What game are you wasting time on?

[Ezekiel]

Started a dex character in OG Demons Souls, aside from that I've been playing Sekiro.

I finished my emulator playthrough today. Tried to make a dex/magic build, but by the time I finished my magic was at only about 16. Playthrough lasted about 17 hours. I tried to be thorough. I can't remember from the hundreds of hours on PS3 if you can turn world tendency from pure black to pure white in one playthrough (NG+). I'm gonna have to do this entire second playthrough in soul form. I'm underleveled for it. Those rocks being thrown in the background kill me with one direct hit.

Also, beat my record again.

 

[Ezekiel]

Yeah, low HP in black world in NG+ in soul form is the worst kind of fucked. Bosses are killing me with one hit too.

Screw it, I'm just gonna risk some of it in human form. Doubt you can go from black to white in one playthrough anyway.

Edit: Weird. I killed one boss (Leechmonger) and most of the worlds went from dark to medium light.

 

[J_C]

I've played SOMA for the last week and finished it 2 days ago. Although it's more of a walking sim than an adventure game, I loved the atmosphere and the story, and it really freaked me out several times. It was a good experience, glad I've played it.

 

[Morgoth]

I've played SOMA for the last week and finished it 2 days ago. Although it's more of a walking sim than an adventure game, I loved the atmosphere and the story, and it really freaked me out several times. It was a good experience, glad I've played it.

If you liked SOMA you will probably also like Amnesia Rebirth.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Elex - most here have played it, so I'll be short: amazing open world, probably the most impressive I've seen. Visual art direction is very tasteful, worth playing for that alone. Only the original Gothics have given me such fun with exploration. I disagree with those who say the world was too big, as the jetpack mechanic itself demands it. In fact, I wouldn't mind if it were even bigger. The whole problem with the game is that it lacks enemy variety, interesting factions and an interesting storyline. Basically, it's a mediocre RPG in a box of gold.

After finishing it, I tried replaying it with restricted saving, no magic glasses and no map, and that was quite fun for a while, but I lost interest around level 15 (the best part of the game is before joining a faction, which was perhaps true of the Gothics but not to this extent). I recommend you install these mods: Elex Overhaul and Darker Nights.

Been digging through my PS2 library, lately.

Silent Hill 1 and 2 - Still finishing the second, but I've already read the spoilers by accident. Fuck it. Both are probably the best example of audio-visual design in the whole history of games (I can't make any comparisons except Thief). The first game is hell on earth, like a nightmare that doesn't end, while the second is slower, more self-conscious, with a more cogent story (this is both good and bad). I'd say a few details make the first game slightly superior, but the second is still amazing quality. I'm gonna play 3 and 4 after this, then Origins and Shattered Memories.

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - Wasn't expecting much from this and was pleasantly surprised. It's basically rip-off of Final Fantasy X with the turn based combat where you can see the sequence of character turns on the right and can swap party members during the fight. Playing it on Hard made it decently challenging in the beginning, but it gradually became easier and more generic. The focus is purely on combat, with levels made of linear corridors and not much story or character development. The production values are through the roof and it looks and sounds as good as a PS2 game based on the movies could. If you like FFX and/or the LOTR movies give it a go, otherwise skip it.

Jak X - Excellent arcade racer that plays a lot like the PS3 Motorstorms. You have the Wipeout sense of speed, the power-ups for speed, randomized weapons and shield, the time trial, combat racing, deathmatch modes, the car uprades and all else you'd expect. Controls are tight, graphics are great and tracks are interesting. Some events are quite easy, but then the difficulty spikes all of a sudden. All in all, very good for what it is. I'll keep playing it.

Shin Megami Tensei - Digital Devil Saga - Some great visuals and music, the gameplay seems interesting from what I've seen, although more basic than Nocturne (the only other SMT I've played). Unfortunately the generic layout of levels and the repetitive combat with near constant random battles make it unplayable for me.

