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- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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I finished Gunstar Heroes and managed to 1CC on Normal. Final score is 4, 898, 218. I spent most of my time with Chaser + Flame, but for the final boss, I went in on Flame + Flame.
- Apr 1, 2009
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Since I grabbed the premium upgrade for Age of Mythology I have picked it up again, I stopped playing about mid way through the Atlantean campaign since hard mode is indeed hard and I'm only ok at RTS games, despite how much I love them. It feels good to play it again, beat the next few levels, looking forward to trying the new Chinese campaign and some of the mini campaigns they added.
Finished Death's Door. I liked the ending and how it ties to Titan Souls, which narratively was a pretty sparse game, but fits rather elegantly into the mythology of Death's Door.
The cage fights with the waves of enemies got repetitive since there's little sense in mixing up your attacks and spells, and you mostly end up herding hordes around the arena as you slash and roll away, slash and roll away. I did like the boss fights though.
Similarly, for all the ingenious level design, you also end up doing the same thing in each level itself: there's a first area, a second area where you collect four keys to open a gate to a horde fight and unlock a new traversal tool, a third gauntlet-type area with somewhat involved platforming, and a boss arena. Rinse and repeat. But it's all cleverly baked into these labyrinthine levels, and the music goes a long way into giving each place a distinct personality, so it's all quite lovely.
The cage fights with the waves of enemies got repetitive since there's little sense in mixing up your attacks and spells, and you mostly end up herding hordes around the arena as you slash and roll away, slash and roll away. I did like the boss fights though.
Similarly, for all the ingenious level design, you also end up doing the same thing in each level itself: there's a first area, a second area where you collect four keys to open a gate to a horde fight and unlock a new traversal tool, a third gauntlet-type area with somewhat involved platforming, and a boss arena. Rinse and repeat. But it's all cleverly baked into these labyrinthine levels, and the music goes a long way into giving each place a distinct personality, so it's all quite lovely.
- Apr 1, 2009
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- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Beat the Atlantian campaign in Age of Mythology. I think I was on one of the harder levels when I stopped, it was actually really simple, just kite the big bad around then make 3 rocs and move them to the ally base and win. The final 2 stages were pretty easy also, the second to last started getting trixy but then I attacked the enemy base a little and they summoned a couple gates of Tartarus to their base to block me. The thing about gates of Tartarus is that they spawn units, but units that are hostile to everyone so I just retreated and built up my army and took the south part of the map and just casually strolled into their base since they were too busy to attack me and didn't despawn the gates.
Also beat Serious Sam 2. The "humor" certainly gets more annoying then quant by the end and the enemy count finally matches some mid game levels from other Serious Sam games. Overall I think I enjoyed it, the gameplay was good, despite some annoying parts, story was just... silly at best, annoying for the rest. Vehicles were a neat addition but SS4 does them way better. I think the one thing that SS2 really added that other SS games could have used was the grenade button, its got some really good utility. Oh, also kleers are just weirdly weak in SS2, like they never too much to bring down but you usually had to be pretty close for a double barrel blast to one shot one, but in ss2 it feels like you can sneeze on them and kill them and they are much easier to dodge despite it feeling like you are moving slower then you should. Also, I never figured out how to dual wield despite patch that came out a few years ago adding it, probably some option when starting a new game or something I just wasn't paying attention too.
Also beat Serious Sam 2. The "humor" certainly gets more annoying then quant by the end and the enemy count finally matches some mid game levels from other Serious Sam games. Overall I think I enjoyed it, the gameplay was good, despite some annoying parts, story was just... silly at best, annoying for the rest. Vehicles were a neat addition but SS4 does them way better. I think the one thing that SS2 really added that other SS games could have used was the grenade button, its got some really good utility. Oh, also kleers are just weirdly weak in SS2, like they never too much to bring down but you usually had to be pretty close for a double barrel blast to one shot one, but in ss2 it feels like you can sneeze on them and kill them and they are much easier to dodge despite it feeling like you are moving slower then you should. Also, I never figured out how to dual wield despite patch that came out a few years ago adding it, probably some option when starting a new game or something I just wasn't paying attention too.
Tiny Tina's Wonderland.
It's basically just more Borderlands 3, just without the awful antagonists. Really enjoying it so far. I've found the world visually more interesting, but that might just be because it feels more vibrant and fantastical, for lack of a better word.
