Steam, since I am not paying for PS+ just to play online. I do have the PS4 version on pre-order at GameStop.
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Mechwarrior 5: Clans
Hang on, since when the fuck was campaign mode so sincere and engaging in this series? The cutscenes are far too well made, like modern Ace Combat levels of passion (jpeg dog notwithstanding lol). Main negative to get out of the way right now: the hud is a sexless nightmare, as to be expected from mech games for some reason. But come on, the art of intuitive menu design is needed more than ever with these kinda micromanagement style games.
Lastly, this is first entry into the narrative canon (a few hours were spent on Mechwarrior 5 vanilla many eons ago but no lore was presented in any particularly engaging way as to etch upon the memory microtubules forming over that time) So am guessing these "smoke jaguars" are meant to be some sort of bad guys or something? They all have this unsettling type of conventional attractives mixed with dead-eyed sociopathy you'd see in shows like 'the only way is essex' or 'the OC' or some some shit. And they talk like fucking Klingons. Either way, extremely surprised by the quality of this entry, As long as you don't mind the archaic hud/menu.
Hang on, since when the fuck was campaign mode so sincere and engaging in this series? The cutscenes are far too well made, like modern Ace Combat levels of passion (jpeg dog notwithstanding lol). Main negative to get out of the way right now: the hud is a sexless nightmare, as to be expected from mech games for some reason. But come on, the art of intuitive menu design is needed more than ever with these kinda micromanagement style games.
Lastly, this is first entry into the narrative canon (a few hours were spent on Mechwarrior 5 vanilla many eons ago but no lore was presented in any particularly engaging way as to etch upon the memory microtubules forming over that time) So am guessing these "smoke jaguars" are meant to be some sort of bad guys or something? They all have this unsettling type of conventional attractives mixed with dead-eyed sociopathy you'd see in shows like 'the only way is essex' or 'the OC' or some some shit. And they talk like fucking Klingons. Either way, extremely surprised by the quality of this entry, As long as you don't mind the archaic hud/menu.
Finally beat I did press the button, I can't be everywhere at once, no we're not rescuing any more prisoners than we need to beat the level Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime with my girlfriend. I was all for lowering the difficulty, for the record.
I'm about done with Signalis (I think) and the game loses me a little bit in the second half when areas become more linear and you stop getting maps. That kinda cozy, kinda scary feeling of exploring a haunted house by leaving a safe room to unlock doors and hoover up items is forsaken for a more modular, linear experience that rarely has you running back and forth or staying too long anywhere. It kills the tension of picking which enemies you fight and when you burn their bodies (fuck Crimson Heads) when you're always just passing through.
The story remains inscrutable, but I'd consider it more effective if it at least featured humans instead of fetish waifubots.
I'm about done with Signalis (I think) and the game loses me a little bit in the second half when areas become more linear and you stop getting maps. That kinda cozy, kinda scary feeling of exploring a haunted house by leaving a safe room to unlock doors and hoover up items is forsaken for a more modular, linear experience that rarely has you running back and forth or staying too long anywhere. It kills the tension of picking which enemies you fight and when you burn their bodies (fuck Crimson Heads) when you're always just passing through.
The story remains inscrutable, but I'd consider it more effective if it at least featured humans instead of fetish waifubots.
I finished Silent Hill 2 Remake! I got the Leave Ending. I'll happily take it.
It's a great game and remake. My only gripe with it that others have pointed out is the that some sections go on for way too long. Some people complain about the hospital, but I'd say the Hotel goes on way longer than it should. Especially compared to the original game. The hotel is practically a breeze. All of the boss fights are bangers. There are no bad nor underwhelming boss fights in this game. I'll check the rest of the endings online. My total playtime 21 hrs 15 min 10s.
Bloober, you've outdone and surpassed yourselves. Thank you Team Silent, for guiding Bloober. Thank you Bloober, for remaking such an awesome game! I await your next game.
