What game are you wasting time on?

[Krivol]

After wasting more hours in Diablo 2 than I should, I felt the urge to play something SF. I dug my backlog and found Endless Space Definite Edition and Aven Colony - so why not?

Endless Space - great game, nice 4x in space, not overcomplicated, but still with few nice nuances. I can't compare it to MoO2 or Stellaris as I played MoO2 a long time ago and never touched Stellaris.

Aven Colony - I did not spend too much time with that, but so far it's an easy city builder with nice graphics. I hope it gets more difficult in the future, as right now it's like placing new blocks on the map and waiting for cash/workers to show up.

 

[HansDampf]

Finished NieR:Automata Route A. This game has tempted me since 2017 with all the praise it gets for its multiple endings and story and stuff. It also has sexy goth girls. And that's important to me as a gamer.
But I always suspect that highly praised games like this are probably overrated. And after Route A, I'm indeed a bit disappointed with the combat. It's not bad. The weapons have a satisfying "weight" to them. But it lacks depth. Most of the time it doesn't matter what weapons or combos you use except for style, even on Hard. The Perfect Dodge also has no cooldown and can be spammed to avoid almost all attacks 99% of the time. OTOH, if it had a cooldown, the way the combat is designed now, it would have been way too chaotic.
It's also extremely unsatisfying to unleash my strongest combo on some (slightly higher leveled) bosses and see their HP bar not even react one bit. I understand they are an endurance test, but holy bullet sponge hell...

The ending of Route A surprised me because I didn't expect it to be over so soon (20 hours). And it feels like the game left me hanging in terms of progression and story. It really wants me to continue with Route B, and now I'm curious.
I also didn't know that starting a certain mission would trigger the end game and cancel almost all unfinished side quests. Mean, tbh.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Playing Divine Divinity again now though. Really wish the "Diablo" genre went in this — more RPG, more mechanically involved, more world interactions, etc., — direction instead of the mindless grind/loot one.
If you liked Diablo but didn't like the direction the genre went afterwards, would recommend.

Thought it might not hold up as well as I remembered but it's great.

 

[Azalin]

The ending of Route A surprised me because I didn't expect it to be over so soon (20 hours). And it feels like the game left me hanging in terms of progression and story. It really wants me to continue with Route B, and now I'm curious.

Ending A isn't really an ending,more like a middle point of the storyline,you need to finish Route C to see the real ending(s)

 

[Crane]

Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Combat isn't great but the stories are good.

 

[Zlaja]

I'm playing Titanfall 2 campaign right now. It's semi-enjoyable so far (I'm like halfway through). Don't care much for the mech levels, but on foot levels have pretty good shooting and I like the weapon variety. Can hardly keep track of what fucking weapon does what at times, because of how many of them there are. All of them seem useful, but some of them are little too samey.

Level design has been a mixed bag so far. I really enjoyed this one industry level, which had you go through this absolutely massive manufacturing base, where you progressed by jumping on to the moving industrial line assembly. Really creative and I hope I see some more creative stuff like this later on. Unfortunately, the game also features a sewer level. Yeah.

Finished SiN: Gold

This is the only thing I remember from that game:

Spoiler

Im playing Bioshock : Infinite and its my first Bioshock game and I am thoroughly enjoying it

You should also play Bioshock 2. It's the best least shitty Bioshock game.

 

[slymer]

I've been on a bit of a binge lately. The release of D2 Resurrected got me started. I then played and completed Mortal Shell, Jedi Fallen Order, all 3 Bioshock games, and Legend of Grimrock 2. I started playing the Witcher 1 last night with the intent to finally play it all the way through.

 

[mkultra]

<---

 

[curds]

I started playing the Witcher 1 last night with the intent to finally play it all the way through.

Stick with it until chapter II at least. It starts slow but is an amazing RPG.

 

[Abu Antar]

I've had a cold from the depth of hell this past week. I'm not allowed to work. What does this mean? I've spent probably 70 hours playing games in the past 6-7 days.

I reached chapter 4 in Betrayal at Krondor. Some graphics aside, this game has aged like fine wine. Love the writing, music and meeting characters from the books. Combat is decent, and I like the exploration. I guess some people would want the melee characters to have more skills, but I don't care.

In Knights of the Chalice 2, I'm slowly progressing in the game. I've gotten my ass handed to me a few times, but I do learn from my mistakes, or get lucky with rng.

