What game are you wasting time on?

[gaussgunner]

Sometimes I'd get a glitch where I couldn't move/act in combat. It didn't happen often for most of the game, but the APEX battle was a nightmare due to continuous freezes.

Yeah, that's the worst bug I encountered. I had to restart that level, but it's just as well because I made too many mistakes. Once I realized I had to kill everything efficiently and keep them from reaching the 3 terminals, I got it over with pretty quickly before the engine had a chance to flake out.

I've been playing Hong Kong this week. No bugs so far, and I think it's almost over. The dialogue is pretty tedious; the only character I like at all is Kindly Cheng, the cold-ass gangster bitch you work for. The combat is still satisfying, at least. And you don't have that Illuminati guy breaking in on your commlink in every mission like in Dragonfall; that was irritating. I finally did the "Mess up Wuxing corp's feng shui" mission which sounded lame.. it was actually pretty fun. There aren't any missions I'd skip on a replay. Maybe the murder mystery, if I didn't want to recruit the murderer, but he kicks ass. What most annoys me is not having room for him on later missions where you need Wu and/or a decker and/or a healer. In hindsight I should've made my main character a decker-healer.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

Recently I played Tomb raider: Dagger of Xian, a fan-remake of Tomb raider II. It's actually very good. Solid graphics and art, adequate gameplay-wise, solid level design a pretty decent music selection. It's a bit short but you'll waste time thinking in the last riddle of the demo.

(More pics in the spoiler)

Spoiler

Also, I started to play the original Tomb raider. Just completed the first levels, looks promising. It's dated in it's controls but I'm not having trouble with them currently.

 

[Azalin]

Finished Wolfenstein The New Order,it's a modern shooter that tries not to be a corridor shooter all the time by giving you some path to flank the enemies most of the time,still the levels aren't that big so don't expect some massive incline here.The story is surprisingly decent as are the characters and I liked th sneaking sections they decided to put in,also Frau Merkel Engel is a promising villain.I might get the new one in a steam sale eventually.

 

[sullynathan]

That Tomb Raider fan game looks exactly like TR: Anniversary.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

That Tomb Raider fan game looks exactly like TR: Anniversary.

It does. Plays almost identically and the art-style is the same. But it's more ambicious design, plays smoother and has way better graphics. I hope they'll finish the project and we can have a new game in the way of AM2R.

 

[Vorark]

Beat Dex, a cool little game that was sitting on my Steam list for a couple of years months, it's a cyberpunk sidescroller game. Couple of points worth of mention:

- The errands you could do around the city were the best part of the game, loved it.
- The way persuassion was implemented was better than the usual "I win" button. You had choose it and then select the appropriate dialogue option, taking in account the personality of the NPC. Wish more games did this.
- Graphics were pleasant enough, but then I'm a sucker for 2d style. My criticism is that the platformer segments could've been better distinguished from the background, at times I jumped thinking there would be something to land on/grab on and would end up dying. Or could just be poor vison on my part.
- Hacking minigame is seriously annoying, it's basically a bullet hell shoot'em up. It's integral to the game so you can't just bypass it a la Shadowrun.
- Combat is a tad balls too. Sometimes my punches wouldn't register correctly or Dex would be hit when I thought she was out of her attackers' range.
- I swear the ending was some kind of jab at the ME3 endings.

Anyway, in case anyone might play it in the future, here's a few tips:

- Max the hacking and lockpick trees.
- Go melee.
- Upgrade the Shockwave skill you use in cyberspace. Way better than Wedge.


Oh yeah, beat Mass Effect 1 too. Shame ME3 tainted it, the Sovereign exchange just isn't the same. Tried to do all things I never did during my previous playthrough, like killing Wrex-bro (kinda lulz how he dies after just 3 shots) and saved Carth (argh). Still enjoy the 70's sci-fi atmosphere and the soundtrack. Planet exploration was surprisingly outdone by ME Andromeda, driving around on the Nomad was better than the Mako bouncing all over the terrain.

 

[Ovplain]

Bought me a SNES mini so I've been fucking around with that thing a bit.

 

[Humppaleka]

Don't remember if already posted but hey, it's the post count that counts: Beat Divinity: Original Sin. On my counts I didn't miss any sidequests, except for Beardottirs or whatevers personal one. I'll probably replay this anyway with the other two companions at some point, now played with Jahan and Madora. 65 hours according to Steam.

