What game are you wasting time on?

[Humppaleka]

main character was written like an obnoxious 15-year old trying hard to sound edgy, and at times incredibly naive

A suprisingly accurate description of the writing. I remember how when i was younger i beat the first kotor at least two times, both times ignoring most of the companions dialogue.

Spoiler

Nobody cares about what is bothering you, Carth!

I can see how a teenage Humppaleka would enjoy the writing though. Checked the dark side ending on youtube and that has to be the most cringeworthy megaevul shit I've seen. And still people to this day applaud it as the best evil ending ever with meaningful choices etc.

 

[Cadmus]

Started Movie Battles II again after a few years break.
This is a total conversion multiplayer mod for Jedi Academy with assymetrical class gameplay and objective based game modes, all new maps, models, sounds, game systems. The classes even include Superbattledroids, droidekas, mandalorian bountyhunter with jetpack and more cool stuff. It's pretty hardcore as far as SW saber games go and provides the best lightsaber vs. lasergun experience and lightsaber vs.lightsaber you can get imo.

I suppose its still the best star wars experience you can get from a game. Found there are about as many active servers as before - 4-5 in Europe, which is enough. Hope to start getting good at it again. Seems they also made the game more beginner friendly with a real installer, various tips and tutorials included in the game, etc. Totally recommend - www.moviebattles.org if you've somehow managed to still like Star Wars and aren't sick of the Q3 engine. There's nothing quite like it on the market imo. It's a F2P mod of course but you need Jedi Academy.

Some cool features to get you to like it:
- the game allows for crazy shit to happen - unlimited jump height for jedi, unlimited wallgrab too
- as well as possible balanced gun vs sword combat where both have about the same chance to win but once you get to the soldier with your sword you just 1hit him like you should
- mindtrick, lightning, everything works great and the game relies on teamplay to balance the OP forcepowers instead of nerfing them to the ground
- heavily enhanced graphics
- heavy class customization within the classes, you can even build a jedi without a saber and it works,
- soldiers get cool perks like respawns, quickthrow grenades, poison darts, flamethrowers, EMP grenades, many guns to deal with the Jedi and robot enemies
- assymetrical maps with different objective for each side
- Full authentic mode with preset classes to replay the famous movie scenarios
- incredibly high skill ceiling of both saber vs saber and gun vs saber combat, deep saber system that I still haven't mastered after 10 years of playing (on and off of course)
- the community seems still alive and as nerdy as ever

 

[Darth Roxor]

I started playing Alien Isolation yesterday, but only today have I taken headphones for it.

Holy fucking jumping wieners, the audio in this gaem is EXCEPTIONAL.

E X C E P T I O N A L

 

[mastroego]

also turn the lights off and don't expect to fire weapons a lot
I, like, didn't even fire the pistol once

Just survive man

 

[Baron Dupek]

Tried AvP (2010) again thinking "I played worse games anyway".
Believe or not - it's worse than Alien "money bait like DNF" Colonial Marine. Flashlight have unlimited batteries and flares are regenerating after few seconds so you can spam them effectively. Our leader treat you like a little baby, modern games tutorial fashion, cringe.
But fighting with xenos is most awful thing ever. There is only few of them per room thanks to console limitations and they're massive bullet sponges if you use your pulse rifle. It's so ineffective (like rifles in Starship Troopers) they go close combat every encounter and you got to melee them with weapon butt to stun them and get a headshot. Rinse and Repeat. Uninstalled in 2nd mission (first time I dropped in 1st mission).

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Tried AvP (2010) again thinking "I played worse games anyway".
Believe or not - it's worse than Alien "money bait like DNF" Colonial Marine. Flashlight have unlimited batteries and flares are regenerating after few seconds so you can spam them effectively. Our leader treat you like a little baby, modern games tutorial fashion, cringe.
But fighting with xenos is most awful thing ever. There is only few of them per room thanks to console limitations and they're massive bullet sponges if you use your pulse rifle. It's so ineffective (like rifles in Starship Troopers) they reach you in melee and you got to melee them with weapon butt to stun them and get a headshot. Rinse and Repeat. Uninstalled in 2nd mission (first time I dropped in 1st mission).

