What are you Playing Now? Whatever happens, at least we're out of that mudhole, Gilded Vale.

[BruceVC]

14 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

I loaded up Conan Exiles with the new massive Sorcery update. A lot of people are worried about the Battle Pass system turning it into a microtransaction hell. I can't speak to how this will affect multiplayer folks, but as a single player, it doesn't seem to have much impact. There are a lot of positive changes coming with the update that don't cost any crom coins, and it looks like I have access to all of the DLC stuff I have purchased over the years. 

The two positive changes that stood out immediately to me:

- The trait system is reworked. When you reach a certain level in an attribute, you get to choose from a list of perks. For example, when leveling up my expertise (harvesting attribute) I got to choose whether I want a boost to how much I get of a resource, or a better chance of a rare material. It adds some complexity to a stagnant system.

- There are challenges to complete. These are separate from the storyline stuff. Some are exploratory (go pray at a certain altar), some are combat related, and some are harvesting related (harvest 10 iron sources.) It seems pretty simple, but it's another way to stay engaged. I didn't play long enough to get into the rewards.

Anyways, I haven't even gotten into sorcery aspect, so I'm looking forward to that. But I was happy to see all of my DLC was still active and the single player game has only really been enhanced at this point.

Its good to see you getting so much entertainment out of Conan Exiles, I am also happy Funcom has restored its reputation after the massive issues with the Conan MMO

I

 

[Gorth]

I feel like I only just got the game the other day, but the GOG launcher claims I've spent 50+ hours on the game already. That's scary

Hopefully that number includes the hours I've left the game paused!

 

Edit: Game being Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

[Humanoid]

Steam claims I have 298 hours in Cook Serve Delicious 3, and that makes me look at the various numbers for all my other games with a lot more suspicion now. I doubt I even have 30 hours in the game, hell it's probably closer to 3 than to 30.

My best guess is that it's a bug with Remote Play Together functionality.

[BruceVC]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

I feel like I only just got the game the other day, but the GOG launcher claims I've spent 50+ hours on the game already. That's scary

Hopefully that number includes the hours I've left the game paused!

 

Edit: Game being Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Its not that, there are several people who have played this game and had a similar experience. In the game there is spell caused RL Fog and when the spell is cast it can cause you to lose 35-40 hours of time in RL...so dont worry it just means you failed the saving throw

[bugarup]

Game time is extremely relative thing. I routinely clock three digits of hours in RPGs and there's one in four even and it almost always is like "Why is it four in the morning when I just sat down with it a minute ago?!" versus, say, FEAR which dragged for me like forever and a year when I actually finished it in less than 10 hours. 

[BruceVC]

I have some exciting news, I have decided on my next game. Its going to be BG2 EE

I typically take breaks from genres or similar games but I had such fun in BG1 Im in the mood. And I played it last 12 years ago  so hopefully I have forgotten much of the narrative. I am loading mods and I will begin tomorrow 

 

[Keyrock]

While I am overall enjoying Soul Hackers 2 so far, I do have one big gripe. Loading screens. SO. MANY. LOADING. SCREENS. I feel like I'm playing a game from 15 years ago in that regard, it's been so long since I've seen a game with this many loading screens. It's not the end of the world since the xXxBOxXx has fairly quick load times, but I pity anyone playing this on a last gen console.

I mean, I get it, it's not an open world game, they can't use streaming tech, there are going to be loading screens. Some of them could easily be eliminated, though. For example, when I want to heal up I go back to the safehouse and rest. Let's say I'm in a Soul Matrix dungeon and I want to heal up. Here's the process:

1) Go back to the entrance of the dungeon (there are fast travel waypoints that make this fairly quick)

2) Exit the dungeon to the main Soul Matrix hub

*LOADING SCREEN*

3) Exit the hub to the main Axis screen

*LOADING SCREEN*

4) Exit the Axis to the map

5) Go to the safehouse

*LOADING SCREEN*

6) Rest

Then you do the same process in reverse to get back to the dungeon, loading screens included.

