Currently Playing in 2014....

I would at least give Ni No Kuni a try. I am presuming you picked it up when it was a few quid in a sale?

It's at the very least, visually quite interesting and the opening parts are probably the strongest. It doesn't have random battles and the battle system/mechanics are a little different from the usual RPGs in the sense that there's a whiff of Pokemon about it.

It's still a JRPG and fairly traditional after the first 5-10 hours, so you may hate it, but I would at least give it a try. Most people fell in love with the game's charming opening (and visuals) and then gradually as they scratched the surface they realised it was quite similar to other Level 5 JRPGs.

[iup=3593183]Cal[/iup] wrote:F1 2014 (PC).

Loving it. Looks great, runs like a very smooth thing from Smoothville maxed out and somehow feels more refined, more comfortable than previous iterations (and I have '10, '12 and '13). Enjoying going through the whole rigmarole of Practice and Qualifying this time around. Good fun. I finally start my first race in Australia tomorrow and after two qualifying sessions (a third still to go) I'm in Pole (and I'm not even racing with all the assists on!).

Awesome game, I really enjoyed it and it must look epic on your PC. I quite liked the challange mode included in this edition.

One thing that did annoy me was tyre degradation, it was huge and after a few laps it was so difficult to control the car, to the point that I really struggled to keep up/stay ahead.

[iup=3593259]Bertie[/iup] wrote:

[iup=3593183]Cal[/iup] wrote:F1 2014 (PC).

Loving it. Looks great, runs like a very smooth thing from Smoothville maxed out and somehow feels more refined, more comfortable than previous iterations (and I have '10, '12 and '13). Enjoying going through the whole rigmarole of Practice and Qualifying this time around. Good fun. I finally start my first race in Australia tomorrow and after two qualifying sessions (a third still to go) I'm in Pole (and I'm not even racing with all the assists on!).

Awesome game, I really enjoyed it and it must look epic on your PC. I quite liked the challange mode included in this edition.

One thing that did annoy me was tyre degradation, it was huge and after a few laps it was so difficult to control the car, to the point that I really struggled to keep up/stay ahead.

I noticed tyre degradation particularly in Practice and Qualifying. Also, running out fuel.

Anyway, after completing Q3 this morning, I ended up with 2nd place on the grid for the Australian GP. The actual race was 15 laps in perfect weather. I maintained 2nd place to Hamilton all the way (just couldn't catch him) until Rosberg, who had been tailing me the entire race, eventually used his DRS to overtake on one of the final straits, pushing me down to 3rd for the finish. Still, no crashes, one pit-in and a podium finish. Not bad, I guess. My Championship is on.

BTW, I like the new pit animations. About time - but I still think they could have gone even further, tbh. And what's up with the rocket-propelled garage exits into the pit lane..?

Metroid Prime

It's growing on me. The scanning getting's less annoying, although I still wish you could scan/shoot without having to constantly change visors or whatever. The controls are a bit crap as well, having been used to dual analogue control, but you kind of adjust to the crap factor. I like the exploration side of it, but I can see it getting pretty confusing in terms of backtracking and working out where to go...

[iup=3593419]Lotus[/iup] wrote:Metroid Prime

It's growing on me. The scanning getting's less annoying, although I still wish you could scan/shoot without having to constantly change visors or whatever. The controls are a bit crap as well, having been used to dual analogue control, but you kind of adjust to the crap factor. I like the exploration side of it, but I can see it getting pretty confusing in terms of backtracking and working out where to go...

The controls are fine, the target-lock feature makes up for the lack of a second analogue stick, in fact certain enemies/bosses would be much harder to fight with standard FPS controls.

I was just beginning to have difficulty using a controller when it came out and I was able to play it purely due to the simpler control scheme.

Tomb Raider Definitive Edition on PS4. About a quarter of the way through this and really enjoying it.

I find it amusing that things have come full circle in a sense since some might argue Uncharted started out as a Tomb Raider knock off now the latest Tomb Raider is an Uncharted knock off

I posted this in the Black Flag thread about my replay of Assassin's Creed II.

Bertie wrote:

[iup=3593249]Parksey[/iup] wrote:I am just about to replay AC2. I wonder if it still holds up today or whether I have franchise burnout, which has started to set it at times.

As someone who played AC2 through a few times, years back, I'd be really interested to see your thoughts on it now (I'd like to, but just don't have the time to tepjY it). As I said earlier AC4 is probably the best game technically, but that's because of the iterations to date and hardware advances.

I played the first sequence in ACII yesterday.

First things first, it's really evident how far the game engine has come on. It definitely looks five years old and a step back from ACIII and IV.

