What are you currently playing?

[Old_Hunter_77]

> gaming way better for your mental health than social media.
Jabbing yourself in the eardrum with a rusty crochet needle is better for your mental health than social media.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I finally caved and am trying out Clair Obscure: Expedition 33. I've been hesitant of this game, since visually it didn't show me anything that felt too engaging. And I mean, those fears apear to be justified. I get that this game didn't have a huge budget and is one of those AA titles, but maybe if you're making a realistic looking turn-based game and you don't have Square Enix money, don't go for realistic graphics. The visual optimization of this game is trash. And the animation isn't too much better.

The gameplay itself is fine. The parries are a bit dodgey, but doable. Battle music is quite good though.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

The Alters

I'm only past the prologue so I have yet to get into the meat of the game, but so far I haven't encountered the thing I feared most about this kind of game- all the management sim stuff that prevents me from trying out, say, Frostpunk, which this game has been compared to. Reviews and a post here assured me that it's pretty casual friendly in that regard.
I'm more invested in the social sim stuff and how that rest of the gameplay bounces off of that. Coming off of two Persona games and having enjoyed Cult of the Lamb and similar games I realize that my favorite genre of games is when it's like two or three genres of games, but that's also probably really hard to balance.
The three genres here are:
- Social sim. Chatting with NPC's, basically. That only gets interesting with some good hook, which is this game's strength, or characters design, which is not this game's strength, and for the same reason- you're playing as clones of some dude.
- World exploration / action-ish? Third person running around No Man's Skying a planet for stuff. Haven't done enough to get any strong opinion about it but I'm expecting this to be the least interesting part of the game.
- Management sim. Get the stuff, use the stuff to make other stuff, use the stuff you made to get more other stuff better to make the more other stuff, blah blah blah. The kind of thing that can activate the caveman lizard brain of accomplishment. This is the kind of thing that either completely turns me off (most of the time) or is the greatest joy in the world if put in the right context, and will likely determine my enjoyment of the game. For example, the last thing I did was make a bed for my new clone and that made me happy. Grump clone gets a bed, yay!

Credit the critics and fans of this game for convincing me to try it out, as it's garnered a lot of positive attention. This is the reason why, despite my harping on about critical consensus and tired cliche conventional gaming wisdoms, I pay attention to this stuff and follow the industry- you get wind of such gems.

Yesterday I was listening to a New York Time pop culture podcast that decided to tackle this year in gaming. Since the intended audience isn't hardcore gamers but NYT subscribers, they didn't really cover anything revelatory to any of us. They talked about the big ticket GOTY contenders- Silksong, Claire, Hades- and mentioned a few indies but the Alters did not come up. Yahtzee will likely pick it as his favorite game of the year in his yearly roundup list, and every games media person I hear loves the hell out of it.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

My girlfriend put on a lets play of Dispatch by one of the voice actors in it, and the two hours (which I understand is kinda 1/4 of the game already) hooked me. Will buy the actual game once I have more time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

5 hours into Tails of Iron 2 and I'm still not getting into it. I hate how big of a deal they made out of elemental weaknesses and resistances in enemies. I swear every room I walk into I have to look up in the bestiary what am I up against now, then go to the inventory and select the correct stick to wave at them, and that's just not very fun, moment to moment. Especially when that makes the difference between pissweak DPS and moderately pissweak DPS. Every enemy is a damage sponge, every enemy can wallop me in a single buttslide.

It's a bad sign when I have to look up a playthrough and track down just how far along I'm in the game to consider if it's worth even finishing.

 

[meiam]

Aliens Dark Descent started annoying me. The mission I'm on is rather fubar and I don't see a good way around it without pretty heavy cost. So I dled a demo of a game called Tactical Breach Wizard and after playing it I bought Tactical Breach Wizard. Its just fun and awesome.

The basic gameplay of Tactical Breach Wizard is turn based combat, but its much more of a puzzle game then something like Xcom. You do have damaging attacks but you have many more attacks that either push around enemies or do something else to them, also windows are your friends. The graphics are of a lowpoly indie style, but not PSX style. The writing though, its hilarious, its got kind of a mix between dry British wit and honest sarcasm, which I enjoy. The story is also much more interesting then it should be and I am very much looking forward to seeing where it goes.

You can check out the demo here.

