Phaseknox

Why isn’t this on PS4?

I started playing Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, and while I‘m not liking it quite as much as Ys: Memories of Celceta or Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana it’s still a decent third person action RPG with fun combat and traversal.

7 hours ago, best3444 said:

That's typical 2K for you. I was a die hard NBA 2K fan but got burnt so many times with rehashes year after year. 2K11 was it's peak then it never got any better. They are all about micro transactions and ripping people off.

That sounds similar to the Tiger Woods PGA Tour games, 09 is the best in the series and the games continued to get worse after it. It’s still the best golf video game that I’ve played, there hasn’t been a golf game as good as it since IMO. Perhaps EA Sports PGA Tour is, but I haven’t played it yet. PGA Tour 2K21 is the best golf game that I’ve played in a while, but unfortunately it’s kind of basic and barebones. I was hoping that PGA Tour 2K23 was going to be an improvement, but it’s actually worse IMO.

On 8/12/2023 at 1:19 PM, Biggie said:

EA’s PGA Tour is as close to what you described. You create yourself and then it plays like an RPG. You go thru the entire real life Golf calendar. In between you can do training sessions (think license tests in Gran Turismo) and complete sponsor challenges for companies like Nike, Puma,  New Balance, Titleist, Callaway, Taylor Made etc. Unlocking skill points and gear. It’s really fun. 

That sounds like a step in the right direction and better than PGA Tour 2K21/2K23, but still not the story and character driven golf RPG that I ultimately want. Speaking of PGA Tour 2K23, it’s a big disappointment IMO. It’s basically PGA Tour 2K21.5. The additions that it offers are minimal at best, and it plays worse than 2K21. In fact, I think that it’s actually worse overall. It’s basically the same exact game with almost everything recycled from 2K21, but with worse menus, character models and swing mechanics. The menus are cluttered, confusing and difficult to navigate, the character models are more realistic looking but uglier with less good hair options and the new curved swing bar to the left of the player is a lot harder to look at when swinging since it’s off to the left side of the player instead of below them. And the backswing moves so fast that it’s next to impossible to downswing without reaching full power so every swing is always at full power. Everything else including the animations, tournaments, commentary, courses, music and sound effects are all recycled from 2K21. They spent two years making the same game worse, bravo 2K games. 

I’ve been playing PGA Tour 2K21 and it’s a solid golf game, but a little basic. There’s no charm, depth, or pizazz to it. It’s pretty much the same standard golf video game that has been being made forever, but with improved play mechanics. Someone seriously needs to make a golf RPG at this point that has a story, characters and a real sense of progression beyond just basically playing as a generic avatar or real pro golfer doing tournaments and nothing else outside of that. I would like a video game version of something similar to the movie The Greatest Game Ever Played where you create a character, and follow their golf career from child to adult from amateur to pro to champion with story and character interaction throughout.

2 hours ago, best3444 said:

I didn't know you liked sports games.

I don’t like too many sports games, but I’ve always liked golf video games. The Tiger Woods games are some of my favorites. I’m playing PGA Tour 2K21 now, and I like it so I got PGA Tour 2K23. I want EA Sports PGA Tour as well, but it’s not on PS4 so I’m going to have to wait to get it when I get a PS5.

PGA Tour 2K23

14 hours ago, best3444 said:

I actually played all of the opening of Days Gone. It runs beautifully on PS5 and it still looks very solid. It has all the ingredients for a fantastic game but it just kinda burns out to a 7.5 type game.

7 hours ago, HardAct said:

Gets ULTRA repetitive and boring in less that 10 hours into it though. At the start if feels like a AAA / 9/10 game, but that fades way to quickly. Keeping ones mind engaged in these type games in the hardest part. Just a shame as it did have potential 'll give it that!  

I’m sorry that you guys didn’t like it very much, because I really liked it. It engaged me the entire time, it’s a 9/10 for me. 

Another Mass Effect playthrough

22 hours ago, stepee said:

I agree with Kena could have been fleshed out more. I also can see how it would be jarring with the switch, but honestly I thought it got better as it went so I was ok with it.

I’m glad that you liked the change in direction that it takes later in the game, but I preferred the more classic linear action platform light puzzle solving formula of the earlier part of the game. The second location feels like it’s trying to be more open world, and it seems out of place to me in this game which feels more like a throwback to the classics in the genre.
 

