What are you currently playing?

[Agema]

Waterloo 1815: The Final Struggle (demo)

I've been pining for a new, good Napoleonic wargame for years, so grabbed this demo from Waragame Design Studios. WDS are, I guess, sort of a successor to the old "Battleground" series from Talonsoft about 20-30 years back. I took a look at the first scenario, which is the initial attack by the French right wing of D'Erlon's 1st corps against Wellington's left between Plancenoit and La Haye Saint. I took the Anglo-Allied so the AI would attack (always trickier) to test it out. So, the first thing the AI did was, instead of attack with any cohesion as a front, moved to surround La Haye Saint and then proceed to sort of... not do very much. And so that's my hopes crushed the AI was up to much.

Strategy AIs are hard to program, especially for such small teams involved as these sorts of niche games have. What happened here is a classic problem associated with these games: it sort of chucks its troops at map objectives and struggles to maintain a wider strategic formation. This can be a problem even for major programmers: Sid Meier (of Civilization fame) made a Napoleonic / Civil War wargame engine, and that does much the same: the entire AI army just sort of ends up marching towards the highest value objective, coalescing into a huge blob travelling from one objective to the next.

I also see from the notes they have followed a sort of revisionist take on the Anglo-Allied army popularised some 20 years ago. Unfortunately, some of these new histories were outright fraudulent - one historian in particular was found to have simply made up a load of Dutch and German sources so he could grind his personal axe and put out a new perspective to sell some books. (He was also found to have dealt in child pornography and jailed.)

I feel a little sad because as much as I have enjoyed these traditional wargames, I don't know how much future they have. They were programmed mostly by old board game nerds - in some cases relatively little evolved from them - and many of the programmers are now old and won't be going much longer. I don't know how much of a younger generation is coming through.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Against my better judgement, I ended up getting Devil May Cry 5 on sale on Steam, and it's going about how I expected- I've barely started and the game is already throwing complicated button combinations at me that I can't possibly remember let alone pull off in the heat of battle, and from what I've seen of other games in the series, it's just going to get worse. Poor Nero looks like a boring schlub under my control.

 

[BrawlMan]

Against my better judgement, I ended up getting Devil May Cry 5 on sale on Steam, and it's going about how I expected- I've barely started and the game is already throwing complicated button combinations at me that I can't possibly remember let alone pull off in the heat of battle, and from what I've seen of other games in the series, it's just going to get worse. Poor Nero looks like a boring schlub under my control.

You can always do training mode and practice your combos there. It's always not easy the first time. Just focus on having fun first. I wasn't perfect with all the combos day one, but I already knew what I was doing cause I play these games a lot. Take your time and enjoy. If you need any help or advice, feel free to let me know.

 

[Worgen]

Was on a trip with only my steam deck and not the most reliable internet so playing more Path of Exile 2 was out. Started on the Castlevania Dominus Collection and beat Dawn of Sorrow before I got back. I forgot how nice the pixel work is in Dawn of Sorrow and I forgot how annoying it can be to figure out where the hell to go next after you unlock a boss move that lets you access a new area. I have to say, I am damn impressed with the Dominus collection also, its way beyond a simple emulation job. They redid the music of all the games so it sounds so much better then those crappy 3ds sound chips could put out, the ability and options to set your sub screens is nice, although on the deck seeing the map can be annoying unless you look really close. Either way, beat Dawn of Sorrow, gonna start on Portrait of Ruin, which I remember being my favorite castlevania style metroidvania.

 

[BrawlMan]

Was on a trip with only my steam deck and not the most reliable internet so playing more Path of Exile 2 was out. Started on the Castlevania Dominus Collection and beat Dawn of Sorrow before I got back. I forgot how nice the pixel work is in Dawn of Sorrow and I forgot how annoying it can be to figure out where the hell to go next after you unlock a boss move that lets you access a new area. I have to say, I am damn impressed with the Dominus collection also, its way beyond a simple emulation job. They redid the music of all the games so it sounds so much better then those crappy 3ds sound chips could put out, the ability and options to set your sub screens is nice, although on the deck seeing the map can be annoying unless you look really close. Either way, beat Dawn of Sorrow, gonna start on Portrait of Ruin, which I remember being my favorite castlevania style metroidvania.

Let me know how you like Haunted Castle Revisited. I literally bought the Switch version just to play that game.

 

[Worgen]

Let me know how you like Haunted Castle Revisited. I literally bought the Switch version just to play that game.

Oh, I did play a run of that, its pretty cool. Not as hard as the old Castlevanias but the pixel work is fantastic and its fun.

 

[BrawlMan]

Oh, I did play a run of that, its pretty cool. Not as hard as the old Castlevanias but the pixel work is fantastic and its fun.

Is exactly why I love it. It's still hard, just a lot more fair compared to a majority of Classicvania games. There is a hard mode and you can turn off continues for the extra challenge.

