What are you currently playing?

[FakeSympathy]

I am now 4.5 hrs into SH2 Remake. Just got past the Blue Creek Apartment. I actually can't believe I am glad to be back outside, finally being done with that creepy apartment.

And wow, I am thoroughly impressed. It's a horror game that makes me feel uncomfortable. I haven't gotten this feeling since Alien Isolation. Holy shit they nailed the atmosphere. It indeed feels like a town whose people just vanished. Or did this town never had anyone to begin with?

Barely any jump scares, and the outdoor areas are fairly bright, but the game is so atmospheric I always feel something is going to go terribly wrong in any moments. The sound effects really helps.

The combat does feel awkward, especially when I'm switching between the wooden plank and pistol, but I think it makes sense. Unlike Resident Evil games, James isn't a soldier or a combatant who had training with various weapons; He is your typical average man looking for his wife. I don't think he ever used a weapon or learned any combat moves. Not having weapon upgrades also makes this game truly feels like a survivor-horror, where the ammunition is limited and melee attacks can be a a hassle to pull off.

 

[BrawlMan]

The combat does feel awkward, especially when I'm switching between the wooden plank and pistol, but I think it makes sense. Unlike Resident Evil games, James isn't a soldier or a combatant who had training with various weapons; He is your typical average man looking for his wife. I don't think he ever used a weapon or learned any combat moves. Not having weapon upgrades also makes this game truly feels like a survivor-horror, where the ammunition is limited and melee attacks can be a a hassle to pull off.

It's awkward at first, but you'll get used to it. James surprisingly has lots of invincibility frames with his dodges.

 

[Ezekiel]

Found some more magnum ammo right before finishing the cistern, which makes me more disappointed about the Magnum pistols that I never found.

Yeah, looks like I'll be able to add this to my list of finished games before the year ends, if I really plug away at it my next weekend.

 

[Worgen]

Beat Starcom: Unknown Space. So yeah, its really good. I think Starcontrol 2 is better, but Starcom plays better since it came out after the dos era. Anyway Starcom is a top down space exploration/combat game where you explore an unknown universe and gradually improve your ship, find and solve mysteries and meet alien species and either trade or fight with them. The exploration is great, planets will have interesting blurbs when you send down a craft and your crew will also comment on new discoveries and events which is fun. Combat is also great, its satisfying to blow pieces of enemies ships off and eventually cause a catastrophic meltdown resulting in a huge explosion. The difficulty on normal is kinda easy, but it will pit you up against pretty bad odds at times, usually you can still win those fights, or just run away, your call.

Really I would say the weakest aspect of the game and why I like Starcontrol 2 better is the aliens. The aliens in Starcom are good, but have no where near as much personality as I would like. You can usually ask them a few questions and then unless you have a quest line involving them, trade and thats kinda it. I wish there was much more fluff text from them, what we have in game is functional but lacking to me. Like there is enough there to work, but not enough to feel fleshed out.

Either way, highly recommend if you think you want a game more focused on exploration. Took me about 30 hours to beat.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Arma Reforged, basically console edition for first time, but on new engine? I remember hearing the old version was buggy as hell, so surely an engine change after all these years would be done to yield a superior performance, right? Having not played the original, am unable to confirm that, but can say for sure this game is struggling in its current form, a vast weight of omnipresent resistance against every move I make as if depression were the cement holding this game together. Casually sprinting or turning or turning while sprinting causes screen rips like cronenbergian flesh desperately tearing away from dead exoskeleton of previous physical state. Patches and skin graphs needed.

Have to credit the extensive options, especially being able to rebind the millions of moves to double taps, hold and taps, hold and double taps of seemingly any controller input. Was legit disappointed with dying light 2 afterwards cos of this silly detail - "but Arma let me assign these to a hold n double tap input....why can't you??"

 

[Chimpzy]

Found some more magnum ammo right before finishing the cistern, which makes me more disappointed about the Magnum pistols that I never found.

Yeah, looks like I'll be able to add this to my list of finished games before the year ends, if I really plug away at it my next weekend.

