What Are You Playing Now: The Other Thread

[MedicineDan]

I should really get into Disco Elysium.  I've only been playing Minecraft because of a couple young people who like to share MC stories.  What I'd really like is a strange suspenseful game.  I keep looking around here because, in my experience, I usually get good ideas from this board.

[Keyrock]

I have finished Act 3 of Kentucky Route Zero. What a weird... I don't know that I can even call it a game. It's more of a narrative experience... an interactive movie... I guess? It's equal parts profound and confusing. It's extremely slow paced but very well written and the presentation is immaculate. I mean, graphically, this was certainly not a particularly expensive project to make, but the attention to detail and polish of how every scene moves and evolves is top-shelf AAA quality. It's very clear why this took so long to make. Nothing in KRZ is done hastily or haphazardly.

[MedicineDan]

1 minute ago, Keyrock said:

Kentucky Route Zero

I just looked it up.  Kind of has a Long Dark sort of look to it.  I started a game of Disco Elysium but ran out of time.  I might keep that on the back burner and try this KRZ game.  Looks quirky.

[Hawke64]

God Eater Resurrection. The 10th story arc/difficulty/rank consisted mostly of 2vs1 battles. It was refreshing, because I had to learn aragami's movesets, time my attacks and manage the stamina. The Corrosive Hannibal (#1) took 3-4 attempts, the rest, including the second battle against the Corrosive Hannibal, required only one. These missions reminded me of that one time in GE2, when I was with an underlevelled NPC companion, who got KO'ed quickly, and I had to solo the boss.
I know that there are 3 more ranks to go, but I am quite satisfied with ending the game at this point. It was less enjoyable than GE3, but not too terrible.

[LadyCrimson]

Mostly 7 Days to Die.  I haven't played it for more than an hour or few for almost two years I think, and it's changed so much since then it's been fun to goof off in it again. I tweak the heck out of it to suit my personal tastes since I'm no longer all that into adrenaline-rush tower-defense gamey-ness.

So at first I altered skill points gained per level gave myself enough points to max out everything almost instantly, on one save, to see what all the perk/skill changes were like/what I'd want to focus on. Then started a new save and have been sneaking around on relatively easy settings, to figure out where and how I want to build a base. Turtle-ing underground in a giant dug out cavern is no longer all that effective (not a bad thing) because zombies now dig downwards and have magic sensing AI.  Besides, what with all the new electricity, turret and trap defenses I have ideas for a huge cliffside fortress. Problem is finding the right spot for what I have in mind and the dozens of hours it'd probably take to build one (without using Creative, anyway). 

Edited February 1, 2020 by LadyCrimson

[Katphood]

Tried playing Kentucky Route Zero from the start again but it keeps crashing. 

Hope there is an update of sorts soon...

[melkathi]

I finished The Outer Worlds the other day and found it ultimately forgettable. A time filler that does nothing wrong but also nothing so right it would stand out. The dystopian setting is interesting enough, but grows stale as the repetition of brainwashed and/or resigned npcs quoting the company slogans loses the effect once you have finished exploring Edgewar the first time.

The sociopolitical commentary shies away from actually making a stand and commenting, leaving it as little more than tropes.

The presentation of the story through texts on computer terminals, while an obvious choice, is also one we have gone through repeatedly in FO3, FONV, and those who could bear through it FO4, and it just strengthens the constant comparison to the big franchise, were TOW falls short, similar how DA Inquisition could never compare to a TES game: it provides a feeling of open world exploration without being an open world game. So while you aren't constrained to narrow, small maps similar to DAO or KOTOR, the maps do end quickly and the player soon realized the game is smaller than they first thought.

The party members are a mixed thing. They are refreshingly human instead of the compulsion in other games to try and get the most unique, weird, strange character the writers could come up with, and their personal stories are are also refreshingly normal and believable

Bonus: they don't all try to sleep with you, meaning talking to them (if you talk to them, as there is no real reason to do so) is not a minefield of romance triggers.

But just as they are refreshingly normal, they are also rather forgettable and become a choice of skill boosts.

The game has a decent length, but the end seems rushed, as if they ran out of time and held things back for DLC. 

This feeling is underlined by the instance of a certain quest (which Tale mentioned in a post he had hoped to agree to then sabotage but couldn't) which does not have multiple solutions, even though 40 hours of game have up to that point instilled the expectation of choice in the player. Did they just run out of time here? It doesn't fit the game's philosophy.

