What game are you wasting time on?

[Tavar]

I'm currently slogging through Persona 5 Strikers and it is quite bad. Feels like the cheap Chinese knockoff version of the proper game. Fortunately, I'm close to the end now, but I can't recommend it to anybody. Here are all the things I dislike about the game

• Combat / Core gameplay: They've removed the life simulation part of P5. Outside of the palaces (which are now called jails) there is very little to do. Each city consists of three to five screens in which you can explore and do some shopping. The jails are also much smaller and more linear than the palaces were in P5. You'll spend most of your time fighting shadows in a real time hack and slay fashion similar to Dynasty Warriors. The combat is confusing, boring and much more shallow than the turn based system of P5. That's by far the biggest problem of the game
• Balance: All enemies are incredibly spongy. It is downright laughable that a showtime attack which you must charge over time deals maybe 10% damage to (mini)bosses. And you can't even skip showtime animations in Strikers.
• Controls: The game is downright unplayable with mouse and keyboard. However, it is also frustrating with a controller. Especially when navigating the menus or when managing personas everything feels clunky and more difficult than it should be. This also affects combat. Handling sidequests is also annoying. First, you have to accept the sidequest, then you have to shift through two menus if you want to check again what you need to do and once you're done, you have to manually set the quest to completed. The last part is downright absurd for the velvet room sidequests. In these, you're asked to fuse a certain persona with certain skills. You do this in the velvet room and the quest giver immediately comments on your success. However, you still have to set the quest manually to completed afterwards or you won't get the reward. Absolutely pointless.
• Quests: All sidequests ask you to either fetch something, to kill a certain number of monsters in a certain fashion or to get somewhere unseen (which is incredibly retarded in this kind of game). Fortunately, you can ignore most of them.
• Plot: They recycle the main themes of P5 and execute them poorly. The first new party member is also incredibly annoying and shallow. I only picked up the game because it was supposed to continue the story, but it has done nothing of the sort. None of your choices in the main game matter, you cannot even select an existing romance before you start Strikers.

All in all, a huge waste of everybody's time. And it is important to note that you absolutely need to have played P5 to understand what's going on in Strikers. Which makes it even more retarded that Strikers was available on the PC before the main game.

 

[axx]

Playing DN3D again. Finished 4 base episodes, now I'm playing through Duke it out in DC for the first time. Lunar apocalypse (2nd episode) is my fav one. Not a popular opinion but I just love the atmosphere there (no pun intended). Interestingly it was the first episode originally and it looks like Broussard is also not fond of it. He recently tweeted this:

For the 1st half of dev it was all space stations and crap. The real world LA stuff came later and we made up basic plot to relegate the moon base stuff to the 2nd volume and keep the more unique stuff in 1 and 3!

Also playing Hob, Runic's post-Torchlight II game. It's solid, not brilliant in any way but a well designed game which is to be expected from that developer. There is (mostly) no text in the game as you eventually learn what all the trinkets you pick up and special abilities mean by yourself. I do miss inserting notes in the map though. Enemies don't respawn and you generally resurrect near them when you die. Platforming can be a bit tedious, I'm playing with a controller but I've gotten better at it. The real magic of the game lies in the ever changing world around you which sort of has some of that Torchlight aesthetic to it. Not disappointed so far.

 

[jackofshadows]

i'm playing f2 with min-maxed character:

Dude that's not min-maxed you're squishy as fuck, again. This time it'll be much harder if you decide to slaughter your way through the end game.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

i'm playing f2 with min-maxed character:

Dude that's not min-maxed you're squishy as fuck, again. This time it'll be much harder if you decide to slaughter your way through the end game.

Came to say this. Drop AG by 1 and raise EN by 1, as AG can be raised by 1 later.

Still gonna struggle through the early towns, but you're a little less squishy.

 

[NecroLord]

i'm playing f2 with min-maxed character:

Dude that's not min-maxed you're squishy as fuck, again. This time it'll be much harder if you decide to slaughter your way through the end game.

