What are you Playing Now? No really, tell us more...

[melkathi]

My list of finished games is short. I'll do a Good, Bad, Ugly list (not all games released 2021) :

 

The Bad 2021:

Evil Genius 2 was the worst offender. My greatest disappointment in any game. Especially as the marketing people flat out lied and described the game as being the opposite of what they said. I had a positive opinion of Rebellion as they had been decent in the past, but EG2 burned any and all goodwill I had towards them and put them on my no-purchase list.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road I gave up on after 13 minutes. I seriously disliked the writing. A game that is pure text should convince with the text.

Conglomerate 451 tries too hard to be 1337. The devs try to do some damage control on the forum by acknowledging that their design direction has alienated a LOT of customers (read: no Save & Quit during missions because a true rogue like has consequences...)

Necromunda: Underhive Wars I already disliked last year, but I was going to be the bigger teddy bear and give it another another chance and see how all the hard work the devs put into the game improved things. Bolters now drop as loot, which had previously been left out of the loot table. Yay... a year worth of patches and it is the only significant change to be honest.

Rock and Rogue a Boo Bunny Plague Adventure is bad even for a game which you walk into fully expecting a yanky one man project with problematic gameplay. The original Boo Bunny Plague was hilarious and made up for any hiccups while playing.

The Meh 2021:

Rogue Lords is a rogue like where you play the devil and use your essence (HP) to affect things in the game. Sometimes the gimmick works well, such as when you walk into a boss fight but have a terror effect that let's you use the devil ability for free once, and so you reduce the health of the boss to 1 for free - it cheapens the fight, but you are the devil so it is very thematic and a highlight of the game experience. Often it is just a thing you do. The biggest problem is the insane damage that you just can't block. All rogue likes have inherent balance issues and sometimes your team will get an encounter they just can't beat. But usually all encounters would be beatable with the right team. In Rogue Lords some encounters just aren't winable ever with any team. Meh.

Encased is throwing too many survival mechanics at the player, making the game too tedious for me to play. I understand other people will enjoy it and overlook some faults, but while the atmosphere is great, I can't find the energy to endure the gameplay. Probably because just like in Encased, I'd have to sleep for a year to regenerate the energy to play the game.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York tried hard to be better than Coteries. And it falls short. While in theory we get two endings now, the writer should have spend less time congratulating themselves on how awesome they are and more time making the writing matter.

Cat Quest is super cute. It also basically is one internet cat meme done over and over and over and over and over again. I don't regret the two hours I played, but I do have to admit that I repeated the same 5 minutes 60 times in those two hours. And they made a second game...

Wildermyth starts interesting and has a good concept. It gets very repetitive very quick though and the random events are too repetitive, not written well enough, and in the end just add skip skip skip tedium. I ended up caring less and less about the characters in my party.

Humankind is your standard Amplitude 4X game. LOADS of interesting ideas. But I find the game could do without the gameplay and just let me create my civilization through a questionnaire.

The Good 2021

Age of Wonders: Planetfall remains one of my better experiences this year. The empire mode in the last DLC made the game enjoyable in a way the badly written campaigns couldn't. Empire mode is a reason to play the game. The content before the Star Kings DLC was a reason not to.

Trials of Fire is a rogue like that does not have your party on the left of the screen facing the enemies on the right. Instead you are markers on hexagonal map tiles; deployed on the left of the screen while your opponents are deployed on the right... The characters have interesting abilities and the loot is rpg fun.

Star Renegades is fantastic in the standard good guys on the left, bad guys on the right rogue like genre. Amazing pixel art. It has a premise that works well to make you repeat the loop. It has terrible writing by people who think they are funny. It has an involved way to unlock more characters.

The WTF? 2021

How the heck did I end up playing 200+ hours of Skyrim? The reason I stopped was not being able to decide who to marry so the girls could have a second parent.

The Highlight 2021

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children completed its current content recently and except for the one story and one optional crabmit maps (which, if modded out of the game would be great) continues with the same of everything that made the game great so far.

