What are you currently playing?

[Old_Hunter_77]

Well, I put myself in an odd gaming position. I just completed my latest gaming pc build. My last two were built to play specific games just ahead of release. The first was for Skyrim, the next for Fallout 4. But this one... I built it because my prior build was on a motherboard/cpu that wasn't supported by Win 11. So I went to test it, and realized all it could do that my previous couldn't was run Baldur's Gate 3 without horrid loading time and lowest graphical settings that still made the framerate chug. Hell, the whole reason I got an Xbox is for the couple of games that I knew my pc couldn't handle that have come out between BG 3 and now. And so now I'm in an odd position, what do I play now? I will start a new character in BG3. Maybe I'll try Borderlands 4, I haven't heard as much complaining about it as I did with 3 when it released. Then again, with Gearbox wait a couple of months and there could be a massive sale or a giveaway on EGS.

Or, back to the backlog.

So you built a whole new PC that only minimally upgraded motherboard and CPU? Or if you kept the same GPU and memory than it's not a new build right?
Sorry if this seems nitpicky but it's just a confusing paragraph...

If you can play BG3 and Borderlands 4 then I think you can play anything else, even if on medium settings, so I dunno why you feel hampered.

 

[Gergar12]

I am in the top 1000 players for Battle Nations according to how I performed for the boss strike, and my eyes are on fire right now...

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I've been trying to enjoy Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow (especially after Garrett's ghost shows up inside Magpie's head), but boy howdy has it been making that difficult at times. The lighting quality is all over the place (kind of noticeable in a game where darkness is important), and I've had repeating problems with the game crashing during autosaves- which, considering that autosaves are triggered by simply entering different areas and therefore can happen multiple times a minute, is a real problem. It also feels oversimplified in ways that even Thief: Deadly Shadows managed to dodge, like how an entire set of drawers will be empty except for one or two valuables, which are all large things like jewelry cases and hand mirrors. Still, sneaking around in the shadows and creeping up behind guards to bonk them on the bonce with a blackjack is loads of fun.

In the meantime, I downloaded the demo for Road to Vostok, which presents itself as a single-player Escape From Tarkov, and basically plays just like that. My first combat encounter with a single pistol-armed bandit left me bleeding out from a head wound, so there's a bit of a learning curve involved. Strangely enough, the most difficult settings are locked out, probably requiring objectives to be met before you can select them; I suppose the devs don't want newbies diving into Hard Mode and then whining about how hard it is.

 

[Worgen]

Started playing First Berserker Khazan. Its pretty cool, really like the aesthetic style of it and the gameplay is very good, but the souls like stamina bar does feel a bit off with how I want to fight. I also probably shouldn't be doing my first playthrough on expert, second real boss took entirely too long to beat, seems like multiphase bosses are pretty standard in this.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Started Shadow of Mordor. Not really sure what I think of it yet. It has that AAA feel to it. You know, that feeling like the game is just a bunch of systems designed to keep you occupied, and not overly challenged, long enough that you feel like buying into some microcurrency system. There's all these different currencies that let you unlock different abilities, and almost no effort is put into contextualizing as to why, and the map is splattered with markers of things for you to collect or do and it just feels completely artificial. Your character also lazily saunters around unless you hold down the x button, which is absurd because I just want to be running all the time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Started Shadow of Mordor. Not really sure what I think of it yet. It has that AAA feel to it. You know, that feeling like the game is just a bunch of systems designed to keep you occupied, and not overly challenged, long enough that you feel like buying into some microcurrency system. There's all these different currencies that let you unlock different abilities, and almost no effort is put into contextualizing as to why, and the map is splattered with markers of things for you to collect or do and it just feels completely artificial. Your character also lazily saunters around unless you hold down the x button, which is absurd because I just want to be running all the time.

These games kind of ride or die depending on your use of the nemesis sytem. They're at their most fun when you're actively engaging with it, though the AAA-ness of it all means it boils down to just another feature rather than fleshing it out into the core gameplay.

 

[meiam]

These games kind of ride or die depending on your use of the nemesis sytem. They're at their most fun when you're actively engaging with it, though the AAA-ness of it all means it boils down to just another feature rather than fleshing it out into the core gameplay.

Yeah the nemesis system is really good, the rest of the game is just sorta okay, look an assasin creed game.

I really wish the game had you mind control the orc or something, with no human body to be used, and you could "farm" orc to be able to control one with all the trait you'd want depending on what mission you were doing or something. If the orc you'd control would die, you'd have to start over again with some lowly one. So many cool possibility.

 

[Ezekiel]

Started Shadow of Mordor. Not really sure what I think of it yet. It has that AAA feel to it. You know, that feeling like the game is just a bunch of systems designed to keep you occupied, and not overly challenged, long enough that you feel like buying into some microcurrency system. There's all these different currencies that let you unlock different abilities, and almost no effort is put into contextualizing as to why, and the map is splattered with markers of things for you to collect or do and it just feels completely artificial. Your character also lazily saunters around unless you hold down the x button, which is absurd because I just want to be running all the time.

