dan-likes-trees

Yeah I've played a bit and had the same reaction. brilliant that it runs on my ipad, but the controls really make it seem random who comes out of a firefight alive. Also, won my first day with 5 kills - clearly each match is pretty populated by bots - maybe that's how it's running so smoothly - but that definitely buzz of making it to the last ten or whatever

Came on to mention this - first time I've watched a game where it's been used - what an absolute shambles!! Really goes to show how subjective ref decisions are; adding a couple of minutes back and forth on replays doesn't make for a definitive answer. Couldn't believe how much it crushed the pace of that first half - minutes at a time watching the ref with his finger to his ear, truely laughable stuff!

Nice - got that one too - I definitely think that at the processing power and resolution currently available these sort of trippy / experimental games are where VR really excels. I haven't bought it yet but playing the demo for Rez VR really blew me away. I'd be interested to see how you get on with Thumper - I quite like it but have found it to be quite repetitious, particularly visually - plus you can tell it's not really designed for VR since everything's coming at you from one angle; no head movements or anything. Again, definitely suggest double dippingo on Polybius whilst it's so cheap Just to clarify - it's not that I found the PSVR to be bad quality, just that the Samsung VR is actually really impressive, particularly when it's playing pre-rendered content. Thought there'd be more of a step up from a £40 thing to a £300 quid thing I guess

Anyone played Polybius on PSVR? It's like £4 on sale on psn at the moment. Worth every penny! Quite the trip

Probably did get pretty lucky (though I thought that Van Djik toe punt was a penalty for the second) but in any case.... what a monster of a game!!! Two outrageously good goals (Wanyama's missile and Salah's skills), back and forth all through the second half, the missed penalty, the massive delay on the eventual penalty decision, Kane stepping up to put the equaliser away.. Oscar winning drama! Looking at Liverpool's games this season, half of them seem to be that mad; must be a blast / stressful experience supporting them!

IIRC it's right at the start of the new area you unlock with Blood and Wine. It's takes some doing progressing up that tree, but the different routes change the gameplay quite a bit - some fun stuff in there! Jealous you're playing through for the first time - enjoy! In related news.. Camaaaannn!!! That one-word tweet hype

Ha alright, steady on.. I didn't say that's all it's about, but the robot fights are clearly the game's USP; without those what's to distinguish the central concept / plot from that of fallout or any other post apocalyptic tale (an oversaturated genre anyway)? Even fans of the game seem to find the tribal stuff pretty tiring / hackneyed. My point was, as I said, I've an issue with how devoid of humour and levity the game is, and how it seems a bit of a waste of quite a fun concept to have it all buried in self-seriousness. The majority of the best games (alongside TV) of the last few years have a lot of humour amongst the darker themes. Hard to care about any of the characters when none of them speak like real people (the goateed guy in Meridian and Sylus aside). Can't see how Breath of the Wild, a game, unlike Horizon, fundamentally built around using a open world and being widely acclaimed for it, could be comparably improved by being linear but there we go.

Man, I'm glad I'm not alone I think mine is the only negative comment in this thread through the past twenty pages. I'm sticking on with the game as I'm close-ish to the end but still really not feeling it. I'm increasingly thinking that Ashley Burch's performance is maybe one of my main issues - the character comes off as so monotone and portentous, it's really hard to get behind the plot as a result. The talking to herself thing definitely grates too. I think it's definitely the direction not helping rather than necessarily the actress; she seems a much more natural fit in Borderlands. Agreed on the open world. Obviously suffers by comparison to BOTW but I really think this is an example of a game that might've been better as a linear or semi-linear design They seem to have overpopulated the world with machines too, which makes me less inclined to venture off the beaten path - Actually this is one bit I've grown to quite like - it's a pain in the arse as getting anywhere can be a chore if you can't be bothered to take, but it is very cool in that almost any enemy can be hard to beat if you don't properly plan for it. - Looking through the old ruins of places is initially interesting but quite repetitive when 80% of the game's lore seems to come out in the same way. Most of the juicy bits you have to literally stand still and wait to listen for. All the locations also end up looking more or less identical too, even if they again initially look quite interesting. - A lot of the big boss battles I'm not sure if I'm playing right; hiding behind cover and popping out on a lot of them seems the best tactic but also feels at odds with how fluid the rest of the battles are, I'm not sure if I'm cheesing them or not. - The whole game feels way too self serious for a franchise that's literally about Robot Dinosaurs. Anyway, not to toally rag on it - there is stuff I like about the game - when the combat works, against the robos it is pretty excellent, and the sound design on the robots is insanely good, and ultimately I'm glad that such a fresh new big budget IP has done so well, but I'm definitely a lot less impressed than everyone else!

