What are you Playing Now? It's not how you play the game, it's how you place the blame

[Keyrock]

I'm debating switching to hard difficulty in Hogwarts Legacy. I've been playing on normal the whole time so far and I'm still at zero deaths. I've come close a few times, mainly when I've gotten sloppy or there's just an overwhelming number of enemies, but most of the time I'm straight up stylin' on enemies. I particularly like pulling enemies close then lighting them up with incendio. Good times. I'm looking forward to getting unforgivable curses.

With the CTDs fixed and the small stutters previously taken care of, the game runs great. It could still stand to get some optimizations, but I've got settings I'm happy with where FPS dips into the mid 40s once in a long while but mostly nice and smooth at around 80ish. All while looking absolutely spectacular. There's the occasional bit of dithering from upscaling but I only notice it if I'm really looking for it. 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Keyrock

[LadyCrimson]

--Couldn't stand Hogwart's mega game-fog anymore, it's like a white haze/20 year old dirty window, makes my eyes strain. I'll live without the foggy moor atmosphere.
--There was another small patch today. I don't see a difference, but the tweaks I did made most of my issues go away already, with generally fluid 40-60ish.

--I also finally realized (so I'm blind as well as a fool) that in Normal/Hard mode, while the giant "press this button" and huge colored head-rings went away, it instead puts very narrow/small colored halos around your head. So all I had to do was memorize what color = which button to push (block, dodge, etc) and Normal was now Story mode too.   >.>  But I don't want the longer  spongier fights of Hard so eh, it's fine. Combat isn't why one plays this game anyway.

--Gameplay-wise, this is much more adventure game than an RPG, in my definition at least.
--dialogue choices seem to make zero difference so far
--the outfits/skins are fun, but gear is not interesting. Legendary does not mean Unique, just highest stats and the most enchant slots I think? - you get enough of them (and they repeat at high lvls)  where anything else is meaningless.  eg, ithe systems are not deep or very engaging. Which is absolutely fine, I'm just saying if you want that, it's not here.   
--sneak killing everything you can is satisfying when you can do it. Which you can most of the time.

[BruceVC]

I finished DA:I last night after about 100 hours, it was an entertaining gaming experience and it scores a 65\100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system" . I cant give it higher score because of the 2 main criticisms I have for it which are

• the combat is routine, its still fun using tactics like Fire Mine but overall its not complex or strategic. You also end up using AI for party members because you dont want to have to micromanage the various abilities in every combat....it would be laborious
• map markers make exploration easy, I like to explore and find things. So it lacks challenge in this respect

These negatives dont negate from the things that are positive, so what I enjoyed about it include

• the Power Point system is an excellent component. It motivates you to complete the myriad of quests and to participate in activities like the Requisition Table and gain points. I would like to see similar systems in other RPG as a good reason to complete quests
• I liked the politics and machinations of the War Table, it is fun getting input from advisors and taking their advice
• I gave the Grey Wardens another chance and at the final narrative updates they rebuilt there origization
• I liked the idea of being the Inquisitor and the status and influence it provided
• I appreciated the large number of quests and map regions
• Crafting was fun and worthwhile, you end up looking for resources to improve your items
• I loved closing Rifts and I enjoyed the broader narrative
• Frostbite provides a beautiful graphic experience especially when you can max the settings

So its a fun game that I recommend but its important to be aware of the shortfalls which I mentioned 

[bugarup]

Played a VN, "I was a teenage exocolonist". Well, a VN with card game attached but it was easy even for card game zero like myself, so a VN. The game sends really mixed signals and after multiple playthroughs (they're more or less mandatory if you want the full story, because the game branches quite a lot) I'm still undecided if the game is woke extreme or woke critique. Like, we're a vegan pacifist crew that fled the ****ed up by wars and climate change Earth on a museum spaceship that's fitted with AI that we treat like a regular sentient being, most of crew are transhuman but if our PC doesn't want body mods that's ok too. So woke, right? Except...we are a creepy cult complete with Supreme Leader and communal children, crew skillsets make the crew woefully unprepared for colonization, those body mods are often not just useless but downright harmful (like timid girl afraid of her own shadow equipped with hearing of a bat), we actually stole that AI, and I suspect that "veganism vs starvation" and "pacifism vs the world that wants to extinct us outta there" fights are slightly unevenly balanced. Then there's a non-binary character who is so infantile and undecided about anything in their life you cannot help but wonder if they're only non-binary because they can't decide on their gender either. Oh, and there's also a character that screams "Very horny furry bought a make-a-character kickstarter tier and this is where he and the devs compromised". 

There are romances too, because of course there are, and they're of the same "Disturbing dysfunction in cotton candy coating" flavor as everything else (that was a praise). Even the style follows the same pattern as text is often bleak and harsh (also often surprisingly sound at science fiction part) while art is this cutesy pokemons and other anime sh†t in pastels. 

