What are you currently playing?

[Bartholen]

After going on a whole spiel about how disappointing Borderlands 3 was, I decided to install it again. I've been playing through the Bounty of Blood DLC and surprisingly this is easily the most enjoyable this game has ever been! It takes a decidedly more serious tone with a samurai western aesthetic, and it works amazingly well. The music's great, I actually want to listen to (most of) the dialogue, and the atmosphere is the most absorbing in the game. This is the closest this series has been tonally to the first game since... well the first game, when it was more of a downbeat, post-apocalyptic western with humor sprinkled in, not a cringy ca. 2010 le epic funni lolrandom memefest. Take notes, Gearbox, this is how you do Borderlands properly.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I guess I got to the Young Adult part of Ragnarok. Stopping for the day.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

After playing here and there for years I finally finished Infamous: Second Son story mode and got the True Hero karmic trophy. The concrete power is kinda fun but I doubt I’ll ever have the patience to play through the game again let alone go for Platinum; especially on Expert difficulty. I will probably uninstall it but keep the save if I ever want to mess around, more likely on PS5. Kinda like the Paper Trail side quest thing too but not enough to keep playing at the moment.

Good game overall and the final boss was pretty fun, but I can see why SP is moving on from this IP. It relies way too much on repetitive busy work bs to flesh out the game, and the PS3 games were pretty much the same way.

Well then, it’s back to Ragnarok.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Still exploring away in Elden Ring, and I've noticed something: it's a really depressing game. Whenever I play it, my anxiety goes through the roof. That coupled with feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and feeling overwhelmed with all the "stuff" I've gathered that I don't know what to do with. I think I need one victory, a brief feeling of accomplishment, to refresh my attitude because all this wandering and collecting rowa fruit is killing my spirit.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Still exploring away in Elden Ring, and I've noticed something: it's a really depressing game. Whenever I play it, my anxiety goes through the roof. That coupled with feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and feeling overwhelmed with all the "stuff" I've gathered that I don't know what to do with. I think I need one victory, a brief feeling of accomplishment, to refresh my attitude because all this wandering and collecting rowa fruit is killing my spirit.

Have you done Stormveil? That’s pretty much the first real litmus test for whether or not things are clicking with trying & failing, exploring for better gear, coming back & winning.

Can’t really comment on the depressing aspect though. RDR2 is another massive, depressing game that I played the hell out of.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Have you done Stormveil? That’s pretty much the first real litmus test for whether or not things are clicking with trying & failing, exploring for better gear, coming back & winning.

Can’t really comment on the depressing aspect though. RDR2 is another massive, depressing game that I played the hell out of.

Haven't done Stormveil yet; haven't beaten Margit, though I've not tried in a few days. Been trying to upgrade my Uchigatana so it'll stop hitting like a limp dick. I got it to +4, and while it's objectively better now, it still doesn't give me confidence I can take on serious bosses with frenetic attack patterns that make it difficult to build Bleed.

EDIT: I don't think the Uchigatana is going to be the right weapon for me. It'll forever be a fond weapon to me as it was my constant companion during my first completion of Dark Souls, but it seems to have been pretty nerfed since those good ol' days. At +4, it's only doing about 10-20 points more damage than several of the other weapons I have that haven't been upgraded at all. Might try something different tomorrow. Now I just need to find more smithing stones. Argh.

 

[Hawki]

33 years, and I'm still playing the game of life.

It's okay - it's weird that it's still getting DLC. Too many microtransactions though, and there's no respawn system.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Haven't done Stormveil yet; haven't beaten Margit, though I've not tried in a few days. Been trying to upgrade my Uchigatana so it'll stop hitting like a limp dick. I got it to +4, and while it's objectively better now, it still doesn't give me confidence I can take on serious bosses with frenetic attack patterns that make it difficult to build Bleed.