It isn't a bad looking game by any means, but the character models look a bit rough, buildings look less detailed from a distance/up high and its vistas are just a little less awe-inspiring. Climbing around Florence to get a good view is still quite atmospheric though.

I do like the opening though. As mentioned above, I didn't mind AC3's slow-burning intro (calling it slow is perhaps putting it mildly), but AC2 sets the scene much quicker and, arguably, more effectively. Ezio has already put Connor to shame.

Maybe it is because this is the first time I have played an Assassin's Creed game on the PS3 controller, but the controls definitely seem worse. Fights were very confusing, as is the whole "this button moves you head/legs/sword arm" marionette system they jettisoned not long after. Combat is still a bit shonky in AC in general, but 2 is definitely closer to the system used in the original to what we have now. And combat was by very good in the original at all.

Free running is a lot more painless and simple now I feel. Again, it could just be the controller and me getting used to it, but I wasn't as smooth or as graceful scaling buildings, and it was a bit more plodding going vertical.

Still, I am only one sequence in and still getting used to it. The good points are that if I remember rightly, the game pretty much kicks on now (I have my assassin's robes already), whereas the later games sort of collapse under all the stuff they still need to introduce.

I might play Brotherhood and AC3 after this.

I'm playing DriveClub online...........no wait, I'm offline...........er I'm online again.........nope I'm offline.
Move along. Nothing to see here

Been playing Borderlands Pre Sequel quite a lot. I think I'll boot up Borderlands 2 when I've finished my first playthrough as I've not even done any of DLC packs in BL2 (and I got them all ). But yeah, enjoying it loads so far

I should start Lego Marvel on 360 soon too.

Nearing the end of God of War 2 and have decided to hold off playing Driveclub until the online issues are sorted - probably next year at this rate!

GOW 2 is fantastic - brilliant story and the best, most varied upgrades in the whole series although GOW 3 feels more epic in scale. Will be sad to finish this as I have completed every other 3D GOW title and despite there being little changes in gameplay throughout the series, it is seriously addictive and fun to play. Ascension was probably the worst for me, but even that was decent.

[iup=3593252]chalkitdown[/iup] wrote:I've downloaded and played everything that has interested me. Some I've stuck with, others have gotten deleted sharpish, but I usually give everything a fair go. I actually still have Ni No Kuni and Crisis 3 on my machine but I have no interest in either of them, particularly the former. No idea why I bought it, I hate Jrpgs

At least give Ni No Kuni a bit of a bash before starting Crysis 3 (which, btw, had such a noticeably low fps that I gave up on it almost straight away).

Still Tomb Raider. I thought I had lost my save file as it corrupted and wouldn't load but thankfully it had backed up to cloud storage last night so I was okay. At 75% through the game I had no intention of starting over. After Googling this problem it's apparently very common in the PS4 and XBONE versions. Little more play testing needed methinks.

Just started Shadow of Mordor and have today received my early backer Dreamfall: Chapters Kickstarter Steam Key. Great time to be alive.

Mockmaster wrote:...Great time to be alive.

Haha! That is the exact pose I am striking right now.

Dirt 3

Not enjoying this gymkhana challenge. It's like they played dark souls &thought it was a good idea to make into a racing game.
To get a platinum medalI have to hit all the targets & get 200,000 points in about a minute & a bit.
I'll be lucky to hit 150,000. At a push I bet I could hit 175,000.
I don't understand you game devs & your 2 hArCoReZ4U dUuUuUudEEe!11!1!!1!111! Attitude.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze

What a hateful banana split of a game. I can only assume the whole thing is a metaphor for the holocaust, or that it was designed by rapists.

9/10 so far

Borderlands Pre Sequel though I think I'll give it a break until DLC comes out, of course I'll be up for co-op if anyone asks but for solo I've pretty much done everything. Just one achievement left but I need other three players to be able to earn it. Good thing it's easy, just getting people to do it with me on other hand... Also playing through Tomb Raider again this time on 360, yup mainly for achievements (singleplayer! Multiplayer can strawberry float off) but I love the game so I don't really mind playing through it again. I'll eventually pick up Xbox One version as well (...At £10 or less by next year or two that is) About few hours to go.

Super Mario 3D World - Decent, but nothing groundbreaking in my eyes. Nintendo need to bring out a proper sequel to Super Mario 64
MK8 - Pretty decent game, but haven't given it enough time yet
Far Cry 3 PS3 - That stupid Hornets Nest mission is IMPOSSIBLE and I give up on this crap. I'm playing on Easy too!
Driveclub - Brilliant game, but too short and the online is messed up. Not sure I have the motivation to want to continue once the online is sorted tbh.

Rainbow Moon - Tried to get into it but tactical RPGs just ain't my thing. Oh well.