So, what games are you playing now?

[phantasmagoria]

I remember Charlie Brooker talking about games as a content delivery platform and that they're the only form of media that puts content behind a skillcap. A film or a book or a TV show you can access any of the content any of the time once it's been released, but story games have their content withheld behind a skill barrier, if you make that barrier too high then you literally deny your audience the content they've purchased. It's interesting, and probably why playing video games is so endorphin rewarding.

Obviously the enjoyment of some games is in overcoming the difficulty of them like Super Meat Boy, but the majority are in the telling of the story or the visual spectacle as well as the challenge.

[Silicone_Milk]

Playing through Ratchet and Clank (PS4). Kind of a bummer to go revisit previous worlds after unlocking some gadgets to see that they're mostly empty except for a small amount of weak trash mobs. Enjoying leveling up the weapons though and the writing is pretty good.

[Captain]

Dark Souls

Fighting the camera and awful controls don't make it good or fair.

inb4 "git gud scrub" because I was supposed to plug in a controller to play a shitty console port that looked like it fell out of the discount cart of a 1995 electronics store.

[Eraser]

Don't get me started on Dark Souls m8, it was a completely unenjoyable experience for me. And it is indeed a shame people only respond with "git gud" because fair difficulty isn't a problem for me. DS1 just felt like very shoddy design.

[Doombrain]

I've been playing Fortnite. It's fun, you should try it. Managed to get in the winning team only twice...

[phantasmagoria]

[Eraser]

There's this thing called a bumper button that raises what's called a shield, that when raised will mostly blocks things called hits and prevent what is known as damage

Yeah, I'm sure it was my lack of skill and not the surprise deaths, the wooden character movement, the input lag, the backward controller layout, the abysmal framerates, the poor graphics and the 1982 menu design.

[Captain]

Don't forget the laughable localization. I paid $4 for that game and felt ripped off.

[Captain]

The difference is Eraser and I actually played it. You have pretty strong opinions of certain games without having played them, eg. Overwatch

[MKJ]

unlike the gfx and sluggish movement, the Deaths in dark souls are actually a gameplay element. It should not be interpreted as a game over screen like eg Resident Evil.

so on that part Memphis is correct, you're supposed to die. You weren't "defeated" per se, you were punished for your greed to farming more souls. In that perspective it's like wiping out in Tony Hawk Pro Skater... you can keep racking up points but it will get harder and harder during a combo. What risk/reward ratio will you adhere to? Getting gud changes that balance in your favor.

That said, I'm not a Souls fan. I liked the lore and worldbuilding they did but as a game it didn't grab me as much as it did most of the fanbase.

[Eraser]

unlike the gfx and sluggish movement, the Deaths in dark souls are actually a gameplay element. It should not be interpreted as a game over screen like eg Resident Evil.

so on that part Memphis is correct, you're supposed to die. You weren't "defeated" per se, you were punished for your greed to farming more souls. In that perspective it's like wiping out in Tony Hawk Pro Skater... you can keep racking up points but it will get harder and harder during a combo. What risk/reward ratio will you adhere to? Getting gud changes that balance in your favor.

That said, I'm not a Souls fan. I liked the lore and worldbuilding they did but as a game it didn't grab me as much as it did most of the fanbase.

Yeah I get that. It's not the dying bit that was the problem, it's the cause of me dying that's what upset me. Too many times it felt like something that I couldn't have anticipated.

The thing that just put me off of Dark Souls is that I got the idea that I had to bite through three layers of hard to swallow bile to get to the good stuff. At the same time, there were half a dozen other excellent games waiting for me that had immaculate design and were a pleasure to play from the start.

[MKJ]

Meanwhile, playing Bioshock Infinite - Infinitely going through the motions.

[Eraser]

I have no idea. I spent some time playing the game (DS1 was a free download for the 360 on Xbox Live), gave up, then played it some more later again because Dark Souls 3 was released and the hype surrounding it got me thinking I might have been too harsh on DS1 but going back to it pretty much just confirmed my initial experience. All in all I think I've put 6 to 8 or so hours into it.

[Κracus]

The moment you wise up and beat one of those moments is when the game starts coming together. That said, DS1 is probably one of the hardest of the three. I'd almost recommend skipping it and starting with #2.

