Author Topic: What are you playing?  (Read 3558545 times)

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Rufus

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33720 on: November 11, 2019, 01:47:57 PM »
Bloodstained
Nothing much to say. It's Igavania through and through and I will inhale it until I inevitably get stuck and grudgingly look up how to proceed.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
That nun is evil, isn't she? I can tell because of my gigantic intellect :smug, but also the tone of her VO.
[close]

Favourite handwave so far: the iconic Alchemist's castle? Sure. It appears suddenly, because, bwuh... - just go make it un-appear, OK? There's demons everywhere. Chop, chop; off you go!

I'm going to be grinding out souls, too, huh? Only to ignore all but five, just as I did in Aria and Dawn of Sorrow.

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33721 on: November 11, 2019, 02:44:17 PM »
I started bloodstained last night too.

I can say the switch version seems to be fine now. I haven’t had any problems with it or bad input lag.

demi

  • cooler than willco
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33722 on: November 12, 2019, 08:45:32 AM »
Is anyone besides you even playing Code Vein? Lol
fat

demi

  • cooler than willco
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33723 on: November 12, 2019, 01:11:15 PM »
Here's a couple tips I found on TA that might help

https://www.trueachievements.com/a284044/exalted-reputation-achievement
fat

Purple Filth

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33724 on: November 12, 2019, 01:18:37 PM »
Played some Generation Zero with some friends and its interesting running out in the world to fight killer construction robots and getting phat loot.

Also a method of travel being a bicycle (with a postman "horn") just kills me for some reason.


Otherwise deep in the Destiny 2 mines dealing with this seasonal thing they are pushing plus shadowkeep.

Don Rumata

  • Hard To Be A John
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33725 on: November 12, 2019, 01:24:03 PM »
Played some Generation Zero with some friends and its interesting running out in the world to fight killer construction robots and getting phat loot.

Also a method of travel being a bicycle (with a postman "horn") just kills me for some reason.
I was curious about this, how's the gameplay loop, is it like Left4Dead or slower? Also, can you play in private matches?

BIONIC

  • Virgo. Live Music. The Office. Tacos. Fur mom. True crime junkie. INTJ.
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33726 on: November 14, 2019, 07:11:21 AM »
That was my 11th Souls platinum. I platinumed 4 Souls games in the last 3 months: Remnant, The Surge, The Surge 2, Code Vein.

I need a rest.

Or you could just play the games for fun :idont
Margs

HardcoreRetro

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33727 on: November 14, 2019, 07:14:47 AM »
He needs to play Ashen before he can get some rest.

demi

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33728 on: November 14, 2019, 08:27:23 AM »
No, Borys understands that feeling of achieving your goals and euphoria of popping achievements. Something you all should strive for, you deadbeat bootlickers.

Also this game isn't receiving any more patches and developers make you do bullshit multiplayer tasks due to publisher input (they want people to keep playing your game) so yeah you wasted your time haha get fucked
fat

MMaRsu

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  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33729 on: November 14, 2019, 01:15:23 PM »
That was my 11th Souls platinum. I platinumed 4 Souls games in the last 3 months: Remnant, The Surge, The Surge 2, Code Vein.

I need a rest.

Play Red Dead Redemption 2 and unwind man, please
What

Akala

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33730 on: November 14, 2019, 01:39:31 PM »
.4% global acquisition rate. 😂

demi

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33731 on: November 16, 2019, 09:47:57 AM »
I downloaded Contra Rogue Corps since it's free this weekend. I thought it was a "traditional" contra in the sense it had levels and an ending

Turns out it's a twin-stick shooter with a series of sub-missions and has a diablo-esque grinding where you upgrade your gear, weapons, etc

I ain't got time for this shit lmao
fat

tiesto

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33732 on: November 16, 2019, 11:08:56 AM »
I downloaded Contra Rogue Corps since it's free this weekend. I thought it was a "traditional" contra in the sense it had levels and an ending

Turns out it's a twin-stick shooter with a series of sub-missions and has a diablo-esque grinding where you upgrade your gear, weapons, etc

I ain't got time for this shit lmao

Oh wow, that progression system sounds awful... whatever happened to linear levels? Especially in franchises with arcade origins like Contra?
^_^

Rufus

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33733 on: November 16, 2019, 12:11:28 PM »
Bloodstained
References upon references. Iga-san... :uguu

Having to suck a regular monsters' soul to progress is pretty mean. Feels completly busted to use it, too. Like it's an optional path. Progression unlocks should always come from bosses. :hmph I wandered around the entire castle thinking I had missed a switch or and item or something (like earlier, with the golden armour).