I wish Atlus just put an area at the entrance of every dungeon that allowed you to rest. Better yet, just let me rest at any fast travel waypoint. It would give me no tactical advantage but it would be a HUMONGOUS quality of life upgrade. Maybe there is an ability I get later on that lets me do that? Even if that's the case, that ability should be available right away. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Keyrock

[Katphood]

So I bought a Super Slim PS3 a while ago just to have a spare one since I loved the console so much and it was indeed one of my favorite consoles of all time next to the SNES and the N64. I started transferring all of my old data from the Slim 160 GB  to the Super Slim 500 GB and now I have room for a crapton of digital games that I purchased back in the days. Played a little bit of Dragon's Lair. Damn...it's not even a game, who plays stuff like this!

Now I do aim to switch back to the old Slim PS3 at some point since the disc drive in the Super Slim is so badly designed, but I need to upgrade the older PS3 with a 1TB SSD first. 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Katphood

[LadyCrimson]

Grew a little tired of building or converting buildings normally in 7 Days, so I "flew" out to the ocean and decided to Waterworld it. Which I have to god-mode cheat to initially create oodles of support poles because the water is so deep you would drown before you get to the bottom, let alone the time to place all the blocks for dozens of pillars.

Anyway, once all that is done I am now working on creating a giant multi-room base over the water. Maybe I should build an entire City off the coast just for lol's. It's kinda fun. Of course I also had to build supports for a mondo length bridge to run or drive a car across. Although since you aren't supposed to get out there legit ... some mechanics get wonky. Like you're always "wet" even if you're entirely enclosed in a room/box, and the bottom layer of "you shall not pass" unbreakable blocks behave and look different and ... and I have a feeling all zombie spawning (including screamers from activity-heat rising) would be totally defeated at the distance from shore I'm at, but it's fun, so who cares.

Edited September 5, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[Keyrock]

I'm making my way through Soul Hackers 2 on very hard difficulty. I'm at level 16 now, past the trash starter demons stage of a MegaTen game, but not quite into halfway decent demons territory (that tends to be around level 25 or 30). Progress is slow; I have to be very careful and there is quite a bit of save scumming. Still, I'm determined not to lower the difficulty, I wouldn't be able to handle the shame of being labeled a faux grognard. Luckily, the game allows you to save at any time, except in the middle of a battle, which makes save scumming less painful than if I had to save at waypoints. The inability to use items during battle is really crippling, though. In other MegaTen titles I would often run with just 1 healer until late game, but without being able to fall back on items, having only 1 healer is extremely risky, even in early game. This also makes status resistance skills much more important (again, because I can't use items) and combination skills (e.g. heal+ remove status effect) even more valuable, given that each party member have limited skill slots. The good combo skills generally don't show up until at least the mid game, it's going to be tough sledding until I get there.

[uuuhhii]

all the noble lineage study was always the most boring part of song of ice and fire

lean into it feels like a mistake

[Hurlshort]

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord - I think it is pretty much feature complete at this point. It releases on consoles soon, so I imagine they are pretty much locked in. I'm enjoying building my warband, and I've decided to back the rightful Empress and help her rebuild the glory of the old age. I took part in my first castle siege. That was pretty chaotic, but it is amazing how well the engine handles all the chaos of hundreds of troops and siege equipment. The game runs very well on my mid-range laptop.

[Humanoid]

Praying the Bannerlord co-op mod isn't vapourware, it's something that for me would turn the game from an "ehhhh maybe" to "this is the best game released this year" material.

