What game are you wasting time on?

[NecroLord]

Still playing Temple of Elemental Evil and finished the Hextorite Invasion of Hommlet quest added by the Co8 new content mod.
LOTS of fights here, it seems the modders knew well enough that Toee is all about great tactical combat.
Watch out for Assassins and some Hextor Clerics and Hextor Elemental Mages (both the clerics and mages cast mostly fire based spells, but they can do some damage if you fail your Reflex save or don't have Protection from Fire).
There's only a few quests added by the Co8 mod left.
Toee could've benefitted greatly from some more content. Games like Arcanum have loads more content by comparison.
Even so, Toee remains one of the greatest combat based tactical cRPGs out there.

 

[Kabas]

Not really liking these two last levels of Heartland if i am being honest.

Edit: Just finished it

This WAD/partial conversion is a bit too overly long and slaughtery for my tastes. Liked Ancient Aliens a lot more.
Did enjoy a few moments like how the final level starts you only with a fire axe and berserk pack inside the arena.

That was pretty cool^. Also some good music here.

 

[jackofshadows]

Playing more of Sonora, reached the BoS and took their initial quest. Honestly, I don't like this game so far at all. It's just a massive rehash of F1/2/NV ideas/assets/everything. Just more of the same, but fucking literally the same. I will finish and see maybe there's something interesting to see yet though.

At the same time, combat wise there're some weird-ass as modders love to do, little changes here, here and here. Like making combat shotgun belong to heavy weapon skill. Or for some fucked up reason if you maim say radscorp and finish the combat, re-enter and finally kill him you'll get considerably less xp than if you'd kill it normally apparently because he was maimed, I need to test more but it looks this way. Then there're quite weird thc round or even weapon themselves modifiers so thc differs so much even within the same skill. Also, how do you like the perk which allows you to.... continue the game after the end? A real WTF moment; only the very hopeless, worst kind of modders could come up with shit like this.

Then there're I'd call them "gameplay improvements, look!" like tons of little potential digging holes for you to excavate and get a tiny amount of loot. Or some SCIENCE workbenches or whatever, just for those who picked that skill. Or their attempt to make traps skill more viable. Coupled with their decision to make steal/lockpicking as checks (which I very much approve of by itself) it all feels very gamey.

Also I don't like the pseudo-linear hand-hold location order they came up with. Why don't you go with the caravan master but first we stop here (so you could do quests there and move on) and so on and so on. Jesus. Olympus had way more appealing to me open design where you start literally at the center of the map and go wherever you please.

And then we have grey morality choices, faction related mostly. Not sure about them either, they don't seem to belong the F1-2 tone with its two-dimentional karma system.

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

I caught up with the story after completing chapter 177 in Granblue Fantasy.

 

[Borelli]

Space Funeral a free RPG Maker 1-hour game that goes for purposefully bad/weird graphics and weird dialogue and nonsensical story.
These types of games are hit or miss for me, because no one can know beforehand if they would enjoy watching another man's stream of consciousness
but for some reason i got into this, every single line of dialogue is absurd, and the music is so good. Like, you will spend at most 15 seconds driving a boat in this game, but the
soundtrack for it is 4 minutes long, only a crazy person could put something like this in a game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I really wonder what they were thinking when designing the assault rifle in Halo 1. There has never been a more useless gun in the entire history of shooters.

60 bullets in a clip, only 5 hit if you shoot anything farther than a meter away, and even at point blank the fucking thing still can't kill anything. WTF even.

 

[Average Manatee]

I'm guessing it was in part because of controllers sucking at aiming and not having absurdly strong lock on cheats at the time. 20% hit rate doesn't matter if your aim is that shit anyway. This also explains why the pistol is so OP, you weren't meant to be able to hit headshots more than 2% of the time.

 

[octavius]

Reached lvl 30 with most of my characters in Diablo 2.

Decided the Hammerdin was mind numbingly boring, and re-specced him to Holy Freeze+Zeal; much more fun.

