What game are you wasting time on?

[Raghar]

Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.

4 the Severer (Mountain Dwarf)
(Level 20 Fighter)

Play time: 19:55:13 Number of turns: 67963

Experience : 20/418426
Strength 24 Dexterity 14 Intelligence 10
Hit Points : 203 Magic Points : 27
AC : 26 Evasion : 10 Shield : 0
GP : 1891

You are in the Lair.
You worship Makhleb.
Makhleb is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

Inventory:
Hand weapons
a - a +7,+6 dwarven broad axe of electrocution (weapon)
h - a +0,+2 hand axe of freezing
j - an uncursed elven mace
w - an uncursed runed mace of protection
y - the uncursed morningstar of Ywoxipo
It affects your intelligence (+4).

O - a +5,+4 hammer of draining
P - a +5,+0 great sword of holy wrath
Armour
c - a +0 dwarven shield
k - the +2 pair of boots of the Assassin (worn)
Some soft boots.
It affects your dexterity (+3).
It makes you much more stealthy.
It lets you turn invisible.
These boots were specially designed by the Assassin's Guild.

l - a +2 winged helmet (worn)
B - the +2 ring mail of the Eternal Fruit (worn)
It protects you from fire.
It protects you from cold.
It makes you much more stealthy.

D - a +0 cloak of poison resistance (worn)
F - a +1 splint mail of poison resistance
H - a +1 pair of gloves (worn)
Magical devices
I - a wand of teleportation (15)
N - a wand of lightning
T - a wand of digging
V - a wand of cold (5)
X - a wand of fire (13)
Comestibles
f - 7 honeycombs
A - 5 bread rations
Scrolls
e - 2 scrolls of identify
i - 2 scrolls of enchant armour
Jewellery
d - a +0,+6 ring of slaying (right hand)
g - an amulet of conservation
o - a ring of see invisible
p - a ring of sustenance
t - a ring of protection from fire
v - the ring "Acyvyw Tiwiqyc"
This ring protects its wearer from the loss of their strength, dexterity
and intelligence.
It insulates you from electricity.
It protects you from magic.

x - an amulet of clarity
z - the ring of Robustness (left hand)
This ring either protects its wearer from harm or makes them more
vulnerable to injury, to a degree dependent on its power.
It affects your AC (+8).
E - the necklace of Bloodlust
This amulet enables its wearer to attempt to enter a state of berserk rage,
and increases their chance of successfully doing so. It also partially
protects the user from passing out when coming out of that rage.
It affects your strength (+2).
It affects your intelligence (-2).
It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+3).
It protects you from magic.
It makes you less stealthy.
It makes you angry.

K - a ring of levitation
M - a ring of protection from cold
Z - the amulet of Grottiness
This amulet protects its wearer from mutations, although not infallibly so.
It affects your AC (+4).
It affects your evasion (+1).
It protects you from poison.
It lets you sense your surroundings.

Potions
b - 7 potions of healing
q - a potion of berserk rage
s - 3 potions of heal wounds
W - 2 potions of might
Books
m - a tome of Destruction
n - a book of Wizardry
C - a book of Unlife
L - a book of Minor Magic
Q - a book of War Chants
S - a book of Hinderance
U - a book of Necromancy
Magical staves
r - a rod of smiting
u - a glowing staff


You have 6 experience left.

Skills:
- Level 15 Fighting
+ Level 6 Long Blades
+ Level 26 Axes
+ Level 6 Maces & Flails
+ Level 1 Throwing
+ Level 14 Armour
+ Level 1 Dodging
+ Level 6 Stabbing
+ Level 8 Shields
+ Level 2 Traps & Doors
+ Level 7 Unarmed Combat
+ Level 3 Spellcasting
+ Level 3 Conjurations
+ Level 4 Enchantments
+ Level 4 Air Magic
+ Level 8 Invocations
+ Level 3 Evocations


You have 9 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

Your Spells Type Success Level
a - Magic Dart Conjuration Good 1
b - Summon Small Mammals Summoning Fair 1
c - Shock Air/Conjuration Very Good 1
d - Swiftness Air/Enchantment Good 2
e - Detect Secret Doors Divination Fair 1
f - Silence Air/Enchantment Good 3
g - Detect Creatures Divination Poor 2
h - Pain Necromancy Fair 1
i - Regeneration Enchantment/Necromancy Poor 3
j - Confusing Touch Enchantment Very Good 1

Mutations & Other Weirdness
You are dopey (Int -2).
You tend to lose your temper in combat.
You are robust (+10 percent hp).
You have sharp fingernails.

