What are you currently playing?

happyninja42

Elite Member
Legacy
May 13, 2010
8,577
2,982
118
Funny enough, it's the same thing that happened with The Purge films. Everyday reality became closer to The Purge. Especially Anarchy and Election Year. The latter even has an ending where people ride because they feel their victory or election was "stolen" from them. I still enjoy the movies though. Except for the first one.
Well I went back and killed that priest dude. Turns out, he wasn't too thrilled that I killed his religious leader. He was actually a tough fight, but damn his spear was tasty as hell. It's my default weapon now and it wrecks a lot of faces.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

hanselthecaretaker

My flask is half full
Legacy
Nov 18, 2010
8,738
5,905
118
My personal internal canon for Dark Souls 2 is that due to your character's gradual hollowing we aren't actually experiencing the full distance traveled between each point. There's actually hours or even days of travel between the different locations that the player character doesn't remember, they just kind of wake up out of a trance and they're there. That's why the transitions are so abrupt, because you're missing most of the journey due to your unreliable memory.

That's my explanation and I'm sticking to it.
Wasn’t this basically how they explained it since you drop into the “void” in Betwixt? It could also be a catch-all for the Iron Keep lava deal.

Anyways, I’d be completely down for a DS2 Remake, with everything designed the way it *should have* been before development hell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock

Dreiko

Elite Member
Legacy
May 1, 2020
2,739
917
118
CT
Country
usa
Gender
male, pronouns: your majesty/my lord/daddy
I just have to say the game feels way bigger than ds1 when played back to back, I just got the king's ring and I'm around 60 hours in. That's about how long it took me to beat ds1 twice lol.


As for the hollowing, I guess it makes sense since you don't "warp" from bonfire to bonfire, the option says "travel", so you may be just going on a journey. Explains why the level up lady keeps reminding you what to do every time you speak to her too, you might have just spent the last month in a daze.
 

Sora383

Senior Member
Escapist +
Mar 17, 2010
79
31
23
Alberta the land of snow snow and sometimes sun
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
Well I finally got decently priced gaming laptop so now I’m catching up on a backlog of pc games I’ve wanted to play. Right now I’m swapping between:

Persona 4 Golden
Edge of Eternity
SWTOR
Oblivion

I did try sea of thieves but I couldn’t really get into it. Plus this laptop came with Free month of pc game pass so I’m sure I will be downloading and trying new games all weekend.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Dreiko

Elite Member
Legacy
May 1, 2020
2,739
917
118
CT
Country
usa
Gender
male, pronouns: your majesty/my lord/daddy
Well I finally got decently priced gaming laptop so now I’m catching up on a backlog of pc games I’ve wanted to play. Right now I’m swapping between:

Persona 4 Golden
Edge of Eternity
SWTOR
Oblivion

I did try sea of thieves but I couldn’t really get into it. Plus this laptop came with Free month of pc game pass so I’m sure I will be downloading and trying new games all weekend.
If you've never played golden just know that it's a 100~ hour epic experience that will suck your life away so go in with that awareness. Out of those it'd be my instant recommendation as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sora383

Sora383

Senior Member
Escapist +
Mar 17, 2010
79
31
23
Alberta the land of snow snow and sometimes sun
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
If you've never played golden just know that it's a 100~ hour epic experience that will suck your life away so go in with that awareness. Out of those it'd be my instant recommendation as well.
Oh I know where you are coming from perfectly. Played the crap out of it on my vita before my charger cable was lost in a move.

That being said who would you suggest going after? Marie and Rise are my girls but I’m trying to mix it up bit this time
 

Dreiko

Elite Member
Legacy
May 1, 2020
2,739
917
118
CT
Country
usa
Gender
male, pronouns: your majesty/my lord/daddy
Oh I know where you are coming from perfectly. Played the crap out of it on my vita before my charger cable was lost in a move.

