What are you Playing Now? - Games don't make you violent, lag does

[melkathi]

1 hour ago, marelooke said:

Been a while since I played it, but it was really fun then, at least. Rather relaxing game.

Which one of the two?

[Hawke64]

Encased. After reaching Act 2 I have realised that the Fatigue system seems to be meant to counter the non-lethal stealth play style - lock-picking/brute-forcing containers and non-lethal attacks increase fatigue, while normal attacks and searching containers/disarming mines/hacking terminals/crafting do not. Somehow unpleasant, though both non-lethal attacks and stealth are rather OP - the former does not depend on normal damage output or most resistances (can be dodged; one of the companions can KO anything in 1 turn), while the NPCs' mystical perception auras make the latter mostly easy. On the other hand, non-lethal takedowns do not give XP and the bodies cannot be looted.
Edit. I find it very impressive that there are unique images for random events that are not used anywhere else.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Hawke64

[Keyrock]

Another observation about Isle of Siptah, the resource distribution seems to be a lot better than in the Exiled Lands. The 2 mains resources I'm referencing here are brimstone and black ice. In the Exiled Lands brimstone only naturally occurs in 4 locations on the whole map, if I'm remembering correctly. You can find some here and there in chests and on corpses, but nodes are only located in 4 places. Granted, a little brimstone goes a long way, but still, when you do need brimstone you'd likely wind up making a long trip. Similar case with black ice, it was a pain in the ass to get in the Exiled Lands. Still, not nearly as much of a pain in the ass as star metal, which is why I stuck with hardened steel tools and didn't bother getting star metal tools. Star metal is so precious and such a colossal pain to gather that I saved all my star metal for weapons. Star metal tools didn't seem much better, if at all better, than hardened steel tools in my experiences. Anyweay, star metal seems just as much of a pain to get in Isle of Siptah as it was in the Exiled Lands, but black ice and brimstone seem a lot more generously distributed around the map. The nodes are smaller, but they seem to be in a lot more places, meaning that you can set up shop almost anywhere and not have far to go for brimstone and black ice, which is great.

[BruceVC]

I completed Mafia 3 after about 100 hours, it gets a solid 58/100 on the highly respected " BruceVC game rating system" 

I made an earlier post about what I liked about it. Its fun, its not fantastic but its fun 

But I have decided to play Warlock of Firetop Mountain next, I have bought the " full " version of this game and not the direct  Fighting Fantasy book adaptation because there are 2 versions 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/324740/The_Warlock_of_Firetop_Mountain/

Im really excited, this was the  first fantasy CYOA book I ever played in 1984 and I remember back then how the concepts of dice and choice blew me away. After this I got into D&D and Games Workshop  but that was a  few years later so this book is literally the beginning of my journey and love of the fantasy genre

I read some reviews and feedback on this game and they included the original art and design so it should be a great and nostalgic experience 

 

 

 

[Katphood]

Got back to playing Control. It's a pretty big game but I really mean to finish it as I love weird settings. 

Any of you folks played this game? Any thoughts? Any SCP Foundation fans here? 

[Keyrock]

1 hour ago, Katphood said:

Got back to playing Control. It's a pretty big game but I really mean to finish it as I love weird settings. 

Any of you folks played this game? Any thoughts? Any SCP Foundation fans here? 

I haven't finished it yet, I need to get back to it, but I enjoyed Control. The gameplay is fine, nothing special, but the setting and SCP vibe is what drives that game. I was going out of my way to find every piece of lore I could. 

[Wormerine]

2 hours ago, Katphood said:

Got back to playing Control. It's a pretty big game but I really mean to finish it as I love weird settings. 

Any of you folks played this game? Any thoughts? Any SCP Foundation fans here? 

Yup. Combat got stale after a while, but loved the atmosphere and setting. Looking forward to Control2.

[Chilloutman]

I am weak, i bought Diablo 4

[melkathi]

But did you buy Bloodlines 2?

Because with Diablo 4 at least you are getting a game.

[Chilloutman]

no, Bloodlines are still on wishlist only

[majestic]

Managed to kill Ashava twice, by the way, on Adventurer/World Tier I. It was pretty easy when having a group of players that were not terrible.

Well, and without low level gimps taking up character slots in the instance.

[Malcador]

Missed out on all the D4 stuff this weekend due to real life crap but did play a bit of Barb, felt a bit clunky.  But only made it to lvl 9 or so.

Still trying to get through Mafia 3, wonder why they thought you having to go collect your kickbacks was a good design choice.  Disrupting that Klan rally was fun, just had Vito's hit squad deal with them.

[MrBrown]

6 hours ago, Chilloutman said:

I am weak, i bought Diablo 4

But did you buy the collector's edition to get earlier access to the game?

[Hawke64]

7 hours ago, melkathi said:

But did you buy Bloodlines 2?

It certainly will be released. Eventually.

Spoiler

Pre-purchased on GOG.

Encased. Unlocked the best vehicle in the game. Though, the puzzle to acquire it was rather odd - it was a text-based (like a dialogue) puzzle and it was necessary to check a certain parameter by choosing a specific dialogue option repeatedly, which was not obvious. Also, it is nice that some of the quest items are possible to loot before taking the respective quest.