Yea, I don't know what I'm doing, but I decided to show the character while he's still alive.

 

[Abu Antar]

I can delist a few games from the backlog. Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Ultima Underworld and Samorost 3 are all beaten. I will write down some incoherent ramblings about the first game after I get home from work.

 

[Krivol]

fucking

scumbag pollacks

and their elite strength 13 regiment bunkering in the final victory location

have prevented me

from getting brilliant victory in england

by 1 turn

1

turn

London scenario is indeed a bit hard if you gained brilliant in "Dunkirk" scenario - British AA guns and fighters are OP for your Ju-87b and Me 109s. It's actually easier to get "tactical victory" in Dunkirk and go through a long campaign before London (or skip it totally and get to defending the reich).

Or download Gustlik's version of Blitzkrieg for Open General and suffer :D.

(all here https://opengeneral.pl/ )

 

[Darth Roxor]

London scenario is indeed a bit hard if you gained brilliant in "Dunkirk" scenario - British AA guns and fighters are OP for your Ju-87b and Me 109s.

Funny thing, I figured the perfidious anglos were going to have a shitton of Spitfires, so I got like 2 mobile flaks and 3 messerschmitts for the mission.

What I didn't account for was that the bongs were also going to have a shitton of AA guns

Also reading up on the campaign tree I was disappointed that it doesn't matter what victory you get in London, you always land in Kishinev afterwards. I guess it makes sense because London can be treated as a 'bonus mission' of sorts, but I was rushing ahead so recklessly to try to get that brilliant victory that my army got thoroughly butchered.

 

[Sodafish]

What I didn't account for was that the bongs were also going to have a shitton of AA guns

The Hun don't like it up 'em.

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

Underrail (i thought i wouldn't like it) and Megaman Zero/ZX. Couldn't find a translation for Zero, so I'm playing blind and hoping for the best. I was under the impression MMZ is "one of the harder megaman games" but so far it's only more fast paced and fun.

 

[deuxhero]

After this is a nice open (but short) level set in a canyon thats only problem is the messed up ending (you're told Jan will land in a canyon despite the level being 75% canyon, and it's actually though a previously locked door you have no way of knowing just opened). Jedi Trials are mostly fine except the last one, which depends entirely on you stepping on an inconspicuous alcove. Nar Shadda is as bad as everyone remembers it with unavoidable aimbot snipers everywhere (seriously the gap between these guys and everyone else in aiming is massive), but also requires making a blind jump into a dark pit that happens to have a ledge (the obvious way forward, by contrast, only has a few secrets) and then pulling some street lights you have no idea are movable unless you mouse over their tiny hitbox. Garbage dump has more unavoidable snipers, and even more nonsense required to progress. Also this game spawns enemies out of nowhere way too often for a game that lets you see through walls on demand.

Jedi Outcast is 100% an otherwise bad game with some of the worst level design I've ever seen (I'd honestly take linear corridors over this) saved by its fantastic lightsaber/force combat and plot (and Lando guest star with original voice). Jedi Academy focuses entirely on the saber and force combat with minimal Ravensoft logic in the way and is way better for it. Its levels are straightforward or defined by a single gimmick, but even the worst levels aren't bad (Vjun's outdoor parts if you didn't grab protection/heal is the only level I dislike, and that's not too long. Mutant rancor chase is very obviously scripted, but the level is still fun.).

Both JO and JA have the problem that the player, once they get the lightsaber, is basically 100% invincible against any normal stormtrooper or thug with a blaster. It reminds me of a george lucas quote on Ep 1 "[about the Battle Droids] The Jedi cut 'em down like they're butter, and they really are pretty useless." The only way to compensate is with bullshit like laser snipers, grenades, and incomprehensible puzzle design. I do recall a lot of cutscenes focusing on doors or showing enemies arriving as hints in JO though, or level design was changed to force you to go one way.

