The Backlog Check-in Vol. 89: 9/14/19: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Edition

[Phaseknox]

I've been playing Fl4k myself (from what little we've played so far) and I've been enjoying him, but from what I've seen there aren't really any dud characters. It's more just what clicks with you - I've always enjoyed playing the "pet class" in RPGs so that's why I like Fl4k.

I always play as the sirens in the Borderlands games, but (like others have said) Amara doesn't really seem like a siren (despite some of her powers) due to her brutish appearance and nature. So I think that I'm going to go with Moze when I play Borderlands 3, because she looks like a fun character.

I've owned that Ghost Recon game for at least a year now & haven't played it myself (beyond the intro, so maybe an hour tops?). Really do need to get around to it at some point.

I'm still playing it, but the somewhat clunky character/vehicle controls and long load times are unfortunately hindering my overall enjoyment of it. Part of the reason why the character controls are a little clunky is because they're FPS controls even when not aiming a gun. FPS controls for a third person game feel somewhat clunky, stiff and unintuitive. In every other similar third person open world action game they only have FPS controls when aiming a gun, when not aiming a gun they have full 3D movement where your character moves forward whichever direction that you press. Trying to maneuver my character around quickly with FPS controls can be frustrating, and the lack of any evasive moves such as a dodge roll makes things even worse. Vehicles are somewhat sloppy to control as well, especially the airplanes. Vehicles are usually fun to use in these types of games, but not so much in this one. And the loading times are long. Even on easy the game is hard, and I die a lot because a lot of the situations require trial-and-error. Whenever you die the game loads for a really long time before you can get back into the action, also when you fast travel. I thought that it was called fast travel for a reason. There's a lot that I like about the game, but these issues are tarnishing it a bit.

Playing The Messenger as my main Switch game right now - any of you guys play that yet?

I played it on my brother's Switch back in November when he visited, and I thought that it was a decent old school style 2D action platformer similar to the NES Ninja Gaiden games. But like I've mentioned before, 8-bit graphics are a little too dated for me these days. The furthest that I like to go back when it comes to graphics are 16-bit, but even those are a little more dated than I tend to like. I prefer hand drawn art to pixel art for these types of games.

[Phaseknox]

While my previous complaints about Ghost Recon: Wildlands (somewhat clunky controls and long load times) still stand, there's also no denying that it's a total blast to play despite some of its issues. I've been having a great time with it today, it's the very definition of a play it your way nonlinear/non-scripted open world/sandbox action game.

Despite character movement feeling a little awkward due to FPS controls, the shooting mechanics are rock solid. And while I like playing as a lone wolf most of the time, there are missions that were obviously designed with co-op in mind so I simply call in my team for those. I put the game on easy since normal was proving to be a little too difficult, and it's been more what I consider normal. It's still challenging, but a little more forgiving.

What elevates the game are its graphics, they're some of the best that I've seen in a game. The world is big, detailed, realistic looking and varied. The weather effects are almost photorealistic, and the lighting at night is impressive. The explosions are some of the best that I've seen in a game as well, I like to watch things go boom!

This is shaping up to be the third best game that I've played so far this year, and one of the best third person open world/sandbox action game that I've played in general.

[Brighton]

That's pretty much the same experience I've had with Wildlands too. Clunky but fun. Sometimes the clunk of the Wildlands even adds to the experience.