What are you currently playing?

[hanselthecaretaker]

Super Mario Galaxy.

So I may have mentioned that before I got my Switch, my last Nintendo Console was a SNES. So I missed like 20 years of nintendo games because Nintendo doesn't port any of it's first person games to other consoles(and sometimes not to it's own later consoles). When Super Mario 3D all stars came out last year, this was a no brainer for me because I'd never played 64, Sunshine or Galaxy before but heard about them all for years and because 3 games in one cartridge that I was interested in feels like a good deal, even if it is full price for older games. The "Back in the vault" thing I'm not so keen on but that's a topic for another day.

Anyway, After trying 64 and Sunshine first, I eventually decided to commit to Galaxy because that's the one I have the most interest in and for the most part, the one I'm enjoying the most. Setting it in space allows the game to do new ideas that aren't really seen in other mario games and it's nice to see variations on older ideas and mario levels. The fact it treats objects in space as true 3d objects you can fully traverse makes for some interesting gameplay, especially in boss fights where you need to be paying close attention to the geography of the area to properly escape/attack the boss. What's less well done is that some objects can be fully traversed while others have a safe top while trying to jump to the bottom is essentially jumping into a death pit(justified in game by a nearby black hole which sucks you in) and that occasionally the controls get confused when you're rounding to another side of the circle/sphere and you'll start running in a small circle. This isn't bad except when you're trying to avoid the acid spit of a giant space spider and this happens, leading to DEATH.

One drawback of all of this was brought to my attention by one member of this forum(I can't remember who, sorry) mentioned they couldn't play it because it basically gave them a headache/made them sick trying to keep track of the 3d landscape and how it moves under the camera. And that's a significant problem if you're one of those people which effectively locks you out of being able to play/enjoy it, which I'm not sure if there's a way to get around the way it's designed.

The other issue I can see is that some minigames are heavily dependent on motion controls, either the joycons or the controller thingy that the joycons can be slotted onto to play the game while docked. That is you need hold the joycons/controller in a specific way to traverse and area and it's very position dependent. One of these is a jetski course IN SPACE while the other is you essentially riding a giant golf ball on a mini-golf course IN SPACE and both are very dependent on you being good at this sort of thing. Luckily neither is terribly common and I think all of them are optional. In fact, apparently you only need to get half the stars in the game to actually beat it and the rest are to unlock other features, which means you have a ton of leeway to skip stages you're not enjoying if you don't care about getting ALL the stars.

Suffice it to say I'm really into it now, and I've been playing with my 4 year old in the room because its something she can understand without me having to explain much to her(she still wants me to read the dialogue because she can't read it herself), but the mario games are really good at visual shorthand to make them easily understandable so its great for a kid to be introduced to(though I'm not sure how to answer what Bowser is or why he and Mario are fighting, only to realize I'm old because I said "Mario and Bowser have been fighting since I was a kid").

Yup, that was me lol. It’s because of that I’d rather still play M64 or even Sunshine 10 times before either Galaxy. The sad thing is this could’ve been easily remedied by making planets…idk…actual level sized maps like the previous games instead of tiny, therefore gimmicky spherical puzzle worlds (idk if they’re all that small but based on what I’d seen and played there wasn’t much variance).

Glad you’re able to enjoy it more though. Having said that, maybe my problem was I wasn’t drinking when I tried playing them. I’ll have to remember to pour a glass of Maker’s or something whenever I get another Nintendo system.

 

[Dalisclock]

Loaded up a new profile in Hardspace: Shipbreaker, after seeing the "storyline content" update.

It's not that much to be honest. It's basically a set of...5? I think it was 5, maybe only 4, people that chat with you over your headset both in and out of a cutting job. One of them is the already established...I guess he'd be like the shit supervisor or whatever? The guy who is teaching you the ropes, and gives you the basic pointers. They actually gave him something of a story, and non-tutorial related stuff to say. They also added other cutters, who are part of the work crew that you are now the Rook (rookie) of. So far not much to it, other than clearly setting up the LYNX Corp. is evil and totally doesn't have it's workers best interests in mind. Which was already established right from the start previously, but is now overtly the "plot." There is a subplot about a worker's union, which is of course outlawed by LYNX "for the good of the workers." But that's about where it ends. They establish your coworkers, set up the "you should join the underground worker's union movement" thing, and then end it with "We at LYNX have heard rumors of a union, so we're sending out employees to insure quality of work, and no insubordination." End of storyline stuff for now. Or at least that's all there is of the meta narrative. I suspect there are other things that might be hidden literally within the hulls of the ship? Mainly because of what some of the in game objectives they've added are, and what they imply. Assuming that stuff is implemented currently, it will definitely be a new layer to the shipbreaking.