Cut corners also seem to be the conversation skill and ability checks which lead to nothing but 30 odd xp and one additional line of dialogue. The player is teased that with a higher stat or skill the conversation could go differently, but it doesn't.

And on the same line, the character background seems to be a lost opportunity for some extra dialogue choices here and there. A mascot character for example knows nothing if tossball (the sport they were cheering for professionally) or does not feel a certain kinship with Moon Boy? Omissions that stick out.

 

Verdict:

Bought it on sale. Was positively surprised to find it a longer game than expected. Finished it. Uninstalled it. Will never play again. Did not feel I wasted my money, but time could equally have been send on another game.

Edited February 4, 2020 by melkathi

[Katphood]

On Sunday, February 02, 2020 at 4:57 PM, melkathi said:

The presentation of the story through texts on computer terminals, while an obvious choice, is also one we have gone through repeatedly in FO3, FONV, and those who could bear through it FO4, and it just strengthens the constant comparison to the big franchise, were TOW falls short, similar how DA Inquisition could never compare to a TES game: it provides a feeling of open world exploration without being an open world game. So while you are constrained to narrow, small maps similar to DAO or KOTOR, the maps do end quickly and the player soon realized the game is smaller than they first thought.

That sounds like a good thing, actually. Sounds like the older crpg games were you had detailed 'maps' instead of one big open-world map. 

 

Still haven't played it though, backlog is too big for now.

[Mamoulian War]

I have finished White March Part 1 Expansion of Pillars of Eternity yesterday. I like the surrounding areas more than in vanilla game. I have some weakness for winter themes probably Anyway, I loved it a lot, but somehow, I have been overrun by some monsters There is still one Dragon, which needs to be slain in one cave, but I decided to wait a little bit before fighting him. First encounter ended very quickly, because I was not rested and one his breath attack killed off few of my party members

[MedicineDan]

Just killed off the Ender Dragon in Minecraft.  Pain in the tuckus.  I thought that end poem was really sweet, but could it have been a *little* shorter?  Good Lord!  Don't know what else to do in the game that this point.  The charm of Minecraft is that you can play it for a very short period of time without having to think much.

[Hawke64]

Roll+Heart. It is a visual novel about a group of tabletop gamers, there are character customization and very basic turn-based battles. The game is a buggy mess, but it is still quite amusing.

[Keyrock]

I got the Uncharted Collection "free" (not actually free) with my PS Plus subscription (which is set to run out in about 3 weeks and I will likely not renew) so I decided to give the 1st game a go. Not impressed. I mean, I know it was a landmark game when it came out, but it definitely shows its age.  And I'm not talking about the graphics, the remaster did a decent job of uprezzing the visuals. The animations are stiff, combat is stiff and very basic, and all the climbing is quite basic too.

The bigger issue is that movement is borked where Drake gets sort of stuck between walking and running and it looks like he's limping with a broken leg. It's hilarious at first, but makes run for your life setpieces virtually unplayable. Apparently it's a known issue that lots of people have due to the controls' sensitivity being too crazy and any wear on the controller causes stutters like that. I'm not about to buy a new controller just for this game, since my current one works perfectly fine on every other game. 

[Hurlshort]

Yeah, I felt like I was murdering a lot of people in the first Drake's game. I have no idea if i got any better in future titles, but I was just shooting wave after wave of people and it seemed pretty excessive for a treasure hunter.

[Tale]

I finished Call of Cthulhu last week, the Cyanide one. It was pretty good. The illusion of choice fooled me a bit right up until the end and there were a few decently tense moments.

 

For $10 I can recommend it. Just don't expect anything deep.

[Majek]

On 2/5/2020 at 3:12 PM, Keyrock said:

I got the Uncharted Collection "free" (not actually free) with my PS Plus subscription (which is set to run out in about 3 weeks and I will likely not renew) so I decided to give the 1st game a go. Not impressed. I mean, I know it was a landmark game when it came out, but it definitely shows its age.  And I'm not talking about the graphics, the remaster did a decent job of uprezzing the visuals. The animations are stiff, combat is stiff and very basic, and all the climbing is quite basic too.

 

If uncharted animations are stiff, what are fluid animations then? ANd what is such a better combat in 3rd person shooter that Uncharted combat is stiff and basic?  i never understood that complaint about Unacharted combat, and  it keeps coming up a lot. In all of the games. especially those that were release around the same time.