Really the solution is reworking how saber defense works (less effective if running, less effective at greater angles instead of spotty at level 1 and impenetrable at level 2) and adding weapons that are effective against Jedi without just being uncounterable (a shotgun that actually works? Slugthrower that can only be blocked, not reflected). JO forces you to go one way, but what one way that it is often really unclear. The garbage dump level is really bad here since you've got a lot of doors, but they all lead to enemies and dead ends shortly thereafter and there's only one way to tackle them due to really petty "puzzles".

The first Bespin level is the best mission yet but still ultimately meh (the elevator forcefield thing really dragged it down), but Bespin_Streets, bar the droid minefield escort thing at the start, is one of the best levels in either Outcast or Academy. There's no incomprehensible puzzles, it's always clear where you need to go (but still secrets), but there are plenty of tactically interesting setpieces, many of which encourage using guns (extreme distances, raised platforms, even one instance where you'd like to, but aren't required, to preserve a turret an enemy is in so CQC headshot is better than risking destruction with saber shot), and area variety (indoor segment, outdoor segment, even a park) and even a few bits of environmental storytelling. The main things holding it back are the very start, and the (relatively few) disruptor rifle enemies being uncounterable. I recall the asteroid base levels, Star Destroyer levels (bar communicator "puzzle"), and Yavin levels all being fun for the most part, so Outcast might be one of those unicorn games with terrible intro, meh mid-game and amazing end-game but I'll have to see if my memories hold up.

edit: Third Bespin level is short but sweet. Has a few things that could arguably be classed as puzzles, but they're multiple solution free form "How do I get past this?". Like you can hear some enemies waiting for you at the bottom of an elevator so I stood at the top floor, sent the elevator down, used force sight to see where the enemies were and used grenades to kill them. The one time in the level you hit a switch to open a door on the other side of the level, it shows you a security camera view of that door, which is really something every other instance of that in the game should have done. The duel and plot revelation are good too.

Biggest problem with thermal detonator spammers is the lack of a minimum arming range so you regularly loose a huge chunk of HP when they contact detonate on your face. Give them a minimum donatation distance (below which they'll turn into pickups) and make the cone for pushing the bombs away a bit bigger and they'd be way more enjoyable.

Underrail (i thought i wouldn't like it) and Megaman Zero/ZX. Couldn't find a translation for Zero, so I'm playing blind and hoping for the best. I was under the impression MMZ is "one of the harder megaman games" but so far it's only more fast paced and fun.

Zero 1's problem isn't so much that it's hard as it is that it's unfair due to the score system locking upgrades which create a death spiral effect if you don't do well on early levels. You might as well not have extra lives since respawning destroys your score and the extra time hurts further. Legacy Collection actually fixes this with its save assist function that (essentially) loads a savestate at the last checkpoint (no death on record, no time spent) at full HP/ammo. For most games I'd say it's casualizing the game, but for the games in the collection it just removes one of the most frustrating parts of the Zero games (and mitigates the most frustrating part of the ZX games since you can reload quickly when trying for high level boss clears/medals).

 

[Hag]

Took up Northern Journey because of some of you fuckers made it sound like it's the best shit since the almonds and lemon pie I've baked earlier. So, two hours in, yeah, it's not bad. Pretty good atmosphere, managing to get the "mountain ambience" better than any other game maybe. I am not so fan of NPCs cartoon faces. I like it grotesque but it sometimes looks goofy. Monsters are of different kind and are all very good, cleverly playing on real-life fears to get you. The ticks covered sheep in particular, since I don't like ticks very much and had to deal with many an infected goat. Level design is good to great, moving around is pleasantly fast and if collisions could be smoother, it works all in all very well. UI is also pleasantly slick.

I was not convinced so much for the first hour (the village was not that fun), but now that I've arrived in big open wilderness filled with little passages, all alike, with a certain likeness to be eaten by a mosquito horsefly spider bear, I'm enjoying it much more.