22 hours ago, stepee said:

I disagree with the hats i loved those lol

I’m not denying that they can be cute, but they’re the only collectible and things that you can buy in the game. I just don’t like them enough to be as big of a focus as they are. 

On 8/4/2023 at 6:55 AM, dualhunter said:

I found the combat annoying for bosses and challenges so I turned down the difficulty.

I agree about the difficulty, not every game needs to be a Soulslike. I hope that the Soulslike trend in gaming is coming to an end, because I’m tired of third person action adventure games and action RPGs that I would normally like being ruined by brutal difficulties without easier settings just so that they can claim to be Soulslike. I had to switch to the easiest setting in this game just for the difficulty to be more reasonable which is ridiculous, because a cartoonish and cute action adventure platformer like this inspired by Zelda shouldn’t be extremely difficult like a Soulslike IMO.
 

On 8/4/2023 at 6:55 AM, dualhunter said:

I don't think I found all the hats, I suspect some might be tied to a higher difficulty or something like that.

The hats could quite possibly be the worst collectibles that I’ve seen in a game, there’s a big focus on them for some reason and they’re completely pointless and useless as far as I’m concerned.

On 8/4/2023 at 6:55 AM, dualhunter said:

There's more focus on Kena at the end on the way to the mountain shrine.

That’s good to know, but I would have preferred there to be more of a focus on her and who she is before the end of the game.

On 8/4/2023 at 7:21 AM, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

Yeah it reminds me of a hero’s journey in some animated movies, except we don’t know who the hero is really, or where they came from, or why they’re on this journey. It’s like the opening of the movie was skipped. I don’t need it as Kena and her journey feels like what I’ve seen in movies, anime, or other games. But not having it can make you feel less attached to the character.

That type of storytelling doesn’t really work for this game IMO. The name of the game is Kena, and I wanted to get to know who she was before embarking on her adventure. I like to do that in every action adventure game and RPG that I play to feel more attached and connected to the character that I’m playing as, otherwise they feel more like an avatar that I’m controlling and less like an actual character.

I was really enjoying this game for a while when it took place in the gorgeous forest, and was primarily a linear action platformer with light puzzle solving. But later you go to a different big wide open area that focuses more on puzzles, and I started to lose interest because it almost felt like a different game and I wasn’t finding it as appealing.

Also, there’s not enough focus on Kena herself. Her name is the title of the game, yet she feels like she takes a backseat in it. She doesn’t talk much, and when she does it’s in a deep whisper that doesn’t really match her appearance. I don’t feel that the voice actress that they chose for her was the right fit, and she seems kind of amateurish with her delivery too.

Unfortunately, the game didn’t appeal to me quite as much as I was expecting it to. It kind of did for a while, but when it somewhat switched gears I wasn’t finding it to be as fun. I plan on playing it again in the future because I liked a lot about it, but I’m going to have to be more in the mood for the section of the game that I didn’t really like when I originally played it.

On 8/2/2023 at 7:38 PM, Fizzzzle said:

I do really like this era of Miley Cyrus.

I like her previous album (Plastic Hearts) as well, it’s rock with pop sensibilities. But I think that I like her newest album (Endless Summer Vacation) even more, it has a somewhat catchy upbeat electro pop sound that I dig.
 

On 8/2/2023 at 7:38 PM, Fizzzzle said:

Demi Lovato's last album also fucking slaps.

I don’t think that I’ve ever listened to anything by her before, but I skimmed her newest album (Holy Fvck) on YouTube and liked it especially the catchy energetic rock/pop crossover songs that I heard.

On 8/2/2023 at 7:49 PM, Fizzzzle said:

Also for the rock world guys like John Feldman and Joey Sturgis. Those motherfuckers know what they're doing.

 

Actually it's kind of wild how much ska punk had an impact on music. Between John Feldman (singer of Goldfinger), Vinny Fiorello (drummer of Less than Jake) and Gwen Stefani, they shaped a shit load of modern music, even if their initial bands had limited impact. Feldman is probably the most prolific rock music producer of our lifetime. Vinny started Fueled by Ramen and found Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and Panic at the Disco, among others. Gwen Stefani is... Gwen Stefani. They all started from ska. Which makes sense because ska-punk was basically pop punk before it was cool.