In short, I loved it and thoroughly recommend it, particularly to people who like "WTF I just read/watched/played?" feeling and banana jalapeno pizza aficionados. 

[Hawke64]

Started Alaloth. It gives me the "Diablo with stamina" impression so far, but the store page claims similarity to Pillars of Eternity. Has anyone played and/or completed it?

Blue Fire. Reached the Steam House and got 3 (out of 4) McGuffins. In general, despite the level design and story, the action/platforming-focused gameplay is quite enjoyable, even if simplistic. The penalty for falling into lava is also very low - 1/4 of a heart (I think, you start with 5-6 and obtain one more for every challenge room completed) and returning to the nearest safe platform, except for the challenge room, which return to the last checkpoint within the room.

[Malcador]

Trying to finish Chaos Gate but it's so boring. Every mission is an uninteresting slog I find, but a mission assigned is a mission completed.

[kanisatha]

2 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

Started Alaloth. It gives me the "Diablo with stamina" impression so far, but the store page claims similarity to Pillars of Eternity. Has anyone played and/or completed it?

I'm curious to hear more of your experiences with this game. As a RTwP game I *should* love it. But from all I can tell it is almost entirely a hack and slash combat game with precious little else, and that I don't care for. But maybe I'm wrong.

[LadyCrimson]

Got to learn about Beasts but no personal pet area yet. Got unlock 1. Puttered around.

Then main quest has a sorta mechanism puzzle, and I think you're supposed trigger this thing, which gives a brief time (then it resets) that allows you to access something else - didn't take long to figure out the basics but problem is when I trigger it, character can't jump high enough to reach/land the goal spot. After trying multiple times in a few ways, then consulting a text walkthru (first time I looked one of those up), wondering what I was doing wrong (guide just says "jump to/across" but I can't?) I semi-rage quit. 

Edit: I'm sure I'm just missing something obvious but grrr. All the "puzzles" so far were really easy to do/figure out.

EditEdit: I'm level 24 now and leveling is slowing down by a lot even w/quests. This isn't significant outside of the talent points.

Edited February 15, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[Tale]

The reviews on Hogwarts Legacy caused me to interrupt my Dead Space remake run... I'll never finish this Dead Space trilogy marathon, will I?

Especially since Returnal just came out and Lightfall is in two weeks.

[Mamoulian War]

Still at Tales of Arise.
 

I have defeated Lord Ganabelt - second of Renan leaders, ruler of Cyslodia. He was sleazy **** and his laws were atrocious, and similar to what you had in communist East before 1989, or today’s Russia. Fight was harder than fight with Lord Balseph, and he was able to cast his Mystic Arte twice, which almost obliterated my party. (We are 4 already). But he is gone, and will not “suffocate” Dahnan’s of Cyslodia anymore. Even the sun has risen for the first time in 300 years after the artificial darkness was dispersed along with his defeat 🫡

 

Also, yesterday I had my first Ranked Race during Rain in Assetto Corsa Competizione. I would not be able to to finish it, without help from a friend on Discord, who helped me to make some adjustments to setups. Despite that, I failed at qualification, as I struggled to finish a valid lap in rain conditions so I have started from the bottom of the grid The race went much better, as I was slowly able to learn how to control the car, and in the end, I have gained 9 positions during 30 minute long race

[Malcador]

Got my squad to suck less in Chaos Gate, Purgator has a gun that ignores armor, also he and the Interceptor have an ability where they fire on a target another fires on.  The animations in the cutscenes are janky enough to be funny, Vakir especially

[Hurlshort]

Cyberpunk - I have a newer desktop computer now, so I wanted to see how much better Cyberpunk looked, and I am pretty impressed. Also driving is much smoother now, although it is no GTA. I started a new character, and I'm trying to be more melee based. I've been kind of putting off the main storyline and doing side quest, and that has been a good change from the last time I played, where I probably zoomed through the story too fast. I'm still bummed how fast Jackie dies though.

[BruceVC]

Im considering Kingdom Come: Deliverance as my next game, whats the consensus for those who have played it ?

[Lexx]

It's cool if you like medieval history.

[Malcador]

2 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

Cyberpunk - I have a newer desktop computer now, so I wanted to see how much better Cyberpunk looked, and I am pretty impressed. Also driving is much smoother now, although it is no GTA. I started a new character, and I'm trying to be more melee based. I've been kind of putting off the main storyline and doing side quest, and that has been a good change from the last time I played, where I probably zoomed through the story too fast. I'm still bummed how fast Jackie dies though.

Shame you can't relive the launch experience, jank and all   Barely had much time to get a chance to really like Jackie, I found. 

