What game are you wasting time on?

[octavius]

Haven't had much time for gaming lately. With such fine weather sea water is far more immersive than Gothic. But today the weather changed so I've played quite a bit.

The game is like a mix of Ultima Underworld (a closed colony, several factions, trading), Morrowind (graphics, barrier/Ghostfence) and Oblivion (almost as banal conversations between NPCs but a more robust (or predictable) "Radiant AI").
But it hasn't grabbed me nearly as much as UU did, or even as much as MW did.

What I like about it:
No handholding or quest compasses.
It's quite hard, which is good, but before you get spells or missile weapons it's hard to know excactly what kind of critter you approach before being one hit killed, which is frustrating.

Neutral about:
Playing it blind I'm pussyfooting around much more than I did in UU or MW, so it's slow going, and I've only found two trainers so far; one for weapons and one for hunting. I need to find someone teaching me Lockpicking and Strength.

What I dislike about it:
The combat. It's worse than UU and not better than MW or Oblivion.
Still dislike the UI, but it's really a minor problem.


I know two ways of getting into the castle and deliver the letter, but both involves joining a faction. I'm putting off joining a faction as long as I can, just exploring and killing what I can kill.

 

[cosmicray]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance - another free weekend, so I'm continuing my save from last year. I don't know what, but I find this game more interesting than Witcher 3, whitch I can't get into for the past several months. Probably KCD's slow start helps, but I'm way past intro, so I don't know. I like it, but the question should I wait for a summer sale, or buy it now? 50% is a so-so discount. Or should I grind my teeth and go for my backlog which involves Witcher3 and Dragon's Dogma?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The combat. It's worse than UU and not better than MW or Oblivion

Gets better when your dude learns a trick or two.

. I need to find someone teaching me Lockpicking and Strength.

Spoiler

Check out the old camp thorough like.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance - another free weekend, so I'm continuing my save from last year. I don't know what, but I find this game more interesting than Witcher 3, whitch I can't get into for the past several months. Probably KCD's slow start helps, but I'm way past intro, so I don't know. I like it, but the question should I wait for a summer sale, or buy it now? 50% is a so-so discount. Or should I grind my teeth and go for my backlog which involves Witcher3 and Dragon's Dogma?

Its pretty good, but it ends on a cliff hanger. They want to make a sequel, it would seem.
Hopefully it sold well enough to fund it.

 

[Catacombs]

They want to make a sequel, it would seem.
Hopefully it sold well enough to fund it.

We'll probably won't see it for another decade.

 

[pakoito]

Went back to play Sangokushi Taisen Ten on the DS. No game like it, it's a 10 minutes real time tactics game. It uses cards for army composition. Moonrunes only, although I can hook you up with translations if anyone's interested.

 

[Abu Antar]

Undungeon
Cool action rpg. Top-down camera and pixel graphics. Too bad that I am shit at it. In the demo, you can only choose one out of I don't know how many heroes. Single character game with melee and ranged combat. You can upgrade your hero by implanting organs into yourself if I understand things correctly. There's an over world map that has locations you can find. Overall, a cool game with nice mood. Might be something for fans of the genre.

Eastern Exorcist
Chinese side scrolling action RPG that gave me Muramasa/Odin Sphere vibes. There doesn't seem to be much verticality, though. I fought two bosses or tougher enmies. Both fights were fun. Nice graphics and good music. Controls are smooth. You have to counter, dodge counter, defend, and so on. I might pick this up in the futre.

Fabled Lands
I bit more lighthearted in tone and graphics, but plays in a similar style to Vagrus - The Riven Realms. I'm undecided about this one. Some people will find it fun, but I might pass.

Fae Tactics
Inspired by Japanese SRPGs with a twist. There are no menus in combat. I was skeptic at first, but it works. This one is probably not for the average codexer, but I did have fun. The tone is what you guys will probably not like. I skipped most dialog and went for combat. Might pick this up at some point. SRPG light, can be a guilty pleasure.

Rise Eterna
From the only combat encounter that I played (there are two more in the demo), it feels like a Fire Emblem wannabe, but it doesn't have counter attacks or a triangle system. I'll keep an eye on it. Might be a decent time waster at some point.

The Slormancer
I only played the first mission. It's a hack 'n slash with pixel graphics. I chose to play as the ranger and it was fun. I'm following the game on twitter and the devs have posted some fun skill combinations. You don't get many of those early game, but I still had fun. From what I saw, there was also a mage and a fighter. I might pick this up. First impression was good.

The Song of the Fae
This was fun, but it felt more like puzzle than RPG, but what do I know? You're a bard and you charm fighters in different levels that do the fighting for you. Your characters can only move in straight lines.

