What game are you wasting time on?

[CyberWhale]

PC and emulation (both Wii and PSP), bros. Switch could have been such a perfect device for playing games like this if Nintendo weren't a rare combination of incompetent retards and greedy fucks.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

weren't a rare combination of incompetent retards and greedy fucks.

That's the go-to combination for every game-publishing company that's AAA.

 

[pippin]

Yeah but Nintendo does not believe in free trade.

 

[Drog Black Tooth]

Finally finished Everlasting Summer. It took me 22 hours to unlock all 13 endings.

It's a Soviet themed visual novel game, and yes, on the surface it's essentially a dating sim with busty girls in pioneer uniforms. However, it's done really well. Very nice production values, including absolutely gorgeous backgrops and an amazing soundtrack. Very impressive for a game that was essentially made by a dozen of anonymous imageboard posters. You could say that it's essentially Russia's Katawa Shoujo, but it goes deeper than that.

I liked how the writer(s) handled the whole multiple endings trope common in visual novels. Basically the story is that you're a typical NEET loser living alone in a run down apartment, posting on the internet the whole day and feeling sorry about himself. And then one very cold winter day you take a bus to meet your old classmates and... you wake up in a very authentic 80's Soviet summer camp. Complete with girls in pioneer uniforms, hammer and sickle and Lenin busts everywhere. And it's the most beautiful summer you've ever seen.

You're given 7 days to make your choices (the game has a lot and every single one of them matters) and influence this new to you world. You cannot escape this summer camp, and no matter what you do, on the 7th day the bus comes again and takes you away. You wake up in your shitty apartment and then the whole thing loops again. It's essentially the time loop trope, similar to the movies like Source Code, Groundhog Day and Langoliers. You're forced to relive these 7 days in the 80's Soviet Union until... well, I won't spoil it for you. Suffice to say, the game touches a bit on the quantum immortality theory and the true ending (available after you unlock all the individual endings) really ties it all together.

The game is chock full of references. Lots of movies, Soviet/Russian culture, imageboard culture, etc. The English translation is fine, some minor grammar derps here and there but otherwise very good for a Russian game.

And it's completely free on Steam, no strings attached. This deal is pretty much like a sore dick, you can't beat it!

Spoiler

 

[sullynathan]

Has anyone played god eater? How does it compare to monster hunter?

 

[pakoito]

Has anyone played god eater? How does it compare to monster hunter?

I played a demo in a game fair. The combat feel is quite different, like in Devil May Cry with weightless weapons and flying around animu style.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

And finished Orion Prime.

It's a System Shock demake for the Amstrad, 'nuff said.

Pros:

+ It's a full-screen game on the Amstrad, which is not as common as you'd think.
+ It has some nice chiptune music which due to clever coding never stops playing, even when the game is loading.
+ It has a little bit of everything like exploration, puzzle-solving, mini-games and action sequences, so it's never dull or boring.
+ Features 3 endings, depending on what actions you (don't) take in the game.

Cons:

- It steals, borrows, mimics and impersonates the System Shock games at every level. Story, (lack of) characters, plot twists, setting, puzzle elements, hunting for crew logs, you name it. There's even an AI onboard!
- Unbalanced mini-games. Some are taken straight from System Shock 1, while others are brand-new creations. One mini-game is obnoxiously hard and took me an hour to complete, then I came across another one where I had to beat the high-score of an arcade game. Gave up on that after 10 minutes as Amstrad computers were never capable of handling twitch-level reflex games.
- Absolutely no animations in the game whatsoever.
- Combat involves either hitting the Space Bar to fire a gun, or hitting the Left and Right cursors to "wiggle" which equals to swinging a crowbar around to allegedly hit the enemy. The enemy is portrayed by a green skull that appears on-screen. About as exciting as using a can opener.
- Most of the gameplay is a Key (Code) Hunt. Find Lock, Look For Code, Unlock Door, Proceed. Repeat ad nauseum.
- What starts out as witty writing quickly devolves into sarcastic barbs of text.
- End credits take over 20 minutes and have more text than your average Durandal post, only with less content.

The game clearly states in the credits that it's inspired by the System Shock games on almost every level, but while the developer claims that he used DromED to create the rooms of the Orion Prime, took screenshots of them and then "devolved" the images for the Amstrad, I could spot a few places that were taken directly from the System Shock 2 game. So some fibbing is taking place here, I reckon.

Only play this game if:

# You're an Amstrad nut.
# You're a System Shock nut.
# You're an adventure game nut.

 

[spekkio]

Also, speaking of good 2D action games. If you haven't played Muramasa yet, you're a huge faggot.

Word of warning: I've played Muramasa ages ago, and it's a shit game: shallow, badly translated (Wii version at least) and generally very inferior to PS2 Odin Sphere, which was further improved when re-released as Leifthrasir AFAIK.
Muramasa is just a mindless vertical brawler, similar to Final Fight, but without interesting enemies or bosses. You just run around from left to right corner of the map, killing everything in your way by mashing the A button. Great 2D art, not much else.