[Hurlshort]

38 minutes ago, Malcador said:

Shame you can't relive the launch experience, jank and all   Barely had much time to get a chance to really like Jackie, I found. 

I agree, the first time I played, it was like "here is your new best friend!" and then he was dead 10 minutes later. This time around I tried to slow down and really enjoy that first act. He's a pretty well developed character once you dig in. I also bonded with my neighbor and his dead turtle, so as I said, I'm trying to slow the pace down and get to know the world more.

Of course, that probably means I'll burn out long before I get to the end.  

[Wormerine]

5 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

where I probably zoomed through the story too fast. I'm still bummed how fast Jackie dies though.

Yeah, Jackie is easily the most well rounded character and it’s shame to see him go so far. Personally his death didn’t work for me as 1) it was spoiled in story trailer for the game 2) most of our relationship was hinted at rather than experienced. I learned more about him during his funeral, than actual act 1. 

[LadyCrimson]

Jackie dying on me was maybe 30% of the reason I didn't get much farther. I was annoyed, lol.  Being as slow as I am with games, and how I like companions of a sort, I liked him as my sometimes-buddy and then ... pfft.

Speaking of slow, I've been trying to collect these sidequest items as well as lockpicking tons of rooms, and capturing more beasts, in Hogwart's, for both cuteness and enchantment materials. And farm more creatures for potion ingredients. It all takes forever and really pads out the game time if you bother with it all. I've finished a couple enemy collections so they give 0 XP now. It's just their drops I want to amass.

Also, eventually, catching Beasts and selling spares is far more lucrative than gear selling cause you can do it over and over. I went broke a couple times buying all the seeds/upgrade summoning books at the store etc. I must have/find ALL the Requirement summoning/deco before I finish/quit the game.

Edited February 17, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[uuuhhii]

9 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

Cyberpunk - I have a newer desktop computer now, so I wanted to see how much better Cyberpunk looked, and I am pretty impressed. Also driving is much smoother now, although it is no GTA. I started a new character, and I'm trying to be more melee based. I've been kind of putting off the main storyline and doing side quest, and that has been a good change from the last time I played, where I probably zoomed through the story too fast. I'm still bummed how fast Jackie dies though.

cyberpunk look very nice on high setting

still crash sometime so mostly run on medium

[Hurlshort]

2 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Jackie dying on me was maybe 30% of the reason I didn't get much farther. I was annoyed, lol.  Being as slow as I am with games, and how I like companions of a sort, I liked him as my sometimes-buddy and then ... pfft.

I mean, they do replace your buddy with one of these guys...

I'm also less annoyed with Silverhand this time through. I guess I've developed more patience in my old age.

[LadyCrimson]

11 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

I mean, they do replace your buddy with one of these guys...

That was maybe another 10%. IIRC After the Jackie thing I looked up some cutscenes and the like and none of it really inspired me. I still keep meaning to retry it one day (it's still installed, but untouched/unpatched) because there were elements I did like in the game, but I think mostly I just prefer something simpler/relaxing like ... Hogwart's (or in the vein of) FFXV, or Tales of Arise these days. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[Wormerine]

8 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

cyberpunk look very nice on high setting

As long as one stands still and doesn’t actually play the game. My favourite part were cars crashing on smallest bumps, like rail tracks, as if it were a solid wall.

[Humanoid]

The Nomad start is the outlier in terms of not knowing Jackie before the events of the game I think? Not quite sure on that but that's the background I went with.

I do want to go back and play now that throwing knives are viable (i.e. they don't disintegrate into dust after one use), but it feels I'd just be burning myself out before the expansion release.

[LadyCrimson]

Hogwart's - game save says I'm at around 39 hours. Decided 20 gear inventory finally a little too small (the 6 pieces you wear count towards that 20, too, pfft) so I spent a while doing enough Merlin Trials to get it up to 32. I'm not sure I'll do the rest. They're not hard or long, just repetitive and annoying after the first 3 or 5 and you have to do a lot of them. You can do even more than I did, for a couple more increases. >.> Also did some side quests, got the first third or half of map exposed/explored but didn't do everything possible. Not sure I want to do some treasure stuff until I'm closer to end-game cause higher gear stats.

I think I'm ready to move on to the next Main Quest and the lower half of the map now. I know we have a flying broom, but I still haven't even flown over it yet.

[Hawke64]

On 2/15/2023 at 2:35 PM, kanisatha said:

I'm curious to hear more of your experiences with this game. As a RTwP game I *should* love it. But from all I can tell it is almost entirely a hack and slash combat game with precious little else, and that I don't care for. But maybe I'm wrong.

Played for 2 hours and requested a refund. It is a hack and slash action game. You get attribute points from clearing combat zones. There are character customisation and AI-controlled companions, but no dialogue choices, non-combat skills, or tactical combat (can't give commands to the companions or pause). One save slot per character.