 

[Average Manatee]

Outcast might be one of those unicorn games with terrible intro, meh mid-game and amazing end-game but I'll have to see if my memories hold up.

Ehh, I like the pre-jedi levels because they are actually consistently hard and interesting rather than an absolute breeze 90% of the time interrupted by 10% instant deaths. I recall the end game being much more annoying about having vague signposting of where to go and "puzzles" that are inscrutable but my memory is probably just as bad as yours if not worse.

Biggest problem with thermal detonator spammers is the lack of a minimum arming range so you regularly loose a huge chunk of HP when they contact detonate on your face. Give them a minimum donatation distance (below which they'll turn into pickups) and make the cone for pushing the bombs away a bit bigger and they'd be way more enjoyable.

Or when you slice through someone about to throw with your lightsaber so they drop an armed grenade at your feet.

 

[jackofshadows]

Enderal. I'm hooked and imressed, wtf is this?

The only complain is that sometimes the world feels cramped because of no fast-travel I guess.

 

[Lyre Mors]

The only complain is that sometimes the world feels cramped because of no fast-travel I guess.

Eh, if you're still in the beginning area, it starts to open up quite a bit more later, but not to a crazy degree. I personally liked the more closed in feeling of the world, as it reminds me more of world design from games like Gothic - which is no surprise considering that's a huge influence on SureAI's design principles. Also, teleportation magic and other means of faster travel show up later on, but are handled very well and don't trivialize the sense of exploration in any way.

Would highly recommend checking out Nehrim at some point too. It's the game the comes before Enderal, fleshes out a lot of the stuff you hear about in Enderal, and is just overall great fun in many of the same ways Enderal is. And that's from someone who hates both Oblivion and Skyrim and the feel of their engine.

 

[jackofshadows]

The only complain is that sometimes the world feels cramped because of no fast-travel I guess.

Eh, if you're still in the beginning area, it starts to open up quite a bit more later, but not to a crazy degree. I personally liked the more closed in feeling of the world, as it reminds me more of world design from games like Gothic - which is no surprise considering that's a huge influence on SureAI's design principles. Also, teleportation magic and other means of faster travel show up later on, but are handled very well and don't trivialize the sense of exploration in any way.

Would highly recommend checking out Nehrim at some point too. It's the game the comes before Enderal, fleshes out a lot of the stuff you hear about in Enderal, and is just overall great fun in many of the same ways Enderal is. And that's from someone who hates both Oblivion and Skyrim and the feel of their engine.

No, I refer mostly to stuff like the quest when one dude asks to walk to the other one which is like 10 meters away. Or that when you proposed to use the travel system you mentioned in order to travel to the area which basically just near the city gates that you've entered just before etc. Still, I'm hugely impressed by the game world scope, I just think as they purposely cut it down futher fearing skyrim players that used to fast-travel too much.

I'd also criticise the most quest design which sometimes if try to ape beth games and that's not a good thing at all. Like you've sorted out some big quest and at the end left with the choice for outcome.... why? It would be better to work on earlier stages of it. Same goes (aping the original too much) for the soundtrack but again, it feels silly to criticise it given the fact it's just a fucking mod.

The important thing is that the mechanics are way, way better than in the original and basically, everything else. I've no idea how did they manage it but even the characters are written (alright) and voiced (!!) better than in beth games.

Thanks for the Nehrim recommendation, maybe I'll try it afterwards. For some reason, I'd thought it's just a TC mod and nothing more. Furthermore, I've had a strong case of mod-phonia but clearly I'm in the process of curing from it.

 

[deuxhero]

Finished Outcast (no clipped past stealth segment, as I advise you do). Last few levels were all fine to awesome besides a few bits (the infamous stealth section, the communicator "puzzle" that's more boring and tedious than hard, and save/load while driving a walker being finiky in openjk). Even the swamps, once I realized the point is to use Force Sense with guns, were better than I remembered and actually quite fun. The game is definitely a game that sucks at the start and gets way better as it goes along, which is really unusual (early or mid-game being the strongest and end the weakest is most common). It starts as a to and when you hit the last Nar Sahddda segment (getting Lady Luck ready to escape) it rises to a .

