What game are you wasting time on?

[ERYFKRAD]

In my quest for proper sword and sail games I took a gander at Black Flag. The sailing is nice, but what the fuck is this land movement? Are all Asscreed games possessed of such an imprecise system? I feel like it should be called rail-running rather than free-running. FFS Saboteur does it better, at least I can get the Irishman to go where I want him to go.
Looks like Age of Pirates is still my top sword and sail RPG, at any rate, followed by Blood and Gold: Caribbean and then Man O' War Corsair at a very distant third.

 

[laclongquan]

Learn to use the buttan, scrub~

 

[Azalin]

Finished the last two Blackwell games.

Blackwell Deception the fourth game mostly follows the same blueprint as the previous games which makes it another solid entry.A bit longer than the previous three games I think.

Blackwell Epiphany is the final game in the series,the grand conclusion and I think it lives up to it probably being the best game in the series,It's also the longest game of the series,maybe twice as long as the first game

Both of them are recommended just like the whole series.Someone can get all of them for a few bucks right now btw during the GOG sale if they are interested

 

[flyingjohn]

Playing tokyo mirage session on cemu.

 

[sullynathan]

Looking at my Binding of Isaac stats, it says I completed the game 7 times now. I've beat Satan twice. Beat Afterbirth+ once but it wasn't as good as Afterbirth. Is there a boss after Satan?

 

[Falkner]

There's several more and two branching paths after Mom's Heart (one of which leads to Satan and beyond). Seriously, you've barely even started yet.

 

[pakoito]

Looking at my Binding of Isaac stats, it says I completed the game 7 times now. I've beat Satan twice. Beat Afterbirth+ once but it wasn't as good as Afterbirth. Is there a boss after Satan?

You're around the midgame at the moment. You need to beat satan with the negative or the cathedral with the polaroid for the next set of levels to unlock.

For reference once you're skilled you can pretty much run Mom with any build and Satan with at least a couple of good items. After that I'd say it's quite build-dependant. Some are a walk in the park and others are almost impossible, which is the problem with Afterbirth(+), and why the BoILeagueRacing died ;____;

 

[sullynathan]

the negative or the cathedral with the polaroid

What are these?

 

[pakoito]

the negative or the cathedral with the polaroid

What are these?

You unlock each by beating Satan and Cathedral 5 or 6 times. To go to the Cathedral you have to go to the beam of light after defeating It Lives.

You can also do the Blue Womb DLC now by defeating It Lives in under 30 minutes. Don't try without a godlike build, else it's a waste of time.

 

[Dux]

Gather 'round whippersnappers and I'll tell ye a tale!

Well, not really. I do want to talk about scrolling shooters and outdated engines, though...

Tyrian 2000

Costs absolutely jack shit on GOG and managed to reignite my love for scrolling shoot 'em ups, because the game is rock solid entertainment from beginning to end. Wonderful weapons and upgrades, kick-ass music and fair, logical challenges. I thought all of my youthful twitch reflexes had long since abandoned me but turns out I only needed to warm up. The plot makes absolutely no sense and I actually read some of it. It has something to do with fruit, I think. You can also pilot a carrot and fire highly destructive hotdogs. At the very end of the game there's a bit of trivia regarding Alexander the Great, which has nothing to do with anything (except perhaps the namesake):

Spoiler

Stargunner

Costs absolutely jack shit on GOG and managed to kill my love for scrolling shoot 'em ups, because the game is a rock solid piece of excrement. One hit deaths across the board, tedious bosses, monotonous gameplay, weak upgrades and a mediocre soundtrack. If you have superhuman reflexes and like save-scumming in an arcade shoot 'em up (because you can save whenever you want), then this game is surely for you. I don't usually play games which I end up disliking but this game pushed me over the edge. It might be the worst game I've played in the last three years. There's nothing redeeming about it, at all. One little pixel slightly nudges you and you blow up. Tyrian 2000 had hull damage, which typically grants the player a spare second to get out of a jam instead of just killing you outright. The playing field in Stargunner is much too small as well, which makes evading kamikaze ships AND indistinct specks of shield-draining lasers almost impossible. Boss battles are all pretty much the same. They ram you and they have too much health, which makes every goddamn battle last five minutes or more. That's fun, right? Fuck Stargunner.

