What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
- Start date
I'm still working the Flame in the Flood Play, which is very grindy and requires a very counterintuitive play style (such as never killing an animal or eating any plants). You can game it a little bit by loading your dog's inventory with all kinds of stuff that will carry over to your next playthrough though
After I'm done or I get bored I'm moving over to Balatro so I can see what the hell is up with that.
After I'm done or I get bored I'm moving over to Balatro so I can see what the hell is up with that.
…Does the dog have a backpack or something? Although I guess it’s a thing with rescue dogs, so not all that unusual.
The dog is supposed to be a rescue dog, yeah. It wears like a harness and some clothes. I don't see a backpack on it but that's definitely the idea.
Also, at the beginning of every new run the game plays a clip of the dog dragging a backpack off a skeleton and handing it over to the player character. The implication being you're inheriting it off your previous run, somehow, even though you keep playing the same character? But it's always empty, while the dog's inventory carries over. None of it makes much sense.
Played through Trine (the first one) just because it was heavily discounted and I keep seeing it. Eh, it was fine. Some fairly good puzzles, some very meh combat.
Then got the Braid Anniversary Edition, which I'd been looking forward to. Loved that game back in the day. Updated visuals are lush, new puzzles are great, commentary is extensive-- a good remaster. Apparently Jonathan Blow is a bit of a blowhard, but nevermind. Music is still magnificent.
Currently got 13 of the 16 extra new puzzle pieces. They're tricksy.
Then got the Braid Anniversary Edition, which I'd been looking forward to. Loved that game back in the day. Updated visuals are lush, new puzzles are great, commentary is extensive-- a good remaster. Apparently Jonathan Blow is a bit of a blowhard, but nevermind. Music is still magnificent.
Currently got 13 of the 16 extra new puzzle pieces. They're tricksy.
Ghost of Tsushima PC Port is finally here. And the game looks even more beautiful than I had remembered, now with 60 fps. But as with any port launches, I am seeing performance hiccups here and there.
Otherwise, the game still tells a gripping story, super fun to play, and is fun to just wander around. IMO, AC Shadows needs to absolutely, astronomically, irrefutably be an amazing game to even come close to being on a same level as this game. which as it stands, doesn't look to be that way.
Do not let the steam review bombs fool you; PSN requirement and how Sony region-locked the game is terrible, but that doesn't deter from how excellent the actual game is.
Otherwise, the game still tells a gripping story, super fun to play, and is fun to just wander around. IMO, AC Shadows needs to absolutely, astronomically, irrefutably be an amazing game to even come close to being on a same level as this game. which as it stands, doesn't look to be that way.
Do not let the steam review bombs fool you; PSN requirement and how Sony region-locked the game is terrible, but that doesn't deter from how excellent the actual game is.
- Apr 1, 2009
- 14,987
- 3,849
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Huh. I could've sworn I saw review bomb this morning. It's currently evening of the same day, and now I see the game sitting at very positive w/ 83%.
- Apr 1, 2009
- 14,987
- 3,849
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
I wouldn't be surprised if it got an initial down vote thing going on, but its really not the same situation as Helldivers.
It was inevitable but have finally opened my literal cat pimping business in Rise of Ronin for the paying public. "Oh another unoriginal exaggeration" I hear you say. "Do they ever stop talking?" "Stop saying literal when it's..." Alright alright you made your point, here li, uh... receipts;
Started Braid: Anniversary Edition (never played Braid before). Just completed the puzzle for world 2. Man this is going to be trippy.
Picked up the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, and played through MGS1 again. Reckoned I'd have the usual issues with the first Sniper Wolf fight and the final fist fight against Liquid, and yeah, they still suck. Didn't anticipate having as much trouble with the torture button mash sequence though. The last time I played this game was 5 or 6 years ago and it seems that within that time age has curtailed my mashing ability. I actually had a hard time with that shit now.
I also noticed how Liquid resembles certain youtube personalities currently, and if he were alive today he'd probably have a manosphere podcast.
I also noticed how Liquid resembles certain youtube personalities currently, and if he were alive today he'd probably have a manosphere podcast.
Played Hades 2.
The voice acting? Fucking sweet. The art? Fucking sweet. The story? Fucking sweet. The characters? Fucking sweet.
What is not fucking sweet and actually kinda fucking shit is the changes to the gameplay. The approach they seem to have gone is a more thoughtful, strategic combat system as opposed to the neverending button smashing chaos that was Hades 1. It sounds good on paper, but I just do not like it.