Drog seems to have shit taste in games, which isn't surprising, taking into consideration which game he decided to mod.

Seems pretty cool.
It's a sort of metroidvania?

Yeah, but the exploration parts are a bit standard. The real fun comes with the combat.

It's not a metroidvania in any way, shape or form. Enemies do respawn and some areas are blocked initially. That's p. much it. No interesting exploration, no enemy progession, no special skills leading to new areas, etc. It's just a brawler, like Final Fight or Streets of Rage.

 

[spekkio]

^
Do elaborate, BRO MaskedMan.

 

[Perkel]

Has anyone played god eater? How does it compare to monster hunter?

It is garbage. If you want something MH esque only Toukiden is worth it but imo still like 2-4 levels below even previous mh games.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I always waste my evenings on Retroarch scrolling through infinite MAME roms and playing each for about a minute and feeling nostalgic for arcades.

If I were a man I'd be 1 credit clearing Raiden Fighters Jet, but I'm weak.

 

[Siveon]

Also, speaking of good 2D action games. If you haven't played Muramasa yet, you're a huge faggot.

Word of warning: I've played Muramasa ages ago, and it's a shit game: shallow, badly translated (Wii version at least) and generally very inferior to PS2 Odin Sphere, which was further improved when re-released as Leifthrasir AFAIK.
Muramasa is just a mindless vertical brawler, similar to Final Fight, but without interesting enemies or bosses. You just run around from left to right corner of the map, killing everything in your way. Great 2D art, not much else.

I did a bit of research and the differences between the two versions are essentially an improved translation, and extra content in the form of DLC (and later a version with the DLC included), as well as some control changes due to the nature of the changed platform. Personally, I think the boss fights were very interesting, as-is the enemy patterns. While there is little exploration in Muramasa, I think the challenge areas that you find, as well as all the items and currency give it a bit of incentive to at least look around a bit. The combat itself is also incredibly fun, much more fluid than the likes of Final Fight, with a lot of variety of what you can do, and when. While the enemy variety is a bit on the short side, as well as the encounters, it was one of those things that never got old.

The improved translation definitely makes the story more interesting, and the Chaos/Fury difficulty modes kept me on my toes. In comparison, I thought the PS2 Odin Sphere had many problems in terms of gameplay being too stiff and awkward to play (especially the plant mechanic), as well as bosses causing annoying slowdown.

OT: I've just beaten Dark Messiah and now I turned to Doom. I love older FPS's, so I figure it's about time that I finally play one of the best in the genre. Episode 1 was only fun but not mind-blowingly fun - until the last level. Now on Episode 2 I'm already in love. I can't wait until I try out Doom 2.

 

[duanth123]

Has anyone played god eater? How does it compare to monster hunter?

It is garbage. If you want something MH esque only Toukiden is worth it but imo still like 2-4 levels below even previous mh games.

You don't think Soul Sacrifice Delta is a worthy competitor?

 

[Machocruz]

Cataclysm: DDA, again (forget if I posted this game here already). Has supplanted Dwarf Fortress as my Game of the Forever. Nothing else can compete with it right now, especially any AAA game, simple minded as they are. It's got the depth, the detail, the danger, and the RPG elements.

In my current game I'm larping one of the evil characters from the Record of Lodoss War anime. A skilled swordsman (chose Fighter profession, which comes with a broadsword, trench knife, leather armor, and rations, plus appropriate skills) hellbent on conquest and power. My ambitions go beyond that of the peasants, commoners I played before whose only goal was to survive. I aim for complete domination of the realm.

My starting location wound up being really convenient for this concept. An evac shelter only a few map tiles north of a large town with a lone house at the northernmost tip - great for an initial forward base. Not far to the southeast is a mansion that I have just launched my campaign to seize from its undead hosts. It will become my fortress from which I carry out my reign. I've already made one night-time incursion into the manse, where, among other things, I found a suit of plate armor and two large libraries full of books; very useful indeed. Hopefully there is a good construction book in there so I can raise my skills without the tedium of building shit I don't need to get my skill level up. One of my plans before going into the game was to build a fortress either from the ground up or out of a house or two.

I've razed several houses to the ground, using them as fire traps for large groups of undead. That i didn't thoroughly search all these houses is no big loss, as the needs of a mighty conqueror with no desire for creature comforts are simple. With high stats in Str and Dex, reinforced armor and weapons, and tactical use of bushes, window openings, and flame, none can stand before me. Yet. Havent' met a hulk or brute yet.

 

[octavius]

# You're an Amstrad nut.

In Norway only dorks had Amstrads. I guess it was different on Iceland?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In Norway only dorks had Amstrads. I guess it was different on Iceland?

Not really, no.

Amstrad CPCs are useful all-round purpose machines, but they pay for that versatility by being slow in general.

 

[GrainWetski]

I'm playing through KotOR 1&2 for the first time! Finished the first and am a bit into the second (done w/Telos), will post thoughts after I'm done with both.