Edited January 1, 2022 by melkathi

[Keyrock]

The Good Life has a ton of systems, way more than I expected. None of them are terrible, but none of them are terribly deep either and I'm not sure I see the point in having all this in the game. There are sleep and hunger meters, you can grow crops, cook meals, you have stats, there's a system where some people are cat people and some dog people and you can only get some quests if you are aligned with the right animal. 

On the one hand, I want to give Swery & Co. the benefit of the doubt because I'm not that far into the game. Perhaps all the systems and management busywork are the point of the game? Naomi is a New Yorker and, naturally, stressed out. Maybe Naomi learning to appreciate a slower, more simple lifestyle in the boonies is the lesson I'm supposed to take away from a game called The Good Life?

On the other hand, I've played enough Swery games at this point to know that gameplay is always the weakest link. Nothing in this is as godawful as the combat in Deadly Premonition (in fainess to Swery he had no intention of putting combat in that game, the publisher forced him to), so there's that, but it's still busywork impeding my enjoyment of the story. I kind of wish Swery would just make point & click adventures (D4 was sort of close to that). The less clunky gameplay mechanics keeping me from interacting with wonderfully weird characters and bizarre, surreal storylines the better.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Keyrock

[LadyCrimson]

I remember buying Cat Quest on PS4. It was cute, and it felt Diablo-ish in a way. Or something.

Then at some point after several hours every time I went into a dungeon or tried a quest I had my furry ears handed to me on a plate and there wasn't much more I could grind to level up/get more powah and I just quit. I'm not sure if it was really that hard or if I was just lulled by the cuteness to expect something that required less than a few braincells of thought and was irritated when it started to become ... not that.

Edit: I should say I did enjoy CQ, what I played. It's still on the PS4 actually, just never turned it on again.

Edited January 1, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[ShadySands]

Wrathfinder: Path of the Righteous was easily my game of the year

[Keyrock]

I guess my GotY would be Metroid Dread. It didn't do anything innovative, even the EMMIs were just an evolution of the SA-X ftom Metroid Fusion. Still, it's clear the devs understood what made Super Metroid one of the greatest games ever made, the movement. The movement in Metroid Dread is sublime and thus traversing the rather large, labyrinthine levels is a joy. Plus, the maps are easy to understand and the game does a great job of nudging you in the right direction, so you rarely get lost. As a bonus, there are some really badass boss fights. The chozo robots and soldiers get recycled as bosses a bit too often, perhaps, but that's about the only nit I can pick with the game.

[Wormerine]

I have been watching top-tens and there really is no GOTY contender - at least on PC. Returnal looks interesting but didn't play it. 

[Mamoulian War]

January 2, 21:30 – First finished game of 2022 is Platinum Trophy run of Hyperdimension Neptunia VII on my PS4. I just needed to get out of my way last 8 trophies to finish the game on 100%. Some of the trophies were grindy, some were just awarded for item creation, and one was needed to be finished in platformer dungeon Neplunker Zero, which had some RNG obstacles, which made me go berserk few times, and then I needed to take some break, to be able to go on further . In total, it took me almost 160 hours to finish all the prerequisites for all of the trophies in the game.

 

[melkathi]

Started Iron Harvest.

I am not very good at RTS games anymore. I don't think I ever was great, but I feel I am getting a bit too old for the genre. Still, I play it for the steampunk story.

I do wonder how good/bad the native speaker voice acting is. I am in the Polania campaign so can't judge, as I don't speak Polish. The Saxony campaign comes later, so haven't checked the German.

[Tale]

I played my way through Halo 5. I have Gamepass, so I thought I'd try it on Cloud gaming.

It deserves its bad reputation even though it actually improves on some stuff from 4.  I don't hate the Prometheans here and I even like their weapons. But everyone in it is simply dull. This wouldn't typically be an issue in a Halo game except they're constantly talking. Nobody has any personality, but the game is trying hard to build up this squad dynamic and not really succeeding. It's just Locke barking orders and everyone else making obvious commentary. The issue from 4 where the writing lacks any subtlety at all is still ever present.

