Malf on 24/2/2025 at 12:02
Huh, I never even considered playing Returnal with my DualSense. It being a shooter, I kinda defaulted to M&KB.
I might have to try that some time.
I did manage to get all the way to the "end" boss once, and almost, almost beat it, but losing at 2% boss health left just made me put the game down.
While I still fire it up occasionally, I don't usually give it the time it needs for me to build up the momentum for another try against the final boss.
I think quite a lot of the story is hidden behind repeat, complete, successful runs, so I should really get around to it at some point.
Thirith on 24/2/2025 at 14:27
I don't much play third-person shooters, but this one definitely feels to me like it was designed to be played with a controller, also because traversal and dodging is as important as the shooting.
But then I've never yet made it past the first boss, so my way of playing the game may not be the best way. :p
Aja on 24/2/2025 at 15:26
It has cool haptic rain effects on the PS5 controller. I only played it briefly when I had a PSN subscription, but it felt really polished.
Sulphur on 24/2/2025 at 16:26
Yeah, I thought the haptics were top-shelf stuff, everything accentuated the on-screen action perfectly. Only Astro's Playroom (and Astro Bot I suppose) were as well-done or better, comparatively. Also, it does help that Returnal feels great to control and play; just moving around and shooting things feels right, somehow.
Yakoob on 24/2/2025 at 20:27
Recently played through Mouthwashing and I looked up Aja's thoughts on it in last year's thread, which I think I generally agree with. I think I didn't click with the game for similar reasons why I have a problem with Lynch's stuff: I absolutely love the first half that is grounded in reality but "something is off", but in second half where it starts going all trippy-surreal-symbolic route it kind of loses me. As Aja pointed out, the gameplay kind of gets in the way and I found the chase/horror sequences really annoying. By the end, I was glad to just have it over with.
I then looked up some of the discourse on reddit and found interesting takes and interpretations of the story. Maybe I just missed stuff (maybe I lack media literacy like Aja), but the game felt to me very "surface level", it presented topics without really giving me enough meat to chew on. For instance the whole "corporate dystopia" feels like just that, a tacked on idea of "corporation bad" without really much more to it. I found some of the fan theorizing more in-depth and interesting than what I found in the game itself.
Anyway, I am now on Far Cry 5 and having a great time. It's... Far Cry, lol. I knew exactly what I was getting into and I am getting what I wanted. It's just dumb silly fun, if tad repetitive at times. The writing is kind of meh and I'm not finding the characters particularly likeable, BUT the new system of recruiting a helper NPC is great - my dude easily accounts for like 50%+ of all my kills and saved my ass so many times.
But the one thing I really appreciate about it, is its impeccable sense of space and highly detailed environmental design. I'm not from mid-west, but been to those kind of areas, and the game just nails the vibe. The visuals, the long empty roads, the arid sun, the wooshing wind and bug noises in the background. I've been having a grand time ignoring the missions and just casually driving around, getting a sense for the space my familiarizing myself with "my local neighborhood," while clearing the occasional outpost here and there. A surprisingly immersive experience that works really well when taken slow, despite its often frantic, casual gameplay.
or maybe I've been watching too many Any Austin videos lately, idk
Thirith on 25/2/2025 at 07:24
Defeated the first Returnal boss for the first time this morning before work. Nothing's going to stop me now.
henke on 25/2/2025 at 08:03
I think I defeated that one too. Played about 10 hours of Returnal before I'd had my fill.
I played a bunch more Dropship last weekend, eventually making it to mission 4.4, the second to last mission, which, according to a walkthrough I've been consulting, is the hardest mission. I think I've had my fill. I preferred the early missions which had a more logistical focus, but as the campaign went on it veered more and more towards aerial combat. There's some neat ground vehicle missions sprinkled throughout as well, which add some flavor. Overall tho, a good game!
[video=youtube;O9AD5uOVniw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9AD5uOVniw[/video]
For some reason I decided to dust off my ol' 360 copy of Midnight Club: Los Angeles last night and fire it up on the Series X. Game still looks great, and working towards getting better cars is kinda compelling. The driving model is so-so however. Extremely arcadey compared to GTA 4 which R* released the same year. The LA of the game reminds me a lot of GTA 5's Los Santos. I wonder if they just straight up re-used some chunks of it.
Thirith on 25/2/2025 at 08:41
Quote Posted by henke
I think I defeated that one too. Played about 10 hours of Returnal before I'd had my fill.
I hope I'll stay the course, but it's well possible I won't. With games such as this one, I tend to be almost a bit obsessed for a while, but then I go off them from one day to the next.
froghawk on 25/2/2025 at 18:28
Finished so far in 2025:
Underworld Ascendant
Thief: The Black Parade
Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds
The Nameless Mod
Tribes: Vengeance
Fallout
Clive Barker's Undying
Styx: Master of Shadows
Starship Titanic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Unreal Tournament 2004
la0s on 25/2/2025 at 21:59
How was Underworld Ascendant here in 2025? Is it worth playing?