Outcast 1.1

Here's where the outdated engine bit comes in. Even though the game is more stable now it's still far from perfect. I can see why they did the remake, with an engine that actually utilises your GPU instead of just the CPU. Even with my 6700K the game still stuttered from time to time. As for the game itself, there's nothing quite like it. It offers a unique feeling and experience. You're a man trapped on an alien world trying to get back home but you get caught up in a revolution of sorts. There's a lot of talking in this game with a lot of foreign terms and confusing lingo thrown around. This is not detrimental, though, because it made me feel like I actually was displaced, desperately trying to comprehend what was going on. After a while things start to make more sense, however, because you naturally start to adapt to the alien culture. Strange denominations and nomenclature eventually phases into your own human vocabulary. So yeah, the game is obviously good but it is also marred by the game's outdated technology. The remake (which I haven't played yet) seems to be the natural choice for any potential newcomer, considering it's the same game but more refined in many crucial areas. Anyone interested in Outcast should go with Second Contact and not 1.1. This is from someone who has played the latter all the way through and endured all of the issues along the way. Nevertheless, the game with its story and characters is still quite sublime. It might take an hour or two to properly get into it but when you do it's difficult to put down.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Second Contact is a bit too helpful, UI and difficulty wise. Some of the charm and fun of exploring a truly alien world is lost.

 

[flyingjohn]

Ultima 4 c64.
Never played the ultima series but the music immediately captivated me when i started the game.


The master system game seems to be a faithful remake minus the parser and first person dungeoning,also the music is nice as well.


What is with old game music being so awesome with such limited hardware.

 

[spekkio]

I've finished Shantae and the Pirate's Curse recently.

Good:

- Simple but well-made metroidvania, with tight controls and interesting maps.
- Gameplay improved when compared to previous game (items replacing dances, buyable items replacing MP-draining upgrades).
- Damage inflicted is finally shown.
- Story and writing are surprisingly funny and mature at times (all things related to petrification for example).

Ugly:

- Regular game (up to the final dungeon) is IMO easier than previous game.
- Auto-HP Potion is especially problematic, since it replenishes ALL HP when it reaches 0. And you can simply buy these potions in shop...
- Still no HP bar for bosses.
- Shop and heartsmith UI requires some improvements (too much clicking).
- Art can be irritating for some people.

Bad:

- Final dungeon is a perfect example of retarded game design. It's totally detached from the main game, changing the formula from not too difficult metroidvania to ultra hard "bullet-hell platformer": a game which is based on remembering and performing long combos to avoid being killed constantly. Rayman Origins comes to mind:



I mean, it looks crazy:

Fast forward to rape

But you have to play the main game to realize, how detached this section is from the 99% of the game.

Fortunately, you can skip it by skillful use of hat and cannon upgrades:



On GoG version (1.04g) it's IMO harder to pull off than it the video, but still doable:

Penalty troll subtracted from the score, since I hate such demented game design choices. Create actually good and interesting stages or GTFO.

Final verdict:

and a half.

 

[spekkio]

Somebody please fix abnaxus.

Anyway, I've remembered that I also finished Ys - Origin recently. Only with the chick so far, but...

Good:

- Last game from the golden period (6 / Felghana / Origin).
- Probably the best and most fluid gameplay from all the 3 games.
- Tons of fun (except bosses :D ).
- Writing is unexpectedly good.
- Chixxors are hawt. No animu.

Ugly:

- Occasional anal / broken area design (candelabra or other decorations cancelling jumps, rare healing drops when low on HP, but you get plenty of these when on full HP, etc.)
- Irritating equipment switching (equip the ring which kills undead, equip the ring of healing, repeat 100 000 times).
- Imperfect way of changing areas (camera "stops" too late): you can loose drops that way, but also accidentlay resprawn enemies.
- Fire sword and spell are overpowered: except some late enemies with "elemental weaknesses", switching to other weapons has no point.
- Entire game takes place in one big dunegon. Shit gets kinda corridory after a while.