The second stage of the last boss is just lame. Everything is easy to dodge, but if that weren't enough, the gravity flip power breaks that fight completely. Some demon lord this is...

Never found the recipe for regular spaghetti. Sorry, old lady. :I

Rman

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33734 on: November 18, 2019, 08:14:30 AM »
Pokemon Shield

It's fun. It's Pokemon.  The rabid fanbase always overreacts. 

MMaRsu

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33735 on: November 18, 2019, 10:57:40 AM »
Pokemon Shield

It's fun. It's Pokemon.  The rabid fanbase always overreacts.

Yeh lets ignore legitimate complaints and the fact that it looks like an upressed 3ds game under the umbrella of "rabid fanbase"
What

Don Rumata

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33736 on: November 18, 2019, 11:09:06 AM »
Shit games can be fun.  :yeshrug
But yeah, hard to argue that the game looks incredibly low effort, especially with all the Pokemon clones made in a basement that look better.

Rman

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33737 on: November 18, 2019, 01:22:50 PM »
Pokemon Shield

It's fun. It's Pokemon.  The rabid fanbase always overreacts.

Yeh lets ignore legitimate complaints and the fact that it looks like an upressed 3ds game under the umbrella of "rabid fanbase"

It's a JRPG. I don't care.  Give me classic JRPG mechanics and I'm good. 

My favorite JRPG series of late is Etrian Odyssey and it's far from a looker. 

On the other hand, the Final Fantasy series has pushed graphical fidelity since FFVII and I only keep losing interest in them. 

My fave Pokemon game is Black and White. That's a game that is basically a Super NES game in terms of fidelity.  Pushing the graphical edge is not something I care for with this series. 

Tuckers Law

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33738 on: November 18, 2019, 06:08:30 PM »
Still playing Days Gone and having fun despite its faults.  I gotta say, the devs did not skimp on effort when it comes to character asses in this game.



:phil

bluemax

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33739 on: November 18, 2019, 11:10:07 PM »
Pokemon Shield

It's fun. It's Pokemon.  The rabid fanbase always overreacts.

Yeh lets ignore legitimate complaints and the fact that it looks like an upressed 3ds game under the umbrella of "rabid fanbase"

Let's get stupid angry at Nintendo's annual sports franchise and the fact that it only improves incrementally just like all of EA and 2ks annual sports franchises.
NO

paprikastaude

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33740 on: November 18, 2019, 11:21:03 PM »
Similar to Diablo mobile reactions, no matter how overblown and funny, anything's better than corporate apologists.

Rufus

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33741 on: November 19, 2019, 04:20:58 AM »
What is this artstyle called? It is one of my favourite artstyles in gaming and surprisingly it is only found in Indie games like: The Witness, Inside, Brothers: Two Sons etc. Does it have a name?
Flat shaded, low-poly, pastel something-or-other? Dunno if there's an accepted name. It looks cool, especially with realistic lighting, but the practical advantages are probably the main driver of this trend.

---

I've been playing Bethesda's Far Cry knock-off, Rage 2.
- It's not nearly as 'wacky' as its trailers would have us believe.
- Frametimes are rock solid, but nonetheless, camera motion appears to stutter. It's most apparent when you move while fixed on a target. It's as though mouse sensitivity is much too high. I tried adjusting it down, but that didn't help. It's not the motion blur, either. Confounding.
- Shooting feels good, not least because of how dramatically the enemies' react. They stumble and fall over and armour flies off in pieces. Rage was good about that as well.
- Combining alternate fire modes with ADS is just clever. Buckshot while hip-firing, slugs while aiming down the sights? Clever. Don't know of another game having done it this way.
- Why are levels and perks not on the same screen? Levels on the left-hand side, perk trees on the right; the way Titan Quest did it. And why can I increase weapon levels on the weapon mod screen, but not skill levels on the skill perk screen? It's like two differnet people designed this.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2019, 05:30:02 AM by Rufus »

tiesto

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33742 on: November 19, 2019, 07:19:31 AM »
I'm up to the final boss of Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon but I'm going back and getting all the gems before I take him on and beat the game. I haven't had too much time to play games lately so I haven't started anything new, tbh. Just finishing shit up that I've been playing since the summer.
^_^

Don Rumata

  • Hard To Be A John
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33743 on: November 19, 2019, 11:44:59 AM »
What is this artstyle called? It is one of my favourite artstyles in gaming and surprisingly it is only found in Indie games like: The Witness, Inside, Brothers: Two Sons etc. Does it have a name?
Flat shaded, low-poly, pastel something-or-other? Dunno if there's an accepted name. It looks cool, especially with realistic lighting, but the practical advantages are probably the main driver of this trend.

