What game are you wasting time on?

[BLOBERT]

BRO I WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE INTERACTIVITY OF THE WORLD

DONT REMEMBER IF YOU COULD BAKE BREAD BUT IT WAS STILL IMPRESSIVE FOR A CLICK CLICK RPG

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Just finished Divine Divinity as my beginning foray into the Divinity series. I'll probably skip ahead to Divinity: Original Sin after this instead of going through each individual games. I used to have this thing about going through each game in release order, but with my time being more limited than before, I'll just go straight into the one I've been the most interested in -- but enough about that.

Let me start with the two strongest points that DD has going for it which is the music, and the visuals. Immediately the first thing that drew me into the game was the art direction and the atmosphere that gets strongly carried by the music as it completely enhances every area that you visit in the game. I'm saddened to hear that the composer's last game was D:OS but given that this was my first time becoming aware of him and first time playing the Divinity series, I have his music to at least look forward to with most entries.

The rest of the game isn't nearly as strong. The combat is so-and-so after you get out of the initial area. It's still fun in parts, but the game never gets challenging in a fun way, especially once you realize how broken the Frozen spell is, but even without that, it is still relatively easy to just go through the rest of the game with the exception of 1 boss that you fight two times. Josephina was the only enemy that gave me a run for my money and the only time I had to back away from a fight in order to level up and get a skill to get rid of the Dreadknight (in the sense that I turn him over to my side to attack her).

Then there's the final dungeon which is essentially one big dungeon compromised of 6 small dungeons of which 5 is relatively reasonable size. But as if the game wants to give one last big fuck you, the size of the last area leading up to the final boss is filled with enemies, and is bigger than the other areas. Suffice to say that you get tired long before reaching the endgame that by the time I realized the number of enemies I was going to be fighting against that I ended up just using an invisibility spell to just skip past all the enemies, click the two levers to open up new areas in this oversized place, and just go straight to the final boss who ended up being a joke.

In terms of writing, serviceable is the word I'd probably use as the majority of it is pretty typical of D&D. There's a lot of fun scenarios that the game takes you through, but it never gets interesting enough to elevate the story or any of the quests or any of the characters.

Play Divinity 2(Not to be confused with D:OS2), it's my favorite of the series. You'd be missing out on a gem by skipping it.
Make sure you get the Developer's Cut edition(AKA re-re-released)

 

[ebPD8PePfC]

L.O.L - Lack of Love - Finished the first two levels and I'm done with it. You play as a small creature in an alien world, that has to evolve by having positive interactions with the other species, so they'll gives you small energy orbs that are used to evolve. You have four buttons, make sound, hit, urinate, and sleep. The game is about exploring the levels and trying the different verbs on creatures.
Sometimes the interactions are straight forward - hit a beetle that's stuck with its legs in the air to turn it over, or hit a plant that opens up like an umbrella to shield small insects from the rain. Other times the solutions feel like an untested 90's adventure game - talk three times to a sleeping insect (the game offers no feedback the first two times you press talk), try talking to an insect while sleeping (that's the first time pressing talk while sleeping has any feedback, and you don't get any indication this insect can read dreams).
The design is seemingly systematic, like a simple roguelike, where you have big open levels filled with objects, and you can try a small set of verbs on them, but this falls apart when it comes to the solutions, which are very much a classic adventure game read-the-designers'-mind sort of deal, where only one very specific interaction works. Peeing on plants doesn't make them grow, except one specific plant you need in order to continue. I don't like this sort of games, which made me drop it, but if you're ok with this than you should definitely try this game.
All this confusion might not be entirely the game's fault - it was never translated and I don't speak Japanese, but for the most part the game has no text and you can play it without a walkthrough.
The terrific soundtrack was done by Ryuichi Sakamoto, so it's worth a listening:

 

[ebPD8PePfC]

ThY Kindgdom Crumble - You're trying to jump up on blocks that fall from the sky at random. The problem is that sometimes they don't fall in a pattern that allows you to climb, and you're stuck in place waiting for the RNG to work, so that new stones would fall in the right order. It feels like a racing game where the engine dies at random every couple of minutes. Not good.

 

[Starwars]

I'm playing some Kathy Rain which I got for free on STEAM a while ago.