[LadyCrimson]

Hubby and I played some Borderlands 3. He has a somewhat better PC to run the game smoother on now, so he's recently been mucking about in it again and wanted to play. I haven't played in ages so I was finally willing, haha. We did some side quests (never did all) and other grind to reach max lvl 72.  I still find the game mediocre and not very engaging long-term/end game, vs. the first two BL games, but ofc playing with hubby makes it better, so still a fun weekend.

It did make me wonder yet again if Borderlands 4 will even be worth buying. Or, even if it ends up pretty good, I'm sure Gearbox will want $250 for the entire full "contents package" spread out over a year. Or maybe they'll finally go the Borderlands semi-MMO route...

[melkathi]

I started on Showgunners.

It does very well with the Running Man game show theme. Even the tutorial works, as it is commented on by the TV Show host.

The game promises to be relatively short (the devs estimate 15-20 hours, and I expect it to be closer to 15 than 20).

It is fun turn based tactics and a lot of the devs have worked on Phantom Doctrine (not fun turn based tactics) and Hard West (better than Phantom Doctrine turn based tactics gameplay  (but that isn't especially hard, unless you compare it to the Narcos turn based tactics game)).

 

Things that could turn people off?

That one thing you hated about Firaxis XCOM.

No, not Central Bradford, the other thing.

Timers.

[Gfted1]

Speaking of which, did I see a conversation timer in the Solasta DLC video?

[melkathi]

Sure looks like it.

[marelooke]

On 5/13/2023 at 8:16 PM, melkathi said:

Which one of the two?

Timberborn

I've played, and completed (minus DLC) Terminator Resistance. Decent little shooter, makes you actually fear the Terminators, even though they're dumb as bricks. It's not a game with a massive budget so don't expect too much depth. Most annoying things were a few pretty obvious spelling mistakes and a single CTD (on a bossfight...). Worth it on a sale, solid 6/10, maybe a 7/10 if you're really into Terminator.

Started playing Airborne Kingdom after that. City builder where your city floats. Difficulty seems to ramp up slowly (so far) as you basically scavenge resources from the ground below, but you're burning through them increasingly quickly as your population grows, which may lead to some interesting logistical challenges down the line.

Edited May 17, 2023 by marelooke

[uuuhhii]

trying darkest dungeon 2

couldn't beat boss that give trophy

Edited May 19, 2023 by uuuhhii

[Hawke64]

Completed Encased. The density of the locations decreased by the second half, though I also looted more consciously (only every second container) and interacted with fewer NPCs. Overall, the ending(s) reflected what I achieved, while the reactivity in general was very high. On the other hand, the other gameplay systems seemed to mix rather oddly.
Going to attempt anther critical path-only playthrough, which should be significantly shorter.

Hob. Ran in circles for 15 minutes. The map was not as helpful as I hoped - the walls, untraversable bushes, and paths were not clear. I also discovered that the controls can be reconfigured by editing a text file in the game's folder.

[Humanoid]

46 minutes ago, Hawke64 said:

(only every second container)

Now there's a new plan to protect myself from burglars.

[Mamoulian War]

20 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

Completed Encased. The density of the locations decreased by the second half, though I also looted more consciously (only every second container) and interacted with fewer NPCs. Overall, the ending(s) reflected what I achieved, while the reactivity in general was very high. On the other hand, the other gameplay systems seemed to mix rather oddly.
Going to attempt anther critical path-only playthrough, which should be significantly shorter.

Hob. Ran in circles for 15 minutes. The map was not as helpful as I hoped - the walls, untraversable bushes, and paths were not clear. I also discovered that the controls can be reconfigured by editing a text file in the game's folder.

How long it took you to finish Encased?

[Hawke64]

46 minutes ago, Mamoulian War said:

How long it took you to finish Encased?

The first run was probably 40+ hours - played the GOG version without Galaxy and there are no in-game indicators. The second, critical path only, playthrough took a day*. There is quite a lot of replayability, though it might also be possible to see almost everything in terms of story in 2 playthroughs (different quest outcomes, stat/reputation-dependant random events, etc.). I don't think that there is an option to respec mid-game (only to edit the appearance), so there should be some variety in combat builds as well. For the party compositions, the limit is the PC + 2 NPCs and the companions auto-level up.
*

Spoiler

I've discovered that there are no unique endings for the full stealth pacifist playthrough. Somehow disappointed.
In general, the run went as planned, except for the the two things I miscalculated - the survival elements (I almost did not loot, thus lacked food and was at the 3rd stage of Hunger, though it did not matter in the long run) and the location of a late-game quest item (it was in the Maze of Death, instead of the Fops' Camp), which I forgot.

Edit. Also there were small bugs with the NPC recognising the PC whom they had never met. In particular, during the meeting with the faction leaders at the beginning of Act 2, Nakamura referred to the PC not being present (was in stealth) as she had known them/about them.

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Hawke64

[melkathi]

At 6.7 hours played of Showgunners I have gotten the Steam achievements for 50% of lootcrates collected, 50% of autographs signed, and 50% of optional combat arenas completed.

I think the 15-20 hours estimated may be on the generous side.