Bad:

- So you tell me I have to play through same levels and almost same bosses three times?
- Series is now more or less dead, at least gameplay-wise.

Verdict:



Goodnight sweet Christian prince.

 

[octavius]

Somebody please fix abnaxus.

The Ignore function fixes it just fine.

 

[sullynathan]

Beat Satan 9 times now boys

 

[Okagron]

Back to Grim Dawn after a short break.

 

[Dux]

Secret of the Silver Blades

Spoiler

The lich Dreadlord's soul is cleansed and there was much rejoicing. Sort of.

The only reason I could power through this game fairly quickly - especially in the wake of Azure Bonds - is because this game is 99% dungeon crawling. There is pretty much no deviation from the plot, which includes collecting staff pieces like it's Elder Scrolls: Arena, and go through mines, caverns and glaciers to ultimately reach the buried and spooky castle of Villain #19. Even though the game still has that SSI seal of quality, one might wonder aloud why this series lost steam so quickly. Pool of Radiance offered varied and interesting locations, memorable encounters, actual role-playing and so on, but Silver Blades is - as I said - a dungeon crawl filled with battles that quickly outstay their welcome. Giants, dragons, umber hulks, medusae, Banites, iron golems. It wouldn't be so bad if the fighting was spaced out better and given more context. Often it's just you walking down dreary corridors immolating trash mobs with Delayed Blast Fireballs.

One also have to mention the baffling level cap imposed on all non-human characters, which make them completely unviable as party members. This carries into Pools of Darkness, as well, making it even worse due to the higher ceiling. It's completely insane and I don't really know why it's in there. Maybe it's some kind weird and archaic D&D rule? In any event, it's pretty damn stupid.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Secret of the Silver Blades

Even though the game still has that SSI seal of quality, one might wonder aloud why this series lost steam so quickly. Pool of Radiance offered varied and interesting locations, memorable encounters, actual role-playing and so on, but Silver Blades is - as I said - a dungeon crawl filled with battles that quickly outstay their welcome.

This one is mostly due to the game engine. They updated it for SotSB so that maps could be bigger than the standard size, you'll mostly notice this in the mines. But because of all the extra effort needed to make the maps bigger, and then utilize them, meant that things such as level design and storytelling got put on the backburner.

One also have to mention the baffling level cap imposed on all non-human characters, which make them completely unviable as party members. This carries into Pools of Darkness, as well, making it even worse due to the higher ceiling. It's completely insane and I don't really know why it's in there. Maybe it's some kind weird and archaic D&D rule? In any event, it's pretty damn stupid.

Welcome to AD&D and its archaic rules, that's precisely the reason why this is happening. The same applies to Eye of the Beholder 3, where some races get screwed over so badly by the level cap that they won't gain ANY XP throughout the entire game.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS TOO MANY GAMES

STILL DEMON SOULS PLUGING ALONG WITH A MAGIC BUILD

AT WORK I PLAYED TONS OF ALIEN LEGACY BROS AWESOME GAME GONNA START IT UP AT HOME

 

[Average Manatee]

STILL DEMON SOULS PLUGING ALONG WITH A MAGIC BUILD

BRO ITS STILL NOT TO LATE TO REPENT FROM YOUR SORCEROUS WAYS.

TRUE BROS DON'T LET BROS PLAY NON-MELEE BUILDS.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

STILL DEMON SOULS PLUGING ALONG WITH A MAGIC BUILD

BRO ITS STILL NOT TO LATE TO REPENT FROM YOUR SORCEROUS WAYS.

TRUE BROS DON'T LET BROS PLAY NON-MELEE BUILDS.

YEAH BLOBERT MAGES IS FOR FAGGOTS AND INFERIOR GENE-PEOPLE.

