What are you currently playing?

[FakeSympathy]

Decided to take a break from Silent Hill 2, and play a little game called Diablo + Hellfire. First time playing too.

And this was a mistake. The game has taken over all my free time. The addicting gameplay loop keeps me going.

I watched the diablol cartoon series by Carbot on youtube before this, and now i finally get the references and jokes. It makes me appreciate the cartoon series and the game itself even more.

Compare to Diablo 4, the game certainly has technical limitations and QoL changes that are found in later games.But it also really contained and linear, and not bloated experience like diablo 4. It doesn’t make me traverse all over the open world, and asking me to venture further into hell. Not to mention, building my character is way more simpler, and don’t ask me to farm to particular gears or runes for hours.

But it’s also the most difficult diablo game. The stun locking that snaps me back into a position is a pain, and asking a warrior it can be really annoying to deal with ranged enemies. Especially at the deeper level where a firing squad might be waiting for me around the corner.

Not sure if i want to do nightmare and hell run, but im determined to finish this on normal

 

[Drathnoxis]

Decided to take a break from Silent Hill 2, and play a little game called Diablo + Hellfire. First time playing too.

And this was a mistake. The game has taken over all my free time. The addicting gameplay loop keeps me going.

I watched the diablol cartoon series by Carbot on youtube before this, and now i finally get the references and jokes. It makes me appreciate the cartoon series and the game itself even more.

Compare to Diablo 4, the game certainly has technical limitations and QoL changes that are found in later games.But it also really contained and linear, and not bloated experience like diablo 4. It doesn’t make me traverse all over the open world, and asking me to venture further into hell. Not to mention, building my character is way more simpler, and don’t ask me to farm to particular gears or runes for hours.

But it’s also the most difficult diablo game. The stun locking that snaps me back into a position is a pain, and asking a warrior it can be really annoying to deal with ranged enemies. Especially at the deeper level where a firing squad might be waiting for me around the corner.

Not sure if i want to do nightmare and hell run, but im determined to finish this on normal

Huh, I've played Diablo through a bunch of times but this is the first I've realized it had an expansion. I don't think Blizzard liked it very much because it wasn't included in the Diablo II battle chest I got when I was young.

 

[Worgen]

Huh, I've played Diablo through a bunch of times but this is the first I've realized it had an expansion. I don't think Blizzard liked it very much because it wasn't included in the Diablo II battle chest I got when I was young.

It wasn't made by Blizzard, it was made by Sierra and it always felt kinda off. Didn't feel as good as the base game.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Huh, I've played Diablo through a bunch of times but this is the first I've realized it had an expansion. I don't think Blizzard liked it very much because it wasn't included in the Diablo II battle chest I got when I was young.

It wasn't made by Blizzard, it was made by Sierra and it always felt kinda off. Didn't feel as good as the base game.

Yep, that about sums it. The additional mini dungeons are fun, but doesn't really fit into canon. It feels like it's an unnecessary addition to the lore, and atmosphere doesn't really seem to fit.

The expansion also adds "three" new classes; Monk, Bard, and Barbarian. Monk is the only one available from default and Bard and Barbarian you need to edit some game files. Monk is technically the only new class, because he has his own sprite and was the only class approved by Blizzard.

Bard and Barbarian were scrapped, because Bard was completely experimental and Barbarian was scrapped because Blizzard asked (demanded?) to be removed so it won't be confused with the class in Diablo 2.

Haven't played any of the classes myself, but it looks like Monk and Barb are ones that seem to be worth getting into

 

[Ezekiel]

Think it would be cool if in a new true Tomb Raider she was invulnerable to fire immediately after coming out of water, when you still see the wet effect on her skin. Jumping and running through, I mean.

Edit: Finished. It was brutal. Don't know how PlayStation players persisted with only the save crystals. Most traps you can predict and think about how to maneuver before proceeding, but a few, man... Better than Tomb Raider II? I can't remember.

