What are you currently playing?

[meiam]

Played a bit of age of wonder 4. Its fun but lack character, you can make your own race, but the racial ability are pretty minor and the various origin (determine your starting units) all kinda come down to the same. Eariler game had much more unique units depending on what combination of race/class you pick at the beginning, with some fun interaction, but in AoW4 you get maybe one minor ability that barely matter instead. Also, unlike age of wonder planetfall, there's no system to give equipment to your units and make them unique so they all kinda just blend together. Combat is good in small scale fight (6v6) but once you get later in the game all combat is large army (up to 18v18) and team turn base (ie all your unit act and then all the enemy unit act) just doesn't work when you get to these large battle. It would be nice to see if someone would make a mod that make the combat individual unit turn based.

I do like the tech tree, you can pick tome that give you access to a few spells/building/unit and as you progress down one of the six path new tome become available at higher tier. But I really hope they add hybrid high tier tome, which depend on larning multiple school of magic, because as is you have to specialize in one school or you fall behind tech wise.

Also really like that HP that are healed in combat don't stay once combat is over, in previous one you could really easily just full heal all your army before a battle would finish (often just delaying finishing the fight so you could heal), but this system is so much better and actually make your unit health really important in between fight.

I think part of the issue is that I played spellforce conquest of Eo earlier in the year which is both very similar, but by focusing on a single player experience can do so much more that I wish AoW4 would try to do. Maybe they'll play it and release a DLC along its line.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Yeahhhh I could't take any more of Wild Lands.

The cycle of get in a car > wait 5 seconds for idiot teammates to run to the car > wait even more as their vehicle entry animations play > drive somewhere > repeat just broke me. It's incredibly satisfying to sneak around, scan for enemies with your binocs, and headshot everyone you come across, but those moments are just lost in the dullness of traversing the open road.

Also, the lack of a decent cover system or at least a well designed game world with sufficient cover makes stealth feel like an afterthought.

I was annoyed enough by this game to consider playing Watch Dogs 2 instead.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Yeahhhh I could't take any more of Wild Lands.

The cycle of get in a car > wait 5 seconds for idiot teammates to run to the car > wait even more as their vehicle entry animations play > drive somewhere > repeat just broke me. It's incredibly satisfying to sneak around, scan for enemies with your binocs, and headshot everyone you come across, but those moments are just lost in the dullness of traversing the open road.

Also, the lack of a decent cover system or at least a well designed game world with sufficient cover makes stealth feel like an afterthought.

I was annoyed enough by this game to consider playing Watch Dogs 2 instead.

I’ve heard WD2’s open world is at least more interesting in terms of things to see and do. OTOH it’s still Ubi.

 

[gorfias]

Asgard's Wrath 1 on Meta Quest 3

Got this free with the Quest 3 now, while I think 2 comes out December 17th. Quite a thing! Very pretty, intuitive gameplay.

1st game I've downloaded using Oculus for PC. The game is not portable. I have to be by my PC to play it BUT! It is not taking up my 128 Gig limited VR storage. So, I'm going to download as much as possible to my PC ASAP. If possible.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Started the third game in the Phoenix Wright series: Trials and Tribulations. Oof, does it ever have a rough start. Setting the game 5 years in the past (3 years before the first game, I think?) and having us play as Mia Fey before her death is fine, but what the heck were they thinking with their depiction of Phoenix? Apparently Mia's very first client is Phoenix Wright, who is accused of murder. He is the most idiotic defendant we've seen up until now in the series. He's delusional, evasive, and barely in control of himself at the best of times. He actively hurts his own case whenever he's on screen by lying, destroying evidence, or having an outburst of some sort. It's absurd. He's also an art student in university studying to be a lawyer on the side? This is insane! Why?! We know that Phoenix has wanted to be a lawyer since grade school, why not just have him be a law student? Or is this to say that people don't actually study law or get a law degree in this universe, which actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Frankly, I just don't see how Phoenix goes from this unhinged moron to our protagonist in a mere 3 years. If this was how he had made his first appearance, I don't think anyone would have wanted to play as him.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

New physics-based destruction indie release Teardown became available to download on ps5 seemingly part of some subscription I don't remember paying for. So um, thanks, past self? It's a pretty alright substitute for those missing the crumbly glee of Red Faction Guerrilla physics these last couple of generational hardware upgrades have denied us from for whatever annoying reason. art style is voxel oriented (is indie priced at £15-20 also) - yet is an exquisite feel of polish when playing: so far impressed by the level design, vehicle physics, understated campaign narrative delivery, visual flair and overall slick performance alongside surprisingly console-friendly translation for some in-game tools clearly founded with PC mouse-pointing accuracy in mind.