I played it as Marine, and got a little further. It doesn't get any better whatsoever.

Then I tried playing it as the Alien, and I recall completing that arc. Besides a greater emphasis on sneak attacks, it feels all too similar to the Marine campaign (yes, really) and barely holds a candle to Alien campaigns in previous AvP games.

Tried playing as the Predator, and just gave up very quickly. It didn't feel right.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Yeah, Predator control was clunky and awful, even some bad console ports with "gamepad only" sign were better at that regard when I kept using kb+m. Plus - collision issues when you want to set jumping location, bleh.

 

[Beowulf]

Tried AvP (2010) again thinking "I played worse games anyway".
Believe or not - it's worse than Alien "money bait like DNF" Colonial Marine. Flashlight have unlimited batteries and flares are regenerating after few seconds so you can spam them effectively. Our leader treat you like a little baby, modern games tutorial fashion, cringe.
But fighting with xenos is most awful thing ever. There is only few of them per room thanks to console limitations and they're massive bullet sponges if you use your pulse rifle. It's so ineffective (like rifles in Starship Troopers) they go close combat every encounter and you got to melee them with weapon butt to stun them and get a headshot. Rinse and Repeat. Uninstalled in 2nd mission (first time I dropped in 1st mission).

I installed it recently and promptly uninstalled, as I had a very similar experience.

 

[Azalin]

Finished Blade Runner adventure game,I never played it back in the day and Blade Runner 2049 finally made to put it on my to do list,good graphics for a 20 year old game that capture the style of the movie,the story is nice although I think it is a bit too much like the original movie and the fact that it happens at about the same time makes it feel a bit weird.Not that many classic puzzles in it btw since you don't get to use items you get on some thing to solve puzzles like in most point and click adventure games,it's selling point are the many endings it has according to your actions during the game. Btw the game apparently thinks I am a pedo since in one ending I ended up driving out of the city like Deckard but with a 14 year old girl sitting next to me

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Some time ago I talked about a couple of games from the same developer: Hammerwatch and Serious Sam's Bogus Journey. Both games use the same top-down engine, and the twin-stick shooter gameplay is virtually identical in both. I claimed that Hammerwatch was the true spiritual successor to the classic Gauntlet and that Bogus Journey was a game that needed a few tweaks to be really good.

Now those same devs are back with the third game, Heroes of Hammerwatch. It's more of a spiritual successor than a sequel to Hammerwatch, and focuses on the same premise: Create a character (same classes as in Hammerwatch), enter a dungeon, and hack, loot and level up until you beat the game. In this regard it's pretty much the same game, but what they've added now is a town on the surface that you must spend resources on to upgrade, such as a temple, a tavern, a wizard's hut, a guild hall, etc.

Another key change is that in Hammerwatch (and Bogus Journey) the levels are hand-made, but in HoH they're procedurally generated, effectively turning the game into a Rogue-like. This sounds awesome until you realize just how they fit that into the game: By removing all standard associations with RPGs, such as consequences. The game is ALL about "the runs" you make into the dungeon, and preparing for them. There's two kinds of currency: Gold and Ore. One unlocks buildings, the other buys upgrades from those buildings. You find both of these in the dungeon along with items that boost your character, but the dungeons are one-way, you can never go back to a previous level or back to town to unload your loot. You must find dumbwaiters within the dungeon to "dump" your loot back to town, otherwise it's all lost when you die, and dying is the only way to return to town. Worse than that, the gold is taxed, and here comes another bone-headed decision from the devs: You're taxed every time you dump loot back to town, but the tax is based on how much gold you're dumping AND how much gold you have in town already. In short, the game is geared such that you're encouraged to spend ALL your gold while you're in town. Trying to save up towards an expensive unlock becomes outright tedious because of this. And every single unlock in the town is there for the sole purpose of upgrading your character and nothing else, so that dumbfuck who said that the town aspect of this game was comparable to Stardew Valley can go fuck himself. You have an inventory with dozens of slots for items, but because you never get to keep an item from run to run, they're essentially pointless.