Baroque - Extremely weird game that confused the hell out of me at first. You assume it's a typical JRPG, only set in a bizarre world where NPCs have all wandered off the insane asylum. It turns out it's more a roguelike, only with real time combat. You start the game with no explanation of who you are and what you should do, only one NPC telling you that you should go to the Neuro Tower. When you arrive, you're likely to die within a minute, as you not only have enemies to fight, but your energy and then your health are continually decreasing. But that's OK, death is just normal part of the gameplay. Amazingly, the tutorial starts after that, probably after you've decided that the game is crap and irredeemable. Due to this and the very basic camera and controls, I didn't give the game much of a chance, but something tells me there might be something to it. I'll try to find some time for it later.

 

[Poseidon00]

I bought Beholder for a couple bucks on Steam and had a damn good time with it. You're a landlord inside of an authoritarian state who needs to spy on all of his tenants and report all their actions. Doing the "right" thing and doing the right thing for your family are two very different things and that's the way it should be in this kinda situation. You will likely fuck it all up on your first run if you aren't playing easy (bitch) mode. Was pleasantly surprised at the amount of replayability. Definitely worth a look if you have a few bucks to spare and are looking for something different.

I bought Darkest Dungeons at the same time and it was just as good. Hardcore dungeon crawling done right. Love that if you die, you die. No bullshit "get back up once we take you to the priest" bullshit. And the whole stress mechanic was done right as well, where sometimes you handle it well and sometimes it breaks you. The mods are solid as well.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I bought Beholder for a couple bucks on Steam and had a damn good time with it. You're a landlord inside of an authoritarian state who needs to spy on all of his tenants and report all their actions. Doing the "right" thing and doing the right thing for your family are two very different things and that's the way it should be in this kinda situation. You will likely fuck it all up on your first run if you aren't playing easy (bitch) mode. Was pleasantly surprised at the amount of replayability. Definitely worth a look if you have a few bucks to spare and are looking for something different.

I bought Darkest Dungeons at the same time and it was just as good. Hardcore dungeon crawling done right. Love that if you die, you die. No bullshit "get back up once we take you to the priest" bullshit. And the whole stress mechanic was done right as well, where sometimes you handle it well and sometimes it breaks you. The mods are solid as well.

I can't like posts, so thanks. I saw it on GOG and was on the fence about it.

 

[Yldr]

I'm having a lot of fun through Rainbow Six 3 (GameCube version).

People praise it a lot as opposed to Lockdown which was apparently the ugly duckling, except both are very similar: turkey shoots against braindead enemies in corridor missions.

Both 3 and Lockdown have good clean visuals, in particular there's a level of gun porn you wouldn't expect from a console game of that era. They also both feature splitscreen coop, except you must first unlock the missions in solo play.

Rainbow Six 3 would still be a poor showing for a PC game and that's probably the explanation for their different reputation: Rainbow Six 3 is explicitely a console spin-off to Raven Shield, whereas Lockdown was released as is across all platforms. I did play Lockdown on PC a few months after my GameCube playthrough and while the slaughter is more fun with mouse aiming, it's still a barebone action game and there is no question it must have rubbed longtime PC fans the wrong way.

---

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - [...] It's basically a rip-off of Final Fantasy X

Fresh Corpse made the same observation (and accidentally shielded my review from an umpteenth delete-everything sperg outburst). I rest my case that the game was within a hair's breadth of being a much more enjoyable fanservice distraction, had it been ported to PC.

This era is full of simplistic but earnest games, that don't really withstand a monocled scrutiny but are genuinely fun in the moment-to-moment. Now that phones are powerful enough to play GameCube and PSP games in the bus/train/plane or in bed, I think that's a niche they can fill almost perfectly.

 

[Caim]

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - [...] It's basically a rip-off of Final Fantasy X

Fresh Corpse made the same observation (and accidentally shielded my review from an umpteenth delete-everything sperg outburst). I rest my case that the game was within a hair's breadth of being a much more enjoyable fanservice distraction, had it been ported to PC.

This era is full of simplistic but earnest games, that don't really withstand a monocled scrutiny but are genuinely fun in the moment-to-moment. Now that phones are powerful enough to play GameCube and PSP games in the bus/train/plane or in bed, I think that's a niche they can fill almost perfectly.

I enjoyed The Third Age back in the day, even though it was completely fucking broken. The dwarf got a power that shielded your allies for X amount of damage, and this lasted quite a bit. So slap on some regeneration of your magic points and fights just kind of stopped being a challenge.