EDIT: I don't think the Uchigatana is going to be the right weapon for me. It'll forever be a fond weapon to me as it was my constant companion during my first completion of Dark Souls, but it seems to have been pretty nerfed since those good ol' days. At +4, it's only doing about 10-20 points more damage than several of the other weapons I have that haven't been upgraded at all. Might try something different tomorrow. Now I just need to find more smithing stones. Argh.

Maybe I'm being presumptive but you may be running up against one of the Great Lies from FromSoftware/Elden Ring fanboyism: the idea that you can always run around, explore, and level up or experiment with weapons to get better. While technically true, the upgrade material system rarity makes that practically impossible at various points in the game. So, yeah, maybe you need more smithing stones. But there's a very finite set of them until you can unlock the ability to purchase them, which you gotta find or google or whatever.

Better at this point to pick a style/class/build and stick with it. Uchigatana in this game lends itself to bleed build and dexterity. So if you didn't start as a samurai or bandit, you're gonna have a hard time with it. If you're looking to switch weapons, think about if you're gonna stick with dex/bleed. You can't just willy-nilly switch to like a greatsword without having to grind like a maniac into strength, for example.

Uchi is actually really powerful in Elden Ring, more so than in Dark Souls IMO. Its moveset includes that unsheath slam thing, the reach is good, and the moveset. Of course, only if you're also putting points into dex.

 

[BrawlMan]

Kratos and Freya finally teaming up is a wonderful impact and proper build up. Vinaheim is beautiful to look at and walkthrough. So much green and blue when it's at night. Then lots of yellow and green when the sun comes out. There are new enemy types in this realm, and you can command Freya to use her magic on enemies. The mid-boss, Fiske, is already one of my favorite human sized bosses in the game. I hope the game has more versions of him as encounters. Ater that point, the giant boss fight with the Niddhog does the thing old God of War games are known for! The boss starts off as stationary, but quarter into the fight, the boss says fuck that shit and comes out at ya swinging and moving like crazy!

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Maybe I'm being presumptive but you may be running up against one of the Great Lies from FromSoftware/Elden Ring fanboyism: the idea that you can always run around, explore, and level up or experiment with weapons to get better. While technically true, the upgrade material system rarity makes that practically impossible at various points in the game. So, yeah, maybe you need more smithing stones. But there's a very finite set of them until you can unlock the ability to purchase them, which you gotta find or google or whatever.

Better at this point to pick a style/class/build and stick with it. Uchigatana in this game lends itself to bleed build and dexterity. So if you didn't start as a samurai or bandit, you're gonna have a hard time with it. If you're looking to switch weapons, think about if you're gonna stick with dex/bleed. You can't just willy-nilly switch to like a greatsword without having to grind like a maniac into strength, for example.

Uchi is actually really powerful in Elden Ring, more so than in Dark Souls IMO. Its moveset includes that unsheath slam thing, the reach is good, and the moveset. Of course, only if you're also putting points into dex.

Also depends on affinity used, since Uchi can be tuned for, well, anything really. Has the best scaling with either Heavy or Keen though, depending on whether one is dumping more into STR or DEX respectively. Or go with pure Bleed build for better status proc. @Xprimentyl you can even dual wield them very early if you started as samurai class since there’s another you can find in Limgrave. Then you could Cold infuse one like LetMeSoloHer for the double whammy status proc.

I myself was running the Meteoric Ore Blade through damn near most of the game due to the Ichimonji ala Sekiro (and it even worked well against those Fallingstar beasts) but yeah, Uchi’s build versatility seems to be highly regarded.

Elden Ring: Why is Uchigatana so Good? (September 2024)

Elden Ring: Why is Uchigatana so Good? Let's deep dive into this overpowered weapon from Elden Ring!

www.game.guide

 

[Bartholen]

I finished the Bounty of Blood and Fantastic Fustercluck DLCs for Borderlands 3. Bounty of Blood is easily the better of the two, but kind of ends with a whimper. There's not even an ending cutscene, it's just "you beat the bad guy, yay!" But beyond that it's an excellent DLC, and a direction I wish the franchise would turn more towards.