Only a few levels in, but the pattern so far is you got multiple points on a mini free-roam map you gotta escape with, but most, or all of them set off a 60 second alarm where you grab everything else you can and reach the exit point as soon as you start. The trick is planning the minute dash beforehand with some creative tools of smashy ANNIHILATION! There's no time limit for the planning period, so fuck as much shit up as you want before initiating the 60 sec countdown, plus an anytime quick save option in pause menu is absolutely gods work - all the gods banded together for that one, from all the religions!
however I do miss the killing from RF:G. which sounds a bit psycho admittedly, but after the last few weeks of news am far less confident the mainstream interpretation of normality is anywhere close to a moral improvement.
Oh there's a creative level building mode I ain't tried and mod support (rare for ps5 releases) too, look am only giving first impression here, don't hold me to standards!

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

New physics-based destruction indie release Teardown became available to download on ps5 seemingly part of some subscription I don't remember paying for. So um, thanks, past self? It's a pretty alright substitute for those missing the crumbly glee of Red Faction Guerrilla physics these last couple of generational hardware upgrades have denied us from for whatever annoying reason. art style is voxel oriented (is indie priced at £15-20 also) - yet is an exquisite feel of polish when playing: so far impressed by the level design, vehicle physics, understated campaign narrative delivery, visual flair and overall slick performance alongside surprisingly console-friendly translation for some in-game tools clearly founded with PC mouse-pointing accuracy in mind.

Only a few levels in, but the pattern so far is you got multiple points on a mini free-roam map you gotta escape with, but most, or all of them set off a 60 second alarm where you grab everything else you can and reach the exit point as soon as you start. The trick is planning the minute dash beforehand with some creative tools of smashy ANNIHILATION! There's no time limit for the planning period, so fuck as much shit up as you want before initiating the 60 sec countdown, plus an anytime quick save option in pause menu is absolutely gods work - all the gods banded together for that one, from all the religions!
however I do miss the killing from RF:G. which sounds a bit psycho admittedly, but after the last few weeks of news am far less confident the mainstream interpretation of normality is anywhere close to a moral improvement.
Oh there's a creative level building mode I ain't tried and mod support (rare for ps5 releases) too, look am only giving first impression here, don't hold me to standards!

Yeah I saw that (I also have PS+). I may check it out because I can but voxel + first person hurts my eyes so I dunno.

FYI Dragon's Dogma is also coming to us in a few days. It's one of those games I feel bad for having quit.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

Poor old Flashback 2 got sandbagged and ghosted by everyone, not a single review out there!


Is also way more costly than previous entries, so kinda curious if flagrant scam or ambitious bumble, tho evidently not curious enough to gamble own pennies on, oh no.

(k alright ok in regards to thread title, it's not what am playing, admittedly, but is it what other ppl should be playing so I can safely judge from a distance)

 

[FakeSympathy]

Tried a game that I haven't touched in YEARS; Mirror's Edge.

The game is just as fun as I remember, and with my new 2560 x 1440p monitor it looks glorious. Although the UI doesn't seem to scale all the way up.

It's also not really well optimized by this point; no Borderless window option and the game can crash if you alt + tab.


Also trying out TW: Warhammer 2. And holy shit, this game is actually really hard. Much harder than other RTS or Turn-based squad games I'm more used to

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Also trying out TW: Warhammer 3. And holy shit, this game is actually really hard. Much harder than other RTS or Turn-based squad games I'm more used to

Have you played total war games before? There is definitely a learning curve with them, it's not just pick up and play. Once you get the basics though it gets pretty easy, just got to remember that some factions or specific leaders in factions can be much harder to play than others.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Have you played total war games before? There is definitely a learning curve with them, it's not just pick up and play. Once you get the basics though it gets pretty easy, just got to remember that some factions or specific leaders in factions can be much harder to play than others.