 

[Ovplain]

Going through my goddamn backlog. It's colossal. It's disgusting! Would probably be best to just write a bunch of this shit off, but I can't. I have to at least make an effort.

Spoiler

First bunch:
DOOM (Had lass than half way to go, had fun!)
Wolfenstein: The New Order (Just the final boss left. No idea why I stopped the last time.)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Think the save I used was midway through the game, still took me nearly 3 weeks to finish together with both expansions.)
Batman: Arkham Knight (Started from scratch, took almost two weeks, had a blast, nice send-off.)
Beyond: Two Souls (Old save, about a third through I'd say, wrapped the game up in 3 days. Well, 'game.' Did end up caring about what happened to the girl though, so that's something.)
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (Started from scratch, took a week. Solid 'GTA-clone.')
Virginia (From scratch, took like an hour, hour and a half though! Hardly a game, but much like with Beyond, I was invested, I cared. Nice music, nice style.)
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition (Just an easy one to chalk off the list, took a couple hours. Whatever, it's a fighting game. The story was insufferable!)

Second bunch:
What Remains Of Edith Finch (A walking simulator, but it was pretty. I liked it, I cared!)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Had an old save, had like the last hour or two to go.)
Limbo (Cool, spooky platformer)
Mirror's Edge (Had it since forever, took a couple hours to beat, looks good for a 10 year old game!)
Steep (Used to snowboard as a kid in the late 90s and that was the last time I played a snowboarding game too before this one. Was fun for about a week!)
Mass Effect 2 (Man, this one. Sex & violence in space. Goofy to the 10th power! Laughed my ass off several times and I liked it, goddammit!)
Mass Effect 3 (Less entertaining than the previous one, wasn't QUITE as 'out there.' The last third of it really seemed to take forever.)
Scribblenauts Unmasked (Fun puzzle game, though I'm sure it would've been a whole lot more fun if I was a DC fanboy.)
Transformers: Devastation (I'm 2 hours into it now and I like it. Feels nice! Liked the cartoon a bunch as a kid and this definitely feels like the cartoon.)

Third bunch:
Middle-earth: Shadow of War - Definitive Edition (The first game I bought since I really started going after my backlog. Also the game that probably made me swear off buying any kind of DLC for good. Could've taken just the base game for 12,5 bucks, HAD to get the complete one for 25. Quickly came to the realization that I just didn't care enough about the extra crap. And that the days of trying to 100% games are just done! Ended up ignoring pretty much all of the DLC stuff. And after like 15 hours into the game I just tried to get it over with as soon as possible. No chance in Hell I was going to do the 'epilogue' either. Still had fun though!)
Fallout 4 (There's never been a video game that I've hated more than Fallout 3. Seems times have changed because I didn't have much of an issue with Fallout 4. It's not the Fallout I remember, but that's fine, I'm fine with Fallout being dead. Had a lot of fun exploring the wasteland for the 50 hours or so it took me to finish. And playing a chick, a mother, the main questline threw me for a solid spin in the second half of the game.)
Assassin's Creed Syndicate (Had a huge urge to get Oddyssey on sale. For whatever reason. 'Forced' myself to fire up Syndicate instead. Gotta keep chipping away at that backlog! Anyway, I had fun! Started to get a bit boring after 15 hours or so, this is Assassin's Creed afterall, but I just bulldozed my way through the last couple of chapters and wrapped the whole thing up in about 20 hours.)
Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Shadows of Hong Kong (Really like the Shadowrun games, but this thing was just a slog. Didn't even bother with the side-missions, just wanted to wrap it up ASAP and did.)

