What are you playing now: The New Thread

[Gorgon]

I'm moving off supernova.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

The Outer Worlds and loving it.

[Hurlshort]

3 hours ago, Gorgon said:

I'm moving off supernova.

You were a brave soul to try it. I figure I will try it after my first play of just enjoyong the story and setting.

[MedicineDan]

It looked like things were coming a head when one of the DLC, this one dealing with Wael, popped up after I finally got underway to Eothas.  I'm currently in the antechamber, and I am decidedly not impressed.  I get the idea of adding some levity to the laste game, but this doesn't seem to fit in well with end game content.  Not entirely outside the overall theory, although I don't even like it in that regard.  In tone, however, is just dead wrong.  The whole meaning and thematic framework of the game appears, at this point, to be upended by this last minute contrivance.  I'm actually tempted not to play the DLC and just finish the game without ruining it with this nonsense.  It was built up into a great ending and now we've got this sudden plan of

Wael's body being awakened and fighting off Eothas?

  There goes all the dramatic build-up to the end.  I hope that Obsidian made a few shekels out of it.  It is, after all, their franchise.  I'll probably finish it because I want to be thorough.  The base game and first DLC are absolutely brilliant.  If I'm right about this DLC, then I won't let it ruin the experience for me, but I wish I had played the game earlier and finished it before this fluff polluted the waters.

[Keyrock]

I'm struggling with the Skull King in Code Vein. I can get really close to killing him, but that last bit is really difficult. It seems he has 3 phases. The first phase is easy enough for me at this point. I know all his patterns and the timing on dodges and when I have openings to get in and do some damage. At around 50% health he goes into phase 2, which is mostly just a stronger and faster version of phase 1 that also adds blood damage to his attacks. It's much harder than phase 1, but he still seems to obey the same rules I have to during this phase, with his stamina eventually running out, giving me a small opening to get in and do some damage. The problem is that around 15% - 20% health he goes into phase 3, which not only introduces a couple new attacks, which are, quite honestly bull**** (I don't think it's right that a "melee" attack should have range greater than any ranged attack I can do AND swing in basically a 360° arc). On top of that, he seems to have limitless stamina in phase 3. Maybe he tires out eventually and I just haven't lasted long enough, but I've had him in phase 3 for a pretty long period of time and he just keeps going. I get that this is (probably) the final boss and he's supposed to be hard, but you still need to provide players with some kind of opening to get in and do damage and he simply doesn't seem to give you any openings in phase 3.

[Hawke64]

Completed Thief of Thieves: Season One. It was a quite nice stealth-adventure. Though, more "adventure", than "stealth".

GreedFall. I acquired my end-game equipment before meeting the governors, which was the first main quest after the prologue. I appreciate the ability to explore the island before going for the main storyline. Though, on the 3rd playthough I started to notice typos, inconsistent capitalization and articles in dialogues.

Spoiler

 

[Keyrock]

I finished Code Vein. tl;dr game good

According to Steam it took me 46 hours to complete. Someone better at Souls-likes could definitely knock some time off that. I enjoyed the game, it was a very well made Souls-like. My main previous Souls experience was Bloodborne and I will say this game is definitely easier than that, which is good for me on account of me sucking. A lot of what makes this game easier is the companion you can bring along. The companion AI is solid and they are very helpful in combat, healing, buffing, doing damage; they're a lot more than just a distraction. Of course, you can choose not to bring a companion with you, for that hard core Souls experience. Combat is quite good, the controls are responsive, and stamina usage feels well dialed in. Build customization is excellent. At the end of the game I had around 25 or 26 available blood codes (classes) and well over 100 gifts (abilities) to choose from and I acquired another new blood code for beating the game. I will probably give New Game+ a try, though I expect to get my ass handed to me, as I've heard that NG+ in Code Vein is more like NG++++ in Souls games.

