What are you currently playing?

[gorfias]

Contract J.A.C.K. , associated with Sierra's No One Lives Forever 1&2

I guess these are public domain since Sierra went under in 2008, yet... they still have a website and are giving away King's Quest.

Well, these 3 are free too.

No One Lives Forever 1 and 2 NOLF Contract Jack Free Download PC Revival Edition

nolfrevival.tk

Scanned them 1st just in case, came back no threats.

Had to mess with controls some to get wasd set up.

Not bad!

 

[Dalisclock]

Pathfinder Kingmaker

Finally reached chapter 3 about 50 hours in. Strangely, the game still doesn't feel like I've been playing 50 hours because I'm not tired of it and maybe because the pacing kinda fits. Like you spend your time either going out on adventures in the wilds or managing your kingdom, both of which take time, and there's bits of plot ever so often to keep things interesting. It probably doesn't hurt that I've been playing close to a year of game time at this point so the time passage feels slow but in pace with the story.

I think I've finally caught up with the power curve where the game starts getting more fun to play. Up to the troll chapter I felt like I was constantly struggling due to party composition and available skills/spells but now being at 6-7-8 I feel like I'm pretty much able to deal with any monster I run across without too much difficulty. I also downloaded some mods to enhance the QoL(the Bag of Tricks mod to cut out some of the irrating bits, like buffs lasting like 3 minutes before needing to be recast) and also to get my main a better portrait because the amount of portraits in the base game for the number of characters feel very lacking.

One thing that I am enjoying is the implication something is very, very wrong in the Stolen Lands the game takes place in. Like initially it's a wild land inhabited by monsters and bandits, and you figure once you build some towns and roads and clear out the monsters and bandits things will slowly improve. Except weird shit keeps happening, both in some of the side quests and the main storyline, like weird for the Fantasy Pathfinder setting. You're told there's a curse on the land and the curse is somehow responsible for a lot of the really weird and disturbing shit going on in the stolen lands, and every so often it flares up stronger then ever before. There's a sense of mystery of why the land is cursed and how to deal with it while still protecting your barony and people. So yeah, I think that's part of what's keeping me engaged here.

As an aside, back in the 1990's I tried Balders Gate and while finished it I didn't particularly enjoy it and generally fell off D&D for quite a while. With D:OS2 and finally getting through Dragon Age recently I think D&D finally clicked for me, which is what Pathfinder basically is. Also the Legend of Vox Machina, which is just a joy to watch. So I can see why people compare this to Balders Gate but with more Quality of Life(and yes, I know BG was made 25 years ago) and it does kinda remind me of what little I remember of it.

 

[OpticalJunction]

Frostpunk. I confess I'm slightly addicted to this game. Great impromptu boredom killer.

 

[BrawlMan]

I stayed up late playing Streets of Rage 4. I did a few levels on mania plus. I went ahead and tried survival mode again but under the random simulation. I chose Adam and I almost got to level 40 and died on 39. But the great news is for the first time, I scored over a million points. I'll upload the screenshot later today when I get off from work. Done.

​

 

[meiam]

Pathfinder Kingmaker

Finally reached chapter 3 about 50 hours in. Strangely, the game still doesn't feel like I've been playing 50 hours because I'm not tired of it and maybe because the pacing kinda fits. Like you spend your time either going out on adventures in the wilds or managing your kingdom, both of which take time, and there's bits of plot ever so often to keep things interesting. It probably doesn't hurt that I've been playing close to a year of game time at this point so the time passage feels slow but in pace with the story.

I think I've finally caught up with the power curve where the game starts getting more fun to play. Up to the troll chapter I felt like I was constantly struggling due to party composition and available skills/spells but now being at 6-7-8 I feel like I'm pretty much able to deal with any monster I run across without too much difficulty. I also downloaded some mods to enhance the QoL(the Bag of Tricks mod to cut out some of the irrating bits, like buffs lasting like 3 minutes before needing to be recast) and also to get my main a better portrait because the amount of portraits in the base game for the number of characters feel very lacking.

One thing that I am enjoying is the implication something is very, very wrong in the Stolen Lands the game takes place in. Like initially it's a wild land inhabited by monsters and bandits, and you figure once you build some towns and roads and clear out the monsters and bandits things will slowly improve. Except weird shit keeps happening, both in some of the side quests and the main storyline, like weird for the Fantasy Pathfinder setting. You're told there's a curse on the land and the curse is somehow responsible for a lot of the really weird and disturbing shit going on in the stolen lands, and every so often it flares up stronger then ever before. There's a sense of mystery of why the land is cursed and how to deal with it while still protecting your barony and people. So yeah, I think that's part of what's keeping me engaged here.