4/5

 

[Worgen]

Been playing a bit of Super Alloy Rangers. Its kinda like megaman, but you have two characters to choose from, one ranged and one melee... so its like megaman x, at least one of them. Anyway, its got some really nice pixel art, a story that needed a better localization and even then wouldn't be that coherent and surprise difficulty. The first 4 or 5 stages were rather easy, but then the difficulty took a big spike, mainly a big spike in the platforming. Jumps became much more punishing and result in big damage since you aren't just jumping, you are also having to look out for enemy fire and the game does love to include wind that you have to watch out for at the same time. I would say that overall I am still enjoying it, mainly because of the fantastic art its got and pretty solid gameplay.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Got convinced by my friends to try Marvel Rivals.

It's pretty fun, but weirdly enough I feel like my awareness in 3rd person is somehow worse than my awareness in first person.

Anyway, after playing for 2 days I main Squirrel Girl and Magneto, and have currently only tried like 15% of the cast.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I killed Raphael in Baldur's Gate 3.

And I feel this will yield me more satisfaction than eventually killing the Elder Brain will. This smug prick has been sleezing around throughout the game acting like the biggest swinging dick G, and similar to Mizora, feeling like one of those antagonists that are going to remain untouchable for the entire runtime. They are full-on Devils after all, and they know and love that they're pulling the strings.

So for me to break into his fucking house, steal a bunch of his shit, kill his weirdo doppel concubine, and then kill him... *shivers* Lovely.

 

[BrawlMan]

I played Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on my PS4 and did an arcade run last night. I used Cyclops, Sakura, and Cable.

For tonight, I decided to cap off New Years and did an arcade run of Streets of Rage 4, on Hard Mode, using Adam Hunter.

 

[Casual Shinji]

This is in regards to Baldur's Gate 3, though it can apply just as well to many other RPG's, but there's really barely any consequence to being the noble good guy. As a perfect illustration; If you do some real evil shit some party members will leave your party (camp) completely, but no matter the noble acts some party members might disagree with (Lae'zel/Astarian), they'll never leave. (Not to my knowledge at least.)

Is it necessary for noble acts to have consequences? No, but there's an undercurrent to the world of BG3 of people suffering and feeling powerless to help others or themselves. Whenever you as the main character help people out of a dire situation the response is always 'Oh my god, I can't believe you'd do that for me/us', indicating how much I apparently risked by jumping into the fray for these people in need of help. But I didn't risk anything. I mean, it's a videogame, so actual risk is never an issue, but in the world of the game this risk really doesn't exist either. Me helping people (who actually need help) doesn't result in turning party members against me, regardless of how much they might disapprove, nor does it result in loss of time that could've been spent helping someone else or myself (finding a cure). I have the wind in my sails for every act of nobility the game might throw at me.

This has always been a bit of an annoyance for me, but it really stood out during the Iron Throne quest in BG3. In it you have to (well, have the choice to) save a bunch of prisoners from an underwater torture jail, but unlike most other heroic quests in the game this one had a bit more spice to it in the form of a ticking clock. You only get 6 turns to get these prisoners out of their cells and into the submersible you used to get here, before the place implodes. And completing it actually felt a bit triumphant after a good deal of tries getting it right.

It's the one time in this game that the path of least resistance wasn't also incredibly noble, because I could've just not bothered - I had no need for XP, money, or stronger items anymore by that point. Or I could've just saved the higher priority/narrative important prisoners and left everyone else to die to save time. Again, it's a game so no actual consequences, but I had to really put in the effort to be heroic, as opposed to most other instances where there's really nothing stopping me other than XP gain.

Very few games that give you that dialoge option of 'Don't worry, I'll help you' ever put anything in the balance for it.

 

[Worgen]

