What are you Playing Now? - Right Now at the moment edition

[Malcador]

48 minutes ago, majestic said:

At least, well, for me it is. I'm not playing to have fun, but to quickly get through whatever gauntled Blizzard has cooked up so I can get back to playing other games.

I just play to have the soothing sensation of killing a lot of things. 

[Sven_]

The teaser to Drova - Forsaken Kin -- a heavily Gothic inspired pixel-art game. That is, Gothic, the game. Not Gothic, Robert Smith's hairdo.

According to the devs, that teaser (still available on ich.io) is still from the early stages ("Proof of conept"). Plays quite nice though. Is missing some of the features though that got me intrigued from reviews, such as NPC schedules, people reacting to you walking into their houses at night, drawing weapons, theft, etc.  And, of course, this:

 

Our Inspirations

Games like “Morrowind” or “Gothic” inspired us to make a game like this ourselves. We think there’s a lack of games that take players seriously and an overload of games that tell players what to do at all times. 


That's such a valuable promise that this winter only Warhorse seem to be aiming to fulfill with KCD II. Again. 

Edited October 19 by Sven_

[MrBrown]

Playing Drova as well. Fun so far. Never played Gothic so not sure how much it's similar to that, but the introduction gave me Ultima vibes.

Difficulty is not scaling as far as I can tell, which can lead to dying a lot in an open world game.

And weird situations. I was in a fight where I had a bunch of NPCs on my side, all who treated me as a big hero, despite me being the weakest of the bunch.

[Hawke64]

Finished Tails of Iron. It is an action-adventure with Metroidvania elements. The main recommendations to make the experience less unpleasant are to start on the lower difficulty and to disable the narration - while the protagonist is as genocidal as an average action game MC, the narration brings attention to it and not the Spec Ops: The Line type. The combat is in general slow and most of it is unavoidable, with the foes being invincible while they are walking towards the middle of the screen (about 20% from the border) during these combat encounters. There is not much exploration - 3 large maps + the final area + 1 post-game side quest. The regular side quests available during the main story are in fact mandatory - they reward with gold and the items or upgrades necessary to progress require the exact amount that the side quests provide (the rewards in the post-game can be spent on the optional visual upgrades for the base). The amount of backtracking is rather frustrating - only one side quest from a board (1-2 per map) can be active simultaneously, so circling between the deepest level of a dungeon and back to the board several times is the opposite of fun.

The story is linear, with the map opening up only in the post-game, the character development system consists only of health upgrades (3 specific food ingredients provide 1 upgrade, 4 upgrades in total). There are several types of weapons (melee, 1- and 2-handed, ranged, and shields) and armour (head/body light, medium, heavy). The separation by weight is not exactly noticeable - the late-game light armour provides as much protection as the heavy one.

On the positive side, the art is gorgeous, similar to old illustrated books. The bosses are reasonably varied and their movesets and appearance change during battle as they take damage. The NPC companions cannot die (cannot be targeted either) and provide some additional damage. Some of them also provide soundtrack.

[melkathi]

Tried the demo for:

 

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion has such a terrible tutorial, the demo doesn't deserve my time past that. I want a refund and I don't care that it was only 2 minutes of a free demo.

Trash Goblin is probably a relaxing zen thing. They aim to be the power cleaner simulator for a fantasy trinket shop. Not sure games like this are really games... It is very cute, so it gets bonus points for that.

DinoCop plays in a world where Jurassic Park like experimentation led to a society where humans and dinos coexist and you are the token dinosaur in the police force. Fun setting, controls a bit wonky in their simplicity. The fact that there is an ingame clock makes investigating a bit strange when you are a bit slow figuring things out.

New Arc Line probably tried to be humorous in the dialogue of the first two npcs (you care nothing about) sending you off on some errant you care nothing about. I ran into some enemies I cared nothing about while trying to do the quest I did not care about. They killed me. For some reason I had an npc in my party. The one game I actually wanted to try.

 

Turns out making a good demo is hard. Trash Goblin and DinoCop both had demos that didn't make me want to quit and actually give the games a chance. New Arc Line I removed from my watch list, Flint I decided not to put on my watch list. DinoCop may be something for Keyrock and other people who could enjoy a police investigation point & click & smell clues game.

[MrBrown]

About 20 hours into Drova and I have some negative things to say.

Not having a minimap, highlights or fast movement makes this game an utter chore to play. I can relate to the idea of not guiding the player too much, but when every other quest is "talk to X, then to Y, then to Z", and I have no idea who and where this people are, it practically means I have to go through the whole town every time. The "not guiding" part only works if there's not a specific order you need to do things in.