I heard it was good but I'm actually pretty impressed. Seems like a really pleasant adventure game so far, almost feel a bit guilty for getting it for free.

 

[Harry Easter]

Icewind Dale 2. back then, I remembered it as the best infinity-game and after the prologue and two chapters I still think of it as the best. The little details do it for me: that a Paladin has it's own dialoguechoice and you damn well will choose those, the skillsystem is nice and the choice of race gets commented on. The plot is still solid so far. But it does get easier, once you reach a certain level and your mage has some powerful spells. Fireball is a real gamechanger. Let's see, if I can finish it this time.

 

[Cael]

Icewind Dale 2. back then, I remembered it as the best infinity-game and after the prologue and two chapters I still think of it as the best. The little details do it for me: that a Paladin has it's own dialoguechoice and you damn well will choose those, the skillsystem is nice and the choice of race gets commented on. The plot is still solid so far. But it does get easier, once you reach a certain level and your mage has some powerful spells. Fireball is a real gamechanger. Let's see, if I can finish it this time.

Problem with the paladin dialogue is that it is either "I can't accept loot because I am an idiot" or "Die, infidel!"

 

[Abu Antar]

I played the Knights of Chalice demo. It was very cool. Looking forward to KotC2 and when I have lots of free time, I will probably buy the full KotC game.

In Darksiders 3, I think I've reached the halfway point. 4 out of 7 sins. My next session will be me looking for secret or previously unreachable areas.

I'm aaaaaalmost done with Persona 5. Haven't played it much latey. I have almost everyone maxed out in November, but I might not be able to max all confidants even if I wanted to. I feel like each new palace has been cooler than the previous one, which is nice. I killed the reaper a few times and I can now get personas that are higher level than me. I probably broke the game.

I'm losing the will to continue with Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones. I wouldn't call it a bad game, but I will call it unpolished. I think that I will wait a bit for an update before resuming. I'm even willing to start from scratch if they fix issues that the game has.

Other than these, I'm making good progress in Bravely Second, Underrail and Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma.

So many games. I'll set all of them aside when Disco Elysium releases.

 

[Harry Easter]

Problem with the paladin dialogue is that it is either "I can't accept loot because I am an idiot" or "Die, infidel!"

True, that's why he seldom does the talking. Still, points for the love to detail.

 

[Cael]

Problem with the paladin dialogue is that it is either "I can't accept loot because I am an idiot" or "Die, infidel!"

True, that's why he seldom does the talking. Still, points for the love to detail.

Not really. It is jarring as hell. The paladin will go all "Die, infidel!" to the werewolf but he won't do it when it comes to the duergar or drow camps. Either way, he would have detected Evil. Of course, it is likely to be a party wipe at that point, especially the drow camp (Master of Sorcere would be level 20 at least; not to mention the head of the Church of Vhaerun would also be around that level), but the inconsistency is there.

The problem with the dialogue choices is that it forces your paladin into the ping-thump paladin archetype, which is something that should not happen in the first place. Ping-thump paladins are bad roleplay.

 

[luj1]

Did people consider Painkiller a true successor to FPS of old?

I always kind of treated it as its own thing, inspired by those games for certain but by no means claiming to be authentic to them.

To me it seemed inspired by Serious Sam the most.

 

[the_shadow]

Just finished XCOM: Enemy Within on normal mode. It's a pretty enjoyable squad tactics game overall. In comparison to Xenonauts:

Pros:
- Better graphics (obviously).

- Soldier have some measures to prevent being mind controlled. In Xenonauts you're basically at the mercy of powerful psionics, and a berserk or mind-controlled unit can ruin your entire mission. I'm not sure if I like the idea of humans being able to become psionic. Yeah, it's cool to deploy those powers in the battlefield, but I think it should be unique to certain alien classes.

- No squad sight. Whether you think this is good or bad depends on taste, but I think it's a bit strange that a soldier can aim at an enemy that they can't see.

- Interrogations/autopsies that actually have tangible and unique benefits, instead of just a %10 damage boost that Xenonauts does (except for Sebilian research, which gives you advanced medkits).

- Mecs and genetic modifications, and invisibility.

- Perks and more diversification for soldiers.