It makes just enough changes to the formula to differentiate from just being a Borderlands 3 reskin. All the brands have had their names altered (Hyperion - Hyperius. Dhal - Dhalia. Jakobs - Blackpowder) but still have the same traits. Grenades have been replaced with spells which I've been really enjoying so far. You can now equip different melee weapons, but I still hardly use it.
The class system is interesting. You've only got one skill tree, but you can choose between two different action skills, until you complete the third mission which unlocks your secondary class slot, so you can add one of the other classes skill tree's + action skills. You can then swap it out after you hit lvl 40. You also get "hero points" when you level up that you can put into one of the standard rpg stats (strength, dex, intelligence etc). It's really leaning into the rpg element, which I'm enjoying so far.
However, the random encounters and dungeons are already getting repetitive since they're all pretty much the same thing.
Clear enemies, step through portal, clear enemies, get reward.
It's gets pretty boring since they reuse the same handful of arenas and enemy combinations. Rest of the game has been pretty decent so far though. Glad I picked it up on sale.
It's basically just more Borderlands 3, just without the awful antagonists. Really enjoying it so far. I've found the world visually more interesting, but that might just be because it feels more vibrant and fantastical, for lack of a better word.
It makes just enough changes to the formula to differentiate from just being a Borderlands 3 reskin. All the brands have had their names altered (Hyperion - Hyperius. Dhal - Dhalia. Jakobs - Blackpowder) but still have the same traits. Grenades have been replaced with spells which I've been really enjoying so far. You can now equip different melee weapons, but I still hardly use it.
The class system is interesting. You've only got one skill tree, but you can choose between two different action skills, until you complete the third mission which unlocks your secondary class slot, so you can add one of the other classes skill tree's + action skills. You can then swap it out after you hit lvl 40. You also get "hero points" when you level up that you can put into one of the standard rpg stats (strength, dex, intelligence etc). It's really leaning into the rpg element, which I'm enjoying so far.
However, the random encounters and dungeons are already getting repetitive since they're all pretty much the same thing.
Clear enemies, step through portal, clear enemies, get reward.
It's gets pretty boring since they reuse the same handful of arenas and enemy combinations. Rest of the game has been pretty decent so far though. Glad I picked it up on sale.
Guess I'm doing the umbrella run in Death's Door. It's essentially the game's equivalent of a hard mode, since your base damage is halved, but that's about it. I never bothered fiddling with the other weapons during my first playthrough and now I'm thinking I should've just stuck with the damn umbrella from the get go. The game isn't significantly more difficult anyway, it's just that you have to suffer hordes and boss cycles a bit longer. Coming from the Titan Souls devs I'm suprised there isn't an Ironman equivalent.
I've been playing a lot of Helldivers 2, and Roboquest, with a bit of Jedi: Fallen Order, and Heroes of the Storm thrown in.
Helldivers is a lot of fun. I bought it roughly when it first came out, didn't vibe with it, and then refunded it. Then I bought it again in the last Steam sale, on the last few days of the Battle for Super Earth, and I've really clicked with it. On a positive note though, because I did buy it a year or so ago, when I booted it up for the first time since, I was bombarded with hundreds of medals to progress my warbonds (battlepasses), so I absolutely flew through the progression. And now I have a fairly reliable group of friends to play with, which has really worked wonders for my social life.
Roboquest was a game I had heard good things about, and I picked it up on the cheap this Steam sale. Its a really enjoyable roguelite, with some really fun guns and builds. I particularly like the Bull Shotgun, which feels immaculate. I almost completed my first run a couple of days ago, but I died on the final stage of the last boss.
Jedi: Fallen Order is a game that I have fun with, but I took a bit of break from. Im not crazy about Souls games, and this kind of qualifies. But im committed to beating this one, so hopefully I'll continue to chip away at it.
Heroes of the Storm is a game that I played loads of back when it was still getting updated, but I took a break from it when Blizzard announced that they were winding down the update cadence. Going back to it is weird, because a lot of it is nostalgia, some of it is new to me, and then a lot of it relearning the intricacies of the game. Its still really fun with friends.
Helldivers is a lot of fun. I bought it roughly when it first came out, didn't vibe with it, and then refunded it. Then I bought it again in the last Steam sale, on the last few days of the Battle for Super Earth, and I've really clicked with it. On a positive note though, because I did buy it a year or so ago, when I booted it up for the first time since, I was bombarded with hundreds of medals to progress my warbonds (battlepasses), so I absolutely flew through the progression. And now I have a fairly reliable group of friends to play with, which has really worked wonders for my social life.