In stark contrast to the above, the town itself is a fixed constant of progression: If you create a new character he arrives in the same town that your previous character did, with all unlocks available that had been unlocked. This is needed because only four of the seven classes are available at the start, you must grind and unlock stuff in the game to be allowed to use the other three.

The more you play the game, the more you realize that HoH is all about grinding unlocks. Hammerwatch had a dungeon through which you progressed towards an end, with monsters placed so that your level placement was consistent and reasonable. In Heroes of Hammerwatch you'll literally be doing the first dungeon (the mines) several times over before you even have a chance of beating the end boss, as you need to grind your character up the required levels, and then again to get the loot to unlock the upgrades needed to be able to beat him. And the boss fights are time-scaled; the longer the boss fight takes, the harder it gets. After 20 seconds mooks start to appear, after 30 seconds tougher mooks appear, after 60 seconds hostile turrets start shooting at you, etc. If you're lucky enough to beat a boss you get a permament boost to your character, but that boss will be back on your next run, unless you opt to use the "shortcut" to get past him, which involves fighting 12 waves of monsters and getting some items thrown at you along the way. Some shortcut that, it's actually more sensible to go the long way through the entire dungeon from the start.

And if you should actually manage to beat the game, there's a New Game+ mode so you can try again against a harder game. Normally the game's level cap is at Level 20, but with every New Game mode after that the level cap is raised by five levels. Yes, you read that correctly, multiple New Game modes. There's at least a New Game++ mode after New Game+, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were further modes beyond that.

I've seen and played several games that focus on grinding unlocks to progress the game. Lüftrausers, FTL, probably some others I can't remember. They all suck because of it, this is a stupid game mechanic that artifically restricts gameplay and forces players to hold on to a save game or config file (or confine gameplay to the Steam platform) or otherwise lose all that "sweet sweet progress".

I cannot recommend Heroes of Hammerwatch at this time, and most certainly not for the $15 asking price. There's a chance the game may improve with updates, so interested people should at least keep an eye on it and check for sales.

 

[Lazing Dirk]

So a few years back, I had the urge to play Syndicate Wars, but it didn't run right at all. I found that there was a port in progress, but while it ran properly, it only did so at super speed. Someone had reported the problem and suggested a fix, so I figure I'll just keep an eye on it and keep checking it now and then. It seems that fix finally got implemented some time last year, and now the game runs (mostly) okay. There are a few oddities, like sattellite rain happening about twice as fast, and those spiderbot things the cult have seem to run a bit quicker, but other than that it's perfectly playable.

(I actually run the game in a larger window, but there's no point posting it like that here since there's no extra detail to see)

I totally forgot about this thing though. It's weird since - unlike normal breakout - the ball has gravity, so it sometimes falls back down before reaching the block you're trying to hit. Apparently if you get a high score it'll give you an epidermis mod, but I think you'd have to play it for hours.

As for the actual game, the LR rifle is just as satisfying as I remember it being. As is the flamethrower. It's a shame the minigun becomes underpowered so quickly, it has such a nice sound. Now I just need the rocket launcher, nuclear grenades, and graviton gun for real funsies. Then get a real murderhorde going with the persuadertron so I can fire 50 guns out of a moving car.

If you want to play it yourself, you need to install the original port here, then copy over the updated files from here (windows binary only, unless you build your own from the source).

 

[Kabas]

Well, i tried Natuk and after a few hours realised that it's not my cup of tea.
I found it somewhat, i don't know, tedious? Compared to Realmz at least.
I rolled a pretty standard party as i see it, one of everyone. Later on i would have prefered to have another scout or assassin instead of ogre shaman, but oh well.