Glad too see its good, really liked gunpoint by that dev but didn't

The Alters

I'm only past the prologue so I have yet to get into the meat of the game, but so far I haven't encountered the thing I feared most about this kind of game- all the management sim stuff that prevents me from trying out, say, Frostpunk, which this game has been compared to. Reviews and a post here assured me that it's pretty casual friendly in that regard.
I'm more invested in the social sim stuff and how that rest of the gameplay bounces off of that. Coming off of two Persona games and having enjoyed Cult of the Lamb and similar games I realize that my favorite genre of games is when it's like two or three genres of games, but that's also probably really hard to balance.
The three genres here are:
- Social sim. Chatting with NPC's, basically. That only gets interesting with some good hook, which is this game's strength, or characters design, which is not this game's strength, and for the same reason- you're playing as clones of some dude.
- World exploration / action-ish? Third person running around No Man's Skying a planet for stuff. Haven't done enough to get any strong opinion about it but I'm expecting this to be the least interesting part of the game.
- Management sim. Get the stuff, use the stuff to make other stuff, use the stuff you made to get more other stuff better to make the more other stuff, blah blah blah. The kind of thing that can activate the caveman lizard brain of accomplishment. This is the kind of thing that either completely turns me off (most of the time) or is the greatest joy in the world if put in the right context, and will likely determine my enjoyment of the game. For example, the last thing I did was make a bed for my new clone and that made me happy. Grump clone gets a bed, yay!

Credit the critics and fans of this game for convincing me to try it out, as it's garnered a lot of positive attention. This is the reason why, despite my harping on about critical consensus and tired cliche conventional gaming wisdoms, I pay attention to this stuff and follow the industry- you get wind of such gems.

Yesterday I was listening to a New York Time pop culture podcast that decided to tackle this year in gaming. Since the intended audience isn't hardcore gamers but NYT subscribers, they didn't really cover anything revelatory to any of us. They talked about the big ticket GOTY contenders- Silksong, Claire, Hades- and mentioned a few indies but the Alters did not come up. Yahtzee will likely pick it as his favorite game of the year in his yearly roundup list, and every games media person I hear loves the hell out of it.

While all character are the same dude, they vary the design quite a lot, most don't really look like him, so char design is decent (more limited by the grounded design than anything else).

 

[Worgen]

Glad too see its good, really liked gunpoint by that dev but didn't

I liked Gunpoint too. I also grabbed Heat Signature, which the same dev also made, but I haven't tried it yet. I could have sworn that this dev made some other game I liked but I don't see anything listed on their steam page.

 

[meiam]

I liked Gunpoint too. I also grabbed Heat Signature, which the same dev also made, but I haven't tried it yet. I could have sworn that this dev made some other game I liked but I don't see anything listed on their steam page.

oups switching page awkwardly cut off my message, was gonna say I didn't really like heat signature, wasn't terrible but felt more like a tech demo than a real game.

 

[Worgen]

oups switching page awkwardly cut off my message, was gonna say I didn't really like heat signature, wasn't terrible but felt more like a tech demo than a real game.

Ahh, well, it was on sale for just a few bucks and I've been curious about it for awhile. Seems like a good price for it.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

Huh, all this time had no idea they didn't cap it to 30. Unofficial unintended switch 2 upgrade of Hyrule Warriors is now next on list of plays!

My favorite Switch 2 game isn’t actually a Switch 2 game, and it’s all thanks to one massive performance improvement

It’s a secret to everybody

www.techradar.com

Nintendo didn’t tell anyone this Switch game got a huge performance boost on Switch 2, so I’m telling you instead
Bublished June 19, 2025

It’s a secret to everybody

(Image credit: Nintendo)

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time with the Nintendo Switch 2. The hardware itself is a phenomenal upgrade over the original Switch in both design and performance, and Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World, Street Fighter 6, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition have already given me hours of enjoyment.

But there is an unsung hero amongst the Switch 2’s launch library. A game that I’ve been coming back to time and again in my spare time, and one that isn’t even a Switch 2 game. Heck, it’s one that began life on the Wii U and, later, the Nintendo 3DS.

If the image above didn’t give it away already, I’m talking about Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition; the Switch port of Koei Tecmo’s Zelda-flavored Dynasty Warriors spin-off. It’s a game I already consider to be among my all-time favorites. It remains the best of developer Omega Force’s musou game output, and a real love letter to Zelda fans spanning the entire franchise.f And on Switch 2, the game looks and runs better than it ever has.

Link between worlds

(Image credit: Nintendo)

In case you’re unfamiliar with the game, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition takes the musou-style, fast-paced hack n’ slash gameplay and applies it to The Legend of Zelda. It’s a real crossover treat, featuring characters from across the entire series. The main Legend Mode tells a story of worlds converging, throwing together fan favorite heroes from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, The Wind Waker, and more.

