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Fallout 4 (PS4): COMPLETED!

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Crawl out through the fallout, baby
When they drop that bomb
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
With the greatest of aplomb

Crawl out through the Fallout back to me! Oh yes. Fallout is BACK and I’ve bloody loved it. Fallout 3 and New Vegas were two of my favourite games from the last generation of consoles, and two of the most played. As soon as Fallout 4 was announced, I bought a PS4 so I’d have something to play it on. I was so excited I posted about it on Twitter every single day from announcement to release. Oh god, Fallout 4.

Fallout_4_20160108224324

 

But first, some bad stuff. And spoilers – definitely read no further if you don’t want spoilers. Stopped reading? Excellent.

I didn’t like the ending. I know there are several endings, and I’ve some earlier saves ready to return to when I decide to try for the others, but I felt that the Railroad ending was looking like the “good” ending. It wasn’t. Not unless you think slaughtering dozens of innocent scientists and destroying 200 years of scientific progress (not to mention re-radiating a large chunk of the Wasteland) in order to save the “lives” of some synthetic humans is a “good” ending. Here’s a video, spoilers abound:

What I wanted, really, was for the Institute to see sense and either hide away completely (they supposedly could with their reactor) or share their advances with everyone for the good of the world. But no, that doesn’t seem to be an option.

That aside, the game itself is excellent. I’ve posted about the bugs, of which there are a lot, but they’re mostly minor. Two major ones happened (the next quest didn’t trigger), but they resolved themselves eventually after doing some sidequests for a while. There’s some annoyance with the dialogue choices, as the options on screen just give you an idea of what you’ll say rather then the exact words and intonation meaning you can end up with a totally different conversation to that you expected. These make up a small part of the game though, and the rest more than makes up for it.

I love the setting. I love the exploration. I love the 40s, 50s and 60s songs on the radio. I love the characters, especially Nick Valentine who, since meeting him about 12 hours in, has become my only companion. He’s awesome:

He has great one-liners, keeps me on the straight and narrow (he’s not a fan of stealing or being nasty to folk) and looks fantastic with his private dick outfit and half his face torn off. One day I’ll actually go and find Eddies tape for him. One day, Nick. One day.

I even love the base building, which is new to Fallout 4. It’s clunky, it’s buggy, and is a completely pointless time-sink, but for some reason I keep getting addicted to it. I’ve built towers and castles in the sky and a warehouse full of beds with a disco ball, and it’s incredible.

Besides that though, and the massively improved graphics (and palette – there are blue skies now!), it’s all still pretty much Fallout 3 again, in a new location with new things to do. In a way, you’d think that’s a little disappointing, but it’s actually exactly what I wanted. There are tweaks to improve things, like being able to tag required parts so junk items show up as needed when looting, and being able to see and take what is in a container without “opening” it, but they just improve the experience rather than vastly change it.

Click to view slideshow.

I just wish there was a better ending. Maybe one of the others will surprise me. Or maybe I missed some dialogue options somewhere. I’m sure I’ll find out, as I’m going to play some more. A lot more. After all, I’ve only put 65 hours into it so far, so I’ve barely scratched the surface.

The post Fallout 4 (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Lego Jurassic World (PS4): COMPLETED!

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LEGO® Jurassic World™_20151223143105My daughter loves Lego games and loves dinosaurs, so it was an obvious choice to get Lego Jurassic World at some point. Even if I do keep calling it Lego Jurassic Park.

LEGO® Jurassic World™_20151223152302She’d not seen the films, but the game did mean she could watch the films without being too scared, and we have watched the first one now. One thing I hadn’t realised until we played this is how the T-Rex, rather than being the frightening terror she appears to be, is actually the hero of all four stories. In Jurassic Park, she provides an escape from the gallimimus stampede and rescues Alan, Ellie and the kids from the velociraptors at the end. In The Lost World, she’s only trying to save her baby and goes at great lengths to do so. In Jurassic Park III she sees off the spinosaurus helping everyone get away, and in Jurassic World she defeats the Indominus Rex. Uh, that might be a spoiler.

