What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Mustang]

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Ghost of Tsushima
I LOVE THIS GAME despite giving up on it once before. I love stealth when you let me play stealth the way I want to. I hate it when I'm told not to kill anyone or raise an alarm. To me, that takes the fun out of it. I don't like just sneaking around with access to the equipment that I have and can't even use it. Anyway, I'm going to do all of the stealth missions up until I get the grappling hook. After that, hopefully I won't run into anymore of those missions.

As far as ToCS4 goes. I had enough, although I will come back to it some day. I had to free up some space (these 500GB PS4's are garbage).

I have GranBlue Fantasy Versus on the way. I don't know how he feels about them, but I want to get my brother-in-law into some anime fighters.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've been playing Super Metroid for the first time. Another one of those classics that it took me a couple of decades to get around to, but it's just as fresh and great to play to this day. At this point I defeated Draygon, the main boss of Maridia and am making my way back to Ridley. Though, first I'm going to scour a few previously inaccessible areas for more upgrades/power-ups.

[Mustang]

Taking a little break from Ghost of Tsushima for a little bit. Went back to playing Persona 5 Royal. It might be the spur of the moment but I think I like the Trails series over Persona. Persona looks better than Trails but in Trails I can customize all of or majority of the characters. Not to mention I like all of the characters in Trails while in Persona 5, two characters nearly ruin the game for me. "Realism" or how relatable a character is never don't matter to me in this instance.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

After owning it for nearly a year, now, I've finally started playing Metroid Prime (GC version since Trilogy for the Wii is ludicrously overpriced by third-party vendors). Much like RE4, the control scheme took some getting used to since this was before genre controls for shooters were standardized like they are today. That said, the controls work for the type of game that this is once you learn to just rely on lock-on shooting most of the time.

The game is pretty much Super Metroid's formula applied to a first person perspective, and yeah, that's enough for it to live up to the hype. I'm enjoying the exploration and atmosphere of the game, as well as the soundtrack. So far I only really have two minor complaints. One is that if you fall into acid or lava, it is a pain in the ass to get out to the point where I usually opt to just quit and restart if I am not close enough to a reachable platform. The other is with the first major boss fight where you fight the plant creature in Chozo Ruins. Every time you damage it you get a drop of missile refills along with some health. The problem is that they disappear from the screen much quicker than normal so if you don't grab them right away you lose that refill. It doesn't help that it tends to use an attack to block off your path for a few seconds as well. The health I don't really need as much since I already had three energy tanks when taking on the boss, but the missile refills were definitely something that made the fight so much more tolerable since it takes too long to shoot out the lights with your normal blaster. It's a real pain in the ass to fight this boss if you're out of missiles, and this early in the game it's really easy to run out. Just seemed like a weird design choice to me. Either way I still managed to defeat the boss, and I also gained access to the Magmoor Caverns and Phendrana Drifts. The exploration really opens up after the Chozo Ruins.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Still playing Metroid Prime, though not much to update until I beat it. I think it's safe to say that I really like it, though.

I did manage to beat the NES Metroid in my spare time with the use of a walkthrough and limited save states in key areas (so as to at least preserve some level of challenge). The walkthrough, for obvious reasons, was necessary if I actually wanted to beat this game without spending days on end trying to navigate the map through old-school Nintendo's cryptic bullshit (much like Zelda on the NES). The save states were a necessarily evil because fuck it if I was going to utilize that obnoxious password system. I would've gone without save states if the game had a built-in save functionality like Zelda did.

Either way, though, it was more as a way to get an idea of what the game was than to truly experience it as it was originally intended. To be honest, I'm glad that I did because I don't think that I could put up with the more annoying aspects of the game design otherwise. I respect the game for what it is and what it started and influenced, but it's definitely a relic of time, in my eyes.

[Avaitor]

So Walmart is selling the next DLC chapter of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker... except apparently it's selling you the whole game for the price of DLC. So you can literally get a whole Nintendo game for $4.

