What game are you currently playing?

[Glenn]

Following on from my previous post, I've just finished the main storyline of Vanquish, on PlayStation3.

Impressive. Most impressive.

I struggle to find fault with anything, really. Even the plot (which, let's be honest, has been written in a truckload of action conspiracy television shows, films and videogames for nearly a decade: they just added the word "recession" instead of "oil reserves" to refresh it slightly) managed to surprise me in places towards the end. It certainly added a little more spice to the final boss battle encounters, the obvious of which I'd been expecting since reading the manual during the HDD install.

And then, in a masterstroke, the end credits kick in with a wonderful minigame, reminding you all that the core gameplay mechanic is designed around making shooters fun again (a welcome two fingers up at the slew of "gritty" big budget releases). For all the blood, bullets and bastards in the five hours it took me to complete the storyline, it doesn't matter. The script is there to staple together the action sequences, not the other way around, and it really is refreshing to find a major release taking this approach again after so, so many years of "But what does your videogame mean? What's the message of the storyline? What comment is it making on society?" Ultimately, this is about indulging in some full-fat, high-sugar, luxury gameplay.

Vanquish, on that basis, is an utter triumph. It wasn't too short (as I'd heard some reviews complain). Despite being perhaps the greatest ever third-person shooter, it still remains a third-person shooter and there are only so many waves of so many robots that an individual can blast to smithereens before it becomes a broken record. The environments were kept fresh. The weapons were nicely balanced, providing plenty of variety in how to tackle an objective, and the upgrade system wasn't too complex, sidestepping an endless fiddle in an endless menu to make your bullets pack a bigger punch. And okay, nearly all of the enemies were recycled at some point or another, but they were diverse enough and spectacularly designed. My favourite had to be the little red ball, pulling together lumps of discarded comrades to create a host of frightening shapes and attacks. Pretty spectacular, too.

But it was the perfect length. It visited everywhere in that gigantic space station you'd want it to before coming to an end, and accelerated towards a conclusion just as a feeling of "I wonder how many more Russian robots I have to scrap?" started to creep in.

Ultimately it left me craving news of a sequel. Perhaps it would detract something from the fresh feeling of the original, but the plot left a strand deliberately untied. Not only that, but the concept of the ARS means new, exciting abilities could be developed in time for Sam Gideon's second assignment, and I'm eager to see what innovative creations can be placed alongside the fantastic boosting and bullet-time combination. In the meantime, several replays are demanded. Not just because of undiscovered trophies like in every other videogame nowadays.

But rather just to have some good, old-fashioned fun.

To remember what gaming is all about.

[ChikaBoing]

Ape Escape 3 came in the mail some time ago, so I played a little of that while I'm waiting for AE2 to arrive today.

[Jon the VGPR]

Just played GT5 today. I'm wondering when PD is gonna release a DLC or something... it's been months of waiting and no sign of a possible DLC.

[Tatsumaki]

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations. Pursuing the Truth music is amazing here

[ovarloard]

So now that I'm done with training/prepping/practicing for the Pokemon VGCs, I can finally dedicate my time to other games. I've begun Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and it hasn't disappointed so far, although it's really just a placeholder until I can figure out what to do about 999.

Yeah. that game. 9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors, or whatever it's called. I finally finished it this week, and of course, got a bad ending. I really, really don't want to replay it all over again unless the better endings are tremendously worth it (and they better be, because I might not get them the second or the third time through... and this is an extremely slow-paced game.)

So my question is, are the endings worth it?

or should I just look them up on youtube or something

[Dobkeratops]

Ultimately it left me craving news of a sequel. Perhaps it would detract something from the fresh feeling of the original, but the plot left a strand deliberately untied. Not only that, but the concept of the ARS means new, exciting abilities could be developed in time for Sam Gideon's second assignment, and I'm eager to see what innovative creations can be placed alongside the fantastic boosting and bullet-time combination. In the meantime, several replays are demanded. Not just because of undiscovered trophies like in every other videogame nowadays.

Funny, because I've been replaying Vanquish these days too. Do check out the tactical challenges, they're going to test all the skills you accumulated during the campaign and make you realize you don't know shit. Jesus fucking christ.

...I'm never gonna beat those challenges, aren't I?

[Glenn]

Funny, because I've been replaying Vanquish these days too. Do check out the tactical challenges, they're going to test all the skills you accumulated during the campaign and make you realize you don't know shit. Jesus fucking christ.

...I'm never gonna beat those challenges, aren't I?

Thank you for the suggestion... well, I think.

I attempted the first challenge earlier and died. A lot. So much so that I did something I rarely do and quit without completing my objective. All five of the challenges remain untouched, without best times logged beside them. And they may do for a while yet.

Still, I adore that they exist. Taunting me with their superiority.

Damn them.

[Voyder]

Pokemon Black Version - I've had all the main story stuff beaten for forever, just shiny hunting/comleting the Dex now.

Pokemon SoulSilver Version - Just to nuzlocke when I'm really bored

Daxter - Playing this is kind of a chore but I want to beat all the Jak and Daxter games. Only this and Lost Frontier to go.

Megaman Star Force 3: Black Ace - Trying to 100 percent this.

Kamen Rider Climax Heroes OOO - ...shut up.

Looking to pick up Kingdom Hearts RE:coded soon as well. Also can't wait for inFamous 2 + all those great looking 3DS titles coming shortly.

[MizukiMoon]

Rayman on PS1. Been playing it for the majority of the day. This, IMO, is among one of the best games ever made- I love it! ♥

[Blue Blood]

Rayman on PS1. Been playing it for the majority of the day. This, IMO, is among one of the best games ever made- I love it! ♥

[Blue Wisp]

Well, I'm finishing my Ghost Recon Wii save.

