What are you playing now?

[Blarghagh]

Previously in what are you playing now:

 

Some Pikmin 3 co-op missions. Never played a Pikmin game before in my life, but it's pretty entertaining, like an RTS almost (but fun, I despise RTSes) ....but unfortunately only 7 missions are available. The others are - wait for it - paid DLC. Nintendo's brave new world, I guess. But I guess the game itself was "free" via the Mario Kart promo.

 

 

Still playing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Mario Kart 8.  Man, it's tough going getting 3 stars on 150cc, I'm still stuck only having gotten 3 stars on one cup so far.  I'm also contemplating installing Wasteland 2, which has been sitting, undownloaded, in my Steam account for quite some time, just to check out what character creation looks like.  I still have no intention of playing the game proper until it's finished.

 

 

 

I'm also contemplating installing Wasteland 2, which has been sitting, undownloaded, in my Steam account for quite some time, just to check out what character creation looks like.  I still have no intention of playing the game proper until it's finished.

Early access is evil, isn't it? Ever since I bought Grim Dawn I've been drooling at it, trying to fight back the urge to play it as they are still adding stuff and tweaking the existing. At least Wasteland 2 is supposed to come out next month.

 

 

And now the conclusion.

[Keyrock]

 

 

 

I'm also contemplating installing Wasteland 2, which has been sitting, undownloaded, in my Steam account for quite some time, just to check out what character creation looks like.  I still have no intention of playing the game proper until it's finished.

Early access is evil, isn't it? Ever since I bought Grim Dawn I've been drooling at it, trying to fight back the urge to play it as they are still adding stuff and tweaking the existing. At least Wasteland 2 is supposed to come out next month.

 

 

I personally think Grim Dawn is a game that's perfect for early access.  I have no qualms about playing it before it fully releases, and I have played it.  There are several reasons for this.  The first is that it's not a story-driven game.  While the game does have a story and already includes more narrative than Titan Quest, the story doesn't drive the game.  It's driven by loot and combat.  Second is that it's the type of game that naturally lends itself to running through the same content again and again and again, either to grind for particular loot drops, or to test out different builds (or both).  It definitely helps a bit that the map and champion enemies are at least partially randomized so you're not running through an identical map every time.  Third, a loot em up like Grim Dawn benefits immensely from the feedback of the people playing early access.  Not that other types of games wouldn't benefit from feedback, but loot em ups, in particular, go through hundreds upon hundreds of iterations as the loot, classes, and skills are balanced, and rebalanced, and rerebalanced, and rererebalanced, and rerererebalanced, and so on in the name of allowing as many viable build combinations and gear setups as possible.

[Guest Slinky]

I guess, but I don't want to commit hours and hours to a game that's mechanics are still being tweaked and stuff added to it. All the classes aren't even in the game yet, not to mention the last act of the game. I'll just wait till it's finished.

 

Space Base DF-9 is what I would concider to be a perfect game for early access, it has no story at all and the player will start new games fairly often as that is the nature of the game. I guess that would be true for Grim Dawn too if iron man mode is used, but that's really not how I like to roll.

[Mamoulian War]

Just finished Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World for the first time and I was able to achieve Bad, Normal and True Ending on my first playthrough.

[NOK222]

Been playing Mount and Blade Warpath. 

 

Made a steppe Lady. I've been the scourge of the land. 

[Malcador]

Europa Universalis IV stil, second attempt is going ok. Just beating up nations in the middle east at this point and collecting vassals.  Though just waiting for the time the mighty Lithuanian-Denmark alliance that runs half of Europe to turn on me.

[Llyranor]

How is EU4, anyway?

 

I really enjoyed EU3 back in the day, but every since CK2 and its extra layer of dynastic/political scheming, I'm not sure I can go back to that series.

[Malcador]

I'm finding it enjoyable, is my first game in the EU series though so I can't compare it to earlier games on what was lost or not.

[Llyranor]

Have you played Crusader Kings 2?

[Malcador]

A bit, just dallied with it in a blind playthrough in that I didn't read the manual.  From what I did experience it was fun to play politics within and outside my kingdom and build a dynasty - somehow lucked out being clueless and ended up inheriting a huge kingdom, heh. 

