What game are you wasting time on?

[antimeridian]

I gave Terminator: Resistance a go, mostly because I was bored.

Weird, I just decided to give this a go earlier. Agree with most of your points. It feels like a budget 360-era shooter, plus a smattering of all the worst elements on eighth-gen games on top (you spend the majority of playtime in tedious looting, stealth, and conversations instead of actual, you know, FPS gameplay - but the shooting sucks too). I dropped it after a few hours. I guess if you're a die-hard Terminator fan it's worth checking out, since it seems highly faithful to the feel of the source material. Certainly can't recommend based on its gameplay, though.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Been playing "Madness: Project Nexus", which is a tie-in beat 'em up for the Newgrounds flash animation series Madness Combat. It's too easy even on harder difficulties (at least from the first 6 or so levels that I've played), and the combat is shallow, but I still like the game for a few reasons. The primary reason is all the fanservice put in for those familiar with the Madness series; the flash animations themselves are very sparse in terms of dialogue and characterization, so it's cool to see the characters banter and stuff instead of being mostly mute. The visuals and the way the characters move is also pretty accurate to the original series, despite being a 3D game rather than a 2D flash animation.

Of course that's not gonna matter to you if you don't care about the original series, but the game's still kind of interesting besides that because of how it feels like a game from 15 years ago (in a good way). The linear levels, simple gameplay, character customization, co-op, and slightly edgy mid 2000s Newgrounds tone all make this feel like a game I'd play with my brother on the Xbox 360, like Charlie Murder or The Dishwasher. For a 2021 game, it's dated in all the right ways, like a very high-quality Xbox Live Arcade title. It's also really polished: the menu navigation, in-game movement, sound effects, and QoL features are all done very well and that, combined with the faithful recreation of the original series's aesthetics, show that it's a game with a lot of effort and care put into it.

 

[NecroLord]

I am playing Doom (with the Chocolate port). I will play all three games (Hell on Earth and Doom 3).
All hail Doom! This game is just relaxing, cathartic, spiritual. Applying a full shotgun spread to a demon's face leads to an enlightened perspective.
My favorite game.

 

[Hag]

I had beaten Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy a fiftyish times and got the golden pot.

Now I've changed computer and lost the golden pot.

Guess there is no other way but up, once again, fifty times.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Last few days I've been grinding away at the Knight's Honor achievement in Dark Souls on PS4. I picked up the trilogy pack mainly for the other 2 games, but this achievement is a nice goal to set to fuck around with the game for a while, since I've already completed the game in multiple ways on the PC version. Because you have to go into NG++ for all the souls, it also means you wind up having a wide range of weapons and abilities.

I'm currently nearing the end of NG+. All that remains here is to get Seath's tail (Moonlight Greatsword), then complete the game, grab a third Sif's soul and get to the giant blacksmith to forge the Greatshield of Artorias.

I briefly considered going for the all rings achievement, but that's just too ridiculous, and so many of them are not really fun items anyway. It's much more fun to build an epic arsenal of weapons.

Yoooooooooo

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

KOTOR 2: Sith Lords. Got a hankerin' for some Star Wars. Decided to go dark side and reclaim the galaxy from the fake Sith running around.

After playing it a second time through, the missing content and half-baked levels really shows through. There's dialogue that goes nowhere, some planned side missions that get started but don't go anywhere (Mandalore reuniting the clans, etc), and of course doors and map sections that exist but can't be visited or interacted with. Still a great game, just wish they had finished the damn thing.

 

[Abu Antar]

I think that I am close to the end in Caves of Lore. I only have one quest left in my journal. It's been fun. Combat hasn't been too complicated, byt exploration has been fun. Figuring out things on your own, or reading notes from the game. I got stuck on one quest, but it turns out that you could take a path that I thought was impossible to take.

Divinity: Orginal Sin 2. I started the first game with a bro, but two others wanted to tag along, so now (7 years after I beat DOS2) we're doing DOS2 on tactician. This time, I managed to take the kitty with me out of Fort Joy. I still have the same complaints about numbers bloat and the armor system. They want to play vanilla. These are the bros who wants to play BG3 together, so we might as well get used to each other. This is the first TB game we play togwther. We usually play Deep Rock Galactic, Dota2 and other stuff.

