What are you currently playing?

[Worgen]

Have you tried Reelism 2? It's a wave-based survival mode run by a slot machine that determines enemy spawns, weapon drops, and other modifiers e.g. zero gravity, slippery floors, double damage, graphical filters. Even after the initial wackiness wears off, it's still a fun and well-designed game mode, and the sequel adds the ability to spend your points in a town between runs to gain an advantage for the next run, as well as having some hidden secrets of its own.

I suck at Doom, but I've had a lot of fun playing that one.

I heard about it but I haven't tried it. For some reason it puts me in mind of this evolve mod thing I used to play way back when for unreal, where you would level up as you killed enemies and special enemies would show up and such and such... I don't remember much about it, it was like 20 years ago.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Solasta Crown of the Magister. Got it on Steam sale.
Not far in but I'm liking it so far. I never really got on all that well with party based 3rd person RPGs, the pause time combat you get in a lot of them always felt really clunky and frustrating. The real-time movement out of combat that moves into turn based grid combat once a fight starts feels good to me.
My familiarity with DnD rules only extends to 3rd ed so it was quite cool to see how much things like advantage/disadvantage work. A fight was going really badly until I realised I was taking the lowest of 2 rolls to hit because it was dark and I had no light source. I reloaded and started again with torches. Much better, a lesson learned I think.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I heard about it but I haven't tried it. For some reason it puts me in mind of this evolve mod thing I used to play way back when for unreal, where you would level up as you killed enemies and special enemies would show up and such and such... I don't remember much about it, it was like 20 years ago.

I don't think that's quite it. There's a boss after every 5th wave (which is usually where a run in the normal mode ends) but leveling up isn't really a thing, either within a run or in the macrogame. The game does keep track of the total amount of points you've earned, but you only get to spend the points from your previous run; once you start a new run, they're all cleared.

 

[Kyrian007]

I spent a decent portion of the weekend playing My Time at Sandrock. I don't have much to add from my first impressions post a couple of pages back, except a final recommendation. And its a fairly standard and predictable recommendation. It is just a slightly technically improved Portia, with a less visually pleasant setting, fewer and less endearing characters (but only slightly.) So for @Dalisclock, is it worth getting in early access? Yes, but maybe not for a "good" reason. It is "playable" right now. But the optimization is so bad it will frustrate anyone playing it. I twice had it freeze and had to alt to the control panel to end task... after midnight on an in-game day. After the second time, I gave up. Reported the glitch and then hung it up until an optimization patch comes out. So that's my recommendation. Buy it now in early access, but only because release price is supposed to be $40 U.S. and current ea price is $25. Then don't bother installing it until full release. Or, keep an eye on the patch notes and get in after they get it running well. And they have released patches already and have specifically mentioned they have a team working on the bad optimization. So it is worth the "sale before it goes on sale... sale" price right now. But isn't worth playing yet.

Oh and a terrible change that I have gathered is annoying a lot of players. If you are up past midnight on an in-game day... you wake up with ridiculous dark circles around your eyes that persists through the whole day. You can stay up till 3, but if you aren't in bed by midnight you get punished cosmetically. I'm not a min-maxer, but I use the time they give me. I just have to resign myself to the oddity that my character is going to look part raccoon every day. I've complained, and suggested that if they are really serious about this "feature" then maybe they need to move it to in-game 2 a.m. instead of midnight. I'm not going to ignore the last 3 hours of every in-game day, I need the option to turn off the dark circles because I'm getting sick of looking at them.

 

[Bartholen]

Well, I'm close to the end on Elden Ring. I'm currently against 3 bosses in different places: Godfrey, Placidusax and Malenia. The first two I only attempted once each because 1. I want to co-op Godfrey, and 2. the run-up to Placidusax is annoying. Got ol' Placcy to 1/3 health on my first try I must say. Though again it's one of those annoying ass fights that seems to be mostly just getting to the damn thing before running away again from his planet-sized mega-AoE. And of course they did the Midir thing again and gave the giant dragon a pretty much instakill "I'ma firin mah lazor" attack.

But Malenia. Oh dear. After at least 20 something attempts I now understand all the memes. Because this boss is absolute asscancer. I don't even mind the lifesteal you know. It makes the fight engagingly skill-based: the less damage you take, the faster she will go down. The insane damage (3-shotting a heavy armor build with 45 vigor) is par for the course at this point in the game. No, what ruins it is that goddamn cancer-pissing super saiyan kamehameha "Fuck you, I win" wombo-combo that unless you're standing in a spot where you can start running in a straight line the instant she starts floating, and keep running in a straight line for its entire duration, the fight's over. It's still not as asinine as Astel Stars of the Void, because at least I can hit her consistently. She's also pretty passive (I get the sense she might have been nerfed in those terms) and gives plenty of time to heal. But I feel like I'm going to be banging my head against this wall for quite a while. It's probably the most cancerous fight in the Fromsoft catalogue next to Demon of Hatred.