Fourth bunch:
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (I really liked the first one, put 600+ hours into it even! Across 2-3 completed playthroughs and several aborted ones. Won't be doing that with PoE2 but I did have a lot of fun with it for the 60-70 hours it took me to get through it.)
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Second game I bought since I started attacking my backlog. And I couldn't get enough of this one! Clocked in around 85 hours as the broad Kassandra, ultimately forced myself to just stick to the main missions towards the end and wrap it up 'early.' Probably could've gone 100+ hours otherwise. GOTY 2018! Then again I only played two other games released in 2018, PoE2 and Battletech. Unexpected! Had an inkling I was going to like this one, didn't think it'd be that much. Curse you, Ubisoft!)
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition (I recall really loving this one back in the day. It definitely doesn't have the same impact nowadays! Shit didn't age too well. Shudder to think how I'd feel playing AoE 1 now, or even crap like WarCraft 1/2 or C&C! Loved those games as a kid, really glad I don't own any of them now, glad I don't have to play them now. Still, AoM was OK, got through the main campaign fine, there was no chance in hell I was going to do the expansion stuff.)
The Room Two (A pretty simple puzzle game, something different for me, was OK for the two hours it took me to beat it.)
The Cave (Kinda funny puzzle platformer from Ron Gilbert. Pretty easy, a bit clunky, but I didn't mind dragging three people through it.)

Fifth bunch:
Mark of the Ninja (Great 2D stealth platformer! Could barely stop playing once I started.)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Played it once before on the PS3 so the emotional impact was way weaker this time around, still had a nice time, game still looks lovely, plays great.)
The Banner Saga 2 (Played the first one a while back, no idea why it took me this long to get around to playing the second one. Liked the story, loved the art, got a bit tired of the combat.)
The Banner Saga 3 (Finished the second one, had to finish the third one as well. Same as with part 2. Maybe this one was a bit short, at least I didn't like how this whole epic saga was just wrapped up with a, 'Hey, that sure was something, huh? Alright, bye!')
Thimbleweed Park (Thought I was going to like it way more than I did. It was fine! Just didn't like how the main characters would barely acknowledge eachother. You'd have them cooperate with eachother to solve puzzles but it never really made much sense why they'd want to.)
Dishonored 2 (Loved the first one, I really did. Gave this one a go, but for some reason wasn't really feelin' it so I bailed after a couple of hours. I'll be back though!)
Far Cry 5 (Felt like playing this instead. Picked it up for 12€, my first gaming purchase of the year. And so far, so good. Like the world, I'm having fun, don't like the way the 'story' keeps hassling me. Just weirdly done. I'm out there, I don't know, doing something silly, something fun, and the game will just decide,'OK, buddy, that's enough of that! Time for one of the boring villians to talk at you for 5 minutes.')

Sixth bunch:
Far Cry 4 (Just had to wrap it up, finished it in a couple hours. Was probably fun enough the first time I played it.)
Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition (Finished the original campaign way back when, never got around to going through the EE. Until now. Great game, enjoyable game, but can't imagine I'll ever go back again.)
Assassin's Creed Origins (Didn't expect to enjoy this one much. But I did! Not as much as Odyssey, but still. Played it for a solid week, finished it even. Ptolemaic Egypt looked great.)
Cities: Skylines (Liked it, but ultimately just got a city to 75000 people and quit, considered the game 'finished' at that point. F'ing traffic!)
Mass Effect: Andromeda (Liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Felt kinda bad even that there does not seem to be a new one on the horizon. Would love to visit Andromeda some more. Will happen eventually, I'm sure!)
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (Finished an old save from about 2/3 through the game. Always nice to go back to Baldur's Gate.)
Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear (Playing this right now and hey! I'm enjoying myself well enough. Not digging through deeply into it, but as it is, it's just more 'Baldur's Gate' to me. Looks good too!)

Seventh bunch:
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition (Been forever since I last played it, at least a decade. Felt great going back.)
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (Same thing as with Planescape really. You really can go home again!)
Assassin's Creed Odyssey - New Game Plus + DLC (This goddamn thing. Played more than 200 hours now all together and I just couldn't get enough of it! I hope it's really over now. )
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Liked the previous two nü-tomb raiders. More of the same here, fun, exciting, liked the tombs. Looked great on my ultra-wide too!)
Prey (Shouldn't have put this off for this long. Had a blast. Intentionally left a fistful of side stuff unifinished so I can eventually go back for NG+.)
Abzû (Looked pretty on ultrawide! Music was nice. Did get a little tired of it about an hour in but it did draw me back in towards the end.)

