What game are you wasting time on?

[JDR13]

Started my replay of Doom (2016). My twitch reflexes are out of shape. I'm getting my ass kicked a lot on Ultra Violence difficulty, and I'm only on the second level so far.

 

[lightbane]

Before someone reads this and gets fooled - FEAR2 is in fact a horrible, horrible game. The "get sodomised with a jackhammer while having an icepick swing into your forehead" kind of horrible. The "kill your mother, rape your dog" kind of horrible. The "please put me out of my misery let it end already what have I done to deserve this" kind of horrible.

Extra points because the game subjects you to a fucking literal rape scene in first person, where your poor guy is abused by the big bad girl and you can't do anything but press switches to hopefully disable her somehow. Curiously enough the gaming press didn't complain or anything about this rather over-the-top moment...
Anyways, as for my case, right now I'm testing the demo of Beautiful Desolation. I think Codexers will like it a lot. It's like the Cayne game, but on steroids, as well as the fact you can actually talk to people! Moreover, the protagonists are quite optimistic compared to the previous ones.

 

[Azalin]

Finished Kingdom Come Deliverance Royal Edition and liked it.Good graphics,good enough story and characters,gameplay was good enough although sometimes combat can feel a bit clunky,the world is nice too.The game goes for historical accuracy which is nice although there are some drawbacks to that,expect to see a lot of samey brown buildings/houses.Among the dlc I would say A woman's Lot was the best with both questlines being good,From the Ashes was the weakest imho. In the end it's a good game worth your time and money,recommended.

I think most players would struggle a lot with 'finding the fun' if they're not the patient sort. I certainly am losing interest rapidly after the first 1.5 hours of introduction. But once the game lets you off the leash, you're still left with a sense of 'what am I to do now.'

It took me a while to discover the dice game, training Henry's repair skills to save money and get better at surviving the combat. Eventually, I got into a routine where I'd just spend most of the time training in the morning, winning archery master competitions, playing dice games till the tavern closes before going on the main quest. I also discovered I don't need to learn Reading to start working on Alchemy. That was fun translating jumbled letters into words. And with Hardcore mode removing compass directions, the first hour of leaving town is spent getting lost until I realize I had to use the sun and landmarks to orient myself.

The problem is that the game doesn't use traditional leveling but uses the whole train or use some skill and/or attribute to increase it and like in most of these games you start very weak and very poor so you have to spend some time to become competent and not a complete loser even after you figure out what you have to do.Combine that with the stupid saving system and the first hours can be frustrating since you can die quite easily.I figured it would be like that when I started it,so during the prologue I stole everything that wasn't nailed down in Talmburg and started the main game with some decent equipment and some money.

 

[ebPD8PePfC]

Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea – The first part is an hour long introduction which you might as well speedrun. The second part is the real game, and actually takes a couple of hours to finish. Instead of generic FPS corridors the DLC has solid stealth sections. As expected, the gameplay is much better than Bioshock Infinite because it doesn’t clash with the narrative every 30 seconds, and allows you to explore the gorgeous and highly detailed environments in a semi-reasonable manner. Upgrades are also found, rather than bought, which makes exploration more interesting.
The gameplay alone though doesn’t carry the DLC, so whether you’ll enjoy the it or not depends mostly on how much you cared for the story of Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite. The DLC is obsessed with closing every single open question, no matter how many silly quantum particles explanations it has to throw at it, and ends with what felt like 45-60 minutes of walking around and seeing cutscenes.
I wouldn’t say the DLC is very good, but the entire experience is short enough and so highly produced that you might as well play it to the end.

 

[DalekFlay]

I somehow never played the Infinite DLC, despite being a bigger fan of Infinite than most people here. Maybe I'll load that up after my FEAR-a-thon ends.

P.S. Did I mention FEAR 3 reallly sucks?

 

[newtmonkey]

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight (PC [remake])

Finally finished this monster of a game!

I enjoyed BT1 enough, though I felt it was quite a step down in every way from Wizardry 1-3 (other than graphics)—the very definition of style over substance, but still with some substance to it. It was also the perfect length as I found myself setting foot into the final dungeon just as I began hoping there wasn't much left to the game.

BT2 takes BT1 and just expands it in every way. Instead of one town with a few dungeons it in, you now have several towns with one dungeon each, and a wilderness area you can explore around them. You have more types of monsters, more spells, more songs, more items, more equipment, etc.

Unfortunately, BT2 is a step down from even BT1 in every way that counts. The dungeons are generally more interesting than those in BT1, but they're still just giant mazes of rooms with no rhyme or reason. Worse, it seems like nearly every floor of every dungeon is full of spinners, dark zones, anti-magic zones, anti-bard song zones, with some ENTIRE DUNGEON LEVELS being composed of these vexing squares.

The combat is even more mindless than it was in BT1. In BT2, you're either ridiculously powerful and immortal (the first 80% of the game if you imported your party; I've heard the first dungeon is quite difficult for a new party), or you're one step away from a party wipe because the game takes your spells and bard songs from you.