Roboquest was a game I had heard good things about, and I picked it up on the cheap this Steam sale. Its a really enjoyable roguelite, with some really fun guns and builds. I particularly like the Bull Shotgun, which feels immaculate. I almost completed my first run a couple of days ago, but I died on the final stage of the last boss.
Jedi: Fallen Order is a game that I have fun with, but I took a bit of break from. Im not crazy about Souls games, and this kind of qualifies. But im committed to beating this one, so hopefully I'll continue to chip away at it.
Heroes of the Storm is a game that I played loads of back when it was still getting updated, but I took a break from it when Blizzard announced that they were winding down the update cadence. Going back to it is weird, because a lot of it is nostalgia, some of it is new to me, and then a lot of it relearning the intricacies of the game. Its still really fun with friends.
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@Worgen, @CriticalGaming, @laggyteabag, and @Dalisclock, i did something I thought I would never do in a long time......
I got a Call of Duty game. There is a buy two, get one free at my local Gamestop currently. I got the Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection, Pac-Man Collection, and Infinite Warfare. All PS4 version. IW is the one that ended up being free. I know at least 3 our of the 4 you praised this game for being one of the more unique single player campaigns and there being actual passion behind it. So I'm gonna give it a shot. It's already installing right now. I heard the zombies mode is pretty fun too, and it comes with the base game.
I got a Call of Duty game. There is a buy two, get one free at my local Gamestop currently. I got the Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection, Pac-Man Collection, and Infinite Warfare. All PS4 version. IW is the one that ended up being free. I know at least 3 our of the 4 you praised this game for being one of the more unique single player campaigns and there being actual passion behind it. So I'm gonna give it a shot. It's already installing right now. I heard the zombies mode is pretty fun too, and it comes with the base game.
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- Apr 1, 2009
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- Whatever, just wash your hands.
I look forward to hearing your reports. It was pretty cool, but still flawed like almost all COD games are, aside from 4, that one really is legit top tier, even though other ones feel better to play.
I finished Minishoot Adventures. 100% even, which I usually don't bother with unless I'm really enjoying the game. Not a long game, completion took about 10-11 hours. Fun ending too because the story of the game is that the BBEG is actually your predecessor who was corrupted from all the power it accrued. The same way you accrued power. It's not explicitly stated, but it might be cyclical. So the true ending is you going before what is essentially god and agreeing to surrender your power, thereby preventing the corruption, but also deleting your existence forever. Somewhat literally, because getting the true ending deletes your savefile.
I just finished the first real mission in the game....
Holy shit, this is actually good! It's still COD, but Infinity Ward actual adds variety with weapon load outs and mission structure with no one-time gameplay mechanics nor gimmick sections. It makes me wish Infinite Warfare wasn't a COD game. I know I am still early in, but I have a feeling I am going to be enjoying this a lot. I have not had this much excitement for a COD title since MW2 (2009).
I do have thank you all who recommend this to me back in 2023. @Worgen, @Dalisclock, @laggyteabag.
@Worgen, I do owe you an apology on this. I still won't be interested in the other COD games, but this is one of the other few cover shooters that will be in my gaming library for a long time.
The world, universe, and plot structure reminds me of Gundam of all things, but without the actual Gundams. I bet some or most of the devs of this game are Gundam fans.
- Apr 1, 2009
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Glad you're enjoying it. I would still also recommend COD4 because its got a really tight not stupid story, some spectacular set pieces and it is capable of handling events with the weight they should have. Its not cartoony like mw2 and 3, doesn't go overboard by making you some super special agent like the blops series and its not more ww2 tripe.
... Although blops 2 does have one of my favorite events in a cod game, where you play the villain and your sister was killed so you are running around screaming with a manchette to take out the guys who did it. Its kinda hilarious.
I already know COD4 is great and still holds up well. I don't have my 360 copy anymore and sold it years ago. If I do ever come back to it, I will buy the remaster version on sale, or find a used copy.
- Apr 1, 2009
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- Whatever, just wash your hands.
The 2017 remaster was pretty good. All it was missing was some multi stuff, like hosted servers and player counts larger then 12. Back in the day I used to play on like 30 player servers, it was a ton of fun multi, especially on smaller maps.
While sad, I am not bothered much because I don't care for FPS multiplayer. So if I ever get this game, it will be for the single player, arcade mode, and nothing else. Amazon has the game for PS4 at $24.99.