[Hawke64]

Mortal Shell. It is an indie Souls-like. After Nioh, it feels incredibly slow and repetitive - there are very few types of enemies with extremely high density of them. Considering that there is not much customisation for the "shells" (playable characters), mowing through them seems pointless.
The 3 bosses I've defeated (two of them were mini-bosses, one protecting a shell, another a weapon) were rather straight-forward - find one punishable attack and exploit it. The Hardening system (the MC turns to stone and becomes immune to damage) is an interesting and unique feature, though takes time to get used to. The locations seem to change after the corresponding boss has been defeated, granted I was just running through the one without much exploration, but I think the mobs were different on the way to the boss.
I still have a very vague idea about the story, but a not-Firekeeper allows to level up and a giant chained bird-man asked to bring him glands. The MC is a spirit who is able to possess corpses, the titular shells. They have set HP and stamina, but the abilities are unique for each shell and require unlocking them.

Also been playing Paradise Killer. It is a first-person adventure game with very few puzzles and a lot of dialogues. The story follows a detective who has been returned from her exile to investigate a mass murder. So far so good. Some mechanics are not obvious, but the game is delightful.

[Malcador]

Friend mentioned he was playing DAoC, I recall a lot of friends loved that game back in 2001 or so, so giving that a go.  Is a bit awkward to go to a pre-WoW MMORPG given I've never played one, hah.  Also noticed there's a revived WH:O as well, may try that sometime.

[Hurlshort]

I was a big fan of the Warhammer Online when it first came out. Also I thought there was a new version of Dark Ages of Camelot in the works? I think I heard about it years ago though, so it is probably languishing somewhere. MMO's ain't easy to develop.

[Gorth]

To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed in the old Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. It was a pvp only game. No story, no "missions", no nothing. Just grinding and fighting pvp battles. I am biased though, as the thing I love the most about Games Workshops franchises is the lore of the setting(s). WAR also made the cardinal sin (for a pvp only game) of having a really bad combat system.

[Keyrock]

23 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

Also been playing Paradise Killer. It is a first-person adventure game with very few puzzles and a lot of dialogues. The story follows a detective who has been returned from her exile to investigate a mass murder. So far so good. Some mechanics are not obvious, but the game is delightful.

I thoroughly enjoyed Paradise Killer. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's one of the few detective games that doesn't hold your hand and allows you to do actual detective work. The tradeoff is a lot of running back and forth across the map, but that's a trade I'll make any day for a game allowing me to deduce things on my own and potentially make my own mistakes. I particularly liked that the game allows you to accuse anyone, and even get them convicted if you are convincing enough, whether they are guilty or not.

[Hawke64]

9 hours ago, Keyrock said:

I thoroughly enjoyed Paradise Killer. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's one of the few detective games that doesn't hold your hand and allows you to do actual detective work. The tradeoff is a lot of running back and forth across the map, but that's a trade I'll make any day for a game allowing me to deduce things on my own and potentially make my own mistakes. I particularly liked that the game allows you to accuse anyone, and even get them convicted if you are convincing enough, whether they are guilty or not.

Completed the game today, it is brilliant. I could complain about the momentum during double jumps and mid-air dashes, but it is not significant.

Spoiler

I am certain that I have gathered all evidence available (Starlight did not have any more clues) and successfully accused Carmelina and the Witness, with Dainonigate being the Paradise Killer. Ironically, the Killer Demon's verdict was "released". Also I let the Day Breaks go, despite having enough evidence to sentence them. Fortunately, the Witness did not comment on it.
I can't say that the ending was a happy one, considering how dystopian the setting was, but it was rather satisfying.

The graphics, soundtrack and sound design, and the controls were great.

 

[Bartimaeus]

Making games these days as a small and non-established dev looks brutal. I was just looking through the "interactive fiction" tag in the Steam Store to see if anything halfway interesting caught my eye, and the number of games released within the past few months in that category alone that have between 0 and 10 reviews is like...well, it's certainly doesn't make me want to become a game developer in a highly saturated market, that's for sure.