Which is sort of matched by the encounter design following the Doom school of throwing way too many enemies into an arena. Every level has to have like 3 or 4 BIG SPECTACLE FIGHTS. And it felt like every other mission ended with the floor falling apart under you... Because that's a thing people are doing. Got to have scripted destruction of the environment around or the player might stop and enjoy something.

[Hawke64]

I've just completed Solar Ash. While it is quite different from Hyper Light Drifter in terms of gameplay, the game is absolutely amazing - fluid, responsive and rebindable controls, engaging and interesting gameplay and story, gorgeous graphics and soundtrack. The location design felt unique yet somehow familiar - variable gravity was novel, though making navigation slightly more difficult, clear separation between areas and their general design reminded of Prince of Persia (2008 reboot). The boss battles were excellent - neither soul-crushingly difficult nor too easy (played on Normal). There were few collectibles - only armour sets that provided different bonuses and some lore, and very basic character development system (more HP) that did not distract from exploration or combat.
I have not encountered any bugs during my full playthrough.
Highly recommended and currently on sale (coupons are applicable) on EGS.

Praey for the Gods was similar to Solar Ash, though compares unfavourably to it. Praey for the Gods is an action-adventure with optional survival elements.
In my experience, it consisted solely of finding and defeating giant unique bosses.
The story is linear, there is 1 human character (the nameless and silent protagonist) and 2 "dialogues" (3 if the intro counts). The lore is provided via the notes scattered around the island.
The inventory is limited, but most of the items are not needed, so it can be safely ignored. Survival elements seem redundant, but they do not affect the gameplay much - the only necessary tool, the grappling hook, is easy to craft (a bow was required for 1 boss). The character development system relies on exploration - every 3 idols found allow to increase health or stamina. There are several ways to traverse locations, though no fast travel system.
There are manual saving, rebindable and comfortable controls, 5-button mice support. The graphics and sound are quite good.
Recommended on sale.
Disclaimer: I backed the game on Kickstarter.

My Game of the Year would be Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, if I finished it in 2021. Currently I am still in Chapter 3 and have been progressing quite slowly due to circumstances unrelated to the game.

[Hurlshort]

I just reached the final chapter of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. I was looking for a decent JRPG and this did a good job of scratching that itch. There are like 14 games in the series, so I'm not sure if I will move onto the next one, but it is nice to know the option is there. 

I've also started back up with Lord of the Rings Online. My level 101 captain is making his way through Gondor and trying to figure out what all these skills do...again. 14 years of on and off again play hasn't made it any easier to figure out what all the buttons and items do.

[Mamoulian War]

There are lot of games in the series, but if you really enjoyed it, I recommend to you to check out the other two games in the Trails in the Sky arc of the storyline.

[bugarup]

Statistics tells me I've been mostly replaying old stuff in the year of Our Lord 2021. It probably tells stuff about year itself and aspects of my personality too, but whatever.  And so -

GOATEE of this year would be Kenshi. Which will also prolly be GOATEE of 2022, since I clocked in 400 hours and I am not bored at all yet. It's sort of "What if the SIms were in really cool Mad Maxy setting sans autos but with katanas and also had a bit lolrandom but essentially benevolent gamemaster", and I am addicted.   (Note to self: avoid Rimworld until retired, I have a sneaking suspicion it's the same kind of crack). 

"So bad it's good" trophy goes to Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel". Oy vey...where to start? Walking plywood board for trite motivational posters of a protagonist. Annoying enemies that always run away on defeat, again and again and yet again (speaking of which, ptui on you, Kai Leng!). The most ridiculously insufferable antagonist since (ptui!) Kai Leng. Your team is all children and yet boob jokes everywhere and girls dressed in school uniforms by way of Pornhub, also the majority of characters somehow are bland and overly melodramatic at the same time. Insipid chirpy pop soundtrack. Incest overtones. . Also, very fun turn-based combat system and surprisingly detailed, mature worldbuilding that is so wasted on all those horrible characters inhabiting that world. So, yeah. I am totally going to play the next game in the series. 