There are few things i definitely liked, like the way spells are tied to syllables. Meaning that if you learn enough spells from spellbooks or simply watch what the enemy casters are shouting(in that combat log that moves a bit too fast), you will be able to figure out new spells on your own by typing them manually. Orcish setting was also cool.
The combat however started to feel tedious after i left that rat mine. You're constantly facing too much enemies at once that you can't skip with (Q)uick combat and they take awhile to deal with even if you manage to secure a good chokepoint.
Doesn't help the fact that casters don't have an aoe damage spells at the beginning(don't know if they will get some at the later stages), so i was forced to rely on Fog and Create slippery ice spells to deal with crowds of goblins. Fog can block a line of sight, giving you a breather against the numerous enemy archers and the slippery ice is the same thing but against the melee guys. These spells are unreliable however, being intermediate level and coupled with the fact that putting all my rat exp into the magic skill seemed to be rather ineffecive at rising the casting chance, but they're the only tools to deal with crowds i had here.
And even if my witch doctor succeed at casting those, it's still would not change the fact that cutting all those gobs just takes too much time.
After removing at least three crowds of goblins using the aforementioned unreliable tactic i stumbled upon the crowd twice the size of what i encountered before. I realised two things:
-I am already burned out, i am not having fun
-I miss my [Plane of fog] spell.
So here i am. I guess this game is just not for me.

A few obesrvations, things:
-a commander skill allows you to control the friendly NPCs directly. Not sure how useful it could be here, but

Spoiler

If i had this skill in the Realmz, my wizard Vodalian wouldn't have tried to tank 4 green dragons and my dwarf npc peppep redsomething wouldn't have tried to test the dwarven resistance against the spider paralysis.

-I don't like having things like weapon skills or proficiencies. They always make me worry about making the wrong choice. Like, what if i focus on spears and the game will reveal that there are no decent magical spears here? But this is just my subjective opinion, it's should hardly be considered a legit criticism.

 

[octavius]

Like Nahlakh, Natuk gets better the more options you get for your characters.

 

[octavius]

I gave up on PC Realmz, due to too many annoyances.

The game would hang if pressing Esc in certain screens.
There would be graphics anomalies if adjusting the size of the window.
There doesn't seem to be any fog of war, which makes exploration less fun. Also there's no real in game map to use. So it's easy to miss things.

Pity, since it seems to be a good game. And it has the most complex character generation I've seen so far. The actual creation of characters is easy; just choose sex, race and class, and spells for magic users. But there are so many factors that make up a character, like Age, APR limits on both class and race, and lots of other modifiers for sex, class and race.

I may return to the game if a patch is ever released for the PC version, but for now it's just to frustrating to play.

Next of my play list is Jagged Alliance 2.
This game scares me. From all I've read about it I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy other tactical games after having played JA2...

 

[Kabas]

Graphic anomalies can be fixed by minimising/collapsing the game window and opening it up again. Sometimes needs to be done a few times, so yeah, annoying.

I doubt that we should ever expect a patch, the game is too niche and there is one confusing thing about it's status as a freeware.
Apparently, whoever holds the right to the game decided to charge for the game again(3$ per scenario) at some point, in 2013 if i am not mistaken, and this is the reason why registration codes are not listed on the site anymore. But you can't buy the game because the order button simply doesn't work now.
So it was a shareware that became a freeware, then a became a shareware again and now is an abandonware.
Shame, because the game got a lot of things just right for me.

 

[octavius]

Graphic anomalies can be fixed by minimising/collapsing the game window and opening it up again. Sometimes needs to be done a few times, so yeah, annoying.

Hey, that actually worked! I only tried the other window options.
Since that was the deal breaker to me, I guess I will give it another try then.

 

[markec]

Playing Deponia series, finished first two games and now Im starting Goodbye Deponia.

Despite some faults Im really enjoying the games.

I do hope Rufus will get into love triangle with Toni, because damn that ass.

 

[No Great Name]

Finished Super Monkey Ball, by which I mean completing all of the levels of the main Arcade Mode without running out of continues.

The premise is simple and easy to understand. You simply tilt the stage in order to direct the monkey ball into the goal, but don't let it's aesthetic fool you. The game can get incredibly challenging, especially in the Expert stages, where very precise movements are required in order to successfully navigate the stage. Analog control is a definite must in order to even have a chance of doing well in this game.

Having said that, it is surprisingly fun and it has that classic arcade feel of being really rewarding every time you finally beat that level you've been stuck on for a while, although one fault I have to give to the game is that I think it's a bit too generous with the number of continues it gives to the player.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the details can check out my review of the game here.

Going to play Final Fantasy Tactics next since I'm always hearing that it's good and I don't play enough SRPGs. I'm also getting that itch to replay Deus Ex again since it's been a while.