 

[Taim]

...
This time, I managed to take the kitty with me out of Fort Joy. I still have the same complaints about numbers bloat and the armor system. They want to play vanilla.

Are you implying there is a mod that fixes that godawful shit? I never looked into it myself. I remember liking a fair amount of the game but the horrible gear progression system ruined it for me.

It wasn't as bad in Ft. Joy but it seems like it uses some kind of exponential gear curve where your unique level 12 weapon would immediately be outclassed by some garbage level 13 item. It also resulted in fighting enemies one level above hard as hell and one level below a cakewalk. That narrow of a window for an enjoyable fight in this kind of game designed to be at least semi open ended in act 2 was a travesty.

AFAIK the "enhanced edition" didn't address this at all. Are there mods that do? I might consider doing a playthrough at some point if some 3rd party unfucked this system enough.

 

[Ash]

Tenchu 1. It is practically a fossil thanks to Tenchu 2 existing, minus the music.
A stealth ninja game with somewhat big levels and plenty of tools to use, what could go wrong?

-Level design is dogshit. The levels are pretty big for a psx game. Unfortunately, most of the content on said levels is meaningless to the general objective.
Even the smaller levels fail at this.
Just the first level is a great example of this. You open up by spawning near a big compound. You can:
- go to the roof and just jump to the next roof and got to your objective
-Try to clear the compound for no reason and get jack shit
-Go all the way around and clean the street to get jack shit again
Most of the speedrunign in this game is activating a run very fast scroll and just go straight to the end of the level. It takes around a 2-3 minutes.
Why would you even explore the level?
The Tenchu community loving these levels is a enigma to me?
Tenchu 2 levels are somewhat boring from a design perspective but you are going to experience most of the level because of how objectives are placed.
-Piss easy to earn grandmaster rating because you don't even have to engage most enemies.
-Final boss is a lightning spamming piece of shit

Just play 2 or any of the later ones.

EDIT: Worth listening to the ost for this gem alone:

You watch your whore mouth. Game is a classic with soul. An ancient relic yes, but art nonetheless. The soundtrack alone makes it worth playing.

Why explore a level? Well, what the fuck are you doing, cheating like a bitch and using a guide? You HAVE to explore levels by virtue of not knowing exactly where the objective is, duh. And often levels have two such unknown objective locations.
Additionally, there are items hidden in every level, really not many (typically 1-2), but they exist.
One more reason, is if you are spotted once, you can still get grand master rating and the associated item unlock if you go do some more stealth kills. If I recall.

I will offset your gay negativity and Tenchu 2 bias by pointing out why I prefer this game over 2.

-The voice acting & story scenes. They're absurd, weird, hilarious, unique and above all interesting. Love it.
-Level design is good. Open ended. Tons of verticality. Every stage has a different theme. fuk u. Tenchu 2 has some great levels too, but also some bland ones. I like them all here, except maybe the finale.
-The music is god tier. Probably makes my top 10 game soundtracks of all time.
-You can grapple hook anything, unlike 2 which makes it for ledges only. This leaves room for failure, as well as experimentation and shortcuts.
-Game is harder.
-Game is more atmospheric.

In all honesty I probably like both games as much as each other. The sequel is definitely more refined as a game but it lost a little bit of charm and the lack of music was definitely noticed after the grand master composition of the first.

Third game is great too, but after that the devs disbanded, From Software took over the series, and it all went to shit. FromSoft only now have restored their honor after the souls games and Sekiro.

 

[Abu Antar]

...
This time, I managed to take the kitty with me out of Fort Joy. I still have the same complaints about numbers bloat and the armor system. They want to play vanilla.

Are you implying there is a mod that fixes that godawful shit? I never looked into it myself. I remember liking a fair amount of the game but the horrible gear progression system ruined it for me.

It wasn't as bad in Ft. Joy but it seems like it uses some kind of exponential gear curve where your unique level 12 weapon would immediately be outclassed by some garbage level 13 item. It also resulted in fighting enemies one level above hard as hell and one level below a cakewalk. That narrow of a window for an enjoyable fight in this kind of game designed to be at least semi open ended in act 2 was a travesty.