That being said who would you suggest going after? Marie and Rise are my girls but I’m trying to mix it up bit this time
I'm always a Rise fan cause I like her VA the best (usually she does a lot of tsundere chars but here she's all dere all the time lol) but Yukiko is nice too. She has that traditional vibe that meshes well with the feel of the game.
 

Sora383

Senior Member
Escapist +
Mar 17, 2010
79
31
23
Alberta the land of snow snow and sometimes sun
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
I'm always a Rise fan cause I like her VA the best (usually she does a lot of tsundere chars but here she's all dere all the time lol) but Yukiko is nice too. She has that traditional vibe that meshes well with the feel of the game.
Yea Laura Bailey is super talented in any role is does I gotta admit that. Now that I think about it out of all of my playthroughs in og persona 4 and persona 4 golden I’ve never chased Yukiko before. Good call.
 

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,246
7,023
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
Wasn’t this basically how they explained it since you drop into the “void” in Betwixt? It could also be a catch-all for the Iron Keep lava deal.

Anyways, I’d be completely down for a DS2 Remake, with everything designed the way it *should have* been before development hell.
Well, Betwixt is you falling into a wierd whirlpool thing because an old lady told you too.

I've heard there was Time Travel in the original plot, so I suspect that's what was going on with that, since there's no other explanation for it in the base game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hanselthecaretaker

Drathnoxis

Became a mass murderer for your sake
Legacy
Sep 23, 2010
5,472
1,921
118
Just off-screen
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
I've been playing Spiritfarer, but I'm getting kind of tired of it. The game is all busywork and waiting and I don't understand any of it. Everyone is dead and a spirit, right (I'm honestly not sure, the game is really unclear). So why do I need to shove food down everybody's face constantly? Why are there 96 different meals to make? They are mostly functionally identical and characters ascend even if I don't give them their favorite food. Why is there a day and night cycle that forces me to go to bed? It's just a pointless inconvenience and affects nothing else in the game other than making it dark all the time. What is the cat for? It seems to have not purpose. I was kind of enjoying the game to start, but I'm really bored now. I have stockpiles of everything and tons and tons of food I haven't been bothering to cook. Everything that can be upgraded is upgraded, but still I'm waiting for someone to decide they are ready to die so I can get through the last roadblock of the game and I'm not really sure what they are waiting for.

There aren't any interesting decisions to make, or challenges of any sort, and I'm really not very invested in any of the characters. Also I really, REALLY hate the noises the bus driver makes. Honestly, I'm really surprised Yahtzee gave the game his GOTY.
 

laggyteabag

Scrolling through forums, instead of playing games
Legacy
Oct 25, 2009
3,301
982
118
UK
Gender
He/Him
I've been playing Spiritfarer, but I'm getting kind of tired of it. The game is all busywork and waiting and I don't understand any of it. Everyone is dead and a spirit, right (I'm honestly not sure, the game is really unclear).
I never thought this was really unclear - but yes.

So why do I need to shove food down everybody's face constantly? Why are there 96 different meals to make? They are mostly functionally identical and characters ascend even if I don't give them their favorite food.
Characters have a specific dish that they love, food groups that they prefer, and food groups that they cannot eat. Even though a lot of the food is functionally identical for most characters, the variety allows you to use ingredients that you may have specifically grown for one Spirit, on another.

Ultimately the food contributes to a characters happiness, which enables certain buffs - like Summer the Snake, who, when happy, will speed up the growth of your plants.

Why is there a day and night cycle that forces me to go to bed? It's just a pointless inconvenience and affects nothing else in the game other than making it dark all the time.
Yeah, im not too sure with this one. It doesn't really have any mechanical purpose - and whilst some characters have some interactions with the night, I don't really see a reason why it couldn't have just been an aesthetic choice.

What is the cat for? It seems to have not purpose.
If you play in co-op, your co-op partner plays as the cat. Unfortunately some interactions are dependent on having both characters present, which is pretty annoying in solo play, as you need to wait for the cat the pathfind to you.

