R(ob)’s Comments (group member since Jun 21, 2021)

R(ob)’s comments from the The Video Game Forum group.

I'm about two-thirds of my way through The Entropy Centre. Good Portal 2 style environmental puzzle game. Some of the puzzles have been slightly head scratching but nothing too bad so far. And they really mix up the mechanics of the puzzles so they can be really expansive large rooms with a lot of verticality. The only thing I don't like is about half-way through the game they intoduce bots that want to kill you - not for every puzzle, only a few so far - and they literally lock on and make a bee-line for you and once you've killed them more spawn in their place - all while trying to solve a puzzle. Takes it from a chill puzzle game to slightly annoying at times.

Actually The Entropy Centre looks very plattable and I did consider it but no I'm not getting drawn in again :-). There are I think 76 collectables and if I don't find them naturally through enjoying the game even if I'm one trophy off the plat I'm not playing through the entire game again for a collectable.

After the amount of effort I put into Alan Wake 2 and Robocop plats I'm not sure I can accept an auto-pop plat ;-)

Started The Entropy Centre. Very Portal 2 like in the sense of traversing through a abandoned high tech facility with an AI talking to you and making jokes. You travel through abandoned longer sections - much like Portal 2 - and then there are puzzles rooms to solve (dotted around). Only completed the first two chapters but you have a gun a bit like Portal 2 except it reverses time and entropy (rebuilding destroyed structures) and moving blocks around with the gun's time reversing abilties. So far so good. Very chilled and atmospheric and the puzzles are not too head scratching so far - early days though. Definitely need a chilled out game after Evil West.

The dodge at the last second trophy took me probably over half the game to get. It made no sense whatsoever. Apparently it is easier to get on the wolves. In the end I got it but I don't know what I did differently to get it - it was through sheer persistence and not by knowing what to do to actually trigger it.

Over the weekend I completed Evil West. As I guessed the last four missions of the game continue to ramp up the intensity and in some areas I would clear an area of mini-bosses, talk to someone in a building, go back outside in the same area and another horde of mini-bosses to deal with. Honestly the last four missions of the game I was literally shaking afterwards due to the stress. The final two main boss battles were well designed though and intense. In the end it really is a good game but I just think it's a bit OTT for me on the intensity of the arena style battles. Probably 7/10 on the r-score-o-meter for my enjoyment but actually it's a good game so for someone who actually likes constant boss battles it could be even 8-9/10 (especially for a AA game, it's only low budget).

Next I think it will be The Entropy Centre probably.

Got to say HD2 does look very good. I've been watching Jack Frags play it and it does look like they've nailed it. Still doubt I'd get it as it looks like a game best played with mates and my regular gaming mates don't experiment nowadays with new games. Back in the day it was Battlefield and now it's Warframe. We did play Left4Dead and some others but it was very short lived and I'm not even going to bother trying to persuade them to get HD2.

Yea all it would take is one sticky boss and I think I'll snap and call it a day. I've even knocked it down to story difficulty but even that is a bit of a challenge but seemingly manageable. I refuse to be stressed out gaming :-). My next game will be a lot more chill - The Entropy Centre is defo my next game.

Morning all. Managed a bit more gaming over the weekend. Progressed with Evil West and only have four missions to go. It's a really good game but I'm not sure it's for me. I love the art style and the levels are really atmospheric with some amazing vistas. The combat is pretty good and satisfying but I'm really starting to tire of the constant mini-boss and boss fights. I mean the earlier bosses in the game become mini-bosses later on and then you get more of them to fight at the same time. I'm getting through them but sometimes it feels a real chore and I can only play a couple of missions before I need to take a break because it feels so intense. The main boss fights are getting bigger in scale and to be fair are pretty good and I haven't died in one yet but I'm often close to dying. I just hope I can see out the game because if it gets any more intense the controller could take flight.

Equinox80 wrote: "Does any believe the current rumours that Xbox are leaving the hardware market and releasing their games on PlayStation?

I usually ignore stuff like this but there seems to be some substance to it..."

We'll have to wait and see. I believe they are making an announcement later this week. From what I've heard on Digital Foundry they are not leaving the console market - said Rich confirmed from one of his sources. Nobody knows at the mo to what the extent the games will be made cross-platform, whether it will be a subset only, all of them and whether any cross-plats will be timed. Makes sense to me from a business perspective - in terms of revenue - but I do wonder if the only differentiating factor for the console hardware will be games pass on xbox and full price per game on PS5. We'll see.

Morning all. Not much gaming at the weekend for me. I played a couple of hours of Evil West probably just under half-way through. It's a fun game but gotta say I'm getting tired of the constant boss fights. A couple of new bosses were introduced and I beat them and then a mission or so later I fight the same bosses again and they can be quite grindy. I mean the boss fights aren't bad but a boss fight for my own personal enjoyment needs to be infrequent, somewhat spectacular (God Of War or Gears for example) and define an important aspect of the story. These boss fights are there for the sake of it - by no means bad, I'm just getting a little tired of them and repeating the same bosses.

Thanks Equinox. I’m in double digit plats now ;-).

I’ve no plans to plat any other games except maybe Terminator Resistance as it’s supposed to be an easy one. I’m leaving Terminator until after Evil West and some other games I’ve bought. Plat chasing isn’t for me really.