It’s a game with an almost infamous amount of content, spanning unlockable characters, costumes, weapons, artwork, and more. Full completion is not for the faint-hearted, though. To give you an idea, game-length database website How Long To Beat has a completionist estimate of 362 hours, and even that may be a conservative estimate.

The bulk of that content is found in Hyrule Warriors’ sprawling Adventure Mode, which, for me, is easily the best part of the game. Adventure Mode features several maps, all with their own gimmicks inspired by various games in the series.

For example, the basic Hyrule Map is where most people will start, and it involves using various item cards (such as candles, bombs, and rafts) to uncover secrets on highlighted tiles. Once a secret is uncovered, you can then enter that tile’s mission and complete it to earn the reward. Meanwhile, the Majora’s Mask-themed Termina Map has you gathering the four giants to unlock the clock tower tile in the center.

Adventure Mode’s bite-sized mission structure and open-endedness (you’ll always have multiple missions to choose from at any given time on the map) make it perfect for shorter, pick-up-and-play sessions - yet another reason why Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition shines on Switch 2.

Try force

(Image credit: Nintendo)

So what exactly makes Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition so good on Switch 2? Well, for starters, the game originally launched with an uncapped framerate. On the original Switch, this meant that performance could be quite rocky, but it tended to shoot for a 30fps (frames per second) target.

The Switch 2, meanwhile, is able to brute force through this lack of a cap and now runs at a steady 60fps in both docked and handheld play. Interestingly, the same is true for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, which also now benefits from its uncapped framerate too.

Better still, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition targets 1080p in both docked and handheld modes. Of course, this was impossible on the original Switch during portable play, as that console had a 720p display. As a result, the game was downsampled to better fit its resolution.

I’m really not sure why the game had 1080p support for handheld mode originally. While it may have been some clever future-proofing on behalf of Koei Tecmo, I don’t think this is the case as neither Three Hopes nor Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity targets 1080p on the handheld display (and the latter is unfortunately locked to 30fps).

It’s more likely that this was nothing more than a developmental oversight - or perhaps even a bug. If so, it’s probably turned out to be the most beneficial bug in gaming history in hindsight, at least from an image quality perspective.

On Switch 2’s 1080p LCD display, then, there’s no need to downsample the image. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition outputs a clean high-definition image on the Switch 2’s screen. And paired with its rock-solid 60fps performance, it both looks and plays like a dream on the new hardware.

So, if you’re ever looking for a new Switch 2 game but have been disappointed by the slim launch lineup, you might just want to give Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition a try, especially if you hadn’t previously played it on Switch or indeed its original Wii U release. Nintendo games do hold their prices quite well, but you can reliably find a physical copy of the game for less than $50 / £50 these days.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Playing more Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, and while I'm liking it well enough I feel a bit in the dark with the turn-based combat and character skills. So far your skills feel rather interchangeable, and I've kinda just been using what's available - deciding based on how many points are needed to activate, and equating the amount of points to how effective the damage will be. And with that I've been getting by fine, but you can only have 6 skills available, meaning when you get more than 6 from the skill tree when you level-up you need to change some out. But the game has really not made the difference in many of these skills clear, so I'm finding myself very hesitant to even get new skills.

Like Lune, as your mage, has the typical elemental spells, but I'm not getting the gist of how the different elements interact with enemies. RPGs like Final Fantasy 10 and Persona 5 were able to get their rock/paper/scissor implementation across simple enough, but with Clair Obscure I'm just not seeing it. And because of that I'm confused on what the different permutations on the elemental spells even really do or improve, and why I should even acquire them.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Completed Sonic Frontiers. Though I probably will do the DLC eventually, it's not a priority right now. Final play time according to Steam was 18 hours, though my save file says a little bit less than that.

"If this was the last game in the series, what would we be leaving behind?" Once you ask that question, a lot of Frontiers begins to make more sense. The story is fixated on legacy, both that of the Ancients and of Sonic and his friends (and enemy), and the final boss being an avatar of death and entropy pushes the theme further. Maybe it's too fixated on the past even so, but I think this could be a step in the right direction towards the future, and I could definitely see myself playing through it again from start to finish sometime. I remember being interested in playing it at the time it came out because all the reviews were so polarized, 9s and 1s across the board with nobody saying 'it's alright', but based on what I've heard and the jank that's still present, it may have been for the better that I waited so long.