The lack of a minimap also comes into play in exploration, because the game uses elevation levels to block movement. Quite often I can see where I want to go, but I have to spend a while finding the right path there, because for no obvious reason you can just walk right up to it.

Lack of fast movement comes into play because there's lots of occasion where you need to travel through places you've already been to, and hence where there's nothing interesting going on anymore. The game isn't that big though, so it's just barely below my annoyance threshold.

Out of the 20 hours, I'd say about 5 is running through town searching for NPCs, running through already cleared maps, and pathfinding because everything needs to be a maze.

The game does some neat things though, like the map, or the investigation mode, and the combat is pretty nicely designed, although I'm utterly hopeless at it.

[BruceVC]

I completed TW2 after about 50 hours

As I mentioned previously its a fun RPG and it has some worthwhile mechanics like crafting, skills advancement and a myriad of quests and an open-world to explore with no level scaling . Im not going to mention what I didnt like about it 

I enjoyed and was surprised how the narrative ended ...I was hoping to Romance the prophetess 

I spent about 2-3 hours on the final battle, I dont like those kind of end boss battles where you have to adopt a different strategy to normal combat

But its a good Eurojank RPG and definitely worth playing

It gets a well deserved 65\100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system " 

 

I then  played another Fighting Fantasy PC game, The Citadel of Chaos and it was another fantastic nostalgic  sojourn back into the world of " choose your own adventure ". It was just quick, I finished it in 4 hours 

I decided to play a DLC for TW2,Call of the Tenebrae. It has similar mechanics to the OC but it improves on some things and is higher level 

[Sven_]

On 10/19/2024 at 8:11 PM, MrBrown said:

Playing Drova as well. Fun so far. Never played Gothic so not sure how much it's similar to that, but the introduction gave me Ultima vibes.

Difficulty is not scaling as far as I can tell, which can lead to dying a lot in an open world game.

 

 

That's Gothic, baby. Enemies act as barriers where you can go. That was prior to Oblivion ruining everything, basically.  
 

That said, I was able to walk very far into the map by sticking onto the road (and fleeing from enemies) in Drova so far. And the full release is a different thing to the teaser I played... in a good way.

Turned off the player position on the map and tutorials immediately. Also went with the single autosave format and no starting bonus. 

Gonna play KCD II next year as "hardcore exploration" as can also. There's surelly gonna be an option again.  

Edited October 21 by Sven_

[melkathi]

Isn't that basically what New Vegas does? You have to do the powder gang and Primm and everything in order because simply going directly northeast to vegas would have you pass deathclaws you can't yet kill.

[MrBrown]

29 minutes ago, melkathi said:

Isn't that basically what New Vegas does? You have to do the powder gang and Primm and everything in order because simply going directly northeast to vegas would have you pass deathclaws you can't yet kill.

Pretty much yes, though I think New Vegas had some scaling. Also a bigger world, so there was more options. And more warnings about which way was difficult, and easier to escape combat.

[LadyCrimson]

Generally speaking if a newbie would follow roads or whatever, you'd run into deathclaws, go "nope" and go back. Although I think one might've been able, with some luck, to get through. It would take luck tho. Or maybe it was an exploit. I can't remember.

[Malcador]

The forge world was brutal for me in Rogue Trader, having two tanks is nice at least, Abelard is unkillable so far. 

WoW's 20th anniversary starting though, so guess will put my shoulder to the wheel to grind out the redone T2 sets.

[melkathi]

I think the forgeworld is the hardest of the three. Not as hard as going unprepared into the mechanicus voidship though, which you can stumble upon right after leaving footfall for the first time. After that everything on the forgeworld is manageable

[Malcador]

At least I found a fun tactic as I got Cassia's ability that forces people to move, forces attacks of opportunity.  Everyone but Abelard seems to miss their attack though

Didn't encounter the Mechanicus ship, although not sure I want to. Did the crashed Black Ship though, that was fun, even if a bit hairy as the horde of mobs took down Argenta before she could even do anything.  Mostly cruising around trying to level up the ship, the ship combat is fun enough - the mobs are annoying in that they don't just sit still so I can torpedo them to death.

[melkathi]

If you already have Yrliet cruising is fine. If you don't have her but want to complete her personal quest, cruising is almost guaranteed to break it as you'll do the encounters too early.

