The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

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Phaseknox
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The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

Played: Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, The Surge 2

Finished: Nothing

Playing: ?

I played some of The Surge 2 to check it out, and it failed to really grab me. Once again like most games that allow you to pick between a male and female character, you play as a silent protagonist. I find silent voiceless main characters in games to be off-putting, I feel like I'm playing a generic avatar instead of an actual character. It makes me less engrossed and invested into a game when the character that I'm playing as is basically an emotionless mute without any personality.

The game itself kind of just throws you right into the action straight away, and it's a Souls-like game so of course it's hard. I reached the first boss fairly quickly which seemed more like a mini-boss since it was so early in the game and it was a human character, but it kicked my ass over and over again since it's incredibly cheap. Your hits barely do any damage to it while it can kill you with just a couple of hits, and despite being a tank character it moves extremely fast and can constantly throw out a volley of bombs that are almost always an automatic hit. In addition to this it has a flying drone that you can't hit that is constantly shooting at you. It would be considered a difficult boss a lot later in the game, but having to fight it basically right when you're just starting the game is absurd. After several attempts I gave up, there's no excuse for them to present you with such a difficult enemy so early in the game.

I started playing Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and it appealed to me right from the start. The story and characters are entertaining, and the anime style cel-shaded graphics running at a smooth 60fps are gorgeous. Everything about it is delightful and I was really enjoying my time with it, but it's a big JRPG that I wouldn't have finished by the time that The Last of Us Part II came out so I stopped playing it.

The Last of Us Part II comes out this Friday. It's been one of my most anticipated games this console generation. The reviews for it have been extremely positive, and I can't wait to finally play it.
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

Played: Kassandra's still straight getting mofos got Simulator.

Bought:...I still don't know if I bought FF14 expansions but I am pretty sure I signed up for PS Now. Trying it out for 7 days with various Sonic games (look...I know) and Tekken 7 sold me on the fact it streams just fine for my purposes. I am going to play the Trails of Cold Steel games next on the service :D

Beat: Dude, I have been playing AC Odyssey for the past month now, I am nowhere near done with it. I won't be beating anything for the foreseeable future :P

They have the first Ni No Kuni on PSNow. The ps3 one. I was thinking of downloading my old save and mopping up the post game in that one someday. You know, when Odyssey decides it should wrap up. Man, Ubisoft needs an editor, just ONE in the worst possible way...all their games just have all the things and keep going and going and going...
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

Still enjoying Shadow Hearts.

I'm also playing Walden on PC which is a digital slice of Thoreau's life, including some of his writings. Interesting, and I love Thoreau and his approach to living, so it's really clicking in that regard.
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jfissel
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by jfissel »

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Detroit: Become Human

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 32 games

Finished the story in Detroit: Become Human and now I'm gonna play through it again to see what the different choices are like. My Last of Us Part II is arriving on Tues the 23rd according to Amazon, so I won't be able to play it opening weekend.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

jfissel wrote: Sun Jun 14, 2020 7:47 pmMy Last of Us Part II is arriving on Tues the 23rd according to Amazon, so I won't be able to play it opening weekend.
Why don't you cancel your Amazon order, and buy it from Best Buy, GameStop, Target, or Walmart?
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

So Odyssey got bumped down to easy. And the enemies will trail my levels now. It's primarily because of chapter 7 and their sudden penchant for sending multiple bounty hunters after you at once. While they are generally annoying, it doesn't help that I am not feeling the progression I did early on. I have no chance if 2 show up at once, the health pool is ridiculous! And that is this whole chapter. Now the game is actually manageable at this level. I kinda wish I had just started this way.

Also, this chapter never ends. 6 was over in like an hour and they way overcompensated now in 7. I think it's close to the end of whatever the plot they want is supposed to be but I have too many cultists to track down to call it a day now...
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

Soooo...I beat it. I think. It told me to start a new game plus. I had planned on plowing through the DLC...but I might need to stop. I remembered before the big finish I never found out a crucial piece of info because, and I can't stress this enough, chapter 7 of this game is an insane mess and I can't believe they thought it was ok. Anyway, go to find the info, solve a dumb puzzle...and seriously I died laughing. That was so stupid. I HAVE to do this and the cultist nonsense but I need some confirmation: this game is utterly balls out insane, right? It can't just be me, how did this happen? Please tell me someone here beat this thing and let's discuss because man...it was a lot.
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jfissel
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by jfissel »

Phaseknox wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 4:04 am
jfissel wrote: Sun Jun 14, 2020 7:47 pmMy Last of Us Part II is arriving on Tues the 23rd according to Amazon, so I won't be able to play it opening weekend.
Why don't you cancel your Amazon order, and buy it from Best Buy, GameStop, Target, or Walmart?
It's fine, I'm trying to finish Detroit first.
crimson_tide wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 8:18 pm Soooo...I beat it. I think. It told me to start a new game plus. I had planned on plowing through the DLC...but I might need to stop. I remembered before the big finish I never found out a crucial piece of info because, and I can't stress this enough, chapter 7 of this game is an insane mess and I can't believe they thought it was ok. Anyway, go to find the info, solve a dumb puzzle...and seriously I died laughing. That was so stupid. I HAVE to do this and the cultist nonsense but I need some confirmation: this game is utterly balls out insane, right? It can't just be me, how did this happen? Please tell me someone here beat this thing and let's discuss because man...it was a lot.
Oh, there are definitely some crazy parts and plot twists.
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

Ok, so I was wrong. I might end up poring 100 hours into this game! I am picking off the remaining cultist scum now (around 10 or so left, should be done tonight or tomorrow) then I am going straight into that chunky DLC. I need to see this through. I tried playing something new last night and it wasn't fruitful. I just want more Kassandra's historical murder simulator. It also doesn't help that the game just stopped at the end. It was such a jarring, sudden bizarre conclusion. I think a solid wrap up somewhere and I can stop. Onward to the cultist scum murder tour!
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 128: 6/13/20: The Last of Us Part II Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

Shadow Hearts has been really good. Some of the writing has been less than stellar, but the narrative has been interesting and engaging at least, and the combat is fun. Happy I finally fired it up. I don't think there's too much left until the final encounter with Bacon - maybe? What a great name for an antagonist, lol.
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