Fustercluck is perhaps the most aggressive rehash in the entire franchise: recycled characters, recycled themes, recycled visual design, recycled concept, and most egregiously, recycled assets and enemies from a game that was 8 years old when the DLC was released. It's basically a retread of the Dragon Keep and Claptastic Voyage DLCs from BL2 and the Pre-Sequel: taking the themes of dealing with depression and the loss of a loved one from Dragon Keep, and the fragmented dreamscape visuals from Clatptastic Voyage. It's almost entirely banking on nostalgia and attachment to the characters, and the sidequests are often literally just "talk to this same recurring NPC and push a button". The boss fights are also (mostly) insanely bullet spongy even when playing solo, each having like 30-50% more health than they need to, and all of them turned into repeating the same loop over and over.

It's a good thing that it does the 2 core things so well that they end up saving it: the visuals, while in large parts recycled, are damn impressive and properly dreamlike, and the writing is actually really good. I wonder if someone at 2k actually took notes, because the writing in these 2 later DLCs is head and shoulders above the rest of BL3. The characters shut the fuck up, every line isn't undercut by a cringy joke or reference, dramatic moments are allowed to breathe properly and they actually manage to keep a consistent tone. It's pretty damn short for a 15€ DLC though, and for some reason the legendaries it handed to me were almost all pistols, which made trying to keep up with the very rapid leveling pace pretty difficult since I was constantly at risk of running out of effective ammo. I also got the same legendary shield 4 different times.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Maybe I'm being presumptive but you may be running up against one of the Great Lies from FromSoftware/Elden Ring fanboyism: the idea that you can always run around, explore, and level up or experiment with weapons to get better. While technically true, the upgrade material system rarity makes that practically impossible at various points in the game. So, yeah, maybe you need more smithing stones. But there's a very finite set of them until you can unlock the ability to purchase them, which you gotta find or google or whatever.

Better at this point to pick a style/class/build and stick with it. Uchigatana in this game lends itself to bleed build and dexterity. So if you didn't start as a samurai or bandit, you're gonna have a hard time with it. If you're looking to switch weapons, think about if you're gonna stick with dex/bleed. You can't just willy-nilly switch to like a greatsword without having to grind like a maniac into strength, for example.

Uchi is actually really powerful in Elden Ring, more so than in Dark Souls IMO. Its moveset includes that unsheath slam thing, the reach is good, and the moveset. Of course, only if you're also putting points into dex.

Also depends on affinity used, since Uchi can be tuned for, well, anything really. Has the best scaling with either Heavy or Keen though, depending on whether one is dumping more into STR or DEX respectively. Or go with pure Bleed build for better status proc. @Xprimentyl you can even dual wield them very early if you started as samurai class since there’s another you can find in Limgrave. Then you could Cold infuse one like LetMeSoloHer for the double whammy status proc.

I myself was running the Meteoric Ore Blade through damn near most of the game due to the Ichimonji ala Sekiro (and it even worked well against those Fallingstar beasts) but yeah, Uchi’s build versatility seems to be highly regarded.

Elden Ring: Why is Uchigatana so Good? (September 2024)

Elden Ring: Why is Uchigatana so Good? Let's deep dive into this overpowered weapon from Elden Ring!

www.game.guide

Apparently I'm using the Uchigatana wrong this time?

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Apparently I'm using the Uchigatana wrong this time?

If you’re playing the game like Dark Souls, pretty much

I mean, yeah it’s *more Dark Souls* but with the focus on affinities, skills/ashes, spirit summons, jump attacks, Torrent, etc. they’re ultimately the difference between ER being the most difficult FROM game or easiest.

