Your 2020 Gaming Diary

[Nicktendo]

3 hours ago, will' said:

Such a good experience, I wasn't a huge fan of 4 and don't think I ever completed it, but this one I felt like it was my expected progress from GTA3 and it's sister titles. Such a rich world with so much to see and do, I could enjoy just being in the world for hours at a time.

Interestingly, I could never really get into 5. GTA4 is one of my favourite games of all time. I loved the gritty and realistic direction they went in for that one and thought the world they built felt more alive than anything I'd every experienced before it. The hazy and grey art style really captures New York well. It still looks amazing today. I've given 5 a go a few times but I just feel it's lacking what made 4 so special. 

[Will]

That’s interesting, I do remember liking the setting of 4 I could just never get into it for whatever reason. What did you think of the earlier 3D games in the series? At the time I loved GTA3 and Vice City, and San Andreas was awesome but maybe I had less time by then and so don’t remember it as fondly. I decided to run through them again a few months ago and found that now GTA3 for me is by far the most enjoyable, I could probably quite happily play through that once a year on a new system.

[nekunando]

4 hours ago, Nicktendo said:

Interestingly, I could never really get into 5. GTA4 is one of my favourite games of all time. I loved the gritty and realistic direction they went in for that one and thought the world they built felt more alive than anything I'd every experienced before it. The hazy and grey art style really captures New York well. It still looks amazing today. I've given 5 a go a few times but I just feel it's lacking what made 4 so special. 

GTA 4 on PS3 would need to have been good for you, given what we know 😅

[drahkon]

Bought Blazing Beaks on Switch last night (it's on sale for 2 bucks right now). It's a rogue-lite

Seems to play similarly to Nuclear Throne. Not bad, so far. There's a cool risk-reward mechanic:
You can pick up so called Artifacts. They give you negative effects (e.g. lower fire rate, lower max  HP, etc.) but increase your "risk value". Eventually you reach a shop and can trade in these Artifacts for good items: The higher the risk value, the more items you get. Pretty neat.

Needless to say, I pick up ALL THE ARTIFACTS and haven't made it past 10 minutes play time.

Also decided to get back to Slay the Spire. Need to save some money so a game like this is perfect to tide me over. Still need to beat the true boss with The Watcher.

[Nicktendo]

On 03/07/2020 at 10:00 AM, will' said:

That’s interesting, I do remember liking the setting of 4 I could just never get into it for whatever reason. What did you think of the earlier 3D games in the series? At the time I loved GTA3 and Vice City, and San Andreas was awesome but maybe I had less time by then and so don’t remember it as fondly. I decided to run through them again a few months ago and found that now GTA3 for me is by far the most enjoyable, I could probably quite happily play through that once a year on a new system.

I finished GTA3 with a friend in school and got less interested as the series went on. Though the atmosphere of Vice City sublimely captured the time, and the motorbikes were a great addition, I never had the desire to finish it. San Andreas went too far for me. I loved Los Santos but quickly became disinterested after it expanded out of there. I felt it was too big for its own good and too aimless at times. No surprise that I loved IV, it did away with the stuff I didn’t like about SA. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Nicktendo

[Aperson]

Finished the DLC for Pokemon Sword and Shield recently. Here's my fight against Dojo Master Mustard on Youtube.

 

 

Also started playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption again and recording it for an LP. It appears I may have to do multiple playthroughs to go over any missed stuff in case my capture software starts glitching up. The first part is recorded so I should be starting to upload this LP very soon.

[Aperson]

Following up on the Prime 2 LP I did earlier this year... it's time for the Prime 3 LP. Here is Part 1 of the new journey...

 

 

Trying to make this one a bit more entertaining with more room for additional inserts and jokes. Also really wanted to make this part as good as it could be, though general recording improvements will be implemented in future parts.

[Cube]

Finished Luigi's Mansion 3, it's a full game that's full of charm that feels both too long and too short.

It starts off being very creative, each floor was fun to explore. Googli was fun to use, and puzzles were great.

The Polterkitty was just annoying padding. The sections were too long, didn't have much in the way of puzzles and didn't add anything interesting. At least the padding for the spare part was interesting to do.

