What are you currently playing?

[The Rogue Wolf]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Shadow of Chornobyl

There's a lot to like about this. It feels a little bit like what they probably wanted to do with the originals, except the hardware wasn't up to their vision back then. It is in ways quite a retro experience, in the sense it picks up much where they left off in just about every way - same stuff there. Massive open-world, loads to visit and do. Core mechanics work mostly okay. I do object to a lot of the vegetation, which comprehensively blocks your view but not, apparently, your opponents'.

On the downside, it's buggy as f***, although patches are gradually squashing them. Traversing is also a pain: it has an auto-journey between certain bases (for an annoying fee), but you spend ages hoofing it over the terrain anyway, and given the size of the game it gets old. Especially if you're trying to cart some stuff back to sell for an upgrade, and moving at a fractional speed. It also regularly chucks some mean opponents at you (hell, there's one in the tutorial / prologue, just to emphasise the misery) so expect to die a lot. Although, honestly, I think the single biggest cause of death I've had is falling too far, because it's less tolerant of falling distance than many games.

As huge a fan as I am of the STALKER franchise, I'm not putting money down on this until it's fixed, especially the "A-Life" system that made the original games so interesting. I'm past the point where I'll throw that kind of money at a game to put up with jank.

 

[BrawlMan]

I finished my Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered Legion Hunter NG+ playthrough. After finishing four playthroughs, I still say this game holds up well. The game holds up even better now, because it has the New Game+, extra costumes, and runs at a solid 60 fps (30 fps on Switch) on 9th gen consoles and PC. You may only get three weapons, but it does not meant the game lacks weapon variety. Your 3 weapons: a pistol, shotgun, and later machine gun evolve over time after beating bosses and that number goes from three to technically 6 by the end of the game. The Boner can make charge sticky grenades, The Theether later gets a multi lock-on, and the Skullcushoner is a shotgun that later becomes a grenade launcher. Add in the NG+ and you'll have a great time.

What is even better is the game has good enemy variety and boss encounters to keep things interesting. It will make you use every tool in the book and creatively too. I like games that make sure every weapons has their use without being too situational, nor having one weapon be too overpowered. The final boss does this perfectly. Shadows enemy roster is not as big as RE4's nor RE5's, but the game does varied encounters and mixes and matches enemies the right way for it not to be frustrating and annoying. Garcia can move and shoot at the same time and a has the best quick turn ever. He can stun enemies with a light shot and go in for a melee prompt kill when lesser demons are stunned. He can shoot off limbs and he can even stomp enemies for extra gems and a finishing stomp. He even has a button prompt if he is ever melee attacked from behind. Those that is only for human sized demons only.

Puzzles are simple, but creative to not be too time wasting nor annoying. Especially when you're in one of the final chapters. This game has actual better puzzles than the puzzles found in RE4, RE5, or RE4R. The only thing I still dislike about the game are the Big Boner sections. You have to do three of them back to back, and they increasingly get harder. The first two sections are easy enough, but that third section can be a pain, and all of these sections are one hit and you're dead. Not helping matters is that the Giant Demons you face are mostly randomly spawned and you have to be on top fast. You're almost always guaranteed to die once on the third Big Boner section or force a restart checkpoint. The SHMUP sections are a nice diversion, and don't take up too much of your time. You have to do three of these as well, but not back to back.

Great game, and I still love it more than RE4 and RE5. RE5 still has better bonuses and bonus modes though.

 

[Ezekiel]

"Take me outside," she said.

Worst maiden ever.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

More of The Stanley Parable.

I like how the game acknowledges your previous sessions, but I’m not sure how far this extends. I’m at a part where the “new content” door opens (guessing this is only for the “Ultra Deluxe” edition), and also went through a comical hall of greatest memories stored by the narrator. The bit of self deprecation via bad Steam reviews was probably the most entertaining fourth wall break yet.

 

[Gordon_4]

So since I got a PS5, I decided I'd get Forspoken since a used copy - and the game has no DLC to speak of - is like $15.