I’m not too familiar with the people that you mentioned other than Gwen Stefani because I was never really into ska-punk or pop-punk because they were more popular with a slightly younger generation than mine. I grew up in the 80s, and was into punk bands like Adolescents, Agent Orange, Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, D.I., Doggy Style, GBH, Misfits, Pennywise, Social Distortion, Suicidal Tendencies, T.S.O.L., The Vandals, etc. In the 90s I got into industrial music like Argyle Park, Chemlab, Circle of Dust, Die Krupps, Filter, Front Line Assembly, Front 242, Gravity Kills, KMFDM, Leather Strip, Machines of Loving Grace, Mentallo and the Fixer, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Oomph!, Razed in Black, Sister Machine Gun, Skinny Puppy, Stabbing Westward, etc.

Industrial and its subgenres were what I was into the most during my 20s and 30s. I started to get more into rock and metal especially symphonic metal in my 40s, and those are the genres that I’m still into the most now. But on occasion I’ll hear some more commercial and popular music like the new Miley Cyrus for example that appeals to me, I usually gravitate to the catchy and upbeat stuff with electronics/synths in the mix and female vocals.

By the way, check out Maggie Lindemann and Mothica if you’re not familiar with them because you might like them. Also, if you like indie rock with female singers then you might want to check out Alice in Videoland, Chvrches, Florence + The Machine, The Joy Formidable, Metric, Tsunami Bomb and Wolf Alice which are some favorites of mine.

3 hours ago, Brian said:

This is my summer jam 

I really like this song, and her entire new album that it’s from TBH. I’m usually into darker and harder music overall such as rock, metal and industrial, but sometimes catchy pop music like this is just fun IMO.

I started playing Immortals: Fenyx Rising because I got in the mood for it, and I didn’t finish it the first time that I played it. It’s really fun, and my fem Fenyx is adorable.

18 hours ago, stepee said:

I thought it was fantastic and honestly I like it better than modern Zelda. I really thought a sequel would happen and this really fucking sucks.

I agree.

I just bought this on sale for $19.99 which is the right price for it IMO. It’s like a mix of Dark Souls, Dead Space and Mass Effect (without the RPG elements). It’s a fairly linear third person sci-fi horror shooter for the most part.

The environment graphics are really good, but the character models look a little hokey including the main protagonist who I think that they intentionally made fairly average and unattractive looking since western game devs are afraid of attractive women these days for some reason.

The game is rather standard for the genre, you make your way through directed and funneled levels shooting alien creatures. It seems like a game from the PS2/Xbox/PS3/Xbox 360 generations, it’s antiquated in a lot of ways but still fun.

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round
Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess
Scars Above
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

9 hours ago, unogueen said:

SF2 in the laundromat

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Yup that's it. Too many games right now, but I'm definitely going to snag it if I see it on sale.

It’s currently on sale for $29.99 at Amazon, but you might want to wait until it’s $19.99.

40 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Oh my bad, I thought it was for some reason.

Because it looks like a last gen game. 
 

40 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

That game you posted has definitely caught my attention though.

Do you mean Wanted: Dead? I totally dig it, but it’s hard and I’m not good at hard games.

17 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

@Phaseknox have you heard about this game?

 

 

I saw it and thought to myself, there's only ONE other guy who could see the unappreciated brilliance in this game  It even has a chick as aplayable character 

I haven’t heard about it, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. It totally looks like my kind of game. Unfortunately it’s not on PS4, but I’m definitely buying it when I get a PS5 Pro.
 

15 hours ago, atom631 said:

Valiant Hearts - Ive always wanted to play this game and so far its pretty great. The music is amazing and I love the story.

This has been in my backlog forever, I really need to play it.

15 hours ago, atom631 said:

The Ascent - installed in on gamepass - really cool cyberpunk game.

I agree that it’s really cool, I need to go back to it because I remember another game sidetracked me at the time that I was playing it. But I was definitely enjoying it, and want to finish it.

3 hours ago, DPCyric said:

@Phaseknox @BloodyHell

I removed Lost Odyssey from my list, but there’s still a few games left on it. 

I started playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, and I’ve been enjoying it so far.

12 hours ago, stepee said:

I almost got it at the $30 sale price but then I read about the difficulty, that is unfortunate

After dying repeatedly it asked me if I wanted to change the difficulty to Neko-Chan which I thought was easy so I did, but it’s not any easier you’re just given two extra health injectors. The downside to this is that your character wears silly cat ears, and two extra health injectors don’t really make the game any easier.