In Yakuza: Like A Dragon, I'm doing a lot of minigames. Progressing through business management, doing Dragon Cart races, collecting cans, doing the vocational school exames, and unfortunately, I found the secret casino. Kasuga spent four hours gambling, which got me one of the best class weapons in the game.
The combat is okay, but there's potential for many improvements. The class system is fun, and I especially love Nanba's Power Nap skill animation. Summons are very silly, and bosses are fun.
Oh, I am also trying to complete as many part-time hero requests as possible.
Side stories are on par with other games in the series, and they are a big part for my love of the series.

I beat FreeSpace 2. Prett cool game, and it was free. I wasn't great at it, but I really dug the overall package.

Detroit: Become Human. I have tried all Quanic Dream games, but never bothered to play any of them to the end. There's always some retardation that makes me stop. I'm waiting for it to happen with this game, too.

I gave LEGO DC Super-Villains. It started out okay. A mindless family action game, but once I hit the open world, I stopped enjoying it. I lasted an hour before uninstalling.

I'm at the 40 hour mark in in God Wars: Future Past. My characters have unlocked some cool and powerful jobs. I think most recruitable characters have joined my group, but I'm mostly focusing on a specific party. The others, I use in optional battles. I like the game enough to consider buying their upcoming mecha game. If you're interested in the Japanese tacttical rpg genre, this is a fine choice.
Not a masterpiece, but you will get many hours worth of scratching that itch.

The Legend of Heroes: Tits 3. While I like the game, the structure of the game is not great. I usually don't have an issue with long cutscenes, the game is basically fight for long periods of time, then get long ass cutscenes. I'd almost call it a dungeon crawling visual novel. On the other hand, combat is fun, the story is decent, and the music is top notch.

I deleted the two mobile games that I have been playing for a long time. Football Puzzle Legends is the first one. I reached the top division in the online portion of the game. All games won, but not close to first place. You need tickets to play. I haven't spent a single dime on the game, and didn't plan to. During my active time playing, I saw how they kept making it more and more important to buy stuff to keep up. I wasn't going to have any of that, so I called it a day. I consider this game beaten.

The other game is Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells. It's a candy crush clone. I've beaten every puzzle released, so far. I didn't have any big issues with this one. The game was just in the crossfire when I deleted the above game. One say that this game was a a victim of my mood.

There are most likely other games I forgot to mention.

 

[baud]

Finished Guile & Glory, a mix between a puzzle game and a tactical RPG. You have three characters, who can each push, pull or block/stun enemies and all the game turns around using those skills to kill the enemies. And since the enemy AI is kinda inexistent (enemy activate once you get close enough to them then move toward the closest target, including where it'd get shot by its ranged allies), I'd say it's more a puzzle game than a tactical game.
For each map you can try to get a perfect by finishing at full health and under a turn number, but that's no way required and you can play imperfectly; though I still went back and go perfect clears in all but two of the maps.
The RPG side is improving the characters using currency won by completing maps, like improving the range on the guy who can pull, or giving action points when the guy who push get a kill.
Story is basic, a little Sword and Sorcery at the start but it gets more usual High Fantasy themes in the last third.

Currently playing Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. The last of the PoP games made by Ubisoft, perhaps not as good as the others: the platforming is still as good and takes good advantage of the water freezing power to add some difficulty, though the levels are designed so that it's easier to find your way. The combats are a part that have declined, with less possibilities (stuck with one weapon unlike in WW, just one style unlike TT, no combos, none of those moves). The devs also had the bright idea of adding XP points, instead of just unlocking new combat skills across the game, which doesn't bring really anything to the game. Story is inconsequential, but that was never the important part of the PoP games.
The fun part in all this was still the comedy of errors of trying to get this to run: First time I launched it of Steam, it installed an Ubisoft Thingy™, except it didn't work, so I checked the forums, where I got told I had to install the New Ubisoft Thingy™ instead. So I did this, except that the New Ubisoft Thingy™ crashed on launch, so I was stuck until I downloaded a crack. The software was so bad I had to resort to piracy to play!

 

[Gamezor]

Started YS8 but just found myself underwhelmed. Maybe will return later. Started Stranger of Sword City Revisited and really digging it so far. My first real wiz-like other than MM1. I like how SOSC just gets going, gets to the point, and you're right into the game very quickly.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I've spent probably 70 hours playing games in the past 6-7 days.

Sorry to hear you're sick and could barely play, hope you can get that number back up next week.

 

[AbstractKazzy]

Divine Divinity! I enjoyed that game way more than I thought I would. Also started playing Darkstone after only ever playing the PS1 version back in the day. Surprising to see you get 2 characters to use in this version.