Other changes, they've spread out the various layers of difficulty a bit more in the tutorial now. For example, you simply cannot deal with pressurized ships until you reach Cutter Rank 6, which is where they specifically say "Ok, you've shown sufficient competency in the less dangerous hulls, we think you are careful enough to not blow yourself up with cabin depressurization. So this training is all about dealing with pressured sections." So that's nice. As prior to that, there was no tutorialization of it at all. You just would sometimes get ships with pressurized sections, and had to figure out how to deal with it in a way that didn't kill you, or waste valuable salvage. It was kind of tedious for me, having already been very familiar with dealing with them, but for a fresh player, totally new to the game, this is much better. Because yeah, fucking up and breaching a hull with pressure, and the immediate cascade failure of things going wrong, is one of the most common ways you are going to die in that game. So kudos to them, for giving the player a chance to actually test out the methods of dealing with it.

They've also introduced at least 1 entirely new ship hull, that I've only experimented with once so far. It's a random draw when you are picking a hull to break, and I've only seen it once so far.

So far I'm still dealing with the standard issue hull that was in the tutorial, and it's really impressive how many different configurations of components and systems you can make, with a basic hull, that makes each different ship a totally different breaking strategy. There's about 5-6 different setups for the standard hull, depending on what the ship does (station hopper, transport, cargo, exploration, etc), and it completely alters your approach. So it's really neat how much content they can have with the multiple hulls they have planned (and I think currently there are 3? Definitely 2 hulls for certain). So replayability is a big feature.

They've added a couple new songs to the musical rotation, which is nice. I loved the original set, even after HOURS of repeat, the songs were always enjoyable. Not like SOME games with a space country song you are forced to hear a lot, yes I'm glaring at YOU Surge 1. The new songs are good, and feel along the same flavor and tone of the original set. So some variety is nice.

And lots of little quality of life improvements here and there. It was a solid game before, and is an even more solid game now. I'd wish for more story content, because I think it's an interesting way to have a story, given the game itself is always in the same place. But yeah, still very solid.

I saw that there was an update to this, so I appreciate elaborating on what it added. It looks like I'm gonna have to slot it into the rotation when I'm done with Ancestors: A Humankind Odyssey(in 7 million years).

And your point about the repeating songs brings back memories of FO: New Vegas. While there's some good songs on the playlist, there's far too few songs in the rotation(like 10 songs survived the apocalypse or something) and by god, If I ever have to hear Johnny Guitar again......

The song rotation in F03 might have been as small but I either enjoyed them more or I didn't notice as much.

"Bungle Bunge Bungle I don't wanna leave the jungle nonononono....."

 

[Dalisclock]

Yup, that was me lol. It’s because of that I’d rather still play M64 or even Sunshine 10 times before either Galaxy. The sad thing is this could’ve been easily remedied by making planets…idk…actual level sized maps like the previous games instead of tiny, therefore gimmicky spherical puzzle worlds (idk if they’re all that small but based on what I’d seen and played there wasn’t much variance).

Glad you’re able to enjoy it more though. Having said that, maybe my problem was I wasn’t drinking when I tried playing them. I’ll have to remember to pour a glass of Maker’s or something whenever I get another Nintendo system.

There's some variance but it depends on how far you played. I got through the 2nd.....area? LIke how each building on the space station has like 3/4 galaxies and a mini-galaxy or two with a boss area galaxy at the end, I finished the 2nd big boss(which is Bowser chasing you around a small metal planet).

I suspect the size of the planets was due to being made for the Wii but also so they could move you along from planet to planet quickly. Though it wouldn't have hurt to just have each area be a seperate planet or something. I guess they really wanted to take advantage of the SPACE theme of this one.

