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

[Malcador]

Mafia 3 done, 55 hours or so.  Fun game, didn't get the ending I wanted - Burke and Vito each had 4 districts, I guess the game flips a coin.

[BruceVC]

6 hours ago, Malcador said:

Mafia 3 done, 55 hours or so.  Fun game, didn't get the ending I wanted - Burke and Vito each had 4 districts, I guess the game flips a coin.

It sounds like you were being racist, what about Cassandra? I felt guilty when they use to complain so I split the districts evenly 

[uuuhhii]

still couldn't beat any trophy boss in darkest dungeon 2 

team wipe 5 time in second chapter

so pointlessly difficult

[BruceVC]

I am having great fun with Warlock of Firetop Mountain (WoFM), its delivered nicely on the nostalgic experience I was hoping for. This version has 2 main differences to the standard Fighting Fantasy books that have been converted to PC games and they include

• everytime you defeat an enemy you get souls and then with a specific number of souls you can select a new character to adventure with  and each character has a different reason for going to Firetop Mountain and then the design  and choices are different in certain ways. So it makes it exciting from a  replaybility perspective 
• the game uses a fun  grid based combat system  and only uses the traditional dice based combat when you and the enemy make the same combat choice 

But I have completed the main quests for 2 characters now so I will be moving on to the next game in the series which is Fighting Fantasy Legends 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/496340/Fighting_Fantasy_Legends/

But WoFM gets a solid 72/100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system" 

[Malcador]

6 hours ago, BruceVC said:

It sounds like you were being racist, what about Cassandra? I felt guilty when they use to complain so I split the districts evenly 

Was trying to give everything to Vito, he was the PC in Mafia 2. 

[BruceVC]

4 hours ago, Malcador said:

Was trying to give everything to Vito, he was the PC in Mafia 2. 

Okay, I didnt realize that. I  did find Vito the less whiny of the three with Burke being the most annoying 

[Mamoulian War]

After 7 weeks of racing, I was able to climb up to 7th position in Division 2 of Low Fuel Motorsport in Assetto Corsa Competizione in GT4 category. Unfrotunately it looks like, I will not be able to climb higher or even stay in Top 10, as in the last 5 weeks, there are two tracks in the rotation, which I still do not own  

[LadyCrimson]

Above Snakes: Prologue was patched again. Seems to have fixed a few bugs I had, changed a few mechanics a bit. Added Playstation icon prompt option, although a few of them show up wrong. >.>  At any rate, only a few more days and I can get the full game. Hopefully it'll stay fairly chill like I was liking and won't become terrible half way through or something.

Also: Borderlands 3 current sale. The only thing I/we don't have and might buy is the DLC that gives 4th skill trees. It is not on sale by itself, but if you buy the two remaining DLC packs together, it's $18 instead of $30. But then, oddly, if I chose the current "Ultimate BL3 Bundle" instead, because I already have ssn pass 1/base game, apparently I'd also get both remaining DLC packs for ... $12. Just put the individual DLC's on sale for $5-$6 or something, then, will ya?   

[Malcador]

On 5/21/2023 at 3:19 PM, BruceVC said:

Okay, I didnt realize that. I  did find Vito the less whiny of the three with Burke being the most annoying 

Burke's favour missions were was the most tedious. Was funny when the car I'd have to steal would spawn back at the same location I just picked it up from.  The game got buggier near the end, got stuck at a black screen several times, mission triggers wouldn't work or the NPC would get stuck behind a door.

2 DLCs down, the CIA one was....not all that fun really, seemed very combat heavy and not much stealth. Culminating in a ridiculous boss fight, seemed like it was in the wrong game.  One more DLC to do and then I can put the game to bed.

[Katphood]

12 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Above Snakes: Prologue was patched again. Seems to have fixed a few bugs I had, changed a few mechanics a bit. Added Playstation icon prompt option, although a few of them show up wrong. >.>  At any rate, only a few more days and I can get the full game. Hopefully it'll stay fairly chill like I was liking and won't become terrible half way through or something.

Also: Borderlands 3 current sale. The only thing I/we don't have and might buy is the DLC that gives 4th skill trees. It is not on sale by itself, but if you buy the two remaining DLC packs together, it's $18 instead of $30. But then, oddly, if I chose the current "Ultimate BL3 Bundle" instead, because I already have ssn pass 1/base game, apparently I'd also get both remaining DLC packs for ... $12. Just put the individual DLC's on sale for $5-$6 or something, then, will ya?   

Man, I skipped Borderlands 3. 1 and 2 were a lot of fun but I played 2 on so many different systems so often that in the end it was just a huge burnout. I started played The Pre-sequel a couple of times but couldn't be bothered after a few hours every time.