This wasn't even on my radar, but I couldn't say no.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Finally got back to Breath of the Wild to tackle the DLC Packs as far as the main content goes. Trial of the Sword was kind of like that one Shrine Quest in the base game where you are stripped of all of your gear and non-key items and have to reach the end goal with your character starting from scratch. Except in this case you are also stripped of the Champion's abilities, and instead of traversing an environment you are basically stuck in a gauntlet of challenge rooms. It's really not my cup of tea since the challenge comes more from having to endure long stretches of gameplay with no checkpoints or ability to save your progress in-between. I still completed it, though.

The next DLC is Champion's Ballad and so far I only did the first part with the one-hit obliterator. This was a much more engaging challenge than the gauntlet structure of Trial of the Sword. You can use pretty much anything at your disposal aside from the Champion's abilities, but you will be killed by anything in one hit. Of course, the challenge is mitigated by the fact that you can save whenever you want, but it still allows the player to tackle this however they want and think of creative solutions around seemingly tough situations, which is much more fitting for a Zelda game.

[Mustang]

I'm done with Trails. Had a blast but I think I'm finally ready to move on. Getting back into the fighting games. I would love to hop on the Guilty Gear Accent Core +R train but I'm working on things on my end to make that possible. I'm going to get my internet provider to rearrange my phone line so I can get a wired connection.

That being said, I am currently installing Spider-Man: Miles Morales onto my PS4. I also have Fenix: Immortals Rising as well as Genshin Impact that I have to get to. But as far as Miles Morales goes, I was definitely split on the OG game. Loved swinging but wasn't convinced about the combat that much but still had fun with it. I hated the stealth portions. The side stuff, the combat portions kept me entertained, but chasing birds, get out of here. I'm hoping and hearing that Miles don't have any of that so I'm looking forward to it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm going to be brutally honest and say that I've come to terms with the fact that I'm just not a fan of Spider-Man on the PS4 and probably won't feel any different about Miles Morales. For that matter, I'm not a fan of the Arkham games either. The combat is dull and shallow, the stories are fairly average at best, and they tend to just recycle formulas established by other game franchises that had executed them much better to begin with.

And that's fine. I certainly don't begrudge other people for enjoying these games, but I prefer games that can genuinely excel at one or two things than games that can competently do every popular trend at the time without having any single feature about it stand-out.

[Mustang]

You like what you like. Nothing wrong with that. I think I said it once before. There's a certain feeling that I get from the Arkham games when it comes to combat. The impact of certain hits that just make it feel like there's a lot of weight behind each button press. Spider-Man, not so much, but I do think the combat is fun (when I'm trying not to play it like it's an Arkham game). The best way I can describe it is akin to Ryu's Metsu Shoryuken in USF4. You just had a stressful day at work and decide to come home and play a few games in rank only to be annoyed by this one annoying, we'll say a Blanka player that's trolling you. That Blanka player slips up and you let him have it. That first gut punch letting that Blanka know that you are sick of his shit, and that uppercut to the chin is pure bliss (in the back of my mind I'm saying "I'm GONE KNOCK THIS MOTHAFUCKA OUT"). Probably not to that degree since you are playing against someone in USF4 instead of mindless enemies.

Also fighting some limitations. I can't do the finger gymnastics like I used to. Sure, I can still play DMC and Nioh and enjoy it, but not like I want to. These controllers are not nearly as comfortable these days which is why I switched to a hitbox for fighting games.

I don't even play FPS anymore cause they mess with my eyes a lot. Almost to the point of motion sickness.

A lot of that came out of nowhere  , but I gotcha.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Right, and I totally get why people enjoy it. I more or less am indifferent to those games since they don't do anything for me personally, but I think it's still great for people who want that kind of experience. The last thing I want to be is one of those snobs who just immediately looks down on anything that's not for me as an inferior product.

[Mustang]

Quick update to Genshin Impact. Like the Breath of the Wild look but that's about it. I should've known what I was getting into when you had to choose between brother and sister. It's too anime for me, but a lot of that is coming from the fatigue of the Trails series and Persona. Unfair but that's where I'm at (Not to mention I'm bout ready to hop back into Persona 5 Royal. Something about making an overpowered Yoshitzune is bliss).

I think I'm going to hold off on Fenix: Immortals Rising for that very same reason despite it being closer to what I'm looking for.

That being said, Spider-Man: Miles Morales finally finished installing but I probably won't get to it until the weekend.