You have another 5 chances to find the Magnums. And 3 for the Uzis.

 

[Kyrian007]

Christmas sale pickup, Dave the Diver. Only 4 in-game days into it but this is really nice. Basically a spearfishing sidescroller by day and restaurant simulator by night. Surprisingly deep, but lets you pick things up at any pace you want. And a lovely undertone of Lovecraftian aquatic horror. A little like a 2d Subnatica, but instead of survival the goal is to make the best Sushi restaurant.

 

[meiam]

Beat Starcom: Unknown Space. So yeah, its really good. I think Starcontrol 2 is better, but Starcom plays better since it came out after the dos era. Anyway Starcom is a top down space exploration/combat game where you explore an unknown universe and gradually improve your ship, find and solve mysteries and meet alien species and either trade or fight with them. The exploration is great, planets will have interesting blurbs when you send down a craft and your crew will also comment on new discoveries and events which is fun. Combat is also great, its satisfying to blow pieces of enemies ships off and eventually cause a catastrophic meltdown resulting in a huge explosion. The difficulty on normal is kinda easy, but it will pit you up against pretty bad odds at times, usually you can still win those fights, or just run away, your call.

Really I would say the weakest aspect of the game and why I like Starcontrol 2 better is the aliens. The aliens in Starcom are good, but have no where near as much personality as I would like. You can usually ask them a few questions and then unless you have a quest line involving them, trade and thats kinda it. I wish there was much more fluff text from them, what we have in game is functional but lacking to me. Like there is enough there to work, but not enough to feel fleshed out.

Either way, highly recommend if you think you want a game more focused on exploration. Took me about 30 hours to beat.

I own nexus but never played it, any reason to pick unknown space over it?

 

[Worgen]

I own nexus but never played it, any reason to pick unknown space over it?

I haven't played Nexus, but from looking into it. The story in Nexus is better, but the gameplay improvements in Unknown Space make it feel much better to play. The two games are totally separate in terms of story so you don't have to play one before the other or anything like that. Its likely that Ill end up grabbing Nexus before the sale is over since I really really liked Unknown Space.

 

[Worgen]

Played some of the new games I got on the steam sale. These are all kinda first impressions.

Started with Lunistice, its a 3d platformer, its... fine. The graphics are colorful and nice, the platforming is... not hard but its the kind that is annoying since judging your jumps is kinda weird from the view you are locked into. Its also got this really weird narrative that seems really out of place with the colorful graphics.

Next is Extraneum, its a fps done in what I consider the style of Wolfenstein since its pretty much just on a flat plain with no real elevation. Its pretty good, graphics are kinda overly cutesy but the gameplay is decent and there are lots of secrets which are easy to miss but you can go back to earlier levels and find them. I kinda like it.

Azure Striker Gunvolt. I've kinda been meaning to get this forever, its very anime, but pretty neat. Kinda setup like the old megaman games where you choose the boss you are going for. Gameplay is side scrolling action, you mark enemies with your gun then use your lighting power to take them out. You can feel that it comes from the nintendo DS or 3ds. The font is too big and the screen is a bit too zoomed in like it was originally made for a much smaller screen, but its fine. Curious where it goes, especially since there are like 7 more games in this series.

Final one of the new ones I got that I played is Atlyss. My initial impression was kinda ehh. The character creator is nice but the colors are mostly garish, but that was mostly the case with the bird guy I made, the other species colors seemed to work better. Character design is lightly horny and thick, but no h content here. Gameplay is 3rd person dungeon crawling and initially I was put off by how sensitive the camera was and how things felt, but after playing for a bit... I think its kinda grabbed me. Its still early access so I won't be playing a ton of it, but I think I really want to play more and see whats up with it.

 

[BrawlMan]

I finally played some Astro Bot yesterday. Great platformer.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Finished Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow in the Dominus Collection. I liked it a lot, though I still give the edge to Aria as my favorite Castlevania. Aria has a better story and less required grinding for souls, since you don't need them to upgrade your weapons and fewer are hard-required for story progression. Dawn's improvements to the combat system (not least Doppelganger) and the graphical glow-up are great additions, however, and it's definitely worth playing - just play Aria first so you don't get spoiled on the plot.

