What are you currently playing?

[meiam]

Started playing XCOM 2 because I really enjoyed Enemy Unknown, but I'm not really sure if I'm going to continue the game. First point, I thought I kicked the aliens butts in the first game, how did they manage to just take over the world anyway? Kind of kills my motivation from a story perspective. Second, this game has all the same problems as the first from a gameplay perspective. The game is really slow, as you slowly inch your overwatch ball forward turn by slow turn, going through twice as many clicks as are necessary for every action. Then you might get unlucky and trigger several enemy clusters at once who all decide to aim at your high ranked soldier, get lucky, and take them out. And because of the RNG it never really feels like your fault. The penalty of losing a high ranked soldier is also far too high for something that is based on luck, because now you need to spend several missions slowly training up a rookie and it's such a chore. Or you could just cheat and reload every time someone dies which sucks the fun out of the game anyway.

It really doesn't feel like the sort of refinement of the formula you might hope for from a sequel, and I'm not really sure I feel like going through 40 hours or whatever of the same game again.

XCOM 2 is built with the idea that you've lost XCOM 1 (hence why the commander start kidnapped).

And yeah, pod activation is imo the biggest problem the game has since it specifically punish you for trying to get flanking since that has a high likelyhood of just bringing more enemy in. So to avoid that you just fall back on inching forward and using the overwatch ball of death. They tried to fix that by giving a timer to most mission, but then RNG just become more important since you have to constantly rush. Longwar sorta fix this because you'll quickly be running 30-40 units at any time and so losing one or two isn't such a big deal. Firaxis also tried to fix that with chimera squad, but that was just too far in the other direction imo since the level are super tiny. I dunno what they'll try for that marvel/xcom thing.

 

[Bartholen]

I've gotten back to playing Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus. It has a bit of barrier to entry, but the depth to match it, and I've been really enjoying it. At first it felt like a lesser XCOM, but delving into it a bit more there's plenty of unique and interesting mechanics and dynamics that make it play quite differently. There's way less emphasis on cover and line of sight, and more on playing tactically and using the massive amount of different abilities at your disposal. It also has a very in-depth character customization element that doesn't fall into the usual damage-tank-healer-buff trappings, and that's perhaps the biggest element of it being a bit hard to get at first. Equipment is just as, if not more important as the abilities you pick for the characters, and trying to do jack of all trades will end poorly. Also the soundtrack is amazing with leanings towards the more ominous cosmic horror aspect of 40k. It's great.

 

[meiam]

I've gotten back to playing Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus. It has a bit of barrier to entry, but the depth to match it, and I've been really enjoying it. At first it felt like a lesser XCOM, but delving into it a bit more there's plenty of unique and interesting mechanics and dynamics that make it play quite differently. There's way less emphasis on cover and line of sight, and more on playing tactically and using the massive amount of different abilities at your disposal. It also has a very in-depth character customization element that doesn't fall into the usual damage-tank-healer-buff trappings, and that's perhaps the biggest element of it being a bit hard to get at first. Equipment is just as, if not more important as the abilities you pick for the characters, and trying to do jack of all trades will end poorly. Also the soundtrack is amazing with leanings towards the more ominous cosmic horror aspect of 40k. It's great.

It's fun, but the game need some serious balance, you quickly end up with incredibly overpowered units even at higher difficulty. The special resource that you use to power your attack is so plentiful you can afford to use your most powerful stuff every turn. I ended killing the final boss after he only acted once.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Yakuza 7: Finally managed to clear the Virtua Fighter 2 objective for the first time in any of these Yakuza games that've had it. I read a character guide for Lion on GameFAQs and used that to get past Akira (along with copious amounts of my in-game money), but I just couldn't handle Dural on one credit. So I had to fall back on the cheese strategy, which involves picking Jeffry and using his PKG bum-rush attack a lot.

I actually like Virtua Fighter 2 a lot despite my only experience of it being playing against the ridiculous AI. If I actually had a chance to play against someone else, I think I'd get a lot more out of it.

 

[BrawlMan]

Streets of Rage 4 Survival Mode - I've been practicing in this mode for the whole week, with various characters' alternate Blitz Attack and Special Attack to see what crazy combos I can pull off. This doubles as me getting reacquainted with Adam. Odds are my next Mania+ Arcade run is going to be him. So far I've only beaten Mania+ with Blaze and Cherry. I got the S Rank for both and want to achieve the highest score possible of each playthrough.

Testing out my after market Game Cube controller and tried out Viewtiful Joe 2, and Ikaruga. The controller works perfectly. I might buy another controller next week. So I can have 4 GC controllers total. I have two of my OG controllers: a silver controller and black controller. I used to have two purple controllers that came with the console, but the Analog stick stopped working on one, and the other's yellow C-Stick stopped working. I had another black one, but I broke it.