I'm waiting for someone to decide they are ready to die so I can get through the last roadblock of the game and I'm not really sure what they are waiting for.
If you are referring to Buck - the D&D playing, green parrot thingy, he never leaves. If he is your last passenger, you can complete the final quest for yourself.

Also I really, REALLY hate the noises the bus driver makes.
Im so glad this wasn't me. Fast travel is so useful, but oh my days, the music and his stupid noises really drove me up the wall everytime I had to navigate to him.

There aren't any interesting decisions to make, or challenges of any sort, and I'm really not very invested in any of the characters. Honestly, I'm really surprised Yahtzee gave the game his GOTY.
The game is turbo-casual. There is no challenge. There are no decisions. You have a simple goal, and simple tasks that you need to complete. I must admit that towards the end, the game's simplicity got a little long in the tooth, but as something that I played casually over a few days, I really liked it.

As for the characters - yeah, you are right. There are a couple that really hit me hard, like Alice the Hedgehog, and Stanley the Mushroom, but a lot of the other characters were just kind of there, until they weren't.

I maintain that Spiritfarer is basically the game that I wish Animal Crossing was, and I ultimately enjoyed it - but I feel like the game was held-up entirely by its art, music, and sometimes its characters - but its gameplay left a lot to be desired.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock

laggyteabag

Scrolling through forums, instead of playing games
Legacy
Oct 25, 2009
3,301
982
118
UK
Gender
He/Him
I did try sea of thieves but I couldn’t really get into it.
I've never played Sea of Thieves, but it seems like one of those games where your enjoyment is based almost entirely on who you are playing with.

If you are playing by yourself, I can't imagine that the game would be much fun at all - which is why I have yet to touch it.
 

Drathnoxis

Became a mass murderer for your sake
Legacy
Sep 23, 2010
5,472
1,921
118
Just off-screen
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
I never thought this was really unclear - but yes.
I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me as a world of spirits. They talk like they are dead humans, but become animal spirits for some reason when they come aboard your boat. Also nobody ever talks about how they died, or mentions dying. They also live in a world with physical objects that can be traded and refined. Everybody also gets hungry and needs to eat and sleep. All in all everybody acts as if they are alive and need to sustain life through biological means. And they also suffer from the same physical ailments that a living body would. Why is a spirit suddenly getting dementia? And then they go through the spirit door and die... again? Or are they reincarnated? I don't know. Nothing is stated outright and I'm not a fan of vague explanations.

Characters have a specific dish that they love, food groups that they prefer, and food groups that they cannot eat. Even though a lot of the food is functionally identical for most characters, the variety allows you to use ingredients that you may have specifically grown for one Spirit, on another.

Ultimately the food contributes to a characters happiness, which enables certain buffs - like Summer the Snake, who, when happy, will speed up the growth of your plants.
But here's the thing, the buffs don't matter... at all. I don't need, like, 2 random planks every once in a while. I get 3-4 planks for every log, and every tree drops 8. 2 planks is nothing. I don't need my plants to grow faster, I already have so much food that I've stopped watering them entirely and won't ever get close to using up my surplus of food. The buffs are entirely negligible.


If you are referring to Buck - the D&D playing, green parrot thingy, he never leaves. If he is your last passenger, you can complete the final quest for yourself.
No I need the thing that lets me go into mist, so I just need somebody to die already. I've done all the active requests that don't need gold, so it seems like the only thing left to do is to wait until either the cats or the mushroom decides to advance to the next stage of their request. That was where I got bored.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
19,653
4,452
118
Well shit, I've gotten to that point in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the point in every RPG when I reach the 60 hour mark. Where I'm 'fuck this, this is taking too long, I'm getting really bored'.
 