Click to view slideshow.

As for the game itself, it’s more of the same sort of thing you get in any Lego game. No surprises there, but you can be actual dinosaurs! Ace. Obviously, we’ve only finished the main game (albeit all four films), but we’re working through the extra gold bricks and so on. It’s more fun than Lego The Hobbit, so we’ll probably stick at Jurassic World a bit longer.

The post Lego Jurassic World (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Things I’ve been playing recently

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Lazy round-up time!

Puzzle & Dragons Z (3DS)

I think this might be in my top three most played 3DS games now, and I’ve not even touched the Mario themed option. I got stuck on a boss, then powered through a few more levels, then got stuck on the previous boss again when she cropped up later with another monster at her side. Too hard. I’ve been trying lots of dragon combinations and came close once to besting them, but then one of the two baddies almost completely healed both of them and that was it. Maybe some grinding is in order. Or some different dragons again.

Lego The Hobbit (Wii U)

We completed it, but since then we’ve been mopping up stuff. It’s pretty slow going though, and we haven’t even revisited any of the levels yet. Daddy Pig seems to voice half the characters in this, which is slightly absurd. Especially the blacksmith’s wife. With her beard. Hmm.

Ninja Usagimaru: The Gem of Blessings Demo (3DS)

A not very good puzzle game. I got bored before the demo even finished, to be honest.

Fairune Demo (3DS)

There’s a game called Witch & Hero on the 3DS which is the most ridiculous concept ever. You walk into baddies to kill them, but when you do, you take damage – meaning you’re inevitably going to die. It was rubbish.

Fairune seems to be by the same people and has the same mechanic, only instead of protecting a static character on a single screen, it’s a flip-screen RPG of sorts. And somehow, I’ve gotten a bit hooked on it. I’ve finished the demo and now will almost certainly buy the full game. This surprised me.

Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash Demo (3DS)

Everyone loves Chibi-Robo, right? And taking pictures of real things to include in the game and collecting junk just to tidy up because he’s a cute robot that does that? Awesome, right? Then why is this a slightly crap platformer instead of any of that? How disappointing.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes Demo (3DS)

Well, I tried to play it. But it said no. I was in some sort of lobby and there were a couple of people to talk to and I found if I ran into a wall a ball fell from the sky and I could play keepy-uppies with it for a while but then that was it. I assume I needed some friends online to play with.

tumblr_nxtmcz0iec1svmpf2o1_400Badge Arcade (3DS)

No way am I giving money to this, but so far, I’ve not needed to. I’ve done well enough in the practise crane games to rack up a few free plays, and so far I’ve bagged about 12 badges. Not that I can use the badges because I’ve barely any space left on my home screen. I was hoping it would expand again, as it does when you hit about 80% full, but not this time. Boo.

Fallout 4 (PS4)

Oh yeah, this arrived.

The post Things I’ve been playing recently appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Things I’ve been playing recently

Posted on Written by

Lazy round-up time!

Puzzle & Dragons Z (3DS)

I think this might be in my top three most played 3DS games now, and I’ve not even touched the Mario themed option. I got stuck on a boss, then powered through a few more levels, then got stuck on the previous boss again when she cropped up later with another monster at her side. Too hard. I’ve been trying lots of dragon combinations and came close once to besting them, but then one of the two baddies almost completely healed both of them and that was it. Maybe some grinding is in order. Or some different dragons again.

Lego The Hobbit (Wii U)

We completed it, but since then we’ve been mopping up stuff. It’s pretty slow going though, and we haven’t even revisited any of the levels yet. Daddy Pig seems to voice half the characters in this, which is slightly absurd. Especially the blacksmith’s wife. With her beard. Hmm.