VJ2 is still a good game, but it is more of the same. The only difference being you can tag between Joe or Silvia, yet you will be using Joe 95% of the time. You will only bring out Silvia, if it's a puzzle only she can do, or certain exploit with certain bosses or mini-bosses. I do love you can level select and they tried to add some extra replay value with the 36th Chamber missions. I realized I never completed my V-Rated difficulty run, but I still have no interests. I beat the game once, and it was enough. Another problem with the game is there are more puzzles and some of them take longer or are more challenging to do. Kills the pacing slightly for a brawler. The game ends on a sequel hook, but Clover Studios got shut down after completing God Hand. The rest is history and no official 3rd game in sight. Double Trouble does not count.

The GC version of Ikaruga is still the best version ever!. You have all of these training, practice, and conquest modes that have never been done again in any SHMUP, nor ever brought back in future HD ports. Why Treasure? Why not bring back these awesome features that make the player more prepared to tackle the arcade mode. It's a tough game; easier than Radiant Silvergun, yet hard as fuck.

Dawn of the Monsters I just purchased, and will play tonight. I might pop in Bikini Zombie Slayers for some quick fun.

 

[BrawlMan]

Dawn of the Monster (PS4) - A super fun Kaiju Brawler! The title might as well be called Pacific Eva Rim: The Game. You can either select 1 of 4 characters in each stage. Either one of the two monsters, or one of the two robots. The game has co-op and everyone plays completely differently. You have your standard light attack, heavy attack, and a dash attack. You can dodge with R2, and block with L1. Blocking at the last moment nets you a parry. The game has a perfect dodge system as well. What's a little odd is that there is no jumping, but you can juggle enemies. The X button is used for executions that give you health back when enemies are in the red.

The more you progress, moves automatically unlock when playing the next stage. You can use buildings, electrical towers, a monster's head, water towers, and even trains as weapons to bash their skulls in. Completing stage segments at S ranks nets you cool bonuses and color palettes you can buy. Health and rage attack upgrades can be bought too. Those bonuses nets you perks too, that can be used to augment your characters. These perks have 3 slots and can be changed before a fight and can be shared with all characters.

The game is partially visual novel. I'd say about 10% of the game. Don't worry, there is nothing complicated and no puzzles you have to figure out. It's mainly scenarios that flesh out either characters, story, or adds lore. They're good and well acted. Adds levity when needed, but can get serious.

I already completed Chapter 1. Four chapters total, with eight missions in each. Chapter 1 is in Canada, and Chapter 2 is in Brazil. Missions can be replayed for better score. I am glad Matt McMuscles covered this game, as I did not even know about, until seeing his video. We need more monster fighting action games of all types. Looks like they are making another big comeback. For those interested: please play this game! You will not regret it. Limited Run Games is offering physical versions, if you're interested in having a copy in your hands.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Finished Nursery Slime

I'm actually rather impressed. A surprisingly touching but also goofy and cheesy love story. Wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was (Not that it's going to blow your mind or anything) both in terms of writing and gameplay. Only complaint I have is this odd glitch or something that can cause the game to visually freeze, not actually freeze since I could still interact with things and save and such, but visually the screen would be stuck, could just be something to do with my computer though. Anyway, as I said, surprisingly good, I give it a 7/10. A nice little erotic romance game.

 

[Piscian]

Playing Final Fantasy Tactics on PSP. Idk, Ive never played it before. Its fun but I wish there were context menus I have to google everything to figure what it does.

 

[BrawlMan]

Playing Final Fantasy Tactics on PSP. Idk, Ive never played it before. Its fun but I wish there were context menus I have to google everything to figure what it does.

Love the Marvel vs. Cacpom 1Up Arcade gif.

 

[Piscian]

Love the Marvel vs. Cacpom 1Up Arcade gif.

its not 1up arcade . Its one of my cabs

 

[BrawlMan]

its not 1up arcade . Its one of my cabs

Even better!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Finished both The Last Door and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

The Last Door is a pretty good point and click made great if you're into weird fiction, but for all the gripping atmosphere it loses something the more you play and realize the exact limits of what the game is capable. There is no death state, which is fine, and there are no arcadey bits, which is fine as well. But the jump scares become meaningless past a certain point, just as ominous reveals do. Maybe you go back down a basement and a cage that was housing a shadowy creature is now open. So what? The game wishes it could process something other than your character moving. The story too loses steam by the end - it has a great first season and good for a second wind when the plot thickens and we switch characters in season two, but the ending feels abrupt and made unmemorable by offering two possible endings you can pick from at the last minute (and you don't even know you're picking). So a bit of a wash by the end.