Eight bunch:
Dishonored 2 (Really liked the first Dishonored game. Bought this as soon as it came out, gave it a go, just didn't grab me. Did this time around though, loved it!)
Borderlands GOTY Enhanced (Was in the mood for some shooting I guess. Blasted through it in 3 days.)
Borderlands 2 (This one took like 2 weeks, guess I was kinda spent.)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Liked it a lot, go through it in a weekend. If it had some kind of 'new game plus,' I would've gone right back in.)
The Outer Worlds (First game to ever make me feel physically ill! Other than Bad Mojo way back when. Dunno, something didn't quite gel right with my ultrawide display. Managed to get it sorted and finish the game, fun game! Though I seem to have no desire to ever wanna go back.)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Loved the original, couldn't wait for this one. Bought it day one, refunded it 1 hour later. Shit ultra-wide support. Poo. Bought again though later on, found an ultrawide mod and had a blast playing it.)
Dragon Age: Inquisition (Think I had fun here and there, but even though I blasted through it as quickly as I possibly could, still felt like the game was dragging on and on.)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Was great, liked it a lot. Beat in 2 days.)
The Sinking City (Really enjoyed it, despite it being pretty janky.)
Control (Knew pretty much nothing about the game, don't think I even heard about it before it popped up on the Epic Games Store. Liked Alan Wake, bought this on a whim, had a ton of fun.)
Shardlight (Was in the mood for a point 'n' click adventure, this one was decent enough, nothing too difficult, beat it at a pretty comfortable pace.)
God of War: Ascension (Still have a couple unbeaten games left on my PS3, wanted to get one out of the way, picked this one. Was OK.)
Far Cry 5 New Game Plus (Figured it'd look nice @ 21:9. It did.)
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones (Backed it on Kickstarter, think it was worth it.)
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Finally got through it, tried several times before, always grew bored. I don't know, these D:OS games. They're good, they're very good, but just not quite my bag or something. Don't dig the whole 'theme park design' thing.)
Disco Elysium (Game got ultrawide support, was thrilled, couldn't buy it fast enough once I found out. GOTY.)
Saints Row: The Third (Blasted through it in two days.)
Saints Row IV (Blasted through it in three days.)
Batman: Arkham Origins (Wanted to be Batman again. Good game.)
Carmageddon: Max Damage (Scratched an itch I forgot I had. Loved the original two games as a kid and thought this new one was pretty good! Felt like 'good ol' Carmageddon' to me and that was plenty.)
Dying Light (Played it a while back, couldn't get through it, but I did this time. Excited about the sequel!)
Dead Island Definitive Edition (Felt like killing some more zombies. Bit wonky, still hacking up zombies just refused to get old. Hated the city though, Moresby.)
Wasteland 2: Director's Cut (Beat the original release a while back, finally finished the DC. Bring on Wasteland 3!)

Ninth bunch:
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (A couple months later, already can't remember what it was about. I think I liked it.)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands (Had fun, did get boring after awhile and I just bulldozed my way towards the end as fast as I possibly could.)
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep (I really liked it! Way more than I was expecting. Was even sad that the game wasn't successful and I'm assuming we won't be seeing any more.)
Total War: Shogun 2 (Blasted through a 'short campaign' just to cross it off my list. Might go back eventually, play a proper campaign.)
Total War: Rome II (Boldly told myself I wasn't going to autoresolve any battles, forgot all about that after like a day.)
Vampyr (Wasn't expecting much, but I quite liked it!)
Whispes of a Machine (Liked the story well enough, but the puzzles were just way too easy. Made the pacing all weird. Often I'd just breeze through a bunch and ended up feeling kind of lost because of it.)
GreedFall (Was alright. Maybe a bit too much running around, got boring towards the end.)
Expeditions: Conquistador (Played 'Viking' before it, liked it a bit more than this one. Still a fun game. Looking forward to whatever those dudes are working on now.)