Love this thread. Didn't actually post this last year but mine went quite well Buy a flat - Success! Read 15 books - Just made it in time, success! Finish an out-of-work animation project - Just about a success! Run 120 Miles - Pretty tepid target in hindsight, smashed through it halfway through the year Make decent headway into learning Italian - To my girlfriend's dismay - a failure So, 2018! Read 15 books (again) Run 250 miles Finish an out-of-work animation project on my own rather than with a colleague Do two pages of sketchbook work a week Make a little bit of headway into learning Italian.. again.. suggestions and tips welcome.. Gonna update this post when I think of some others!

Cheers for that guv. Bit the bullet and Amazon Primed them before Christmas day. Glad I did - can't imagine just using the dualshock! So first impressions were... a bit underwhelming? More accurately, since the resolution is about on par with the Gear VR, the best that that has to offer (Smash Hit, the Assassin's Creed trailer / experience) is probably about as impressive. PSVR seem to share similar issues with everything seeming slightly blurry and low res, even if the build quality and screen door is a bit better. After a deeper dive, though, I'm definitely enjoying it a lot, and the motion controls add a lot. Superhot VR is probably the best VR experience I've had - punching a dude in the face, grabbing his pistol as it flied through the air, physically ducking behind cover and popping up to splay some bullets.. it's amazing!! I definitely think the stylised look is more immersive than muddy attempts at realism. Plus it's super satisfying when the enemies crumble apart into polygons. Been enjoying Thumper though I'm not 100% convinced VR adds that much seeings as you're only ever looking at about 120 degrees, Dirt Rally is pretty good fun, and Resi 7 I felt was initially a little underwhelming (everything is so fuzzy, picking up photographs in game I can barely make out what they're meant to be) but playing late last night I was definitely feeling the chills.. going to stick with it Anyone got any other essential experiences? There's a good sale on psn at the moment..

Cheers for that pal. I'll keep in mind that I won't be having a full on sesh on christmas day then! Have used my gear vr a fair bit so hopefully have acclimatised to some extent. Amazon have 2 move controllers for 70 quid. Seems ppreeetttyy steep, but equally I'm keen to get some before chritmas so all the family can have a go. Is that a mental price / any idea where I can get them cheaper?

My other half has strongly hinted that I'll be finding a ps vr under the tree. Very exciting!! What would you psvr owners recommend as essentials? I'll be picking up Resident Evil, Res Infinite and Thumper. Whats the deal with Move controllers? Is there a way of getting them for less than 80 quid? Is this supposed rerelease happening soon? They look worth getting for when I'm with the family over christmas but.. are they?

Ha! Apologie, only just spotted this. I've got little for you but a couple worth checking out.. Song Exploder - Not so much historical, but it has great musicians on; each episode is another artist breaking down one of their songs, how they come up with, construct and layer it up. Pretty interesting and the bands they have on are pretty high calibre! Have only listened to a couple episodes but Hit Parade from Slate is pretty much what you described; goes through big hits through history and goes through how their influences, why they resonated with their times and their significance after release. My issue with it is that it's pretty rare that he does stuff about bands I'm interested in! Lastly, Unbreak My Chart is a good listen; slightly similar to the above but with current top 40 stuff, looking at why what's popular is popular. That's all I got!