 

[octavius]

Gave PC Realmz another try.
A wizard joined the party and the first thing he did was to attack three gnomes. Suddenly 15 of their cousins appeared. My guys hardly ever hit them, they resisted or saved against most spells, and it soon turned into a slaughter.
I guess you either need to meta game or play with maxed out characters.
Anyway, I took it as a sign that I'm not just meant to play this game.


So over to Jagged Alliance 2, and some questions.
Do people play with the custom made merc?
Do you need to have one guy sitting in your HQ and repair stuff like in JA1?

 

[Krivol]

So over to Jagged Alliance 2, and some questions.
Do people play with the custom made merc?
Do you need to have one guy sitting in your HQ and repair stuff like in JA1?

1. Yes
2. No

Ad 1 - I like to have one guy being "me" in the game
Ad 2 - I usually repair stuff when my mercs are training militia. Usually I have jus 1-2 teams so it's enough for most of the time. Also transfering stuff to HQ (airport most of the time) repairing ang transfering it back is boring. But often I just keep Dimitri or other repairmen in Drassen Airport to repair used stuff bought from BR.

 

[Mustawd]

Beat Firaxis’s XCOM recently. Had a ton of fun, even when it started to get a tad bit repetitive towards the end. Regardless, it was the first game in years where I was smiling after the end credits rolled. Obviously, it’s not comparable to the original X-com in its simulation and complexity. But fun nonetheless.

Dropped Frayed Knights for now, as the constant backtracking started getting old, and there are some issues with the game’s economy that are annoying. But I’ll probably come back to it soon enough.

Had a few false starts with new games (as always happens when beating a fun game and deciding on what to try next). Had bought Dwarf Tower based on the fact that a dev of one of the games I enjoyed played it. What a mistake. It’s basically a mp game, as no sp campaign really exists. I’ll be deletijg from my steam library here soon. Also tried full spectrum warrior. Man, talk about a game made for consoles. The UI and controls and cameras make zero sense for a PC game. It’s not the worst game out there, and will probably finish. But kinda hard to get into the janky gameplay after coming from the turn based play of XCOM.

So finally settled on GTA vice city. Never played it before and so far I’m enjoying it immensely. I’m aware the steam version doesnt have all the songs available due to licensing issues, but so far it hasn’t made a difference in the experience.

 

[Kabas]

A wizard joined the party and the first thing he did was to attack three gnomes. Suddenly 15 of their cousins appeared. My guys hardly ever hit them, they resisted or saved against most spells, and it soon turned into a slaughter.

My wizard didn't start any fights, where is it happened?
I learned from my bitter experience that starting your adventures in brothel is a risky idea. Winking to that dwarf will lead you to the ambush, which would be tough for a first level party, especially if you have squishies with 2-6 stamina and lack strong early-lvl castes like berserker or fencer.
You will fare better by visiting the tavern to the south first, followed by the castle where you can get some free stuff and then visiting the crypt inside the barren cemetery. The last one is a good starting dungeon, be wary of the ghouls though.

By the way, i am right now in the middle of Magic & Mayhem. Spells are fun to use and i dig the plasticine look of units, everything moves a bit too slow though.

 

[Siveon]

So finally settled on GTA vice city. Never played it before and so far I’m enjoying it immensely. I’m aware the steam version doesnt have all the songs available due to licensing issues, but so far it hasn’t made a difference in the experience.

You can easily patch that back in you know.

 

[Mustawd]

So finally settled on GTA vice city. Never played it before and so far I’m enjoying it immensely. I’m aware the steam version doesnt have all the songs available due to licensing issues, but so far it hasn’t made a difference in the experience.

You can easily patch that back in you know.

Ahh, thanks for that. will take a look.

 

[Azalin]

Playing Deponia series, finished first two games and now Im starting Goodbye Deponia.

Despite some faults Im really enjoying the games.

I do hope Rufus will get into love triangle with Toni, because damn that ass.

I always liked Toni more than Goal,too bad Rufus didn't share my tastes.

Finished Road to Gehenna dlc for the Talos Principle,maybe not as good as the main game and a bit short but still good,liked the story too which is basically Internet Forum:The Game,if you liked the main game you should consider this one too during the next sale