Dreiko

Elite Member
Legacy
May 1, 2020
2,739
917
118
CT
Country
usa
Gender
male, pronouns: your majesty/my lord/daddy
Yea Laura Bailey is super talented in any role is does I gotta admit that. Now that I think about it out of all of my playthroughs in og persona 4 and persona 4 golden I’ve never chased Yukiko before. Good call.
Oh no, I was talking about Kugimiya Rie since I played it in JP, she has done chars like Taiga from Toradora and Shana from Shakugan no Shana and Luise from Zero no Tsukaima. Lots of belligerent angry girls XD.
 

stroopwafel

Elite Member
Jul 16, 2013
3,031
357
88
I finally got around to playing through all 4 scenarios in Nier Automata. Normally I'm not the biggest fan of Platinum combat but here it was quite fun. Having to play the same scenario with a different character didn't became a chore like I thought it would b/c the subtle shift in perspective added to the back story that also made the first scenario better. The 3rd scenario really seemed like an interlude but provided some of the game's best revelations. I found the last scenario extremely repetitive with those four towers because it was pretty much non-stop of that tedious hacking minigame. I know 9S's combat abilities were limited b/c he's a scanner model or something but that minigame really dragged the game down. It was fun the first time around but it was way overdone in the last scenario and was just the same thing over and over. If I wasn't engaged by the story so much I probably would have quit.

The story is definitely the strongest part of the game. It takes existentialist themes and makes them playful through characters that are both interesting and ehm.. heavy on the anime side. The story detaches these themes from the human experience but let the implications of primarily Descartes' cogito, ergo sum philosophy speak for itself in how both androids and machines relate to the world in it's most unfiltered form. In it's turn it shines a new light in how humans relate to one another in ways I found very clever. Self-consciousness means inner duality but purpose gives certainty and with certainty betrayed there is a crisis of confidence that necessitates a re-alignment of beliefs that proved to be more than difficult for both the machines and androids. Perhaps because they could think like humans but never actually developed like them. The machines with the constant imitation of human behavior where the very purpose is failure or the YorHa soldiers with their lives in service of a
lie.
Both missed the context and meaning of human behavior and thought, which is the fear of death. I thought it was very interesting how the game unraveled both the characters, the story's central throughline and even the very game itself with it's fourth wall breaking. I could also appreciate how this perpetuating cycle could make 2B so upset.

Some tedious moments in the gameplay notwithstanding I thought the game was really quite the experience. Really can't wait to play Nier Replicant now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock

Chimpzy

Simian Abomination
Legacy
Escapist +
Apr 3, 2020
12,276
8,544
118
Still on that Monster Hunter binge.

I'm currently nearing the end, just a few more fights before I can tackle the finale. Got most of the gear for my endgame Charge Blade build crafted. After that, I'll probably switch to a different weapon for a bit, work on that. I'm think a more support role Sword & Shield build. Or tanky/shooty Gunlance. Maybe hyper-aggressive Hammer. Not Longsword, even tho it's top tier right now, since everyone is using it and it's a pain in the ass. Seriously Longsword users, mind where and when you attack. Maybe reduce the number of times I and other plays get tagged by the monster because you're mindlessly swinging your pseudo-dick around and making us flinch, even tho the monster is not even in range for you anymore. I'm so crafting Brace jewels.

Anyway, yeah, I reluctantly got NSO, despite despising paying for multiplayer. Gf wanted it for Animal Crossing. I caved. Got 1y family sub. She paid half, and I get online play as an upside, I guess. Some hunts are imo more fun with more people. Most I prefer doing solo tho, just because it makes monster behavior easier to predict. And for extra visual clarity. Framerate can dip pretty deep in 4 man hunts, then add in the overly intrusive hit effects (Yes, I know there is an option to reduce them, but that's still obnoxious), and fights can desolve into unintelligible messes when all 4 players are going to town. Has led to moments where I took hits because the monster got lost in the confusion. Hits I probably would've dodged or blocked in MHW on pc cuz higher res, subtler effects and especially higher framerates mean I can see what's going on, and thus react. A pc version of Rise is supposed to be coming. If that has cross saves, I might just double dip.