AFAIK the "enhanced edition" didn't address this at all. Are there mods that do? I might consider doing a playthrough at some point if some 3rd party unfucked this system enough.

https://www.nexusmods.com/divinityoriginalsin2definitiveedition/mods/7

 

[flyingjohn]

Game is a classic with soul

Yes it is, still a worse game then 2 when it comes to gameplay/level design.

The soundtrack alone makes it worth playing

I mentioned that.

Why explore a level? Well, what the fuck are you doing, cheating like a bitch and using a guide? You HAVE to explore levels by virtue of not knowing exactly where the objective is, duh. And often levels have two such unknown objective locations.

I am using the cheat called press select to see the map combined with my eyes.
The level design has subtle hints where to go.
If you are spawned near something hook able and there ain't no obstacle in front of you, then that is usually the way to go.
Even exceptions like the winter castle level offer a lot of breadcrumbs. If you actually follow the normal path into the castle you will reach a archery range. You will see a enemy that you will probably want to kill, now if you move forward after that you will find the bodyguard. The bodyguard will die from a arrow. You just passed a archery range?

Also, maps will tell you where you need to go most of the time. Checkpoint, captured ninja, infiltrate the cult, pirate, etc...
You can easily tell on the map which structures are the ones that you are going for.
And if not, just going vertical until you see the largest building/unique building-object is the correct way.

You see, this is the reason Tenchu 2 butchered the verticality. Because it pretty much invalidated the ground area in most levels. Once you know your objective you can clear a level in less then 5 minutes.
Even the Japanese fans hated this because the expansion disc filled with fan made levels focuses on the ground.

Additionally, there are items hidden in every level, really not many (typically 2-3), but they exist.

Yes, but you also get a increase in items with the grandmaster/master ninja rating anyway. Plus, most of the items will be heal/bomb/some damage items. It is a nice bonus, but not really worth transforming a sub 5 minute level into a 10+ minute one to scour everything.

One more, is if you are spotted once, you can still get grand master rating and the associated item unlock if you go do some more stealth kills. If I recall.

Yup, 5 stealth kills practically remove the penalty of getting spotted. Technically you can get spotted multiple times as long as your score stays at 400. And you get 300 just from finishing a level.

I may have seemed harsh when talking about the game, but if Tenchu 2 never existed I would gladly recommend this game.

And since you obviously like the game as well, may I recommend Tenchu : Shinobi Hyakusen. You get a 100 fan made levels to play with.
It is obviously all in Japanese, but it is not a big problem for a gameplay focused game like Tenchu 1.

 

[Tavar]

Finished Legend of Grimrock and Hacknet recently. Both games started as fun, but turned into work later. I'd recommend Grimrock, but I'm not sure about Hacknet as it is quite buggy and the controls are annoying as well. I'll take a look at the System Shock remake next.

 

[flyingjohn]

Level design is good. Open ended. Tons of verticality.

You can grapple hook anything, unlike 2 which makes it for ledges only. This leaves room for failure, as well as experimentation and shortcuts.

THAT IS THE FUCKING PROBLEM!!!!!
The verticality butchers anything else because it is easy mode and much more efficient. What exactly are your threats while you are vertical?
Maybe a enemy or two that appears in less then half of the levels.

-Game is harder.

Neither games are hard. But Tenchu 2 isn't broken by the poisoned rice ball alone. At least in Tenchu 2 you have to work for grandmaster.(even if it is annoying)
The only real hard part of Tenchu 1 is the final boss and thunder spamming.

 

[orcinator]

Dead Island 2 got cracked and I played it for a couple hours.
It sucks, melee feels like shit with power attacks being all sticky, jump kicks being annoying to use and the enemies being the usual slow zombies and slow damage sponge zombies. You unlock more moves later but there's no chance any of them make it actually fun to play.
The troon should have cracked something else but I guess the release order depends on what the paypigs want and not quality.