/

 

[flyingjohn]

Playing the original tomb raider on a psx emulator considering the dos/windows versions is a pain to get running on modern hardware.
The controls take some time to get used to but the camera is a deal breaker unfortunately.
This game was released before analogue sticks so there is no proper way to control the camera and the camera just loves to change position in the most inappropriate time possible.
Exploration is awesome and you get rewarded with items so it is worth it.(and you actually have to look around to find secrets compared to the modern tomb raider)Loved exploring the first set of levels and then encountering the t-rex was awesome(shame he got stuck in a tree and was easy to kill).
Controls work well because of the walk button stopping you at the edge of platforms and considering this game requires precision jumps and not speed(at least in the first sets of levels) that actually makes the controls work.
But the camera is literally fighting me the entire time and that is a big problem.
Hope the camera gets better.
For anybody wanting to play the tomb raider original series you can easily play the psx versions considering they seem to have better color options,better audio and fmvs.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Exploration is awesome and you get rewarded with items so it is worth it.(and you actually have to look around to find secrets compared to the modern tomb raider)Loved exploring the first set of levels and then encountering the t-rex was awesome(shame he got stuck in a tree and was easy to kill).

This is one of the major gripes I have with Tomb Raider Anniversary, they turned the whole T-Rex thing into a QTE sequence with a cinematic build-up, as in the original you were just strolling along and then suddenly SURPRISE! T-REX IN YOUR FACE!

 

[pippin]

The camera is indeed the worst aspect of the first Tomb Raider even if it's the best game of the series arguably (or at least the most unique one).
The Steam version works ok for me.

 

[Ezekiel]

Still replaying Crysis. Got distracted by a few other games. My biggest problem with this good game is how quickly the enemies all around can spot me. I'm visible for a second and a boat instantly starts shooting at me from half a mile away. Ridiculous.

 

[fantadomat]

I just decided to play Lords of xulima again.In the first fight i remembered why i didn't finish it.After i missed 7 attacks in a row with 75% chance to hit,i decided to bless the game with shift+del and enter.Now i am replaying Sudden strike gold.

 

[Dux]

I finally beat the Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest campaign. Some scenarios were certainly trickier than others and the final map was sort of an anti-climax in terms of challenge, but I thought the game was quite a lot of fun. It's rough around the edges, no doubt, when compared to later titles but it's also very slick and it has that addictive Heroes gameplay. Now, the only Heroes game worth mentioning which I haven't finished yet is Heroes IV. I'll cross that threshold one of these days, I swear. Even though the game is very old, anyone who's interested in Heroes should check it out if they haven't already. It might not be the most difficult experience but it's still quite solid. Just don't bank on your archers surviving, though.

 

[Starwars]

Started up Civ IV again after a looooong time of not playing. What a great game this is. Instantly reminded of why I think it's the best in the series.

Still, a few things added in Beyond the Sword that I think are kinda retarded. But overall it's fantastic.

 

[the_shadow]

Finished Shadowrun Returns: Hong Kong, including the bonus campaign. Overall I'm pretty impressed, it's easily the most enjoyable of the trilogy. They improved the Matrix sections to focus more on stealth and puzzle solving instead of just mindlessly engaging in combat that you can't skip. The story is as good (or even better) than Dragonfall, in that it keeps you guessing, although I prefer the Cursed City theme rather than a dragon one. I really enjoyed how the backstories of each of your companions is fleshed out. They have far more interesting backstories than those in Dragonfall, with the exception of Glory.

The game could get a bit bogged down by dialogue at times, although it can be spread out over multiple runs. You don't miss anything if you don't talk to NPCs for a few runs.

One thing I noticed is that the companion characters are way more powerful than those in Dragonfall. The Decker is an absolute powerhouse. Her pistol hits like a hand cannon, and if that's not enough, she gets a grenade launcher with heavy area of effect damage. Racter and his bot are also overpowered, although riggers in general are pretty powerful since your PC's 2 AP for 8 (!!!) AP at high levels. The final boss fight in the original campaign is pretty easy, but the one in the bonus campaign is tricky.

 

[Ivan]

cuck detected

 

[Ezekiel]

Pac-man 256. I've never played any version of Pac-man. It's hard, but I like it.