 

[Villagkouras]

During my playthroughs of Persona 5 and Dark Souls Remastered, I managed to finish some shorter games, some of which are interesting:

LOVE and kuso are made by the same developer. I liked LOVE so much that I immediately bought kuso. Both are platformers, challenging but doable. The graphics are very simplistic, but the controls are very tight making the game so satisfying when you get the motions right. The twist in both of these games is that you get to choose where to place the checkpoint. Of course, the less checkpoints you put and the less times you die make your score better. There are speedrun modes etc for the masochists. Highly recommended for platformers suckers and both are on sale.

FAR: Lone Sails is a puzzle/platformer/walking sim/weird car/ship sim. Frankly, it's very hard to put a tag on this game. It's shorts, provides minimum challenge and has interesting atmosphere. I liked how you control the car/ship. I liked the atmosphere too of this journey. Of course, the game suffers from vague plot, which is an excuse for lazy devs/writers. Anyway, I recommend it but not for 15$, wait for 50% off at least.

Omensight is an action game with some light RPG elements from the creators of Stories: The Path of Destinies. It features a detective's mode as they say, but really you must be blind not to follow the clues. There is also Groundhog Day vibes, as you get to play the last day of the world before it ends, trying to prevent it, which is an excuse for reused assets and places. Combat is ok, plot is ok, graphics are not my style but seem fine, everything is ok, nothing more, nothing less. Also, it's 6-7 hours long. If you like the genre, wait for sale to grab it or the inevitable bundle.

Hue is a puzzle/platformer which is about 4-5 hours long. The game plays for itself in terms of challenge for about 80% of the game and when things start to be interesting, it ends. The same goes for Q.U.B.E. 2 which I find it more interesting than Hue, but again the game provides no challenge at all until it's about to end. So 4-5 hours long games, which are essentialy 1 hour games due to lack of challenge. I don't know why devs think that people are idiots. If you want to buy a puzzle, you want to be challenged. What's the point of all these insultingly easy levels before something interesting happens? Both games are overpriced for what they offer.

I'm also playing Orwell which is a narrative adventure. I'm in episode 3 out of 5 (each episode is about 1 hour). Until now, I find it extremely overrated but I want to finish it before I form a full opinion.

 

[mastroego]

I've finally fired up XCOM 2 with Long War 2.
After 600+ hours with LW1 I'm a little - you might say - disoriented with this new thingie. Not really sure what I'm supposed to do.
Will keep pressing buttons and thinkering things until I figure it up, but no rush.

 

[Alex]

(...snip)
Welcome to AD&D and its archaic rules, that's precisely the reason why this is happening. The same applies to Eye of the Beholder 3, where some races get screwed over so badly by the level cap that they won't gain ANY XP throughout the entire game.

AD&D's level rules work very well when they are correctly used. Imagine a sandbox game. Possibly one where you are allowed to have more than one PC. And then you get a bunch of dice rolls that determine your stats without your input. Maybe not just 3d6 in order, but still some system where you don't get to determine what kind of PC you get. Now, depending on what attributes you get, you might have a very high attribute. Maybe you have several good attributes. Or maybe you don't have a lot to work with, but still you have options. If you have a bunch of good rolls, you could try to make a multi-class character, like a fighter/m.u. or maybe a thief/fighter. These characters can become powerful and versatile. Maybe you have one very high attribute, so maybe you make a human with a basic class. These characters are less powerful and versatile at first, but have the potential to become so later on. There is a gamble here, however. If you die, your new PC will need to start from scratch. You don't get to die as an elf fighter/cleric and make a level 17 m.u. next. Other characters can be even more of a gamble. A character with two very high attributes, for instance, could become a dual-class character. Getting some fighter levels before going into your main class can make a much more resilient PC. Some less basic classes, like ranger or paladin can add some more options as well.

My point is that in the correct environment, AD&D demi-humans is a very interesting option without being the same as being a human. It is a kind of gamble you take when making a PC, one that usually has better off chances of paying off than the greater gamble of being a human.