The story is quite interesting and most definitely leaves the option for sequels. Given that this is a good game with no microtransactions that delivers a full experience for $60, and that it's a very interesting world, I very much welcome any expansion and/or sequel. Given how the game ends there is definitely the potential for Bamco to allow you to import your character into Code Vein 2: Bloody Boogaloo, though not necessarily as the player character. No I will not explain myself further, beat the game yourself or watch a YouTube video of someone beating the game if you want to understand what I mean. 

The game ran like a champ on my Linux lappy via Steam's Proton. It would stutter when loading new areas, but otherwise ran butter smooth on nearly max settings, and that's via a compatibility layer. I can only imagine it runs even better on Windows. 

In conclusion, this is a good Souls-like that I can recommend to anyone who enjoys the genre. It's also an excellent starting point for anyone who wanted to try Souls games but was intimidated by their difficulty. Thank you Bamco for putting out a good, full game that isn't full of bugs and doesn't try to rape my wallet. It's sad that games like this are increasingly rare these days.

[the_dog_days]

Code Vein sounds kinda like Ashen. Ashen also has an AI companion that's really good and makes the game much easier.

[GhostofAnakin]

15 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

FFXV on the PS4 had crazy load times. I used to grade papers while waiting for new areas to load.

I just flip over to watch a bit of the hockey/baseball while waiting for the load screens to finish.

[MedicineDan]

Okay, I still think the premise is asinine, but the gameplay in the Forgotten Sanctum is actually pretty good so far.  At this point, since I don't know for sure where this is going story-wise, I'll reserve judgment.  Whatever my many and varied sins, I endeavor to play it straight down the middle.  So, I'll keep playing.  In the meantime, the puzzles are interesting and the battles are fun.  Even Notnok was good.  Much easier than Nemnok, although I did manage to knock out Fassima due to hastiness.

That brings up my one real beef, and this one is entirely on me.  I finished all my companion side quests and had made a great squad of my main (evoker), Eder, Maia, Serefen, and Xoti (although tekehu ended up being a competent healer and offensive caster, so he's viable).  I always take companions on associated quests, and in this case it was Aloth and Fassima.  Now, I decided to go multiclass chanter/mage for Fassima, which I find makes her FAR weaker.  In my opinion, on normal difficulty, mages rule this game.  They are great offensive casters, can throw down some crowd control and debuffs, and even buff themselves and go at the bad guys themselves if need be.  I wanted to try out a chanter, but I have no experience playing them and I don't get any top level tiers, even at level 20.  I'm not mad at Obsidian about that.  I make the decision.  Howeve, when I get past this part and continue with the real game, I'm  undoubtedly going to switch back to my main party.  I just can't decide between Xoti and Tekehu.  They come at their role of healer/offensive caster in different ways, but they both excel in that role.

EDIT:  I'm not going to pretend I like what they did with this xpac, but... [narrow your eyes].  Damn, that was good.

Edited October 27, 2019 by MedicineDan

[Gorgon]

17 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

You were a brave soul to try it. I figure I will try it after my first play of just enjoyong the story and setting.

 

 

Jim Sterling likes ToW.  Yahtzee Croshaw isn't going to like it, because he doesn't like anything, that's not the format. Anyway, Sterling isn't for sale. So good sign. 

 

[HoonDing]

"Jim Sterling likes ToW. "

That's as bad an endorsement as any.

[MedicineDan]

I finished The Forgotten Sanctum.  It wasn't terrible.  I still hate the premise, but the execution was well done.  Also, I got

Wael mixed up with Skaen

.  I was wondering if everyone had gone stark raving mad.  As if whatever Eothas is cooking up would be worse than the Skaeny bastard.  I found everything kind of confusing, but I managed to get through.  I tried to be completionist, but I'm not really able to map mazes in my head like I could whne I was younger.  Still, I found a lot of phat loot.  I was going to sail straight up after Eothas, but a couple of things happened.  First of all, I need to go through all my loot to see what I should change in or out on my main.  The real thing is that, almost immediately, I was attacked by some Fyrgist guy.  Suicide!  I made short work of them.  It's funny because I habitually remove all gear and then equip my main squad.  If it were an issue, I'd equip everyone, of course, but it's not.  So, when I get boarded by some idiot who didn't notice that I went into the ugliest place south of Ukaizo and came out with bags of loot, most of my NPCs are armed but naked.  Seeing them running around leaving puffs of bloody mists is surreal.