[bugarup]

Hades. How comes I can play RPGs, both nerdy and Skyrim-y, over and over and over again for hundreds of hours and never get bored but with this - roguelike I think it's called? - I'm all "Oh my goooood the same room the same mooks lemme ouuuuut I've been here forever!!! " when stats say I only did 11 short runs? Me being bad at twitchy speedy combat definitely isn't helping any, there's a god mode but to max it out I'll need like 30 (!!!!!) runs so I dunno. Oh well, at least combat isn't the thing of nightmares like in Pyre and I didn't yet rageuninstall it like Bastion.  Muzik's lovely though.

[MrBrown]

17 minutes ago, bugarup said:

Hades. How comes I can play RPGs, both nerdy and Skyrim-y, over and over and over again for hundreds of hours and never get bored but with this - roguelike I think it's called? - I'm all "Oh my goooood the same room the same mooks lemme ouuuuut I've been here forever!!! " when stats say I only did 11 short runs? Me being bad at twitchy speedy combat definitely isn't helping any, there's a god mode but to max it out I'll need like 30 (!!!!!) runs so I dunno. Oh well, at least combat isn't the thing of nightmares like in Pyre and I didn't yet rageuninstall it like Bastion.  Muzik's lovely though.

I originally got bored with it after 5 or so runs, but then went back and started liking it and grinded all the content.

[Sven_]

On 10/22/2024 at 2:15 AM, LadyCrimson said:

Generally speaking if a newbie would follow roads or whatever, you'd run into deathclaws, go "nope" and go back. Although I think one might've been able, with some luck, to get through. It would take luck tho. Or maybe it was an exploit. I can't remember.

Not sure if it's an exploit, but there's a way which I found after trying. Yeah, at least the beginning area is a bit Gothic-like. However, Obsidian also lock the map geographically. There's the mountain range in the middle of the map, which makes the definite way through basically an U.

Here as well, you can go everywhere from the start. At least if you stick to the roads and run. However, the faction location/s are (partially) locked. Gothic is basically like this: You arrive as a total nobody into a world (and it treats you as such). You discover that there's factions. To get better equipment (and advance the plot), you eventually need to join one of those. Combat is also fairly tactical, as it was in Gothic. Enemies visibly (and audibly) enter a threat mode where you can still pull back (or make them come to you), and they have attack patterns which are telegraphed via cues. And you need that, as in particularly early, most of the enemies can either one-shot you or kill you in a few direct hits. Every progression is thus felt, be it stats or gear. Even the mere act of discovering an axe after looting a bandit camp becomes an event. 

That's how Elex worked even years later, though they lost quite a bit of what made the original form special. In particular as to exploration. Elex was done by a team of no more than ~30 people, and yet they went with a massive world (which is harder to fill and get that hand-crafted feel from). I've been playing Drova for a good chunk of hours and seen most of the overworld (it's not HUGE, just reasonably big, Gothic-like), and exploration is still fun. I even went back to the starting area and found new stuff I'd missed before. No markers, no BS, just you out to try to surive. There's in-universe maps and chalk you can buy to mark them.

So many details too. Even the small stuff, like enemy bodies don't despawn, they even rot. NPCs in general are "persistent" and don't despawn. There's a guy you meet early that gives you a few directions, however says he couldn't lead you to a certain place as he'd still have an appointment. I later discovered that you can actually follow his walk all over the map, and "witness" that appointment. That's not something I personally expected out of a 2d pixel game made by a core of 6 people, in 2024 or otherwise.


Can see the possible annoyance with the lack of Z-axis though @MrBrown. You can't jump or climb (nor swim). I'd personally wished there were more distinct "classes" and playstyles, but they pretty much seem to lock you into a melee guy with magic and range as support options early. (Magic is said to be more of a thing much much later.) My biggest tripe is stealing though, which seems too easy (so not doing it).

 

Edited October 23 by Sven_

[LadyCrimson]

I think I once rushed through the end plot of New Vegas just to see the end title cards etc (then reloaded my "real" save) but other than that I ignored factions. Never did anything to officially join/align with Powder Gangers, pseudo Romans, the mech suit dudes, any of that. So faction considerations weren't a thing for me.

I was the same way in Morrowind. Never finished the plot of that because I refused to join anything.

Lone wolf forever!

[melkathi]

I enjoyed factions in Morrowind and some extend Skyrim because you rise to their highest rank and become this weird super powerful character who makes half the decisions in the region from an RP standpoint.

In the Bethesda style fallout games you never assume any position of power. It will always be the show of whatever named npc. You are just the errand pipboy. 