[Gorth]

2 hours ago, Katphood said:

Man, I skipped Borderlands 3. 1 and 2 were a lot of fun but I played 2 on so many different systems so often that in the end it was just a huge burnout. I started played The Pre-sequel a couple of times but couldn't be bothered after a few hours every time.

I played Borderlands 2 on repeat for years. Mostly coop with 2 friends. It was just awesome. Did some of the "raid bosses" too in the DLC. Some very nice, challenging fights for a little group. I think I got stuck in whatstsname OP3? I tried OP4 several times, but in the end I just couldn't be bothered to go through it again, just for the sake of leveling all the enemies up on a future play through.

The Prequel was our preferred game after BL2. BL1 was Ok and BL3 was... I still never made it past level 2 on a character. After spending so much time with the characters in BL2 and the best villain I've ever met (Handsome Jack), the writing and characters in BL3 fell more flat on it's nose than a wet noodle on a Teflon plate.

 

[LadyCrimson]

Can relate to BL burnout - I overplayed both BL1 and BL2 a lot myself. Without hubby I probably would've waited a year to try BL3. Hubby, btw, also thinks BL3 is mediocre vs. the previous. He just doesn't game often enough to 100% burn out, so they're still something he can pick up once or twice a year for 2-4 weeks and then he goes back to being a total not-gamer for months again. 

At least they made the "town/shared by all chrs stash" 500 items big. No "mailing" items to other chrs or mules 4 at a time or whatever. I think that's the best thing about it! Hahaha...

[Humanoid]

Borderlands would be good if it had no loot management.

[SellSwordDev]

As a long time Borderlands fan, I think the third entry has some of the best gameplay (QoL improvements) but easily the worst writing. It serves as an excuse to shoot things which would be fine if it wasn't so insultingly awful. TTWL rectifed this with a much better story but with a barebones endgame tacked on.

[uuuhhii]

never understand the appeal of borderland

there are some fun gun but no way to upgrade them

discard the only good part of the game every few level seem like pretty bad design

[SellSwordDev]

BL3 does include the option to customize them at least. Trinkets, skins and most guns have alternate firing modes too.

[Hawke64]

Encased. Replayed the last act for the mayoral elections. The elections themselves, gaining backing of the Wings within one long dialogue while decreasing their support for the other two candidates*, were reasonably interesting, though there was not much to do afterwards nor it was clear how to complete the quest after it was marked as "Completed" in the Journal. The terminal for City Projects was hidden in the corner of the area and it did not seem to be possible to utilise the PC's funds for them, while the projects themselves provided only Reputation bonuses for one of the Wings. On the positive note, the ending slides included one more for Junktown.
On an unrelated note, it is possible to increase the reputation with the companions by bribing them when they are out of the active party.
*I greatly appreciate the ability to save mid-dialogue, especially if it is long.

Tried to continue my playthrough of Expeditions: Rome. I was able to gain the second rhetoric skill successfully** and reach Africa. Somehow the only positive thing I can say about the game is combat. The inventory management and crafting, the legion management, the timers for everything, the voiced dialogues feel like pointless bloat.
**there was 1 line from 1 NPC at 1 point suggesting to do so within a very limited time frame (after the first time-skip but before leaving Rome).

Edited May 24, 2023 by Hawke64

[melkathi]

Egypt is still ok. Once you go to Gaul, the quality of the game drops into the basement. Worse writing, rushed areas. They seem to have run out of time and money and just said "wrap it up people".

[LadyCrimson]

6 hours ago, SellSwordDev said:

As a long time Borderlands fan, I think the third entry has some of the best gameplay (QoL improvements) but easily the worst writing. It serves as an excuse to shoot things which would be fine if it wasn't so insultingly awful. TTWL rectifed this with a much better story but with a barebones endgame tacked on.

BL3 did improve the mechanics of shooting/gunplay and some QoL stuff, it's true. At least if you like frantic, frenetic. If you want more cover-sniping and/or a less frantic pacing, stick to BL1 or BL2.

My main criticism of BL3 (besides the "story") is still the area/map/quest design. Much of it doesn't feel fun to run through and is an actual slog in some places. I found it a mental struggle to even get thru the campaign (to reach the "end game") with all four classes (eg, I didn't), just to check them all out, and since Mayhem mode exists, TVHM is even redundant.

5 hours ago, SellSwordDev said:

BL3 does include the option to customize them at least. Trinkets, skins and most guns have alternate firing modes too.

