What are you currently playing?

[Johnny Novgorod]

After much faffing about it's back to the backlog mines: Dave the Diver.

It's a sunny, low-stakes management sim where you catch fish to run a sushi bar and you run a sushi bar to catch fish.

It's also clearly designed around its charm and presentation moreso than fluid gameplay, which makes up about maybe half the experience and is parceled out into tight little windows that leave you wanting more, therefore addiction. I think Dredge had the better, more satisfying loop. But I only just started playing.

 

[BrawlMan]

I've been switching back between different versions of SF II on Genesis and SNES. Two of my playthroughs were on the hardest difficulty, just to get the technical true ending for whatever character you're playing. It just means you get to see the credits from the arcade game and you've mastered X character. Both of those playthroughs are Chun-Li and Ryu respectively. The SNES versions i played are the original II and the Turbo Edition. Both of those are still fun, but certain characters in the vanilla version are just straight up, busted. Ryu being one of them. They look better, but I don't like the soundtrack as much. It's not bad, but I never like the echo effect in most super nintendo games. The genesis version soundtrack, it's much closer to the CPS1 arcade.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Completed Deltarune Chapter 5. I found the secret boss, but I definitely missed at least one thing, and I can't do it on my second file either, so I guess that's a third complete run that I'm due for eventually. In the meantime, though, I'm gonna progress my actual active backlog, currently Mouse PI and Mina the Hollower.

Deltarune continues to amaze me.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Super Mario Wonder

Bought it primarily to have something to play while traveling next week but I couldn't help starting it up already.
What can I say- it's a Mario, still the best mascot platformers in the bix, which is quite something. Everything is cute and fun and just plain neat.

 

[Worgen]

Made the mistake of reinstalling 40k Darktide while waiting for Deltarune chapter 5 (haven't beaten it yet) so now I'm playing a ton of Darktide and have gotten the arbites and Hive Scum dlcs.

Also Void War, it really is a lot of fun, its FTL, but easier, much easier to become very powerful, but so can the enemies be. Although, in general, it does just feel easier then FTL, like there are more builds that are viable. Its easy to end up with powerful weapons, powerful spells, great boarding actions. And it doesn't have that specific boss at the end that requires a very particular build to beat.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Super Mario Wonder

Bought it primarily to have something to play while traveling next week but I couldn't help starting it up already.
What can I say- it's a Mario, still the best mascot platformers in the bix, which is quite something. Everything is cute and fun and just plain wonderful.

Seems appropriate.

 

[FakeSympathy]

GTA 3 Definitive Edition.

I am unfortunately forced to play what I've been told is a terrible version of the game, since I couldn't find a way to play the original version on my pc that didn't involve sailing the high seas. And I can see why it has such terrible reputation; When comparing to the gameplay of the original version, the new lighting and texture enhancement only seem to make everything look outdated; Especially the character models!

But I think I am more annoyed that I am forced to use the Rockstar Game Launcher.

The opening credit sequence....is actually kinda sick. The smooth jazz playing while the polygons come together to showcase a brief window to Liberty City is awesome.

As for the gameplay itself, I'm surprised to find myself liking it more than that of GTA V. It certainly lacks the QoL improvements and features found in GTA V, but I think there is a beauty in simplicity. GTA V, for all of its gameplay features, sometimes got really gimmicky or janky with controls in trying to simulate those gameplay features. Here, everything feels simple, straightforward, and fun.

I am also suprised that for a game that originaly came out in 2001, there are so many random unscripted events. Car accidents happen at every corner, the NPCs begin to fight each other, and the police guns them down, other NPCs starts panicking causing even more chaos.

Especially the gang members. They wage their war on each other, and even the Feds! (at least I think they are? They look like Agent Smith from The Matrix)

EMS arrive on the scene, revives whoever got killed, and they immediately try to kill me again.

I don't think that happens too often in GTA V.

 

[thebobmaster]

Got my mom's Playstation VR set up with Beat Saber, played a bit of that. That is a fun workout.

 

[Worgen]

Got my mom's Playstation VR set up with Beat Saber, played a bit of that. That is a fun workout.

If you want another VR game kinda like it that is really fun check out Pistol Whip.

 

[thebobmaster]

It's not my thing to add stuff onto, and I don't have an income right now, either. Still, might keep an eye on it.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

So now that I have come to terms that the Steam Machine is not a viable path for my gaming future, I decided to try out Nvidia GeForce now and play the game I miss the most, Space Marine 2 on their free tier.

On one hand, genuinely insane that they even offer a free tier. If I was just a dude trying to play some old or smaller games on my Mac, I'd be ecstatic. One the other hand, it was a pretty awful experience. Input lag through the roof, and tons of stuttering during heavy sequences (just like the real thing, made me nostalgic). I thought I was finally living with some first-world internet, but I guess that's not quite good enough. I assume the experience will get slightly better if I actually pay for the service, but I think I'll continue testing it. It doesn't help that the Sony PC games aren't available, nor Jedi Survivor. I guess the port is that catastrophically awful that Nvidia can't guarantee a good experience.

I have to admit, this made me sad. Bad enough the Steam Machine is a no go, but having to resort to renting out computing power felt incredibly dystopian. At this point I think buying a used PS5 is the way to go.