 

[pakoito]

Fae Tactics
Inspired by Japanese SRPGs with a twist. There are no menus in combat. I was skeptic at first, but it works. This one is probably not for the average codexer, but I did have fun. The tone is what you guys will probably not like. I skipped most dialog and went for combat. Might pick this up at some point. SRPG light, can be a guilty pleasure.

Try Bonfire. It's the same, just with classic JRPG turn-based mechanics.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Dragon Quest 11 after giving it a long break halfway through. Started again. Charming and fun as fuck.

Also F.E.A.R 2 which I was warned was total shit. Having played a couple of hours I actually quite like it, although it doesn't live up to the first game. The sprint is ridiculous. I'm able to do it for a few seconds at a time, and it's only slightly faster than normal pace, but not a huge deal really

Spoiler

Watch your step, clumsy!

That's not how you wash a window!

Someone can't handle their chili!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Had a quick look at Duskers, an interesting mixture of gameplay and game design elements from the 1980s mixed into a somewhat modern package. What interested me is how many games I can spot it drawing inspiration from - most notably an obscure 8-bit title called Mission: Ωmega where you must construct and guide four robots through a hostile facility in order to prevent the destruction of Earth. (Other games include Captive, Alien, Aliens & Outpost 41 to name a few examples.)

In Duskers you control salvage drones from your spaceship as they seek out, board and explore space hulks adrift in space. Each drone has specific roles so careful management of them is needed. One drone role allows you to pick up stuff, another is needed to act as a portable generator, and another can tow some of the larger stuff you come across. What's more interesting is how the game rolls. In a 2D top-down view you navigate a series of rooms and hallways of which you know nothing about - are they safe, do they contain (hostile) drones, alien life forms, or lead out into the empty vacuum of space? Fortunately there are various ways to find out, but it's during the exploration that the game's biggest strength hits you like a jackhammer - its atmosphere. The UI, graphics and sound really seep into your bones, to the point that jaded old me actually felt tension and uncertainty - if only briefly. How the controls work ties directly into this - it's all typed commands into a programming command prompt. No mouse, no fancy controller, just basic direction controls and the keyboard. This is intentional - the pressure of typing in the proper commands correctly as your drones suddenly uncover an enemy can lead to some interesting results.

Stuff recovered from spaceships can then be sold to repair and upgrade your drones, as well as maintain your ship so there's some progression. Unfortunately this is the moment where the game's crippling downpoint knocks on the door: There's no real story, direction or motivation in the game, it's just one space hulk after another. As a result the game doesn't offer more than a couple of hours of entertainment, at best. Which is a real pity, as this could have been a strong contender if the devs had bothered to slap a plot and an ending into it.

 

[d1r]

Have been playing Persona 4 Golden lately, since the last time I played it was ten years ago via emulator. Really tried my best to go for the True Ending, but chose the Accomplice ending instead (New Bad Ending) in the end, because I fucking hate the cast and story so much. Pretty much skipped everything from November on and just did some dungeon grinding. My mind was just not ready to spend another three months with those fuckwits, considering that there is even more Golden filler in December. Didn't even get to see the last two dungeon, but to be honest, I don't really care. Just bring Persona 5 Royal to PC. Or even better, Strange Journey Redux.

 

[Erikkolai]

so I've got somewhat high expectations.

I hope you find it in your heart to forgive.

Yeah I've been playing it for a few days now, and find it underwhelming. The first impression was good, but the more I play it the more generic and uninteresting it feels. Exploration can be comfy, but the world is nowhere near as atmospheric as Gothic, Risen, or The Witcher. The characters and dialogues are especially generic, I can't think of anything memorable that stands out. The combat system doesn't require much skill (spam left-click for perfect combos, no timing involved, backstep to easily avoid any damage). I often spend half of the battle chasing down archers. Not really motivated to keep playing it.

 

[Abu Antar]

I went back to Tales of Symphonia and beat the optional, secret dungeon. I read that you should be at least level 90. I went in at level 78 and beat it at level 83. Lloyd carried me through the whole thing. I had unlocked his Devils Arm, which meant that he got even stronger while killing stuff. I was Rising Storming my way through battles. They were melting like butter. The challenge was to keep the rest of the party alive.

I'm ready to quit the sequel anytime now, but I will keep going for a little while longer. The characters are undeniably shit, but I will see how the battle system and monster catching feel. Another problem is that the game seems to want you to grind. I'm level 11 and got to fight a level 20 boss. I did some quests and raised my levels in the process, so I might be able to progress this time.

 

[baud]

Been playing a lot of Rimworld recently, it's fun, I like seeing my colony grow, but I vaguely feel like I'm playing it wrong. Or maybe I'm more interested in the management part rather than the story generation.