---

I've been playing Bethesda's Far Cry knock-off, Rage 2.
- It's not nearly as 'wacky' as its trailers would have us believe.
- Frametimes are rock solid, but nonetheless, camera motion appears to stutter. It's most apparent when you move while fixed on a target. It's as though mouse sensitivity is much too high. I tried adjusting it down, but that didn't help. It's not the motion blur, either. Confounding.
- Shooting feels good, not least because of how dramatically the enemies' react. They stumble and fall over and armour flies off in pieces. Rage was good about that as well.
- Combining alternate fire modes with ADS is just clever. Buckshot while hip-firing, slugs while aiming down the sights? Clever. Don't know of another game having done it this way.
- Why are levels and perks not on the same screen? Levels on the left-hand side, perk trees on the right; the way Titan Quest did it. And why can I increase weapon levels on the weapon mod screen, but not skill levels on the skill perk screen? It's like two differnet people designed this.
Dunno if it's the same issue, but i'm trying this too, and there's some where stutter that makes it almost unplayable for me, driving around especially is comical.
It basically looks like it slows down and speeds up over and over, not fluid at all (and does so in cutscenes, too).

I forgot to try in windowed mode, but even at super low res, it doesn't get any better, so i doubt it's got to do with raw performance.

EDIT: Also stutters in windowed mode.
Anyway, uninstalled, i have no patience for this bullshit, since it seems to be a common and un-fixed problem, plus the game seemed fairly mediocre to me.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2019, 12:17:21 PM by Don Rumata »

I'm a Puppy!

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33744 on: November 19, 2019, 02:05:03 PM »
Currently on Dragon Quest builders 2 the first one was the first game I ever platinumed (I'm not really into that stuff) so obviously I loved it. This took all that and made it so much better.  I'm only on the first chapter but I'm already enjoying it way more than I did the first one.
que

Great Rumbler

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33745 on: November 19, 2019, 03:35:35 PM »
What is this artstyle called? It is one of my favourite artstyles in gaming and surprisingly it is only found in Indie games like: The Witness, Inside, Brothers: Two Sons etc. Does it have a name?
Flat shaded, low-poly, pastel something-or-other? Dunno if there's an accepted name. It looks cool, especially with realistic lighting, but the practical advantages are probably the main driver of this trend.

---

I've been playing Bethesda's Far Cry knock-off, Rage 2.
- It's not nearly as 'wacky' as its trailers would have us believe.
- Frametimes are rock solid, but nonetheless, camera motion appears to stutter. It's most apparent when you move while fixed on a target. It's as though mouse sensitivity is much too high. I tried adjusting it down, but that didn't help. It's not the motion blur, either. Confounding.
- Shooting feels good, not least because of how dramatically the enemies' react. They stumble and fall over and armour flies off in pieces. Rage was good about that as well.
- Combining alternate fire modes with ADS is just clever. Buckshot while hip-firing, slugs while aiming down the sights? Clever. Don't know of another game having done it this way.
- Why are levels and perks not on the same screen? Levels on the left-hand side, perk trees on the right; the way Titan Quest did it. And why can I increase weapon levels on the weapon mod screen, but not skill levels on the skill perk screen? It's like two differnet people designed this.
Dunno if it's the same issue, but i'm trying this too, and there's some where stutter that makes it almost unplayable for me, driving around especially is comical.
It basically looks like it slows down and speeds up over and over, not fluid at all (and does so in cutscenes, too).

I forgot to try in windowed mode, but even at super low res, it doesn't get any better, so i doubt it's got to do with raw performance.

EDIT: Also stutters in windowed mode.
Anyway, uninstalled, i have no patience for this bullshit, since it seems to be a common and un-fixed problem, plus the game seemed fairly mediocre to me.

Hmm...man, I don't remember that at all. That sucks.
dog

Freyj

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33746 on: November 19, 2019, 05:22:30 PM »
RE: the Ashen lamp requiring a hand I loved how Outward handled this with the backpack system: having your backpack equipped slows your roll to the point where you're likely to get hit trying to dodge attacks but your light source attaches to the backpack so as long as you don't need to roll you can keep your light source OR you can use a single button to drop / equip your backpack on the ground which creates a static source of light for fighting but if you die you need to go retrieve your backpack.