Anyone got Divinity Original Sin 2? The game I most want to play. Shame I have a mac

Glad you're enjoying it @bob ! I remember enjoying the game alot more once I got to Novigrad and Skellige too. Re this post - I'd say that's probably a good shout - actually most of the sidequests are reasonably missable with a few exceptions - Carnal Sins, The Last Wish, and the Skellige family ones spring to mind. The ones that are more like side-strands introduced via the main story are generally worth doing but you can probably skip most of the standard contracts and such. I'd also say drop down the difficulty if you're finding it a slog (I remember the start of the game being pretty tough if you can't be arsed with the witcher potions and all that).

Haha, this is the thing for me too - I wish I had the time (or money!) to be playing enough games to think about game of the year properly! That said, the answer is obviously Breath of the Wild since I've played nothing like it in about ten years and it's a total joy. Fornite might have challenged it since that's like well fun, but given it's a rip off of PUBG, not sure I could morally give it the accolade

44!!! The biggest travesty on this list thus far. Though glad, as you say, it's definitively better than MK64. Thanks for doing this @Nicktendo btw - very enjoyable slow reveal!

Anyone got this yet? Any good? I'm weirdly tempted by it despite disliking Syndicate and not being much of a Horizon fan. The videos I've watched evoke a twang of Witcher nostalgia that I've been pining for. The world looks great - what's the quality of the writing / storylines like?

Would defo be keen on this! Lists might be a touch more varied too. Anyway, in b4 deadline on the ninty list 1 - Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time - Just a perfect game. Simple but effective bildungsroman, great dungeons, the best score, archetypal, amazing, first console game I ever played and still one of the very best. 2 - Pokemon Gold / Silver - Still plays great, before the games got (visually) too gross and childish for my taste. Also epic in scope; that final battle with trainer red is one of the GOAT gaming moments 3 - Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild - Could yet rise higher but for my shame (or lack of rushing) I've still not completed it! Regardless, 100% lives up to what I wanted Zelda to become when I first played through the first on my list. Beautiful timeless graphics, feels like a true adventure. 4 - Diddy Kong Racing - Surprised there are no votes for this beast! Better than any Mario Kart game, hard as nails toward the end, fun boss battles, planes are well implemented, holds up great today 5 - Advance Wars: Days of Ruin - Gameplay across this series is impeccable. An unpopular opinion but I much preferred the art style and plot of this one. Felt a bit like Grapes of Wrath / the road or something. 6 - Lylat Wars - Top arcade shooter, top bants with the crew. Love the multiple endings & the sci fi references scattered throughout. 7 - Mario Kart: Double Dash - best multiplayer of the series. Crucially has the mode with all 4 cups as a one-er; an epic 45 minute endurance battle, like a premier league season. Still play it loads 8 - Golden Sun - Possibly the most dated of my list in hindsight, but just a fantastic little RPG with an epic scope. 9 - Pokemon Red / Blue - Lacks the quality of life improvements of Gold / Silver but still holds up brilliantly and has some of the eccentric weirdness and darkness lost in the later games. The Mewtwo stuff on Cinnibar island is great. 10 - Warioware - How they've not resurrected this franchise is beyond me. Bloody great fun!

Yeah for all I'm enjoying it I gotta say it does make me want to play PUBG more and more! But it's providing about enough to stop me spunking a grand on a pc for now Potentially massive news though - Battle Royale - Fortnite next week is going free to play on ps4 xbox pc and mac next week! I've become a bit obsessed it! Got two #2 finishes but that first place has alluded me thus far.. Not a huge fan of the fort building stuff (last few survivors all seem pretty well versed in making forts) but I am appreciating the differences in tone to pubg - games are a bit quicker and more arcadey, the map is more condensed, plus using the pickaxe to ust through walls and cielings spices things up a little. Well worth a go for non-PC owners!

Hopped right on this after seeing this post... it is might be the most outrageous, cynical cash-grab knock off I've ever seen!! Literally the only reason it must've been made in such bare bones state must have been to get first dibs on all the ps4 owners wanting to try out battle royale / pubg. That all said, like an absoloute sucker, I bought it pretty much as soon as seeing this post - and it's pretty great!! Notched up a couple of kills and 14th place finish first go, and subsequently didn't best that the rest of the evening. Would definitely do with a bit more to distinguish itself from the crowd (and the sooner they add squads the better) but still. Addicting stuff!

