What are you currently playing?

[laggyteabag]

The problem with HOTS is that is was basically baby's first MOBA. It was supposed to be a much simpler MOBA for people to get into who didn't want the complexity of DOTA and League.

The problem with that was that it was too simple to appeal to hardcore MOBA players, but not different enough from League and DOTA for people who had already tried those games and didn't like them.

I tried playing HOTS, and while I did like it better than League of Legends or DOTA because it was easier to get into for a new player, I just don't like MOBAs enough to actually keep playing it, and I think a lot of people were the same way. If you do like MOBAs you're already playing League or DOTA, and if you don't like MOBAs there's nothing in HOTS to change your mind.

I don't see any of HotS' changes as being "simple for babies" - I see it more as trimming the fat.

I tried League, but I was frustrated by the massive item shop, the out-of-game talent system, the long game times, and the lack of teamwork.

HotS remedied all of this, because (at least for me) these things caused more frustrations, than they did improve the experience. HotS was perfect for me, and I know that im not the only person who felt this way.

But I guess you're not wrong. If you don't like MOBAs, HotS isn't going to change anything for you (which I suppose is why Blizzard insisted that HotS wasn't a MOBA, but a "hero brawler"). And if you have already invested significant amounts of time/money into a different MOBA, why bother switching?

I still wholeheartedly believe that HotS had the most potential out of any MOBA out there - but I guess it did come out a few years too late.

 

[sauron]

im playing fallout 3

 

[Drathnoxis]

im playing fallout 3

Congratulations. Would you care to tell us about it? Your feelings on the game thus far?

 

[Drathnoxis]

Finished What the Golf? It took about 8 hours and 9761 strokes to reach 100% completion. It was pretty decent and stayed mostly fresh until the end, with the constantly changing themes and mechanics. The biggest problem was that it was really easy and sometimes the challenge versions of the levels were basically identical to the original. There were maybe a dozen levels that took me more than a couple tries, out of over a hundred. It's not really that bad of a complaint because I don't think the controls would have held up to a higher difficulty, but the game was a little long for being so easy and the novelty of the 'lol random' -ness was starting to wear off in the last couple worlds.

I'd recommend it if you are looking for something something light and easy to play to occupy your time without needing to think too much. For what it sets out to achieve, I believe it does so reasonably well.

 

[Chupathingy]

I got Far Cry 2 on GOG for cheap a while ago and gave it a go.

3 hours in and and I'm already bored and frustrated with every game mechanic that's been thrown at me. I played FC3 previously and found it decent enough to finish the main story while skipping most side content, but this game is already too grating. Almost everything feels designed specifically to waste your time.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I got Far Cry 2 on GOG for cheap a while ago and gave it a go.

3 hours in and and I'm already bored and frustrated with every game mechanic that's been thrown at me. I played FC3 previously and found it decent enough to finish the main story while skipping most side content, but this game is already too grating. Almost everything feels designed specifically to waste your time.

It’s really one of those games where the original vision seemed much grander than how things panned out, but I have a suspicion that Ubisoft’s choice to add consoles to their development cycle led to these issues. The annoying respawning outposts and save system primarily; the bouts of malaria, breakdown’s, gunjams, etc. would’ve probably still be present in some form, though perhaps not as frequent.



Regardless it’s still arguably the high point of the series in terms of game design, mechanics and systems, which is kinda surprising and disappointing at the same time.


One of the comments said it best that Far Cry 2 is more about survival whereas the later games are more casual with RPG elements. FC2 on Infamous with Dylan’s Realism Mod is pretty much the best way to play.

 

[wings012]

I had a long weekend so I bought and finished Encased. I thought it would scratch that itch for another Fallout1/2-esque CRPG. Kinda ambivalent about the whole process. I think the setting is really good, and I like their relative approach to their game in letting you discover and do a lot of different things and tackle quests differently.

The story and NPCs just don't seem very interesting. I never really felt like I wanted to know what happens next, I'm kinda just doing all these fetch quests cause people said so and rummaging through boxes cause that's kinda what you do in these sorta games. The main story is essentially a checklist of favours/fetches that takes you to most of the locations of interest that exist in the game. But I just never felt very compelled to do them, and didn't feel the urgency?

