Earthbound and Dune 27.06.16

On name alone Dangerous Golf (PS4) seems like a winner and the sort of game i'd like to play. It looks really nice too the only things I found hold it back are a complete lack of instruction on what to do and some really horrible bugs. The concept is golf in the loosest terms, my target was still a hole but in one of four constrained environments, the attraction though is that each is filled with items to destroy, this destruction fills up a meter which once filled gives me more control of my next shot. Failure to fill the meter tends to mean replaying the hole. All of this is pretty sketchy because from the outset your given a loading screen of the controls and that's it. I played the first few holes quickly and got decent scores but wasn't too sure what I was doing to get these scores. It hit a big bump in the road when it came to a timed hole, I had to get through it quickly, it was only once I'd learn't through trial and error that the time consuming smashbreaker can be stopped in its flow that I worked out how to get past this level. I then got through a few more levels and the game started to hit its stride, nuances with placement of shots and feathering the slow motion destructive controls felt like I was actually using skill to achieve scores. Especially the holes which involve multiple targets in a brief time period. Then a few hard crashes happened, something my Playstation hadn't ever done. It was really disappointing because it was at the point where I was starting to enjoy the game. I've gone back to it a couple of times and chipped away a few more levels and i'm not disliking it, in fact I think with a few patches or updates it could be something as good as its name deserves. 

I had fun with NBA 2K16 (PS4) for all the wrong reasons, hoping for something more like NBA Jam I knew it was way too technical for my slight knowledge of basketball as soon as I play a match as the sizeable full game installed. When it finally installed though I got into a bit of the the Spike Lee directed story mode, starting as a play of sorts, which the directed interrupts a rehearsal and then requested that I enjoy the experience which was coming up. Mine was made more light hearted by my earlier decision to mould a loose interpretation of what I looked like into the character I played. Ginger, bearded, Caucasian, skinny and as short as a basketball video game would allow me. He was then thrust into the streets of Harlem playing basketball with his two African American friends, nothing untoward at all, but then one of the friends announced herself as my sister, for the role of the story I was happy to assume I was adopted, but as it developed she became my twin sister and I met my equally confusing parents. That my character was nicknamed "Freq" by everyone would have seemed an intentional joke but its all told in such a serious tone, I'm sure as the story developed it would have told something interesting but I couldn't get past how silly it seemed by my own accidental design. The story seemed to me to be something I was being told, rather than something I had any influence over. That played into the basketball games themselves, I was announced as the brightest prospect in the sport early on and despite my failings at it initially the path of my character seemed set in stone. I was playing shots from all over the court in no time and I started to realise this wasn't because I was especially good at the game, rather the story dictated that I had to be good at it. I got as far a routine of interviews which saw me decide on which college to play for, problem with these being that they're entwined with games of basketball so by the point where I had to decide who to play for I'd forgotten what every college had said. I'm sure there's a fantastic basketball game in there somewhere but its a bit too simulation for my tastes.

Gone Home (PS4) Had been on my radar for a while, so I was pleased to see it release on PS Plus. Its everything I thought it would be, having read about it in the context of other games I've enjoyed such as Firewatch and Everyones Gone to the Rapture. Its very narrative focused, and short to play through, without saying to much I was really pleased to see how it worked with my assumptions to what was going to happen. I had a strange moment in the game where in a burst of silliness I decided to though items around my sisters room and generally make a mess, I walked out of the room and down the hall and had a pang of guilt, I went back and cleaned up as best I could. I guess that's a testament to the immersion of the game.

 

Earthbound and Dune 22.06.16

I've found Fallout 4: Far Harbour (PS4) both a fantastic and frustrating piece of add on content which while it seems great value goes in some weird directions it didn't need to. The main quest takes place on a big island north of the area which the body of the game has taken place so far, but that's not after a bit on detective work first. I opted to take Nick Valentine along as my companion (the game not so subtly pointed me in that direction straight away) the initial work I needed to do to get to Far Harbour is fairly simple but its a cool angle on the synth subject which is covered a lot in the game. As soon as I got to Far Harbour though it got a lot more difficult, soon introduced to a number of new creatures in a fight not too dissimilar than the early fight against a Deathclaw in the main game. The only difference is I opted to tackle it without power armour so it was a lot more tricky and my ammunition and health restoring resources which I'd squirrelled away for hours were depleting at an alarming rate. I then made the mistake of taking on a new companion and sending Nick back to Sanctuary, this new companions gruff nature and seeming alcoholism was funny at first but the joke wears thin after an hour or so travelling with him. On top of this it seems like there would be a lot more story which would unfold with Nick at my side, especially when you meet up with the synth commune which has a big part to play in the story. The plot has seen me reintroduced to the children of the Atom, who are just as dislikeable as when I met them in the main story. In fact I had to resist the temptation of gunning them down as soon as I met them, the only thing stopping me being the slog through toxic marshes littered with weird angler fish mutants to get there. I'm glad I did though as it went in some interesting places at this point and getting deeper into the weird cult was interesting and well written. Sadly it was soon after that the weakest part of the new content reared its head, a sequence of puzzles involving the construction mechanics which at first was a fresh idea but by the end (it took me over an hour to get through them, I'm not great at puzzles) was just boring and frustrating, I was unsure whether leaving the sequence would erase my progress especially without the option to save while your working through it. Along with this it all involves fiddly placement of items and tricky platforming in first person (which is rarely much fun). I've worked through this now, which is a massive relief and hopefully it will become more of the reasons I play a Fallout game again soon. 

Like I say I've enjoyed a lot of it, the combat steps up a level in challenge on the island. Most of the factions are littered about the habitat and at least one new one, who introduce a fun new nautical themed weapon. I like the way the stories going too especially the reasons for the abundance of radiation on the island, I'm just not too sure once I get through the main content that I'll be as keen to root about for other things to do, which is a shame because it looks like there is plenty on offer.

Played a bit of Downwell (PS4) too as it came out sneakily on the console. I was a bit caught out because I was so used to touch controls, it certainly wasn't as easy as I expected, but after a couple of tumbles down the well I was getting further than I had playing on an iPhone. The other benefit of playing on the PlayStation I found was I was chasing trophies more than I had with other games, and the trophies themselves were cool ways to attempt playing the game. Such as get to the bottom of a stage without firing a shot or killing an enemy or even landing, basically it added a new way to play the game. Its really cheap too, so well worth it!