What are you playing? c'mon, tell me punk!

[AuraLancer]

I tried the WiiU demo of it back when it released and I also found the controls off-putting.

[Gors]

yo, i'm curious about what you thought was wrong with the controls, Gors! MH has a really weird difficulty curve that put me off initially but I grew to like it, though I think a large part of it is being able to play with friends.

on the subject of the controls, I know a sticking point for a lot of people is how button presses don't exactly get an immediate response like you'd get out of most action games, but I've come to realize the reason for that is so that you can't just go swinging wildly at the monster without watching its patterns first and planning your attacks and timing carefully. It kind of aids the feeling that you're a puny little person trying to take on a huge monster. It's kind of like how the tank controls in the first Resident Evil games were really sluggish but it aided the feeling of helplessness and weakness of the player character. i understand it not being everyone's cup of tea though.

of course if it's something else I'd love to hear it

I think it's something 3DS only (as it's a small handheld with fewer buttons), but I had a hard time doing things that shouldn't be all that difficult. I don't remember the key bindings anymore as I've played it in start of this year, but it's a chore to memorize the contextual buttons.

For example, I draw my weapon with X. Then attack with X, A and R. But A also serves to do context sensitive actions, for which I must press Y first to put my weapon away. L fixes camera but holding it pops up the item tray which I don't want to access - and even if I wanted to, I must press Y to sheath my weapon in order to use it with Y again.

This makes it difficult for me to even focus on myself, and jumping off a cliff to mount on enemies is a test of patience on its own (unsheath weapon with Y, press A near cliff to climb, then draw weapon with X, run off the cliff then press B and X in midair).

NO.

I understand it's supposed to be hard and all, but I feel this is either too cumbersome or too high-level play for me to enjoy. Not my cup of tea.

And even though I was able to hurt the boss considerably, seeing it limp away to its nest made me feel bad.

tl;dr I don't mind that the animations take long to complete, but to have complex button patterns to do said action is off-putting and irritating.

[TomGuycott]

I personally don't mind the tanky, complex controls, but I also feel like the creators of the series are slowly taking the series in a different direction. The newer Insect Glaive, for example, gives this very acrobatic feel and a lot of freedom of movement that some other weapons don't have, and ever since I started using them they feel the most fun to me.

[Yawackhary]

Just juggling through various games at the moment.

First I've been playing Need for Speed: Undercover (on the Wii, playing on the Wii U) and it's not too bad actually considering that it is considered one of the weaker NFS games. Plays well, technically stable, enjoying it but it is getting harder now it is 60% done of the career mode. Just the graphics were a bit disappointing at the start. Well until I realised that the game was open world... Weirdly the live action cutscenes are really good video quality and actually impressed by the picture.

Then last night my Wii Remote batteries died, was going to play Assassin's Creed on the PS3 but an error message came up since it was the free version that came with Revelations so it needed the disc. Had to find a game to play quick and played Crash Bandicoot 3. It's been 16 years since I last played the game and only as a rental (couldn't afford it), feels old just by saying that. Well got it when it was the 20 year PlayStation sale along with other games. Really amazed how well the game has aged and while it has been years since I've played a Crash game (apart from last year where I played Wrath of Cortex on the Xbox), still remembered the controls, just the timing have to get used to again. It's a great game and while there isn't as much platforming compared to 2, the variety of the levels [by level design] and different gameplay styles makes me play it and enjoy it at the same time. Still prefer 2 though but that is due to memories.

On the side, have been playing Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros since when it came out and still not even the half way mark yet. Okay, no good at puzzle games admittedly but at least giving it a go. Only problem is that it does seem to be hit or miss whether you actually complete a level. Sometimes the colours that are the strongest (e.g. water when your enemy is a Fire type) hardly show up and takes about 15 moves before you have a special attack that changes them into the strongest that by then is either half way or nearly end of the level with your team as weak as a noodle. Even if you use the combo strategy, the combos might be colours that are the weakest towards the enemy and do very little damage while in the next move, the enemy just wipes you out. It seems to be grinding (one part I was stuck on for months until I grinded just enough to beat it) and luck based.

[Arcrom]

Enjoying a lot the new Hearthstone’s tavern brawl “Unite Against Mechazod”. Have to say that it’s very fun and provides a unique feeling been able to play in a pve style against a minion like boss.

Since this is a co-op mode, I really wanted a temporary way to be able to chat without a friend add with the other player in order to create a strategy, played two games with psychospacecow and we were able to create some interesting combos there thanks to the communication.