Combat's almost as basic as FO1/2. Where it improves is giving you special attacks and more attack variations as you improve with a weapon type. An ice gun can freeze people to the ground, a machinegun can do cone-shaped AOE damage, there's melee attacks with knockbacks etc. But there's no cover system or any terrain interaction so it's pretty much just taking turns and DPS racing your enemies, luring them into chokes and using CC type abilities on melee enemies. Just feels rather half baked when you got games like Wasteland 3 just doing things better.

There's just a lot of awkward little things and features I feel should be there. Such as an interactive map, the map's just a static image that shows where your party is. Since your camera can rotate, you then have to pan to where you want to go and click there manually. Maps are also ridiculously HUGE when they don't need to be! There's one settlement which forces you go take a few minutes walking up some long ass fucking road to get to anywhere interesting. Of which there's really not much, there's like one main quest NPC there that you need to interact with and nothing else. He also makes you piss off to another place and then come back... and you gotta take that walk all over again.

Before the end of the game, there's kinda a thing where a bunch of NPCs from the various faction gather to convince you to do things their way essentially. But instead of putting them in decently close proximity, they are fucking scattered throughout this massive arse map and it's such a massive chore to get to every one of them.

The maps needed to be smaller and there needed to be some animation speedup option since your characters don't walk very fast at all.

Anyway good ideas, ultimately rather half baked but the game's rather cheap so eh. If you're tolerant enough of indie/CRPG jank, can be a good way to kill 20 or so hours. There's also a robot schoolgirl with a big rifle that you can get as a companion.

 

[meiam]

If you want to try other game in old school FO genre, you can try underrail which is pretty good (but skip I'd skip the DLC).

 

[sauron]

Congratulations. Would you care to tell us about it? Your feelings on the game thus far?

its a pretty good game though some of the enemys (looking at you feral ghoul reaver) are a bit unfair. the best park of the game though is defintly the amtosphere of the game with its dark and desolteness

 

[wings012]

If you want to try other game in old school FO genre, you can try underrail which is pretty good (but skip I'd skip the DLC).

I did play Underrail for a while, but I think I eventually just lost track of what I was doing and where I was going. I remember the game not having a map, but I heard one got added so I might give the game another shake with its DLC and everything. The way the game keeps track of quests and such is a bit blah as well. It was old school to a fault.

 

[meiam]

I did play Underrail for a while, but I think I eventually just lost track of what I was doing and where I was going. I remember the game not having a map, but I heard one got added so I might give the game another shake with its DLC and everything. The way the game keeps track of quests and such is a bit blah as well. It was old school to a fault.

Yeah no map was a bit annoying (although wiki had one so you could always follow with it) most annoying part is that they could have made a cool map in the style of a subway/transit map, wasted potential...

 

[laggyteabag]

Life is Strange

I tried playing it a few years ago, but bounced off of the game after about 2 episodes.

It definitely isn't the game with the fastest pace, or the hookiest of plot hooks. I wasn't the bothered about the characters, plot, or setting, so I dropped the game.

Fast forward to a week ago, my girlfriend is quite interested in the new Life is Strange: True Colours game, but to avoid spending £50, I convince her to play the first game together.

And once again, two episodes in, im not really that bothered - over the course of a week, we play about 2-and-a-half episodes. Then, we suddenly binge the rest of episode 3, as well as all of 4 and most of 5 in a single afternoon.

What happened?

Well, the plot got good, I guess.

Time travel. Murder mystery. Using the game's signature power in actually cool ways.

Good stuff!

We haven't quite finished the game yet, so we are currently bouncing in and out of various timelines, but it has certainly been an interesting ride. Im curious to see if the tornado proves to be an interesting conclusion, though. It has always been there, in the background, fucking with the weather/animals, but it has never been the focus. I've always been more invested in the murder mystery plot, so im not sure how I will feel about that plotline (presumably) not being the big finale.

We'll see!

At the very least, I am now invested enough to play the sequels, and we will probably pick up Before the Storm fairly soon.

