What are you currently playing?

[meiam]

Started playing atlas fallen, 2023 action adventure game. Its... just fine. Its not quite janky enough to have the euro jank charm, but its not polished enough to be considered a AAA. It also doesn't really feel indy, graphic are pretty good if not spectacular. Gameplay is semi open world (a few large area rather than one massive one), its close to the assasin creed design, except it does a few things better, point of interest aren't marked on your map so you have to search yourself. Movement feel pretty good, with a good movement speed and multiple air dash, with few invisible wall.

Combat works by having you charge a momentum gage with every attack, which gives you more bonus as it charges but can be expanse at once with a big attack. Its okay, but really means you do well when you do well and poorly otherwise. Its fun enough, but nothing to write home about. It does really to much on parrying, ennemy have really good tracking and theres no i-frame, so dodging is unreliable, but parrying is relatively easy (the timing between the "clue" that you have to parry and the actual parry window isn't super consistent between enemy) and parried enemy are paralyzed for awhile, letting you score easy hit.

The biggest issue is the story and dialogue, story is so predictable, its impossible to take seriously, maybe there's going to be a big twist later on, but for now its just color by number plot. The dialogue has that really weird issue where nobody sound like a real human, like it was all ai generated or something. The dev are French, so maybe they wrote everything in french and then just machine translated it without any editing?

 

[BrawlMan]

I've been bouncing back between Ninja Gaiden II Black & Razor's Edge. Fun times. I've been playing Dynamite Cop again too. I finally figured out how to consistently arrest people, so I can save handgun ammo. I did some Astro Bot last night. I really got to finish that game.

 

[Dreiko]

Seem to recall Ezekiel complaining about FROM games since at least Bloodborne, so the disappointment is not too surprising. Elden Ring is nothing more than the latest iteration of the half dozen games that preceded it. If it only contained the highly telegraphed enemies of Demon’s Souls and the first couple DS games, most people would stroll right through it. Most of the twitchier stuff is reserved for demigods and a handful of field enemies. More than ever before with their games it can be as easy or difficult as the player decides, but it takes more time exploring (or wiki’ing) to find those modifiers. Parrying still dominates the high end of the skill ceiling, but given what’s on YouTube it’s still completely learnable.

Apparently the new Kingdom Come game is a “true RPG” and probably devoid of twitch combat like the first one. That doesn’t automatically make it better or more fun though either.

I didn't play the first game but no, Kingdom Come 2 is full of reactive parry combat, and even attack-parry based on sword positioning, I just unlocked it, it's called a master strike. Though only swords use it so depending on your playstyle you could choose to be a brute with a mace and not rely on the finer techniques. Also it kinda depends on the sort of armor your foes have on, full plate is kinda strong against swords and weak against blunt weapons, but if you do the perfect master strikes you can still hit at the gaps in the armor just as good and since I don't have a horse to put stuff on yet I'm not at the point of carrying multiple weapons due to the weight limits.

Kingdom came again to deliver...ance?
Christ this game is one step away from forcing you to manually poop with the controller, hold both triggers to squeeze it out, wiggle thumbstick to shake off dangleberries, push thumbstick to reach for leaf or cloth, swipe left n right to wipe, I can see the tutorial screen for it already! With a good performance gifting an agility and charisma stat buff too. In fact, they should've added it, come on, don't be cowards! Look, ok not everyone's gonna vibe with that end, perfectly understandable..., I'll settle for just a pissing mini game instead, a cheeky shake about upon the bushes, eh? Conkers Bad Fur Day already carved the precedent for you fckin decades ago with cutesy anthropomorphic animals so you got no excuse!

If this sounds like the words of someone who spent a whole evening making potions and picking flowers, shamefully skulking around towns at night to find a damp hay pile to sleep in while being told off for not using a torch, then yes, not sure how your guess was so specifically correct but it is. And I don't know why I like it as much as I do. It's faff squared, the game. Tempted to see if I can get away with murdering someone and stealing their house, though unsure how many, if any, systems are there to catch my naughtiness for it yet.

The crime detection here is not like skyrim, you get arrested on the mere suspicion you did something wrong. I stole a lute and now I have a bounty cause I asked the shopkeep to sell it to me before it got stolen so they just surmised I must have done it. Thankfully the bounties only apply for each village and if you stay away from them for some time they should go away, at least according to the tutorial, I'm still wanted for that damn lute.


If you're looking for a place to sleep, either go back to the old lady and sleep in the floor where Hans was bleeding out, or find some of those roadside campsites with an empty pot and a pan, those are the free sleeping places early on. And as you help people they will be more welcoming and you will get to sleep in more places.


