The Backlog Check-in Vol. 3: 1/20/18: Monster Hunter World Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Sword Coast Legends

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Sword Coast Legends

I decided to play Sword Coast Legends, it's an isometric view fantasy WRPG that takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Being a digital only release I was expecting something lower budget than what it is, but it seems like a retail released game. Not a AAA one mind you, but definitely something that should have been released physically to retail.

I haven't played a ton of it yet, but enough to get a general idea of what it has to offer. The story and characters have been decent so far, the graphics look good previous gen quality and the combat is stat based where hits, blocks and dodges are determined by stats. You move around the game world real time, but the combat is automatic once you press the attack button. You can also use special attacks by pressing the buttons that they're assigned to, and select items from a popup wheel.

It's quest based with main and side quests, but so far it seems like a dungeon crawler which most of these types of isometric view WRPGs tend to be. I've been enjoying my time with it because it's an old school style WRPG with light exploration and lots of loot, but the dungeons are really long making the gameplay a little repetitive. But there's events that happen while playing that keep things kind of interesting.

While it's somewhat middle of the road, I'm still enjoying it enough to keep playing it for now.

Monster Hunter World comes out next week.

[canedaddy]

Wow, that's coming out already? Man. I remember wishing for an honest-to-goodness console MH for years, and now that it's here I'm like "eh, maybe when it's cheap."

Played this week: Horizon Zero Dawn, Summon Night 5

Finished this week: nothing

Added to backlog this week: nothing

Current backlog: 36 (11 Vita, 11 PS4, 7 PS2, 5 3DS, 2 PS3)

No changes here... still loving Horizon and liking SN5, with a long way to go in both.

izzy, glad you finally found your way here. I was going to hit you up in PSN if it took much longer.

[argyle]

Games added: Enter the Gungeon, Escape Goat 2

Last week: Finished Fallout 4 (main quest + Automatron and Nuka World expansions) and Assassin's Creed: Origins. Played a little bit of both Enter the Gungeon & Escape Goat 2.

This week: ???. Leaning towards Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth since a friend of mine has been pushing me to play through that for over a year now.

My final time in Fallout 4, counting the time I put into it when it first came out as well as what I played of it since picking it back up just before Christmas was over 240 hours. Game is amazing. And if anyone has played the main game but not Nuka World, you really need to. It's a massive expansion, and very fun.

I fully expect Assassin's Creed: Origins to be on my list this year. Fantastic reboot to the series. Best looking game I've played (yes, it looks better than Horizon IMO - it's more consistent). Very fun from beginning to end, and I'm gonna take back what I said early on - this game could easily appeal to someone who wasn't previously a fan of the series. Game feels like they took a lot of notes from other games, Witcher 3 in particular. The world is massive, to the point that I didn't even uncover all the areas in my playthrough let alone do everything in the ones I did uncover. Feels very much like an action RPG. And the story is phenomenal - the relationship between Bayek (the main character) and his wife Anya is very well done and feels believable. The way the beginning of the Assassins is shown is very cool as well. Just everything about this game is AAA and comes highly recommended. Oh, and you only have to leave the animus 4 times, and they are all super short. The sci fi elements of the story are played way, way down. Oh, and I usually hate desert environments in games, but I'll say that Egypt was easily the most fun environment they've done. That should say a lot about how well it's done.

[canedaddy]

My final time in Fallout 4, counting the time I put into it when it first came out as well as what I played of it since picking it back up just before Christmas was over 240 hours. Game is amazing. And if anyone has played the main game but not Nuka World, you really need to. It's a massive expansion, and very fun.

I loved the main game... never got to the expansions. At this point I'll just wait for the GOTY version to get cheap.

[Phaseknox]

Wow, that's coming out already? Man. I remember wishing for an honest-to-goodness console MH for years, and now that it's here I'm like "eh, maybe when it's cheap."

I've heard good things about the Monster Hunter games, but the idea of hunting monsters never really appealed to me all that much. However, I'm curious enough to where I might check out Monster Hunter World when it's cheap.

Leaning towards Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth since a friend of mine has been pushing me to play through that for over a year now.

I remember you telling me that it's really good, so I picked it up. I didn't know that you didn't finish it. There's a new game in the series called Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory, but I don't know how it compares to the first game. There's also Digimon World: Next Order, have you played it?

My final time in Fallout 4, counting the time I put into it when it first came out as well as what I played of it since picking it back up just before Christmas was over 240 hours. Game is amazing. And if anyone has played the main game but not Nuka World, you really need to. It's a massive expansion, and very fun.

I've attempted to play the vanilla game twice now (getting further the second time playing it), but it felt so similar to Fallout 3 and New Vegas to me that I decided to stop to play something else that I thought might feel like a fresher experience. However, I liked what I played of it and definitely plan on going back and playing it all the way through. But knowing that the GOTY version has improved graphics and all of the DLC, I'll probably get it when it's cheap.

I fully expect Assassin's Creed: Origins to be on my list this year.