Although that spare part was hugely disappointing. Its built up as a powerful new ability and ends up pretty much being a key. The game definitely needed something to spruce things up at that point, so to actually tease it and not deliver kind of seems mean. Then the next few floors are just a corridor and a bit fight, nothing interesting to explore.

Bosses were a lot of fun for the most part. The only bad one is the final boss. For most of the game, it understands that it's aiming controls aren't the best so doesn't force quick aiming...they goes with this boss.

 

Overall, a really good game, has some issues and could have done with a new ability near the end (or just being shorter).

[Goron_3]

Currently working my way through Red Dead Redemption 2. I'm about 15 hours in (25% story completion apparently). Some thoughts:

• The world is stunning. Like, actually gorgeous. Unlike other open world games, it actually feels lived in. 
• I'm a bit disappointed by the gameplay. Maybe it's nostalgia but RDR (original) felt way more fun and the combat felt more satisfying. This game just feels clunky and whilst the world is gorgeous, I find myself not actually having 'fun' when I play the game in long stretches.
• My horse Epona just died

[Londragon]

Last week, I played through Mechstermination Force to completion with my son for the second time, and we decided to record a play-through, here’s Part 1.
There'll be 6 Parts in total.

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by londragon

[Aperson]

You ever had that sort of day? You're just being told by your boss what you need to do when suddenly Space Pirates attack and you're forced into the offensive out of nowhere? No? Well, this is what that is like in the new episode of Let's Play Metroid Prime 3: Corruption which I am continuing here today:

 

 

I realise my recaps can cause episodes to start a bit later than they need to... so there are now handy times to jump to listed in the opening card.

 

Also, this has the hardest Energy Tank in the entire trilogy to obtain...

Edited July 9, 2020 by GenericAperson

[nekunando]

 

[Aperson]

There are official WRC games on the Switch? Never knew.

 

So, got two games on the go now after starting Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected. I think Torna is the easiest thing to compare it to since both are short side stories that supplement the main game. I have no idea what's going on with the main story right now and how any of this fits together following the original game's ending which I won't spoil here....

 

 

While that is ploughing on, I am editing and contuining to upload the Metroid Prime 3 LP. My plan btw is to release a new episode every day at 9pm and I've got a good amount recorded so far. Here's the obligatory Halo reference in the title...

 

All technical issues resolved now btw, things should go smoothly from here.

[Ronnie]

Played, finished and LOVED Guacamelee! 2. Gorgeous visuals, witty writing, great platforming, satisfying combat. Even better than the first game. Went as far as getting all but 1 achievement on Xbox (skipping the beat the game on hard mode ). While Metroidvanias are everywhere these days, it's refreshing to see one with a completely different vibe and world. Playing a big Mexican luchador trying to stop the bad guy from getting sacred guacamole isn't something you see every day 

Really really hope we see a third instalment. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Ronnie

[Aperson]

OK, so Metroid Prime 2 is a great game in all... but does it have Ridley in it?

 

No? OK, so that's something that Prime 3 has in it's favour. Ridley is here in the new part of Let's Play Metroid Prime 3 Corruption.

 

 

Meanwhile I've also been playing Magic The Gathering Arena as always. Core 2021 bot draft has just started but unfortunately my deck bombed hard at 1-3... it was an Izzet spells deck but I found the balance between creatures and spells difficult to manage and either flooded with creatures or flooded with spells so I only won one game in the end thanks to Transmogrifying into a Hellkite Punisher. I did get a fourth Vito of the Dusk Rose form my prize pack though.

 

Also been playing Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected. I don't know how many people have played this campaign yet so I will put it in spoilers.

 

Spoiler

So some monsters have just been possessed by this "Fog King" and some rift is growing. I'm not entirely sure what is going on in this post game other than that the Bionis Shoulder is apparently separated from the rest and still floating and a society of surviving High Entia is living on it. So is this rift a hole in the remade universe trying to fight back against the world's recreation or something? I've been rather lost as to how exactly this is linking to everything but some familiar faces are showing up and I like how you get Riki's children as party members and they play exactly like Reyn and Sharla do. Although... I feel like the Nopon in spoken dialogue are starting to lose some charm, Riki was the only one who I really thought any good personality to them. Possibly because they keep hiring Cbeebies or equivalent voice actors to do the Nopon.