Grabbed one last steam sale game, a fps called Ripout. Its got some great ideas but I think might be held back by it being primarily designed around coop. The gunplay feels pretty good, story so far seems kinda interesting, not the best but functional. Some of the new systems it adds to fps are there are these little enemies running around that will jump on other enemies to give them additional abilities, but to counter this, you have a pet gun, like your primary weapon is this sentient gun that you can have jump on enemies and maul them. It can also grab those little enemies and attach them to you so you can use them for a bit. These mechanics are really cool. But everything feels a bit stiff, like using switches and how the story is laid out and what you do on your ship. It feels coop designed for good and bad. I feel like it would have been pretty awesome if they just focused on a nice solid single player experience. Cause the game also does random stage generation but also does a pretty good job with the atmosphere, there are weird random noises, vents and such will just blow open on their own, occasionally spawning monsters so you can't just pretend you didn't hear something. Its pretty cool, but I also only just started playing.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Wuthering Waves
Gotta admit these f2p gatcha games have kinda nailed the formula so many western games fail on: gameplay being more involved (initially at least) than just spamming your DPS move list against other groups of DPS move lists until loot or level up make DPS move list go marginally up. The waifu obsession may be holding them back though, not in the sense they shouldn't be there, is the opposite in fact: see, in pure business terms, they're limiting themselves to appeasing a far smaller pool of hormones than they could be baiting with. Just add more types of bait, throw in the other thirst traps across the spectrum of attraction like JoJo characters, the Furries, the milf lovers...hey, hey, yiu don't even have to take my word for it, gaze upon the majesty of supergiant's Hades! Stare longingly at it's metacritic score. Imagine being held by those luscious lines drawn by someone literally called Jen Zee. JenZ! GenZ is the future my dudes, the signs are all there for any budding paranoid schizophrenic! Study those character designs, there's ya homework for the week. Broaden your horizons, broaden your profits from horny whale customer/fans, simple. Garunteed, or you money back!

Other than that, seems alright so far. Heard there was boating so am mainly tunnel-visioned on investigating the one aspect. Otherwise is more flashy genshin/BotW style genre in this very early impression.

Oh wait, almost forgot the most important innovation, am such dumbass! A classic art sadly neglected by almost all live services and f2p products while bafflingly disposed of by more single-player titles every year, one could say it's technique's so old it transcends the genre, the medium, our generational lifespans and perhaps even physical reality itself.

It is

The mighty


BUT HUMBLE!



Ø Ö Õ Ô ° ^ * • ~ P - a - u - s - e --- B - u - t - t - o - n ~ • * ^ ° Ô Õ Ö Ø

omfg feels so good am pausing it right now just cos I can and nobody can stop me!​

 

[Ezekiel]

Got Tormented Souls for a dollar. Played it for an hour.


Amateurs...

Bad actress had her lines mixed too low under the music in the opening, and I kept thinking about that, so already I don't know why she went to this house.

Very bad voice actress. Why does she sound so happy? Weirdly excited, even as she says to herself, "And my eye had been removed. Why? Why would someone do such a thing?"

The model sucks. Face looks like a doll or anime girl or something surrounded by all the photorealism of the world. The outfit is stupid. So many dumb belts and this big silly bow tied in the back. Like how you'd dress up a doll. Can find outfits in environment, like looking cute is what she'd be concerned about after waking up naked with eye gone, because indie devs are coomers (or boys who wanted to play with dolls) who have to be reigned in by bosses. Have her immediately naked, but she finds her clothes right away, so just useless embarrassing fanservice. Jackets that short don't have hoods!

Have to use D-pad to move backwards (and it's only a pretty slow walk) because the devs did not play the original RE remake, they played the remaster that has the modern control scheme available where forward is not always walk forward and D-pad needs to be used to move backwards. Up not being forward means that as you come into a new camera angle you must keep holding the stick in the wrong direction to keep moving straight. Then when you let go and push in that same direction again she turns. No logic. Wasn't a problem in Metal Gear Solid trilogy because the areas were always in a sort of bird's eye view, with north always up, but you can't do this in very dense, slow paced games with more cinematic cam angles like classic Resident Evil.

The run looks weird, like she's running on air. Like she's happily trotting along. No weight in the animations.

The one NPC interaction so far just had both characters standing opposite each other with the cam fixed in one place, uninteresting compared to a cutscene.

Took me twenty minutes to figure out how to get out of the room, to realize that I was supposed to use the time on the stop watch for the packlock combination. But why? Stupid puzzle.

Why was I made to adjust the wrench before I could open the door with it? Everything is so manual. The amount of time that you're figuring out how to get out of a room, to get to the next place, randomly tapping the interact button on an environment where barely anything stands out, is dull, making the pacing far crappier than in the games it imitates.

