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Velocity 2X: overcomplicated

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I ended up playing this by accident. I had a notification on my PS4 that the game had been updated, and when trying to work out how to get rid of the notification I mistakenly launched the game.  Still, it's widely held as worth playing, so I might as well try it out.


As with all digital titles, my first stop was the instructions screen. Here I was presented with a long list of buttons against a diagram of a controller. Half of them were labelled with words that made little sense. I decided to just pick it up while playing.

I'd advise others to do the same. The first few levels introduce you to controls one by one, to the extent that when I finished playing, having beaten level 12, there's a lot on the controls lost that I've not used yet. And that's the problem - this just feels too complicated.

You have a fire button. You have a boost button. As well as boosting, you can (and have to) teleport using a different button. Controls are different - similar, but different - depending on whether you're inside or outside your ship. You switch between the two modes within levels. On top of that there are bombs and targets and other stuff I've not yet played with.

The main problem with Velocity 2X, though, is that to get to its icon on the PS4 menu I have to scroll past Rocket League.

Batman Returns (Lynx): COMPLETED!

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 What a pile of utter tripe. A game that on the face of it looks a bit like the original Batman on the Megadrive (which was actually pretty good), but is actually nothing of the sort.

 In this game, Batman moves from left to right failing to avoid enemies and their attacks because it impossible to dodge them all. Sometimes he’ll fall in a hole because of this, and it’ll be Game Over. That’s right – you have a single life, and if you fall in a hole it’s instant death and you start the entire game all over again. Utter nonsense.

 You can’t even bide your time and take baddies out when you’re able to avoid their guns or bombs or rockets or whatever, as they constantly respawn and crowd you. The game is impossible.

Thankfully, there’s a level skip cheat that I employed to save having to play the whole thing again every time I died. I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned it’s a missing Continue option.

The post Batman Returns (Lynx): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Sonic Generations: hitting walls

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Oddly enough, although I wrote at length about my experiences with the 3DS game, I don't appear to have written about the Xbox 360 version which I played at pretty much the same time.  I didn't complete it though; of the nine main stages of the game I had completed both acts of six and played through the 2D parts of the remaining three.  I've no idea why I stopped.

With the launch of TrueSteamAchievements, I was able to register and see which games I own but have hardly played on Steam. Most of them, it turns out. One of the more interesting pages is 'My Easy Achievements' which lists those achievements I've not yet won which most people who own the games in question have. This list was topped by the achievement for completing the first Act in Sonic Generations. I have absolutely no idea when I bought the game on Steam, though I won't have paid much for it.

Anyway, suitably shamed, I loaded the game on my work PC - no Mac version, it seems - and played through both Acts of the Green Hill Zone. That took some effort; the game juddered and slowed in the resolution it recommended, and then looked ugly and in the wrong aspect ratio when I tried to change that. Why was I struggling through it when I had a perfectly accessible console version?

No, I didn't know either. And that, in a roundabout way, is why I loaded up Sonic Generations on my Xbox 360.

I'm glad I did. This is a good Sonic game - particularly the 2D sections, although most of the 3D Acts are fun as well. The only real problem is that the controls feel a little imprecise at times, which I think is down to using the analogue stick (with its length of travel) over digital pads. Turning in the air to avoid spikes can take a fraction of a second too long, and occasionally I can't steer Sonic away from the walls that jut out into the 3D levels.



I played through the second Acts of Crisis City, Rooftop Run, and Planet Wisp, with a number of lives lost due to me trying to hurry through the levels. It's easy to forget that even in the original Mega Drive games you had to take the later stages somewhat slower. There's a boss battle next, but first I've got to unlock it by completing three challenges - special requirements within existing levels. What a faff. 
 

Puzzle & Dragons Z (3DS)

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tumblr_nzddm7kqik1svmpf2o1_400I’ve posted a little about this before, but not for a while. I’ve haven’t stopped playing, it’s just… there’s been some repetition. For much of the game there isn’t a great deal of grinding, although perhaps I’ve been lucky and just levelled up the most suitable of my dragons by random chance. Then I reached the end of game boss, and whereas almost every other enemy in the game can be wiped out in just a couple of turns by my main dragon team, the final foe is impossible.

Literally impossible. I can barely even register a hit on any of his five heads, let alone deal much damage to his core (that’s if I even get as far as him exposing it), and so it’s off to the grind trail to find some more suitable dragons (or rather, the jigsaw piece drops necessary to evolve my current dragons into them) then spend many, many hours levelling up. Joy.

tumblr_nzddmfmnyg1svmpf2o1_400Although actually, it isn’t that bad. The puzzle matching mechanic of the game remains fun in a way normal RPG fights wouldn’t after 20 hours of grinding. That’s not a throwaway number, by the way, that’s how long I’ve spent grinding so far, just for the the final boss. I’ve not even assembled the full team yet either, never mind near level 99 with them. There’s a long way to go yet, and I’m 60-odd hours in as it is.

And then there’s the Mario themed version of the game to start!

The post Puzzle & Dragons Z (3DS) appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

New Game – Telltale Game of Thrones

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With no luck in the fifa packs for a TOTY player, I decided to leave Fifa & start playing Telltale's Game of Thrones instead.

Quite a short episode only a couple of hours but some very good moments including a meeting with Ramsay Bolton.

My only annoyance with the telltale games is the timer on the dialogue options, I just wished it was not in the game thus allowing the player more time to decide which dialogue option they wish to choose.

Also started Borderlands Pre Sequel which now has a local four-player option so should be fun & chaotic. Need to get back to Metal Gear Solid V & DriveClub at some point but I expect this weekend will be mostly Borderlands & hopefully Episode 2 of Game of Thrones.