It's a great game and remake. My only gripe with it that others have pointed out is the that some sections go on for way too long. Some people complain about the hospital, but I'd say the Hotel goes on way longer than it should. Especially compared to the original game. The hotel is practically a breeze. All of the boss fights are bangers. There are no bad nor underwhelming boss fights in this game. I'll check the rest of the endings online. My total playtime 21 hrs 15 min 10s.
Bloober, you've outdone and surpassed yourselves. Thank you Team Silent, for guiding Bloober. Thank you Bloober, for remaking such an awesome game! I await your next game.
I have been playing "Drova" this sunday night for a few hours. Pretty good.
I was in the mood for a new experience. I saw a "Splattercat" impressions video
Sometimes he and i have similar opinions and tastes. He liked it, so i got it from Gog. I seldom pay full price for a new release, didn't regret it so far.
So: You play as a rando who follows his druids into a spirit world, just to get spat out into the "Land of legends: Drova". Turns out the land of legend is pretty bad at the moment with political infighting, banditry, and nature reclaiming the countryside (Roaming packs of wild rippers (huge dogs?) for example)
People say it is a bit like the old "Gothic" series - i guess mostly it is because of the "camps" in an untamed world which you cannot easily leave, big magic background, but low-magic on personal level. Also a bit because of the powerlevel and the start of the game: You start with a found stick and have epic fights against big water-rats - if you go a bit out of your way you may stumble over fully armored and skilled bandits, which fucking murder you in two hits. That kind of thing.
We have a bit of crafting, some good-feeling looting (You loot A LOT of things, unlimited inventory though)
The graphics are freaking amazing. Combat feels ok (And someone as slow as me can do it right, even if i still mess up quite a lot). People are a bit spongy, and there is quite the difference in damage from level/quality of gear. You have an artificial limit as to which weapon you can use - not a fan of that. I mean usually if anything better gear is realistically EASIER to use, mostly the same though. Also dialogue-wise/quest-complications nothing too great so far with one exception. I am a few hours in and it is mostly fetch-quests so far - but i feel it is just to get you exploring and equipped and i feel things brewing in the back - so: I am interested.
The world/map is very well designed with a lot of things you stumble over if you just go off the path. Maybe something pertaining to quests you don't even know about yet, maybe interesting loot/exploration or weird characters and monsters. Atmosphere is great - running around in fog, or in the rain through the thick forest and such feels great. Because of the technical limitations (intended travel-times, player perspective and such) the size of the map is pretty small though - but thoroughly crafted and populated. Lot's of details.
So: i recommend it. (As apparently do 96% of steam users who reviewed it)
I was in the mood for a new experience. I saw a "Splattercat" impressions video
Sometimes he and i have similar opinions and tastes. He liked it, so i got it from Gog. I seldom pay full price for a new release, didn't regret it so far.
So: You play as a rando who follows his druids into a spirit world, just to get spat out into the "Land of legends: Drova". Turns out the land of legend is pretty bad at the moment with political infighting, banditry, and nature reclaiming the countryside (Roaming packs of wild rippers (huge dogs?) for example)
People say it is a bit like the old "Gothic" series - i guess mostly it is because of the "camps" in an untamed world which you cannot easily leave, big magic background, but low-magic on personal level. Also a bit because of the powerlevel and the start of the game: You start with a found stick and have epic fights against big water-rats - if you go a bit out of your way you may stumble over fully armored and skilled bandits, which fucking murder you in two hits. That kind of thing.
We have a bit of crafting, some good-feeling looting (You loot A LOT of things, unlimited inventory though)
The graphics are freaking amazing. Combat feels ok (And someone as slow as me can do it right, even if i still mess up quite a lot). People are a bit spongy, and there is quite the difference in damage from level/quality of gear. You have an artificial limit as to which weapon you can use - not a fan of that. I mean usually if anything better gear is realistically EASIER to use, mostly the same though. Also dialogue-wise/quest-complications nothing too great so far with one exception. I am a few hours in and it is mostly fetch-quests so far - but i feel it is just to get you exploring and equipped and i feel things brewing in the back - so: I am interested.