Hah!! Ah well, you must've liked it some to binge to that extent at least. Can see your issues with the show, though for me the pretty shoddy writing of Chandra's character toward the end was the only one that really offended me. I actually didn't find the plot in general to be totally ludicrous; even if it's exageratted I feel like it does draw on the genuine injustices in the legal system; it's telling that British original was written by a criminal lawyer. Same way the Wire had a couple of outlandish plot points that were carried off through the quality of the rest of the show. Aanyway. Do check out some of the rest of that list! @killthenet - I've caught the first couple eps of Top of the Lake 2 - pretty good stuff so far! Very different tone to the first season, but the setup is pretty strong, especially the relationship between Elizabeth Moss's character and her daughter. Get on it - drops off iplayer in a couple weeks!

You guys get much further with this? I'm enjoying it but probably not to the level of your post @Drahkon - I think for me the issue is that the rites are great but they're over in about a minute or two, and though I sort of like characters and the story, I feel like you spend way too long on that in comparison to being in the games themselves. I'm currently finding all the dialogue and stuff a bit tooo abstract at times. The whole game is reeally similar to The Banner Saga in the setup, art style, but that game seems more grounded, the choices matter more, and the balance between the two elements of the game (battles and travelling) is way more even. Still, the matches themselves are great fun. Fantastic idea to combine rpg with a sports game. Would like to see more of that in the industry! As you say, online pvp would be great! My only issue in the games is finding it a bit too easy to just run round via the corners and score, with a couple of speed boost items or whatever.

Lovely stuff. I'll see it out on the dvds! Glad you've gone with The Night Of. A surefire winner.. I think. Let us know your thoughts! And try not to throw up during the gratuitous shots of John Turturro's manky feet. Definitely get on FNL if you haven't seen it - absolutely top tier stuff. About a US high school football team and the small town it's set in but.. better than that sounds. Definitely worth a look - Kyle Chandler is particularly excellent in it. Pretty much agree with @Killthenet 's thoughts above. Homeland well worth it for the first two seasons - Just imagine that it stops there! Bit like ignoring the Star Wars prequels. And Top of the Lake is fine stuff, super atmospheric; I think it made more of a splash (excuse the pun) in the US than over here for whatever reason. Hoping that as Electric Dreams will be an anthology of one-off episodes it'll avoid a decline in the vein of the shows you mention. But we'll see! Pretty beastly cast for a channel 4 show in any case Glad to hear that strong praise of Twin Peaks Killthenet - have been slightly put off by people saying it's pretty hard work compared to the original series - sounds well worth it though. Gonna get on that

OROITT MMAAYYTTTEEE First, thanks for reminding me that This is England '90 is a thing that I missed and get to catch up on now. The lassie's away for the week so that's me sorted. '88 was pretty much flawless. Your list is pretty lined up with mine for faves (asides from Singing Detective which I've not heard of. An.. interesting name..). Anyway from recent years I would thus recommend.. The Night Of which is a HBO miniseries from last year with Riz Ahmed and John Turturro that is excellent, the first episode in particular thoroughly grabbed me by the bollocks and didnt let go for the hour running time. I THINK I remember you being a fan of Friday Night Lights(?) In which case I've been loving the Netflix doccy series Last Chance U, which is pretty much the former but in documentary format. The guidance counciller basically is Connie Britain in real-life-format. Pretty amazingly shot / directed too - looks even more cinematic than FNL! Top of the Lake is defo worth a blast, with ourgirl Peggy Olsen as the lead and lots of beauty New Zealand swooping vistas. Haven't caught season 2 yet myself. Would also recommend looking into Trapped, The Girlfriend Experience, Battlestar Galactica and the first series of Homeland although the latter two are pretty old news.. On a more general note, have we all seen the trailer for this? Looks great! Good old channel 4, losing Black Mirror to Netflix and then comissioning more or less the same thing..