What game are you wasting time on?

[Dramart]

Was Fear 2 all that bad? I've always heard mixed things about it.

If you like FPS games then it's really good. if you care about other faggotry like the story I don't know, ask to fags.

 

[NecroLord]

 

[eXalted]

I've given Bloons TD 6 a try earlier today.

I have made a terrible mistake.

Have you watched Sseth's review?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Just finished The Case of the Golden Idol and it's the best game I've played in years. It's an investigation/deduction type game in the vein of Return to Obra Dinn, but in my opinion even better. There are 11 cases and they're all fucking great and interconnected, with an overarching story that's very cool. My playtime was around 8 hours and I didn't use any hints.

Took me completely by surprise. If you're even remotely interested in this type of game, you should get it asap. Best money I spent all year.

Just finished this myself. I somewhat disagree with your assessment.

It's good - just not Obra Dinn-good.

The artstyle is a bit off, but otherwise sets a good tone.

Audio is negligible - nothing of value is lost if it's played muted.

The story it weaves is a good one, but it just doesn't have the same strength to it - it's too loose.

On the gameplay front, Golden Idol fails on two points where Obra Dinn succeeded.

First there's consistency. Obra Dinn takes place in 11 points in time, but they're all in the same spot, the ship itself. And your task is always the same, identify everyone, discover their fates. Golden Idol has ~12 points in time, of which some only share the same space, at best. Worse than that, the tasklist changes after the first half of the game. It starts out with three tasks; spell out the plot, identify all the characters involved, and then a third variable task. But quickly the third task splits into two tasks, and then again, and then the other tasks change and the next you know you're trying to determine a society's hierarchy by their uniforms, calculating how many merit points people lost for not toeing the party line, and then finally you're skipping wildly across the countryside trying to piece together three plotlines at once!

Secondly there's the gameplay focus. Obra Dinn had gameplay, but it took a back seat to allow the player to observe, contemplate and deduce things. At no point did I feel that Obra Dinn obstructed me. Golden Idol, on the other hand, has pixel-hunting. Each scene is set up with a series of hot-spots, where more clues can be learned. The option is provided to make them visible or invisible. If you have them visible, then it won't take long for each chapter to degrade into a flurry of clicks to scoop up all the clues, before then sitting down and sifting through them. But if you have them invisible you're gonna waste time trying to find all the hot-spots. It's both artificial padding and a specific game design decision - and one I think didn't work out as well as Obra Dinn did. And Golden Idol's decision to go with sentence gaps that you just slide words into - it quickly loses its appeal. I got stuck for far too long on one chapter because I knew exactly what I was trying to convey, but the game wouldn't accept any iterations of it.

There's a free demo of it that has the first four chapters, and those four chapters are really sweet. But that sweet feeling only sticks around for the next two chapters IMO.

If Obra Dinn is a 9/10, then Golden Idol is a 7.5/10 - currently they're asking $15 for this, but I don't reckon it's worth that. Stick it on a wishlist instead and see if you can't get it for <$10.

 

[kangaxx]

I'm back on System Shock 2 for the umpteenth time, and what a great game it is. Even though it's 23 years old it puts into perspective how bad gaming has become.

 

[NecroLord]

I'm back on System Shock 2 for the umpteenth time, and what a great game it is. Even though it's 23 years old it puts into perspective how bad gaming has become.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Just finished The Case of the Golden Idol and it's the best game I've played in years. It's an investigation/deduction type game in the vein of Return to Obra Dinn, but in my opinion even better. There are 11 cases and they're all fucking great and interconnected, with an overarching story that's very cool. My playtime was around 8 hours and I didn't use any hints.

Took me completely by surprise. If you're even remotely interested in this type of game, you should get it asap. Best money I spent all year.

Just finished this myself. I somewhat disagree with your assessment.

It's good - just not Obra Dinn-good.

The artstyle is a bit off, but otherwise sets a good tone.

Audio is negligible - nothing of value is lost if it's played muted.

The story it weaves is a good one, but it just doesn't have the same strength to it - it's too loose.

On the gameplay front, Golden Idol fails on two points where Obra Dinn succeeded.

First there's consistency. Obra Dinn takes place in 11 points in time, but they're all in the same spot, the ship itself. And your task is always the same, identify everyone, discover their fates. Golden Idol has ~12 points in time, of which some only share the same space, at best. Worse than that, the tasklist changes after the first half of the game. It starts out with three tasks; spell out the plot, identify all the characters involved, and then a third variable task. But quickly the third task splits into two tasks, and then again, and then the other tasks change and the next you know you're trying to determine a society's hierarchy by their uniforms, calculating how many merit points people lost for not toeing the party line, and then finally you're skipping wildly across the countryside trying to piece together three plotlines at once!

