What game are you wasting time on?

[Tweed]

THE ETERNAL DAGGER!

 

[flyingjohn]

Finished Deus ex mankind divided.
Every single dev on that team needs to be slapped for fucking up after getting one of the cores right.

Pros:
-Level design.
Finally,a game understood what deus ex is about.This is the original game level design.
Not just because hub location are connected to make a cohesive whole unlike human revolution's vent and alleys everywhere.And even when there vents they either require one or multiple augs to actually traverse safely.
Not just because of the added verticality that roofs and balconies allow compared to nonexistent human revolution verticality.
Not just because you actually have to find/miss sidequests unlike human revolution where most stuff is visible a mile away or empty.
Not just because augs have been made much more important for exploration unlike human revolution where you only needed strength to get most stuff.
Not just because environmental interaction has been made better with item interaction and hazards actual being hazards compared to human revolution's one or two gas/electricity problems.
All those things combined make this a actual deus ex game in terms of level design.The bank level was beautiful,it felt like actually conquering a problem.

-Aug energy system
They got rid of the stupid small batteries and implemented a actual single bar.That works and actually allows you to use your augs compared to human revolution.

-There are actual side quests int he game now and they are a lot more involving then human revolution's fetch quests.

Mixed:
-Multi tools are back
On paper great,in reality boring.The problem is that multi tools are just a hacking bypass now.The original didn't use multi tools for hacking.And you don't need a bypass since you can easily hack or find the pass code. It is such a waste,they could have used it as a separate resource to bypass stuff like the original.

Bad:
Everything else.
-Too much apartment raiding.Most of the level is wasted on apartments.
-Too much resources from aiding apartments.Also too much details.You can sometimes barely tell what you can pickup from a glance.
-Crafting system is something deus ex does not need.I don't need to collect garbage.
-You still die way too easily.
-Augs
90% of your augs are recycled from human revolution.It is boring just to unlock the same things.And since this is a deus ex game the order is mostly gonna be the same.Exploration/hacking trumps all at the beginning.
-Experimental augs are boring or op
When i first saw the experimental overclocking system i had hopes this would make you juggle between augs in order to recreate some form of choice you had in choosing one aug over another like in the original.Instead it is nothing.Most augs are just the same thing copied for different purposes.Tesla/peps/blade are just a extension of arm aug does something.And the tesla is obviously better.Remote hacking is entirely broken and piss easy.
So basically,hack/tesla for hacking shit and armor for combat.That is boring as fuck.
Also that restriction on how much augs you can pick gets neutralized int he middle of the game for even further disappointment.
-Everything feels sluggish
-Loading times
-Side quests that require travel between places because of loading.
-Xp system is the same as human revolution in that it rewards everything you do.So it just sawyer balance in action.The problem wasn't not rewarding play styles in xp but rewarding xp for play styles in the first place.
-Hacking is made worse and is more plentiful. Now with remote hacking you can get a more xp and do a lot more mini games.
-Too many bugs.
-Story is a complete joke


I had high hopes when i started this game.But,that evaporated after my 20th apartment raid.But i am not gonna lie in admitting that finding a secret cult in the sewers didn't put a smile on my face.
The game is a wasted opportunity unfortunately.

 

[OndrejSc]

 

[Naraya]

Finally started Yakuza 5 and loving it so far!

 

[Billi205]

Finally finished The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk! It was very enjoyable and surprisingly a good game! Only added the healer to the party for this first play through. Perhaps I will try other classes another time. Can see why it was a last year GOTY contender.

IDK whether because there is no high ground like in DOS, the fights are much more interesting, can be challenging at times but didn't feel like a drag.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

I bought both Puzzle Agent games yesterday from GOG and just finished the second one. The games were enjoyable but would have been a lot better if the puzzles were better implemented into the game world. For $1.50 you can't go wrong but it will be a long while before I play them again.

 

[Abu Antar]

In anticipation for Shin Megami Tensei V, I am playing Digital Devil Saga II, with imported data from the first game. I'm 11-12 hours in. Game is super fun, even if like in the first game, I miss the demon capturing aspect. The game still holds up on its own merits, though. Playing on hard, since I got bonus stuff imported. As long as you're a veteran of the series, and have a good grasp of enemy weaknesses, you'll do fairly well. In a lot of fights, I have just tentarafoo'd my way to victory. Not because I don't know elements of enemies, but because it's super strong. Equip speedy ring for regular encounters, and a lot of enemies will quickly be destroyed. There's still some rng that make you rage inside, like getting ambushed, and then hit by insta kill spells. It's part of the series, I guess.