 

[BruceVC]

I've spent probably 70 hours playing games in the past 6-7 days.

Sorry to hear you're sick and could barely play, hope you can get that number back up next week.

Rusty do people tell you that you make them laugh....if they dont " you make me laugh "

The ability to able to tell jokes well is a learnt skill but requires an aptitude , like what a raconteur can do. Many people, like me, are just terrible joke tellers and I have come to accept that
And the ability to make a genuinely funny post on a global gaming forum is also not that easy because English is not everyone's first language so sometimes the nuance and the way the English language is metaphorical also can make humor difficult ....for example what if someone reads your comment and thinks ...." that Rusty guy clearly is a gaming addict to think 70 hours is not enough "


After finishing Bioware Infinite after 20 hours and really having fun I realized I have never played Bioshock 1 &2 and I decided to play Bioware 1 Remastered

Its a great game and has many elements that action\fps, whatever you classify it as , are enjoyable for like general combat, level advancement and rewarding abilities that you have to use specifically to advance in the game like using incinerate spell to melt ice blocking a doorway. And I am enjoying the lore and narrative and the overall reality of Rapture has some dark history and reality of what dwells their.

It also has the most interesting hacking mini-game I have ever seen...its really enjoyable. But I am glad I am finally playing this classic because its one of those games that is generally well regarded and most gamers speak highly of it

 

[Bigg Boss]

Wasteland 2 camera mod.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Wasteland 2 camera mod.

Is there a companion sky box mod as well?

 

[Shackleton]

Wasteland 2 camera mod.

We really need a 'but why?' button like that Van Wilder meme.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Wasteland 2 camera mod.

We really need a 'but why?' button like that Van Wilder meme.

For my LP.

 

[BLOBERT]

Divine Divinity! I enjoyed that game way more than I thought I would. Also started playing Darkstone after only ever playing the PS1 version back in the day. Surprising to see you get 2 characters to use in this version.

BRO I WAS A BIG FAN OF DIVINITY DIVINESSS

IT WAS LIKE ULTIMA MEETS DIABLO

ONPY SHIT THING WAS THR GAME HAD HUGE EXPLOITS

 

[curds]

Underrail.

I must have a bad build because the combat is making me

(it's fun, though)


I also tried Dying Light on the free weekend since for some reason it appealed to me, despite not being the sort of thing I'd normally play. Got the most incredible motion sickness from it and stopped after 30 mins. Played enough to surmise that I'm not missing much by skipping it.

 

[Ivan]

Recap of games I've recently finished: nothing spectacular, mostly solid shit. I'm thankful

Halo Infinite
core combat experience is great, enemy roster has a lot of personality, loved the implementation of the hookshot both for traverseing combat arenas and as an offensive weapon. Disliked the open world structure, as the actual traversal from combat encounter to combat encounter was boring. Didn't bother with little skirmishes between "main" combat encounters, didn't see the point of wasting my resources.

The Gunk
solid 3D platformer/adventure from SteamWorld Dig devs that echoes Okami and Ico. At its best when it focuses on puzzles, weak whenever it dabbles in combat. Gameplay feels like Luigi's Mansion, using a vacuum to clean/suck/shoot projectiles. A lean experience with very little filler, great art direction, and ambient soundtrack reminiscent of Brian Eno.

Serious Sam 4
more of the same, better than 3, uglier than first 2 encounters. I actually dug the humor and stoopid story/writing that the game features. It actually made me care about the NPCs that the game didn't take shit seriously at all. enjoyed the inclusion of dual wielding, though I found that the arsenal could have done with some trimming, especially not that some guns get alternate fire modes. did grow fatiguing toward the end but you know what you're getting with these types of games. RIP Kenny.

Mortal Shell
totally forgot about this. a mostly forgettable experience whose strongest element is its art design. I enjoyed the opening swamp area, but after that the levels were mostly a mess, particularly the god awful "vortex" level. The fire level was alright, featuring some neat shortcuts. It's one of those games where if you accidentally pick the "hard" route first, you could really sour your first playthrough (which was my experience). I restarted, went with the fire/ice levels first, then pretty much stomped my way through the game after that. It features a healing system that you can abuse by just saving up souls and buying 100 healing items. Dark Souls solved this shit, no idea why this idea wasn't used here. I'd be down to see the devs give this genre another crack. If we can get a title with more consistent level design of the caliber of the Fire level, then I'd be more excited.