Where would it have placed on your list last year had you finished it before the end of the year? I'm just curious.

Fantastic reboot to the series. Best looking game I've played (yes, it looks better than Horizon IMO - it's more consistent). Very fun from beginning to end, and I'm gonna take back what I said early on - this game could easily appeal to someone who wasn't previously a fan of the series. Game feels like they took a lot of notes from other games, Witcher 3 in particular. The world is massive, to the point that I didn't even uncover all the areas in my playthrough let alone do everything in the ones I did uncover. Feels very much like an action RPG. And the story is phenomenal - the relationship between Bayek (the main character) and his wife Anya is very well done and feels believable. The way the beginning of the Assassins is shown is very cool as well. Just everything about this game is AAA and comes highly recommended.

I had no idea the game was that good, I just thought that it was Assassin's Creed in Egypt with some RPG elements. Now I'm really looking forward to playing it.

[argyle]

My final time in Fallout 4, counting the time I put into it when it first came out as well as what I played of it since picking it back up just before Christmas was over 240 hours. Game is amazing. And if anyone has played the main game but not Nuka World, you really need to. It's a massive expansion, and very fun.

I loved the main game... never got to the expansions. At this point I'll just wait for the GOTY version to get cheap.

Just be aware that 9 times out of 10, the save from the vanilla version won't carry over to the GOTY version so you'd be starting over.

I remember you telling me that it's really good, so I picked it up. I didn't know that you didn't finish it. There's a new game in the series called Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory, but I don't know how it compares to the first game. There's also Digimon World: Next Order, have you played it?

Nope, never finished. Popped it back in last night & played some more then and this morning. Took a little to get back up to speed, but I'm enjoying it again and plan on sticking with it this time. Same friend told me Digimon World is horrible - different style of game. He's playing the new Cyber Sleuth now, but I haven't asked him what he thinks of it yet.

But knowing that the GOTY version has improved graphics and all of the DLC, I'll probably get it when it's cheap.

Improved graphics? I mean, I'm sure it has whatever patches they had released for the vanilla game and some of that may have smoothed out graphics a little, but nothing beyond that was changed.

I fully expect Assassin's Creed: Origins to be on my list this year.

Where would it have placed on your list last year had you finished it before the end of the year? I'm just curious.

Hard to say, I like for a little time to pass so I can get a good feel for how the game fits around others that I've played. It probably would have made the top 5 tho.


EDIT: BTW Phase, been meaning to say - I love your Klayton avatar.

[jfissel]

Finished: God of War: Ascension (PLATINUM #50! ), Inside

Now Playing: Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Added to Backlog: Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Current Backlog: 30 games

Beat God of War: Ascension last weekend and then also beat the short, but interesting, Inside. There was a lot of running to the side (mainly right), some fun puzzles, and a weird story that still has me wondering "ummm, ok?"

I bought Octodad since it was in the flash sale for like $3. I remember playing the demo at a PS4 kiosk somewhere way back when and laughing at the controls and crazy gameplay. Trying to get a few shorter games in before Shadow of the Colossus hits in 2 weeks.

[Phaseknox]

Popped it back in last night & played some more then and this morning. Took a little to get back up to speed, but I'm enjoying it again and plan on sticking with it this time.

I've been thinking of starting it, because I've been in the mood for a JRPG.

Same friend told me Digimon World is horrible - different style of game.

In that case, I won't even bother with it.

He's playing the new Cyber Sleuth now, but I haven't asked him what he thinks of it yet.

I'm curious how he feels that it compares to the previous game. Better, worse, or about the same.

Improved graphics? I mean, I'm sure it has whatever patches they had released for the vanilla game and some of that may have smoothed out graphics a little, but nothing beyond that was changed.

When I played it again the second time it had a new patch which I think included the improved graphics of the GOTY edition, because I thought that they looked sharper. Therefore, I can just buy the Nuka-World expansion.

BTW Phase, been meaning to say - I love your Klayton avatar.

Thanks. And you were right, the new Circle of Dust album ROCKS!!!!

[isthatallyougot]

izzy, glad you finally found your way here. I was going to hit you up in PSN if it took much longer.

I truly thought this board was finally buried. I guess I checked again out of morbid curiosity. Anyway, glad we're still wheezing.

I'm not sure what I'm going to play now. I dabbled in Terraria as something to do with family, and I may enjoy it myself, we'll see. I've also played and beaten a boss in Mega Man 9, but that old school punk is really tough, although I appreciate the precision.

Finishing ICO again for the first time since release was an absolute joy though. It's hard to believe so much time has passed.

[Phaseknox]

I stopped playing Sword Coast Legends, I put some good time into it and was finding the experience to be rather average. It's not bad, it's just not really good either. It's primarily a dungeon crawler, and a lot of the dungeons are overly big and mazelike. Then they started to introduce obscure puzzles that dragged down the dungeon crawling even more. The combat isn't very interactive, and pretty dull for the most part. The core game is repetitive, and despite having some decent quests I just wasn't having much fun playing it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to play now.