The world/map is very well designed with a lot of things you stumble over if you just go off the path. Maybe something pertaining to quests you don't even know about yet, maybe interesting loot/exploration or weird characters and monsters. Atmosphere is great - running around in fog, or in the rain through the thick forest and such feels great. Because of the technical limitations (intended travel-times, player perspective and such) the size of the map is pretty small though - but thoroughly crafted and populated. Lot's of details.
So: i recommend it. (As apparently do 96% of steam users who reviewed it)
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Darksiders lock-on is lame because it locks you out of the camera. Why do developers keep getting this wrong? Let me circle around enemies and move sideways and backwards, but don't bring the cam closer and lock it down. I'm not using the lock-on much anymore because of this. Even without, the game automatically turns you around with a hard auto-target when you attack. Why is this so common in 3D action games?
Has scripted finishers with the right face button. Big red B appears over the enemy and then the character does something sick, something wicked, something exxxtreme. Meh. Wouldn't put that in my action-adventure.
Half an hour played. It's mediocre.
Has scripted finishers with the right face button. Big red B appears over the enemy and then the character does something sick, something wicked, something exxxtreme. Meh. Wouldn't put that in my action-adventure.
Half an hour played. It's mediocre.
Because X game did it beforehand, and nearly everybody thought that was the perfect template.
Because it was still the era where lots of games were copying either God of War Greek era, RE4, or both. Especially on the melee combat side. I usually design the bad ass finishers in different games. Preferably in DMC4, Bayonetta, and Mad World. With DMC4 at least, Nero's action commands are invisible and optional. You are rewarded for figuring them out. Something that is carried over into 5.
It's not your action adventure game; it's THQ's.
Funny, you mentioned that, as this franchise is still the modern equivalent of a Legacy of Kain or Soul Reaver game. My main problem with these games is that they drag on for a way too long and have too much padding in the middle half. The second game suffers from this the most. It's why I couldn't get into the franchise. I am glad to see the franchise still going and the fanbase is still around.
Did a rebirth for STR/INT in Sherdtree and now playing as a battle mage. Pretty neat blend of melee and magic so I’m liking it after going nearly 100% melee in the dlc besides a few arrows here and there. Well, and some hefty pots.
I was at a bit of an impasse in blind progression so took a break, but soon after returning found a new path further into the scenic greenery space which granted access to the Enir-Ilim dungeon. I’m thinking this will allow me to finally reach that one elusive shiny in the Belurat Tower. This place is pretty expansive so I’ll probably be here a while at the rate I’m playing. The most eastern end of the map is still a untrodden mystery to me as well.
I was at a bit of an impasse in blind progression so took a break, but soon after returning found a new path further into the scenic greenery space which granted access to the Enir-Ilim dungeon. I’m thinking this will allow me to finally reach that one elusive shiny in the Belurat Tower. This place is pretty expansive so I’ll probably be here a while at the rate I’m playing. The most eastern end of the map is still a untrodden mystery to me as well.
Started Another Crab's Treasure after watching one of my favorite YouTubers had started it. You play as Kril, a young hermit crab who's had his shell stolen by a sleazy loan shark for imaginary, unpaid taxes due to The Duchess, a female crab who's taken over "protection" rights in his reef. The quest is to recover his home, and along the way, other marine life takes issue in the form of brutal violence.
It's basically Dark Souls reskinned as a cute PS2-era 3D platformer. Literally every core of the Dark Souls experience is copied here, but in an homage sort of way versus a lazy copycat deal. It's uniquely charming to have the sense of peril and urgency atop what any casual passerby might see as a game for children. That said, there's an option to mitigate difficulty completely... with a gun. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in the menu, there are several options to lessen damage and whatnot, but also one to give Kril a GUN allowing you to one-shot every enemy AND boss. It's my Dark Souls dream come to life, to simply walk through the world without fear or hesitation. I wasn't planning on investing too much into this game; I just wanted something to mix it up between sessions of Elden Ring, then the gave me a gun. I'm going to finish it... with my gun.
