really confusing, when you keep saying AC I think this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmpS4q-_hSg

not Assassins Creed.

Just got back from a few days out of town.  Bought Ghost of Tsushima online while I was away and clicked the button to Download to PS4 - haven't checked yet but assuming that process worked successfully I shall be playing it shortly since my wife is out until late tonight :) 

@gehenna so how is it?

I got a really nice surprise this morning. I finished the 2013 Tomb Raider, a game I mostly really enjoyed. I didn't get all the side collectibles, I've never enjoyed that part of that series of games, unless it was directly used to upgrade. I was trying to decide to buy the sequel which is very highly rated, despite having many other games half finished, and checked the price online to find it was $55, but FREE with my PS4 plus membership. It's downloading now, and I now have a plan for my day.

Could go in the thread for something small that really made me smile. I must say the value of these memberships have really added up. I think I am up around $200 for my PS4 one, and well over $500 for my Xbox one.

So - Ghost of Tsushima!

Borrows gameplay from all the usual "open world" suspects and doesn't have too much originality in the core gameplay loop.

...but - it does it *really* well and the production values are so sky-high that I am completely immersed in the thing and enjoying it far, far more than any of the AC games from which it so clearly apes.

I much prefer the older AC/Batman style of combat that Tsushima builds upon - more rhythmic than RPGish - and it suits the setting well.

The landscape, the lighting, the style and the voice acting (set to Japanese obviously) really elevate the experience.

Surprisingly, I find myself favouring the "Samurai" style of in-your-face fighting more so than the Sneaky Assassin which I usually fall back on.

Now, is it enough to keep me playing to the end? Not sure - I often tire of games like this well before the finish, but so far things are promising.

Turns out that driving the real rally car is a lot scarier than the game one.  Judging by the carnage at the weekends event, looked like more than a few people were still in game mode.

I drove mine back on the trailer at the end of the day looking dirtier than it started but no damage, so that counts as a win.  Unlike countless cars in Dirt Rally that I have destroyed. 

It's certainly a beautiful game, but the gameplay and story haven't grabbed me yet.  I'll stick it out until I've upgraded a few sections of the skill tree and see what opens up. 

gehenna:

 

It's certainly a beautiful game, but the gameplay and story haven't grabbed me yet.  I'll stick it out until I've upgraded a few sections of the skill tree and see what opens up. 

 

It took me 4-5 hours before I really decided I was going to get stuck into it. Not entirely sure if any one thing flipped the switch or if it was just the game as a whole growing on me.

Finished AC Origins over the weekend and wanted to load-in the secondhand disc of AC Odyssey that I bought on TM.

Tried to eject the Origins disc and it wouldn’t come out. Couldn’t understand it - was sure I was doing the right thing - it’s not exactly complicated ... 😀 I spent literally 10 mins faffing about, googling ‘disc fails to eject’ etc.

Then - doh! I remembered that I had downloaded the game from Sony - not something I normally do because I prefer a physical disc. My age is showing. 

So as mentioned, pretty delighted I got the latest Tomb Raider for free and played it on my "weekend off". I am REALLY enjoying this so much more than the 2013 version on so many different levels. The story telling is massively improved and the plots are interesting. The stories in the collectibles are interesting enough to have me looking for them. Gameplay/Combat is much better as well. Amazing what 6 years has done. I got all the DLC free as well, so I have quite a lot to get through. I highly recommend this game (and the 2013 one too). Puzzling in TR 2019 is fun, interesting and just the right amount of challenging.

I've finished TLoU2. Most of my thoughts are already in this post. All that I will add is that a lot of the very extremist opinions against the game and, particularly, the other playable female character, probably comes from the typical male POV where because she's physically unattractive etc, she's no fun to play. Her story arc and general character growth was what saved the pretty abject cast of characters and cardboard flat story into merely average. In the end, the WLF and the Seraphites became nothing more than cardboard thin walking stereotypes for your playable characters to shoot at -- their motivations, backstory, and everything else were frankly almost entirely undeveloped. I certainly don't regret buying this and probably will even replay it at some game. But the excellent in terms of gameplay and technical achievements is what elevates this game -- the story and characters mostly detract from it.

Very interesting detailed breakdown of the combat options within AC Valhalla - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjgmK3YlL18

There's a lot going on there (for better or worse) but it has me more intrigued now. 

Started really getting the hang of combat in Ghost of Tsushima last night.  Now I've got the hang of switching stances and projectiles on the fly, and different combos, it makes the game much more enjoyable than just button mashing. I'm not that far in, maybe 6 hours, the map is just starting to open up a bit.

dejadeadnz:

 

I've finished TLoU2. Most of my thoughts are already in this post. All that I will add is that a lot of the very extremist opinions against the game and, particularly, the other playable female character, probably comes from the typical male POV where because she's physically unattractive etc, she's no fun to play. 

 

I don't really do social media, so have missed all the controversy over this game. I'm only at the Aquarium with Abby and am really enjoying the game. I guess I better finish it before I delve into the criticism too much. 

MileHighKiwi:

 

dejadeadnz:

 

I've finished TLoU2. Most of my thoughts are already in this post. All that I will add is that a lot of the very extremist opinions against the game and, particularly, the other playable female character, probably comes from the typical male POV where because she's physically unattractive etc, she's no fun to play. 

 

 

I don't really do social media, so have missed all the controversy over this game. I'm only at the Aquarium with Abby and am really enjoying the game. I guess I better finish it before I delve into the criticism too much. 

 

 

 

I'm only a casual gamer so it takes me a while to finish a game like the TLoU2. I've put in about 15hrs so far so I'm guessing I'm about half way through. I've kept an eye on the online comments while being careful to avoid spoilers.

I'm really enjoying it, both the story line and the game play. I would agree with the above that the strong extremist views would be coming from typical male gamers who are threatened by any game that dares to delve into areas of life that don't meet their views of the world. I think Naughty Dog have done an incredible job of presenting a game with different points of view, touches on subject matter that not everyone agrees with and allows the particpant to make up their own mind whether they like it or.

I am liking it, but I guess that the benefit of still being into gaming in your mid 40's with a bit of life experience behind me.