I’ve watched a few videos on Hell Divers. Looks ok but I wouldn’t buy it unless it really got glowing reviews. It’s one of those games I’d happily play on games pass ps plus but doesn’t look like it would keep my interest for long.

Completed Alan Wake 2. Got the platinum trophy.

I enjoyed AW2. Remedy really are one of the very best game devs, they really have a love for crafting all aspects of a game to be best in class. I can see why this game got 9-10/10 and game of the year for so many. That being said some of it wasn’t my thing but that doesn’t mean it was poorly done. I really didn’t like the investigation board with the cases. It took up too much time, was over bloated with hundreds and hundreds of facts and clues. Just tell me the story as I’m playing the game passively is all I want. I actually preferred Saga’s levels compared to Alan’s as they were just more immersive. The reality changes with the light thing really got annoying for me in the Alan missions. Both Alan’s and Saga’s missions had amazing and atmospheric environments that I loved exploring. Combat was good much like AW1. And I liked that it was semi open world for the most part. So in terms of the quality of the game it’s a 10 but for my own personal enjoyment factor probably an 8. Not disappointed in the game at all and I really enjoyed it but I would have enjoyed it more if the things I didn’t like were tweaked or not in the game at all.

And now I’ve moved onto Evil West. Early days but seems like a fun throwaway game.

It does indeed appear to allow you to go back to chapters already completed. That's a relief just in case I do (already have) missed something.

DeckardCain's Sandals wrote: "I'll have to do a partial NG+ run on Alan Wake 2 at some point as I'd missed a missable trophy, but yeah trophy wise the majority you get just though normal play. Enjoyed it enough that I'll not mi..."

I almost missed a lunch box but I could see I was missing it in the mind room so went back to get it albeit at the expense of 15-20 mins of effort. Apparently I only have a couple of weapons and several videos to get. It's the videos that concern me. I hope I didn't miss any previously - I think I have all the saga related videos (bar one in the very final mission) but the Alan videos I still have several to get and some are apparently highly missable.

Morning all. Still plugging away on Alan Wake 2. I think I'm through all of Saga's missions (bar end of game) and just have the remaining Alan missions to do - so think overall I'm 2/3rds of the way through the game. Still enjoying it but defo some aspects I don't like. And why I'm going for the platinum trophy I don't know but it looks on the cards assuming I don't miss anything in the final third in the Alan missions.

Equinox80 wrote: "** APT: Requiem and Innocence Spoilers **

The Benny Hill moments for me were mainly where you fight waves of enemies where Arnaud is about to be hanged, before you rescue him.

Then later when Arn..."

***** SPOILERS *****
Actually yes I do remember those moments now. Amazing how it comes flooding back to me after a little reminder. I do remember failing the ship combat a few times albeit didn't find it too frustrating - but yea I'll give you that one as it was defo difficult to keep on top of fending them off before it got to the point of game over. The beach combat section I think I did it first time and didn't have too much of an issue with it. I take your point though those sections didn't shine in terms of great combat. They should have stuck to stealth and combat when stealth goes wrong. Still, nothing compares to the sections in the first game which were so frustrating I nearly gave up - the one part way through where you had to kill enemies coming in from various doors/entrances and the final boss battle. I'm remembering more about the second game now and I did like the ship as a hub and some of the maps were superb in terms of atmosphere.

Equinox80 wrote: "I finished A Plague Tale: Requiem last night.

Having reached the end I stick by my comment that the first is the better game. The ending of the second certainly had more impact though.

When you'r..."

It's a long time since I played Requiem but I didn't have any real complaints. I liked how it didn't have any difficulty spikes like the first which were really out of place with the rest of the game - really appreciated an ending that was impactful but not a frustration like the first game. And I appreciated what they did with the more open areas for exploration. Perhaps the only complaint from me would be these open areas weren't the greatest game play wise - I remember not knowing what to do next on occasion. And perhaps my memory isn't the greatest but Requiem seemed more polished especially in the variety of environments and the graphics. I think I only really remember one benny hill section going through a swamp I think it was at night and enemy chasing me, and having to run around trying to take them out - but other than that seemed mostly OK to me but like I say my memory isn't the greatest.

I've been ill with a cold/covid for about a week now but I did get a few hours in on Alan Wake 2 at the weekend. Got to my second boss fight where I had to fight the two brothers. Again I found it frustrating as reloading any weapons in this game is so slow I just end up getting battered and frustrated. Still, I loved the new area of caravan trailers and the theme park - best area yet. Think I'm about half way through the game now. Really enjoying the game but it's not without its flaws.

Phil, psn: p4tiny wrote: "I am enjoying AC Mirage for what it is - a fairly old-skool feeling AC game, kinda feels like playing a modern looking and less clunky AC 2 all over again (or maybe closer to AC Revelations?) but I..."

Yes the dodge is pretty awful in AC Mirage. It was the same for me. I enjoyed the game though. I didn't rate Valhalla at all.

Equinox80 wrote: ""I believe you can transfer the save from the ps4 version so any common trophies auto pop."

I can confirm this is true. On that note...

Ping - TLOU 2 Remaster"

You wouldn’t catch Danger Deckard doing that. He’s pure to the cause.