 

In EU4 Playing as Muscovy/Russia I do manage to avoid a lot of diplomacy and the overseas colonization aspects of the game, it seems - I just spend my time worrying about bastard Europeans invading me and beating up Asians for the most part.  Maybe I will play as a Western nation or something else to see that side of the game.   It's a fun little empire builder, though I strongly suspect at these "random" events that happen to be a kick in the nuts to me every time

[Valmy]

As a total EU dork who played the board game back in 1997 (and bought Paradox's EU1 on release) it blows my mind to see this style of game becoming so mainstream.  Sort of like that guy who was a big fan of Game of Thrones back in the 90s watching it become this HBO phenomenon.

[Ashen Rohk]

Guild Wars 2. Still. God, I love that game.

[Keyrock]

3 starred Shell Cup in Mario Kart 8.  3 down, 5 to go. 

[ManifestedISO]

God damn it that's it, I'm not reading this thread again until the Mario Kart bundle is back in stock somewhere. 

[Majek]

Everything but D:OS

[Labadal]

Everything but D:OS

i'm almost in the same situation.

 

I'm playing nothing, not even D: OS.

 

Time, I need more of it.

[Gfted1]

I have D:OS and Im not even playing it.   It just didn't grab me in.

 

I think Im going to reroll.

[Majek]

I think i'll install BG1 and play that. After i make myself a nice spear.

[Tale]

Halo Wars. I figure it's about time I played it post-release. Not playing it at a rapid pace, though.

[sorophx]

I want to write a bit more in detail about a game I've been playing. it's an Android/iOS game, but I bought it on Steam to support the devs, because I really like what they've made. it's called Breach & Clear, and I'll write a review in a couple of hours, after I have some rest.

 

in short, it's a Frozen Synapse/Jagged Alliance hybrid. and for a mobile game it's pretty good

[Keyrock]

Deadfall Adventures - So far it's about 50% FPS and 50% puzzle game.  That's a split I can definitely live with, though I'm early in the game, so it might change (hopefully it doesn't get too combat heavy).  The only part of the combat that's at all "different" is that when you encounter mummies you have to Alan Wake them with your flashlight before shooting them does anything.  Other than that, it's as generic as generic gets, though the gunplay is decent enough with different weapons feeling distinct and the firing feeling nice and meaty from the weapons that should feel nice and meaty.  I like that there are separate difficulty settings for combat and puzzles.  I set combat on normal and puzzles on hard.  I've yet to encounter any combat that was the least bit difficult and I've yet to encounter a puzzle that was the least bit difficult.  Still, I'm just starting off so I imagine (hope) things get more challenging later on.  The game features some cringeworthy dialogue and voice acting, particularly from the protagonist, and some hilariously bad animations during cut scenes.  Other than that, the game looks pretty good, not amazing, mind you.  It's been pretty fun so far.  As long as the game keeps throwing in a lot of puzzles and doesn't just have me kill nazis and mummies for prolonged periods of time, and so long as the puzzles actually present a bit of a challenge eventually, I think I'll be happy playing this.  I just want to travel all over the world to cool locations and poke around ancient temples and catracombs solving puzzles and avoiding traps and hopefully not having to kill TOO MANY mooks in the process.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Keyrock

[tajerio]

Planescape:Torment. For the first time (I know, I know). I'm in the Lower Ward right now, mucking about and listening to Annah's accent.

 

The combat is thoroughly mediocre, and character customization is a little limited. Then again, I had just come from NWN2, based on the "you want options? We got options. Options for DAYS!" ethos of 3.5. And pixel hunting is awful.

 

But the story. The characters. The world. All of it's so incredible. Just leagues beyond anything else I've ever played. I didn't think it could possibly live up to the hype it gets on these boards particularly, let alone surpass it.

 

But it has.

[Gizmo]

Planescape:Torment. For the first time (I know, I know). I'm in the Lower Ward right now, mucking about and listening to Annah's accent.

 

The combat is thoroughly mediocre, and character customization is a little limited. Then again, I had just come from NWN2, based on the "you want options? We got options. Options for DAYS!" ethos of 3.5. And pixel hunting is awful.

 

But the story. The characters. The world. All of it's so incredible. Just leagues beyond anything else I've ever played. I didn't think it could possibly live up to the hype it gets on these boards particularly, let alone surpass it.

 

But it has.