Oh and if you ever find a book, make sure you find a place to sit down before you start reading it. Sitting down makes reading take less time. No, I am not making this up.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

After exploring the western part of the Weeping Peninsula, finding a teleport trap to a part of the game that had a monster I couldn't fight yet and a chest I could sneakily loot behind it, I decided to move on to Castle Morne without dealing with the Mausoleum. (According to the wiki I don't have any reason to check those out until I get a boss soul anyway.) On the way, I managed to use Torrent to parkour into a rampart and found the Great Turtle Shell shield, which has the best stats of any shield I've picked up so far and a Skill other than Parry, which is useful for a scrub like me who can't parry.

Turned out to be really useful when I got through the castle, where after dying to Leonine Misbegotten a few times fighting him the normal way (summon wolves and then roll around a lot), I decided to see if Barricade Shield would give me a better way of fighting him, and it actually worked. His attacks bonked off my shield, giving me Guard Counters that eventually staggered him for crits. Had to do two cycles of that to finish him off, and it took most of my FP, but I wasn't wasting it on wolves anymore so I had enough to close it out and get my Grafted Blade Greatsword.

Apparently there's a sidequest involving Castle Morne and Leonine Misbegotten that puts an NPC summon sign outside the boss gate but I didn't find it at all. Oh well, I'm expecting to miss basically all the sidequests just because of how the game's laid out; I missed a lot of them in Dark Souls 3, after all, and that game's about as linear as it gets.

Anyway, now that that's settled (I'll probably remember to check out the Mausoleum later), it's time to get back on the story track and head up to fight Margit.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

You okay there? What's next?

Not sure. I ran inventory and I have about 200 games just sitting in my backlog.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

After exploring the western part of the Weeping Peninsula, finding a teleport trap to a part of the game that had a monster I couldn't fight yet and a chest I could sneakily loot behind it, I decided to move on to Castle Morne without dealing with the Mausoleum. (According to the wiki I don't have any reason to check those out until I get a boss soul anyway.) On the way, I managed to use Torrent to parkour into a rampart and found the Great Turtle Shell shield, which has the best stats of any shield I've picked up so far and a Skill other than Parry, which is useful for a scrub like me who can't parry.

Turned out to be really useful when I got through the castle, where after dying to Leonine Misbegotten a few times fighting him the normal way (summon wolves and then roll around a lot), I decided to see if Barricade Shield would give me a better way of fighting him, and it actually worked. His attacks bonked off my shield, giving me Guard Counters that eventually staggered him for crits. Had to do two cycles of that to finish him off, and it took most of my FP, but I wasn't wasting it on wolves anymore so I had enough to close it out and get my Grafted Blade Greatsword.

Apparently there's a sidequest involving Castle Morne and Leonine Misbegotten that puts an NPC summon sign outside the boss gate but I didn't find it at all. Oh well, I'm expecting to miss basically all the sidequests just because of how the game's laid out; I missed a lot of them in Dark Souls 3, after all, and that game's about as linear as it gets.

Anyway, now that that's settled (I'll probably remember to check out the Mausoleum later), it's time to get back on the story track and head up to fight Margit.

If you like halberds that little side quest would lead to a fairly upgraded one in the next map past Stormveil. In a nutshell, you might’ve noticed the girl along the way to Morne who asks you to deliver something to her father. Once there it involves jumping off a high ledge to a rampart to get to the easternmost watchtower. Head back to where the girl is to find a surprise. The quest closes out upon reaching the upper west level of the map past Stormveil, heading north until you find a little shack in the woods.

 

[BrawlMan]

Not sure. I ran inventory and I have about 200 games just sitting in my backlog.

Take your time.

 

[BrawlMan]

Ninja Gaiden II Black - I decided to test my mettle and tried Chapter Challenge Mode: Chapter 13 on Mentor (Very Hard Difficulty). They throw a bunch of ninjas at you once you get to the stairs. That section becomes about 15-20 minutes long, and it's fucking epic!

Another new thing for me: I am trying Mentor on a fresh run for the first time. Wish me luck. I made it past the first chapter and only died twice. It wasn't even the first boss that killed me. Both cases were of a ninja suicide bombing me and zapping my health. The first boss I actually beat without taking any damage. The Lunar Staff is my best friend right now.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I admit I did watch a friend of mine fight Margit the Fell Omen before, so I wasn't going into the fight completely blind, but it seems to me that having upgraded my character level, weapon and flask as much as I have made him a bit easier than I was expecting. Took him down on my second try, and I needed more than that for both the Runebear and Erdtree Burial Watchdog that I fought before with less to work with, as well as Leonine Misbegotten before I figured out his weakness was Barricade Shield.