I've been sitting on a big ass rant about everything I don't like, but for now, suffice to say I am not convinced this combat system in any way improved the first one.
The voice acting? Fucking sweet. The art? Fucking sweet. The story? Fucking sweet. The characters? Fucking sweet.
What is not fucking sweet and actually kinda fucking shit is the changes to the gameplay. The approach they seem to have gone is a more thoughtful, strategic combat system as opposed to the neverending button smashing chaos that was Hades 1. It sounds good on paper, but I just do not like it.
I've been sitting on a big ass rant about everything I don't like, but for now, suffice to say I am not convinced this combat system in any way improved the first one.
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint
Squad tactical game by the Trese Brothers, cyberpunk-styled. Go on missions, sneak, steal, hack, kill. Currently early access, but pretty close to full release. Seems pretty decent, although maybe the guards are relatively unresponsive to you killing their colleagues and that could be tuned up a little.
Squad tactical game by the Trese Brothers, cyberpunk-styled. Go on missions, sneak, steal, hack, kill. Currently early access, but pretty close to full release. Seems pretty decent, although maybe the guards are relatively unresponsive to you killing their colleagues and that could be tuned up a little.
I'm enjoying Braid. I probably would've enjoyed it more 16 years ago, before it became a victim of its own popularity. It's a disappointingly short game: 2 hours in and I've already 100%ed 4 of its 6 or 7 "worlds". What passes for a level sometimes feels more like a gameplay demo. And there are throwaway puzzles in say The Lost Crown that would basically act as whole worlds in Braid. But then of course The Lost Crown is an overstuffed, or rather overpadded game, and it came 16 years after Braid's deconstruction act. If nothing else Braid's design is superbly minimal and elegant. No chaff.
Having already played through The Witness I can tell Jonathan Blow is all about creating experiences where people marvel at their own deductive process while being discretely guided or pointed in the direction. Not so much about "gaming" itself, since there's no failing in either Braid or The Witness, nor much of a motivation for the player or the character. Just being stumped while, simultaneously, feeling overpowered.
Having already played through The Witness I can tell Jonathan Blow is all about creating experiences where people marvel at their own deductive process while being discretely guided or pointed in the direction. Not so much about "gaming" itself, since there's no failing in either Braid or The Witness, nor much of a motivation for the player or the character. Just being stumped while, simultaneously, feeling overpowered.
I played it back when it came out. I thought it was unique for the time, but still ok. Nowadays, there is not much special about Braid.
More Wario Wonder and starting Missile Dancer 2. The latter is an After Burner style game. I played the demo on Steam and there is a sale on Switch. The demo is fun, and I am about to start arcade mode. Mario Wonder keeps getting more fun and creative. This is peak 2.5D Mario.
I think what makes Braid special is that it exists primarily to teach and showcase videogame design, as evidenced by the Anniversary Edition's stated focus on its extensive, thorough commentary. Other than the graphic overhaul (which, who cares) and a few new levels the main flex and selling point appears to be treating the game as some kind of design seminar. And not that the game isn't a brilliant example of it, but I think Jonathan Blow is overestimating 1) how much people care and 2) just how exclusive his "inside baseball" acumen is to the average person with a passing interest in game design.
I finished Missile Dancer 2 on Normal and got a 1 coin clear. It's one of the easier rail shooters, but still a challenge in a fair way. I have not tried Hard nor Expert, so I don't know what is different. This is already one of my favorite SHMUPs ever made, and is the best After Burner sequel we are ever going to get. Any huge SEGA Arcade fans need to play this game. The soundtrack is fire too.
Played most of the way trough colony ship, a traditional isometric RPG. Somewhat mixed feeling, one of the selling point is that you can play trough the full game without getting into combat. The problem is the game is super uninteresting this way, you just get into situation, pick the option that will obvious use your speech check to resolve the situation, and moves on. There's nothing interesting about it, unlike something like disco elysium that's built from the ground up for non combat RPG interaction. And it also make large section of the game pointless, no reason to loot stuff since its all combat gear, exploration doesn't really matter and even money is worthless since you don't need to buy gear.