I've never enjoyed a game like that :3

[Sean]

I just spent this weekend finishing up Ape Escape 2, as well as work on completing AE3 entirely.

AE2 is pretty satisfactory, but it doesn't do much of anything better than the original does. The three new gadgets are useless and impractical outside of area-specific puzzles, which the AE1 gadgets didn't suffer from. The soundtrack isn't any good as I mentioned before. Otherwise, not a whole lot to say or complain about, since it's pretty much identical to the original in formula. I spent most of my time unlocking all of the bonus material, anyway. I'll save Spike for a future playthrough.

And then I started a new file in the third game yesterday. First thing I noticed when I started playing the game before I got AE2 was that the framerate is abysmal. The game tries to keep up 60FPS but rarely will it ever break 20 in the levels. I was thinking it was just the first level, but it persists throughout the entire game. The only times it actually maintains 60 are in the hub or the training rooms. AE2, which also ran at 60FPS, suffered from minimal lag in comparison, so I don't know what happened!

The game pretty much revolves around the transformations. Not just through use of area-specific puzzles, which is a given, but also through how utterly overwhelming the apes and enemies are in this game. Frequently they will gang up on you and prove to be borderline impossible to overcome without using one of the many overpowered transformations to get the job done quickly. Trying to simply resort to your trusty stun club and monkey net just eats up time and health. Of all the Ape Escape trilogy, this is the only one I would honestly call frustrating. The transformations may make things easier, but that's often because the game just makes it far too difficult to play in vanilla mode compared to previous entries. Mercifully, the game allows you to buy extra lives in the shop, and coins are simple to accumulate.

Still a good game, but it's a step down from AE2. Well... it would be, but I think Soichi Terada's return as BGM composer sets it roughly equal in quality. The music is great, and I love the man.

[Silencer226]

Currently playing Wipeout HD, and Dead Nation... Though I do need to get back into Xenosaga II, as mentioned before, I kind of dislike this game and if I didn't have to play it to get to understand what's going on in the superior sequel I would skip it.

[Covskin]

So, I was making pretty decent progress on Okamiden

Just buried Sugawara

when the PS Store came back up, and I noticed Burnout Paradise was free on PSN+.

So yeah, I've been trying to blitz Burnout. Never owned a Burnout game before, so I'm still adjusting to it a bit - I'm terrible at the races because I can't seem to change roads without hitting something. I've got the Takedowns nailed down to a fine art though.

As I was waitinf for that to download, I also nearly completed Quest For Booty in one sitting, so I put that on hold just to make it last a little longer.

[Scott]

My friend gave me the DLC disc for Fallout 3 on Saturday but we were having a drink sesh so I made a start on it yesterday!

Today, I just got every achievement in the game, so I'm done

[Sean]

Just finished Ape Escape 3 entirely.

That was the worst final boss ever.

Now, to work on getting all gold medals in both this and AE2. I might as well go the extra mile to get everything, and I'm still in the mood to play these games despite my aggressive romp.

[Robogaman]

Traded some Wii and Gamecube games I still had for some reason, for a couple Xbox 1 games. I was able to get Psychonauts and Morrowind for less than $20. Also got Shenmue 2, FREE!

So now you know what I'll be playing this week.

[Nix]

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has been eating away at my precious time. For the most part.

I plan on doing an Insanity run on Mass Effect 2, because I have a new found love for playing games on their highest difficulty thanks to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

[Cobalt_Bolt]

Just got Portal 2 and I have gotten up to chapter 5 and I am blown away by the game overall. Everything from the dialogue to the levels and Easter Eggs just clicks together.

[Jon the VGPR]

Playing Super Stardust HD and earned four trophies in the game.

[Scott]

Been playing through Fallout New Vegas now, and most of it gives me a headache

I mean, half the enemies they've added into this one are brutal even on very easy difficulty, and at level 15/16 i still get my ass handed to me by a golden gecko and it also doesn't help that stimpacks cost 3 times more than they did in Fallout 3, so it's hard to get a hold of some ):

Got through doing the Caesur faction story today though

[montrey]

I playing currently 'Syphon Filter 1' on my PS1.

I've completed the game 2x (Middle-Mode), now I begin to play it on 'Hard Mode'.

[Sean]

Taking turns between Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Shadow of the Colossus.

It seems like I prefer playing the first game over D2 now. It's been years since I last touched a NIS game, but I was able to get back into D1 really easily. I'm just going through the Item World and getting as many Super Robo Suits as I can for some of my favored characters. D2 has a lot of neat features, but they're extremely frustrating to take advantage of. D1's simplicity (at least compared to later games) really draws me in these days, as someone who really has no patience to play through a NIS game hardcore anymore.

As for SotC, I defeated the fourth colossus. It's a very cool game and I love the contrast between it and ICO.

[Cobalt_Bolt]

Back to NFS Shift 2 for the PC and the patch that came out for it reduced the control lag to non-existent levels though the collision detection still needs work. Hopefully there will be a second patch for it that or it will be shelved. Just a few more days until the US release of Duke Nukem Forever and I'll be kicking ass and chewing bubble gum.

[-Mark-]

I'm currently playing through Link's Awakening on the 3DS Virtual Console. I've also got Super Mario Land and DSiWare Rayman, although they're on the backburner for a bit. Link's Awakening takes priority for me due to the blatant nostalgia reasons of it being my first ever Zelda game (and thus one of my favourites).