I need to ask though, in KotOR2, which companions should I bring to each planet (to trigger quests and such)? I believe I missed out on over half of the companion quests in KotOR1 because I brought the wrong people to the wrong planets (ffs only Bastila and Zaalbar have hints where to bring them), would really appreciate it if I could get some directions so that it doesn't happen again.

http://www.starwarsknights.com/influence.php

 

[adddeed]

Installed M.A.X. yesterday. Seems deep enough, will see how it goes. A bit confised so far, I guess i have to do the training scenarios.

 

[Dux]

I finished Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings a moment ago. It was a short-ish game - thankfully.

Firstly, the boss battles. The absolute worst I've ever seen in my twenty years of being a gamer. That's not hyperbole either. To label them as being plain awful would be a compliment. Secondly, the combat. Roll, roll, click, roll, click, roll, click. If this is what people want in their RPGs in this day and age then they can have it. I won't have any part of it, however. They can wallow in their Mountain Dew and Doritos all they want. I don't give a fuck either way. Thirdly, the story. Something-something-something... oh hey Geralt, you're in this game? Something-something-something politics etc. Once again the game wasn't really about Geralt of Rivia. It was more about politics in a fantasy land that I couldn't give less of a shit about, with poorly written characters, contrived situations, deus ex machina, plot holes, immaturity and the list goes on. I was a fan-fiction writer back in the day in my teens. I know bad writing. I know bad fan-fiction writing. This game reminded me of those days. It reminded me of me when I was feverishly churning out overly dramatic crap, thinking it was the best shit ever. I digress. At times the writing was servicable and decent, often when it involved Geralt and his friends. Hint hint. Otherwise it was just fucking awful. Some of the worst I've suffered through in quite some time, in fact. It's just bad and uninteresting. It's quite amazing how they managed to make everything so bland. Geralt turned from a mildly interesting character in the first game into another vacuous Hollywood faggot with cheesy punch-lines. Oh, and the stealth sections too - we gotta have those. QTEs and timed dodges and combos and whatever. Then we have the general AI conversations. In the first game the NPCs only said a few words every now and then, sometimes in reaction to something. It was there to bring flavour and it was - for the most part - unintrusive. Now we have the classic scripted Skyrim conversations that repeats again and again and again and again.

So did I like anything in this game? The graphics were pretty decent, I guess, and the voice-acting was mostly good enough.

Meh, just another popamole piece of shit. By the week's end I'll probably have forgotten about it entirely. As it should be. Strangely I am kind of glad I gave it a fair chance and trudged through it to the end. Otherwise I would have that seed of doubt in my mind, whether this game really is hype or not. Other people might see this game as the second coming or whatever. Good for them. We all have different tastes. For myself, I see it as a poor excuse for a game, from beginning to end.

 

[sullynathan]

Secondly, the combat. Roll, roll, click, roll, click, roll, click

This style of combat isn't intently bad, just depends on how it's implemented.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I don't have anything against rolls if they're implemented correctly. They should neither be 100% invincible nor free. There should be a cost for mistiming a roll (even slightly) and there should be a penalty for using it in the wrong situation (such as in a crowded room). It should cost a non-trivial amount of limited resource (stamina, whatever) that is also used for attacking, dashing and performing other actions.

I guess I just described Dark Souls rolls, eh?

 

[sullynathan]

MotherMachinae so you don't believe roll and attack combat can be good? Never played a dark souls, bloodborne, NiOh or monster hunter?

 

[toroid]

Been playing lots of Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth. One of the deepest and most replayable games I've ever experienced. So many item synergies and unlockables, and the risk vs reward is potent. The game just keeps unfolding and every run is different.

Also, Dying Light is surprisingly decent.

 

[Baron Dupek]

MotherMachinae so you don't believe roll and attack combat can be good? Never played a dark souls, bloodborne, NiOh or monster hunter?

If there are no other ways to avoid attacks than rolling (or they are limited/harder to use than just roll, especially for chara with no shields) then yes, combat is borked and badly designed tbh.
Played MH and DS where I tried to limit rolling to minimum (possible, just like rat diplomacy in F1) didn't played other titles because they're on bigger consoles (I'm PC+handhelds). Don't remember rolling in Ninja Gaidens or DMC so there is some flaws in ur argument mang..
Rolling is just another decline feature tbh.

 

[sullynathan]

MotherMachinae so you don't believe roll and attack combat can be good? Never played a dark souls, bloodborne, NiOh or monster hunter?

If there are no other ways to avoid attacks than rolling (or they are limited/harder to use than just roll, especially for chara with no shields) then yes, combat is borked and badly designed tbh.
Played MH and DS where I tried to limit rolling to minimum (possible, just like rat diplomacy in F1) didn't played other titles because they're on bigger consoles (I'm PC+handhelds). Don't remember rolling in Ninja Gaidens or DMC so there is some flaws in ur argument mang..
Rolling is just another decline feature tbh.

Ninja Gaiden and DMC are hack and slash while the souls and MH are not. Ninja Gaiden has blocking and dodging and truthfully you will want to dodge a lot.
DMC has always had rolling too.