So instead, the game focuses on mapping challenges and the "snares" you need to solve to get each wand segment. These are real-time puzzles where the game sticks you in a closed-off area of the dungeon and you need to solve some riddle within a certain time limit or it's a party wipe. It's a neat concept, and was clearly done to present some kind of challenge to even a powerful party, but I also don't like that a level 1 party would be just as capable in these snares as the party you've developed over dozens of hours. It makes me feel like I'm suddenly playing a different game made in the BT2 engine.

The last two dungeons really tested my patience with this game. It's like they tried anything they could to make you want to stop playing. Dungeon floors from which you can't escape until you get the snare at the end. A dungeon floor that hides a clue you need to solve the snare, in a single room among an entire open floor (with wrap around edges) of magic dark squares. A dungeon floor where every square is anti-magic so you can't heal, and a long winding corridor through damage squares in order to get a clue you need later on. It goes on and on.

I'm glad I finally finished this one and plan to do BT3 at some point, but I'm definitely taking a break to play something else first.

 

[flyingjohn]

Playign a couple of space games:

Starpoint gemini 2 and warlords.
Big meh,they feel like offline mmo with tacked on shallow gameplay elements.The ui is especially terrible for the strategy element.

Imperium galactica.

Liking the game a lot.The fusion of colony building,rts,and 4x elements really work well.
The only problem i am seeing is that people are mentioning the game is heavily scripted with events that will happen in every play through at the same time with the same amount of enemies.

Has anybody played imperium galactica multiple times comment on this?
Even if it is true there seem to be plenty here to enjoy a good single play through from what i am seeing.

 

[octavius]

it seems like nearly every floor of every dungeon is full of spinners, dark zones, anti-magic zones, anti-bard song zones, with some ENTIRE DUNGEON LEVELS being composed of these vexing squares.

They don't make 'em like that anymore. <sigh>

 

[Mark Richard]

Pathologic 2 - In order to eat for the day I've had to commit burglary, murder, and several counts of organ harvesting. I basically sold a person's heart for some unbuttered toast. It would seem more efficient to just eat the organs and add cannibal to the list of charges, but I guess the game had to draw the line somewhere.

Really engrossed so far. It still retains the mystique of the original while being somewhat more comprehensible.

 

[alighieri]

Still playing Fallout 2. After investing some time into the game I think I understand why people who played Fallout 1 or Fallout 2 before Fallout 3 dislike the third entry.

 

[d1r]

Still playing Fallout 2. After investing some time into the game I think I understand why people who played Fallout 1 or Fallout 2 before Fallout 3 dislike the third entry.

"dislike" is the understatement of the year.

 

[ghostdog]

Still playing Fallout 2. After investing some time into the game I think I understand why people who played Fallout 1 or Fallout 2 before Fallout 3 dislike the third entry.

Keep playing and FO1&2 and eventually you'll understand the difference between a great game and Bethesda's mediocrity.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I made the mistake of trying nu-Doom. For a game that's supposed to be so MUH VISCERAL, it's surprisingly low energy. The guns are all peashooters, I swear on me mom. The enemies are ass. The melee kill pinatas are stupid. And finally the basic game/level design formula of "arena -> run around looking for secrets -> arena -> run around (repeat)" is both stupid and tiresome. It's like Painkiller but stripped of all the qualities that made that game cool.

I'd rather play Doom 3 instead of this shit.

 

[Puukko]

I didn't really bother analyzing nuDoom when I gave it a go, but it didn't really grab my attention. I still intend to return to it eventually, but for the forseeable future my choice of FPS are modern throwbacks as well as the classics themselves, so I'm not in a hurry. I also remember merely finding the OST 'okay' while everyone else raved bout it and showered it with awards. It never reached climax, just pretended like it was going to.

 

[alighieri]

Still playing Fallout 2. After investing some time into the game I think I understand why people who played Fallout 1 or Fallout 2 before Fallout 3 dislike the third entry.

Keep playing and FO1&2 and eventually you'll understand the difference between a great game and Bethesda's mediocrity.

Compared to FO1 and FO2, Fallout 3 is mediocre, yes. However, I still enjoy Fallout 3.

 

[JDR13]

I made the mistake of trying nu-Doom. For a game that's supposed to be so MUH VISCERAL, it's surprisingly low energy. The guns are all peashooters, I swear on me mom. The enemies are ass. The melee kill pinatas are stupid. And finally the basic game/level design formula of "arena -> run around looking for secrets -> arena -> run around (repeat)" is both stupid and tiresome. It's like Painkiller but stripped of all the qualities that made that game cool.

I'd rather play Doom 3 instead of this shit.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Dusted off my PS3 and gave myself a break from mouse/keyboard carpal tunnel.

Having a go at GTA 5, Red Dead 1, and Batman Arkham City... suddenly it's like I'm 47 all over again.