Also, can someone give some hints (be vague, I want to have some discovery to myself) to the following:
- How do you get underneath the capital and to the frenzied flame? Best guess I got right now are the sewers, but nothing seems changed there, and I've explored them thoroughly
- How do you get the mimic ashes?
- Where do you fight Mohg Lord of Blood and how do you get there?
- How do you get to the eternal cities? Did I fuck myself over by unwittingly softlocking Ranni's questline?

Also while I'm at it: screw you fromsoft for locking a huge chunk of Liurnia behind Ranni's questline. I've been running a purely melee/faith build, so sorcery didn't interest me. I must have spent something like 5 hours total trying to figure out how the fuck you're supposed to get to upper southwest Liurnia

 

[Worgen]

Also, can someone give some hints (be vague, I want to have some discovery to myself) to the following:
- How do you get underneath the capital and to the frenzied flame? Best guess I got right now are the sewers, but nothing seems changed there, and I've explored them thoroughly
- How do you get the mimic ashes?
- Where do you fight Mohg Lord of Blood and how do you get there?
- How do you get to the eternal cities? Did I fuck myself over by unwittingly softlocking Ranni's questline?

Her big fuck you attack isn't too bad to get away from. If you see it coming and can run straight away from her, at least for the first barrage then you can dodge towards her to avoid the last barrage and I think most of the second barrage also. The big problem is seeing it coming, she starts being willing to do it at like 75% health and she will usually immediately do it, but not always so it becomes a game of taunting it out of her, cause if she does it while you are next to her, all you can do is block it, which will heal her.

Mimic ashes are in Nokron the Eternal City, I don't recall how I got there.

 

[Dalisclock]

Her big fuck you attack isn't too bad to get away from. If you see it coming and can run straight away from her, at least for the first barrage then you can dodge towards her to avoid the last barrage and I think most of the second barrage also. The big problem is seeing it coming, she starts being willing to do it at like 75% health and she will usually immediately do it, but not always so it becomes a game of taunting it out of her, cause if she does it while you are next to her, all you can do is block it, which will heal her.

Mimic ashes are in Nokron the Eternal City, I don't recall how I got there.

If you've killed randan, there's a new hole in limgrave near the mistwoods. Look to the sky and you'll see it.

Go down there and explore

 

[Worgen]

If you've killed randan, there's a new hole in limgrave near the mistwoods. Look to the sky and you'll see it.

Go down there and explore

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

 

[Dalisclock]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

And you're not soft locked out of getting to the Moonlight plateu. You can still get there after you go through Sofia river, it just takes a little longer.

Watch out for Ants. Serious, watch out for them.

 

[Worgen]

And you're not soft locked out of getting to the Moonlight plateu. You can still get there after you go through Sofia river, it just takes a little longer.

Watch out for Ants. Serious, watch out for them.

Fuck those ants, they cost me like 70k runes.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Her big fuck you attack isn't too bad to get away from. If you see it coming and can run straight away from her, at least for the first barrage then you can dodge towards her to avoid the last barrage and I think most of the second barrage also. The big problem is seeing it coming, she starts being willing to do it at like 75% health and she will usually immediately do it, but not always so it becomes a game of taunting it out of her, cause if she does it while you are next to her, all you can do is block it, which will heal her.

Mimic ashes are in Nokron the Eternal City, I don't recall how I got there.

Basically, it boils down to looking for the big statue and Anor Londo’ing onto the building next to it.

Well, I'm close to the end on Elden Ring. I'm currently against 3 bosses in different places: Godfrey, Placidusax and Malenia. The first two I only attempted once each because 1. I want to co-op Godfrey, and 2. the run-up to Placidusax is annoying. Got ol' Placcy to 1/3 health on my first try I must say. Though again it's one of those annoying ass fights that seems to be mostly just getting to the damn thing before running away again from his planet-sized mega-AoE. And of course they did the Midir thing again and gave the giant dragon a pretty much instakill "I'ma firin mah lazor" attack.

But Malenia. Oh dear. After at least 20 something attempts I now understand all the memes. Because this boss is absolute asscancer. I don't even mind the lifesteal you know. It makes the fight engagingly skill-based: the less damage you take, the faster she will go down. The insane damage (3-shotting a heavy armor build with 45 vigor) is par for the course at this point in the game. No, what ruins it is that goddamn cancer-pissing super saiyan kamehameha "Fuck you, I win" wombo-combo that unless you're standing in a spot where you can start running in a straight line the instant she starts floating, and keep running in a straight line for its entire duration, the fight's over. It's still not as asinine as Astel Stars of the Void, because at least I can hit her consistently. She's also pretty passive (I get the sense she might have been nerfed in those terms) and gives plenty of time to heal. But I feel like I'm going to be banging my head against this wall for quite a while. It's probably the most cancerous fight in the Fromsoft catalogue next to Demon of Hatred.

