What game are you wasting time on?

[NecroLord]

The story is pretty interesting, though. Showcasing the US being mistreated by an foreign occupation just like they do tio those countries in the Middle East is on the nose, but effective. Not surprised some reviewers seem to have felt irrationally put off by the entire thing. The most common criticism I've seen against the story is how unrealistic it would be for Korea to invade the US. Almost like a mental defense mechanism. "This could never actually happen, right? Right?"

Let those dumbfucks tear each other apart from within.
They are closer to civil war with each passing day.

 

[Caim]

The story is pretty interesting, though. Showcasing the US being mistreated by an foreign occupation just like they do tio those countries in the Middle East is on the nose, but effective. Not surprised some reviewers seem to have felt irrationally put off by the entire thing. The most common criticism I've seen against the story is how unrealistic it would be for Korea to invade the US. Almost like a mental defense mechanism. "This could never actually happen, right? Right?"

Let those dumbfucks tear each other apart from within.
They are closer to civil war with each passing day.

They went with North Korea at the last minute because they weren't allowed to use the Chinese if they wanted to sell the game in China.

 

[Kabas]

Finished Chronicon as the berserker. This game turns boring very quickly the moment you turn into a demigod against which no boss can survive for more than ten seconds. Main campaign became an absolute cake walk at the certain point, playing at the highest difficulty doesn't help.

Endgame content is a different story tho. You unlock random dungeons called anomalies which reward you with more advanced enchantment ingredients and kinda broken runes that allow you to slap some nice extra abilities onto your equipment. You can even slap an ability from one legendary equipment on an empty rune and put it onto another legendary equipment for extra brokeness.
Tried the mythic 3 dungeon and i found myself using the health potions again, refreshing after completing the main acts. The first mission of the ancient beasts dlc proved to be too much for me for now, probably should respec my Skylord/Dragonkin berserker and farm some more runes.

Or i can also just start as another class to make the game feel fresh again. Currently experimenting with the mechanist, a dlc class that dual wield axe and gun. I find it funny that one of your skill trees is a holy element focused one called Mechpriest, holy hand grenade of antioch included.
My favourite build amongst which i tried was the Pyrotechnics tree with a focus on axe and jetpack skills and some drone support. Uber mobile character, makes me feel like an assault space marine.

 

[Gostak]

Unexplored.

It does stutter from time to time if not copied into RAM and started from there, but it did not eat my saves
nor crashed on me yet (native Linux version).

On the masochism level of roguelike (well roguelite) "haha" YASD it seems to fall somewhere between Streets of Rogue
(which felt harder to me because I was set on doing the big quest along with a first success) and Noita, which is well known to be nasty.

Honestly, the level generation appears to be really cool (I died like ~15 times already all in fresh feeling dungeons and nearly each death felt kinda deserved).
So far I'm really preferring and enjoying its Desolate mode, just like its own dev.
Unlocks (items available in shop at start mostly and some character starting variations) via achievements are neat, it even attempts to save a screenshot for each unlock situation.

 

[gabel]

Replaying Tormented Souls.
Unfortunately it's still just mediocre. The puzzles are above average, and the limited saving system, graphics and atmosphere are great.
The combat, story and linearity are even worse than in the inspirations though, and there's no inventory management whatsoever. Worth a play if you like classic Resident Evil, but don't expect too much!

Shikhondo - Soul Eater.
Pretty good shmup! Scoring is satisfying, enemy patterns, soundtrack and general flow of gameplay are way above average, and there are multiple game modes and difficulties. A shmup for noobs and pros alike. Absolutely recommended.

 

[deuxhero]

Mysteries of the Sith (via OpenJKDF2): It is, indeed, a standalone expansion pack to Dark Forces 2. Gameplay is same, with some new weapons and powers. Unfortunately most levels are as bad and obtuse as DF2's. The last level is a good example of how not to make an FPS level, with a bunch of narrow corridors filled with enemies that kill you in two hits, extremely dark areas without battery pickups (why the flashlight in this game has finite power I will never understand. It adds nothing but annoyance), it's full of "find the narrow passage", and the level's central gimmick is that you have to backtrack through the entire level twice (or make a precise set of jumps with max level force speed and max level force jump) and make sure you hit every switch along the way (with no indication you missed any) without telling you you need to backtrack. Rarely do games include sections so terrible and tedious that even knowing the solution I'd rather just open the console and skip it (Jedi Outcast's stealth section also comes to mind here). There are some good levels in this game (all three of the holocron arc for example), but lots of terrible ones too.
-: Not as swingy in quality as Sonic Adventure 1, but pretty damn swingy in quality.