Came to say this. Drop AG by 1 and raise EN by 1, as AG can be raised by 1 later.

Still gonna struggle through the early towns, but you're a little less squishy.

Indeed.
Agility can be permanently raised by using an item you find while exploring the EPA.
sigard I am sure you can find it on your own.

 

[jackofshadows]

Agility can be permanently raised by using an item you find while exploring the EPA.

Given he's playing res.proj.

As for min-max, if you're minmaxing char for combat then END should be 10, no fucking half-measures unless you play (solo) with sneak ofc.

 

[NecroLord]

1Agility can be permanently raised by using an item you find while exploring the EPA.

Given he's playing res.proj.

As for min-max, if you're minmaxing char for combat then END should be 10, no fucking half-measures unless you play (solo) with sneak ofc.

Honestly, END should never be that high.
END 4 is a better choice.
Gives access to the Lifegiver perk(+4 HP per level). That's the equivalent of having 8 END.
Depends on whether you want to spend a perk on it though. I find it useful, as many enemies hit for very high damage(Deathclaws, Enclave troopers). Damage Resistance will help, but can also be busted through by criticals.

 

[Cyberarmy]

SpellForce: Conquest of Eo
Not like previous SpellForce games, this one is some mash up of Master of Magic, Age of Wonders and King's Bounty. A nice enough turn based strategy if you are looking for one.

 

[jackofshadows]

1Agility can be permanently raised by using an item you find while exploring the EPA.

Given he's playing res.proj.

As for min-max, if you're minmaxing char for combat then END should be 10, no fucking half-measures unless you play (solo) with sneak ofc.

Honestly, END should never be that high.
END 4 is a better choice.
Gives access to the Lifegiver perk(+4 HP per level). That's the equivalent of having 8 END.
Depends on whether you want to spend a perk on it though. I find it useful, as many enemies hit for very high damage(Deathclaws, Enclave troopers). Damage Resistance will help, but can also be busted through by criticals.

No it's not. END 4 = you will die from crit sooner or later. If you're ok with replaying some fights here and there then fine but we're talking minmaxed character here, right? DR becomes irrelevant, that's the point, yeah. Also, no one forbids to take 10 END AND lifegiver, or take some other useful perk instead. Thing is, you don't need CHAR and INT higher than 7 iirc, STR higher than 5. Then again, you can raise sneak in order to use it in combat but that's borderline cheating.

Playing ZERO Sievent for 27 hours now, still keeps well. Basically it's Tarkov 2D except in single player and with alot of Stalker flavour. Will write more when be done with it (unfortunately it might be St*unsh*rd case even though it has much more content as is).

 

[Modron]

i'm playing f2 with min-maxed character:

Dude that's not min-maxed you're squishy as fuck, again. This time it'll be much harder if you decide to slaughter your way through the end game.

Real autistic minmax is stuff like:
S: 4,
P: 8,
E: 9,
C: 8
I: 8,
A: 9,
L: 1,

Can raise Strength to 6(so 10 with advanced power armor), P.E.C.I.A. to 10, and Luck to 8. Just subtract 1 from max stat if you don't want to use perks.

 

[jackofshadows]

zero sievert

best game ive played since underrail, I dont know why the codex isnt talking about this little game it is pure INCLINE

its hard; holy fucking shit its hard. i have a 50% survival rate on hunts and bosses WILL one shot you

and fuck boars man, fuck them right up the arse holy fuck if two of them surround you you are FUCKED

anyway, i digress

oh, and its something to play to scratch that tarkov and STALKER itch.

its early access and expensive for what it is but 50+ hours over 2 weeks playtime for me is unheard of since, well, as mentioned before; underrail.

made by Cabo Studio, an italian dude (yes, one dude). He regularly updates the thing and is obviously passionate

totally flown under the radar and thats a shame.

places like the codex should be buying and shilling this shit

highly recommended

Well, now that I've exausted the game's content for 30h I can say that I wouldn't be so eagerly recommend it just yet and not only because it's not finished currently and might be never finished.