So I tried to play by going both non combat with my main character and use the rest of my party for combat. But then the problem is the way the levelling system work with that. When you get a level up, all you get is access to a new feat, the only way to gain skill point is by using the skill, including combat skills. So if you avoid too many fights by using speech check, your fighter will have low combat skill and will struggle in combat, but if you do too many fight you end up with too low speech check and then can't do the speech sequence. And because you only get skill point from using them, if you ever fall below a certain threshold of skill level, you can't ever get back into it and are locked out of future interaction. I was still able to kinda do both way, but it got really rough eventually with almost every fight being down to the wire. The combat system has a couple of fun stuff, but the UI isn't very good and it's really hard to know some basic information, playing it purely combat wouldn't be that interesting imo.
The story is a fun setting made not very interesting. You play as descendant from people who tried to leave earth on a non FTL ship bound for another world and are still mid flight, fun unique setting. But then a rebellion happen that screwed everything and for all intent and purpose you're just playing fallout in space, minus the space. The game has three factions, all of which are too cartoonish to take seriously, yet you still need to pick one and align with them. I kinda get that they need to quickly show what the faction are like and so they exaggerate them to quickly get the point across, but this is a pretty long RPG with lots of texts, so you just get repeated the same cartoonish stuff about all of them over and over again rather than use the extra text to make them more interesting and nuance. There's also a lot of stuff that are pretty half baked, you often have to pick between different people to support in a quest in the very same scene where you meet them, with just 2-3 lines to figure them out.
But what ended up killing it for me is that the game has a bad habit later on to lock you for no reason. I got into a situation where I had to do a fight to progress but was otherwise free to wander around. My guy are pretty crummy at fights, so I wanted to put every advantages my way, an important one required me to leave the town and come back later, something you can usually do. But if I tried to leave, the game told me I would fail the quest, for no reason, there's no time element or anything stopping you from leaving. That wasn't the first time either and just got kinda annoying after awhile, especially since supply of things like grenade are pretty tight, often forcing you to go back to town and resupply.
So I tried to play by going both non combat with my main character and use the rest of my party for combat. But then the problem is the way the levelling system work with that. When you get a level up, all you get is access to a new feat, the only way to gain skill point is by using the skill, including combat skills. So if you avoid too many fights by using speech check, your fighter will have low combat skill and will struggle in combat, but if you do too many fight you end up with too low speech check and then can't do the speech sequence. And because you only get skill point from using them, if you ever fall below a certain threshold of skill level, you can't ever get back into it and are locked out of future interaction. I was still able to kinda do both way, but it got really rough eventually with almost every fight being down to the wire. The combat system has a couple of fun stuff, but the UI isn't very good and it's really hard to know some basic information, playing it purely combat wouldn't be that interesting imo.
The story is a fun setting made not very interesting. You play as descendant from people who tried to leave earth on a non FTL ship bound for another world and are still mid flight, fun unique setting. But then a rebellion happen that screwed everything and for all intent and purpose you're just playing fallout in space, minus the space. The game has three factions, all of which are too cartoonish to take seriously, yet you still need to pick one and align with them. I kinda get that they need to quickly show what the faction are like and so they exaggerate them to quickly get the point across, but this is a pretty long RPG with lots of texts, so you just get repeated the same cartoonish stuff about all of them over and over again rather than use the extra text to make them more interesting and nuance. There's also a lot of stuff that are pretty half baked, you often have to pick between different people to support in a quest in the very same scene where you meet them, with just 2-3 lines to figure them out.
But what ended up killing it for me is that the game has a bad habit later on to lock you for no reason. I got into a situation where I had to do a fight to progress but was otherwise free to wander around. My guy are pretty crummy at fights, so I wanted to put every advantages my way, an important one required me to leave the town and come back later, something you can usually do. But if I tried to leave, the game told me I would fail the quest, for no reason, there's no time element or anything stopping you from leaving. That wasn't the first time either and just got kinda annoying after awhile, especially since supply of things like grenade are pretty tight, often forcing you to go back to town and resupply.
I never played After Burner, but I did sink a fair bit of time into Space Harrier in Yakuza 0, as well as a few other Sega AM2 games in the other games in the series. Might have to look into this one.
OT: The Runescape clan I joined just announced that they're going to hold a bingo competition starting in a couple of weeks. The clan's leader sets up a bingo card with in-game objectives like getting a certain drop or defeating a boss X many times, and divides the clan members into teams who compete to clear as many tiles as possible. Everyone I've heard about it from says it's some of the most fun they've had playing the game, so I'm looking forward to (and putting some work into preparing for) the main event.