acemuzzy wrote:

Spoiler:

no I did that bit, and then the Dylan but, so got actual credits I think? And an then director in different clothes able to carry on playing as normal (with an extra mission rescuing people). Or are you meaning there's another ending again?!?

The optional/post-credits stuff is where it gets really interesting. Well worth mopping up some of those extra missions. It's where you really learn about all the different objects of power, and there are some nice boss battles.

I had the same issue Blocks. Basically all you can do with that boss is hide behind the cover and shoot as you don't have the skills yet. You will get some soon though that will help you dash and cover etc which is when it gets more rewarding.

My daughter ordered me the DLC for this as a birthday present. (She's nice like that). Whilst none of it's out yet, it did also unlock a bonus mission called "Isolation" which required a bit of tracking down. Has anyone else played it?  (Called "Dr. Yoshimi Tokui's Guided Imagery Experience" in game).

It's extremely slight - not worth spending money to access, but also delightfully weird.
One of the things I love about the game is it's willingness to chuck in moments of sheer strangeness - and my only disappointment with this one is that it wasn't just in there to stumble upon all along.  

Meanwhile to answer @Blocks100 - you upgrade via a couple  of different routes. Weapons can be unlocked and upgraded via a Control Point - go to Astral Constructs and then upgrade if you have the relevant stuff.

Equally abilities can be upgraded via a Control Point too - just go to "abilities" and play with the upgrade tree. (My advice is to max out your launcher as a priority)  Ability points are unlocked for completing missions in the game.

Your number of mod slots (to put that health upgrade in for instance) increases as the game goes on - though it never gets terribly generous.

Oh, and that first boss is, most definitely, a boss. He's really just there to teach you that floaty guys generally have to be shot, and that whilst cover isn't a major part of the game there are situations (especially bosses) where it's  needed. The whole lot gets considerably more fun once you've unlocked a few more abilities.

Loaded this up for the DLC but ended up killing lots of chairs instead. Still excellent fun, and runs a lot more smoothly (on PC) with some improvements to the clunky menus. Style for miles.

I was quite lucky and only died once to that boss but it's definitely some old-school crap design. There's a big battle at the end that's a pig, too, but I quite enjoyed getting better at that and then nailing it. The best bit is slinging filing cabinets at grunts. Or chairs at chairs.

There was a bug (recently fixed).

'Fixed an issue where anything the player did during the Former boss fight broke the floor. Now, only the Former’s smashing attacks will break the floor'

Finished this the other day. First thing I need to say is that the menu systems for browsing collectible documents is fucking atrocious to browse considering the sheer amount. I did like it though.

I liked it overall but I think the Ashtray Maze stands tall so much in the memory because it needed more set pieces like that. I was not involved enough in the combat to want to do any of the board tasks for mods or the random FBC encounters and judging by the trophy percentages neither was anyone else. I did all the optional bosses just for story and closure really since that's the meat of the thing to me. I'm hearing the Jukebox Expeditions don't have any story in them and they're basically combat gauntlets so that'll be something I skip.

Ultimately I wish more time was given to fleshing out Trench and the nature of the FBC. I wanted James McCaffrey to go hard on the dolcet Max Payne tones talking about the incident that happened with his predecessor that catapulted him to the Directorship. His thoughts on The Board. What happened to his family to cause his judgement to falter in the first place. 

It's strange but while something like Control is basically selling us on the idea of a magical unknowable land beyond the veil, that thing alone isn't as interesting as it being a catalyst to see real characters in far out situations. The characters in Control are just wallpaper really but I still found myself staring at the walls more than the rooms if that makes sense.

I’m around chapter five and I find so much of this game flabby and I can’t help but sense the flabbiness is to hide a whole lot of nothing.

Everything in this game feels so slow - launching, shooting and then when you think you are done with a set of baddies more show up. There are also too many cheap deaths which are countered by cheap tactics (I found myself sniping in the mould pit because I knew where some baddies were because I’d died from them surprising me).

It’s not bad but it’s not as good as the interesting premise deserves.

Haha.

Anyone played the DLC? Really want to but can’t find a cheap copy to buy to then get the DLC.

I think almost every Remedy game suffers from the same issues. They have a core combat loop and they expand on that with new skills and/or new enemy types, but it's ultimately the same loop. They also tend to have slightly flat endings.

I really liked the game though, but completely agree with the above.

Is this really good? It's on steam sale right now but I have Xpass games to get through for free.

Goddamit.

Syph79 wrote:

I think almost every Remedy game suffers from the same issues. They have a core combat loop and they expand on that with new skills and/or new enemy types, but it's ultimately the same loop. They also tend to have slightly flat endings.

I really liked the game though, but completely agree with the above.

I always find Remedy combat to be a bit flat and dull. It’s kinda weightless - very flashy, yes, but lacking in punch. Too skatey. All the oomph is supplied visually, but the movement and shooting itself feels...a bit shit.

They also tend to have way too many combat encounters with little variation meaning that even if I like their worlds and stories, I’m always bored of their game before they finish. And the endings are flat, yes...well, the ones I’ve seen.

I didn’t finish Alan Wake, I was so bored of that game despite enjoying the atmosphere. Evil Within 2 completely shows up Alan Wake, IMO.

Not played Control. Maybe it feels great to play. But everything I’ve seen of it just makes it look like another Remedy game.

I’m glad people like them, though - they’re just not for me.