 

[Paradine]

Finally got around to playing Fire Emblem 3 Houses, I traded Paper Mario The Origami King for it because while the game is beautiful and it has a fun story the combat always made me feel really stupid and the timer made me have anxiety attacks...

Anyway,... I have gotten through most(I think) of my first play through(I chose the Black Eagles) and my goodness what an engaging and deep story it has! I can't wait to play through again to see things from a different point of view.
The combat is satisfying and and I really like how you can build each individual student to your own needs and wants. It's has so many interesting too and I have really grown quite attached to the black eagle strike force it will be a shame when I fight against them on my next run...
This is the first Fire Emblem I have played since Radiant Dawn so I missed out on the 3DS games but I'm glad I got back into the series.
It should at least tide me over till Dread comes out.

 

[Dalisclock]

Made some decent progress in God of War. Reached the top of the Big Mountain and of course, that's not the end, because it's apparent there's plenty of game left just from looking at the skill tree. Game is getting easier and I'm dying a lot less during fights, either because I'm more powerful or because I'm a lot better. I've been upgrading Atreus every chance I get and man hes a great support once he's properly powered up(I've purchased all his L4 skills). I'm not sure if there's any inherent value in using shock over light arrows in combat but both seem to be really nice and he can spam fire at enemies nicely.

I've enjoyed exploring and doing some of the side quests, not only for the loot but also a chance to just get off the beaten path a bit. I found an area called "Council of Valkyies" which is empty but yeah, I have a feeling i'll be headed back here eventually. I also unlocked Mustphaheim(?) and I guess it's a big series of combat trials so not essential for the main game. Also I have to question why a fight with a troll in THE MOUNTAIN gives you one of the rare things you need to upgrade your axe, but the battle with the dragon not long after doesn't? Despite the dragon arguably being harder and the Frozen Flame apparently being for EPIC BATTLES(and the dragon fight was nicely epic)?

Anyway, the set pieces don't disappoint and I'm curious to see where all of this is going. Also liked the bit where Freya sees the mistletoe arrows and freaks out, asking them to be burned. Then they reveal her identity and, well, that was a nice few seconds of foreshadowing anyway. But since Baldr is still alive, I have a feeling those arrows will show up again...

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Made some decent progress in God of War. Reached the top of the Big Mountain and of course, that's not the end, because it's apparent there's plenty of game left just from looking at the skill tree. Game is getting easier and I'm dying a lot less during fights, either because I'm more powerful or because I'm a lot better. I've been upgrading Atreus every chance I get and man hes a great support once he's properly powered up(I've purchaed all his L4 skills). I'm not sure if there's any inherent value in using shock over light arrows in combat but both seem to be really nice and he can spam fire at enemies nicely.

I've enjoyed exploring and doing some of the side quests, not only for the loot but also a chance to just get off the beaten path a bit. I found an area called "Concil of Valkyies" which is empty but yeah, I have a feeling i'll be headed back here eventually. I also unlocked Mustphaheim(?) and I guess it's a big series of combat trials so not essential for the main game. Also I have to question why a fight with a troll in THE MOUTAIN gives you one of the rare things you need to upgrade your axe, but the battle with the dragon not long after doesn't? Despite the dragon arguably being harder and the Frozen Flame apparently being for EPIC BATTLES(and the dragon fight was nicely epic)?

Anyway, the set pieces don't disappoint and I'm curious to see where all of this is going. Also liked the bit where Freya sees the mistletoe arrows and freaks out, asking them to be burned. Then they reveal her identity and, well, that was a nice few seconds of foreshadowing anyway. But since Baldr is still alive, I have a feeling those arrows will show up again...

The dragon fight reward is mostly for Atreus and his arrows. Also don’t hesitate to upgrade the Murder of Crows special as its great in conjunction for crowd control. Muspelheim can be tough but the best place to practice against different enemies and also gain some better materials for later on, along with another realm (Nifelheim) that’s designed for kitting out Kratos with the best stuff in the game. Both of these places can largely be ignored throughout the story though, as they are mostly for character building.

Story-wise you’ll be in good shape just exploring the different nooks and crannies surrounding the Lake of Nine, but also don’t be afraid to test your mettle against a Valkyrie now and then along the way.