I don't know why I wishlisted this game when it came out a year ago, but I tried a game called Unpacking on Steam. Here's a screenshot from the Steam Store:

It's supposed to be a "relaxing" game about unpacking boxes and organizing whatever their contents are into the space that you're given...but I'm like the exact opposite type of person that this game is made for: finding where things permanently belong probably rises pretty close to the level of clinical OCD for me, and that was pretty well reflected here in how distressed the first level made me feel. Anyways, I finally tried it and have now uninstalled it, and at least the last part felt pretty good, . Don't know what I was thinking in trying a game like this.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[Humanoid]

Unpacking is probably a game I'd play a couple levels of, at most, were I to play it alone. And even then it's only because the game is on Game Pass. But I played it over the holidays collaboratively with my sister (the game has no co-op functionality at all, mind you, we were just handing off the controller between rooms) and it was oddly compelling to play it that way, talking about where things should go and how it relates to the silent player character. Ended up finishing it, I probably made a post about it from around the start of the year.

[Bartimaeus]

15 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Unpacking is probably a game I'd play a couple levels of, at most, were I to play it alone. And even then it's only because the game is on Game Pass. But I played it over the holidays collaboratively with my sister (the game has no co-op functionality at all, mind you, we were just handing off the controller between rooms) and it was oddly compelling to play it that way, talking about where things should go and how it relates to the silent player character. Ended up finishing it, I probably made a post about it from around the start of the year.

That would probably be the better format for me to play it in. Though for me, that would probably look more like "let the other person dictate the general flow of the room and make the major decisions while I just home in on the minor stuff", .

[Hurlshort]

I try to get my kids to play that game in real life. It is stuck on the hardest difficulty. 

[Humanoid]

The events of the game do occur over a span of about 20 years so you've got time yet.

[marelooke]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:21 PM, Hurlshort said:

I loaded up Conan Exiles with the new massive Sorcery update. A lot of people are worried about the Battle Pass system turning it into a microtransaction hell. I can't speak to how this will affect multiplayer folks, but as a single player, it doesn't seem to have much impact. There are a lot of positive changes coming with the update that don't cost any crom coins, and it looks like I have access to all of the DLC stuff I have purchased over the years. 

The two positive changes that stood out immediately to me:

- The trait system is reworked. When you reach a certain level in an attribute, you get to choose from a list of perks. For example, when leveling up my expertise (harvesting attribute) I got to choose whether I want a boost to how much I get of a resource, or a better chance of a rare material. It adds some complexity to a stagnant system.

- There are challenges to complete. These are separate from the storyline stuff. Some are exploratory (go pray at a certain altar), some are combat related, and some are harvesting related (harvest 10 iron sources.) It seems pretty simple, but it's another way to stay engaged. I didn't play long enough to get into the rewards.

Anyways, I haven't even gotten into sorcery aspect, so I'm looking forward to that. But I was happy to see all of my DLC was still active and the single player game has only really been enhanced at this point.

The battlepass works with multipliers, if you don't complete it religiously it will become an insane grind to make it to the end. You can admin mode through all of it though, by design, which only makes one wonder why they bothered at all. There's already systems for optional challenges (the Journal, as well as Achievements). Oh, and the answer is: because FOMO, that's why.

Store prices are multiples of old DLC pricing (someone calculated it, think I mentioned it with the source before), which was already rather expensive compared to similar games (eg. Ark)

If you don't care about building bases etc. the whole thing can probably be ignored, but since most of the stuff are building pieces etc. that are gone forever after the "season" ends any and all people that play the game mostly as a builder are arguably going to be negatively affected.

Haven't fired up the game yet since they didn't bother giving modders a heads up so most of my builds are probably broken (for Pythagoras there was supposed to be a migration script that won't happen because no longer any point for most people).

The actual changes (minus the bugs) seem decent enough. The monetisation model, otoh, I can't support, so they probably did me a favour by basically killing off my saves as I might've been tempted otherwise.

I do have backups from before the changes, but motivation to play is gone so haven't even tried if I can make those work.