I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone who's never played a Sonic game before, but if you are a fan of the series and you've been holding off, it goes on sale on Steam pretty often and for pretty deep discounts. Next time you see a big negative number next to the price tag, give it a shot. At the very least, you'll have some good complaining material.

Next, I'm gonna play through Shadow Generations, supposedly the best game in the series so far. Might also take a look at the Sonic Generations re-release, but my main focus is going to be on Shadow.

 

[Bartholen]

Playing more Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, and while I'm liking it well enough I feel a bit in the dark with the turn-based combat and character skills. So far your skills feel rather interchangeable, and I've kinda just been using what's available - deciding based on how many points are needed to activate, and equating the amount of points to how effective the damage will be. And with that I've been getting by fine, but you can only have 6 skills available, meaning when you get more than 6 from the skill tree when you level-up you need to change some out. But the game has really not made the difference in many of these skills clear, so I'm finding myself very hesitant to even get new skills.

Like Lune, as your mage, has the typical elemental spells, but I'm not getting the gist of how the different elements interact with enemies. RPGs like Final Fantasy 10 and Persona 5 were able to get their rock/paper/scissor implementation across simple enough, but with Clair Obscure I'm just not seeing it. And because of that I'm confused on what the different permutations on the elemental spells even really do or improve, and why I should even acquire them.

Clair Obscur's skills kind of depart from your usual RPG skill trees in that it's expected that they replace the early ones after a point. Early on AP is relatively scarce since enemies don't do a lot of chained attacks and your luminas are limited, but by the mid-point you can regularly crack off skills that cost 5-6 AP almost every turn provided you get the hang of parrying. Clair Obscur also takes its time introducing you to its full combat mechanics. You're still in the early stages of the game, and in the second act you start to unlock more party synergies, so even though you only have 6 skills per character, the amount of different combos you can stack is ridiculous.

I finished episodes 5 and 6 of Dispatch. Like I previously said, trying to give it a grade before the story is finished is pointless, but being now 75% complete I think it's fair to say that it's extremely well written. Good writing is like good CGI: you know it's good when you barely even notice it. The writing and characterization just feels so effortless, it's got heart and soul without feeling forced or sappy. I feel like I could watch these characters interact for hours and never get bored. If this sticks the landing, this has the makings of a great franchise.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Clair Obscur's skills kind of depart from your usual RPG skill trees in that it's expected that they replace the early ones after a point. Early on AP is relatively scarce since enemies don't do a lot of chained attacks and your luminas are limited, but by the mid-point you can regularly crack off skills that cost 5-6 AP almost every turn provided you get the hang of parrying. Clair Obscur also takes its time introducing you to its full combat mechanics. You're still in the early stages of the game, and in the second act you start to unlock more party synergies, so even though you only have 6 skills per character, the amount of different combos you can stack is ridiculous.

Persona 5 also does the 'replace skills' thing with its leveling up of Personas, but there it's obvious upgrades or downgrades to choose between. You're also not spending points in a skill tree. In Claire Obscur, in Lune's example, she starts out with an Earth attack that targets 3 enemies at once, but then later you can unlock an Earth attack that targets 2 enemies at once, I think at one AP less than the one you start out with. And I'm like, why would I bother with that at all? Maybe if these skills were all available to you like in Final Fantasy 10, but if you can only carry 6 and have to choose in between combat what might be more effective for the next battle with enemies that don't feel clearly enough defined to judge what elemental skills to even use on them - let alone if the attack targets 2 or 3 - I just feel my brain trying to run the fuck away. I also wasn't a fan of the Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and how you could only change it out in between combat instead of during, but in Clair Obscur this seems like it's an even worse implementation.

 

[Bartholen]

Persona 5 also does the 'replace skills' thing with its leveling up of Personas, but there it's obvious upgrades or downgrades to choose between. You're also not spending points in a skill tree. In Claire Obscur, in Lune's example, she starts out with an Earth attack that targets 3 enemies at once, but then later you can unlock an Earth attack that targets 2 enemies at once, I think at one AP less than the one you start out with. And I'm like, why would I bother with that at all? Maybe if these skills were all available to you like in Final Fantasy 10, but if you can only carry 6 and have to choose in between combat what might be more effective for the next battle with enemies that don't feel clearly enough defined to judge what elemental skills to even use on them - let alone if the attack targets 2 or 3 - I just feel my brain trying to run the fuck away. I also wasn't a fan of the Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and how you could only change it out in between combat instead of during, but in Clair Obscur this seems like it's an even worse implementation.