The problem imo is that since this is a single player game, the balance of common overabundance of resources vs high enviromental danger just doesn't work. Admittedly, the game seemed hardcore to me at first too but after several hours and by storing some amount of patience I was able to start to loot with ease and later on by getting some decent sniper rifle (repaired EDL I beleive, then "FRD") even to farm bosses quite early. I dunno, it just became too easy too quickly. Moreover, turns out that all that crafting we were encouraged to do the first half of the game becomes redundant since you cannot even craft mods, or rare/unobtainable by other way rounds. You just farm the mall and get almost everything you need (shit, I didn't even need anything really by that point, started to entertain myself by buying and using various weps for the sake of it).

I'm curious what will the dev(s) do with the unavailable for now hardcore check because if you'd lose all the gear every time (as in Tarkov) plus by cutting loot and with some other adjustments then it could be still interesting and exciting for longer period of time I think. Then again, it's single player so if they plan to do just one final location (the nuclear plant) and tune the balance by some other means maybe it'll be fine.

I enjoyed the most the beginning and a few dungeons, (the game definitely could use more nastier and longer dungeons). The mall would be good if "hunters" were threatening enough (for now they're total fodder).

 

[ItsChon]

The game does look quite good though in the screenshots and video they posted. It's a shame its early access as I don't play EA games, but hopefully it gets finished and polished one day so I can really play it.

 

[Semiurge]

Sheeeeeiiit, Doom II: The Plutonia Experiment has turned into "Chaingunner Snipers - The Game". Since the game has fewer powerups than the vanilla missions, I wondered why there was both a supercharge and a blue armor after a long break in the level "Genesis". Now after starting the next one, "The Twilight", I know why.

 

[fork]

Yes, git gud.

 

[Kabas]

Have been playing Tales of Maj'eyal again. I have more "hours played" of this game than skyrim, that should tell codex something.
Absolutely in love with the way ToME designs it's classes.

Played one short game of Conquest of Elysium 5 as an evil demon monkey faction. These rituals that allow me to turn tiles invisible are probably more useful in the multiplayer.

Currently i really want to play something similar, something that features a lot of different classes with vastly different gameplay styles.

 

[fork]

Playing through Quake Brutalist Jam 2022 maps, reinforcing my conviction that Quake is THE BEST FPS ever made.

Nah, singleplayer it's Doom/2, but Quake is close.
Multiplayer it's Quake 3, by a lightyear.

 

[Naraya]

Playing through Quake Brutalist Jam 2022 maps, reinforcing my conviction that Quake is THE BEST FPS ever made.

Nah, singleplayer it's Doom/2, but Quake is close.
Multiplayer it's Quake 3, by a lightyear.

Eh. While Doom was the first game ever I played multiplayer (via RS232 cable), I cannot agree it's better than Quake.
Quake's full 3D-ness, mouselook and jumping is where it's at for me. Not to mention the bestiary.

As for multi, I never played anything past Quake 2 (which I played just for a short while since I didn't like the new art direction and its sterility, if that's even a word) so I wouldn't know.

 

[Kabas]

In search of the game to waste my time on. Heard they released FHeroes2, a new engine for Heroes of Might anf Magic 2.
Just entered the second mission of Archibald's campaign.

It's pretty good. Features some nice quality of life improvements like auto resolve and unit order.
In the same vein decided to waste some of my time on HoMM3 too. Never considered myself good at this game despite being a slav and i have forgotten a lot, but the first Restoration of Erathia mission i gave a spin was dissapointingly easy with the sheer amount of resources the game has thrown at me.
Surprisingly i like them both visually. Not really in the mood for TBS currently though.