Latest bunch:
Full Throttle Remastered (Never played it back in the day. Was alright IIRC. Not to difficult, which I appreciated.)
Layers of Fear (I'm a big pussy when it comes to horror games. Which is a shame, would love to be able to enjoy them. Just can't handle them! But this one was pretty tame so I got through it, had a good time.)
Subnautica (Screwed myself way back when, stopped playing after 10-15 hours or so. Seeing stuff in this game for the first time is f'ing great, it's awesome. Seeing it for a second, third or whatever time, not so much. Still, powered through this time, finished it. Looking forward to the sequel, though I have no idea how that game'll be able to measure up. What with a lot of the mystery that made the first game so cool, it just won't be there anymore.)
Stories Untold (More pussy-level horror. Dug it!)
Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure (Want a proper sequel.)
Unavowed (Liked the story, liked the characters, game was pretty easy. Want more.)
A Way Out (Played it with my best friend while getting obliterated on beers and Gin & Tonic. We loved it! Finished it in pretty much one sitting. Great couch co-op experience despite it's silly story and some of the mechanics not quite being up to snuff.)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Bought a Switch, figured I'd just start off with the big one. Was great! Not quite the life-altering experience it was hyped up, I did get a bit tired of it after 70 hours or so, but still. Left a bunch of stuff untouched, I assume I'll be back soon.)

Just started:
Luigi's Mansion 3 (Playing this one in bed on the Switch, 20-30 minutes a night. Very fun, very funny, love that just about every room I enter has a hand-crafted feel. Had no idea I could enjoy a game like this. But dammit, I am!)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Playing this one on the TV, just started. Again, it's pretty fruity-lookin', but 2 hours in, I'm IN! I'm all-in. With the goofy anime kids.)

 

[TheGoldenOne]

Still playing lineage 2, hope I stay alive when project tl will be released. They already gone for beta test
Also sometimes I am going for playing digital gaming on this website https://coinsgalore.org/

 

[Darth Roxor]

Gone shoopin' a lot recently.

Finished the Prodeus early access campaign, this game is good shit. I hope the devs don't ruin it in the final release following feedback from retards.

I've also been playing Hotline Miami 2. I don't get the extreme popularity of this game. At times it's fun, at other times it isn't, but what bothers me the most is how clunky it is. A 5-year-old would figure out that weapon pickups should prioritise loaded guns over melee weapons, and any weapons over empty guns, meanwhile there can be an empty pistol in a pile of 10 loaded shotguns, and you can bet your ass that the tarded game will make you pick up the pistol. Also, it's got to have the clunkiest doors in the history of video games. Hotline Miami's doors make Half-Life's ladders feel safe and reliable, FFS.

 

[JDR13]

Elex - most here have played it, so I'll be short: amazing open world, probably the most impressive I've seen. Visual art direction is very tasteful, worth playing for that alone. Only the original Gothics have given me such fun with exploration. I disagree with those who say the world was too big, as the jetpack mechanic itself demands it. In fact, I wouldn't mind if it were even bigger. The whole problem with the game is that it lacks enemy variety, interesting factions and an interesting storyline. Basically, it's a mediocre RPG in a box of gold.

Interesting. I thought enemy variety was a strong point in Elex, especially compared to other open-world RPGs.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Interesting. I thought enemy variety was a strong point in Elex, especially compared to other open-world RPGs.

Well, there's apparent variety, with lots of variations of the same enemy types. You have the mutant rats, the raptors, the killer chickens, the big-ass trolls, the bugs, the humanoids, of course, and I'm probably missing one or two but not much else. It's been awhile since I've played Gothic, but I remember things like flying harpies and mages, and the game was much smaller.

The problem is that you may take hours to traverse the map only to find the same enemies. It gives the game a certain generic, MMO feel. But you're probably right about it being better than most other open-world RPGs in this regard.

 

[JDR13]

Interesting. I thought enemy variety was a strong point in Elex, especially compared to other open-world RPGs.

Well, there's apparent variety, with lots of variations of the same enemy types. You have the mutant rats, the raptors, the killer chickens, the big-ass trolls, the bugs, the humanoids, of course, and I'm probably missing one or two but not much else. It's been awhile since I've played Gothic, but I remember things like flying harpies and mages, and the game was much smaller.

The problem is that you may take hours to traverse the map only to find the same enemies. It gives the game a certain generic, MMO feel. But you're probably right about it being better than most other open-world RPGs in this regard.

Yeah, I wasn't comparing it to other Piranha Bytes titles but rather TES, etc. I think PB's games in general have always had a good variety of enemies as well as very good monster design. Elex was no exception.