The backpacks are hand placed items similar to any Gothic style game as well with different stats, lights, etc.

Outward is janky as fuck and it's hard to call it a Souls-like because it only has a few similarities in its combat but I love it.

Don Rumata

  • Hard To Be A John
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33747 on: November 20, 2019, 01:29:24 AM »
What is this artstyle called? It is one of my favourite artstyles in gaming and surprisingly it is only found in Indie games like: The Witness, Inside, Brothers: Two Sons etc. Does it have a name?
Flat shaded, low-poly, pastel something-or-other? Dunno if there's an accepted name. It looks cool, especially with realistic lighting, but the practical advantages are probably the main driver of this trend.

---

I've been playing Bethesda's Far Cry knock-off, Rage 2.
- It's not nearly as 'wacky' as its trailers would have us believe.
- Frametimes are rock solid, but nonetheless, camera motion appears to stutter. It's most apparent when you move while fixed on a target. It's as though mouse sensitivity is much too high. I tried adjusting it down, but that didn't help. It's not the motion blur, either. Confounding.
- Shooting feels good, not least because of how dramatically the enemies' react. They stumble and fall over and armour flies off in pieces. Rage was good about that as well.
- Combining alternate fire modes with ADS is just clever. Buckshot while hip-firing, slugs while aiming down the sights? Clever. Don't know of another game having done it this way.
- Why are levels and perks not on the same screen? Levels on the left-hand side, perk trees on the right; the way Titan Quest did it. And why can I increase weapon levels on the weapon mod screen, but not skill levels on the skill perk screen? It's like two differnet people designed this.
Dunno if it's the same issue, but i'm trying this too, and there's some where stutter that makes it almost unplayable for me, driving around especially is comical.
It basically looks like it slows down and speeds up over and over, not fluid at all (and does so in cutscenes, too).

I forgot to try in windowed mode, but even at super low res, it doesn't get any better, so i doubt it's got to do with raw performance.

EDIT: Also stutters in windowed mode.
Anyway, uninstalled, i have no patience for this bullshit, since it seems to be a common and un-fixed problem, plus the game seemed fairly mediocre to me.

Hmm...man, I don't remember that at all. That sucks.
I already knew i wasn't gonna play it before i installed it, if we're being honest, but actually the shooting felt rather fun (stuttering aside), though the driving was worse than in MadMax, and the writing already annoyed me in the first few beats.

Maybe i should just go ahead and give DOOM 2016 a try,  :lol.

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33748 on: November 20, 2019, 08:38:57 AM »
What's with jRPGs and marketing collaborations with food companies ?!?!?

Remember the Cup Noodles FF15 collaboration?

Well Code Vein had another one planned this time for Domino's! People have datamined the character lines when you gift them (?) some Domino's pizza:

Quote
yakumo_talk_collabo01_01_0020,"Alright, it's here! Been looking forward to this. Especially that crust... Fluffy, chewy... perfect."
louis_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"They must have experimented with a lot of different flavors before they settled on these..."
jack_talk_collabo01_01_0020,"The flavor, the thickness of the crust, even the way the sauce was spread..."
louis_talk_collabo01_01_0040,"What we have now is the result of a lot of hard work and care. We should enjoy it."
murasame_talk_collabo01_01_0040,"It doesn't always turn out that great, but it's a good way to discover new flavors, so I'm gonna keep trying!"
yakumo_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"Go on, grab a slice. Dig in while it's still piping hot!"
mia_talk_collabo01_01_0040,"Oof. All this talking is making me hungry... Let's dig in, shall we?"
coco_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"Amazing... And they still manage to turn a profit. That's quite a business."
coco_talk_collabo01_01_0040,I wonder if they have a book I can study.
davis_talk_collabo01_01_0050,"If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. One bite is sure to convince you."
louis_talk_collabo01_01_0020,"We've got pizza? I'm always surprised by how many options they have at this place. "
eva_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"They're the perfect size for eating on your own, and easy to pack up and travel with too."
jack_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"You can see the soul of an uncompromising artisan in this pizza.",
davis_talk_collabo01_01_0040,"I suggest trying the phyllo crust. Biting through all those layers is really satisfying."
davis_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"Pizza really depends on the crust. The type you choose changes it entirely."
eva_talk_collabo01_01_0040,"They might be good to take on explorations. I just hope the aroma doesn't draw the Lost like it does me."
io_talk_collabo01_01_0040,Let's hurry up and eat while it's hot.
io_talk_collabo01_01_0030,"My stomach is growling... I cannot hold back."
io_talk_collabo01_01_0020,"That aroma... I've never smelled anything so tasty. This world is full of surprises."