Overall, some problems aside I'm having a great time with the game. A lot of the new features and QoL improvements make things a lot easier, not so much in terms of actual difficulty, but in expediency. Like how you can can sharpen and use items while you're riding your Palamute, meaning that when the monster legs it, you can top up while keeping up the chase. Less downtime, faster and more tense hunts. Or using (Great) Wirebugs to just go over the hill, where in World you'd have to go all the way around. Also nice they made decorations craftable instead of rng. Shame the bs rng went to charms instead.
Well shit, I've gotten to that point in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the point in every RPG when I reach the 60 hour mark. Where I'm 'fuck this, this is taking too long, I'm getting really bored'.
Yeah, I get that too, where I just feel like I've gotten everything I could out of it, and just make a beeline to curbstomping the final boss.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

happyninja42

Elite Member
Legacy
May 13, 2010
8,577
2,982
118
Well shit, I've gotten to that point in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the point in every RPG when I reach the 60 hour mark. Where I'm 'fuck this, this is taking too long, I'm getting really bored'.
Yeah I bought that game because it looked interesting, and I thought my wife would enjoy watching me play it. And when we are doing the relationship/hogwarts stuff, she does. But every time we went to a fight, she'd lose interest so hard she would fall asleep.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Dreiko

Elite Member
Legacy
May 1, 2020
2,739
917
118
CT
Country
usa
Gender
male, pronouns: your majesty/my lord/daddy
I finally got around to playing through all 4 scenarios in Nier Automata. Normally I'm not the biggest fan of Platinum combat but here it was quite fun. Having to play the same scenario with a different character didn't became a chore like I thought it would b/c the subtle shift in perspective added to the back story that also made the first scenario better. The 3rd scenario really seemed like an interlude but provided some of the game's best revelations. I found the last scenario extremely repetitive with those four towers because it was pretty much non-stop of that tedious hacking minigame. I know 9S's combat abilities were limited b/c he's a scanner model or something but that minigame really dragged the game down. It was fun the first time around but it was way overdone in the last scenario and was just the same thing over and over. If I wasn't engaged by the story so much I probably would have quit.

The story is definitely the strongest part of the game. It takes existentialist themes and makes them playful through characters that are both interesting and ehm.. heavy on the anime side. The story detaches these themes from the human experience but let the implications of primarily Descartes' cogito, ergo sum philosophy speak for itself in how both androids and machines relate to the world in it's most unfiltered form. In it's turn it shines a new light in how humans relate to one another in ways I found very clever. Self-consciousness means inner duality but purpose gives certainty and with certainty betrayed there is a crisis of confidence that necessitates a re-alignment of beliefs that proved to be more than difficult for both the machines and androids. Perhaps because they could think like humans but never actually developed like them. The machines with the constant imitation of human behavior where the very purpose is failure or the YorHa soldiers with their lives in service of a
lie.
Both missed the context and meaning of human behavior and thought, which is the fear of death. I thought it was very interesting how the game unraveled both the characters, the story's central throughline and even the very game itself with it's fourth wall breaking. I could also appreciate how this perpetuating cycle could make 2B so upset.

Some tedious moments in the gameplay notwithstanding I thought the game was really quite the experience. Really can't wait to play Nier Replicant now.
Haha you got it just in time didn't you!


I think Pascale and his whole kindergarten got a taste of that fear and we saw how that ended. I think he (she? in jp he is voiced by Yuki Aoi of Madoka Magica fame) is probably the most human character in the game.


I don't think 2B remembers a lot of the cycles, but there must have been so many that yeah she has more than reason enough to be upset.


And man I dunno, I just kinda loved the hacking minigame and how they sorta incorporated it in the ending credits. It felt kinda...gamey in a sense? It gave the game a firm grounding that it's still really trying to be a game even with all the profound themes it tackles. That such content can coexist with a little asteorids-like minigame just fine if not be profound in its own way when you sent out your save data to the ether to save some other player during their credits.