Gripe about What You're Playing 2: Bellyache-tric Boogaloo

[Sprite]

Because sometimes you want to be a grump in peace.

I kind of hate playing Fall Guys! I get why it's so popular, it's a brilliant idea, but man. The cumbersome controls, the wonky physics, the constant griefing, all combine in a way that everyone seems to love and that I hate. Which I feel bad about, because my family loves it, and I need excuses to play with them.

 

[JBear]

Sincere: thank you so much for making this thread.

I enjoy spectating Fall Guys on Twitch, but haven't played it myself and can't really see myself doing so.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Hob is a great little chunk of a Zeld-em-up but it really doesn’t do a great job of telegraphing important things; like if flipping a switch didn’t do anything because (for example) the Switch hasn’t been powered on, or whatever it’s affecting is being blocked or whatever. One puzzle has you needing to move a machine over a conduit in order to cut off its flow of electricity so you can pass, which is not a function that machine has ever come up.

a lot of puzzles feel kind of arbitrary this way.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I actually quite enjoy the platforming levels in Fall Guys, despite the general dodgy physics and the game's tendency to kick me off the server (especially when I do really well in an early round). On the other hand, I get very frustrated by some of the team games, especially the ones that involve giant soccer balls. I know there's a way to reliably hit those things in a straight line, but damned if I can actually do it. Also some of the team games basically come down ganging up on one team to eliminate them and it's not a great feeling when you're on the losing end there. But when the game sticks to the more platformy levels I tend to have a pretty good time with it.

 

[Octopus Prime]

It's not bad by any stretch, but Doom Eternal really feels short-changed by taking everything that was so darn good about Doom 2016, and slapping in all kinds of Other Things into it.

Doom is very good when it comes to running around big mazes and arenas and exploding the FRICK out of monsters with guns and punchs, it's... it's a weird place to add platforming challenges, and an inexplicably dense storyline that the game really doesn't do a good enough job providing context for.

 

[Bongo]

I liked that Doom Eternal was the secret 3D sequel to Celeste. What I didn't like is how finely-tuned your arsenal is. You've got a lot of toys but you now have to use all of them in order to scrape through.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

I like the platforming in Doom Eternal because it’s the only time I’m not dying over and over. I started playing this weekend and I have barely made it through the first three levels. I’m on the equivalent to “normal” and it feels overwhelming in ways the previous game didn’t. The Cacodemons show up halfway through the first level and can bite three quarters of your health off in one chomp!

 

[Adrenaline]

Doom Eternal has a ton of totally baffling design decisions but I don't think the platforming is a problem.

 

[Pajaro Pete]

this is more of a "gripe about what you're not playing" moment but i said recently i had the itch to play suikoden 5 but in lieu of actually doing that i decided to read the let's play and you know what i forgot how creepy a lot of the male characters are, both like in general and also specifically towards lyon.

 

[Gaer]

Now. I want to preface this that I have been having a time most excellent with Elliot Quest overall. It’s an incredibly polished game with fantastic combat, level design, complete with a gorgeous art style and even better soundtrack.

HOWEVER, my biggest beef is that the game has literally no manual, does not label anything or give descriptions. It’s all well and good to emulate the feeling of an 8-bit game, but those had extensive manuals and maps included.

I still don’t know what the book does, and neither does the rest of the internet.

 

[Octopus Prime]

My gut still says it affects either experience gained or lost, since both happen at such a gradual rate, and are buried a couple of sub menus deep, you wouldn’t notice either way.

 

[MetManMas]

Been playing Shining in the Darkness again. I know it gets better, but I'm still not thrilled with the opening hours of the game. You fly solo with a character who has no magic and like 4-5 item slots* against lots of random groups of multiple foes for way too long, and that kaiser crab is a frickin' wall compared to the enemies around it.

Shame this game never got a M2 remaster, 'cuz rebalanced difficulty and being able to see the map at all times would be very welcome QOL features here.

* Okay it's eight, but like half of them will be occupied by your equipment so that leaves you with only a few free slots for the healing goods and Escape From Dungeon item you'll be needing all the more without any magic users onhand.

 

[Becksworth]

I must say I’m underwhelmed by the Champions Ballad DLC for Breath of the Wild so far, as I feel like I’m spending far too much time running around the map I already explored with remixed objectives and not enough time on actual new areas and shrines I haven’t visited yet. Also, even by BOTW standards the story content is lacking.