 

[Drathnoxis]

The Witness

First-person puzzle game ala Talos Principle, complete with audiologs of pseudo-philosophical musings and the one puzzle you have to do over and over on your quest for more of the same. Instead of Talos' redirecting lasers and pressure plates you're given the equivalent of labyrinth puzzles from a McDonald's placemat, where you trace lines from start to finish while meeting increasingly obscure requirements (ie. separate color tiles). And that's it. There's no context to the game other than you're there and you might as well complete the puzzles because that's all there is to do. Talos at least manages to be intriguing, and there was a great back and forth between Elohim and Milton that kept things tense. What's more, you always knew what you were supposed to do, even if the physics presented impossible deadlocks. Witness never explains what it wants you to do and I'm finding that half the time it's impossible to tell other than through trial and error, which becomes frustrating.

Yeah, the Witness probably would have been better if there was actually some sort of a compelling story or reason for it all. As it is the game comes off feeling really pretentious.

Also the game does not feel any shame at all about just straight up wasting the players time. There are a couple of puzzles that have you wait for an hour to be able to solve them.

 

[happyninja42]

I saw that there was an update to this, so I appreciate elaborating on what it added. It looks like I'm gonna have to slot it into the rotation when I'm done with Ancestors: A Humankind Odyssey(in 7 million years).

And your point about the repeating songs brings back memories of FO: New Vegas. While there's some good songs on the playlist, there's far too few songs in the rotation(like 10 songs survived the apocalypse or something) and by god, If I ever have to hear Johnny Guitar again......

The song rotation in F03 might have been as small but I either enjoyed them more or I didn't notice as much.

"Bungle Bunge Bungle I don't wanna leave the jungle nonononono....."

That's the thing though, the rotation isn't a lot of songs to be honest. But, I dunno, maybe it's personal taste, or the fact that they are all instrumental, but they don't become tedious like other games with music. They just seemlessly blend into the background as you are doing your job. It helps that I LIKE the songs a lot. They have enough EDM elements to them to tickle my personal musical tastes, but it's also this really chill, space country twang for some of the songs. Like, the theme song to Firefly, but minus lyrics, is a VERY good sample of the flavor of some of the songs. To clarify, I didn't think the previous song rotation was tedious, or got old. Not at all! It was always enjoyable to listen to, even after hours of playing. It's just they added more songs to it, so it's just a longer loop, but the original loop was a good loop.

As to including it, yeah it's a really fun game in my opinion. I've described it multiple times as Space Jenga, and I stand by that. Because it's all about pulling the hulls apart, piece by piece, without the whole thing falling apart. But in this context "falling apart" is code for "violent explosion"

 

[Dalisclock]

That's the thing though, the rotation isn't a lot of songs to be honest. But, I dunno, maybe it's personal taste, or the fact that they are all instrumental, but they don't become tedious like other games with music. They just seemlessly blend into the background as you are doing your job. It helps that I LIKE the songs a lot. They have enough EDM elements to them to tickle my personal musical tastes, but it's also this really chill, space country twang for some of the songs. Like, the theme song to Firefly, but minus lyrics, is a VERY good sample of the flavor of some of the songs. To clarify, I didn't think the previous song rotation was tedious, or got old. Not at all! It was always enjoyable to listen to, even after hours of playing. It's just they added more songs to it, so it's just a longer loop, but the original loop was a good loop.

As to including it, yeah it's a really fun game in my opinion. I've described it multiple times as Space Jenga, and I stand by that. Because it's all about pulling the hulls apart, piece by piece, without the whole thing falling apart. But in this context "falling apart" is code for "violent explosion"

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you didn't like the soundtrack. I was kinda going off on my own little tangent about how song rotations can work or sometimes not work.

 

[happyninja42]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you didn't like the soundtrack. I was kinda going off on my own little tangent about how song rotations can work or sometimes not work.

Oh I know, I just wanted to clarify it wasn't a failing of the previous song list, that was improved with more songs. It was an already good song list, that was improved with more variety. I feel your pain about games like NV with a painfully limited song list, and how tedious it becomes to keep that radio on as you play. And yes, Big Iron can just go die in a fire.