Disgusting :yuck Product placement in a Soulslike... what in the world?!? I wonder if other japanese games follow shitty marketing deals i.e. does Death Stranding has it?

Breh, half the game is Norman Reedus pounding Monster a Energy drink.

Your canteen has monster Energy in it even.

I think there are frame arms and Smart Dolls as collectibles too.

demi

  • cooler than willco
  • Administrator
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33749 on: November 20, 2019, 08:39:09 AM »
I wonder if other japanese games follow shitty marketing deals i.e. does Death Stranding has it?

Have you followed [any] news on Death Stranding? LOL

The game has cameos from celebrities (Conan o Brien), journalists (Geoff Keighley), magazine outlets (Famitsu) and one of the mechanics of the game involves stamina. How do you get more stamina? By drinking MONSTER ENERGY DRINK (tm)

https://www.polygon.com/2019/11/14/20955496/death-stranding-monster-energy-product-placement-kojima
fat

Great Rumbler

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33750 on: November 20, 2019, 08:42:44 AM »
Maybe i should just go ahead and give DOOM 2016 a try,  :lol.

DOOM 2016 is actually great, no qualifiers needed.
dog

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33751 on: November 20, 2019, 08:47:48 AM »
I wonder if other japanese games follow shitty marketing deals i.e. does Death Stranding has it?

Have you followed [any] news on Death Stranding? LOL

The game has cameos from celebrities (Conan o Brien), journalists (Geoff Keighley), magazine outlets (Famitsu) and one of the mechanics of the game involves stamina. How do you get more stamina? By drinking MONSTER ENERGY DRINK (tm)

https://www.polygon.com/2019/11/14/20955496/death-stranding-monster-energy-product-placement-kojima

I feel like the monster energy thing was last minute though, it really just seems to be the cans in the room and the text on the menu. But when he’s thirsty he talks about needing to drink some water.

eleuin

  • perennial loser
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33752 on: November 21, 2019, 07:46:09 PM »
Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Knowing nothing about the setting coming in this was short & sweet. Writing was really good, ended up reading all the extra shit I could find. On normal it wasn't very challenging though I did run into problems twice that wouldn't have been if I knew you could reload and use medkits outside of combat earlier :lol Also some bugs that required closing the program and restarting. Don't know when or if I'll ever get around to Returns & Hong Kong, I'm pretty satisfied with the setting already.

kingv

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33753 on: November 21, 2019, 08:27:00 PM »
Yeah, I thought Dragonfall was pretty lit too.

Great Rumbler

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33754 on: November 21, 2019, 08:35:07 PM »
Dragonfall was my favorite of the three, though Hong Kong was still pretty good. Returns felt a bit flat overall, not great but not terrible.
dog

benjipwns

  • your bright ideas always burn me
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33755 on: November 21, 2019, 11:04:23 PM »
I feel like the monster energy thing was last minute though, it really just seems to be the cans in the room and the text on the menu. But when he’s thirsty he talks about needing to drink some water.
I think Kojima actually legitimately likes energy drinks.

benjipwns

  • your bright ideas always burn me
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33756 on: November 21, 2019, 11:05:52 PM »
lol searching for that I found this masterpiece:
Death Stranding’s product placement is an act of vandalism

...

This is a caffeine-spiked energy drink manufactured since 2002 by Monster Beverage, a marketing-led company with a somewhat unsavory history of trademark bullying and employee sexual harassment. The company’s main target audience is young men.

...

I contacted Sony and Monster Beverage to ask about the terms of the deal, but only received replies that they’d look into into it. Nothing came back. As best I can tell, this was an arrangement undertaken in Japan. At Tokyo Game Show in September, Monster Energy hosted a large, garish booth where Death Stranding was showcased. Co-branded goodies like t-shirts were given away as contest prizes. In the past, Monster Energy has allied itself at TGS with big game brands like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty.

With its ever-present triple-claw branding, Monster Energy, is is not some culturally niche product. Monster Beverage has a market capitalization value of around $30 billion. In 2018, the company reported annual revenues of $3.8 billion.