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- Apr 1, 2009
- 16,495
- 5,094
- 118
- Gender
- Whatever, just wash your hands.
Yeah, I wouldn't get a cod game past the current one if you are looking or multi. You might be able to find a team death match but that would probably be it. Generally while in the past I spent much more time on the multi, I tend to play them for their silly bombastic single players. Its on sale on steam right now for $20.
I'm amazed there's still enough people to get a queue going.
Favorite moba by far, I wonder if at this point being part of blizzard isn't hurting it more than its helping. Although moba are very much past their prime at this point, so it probably wouldn't matter.
Played quite a few more new (to us) Jackbox games with my friend group since the last time I posted about it, so I'll cover them by the pack numbers. Only one person has to buy them for your whole friend group to play together, so they're all pretty accessible.
Pack 1:
-You Don't Know Jack 2015 is still kinda hard to play over a stream, but it's at least funny in its setups more often than not.
-Fibbage is done better in later packs. When the questions are similar, presentation is everything.
-Drawful's a lot of fun in every variation, and this one still has some advantages to it, but probably not enough to make the pack worth buying.
Overall evaulation: Probably not worth it at full price, but there's some good times to be had.
Pack 4:
-Fibbage 3 is the one that's done better.
-Survive the Internet is hilarious and potentially a pack-seller. If you ever played an 'edit your question' game on a forum with a longer edit window than Escapist V2, you'll probably have a good time here.
Overall evaluation: It's early to say, but I think I picked a winner even with just those two.
Pack 5:
-You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream is much easier to play than 2015, but losing the 'episode' format comes with some downsides, but mostly positives. A good time if you're good enough at trivia to figure out what the questions are actually asking.
-Mad Verse City is great if your friends are creative enough to get their lines ready, because the game is not shy about blatantly ruining your verse if you don't hit submit in time. But hey, even a face-fault can be funny if you put enough effort into it.
-Patently Stupid is very funny as long as your friends are at least decent at stand-up; without that aspect, it loses a lot of value.
Overall evaluation: Depends on your friends, but it's worth a shot.
Pack 6:
-Trivia Murder Party 2 is one of the best games Jackbox has ever made. Good question difficulty, the minigames are pretty fun, it's not so punishing that non-trivia players can't pull out a win, and the tropey horror parody setting ties the whole package together neatly.
-Joke Boat is another one where you have to do stand-up, so it depends how well your friends can tell a joke. Or come up with one on the spot. Less room for face-faults than MVC, so a bit more niche.
-Dictionarium is pretty breezy fun; there isn't a lot of 'meat' to it, but it's a good palate-cleanser between rounds of other games.
-Push the Button is my least favorite of what I've played; while there's probably some pretty deep strategy to it, the process of figuring it out is one that I just don't have any fun whatsoever with. Even one screw-up can leave people side-eyeing you for no reason, leaving the aliens to run away with a free win. But hey, that's just my opinion - and by that I mean that every other person I've asked, including my other friends, loves it.
Overall evaluation: TMP2 is worth it at full price. Everything else is cream on top. Except Push the Button. For fuck's sake, don't say I'm sus just because I said I don't like PTB.
Pack 7:
-Quiplash 3 is probably the most 'freeform' writing game, which makes it both easier and harder to make funny statements happen. Love the claymation aesthetic and Schmitty as the host, though.
-Talking Points is a presentation game. Can your friends hack it? If so, great. If not, might be a skip.
-Blather Round is fun enough, like Dictionarium it's not especially involved so it's easy to work into a game night.
-Champ'd Up is another near-perfect title. With more in-depth drawing tools than the other drawing games and a simple-yet-brilliant setup that makes every matchup funny, this one's an instant classic.
Overall evaluation: I'd say this is the best value-for-money pack that I've played in terms of games that are a hit in my group. There may be individual games that are better, but with Champ'd Up this one's got a home-run slugger, and multiple 'slap hitters' to continue the baseball metaphor. What I'm saying is, if you only want to get one, you can do a hell of a lot worse than Pack 7.
Pack 8:
-Job Job is the most fun of the writing games I've played, with another setup that's easy to understand and easy to make funny responses out of. Also, M. Bubbles is easily a top three host.
-The Wheel of Enormous Proportions is a bit divisive. If you're not super into trivia, then the Wheel means that being the best trivia player doesn't mean you'll always win, but if you want to take it seriously then you might find that too much of the scoring doesn't come from answering questions. Anyway, I like it.