This sounds like a brag, but I don't really mean it as one; as I said, I went into the fight with a lot more than my friend did, both in terms of numbers and knowledge, and I know that this game is not going to have a lot of "free" fights. The last part of the game I've seen my friend play is Godrick, without actually paying attention to any of Stormveil Castle proper, and after that I'm flying blind. Expect updates to take longer.

 

[Ezekiel]

Almost finished Tomb Raider III. RX-Tech Mines in Antarctica. Tired of riding these carts in a search for the winch starter that will lower the little submarine. Maybe I was supposed to stop one of these carts in a particular spot that I haven't explored yet. Doesn't seem like it. But I see a collectible crystal as I ride one of them. howlongtobeat says 21 hours. I don't know if most of those players used guides, but it's taking me way, way, way, way longer.

I didn't know until very recently that Core Design was allowed to make one PlayStation 2 game before they lost the IP. Tempted to skip to Angel of Darkness and go back to the previous two later, out of curiosity for what changed on the new generation.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Playing two games:

The Swapper

It's a 2D puzzle-platformer that's all about cloning yourself. You can produce up to 4 clones and swap around your conscience to any of them; you move everyone in synchronicity. Grab enough shinies to open every door and boom. Soon you're dealing with red light (which blocks swapping) and blue light (which blocks clones) and reverse gravity panels and shit. There's some scifi doomsday chronicle going in the background that I'm not paying much attention to.

KeyWe

Chaotic co-op game. You and a loved (?) one are kiwis manning a post office over a selection of increasingly gimmicky levels. You run around racing the clock while typing telegrams, preparing packages, sorting the mail. Everything is made to be cumbersome and unruly, with emphasis on how comically ineffective the kiwis are. Latter levels introduce enemies that fly around undoing your progress, which feels way out of line. Overcooked continues to be the benchmark of these kinds of games, but this ain't half bad and has the added benefit of being cute as hell.

 

[BrawlMan]

Wendigo Blue - A rouge-lite brawler that is in early access for $10. I like the game so far, but it's clear there are few rough spots. Bosses have super armor like crazy. I haven't tried all four characters yet, and mainly sticking Irena right now. The game is challenging, but I do hope they tone down the super armor for the bosses. I love how the game has directional fighting game inputs, dodge with a cool down, light attacks, heavy attacks that need to be reloaded, and guard/parry button.

The performance is a bit weird. If I try to play in 60fps, the action slows down too much and isn't consistently stable. When I switch to 30fps, the game is stable and runs buttery smooth. This is a 2d pixel game, so I find that concerning. I know it's not my laptop, so I am chucking that up to be a problem with the game and it still early in development. If anybody has any idea why this happens, feel free to jump in. I like the game, but hopefully it gets updated with all of the kinks ironed out.

 

[laggyteabag]

To my shame, I have been playing a lot of Fortnite.

Almost 90 hours in the past three weeks, to be exact.

And you know, it is actually a lot of fun!

Up until this point, I had pretty much sworn off of Battle Royale games. I played PUBG when that game was the biggest game on Steam, but it was honestly too janky to really be enjoyable. I tried Apex Legends when that launched too, but something about it just felt off, and I am honestly still quite bitter that Apex Legends exists and Titanfall 3 does not. I could have tried CoD's Warzone mode, but being able to just summon your favourite weapons and equipment feels a little antithetical to what a Battle Royale game is. And I think the stigma of Fortnite just kind of put me off it, too.

But my partner is a teacher, and some of her students have been telling her to give it a go (alongside rather inexplicably and obscurely, DOOM 64), so I decided to give it a try with her.

And we have been absolutely devouring it ever since.

I have reached level 200, and completed the Battle Pass. I so far haven't spent a single penny on the game, but I have enough premium currency to buy a couple of Battle Passes or some skins. Im quite sad that I missed the Avatar: The Last Airbender season, but such is the way of the live service. Watching Aang run around with an assault rifle is pretty jarring anyway.

I can see myself playing a lot of this, especially considering that my partner is really enjoying it herself, which is basically unheard of for her, because her foray into videogames thus far has been limited to Minecraft, Animal Crossing, The Sims, and Hogwarts Legacy, so finding something that we can play together (that I also actually enjoy) is worth diving into this head-first.

I can feel this turning into one of those "live service second jobs" that I try to swear off, but hopefully the FOMO doesn't prevent me from playing other games.

 

[Ezekiel]

Almost finished Tomb Raider III. RX-Tech Mines in Antarctica. Tired of riding these carts in a search for the winch starter that will lower the little submarine. Maybe I was supposed to stop one of these carts in a particular spot that I haven't explored yet. Doesn't seem like it. But I see a collectible crystal as I ride one of them. howlongtobeat says 21 hours. I don't know if most of those players used guides, but it's taking me way, way, way, way longer.