I suspect that part of the appeal of Hardspace's music, compared to ones like NV, was there are no lyrics, so they aren't as big of a mental annoyance? Hardspace's list is entirely instrumental, so it's easier to just let it fade into the back of your awareness, without it becoming annoying. They also use the music to ratchet up tension. As when you either get close to a very dangerous ship component (like a reactor), the game overrides the music coming over your helmet speakers, with a more sinister, EDM drumming score. This menacing sound that is totally at odds with the normal music, sets you on edge, as you know it means "you are in an area that a single mistake will kill you."

It's just a really good use of the music to help convey mood and tone of the game.

 

[deleted20220709]

DELETED

 

[Trunkage]

Fallout Fan Pass revoked. A true Fallout Fan would know that it is:
Bongo, Bongo, Bongo, I don't want to leave the Congo, oh no, no no no no.
Bingo, Bangle, Bungle I'm so happy in the Jungle I refuse to go.

Like, do you even Galaxy Radio, bro? Or Diamond City Radio? Or Appalachia Radio (with "Julie here")?

I was far more partial to:
I'm Tickled Pink
The moon is yellow
And I'm you're fellow tonight
Do do do do do

NV selection of songs weren't as good as F3. None of the new ones I ever wanted to listen or sing outside of the game

 

[happyninja42]

I was far more partial to:
I'm Tickled Pink
The moon is yellow
And I'm you're fellow tonight
Do do do do do

NV selection of songs weren't as good as F3. None of the new ones I ever wanted to listen or sing outside of the game

One thing I loved about FO 4, was the radio, and how the DJ would occasionally comment about how they were playing ANOTHER song by that one singer the had in every game. Roy Brown. Those Butcher Pete songs, and...well basically all the other songs they apparently were able to get the rights to dirt cheap from him. And how the DJ was like "apparently only HIS music survived the apocalypse....for some reason." *dry sarcastic tone, acknowledging how many of his songs the franchise used* I loved that.

I really wish they would do something like, just have a DLC with more songs as they got more right or something, and have it be a little mission you could do in game. Like the mission you do for Three Dog, to repair the dish, which actually makes GNR's coverage expand, meaning you can hear it anywhere. Or, more accurately, like the mission in FO 3, where you can get the violin for the old lady, and if you do, she starts playing music over the radio, opening up an entirely new channel for you. But instead, it's a mission where you go and maybe plunder another music related vault, for a collection of vintage records. And it adds in a new set of songs to be played. They don't even really need to change anything, they could just add a few voice lines for the DJ "And NOW, here's a fresh song, courtesy of The Sole Wanderer Vault Dweller, who bravely donated a selection of new songs to our library! Hope you enjoy it!" *then just queue up one of the new songs after that dialogue* You don't even have to name drop them if you don't want to do that much new voice work for the actor.

 

[Dalisclock]

Oh I know, I just wanted to clarify it wasn't a failing of the previous song list, that was improved with more songs. It was an already good song list, that was improved with more variety. I feel your pain about games like NV with a painfully limited song list, and how tedious it becomes to keep that radio on as you play. And yes, Big Iron can just go die in a fire.

I suspect that part of the appeal of Hardspace's music, compared to ones like NV, was there are no lyrics, so they aren't as big of a mental annoyance? Hardspace's list is entirely instrumental, so it's easier to just let it fade into the back of your awareness, without it becoming annoying. They also use the music to ratchet up tension. As when you either get close to a very dangerous ship component (like a reactor), the game overrides the music coming over your helmet speakers, with a more sinister, EDM drumming score. This menacing sound that is totally at odds with the normal music, sets you on edge, as you know it means "you are in an area that a single mistake will kill you."

It's just a really good use of the music to help convey mood and tone of the game.

I've owned the game for a whie, I just haven't started it partially because it was still EA but mostly because I hadn't found an excuse to slot it in yet. The curse of the backlog. There's a million games I want to play, a thousand I have and also want to play and I have time to play maybe 2 swapping back and forth(though right now I'm effectively juggling 3: Mario Galaxy, Stardew Valley and Ancestors: Humankind Odyssey).

Though now I'm pretty sure Shipbreakers will be either next on the list after Ancestors or one very soon after that. Kinda depends what I'm in the mood for when I finish this and if one of the games I've been eyeing for a while(UnMetal, Garden Story or Cris Tales) drops in the next month or so.