As an aside, back in the 1990's I tried Balders Gate and while finished it I didn't particularly enjoy it and generally fell off D&D for quite a while. With D:OS2 and finally getting through Dragon Age recently I think D&D finally clicked for me, which is what Pathfinder basically is. Also the Legend of Vox Machina, which is just a joy to watch. So I can see why people compare this to Balders Gate but with more Quality of Life(and yes, I know BG was made 25 years ago) and it does kinda remind me of what little I remember of it.

Baldur gate used a pretty bad version of DnD and shockingly little was done to try and adapt it to video game format. DnD mechanic can get away with being loose because a good dungeon master know when to rely on the spirit of the rule rather than the actual text and know to fudge numbers here and there to make everything smoother, while also punishing player for doing dumb stuff (like say, sending the tank first and nuking everything from afar every fight).

 

[gorfias]

Pathfinder Kingmaker

Finally reached chapter 3 about 50 hours in. Strangely, the game still doesn't feel like I've been playing 50 hours because I'm not tired of it and maybe because the pacing kinda fits. Like you spend your time either going out on adventures in the wilds or managing your kingdom, both of which take time, and there's bits of plot ever so often to keep things interesting. It probably doesn't hurt that I've been playing close to a year of game time at this point so the time passage feels slow but in pace with the story.

I think I've finally caught up with the power curve where the game starts getting more fun to play. Up to the troll chapter I felt like I was constantly struggling due to party composition and available skills/spells but now being at 6-7-8 I feel like I'm pretty much able to deal with any monster I run across without too much difficulty. I also downloaded some mods to enhance the QoL(the Bag of Tricks mod to cut out some of the irrating bits, like buffs lasting like 3 minutes before needing to be recast) and also to get my main a better portrait because the amount of portraits in the base game for the number of characters feel very lacking.

One thing that I am enjoying is the implication something is very, very wrong in the Stolen Lands the game takes place in. Like initially it's a wild land inhabited by monsters and bandits, and you figure once you build some towns and roads and clear out the monsters and bandits things will slowly improve. Except weird shit keeps happening, both in some of the side quests and the main storyline, like weird for the Fantasy Pathfinder setting. You're told there's a curse on the land and the curse is somehow responsible for a lot of the really weird and disturbing shit going on in the stolen lands, and every so often it flares up stronger then ever before. There's a sense of mystery of why the land is cursed and how to deal with it while still protecting your barony and people. So yeah, I think that's part of what's keeping me engaged here.

As an aside, back in the 1990's I tried Balders Gate and while finished it I didn't particularly enjoy it and generally fell off D&D for quite a while. With D:OS2 and finally getting through Dragon Age recently I think D&D finally clicked for me, which is what Pathfinder basically is. Also the Legend of Vox Machina, which is just a joy to watch. So I can see why people compare this to Balders Gate but with more Quality of Life(and yes, I know BG was made 25 years ago) and it does kinda remind me of what little I remember of it.

Glad you are liking this. I have it on Epic and not loaded it. Downloading now.
Last played OneShot on Steam. Added to my Steamdeck as well.

Frostpunk. I confess I'm slightly addicted to this game. Great impromptu boredom killer.

9/10 on IGN. But they find it difficult! I started and quit fast as I like easy games but that you find it addictive tells me I should give it another shot.

 

[Dalisclock]

Glad you are liking this. I have it on Epic and not loaded it. Downloading now.

As long as you go into it expecting a slow burn D&D game you'll be fine. The nice thing is you can custom change the difficultly at any time, though one caveat is that if you put "Kingdom Management" in AUTO you can't change that decision later, so probably best not to do that unless you decide you really can't stand it. It's also a fairly big chunk of the experience so that's part of the reason you're presumably playing it is for the chance to run your own little Barony.

One Shot was a cool game that feels like it's successfully channeling the Undertale vibe without explicitly trying to be Undertale.

 

[Absent]

Frostpunk. I confess I'm slightly addicted to this game. Great impromptu boredom killer.