 

[Vyadhis]

I took another break from a game I was playing (SMT:Nocturne) to go through Castlevania SOTN again. Playing the Japanese version just for the different voices and extra familars, I actually prefer this version even though the differences are minor. All these years later SOTN is still an absolute blast even though its mostly easy, I kind of struggled once I got to the reverse castle which is weird because I remember it being pretty easy as a kid. Farmed up the masamune and a skull ring (ring of varda in the english version) so I'm pretty OP. The game reminds me a bit of FF6 in that its super fun trying to get as OP as possible when the base game is already pretty damn easy. Haven't even tried the alucard shield + shield rode combo yet. This game would be perfect if it had a new game+ and extra difficulty but there's always luck mode to try. After I beat the game I think I'm going to go through the GBA and DS Metroidvanias..never beat them.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I finished playing Medal of Honor Allied Assault a week ago. It's heavily inspired by Wolfenstein 3D, even down to enemies looking and sounding similar.

I remember playing a beta of MOH:AA just before official release and really liking it a lot but by the final couple of levels my interest started to wan and I ended up taking shortcuts and not exploring anymore just to finish it. I think it was one of the first DirectX (OpenGL?) WWII-themed FPS I played, if not the first, with most of my previous experience with shooters being Build or Doom engine games, and I remember coming across several mirrors that were broken or smashed with no glass, and was disappointed that I could not see my reflection after stuff like Duke3D. It crossed my mind at the time that maybe it was because this was a beta and the mirror reflections weren't implemented yet in the final release. Little did I know that 3D API technology hadn't evolved to that point and actually wouldn't evolve until RTX came along 20+ years later.

 

[Abu Antar]

I beat Danganronpa 2. That was some crazy shit, as expected. Only Japanese game devs can come up with this over the top drama. My next VN hybrids will be AI: The Somnium Files, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Probably the Ace Attorney Trilogy. There's a lot to choose from!

I'm a bit annoyed by Yakuza 5. I'm at Haruka's section, and I picked up an item without knowing what it was. Turns out it was a locker key, but I can not transfer it to my other characters. Sloppy game design. Just make her unable to pick them up. Problem solved. While I hate her gameplay, the side stories and sub stories are still fun. I've done 40/48 side stories and a third of her sub stories. I'll repeat myself, God dang, this game never ends, and I haven't even gotten to control my bro, Akiyama!

The more I play of Unlimited SaGa, the more I want a new game in the series in this style, without the freaking wheel. The graphics are at times wonderful. I just love the painterly style and backgrounds look amazing. I'm doing Judy's story first, as she's the one character that I like the least from looking at my choices. So far, so good. I have three guys that joined me, and we defeated a giant enemy crab with massive damage.

Like always, Underrail, Ho Tu Lo Shu and Slime Rancher are also being played.

 

[JDR13]

I remember playing a beta of MOH:AA just before official release and really liking it a lot but by the final couple of levels my interest started to wan and I ended up taking shortcuts and not exploring anymore just to finish it.

There was exploration in MoH? I just remember shooting things.

 

[baud]

I remember playing a beta of MOH:AA just before official release and really liking it a lot but by the final couple of levels my interest started to wan and I ended up taking shortcuts and not exploring anymore just to finish it.

There was exploration in MoH? I just remember shooting things.

I think there's bonus objectives that you could find, I remember freeing additional prisoners in the first mission

 

[JDR13]

I remember playing a beta of MOH:AA just before official release and really liking it a lot but by the final couple of levels my interest started to wan and I ended up taking shortcuts and not exploring anymore just to finish it.

There was exploration in MoH? I just remember shooting things.

I think there's bonus objectives that you could find, I remember freeing additional prisoners in the first mission

Was there a bombed out church and cemetery in that level? It's been well over a decade since I played it so my memory is a little hazy. I also played the original CoD shortly after so I have a hard time remembering which game had certain levels.

I definitely remember storming the beach in Normandy in MoH.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Though it was generally a memorable game, the thing I most remember about MOH:AA was the hitscan sniper hiding in the bushes on a road surrounded on either side by woods I had to traverse to complete the level. Never even saw that son of a bitch, even after I killed him, who kept one-shotting me, I think. I never played any of the CoD games but I do have CoD 2 in my collection. Worth a play? Or is any other MoH game worth a play for that matter?