[MrBrown]

4 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

I think I once rushed through the end plot of New Vegas just to see the end title cards etc (then reloaded my "real" save) but other than that I ignored factions. Never did anything to officially join/align with Powder Gangers, pseudo Romans, the mech suit dudes, any of that. So faction considerations weren't a thing for me.

I was the same way in Morrowind. Never finished the plot of that because I refused to join anything.

Lone wolf forever!

Don't play Drova then. It's not just the main plot, but so much of your power is locked behind joining a faction, you want to do it ASAP.

As for FNV, you could just walk past the deathclaws north of the starting town, if you kept to the hills on the eastern side of the track. If you climb a bit high, the deathclaws can't reach you. No particular need for exploits.

Edited October 23 by MrBrown

[Sven_]

3 hours ago, MrBrown said:

Don't play Drova then. It's not just the main plot, but so much of your power is locked behind joining a faction, you want to do it ASAP.

I'm like a dozen hours in, and still didn't join one. Couldn't decide yet (but I think I've made my decision).   Even got a super high level weapon in my pockets by luring a guy LEAGUES above my level in front of a camps' guards and looting him after they had ripped him. Don't have the required attributes to use it though, for which you eventually have to join a faction.

Exploration is so much fun, it's a joy (and clearly the biggest strength). Lots of biomes, even some early game critters appear later with a "twist". Optional caves, lore pieces, etc. Plus night time in the woods or exploring caves and mines can be even a little creepy, the sound design sells a lot of that. Got robbed blind by a bunch of bandits though in the woods more recent. They beat me into unconscious and took like half my money. Ooooof. Playing the Iron mode that only updates one (auto-)save. So whenever **** happens, it happens (except for game overs, of course). I wanted it that way.  I  know where the ****ers are hiding now though. Just you wait when I got my faction gear and armor. JUST YOU ****ERS WAIT. 

That said, I recently watched somebody playing with the player position showing on the map enabled. I actually think this spoils the (intended) experience. Tbh, I didn't even buy the more detailed world map and still own the one that Asmus haphazardly draws for you in the beginning...

 

Edited October 23 by Sven_

[BruceVC]

I have decided to buy  Dark Messiah  M&M and UnderRail

I have only heard good things about both these games. I am going to play Dark Messiah first and then UnderRail

UnderRail really seems to be what I enjoy around exploration and open world and I always appreciate post-apocalyptic settings like Fallout, METRO and STALKER  

 

 

 

 

[majestic]

I joined a random party and attempted the frist wing of the Dark Citadel (the only actual group content in the otherwise always online Diablo 4) on Torment IV difficulty. At first it went much better than expected as we basically flew through the wing without a hitch, and then we hit a brick wall, and I left the party, which is something I normally not do, but this time was special. Looks like my gear is just not good enough and I made space for someone who is not a burden. Yikes. You'd think you're ready for everything the game throws at you when you can push pits past level 100, but apparently not.

The final boss of the first wing gives players a debuff that eventually turns into a void zone that damages the player at least once, the idea is that you carry that someplace where it is not in the way (we also had someone in the group who dropped that void zone in the damndest of areas, right on top of objectives you need to click to remove the boss' invincibility, but that is something else entirely). That one-shot me, while it only moderately harmed the others.

In other words, I need some gear with +maximum life greater affixes. On the bright side, Duriel dropped me a nice 3GA Banished Lord's Talisman, so I will be switching to the Overpower variant of the Quill Volley Meta build as soon as I get a decent chest drop.

[bugarup]

I hate this pixel trend so very much that I see pixels --> instant ignore. Video tech evolves and keeps evolving, then why the f  do I have to scrape my eyes on the corners of huge ugly rectangles? 

Leave it in the past where it belongs and good riddance  Aaaaanyway, now when I know Drova is a RPG, I might look past fugly aesthetic, especially since I was late to Gothic train (too ugly and UI too horrible for today's me, sorry).

Speaking of beautiful aesthetic, that's one of reasons I like Hades despite of its "Do it again, stupid" game loop - everything is very lovingly drawn and animated. Another reason is characters, they're well written and always have something new to say, I wonder if they ever run out? Racked my godmode DR up to 50%, read up a little, got the double dash everyone swears on, indeed a life saver that trivialized the first boss lady and helped me go really quite far where I ignobly died to a swarm of pink butterflies. Also got a laundry list of things to do, decided to concentrate on ticking things off it instead of getting cranky about repeats.