Also playing through Alkaline maps for Quake with that Brutalist Jam being on my to play list. They're cool.
And still going very slowly through Hexen. I would describe the level design as annoying rather than confusing.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I'm taking a break from Elden Ring, so I booted up my old Dragonspear save. Finished that one for good. I hadn't played BG2 in ages, like almost a decade, and in fact I had never played BG2 EE until now. I don't know how things worked in the original but I was able to keep the +2 mace you get at Durlag's. That certainly makes Irenicus' dungeon way easier, since you also keep your xp and in fact I have to level up so I recover the spell slots I had before (for my cleric).

One thing I never bothered with until now, is that Irenicus' dungeon is pretty fucking grim for a crpg. Most of BG1, including Dragonspear, feels like a by the numbers fantasy ordeal. Irenicus' dungeon is like full on body horror and unspeakable torture kinda deal.

I do remember his fight being piss easy, and the dragons stopped being a nuisance pretty much when you get Breach in your spellbook. Let's see if something changes now.

 

[sser]

Tackling an old nemesis of mine, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.

I played it as a kid and got stuck on a zombie dragon boss.

I am now playing 20+ years later and I am stuck on the exact same boss. Time is a flat circle, etc. I can see the depths of my soul when I turn off the Switch and see my defeated reflection staring back at me, etc.

 

[Jvegi]

Geneforge: Mutagen

I'm finally deep into one of those games. Kinda, lvl7, playing on veteran difficulty, shaper. Lots to dislike, combat is meh, exploration is rewarding, but in a gamey way. Going through mazes, picking up loot. The mechanics are servicable, but balancing on the edge of being boring and formulaic. It's ok, but there is a persisent dread that I'm wasting my time.

The story is actually getting more and more interesting, with various factions not being as obvious as they seem at first. I find myself actually roleplaying, trying to figure out how my character should feel in the face of this whole ordeal.

It reminds me a lot of AoD. That game was better imho, mostly because of deeper character interaction mechanics and less busy-work. I'm having fun figuring the game out, hopefully by the end it will have provided more good than bad.

 

[Abu Antar]

I'm playing Control. It's okay, but nothing amazing. It's a decent third person shooter, with supernatural powers. What keeps me going is the Finnish janitor.

I'm also playing the remake of Seiken Densetsu 3, Trials of Mana. It's basically the old game reworked to 3D, for better or worse.
I'm using Hawkeye as my main, and brought Kevin and Riez with me. Got the first class up. Hawkeye as Ninja, Kevin as monk, and Riez as Valkyrie. It's a nostalgia trip with a new coat of paint.

 

[whydoibother]

Geneforge

I have Geneforge 1-5 on Steam from somewhere, probably got the whole pack for a buck during some sale. Only played 20-30 minutes in each, and I don't remember much.
Sell them to me, what's to love, which one to play.

 

[ItsChon]

I'm playing Control. It's okay, but nothing amazing. It's a decent third person shooter, with supernatural powers. What keeps me going is the Finnish janitor.

Unironically would have kept playing the game if the protagonist wasn't so boring and ugly and female. Every cutscene or narrative moment resulted in me wanting groaning and imaging the game with a male protagonist that was actually cool and well written. Also, though the game looked good, the atmosphere and tone was a little to depressing/suffocating for me. I don't know why but I would've liked some warmth introduced, either through the color palette or maybe having some more noncombat sections/options. Shame because the mechanics of the game were fun enough and the premise kind of interesting.

 

[Abu Antar]

I'm playing Control. It's okay, but nothing amazing. It's a decent third person shooter, with supernatural powers. What keeps me going is the Finnish janitor.

Unironically would have kept playing the game if the protagonist wasn't so boring and ugly and female. Every cutscene or narrative moment resulted in me wanting groaning and imaging the game with a male protagonist that was actually cool and well written. Also, though the game looked good, the atmosphere and tone was a little to depressing/suffocating for me. I don't know why but I would've liked some warmth introduced, either through the color palette or maybe having some more noncombat sections/options. Shame because the mechanics of the game were fun enough and the premise kind of interesting.

Yeah, she is quite boring, isn't she? I'm not far in, but at least the stronk independent woman trope hasn't kicked in... yet.