[Ganemi]

Wish I were playing Melee:

[youtube]mBuPdpxvJ0k?t=48s[/youtube]

[MKJ]

Meanwhile, playing Bioshock Infinite - Infinitely going through the motions.

replaying it in 1999 mode, Burial at Sea dlc is next.

Main game turned out better than I expected. Bit too heavy on the stunty-shooty bit and while it has an interesting story I feel like they got the pacing all wrong. Basically the entirety of the story gets unfolded in the last 30 mins of the game, in fastforward mode. Also Vigors are tacked on... I don't mind them being there with the connection to BS1 n all; what bothers me is that with the exception of the Crow guy and arguably the Fireman noone else seems to care about the Vigors. A far cry from the Plasmids and the addicted Splicers fighting over them.

Still, when you know what you know the replaying makes the game a lot better. So many hidden layers and connections to find.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Meanwhile, playing Bioshock Infinite - Infinitely going through the motions.

replaying it in 1999 mode, Burial at Sea dlc is next.

Main game turned out better than I expected. Bit too heavy on the stunty-shooty bit and while it has an interesting story I feel like they got the pacing all wrong. Basically the entirety of the story gets unfolded in the last 30 mins of the game, in fastforward mode. Also Vigors are tacked on... I don't mind them being there with the connection to BS1 n all; what bothers me is that with the exception of the Crow guy and arguably the Fireman noone else seems to care about the Vigors. A far cry from the Plasmids and the addicted Splicers fighting over them.

Still, when you know what you know the replaying makes the game a lot better. So many hidden layers and connections to find.

Interesting, I might have to try to play through this again.

I've been kicking around in GTAV as of late.

[Mat Linnett]

Having finished Divinity Original Sin 2, I am now playing Horizon Zero Dawn, which while on the uncomfortable slope of the uncanny valley facial-animation wise, is otherwise fantastic.

Playing on Very Hard, it becomes incredibly important to know the strengths and weaknesses of the robotic wildlife, and the battles are great (if a little too heavily reliant on dodge roll when my sneaky plans inevitably go to shit).

And aside from the aforementioned uncanny valley looks of the puppets populating the world, it's an utterly gorgeous game.

Kinda wish there was a PC version for better draw distances though.

[phantasmagoria]

I'm playing Skyrim, never did get that far with it before. Just going full on heavy armour, hammer wielding dullard for a change. Usually I pick a poncy mage.

[SoM]

Tom Clancy's ghost recon future soldier, early in
Sniper Elite 4, early in

Mad Max next

haven't finished Rage, but max should be alike

[MKJ]

yea forgot to mention, also going for the scavenger achievement.. lol?

[Don Carlos]

Anyone fancy some Instagib?

[MKJ]

yea forgot to mention, also going for the scavenger achievement.. lol?

did it. smashed the Burial at Sea episodes as well.
I loved Ep2 right up until the point where they felt the need to over explain.
ICYMI: Songbird is the equivalent of Big Daddy - here's seven expositional blackboards spelling it out for you!

Anyway. Got that dumb Clash in the Clouds DLC to do still.. not sure if I'll grind all those achievements. Bioshock Horde Mode doesn't interest me that much.

In the end, I got 50-odd hrs of good gaming out of this trilogy

[Tsakali]

Wolfenstein 2 and really liking it.

If you played the previous installment you know what to expect.

Nice graphics, the level design is amazing and even though it seems ot have longer / more cut scenes they are done very well and add to the experience.

One thing I will isay is to make sure you bump up the difficulty cause it seems kinda easy... levels seem to have a lot of amo and health laying around, and if you're a bit of a defensive player it seems a bit easy.

also, changing from gun to gun , (also wielding 1 or 2 or enabling/disabling mods) can seem a little clunky, simply because there are so many options.

Maybe I'm getting old, and all these added complexities are throwing me off. SO when in doubt I just usually end up running through corridors with dual wielding Maschinenpistoles.

I'm sure if one wasn't such a paniker about dying, one could have a lot more fun with all the options available.

[xer0s]

My wife and I are probably around 20+ hours into Divinity Original Sin. Having a blast.

We’re level 8 and still in and around Cyseal. I’m assuming there are other areas to see? We’re probably moving pretty slow, but it’s fun...