What Has Everyone Been Playing This Week? 4

[Digfox]

Path of Exile

Tried to resist this game for a little while now (playing it twice but never spending money on it). However the recent Diablo shenanigans relight a desire to play an ARPG and it seems like no better time than to try this, other than the current season is coming to an end. Great fun and a real joy learning some of the systems.

[JazzFunk]

Finished Evil Within 2 yesterday but just played it this afty on New Game+ to max out my character.

I played this not long after finishing the first and had a great time with both but although I preferred the second game the first couple of seshes with it, in the end I felt the first game was more memorable and had more identity, better controls, even, despite being a bit janky framerate-wise.

Both games are the same but very different. The first is more a series of big levels, many quite roamy but generally a linear, episodic game. EW2 centres itself primarily around a free roaming small town environment with crafting and a great sense of danger, it's really cool and I adored these bits, plus they give you a bit of chance to back away with the dodgy controls.

The more closed in levels aren't as memorable as the first and often feel clumsy due to the fudginess of how you move. I love those open world bits though and there's a lot to like, it's just a shame the non-roamy 'outlandish' levels weren't a bit more striking, these bits lack the vim of the orig and aren't as interesting. And you can't use matches in 2. Awww.

I would happily welcome a third!

Weird fact: guy who wrote the screenplay for both games is Trent Haaga who used to present Troma's Edge TV back in the day.

[JazzFunk]

On the sick and on the wagon as well. Great times for gaming!!!!

[Cepp]

Jumped back into my 6 year old save of Legend of Grimrock. Can't remember a thing about the story but it doesn't matter for a game like this. Doing a level a night, currently down to the 10th level.

[vanpeebles]

Solid game that, I got stuck and never went back.

[dataDave]

Look after yourself Dave; sounds like abit much.....

I'm looking for an extra pair of hands. As I finish two jobs three more come in.

Last month was a world record, and also a personal best.

[Neon Ignition]

Despite my slow progress with RDR2 I've done pretty well with Bayonetta 2. Should finish Chapter XIII later, still not keen on the L button Umbra attack but I've enjoyed it even if the first game is still the better of the two

[Atticus]

Despite my efforts to diversify I still can't leave Black Ops 4 tdm alone. I tried to mix it up with starting RDR2 but I'm just not it the right mood for that right now ... so I'm going to wait until I am because the game deserves my full attention. So to break up BO4 I've gone back to Mario Odyssey and started from the beginning again ... and I'm really in the mood for this. Played for a couple of blissful hours last night and it was a real treat. Proper happy gaming. Using Joy-Cons instead of the Pro Controller this time and they work brilliant.

[Cepp]

Solid game that, I got stuck and never went back.

I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me all those years ago, coming at it with a fresh pair of eyes must have helped.

I'm actually at the last boss right now which is a giant, mechanical cube... that keeps chasing me around an arena trying to squash me while spawning in enemies that have the annoying tendency to box me in. Not too difficult really but a tad irritating.

[CMcK]

It’s all about Astro Bot and Tetris Effect this week. I’m keeping sessions on Astro Bot to no more than a few levels at a time. It’s a fantastic game but quite short so I’m being stingy to prolong my enjoyment. The minecart section is tremendous fun.

[randombs]

I was so close to buying Tetris Effect a few days ago until I learned it doesn't have local multiplayer.

Doom (PS4)

Had a quick session after watching Hardcore Henry and wanting to play an FPS. It's good but I'm itching for a more down-to-Earth fps(geddit?). Contemplating Titanfall 2 after all the praise it got on here a few pages back. I've decided I need to finish a game before buying another one!

[Golgo]

Dusted down my old copies of Warioland 4 (GBA) and Bangai-O Spirits (DS). Fantastic games.

[Atticus]

I rinsed the Wooded Kingdom in Mario Odyssey last night. Beautiful game

[Paddy]

I've decided I need to finish a game before buying another one!

This is something I wish I could adhere to but I'm terrible for noticing something on offer and picking it up (Black Friday will clean my wallet out).

I finally started on Nier Automata. The music and setting are quite wonderful, the combat's fluid and it has its own unique feel as far as action games are concerned. I've played it for around 3 hours so I'll continue with it as I've heard promising things about the game.

[Neon Ignition]

Started delving into Starlink, it's pretty solid so far though I can see how it could get old before the credits roll so we'll see how that one pans out.

Weekend went mostly on caning Battlefield V. SP is frankly garbage, a generic forgettable bland point to point exercise whilst the MP gets stale fast. It's a refined BF1 which means it's still chasing to catch up with where it was at the end of last gen. Starved of content and has nothing new to bring to the table at all, the entire release is frankly just a glorified map pack and the line 'it'll be a great shooter when it's patched up and done' is indefensible at this point. DICE does this time and time again, people aren't paying for an Early Access title. The fundamental are there but the game is effectively daylight robbery, by the time it's where it should be we'll be passed next years releases.

Wrapped up Soul Calibur VI too, just feels too phoned in to grab you. Need to have a think what to start properly on next.