 

[Ronnie]

A couple of hours into Rime, I want to love it so much but it's making it so hard. The concept, puzzles, visuals, music are all there but the gameplay is so janky. The performance is pretty unacceptable, especially given I'm on the Xbox One X. It'll stutter constantly, the camera movements make me feel nauseous and the whole thing just feels really unpolished. Really frustrating because if this game were in the hands of a more technically competent developer it could maybe stand alongside things like Journey and The Witness. I'll press on though, enjoying everything else...

[Aperson]

Time for what I'm sure everyone agrees is the most memorable boss battle in the entire game.

 

In Let's Play Metroid Prime 3 Corruption Part 5 we take on Ridley while falling down a generator shaft. 13 years later this is still one of the most bonkers and unique boss fights I've ever faced, never seen any other game do this kind of boss battle..

 

 

[Aperson]

Part 6 of the LP is out now, complete with one of my favourite thumbnails for any of these videos.

 

 

Very story heavy episode this, major developments occur.

[Londragon]

Finished the Mechstermination Force play-through.  There were indeed 6 parts to this.

This is the last part,

 

And then onto TOKI, Part 1 is up right now, and is only me on my lonesome.

 

[Aperson]

I would like to severely apologise for the length of this episode, I cut out as much as feasible but it still ended up being a 44 minute monstrosity. There's just a lot going on in this first section and the natural stopping point wasn't until I got back to the ship.

 

Nevertheless, the Bryyo chapter of Metroid Prime 3 Corruption begins here...

 

It's a very long video so I suspect one of the jokes I made in the video is going to get lost due to it's location in there. It's during the latter half when I'm reactivating the galaxy map with one of those motion control gimmick levers and one of the running jokes I've got going on is to treat every one like a dramatic action with additional music to boot, the levers in particular have their own catchphrase.

[Londragon]

Just uploaded Part 2 of my full TOKI play-through.  This time I manage to get through the next 2 stages, 4 and 5.

 

[Cube]

Played though Doom (2016). I really like how they managed to create a modern game, but still have elements that made it feel like the classic Doom/Quake style of game, with things like the armour and power-ups. Some of the weapons were a lot of fun, too. Music was great, except that the entire sound cut out in some of the bigger fights.

Strangely, I did get some Metroid Prime vibes from the game. Just something about the movement, level layout and sometimes even bits of the music sounded a bit like Metroid Prime. 

A lot of enemies were fun to fight, big fights were crazy. One let down were the bosses, especially Krang. 

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Cube said:

Music was great

My favourite track:

It's brutal and fits perfectly to the hell you're unleashing on...well...hell.

Shame that apparently Bethesda didn't allow Mick Gordon to mix and record all tracks for the sequel. I've not played it, but listened to the OST and the songs are great, but man...they could've been so much more if Mick Gordon actually recorded instead of "just" composing (composed? English grammar, man...) them.
Edit: I was wrong

Edited July 16, 2020 by drahkon

[Cube]

10 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Shame that apparently Bethesda didn't allow Mick Gordon to mix and record all tracks for the sequel.

The in-game music is no different to how the first Doom was done. The in-game music was made by Mick Gordon. For the mixing, neither game has mixing done by Mick Gordon - the game does it on the fly (the game has lots of different elements of the music and it blends it together differently based on what is happening).

The issue is only with the CD soundtrack, where Bethesda/iD actually gave Mick Gordon a longer deadline than he asked for, but he didn't complete the work on time. The OST was promised with the collector's edition, so they couldn't delay it any further, and iD only had the versions of the music sent for the game to mix together and not the original files.  

[drahkon]

1 minute ago, Cube said:

The in-game music is no different to how the first Doom was done. The in-game music was made by Mick Gordon. For the mixing, neither game has mixing done by Mick Gordon - the game does it on the fly (the game has lots of different elements of the music and it blends it together differently based on what is happening).

The issue is only with the CD soundtrack, where Bethesda/iD actually gave Mick Gordon a longer deadline than he asked for, but he didn't complete the work on time. The OST was promised with the collector's edition, so they couldn't delay it any further, and iD only had the versions of the music sent for the game to mix together and not the original files.  

Oh I see, I misunderstood the issue, then. Thanks for clearing it up