I beat Soldier Blade (T-16). Still one of the best SHMUP ever on the console and the genre. I do hate the final boss though, as he has multiple phases, and you have to do the entire stage in go. His second phase is surprisingly easy, if you kept your powered up weapons, and use your bomb specials.

 

[Worgen]

Is exactly why I love it. It's still hard, just a lot more fair compared to a majority of Classicvania games. There is a hard mode and you can turn off continues for the extra challenge.

I beat Soldier Blade (T-16). Still one of the best SHMUP ever on the console and the genre. I do hate the final boss though, as he has multiple phases, and you have to do the entire stage in go. His second phase is surprisingly easy, if you kept your powered up weapons, and use your bomb specials.

Yeah, it plays pretty well, I need to play more of it.

Have you tried Devils Blade or the Alltynex trilogy? (RefleXm Alltynex second, and Kamui)

 

[Ezekiel]

Crysis keeps crashing on the final boss. Now I remember why I didn't finish the last playthrough. Have to save-scum. Whole alien portion is worse than I remember.

• The overlong, boring cave.
• Your partner who you have to escort while he complains about needing to be close to heat (fire).
• The aircraft with the crappy controls.
• Forced linearity and cinematics inside the carrier.
• Dying a few times before figuring out how to push down the core rods.
• Cloak not working against the aliens because the devs mostly threw the AI that you had been battling for hours at this point out the window.
• Gunplay more boring because you're mostly using high power weapons, mostly pointing them up at the sky.

Was tempted to actually start the game over when I was inside the cave, but I can't remember how it ends and wanna see.

 

[Ezekiel]

Last boss took me about an hour. The first person view annoyed me as the aliens all over shot from where I couldn't see. What a crappy boss. All the fire and other effects dropped my framerate from the usual 60-ish to about 23. I learned shortly before the game ended that key J lets you drop guns, so as I ran for the aircraft to escape the wreckage I dramatically dropped all my weapons.

 

[BrawlMan]

Crysis keeps crashing on the final boss. Now I remember why I didn't finish the last playthrough. Have to save-scum. Whole alien portion is worse than I remember.

• The overlong, boring cave.
• Your partner who you have to escort while he complains about needing to be close to heat (fire).
• The aircraft with the crappy controls.
• Forced linearity and cinematics inside the carrier.
• Dying a few times before figuring out how to push down the core rods.
• Cloak not working against the aliens because the devs mostly threw the AI that you had been battling for hours at this point out the window.
• Gunplay more boring because you're mostly using high power weapons, mostly pointing them up at the sky.

Was tempted to actually start the game over when I was inside the cave, but I can't remember how it ends and wanna see.

Exactly why I highly prefer Crysis 2 & 3.

I played some Spartan X/Kung-Fu Master (PS1). I love the rearranged soundtrack and it's a good port. Too bad it's Japan only, but that is what my RG35 is exactly for.

Have you tried Devils Blade or the Alltynex trilogy? (RefleXm Alltynex second, and Kamui)

Never heard of them, but will give them a look and see if I'm interested later.

I found a copy of Tekken Tag Team (PS2) with the disc, manual, and case all in great condition and only had to pay $13 for it. I am popping this in later tonight.

 

[Worgen]

Never heard of them, but will give them a look and see if I'm interested later.

They are some of the best shootemups around and their difficulty is very fair. I would say that Devils blade is a bit easy on normal mode, but nice and hard on hard mode.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Playing John Wick Hex.

For a licensed game it has a pretty novel take on its parent IP. Instead of doing a nondescript shoot em up and calling it John Wick: The Videogame they went with a weird turn-based-but-not-quite strategy game where every possible action, as well as enemy reaction, is parsed into seconds across a timeline. So the game is very much about gauging your options (and their % success rates) and being a cost-efficient little assassin. Moreso than the mere spectacle of John Wick's murder ballet the game nails the flow of tactical improv. It's kind of like isometric Superhot.

Some aspects of the game are a bit wonky though. It's a bit iffy about covers and line of sight, and the isometric camera is no help. The AI isn't particularly bright and enemies have the object permanence of a newborn, so they're easy to game. The tutorializing is also a mess and makes things way more complicated than they need to be.

Game was directed by Mike Bithell, the dev behind Thomas Was Alone, of all people. I guess he's really into deconstruction. There's a cheapness to the presentation. Cutscenes are presented in still, ugly, cel-shaded vignettes that suggest they tried and failed to animate them. Ian McShane and Lance Reddick (RIP) reprise their movie roles as a more or less pointless choir to John's rampage. Troy Baker plays the bad guy.

 

[Bartholen]

Tried a brief stint of Fear and Hunger 2: Termina after getting the impression that it would improve on the first game. In some ways it does, but nope, not in the critical ones. Mainly that the save system still sucks absolute donkey dick and as a result the game is just an exercise in incessant repetition and frustration. The game withholds so much information from you, and not in any kind of fun ways. Like, oh I dunno, the fact that saving the game forwards time, locking you out of content. You can completely fuck yourself literally at the very start of the game by saving at the starting location. Well oh geez mister, I didn't know not wanting to go through the lengthy opening dialogue and trudging through the same fucking woods every time I die was such an affront.