 

[ASandoval]

Rare repackaged the Turbo Tunnel as the mine cart levels in Donkey Kong Country and thought we wouldn't notice.

 

[Dracula]

Huh. I don't remember the mine cart levels having rat rockets.

 

[ASandoval]

Huh. I don't remember the mine cart levels having rat rockets.

They're there, in the form of mine cart lizards.

 

[Falselogic]

I have been enjoying Alien Isolation but some times the alien is too good at find me. I didn't know it was a blood hound...

 

[karzac]

I'm thinking so much about Crusader Kings 3 that it's infected my dreams and hurting my sleep.

 

[Falselogic]

I have been enjoying Alien Isolation but some times the alien is too good at find me. I didn't know it was a blood hound...

I am nearing the end of this and I'm better at avoiding the alien now. I've also got a flamethrower and molotov cocktails. Those help a lot. When I don't light myself on fire using them.

I've died so, so, so many times.

 

[Becksworth]

So I bought Hot Shots Racing before the launch sale ended. Now, don’t get me wrong in posting here, overall it is an excellent game. However, you may have saw in the reviews there was some concerns about rubber band AI. Having played the game, I don’t think that is the issue. I think the issue is the drafting mechanics are WAY overpowered. If I can go from last place to first place in the span of 30 seconds without using any boost meter, just making sure I’m right behind somebody the whole time, that’s a bit much.

 

[zonetrope]

I've posted plenty about how much I love exploring Outer Wilds, but the final loop is a real pain in the ass to execute. There's a section in the middle where if you tap the analog button just more than a hair, you're dead, and have to do the earlier parts all over again (which involves a lot of standing still and waiting). I might just watch it on YouTube.

 

[karzac]

I had similar frustrations with the final loop in Outer Wilds. Took my many many tries. I will say though, that the very end is one of the most satisfying endings I've ever played in an video game. I recommend trying at least a few more times to do it yourself, it's really good, even after the frustration.

 

[zonetrope]

I had similar frustrations with the final loop in Outer Wilds. Took my many many tries. I will say though, that the very end is one of the most satisfying endings I've ever played in an video game. I recommend trying at least a few more times to do it yourself, it's really good, even after the frustration.

Knowing me, I'll probably grit my teeth and complete it. This game just has some weirdly twitchy segments given controls that aren't really built for that kind of thing.

 

[karzac]

Something I would recommend: just look up a guide on the specific things you need to do - I got to the end of the sequence once or twice and then fucked things up and it was really annoying.

 

[zonetrope]

Something I would recommend: just look up a guide on the specific things you need to do - I got to the end of the sequence once or twice and then fucked things up and it was really annoying.

I've been looking up guides for most of the more esoteric stuff to find in the game. It's the 7 minutes at the beginning (a whole third of the loop!) where you literally can't do anything that's really grating on me. This entire endgame is a really baffling design decision.

EDIT: Aaaand, beat it. That was a cool ending.

 

[Adrenaline]

Yeah I don't know what they were thinking with that part. Rest of the game rules though.

 

[Issun]

I still love NieR: Automata lots, but man, I forgot how frustrating the fight with Eve at the end of route A is.

 

[Violentvixen]

Playing the demo for Raji and I just can't get the hang of the combat. I've died probably five times in the tutorial areas and am just not having fun.

I'm really, really bummed. I've been so excited for this game, the moves look cool when I can execute them, the graphics are awesome and I love how the cutscenes and gods are presented. But I can't play it. I guess I'll watch a Let's Play or something.

 

[Pajaro Pete]

God Wars is some lowish budget Vita-to-PS4-to-Switch SRPG and it has all the issues that entails: characters have that low budget anime look where they feel somehow simultaneously overdesigned and underdesigned, the characterization is threadbare, the skill system has a tone of redundant abilities, but what gets me is that, look, ok, the game is vaguely based on japanese folklore right, so i accept that there's gonna be a certan amount of Proper Nouns In Japanese, but when a character has the line "Ookuchimakami.... A Tatarigami on an Ookami..." it's not, you know, super informative to English speakers?

And I guess maybe it'd be fine if it were consistent, but an earlier battles involved something called "God of Wind" and it translates what I assume is yaoyorozu-no-kami to "Myriad Gods"? I shouldn't be surprised since this was a NISA project but...

 

[FelixSH]

The first green star in Stone Cyclone galaxy in Mario Galaxy 2 is really obnoxious. I enjoy collecting them for the most part, but god, this jump is hard to pull off.