Just completed - The Bear and Badger

regmcfly

Gonna need a break so switching to one of Diablo 3 / TMS / Deadly Premonition / Fire Emblem for a while

mrsmr2

Ok, so rather than play a couple of towns I almost finished the entire game on the xbox yesterday.

Once I got used to the 30fps framerate and slight stick deadzone (smaller deadzone than switch sticks), it all clicked again. Game plays really well on the xbox.

Framerate is more consistent than PS3/Switch because when it drops (Mongo Valley being the main offender) it drops vsync rather than stutter between 60,30,60,30, etc. In these situations it plays the best (apart from pc which doesn’t drop any frames).

Obviously the HD versions look a lot better (apart from cutscenes) and try to run at 60fps (which they don’t do consistently). PS3 version is better than Switch because it doesn’t stutter on framerate changes as much but mostly because there is no deadzone on a ds3.

Nintendo really need a kick because they seem to be focussed on gimmicks rather than fundamentals. The pro controller is really expensive yet it has the second worst dpad in history and deadzones on the sticks. Disgraceful.

Difficulty wise, the xbox version starts off easy and ramps up. By the end the difficulty isn’t far off the Hard difficulty of the HD versions (I’ve only ever played Hard on the HD versions so can’t comment on Normal).

Bosses are very easy to capture alive on xbox, whereas some are really tough on HD, especially Meagly who seems completely broken on the Switch version (more testing required for him).

Overall, I’m really amazed how well it runs on the xbox. No wonder I adore it.

I haven’t commented on the vita version so I do need to give that a play. That can’t even do 30fps a lot of the time and the controls are fiddly. I don’t think I’d even try Hard mode on that - will be too frustrating.

Wookienopants

regmcfly wrote:

Gonna need a break so switching to one of Diablo 3 / TMS / Deadly Premonition / Fire Emblem for a while

Oh let’s do some Diablo!

mrsmr2

Tried Vita version on Hard.

It’s rubbish. Terrible frame rate at times, awkward controls, sound can play after an action (eg a punch sound plays half a second after the enemy has gone flying - only had this once in the 30 mins, but shows the issues with this running on vita).

I was worried my memory was exaggerating how good the xbox version is and how bad the vita version is. Nope.

Funnily enough there is a small amount of deadzone but, there is then only small amount of extra movement needed to make the camera accelerate. So I end up moving the camera too much - which is exactly what happens with too much deadzone on the switch.

There is just no way I could play this when the action hots up, the framerate will tank and the controls aren’t good enough for snap aiming.

Stranger deserves better.

Bob

I completed it on vita so it’s doable

mrsmr2

On hard?

Facewon

Don't reckon it excites him like it does you mate.

EvilRedEye

Luigi's Mansion on 3DS. I felt like playing something else this weekend then got into it and ploughed through it. It's pretty fun but I think I would have been a bit disappointed with it if I'd bought a GameCube at launch. And as a full price 3DS release in late 2018...

A good game just released in contexts where charging full whack for it seems a bit much.

Silke

I had no idea Stranger's Wrath was worthy of such lasting intererst. And here we have this guy who seemingly plays it on every format, every day, every hour; always.

mrsmr2

Just completed the last bit on xbox. Gloktogis are pretty tough on this version, much easier on the HD versions.

mrsmr2

Facewon wrote:

Don't reckon it excites him like it does you mate.

snigger.

mrsmr2

Silke wrote:

I had no idea Stranger's Wrath was worthy of such lasting intererst. And here we have this guy who seemingly plays it on every format, every day, every hour; always.

Your point?

Silke

That it might be worth revisiting.

mrsmr2

Awesome. PC is best version (by far) IMO. and cheapest.

regmcfly

JonB wrote:

You did all that levelling up before the credits?

At least it should make the rest of it easy, I guess.

I now see why this was dumb as fuck of me.

Here we go again

JonB

I didn't carry on much after the credits, but I know there's a lot more. I think you'll probably need to be very high level to beat some of the end game bosses, so you would have had to do it eventually.

regmcfly

Where did you give up?

JonB

I did a few hours after the credits, I think. Just got to a point and decided I didn't want to go through with it.

I think Cinty's the one to talk to about it. Seem to remember him saying he did it all.

Bob

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

And so after an epic 80 hours spread over I think about 3 months the main story is complete and the credits rolled. It is one of the best action RPGs I've ever played and stuffed with content and things to discover and well just lots of great stuff. Great central character. Ultimately the easy difficulty was perhaps a trifle to easy but I probably enjoyed it more that way.

It's not perfect, the games a little touchy and over sensitive to the action button which sometimes makes it difficult to do the thing you actually want, there's too many ingredients to find, I'm OCD and pick up everything I see and still ended the game with lots of recepies for oils and potions I couldn't make cos I didn't have the right stuff. I know you can pin things and check with shop keepers.. but it's needless busy work.

Also the actual end left me a little disappointed. A couple of hand drawn stills? At least give me a proper cutscene showing my happy ever after... still I'm cracking straight on with the DLC.