As far as the insane idea of allowing a titan to walk around, I convinced

Wael

to kill off his physical form.  Allegedly, since I don't trust any of the Gods.  After all, I kind of had the inkling Eothas was going to return after the first game and he did.  No matter what I do to him this game, I'm still not going to trust that he's gone.  I appreciated the option of [kill it without warning].  Okay, back at Neketaka to restock, switch out party and gear, and prepare for what's coming.  I truly appreciate how Serefen and my main work.  I like the synergy between Cipher and Mage characters.  I might bring in Tekehu and leave out Maia.  Difficulty on classic is trivial, which is just fine by me.  It's damned hard to lose fights and that means I can play the party I want rather than needing to play everything extra careful.

[GhostofAnakin]

I've come across 4 companions so far in The Outer Worlds.  I always find myself with a dilemma when I have more companions than I can bring in my party at any one time.  I guess that's what second play throughs are for.

I'm enjoying it so far.  I haven't noticed as much "random exploration leads to quest/story content" as in the FO games, but there's enough little tidbits to flesh out the world.

I've only had to make one "choose this faction or that faction" choice so far.  Not sure what the long-term consequences (if any) my choice will have.

[MedicineDan]

21 minutes ago, GhostofAnakin said:

I'm enjoying it so far.  I haven't noticed as much "random exploration leads to quest/story content" as in the FO games, but there's enough little tidbits to flesh out the world.

I actually like that just fine.  I want enough random exploration quests to make it interesting, but not so much that my quest log becomes confusing or unwieldly.  I bought Outer Worlds, but I haven't started a game yet.  Must. Finish. Deadfire!

[Lexx]

Playing Outer Worlds really makes me want to replay FNV. It feels very much the same, but here is the problem for me: The setting doesn't hook me at all. I have yet to get warm with it... not sure if I will.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Lexx

[Hurlshort]

4 hours ago, Lexx said:

Playing Outer Worlds really makes me want to replay FNV. It feels very much the same, but here is the problem for me: The setting doesn't hook me at all. I have yet to get warm with it... not sure if I will.

I think I'm the opposite. I love the vibrant alien worlds and views of the cosmos. I got pretty tired of the browns and grays of the Fallout games. 

[mkreku]

So I went and bought The Outer Worlds. Still installing. **** Epic Games Store. That is all.

[Lexx]

Damn, man. As I said before, the Outer World setting really isn't my thing ...

... yet I can't stop booting up the game and keep playing, even if it's just an hour or so at a time.

[mkreku]

Ok, a few hours later: the game is good. This is just up my alley, although I haven't even done the second main quest yet because it's fun just drifting around and shooting things.

[Lexx]

The game just won me over, because I found this. This is 110% my jam. I'll keep that till the end of the game, I swear.

I've added a fun time barrel mod, to further increase my fun time with it.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Lexx

[ComradeYellow]

The Outer Worlds second playthrough (I stupidly rushed first time around) and taking my time with exploration, characters, and side quests.  Everything about this game is pure gold and I'm glad we get a fresh setting that isn't post apocalyptic (Which, imo, glorifies dangerous Cold War chauvinism and racism).

[Chilloutman]

well that came out of nowhere xD

[MedicineDan]

I finished Deadfire.

(sounds of chirping crickets and distant traffic)

(ten minutes later)

Art.

[Voices of Nerat]

Outer Worlds, I'm truly enjoying it and I really hope this is the start of a new series.

In recent years I have been falling out of love with Fallout, the setting just feels stuck, especially after Bethseda took over and every game just keep repeating the same old formula, I bet F5 will just be more of the same and the world would look  and feel completly static, like the bombs fell yesterday and not 200 years ago.