Any single player mods for Academy that are actually good?

 

[Darth Roxor]

This is fake news, Jedi Outcast is a game that starts and ends

(no clipped past stealth segment, as I advise you do)

Scrublord

Real men exploit level geometry to skip this level.

 

[Curratum]

Musumaker which is a raising sim about an orphanage you inherit that's actually a whorehouse, good stuff.https://vndb.org/v1160#main

I thought despite free speech and lax moderation and all that, the codex at least banned pedos outright? Infinitron Darth Roxor

 

[ERYFKRAD]

This is fake news, Jedi Outcast is a game that starts and ends

(no clipped past stealth segment, as I advise you do)

Scrublord

Real men exploit level geometry to skip this level.

Can't you just mind trick them? I remember doing something like that.

 

[Kabas]

I have completed Northern Journey.
It's best enjoyed if go in completely blind so that you don't know what to expect when entering the new area. I am glad i did.
spiders out of , would get bitten again.

 

[HansDampf]

Finished Metroid Dread, followed by Zero Mission and Super Metroid, all with 100% items. This also concludes my revisit of the entire Metroid franchise, excluding the DS and 3DS games which I'm not interested in. And I don't think there are any Other Metroid games left.


Metroid Dread was mostly annoying. I'm sure there is an okay Metroid game buried underneath all those cutscenes and underdeveloped ideas. At least, Samus controls nice and moves fast. But I've seen reviewers call this the "most rewarding Metroid ever" because ... you can parry melee attacks and the game is harder than average Metroid? Yeah, I'm not impressed.
The parry thing just devolves into QTEs during boss fights, and I mean literally. The game goes into confusing cutscenes in the middle of a fight, and you have to guess what you are supposed to do:
1) Sit back and watch Samus do all the cool shit.
2) Spam the shoot button while Samus is doing all the cool shit.
3) React to QTEs and then wonder if you hit them right because sometimes there isn't even a sound or visual cue to confirm.
The most rewarding experience!

Exploration is also sub-par thanks to a confusing, almost fractal-like map layout and the frequent and long elevator/tram/teleporter rides. At first I thought maybe they just feel so long because I was already annoyed by other parts of the game. So I measured them. Numbers don't lie.
How much time does Metroid waste on elevator rides, from the moment you step onto the platform until you regain control on the other side?
Zero Mission: 5 seconds (excluding two or three one-time cutscenes)
Super Metroid: 12 seconds
Metroid Prime: 20 seconds
Metroid Prime 2: 17 seconds
Metroid Dread: 35 seconds

How far we've come. Only 10 of those 35 seconds are actual loading time. The other 25 are wasted on unskippable animations. Every. Single. Time. And you will be hopping back and forth between areas a lot.

Then there are the EMMIs. It seems like the developers had this cool idea that the player would be constantly being hunted, had to be on alert all the time, use the cloak to hide, etc. Basically what Fusion did with SA-X in some scripted scenes but for real now. But then it turned out to be too difficult to get it right, or some higher up told them it's not what fans would want from Metroid, so they confined the EMMIs to small sections that you get linearly funneled in and out of. Or maybe this is exactly what they wanted, I don't know. In any case, it's neither fish nor flesh.


Zero Mission was pretty short and simple in comparison but also more enjoyable, at least up until Mother Brain. I played this on hard since the rom still had my old save from 2004(!). And fuck, Tourian on hard is srs bsns! There are a lot more Metroids than usual while you have reduced max ammo and 50% HP. They can easily overwhelm you. Mother Brain herself is also protected by a million projectiles and lava pits...
The game goes downhill fast after Tourian with the added Pirate ship, forced stealth, and optional collectathon. You can break out of the ship and revisit the other areas to get all the remaining items. But it feels so pointless here. You are just a few rooms away from the final boss but then turn around to hunt more items you don't need, some of which are so well hidden behind ridiculous shinespark parkour, that I'd say it's not worth it. I like the idea of shinespark parkour (I liked them in AM2R and even in MD), but these were too extreme for my taste. Or maybe I didn't fully understand what I was supposed to do.