Stick of Truth: Don't play this unless you're a big South Park fan. The gameplay is OK, but the systems are extremely easy to exploit (stack all your plus damage, and use your multihit attack) and unbalanced (your character kills things in one hit, but companions are almost always only useful for their free once per turn support ability while doing terrible damage. Except for Kyle, whose final special ability does high damage even if you fail the QTE). The real problem is the humor is very dependent upon referencing classic episodes and a lot of the attempts at original humor fall flat or are just vulgar for the sake of vulgar toilet humor.
: It does a few things well, but not enough to really save it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Unfortunately most levels are as bad and obtuse as DF2's.

careful friend, you are treading on very thin ice here

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm trying to remember... how many years did it take until people realized that you could bypass the entire 99xBarbarians-fight by having the party wear the smelly (filthy?) robes as a disguise?

 

[Modron]

Isn't it spelled out pretty obviously in game to do so? Of course no player should avoid such a fight.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I mean, it's a combat oriented game. They shouldn't even let you escape or avoid fights.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

bypass the entire 99xBarbarians-fight

Garrett please get back to your own game.

 

[baba is you]

I played through the highly acclaimed biohazard RE4. Probably 90% of it, since the original island/lab part is right before the ending.

However, there are a couple of jokes in this game. The first joke is that the interactive objects (barrels, for example) are colored, but only certain ones are, and the smaller ones don't have any, And why would I want to smash only the ones that the developers decided? It's like the console popamole that we've been seeing.

It's a design mistake and inconsistent from a world-building perspective - it's still very much popamole because of this joke.

The second is that knives/armor have durability, but guns don't. I don't know why. If developers wanted gaming permission, they should have applied it consistently. It's not consistent to apply only to knives and body armor. I'm getting a little tired of the "it's a game, it's not real!" argument.

Other than that, I'm happy with it overall. Some of the changes are cringe-worthy (the chase in the village), but some are good (the part where Ashley saves Leon).

The original Biohazard 4 rewrote the history of TPS, and it's revolutionary. And it broke away from the Alone in the Dark influence. For a console game, it deserves high ratings.

RE4 still insists on a popamole-like approach, even though it is a time when technological constraints have been lifted. So I don't think it's high.

 

[octavius]

I'm trying to remember... how many years did it take until people realized that you could bypass the entire 99xBarbarians-fight by having the party wear the smelly (filthy?) robes as a disguise?

It is logical that you can infiltrate the castle wearing those robes, but it's also a matter of inventory space.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I'm trying to remember... how many years did it take until people realized that you could bypass the entire 99xBarbarians-fight by having the party wear the smelly (filthy?) robes as a disguise?

That's the problem though, why would you avoid the fight? It's totally free xp and money with zero risk.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

why would you avoid the fight? It's totally free xp and money with zero risk.

I haven't played the game, but it seems like some people feel like those fights result in you being way overlevelled and the game becoming to easy

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I haven't played the game, but it seems like some people feel like those fights result in you being way overlevelled and the game becoming to easy

Bard's Tale doesn't have a difficulty curve, it has a difficulty switch. After the first maybe 2 dungeons, battles become either effortless or impossible. If the enemies can hit your AC, you die. If they can't, you win. The end. There's nothing in between.

Besides, who plays RPGs to keep their party weak? It's not my job to make the game hard. If the game can't handle the player gaining levels via fighting scripted battles (let alone grinding), that's a shit RPG.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

That's the thing with rpgs and difficulty - if they become easier as you go along, then it's not really a thing of challenge, but you making optimal build decisions and tactics. If the game is always hard then you're either not paying attention or the game is pulling cheap tricks on you. At higher levels it should be either you having impossible AC or being victim of ninja-style one hit kills.
Never run away from fights though. One party gets wiped, and that's the only acceptable outcome.

 

[octavius]

I haven't played the game, but it seems like some people feel like those fights result in you being way overlevelled and the game becoming to easy

Bard's Tale doesn't have a difficulty curve, it has a difficulty switch. After the first maybe 2 dungeons, battles become either effortless or impossible. If the enemies can hit your AC, you die. If they can't, you win. The end. There's nothing in between.

Uh, no.
The only things that can kill you in the mid game (before Kylie's Tower at least) are Dragons. No melee hitters (the few that can hit you) do enough damage to kill your characters before they are killed themselves.
The difficulty switch is more correct to talk about in Mangar's Tower.

Besides, who plays RPGs to keep their party weak? It's not my job to make the game hard. If the game can't handle the player gaining levels via fighting scripted battles (let alone grinding), that's a shit RPG.

If you can't handle the game without grinding, maybe you just need to git gud (or for the last levels of Mangar's Tower, get lucky). Grinding levels and then complaining that the game is no challenge is not very impressive.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I didn't grind though. My characters soared past the challenge curve the moment multiclassing became a thing. All the overpowered loot fell into my lap.

At level 13 you get a spell that fills all your character's health to max for a mere 12 sp. Which is nothing. HP doesn't even matter after you get that. How can any game with such spells be considered challenging? By the time I reached the tower I was running from most battles just to get the game over with. And Mangar was killed in a single hit with the ridiculous Spectre Snare (-9 AC and instant death on every hit!).