"'Judith Beheading Holofernes.' Painted by Caravaggio in 1602. It depicts Judith beheading the Syrian general, Holofernes, in his tent, after charming him. The recreation of Caravaggio's work is outstanding! It almost looks like the original."

"'The Nightmare.' Painted by Henry Fuseli in 1781. It depicts a woman in deep sleep with a demonic incubus crouched on her chest. This recreation is amazing! It almost looks like the original."

Like this young woman would know this. Come on! Did the intro tell me she's an art student and I didn't pay attention because her voice was distractingly drowned out?

Nothing about this game is unsettling. First enemy was some decrepit guy with long claws in a wheelchair, first revealed with a cheap jump scare. It's all just weird, because the creators don't understand the subtlety of fear.

Boring. Fuck indie. But not all of them.

 

[meiam]

This is in regards to Baldur's Gate 3, though it can apply just as well to many other RPG's, but there's really barely any consequence to being the noble good guy. As a perfect illustration; If you do some real evil shit some party members will leave your party (camp) completely, but no matter the noble acts some party members might disagree with (Lae'zel/Astarian), they'll never leave. (Not to my knowledge at least.)

Is it necessary for noble acts to have consequences? No, but there's an undercurrent to the world of BG3 of people suffering and feeling powerless to help others or themselves. Whenever you as the main character help people out of a dire situation the response is always 'Oh my god, I can't believe you'd do that for me/us', indicating how much I apparently risked by jumping into the fray for these people in need of help. But I didn't risk anything. I mean, it's a videogame, so actual risk is never an issue, but in the world of the game this risk really doesn't exist either. Me helping people (who actually need help) doesn't result in turning party members against me, regardless of how much they might disapprove, nor does it result in loss of time that could've been spent helping someone else or myself (finding a cure). I have the wind in my sails for every act of nobility the game might throw at me.

This has always been a bit of an annoyance for me, but it really stood out during the Iron Throne quest in BG3. In it you have to (well, have the choice to) save a bunch of prisoners from an underwater torture jail, but unlike most other heroic quests in the game this one had a bit more spice to it in the form of a ticking clock. You only get 6 turns to get these prisoners out of their cells and into the submersible you used to get here, before the place implodes. And completing it actually felt a bit triumphant after a good deal of tries getting it right.

It's the one time in this game that the path of least resistance wasn't also incredibly noble, because I could've just not bothered - I had no need for XP, money, or stronger items anymore by that point. Or I could've just saved the higher priority/narrative important prisoners and left everyone else to die to save time. Again, it's a game so no actual consequences, but I had to really put in the effort to be heroic, as opposed to most other instances where there's really nothing stopping me other than XP gain.

Very few games that give you that dialoge option of 'Don't worry, I'll help you' ever put anything in the balance for it.

Well vast majority of people play good guy first and then only play bad guy if they're doing a re run, so it makes sense that they try not to cut content on good guy playtrough as much as possible.

It does lead to some weird interaction, like I just play rogue trader and you can recruit a character who is obviously evil, and love every second of it. Its very bizarre that your character just recruit them in the first place, but its even stranger that they stick around when you constantly deny them the opportunity to torture people (his race literally need to torture people).

 

[Ezekiel]

Finished Soulstice. Started last January. Standing on a platforming, fighting the giant boss who is out of reach, with teleport pads to the other platforms, was lame in Devil May Cry 4's ending as well.

Color-based combat with excessive dodging against many enemies who took so long to kill, with no Z-targeting for easier thrusts and other directional combos (Devil May Cry), just wasn't fun. Used the same few combos over and over. Didn't care enough to keep learning. Finished on Knight (hard) difficulty, which was probably a bad idea. Color pallet grew tiresome and character designs were mediocre. Levels were so overlong. Developers cared too much about the story or told one not suited to an action game. That most of the story was told through frozen memories that you observe in this other world made it less engaging and more tedious. So much talking. Doesn't have the cool factor of the now old action games.

 

[Summerstorm]

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.

I was going to ask that. I played "Unknown Space" a few months back. And i would say: It handles and looks a bit better than "Nexus", but the main mystery, the small encounter-stories on planets and the aliens were better in Nexus. Everything had a bit more character.