Like the first game, this game tries to abide by two mutually exlusive principles: to on one hand be a resource-focused, methodical game where you need to carefully consider your options and choices, and on the other hand be so obtuse and lethal that pretty much the only way to make consistent progress is trial and error. You may need to ditch entire playthroughs or make suicide runs just for experimenting reasons. And once you've accumulated enough knowledge through that trial and error, the game is just rotely running through the areas you've been through, rendering the survival element completely pointless. I genuinely have no idea what the point of this design is supposed to be, it's like the game is eating its own head.

It also means that it's pretty much impossible to ever get immersed in the game, because you're constantly just thinking what's around the corner that's going to completely fuck you over and force a restart. And I truly mean restart: when you reload a save, you retain nothing but the information you gained on the previous run, and guess what that means? That's right, you have to search every single container and chest every time you die for resources! I have genuinely never played a game that made wasting my fucking time part of its core gameplay loop. It's the video game equivalent of dropping a bunch of marbles on the floor, collecting them all one by one, then someone slapping them out of your hand to force you to collect them again. It's absolutely maddening! Like the last game, combat is basically always heavily disincentivized, meaning that as you slowly learn the ins and outs of the game, most of the gameplay devolves into just running around and scrounging for resources as you just dodge the enemies or make the right dialogue choices. And when combat happens, guess what? It's also just rotely repeating the exact same pattern over and over and over and over again!

I truly, genuinely do not get it. What am I supposed to enjoy in this? The last time I played a game this repetitive and unfun was the first Witcher 7 years ago.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Tried a brief stint of Fear and Hunger 2: Termina after getting the impression that it would improve on the first game. In some ways it does, but nope, not in the critical ones. Mainly that the save system still sucks absolute donkey dick and as a result the game is just an exercise in incessant repetition and frustration. The game withholds so much information from you, and not in any kind of fun ways. Like, oh I dunno, the fact that saving the game forwards time, locking you out of content. You can completely fuck yourself literally at the very start of the game by saving at the starting location. Well oh geez mister, I didn't know not wanting to go through the lengthy opening dialogue and trudging through the same fucking woods every time I die was such an affront.

Like the first game, this game tries to abide by two mutually exlusive principles: to on one hand be a resource-focused, methodical game where you need to carefully consider your options and choices, and on the other hand be so obtuse and lethal that pretty much the only way to make consistent progress is trial and error. You may need to ditch entire playthroughs or make suicide runs just for experimenting reasons. And once you've accumulated enough knowledge through that trial and error, the game is just rotely running through the areas you've been through, rendering the survival element completely pointless. I genuinely have no idea what the point of this design is supposed to be, it's like the game is eating its own head.

It also means that it's pretty much impossible to ever get immersed in the game, because you're constantly just thinking what's around the corner that's going to completely fuck you over and force a restart. And I truly mean restart: when you reload a save, you retain nothing but the information you gained on the previous run, and guess what that means? That's right, you have to search every single container and chest every time you die for resources! I have genuinely never played a game that made wasting my fucking time part of its core gameplay loop. It's the video game equivalent of dropping a bunch of marbles on the floor, collecting them all one by one, then someone slapping them out of your hand to force you to collect them again. It's absolutely maddening! Like the last game, combat is basically always heavily disincentivized, meaning that as you slowly learn the ins and outs of the game, most of the gameplay devolves into just running around and scrounging for resources as you just dodge the enemies or make the right dialogue choices. And when combat happens, guess what? It's also just rotely repeating the exact same pattern over and over and over and over again!

I truly, genuinely do not get it. What am I supposed to enjoy in this? The last time I played a game this repetitive and unfun was the first Witcher 7 years ago.

Yeah, I'd heard the second game improved on the first a lot, but the design of the first (which I gave up on in the second half) never gave me enough confidence to give it a shot. It wasn't enough of a roguelike to make the constant restarts enjoyable and the trial and error gameplay just took too long and had too much repetition to be fun. Glad to see my decision to avoid 2 was correct.

I find that a truly challenging turn based RPG is one of the most difficult genres to pull off, and actually I can't think of any examples that really succeed. The one's I've played that have achieved popularity like Darkest Dungeon and Fear and Hunger end up being really repetitive and have RNG and trial and error cost you hours of playtime.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I played Baroque for the Sega Saturn and got an ending. It was ...interesting. It's a really dark and weird first person roguelike, It's slow but has a fair amount of depth in its items and item combinations. The atmosphere is great, the game is almost worth playing just for how strange and moody it is. I don't understand any of the story but it's enjoyable to just let it wash over you. How come the best games were never localized? This would have been a cult classic if it had made it to the West! Thankfully a translation patch exists.

Spoiler: images of weird stuff to enjoy