-Drawful Animate is like Drawful. That means it's good.
-Poll Mine didn't grab me. (Still better than Push the Button.)
-Weapons Drawn is another game that probably takes more than one game to figure out. I enjoyed it a lot more than PTB in the learning phase, but my group's not so into it, so we probably aren't going to play it again. Too bad.
Overall evaluation: Another 'get it for this one' pack, with Job Job being that one.
Pack 1:
-You Don't Know Jack 2015 is still kinda hard to play over a stream, but it's at least funny in its setups more often than not.
-Fibbage is done better in later packs. When the questions are similar, presentation is everything.
-Drawful's a lot of fun in every variation, and this one still has some advantages to it, but probably not enough to make the pack worth buying.
Overall evaulation: Probably not worth it at full price, but there's some good times to be had.
Pack 4:
-Fibbage 3 is the one that's done better.
-Survive the Internet is hilarious and potentially a pack-seller. If you ever played an 'edit your question' game on a forum with a longer edit window than Escapist V2, you'll probably have a good time here.
Overall evaluation: It's early to say, but I think I picked a winner even with just those two.
Pack 5:
-You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream is much easier to play than 2015, but losing the 'episode' format comes with some downsides, but mostly positives. A good time if you're good enough at trivia to figure out what the questions are actually asking.
-Mad Verse City is great if your friends are creative enough to get their lines ready, because the game is not shy about blatantly ruining your verse if you don't hit submit in time. But hey, even a face-fault can be funny if you put enough effort into it.
-Patently Stupid is very funny as long as your friends are at least decent at stand-up; without that aspect, it loses a lot of value.
Overall evaluation: Depends on your friends, but it's worth a shot.
Pack 6:
-Trivia Murder Party 2 is one of the best games Jackbox has ever made. Good question difficulty, the minigames are pretty fun, it's not so punishing that non-trivia players can't pull out a win, and the tropey horror parody setting ties the whole package together neatly.
-Joke Boat is another one where you have to do stand-up, so it depends how well your friends can tell a joke. Or come up with one on the spot. Less room for face-faults than MVC, so a bit more niche.
-Dictionarium is pretty breezy fun; there isn't a lot of 'meat' to it, but it's a good palate-cleanser between rounds of other games.
-Push the Button is my least favorite of what I've played; while there's probably some pretty deep strategy to it, the process of figuring it out is one that I just don't have any fun whatsoever with. Even one screw-up can leave people side-eyeing you for no reason, leaving the aliens to run away with a free win. But hey, that's just my opinion - and by that I mean that every other person I've asked, including my other friends, loves it.
Overall evaluation: TMP2 is worth it at full price. Everything else is cream on top. Except Push the Button. For fuck's sake, don't say I'm sus just because I said I don't like PTB.
Pack 7:
-Quiplash 3 is probably the most 'freeform' writing game, which makes it both easier and harder to make funny statements happen. Love the claymation aesthetic and Schmitty as the host, though.
-Talking Points is a presentation game. Can your friends hack it? If so, great. If not, might be a skip.
-Blather Round is fun enough, like Dictionarium it's not especially involved so it's easy to work into a game night.
-Champ'd Up is another near-perfect title. With more in-depth drawing tools than the other drawing games and a simple-yet-brilliant setup that makes every matchup funny, this one's an instant classic.
Overall evaluation: I'd say this is the best value-for-money pack that I've played in terms of games that are a hit in my group. There may be individual games that are better, but with Champ'd Up this one's got a home-run slugger, and multiple 'slap hitters' to continue the baseball metaphor. What I'm saying is, if you only want to get one, you can do a hell of a lot worse than Pack 7.
Pack 8:
-Job Job is the most fun of the writing games I've played, with another setup that's easy to understand and easy to make funny responses out of. Also, M. Bubbles is easily a top three host.
-The Wheel of Enormous Proportions is a bit divisive. If you're not super into trivia, then the Wheel means that being the best trivia player doesn't mean you'll always win, but if you want to take it seriously then you might find that too much of the scoring doesn't come from answering questions. Anyway, I like it.
-Drawful Animate is like Drawful. That means it's good.
-Poll Mine didn't grab me. (Still better than Push the Button.)
-Weapons Drawn is another game that probably takes more than one game to figure out. I enjoyed it a lot more than PTB in the learning phase, but my group's not so into it, so we probably aren't going to play it again. Too bad.
Overall evaluation: Another 'get it for this one' pack, with Job Job being that one.