The company is also no stranger to controversy. In 2018, Huffington Post posted a story about how five women were suing Monster Beverage for sexual harassment by senior executives. In the face of calls for a boycott, one of the accused execs, John Kenneally resigned soon after the report. Another, Brent Hamilton, was fired by the company earlier this year. He is still awaiting trial for allegedly strangling a former girlfriend, who worked as a contractor for Monster Beverages. Another manager named in the lawsuit, Phillip Deitrich, is still at the company, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Monster Beverage is notoriously litigious regarding its trademarks. In the last decade, it has filed multiple cease-and-desist orders and lawsuits against small companies that use the word “monster” in their own branding. These include companies that sell books, cakes, trucks, and even aquariums.

In 2017, the company sued a small soda company called Thunder Beast, which makes root beer. Its lawsuit argued that the word “beast” infringed on its own slogan. (As seen on the cans in Death Stranding, Monster uses the slogan “Unleash the Beast.”). Thunder Beast founder Stephen Norberg told The Washingtonian: “I did some research and found out [Monster] is a corporate bully when it comes to small businesses and trademarks, so I hired an attorney who had dealt with them before. For a long time we did this dance where they would suggest fairly ridiculous terms. For example, they wanted me to agree that we would never use the color green again in any capacity.” The legal battle remains unresolved.

Monster Beverage has also faced negative publicity surrounding lawsuits about the health risks associated with heavily caffeinated drinks. Litigants claimed the drinks were responsible for “heart attacks, stroke, and renal failure.” Many of the suits were dropped or beaten in court, but media scrutiny on energy drinks has intensified.

Polygon contacted Sony Interactive Entertainment to ask about its choice of sponsorship partner, but had not received a reply at press time.

...

Even so, the partnership with Monster Energy looks like a grotesque commercial imposition on an otherwise beautifully crafted game, seemingly motivated more by profit than by aesthetic considerations.

Svejk

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33757 on: November 22, 2019, 08:32:59 AM »
It sucks because Monster tastes like ass compared to RedBull. ..... Actually, I haven't had an energy drink in over 10 years... I'm willing to bet they ALL taste like ass to me now.  :doge

Trent Dole

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33758 on: November 22, 2019, 09:45:28 AM »
Taste isn't the point of energy drinks. :doge That said there's some decent ones out there nowadays.
Hi

Great Rumbler

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33759 on: November 22, 2019, 09:51:37 AM »
Monster Ultra Red :jeb
dog

Freyj

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33760 on: November 22, 2019, 12:12:40 PM »
Dragonfall was my favorite of the three, though Hong Kong was still pretty good. Returns felt a bit flat overall, not great but not terrible.

I still need to play Hong Kong but as ambitious as the combat is in the Divinity: Original Sin games I think I preferred the combat in the Shadowrun reboots. Great, succinct 20h games.

TVC15

  • Laugh when you can, it’s cheap medicine -LB
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33761 on: November 22, 2019, 01:31:50 PM »
I wonder if other japanese games follow shitty marketing deals i.e. does Death Stranding has it?

Have you followed [any] news on Death Stranding? LOL

The game has cameos from celebrities (Conan o Brien), journalists (Geoff Keighley), magazine outlets (Famitsu) and one of the mechanics of the game involves stamina. How do you get more stamina? By drinking MONSTER ENERGY DRINK (tm)

https://www.polygon.com/2019/11/14/20955496/death-stranding-monster-energy-product-placement-kojima

I feel like the monster energy thing was last minute though, it really just seems to be the cans in the room and the text on the menu. But when he’s thirsty he talks about needing to drink some water.

You really think gaming's Kanye would let Monster Energy fuck with his game's mechanics at the last minute? The game encourages you to pound at least 3 Monsters every time you stop by your room. And your canteen is filled with it. And while the whole game looks great, those Monster cans are the most lovingly crafted objects in the game. I was holding a can up to the screen and you can barely tell the difference, even in how it reacts to light.
serge

Nintex

  • Finish the Fight
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33762 on: November 22, 2019, 02:07:58 PM »
Hideo was right about our future in MGS2 so I guess we'd better stock up on energy drinks and delivery boxes.  :doge
🤴

bluemax

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33763 on: November 23, 2019, 12:30:35 AM »
Currently on Dragon Quest builders 2 the first one was the first game I ever platinumed (I'm not really into that stuff) so obviously I loved it. This took all that and made it so much better.  I'm only on the first chapter but I'm already enjoying it way more than I did the first one.

