What are you currently playing?

How is it btw? I've heard mixed things.

I was torn between playing a new file of Persona 5 (not Royal, since I'd feel guilty NOT romancing Kasumi) or trying out Uncharted again. (The urge to replay Horizon: Zero Dawn is also in the back of my head, but I want to wait until we have more information about Forbidden West before doing that. And I miss the world more than than the story, so it's not worth completely replaying IMO.) I chose Uncharted.
Overall my experience with Uncharted was fun! Last time I played I didn't make it more than 3% in the game. Yesterday I got to 20%. I'm playing on Easy, since games like these are really NOT my forte. (I died over 30 times in the hour or two I played. Some were my fault others were still my fault.)

I've known for a bit that Nathan Drake was the next step in the "rugged adventurer" archetype that Lara Croft, Indiana Jones, and a few others occupy. And I'm happy that he didn't disappoint. I also see one of the main icons in exploration and climbing that later generations would carry out - climbing in Uncharted felt eerily reminiscent to climbing in Jedi: Fallen Order and a not unlike climbing in Horizon: Zero Dawn. I assume this was by design.

The graphics, while updated for the PS4, are still VERY much PS3 graphics. This amuses me more than anything, since I can easily remember when those were cutting edge. But technology and graphics march on.

Overall, I won't be playing this game consistently as it doesn't grab me like other games do; but playing it yesterday was the right choice. This game feels like a movie in all of the best ways, but that just makes me want to watch in on YouTube rather than play it myself. I'm sure I'll finish it eventually.

...playing it also made me want to play Persona 5 even more. But I'm also torn on who to romance! Do I go Best Girl Hifumi or Best Girl Makoto again? Or do I pick a wild card and go for Tae Takemi? And no, I refuse to go the Harem route.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my Fire Emblem: Three Houses playthrough. Or my Witcher 3 file...I'm just not good with beating games unless it REALLY pulls me in and I haven't beaten it twice already.

 

I'm enjoying the Avengers game. It's fun and give it a 7 or even an 8 out of 10. Will probably get better over time like Star Wars Battlefront II after dlc and updates.

Feels like a big sample right now

 

Video game? War Thunder and World of a Warships ( for years now)

Tabletop game? Warhammer 40K, Bolt Action and getting into a ship-level tactical naval game

 

I decided to break out Persona 5 again. I could have played Royal, which is far better in terms of balance and QoL features such as having a dungeon exploring day ending in an automatic "YOU MUST BE SLEEPY" sentence. (And trust me, the ability to study, read, or make coffee after a dungeon changed EVERYTHING.)

But I didn't want to feel like I was forced to romance Kasumi. This playthrough is for Makoto or Hifumi. I haven't decided which yet...

Anyways, P5 is reminding me that everything has a price and a cost in this game. This time the price was really steep. I spent the pre-Panther level focusing on recruiting as many Personas as I could instead of leveling up; and now my team isn't under-leveled per se, but they ARE under-financed. You only get money and items if you defeat an enemy or a few enemies before recruiting one. That didn't happen a lot, since I went for the recruitment as soon as possible. So while I had/have a variety of Persona to use in any situation (I've fused most of them into stronger Persona), I had little money, no items, and one lockpick. And from there I spent half of the money on relatively-expensive health items and the other half on definitely-expensive armor - it's easier to keep people alive than it is to revive them. (And the health item prices will drop sooner and faster than the armor will.)

None of this would be a problem had I not chosen to do Kamoshida's dungeon on the first possible day. I considered waiting, but I didn't have enough resources to build more lockpicks, and as such it wasn't worth the wait IMO.* Besides, it's too early to unlock SP reviving items. The cost of my impatience had me take on one of the hardest dungeons in the game** underpowered, broke, with no SP reviving items, and with no major partner skills. As it stands, I've used up a third of my healing items and most of my SP, and I'm only about a third of the way through the dungeon. Frankly I wouldn't have it any other way.

You see, once I get past this dungeon, the next few bosses will be a cakewalk. I'll have a little bit of extra time between this boss and the next to access and advance multiple confidant levels, gain social stats (getting Rank 2 in Kindness and Guts are probably the most important early-game), and prepare. And honestly, that's the part I'm looking forward to the most. I love Persona's gameplay, but at this point it's a carrier for the story. I want to spend time with Ryuji, to re-meet Makoto, and to deal with Yusuke's shenanigans. But before I do all of that, I have to beat this dungeon first...let's see how that goes...



*For beginners THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH WAITING FOR. A day or two later, I believe the game will prompt you to get a job. The money gained is very reasonable for early-game rewards, and can be used over a few days to save up for better weapons and armor. Between that and hanging out with Ryuji, waiting 5-6 days can net you some really good benefits. Or simply waiting a few days between dungeon days works. Explore have of the dungeon on Day 1, get a job on Day 2 & make more lockpicks, spend some time with Ryuji on Day 3 and work that part-time job, and then go shopping for new equipment and head back to the dungeon on Day 4.
**Many later dungeons have points where the game forces you to leave the dungeon in order to progress. Kamoshida's dungeon is one of the few that doesn't do work like that, and as such you either have to beat it in chunks (recommended) or make it a painful marathon (what I'm aiming for, but NOT recommended).