Lovely setting and concept. A bit too unforgiving for my taste. I felt, in retrospect, there there was only one pathway, one combination/timing for constructions, in order to not hit a deadend.

 

[Absent]

Mafia 3 keeps impressing me more and more. It has flaws. Less freedom than the prequels in terms of acquisitions (you can only unlock half a dozen preset player character models instead of buying clothes, and you can only unlock a few cars to "call", you don't build up a whole garage worth of replacement cars, you cannot permanently "save" the ones you steal, the one you drive is lost if you swap to another). Also the pedestrians are the dumbest I've ever seen in any gta-like from any era, refusing to walk out of your way even as you touch their legs with your car's front, or throwing themselves at the ground in random directions (including yours) in your vicinity. Also the hardness of obstacles make no sense, a bush can stop and destroy your car, a fence randomly will, or will shatter instead. In fact, it often depends on your speed. Hit a fence or a roadsign fast enough, you'll obliterate it with ease. Go too slow, not only will you bump on it, but the shock may kill you.

And still this game is a gem. I'm currently following a storyline where I investigate a cult, seeking hints in creepy places (Arkham or Holmes like), getting occasionally ambushed, all while heavily drugged. Stuff I really didn't expect in this kind of game. It's just awesome storytelling and immersion. And really, Mafia 3 is becoming the most spectacularly underrated game I know. As a relish it's gameplay, I'm still baffled by how low profile it is, and how I almost gave it a pass. By far the best Mafia (and yet I'm partial to the 1st one's era), and one of the most enjoyable open world drivey shootey game I've ever played, probably second to Watch Dogs. Saints Row, for all its freedom, humour, polish and crazy fun, may be falling to 3rd place, there.

 

[Drathnoxis]

One Shot was a cool game that feels like it's successfully channeling the Undertale vibe without explicitly trying to be Undertale.

One Shot came out a year before Undertale.

 

[Dalisclock]

One Shot came out a year before Undertale.

I stand corrected.

Thanks

 

[mirbrownbread]

About to try Remnant: From the Ashes on a Switch (as soon as it finishes downloading).
Loved in on the PS4, hope it rocks on a handheld as well!

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Alright this weekend I'll pick up a controller again (probably.. you know, IRL stuff permitting. But almost certainly). The GamePass machine is back out and the following three games installed:

Hot Wheels Unleashed
Multiple games people like KC here and SkillUp are in love with this so I was curious to check it out, because I like the idea racing games but never enjoy them for more than like 45 minutes. But since they're toy cars and not real cars that might make it more appealing.

Hi-Fu Rush
Hoping that using a real controller will help alleviate the problems I had on a hand-held device dealing with the horrible horrible QTE things. It does mean starting all over so I'm not in a rush.. heheh.. to jump into this one right away.

Wo-Long: Sekiro Nioh
Thi big-boy game for me, when I'm ready to jump back into some hardcore gaming shit.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Venturing further into the Forbidden West. I’m really just in it for the story progression now more-so than I was with Zero Dawn, because I’ve kinda lost patience for managing all the crap in my inventories. There’s just so much shit to go through in this one. I just want a bow with good tear/pierce arrows basically. I get grumbly having to constantly loot and track down supplies to use anything other than the spear. So I mostly use the spear lol.

Skill trees. Where do I begin, literally? Idk, I bought a few different ones that seem most critical to the immediate action, but I’ll probably look up a guide for the most essential ones because I’m not spending the time to fill all these suckers out.

Aloy is generally still fun to control, but there’s this odd sticky feel to some of her animations, like when running into certain terrains or trying to jump to certain up to something it’s like she’ll pause for a moment. It’s an odd juxtaposition because it feels so smooth otherwise. Not sure if this happened in Zero Dawn.

I was also reminded that this series does the lazy thing with establishing game area boundaries. I was running along side a river to see what was in the southeast corner of the map and get the warning that my last save would be reloaded. At least it gives a warning, I guess.

 

[Bedinsis]

I finished the first Danganronpa game. Once the mastermind revealed their true colors and motivation the game lost me. I thought it was so dumb.

I've earlier mentioned how I thought the bullet time battles were actively making the game worse, but in the previous trials they kinda grew on me since they no longer occurred at the climax of the trial in question, so it was more like a rhythm minigame than the ultimate conclusion. In this last trial they went back to using that as the climax, which made the trials worse.

Some thoughts about the conclusion.