Aaaaand lastly, "I'll come back one day, I promise!" consolation prize goes to those 30+ games I started and never bothered to

 

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by bugarup
grammar is hard

[Theonlygarby]

Trying to play baldurs gate 3.  Not sure what it is about larians writing that I don't like, but I can never get invested in characters or plot in their games.

Also mount and blade 2... that I'm having fun with but I feel very stuck... grinded out 10k from escorting caravans... need to join a war but no one wants to hire me

[melkathi]

Maybe you simply require quality.

[Malcador]

Well my FM save is depressing, all my good players are moving on and all my scouts find are midget wingers that can run fast but are idiots, or ancient defenders that can't move.  Guess I will save scum and leave Brno too. 

Downloaded Starpoint Gemini 2, so will try that a bit, it didn't catch me last time.

[Theonlygarby]

1 hour ago, melkathi said:

Maybe you simply require quality.

Was that to me?  Do you also dislike their writing?  I feel like everyone loves larian and I just don't quite get it

[Hurlshort]

46 minutes ago, Theonlygarby said:

Was that to me?  Do you also dislike their writing?  I feel like everyone loves larian and I just don't quite get it

The writing is usually the biggest complaint I see from people. It is a strange tone, for sure. 

[Wormerine]

I finished Forgotten City. Very very junky, and "true" ending is incredibly corny but I enjoyed my time with it. Played it through gamepass, and that's the way I would suggest trying it out, as I think it is greatly overpriced. It took me less then 6 hours to thoroughly explore, and the experience is rather janky. Entertaining nonetheless.

Edited January 4, 2022 by Wormerine

[melkathi]

1 hour ago, Theonlygarby said:

Was that to me?  Do you also dislike their writing?  I feel like everyone loves larian and I just don't quite get it

So, everyone has their role in a community, right?

My jobs are:

1) Post Mordheim screenshots

2) Rant about the lie that is the theory of two extremes, as best illustrated in "moral dilemmas" such as the choice between NCR and Caesar's Legion

3) Generally dislike writing in games as well as tedious design choices

4) Specifically dislike Larian and Bioware writing

5) Post Mordheim screenshots.

 

Admittedly, I have not been posting too many Mordheim screenshots. Mainly because I have not really found much that I haven't screenshotted before.

[Keyrock]

My jobs in this community:

1) Post about weird, obscure, niche games that few, if any, other forum members will care about

2) Also specifically dislike Larian and Bioware writing

3) Hate on Bethesda developed games

4) Post as many screenies as possible to keep the Pictures of Your Games threads from getting overwhelmed by Mordheim Troubleshooter screenies

5) Attempt to convert as many lost souls to the Church of the Eurojank RPG as possible so that they may also share in the glory. Have you heard the great news?

Edited January 4, 2022 by Keyrock

[melkathi]

13 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

 

4) Post as many screenies as possible to keep the Pictures of Your Games threads from getting overwhelmed by Mordheim Troubleshooter screenies

 

 

[melkathi]

@Keyrock I am actually waiting for your opinion on Steelrising once it releases and you play it.

[Mamoulian War]

I have started this week Super Neptunia RPG, a spin-off in the Neptunia series, which is 2D platformer and RPG, so far it is not as much fun as the main series titles, but I am slowly moving forward. Writing is also a little bit lower quality than the main series, we'll see how it goes. So far 11 hours or so spent in the game.

[Theonlygarby]

I'm starting to think I have had this exact conversation on Obsidian, the last time I tried to play Baldurs Gate 3.  Here are 3 things I hate about baldurs gate 3

1) is it a nod to D:OS2 to have the game start on a ship, and then crash on a beach? Because I hate it, I felt like I was playing Divinity.

2) you meet every companion within the first 10 minutes of the game.  You all were on the ship together... reminds me of another game...  I guess this is so you can play as them...

3) I get that it's probably a style choice, but due to your companions being possible MCs, your created character feels so out of place.  I felt zero connection to a created character.  You are unnecessary, and a burden.