You can now also random-re-roll most Anointment bonuses on gear, too. So if you found the perfect shotgun but it has the "wrong" anointment, you can change it at Earl's. Although there are still some that you can't get by re-rolling.

Edit: I have now purchased my missing two DLC for $12.  Flak's robot pet ... yeah, I can see why some think he's the best one, in terms of damage. With the right gear you can stand around while he kills everything, including bosses. Kinda dull tho, lol.  And Moze's Iron Cub instead of crawling into a mech suit - I like that much better. I might actually play her now.

Edited May 24, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[ComradeYellow]

Just finished FF7 Remake: intergrade.  It was alright, the mechanics weren't terrible, but I'm not sure if fixing the problem of the 1st game (Story that was overly drawn out and took too long to complete) by making it as confined as possible was the proper antidote.  At least the characters were well portrayed and this is clearly what they focused on the most.  Also, it has those huge shader compiling problems that many modern games do and having your character squeeze through narrow spaces at a slow pace to help compile those shaders is glaringly annoying.  I hope there's another breakthrough in tech soon because I'm honeslty getting tired of having to wait for shaders to compile to avoid frequent stutters.

Am I the only one kind of excited for Diablo 4?  I didn't care for 2 or 3 but this one actually looks like it's addressing the issues I had with those two and actually looks quite engaging, despite the emphasis on co-op.

Edited May 24, 2023 by ComradeYellow

[Katphood]

Such a shame they didn't hire Anthony Burch as the writer for 3. He did an awesome job with Borderlands 2. I still didn't like the guns in 2 compared to 1. Way too wacky at times. 

[Keyrock]

I'm playing Boltgun. It's GLORIOUS carnage. Fast movement, excessive blood splatter, secrets, cover? Pfft, cover is for p***ies. It's basically Brutal Doom: 40K Edition.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Keyrock

[SellSwordDev]

4 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

BL3 did improve the mechanics of shooting/gunplay and some QoL stuff, it's true. At least if you like frantic, frenetic. If you want more cover-sniping and/or a less frantic pacing, stick to BL1 or BL2.

My main criticism of BL3 (besides the "story") is still the area/map/quest design. Much of it doesn't feel fun to run through and is an actual slog in some places. I found it a mental struggle to even get thru the campaign (to reach the "end game") with all four classes (eg, I didn't), just to check them all out, and since Mayhem mode exists, TVHM is even redundant.

You can now also random-re-roll most Anointment bonuses on gear, too. So if you found the perfect shotgun but it has the "wrong" anointment, you can change it at Earl's. Although there are still some that you can't get by re-rolling.

Edit: I have now purchased my missing two DLC for $12.  Flak's robot pet ... yeah, I can see why some think he's the best one, in terms of damage. With the right gear you can stand around while he kills everything, including bosses. Kinda dull tho, lol.  And Moze's Iron Cub instead of crawling into a mech suit - I like that much better. I might actually play her now.

I think the problem with Borderland's quest design is that Gearbox hasn't changed it much in 14+ years. Most of them are fun to complete but as you said, they stop being enjoyable after you've already completed them five times over. This is mostly why they gave us additional objectives with different rewards to make you want to go through them again. Trying every vault hunter is actively encouraged as things definitely change for the better as you experience the story with a different face each time.

I'd argue that BL3 has the best level design simply because it's now easier to traverse (thanks to platforming) and there are more paths you can take which never used to be the case. What does bother me, however, is the abundance of legendary gear after you reach level 50. On the one hand, a higher chance of getting loot is excellent as this makes it less of a grind and way more entertaining. On the other hand, these weapons become useless as you'll be finding a new shiny gun five minutes later. This is mitigated somewhat by having dozens to choose from, but they're not as rare as they used to be in previous games.

Glad to see you're liking Moze. Playing as her makes it more of a challenge, same goes with Zane. TVHM isn't what it used to be but can still be really fun as you experiment with different builds. FL4K is cool as hell despite making everything easier.

[melkathi]

Tried the playtest for "Every Day We Fight".

I had understood it to be a turn based tactics game with aiming similar to Phoenix Point. I was wrong. The aiming is real time. The moment you aim at an opponent, they start moving away. Sometimes when an opponent tries to shoot you, you get a chance to scamper for cover. There is a lot of reactions. And a lot of real time real aiming. A first person shooter masquerading as a xcom clone.

I feel a bit like playing XCOM with the QTEs in Telltale's Walking Dead games or that Tomb Raider torture porn game.

Not the target audience.

[Bartimaeus]

vampire: the masquerade (/ bloodlines?)

holy crap, this is one jank game

anyone got any general tips for someone who's never played this game before

Edited May 25, 2023 by Bartimaeus