 

[jackofshadows]

Was messing around with BG3 EA in order to determine which class to play at the release. Pretty sure it'll be Sorcerer now. Will play something less OP rather on subsequent possible playthroughs. Initially I was thinking rogue as usual but they fucking suck in this game. Then it was paladin but I learned they've made the drow commander chick recruitable so I guess I'll take her instead.

The game is really solid even in its curren state, reactivity is off the charts, I realize it for the umpteenth time now. The combat is decent overall but too easy, will see what they'll do with the "tactician" difficulty. Hope they'll improve the UI and the controls (this isn't likely heh) on the release also. And glad Wyll was rewritten, he sucks ass in this version while I wouldn't mind a warlock in my party at all.

 

[NecroLord]

Still playing Doom and have reached the dreaded episode 4 - Thy Flesh Consumed. Ok, this is just John Romero being an asshole. Even though I played Doom for so long, this episode can still be pretty difficult, especially if I am caught off guard. The first mission is really nasty, as there are no medkits and ammo is scarce.
After this one, I am off to Doom 2, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Super Shotgun!

 

[Hag]

Finished The Messenger. Overall great platformer, awesome music, great level design that reminded me of 90s games. I was actually hoping to find a game with similar mechanisms to the first Rayman so I'm happy. The game is carefully designed, the size of the stages allows to clear each in one sitting, which is a nice touch. Controls are a tad finicky and sometimes add to the difficulty but nothing that will hinder any decent player (not that I'm that good at platformers to start with). The various moves are pleasant to use and combine and you can often cross levels different ways according to your experience and skill.

The game manages to stay fresh until the end, and if the great writing moves more frequently toward the ok by then it's not big deal. Boss fights are numerous and usually quite easy except for a couple ones, and if you're set on breaking all the seals then be ready for some controller-flying-through-the-window moments. Also it's not a metroidvania so don't listen to idiots who say it's a badly designed one. It's a solid platformer with well crafted mechanics than manages to deliver more than that.



I'll play the extension and its silly plot later on.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Wrapped up Terminator: Resistance.

Two points:

# Annihilation Line is such a fan-pandering piece of garbage. There's a cutscene at the end where the player watches his team try to take out a HK Tank... but it won't take long for players to realize that they're watching that scene from The Terminator-film. All that effort, just to squeeze that scene into the game. :facepalm:

# Infiltrator Mode is actually quite fun. In this one you play as a Terminator, moving across a big-ass map trying to track down the local Resistance leader. The change is that now you're the unstoppable killing machine, and all the enemies are soft and squishy. There's also a new gun introduced - the damn minigun! Mowing down tons of humans quickly became a favorite pastime of mine.

 

[flyingjohn]

Finished Spyro 1. I love this game. It is such a joy to explore the wonderful worlds.

The animations and small details are just amazing for its era. The only real flaw I have with the game is that they could have utilized more of the supercharge feature and that the final world is just boring.
I refuse to play the reignited trilogy since they changed guns to paint guns.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I've started playing Freedom Force. It's pretty funny, but I can't shake the feeling that the gameplay is just completely banal shit boring.

 

[Modron]

I've started playing Freedom Force. It's pretty funny, but I can't shake the feeling that the gameplay is just completely banal shit boring.

Yeah you played them for the cheese mostly.

 

[Harthwain]

I've started playing Freedom Force. It's pretty funny, but I can't shake the feeling that the gameplay is just completely banal shit boring.

I remember playing it and being amazed how interactable the environment was.

 

[Caim]

I've started playing Freedom Force. It's pretty funny, but I can't shake the feeling that the gameplay is just completely banal shit boring.

Yeah, the campaign is a mix of elemental rock-paper-scissors and just dogpiling and beating the shit out of dudes.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Best superhero game ever though

 

[Kabas]

My favourite superhero ended up being the Collider dude. An extra you can buy later.
No bullshit powers you need to micromanage. Just high speed, the highest strength stat and being immune to nearly everything. Simple AF.

can't shake the feeling that the gameplay is just completely banal shit boring

I can see where is this opinion coming from considering that i didn't finish the Freedom force vs the third reich myself.
Ironically one of my favourite sequel heroes to play as ended up being the green genie.