It's basically Dark Souls reskinned as a cute PS2-era 3D platformer. Literally every core of the Dark Souls experience is copied here, but in an homage sort of way versus a lazy copycat deal. It's uniquely charming to have the sense of peril and urgency atop what any casual passerby might see as a game for children. That said, there's an option to mitigate difficulty completely... with a gun. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in the menu, there are several options to lessen damage and whatnot, but also one to give Kril a GUN allowing you to one-shot every enemy AND boss. It's my Dark Souls dream come to life, to simply walk through the world without fear or hesitation. I wasn't planning on investing too much into this game; I just wanted something to mix it up between sessions of Elden Ring, then the gave me a gun. I'm going to finish it... with my gun.
Playing the remake of star ocean 2. It's a nice remake, they made the background into pretty nice 3D but kept the sprite work for Character/NPC. The remake also does a lot of QoL and nice little fix here and there.
Gameplay is a bit mix, the game is pretty easy on normal, and you have a ton of way to make yourself crazy OP. So you kinda have to increase difficulty to keep things interesting, but then the game just give massive stats boost to all enemy, so you mostly end up dying in 2-3 hits and your AI companion are just incapable of dealing with any of it. So what do you do? You rely even more on the OP stuff, like you can craft an armor that make you straight up invincible really early in the game (not even that hard to do). So the balance is all kind of wack.
Star ocean is a kinda weird franchise, its technically a sci fi setting, with humanity exploring other word, but almost all of them are about people stuck on generic medieval world. The quality is also very... all over the place. 2 is undoubtedly the best one, despite not really doing anything extraordinary, its just a solid game all around. But its weird how every future entry awkwardly tries to be its own things and almost all fail at it. 3 tried to make the plot too big and kinda shoot itself in the foot. 4 tried to cram it every single worse anime cliche possible. 5 was barely finished. 6 I ended up dropping very early, its was like the bare bone version of what a JRPG should be like, its very bizarre to get to a major city that has like 4 NPC, none of which have anything to say related to the city or story, instead they just talk about the card mini game.
Gameplay is a bit mix, the game is pretty easy on normal, and you have a ton of way to make yourself crazy OP. So you kinda have to increase difficulty to keep things interesting, but then the game just give massive stats boost to all enemy, so you mostly end up dying in 2-3 hits and your AI companion are just incapable of dealing with any of it. So what do you do? You rely even more on the OP stuff, like you can craft an armor that make you straight up invincible really early in the game (not even that hard to do). So the balance is all kind of wack.
Star ocean is a kinda weird franchise, its technically a sci fi setting, with humanity exploring other word, but almost all of them are about people stuck on generic medieval world. The quality is also very... all over the place. 2 is undoubtedly the best one, despite not really doing anything extraordinary, its just a solid game all around. But its weird how every future entry awkwardly tries to be its own things and almost all fail at it. 3 tried to make the plot too big and kinda shoot itself in the foot. 4 tried to cram it every single worse anime cliche possible. 5 was barely finished. 6 I ended up dropping very early, its was like the bare bone version of what a JRPG should be like, its very bizarre to get to a major city that has like 4 NPC, none of which have anything to say related to the city or story, instead they just talk about the card mini game.
Finished Signalis. No, I don't know what that was all about. I stopped picking up texts and notes when they became 80% emo poetry.
One final grievance - if picking up an item is going to conjure a closeup image that takes up most of the screen, the game should pause while it plays out ("It's a Rusted Buttplug" "Would you like to pick it up?" "You sure about that?"). This is especially annoying when you go through the motions only to be told that there's not enough room to pick up the damn thing. You're desperately tap tap tapping to get it over with so you can move out of harm's way, and may not even notice you didn't even get to pick it up.