Secondly there's the gameplay focus. Obra Dinn had gameplay, but it took a back seat to allow the player to observe, contemplate and deduce things. At no point did I feel that Obra Dinn obstructed me. Golden Idol, on the other hand, has pixel-hunting. Each scene is set up with a series of hot-spots, where more clues can be learned. The option is provided to make them visible or invisible. If you have them visible, then it won't take long for each chapter to degrade into a flurry of clicks to scoop up all the clues, before then sitting down and sifting through them. But if you have them invisible you're gonna waste time trying to find all the hot-spots. It's both artificial padding and a specific game design decision - and one I think didn't work out as well as Obra Dinn did. And Golden Idol's decision to go with sentence gaps that you just slide words into - it quickly loses its appeal. I got stuck for far too long on one chapter because I knew exactly what I was trying to convey, but the game wouldn't accept any iterations of it.

There's a free demo of it that has the first four chapters, and those four chapters are really sweet. But that sweet feeling only sticks around for the next two chapters IMO.

If Obra Dinn is a 9/10, then Golden Idol is a 7.5/10 - currently they're asking $15 for this, but I don't reckon it's worth that. Stick it on a wishlist instead and see if you can't get it for <$10.

I really liked the art and the music, sorry you didn't care much for them. And I thought the variety in deduction goals kept things fresh.

The only thing I'd change is the restriction of certain word categories to certain places in the sentence structure. The pixel-hunting thing didn't bother me at all, I played with hotspots enabled and didn't think it hurt the game in any way. I thought the piecing together of the plotline was one of the best aspects of the game, and it felt pretty fulfilling at the end, with a genuinely interesting twist.

 

[El Pollo Diablo]

I managed to 1cc Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder. I played a lot of original Golden Axe on DOS back in the day and could 1cc that version, but this sequel is the first arcade game I managed to 1cc and am quite proud about it, although it's probably not that difficult realistically.

 

[Arbiter]

Wizardry 7. Took a lot of time to roll a party consisting mostly of prestige classes.

First disappointment - there appears to be level scaling.

 

[octavius]

Wizardry 7. Took a lot of time to roll a party consisting mostly of prestige classes.

Prestige classes are nice when you import über weapons that only prestige classes can use. Otherwise I think it would be better to start as regular classes that get more skill points to advance the magic skills.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

there appears to be level scaling.

it's more widespread than you'd think even in older games, oblivion was just the first to make it painfully obvious to the point where it breaks immersion

 

[Bigg Boss]

If you are not playing LOTR Online with some of them Hando boys you are a piece of shit. PM me or Fluent for more info. Beep.

Modron please be my friend. Fuck I can't do anything right here. *throws Rusty*

 

[Arbiter]

there appears to be level scaling.

it's more widespread than you'd think even in older games, oblivion was just the first to make it painfully obvious to the point where it breaks immersion

There was also horrible scaling in Wizardry 8, years before Oblivion. I didn't think it was implemented in DOS era games, though.

 

[Semiurge]

Final DOOM - TNT Evilution.

Surprisingly good. Level designs are inventive and music is memorable. "Wormhole" is better than most Doom II levels combined, so far there hasn't been trash filler levels like "The Catacombs".

 

[Arbiter]

Final DOOM - TNT Evilution.

Surprisingly good. Level designs are inventive and music is memorable. "Wormhole" is better than most Doom II levels combined, so far there hasn't been trash filler levels like "The Catacombs".

Most Doom fans believe that Plutonia is better.

 

[fredsteel]

I keep fucking coming back to UnderRail. Got all the achievements and close to 300 hours of playtime but I still cannot for the love of Christ pick a build to finish a DOMINATING run. Started with a spear build that went okay-ish until Depot A where I realized I didn't allocate my crafting points wisely enough and couldn't craft the equipment I had needed; so I restarted in fustration but this time with a DEX TM machete.

I will be honest and say that DOMINATING is a meme difficulty, and I cannot believe Styg locked content behind it, hooray for another time this serbian FUCK gave in to his autistic temptations and plagued the game with his umpteenth gameplay balances, psi reworks, randomized dungeons and bloat content. And what makes me more mad is that I will not only have to wait years and years for Infusion, because once released I will have to wait 6 more years for this serbian dog to finish masterfully balance his game around his autism.

STYG YOU FUCKING NIGGER
YOU MADE ME RACIST

 

[octavius]

there appears to be level scaling.

it's more widespread than you'd think even in older games, oblivion was just the first to make it painfully obvious to the point where it breaks immersion

There was also horrible scaling in Wizardry 8, years before Oblivion. I didn't think it was implemented in DOS era games, though.

Oldest game I can remember at the moment with level scaling (combined with area scaling) is Might&Magic 1 from 1986.

 

[Arbiter]

there appears to be level scaling.

it's more widespread than you'd think even in older games, oblivion was just the first to make it painfully obvious to the point where it breaks immersion

There was also horrible scaling in Wizardry 8, years before Oblivion. I didn't think it was implemented in DOS era games, though.

Oldest game I can remember at the moment with level scaling (combined with area scaling) is Might&Magic 1 from 1986.

