne isn't on PC yet. Or at the very least that there isn't a 60fps update for PS5

[baseline bum]

It's absolutely criminal that Bloodborne isn't on PC yet. Or at the very least that there isn't a 60fps update for PS5

Gotta buy a hackable PS4 Pro or hackable PS5 if you want 60 fps

[vy65]

Anyone playing hellblade 2? looking to pick that one up

[vy65]

Took the plunge and holy shit is this game gorgeous. And super fucking bleak. 30 minutes into it and feels like it’s gonna be better than the original. Highly recommend.

[Joseph Kony]

Done with Forbidden West, finished the main quest and the DLC. The burning shores expansion was kind of meh, didn't add many side quests and the primary questline felt short. Final boss fight was really tedious also. Solid game overall but not sure i'll ever replay it, unlike Zero Dawn

[baseline bum]

Finished the main story of DK Bananza and it was awesome, probably a 9.5/10 game. The way they reinvented Pauline was really cool and she's a much more interesting character than she was in Super Mario Odyssey. Postgame kind of sucks though with a lot of annoying time trials, nothing like the incredible postgame of Odyssey.

[Leetonidas]

Playing Dying Light: The Beast. Surprised at how well it runs on day one. Sad that we're at a point where it's surprising when a major game releases without tons of bugs at launch

[DJR210]

BF6 - best game release for me in years