Cons:
- The game is way too easy. In Xenonauts you feel like you're at a complete disadvantage against the aliens, especially at the beginning where you are using bullets against plasma. In XCOM you start off with inferior tech, but it doesn't 'feel' inferior, because you're blasting enemies away with one shot, whereas they need multiple shots to take down your soldiers. Soldiers in the early game should not be able to withstand a blast of superheated plasma.

- Air combat is too basic. Xenonauts air combat isn't great either, but at least you have to do some tactical maneuvering to even out the playing field in regards to the aliens' superior aircraft.

- No friendly fire or bullet spread. Again, this is personal preference, but friendly fire makes you think more strategically. It's also nice to hit multiple aliens with a heavy gunner

- The AI just feels better in Xenonauts, and you need to think more tactically to compensate for the aliens overwhelming firepower.


Overall I think that Xenonauts is the better game, but XCOM is still a lot of fun.

 

[octavius]

Still playing Diablo 2. 1.09 version.
Installed PlugY so that I can share items between SP characters, and I'm now playing the game in increments, switching between characters at certain waypoints, so they are all supporting each other. Currently at the start of act V with all characters.

The Assassin started out as the most powerful character, but now realizes that even for hot chicks things can get tough later in later in life when you reach the late twenties. She was showered with rare claw weapons early in the game, but now they are far between. Even had to make a gemmed one.

The Sorceress was my least favourite character until lvl 24 when she gained the Blizzard spell and the Energy Shield. Now she mows down mobs like they were consoletards. Has som problems with strong and fast bosses, though, like HeyPhatso.

The Barbarian is also very powerful and quickly deposed of Diablo without having to disengage once.

The Necromancer is probably my least favourite. Too much micro-management, and I can't see any obvious winning tactic. I'm using mostly Iron Maiden for crowd control and Attract on mini bosses. Amplify Damage may be better, though, but I like the sound of Iron Maiden better. Left mouse button for Bone Spear.
But there just aren't enough hot keys for the necromancer to play with a whole set of different Curses.

The Druid is also a bit too much micro management. He was obviously designed to use all those slow 2H weapons what otherwise nobody else would use, and I'm using a Maul that does tremendous amounts of damage, but even though it's Fast it feels slow (and for some reason items that increase attack speed don't work when in werewolf form), and lack of shield hurts. Maybe a VF dagger would actually be better? Had severe problems killing Diablo despite the biggest damage potential of my characters.

Paladin and Archer are solid and fun to play.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Alternating between Doom w/ Project Brutality and Stardew Valley.

They're constantly compared to one another, but I don't see the resemblance.

 

[Naraya]

Recently I long for some good single player fps games so here are my random-ish thoughts about what I played:

FEAR + 2 expansions

- These games have one of the best feeling of gunplay I know. Weapons are diverse and each feels different. Shotgun packs a punch and you can feel its power.
- AI - much has been said about the AI in FEAR games. It is remarkable and you can be sure enemies WILL use level design to surprise flank you or make good use of grenades. Because of this, fights are never boring.
- Enemies are not bullet sponges and they react to the situation. It was impressive to hear "They took out the heavy!", "We've got 2 men down!" but the icing on the cake was "He's in the cubicle!" when I actually just ducked in one!
- I liked that there weren't many mechs/bosses in the game.
- Graphic wise the game is perfectly fine. To be frank I'm impressed how well it aged.
- No backtracking.

I played on Hard and I think I overall used less than half of available medpaks. I tend to make rules for myself and playing FEAR I allowed myself to use a medpak only when I had 10 of them (maximum amount) and I found another one. I also almost never took advantage of slo-mo since it seemed to me as cheating. What I'm trying to say is that the game could be harder (maybe it is on higher difficulties, I don't know).

Titanfall 2

- A lot of weapons and they feel good albeit somewhat similar to each other.
- Graphic wise it is beautiful and plays smooth as butter on my not-so-modern system.
- One of the best designed levels in fps I played, utilizing cool mechanics.
- No backtracking.

Prey 2006

Disclaimer: I have finished Arkane's Prey several times and like it a lot, however for some reason I completely missed the original one.