This game makes more sense from a story perspective. More is explained, and I don't have to just be "sure, I'll kill everything in my way, despite not knowing wtf is going on" anymore. Not that I didn't know what was happening in the previous games, but important terms are only being introduced in the second game, and I can't say more without spoilers.

The exploration part is solid, lots, and lots, and lots of dungeon crawling. Press-turn system is what you'd expect from the series. You'll coast past most encounters when you get elemental weaknesses right, but don't be too confident. One wrong enemy setup, and you could be screwed. The mood and atmosphere of this game differs slightly from the first one, but in the end, Atlus are(were?) very good at settings. Music is great. I'm humming along the tunes while playing.

I want to do the Devil Survivor games, too, but they're supposed to not be a priority for now.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

first week is shit with barely anything to do, then one month of entertainment and fun and thrill and challenges and discoveries, then it's back to shit with nothing new remaining. the game lives and dies by its production value: it's rockstar level, but it also means that new content is extremely difficult and expensive to make, in fact once i finished all the missions available i unlocked the achievement "you completed season 2017".
it's probably going to be taken down anytime soon, try it while you can.

 

[Puukko]

In anticipation for Shin Megami Tensei V, I am playing Digital Devil Saga II, with imported data from the first game. I'm 11-12 hours in. Game is super fun, even if like in the first game, I miss the demon capturing aspect. The game still holds up on its own merits, though. Playing on hard, since I got bonus stuff imported. As long as you're a veteran of the series, and have a good grasp of enemy weaknesses, you'll do fairly well. In a lot of fights, I have just tentarafoo'd my way to victory. Not because I don't know elements of enemies, but because it's super strong. Equip speedy ring for regular encounters, and a lot of enemies will quickly be destroyed. There's still some rng that make you rage inside, like getting ambushed, and then hit by insta kill spells. It's part of the series, I guess.

This game makes more sense from a story perspective. More is explained, and I don't have to just be "sure, I'll kill everything in my way, despite not knowing wtf is going on" anymore. Not that I didn't know what was happening in the previous games, but important terms are only being introduced in the second game, and I can't say more without spoilers.

The exploration part is solid, lots, and lots, and lots of dungeon crawling. Press-turn system is what you'd expect from the series. You'll coast past most encounters when you get elemental weaknesses right, but don't be too confident. One wrong enemy setup, and you could be screwed. The mood and atmosphere of this game differs slightly from the first one, but in the end, Atlus are(were?) very good at settings. Music is great. I'm humming along the tunes while playing.

I want to do the Devil Survivor games, too, but they're supposed to not be a priority for now.

Protip if you want to massively reduce grinding time for the optional bosses: using the double EXP PCSX2 cheat on bosses/Omoikanes (apparently considered bosses from the game's perspective) will give you 30 levels in no time. The bosses are tuned with maybe a lvl 90+ party in mind while the final boss is tuned for something like lvl 70 or less so it'll be much easier afterwards, but that's just how it is.

 

[Abu Antar]

Puukko Yep, I know about that one, but I'm playing this on PS3, believe it or not. :D

I think that I'll be able to deal with the side bosses either way.

:fabulouslyptimistic:

I am already overleveld thanks to a few lucky Omoikane encounters. I managed to get all the elements right four or five times, already.

 

[Kabas]

Battlefleet Gothic: armada 2
After going a bit further with the necrons(normal difficulty) i realised that i really hate the way they decided to implement the campaign. The game is going out of it's way to boggle you down in constant skirmishes. The core gameplay is not good enough to make me want to keep replaying the same fights over and over again.
There are few other annoyances like how retreat order gives your ships a debuff even thought ordering a retreat is the only way you can get reinforcements in those fights where your opponent keeps bringing extra ships from reserves.
Droped it.
Gladius
I am still having a fun with this one compared to battlefleet gothic. The enemy AI is definitely should be put on a bit higher difficulties if you want to have fun in singleplayer.
That too many voices mode that adds voice acting into the game is a nice addition i must say.

 

[Joggerino]

I'm playing star sector right now, just got wiped out recently. Had like 10% of my fleet left, now I'm exploring the fringes of the galaxy trying to find some derelict ships.

 

[fork]

Replaying Resident Evil Zero atm and I intend to gather proof that this is way better than it's being given credit for. Fucking underrated, probably tied for second, or even first place in the series, if you're unbiased. A shitty story and one or two unfortunate/unpopular design decisions (which turn out to be positives imo) cost this title its place among the top REs and action adventures/survival horrors.

