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

[Humanoid]

6 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

I generally dont focus on sneak attacks or party members with that skill. But their are exceptions like D:OS2 

Yeah, it's not the most common choice, especially in D&D, but I always, always play a thief/rogue-type character in my first playthrough of any game.

[BruceVC]

15 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Yeah, it's not the most common choice, especially in D&D, but I always, always play a thief/rogue-type character in my first playthrough of any game.

Its a good point about rogue not being that popular in D&D games because you can substitute rogue skills like  removing trapped or locked chests or  doors with magic and spells that destroy the object 

I just finished the entire NWN EE and its expansions and I was  a wizard and only used Tomi in the beginning of the OC as a  henchmen and then selected Daelan due to his fighting skills 

So having a rogue is not necessary or for me the most effective henchmen in NWN EE

[Wormerine]

11 hours ago, majestic said:

Mass Effect 2's excuse for a plot is a rehash of Dragon Age: Origins.

Yes, but it's done better. Characters is what carries ME2, even though it suffers from middle part syndrome - neither starting nor ending the story, so plotwise it's just fluff. But it nicely expands characters from ME1.

10 hours ago, Keyrock said:

Wait, do people really hate DA:O? I've long held the belief that DA:O is overrated, but by overrated I mean that it's good, just not the masterpiece that so many people hailed it as when it first released.

I do! I believe it failed in every promise it made in it's opening hours. At it's very basic it is a KOTOR style game, but it goes on for about 60h more then it should. Unlike previous Bioware games its move to "dark fantasy" strips it of any charm while failing miserably in creating nuanced world or putting players in interesting situations. It is a game I see potential in, but DA:O is just one big missed opportunity. It failed in being a reactive RPG, and failed in being a cinematic experience. Hmmm, kinda reminds me of another game in the making parading as a successor to classic Baldur's Gate games, cough, cough. 

Edit:
First legacy dungeon in Elden Ring completed. It was some excellent content with two fantastic bosses and some memorable tougher encounters. It's almost shame to return to the overworld - as pretty as it is, it is half as interesting as a curated dungeon.

I think I found disneyland. 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Wormerine

[melkathi]

DA:O took 24 hours to finish with all sidequests if you know what you are doing...

The biggest problem the game had (other than stupid npcs (though real life the past few years has made them seem more realistic after all) and a plot that made little sense at times) was that the Origins were the best bit about it.

I had fun with it. Even finished it multiple times. But each playthrough made any problem in the writing more jarring.

It may have something to do with IE games being longer, so there out of setting situations are kept in balance to the overall atmosphere. As DA:O is a rather compact experience, your companions talking about shopping therapy or licking lamp posts in winter rips you out of the dark setting. The game is schizophrenic: darkness all around but a soap opera in camp.

[uuuhhii]

1 hour ago, melkathi said:

DA:O took 24 hours to finish with all sidequests if you know what you are doing...

The biggest problem the game had (other than stupid npcs (though real life the past few years has made them seem more realistic after all) and a plot that made little sense at times) was that the Origins were the best bit about it.

I had fun with it. Even finished it multiple times. But each playthrough made any problem in the writing more jarring.

It may have something to do with IE games being longer, so there out of setting situations are kept in balance to the overall atmosphere. As DA:O is a rather compact experience, your companions talking about shopping therapy or licking lamp posts in winter rips you out of the dark setting. The game is schizophrenic: darkness all around but a soap opera in camp.

main characters never play by the same rule as the disposable regular npcs

the dialogue system require a lot of suspension of disbelief

but anyone accept how everyone talk while half covered by blood are most likely capable of accepting talk about cake with companion second after killing broodmother

[BruceVC]

2 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

main characters never play by the same rule as the disposable regular npcs

the dialogue system require a lot of suspension of disbelief

but anyone accept how everyone talk while half covered by blood are most likely capable of accepting talk about cake with companion second after killing broodmother

I think you guys are over-analyzing DA:O and being unfair....but your criticism is funny 

Remember end of the day its a fantasy game where you fight dragons and cast spells. We must be careful not to assume it must too believable because its not suppose to be 

[melkathi]

Back to the important games. I'm building my 3rd village in the 3rd cycle of Against The Storm. Food supply is nail biting. I have a number of farms, but as they grow crops with the seasons, during Clearance (the least rainy season) my village goes down to 0 food and I scramble to keep them fed. Then, in Storm season the harvest comes in and suddenly all is great. But because of the storm morale goes down, so I have to make a spectacle of burning extra coal in the central pyres.

So everyone is either happy but hungry, or unhappy though unhungry.

 

(I know that's not a word)

[Chilloutman]

this looks interesting to me:

https://www.farthestfrontier.com/

I will keep an eye on this one

[Totally not Gorgon]

Elden ring is not as good as  Dark Souls 3.

 

Change my mind. 

[Theonlygarby]

22 hours ago, Malcador said:

Before they patched it out, my V had a revolver in her hand.  That made that scene with Judy hilarious.

 

I have tried to sleep with everyone I could, just so I don't miss out on any awkward close ups and fully clothed position changes.  The revolver would make it funnier.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Theonlygarby

[Hurlshort]

57 minutes ago, Totally not Gorgon said:

Elden ring is not as good as  Dark Souls 3.

 

Change my mind. 

Harder take: Elex 2 is better than Elden Ring.

[Malcador]

12 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Just launched the game with the new content for the first time. Being able to have sleepovers is cute, but boy does Judy need to buy a new bed.

I tried launching it then it crashed and said I need to download another 16 gigs. Grah.

Went back to Rome :TW, pacified Britain super quick and easily. Next is probably spending some turns working on economy, and trying to manage politics some - the last civil war I had in game was a colossal pain.

