A Gaming Thread For 2017

I’m so fucking jealous, the game sounds utterly amazing.

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Yeah, that Fire longsword is solid. It was my main weapon until I had the stats to use the katana properly. Not a fan of the ultra-greatswords either. Just feels too slow.

I’m having to resist on buying HZD :frowning: because I’ve gotta book a room for a wedding next month.

Horizon Zero Dawn Update

I’m about five hours in and I’m really enjoying it! There’s been a fairly tense night-time takedown of a large robot dinosaur, what more could you want?

One thing I’m currently struggling to get my head around is how linear it is at the moment. It plays a LOT more like an FPS (go here, kill them, trigger a cutscene) than a traditional RPG which lets you explore and pick your own route. Still very much early game though and I’m guessing/expecting it will open up more later on.

The graphics are great, almost too great in cutscenes. The character models are SO lifelike that they are firmly in the uncanny valley I think, but during normal gameplay the environments are amazing.

So five hours in:

+tense dinosaur robot battles
+well developed story with some powerful moments in the cutscenes
+beautiful environments

-feels a bit linear for an RPG at the moment
-characters in cutscenes a bit disconcerting

From reading threads about it on other sites I get the impression there’s loads of side quests/exploration to do so maybe it hasn’t opened up yet.

Yeah I actually get the feeling that it’s just about to open up / take the stabilisers off! Going to hopefully have a few hours to get further in at the weekend. I’m stoked; it’s definitely got the potential to be a great game.

Hold the phones. I played No Man’s Sky for ages last night, survival mode is good fun and fucking tough as well. Also, it’s got things to work towards now.

The music is lush as well. It’s almost like it’s starting to resemble a game.

Fuck the haters, I love NMS. It’s worth it for the first hour of gameplay alone.

Is this with the 1.2 update or is that not out yet? I like the idea of permadeath mode - will probably jump back in when that’s a thing.

I’d ignore the permadeath one, you’ll die fucking easy. Survival is tough enough without that. They put your ship pretty damn far from you and you’ve gotta prep before you head towards it.

Finished Ffxv so back onto bloodborne. Just have a couple of the optional areas to finish up. Not really bothered with the chalice dungeons…worth doing?

[quote=“imipolex, post:695, topic:10388, full:true”]
Finished Ffxv so back onto bloodborne. Just have a couple of the optional areas to finish up. Not really bothered with the chalice dungeons…worth doing?[/quote]
It depends. They’re a bit repetitive but still fun and have a few unique bosses not found anywhere else. If you’re bothered about getting platinum you’ll need to do most of them and if you plan to play through again on NG+ or higher there are some sweet gems to be had. If you’re nearly finished the main game you’ll fly through the first few but you’ll really start to struggle when you get down to the level 4 ones.

Not had much gaming time lately myself but I’m almost finished my first NG+ run and I’ve finally got to a point (Ebrietas) where my own comparative overpoweredness in the early part has been balanced out by the increased boss strength. Also trying to decide whether to run through the DLC again. Might as well I suppose!

DLC is the best bit!
Ebrietas is the only boss I’ve never soloed. That charge attack one-shot is just so egregious.

[quote=“Twinkletoes, post:697, topic:10388”]
Ebrietas is the only boss I’ve never soloed[/quote]
Ha. I know what you mean. When I finally did it the first time round it was mostly because I somehow got stuck in the fork of her tail/legs/tentacles/other Cthulhuian appandages so I could keep hammering away and she couldn’t get at me until her magic attacks kick in.

I’m enjoying Far Harbour more than the final missions of the main Fallout game. Joined Children of Atom and was given a cool helmet as a mission reward.

I’d forgotten about the DLC, not started on that yet. Is Ebrietas in Upper Cathedral Ward? That area’s on my to do list.

Might give the Chalice Dungeons a shot when those are done.

yes, but a little bit hidden

DLC is oustanding. First couple of areas are among the best in the Souls/BB series for my money.

Upper Cathedral Ward is brilliant, btw. If you aren’t wearing quality headphones while playing, this would be an excellent time to start - really heightens the atmosphere.

Excited about getting started with the DLC now. I love how some of the best areas of the game are optional. Cainhurst has been one of my favourite so far.

Having a lot of fun with MGSV. I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting much from it - I’ve loved every Metal Gear game I’ve played. It’s the first open world game I’ve actually enjoyed in ages, maybe since Skyrim?

The variation in how you carry out missions is the obvious selling point. You could repeat the exact same mission 3 times and use fresh tactics each time, and each tactic - be it pure stealth or balls-out assault - is as satisfying as the other. As an open world game it doesn’t encourage exploration as much as others, but it feels really authentic. There’s something really great about traversing the hillsides to find the best spot to scope out a village in the valley below, and the day-night cycles and weather changes have a real effect on how you play the game, rather than just changing the colour palette.

Anyway I know everyone who was likely to play this game already did so two years ago but just wanted to say it’s worth picking up if you never got round to it. Wish I’d bought this as my first PS4 game over Fallout 4.