I enjoyed DQB2 even more than the first one, finished it awhile back on Switch and was quite happy with it.
NO

tiesto

  • ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33764 on: November 23, 2019, 10:20:58 AM »
I was playing Ninja Warriors Once Again - I like how you get continues but from a checkpoint, not from where you die, so it feels like a bit of a challenge but not excessively so. But anyways, that final boss is bullshit. I'm stuck there and my Switch is in a save state. Ugh. Want to beat this so I can unlock :rock DADDY MULK :rock

Also played some Cave games on the 360 - Muchi Muchi Pork and Guwange.
^_^

Freyj

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33765 on: November 23, 2019, 01:29:13 PM »
Currently on Dragon Quest builders 2 the first one was the first game I ever platinumed (I'm not really into that stuff) so obviously I loved it. This took all that and made it so much better.  I'm only on the first chapter but I'm already enjoying it way more than I did the first one.

I enjoyed DQB2 even more than the first one, finished it awhile back on Switch and was quite happy with it.

I really love the idea of DQB but the hand holding from start to finish in 1/2 is just so obnoxious it ruins the experience for me. If DQB3 ever happens it has to have an option for making the flow of the story content less linear or I’m going no where near it. Incredible concept, horrific execution.

Rufus

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33766 on: November 23, 2019, 03:08:07 PM »
I was hooked enough to finish Rage 2. In the end, it felt more like a traditional shooter stretched to fill an open world map, rather than an open world shooter, if that makes any sense. Ubisoft map clear, but watered down.
The key reason for this is that the only activity that actually makes use of its open world are the convoys. There are races, yes, but they don't happen on the regular roads (which they should) and are regular circuit races, not combat races (which they probably should be). Outside of that, all that sprawling terrain doesn't matter, ever. It's just scenery. It's open world because that's what sells and is easily extended with new content.

Combat feels excellent though and can be varied and challenging (on hard, at least). It depends on what tools you have* and if you can (be bothered to) use them creatively.
Just don't expect anything at all from the writing or plot. "7/10", "for fans of the genre", etc.

*You have to grind reputation with a trio of key people, the third of which is best served by finding Arks (which hold powers and weapons). If you do the other two first, like I did, you'll have met his requirement long before you even talk to the guy by finding Ark chests in bandit camps, dead rangers, spy drones, etc., so technically, I could have avoided all Arks and thus all ark powers and weapons beyond the ones the game forces on you. It's very odd. I'd expect an action game to give me all the toys, but I suppose they're counting on completionist urges. Strange decision.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2019, 03:18:23 PM by Rufus »

Don Rumata

  • Hard To Be A John
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33767 on: November 24, 2019, 02:26:01 AM »
Ashen looks sweet, i would've played it, if it was just regular coop, and not that Dark Souls summon and hope it's your buddy shit.
-
I'm playing through Control atm.
It's a fantastic game for the most part, the /scp/ type stuff is probably my favorite shit to read about in a game, and loving Twin Peaks, Beyond the Black Rainbow and all that nonsense, it's really up my alley, and it looks gorgeous, even on moderate settings.
The only real issue i have, is with the bosses, about 50% of them look kind of lame, and the difficulty spike is sort of hard to pin down; sometimes i die without even realizing wtf hit me, then in the next attempt i just steamroll them, but again, not really understanding why.
Difficulty in general seems a bit all over the place without a really smooth and satisfying progression, but it's still fun, and at least you have to pay some attention.
And that levitation power, and that smooth telekinesis (for once, in a game), and that destructibility.  :whoo

The metroidvania respawn system is shit though: Go run through this completely empty area again, to take another shot at the boss, instead of just restarting the encounter! At least Dark Souls respawns the enemies, so it kind of make sense, but here it's just empty rooms wasting your time.

Lovely game. RE2 is still my GOTY, but this could be a close second along Division 2.

HardcoreRetro

  • Punk Mushi no Onna
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33768 on: November 24, 2019, 04:02:37 AM »
Ashen looks sweet, i would've played it, if it was just regular coop, and not that Dark Souls summon and hope it's your buddy shit.

You can set a multiplayer filter code.

Chooky

  • Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33769 on: November 24, 2019, 02:18:56 PM »
welp, finally beat mgsv and fucking L O L at how it ended. game is just going like normal, doing some random tasks, then "hey here's a cutscene with showing the predictable twist, aaaand ROLL CREDITS THE END. no final boss, no buildup, just goodbye thanks for playing wtffff

and then the cut content that's on the making of disc - i had always assumed it'd show some storyboards from a cut boss battle or something, but nope! you get illustrations showing what would have been the final level, detailed voice acting setting it up and providing flavor dialog, and then (mostly) whole cutscenes before and after what would have been the final boss. like they straight up cut out the entire final level and put nothing in it's place. i'm dumbstruck at the audacity of the whole thing.