I also got a couple of finished runs (only on the lowest difficulty) in Shogun Showdown, another thing I picked up from the latest sale. I reviewed it a little bit in the other thread, but the short version is, if you like turn-based tactics games, give this one a shot even if you don't generally like deck-building games (because SS isn't one).

Black Myth Wukong has a pretty solid first impression, though in general I think it's a bit easier than the Souls games (not a strict negative). The 9th-gen graphics are very good (to be expected) and the story has an interesting enough hook. I didn't play much of it because I got stuck into Dawn of Sorrow instead.

Antonblast wasn't on sale, but I picked it up anyway because I've been meaning to since it came out earlier this month. It's so much fun to play, kinda like Pizza Tower except a little bit less frenetic most of the time. The combo meter being relegated to an optional side mode means there's a bit less pressure to perform well in normal gameplay, but that doesn't stop it from being pretty tough, especially in the boss fights. The game's aesthetic and energy are the big draw besides the gameplay, though, and again that's similar to Pizza Tower at the birds-eye view level, but totally different when you really get stuck into it.

Lastly, I got Call of Duty Black Ops 6 as a gift from a friend, though I haven't started it yet. Mostly we're planning to do co-op Zombies once I finish the campaign; Warzone and the competitive multiplayer aren't my scene. Yeah, I know, there's a lot of crap surrounding it, but it's hard to have a bad time shooting zombies together with your best friend. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many movies about that concept.

 

[BrawlMan]

Maiden Cops - The game is a decent brawler, and it's basically Streets of Rage Remake with big tittied monster police girls fighting other monster girls. MC even does the thing from SORR where you can buy items from the shop after completing the game. From costumes, art, and the soundtrack. The game has got cool combo mechanics and expects you to block/parry more often than most other brawlers.

My only problem with the game is that the enemies can feel cheap at times, unless you're already know what they're going to do. Bosses are only a pain, because they constantly have two mooks or more backing them up. Get this game on sale, if you're curious, but be warned, there is not much gameplay modes. Just story mode, and arcade mode being much harder.

 

[Ezekiel]

Switched to keyboard for Tomb Raider, like I played through Tomb Raider II in 2017. Analog stick was messing my jumps up too much, and my 8BitDo Ultimate has a crappy D-pad in an awkward spot. My RetroFighters Defender has a better D-pad in the right spot, but L1 and R1 are too thin. I think the designers of the original DualShock saw the sticks as secondary, believed players' thumbs would be more on the D-pad. It wasn't about making the sticks symmetrical.

Finding keyboard awkward as hell, though. I wonder why the remastered Tomb Raider doesn't wanna read the D-pad on my M30 Mega Drive style controller.

 

[Worgen]

Beat Azure Striker Gunvolt. Overall, pretty good, it starts out rather easy but has a pretty sudden difficulty spike near the end, but it just really means you have to actually learn how to play it instead of just bumbling around. The story is ok, not great but not bad. It does feel pretty good to play once you actually learn how to play it. Have the next 2 games in my cart.

 

[Agema]

Stoneshard

Stoneshard is an early access roguelike. For an indy game, judging by number of reviews (and assuming 50 sales per review) it's already done good business. Controversially, it's been in EA for... over 4 years. And still needs a LOT of work. I will cut the devs some slack because some of that is because they're Ukrainian, got caught up in the invasion and had to relocate with months of delay, but even still. However, the basic mechanics thus far are actually really good - although in my view still need some balancing. And a chunk of the stuff actually implemented.

So a really major update arrived, and yes, it's added a chuffing great big chunk of gameplay, but in the end it's still an EA title missing a massive load of content. The big hope is that there are no more major gameplay updates, and the rest of the development will be relatively quick content additions. Although I would not be surprised if it were still in EA two years from now.