Super Metroid is easily the best game of the three, especially in terms of exploration. But it was also the hardest to get used to the controls for me. Samus is so floaty compared to the other games. And there is also a run button for some reason. Why would I ever not want to run? And I could swear there was a bit of input lag. I can't be certain, but it felt like input lag after playing for a few hours and consistently sliding off ledges instead of jumping because I'm pressing the jump button 1 or 2 frames "too late". Maybe the game just is like this, or it's probably an emulator issue.
The most satisfying thing though are the walljumps which are a completely optional ability. Even after I got the Space Jump upgrade, I kept climbing up walls with walljumps because it's faster. And they allow some easy sequence breaks, like I found a power bomb expansion before the actual power bomb upgrade. You know what happens then? You get the power bomb, of course ... unlike in MD!

Another memorable part is when you are stuck in Norfair for a long time and can't get out until you find the Ice Beam which may take a while if you don't know where to go. And when you finally crawl back to the surface, Samus's Theme starts playing for the first time. No cutscenes needed.

This is also the easiest game with an extra easy final boss in order to not ruin the Baby™ moment. A hard mode would have been appreciated. There are probably rom hacks for that. And a feature that tells you which area still has hidden items was also needed, like in the other games. I only say this because I was missing just one missile tank at the end. Where should I even start looking? I'm glad I used a guide to get this last tank because I would have never found it on my own. It's number 8 on this list, a random spot in some giant wall with no platforms near it, so you can't even reveal it with the X-Ray visor.


That's enough Metroid for me until MP4 comes out.

 

[Ezekiel]

Dynamite Headdy

Out of this world creativity, maybe even a little too much, as I feel overwhelmed by all the mechanics at times.

Some pretty cool tunes. Video should start at a boss.

 

[JDR13]

I'd guess it's because he's just not interested in them... like he said.

The only Metroid game on those systems worth playing is Samus Returns, and many would argue that AM2R is superior.

 

[BLOBERT]

Outcast might be one of those unicorn games with terrible intro, meh mid-game and amazing end-game but I'll have to see if my memories hold up.

Ehh, I like the pre-jedi levels because they are actually consistently hard and interesting rather than an absolute breeze 90% of the time interrupted by 10% instant deaths. I recall the end game being much more annoying about having vague signposting of where to go and "puzzles" that are inscrutable but my memory is probably just as bad as yours if not worse.

Biggest problem with thermal detonator spammers is the lack of a minimum arming range so you regularly loose a huge chunk of HP when they contact detonate on your face. Give them a minimum donatation distance (below which they'll turn into pickups) and make the cone for pushing the bombs away a bit bigger and they'd be way more enjoyable.

Or when you slice through someone about to throw with your lightsaber so they drop an armed grenade at your feet.

BRO LOLLLOL HAD A TOTAL BONER TO BE A JEDI TOO BUT THE FPS SHIT MOREBFUN

 

[MicoSelva]

Ghost of Tsushima. Reminds me of Assasin's Creed: Origins. Both games are beautiful, with awesome mood and locations, but shallow and somewhat boring in the long run and their DLC is much better than the base game.

 

[HansDampf]

That's a weird restriction, and without context I'd guess it's because you expect them to be tedious to emulate?

What JDR13 said.

Pinball: Not really a Metroid game.
Hunters: I have it on DS and it was so boring, I don't see any reason to play it again.
Federation Force: No.
Samus Returns: This is the only one I would try out of curiosity but don't expect anything great.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

Given your thoughts on Dread I doubt you will care for Samus Returns. The two games are mostly similar but Samus Returns is more linear and more repetitive due to the nature of Metroid 2. Additionally Mercury Steam's additions to the series (QTEs and energy abilities) are more annoying in Samus Returns than in Dredd due to the latter being built with them in mind. Just play AM2R to get your Metroid 2 fix if you do not like Dredd.

 

[HansDampf]

I think I'd rather give that Metroid Game That Shall Not Be Named another shot because afair that combat system went all the way into DMC territory. But I don't feel like dusting off my Wii for that, and it seems impossible to emulate.