 

Slight Persona 5 update. After dying about five times, I managed to beat the dungeon in one in-game day! Two days later, I took down the boss! My team was one level shy of the ideal, but it worked out fine. By the time the in-game limit was up, I had reached Rank 4 with Ryuji, Rank 3 with Sojiro, and Rank 2 with Takemi. I still need to start Ann's confidant tree, but I'll have some time to do so. My also Rank 2 in Guts, Charm, and Kindness. I need to rank up Proficiency (usually my slowest growing rank) and Knowledge asap, but I'll get there.

 

Same here. I play it from time to time. Back then when SF3 (Third Strike) and SF4 (Super, Arcade + Ultra Edition) was hot, I was a Street Fighter expert. But with SF5 it all changed, mainly because they slaughtered my main character (Vega). Now I'm just playing casually.

 

Doom Eternal, God of War, Cod MW, Mortal Kombat 11, and Injustice 2.

 

BOY!
In the direction of deer.

 

Still on Persona 5. This past weekend was a binge of "work hard, play hard," so I made a lot of progress. Not as much as I'd like, but I honestly forgot how awesome the Royal's QoL updates were compared to P5 Vanilla. In Royal, I could at least read, study, or make coffee/curry after a dungeon. Not in the original game. And I miss it...
Anyways, Summer Break is almost over in-game, and I've maxed out Ryuji and Ann's social links, and am very close to doing the same for Tae. Mishima's social link is almost finished, as is Kawakami's. But I need to wait until the schoolyear begins again to finish her link. I haven't even started on the Sun Confidant chain yet because there's just so much to do. Yusuke, Makoto, and Hifumi are all locked by stat requirements. Yusuke's will take the most time, since I need to be at a 4 in Proficiency and I'm only at 2. My Knowledge and Charm are at 4, but I need to max them out. I also need a lot of Kindness so I can start Futaba's social link asap and finish up Sojiro's. And I still need the Fortune social link, and the Tower (I haven't unlocked the required side-quest yet), and the Hanged Man...I have a lot to do still.

My team is pretty well levelled. I wouldn't call us overpowered, but we're confident in our strength. My registry of Persona is looking good too! Roughly 35% full about halfway through the game is very solid.

Overall, I'm doing well with time I really shouldn't have, and I'm still not sure if I'll romance Hifumi or Makoto...
I won't be playing the rest of the week though, since I have more projects coming up that need my undivided attention.

@Mando LXXXV your playing of Fallout 4 now makes me want to play Fallout 4. I'll try to save it for Thanksgiving...

 

About to finish Control. Excellent game with a few minor gripes.

 

Delayed my overnight trip by a couple of hours to fit in some PS4 Spider-Man action. I injected that sweet, sweet action and web-swinging right into my veins, and it was just what the doctor ordered! I've accomplished nearly everything there is to accomplish in the game, and am resting at about a 95% completion rate.
*
I won't replay the game until I get a PS5 in order to prep for Miles Morales: Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 (I want to play them all back-to-back-to-back).

I also now ship Peter and Yuri more than Peter and MJ. I know, I know it's blasphemy. But Peter and Yuri have a stronger bond than Peter and MJ do this time around. The chemistry of the voice actors doesn't help...which also can't be helped, because Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are married in real life. Stan Lee's cameo makes me feel a tad guilty about this pairing but it's new, exciting, and frankly more interesting than the standard pair.

Let other versions of Peter be with MJ, and let this one be with Yuri.

 

Persona 5 update time! I haven't really played much since Monday, and that's fine. I've been busy. Anyways, I'm at the final palace before the prologue scene and we've just gained Crow as a crew member.

I'm doing really good on levels and Personas for the most part (roughly 45% through the Compendium), so the main problem - as always - is SP. I don't have a lot of SP healing items, but I have enough for this dungeon.

In terms of Social Links, I'VE FINALLY MAXED OUT KAWAKAMI'S SOCIAL LINK!! I've finished Mishima's and Tae's as well, so while I'm not doing the best, I feel like I'm doing pretty good. I have max intelligence and max charm too, so I'm going to need to make a decision about Makoto and Hifumi relatively soon. Hifumi (Star), Chihaya (Fortune), and Ohya (Devil) are all waiting for their Mementos quest to be filled out, and that'll be done the day after I complete the latest Palace. I also moved forward on Yusuke's social link (Rank 6 or 7 I believe) as well as Futaba's (Rank 4 or 5). The Tower and Sun social links are progressing pretty good as well. I may not complete them before we catch up to the present, but I'll be able to complete them before taking on That One Boss.

I also made a little more improvement on Sojiro's social link, but now I need max Kindness to progress any further. And I FINALLY have enough Guts to move forward on the Hanged Man social link! It most likely won't be maxed out, but any progress there is good progress. Haru is the final piece of the puzzle, and there's nothing I can do with her until I have max proficiency. I'm not sure how to gain that just yet. As such, she'll unfortunately stay benched until I can unlock that proficiency, since Baton Passing is too powerful, and she can't complete it just yet.

As such, I should be able to complete around 3-4 more social links before things heat up again, if all goes well. Maybe even as many as six (Hifumi, Chihaya, Ohya, Makoto or Yusuke, the Tower, and maybe the Sun). But the main problem links will remain out incompletable for the moment.

Overall - solid progress is being made, but sadly nothing too special.