In "Unknown Space" i was bored after a while, just checking off planets and side quests, but weren't invested in it at the end. The "memetic?" religion and it's followers were a bit too nebulous and impersonal as a threat. Wanted more of it. More explanations AND mysteries, maybe a real face of the threat. Wasn't that developed.


Um so i bought myself "Terra Invicta" after waiting for quite a while on it. Thought it would fit my gaming very well: Global interactions of multiple factions/forces, long planning strategies, pausing at will to check data und refine strategy, science-fiction plot.

So... i got bored by the game real fast. Didn't click with me. Started a new run as the faction which welcomes the alien invaders and works with them: barely anything changes - got bored again.
This game REALLY needed more and better flavour-text with the missions, more agency by the states. More shifting goals and curveballs, more options and decisions for the player... I don't know... didn't get me.

Played around a bit with Cosmoteer. Fun, but limited game. You build/rebuild and command a spaceship. So far not much of story. You just do quests for Money and ressources and build bigger ships and do more dangerous quests (Go somewhere and blow someone up)

Main thing: You have to design the ship with staff in mind too. You can have different crews (All the same skills, but different "jobs/stations") and have to put their barracks, and they need to get to where they are needed. Damage destroys/knocks out systems and corridors complicating managing everything. Neat.

Overall: Have i missed any good games where i manage a "single entity" (A Cult, Spaceship, Organisation, Kingdom, Professional Kickboxer - whatever) but don't have to micromanage shit - with a clever, open world, and preferable a pause function? Was looking for something like my big other timesinks of my past (Starsector, Mount & Blade, Crusader Kings, The Guild) Played a tiny bit of Ostriv and Manor Lords last year... but they need a bit more time in the oven, i guess.

 

[Worgen]

Overall: Have i missed any good games where i manage a "single entity" (A Cult, Spaceship, Organisation, Kingdom, Professional Kickboxer - whatever) but don't have to micromanage shit - with a clever, open world, and preferable a pause function? Was looking for something like my big other timesinks of my past (Starsector, Mount & Blade, Crusader Kings, The Guild) Played a tiny bit of Ostriv and Manor Lords last year... but they need a bit more time in the oven, i guess.

Well, the main one that comes to mind to me is Starcontrol 2.
or Starcontrol origins if you want something made after the dos era. I remember it being pretty good.

In "Unknown Space" i was bored after a while, just checking off planets and side quests, but weren't invested in it at the end. The "memetic?" religion and it's followers were a bit too nebulous and impersonal as a threat. Wanted more of it. More explanations AND mysteries, maybe a real face of the threat. Wasn't that developed.

Over all I ended up enjoying the story, but I did want much more of the exploration and interaction.

 

[Chimpzy]

Playing a game called Spinfrog: All Aboard the Frogcopter. It's a spiritual successor to Kuru Kuru Kururin, an abandoned, mostly Japan only Nintendo franchise. Basic concept is you're controlling a slowly spinning propeller that you have to guide through a maze as fast as possible while collecting coins and without touching the sides or obstacles.

Sounds simple, but ooof, this game is actually pretty damn hard. Sure, it has a bit of a learning curve, figuring out the length, width and rotational speed of the propeller, as you learn to squeeze through ever tighter gaps. But the most important lesson is to just go for it, cuz hesitate for a fraction of a second and back to the start of the level you go. And that's before the game starts throwing in extra tasks like limited visibility, placing candles or dodging a fork that periodically tries to stab you, in addition to the already tough navigation.

I've so far been able to complete the levels with all coins, usually also without hitting something, but I have no idea how you're supposed to hit those par times.

 

[meiam]

Overall: Have i missed any good games where i manage a "single entity" (A Cult, Spaceship, Organisation, Kingdom, Professional Kickboxer - whatever) but don't have to micromanage shit - with a clever, open world, and preferable a pause function? Was looking for something like my big other timesinks of my past (Starsector, Mount & Blade, Crusader Kings, The Guild) Played a tiny bit of Ostriv and Manor Lords last year... but they need a bit more time in the oven, i guess.

Star wolves 3 works like this


Its old and a bit wonky.