Now, I'd probably be disappointed if I'd paid full price for the game but had it been released at a lower base price then yeah, game is fine. A bit slow to start, but otherwise its movement mechanics and combat system are great and while I'm in a minority, I think the banter Frey has with Cuff is really funny. Kind of reminds me of Tony and JARVIS in the Iron Man movies.

I'm up to chapter 3 and the plot proper is just sort of kicking off and, yeah, I'm invested. I tell you something, the game is not shy about visiting violence on Frey. She gets punched full force by the gang at the beginning and the guards when she arrives in Athia just full on wallop her with their spears when she arcs up.

So far I'd call it a worthwhile game, but not at a full Triple A price, that was taking the piss.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Nine Sols, AKA Master the Mechanics or Fuck Off.

It's a pretty good game (when it's not crashing). I like the style (when it's not crashing) and the story (when it's not crashing), which is a bit more personal variation of the usual nonsense, in that characters have a shared history and conflicting dynamics and a personal relationship with the world they inhabit. There's a bit more flair to characters than being merely bosses and NPCs, and it's nice playing a character with a defined name/face/voice/personality instead of the usual nameless faceless voiceless puppet from Hollow Knight and Dead Cells and Blasphemous. I guess you kinda have to if you're doing a revenge plot.

The big thing is the combat, which I'm told is best described as 2D Sekiro (I haven't played Sekiro). Basically you die in 2-3 hits from everything for the duration of the game, and attacking merely chips most enemy health bars. What you're supposed to do is parry every attack to build up munition for an evasive attack where you tag an enemy and explode them seconds later, omae wa mou shindeiru style. Complicating things further, some attacks you cannot parry, and others you can only parry by standing still and holding/releasing a button as opposed to merely tapping it while moving.

Every boss is fairly intimidating regardless of whether you ace it quickly or spend hours cracking the matrix. But the biggest brick wall so far was the first boss, simply because I wasn't employing every aspect of the combat system the way the game forces you to. Conversely I had a very easy time with one of the famously most bullshit bosses of the game, Lady Ethereal, which has you depleting three health bars and fighting off anywhere between 3 to 7 clones simultaneously, only one of whom takes damage. It mostly comes down to learning to dance around their attacks and being able to read what's the one window for attack you're allowed.

 

[meiam]

Played some marvel rival. Its really just overwatch.

They added destructible environment so thats kinda neat, and the level have a bit more dynamism to them with wall moving and stuff.

But it really is just overwatch.

Not a video game, but played some spirit island with a group of friend. Fun game, but its a really tough game, we can do base game without too much problem but adding any of the optional scenario or adversary at anything other than base level really make things tough. I have no idea how people play that at high level.

 

[Ezekiel]

Took me much too long to figure out this final puzzle in the ice dungeon. But it was smart. Have to activate the barrier switch in the other room again, go back upstairs, go around a few rooms, back downstairs, then upstairs again and then (with the barriers that you switched earlier down) drop a block that only moves one space down into this room, allowing you to keep the button depressed. Nice dungeon. Deeper and deeper underground, eight floors used creatively.

 

[BrawlMan]

Bare Knuckle III English Patch (Streets of Rage 3) - The Japanese version of the butchered 3. Still a great game and I appreciate the dash and dodge roll mechanics. Playing as Axel.

I did som more MvC1EX and played as Captain Commando and Mega Man. I ended the last boss with MM, so I could get his extra move.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

The passive skill tree is still daunting. But you can use gold (dropped money) to respect it, it does seem like point by point, but so far its only like 100 gold per point. Your skill build seems a bit more permanent at least temporarily, skill orbs will just drop from chests or normal enemies, on top of being quest rewards so even if you choose the wrong skill (grenade as first skill for merc is kinda rough) You won't be stuck only having it for long. As to if you will like it... hmm, well, you can play it as a normal arpg with the mouse click move and such, but you can also do wasd and play it more like a twin stick shooter. The bosses are like dark souls bosses, you have to dodge and weave and dodge to avoid damage cause they will kill you. But I'm enjoying it, I would watch some streams of it to get a better idea if you think its for you.