Spoiler: Danganronpa spoilers abound

So as things turns out, the one arranging the whole thing was a student that had seemingly died. Junko.

That in of itself would have been a brilliant twist. Someone dying is an excellent way to keep them beneath suspicion, and it can really keep you off track. It also means a character you had bid adieu to or had your thoughts about finalized suddenly comes back with a vengeance and you get to reexamine what you previously thought of them, and depending on how their death affected the cast it can instill them with a sense of sympathy.

The thing though, we never got to know the person that died. The character known as Junko was not actually Junko, it was her twin sister impersonating Junko. So we have a scenario where a character returns but they might as well be a stranger, because they are. They might as well have let the 16th student be the sole mastermind without having to involve Junko.

Speaking of Junko, I'm first gonna discuss another character: Toko.

The idea of a character having a split personality which is a serial killer that gets off on killing and with whom one can split at a sneeze and who you do not share memories with does not sound like anything scientifically accurate or emotionally resonant; it sounds like something invented to make murder mysteries exciting. I therefore thought that was dumb and that aspect was eye-rolling-worthy.

With this in mind, I don't think I surprise anyone in expressing that I thought Junko being a real Despair-aficinado who talks crazy in a way I cannot recognize in any human being was also stupid. A good villain makes a fair point even if you might disagree with them; Junko just felt like a crazy person/hormone-addled teenager with a Despair fetish. A good story would've been one that sells why she thinks Despair is ultimately superior to Hope, like if she was chronically depressed and wanted to take this out on the world. I mean the story that the world has ended and giving into despair is therefore quite logical is not bad per se, but she seemed mostly gleeful at the state of things. What's more, once the other students went "You know what? Screw Despair, and screw you. I'm voting Hope." she was even more gleeful, not showing a change of heart or trying to see things differently.

Wouldn't it have been better if one of the surviving students was the Mastermind? If the ultimate plan was to have them give in to despair then finding out that someone I had trusted was actually the bad guy the whole time would be an expression of that.

I also thought there were things they pulled out of nowhere. She claimed the world outside was destroyed, but only had a some videos showing it. Couldn't she had been lying? This point was never explored. She also claimed that air purifiers would stop working if she died, so they'd have to get out if she died.

1. She could be lying.
2. Machines can be fixed.
3. How?! How is a machine's continued function dependent on a person being alive?

A decent plan would be that after they get out, they still could live at the school, if the apocalypse truly had occurred. It seemed like a decent enough place, it could act as a safe haven.

 

[BrawlMan]

1. She could be lying.
2. Machines can be fixed.
3. How?! How is a machine's continued function dependent on a person being alive?

The first game was made in mind to be somewhat ambiguous with its ending, and that there might not be a sequel. Hence that's why it's kept ambiguous on whether Junko is lying or not about the state of the world. Now the sequels and spin-offs on the other hand, make this way less ambiguous and outright state the world is screwed up, because of her. The problem with the later sequels and entries, is that they made Junko way too overpowered, and most of her plans goes off without a hitch. I mainly referring to the prequel/sequel anime, Danganronpa 3. Which has episodes that take place after the first and second game, and episodes before the first and second game. D3 Hope takes place after the second game and Ultra Despair Girls. D3 Despair takes place before all that. Danganronpa V3 takes place in its own alternate universe.

The only thing I really like about Junko is the English dubbing voice actors for the game side. The anime adaptions have a different voice actress (most of the cast is replaced aside from Makoto and a few others from Danganronpa 2), but it's the same actress that played Panty from Panty and Stocking. She shockingly can sound scary and off-putting. Shows how talented the actress is.


Plague of Gripes has similar problems with the game you did.

​

 

[Bedinsis]

Hey @BrawlMan ? Thanks for that clip. That guy did express a lot of the sentiments that I had, so we're probably on a similar wavelength. It also motivated me to think of what I found more lacking in the story, which I will discuss in the spoiler below.

I also started reading what you wrote in that inline spoiler but after a while it looked like you wrote spoilers for the sequel, (even though they looked light enough that it wouldn't surprise me if it's things you find out within the starting minute), so I ignored most of what you wrote.

Anyway, the thing that I think ultimately is the most lacking is

Spoiler: Danganronpa spoilers abound

the lack of character development. Or rather, that the impact of developments on the characters' psyches are not allowed to be shown on screen.