One final grievance - if picking up an item is going to conjure a closeup image that takes up most of the screen, the game should pause while it plays out ("It's a Rusted Buttplug" "Would you like to pick it up?" "You sure about that?"). This is especially annoying when you go through the motions only to be told that there's not enough room to pick up the damn thing. You're desperately tap tap tapping to get it over with so you can move out of harm's way, and may not even notice you didn't even get to pick it up.
This is exactly why I am never buying this game. I'll stick with buying Crow Country and .45 Parabellum Bloudhound whenever the latter comes out next year.
Crow Country looks neat actually, I'll wait for a sale. Did you play it? How does it compare to the games it's imitating?
I haven't played it yet, but from what I hear It has way less annoying gameplay mechanics and you are given much more inventory space. There's even a mode where it disables combat altogether, if you just want puzzles only. Just like og Silent Hill 2. From what I heard, it's just as good as the games it's imitating or even better.
Clans are absolutely the villains of Battletech. They're a culture of eugenics born warrior slaves and slavers who believe in hate and honor and moral superiority. Some are better than others, and individuals can be reasonable, but as a whole they're storm troopers in mechs and power armor.
And its a pretty fun game!
I played a couple of demos from Steam's Next Fest.
Lidar Exploration Program: Basically what it says on the box. You're dropped into a couple of locations and are tasked with finding specific landmarks or objects by mapping the area with a LIDAR scanner. There's not much to it, as there are no enemies or hazards to worry about, but it does manage a fair bit of atmosphere.
Project: Mist: This one really, really wants to be an open-world mix of STALKER and Desolate, but so far everything about it is unimpressive; the world, though large, feels sterile and underpopulated, combat is bland, and the graphical and sound options are about as bare as they can be. It feels a lot more like an alpha than a demo.
Lidar Exploration Program: Basically what it says on the box. You're dropped into a couple of locations and are tasked with finding specific landmarks or objects by mapping the area with a LIDAR scanner. There's not much to it, as there are no enemies or hazards to worry about, but it does manage a fair bit of atmosphere.
Project: Mist: This one really, really wants to be an open-world mix of STALKER and Desolate, but so far everything about it is unimpressive; the world, though large, feels sterile and underpopulated, combat is bland, and the graphical and sound options are about as bare as they can be. It feels a lot more like an alpha than a demo.
I beat Ravenous Devils. It was somewhere between entertaining and fun but very short and very simple.
It's a management sim with a 2D doll's house view in which you control a married couple running a combined tailor shop/delicatessen based on murdering part of the clientele. Husband murders customers while taking their measurements upstairs, strips them in order to retool their clothes for sale and then drops the bodies down a chute to the wife's kitchen, where she throws them into a mincer or chops them up to bake burgers and meat pies.
It has a darkly funny and eerily cute approach to married/workaday life and it's very detailed and filled with personality (mostly cribbed from Grand Guignol). But once you get used to the character switching the gameplay itself is too simplistic, and there's little in the way of downsides or tactical tradeoffs to anything that you do. You quickly max out the efficiency of cooking and murdering and everything after that - setting tables, starting a veggie garden (the fertilizer is of course corpses), adding new recipes - just seems like ways of complicating your life in needless ways.
It's a management sim with a 2D doll's house view in which you control a married couple running a combined tailor shop/delicatessen based on murdering part of the clientele. Husband murders customers while taking their measurements upstairs, strips them in order to retool their clothes for sale and then drops the bodies down a chute to the wife's kitchen, where she throws them into a mincer or chops them up to bake burgers and meat pies.
It has a darkly funny and eerily cute approach to married/workaday life and it's very detailed and filled with personality (mostly cribbed from Grand Guignol). But once you get used to the character switching the gameplay itself is too simplistic, and there's little in the way of downsides or tactical tradeoffs to anything that you do. You quickly max out the efficiency of cooking and murdering and everything after that - setting tables, starting a veggie garden (the fertilizer is of course corpses), adding new recipes - just seems like ways of complicating your life in needless ways.