[puggsoy]

Played and finished the first episode of Back to the Future: The Game today. It's pretty good, gameplay is classic Telltale point-and-click but of course the story is where it shines. All of the references to the films, and the way it works into the overall story is just great. Obviously not as good as a live-action film version would have been, but still really awesome.

Looking forward to playing the rest!

[Yawackhary]

For the past two days, I've played and finished Need for Speed: The Run (Wii version). At first it was a bit tricky but then got used to the game and ended up liking it. It's like a modern day version of Cruis'n USA; only with a neat graphic novel cutscene story, takedowns (yes!) and a few action moments usually pressing up/down on a section, 3 point turn and moving the analog stick to avoid obstacles/ramming the car. The latter isn't as bad as from what I've read about the PS3 version where you get out of the car for QTEs in a RACING GAME. Graphics are great and runs really well on the Wii, liked the music and really liked the level layouts even though I do question how it manages to skip from Denver to Mount Rushmore then back up to Chicago, Indiana then to New York. I admit that I'm poor at US geography but it doesn't seem right to skip the middle of the US.

Sadly, encountered two system crashes throughout my playthrough, both on the loading screen. It really annoyed me since the second one was so close to the end and to completely switch off the console plus everything else [managed to get the disc out on both times though so at least it isn't scratched] was frustrating.

[Gors]

I tried to play Rhythm Heaven


I gave up on the first minigame

[psychospacecow]

I tried Crysis 2. I can't place what it is about it, but I just don't care for it.

[Yawackhary]

I tried to play Crash Bandicoot 1 for the past two days. I feel like giving up on this game even if it still looks good for a 19 year old PS1 game. One word to describe it Gahhhhh...

It's the messed up save system. Have to find 3 Tawna icons, have to survive the bonus round and that's if I can survive some tricky levels first where one false move over and over again due to pixel perfect platforms, iffy camera angles (parts of the Lost City and especially the Temple Ruins) or randomised timing on things. (plus not every level even has one and bosses certainly don't) Meaning if you lose all your lives, it can completely wipe out any progress that you made and has happened at least 4 times so far. Once I had to redo 6 levels to get back to where I was.

[Arcrom]

Playing Banished now. It is a nice feeling see your small village growing into a respectable town with careful management of resources. Certain mods like "Colonial Charter" increase the fun and challenge.
 
Also playing the old school Age of Empires II HD. The new AI is sure a challenge to beat.

[miyabi95_]

Been playing Espgaluda, one of the few bullet hell shmups that lets you keep your shot upgrades, even after dying.

[Kosheh]

I tried to play Crash Bandicoot 1 for the past two days. I feel like giving up on this game even if it still looks good for a 19 year old PS1 game. One word to describe it Gahhhhh...

It's the messed up save system. Have to find 3 Tawna icons, have to survive the bonus round and that's if I can survive some tricky levels first where one false move over and over again due to pixel perfect platforms, iffy camera angles (parts of the Lost City and especially the Temple Ruins) or randomised timing on things. (plus not every level even has one and bosses certainly don't) Meaning if you lose all your lives, it can completely wipe out any progress that you made and has happened at least 4 times so far. Once I had to redo 6 levels to get back to where I was.

tbqh and not to ruin your life here but
Crash 1 is actually skippable

I tried playing it myself not too long ago to try to get through the rest of the series - and it's fun for the first few stages. Then the whole game becomes a humongous chore, past the first boss and the terrible camera angles result in lots of leaps of faith.


Actually I'm pretty sure Crash Bandicoot 1 is why we have the term "leaps of faith" used to describe ridiculous platforming segments. But seriously, Crash 2 and 3 handle SO much better and are tons of fun to boot
Then just finish with Crash Team Racing and you've got yourself The Essential Crash

[NICKtendo DS]

I've been collecting a fair amount of badges in Badge Arcade. I love the ones that launch software. I have the Mario themed Mii Maker, Activity Log and Settings. I want the eShop and Mii Park ones from the same series, but those big blocks are hard to grab.
I have yet to spend a single dime on this game, by the way.

[puggsoy]

After years, I've finally finished every single puzzle in Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I've always been stuck on the very last one, a 99 picarat slide puzzle. Today I picked up my DS while restarting my PC and decided to give it another shot. After some tries I got it. Feels sooo good to finally have 100%'d that game (this isn't including weekly puzzles).

Next goal is the Diabolical Box