 

[DalekFlay]

After finishing the loathsome FEAR 3 I decided to go back and play Perseus Mandate after all, to complete the set. Color me surprised... it's much better than Extraction Point, and very fun. Lots of new environments, much harder enemies, a decent story that feels like a real companion to the main game and perhaps one of the coolest moments in the series where a huge mech chases you through an entire floor of a building busting through walls. Makes no real sense another FEAR operative has slo-mo powers, and the large environments come with the trade-off of worse detail, but I'm still having a blast. If you liked FEAR and skipped the expansions because of meh reviews, I highly recommend playing Perseus Mandate. Very solid.

 

[baud]

I've just finished the first Tomb Raider. Before playing at the end of TR4 last year, I had never played any Tomb Raider games (except the first popamole remake), so it was a bit of a discovery.
Well I also tried the expansion, but the copy I found crashes every 10 mins, so I'm not going to play that.

Comparing TR1 & TR4

Visually, TR4 is way superior, with better models and also better ambiance (mostly helped by better models). Even if all of TR4 is one area (Egypt), there was enough variation in the levels that it didn't felt stale too much. Also it looked cleaner, with no visible joints between textures, no object appearing through textures and much better draw distance. The walls of pulsating flesh and skinned monsters in the last levels of TR1 were slightly horrifying. TR4 did also a little in the horror registry, but differently, more with ambiance.

Basic enemies in TR1 feels less like bullet sponge, especially since human opponents are a minority, compared to TR4. Having a wide variety of animals (including dinos) to slaughter is fun. And fighting only few humans make each fight more memorable, compared to TR4, where the human enemies are nearly just as bullet-spongy, but way more numerous. At least the bigger weapon variety alleviate some of that issue in TR4 (explosive weapons FTW).

Levels seemed more impressive in TR1, but more linear and less maze-like (which I prefer to the more open/hub-like levels of TR4).
Gameplay mechanics: I'd say it hasn't changed much, with a slight advantage for TR4, as it seems slightly more fluid. Note that played both with the keyboard only, I successfully plugged my gamepad for TR4, but it felt much worse.
Except for the ability to crawl, which doesn't bring much to the gameplay and is way too slow, especially since it nearly always end up with having to do a U-turn at the end, which is slowwwww. And those passages are like everywhere.
Jumps seems a little more forgiving in TR4, with a shorter run-up. I'd also found that lateral jumps (to avoid enemy attacks) is easier to execute in TR4, due to (I think) different timings. I would have liked a tutorial (for example to learn that while walking you can't fall from a platform ) in TR4, but since it's the third sequel, it's not surprising they didn't bother. And vehicle phases don't bring anything really interesting, the controls aren't fluid enough and the physics too bumpy. Also the angle of the camera in TR1 has a few issues, with times where I couldn't see where I'm going to walk, usually in downward slope or stairs; I don't know if TR4 changed the angle of the camera or took care in the level design to avoid places with that issue.
I didn't have to consult a walkthrough as often in TR1, I think TR1 is easier than TR4, but I could also be getting better at this (yeah, in my dreams).

Edit: Rean I bought my copy of TR1 from Steam, but the unfinished business expansion isn't included, so I searched on the net for a copy. If it's not available for sale, it's doesn't count as piracy, right?

 

[Abu Antar]

I beat X-Com: Apocalypse and moved on to Geneforge 2.

Other than that, I'm also playing Nier: Automata.

 

[Sranchammer]

There's just nothing left that's interesting

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Realms of Quest V on the C64 Maxi - and I'm having a blast with it. A very polished, feature packed RPG, well worth the money. I like it so much that I'll purchase a boxed version if it's available again. My other drug at the moment is (once again) Baldur's Gate 1 - horribile dictu! - On the Android tablet... it's inferior to the (modded) PC-original, sure. But being able to play such an epic on the loo is a new experience for me.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I made the mistake of trying nu-Doom. For a game that's supposed to be so MUH VISCERAL, it's surprisingly low energy. The guns are all peashooters, I swear on me mom. The enemies are ass. The melee kill pinatas are stupid. And finally the basic game/level design formula of "arena -> run around looking for secrets -> arena -> run around (repeat)" is both stupid and tiresome. It's like Painkiller but stripped of all the qualities that made that game cool.

I'd rather play Doom 3 instead of this shit.

Doom 3 had a pretty good story if I recall correctly. Also had an interesting flashlight mechanic. I gave up on Doom 4 after it was clear it had no story and nothing going for it except for the soundtrack. The original Doom games are still there if you just want to shoot stuff.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The original Doom games are still there if you just want to shoot stuff.

Akshually in the end I went for something related and decided to dust off Quake.

I never liked Quake much, though the last time I played it was... long ago, so I was curious to see if my opinioun would change. And it did! Turns out Quake is actually p. cool.

It's still such a weird game though. Level 1 - sci fi installation with angry doges and laser gun dudes. Level 2 - OGRE CITADEL

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'd rather play Doom 3 instead of this shit.

Doom 3 had a pretty good story if I recall correctly. Also had an interesting flashlight mechanic.

You may be interested to hear that the very first thing Bethesda changed in Doom 3 once they got their hands on it was... the interesting flashlight mechanic. It's just a toggle On/Off-flashlight now. As a result the game completely loses whatever appeal it had, it becomes Just Another Corridor Shooter.