What Are You Playing (Winter, 2013-2014)

**bVork** · 02 Jan 2014, 01:38 AM

The demo of Valdis Story really turned me off. The physics just felt weird. Horizontal jumping is actually faster than running and the pause at the end of a combo or after dropping a long distance makes it feel really stiff. The protagonist is 2edgy4me and the whole general plot and art direction make it feel like "Fanfiction.net + deviantART.com: The Game." Complete with grammar errors all over the place. It's especially frustrating because the game is so close and yet so far. All the pieces are there for a great exploratory platformer, but it just feels like less than the sum of its parts.

Thankfully the same isn't true of the other Metroidvania I have been playing. Guacamelee is fantastic! The movement and combat are super smooth. I like how upgrades are stashed behind platforming or puzzle challenges. The art and music are great, and the dialogue is pretty snappy. I could do with fewer memes in the background, but that's a really minor complaint. It may be fairly formulaic, but it's the opposite of Valdis Story: the combination of Shank-like combat and super smooth platforming (that reminds me of Outland) make this way better than its discrete elements would suggest.

**MechDeus** · 02 Jan 2014, 01:58 AM

Guacamelee is definitely better and more polished but I found it boring. I got like halfway through and haven't been able to bring myself to load it up again.

Rain Blood Chronicles: Mirage is not an Metroidvania, but is a pretty solid action title with great controls and two characters that play very differently from each other. I took a chance on it when it launched and was pleasantly surprised. However, the story is pretty throwaway and the translation is terrible, so it's best for that part to be ignored entirely.

**Diff-chan** · 02 Jan 2014, 11:11 AM

I tried Terraria, what a stupid dumb game.

**Some Stupid Japanese Name** · 02 Jan 2014, 12:17 PM

I spent the majority of yesterday playing Zoo Tycoon on my xbone.
Fun game!
Until you realize that there is a limit as to how much stuff you can build. It wasn't long before I had just about everything researched and $300,000 in the bank, but wasn't allowed to add anything without tearing down something else, and though I wanted to add animals, I keep having to add decorations to keep my guest happiness up. Dumb.

Encountered a few glitches that pissed me off. I couldn't tear down a small tropical section because even though I released all the lions that were in there, one was stuck in the water. You can't demolish an exhibit if an animal is in there. Then later I had a baby bear who acted as if he was a god damn mime trapped in a box. He couldn't get to food or anything, so he got sick. Eventually I was penalized, and told he would be helicoptered away. But like the dumb lion earlier, he couldn't get to the helicopter. So I'd get another notification that I need to take care of him or he'd be removed and I'd get penalized again for the same dumb bear.

Still had fun with it. Just need to accept that I can't have everything, and work on tailoring it so that I have some cool rare stuff.
Animals look great, btw.

**Pineapple** · 02 Jan 2014, 01:47 PM

Started Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate last night, had to download a costume compatibility pack to even get it started. There are currently 284 pieces of DLC for it, and I think I saw about 10 that were free (and those were all compatibility packs)!!! Holy fucking shit!!! I mean I like dressing up my fightmans (especially when the ladies have such... fluid titty animations), but goddamn, the price of the game plus all them costumes must seriously cost upwards of $400!!!
But the fighting is really smooth, and I like the 4 button setup, had forgotten how simple yet complex it makes it. Blocking is spot on, and Holds seem better implemented than I remember. Learning how to be better in other fightmans has really helped me with the timing in this game, where each move comes out more like the real thing, which my brain feels more comfortable with and thus helps make some nice combos. Digging on it so far, even though I haven't won a single match (online).

Coming to the end of playthrough 1 on Demon's Souls. Old Monk, Astrea and Garl Vinland, False King Alant, Old King Doran, Blue dragon, giant flying manta ray dude and then I think the Old One are all thats left. Went into 5-2 with Pure White, which I've never had before in the Valley of Defilement. Been playing the first 20 hours offline to control my tendency, then decided since I had done most of the stuff I was trying to do that I would sign in and give it a shot. Thankfully the average tendency of the server I joined was white, and pushed Shrine of Storms and Valley of Defilement (and Boletarian Palace) up by 2 degrees! Never have had even close to pure white tendency across all 5 worlds, now I'm one boss away from it in Shrine of Storms. Feels good!
What doesn't feel good: Saved Yuria the Witch, met her back in the Nexus, talked to her and then put the controller down on the bed to answer a text message. The incredibly sensitive trigger buttons got pressed somehow and attacked Yuria before I ever got to buy any spells, and she proceeded to take no prisoners and kill me (didn't fight back, even backed off and tried waving at her lol). Tried going back over and she was still sitting there all hostile and shit, so I had to put her down. Guess I'll get all the spells NEXT TIME!!!

**PKBMax** · 02 Jan 2014, 07:00 PM

Been trying to play Rust but the current Mac build has rampant loading and crashing issues.

Finally playing season 1 of the Walking Dead, which is pretty engrossing right from the start, as everyone already knows.

About 1/2 way through AC: Brotherhood -- not sure I'll ever catch up in this damn series, but I'm trying.

Started Skyrim, and am working through Pikmin 3, Mario 3D Land, and Luigi's Mansion.

And I have a bunch of games that I started but have to get back to, including TLOU and GTAV. Too many games and not enough time. ;-)

**magnifiedplaid** · 03 Jan 2014, 01:33 PM

I'm having absolutely zero trouble breezing through Castlevania: Lords of Shadow now. Apparently, I wasn't utilizing my block enough, because I was doing more evasive rolls. Actually blocking enemies attacks, with perfect timing, yields a ton of orbs and builds up the focus meter pretty quickly. I went from the end of Chapter 3, yesterday, to the end of Chapter 6. I'm really enjoying this game now, and it seems to get better the further I get.

**Some Stupid Japanese Name** · 03 Jan 2014, 01:55 PM

Started up Etrian IV again. I thought I was much further along than I really was. I hope to have it finished by the time school starts up again.

**Pineapple** · 03 Jan 2014, 01:58 PM

Mag - IIRC, that game has like 18 or 20 Chapters, it's pretty long for the style of game. Not a complaint, just sayin. And for the most part yes, it gets better and better the further you get.

Took down all but 2 of the bosses last night in DS, one is optional, but he's kicking my ass. Never had opened the Mausoleum in 1-1 before, got in there and got one of the Brandts after the fake little tussle with Old King Doran. But I know he has the last ring I need for a trophy, and so I keep fighting him and after you take off 25% health he gets serious about the fight and fucks me up every time. My dude is no slouch in any category and still gets one shotted by anything this guy throws out. Its the first time I've fought him, but I must have tried 20 times last night and the most I did was about 50% damage. Best I've been able to do quickly is enchant my Meat Cleaver with Light Weapon and use the R2 attack since it has knockdown. The knockdown is the only way to ensure you have a split second to breathe, otherwise he is just ON you constantly. Then he starts rolling through the R2 attack perfectly and it's over. Dunno what to do at this point.