Bloodstained Ritual of the Night is Castlevania. I have no nostalgia for the games but have been slowly working towards them in my recent obsession with Metroidvania. It speaks highly of Bloodstained that I was sold on the game without having any fondness for the IP it was cribbing as a nostalgia grab. It's Castlevania but modern design does the catering. Almost every monster in the game drops a unique magic attack, there are something like 5 or 6 categories (conjure, directional, passive, etc) to activate at once, all of them can be upgraded, you can craft new ones from old ones... there's an insane amount of depth to the system. This without getting into the alchemy and cooking mini games, or the equipment slots, or the shortcuts that let you switch between different builds on the fly, or the unending checklists of items and enemies if you're into 100%. The save rooms are nicely paced, the fast travel system is super versatile, no area is ever locked out and the game never punishes you for taking your time and exploring.

I have only a few minor criticisms. I wish the map would name and color the different areas in the castle, for example. They're named but not really delineated while in the fast travel map, which doesn't let you zoom in. I wish the speed and high jump upgrades were made available earlier in the game - earlier than say inverting gravity, which only seems logical. And that the boss fights were a little more varied and challenging. Zangetsu is a great skillcheck at the beginning as the second boss but after him every fight played out more or less the same and I never had to try more than once, down to the very final boss of the game.

 

[meiam]

Playing Final Fantasy Tactics on PSP. Idk, Ive never played it before. Its fun but I wish there were context menus I have to google everything to figure what it does.

Been awhile since I played it (port the damn thing to PC already SE!) but can't you hit select to have a help pop up appear?

 

[Worgen]

It's fun, but the game need some serious balance, you quickly end up with incredibly overpowered units even at higher difficulty. The special resource that you use to power your attack is so plentiful you can afford to use your most powerful stuff every turn. I ended killing the final boss after he only acted once.

That happened with me. Started feeling so easy that I got bored and never finished it. Weirdly enough, I had a similar issue with Phoenix Point, but even when I was trouncing most missions, there was enough enemy annoyance and the shooting/body part damage was fun enough to carry me to the last mission and even through that annoying piece of shit mission.

 

[Bartholen]

Finished Mechanicus, and ultimately I feel the game doesn't really reach its full potential. Past the first 4-5 hours the game becomes incredibly easy as the enemies can't keep up with the avalanche of abilities the player gains. Once you unlock a fifth tech-priest the action economy almost always favors you no matter the situation as you're just able to mop the floor with most encounters. The abilities where you can cast a canticle for free, and the ability that allows you to refill the cognition (think action points) gauge completely breaks the game as you can go supernova on the enemies almost every round. Maybe Ironman and Hard modes play differently, but I found I almost never bothered with any experimentation with the different abilities, and the game has a fair bit of ability overload. I just stuck with healing items and the field that allows you to absord incoming damage, and was golden most of the time. The amount of canticles is also rather bloated as I blew 90% of them off completely and just stuck with the few most useful ones. They're wildly unbalanced to boot: why would I bother with a canticle that allows one attack to deal extra damage, when I can take the one that allows me to regain all my action points instantly and get way more DPS that way?

The same thing applies to the upgrade trees: once you reach the end of one it's pretty hard to try to figure out which one you want to pick next, because they don't synergize very well. The Explorator tree clearly favors melee focus, but almost none of the abilities synergize with it. The entire game is just rife with this kind of thing: you keep gaining different tools for problems you already have the most efficient tools for. Why would you ever bring a troops unit instead of a tech-priest? One is a mindless automaton capable of the most simplistic task, the other is a literal walking swiss army knife. The final boss I almost felt bad for as I mercilessly tore him to bits in maybe 3 rounds.

It's still a very enjoyable game. The presentation is top notch and the gameplay has a really unique design to it. The systems just need to be tightened up a bit and the difficulty can be way harder and I could see it being great. 7/10

Edit: playing through it more it seems apparent that this game was short on development time, but in quite an unusual way: the mechanics, structure and presentation are all very well executed and refined, it's the content and balancing that seems to have been cut short. On normal difficulty I went to the final boss fight having unlocked barely half of the available weapons, deployment slots and additional units. It all would point to this game having a new game+, or a very extensive post-game, but there's none of that.

 

[BrawlMan]

Completed Chapter 2 in DoM. I got both the health and upgrades. I've been unlocking colors as that is all the money is good for when selling perks or completing missions at high ranks. Aegis Prime is my favorite character. The robot is one giant shout out to Toku superheroes. He even as an alternate color that palette that is Kamen Rider, another color that is exactly like the Guyver Bio Booster Armor! That is fan service done right!

 

[Ezekiel]

Finished Robin's challenges and campaigns in Arkham City. Tried Nightwing's campaigns, but I'm fed up again. I don't know how people have the patience to immediately do it all over again with another character. Hours of more work. Fun at times to figure out, the Predator maps, but as a whole still work. Will be a long while before I bother with Nightwing. Never spaced out a game's completion like this.