Thank you.

You mention kb+m, am I being daft to assume this could be played with a controller? I do the PC-as-a-console thing.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Took me much too long to figure out this final puzzle in the ice dungeon. But it was smart. Have to activate the barrier switch in the other room again, go back upstairs, go around a few rooms, back downstairs, then upstairs again and then (with the barriers that you switched earlier down) drop a block that only moves one space down into this room, allowing you to keep the button depressed. Nice dungeon. Deeper and deeper underground, eight floors used creatively.

You know... I'm not normally one for video game nostalgia. But goddamn if this didn't trigger all sorts of feels.
My god did/do I love this game.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

... I think the banter Frey has with Cuff is really funny. Kind of reminds me of Tony and JARVIS in the Iron Man movies.

Oh I didn't know this was merged with the 'hot takes" thread.

But yeah that whole internet gamr reaction was way exaggerated. Game is fine and $15 to go through the story is fair (post-story game wasn't worth it IMO).

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Nine Sols, AKA Master the Mechanics or Fuck Off.

It's a pretty good game (when it's not crashing). I like the style (when it's not crashing) and the story (when it's not crashing), which is a bit more personal variation of the usual nonsense, in that characters have a shared history and conflicting dynamics and a personal relationship with the world they inhabit. There's a bit more flair to characters than being merely bosses and NPCs, and it's nice playing a character with a defined name/face/voice/personality instead of the usual nameless faceless voiceless puppet from Hollow Knight and Dead Cells and Blasphemous. I guess you kinda have to if you're doing a revenge plot.

The big thing is the combat, which I'm told is best described as 2D Sekiro (I haven't played Sekiro). Basically you die in 2-3 hits from everything for the duration of the game, and attacking merely chips most enemy health bars. What you're supposed to do is parry every attack to build up munition for an evasive attack where you tag an enemy and explode them seconds later, omae wa mou shindeiru style. Complicating things further, some attacks you cannot parry, and others you can only parry by standing still and holding/releasing a button as opposed to merely tapping it while moving.

Every boss is fairly intimidating regardless of whether you ace it quickly or spend hours cracking the matrix. But the biggest brick wall so far was the first boss, simply because I wasn't employing every aspect of the combat system the way the game forces you to. Conversely I had a very easy time with one of the famously most bullshit bosses of the game, Lady Ethereal, which has you depleting three health bars and fighting off anywhere between 3 to 7 clones simultaneously, only one of whom takes damage. It mostly comes down to learning to dance around their attacks and being able to read what's the one window for attack you're allowed.

Odd I didn't see a lot of talk of crashing in the reviews- some folks really loving this one. I'm on the fence about it, I'm just weary/wary of dealing with multi-phase tough boss fights at this point.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Nine Sols, AKA Master the Mechanics or Fuck Off.

It's a pretty good game (when it's not crashing). I like the style (when it's not crashing) and the story (when it's not crashing), which is a bit more personal variation of the usual nonsense, in that characters have a shared history and conflicting dynamics and a personal relationship with the world they inhabit. There's a bit more flair to characters than being merely bosses and NPCs, and it's nice playing a character with a defined name/face/voice/personality instead of the usual nameless faceless voiceless puppet from Hollow Knight and Dead Cells and Blasphemous. I guess you kinda have to if you're doing a revenge plot.

The big thing is the combat, which I'm told is best described as 2D Sekiro (I haven't played Sekiro). Basically you die in 2-3 hits from everything for the duration of the game, and attacking merely chips most enemy health bars. What you're supposed to do is parry every attack to build up munition for an evasive attack where you tag an enemy and explode them seconds later, omae wa mou shindeiru style. Complicating things further, some attacks you cannot parry, and others you can only parry by standing still and holding/releasing a button as opposed to merely tapping it while moving.