Nope, TW WH2 is my first game in the series. I heard Tyrion campaign is great for beginners, so I have been playing that for about two hours. And yes, it’s not exactly the easiest game of get a grasp of.

I think the thing that confuses me the most is how to build a balanced army. It’s currently where I’m spending most amount of gold on, and i have been grabbing whatever unit I feel looks the coolest.

Also, do I need a lord/hero in every territory that I conquer?

 

[Satinavian]

Also, do I need a lord/hero in every territory that I conquer?

No and that would be way to expensive anyway.

You usually have a small number of strong armies running around and most of your heroes are attached to those armies. The exceptions are those you need for specific jobs.

 

[FakeSympathy]

No and that would be way to expensive anyway.

You usually have a small number of strong armies running around and most of your heroes are attached to those armies. The exceptions are those you need for specific jobs.

But don't the enemy AIs like to attack empty locations? Currently Vaul's Anvil and Caledor's Repose are both under my territory, with no armies defending it

 

[Satinavian]

But don't the enemy AIs like to attack empty locations? Currently Vaul's Anvil and Caledor's Repose are both under my territory, with no armies defending it

The AI does.

But first, even empty settlements get a garrison. And even small settlements can, when upgraded with 3rd lv walls put up a fight. Or delay an enemy sieging it while you recruit a full army in the next province.
Garrisons don't cost any upkeep at all. Armies do. A lot. And even with nonlinear scaling, meaning that if you have more armies, the upkeep of each unit is increased. Even a fully developed settlement can not produce the money needed to keep an additional army to defend it from any serious threat.

But you must manage whom you are fighting to only have a limited front line to defend. Use peace or non-agression pacts. make sure your territory is as contingent as possible when you expand. Don't take settlements you can't defend. Then have your armies at the limited front line and push it forward.

Especially for High Elves : Use trade a lot, you get ridiculous trade bonuses and extra trade ressources. Make every trade deal you can. And learn how to play the court (needs many heroes, so more of a mid/late game thing)

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Nope, TW WH2 is my first game in the series. I heard Tyrion campaign is great for beginners, so I have been playing that for about two hours. And yes, it’s not exactly the easiest game of get a grasp of.

I think the thing that confuses me the most is how to build a balanced army. It’s currently where I’m spending most amount of gold on, and i have been grabbing whatever unit I feel looks the coolest.

Also, do I need a lord/hero in every territory that I conquer?

Haha, took me a second to realise you had edited your first post to Total Warhammer 2.

Satinavian has mentioned a few good basic strategic points, but tactically with high elves you want shielded lothern seaguard ASAP. They are arseholes. Missile infantry are really great for damaging the enemy before they get into combat, therefore tipping the scales in your favour. The counter to missile infantry is cavalry, however lothern seaguard are spear units, the cheap direct counter to cavalry. Fuck high elves. Pointy eared bastards.

As I always say in these situations, Legend of Total War on YouTube does some very useful how to play videos (and how to cheese the AI if that's your sort of thing)

 

[Bartholen]

Nope, TW WH2 is my first game in the series. I heard Tyrion campaign is great for beginners, so I have been playing that for about two hours. And yes, it’s not exactly the easiest game of get a grasp of.

I think the thing that confuses me the most is how to build a balanced army. It’s currently where I’m spending most amount of gold on, and i have been grabbing whatever unit I feel looks the coolest.

Also, do I need a lord/hero in every territory that I conquer?