Also, can someone give some hints (be vague, I want to have some discovery to myself) to the following:
- How do you get underneath the capital and to the frenzied flame? Best guess I got right now are the sewers, but nothing seems changed there, and I've explored them thoroughly
- How do you get the mimic ashes?
- Where do you fight Mohg Lord of Blood and how do you get there?
- How do you get to the eternal cities? Did I fuck myself over by unwittingly softlocking Ranni's questline?

Also while I'm at it: screw you fromsoft for locking a huge chunk of Liurnia behind Ranni's questline. I've been running a purely melee/faith build, so sorcery didn't interest me. I must have spent something like 5 hours total trying to figure out how the fuck you're supposed to get to upper southwest Liurnia

For Mohg, there’s a quest that basically starts at Rose Church in Liurnia with an NPC you first meet entering Limgrave. He gives you some stuff to do to prove your worth, including an introduction to invasions. The item that results from all of it grants access to Mohg’s domain, and arguably the best farming location in the game. You’ll know it when you see a bunch of the alien looking dudes from Liurnia and a peculiar bird demon patrolling far down below.

Yeah, I’m just now doing Ranni’s quest, after driving myself up a wall trying to find a way to the southwest stuff in Liurnia.

 

[Bartholen]

If you've killed randan, there's a new hole in limgrave near the mistwoods. Look to the sky and you'll see it.

Go down there and explore

Uggghhhh, I really wish Fromsoft had abstained from this level of obtuseness in the open world. It's more tolerable in more linear, limited environments, Midir is also notoriously convoluted to get to. But Limgrave alone is fucking huge. Not any hints as to where the meteor falls in the cutscene either, and you have basically zero reason to go back there at that point in the game.

With Placidusax it really feels that Fromsoft were just looking for the most pointless place they could put a boss in. You've got to drop from a ledge that has nothing but blank sky next to it so even messages next to it blur into the background, down to platforms that have nothing of interest or value on them, and then lie down on a spot that's in no way different from any other texture in the area, and for some reason this triggers a cutscene where time starts going backwards. If you don't find it by just randomly stumbling into it, pretty much the only other way is a wiki or a let's play.

 

[Dalisclock]

Uggghhhh, I really wish Fromsoft had abstained from this level of obtuseness in the open world. It's more tolerable in more linear, limited environments, Midir is also notoriously convoluted to get to. But Limgrave alone is fucking huge. Not any hints as to where the meteor falls in the cutscene either, and you have basically zero reason to go back there at that point in the game.

With Placidusax it really feels that Fromsoft were just looking for the most pointless place they could put a boss in. You've got to drop from a ledge that has nothing but blank sky next to it so even messages next to it blur into the background, down to platforms that have nothing of interest or value on them, and then lie down on a spot that's in no way different from any other texture in the area, and for some reason this triggers a cutscene where time starts going backwards. If you don't find it by just randomly stumbling into it, pretty much the only other way is a wiki or a let's play.

I just love the fact that if you want an opportunity to get your ass beat by one of the hardest damn bosses in the game, you have to navigate down one of the most difficult areas in the game that you might not have any idea where to find in the first place and even if you do it's a giant pain in the ass to even get to. It feels like Miyazaki trolling again where he makes you with your ass off to fight a brutal bonus boss who really isn't doing anything but chilling in her room and hasn't done much of anything since the war.

And honestly Melania is kinda right to assume you're an asshole and/or fucking insane to get all the way down there. You went a long way to break into her house and really the question is: am I the baddie here?

 

[Agema]

Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - Demonhunters

XCOM clone where you take a bunch of the super, top-secret psychic Space Marine chapter, The Grey Knights. When I say XCOM clone, you know what you're getting. It's quite fun, and well done. I do not think it is difficult: I've never come close to losing any of my marines on the second highest level, but you do need to put some proper thought in to avoid disaster. You should pick up the game quickly and see how to turn the classes into awesome death-dealers, and how the classes can work together. You have lots of options, although I think some classes, skills and tactics are definitely better than others: there are some very simple ways to pack out mass slaughter, which make some of the more elaborate ones a little superfluous.

I do perhaps have one criticism in how the game feels. When I'm commanding a squad of genetically engineered mega-badasses, I sort of expect them to annihilate basic grunts like cultists with laughable ease. Using your psychic powers, you do massively outclass them, but somehow a marine whacking a massive power sword or unloading a third of a clip of a futuristic machine gun (with explosive bullets) into a baseline human and removing about a half to two-thirds of their HP is deeply underwhelming.