 

[Abu Antar]

I tried two demos on Steam.

The first one was the Nadir demo. It's a roguelike, deck building, party-based rpg (party of three), with pretty cool art style for both playable characters, and enemies. There was no exploration in the demo. I don't know how that will work in the full game. I could only fight battles. There were four battles before I got to fight the boss. Combat is in side-view, like the NES/SNES Final Fantasy games. Win a battle, and you get exp. and some moneys. With the money you can buy new cards. You can also unlock new cards by winning fights. You'll get to choose one of three cards (in the demo) after a successful encounter.
The game telegraphs which part member will be attacked, so it gives you a chance to buff their armor or ability to dodge. The only enemy to attack the entire party was the boss. In the demo, I never felt threatened with a game over. Some of my characters did get close to death, but I drew healing cards that helped with that. You can break enemies, and shield your own units to block damage, but I didn't see much of it in the demo. Some cards will only activate special effects if your character is shielded, or if the enemy is broken. One card allowed me to counter if my character got hit. My guess is that the demo was tuned to be on the easier side, because a lot of people are trying the demo, and they don't want to scare casuals away. It's not a game I'll put on my wish list, on the other hand, I won't ignore it either. I can see myself getting it if it goes on sale, or is included in a bundle. That is if they can finish it. From what I know, their Kickstarter campaign failed.

The second demo was for Lost Eidolons. I backed this, so I ended up only playing the first encounter, and run around in the camp for a bit. The Fire Emblem inspiration is real. From combat, to unit advancement. I liked it overall, and I am happy with my pledge. What the game could improve is probably combat speed option. At least for item usage. Game looks good for a bunch of indie guys. Art style is fine, in my opinion. From a gameplay perspective, I would like ranged units to have even more range on their attacks, even if the ranger does have a long shot skill. I didn't promote any of my units, but it looks like it's Fire Emblem style in that regard, as well. From what little I played, this could turn out to be decent to good. I'm hoping for the best.

 

[Puukko]

Been bro-oping Dauntless, that F2P MH clone. I've been having good fun with it, so naturally I'll dedicate fhe first half of my review to the negatives that in the end don't really matter.

The art design, characters and writing are very soulless. It has that stylized look that mid budget indie games seem to love, where all the characters look ugly and alien. I understand that this style may be easier and cheaper from a design perspective, but that doesn't mean you have to go out of your way to make everyone ugly. Every NPC is quirky and I skip all the text which I very rarely normally do. I expected B tier voice acting, but this is more like D tier. It sticks out and I think I'll just disable the next time I boot the game especially since during some missions they add dialogue in the middle of the battle from some random NPC that just distracts you.

Also, the gameplay options have a gender identity setting. Exactly what I was hoping to find there.

You can tell there's technical competence at play here, paired with awful direction. A quick look at the dev's social media confirms the soy overload in the team.

Now, the good bits that actually matter. Monsters are very well designed and animated. They have variations that spice up the encounters a lot. The progression system takes a while to wrap your head around, but you basically just unlock access to gameplay features and new areas as you get weapon EXP. The grind so far doesn't seem bad at all, but I am also playing with buddies who are further in than I am and can take me on missions I haven't unlocked yet. I've only used the pistols so far, which revolve around maintaining a buff that you get from reloading in melee distance of a monster. So if you thought you could just stand at a distance and press M1 while your buddies do all the work in melee, that won't work, and that would be boring anyway. This way I provide a party wide attack speed buff among other things. I haven't thought about using any other weapons yet, but they're all very different and your progress is heavily tied into your weapon level. The monetization is supposedly just for cosmetics and time saving stuff like EXP boosts and they like to remind you about it after most missions.

 

[Sonic Titan]

Currently spending 100% of my time on Everquest's Aradune TLP server.

Installing my new 6700XT today, so WTB recommendations

 

[Gregz]

Currently spending 100% of my time on Everquest's Aradune TLP server.

Installing my new 6700XT today, so WTB recommendations

Are you seeing many multi-boxers?

 

[Poseidon00]

Ultimecia in Dissidia 012 is such a fun character to play as. Definitely top tier. Traps and set ups for days. Hard to close in on. Can constantly keep you guessing.

 

[pakoito]

Cadence of Hyrule. It's puddle deep with enough charm to last a couple of afternoons. I am very disappointed with the dungeons, they're one smallish Necrodancer floor, no puzzles, ez af midbosses, little challenge outside the bosses.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Sunless Skies. They fixed some of the issues with the series, but I find myself wanting a full fledged RPG more.