 

[gaussgunner]

One thing I noticed is that the companion characters are way more powerful than those in Dragonfall. The Decker is an absolute powerhouse. Her pistol hits like a hand cannon, and if that's not enough, she gets a grenade launcher with heavy area of effect damage. Racter and his bot are also overpowered, although riggers in general are pretty powerful since your PC's 2 AP for 8 (!!!) AP at high levels. The final boss fight in the original campaign is pretty easy, but the one in the bonus campaign is tricky.

That dinky little flechette pistol is OP as hell by the end, does more damage than a high powered rifle. It's some compensation that she only has a mid-range deck and no AoE attack programs, but that's sufficient for every matrix encounter in Hong Kong. I guess you might need top-flight decker to rescue the MK-ULTRA victims in the undersea lab on Hard mode. Nu Matrix is decline.. all it "adds" are sneaking and the simon-says "hacking" minigame, both realtime in an otherwise pure turn-based rpg. Near the end I discovered by accident that you don't even have to get the 6-7 digit numbers, just do the easy 4-5 digit ones and go on to the second stage.
All in all these are fun games, but Hard mode feels like Normal, and I was wrong in my last post, there's nothing like an Ironman mode. To make it harder I guess you'd have to create your own encounters in the editor.

After that I fired up Divine Divinity for the first time in a year. Not bad for an ARPG. Thought I'd just try playing as a warrior for half an hour... 4 hours later I've cleared the catacombs. I'll probably switch to Easy mode now because the combat is just a chore. RTwP isn't as bad with only one PC (so you don't have to pause that much) but it's still shit. Maybe I'll finish the game this time. Or maybe not; it seems endgames were never Larian's strong suit.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Maybe I'll finish the game this time. Or maybe not; it seems endgames were never Larian's strong suit.

The moment you become the divine and get to "the orange area" - uninstall. There is zero point whatsoever to slog through that shit.

 

[Ovplain]

Bought me a SNES mini so I've been fucking around with that thing a bit.

Played 'A Link to the Past' for 7 hours today! Good stuff.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Finally getting around to Dishonored 2. Can't maintain 60fps on a GTX 1070 at 1080p, what a badly optimized piece of shit engine. Looks only marginally better than the first game.

 

[Zed]

Started playing Tokyo Dark. Horror-vibey jappy adventure game. Noticeable low production value, and some highly skippable dialogue. Has some sort of sanity meter system, not sure how that will play out yet.

 

[the_shadow]

[
That dinky little flechette pistol is OP as hell by the end, does more damage than a high powered rifle. It's some compensation that she only has a mid-range deck and no AoE attack programs, but that's sufficient for every matrix encounter in Hong Kong. I guess you might need top-flight decker to rescue the MK-ULTRA victims in the undersea lab on Hard mode.

Yeah, I found Is0bel a more than adequate decker, and you can buy her an AoE attack program, although I never bothered. She's arguably a better decker/fighter than you could make your own PC, since you'd have to spread the karma points pretty thin.

Nu Matrix is decline.. all it "adds" are sneaking and the simon-says "hacking" minigame, both realtime in an otherwise pure turn-based rpg.

I think it's incline, but still only an average experience. In the previous games you *had* to beat all enemies in the Matrix before activating the data, whereas there are a lot of workarounds in the Hong Kong version.

 

[gaussgunner]

Maybe I'll finish the game this time. Or maybe not; it seems endgames were never Larian's strong suit.

The moment you become the divine and get to "the orange area" - uninstall. There is zero point whatsoever to slog through that shit.

Oh I see (looking at a walkthru), that's the endgame proper. I almost got that far the first time. That place you get teleported to with all the bees, that was some bullshit too. I did screw up a lot of the quests though.. the quest scripting is buggier than VTMB and worse, there are a few timed quests. FFFFFFFUUUUU----

I think it's incline, but still only an average experience. In the previous games you *had* to beat all enemies in the Matrix before activating the data, whereas there are a lot of workarounds in the Hong Kong version.

If you want to see "hacking" done right, play Deus Ex or VTMB. Push the "hack" button, lol. That's what it's coming to in real life, just run some automatic penetration testing tools, no brain jacks. I can't see brain jacks ever happening as long as computers are that easy to hack; hackers of all people would know it's suicide.