As someone who got into TWWH 2 this year as well (and then had to uninstall it due to how addictive it was) here's some pointers:

• Manage your finances. Don't blow it all on armies, focus on building up a strong one with your main lord first. Settlements don't cost any gold to upkeep, only armies do. Don't feel bad about disbanding less important or cheaper units during downtime, they're only a drain on you.
• Be on the lookout for settlements with special resources, those are often literal gold mines. If I remember, Caledor (southwest point of Ulthuan) has a gold mine you can build up for huge gains.
• Use diplomacy, it's one of High Elves' core mechanics. You can influence other factions' opinion of you with the Intrigue mechanic, and start building up relations. Non-Aggression pacts are the first, then trade agreements, which can be hugely lucrative
• If your settlements find themselves being attacked a lot, have a secondary lord to garrison them while you build up the defenses.
• I haven't played the Tyrion campaign (btw stay away from the Imrik one, it's dogshit), but good units for High Elves early on are archers, spearmen, Lothern Sea Guard, Ellyrian Reavers and Bolt Throwers.
• Total War has a huge learning curve, so if you haven't, I recommend just starting on Easy, and using the auto-resolve a lot. The real-time battles are basically an entire second game on top of the civilization stuff, and they have a huge learning curve as well.

If you have the DLC, I'd actually recommend Beasts of Chaos as a good faction for learning the game. They ignore a lot of the usual mechanics (settlement management is very minor compared to others), so they're not as overwhelming to start out with. Plus their playstyle really captures the feeling of being basically a rampaging horde ravaging the world.

 

[BrawlMan]

Streets of Rage 4, Samurai Showdown, and RE4R Mercenaries. Been getting used to Krauser and loving his melee and evasion options.

 

[Bartholen]

In other games, I played through Arkham Knight. Story aside, this is easily the most mechanically refined of the games, if a bit bloated. The escalation of things is mostly handled pretty well: the fear takedowns being recharged by executing a successful silent takedown is a surprisingly good bit of balancing. The traversal is just out of this world, and probably the most satisfying movement system I've ever experienced in a game. Merely zipping and gliding over Gotham has that zen quality to it where you just fall into a trance and keep doing it. As I mentioned, this is one of the most gorgeous games I've ever played.

But it also feels like this is the game where the series hit the ceiling, and had nowhere left to go without devolving into total stupidity. The tank stuff is quite pushing it: you're blowing up tens of billions of dollars' worth of military hardware willy-nilly, yet the Arkham Knight always has more to spare. The Cobra segments feel especially egregious: apparently the Knight couldn't just spare a few footsoldiers surveying the environment from the rooftops or something. "Sneaking" in basically a tank just feels silly.

The story is just a mess. It jumps between different plot threads constantly, and feels like the central bits were picked at random. You could slot almost any part of this game into any point in it, and probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. City at least had Protocol 10 to count down to, here it's just Scarecrow making the same speech ad nauseam, and it also just feels silly. At least the ending section was memorable, if a bit mechanically underwhelming. I'm probably going to keep doing the challenge maps for quite a while, since there's just an astronomical amount of them... and like 8 different characters to play as.

 

[BrawlMan]

Streets of Rage 4, Samurai Showdown, and RE4R Mercenaries. Been getting used to Krauser and loving his melee and evasion options.

I played Last Blade 2 for the first time....

Beautiful game; wonderful presentation, sound, music (when it plays depending on the stage), and character animations. I chose Hibiki Takamine for my first playthrough. My only gripe is that since this is a late 90s SNK arcade game, there will be bullshit difficulty spikes towards the end. Doesn't matter, if you lower the difficulty to the easiest setting. The next to last fight was tougher than the final boss. I will play another character later. Great fighting game with excellent combat, but be warned it's unfairly tough towards the end.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

That's a wrap on Blasphemous II. A generally very good sequel that is simultaneously improved by refurbished gameplay but also rendered underwhelming by it. The overall "gameyness" of the level design and overall instantly recognizable metroidvania structure removes some of the mystery and sands off some of the series' personality. The game is still rife with wtf NPCs, beautifully forlorn landscapes and freely cribs from Goya/Ribera paintings. But I never really felt that sense of awe I got from OG. Everything was a little cozier, more convenient and generally easier than the first one. Which is all very nice, but I was missing a challenge by the end of the thing. The one skill check is the penultimate boss, which depending who you ask is harder than Crisanta from OG or second only to her. But that's about it.