One touch I like is that the plot involves your cruiser getting commandeered by an Inquisitor, who then acts as your de facto commander as the Grey Knights are theoretically subordinate to the Inquisition. The Space Marines are in many ways absurd, and I love the touch of humour (intentional or not) in the Inquisitor's despair and frustration at their stupid honour codes and heroic trials that mostly just make it much harder to complete the quest. As she opines at one point: "Chaos doesn't fight with one hand tied behind its back".

 

[Worgen]

Uggghhhh, I really wish Fromsoft had abstained from this level of obtuseness in the open world. It's more tolerable in more linear, limited environments, Midir is also notoriously convoluted to get to. But Limgrave alone is fucking huge. Not any hints as to where the meteor falls in the cutscene either, and you have basically zero reason to go back there at that point in the game.

To be fair, they do sign post it rather heavily. They have npc's tell you that something hit in Limgrave and have a bunch of floating rocks where it hit so you at least have a direction to ride.

XCOM clone where you take a bunch of the super, top-secret psychic Space Marine chapter, The Grey Knights. When I say XCOM clone, you know what you're getting. It's quite fun, and well done. I do not think it is difficult: I've never come close to losing any of my marines on the second highest level, but you do need to put some proper thought in to avoid disaster. You should pick up the game quickly and see how to turn the classes into awesome death-dealers, and how the classes can work together. You have lots of options, although I think some classes, skills and tactics are definitely better than others: there are some very simple ways to pack out mass slaughter, which make some of the more elaborate ones a little superfluous.

On one hand I really want to play that, on the other I worry it will end up being like mechanicus where the game is really cool, but so easy that I just get bored... Speaking of which, I should really beat Xcom 2, I'm at the mop up stage.

 

[Agema]

On one hand I really want to play that, on the other I worry it will end up being like mechanicus where the game is really cool, but so easy that I just get bored... Speaking of which, I should really beat Xcom 2, I'm at the mop up stage.

It's kind of easy. Although catastrophe in tactical battles is deeply unlikely (except maybe some boss fights), it's more that persistent underperformance can start racking up problems like marine injuries that can gradually degrade your capability and/or make the enemy more powerful, which could snowball.

And even if the game never quite really stretched me to failure in the tactical battles, it regularly demanded a decent level of thoughtpower to overcome, so I felt it was satisfying if not necessarily very challenging.

 

[Worgen]

It's kind of easy. Although catastrophe in tactical battles is deeply unlikely (except maybe some boss fights), it's more that persistent underperformance can start racking up problems like marine injuries that can gradually degrade your capability and/or make the enemy more powerful, which could snowball.

And even if the game never quite really stretched me to failure in the tactical battles, it regularly demanded a decent level of thoughtpower to overcome, so I felt it was satisfying if not necessarily very challenging.

How would you say the difficulty was compared to something like Xcom/2 or Phoenix Point, if you have played that one?

 

[Agema]

How would you say the difficulty was compared to something like Xcom/2 or Phoenix Point, if you have played that one?

Oh, it's easier than both.

Phoenix Point is probably the hardest, in the sense that it's the one where it's easiest to bite off more than you can chew and get seriously overwhelmed.

 

[Worgen]

Oh, it's easier than both.

Phoenix Point is probably the hardest, in the sense that it's the one where it's easiest to bite off more than you can chew and get seriously overwhelmed.

I found Phoenix Point easier then the Xcom games, till the final battle since that was just bullshit and I really needed to load up on ammo and even then it was still bullshit. I think what propelled me through Phoenix Point, once I reached the easy point, was how much I enjoyed the aiming mechanics and being able to disable enemy parts, which is also something that added to the ease.

 

[meiam]

I found Phoenix Point easier then the Xcom games, till the final battle since that was just bullshit and I really needed to load up on ammo and even then it was still bullshit. I think what propelled me through Phoenix Point, once I reached the easy point, was how much I enjoyed the aiming mechanics and being able to disable enemy parts, which is also something that added to the ease.

I found phoenix point really easy if you were okay with being a bastard and stealing from the other factions, since the steal mission themselves weren't very hard and they saved you a ton of resource (especially stealing ships so you could have a bunch flying around and scouting) but otherwise when I avoided doing that it was really harsh and I was constantly too poor to properly equip my troops.

Both XCOM and phoenix point main modifier on difficulty, imo, come from how much snowballing you do. Even doing sligthly better early game can result in the game being massively easier (or the flip side, having one of your main guy die early would handicap you in a way that would made it very hard to climb out of the downward spiral). I don't know how demonhunter deals with this issue but if it allow the player to progress at its own pace I could see it being really easy.

For example, mordheim let you tackle main quest whenever you feel like but scale the enemy you face to your difficulty, this mean you can tackle them when all your best troop are healthy and you have them decked out. This makes the game much easier as you never really have to head into a tough fight with an unoptimized squad.