Of all the infinity engine games... Planescape actually seems to discourage combat ~generally.  It's more of a 'level up over lunch' conversational  RPG... one of the best RPGs too. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by Gizmo

[sorophx]

so, Breach & Clear.

 

it's a team-based tactical game (very similar to Frozen Synapse, in its basic concept of combat, but with less options in controlling your characters), where you're placed in charge of a team of special operations guys (Rangers, SEALs, SF, SAS, even KSK and Spetznaz).

 

The combat is simple yet challenging at times. you give out orders to each of your soldiers; each soldier then acts for a set amount of time, then the game stops and waits for your new orders. the soldier can move at fast or tactical pace, hold position, use a perk or throw a grenade during his action phase. this is a lot less than what you could do in FS (for example, the ability to wait for a second or two at a waypoint would be welcome, as would the ability to ignore enemies spotted in certain sectors). 

 

you can set multiple waypoints and set where the soldier should be looking at any given moment. there's also a cover system that determines how hard it is to hit the target behind cover.

 

the AI moves simultaneously with your soldiers, and you get to see each phase play out in real time. and I can't tell you how satisfying it is when you storm a room full of bad guys only to have your team wipe them out in a matter of seconds thanks to tactical advantage and use of flashbangs.

 

this is where similarities with FS end, though, as this is a strictly single-player game, that has a lengthy campaign (it has 6 locations, each with 3 game modes (types of objectives), each with 5 missions to get through (it's all one mission, divided into 5 parts, because there is no saving feature, and each part could take up to an hour).

 

you also have the ability to equip your team, the amount of options is overwhelming at first, but since most bonuses from this equipment can be easily split into two categories (armor and speed), there are only a few noteworthy items. it's still fun to play around with different vests and helmets, weapon attachments and camo patterns.

 

your team has abilities that you can improve with skill points they get for leveling up. unfortunately, you can't choose perks, they are given to each soldier depending on his class, and some perks are clearly more useful than others.

 

the game also has 4 difficulty settings and a perma-death mode.

 

now for my gripes with it (most of which stem from it being for mobile devices)

 

it has no ballistics (meaning no penetration whatsoever), you can shoot at a target behind a cardboard box, and he will remain unharmed, as long as there are no direct hits).

 

the AI is rather poor. its behavior seems to be tied to how much noise your team makes, but I rarely see them come from adjacent rooms to the sounds of gunfire, most of the time they just stay in their positions, oblivious to what's happening just across the hallway. and even if they do spot your team and flee, after losing sight of you they just take cover behind a nearest object without any regard to your team's position (often they just expose their backs to you, making them just free kills).

 

I don't like how the gear is implemented. it feels very superficial. especially since body armor is only an extension of your health. also, I can only roll my eyes at things like flashlights adding accuracy to a weapon, or holographic sights providing more accuracy than optical sights. overall, it's just a way to make your progress meaningful, without much consideration of how it works in real life.

 

still, you can see a lot of work went into this game, and even though the interface wasn't reworked for mouse and keyboard, you can still use them, and they have most functions present in other similar games (scrolling the screen, rotating your view, zooming in and out).

 

anyway, if you own a tablet I would definitely recommend picking this up, as you will get dozens of hours worth of entertainment out of it. or wait for a it to pop up at a reduced price and grab it for PC

[Keyrock]

Well, so far so good.  Through about, I'm guessing, a quarter of the game, Deadfall Adventures has continued with about a 50/50 split of puzzle solving and exploration/combat.  I'd prefer something more like 80/20 puzzle & exploration/combat, but I can live with 50/50.  Also, in just the few levels I have played, I've already spent significantly more time exploring ancient ruins and solving puzzles than in the entirety of Torture Porn Raider.  As a bonus, no one has tried to rape me or my feisty female sidekick yet either.  I'm even enjoying the combat more, probably partly due to there not being quite as much of it, partly due to it being first person (which I much prefer to third person), and partly because they break up the monotony once in a while and give you something special and fun to use like a Sturmpisotle or a MG 34.  I have to admit, mowing down Nazis with a MG 34 was thoroughly fun (Sadly, I didn't get to hang on to the MG 34 for very long.  Admittedly it's a rather large weapon to be lugging around while doing adventurer type stuff).  It's already a much better game than Torture Porn Raider as far as I'm concerned.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Keyrock