- Very innovative (especially considering its release date)
- Contains quite a few puzzles and pretty interesting mechanics (eg. death, spirit-walk)
- Adaptive difficulty - while I had it turned off (and for some reason it turned itself back on after each restart), it's supposed to adapt the game difficulty (eg. amount of ammo and enemy health) to how well you do.
- Puzzles aren't too tedious or difficult.
- Just enough boss fights.
- Weapons - each feels very different and is unique in terms of looks and effects.
- No backtracking.
- Graphic wise the game is solid and it aged very well, IMO.
- At first I couldn't connect with the protagonist at all but after a bit I felt more comfortable playing a Cherokee while being a Middle-European guy

Overall I can recommend all 3 of the above.

 

[luj1]

Maybe a VF dagger would actually be better? Had severe problems killing Diablo despite the biggest damage potential of my characters.

If you want a melee druid respec to Fire Bear

See this thread

 

[Ivan]

Can anyone recommend me some arcade racers with stronger arcade DNA than Sim? I tried Forza Horizon 3 and it felt too stuck in the no-fun zone for me. Looking for something with more of the Burnout/Dangerous Driving DNA (preferably not like Mario Kart with power ups).

 

[pakoito]

Can anyone recommend me some arcade racers with stronger arcade DNA than Sim? I tried Forza Horizon 3 and it felt too stuck in the no-fun zone for me. Looking for something with more of the Burnout/Dangerous Driving DNA (preferably not like Mario Kart with power ups).

The Micromachines game on Megadrive/Genesis is good.

 

[Modron]

POD RACER!!!!

 

[Vorark]

Can anyone recommend me some arcade racers with stronger arcade DNA than Sim? I tried Forza Horizon 3 and it felt too stuck in the no-fun zone for me. Looking for something with more of the Burnout/Dangerous Driving DNA (preferably not like Mario Kart with power ups).

Similar to Burnout? Split/Second, Flatout, and maybe Blur.

Other good arcade racers are Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS1), Ridge Racer 2 (PSP), Outrun 2006 (PSP) and the Top Gear games (SNES).

 

[Kitchen Utensil]

Trackmania United Forever.

 

[ebPD8PePfC]

Dark Sun - Shattered Lands - Convinced one tribe to join the alliance, and I think I had my fill. I went with the default party, and set three of my guys to be controlled by the computer while I retain control of a barbarian who goes around punching people. It plays like diablo, which feels very very weird. The game is so easy that all I have to do is click on things and they die, while my guys refuse to cast spells. They tank damage, but that's about it. Low difficulty isn't a death sentence, but the game doesn't offer much else enjoy. Everyone you meet is a boring stock character who delivers dialogues that are serviceable at best, and while the plot sounds like it could lead to solid gameplay (unite tribes to go to war against evil tyrant), it fails when it comes execution (fetch quests and awful combat). You just punch waves after waves of mooks who feel identical to the previous mooks.
The bad writing and easy gameplay make the world feel fake, which is a shame, because the post apocalyptic dying earth settings is the best thing the game has going for it. I just wish it was more Heavy Metal and less Dragonlance. The game molds you to be a virtuous fedex guy, when all I want to be is Conan.

In hindsight I should have stayed in the Colosseum and fought waves of monsters, that's the only part of the game where I felt like the role playing and the gameplay were good. Afterwards it was all downhill.

Back attacker - A 5 minutes long stealth puzzle game. Really neat combination of genres.

 

[octavius]

Dark Sun - Shattered Lands - Convinced one tribe to join the alliance, and I think I had my fill. I went with the default party, and set three of my guys to be controlled by the computer while I retain control of a barbarian who goes around punching people. It plays like diablo, which feels very very weird. The game is so easy that all I have to do is click on things and they die,

I guess you didn't play until the final battle, then?

 

[BlackGoat]

Finished my replay of Half-Life 2 and the episodes. Great set of games. Plays much better in 2019 than it did it in, say, 2010. But man, what a bleak ending. I understand they were planning on a third episode but in the absence of that, lolol holy shit. Like Empire Strikes Back if Return of the Jedi never came out, haha. Literal fade to black as a woman cries over her dad's dead body. What a troll

 

[Strange Fellow]

I went with the default party, and set three of my guys to be controlled by the computer

awful combat