 

Anyway. I'm playing Iceborne on pc. Had to start MHW from the beginning but with Defender stuff it was pretty easy getting through the base game into the expansion. There's still a lot of optional stuff that i've skipped so far but i'll get back to that when i've got some Master rank armor and weapons equipped.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Majek

[Hawke64]

God Eater 3. v2.40. I've successfully completed 2 companion missions and defeated the new aragami. After playing GER, I must say that GE3 has much better AI, but somehow less responsive controls.
In one of these new missions the issue I had with the game came up again - the game tries to portrait institutionalized discrimination and genocide, but also to make it suitable for 12-year-olds and to have a "happy" ending. I don't think that it is possible or reasonable to negotiate with someone who sees you as a less than a human and has been actively and persistently trying to kill you, your family and your friends, but, being an action game, GE3 does not allow me to express it.
The new aragami, Tyrant Hannibal, was quite entertaining to fight - unlike the normal Hannibal, breaking its halo was the key to victory.

 

Edit. Completed Garshasp: The Monster Slayer. It is a relatively short action/hack&slash with platforming. There is nothing remarkable about it, except that it runs well on Win10 from the start and supports 5-button mice (the camera is fixed, though).

Edited February 8, 2020 by Hawke64

[Mamoulian War]

I have just completed Act II in Pillars of Eternity. The Animancy hearing did not end up like I was anticipating, but we have more things to do now, because new areas opened up. I have also visited the Craghold Bluff for few minutes, but left very soon, after my ass was kicked so badly that I ran away faster than you say "Reload" Also, The Endless Paths are cleared up to level 12. 3 more to go, but I had a little bit rough times at level 12, so I've decided to postpone venturing deeper. For now. Now I just have to decide, if I will go to Twin Elms, or go back to White March and continue with the Part II of the expansion...

[Nepenthe]

Started gaming again a couple of weeks ago, after an almost 3,5 year break!

So far the most enjoyable thing has been the replaying of the Criminal Past DLC for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (one of the few things I had played during the break, but not getting to really enjoy it properly). It's really, really good.

It's funny how they managed to do some of the most "deus ex" areas (palisade bank, PenT House), yet managed to make most of the main game side quests feel like cubicle slavery. I still think the main game was heavily cut in a final rush, even the loading screen suggests an element of the game that is pretty much just hinted at in the final product. 

[Mamoulian War]

Wellcome back, I was wondering, where have you gone  

[marelooke]

Got suckered into FF XIV. Game's weird to be sure, and indeed much better than the beta of the original I participated in, way back when.

Story is surprisingly decent, too. I mean, for a MMO. I also enjoy that there's some actual RPG options still there, the level scaling also makes it so lower level areas still feel alive.

[Nepenthe]

8 hours ago, Mamoulian War said:

Wellcome back, I was wondering, where have you gone  

Not much sense in spending time talking about games when you're not gaming.

[ShadySands]

29 minutes ago, Nepenthe said:

Not much sense in spending time talking about games when you're not gaming.

I knew I was doing something wrong

[Keyrock]

I'm in the mood to play a musou. Anyone here have any recommendations? It has to be either on Steam or PS4. I'm currently considering Warriors Orochi 4. I already have Dragon Quest Heroes 2 BTW. 

Thanks in advance.

[Sayore567]

SCP: Secret Laboratory. It has another name SCP: SL. The roles in the game have different characteristics and they are very interesting.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Sayore567

[LadyCrimson]

Hadn't played Path of Exile for maybe a couple years. Sheer boredom had me d/l and install it. Lost a few chr. names for being away so long (not the chrs, just the names) so pfft, I deleted them and some other mid-levels. Made a new chr. so I could figure out any changes to the tree and gems etc. before I use the "forced" reallocation of points on a few past high lvl characters.

Still addicted to the Scion class, it's flexibility means it's basically the only class I play, outside of a single Witch as a stronger summon build. Don't care about the end-game stuff much (the maps and whatnot) but it's fun to run through the Acts . The first difficulty is so easy now it's almost sad.

I found myself oddly missing Diablo 3's current ability to skip difficulties at whim. But otherwise ... since it's been so long, PoE might entertain me for a few weeks again...my current rig maxes settings at rock solid 140fps at 1440, smooth as butter. Haven't tried it in 4k.  EDIT:  I just tried it. Oddly it's seemingly still gets 120fps in 4k.  First game that's done that.

Edited February 10, 2020 by LadyCrimson