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

After seeing Metal Gear Solid for PC on GOG, I got a massive urge to play through the entire series to experience this both zany and eerie, plot in full. But since I never owned (nor ever want to own one) any console, I've just set up Emulators to squeeze all the juice out of my laptop. No pad either, all on keyboard and mouse, since I don't care about that either.

MGS1 was good. Rather primitive of course but it pays well to play this one first, plus it's surprising how elaborate (in terms of directing such a "cinematic" experience) games could be on PS1. The bosses were definitely a highlight, and on the "normal" difficulty I got my ass handed to me a couple of times, but it's mostly due to shitty controls, inaccurate PS1 shooting with no first person mode either. The bosses are definitely the biggest highlight, especially Vulcan Raven (fuck Sniper Wolf with blocky PS1 aiming and that tremble, is Snake an alcoholic?) but I'm saddened I didn't get to experience all the shenanigans of Psycho Mantis with memory card reading and so on.

MGS2 - definitely the best plot out of all of those, what with all the Meta and Prescient things it envisioned, and all that hilarious mind screw after Big Shell (I need scissors! 61! ). I actually loved the protagonist switch, especially since you were chatting with Snake all throughout the game, making him actually interesting and even more badass. In MGS1 90% of his dialogue were those retarded questions about every word. It felt very unfinished though, with apparently half of Shell 2 missing and likewise half of the bosses cut out from the game. Still worth it, even if just for that fatass bomber on rollerskates with a cocktail in his hand alone.

MGS3 was PS2's Subsistence and I was thrilled they threw that Pacman stealth out of the window. Definitely the most complete, concise package and the best traditional MGS out of them all. Great everything, even more campy (in a good way) with all that James Bond influence and Pussy Galore EVA, ghosting possibilities and dat ending sequence. Also Cobra Unit, especially The End and The Sorrow, still blew me away after all those years. I actually killed and ate The End's parrot and seen it during The Sorrow sequence lmao. I only regret picking Normal, getting easier and easier with each installment apparently, since I beat all bosses with max 2 retries.

MGS4, so far I'm only on the 3rd level in Middle East so far but I can easily see it being the worst out of them all. Well, one of those has to be one.

I also reinstalled MGSV: The Phantom Pain after abandoning it some months ago, to finish Chapter 1 and I'm convinced that it's the finest damn gameplay I have ever seen. We're talking XCOM/Jagged Alliance 2 levels here, it's pretty much the ultimate commando simulator - it's just a shame there is no Hard/Big Boss difficulty to enforce your options better (all it would take is some sliders, tbh), AI adapting to your tactics is not enough. The amount of hilarious shit you can do and how coherent and smooth everything is, is out of this world. Maybe the weakest story. Or maybe the best one, depending how you look on it, I don't remember nor really care, it's the ultimate Metal Gear and a great ending to that Kojima/Konami adventure.

Still did not decide whether I'll go through Peace Walker (HD collection) or not, but since it runs on stable 60fps it may as well be worth it.

-----------------------

While I am at it, I've also set up Demon's Souls, still no pad but considering I've played the initial release of Dark Souls 1, that one where you had to move away the cursor from the screen to the right with controls for 3 hands, I'm managing it just fine. Went through Boletaria Palace (until Tower Knight, of course) dying only 5 times I guess, all on that fucking bridge.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I liked the way MGSPP would adapt to your playing abilities in difficulty. No matter how expert/skilled or how subnormal/retarded you were, it would adapt. Of course, if you were of subnormal mental faculties and couldn't play more than 10 seconds without getting shot to death you had to wear the Chicken Hat with the glowing orange crest which made you impervious to being detected. Yes, its humor was charming.

 

[JDR13]

Though it was generally a memorable game, the thing I most remember about MOH:AA was the hitscan sniper hiding in the bushes on a road surrounded on either side by woods I had to traverse to complete the level. Never even saw that son of a bitch, even after I killed him, who kept one-shotting me, I think. I never played any of the CoD games but I do have CoD 2 in my collection. Worth a play? Or is any other MoH game worth a play for that matter?

The original CoD was really good for its time.. better than MoH imo. I can't say how well it's aged though. I didn't think CoD 2 was as good, but it was still worth playing. You get three separate campaigns as US, British, and Russian soldiers.