 

[laggyteabag]

Im still in my videogame rut.

I played a bit of Titanfall 2 during the free weekend, and I remember how much I love that game. I might need to give the campaign another playthrough.

Otherwise, I could be in the mood for another Bioshock playthrough. Last time I played that game was in 2013, apparently, and I've only ever completed it once. I haven't tried the remastered version, so maybe i'll give that a shot.

I think I just need to play something that I already know I like, to try and rejuvenate my interest in games.

I've also bought the Mass Effect remaster, which comes out in a couple of days, so maybe that'll do it for me, too.

Who knows.

The prospect of trying to finish off Monster Hunter World after a month-long hiatus just feels a bit daunting.

 

[happyninja42]

I've owned the game for a whie, I just haven't started it partially because it was still EA but mostly because I hadn't found an excuse to slot it in yet. The curse of the backlog. There's a million games I want to play, a thousand I have and also want to play and I have time to play maybe 2 swapping back and forth(though right now I'm effectively juggling 3: Mario Galaxy, Stardew Valley and Ancestors: Humankind Odyssey).

Though now I'm pretty sure Shipbreakers will be either next on the list after Ancestors or one very soon after that. Kinda depends what I'm in the mood for when I finish this and if one of the games I've been eyeing for a while(UnMetal, Garden Story or Cris Tales) drops in the next month or so.

Yeah, for an EA game (Early Access, not EA for anyone confused), it's a really solid game. It's one of those "Does one thing but does it really well" kind of game concepts. But it's put so much work, time and love into it, that I found it really engaging. I would definitely recommend trying it out soon, as it's a solid game. I don't even really consider it a game type that I especially like? Like those engineering/builder games have never really been my thing, but this feels like the kind of game that appeals to that kind of gamer, but in reverse. Perhaps the kind of mentality that enjoys something like House Flipper, or Viscera Cleanup Detail. Where you are taking something kind of chaotic, and cleaning it up. In this case, it's taking a complex item, and breaking it down into component parts, and yeeting those parts around in space, and getting the satisfaction of peeling back this complex thing, layer by layer. And I find it REALLY fun. I've dusted it off 3 separate times since I first picked it up, and had fun with it every time. There is the added layer of challenge, that you can give to yourself, of seeing how much you can break on a single shift, or going "hardcore" mode, which means you don't have any clones, so if you die, that run is over. Finding ways to minimize supply refills at the HAB, by using supplies in ship, etc. It's got a lot of complexity, even though the concept is always "take this ship, and tear it down."

And even the fact, that I have stated many times, that they can take a single ship frame, and just reshuffle where the various components are, based on the ships function, completely changes the challenge, is really engaging.

I feel bad constantly gushing about it, and I fear overselling it, but I really do think it's a solid as hell game. I have very few flaws to give it. At this point there's basically no physics bugs that can get you killed (there were some doozies back when I first played it, hooboy, but they seem to have ironed those out entirely). The devs seem to be very engaged with the community and addressing the problems. The amount of effort put into it is of a much higher quality than I usually see in EA games, and it definitely feels like this is a work of love for the devs. Somebody had a cool idea, the rest of the team fleshed it out in a super fun way.

 

[Dalisclock]

I feel bad constantly gushing about it, and I fear overselling it, but I really do think it's a solid as hell game. I have very few flaws to give it. At this point there's basically no physics bugs that can get you killed (there were some doozies back when I first played it, hooboy, but they seem to have ironed those out entirely). The devs seem to be very engaged with the community and addressing the problems. The amount of effort put into it is of a much higher quality than I usually see in EA games, and it definitely feels like this is a work of love for the devs. Somebody had a cool idea, the rest of the team fleshed it out in a super fun way.

I understand a lot, actually, I have much the same feeling about Kerbal Space Program, which I realize is only fun if that's something you're into because it hits a particular niche and does it well, but it's unlikely to interest anyone who isn't into "Lego Build your own spacecraft/aircraft and then fly them around" thing. Which is why I mostly shut up about it because I know most people aren't that into spacecraft/spaceflight in the way the game caters to and for a long time it was very rough(not broken but there was a lot of stuff you had to use mods for that have slowly been added in as standard features by the dev team). It was solid even during EA and just gets more robust as they refine it, but the new versions often break the mods, which sucks and some mod makers have stopped updating which also sucks.