Every boss is fairly intimidating regardless of whether you ace it quickly or spend hours cracking the matrix. But the biggest brick wall so far was the first boss, simply because I wasn't employing every aspect of the combat system the way the game forces you to. Conversely I had a very easy time with one of the famously most bullshit bosses of the game, Lady Ethereal, which has you depleting three health bars and fighting off anywhere between 3 to 7 clones simultaneously, only one of whom takes damage. It mostly comes down to learning to dance around their attacks and being able to read what's the one window for attack you're allowed.

That parry bs and lopsided damage system sounds kinda like if Sekiro had a Lies of P Soulslike and they sprinkled some Lords of the Fallen in for good measure. Sekiro is more action based than any other FROM game (barring AC6) and while there are various assists available, it’s still very much a “live by the sword” experience. Basically could be surmised as a rhythm game with some rock-paper-scissors here and there, and the reward for learning each main encounter is dealing death blows. There’s also a “Lady” named boss there with spirit clones and beating her was what made the game click for me (that kinda sounds bad but yeah).

 

[Worgen]

Thank you.

You mention kb+m, am I being daft to assume this could be played with a controller? I do the PC-as-a-console thing.

Seems to work pretty well with a controller if you go that route. I've been playing it wasd with mouse, for the pc you can also just it with just mouse movement, click to move and attack and even that feels good.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Odd I didn't see a lot of talk of crashing in the reviews- some folks really loving this one. I'm on the fence about it, I'm just weary/wary of dealing with multi-phase tough boss fights at this point.

Because the crashing is endemic to the PS4/PS5 ports that came out a few weeks ago. On launch the game would crash during area transitions, and after a patch the crashing would happen instead (and less frequently) when opening the map or quitting to menu. I'm not there yet but apparently the game would also crash after picking the "true" ending and beating the final boss.

Actually this morning the devs released a second patch that appears to have finally fixed things, knock on wood.

And yeah, every boss except one has at least two (sometimes three) health bars total. If you didn't like Hollow Knight's Mantis Lords avoid Nine Sols like it's neighboring Chernobyl.

 

[Dreiko]

Played some marvel rival. Its really just overwatch.

They added destructible environment so thats kinda neat, and the level have a bit more dynamism to them with wall moving and stuff.

But it really is just overwatch.

Not a video game, but played some spirit island with a group of friend. Fun game, but its a really tough game, we can do base game without too much problem but adding any of the optional scenario or adversary at anything other than base level really make things tough. I have no idea how people play that at high level.

I'm about to try it, I'm not super good at these kinds of games but this one has a really cool aesthetic so I have to give it a shot, and it's free so why not I guess haha.

I'm sure you would have to practice a bunch to do competitive things, like in fighting games if you're brand new it takes a month to adapt. Here it may be a bit less but the game just came out a couple of days ago so it's definitely not enough time. And if it's a team game too you need everyone to be good, even just 1 person sucking can bring the whole team down.

 

[Trunkage]

Not a video game, but played some spirit island with a group of friend. Fun game, but its a really tough game, we can do base game without too much problem but adding any of the optional scenario or adversary at anything other than base level really make things tough. I have no idea how people play that at high level.

A great game that is so heavy it deletes the one major flaw of coop games - the Alpha Gamer. I've played it a few times, I think on a difficulty higher than base. It's a puzzle but it also forewarns you about what's going to be attacked next so you have three turns before that area becomes a problem. It feels like playing Into the Breach where your one turn needs to affect three (this turn and two future ones)

 

[Ezekiel]

I guess accessing maiden dungeon 6 is my last major obstacle. Already entered maiden dungeon 7 but didn't have the required magic item that's presumably in dungeon 6. No idea how to get through the wall on the east side of the number 6 area in the dark world. Fighting the temptation to look up the solution, but getting bored with this literal brick wall.

Fifteen and a half hearts. Two bottles.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I guess accessing maiden dungeon 6 is my last major obstacle. Already entered maiden dungeon 7 but didn't have the required magic item that's presumably in dungeon 6. No idea how to get through the wall on the east side of the number 6 area in the dark world. Fighting the temptation to look up the solution, but getting bored with this literal brick wall.

Here's a hint, if you decide you need one: If you can't get there from the Dark World, maybe you can get there from the Light World?