It's Batman Arkham's fault. Same publisher, same sort of "Freeflow" system, run/auto-climb button instead of jump button. I only dealt with the forced walking in Batman and Mordor because the keyboard made run Spacebar, which I could hold with my unused thumb.

 

[BrawlMan]

Batman Arkham's fault

No. It's WB's fault. Just because you don't like the game doesn't mean it should be blamed, because a greedy executives. I don't care how much you dislike the Arkham series. Then, again, I wouldn't expect anything less from somebody who doesn't know what they actually want in any type of Batman fiction. Let alone a Batman game.

Aliens Arcade Game - the one by Konami. It's a fun running gun, but it has its cheap and quarter munching moments. Especially at the tail end.

Vendetta - a much better brawler than the first Crime Fighters. It is so much fun fighting and picking up all these different weapons. From Double Dragon clone, the being a thing of its own.

 

[Ezekiel]

A Batman game without a jump button, lmao.

 

[thebobmaster]

Is jumping a key part of the Batman mythos? Must have missed the scenes in BTAS where Batman jumps everywhere instead of using a grappling hook or just stealthily disappearing when the person he was talking to wasn't looking.

 

[BrawlMan]

A Batman game without a jump button, lmao.

Once again you are being the example. You complain about not having this or that, only to go on about something else that is equal or more nonsense. He don't jump that often in the actual cartoons nor comics. Nor many films either.

Is jumping a key part of the Batman mythos? Must have missed the scenes in BTAS where Batman jumps everywhere instead of using a grappling hook or just stealthily disappearing when the person he was talking to wasn't looking.

Not throwing shades at these games, but I guess he's grown way too addicted to the good classic platformer Batman games or SNES Batman Returns.

 

[thebobmaster]

He should play the Batman Forever game. That has a jump button.

This is a joke. No one should play that game.

 

[BrawlMan]

He should play the Batman Forever game. That has a jump button.

This is a joke. No one should play that game.

Though the Batman Forever arcade game is so bad, it's good. It has to be played at least once.

 

[Ezekiel]

Is jumping a key part of the Batman mythos? Must have missed the scenes in BTAS where Batman jumps everywhere instead of using a grappling hook or just stealthily disappearing when the person he was talking to wasn't looking.

I don't know if I wanna search for them, but Rocksteady thought jumping was a key part of his mythos, or knew that it had to be in there because it's a video game about a man who leaps across roofs and other high platforms, only they made it automatic, like everything else in the games.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I gave up on Road to Vostok because it's got too many problems for its hardcore basis- enemies will seemingly teleport, their crappy guns work perfectly for them but are garbage in the player's hands, and even the most basic bandit enemies seem to have a sixth sense about where you are some of the time. Having a guy seemingly materialize from the bushes and unload an assault rifle on you isn't very fun.

ROUTINE has been... kind of weird. It sort of feels like it's made of chunks carved out of some larger game, clamped onto each other while missing some of the connective tissue. I do have to give it an absolute A+ for atmosphere, but that can work against the game- there's an area where you have to find hidden symbols to figure out a code to progress, but there's also an invisible enemy who can only be seen through your handheld maintenance tool (which doesn't work very well) and who is perfectly happy to just sit in certain areas and wait to ambush you, and the only clue you have to where the symbols are is a bunch of very-poorly-shot Polaroids of gloomy locations. Also, the enemy runs faster than you, so good luck with that.

I've downloaded the demo for The Path Into the Abyss, which promises to be a survival FPS game set in Buenos Aires, so if nothing else, the change of locale from Slavic grunge or Icelandic mud and ice should be refreshing.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Path Into the Abyss, which promises to be a survival FPS game set in Buenos Aires, so if nothing else, the change of locale from Slavic grunge or Icelandic mud and ice should be refreshing.

Between this and El Eternauta it's heartening we're finally getting international recognition as a suitable backdrop for the apocalypse.

 

[meiam]

Started playing remnant 2, which is one of those sequel thats borderline a remake of the first one, more or less same structure and gameplay, a lot of world you visit are just the same one as the first one, the main story is the same (in the first one you defeat "the root" and in the sequel you find out that you didn't defeat them enough, so you have to re defeat them again).

Biggest issue is the amount of grinding you have to do, a la soul like you slowly upgrade your weapons over the game using resource and currency, eventually you inevitably find a new one that you want to try out, but then you have to grind the resource to re level it up to the same point as your previous one, and so you have to choose between sticking to the same one the entire game, or spending lots of time grinding. There's also a bunch of other stuff you gotta grind for, you can have class that slowly level up, and can switch them mid game, but doing so mean you lose the level up. You can also add stuff to modify your weapon, again these have to be leveled trough grinding. And so on.

Its still a fun game, sorta mix between dark soul, resident evil and diablo.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Was going to buy a copy of Expedition 33 to play over the holidays, but with the revelations that they used Gen AI during the development of the game I'm suddenly a lot less excited about it, despite the critical acclaim that the game is excellent. Maybe I'll pick it up on a steep steam sale in a year.

I'll probably pick up Dispatch instead.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

A Batman game without a jump button, lmao.

He has a grappling hook...?

I'm not sure I understand the criticism. If a game isn't designed around jumping why would it need a jump button?