It’s been a busy week for us guys here at Respawning…Saying this however, we can never fail to set aside a good few hours to our favourite games! This is what I’ve been playing over the last week!
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 [PS3]
Oh boy, where to begin.
Tekken 3 was one of the first games I played as a kid and it left quite an impression on me. When I was done unlocking all the characters (yes, even Doctor B.) I got Tekken 5 for my PS2 and spent the next 120 hours mashing buttons and having fun.
Years later, the world had moved on to the sixth-gen consoles but I had not – at least, not until a short while ago.
Last year my brother bought Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for his WiiU and it had all the nostalgic characters I remembered from the series and then some. The only problem with that version was that the online was so dead – deader than Feng Wei’s master. The offline gameplay was fun, but it could only entertain me for so long.
After moving away for university, I picked up a used PS3 on the cheap and the first game I bought was TTT2. Finally, I thought, I could play online – even if it meant getting absolutely bodied by veterans who’d reached EVO champion levels of skill by now. Well, I’m having a lot of fun, and I can’t wait for Tekken 7 to come out on PC so that I can finally play it with my friends – only three weeks to go! Till then I’ll be brushing up my King and Law. Send me a request on PSN if you want to play a noob! PSN: themishraman
“Hadouk- I mean… Ooooryaaa!”
PS: If you main Eddie and Christie in one tag team you can go walk and keep walking until you fall off something.
Street Fighter V [PC]
In the absence of Tekken 7 on PC (it turns out Early 2017 is a very flexible statement) I’ve turned to the offerings on hand for my friends to play who don’t have access to a current-gen console, like me. Street Fighter V‘s the fighting game title that has the largest player-base of all the recent ones.
I’d actually begun playing this game the summer of last year – it was difficult to adjust to a 2D fighter after years of being a Tekken fan – but eventually I began to see the appeal of Street Fighter. That’s not to say that this title has been a great experience though. Capcom has been… less than stellar at just about every aspect of this game outside of the gameplay (and even that has had some questionable decisions put into it, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms). With the iffy matchmaking, long load times, unintuitive and clunky system menus, the frequent server drops, the price-gouging DLC and the teensy-weensy rootkit snafu – many players are unsatisfied to say the least. Hey, at least the mods are nice though. Shout-out to the talented people from the community. Here’s a good link if you’re curious.
Cyber-Akuma (courtesy: monkeygigabuster) and PFunkk’s Ken Head Mod
Still, Capcom has promised updates to the CFN and has continued to add new characters to the game – so say what you will about the season 2 nerfs and all the other issues, but at least the game is alive and kicking. So I fired it up this week to switch to a new character, I think Rashid may finally let me crack into silver. Although I’ll be honest, it seems like Tekken 7 is far more deserving of my attention in the coming month – and I doubt Street Fighter will hold much appeal for me unless Capcom starts making some improvements fast.
PS: The new Ed character looks really, really underwhelming. I was kinda excited for there to be a more diverse cast in terms of body types and… he’s just another roided up dude with a really edgy fashion sense.
Bayonetta [PC]
After obtaining my used PS3, I wondered what exclusives from the sixth-generation I’d missed out on – and so I bought the usual assortment of recommended titles; Demon’s Souls, Red Dead Redemption, some remastered PS2 titles and lastly Bayonetta.
I’d tried out the game before on a friend’s WiiU and it seemed to be everything I wanted from DmC but never got. So I bought it on PSN and eagerly waited for the installation to complete – and my god, I’m never one to whine about needing 144+FPS on every single game but I’m pretty sure that seeing Bayonetta frequently dip below drinking age on the PS3 caused me physical pain.
Fortunately, this was only about two weeks before the remastered PC version was released out of the blue, and boy what a remaster that turned out to be. I’ve been playing it on PC on-and-off whenever I have the free time and I’m about 8 hours in – the game plays and looks better than it ever has and I’m having an absolute blast.
Everything from the music, the characters and the writing to the combat is polished to a sheen and the cheesy humor, combined with the over-the-top action make it much more fun than it has any right to be at its price point. Of course, occasionally the game does betray its age with its near-obsessive dependence on QTEs and the camera can sometimes be infuriating – but the gameplay more than makes up for everything else.
God, she’s so attractive.
For those of you who’ve never played it before, it’s a character action game – or a spectacle fighter, if you prefer – where the core gameplay loop is based around mastering the combat system and destroying the enemies while taking the least amount of damage and in the most stylish way possible. I’d strongly recommend getting it if you have any passing interest in titles such as Devil May Cry, God of War, Metal Gear Rising, and so on. It’s only about 20 dollars on Steam and by far the definitive edition of the game.
PS: Is it bad if I’m enjoying this way more than Nier:Automata?
What I’m looking forward to in the coming days
Tekken 7 – Obvious reasons, I’ve been a lifelong fanboy of the series and this title is shaping up to be the best entry since T5. It’s going to be the first PC title and I’ve been itching for a new fighting game on that platform.
The Surge – Sci-Fi Dark Souls with body-part targeting and crafting? I’m down. I wasn’t initially feeling anything from this game, and it was made by the same people who made Lords of the Fallen – but after seeing the most recent gameplay videos, I think they’ve finally hit that sweet spot where the combat is slick and fluid.
Prey – I’ve been keeping an eye on this and might decide to get it if I find a good deal. I greatly enjoyed Bioshock, and Chris Avellone’s writing has my interest piqued.
Rime – Geez, this was supposed to be a PS4 launch title. While the delays don’t inspire confidence, it has an interesting art style, I’m hoping the gameplay doesn’t disappoint though – we’ll see.