I don't remember all the skills off the top of my head, but there's lots of other factors to consider beyond damage and AoE. For Lune, the stain generation is a core mechanic, and not all skills generate stains equally. Then there's stat application, Break damage, which is separate from being able to Break enemies, layering effects that come from synergies with Luminas, how many hits an attack does which procs off other effects... trust me, there's plenty of depth to be had.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Played up to the first boss of Shadow Generations, and I can already tell Sonic Team cooked so hard with this one. In previous games where Shadow is playable, a lot of the time he's just another Sonic with slightly different animations. Shadow the Hedgehog did give him some of his own stuff to do, but not only did the guns feel out-of-place, they also just weren't implemented very well. Shadow Generations works where Shadow's previous game didn't because it doesn't just give him those skills, it makes them an integral part of the level design and not just a stage gimmick. Chaos Control can make it easier to clear difficult areas, or to open up entirely new routes that Sonic would never be able to reach; Chaos Spear and its extension Doom Spear can make enemies vulnerable or lock them in place to chain homing attacks off of; Doom Blast seems simple, but it's got plenty of scope for skill expression too when you start aiming it.

As compared to Sonic Generations - which is still one of the best games in the series, mind - having fewer challenges per Act means they could focus on making the ones that are there even better, with alternate routes and collectibles and all that good stuff. Shadow's White Space hub world is also a lot more elaborate than Sonic's, being in full 3D instead of just 2D to hide secrets and shortcuts everywhere. As for the story, Shadow's always had a lot going on, and this game actually respects that rather than simply making him the edgy hedgy we all know and love to meme about.

I'm still pretty early on in the game, sure, but if it keeps even most of the quality it's shown at the start, it'll already be better than most of the series - and if it can maintain for the entire runtime, it might even displace Generations and Mania as the new one to beat.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Did the Master tower in MK3 with Sonya. Frivolities aside, I kinda miss games having special messages for clearing the highest rank.

The achievements list also seems pretty manageable for the Legacy Kollection, but the worst parts of it might be Mythologies and Special Forces; the latter of which I barely ever bothered with.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Tails of Iron 2

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't remember all the skills off the top of my head, but there's lots of other factors to consider beyond damage and AoE. For Lune, the stain generation is a core mechanic, and not all skills generate stains equally. Then there's stat application, Break damage, which is separate from being able to Break enemies, layering effects that come from synergies with Luminas, how many hits an attack does which procs off other effects... trust me, there's plenty of depth to be had.

I don't doubt there's depth, it's the level of management - swapping out skills in between battles - which the game is implying that has me frazzled. Again, I'll point to FF7R where the Materia swapping in between combat was seriously testing my patience, and you kind of needed to swap because of the rock/paper/scissor spell set-up. And with Clair Obscur I can't even tell what is paper to their rock or scissors to their paper, because all the enemies look like dark abstract shapes. Add to that apparent stain and break damage, and only being given 6 spell slots, one of which I'll always reserve for a healing spell, leaving only 5 and... *sigh* yeah, this is FF7R's Materia and Breath of the Wild's musical chairs weapon slots all over again.

 

[Kyrian007]

I've played enough of The Outer Worlds 2 to comment now I think. I'm very sure that there are a lot of people who consider it an improvement over its predecessor. But it isn't. They've toned down the role playing element and focused it on action. And the combat is improved... But that wasn't something I considered particularly important and perfectly functional in the first game. The story is completely the anthesis of the prior game's in a couple of key ways.

First, less narrative freedom. In the first game the player character is one of a couple thousand frozen colonists, thawed out and let loose on a colony system. You could be anybody. Anything chosen in character creation made sense. In 2... you are a special agent sent to a system to aid an ongoing intelligence operation. Playing anything other than a soldier or spy makes no narrative sense.

The companions. There were some interesting ones in the original game. So far I've collected 5 in TOW2, and 1 has a halfway interesting story. And by a strange coincidence that is the only one even halfway useful to have around. In the original game, having a companion around was useful in and out of combat. In TOW2, they are only useful to draw bullets away from me in combat until they go down and have to be rounded up and revived.

The enemies. The original had alien monsters and the forces of late stage capitalist corporate oligarchs to contend with. And that was interesting. Who are the bad guys in TOW2... fascists. Insert standard fascist bad guy here fascists. Boring.

Don't get me wrong. 7 out of 10. I like TOW2. I'll probably finish it. I'll probably play through again and again with several different character builds. But, that kind of game is my jam. And it doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in how good it should have been.