 

[Dalisclock]

The dragon fight reward is mostly for Atreus and his arrows. Also don’t hesitate to upgrade the Murder of Crows special as its great in conjunction for crowd control. Muspelheim can be tough but the best place to practice against different enemies and also gain some better materials for later on, along with another realm (Nifelheim) that’s designed for kitting out Kratos with the best stuff in the game. Both of these places can largely be ignored throughout the story though, as they are mostly for character building.

Story-wise you’ll be in good shape just exploring the different nooks and crannies surrounding the Lake of Nine, but also don’t be afraid to test your mettle against a Valkyrie now and then along the way.

I haven't met any Valkyries yet. When I got to the area with the thrones Mimir was about to go into it and kratos shut him down, because kratos is a killjoy.

And I think I've been doing well but I've been spending most of my cash upgrading Atreus's bow and quiver so far and spending a little on Kratos's armor and pommels/handles until I know what I want. I just have to remember to go back at some point and grab some of those inaccessible chests I wasn't able to grab earlier for their loot but I want to wait until I can use the gateways to go between them and not just one way to the temple like I am now.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm playing Psychonauts for the first time. It's immediately easy to see why it would fail to rouse gamers in 2005 - this was peak 6th gen, the year of God of War, San Andreas, Resident Evil 4 and Shadow of the Colossus, when everyone was beginning to obsess about dynamic open worlds and sweeping cinematographic action. A cartoon collectathon platformer with camera issues would've been 7-10 years passé in 2005.

It's also weird. Hard to market. Terry Gilliam meets Henry Selick. Even Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank had to dress up as edgy shooter/space marine games to get any traction in the early 2000s.

I'm really loving the game. Yeah, the camera can get fiddly, the platforming is cumbersome (character sometimes seems as far away from the camera as wherever you're trying to land him) and the combat is as token as it gets to hold one trigger and press the other.

Eventually I channeled my Bugs Bunny Lost in Time or whatever that was called and got around the lousy gameplay. I'm really in it for everything else. The presentation is superb. Visually it's so stylized the aesthetic holds up. Story has the right mix of darkness and humor. The character designs are super expressive and the acting is brimming with personality. Everyone is a scene stealer. Only other game I can think of with a cast of 20+ characters that are so specifically written and so much fun to talk to is Red Dead 2.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Played through Deltarune Chapter 2 over the last couple of days. What can I say about it? It's brilliant. Even better than Chapter 1, which was and is already excellent. And since it was made free like Chapter 1 was, go play it, right now.

Unless you haven't played Undertale yet, because Deltarune is metatextual to a degree that it doesn't really make a lot of sense without Undertale. And yeah, I know, the dumb fanbase is dumb, but that doesn't make the actual game any less good.

 

[Chupathingy]

It’s really one of those games where the original vision seemed much grander than how things panned out, but I have a suspicion that Ubisoft’s choice to add consoles to their development cycle led to these issues. The annoying respawning outposts and save system primarily; the bouts of malaria, breakdown’s, gunjams, etc. would’ve probably still be present in some form, though perhaps not as frequent.



Regardless it’s still arguably the high point of the series in terms of game design, mechanics and systems, which is kinda surprising and disappointing at the same time.


One of the comments said it best that Far Cry 2 is more about survival whereas the later games are more casual with RPG elements. FC2 on Infamous with Dylan’s Realism Mod is pretty much the best way to play.

Hidden beneath all of the terrible game design choices I can see the potential for a great game, but so far nothing has really blown me away.

 

[Dalisclock]

Played through Deltarune Chapter 2 over the last couple of days. What can I say about it? It's brilliant. Even better than Chapter 1, which was and is already excellent. And since it was made free like Chapter 1 was, go play it, right now.

Unless you haven't played Undertale yet, because Deltarune is metatextual to a degree that it doesn't really make a lot of sense without Undertale. And yeah, I know, the dumb fanbase is dumb, but that doesn't make the actual game any less good.

I'm replaying chapter 1 now so I can roll straight into chapter 2 ASAP before the internet blows up talking about it. So far it's as good as I remember. Charming AF and there's a lot of new details I noticed since playing it the first time(one of the few times MatPat didn't feel like he was just reaching for shit to talk about).