Bob

mrsmr2 wrote:

Silke wrote:

I had no idea Stranger's Wrath was worthy of such lasting intererst. And here we have this guy who seemingly plays it on every format, every day, every hour; always.

Your point?

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2020-strangers-wrath-switch-port-analysis?fbclid=IwAR27fTXbE1SPZad6-UvIpsP74cUv9mfBFODIHZNkeyqkMzTYVgdBS-Gw1fM

mrsmr2

Yes, I watched that earlier. Reasonably fair. Although he didn't make enough of the poor aiming on the Switch (he says something like 'as with the other versions'). That's not true. Switch has a really large deadzone coupled with short throw sticks - so the effective range of the stick is quite small, and leads to jerky aiming attempts - just look at him trying to aim around 2m59s in the vid. Vita has almost no deadzone but short sticks - so it's actually a bit better than Switch. PS3 has some deadzone but humongous stick movement so it's not an issue at all.

Framerate drops less on the Switch than PS3. And the Opple Farm looks very low res on the Switch compared to even the Vita - not sure if that is a bug.

Plus Stunkz don't work on the Switch so capturing Meagly alive on Hard is..., well I'm not sure if it's possible without upgrades.

And Bob, I'm playing through the Vita version on Hard and I'm going to take back what I said. Once I've got used to it, it's actually ok. I've only completed two towns and am just about to go to Mongo Valley - which is the area with the bigggest framerate impact on all versions (apart from PC). But so far the framerate is more consistent than at the start of the game. I have to play more cautiously as aiming is harder on Vita and I die a lot more. But, it's ok. Still the worst version but it is an acceptable version.

Switch version is pretty good but PS3 is better to me because of the aiming. PC is superior to all versions - constant 60fps, best weighted and resposive controls, sharper graphics, and mouse and keyboard if you want to go that route.

Yes, I'm a nerd and noone else cares but I happen to like Stranger :-)

Silke

I love that you care.

And I will be playing the PC version. The only version I've played - and I liked it when I did - is the Xbox original.

Minnesänger

I’ve enjoyed the write up too. I have very similar feelings to you re. switch controls, including the Pro controller (and that awful d-pad) but it often seems most aren’t bothered by it.

kneecap

Resi 2 will.doa write yo if some fashion in the 52 games thread.

Bob

Minnesänger wrote:

I’ve enjoyed the write up too. I have very similar feelings to you re. switch controls, including the Pro controller (and that awful d-pad) but it often seems most aren’t bothered by it.

Digital foundary don’t seem very concerned with controls in general it’s more about the tech

AndCallMeCharlie

Played strangers wrath on vita but found the controls a mare

mrsmr2

Just finsihed Stanger on Vita on Hard. All bosses captured alive. Had to use the ammo reload cheat for two of them as I have no idea how to capture them without ammo upgrades (which I never buy). I might test if they do help in a future run.

It's playable at least for the most part. The later section in the game really hits the framerate and the twin gloktigi fight, urg. You can count the number of frames per second there - it's not a high number :-)

Died many, many times and had to approach the game completely differently to the PC and PS3 versions, no relying on dodging and aiming here - more about luring enemies and taking them one by one.

Got all trophies so that is the first and last game I will ever get them all (don't care about achievements/trophies normally).

So that's PC (twice), Xbox, and Vita completed in the last 6 weeks plus Switch and PS3 playthroughs to Meagly and Packrat respsectively (been comparing those two versions).

Eric

Fallen Jedi on base PS4.
My mate lent me this and I had a great time with it. Having not played any DS type games before I didn't really know what I was in for but I was pleasantly surprised.

It's long and if I had known I probably wouldn't have started it but glad I did. Took me 22 hours which, with only one night a week set aside to game was a bit of a slog.

Performance on standard PS4 is hampered with framerate issues which isn't great for parrying later on in the game but I got by. Some of the bosses I really struggled with, one in particular I had to reduce the difficulty to Story mode just to beat him

Spoiler:

Battles weren't helped with my left thumb aching through having to hold down the left stick on the DS4 pad to run either but these are minor quibbles

Great story, twists and variety to the gameplay. Solid 7 from me.

acemuzzy

I've just finished two of the worst games like ever.

First up 36 Fragments of Midnight (PS4). Just offer absolutely nothing new to platforming, and what it delivers it does poorly. Random world generation, which basically involves randomly stitching together about half a dozen rooms. Negligible variation. And the platforming is shit. And the UI etc. is rubbish. And it's indefensibly short really - there's a trophy for completing the whole game in under six minutes. I don't think even @moot_geeza would defend it. Shambles. [4].

And then Midnight Deluxe (PS4), which was kinda a golf game. But it was even worse than the above. Insta-death, hard to judge power, random bouncing cos you're a square, shit level design. Just awful. 70 levels long, I was bored after 20, and rather bizarrely got the platinum after 40 cos it's just desperate to give out trophies. Utter shambles. [3].

regmcfly

And there it is Dragon Quest XI with the true ending. What an absolute bastard of a final fight but absolutely worth it. 75 hours of sheer joy.

Howdy, Stranger!

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