 

[BrawlMan]

I got Fight n Rage (PS4) that came through Limited Run Games. So I will be playing that tonight, along with Puyo Puyo Tetris (Switch). Has any one gotten their physical copies of Scott Pilgrim yet? I decided not to pre-order, so I am curious. This means you @Dalisclock and @Chimpzy.

 

[happyninja42]

I understand a lot, actually, I have much the same feeling about Kerbal Space Program, which I realize is only fun if that's something you're into because it hits a particular niche and does it well, but it's unlikely to interest anyone who isn't into "Lego Build your own spacecraft/aircraft and then fly them around" thing. Which is why I mostly shut up about it because I know most people aren't that into spacecraft/spaceflight in the way the game caters to and for a long time it was very rough(not broken but there was a lot of stuff you had to use mods for that have slowly been added in as standard features by the dev team). It was solid even during EA and just gets more robust as they refine it, but the new versions often break the mods, which sucks and some mod makers have stopped updating which also sucks.

Yeah I don't enjoy KSP, or similar builder games. I wish I did like KSP, because I've watched videos of people who have done some amazing things with it. But I've tried it and it just doesn't hold my interest. I was never a huge Lego fan, and I despise Minecraft-esque games. That was never my jam growing up. I mean I owned Legos sure, and played with them a bit, but it was never a passion, and it definitely didn't translate very well into games. At least not games that are entirely about that. I do like society builder games, like Frostpunk, or Surviving Mars/Surviving the Aftermath, etc. But there is a different framework to those for me, mentally at least.

 

[Jarrito3002]

Right now I am between I am playing Haven on my Switch.

This game so far is chill. I love the dynamic between Kay and Yu which is good caused the game in focused on them and their relationship which is just down the earth and well written so far. I guess the benefits of working with just the these two characters. The flying and drifthing works just right the battle system could so much more but I feel the interpersonal relaitonship between Kay and Yu was priority and the battle system is not bad just could use some more polish.

I dusted off the PS2 to play Kingdom Hearts. Yes I do own the collection on PS4 with Final Mix but the Final Mix changes deter me with its changes from enemy reskins, to changing how you progress in the beginning picking sword, rod and shield and others I don't want to delve into but I will say it is much easier to get Ultima Weapon in this game. Early Kingdom Hearts was the dark souls of KH combat I just miss the tech points you get as incentive to block and parry at the right time and not just mash x to win which was a common criticisim.

As for my PS4 I am going to finish up the Outriders story mode and start my Pyro class and then jump back into FF7 remake. I am at the Mako Reactor with Tifa and Barrett just trying to make my way around last I left off which is still barely scratching the beginning of the game. I still want that Materia I was trying to get before the bridge broke lol.

 

[Dreiko]

Took a bit of a reading break cause I was grinding too hard on souls for the past month, so was only doing fighting games for the last week or so in preparation for the GGstrive beta in 3 days but yesterday I pulled another 8 hour session in Nier. I just finished the spooky mansion bit, and man this game is excellent. So much uniqueness and atmosphere. The text adventure bits were super well written too. But yeah I love how they used fixed camera angles in the mansion, it gave you a silent hill vibe. Clearly they have a lot of references going, there also was that zelda bit with the desert boy and his mask too. That one got a big chuckle out of me alright.

 

[meiam]

Im still in my videogame rut.

Otherwise, I could be in the mood for another Bioshock playthrough. Last time I played that game was in 2013, apparently, and I've only ever completed it once. I haven't tried the remastered version, so maybe i'll give that a shot.

If you never played Prey (2017) give it a shoot

 

[Dalisclock]

I got Fight n Rage (PS4) that came through Limited Run Games. So I will be playing that tonight, along with Puyo Puyo Tetris (Switch). Has any one gotten their physical copies of Scott Pilgrim yet? I decided not to pre-order, so I am curious. This means you @Dalisclock and @Chimpzy.

I have not. I kinda forgot it was coming out, because it hasn't shown up on my gaming news feed lately.