Twice Nightly
Complete New Game Plus
Unlocked Aug 15, 2014

Robin Revenge
Obtain 78 medals on the original Arkham City and Robin Bundle Pack maps (as Robin)
Unlocked May 1, 2015

Campaign Kitty
Obtain all 108 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Catwoman)
Unlocked May 3, 2015

Perfect Knight - Day 2
Complete every challenge in Arkham City - Main Story, Side Missions, Upgrades, Collectables, New Game Plus and Riddlers Revenge (as Batman)
Unlocked Jan 7, 2017

Campaign Wonder
Obtain 114 medals on the original Arkham City and Robin Bundle Pack campaigns (as Robin)
Unlocked Mar 26, 2022

 

[Ezekiel]

That Ocarina of Time PC debug that was completed a few days ago. A little more complicated to set up than the Super Mario 64 port. Had to download the debugged Ocarina of Time ROM, the files that make it run and another program that let me customize the buttons. At the end of Dodongo's Cavern, when I went into the light, my game crashed, so I have to do the entire dungeon over again. Wonder if OpenGL is less buggy than D3D. If I use D3D, there is a white border around the picture in fullscreen.

Though I remember everything too well, I forgot how quickly the game gets on its way. Later Zelda openings bury you in dialogue and cutscenes.

Still like it, but terribly easy.

 

[Bartholen]

Yet another attempt to get into Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and it feels that every time I feel like I'm starting to get it the game finds another way to piss me off. I'm about 4 hours in, and only now does the game bother to tell me that ranged attacks at creatures in melee combat take an additional -4 penalty to hit. Well geez, thanks for letting me know before getting bored and frustrated for hours on end! Considering my PC is a crossbow ranger, and attacking is literally all she can do in combat right now, just about every combat so far has been a comical whiff-fest on both sides. The average hit rate in combat so far feels like about 20%, which draws it out incessantly. I seriously have no idea if this is the way it's supposed to be. Plus I have no fucking clue what the numbers that appear when making attacks are supposed to mean. My guess would be it's a D20 roll against the target's armour class, but the numbers seem to change with every attack, giving me no consistent basis to understand the game.

At least the story's finally kicking in after a tedious and drawn out dungeon crawl. The first big decision was a bit simplistic, but played into my character's imagined backstory quite well. Though I remain baffled at the decision not to have a minimap. And get this: you can't even zoom in on the map you have! Just to add to the frustrations, there is no way to turn the camera into a top-down perspective, meaning it's quite easy to misclick in cramped spaces and have your character start running out of the room.

 

[meiam]

Yet another attempt to get into Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and it feels that every time I feel like I'm starting to get it the game finds another way to piss me off. I'm about 4 hours in, and only now does the game bother to tell me that ranged attacks at creatures in melee combat take an additional -4 penalty to hit. Well geez, thanks for letting me know before getting bored and frustrated for hours on end! Considering my PC is a crossbow ranger, and attacking is literally all she can do in combat right now, just about every combat so far has been a comical whiff-fest on both sides. The average hit rate in combat so far feels like about 20%, which draws it out incessantly. I seriously have no idea if this is the way it's supposed to be. Plus I have no fucking clue what the numbers that appear when making attacks are supposed to mean. My guess would be it's a D20 roll against the target's armour class, but the numbers seem to change with every attack, giving me no consistent basis to understand the game.

At least the story's finally kicking in after a tedious and drawn out dungeon crawl. The first big decision was a bit simplistic, but played into my character's imagined backstory quite well. Though I remain baffled at the decision not to have a minimap. And get this: you can't even zoom in on the map you have! Just to add to the frustrations, there is no way to turn the camera into a top-down perspective, meaning it's quite easy to misclick in cramped spaces and have your character start running out of the room.

Just started it, yeah its miss-fest for the first couple of hours, it gets better over time as you build your character well and their hit chance increase along with them getting more attacks every turn, but it'll never be anything more than maybe hitting 1/3 of attack (unless you make a really broken build, but you might as well play on easy then).

The -4 to enemy engage in melee isn't explained but there's a feat to negate it, so I guess that's the closest thing to the game telling you about it. The number that appear above a target when you attack is (Your roll v The number you need to get to hit). To hit you need to get above the target armor class once your modifier are taken into account. So let say your character gets +5 to attack roll and the enemy has 23 AC, you need to roll 19+ to be able to hit. So if your character roll, let say, 15, you'll see (15 v 19) and know that its a miss. The reason why it changes every attack is varied but the main one is going to be because different character have different bonus, so say another character attack and they have +10 to attack roll, you'd see (15 v 13).

I don't know how much you care about picking exact path for your character, but I'd look a bit into the various mythic path and how to achieve them, by default you have 2 paths (demon and angel) but there's actually 10 different paths and some of them are very arbitrary in their requirement so if you don't know ahead of time how to trigger them you may very well miss them and be forced into a path you might not want.