Ninja Usagimaru: The Gem of Blessings Demo (3DS)

A not very good puzzle game. I got bored before the demo even finished, to be honest.

Fairune Demo (3DS)

There’s a game called Witch & Hero on the 3DS which is the most ridiculous concept ever. You walk into baddies to kill them, but when you do, you take damage – meaning you’re inevitably going to die. It was rubbish.

Fairune seems to be by the same people and has the same mechanic, only instead of protecting a static character on a single screen, it’s a flip-screen RPG of sorts. And somehow, I’ve gotten a bit hooked on it. I’ve finished the demo and now will almost certainly buy the full game. This surprised me.

Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash Demo (3DS)

Everyone loves Chibi-Robo, right? And taking pictures of real things to include in the game and collecting junk just to tidy up because he’s a cute robot that does that? Awesome, right? Then why is this a slightly crap platformer instead of any of that? How disappointing.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes Demo (3DS)

Well, I tried to play it. But it said no. I was in some sort of lobby and there were a couple of people to talk to and I found if I ran into a wall a ball fell from the sky and I could play keepy-uppies with it for a while but then that was it. I assume I needed some friends online to play with.

tumblr_nxtmcz0iec1svmpf2o1_400Badge Arcade (3DS)

No way am I giving money to this, but so far, I’ve not needed to. I’ve done well enough in the practise crane games to rack up a few free plays, and so far I’ve bagged about 12 badges. Not that I can use the badges because I’ve barely any space left on my home screen. I was hoping it would expand again, as it does when you hit about 80% full, but not this time. Boo.

Fallout 4 (PS4)

Oh yeah, this arrived.

The post Things I’ve been playing recently appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Broken Age (PS4): COMPLETED!

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Broken Age_20151026162213I like point and click adventure games, and it was only a matter of time before I went and bought Broken Age anyway. Then, of course, it appeared on PS+ so I didn’t need to. I sort of feel like I should do anyway, because I enjoyed it a lot and PS+ always feels like renting and renting is Bad. Probably.

Without giving too much away, Broken Age is a game of two halves played out as two seemingly separate stories. On one side, there’s Vella – a young girl chosen to be sacrificed to the monster Mog Chothra in order to protect her village in a ceremony that happens in every village every 14 years. On the other side, there’s Shay – a young boy who lives apparently alone on a spaceship and does nothing but terrible and childish “simulations” where he rescues woollen creatures from fake harm every day.

Broken Age_20151104204202Naturally, their two stories are not only linked, but become one later on. That’s not really a spoiler as it’s pretty obvious; otherwise why not just have two separate games, eh?

I assumed that you had to play one story then the other, but it became apparent that you can actually flit between both at will. In fact, in Act 2, you have to do this in order to solve some puzzles (and it’s at this point I realised you could). Near the start of the game I guessed what the end of Act 2 twist (and the reveal about Shay’s spaceship) would be, although maybe I got lucky.

Broken Age_20151107220309As far as the gameplay goes, it’s a streamlined point and click game. Streamlined in that gone are the days of choosing “give”, “go”, “use” etc., instead everything is context sensitive and this reduces annoyance greatly. I know Broken Age isn’t the first to do this, but it’s appreciated anyway. The puzzles are mostly straightforward, with actual simple logic to them, meaning they’re generally not frustrating as they can often be in these games. However, in the final half an hour or so of the game (or almost two hours as I played it…) there are some real head scratchers: It was too easy to seemingly get things right but them not actually work. Also, the less said about the hexapal wiring puzzles the better. Oh god did they annoy me.

Click to view slideshow.

Broken Age was funny just as you’d expect from Tim Schafer, had a wonderful story and a cast of great characters (almost all with some excellent voice acting too). It was pretty long for a game of this type too, not accounting for my lack of skill in the latter part, it was well over 8 hours. I can definitely recommend it to fans of the genre too.

Here’s my entire playthrough. If you’ve the stamina!

The post Broken Age (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.