 

[Xprimentyl]

If you’re playing the game like Dark Souls, pretty much

Well, I don't blame myself for that. Every FROM game I've touched has been a slightly different skin draped over effectively the same skeleton; why would I have expected my experience with the previous games wouldn't net me at least SOME proficiency in this one?

I mean, yeah it’s *more Dark Souls* but with the focus on affinities, skills/ashes, spirit summons, jump attacks, Torrent, etc. they’re ultimately the difference between ER being the most difficult FROM game or easiest.

I think that's where I'm getting overwhelmed, at the sheer variety of mechanics they throw at you; I don't know which to explore or invest in. All the summons I've found serve as distractions at best. All the ashes of war I've found turn my weapons' base stats to shit in exchange for a gimmick. Oh, and nevermind I had about 4-5 of them before I even knew how to actually USE them (got fed up, and finally googled it to discover I needed yet another item.) I need to collect items to craft consumables, oh, and I need cracked pots and recipe books to do THAT. I just wanna push the buttons, hit the things, and the things die.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining, and in a small part, I am, but I was used to the obscurity of FROM games existing in the lore, but it seems this time, they've extended it to the mechanical functionality of the gameplay. Feels like FROM is getting back to their Armored Core levels of convolution.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Well, I don't blame myself for that. Every FROM game I've touched has been a slightly different skin draped over effectively the same skeleton; why would I have expected my experience with the previous games wouldn't net me at least SOME proficiency in this one?



I think that's where I'm getting overwhelmed, at the sheer variety of mechanics they throw at you; I don't know which to explore or invest in. All the summons I've found serve as distractions at best. All the ashes of war I've found turn my weapons' base stats to shit in exchange for a gimmick. Oh, and nevermind I had about 4-5 of them before I even knew how to actually USE them (got fed up, and finally googled it to discover I needed yet another item.) I need to collect items to craft consumables, oh, and I need cracked pots and recipe books to do THAT. I just wanna push the buttons, hit the things, and the things die.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining, and in a small part, I am, but I was used to the obscurity of FROM games existing in the lore, but it seems this time, they've extended it to the mechanical functionality of the gameplay. Feels like FROM is getting back to their Armored Core levels of convolution.

I think the biggest flaw of these games is that their obtuseness after so many amalgamations over seven games is ultimately rendered little more than a nuisance thanks to the availability of wiki’ing. Because like Easy modes the temptation to use it for help is almost second nature to people who don’t have all the time in the world to flaff about. There is unfortunately an inverse relationship between the size of a game and the amount of patience/time/etc. most people have to experience it organically.

The only reason I took my time with ER is because I’d personally consider it a gigantic swan song to this style of game design I’ve loved for nearly a decade now. But it’s long been showing its age and starting to wear thin.

"I don't approach it in terms of 'this is the kind of open world game I want to make'. It's just that the open world enriches this ideal experience I'm trying to achieve," Miyazaki told EDGE. "To give some very simple examples, if I was to explore this world, I'd want a map- a proper map. Or, you know, if I saw something over there, I'd want to actually be able to go over and explore it. And I'd want to fight with a dragon in an epic arena. Things like this. It's very simple stuff, but Elden Ring allows a lot of these things to become a reality for me, creating something that's very close to my ideal game."

I think he got a little over ambitious to say the least, since achieving an “ideal” is something that probably gets increasingly difficult the more it’s chased.

If there’s a silver lining it’s that yes, especially with some wiki’ing the game can be made significantly easier. Consumables have always been rather pointless in these games too (as in, it’s easier to learn the game than relying on them for progress) and that’s something which holds true in ER. Crafting is essentially streamlined to hitting a button whenever running or riding over something and looking in your inventory once in a while to see what can be made. More than anyone I think this mainly affects people with eccentric builds like only using throwables for offense or something. All in all for a world this big it beats having to farm souls and track down vendors to buy overpriced shit that’s rather trivial in the first place.

 

[gorfias]

Co Worker just pointed out dosgames.com . Not bad. Tried a game called "Blood" for free. Fun old school PC gaming.