ANYWAYS, the game itself was alright. reminded me a lot of how i felt about mgs2, in that i enjoyed the basic gameplay systems but found most everything else lacking. shooting and sneaking was a lot of fun but there was nothing else to bolster it and it got real samey real fast. it did rekindle however rekindle my long lost interest in the series and i want to go back and play some of the old games, especially the spinoffs like ghost babel and acid. they hardly get any attention from so-called fans anymore.

Chooky

  • Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33770 on: November 24, 2019, 03:48:35 PM »
yeeeeahhhh i think that might be a little much. similar to the complaints about FFXV, i think calling it a ripoff is a huge exaggeration and unfair to the team that clearly did put a ton of work into the product. we did get a huge game with a fuckton of content, far more than any other game in the series. just because one aspect - the narrative - was unsatisfying doesn't discredit the rest of the game. i overall enjoyed my time with it but it's clear it coulda been better if they had more time.

bluemax

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33771 on: November 24, 2019, 04:25:44 PM »
If anyone is looking for a challenging, but rewarding, older style JRPG I totally recommend Romancing SaGa 3. The translation seems to be very well done, and the game has the kind of graphical treatment that Final Fantasy fans wish Square had given FF5 and FF6. It's very not hand holdy. Basically you pick a main character, play through their intro and then... you wander the world figuring out where to do. It rewards you for doing something most of us probably don't do in  JRPGs anymore, talk to NPCs. There are a couple of quests you have to find and do to beat the game, but the ending you get varies based on what other quests you do. There's tons of characters you can get to your party, and various different ways to develop them, so every playthrough can be different.

It is however... very obtuse. So if you don't like feeling stuck/lost/confused its probably not the best game for you. Overall I find it a lot less difficult than RS2.
NO

Rufus

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  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33772 on: November 24, 2019, 04:44:58 PM »
I've always heard that they punish grinding somehow. Is it a warranted concern if you explore for treasure ('natural' grinding, if you can't avoid combat)? And what actually happens? Can you screw yourself?

MMaRsu

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  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33773 on: November 25, 2019, 09:33:12 AM »
U got me interested in Ashen but just realized its not on Steam

Ill just pirate it then
What

I'm a Puppy!

  • Knows the muffin man.
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33774 on: November 25, 2019, 01:15:54 PM »
Kid bought Katana Zero and finally bugged me enough to have me try it out. I really like it. It's a nice little game. I'm usually a hater of "trial and error" game play but this game makes me feel like a bad ass

My middle son has been trying out Fallen Order (lent to us from a friend). He says he likes it. But let's really take a good look at this:
- He's played a few hours of Fallen Order . Feels there's too much walking and blah. Insists he likes it though
- I come back after a while and he's put Fallen Order back in the box and popped in Dragon's Dogma :Dark Arisen and started a new game

So really how good can Fallen Order be?
que

Great Rumbler

  • Dab on the sinners
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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33775 on: November 25, 2019, 01:20:58 PM »
- I come back after a while and he's put Fallen Order back in the box and popped in Dragon's Dogma :Dark Arisen and started a new game

:jeb
dog

I'm a Puppy!

  • Knows the muffin man.
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33776 on: November 25, 2019, 02:02:04 PM »
- I come back after a while and he's put Fallen Order back in the box and popped in Dragon's Dogma :Dark Arisen and started a new game

:jeb
Indeed. Kid's got taste.
que

Svejk

  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33777 on: November 25, 2019, 02:18:32 PM »
I mean... Dragon's Dogma shits astronomical heights above quite allot. 

Don Rumata

  • Hard To Be A John
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33778 on: November 25, 2019, 03:40:36 PM »
I mean... Dragon's Dogma shits astronomical heights above quite allot.
True, but:
Quote
Feels there's too much walking
and he likes DD? :doge

I'm a Puppy!

  • Knows the muffin man.
  • Senior Member
Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #33779 on: November 25, 2019, 04:24:19 PM »
I mean... Dragon's Dogma shits astronomical heights above quite allot.
True, but:
Quote
Feels there's too much walking
and he likes DD? :doge
He felt that there's just a lot of walking without much exciting happening in Fallen Order.
There's a metric shitton of walking in DD, but it can be exciting with Chimeras and Drakes and cyclopes, etc just on the road.
Besides, if you're ever bored you can learn that wolves hunt in packs.
que