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Isn't it spelled out pretty obviously in game to do so? Of course no player should avoid such a fight.

So far, in order to play BT "properly" I have been told:

-Don't use "overpowered" spells (summons), weapons, items, or classes, because they're not fair to the poor enemies.
-Don't run from blatantly unfair battles (like 30 dragons that kill you before you get a turn) because that's cowardice. Be a real man and allow the game to kill you.
-Do run from the easy battles that have zero challenge and provide free XP, because that's "not being good at the game."



It's like saying players in Fallout shouldn't put points into gun skills because that allows you to hit things which is cheap and overpowered. Git gud and play with 23% melee and a knife, losers!

 

[Krivol]

I don't get all that BT drama = game is old and somewhat primitive, yet (in my opinion) fun to grind and play as you wish. I've never found it hard (at least the remake version, I've heard originals had a problem that your party was often killed after a few first steps) and it's fun to shower enemies with spells.

Easy game to play with a boring show on TV or while listening to some audiobook/podcast.

 

[octavius]

Isn't it spelled out pretty obviously in game to do so? Of course no player should avoid such a fight.

So far, in order to play BT "properly" I have been told:

-Don't use "overpowered" spells (summons), weapons, items, or classes, because they're not fair to the poor enemies.
-Don't run from blatantly unfair battles (like 30 dragons that kill you before you get a turn) because that's cowardice. Be a real man and allow the game to kill you.
-Do run from the easy battles that have zero challenge and provide free XP, because that's "not being good at the game."

My advice is to just run from the random battles, and only fight the fixed ones (and don't grind them).
You'll still be too OP for most of the game, but at least some enemies can hurt you. If you fight all battles you get too high level, and it's my experience that character levels influence not only resistance to spells and special attacks, but also chance to hit, and even the chance of enemies disbelieving your Wind Dragon.

I guess the Bard's Tale games are a good argument for level scaling (kind of makes me wonder if the same people who hate level scaling are also the same people to grind their parties to godlike levels).

 

[gamerguy]

Gonna challenge myself with some videogame story and reading (lol).

Triangle Strategy here I come!

 

[Kabas]

Still screwing around in Chronicon as the Mechanist. I don't actually find the endgame content to be all that appealing, it's centered around making your already broken character into a more broken one so that you can challenge more ridiculously overtuned enemies from random dungeons.
The part of the game that happens right after you achieved your basic synergy and before you found the gear that completes you is a lot more fun. Just found the second item from the master chemist set so i will obviously be trying a bio-warfare build.

I also really want to find the rest of this Mechalord set on the left, killbot is one of the more fun to use ultimates. Not sure but it appears that your summons share certain bonuses you have on your gear like +stun chance.
Found an incomplete master summoner set before that and decided to try focusing on all of my summon abilities instead of single skill tree. That wasn't very effecient.
Overall the game is still fun for me and there still more classes to experiment with, already wasted 30 hours of my life on this and don't regret it.

I also kinda want to give Titan Quest another try now that i am in the diablo mood again. I remember abandoning it after completing Greece because i ended up disliking my Warfare/Nature build.
I also need to remind myself that i am yet to complete the original Diablo.

 

[Gamezor]

Still screwing around in Chronicon as the Mechanist. I don't actually find the endgame content to be all that appealing, it's centered around making your already broken character into a more broken one so that you can challenge more ridiculously overtuned enemies from random dungeons.
The part of the game that happens right after you achieved your basic synergy and before you found the gear that completes you is a lot more fun. Just found the second item from the master chemist set so i will obviously be trying a bio-warfare build.

I also really want to find the rest of this Mechalord set on the left, killbot is one of the more fun to use ultimates. Not sure but it appears that your summons share certain bonuses you have on your gear like +stun chance.
Found an incomplete master summoner set before that and decided to try focusing on all of my summon abilities instead of single skill tree. That wasn't very effecient.
Overall the game is still fun for me and there still more classes to experiment with, already wasted 30 hours of my life on this and don't regret it.

I also kinda want to give Titan Quest another try now that i am in the diablo mood again. I remember abandoning it after completing Greece because i ended up disliking my Warfare/Nature build.
I also need to remind myself that i am yet to complete the original Diablo.

I have this one on my wish list. I actually had a lot of fun with D2R before I got sort of burned out again, but I may come back to ti. I was playing a bit more single player with mods which was fun. It's too bad that normal mode is too easy, so I was experimenting with using a trainer to create character for nightmare and just start there. I should probably try more of that but definitely softcore instead of hardcore; it's just a bit much to be in nightmare with crap gear hardcore. Probably will give characters at least ancients pledge shield if nothing else to help with resists. Or maybe sweet spot would be start on Normal Hell, where the game first starts to pick up. I also tried some path of diablo but a) I really like using the controller and b) it's REALLY hard to go back to the way original d2 looks and plays after d2r. D2r looks and plays really nice.

Edit: ancients pledge not dota