Apparently decline started 20 years before Oblivion.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Level scaling is the elephant in the RPG room.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

As horrible as obvious level scaling is, as illustrated by Oblivion so nicely, it does also suck to have a bunch of content be completely trivial because you should have done it 20 levels ago.

 

[Arbiter]

As horrible as obvious level scaling is, as illustrated by Oblivion so nicely, it does also suck to have a bunch of content be completely trivial because you should have done it 20 levels ago.

One way of addressing it is to flatten to advancement curve, i.e. a lvl 20 character should not have an order of magnitude more HPs than a lvl 1 character.

 

[NecroLord]

Still playing Doom 2.
It's almost relaxing.
Pure bliss.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

As horrible as obvious level scaling is, as illustrated by Oblivion so nicely, it does also suck to have a bunch of content be completely trivial because you should have done it 20 levels ago.

One way of addressing it is to flatten to advancement curve, i.e. a lvl 20 character should not have an order of magnitude more HPs than a lvl 1 character.

It's one of many tools available. If a level 1 character is a threat to a level 20 character, then advancing from level 1 to level 2 isn't going to feel like much growth. Sure, it fixes one problem, but adds a much bigger one.

Fighting shit that's super duper easy is boring. Leveling up and just getting 5% increased chance to hit is boring. Every place in the world having the same monsters, or at least, the same threat level is boring.

In a power fantasy RPG like TES, I don't think flattening the advancement curve really works without stripping out that feeling of your character becoming godly. But of course, if all the bandits and draugrs and what not also become godly at the same rate, that's essentially the same thing.

 

[YldrE]

Adventure/narrative round-up.



The Suicide of Rachel Foster (2020) on PC

I was expecting something akin to The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, i.e. a sort of exploration/investigation adventure; in the end it's more of a cross between Firewatch and Gone Home.

Firewatch in that you go through the motions of a narrative game happening mostly via phone conversations.

Gone Home in that you're stuck in a place where some undisclosed previous event occurred and you're exploring and gathering clues to unravel what happened.

In Gone Home, people try to defend the narrative by saying the game was supposed to be chill and mundane, which is of course bullshit. The setup is deliberately trying to make you believe there's a murder/disappearance mystery going on, or light horror elements, until it becomes apparent that nothing happened beyond two lovers eloping after a family dispute. Life goes on as normal and you just coincidentally happen to come in when no one's home. The fact that nothing of consequence happened is the twist, not the premise.

In The Suicide of Rachel Foster, unlike Gone Home you won't feel like you have been tricked into taking teenage emo stuff seriously: while the game does send you false signals and red herrings, the broad strokes of the original story are true and you will uncover actual tragedies.

"What if Gone Home wasn't shit"/10.

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



Cibele (2015) on PC

I'm glad I didn't pay for it, it's a perfect example of a "nothing" narrative indie game: all narrative, no choice, no freedom, no puzzle, over in 45 minutes.

If you've ever been a teenager flirting with someone in an online game, chatting casually while grinding and wondering whether you should meet IRL, this should bring back memories. Embarrassing memories, mind you, but you're always torn between cringing at that teenage shit vs fondly remembering the good old days where you had a full head of hair, functional knees, and youthful optimism.

If you want a deeper take (but still harmless and light-hearted) on that kind of no-stakes teenager experience, consider the Emily is Away trilogy. 1 and 2 are pure IRC dialogues, 3 features a Facebook knock-off.

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



Observation (2019) on PC

Now for the complete opposite of the above.

Some trailers spoil the chapter 1 twist. It's been a while since I went "shit, you got me there" at a sudden revelation so I made sure the one I linked above doesn't ruin the surprise.

Of course, since I went blind expecting a walking simulator in space, the first twist was that you're not a spationaut but the station's assistant AI. The gameplay itself is all clues-gathering with some puzzles, it's not always very clear what your next move should be, and sometimes it really feels like you should be able to communicate more with the crew regarding your findings. In general it really feels like there's more that could have been done, gameplay-wise or more importantly story-wise, regarding the fact that you play as a computer: just about everything in the lore and story would have allowed for a perfect build-up towards "shit, are you actually self-conscious?"

The NPCs look alright, but the rest of the visuals are incredible, including provoking that sense of dread at the immense nothingness during EVA sorties. The game is pretty routine otherwise and it's that powerful atmosphere that carries the experience.

 

[Nikanuur]

Guilty as charged.
Approx 800 hrs on Grim Dawn. Love-hate relationship. Love because creators pour a lot of dedication and love into the world's features continually. The lore matters, the atmosphere is thick as the fog of Baskerville, and the build freedom is strong with this one. Hate, because it's drifted away from Titan Quest in ways most people want and I find somewhat boring.
E.g. using a three-to-four button-mash play-style, while kiling mobs in large groups with the most damage possible.
TQ allowed for playing thoughtfully, picking enemies one by one or in small groups, using various techniques, slowing, hard-hitting, close-gappers, weapon switching, creating a ballet of death more akin to RPGs with action combat than to Diablo-like aRPGs.