Metroid Dread
fantastic return to the 2D form. didn't like the over-reliance on the "elevator" traversal. aesthetics are excellent, Samus controls and animates like a dream. the combat is excellent when dueling against the nimble adversaries toward the endgame. Would definitely be excited for another 2D Mercury Steam entry.

currently playing/pondering: Halo series, Yakuza 6, Forgotten City, Devotion

 

[Wunderbar]

replayed the original Doom, and also finished Thy Flesh Consumed and Sigil for the first time.

Spoiler

This was my first time playing it on Ultra Violence (last time I played Doom I was in high school, and i picked easy difficulty). Was using GZDoom, with freelook disabled, and perkristian's higher-quality SFX pack installed.

The OG Doom is a great game, I enjoyed it immensely. It's amazing how just cohesive and whole this game feels - the shooting, the enemies and the way they work together. Great soundtrack too.

Thy Flesh Consumed was a major letdown - other than the first two maps (which were ball-bustingly difficult), it was just an OK experience. Also a lot of annoying encounters and dickish traps made me use saves (I managed to finish OG Doom without saves). The flow was off too - the OG Doom had a such good flow i was breezed through episodes in just one sitting, but with TFC i did frequent breaks because of frustration.

I remember there was a minor controversy back when Sigil was released - some people (including major youtube reviewer Gmanshills) crapped on it for being too hard. I didn't find Sigil all that hard, after E4 it was almost a cakewalk. For the most part Sigil felt like "Thy Flesh Consumed Done Right" - it was fun, tight, challenging, and mostly fair. Mostly. Flows very similarly to E4M2 Perfect Hatred - the supplies are very scarce, and you are basically forced to use telefragging and infighting to get rid of enemies (I just googled and found out that e4m2 was also designed by Romero, not surprising). The only thing i didn't like about Sigil was the abundance of hurt floors with a very limited amount of hazard suits, had to ocasionally use saving.

Replayed Doom 2 and finished No Rest for the Living for the first time (it's a bonus episode made for Xbox 360 port of Doom 2).

I remember liking Doom 2 more than OG Doom back when i was a teenager - largely because it had a lot more monster types (and a super shotgun). After replaying the game, I think I don't like Doom 2 anymore.

OG Doom felt like a proper actual cohesive game, like journey you make from martian bases to hell and back. Doom 2 feels like a glorified mappack made by level designers of a very inconsistent level of skill. Some of the levels are pretty good (particularly Spirit world, the living end, refuelling base, etc), the rest of them are gimmicky, plain ugly, and a slog to get through. Downtown? Chasm? Barrels of fun? Get the fuck out of here.

New monsters are good and I can see wad-makers putting them to good use, but Doom 2 uses them in such way I was annoyed most of the time instead of being challenged. Picked up a key? A monster closet will open and a pack of chaingunners will torn you to shreds at a point blank range. You are walking on a narrow ledge? A monster closet will open and a pack of chaingunners will torn you to shreds at a point blank range. Picked up a supercharge? A monster closet will open and a pack of chaingunners will nulify your supercharge at a point blank range. Walked into a large open area? A monster closet will open and a pack of chaingunners will torn you to shreds from afar, and you won't be able to do anything because autoaim prefers enemies that are closer to you, or because chaingunners are elevated. Walked into a teleporter? A pack of chaingunners will torn you to shreds at a point blank range and you won't be able to react because you of a green teleporter sprite obscuring your view. Fuck that.

I know it's not fair to compare an original game with a wad, because a wad was made by designers with years of knowledge of how to use the engine and enemy roster, but. No Rest For The Living is like a masterclass on how to make Doom levels, this new episode blows Doom 2 out of the water. Distinct visuals, creative secrets, memorable level layouts, tough but fair encounter design. Chaingunners are used in a much tolerable way - they are almost always packed together with other enemies so it's easy to make them shoot their buddies in the back and trigger infighting.

Don't think i'll bother with TNT Evilution or Plutonia, from what i've heard it seems like those two expansions only amplified the worst parts of Doom 2 to meme levels. You know it's bad when even random youtubers make fun of chaingunners spam in Plutonia.

 

[HansDampf]

My memories of TNT Evilution: Chaingunner snipers chipping my health from higher platforms that are too far away for vertical auto-aim. In darkness.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I can't remember which WAD it was, but on one MAP27 Doomguy comes across a room with four long ramps tiered up and they're FULL of chaingunners.

I've never played that WAD in vanilla Doom2, but on Brutal Doom is quickly devolves into minigun madness.