I earlier thought that Byakuya would turn out to be the mastermind since he was arrogant enough to treat it all as a game even though it's his life on the line. Such arrogance is motivated by his background, but I would think that if he was a good guy he would at least be less emotionally distant or otherwise grow more fond of the people around him. The game does provide something that ought to have triggered a change in attitude if you ask me: his entire family was dead. His background should not really factor into it anymore, he would be naked and exposed. Such a thing should make him get off his high horses and perhaps let him actually express some vulnerability to his friends. Instead, he figures, "Hey I'm still a member of my family" and his character remains unchanged.

It is possible that Kyoko's relationship with her father changed a bit by exploring his back room at the school but as far as I can tell she had the same personality and hang ups during the final trial, so that aspect was either not changed or irrelevant.

Makoto had all reason to give into despair in the final trial where his classmates could sacrifice him to let their own lives be ones of safety but that never occurred, he just fired the Hope argument at them until they decided "yeah, you know what: hope it is.". Makoto felt like he never even cared about it.

Junko was eventually pummelled by the people not giving into despair as she assumed but her reaction was not to reconsider why she thought that way or even argue against it in defiance, it was to give into despair out of lust.

The closest I can think of character development is that honors student that befriended the biker and was notably distraught/keeping a brave face once he was executed. I expected that to go the whole nine yards with him actually talking about how he felt in light of his friend being dead or that he was a murderer. Instead it was left as a plot point one can imagine as eventually being figured out via "and then he stopped thinking about him".

My favorite case was probably the one where Sakura died. That was a a case where I kept guessing who did it, and the people that acted suspicious felt like they did so due to human and real reactions.

 

[Dalisclock]

Dealing with the Season of Bloom Crisis in Pathfinder Kingmaker and man, I wish Dragon Age Inqusition had been like this. Just the fact it unfolds in a way that feels natural and compelling and the entire arc starts with "WIldlife is going nuts and attacking people seemingly at Random" which keeps escalating into more disturbing and insidious ways, including People being infected with magical seeds in the WATER SUPPLY that causes them to give birth to superpowered monsters and the only way to save them once infected is to cut the seed out of their digestive system before it blooms. Especially since it's difficult to know who is infected until a monster pops out of them. I appreciate the fact people are going very visibly afraid and there's a very tangible sense of people blaming you for your inability to stop it from happening, so there's numerous scenes where the common folk are asking you why haven't you stopped it yet, while you're still trying to figure out the source of the problem and how to deal with it. That's not even going into the associated events that pop up the longer the crsis goes on.

DAI, why couldn't you have done something like this? This is honestly what I wanted from you and instead I got picking elfroot and collecting shards in the Hinterlands for most of the game.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I finished the first Danganronpa game. Once the mastermind revealed their true colors and motivation the game lost me. I thought it was so dumb.

I've earlier mentioned how I thought the bullet time battles were actively making the game worse, but in the previous trials they kinda grew on me since they no longer occurred at the climax of the trial in question, so it was more like a rhythm minigame than the ultimate conclusion. In this last trial they went back to using that as the climax, which made the trials worse.

Huh, that's surprising because people seem to always talk very favorably of the Danganronpa series. I've always been meaning to go back and continue this game, but maybe I won't bother.

 

[BrawlMan]

also started reading what you wrote in that inline spoiler but after a while it looked like you wrote spoilers for the sequel, (even though they looked light enough that it wouldn't surprise me if it's things you find out within the starting minute), so I ignored most of what you wrote.

I put them in the spoilers as a form of formality. I didn't want to spoil anybody else that was playing. Most of what I put is just information you're going to find out either later on in the sequel, or at the beginning of the anime sequels.

Byakuya is a total douche that doesn't change much. The sequels kind of try to fix this, but he still has that arrogant and snooty attitude. I wouldn't have minded, if he died either. Danganronpa 3: Despair Side anime does give him a few decent moments, but he's not in as much, so that's probably why it helps.

Huh, that's surprising because people seem to always talk very favorably of the Danganronpa series. I've always been meaning to go back and continue this game, but maybe I won't bother.

The games are talked favorably, but you do have people online that just don't like them, or they don't like the fan base. Granted, the fan base is usually cool for the most part, but there are people who believe Danganronpa's overhyped or overrated. Even amongst the games fans, there are fights about which game is better, or which game is worse. They'll most agree that the gameplay mechanics and Danganronpa 2 are the best in the series and a huge improvement over the first game.