In the meantime I've been hitting training mode in USF4. I've done some Cody, Ryu and Dudley training. Honestly, I've been sort of rejuvenated to play all fighting games I can get my hands on, except Mortal Kombat. I respect those players but the way the blockstring setup is, I can't get used to that at all. Despite not caring for Smash Bros at all, if I had a Smash Box I would probably try to play that as well (Sephiroth being 1-B to Vergil being 1-A favorite character and whatnot)

[Foggle]

Quick update to Genshin Impact. Like the Breath of the Wild look but that's about it. I should've known what I was getting into when you had to choose between brother and sister. It's too anime for me, but a lot of that is coming from the fatigue of the Trails series and Persona. Unfair but that's where I'm at (Not to mention I'm bout ready to hop back into Persona 5 Royal. Something about making an overpowered Yoshitzune is bliss).

I feel similarly about Genshin, but I don't think it being overtly anime is the problem... it's more that it's, like, non-descript anime. It doesn't really have an interesting or unique art style. I saw a tweet where someone said the models all look like they were randomly generated and I think that's spot on. Every character has the same body type and face, especially the men, and you can only tell them apart because of their clothes and hair. Then you get an hour or two in and it hits you like a truck with the multiple different types of paid gacha. The gameplay and world design are doing their best Breath of the Wild impression but it all comes up short in every way that makes a Nintendo game good. Really do not understand the hype behind this title unless you mainly play mobile or free-to-play games.

[Mustang]

I immediately thought about it after I posted. "Too anime" feels like I'm taking a jab at anime and that wasn't what I was aiming for. I just couldn't think of anything better to describe the feeling I was getting. 

But I agree. The hype behind it I'm not feeling it at all. I think what got me on board in the first place was the overall look of the game when the look isn't what I shouldn't have focused on to begin with. What I wanted from other developers to take from Breath of the Wild was the scope/scale/size of its world.

And now that I'm really thinking about it, I'm really looking at Fenix sideways now. We'll see. I'll try (probably) it out the weekend.

[Mustang]

Ubisoft screwed themselves with this register thing that's been keeping me from playing Fenix. It's unfortunate because it's literally keeping me from getting past the very first screen.

That being said I went back to playing Ultra Street Fighter 4. Back to my shoto roots with Ryu. I stayed away from him back in the day because he was definitely on the boring side. Nowadays I have the urge to play and practice footsies and, well, who better to train with than the footsie teacher.

Edit:

I was watching some Street Fighter x Tekken matches at work and was instantly reminded why I stopped caring for the game. To none of the players faults because I get it. In fighting games you're suppose to maximize your damage whenever possible. In this game these players (specifically Japan players, to be even more blunt, Kazuya and Xiaohu players) make the game so boring to watch because it's the same Dorya, Dorya combo (or whatever max damaging combo). It's bad when you're more excited for the mixup or setup than the actual combo itself. It's my own fault because all of these videos are 7-8 years old and no doubt the tech has changed since then. Unfortunately, though, no one is playing the characters that I'm interested in so I have to go back to these old videos to study.

With watching these videos I have learned that no one is really playing the style I'm looking for either. Some would call it UNGA UNGA or a nut, but I'd probably call it constant rushdown and relentless pressure. In USF4 there's Dudley, Yun, EVil Ryu, Oni, Makoto and Cammy (characters that make you scared to push buttons). In x Tekken the only ones I'm seeing is Hwoarang (for sure) and possibly Jin but I don't want to use them on the same team. Dudley might be another one but he's very disappointing in this game. I also think he's under explored because he may be capable of more than what I've seen. I don't think anyone has even attempted to try going for some of Smugs combos (granted a lot of them you can't due to FADC, but even then there are still some that no one has attempted)

Edit 2:

Watching more videos at work of Street Fighter x Tekken. Still seeing more or less of the same problem, or rather, I don't want to call it a problem because where I'm at in these videos you can see the progression and see more people adding in different types of combos (mainly using their meter for combos instead of saving up for supers). I do have to take back calling Japanese players boring in this game because it's not just them. They're playing it safe whereas my play-style involves more flash and risk. I have no issues with people wanting to be as optimal as can be, but me, I have to style because I'm going to get bored quickly going for the same combos over and over.