Again it was the lighting. I passed the door that leads to the winch starter several times since Saturday and only a few minutes ago spotted the switch pictured on her left. Pretty sure I even ran through that hallway with a flare once.

Spoiler

 

[bluegate]

Im quite sad that I missed the Avatar: The Last Airbender season, but such is the way of the live service. Watching Aang run around with an assault rifle is pretty jarring anyway.

Aang, and the gang, periodically show up in the item shop, so there will probably be a chance to buy him, Katara, Zuko or Toph yet.

There are really only two things you missed out on; being able to use bending in Battle Royal and Zero Build and the Korra skin as it was part of the Battle Pass and as such won't show up in the shop anymore. Capitalizing on that FOMO and what not.

Is the Godzilla event still running in Fortnite? I haven't touched the game in a few weeks, but I heard there's now a chance for one lucky player to turn into Godzilla and rampage across the map. Sounds neat.

 

[BrawlMan]

NG2B - I made it to Rachel's chapter (Chapter 8) last night and stopped there for the night.

 

[laggyteabag]

Aang, and the gang, periodically show up in the item shop, so there will probably be a chance to buy him, Katara, Zuko or Toph yet.

There are really only two things you missed out on; being able to use bending in Battle Royal and Zero Build and the Korra skin as it was part of the Battle Pass and as such won't show up in the shop anymore. Capitalizing on that FOMO and what not.

Is the Godzilla event still running in Fortnite? I haven't touched the game in a few weeks, but I heard there's now a chance for one lucky player to turn into Godzilla and rampage across the map. Sounds neat.

The godzilla event ended a week or so ago, but I think you can still unlock the skin permanently until the 21st through the tiny battlepass.

It was pretty fun, actually! I had no idea it was controlled by a player when I first saw it, but if you played as him, he was absolutely massive, could shoot a laser, or stomp, absolutely melting walls and/or players.

I had no idea that Fortnite had stuff like this, and im excited to see what is next.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Made it through Stormveil Castle and Godrick last night, and now that Gideon's appeared to tell me about the other demigods, I have to figure out which way I want to go next. Radahn is the next one in the list after Godrick, but he's in Caelid, and that sounds like a really bad time from what I've heard. Then again, I haven't heard much about Mt. Gelmir or Raya Lucaria so either of those could be a bad time as well I guess...

Anyway, decision paralysis. Though I do remember looking up where the Third Church is, so I might as well go there and then to whichever demigod's closest.

 

[Dreiko]

Still playing kingdom come 2. I'm like 30 hours in and have not moved on with the main story at all from the starting bit of the game where you can choose what you do. I finally invested some time in alchemy and that's a really good way of making money once you get good at it, if you don't mess up the cooking minigame you can get up to 6 high quality potions with each attempt, when you start out getting just 2 normal quality ones. And they sell for a pretty penny too. I'm making these perfumes that go for 60 coins a piece now.


Also I discovered blacksmithing which is part of a sidequest that leads to the main quest, and that's kinda like a rhythm minigame. You have to hammer in tune with Henry whistling and if you do the item comes out high quality. I still don't have crap for recipes, basic swords axes and horseshoes, but they're all top tier products. Nowhere near as profitable as alchemy though. But once I find some top tier recipes it's gonna be way better to make my own gear than buy it from the overcharging assholes.


Finally, these asshole villagers were about to get their asses kicked by some Hungarian soldiers and I saved them, though I didn't end up fighting the soldiers cause I felt the villagers were in the wrong. We drank all night and told war stories. We drank so much I was still drunk for 2 days after and could barely do shit, which is when I started doing alchemy cause while being a little drunk is a buff I was max drunk which made the visuals blurry and shaky and I had major debuffs.

All's well that ends well I guess. Game is like a medieval life sim with RPG mechanics. You gotta be in the mood for a slow and immersive experience.

Made it through Stormveil Castle and Godrick last night, and now that Gideon's appeared to tell me about the other demigods, I have to figure out which way I want to go next. Radahn is the next one in the list after Godrick, but he's in Caelid, and that sounds like a really bad time from what I've heard. Then again, I haven't heard much about Mt. Gelmir or Raya Lucaria so either of those could be a bad time as well I guess...

Anyway, decision paralysis. Though I do remember looking up where the Third Church is, so I might as well go there and then to whichever demigod's closest.

Caelid has the best weapon in the game for berserk fans so that's my always turn as a STR-FAI player (used to be pure STR in souls but those dragon spells won me over and it''s nice to have a huge AoE move once in a while) but for a smoother difficulty curve you'd actually wanna go to the southern part below the starting zone, and then raya lucario.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

if you don't mess up the cooking minigame you can get up to 6 high quality potions with each attempt

I thought KCD2 had no fantasy elements.