 

[Sonic Titan]

Currently spending 100% of my time on Everquest's Aradune TLP server.

Installing my new 6700XT today, so WTB recommendations

Are you seeing many multi-boxers?

I can honestly say I haven't seen obvious 3/4/5-boxers since Velious was the current expansion. And that was only in Siren's Grotto. Any boxing I see is the approved true-box (one box, must be on "seperate PC"). Myself included.

Aradune still very populated; my guild is clearing Time& Elemental Planes every week on schedule with optional backflagging & GDKP raids throughout the week as well. Huge fun.

 

[Yldr]

I went on a GBA binge and I was completely blown away by Metal Slug Advance. Watching a youtube video really doesn't do it justice, it's pure pixel porn when played with perfect scaling.

It motivated me to give the CT Special Forces trilogy another chance, and if you like a series that gets progressively better you're in for a treat: the first is a pretty mundane sidescroller with a few good idea, the second is the same but improved, and by the third you have excellent visuals, punchy sound design, fun boss battles, more use for the varied weapons, and of course frequent gameplay changes for gimmick levels. Super fun action game, the visuals aren't anywhere near as good as Metal Slug but gameplay-wise I'd easily rate it above.

I then moved on to Metal Slug 7 on DS. No surprise here, with the GBA game as my only bagage it's more of the same: fun in simplicity and gorgeous art.

I'll probably do the full Metal Slug Anthology on PSP soon, I can't get enough of it now. This also made me curious about Contra, a series I never took an interest in but looks superficially similar, so that's probably what I'll do next.

In more lukewarm news, I played both the full Sonic Classic Collection on DS and the Sonic Advance trilogy on GBA (actually spin-off games, not ports). I found them to be utterly mediocre, but maybe I'm just not the audience for it. On the other hand, the OST has been consistently excellent.

 

[octavius]

Aborted my OpenXcom game on second highest difficulty, since I couldn't help myself killing the program and reloading if doing fatal mistakes in combat. I never reload in games if I'm having bad luck with item drops or stat increases (things I can't influence directly), but doing silly mistakes (especially misclicking) in combat is harder for me to accept.

But I started a new game on CleveSUPERHUMAN and this time I've not reloaded once.
Got Excellent ratings for both the two first months, and lost only one good soldier. I was lucky not having any early base attacks, and the only Terror Mission was against the easist combo - Floaters and Reapers. Even at night it went without a hitch.

Third month I'm doing worse. Lost two good soldiers and had to abort a Terror mission against Sectoids and CyberDisks. The area around the drop zone was crawling with four disks and three rabid ETs. My little tenk was attacked from both sides the minute it poked its litte gun outside the ship.
So far I've resisted the temptation to kill the program and reload.

I'm also only building two full bases this time; one in the Old World and one in the New World, with 3-4 extra bases only with radars and some soldiers. Having five fully staffed bases with 20-30 soldiers is just too much of a money drain.

 

[Pablosdog]

Started playing yakuza 7 and am around the halfway point in Planescape Remastered. There's not much else to say, I'm in a good place gaming wise and Yakuza 7 is fun as fuck.

 

[curds]

Started playing dark messiah, but gave up for now. Good game, and I will come back to it later, but I essentially wanted more Arx Fatalis, which DM is not.

So now I've finally picked up pathfinder kingmaker, which I've been meaning to play for a while. Playing on normal difficulty, with some tweaks to make it more fair (like having my party take full damage instead of .8)

Using RtWP combat, since the game was balanced around that playstyle, even though I greatly prefer turn-based. I tried TB for one battle and it made it significantly easier. Subsequent playthroughs will probably be done in turn-based mode, but on higher difficulty settings.

I like it more than either Baldur's Gate game, so far. The rtwp combat feels less clusterfucky to me, and I'm not a fan of the pre-rendered backgrounds of bg. Pretty as they are, I find them a nightmare to navigate.

As far as bg spiritual successors go, this game shits all over poe, which I could only stomach a couple of hours of.

My one major niggle is one of the elements of the story: right at the beginning when that baroness can't decide who out of the player character or Tartuccio is the spy, and her solution is to set both of you free? Like wtf? makes absolutely zero sense. Even more annoying since Tartuccio is clearly the one with ill intentions.

maybe something will come to light later in the game which explains this, but for now, it's completely stupid.