 | Since my writing output has slowed down |
Which isn't really my fault. Combination of work and playing through really long games. While not really playing any shorter retro stuff because of how I'm trying to focus more on my actual backlog so I have a chance of finishing it off before I'm dead or whatever (look, I'm 45 and have a box full of 35 or so games PLUS the dozen, give or take, I have on Steam AND I never stop buying stuff -- snagged Witcher 3 just five days ago -- ...this is an uphill climb I'm forcing myself to have).
Of those games, I'll probably review Trials Rising (PS4) when I have free time (next week, the week after, after that????). With how DLC is factored into gaining levels, that will ease the agony of having to grind like a mofo on old tracks to unlock tougher ones. I don't know if it is a remotely good business philosophy to make players (1) wait a good while AND (2) buy all the add-ons to get the "true" experience of it, but I do enjoy the large number of tracks here. Tons of stuff to do and tons of tracks to work on as I try to get better at the game. As far as realistic stuff I need to unlock, it's the final set of hard tracks and the set of extremes. For unrealistic, there are the ninja tracks. But I'd have to Gold EVERYTHING and in the two previous Trials games, I've completed a grand total of one Extreme and it was nowhere near Silver, let along gold. This will be a tricky one to review, as the game is great, but all the outside stuff like the grinding, contracts, cluttered map and so on do drag the experience down a bit.
Also on the PS4 is Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far, which is the epitome of why I haven't been reviewing much recently. It's a collection of 5 full games, 1 short side-story that amounts to being the size of one KH III world and 3 cutscene movies for lesser-tier games. I've beaten the HD remakes of KH and KH II, started and abandoned Chain of Memories due to being pure crap and am near the end of Birth By Sleep and watched the movies for 358/2 Days and RE: Coded. That's the end of one disc. The other had Dream Drop Distance, the side story and the other movie (some mobile game called KH X or something like that). All in all, a lot of work to crank out one little review. And a stark reminder that I bought this system at the end of November and mainly used it to play a collection of remade games from older systems! And Trials Rising, which was made for this generation, but isn't exactly cutting edge graphics-wise. At least I did play a good chunk of the Resident Evil 2 remake with a friend, so I have actually seen what the system is capable of aesthetically.
Speaking of games that take forever, I'm also playing the 360's Borderlands 2. I beat the game with Salvador the Gunzerker and thought I'd do all the DLC with him, but then realized that there's a bit of spike going from regular mode to true vault hunter mode, as far as enemy health and power. So I started a new game with Gaige the Mechromancer, got her to L15 and am going through the DLC with her. I've done 1/5 of the short Headhunter pack ones and of the main ones, I got to the final boss of Captain Scarlett's and found it to be a pain to fight (I was L21, it was L23. It also has a handful of weak spots that aren't all easy to hit), so I'm saving it for a bit later. With Torgue's Carnage arena quest, I've taken out Pyro Pete and Motor Momma and am working my way to Fly Boy. So, yeah, it'll take a bit to finish this one off, since there also are 2 more full-sized DLCs that I haven't even touched yet.
And then there's The Witcher. I'm pretty far into Chapter 3 (of 5, plus an epilogue). Generally, I enjoy this game. The rhythm/timing-based fighting is pretty fun and I do like a good "intrigue/political maneuvering" plot, especially in the confines of this game, where you are a neutral character with your own objectives who constantly is thrown into this intrigue because people know you're a legit badass and love to play the "scratch my back and I'll help you" game. On a technical level, this game is a bit questionable with the occasional crash and the need for me to regularly restart the computer so its cache doesn't get overloaded, preventing me from leaving one area to another as there isn't enough cache space. But as a fun game, it's a fun game. A fun game with hilariously out-of-place sex cards, but a fun game.
And that's that. Trials Rising review coming at some point in time and then, uh, hopefully I'll be getting to the end of these projects. To replace them with equally long ones to keep me in this zone of "Uh, Rob is still alive, isn't he?" as far as contributing stuff that isn't my monthly RotW goes.
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hastypixels - May 18, 2019 (10:57 PM) I hear ya. I just picked up too whoppers for the Switch: Starlink Deluxe and Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battles for a hefty discount. Coming late to the game gives me access to all the DLC and a lot of sweet game to play. Between everything and everything else, it'll be a while before I complete these two... and I don't mind that at all! |
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overdrive - May 19, 2019 (08:52 AM) Oh yeah, I will have to purchase the DLC for Wild Hunt when I get to it, as I think I just got the vanilla game, but for only $19, I'll take that. Especially since I enjoy the world-building in the first game enough that it could determine my future order of projects. Trials Rising sort of operates in its own little bubble, where I play it a couple times a week (thumb starts to ache constantly if I play it too often, what with the white-knuckling of the controller and all). Of the others, I have them divided into three groups: PS4, 360 and "other" (Steam, PS, PS2, Wii, 3DS/DS). With "Other", I'm playing The Witcher and when it's done with, I have a couple ideas for my next game there, either trying to put it all together and actually play God of War to the end or maybe the DS port of Super Mario 64. With 360, if the Witcher is finished by the time I finish Borderlands 2 (3/9 DLC and 2/4 large ones finished), I'll move onto the second Witcher. If not, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin edition. With PS4, when I get done with the horde of Kingdom Hearts games (just started Dream Drop Distance, so I'm on the second disc now), it'll likely be Dragon Quest XI or maybe DOOM, but odds are Wild Hunt will be the next selection after the second Witcher gets finished. In a way, it's cool to actually have some sort of long-term plan; but in a way it also feels kind of weird, since I'm used to just going off whims when it comes to what I play next after beating something. |
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