  

10 minutes ago, Theonlygarby said:

I have tried to sleep with everyone I could, just so I don't miss out on any awkward close ups and fully clothed position changes.  The revolver would make it funnier.

Indeed, my reaction to seeing where V was moving the revolver indicated Judy was truly a freak in the sheets.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Malcador

[Totally not Gorgon]

14 minutes ago, Hurlsnot said:

Harder take: Elex 2 is better than Elden Ring.

Risen with jetpacks ?

 

[Calax]

Currently bopping around in Super Robot Wars 30, Crusader Kings 3 and a wee bit of the Warcraft.

[melkathi]

1 hour ago, Hurlsnot said:

Harder take: Elex 2 is better than Elden Ring.

Pfft. Neither compare to Troubleshooter. Or Majesty.

[HoonDing]

ELEX II doesn't run on Windows 7.

Guess they don't want my rubles. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

18 hours ago, Keyrock said:

Wait, do people really hate DA:O?

Yes. Initially I thought it was ok as KoToR but edgy fantasy, but it really doesn't hold up at all. You're hit with two tutorials/prequel sections before the game actually starts and then it's pretty much formulaic until the end. Not to mention the gameplay itself sucks and is horribly repetitive.

Anyways, giving Hades a go tonight.

[Wormerine]

7 hours ago, melkathi said:

DA:O took 24 hours to finish with all sidequests if you know what you are doing...

You mean skipping dialogue I think... I am pretty sure 24 hours is about the time I spent in the party camp alone. I spent more then that on expansion alone, and that was a fraction of length of the base game. I think base game took me about 80h, though I can't verify as I played it through a physical copy... those were the times. 

was that the Origins were the best bit about it.

Origins + Battle of Orzammar. After that the game just meanders for way too long, ignores any identity the origins might have given the player and picks just a little bit of steam for the end. 

3 hours ago, Totally not Gorgon said:

Elden ring is not as good as  Dark Souls 3.

I need to play more, but I think my take might be that there is a better game then Dark Souls3 within Elder Ring, but you need to go through open-world to get there. 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Wormerine

[uuuhhii]

3 hours ago, Hurlsnot said:

Harder take: Elex 2 is better than Elden Ring.

more likely to be same level of janky

eurojank vs jrpgjank

[Chilloutman]

I expect RPGs to have long playtime. Otherwise dialogues and choices would be greatly diminished. It would boil down to movie sliced by combat sequences.

[Hurlshort]

Elex 2 is off to a good start. It plays like the original and the graphics received a nice boost. Still only about an hour in, but it seems right in line with the original.

[the_dog_days]

3 hours ago, Hurlsnot said:

Elex 2 is off to a good start. It plays like the original and the graphics received a nice boost. Still only about an hour in, but it seems right in line with the original.

Aside from some of the most disorienting CGI cut scenes, I agree.

[melkathi]

More thoughts on Against the Storm:

The bad:

One thing I find gives joy to the city builder experience is order or planning or control or whatever you may call it. Structuring your city for maximum efficiency, then enjoy being able to just sit back and watch it function on it's own indefinitely. Against the Storm isn't that kind of game. Missions are on a timer - the Queen's irritation meter - and once time runs out the mission fails. Maps are random. Real estate is tight. Resources are scarce. Your buildings are huddled around your warehouses and fire pits, but you aren't able to plan a layout.

 

The good:

The game has everything else you need from a city builder. Harvesting resources to produce goods to combine into more complex goods. Fulfilling various needs of your villagers, from food and shelter to leisure and bloodlust.

You have humans, beavers, lizards, and harpies who all are slightly different but with some overlap. Both humans and beavers like their leisure time, so going for drinks at the tavern. Humans and lizards have a penchant for religion. Lizards and harpies have bloodlust so enjoy some friendly sparring.

Everyone is good at something and everyone enjoys something. Humans are good farmers but enjoy alcohol. So they are more productive than others working at a farm, but working in the brewery will make them happy. Beavers are fascinated by technology, harpies are good at alchemy. In a raindistillery beavers will be amazed working with ancient raintech, but harpies will actually be good at it.

Glades add exploration to the game. As your woodcutters clear the forest, you explore glades. Small glades may have a couple of resource nodes or some loot. Larger Dangerous Glades will have a glade event you need to solve fairly quickly or suffer adverse effects. The largest, Forbidden Glades have some really nasty events.

Events basically boil down to you sending a number of scouts with a choice of resources to the event. The resources represent the way you solve the situation; closing a termite mount with resin, dousing a fire with water, dismantling a malfunctioning raintech with tools. There seem to be enough events that you can't be certain what you will find.

The pressure and randomness work. There is a feeling of accomplishment closer to other game types than the methodical city builder feel. You managed to get your hands on incense, send your lizards to pray, which boosted their resolve enough to tackle that forbidden glade, which then gives you the reputation you needed to appease the queen.

Unlocks. Loads of unlocks to unlock between villages. New buildings, new upgrades, new traders. As you progress the game becomes more complex but also a bit less random, as more buildings get tagged as essential, giving you more ways to plan for making your villagers happy.

[Keyrock]

5 hours ago, Hurlsnot said:

Elex 2 is off to a good start. It plays like the original and the graphics received a nice boost. Still only about an hour in, but it seems right in line with the original.

 

2 hours ago, the_dog_days said:

Aside from some of the most disorienting CGI cut scenes, I agree.

I'm assuming it still follows Piranha Bytes' design philosophy of no level scaling whatsoever. Also that they may drop you a hint that you probably shouldn't go in that direction at low level, but if you insist you can and you will get horribly murdered. Correct?

[melkathi]

It would be strange if they changed that now.

"Due to the way COVID restrictions affected development, Elex 2 has level scaling" would be a funny announcement though.