 

[Dreiko]

So I was in the mood for something different and decided to give Red Dead 2 a shot. First time playing the series, my impression going in was basically GTA but in a Western setting. Not the biggest fan of GTA either but I give these games a go every now and then. Last one I actually finished was Vice City though, I tend to lose interest.


So far, this game has been wayyyy more relaxing than I expected, I just kinda have fun riding around hunting and taking in the sights, and I find myself wanting to be a good guy way more than in GTA, to the point where I feel guilty when in story missions I'm robbing people. I guess if you go in having played the first game you already know what to expect out of Arthur and the gang but I'm picking up stuff as I go so my attempt to be a heroic cowboy who makes money hunting deer and turkeys and not a thieving scumbag may be going uphill. Still fun though.


I'm pretty early on in the game, I'm about to do the mission where we have to pack our camp and go because some of the people hunting us found us during a sheep herding mission. So far the chars are all interesting, and that one mission where you just get drunk and in trouble was a hoot, so if it's more of those kinds of silly missions I'll prolly end up finishing this game.

Question for y'all playing Ragnarok: how different is it from GoW 2018 and in what ways? The story and visuals in that game were fantastic, but I found the gameplay rather clunky and the Diablo-style gear collection not really my cup of tea. Have there been changes in those areas?

GoW4 gameplay grew on me to the point I liked it more than the older games, but I played it on Hard, on lower difficulties where mashing light attack usually stunlocks enemies I can see it being pretty dull and unstrategic.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I started Somerville. You play as a man who, after a relatively uneventful evening at home with his wife, child and dog, finds himself separated from his family in the middle of an ostensible alien invasion.

This newly released puzzler is from indie dev Jumpship which was founded by the co-founder of Playdead, the studio behind Limbo and INSIDE. It is very reminiscent of INSIDE in more ways than one. It's less cerebral than INSIDIE, opting for much more literal concepts, but it is no less obscure; it's been one "WTF??" after another so far. My one complaint is that while it feels like a 2D side-scroller, it operates on an isometric(?) plane. If that terminology is wrong, I'll explain it like this: you can walk left and right, but also toward and away from the player, and the camera is fixed with no player control, so you'll sometimes find yourself lost, stuck in, or generally confused by what the environmental cues are telling you. Not a deal breaker, just a peeve.

EDIT Oh, one more peeve: the character's walking speed; it's very inconsistent. He runs when he has to (the chasing bits,) but in between those sequences, he seems to max out between a slow gait and light jog. I think this was a design choice to give the game a more cinematic pacing, but it's also kinda annoying when you're just trying to get a move on.

All in all, I'm loving it so far. We need more games like this. I'm playing it for free on Game Pass right now, but intend on purchasing it to support this kind of effort.

 

[Casual Shinji]

GoW: Ragnarok has some real peaks and valleys with its story. Some story moments hit really, really well, others... not so much.

Also, the game feels sigficantly harder than GoW '18. None of the plot related bosses or enemy gauntlets in '18 were this hard even on Give Me God of War mode - I'm playing on the second highest difficulty in Ragnarok and some bits and Bosses are having me for breakfast.

 

[BrawlMan]

GoW: Ragnarok has some real peaks and valleys with its story. Some story moments hit really, really well, others... not so much.

Also, the game feels sigficantly harder than GoW '18. None of the plot related bosses or enemy gauntlets in '18 were this hard even on Give Me God of War mode - I'm playing on the second highest difficulty in Ragnarok and some bits and Bosses are having me for breakfast.

The game is more difficult, even on Normal setting. Enemies are way more aggressive, will try to flank and outflank you, and the timing for parry is way stricter. It's not DMC3 Royal Guard strict, but it's not as lenient as it was in the last game. Especially when you have the shield dedicated to parrying. I'm sticking with that shield for the entire game and going to upgrade it as much as possible. I already got it to level 4.