 

[markec]

Finished Banner of the Maid:



I came to this game for titties and tactics and stayed for tactics and titties. Its a genuinely fun tactical game even if its on a more simpler side. The game could have used more varied unit upgrades and more unique items but its not that big of a issue as you have perks that you can use to specialize your units. There are some quite tough scenarios, with different challenges and secrets. Also one problem I have is that if you only follow main quest without doing side missions your units might get underleveled. So you will need to do repeatable side missions that are always the same and not very fun.

I also liked the art, I just have a thing for Napoleonic era uniforms, especially when worn by hot girls. Having good looking female characters seems to be something that today can only be found in a asian games.

Overall its a fun game that tactics fans will enjoy and its even worth its full price.

 

[cosmicray]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance - played a bit via free weekend. Not bad, but I'm still not buying anything this year. (Summer Sale might break my "resolution". Especially if FM 2020 goes on sale)
Kathy Rain Demo - I really like the tone and character. Haven't played long, but wishlisted it. Thank you, thread.
Half-Life 2 - I'm again in City 17. Maaaan, those squads are pissing me off. Not sure if it aged well or not, but they're annoying beyond belief. Especially after Nova Prospect, which was top notch.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In January 2014 I tried playing Dead Space to little avail. Reason? I use an unorthodox Kb + Mouse scheme (read: Not WASD) and Dead Space doesn't support remapping keys, or at least only partially.

Seeing that Dead Space has trading cards now, and I own a console controller, I figured I'd try again. I'm not well-versed in controllers so I knew there would probably be some problems... but not like this.

At least now I know what bothers me with controllers: It's the viewcam. In all the games I've tried playing with a controller, it's always the viewcam that either sours my experience or outright prevents me from playing. Dead Space falls into the latter category, and combined with its retarded third-person 'over-the-shoulder' perspective and lack of a zoom feature - I honestly can't understand what they were thinking. Especially since the game is still locked into me using Kb + Mouse. For me to be able to play this I'd have to use some weird-ass controller+mouse combo that requires a third arm.

Fuck controllers.

EDIT: Inappropriate parrots relocated to here:

 

[pakoito]

I'm playing through The Outer Wilds, which is a timeloop game with pretty pretty real-time space travel. Each loop is 22 minutes and there's no permanence between them other than a log so you remember all the clues you've gathered. It's really well designed.

 

[Gregz]

Fallout 76

A terrible game at release which was salvaged by the latest DLC.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

salvaged by the latest DLC

Really? I did not think that was possible. How?

 

[Gregz]

salvaged by the latest DLC

Really? I did not think that was possible. How?

I know it sounds extraordinary, but it's true. Try demoing it some time, free weekend, etc.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

I know it sounds extraordinary, but it's true. Try demoing it some time, free weekend, etc.

What's so good about the new DLC?

 

[baud]

I know it sounds extraordinary, but it's true. Try demoing it some time, free weekend, etc.

What's so good about the new DLC?

They added the first NPCs

 

[curds]

Knights of the Chalice.

Never got around to completing it before, so now I'm trying to do so before KotC2 is released.

Brilliant game overall, great tried-and-tested combat system, good encounter design, friendly UI, refreshing lack of exposition, charming graphics and music (even if the latter is somewhat repetitive).

The game is absolutely punishing at times, I'm playing with a "standard" KKCW party. Haven't taken crafting feats, as per Codex consensus, however I'm beginning to feel that the game is somewhat balanced around having them.

One thing I do find myself missing is the lack of skills. I understand they were left out of the game by design in order to focus on the combat, so it wouldn't be fair to call their absence a flaw. However I think a few (just a few) opportunities to use diplomacy, bluff, disarm trap, handle animal or sense motive would have really added to the experience.

Lack of out-of-combat buffing really irked me. For the most part, you cannot cast buffs (or any other spells) outside of combat, and the majority of buffs cast in combat only last until the end of the battle. I understand this was probably done for balance reasons, but I don't like it. But that's pretty much the only big flaw with KotC, I'd say.

Anyway, right now I'm at the battle with Tyranixxus, guessing I'm pretty close to the end of the game. Been stuck on this fight for days. Reloaded around 30-40 times and have barely managed to scratch Tyranixxus, despite managing to destroy most of his goons within a round or two.
Any tips?

 

[Dedup]

Played Pathfinder up to finishing the Season of the Bloom chapter with my archery focused ranger. I then started Varnhold's Lot with a druid since it's one of the few classes that aren't represented by any of the game's playable companions. After doing the first couple areas, I started feeling some fatigue from the game so it's on hold for now.

In the meantime I've restarted my play through of Dragon's Crown as that's another game I never got around to finishing. It's nice to relax and play a fairly straight forward beat em up. Being able to play for under an hour and feel like I'm making decent progress is a good change from Pathfinder which seems to devour hours of time every time I play. I only hope that I don't end up aborting my Pathfinder run as I've restarted that game about 4 times and never got close to finishing it.