The Fire Sorceress, Lightning Sorceress and Fire Druid are also starting to bore me. It feels like the Ice Sorceress is far more powerful per mana used, while the Lightning one takes too many castings to get the same damage. And with the Fire Sorceress I find myself just spamming Fireballs, since at least they are fast.
So I'm definitely not enjoying casters as much as the more physical classes. Another problem is that often when firing spells at point blank (Blessed Hammer and (Chain) Lightning) do no damage, which is annoying.

Haven't made any Runeword except a few Steel weapons in the beginning, since I want to actually use the Sets and Unique items I find. Interestingly the one Runeword you are told about in-game, the barbarian chief says the runes must be put in the right order, but he doesn't say what that order is. So no in-game way of learning the Runewords makes it feel so bloody tacked on and out sync with the rest of the game.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Runewords ruined D2 for me. Terrible concept.

I don't use them whenever I replay it.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I really wonder what they were thinking when designing the assault rifle in Halo 1. There has never been a more useless gun in the entire history of shooters.

60 bullets in a clip, only 5 hit if you shoot anything farther than a meter away, and even at point blank the fucking thing still can't kill anything. WTF even.

Pistol was the MVP in that game

 

[Darth Roxor]

I don't get the hardon people have for the Halo pistol. Sure, you can headshoot grunts with it, but who gives a shit? It's awful against elites' force fields, you won't reliably ventilate jackals since they pop moles behind shields, and I'm pretty sure the flood ignore headshots. Ammo is also sparse before the flood. So really, what's the big deal?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I don't get the hardon people have for the Halo pistol. Sure, you can headshoot grunts with it, but who gives a shit? It's awful against elites' force fields, you won't reliably ventilate jackals since they pop moles behind shields, and I'm pretty sure the flood ignore headshots. Ammo is also sparse before the flood. So really, what's the big deal?

Don't mind me dude, I am ballistically challenged and spent most of the game pistol/rifle/shotgun-whipping things.

 

[Average Manatee]

I don't get the hardon people have for the Halo pistol. Sure, you can headshoot grunts with it, but who gives a shit? It's awful against elites' force fields, you won't reliably ventilate jackals since they pop moles behind shields, and I'm pretty sure the flood ignore headshots. Ammo is also sparse before the flood. So really, what's the big deal?

One charged shot w/ plasma pistol then one headshot with regular pistol = dead elite even on the highest difficulty. Very important combo, elites have way too much health/shields otherwise but the two pistols combo kind of bypasses the problem. You can snipe the limbs of jackals behind shields and then headshot them. Don't recall its prowess vs. flood but IIRC flood were kind of mediocre anyway compared to the covenant on the highest difficulty.

Also its broken as fuck in multiplayer. The exact same plasma pistol/pistol combo works, or just like 3 or 4 headshots that can be landed from way too long a range for a weapon that you spawn with.

 

[Darth Roxor]

real men charge at elites spamming plasma until their shields break and then bash them square in the face with the mailed fist of the emprah

 

[Hag]

Space Funeral a free RPG Maker 1-hour game that goes for purposefully bad/weird graphics and weird dialogue and nonsensical story.
These types of games are hit or miss for me, because no one can know beforehand if they would enjoy watching another man's stream of consciousness
but for some reason i got into this, every single line of dialogue is absurd, and the music is so good. Like, you will spend at most 15 seconds driving a boat in this game, but the
soundtrack for it is 4 minutes long, only a crazy person could put something like this in a game.

Underrated gem of a game. I replayed it a couple of months ago and it was really fun.

If you're interested in strange atmospheric games, I wholeheartedly recommend Off. You can read my quick review here.

 

[deuxhero]

Finally finished Fallout 4.

The game manages to both feel lacking in content and a slog. Aside from OK FPS mechanics and waifu modding (the only reason I gave it as long as I did), I think it did absolutely everything wrong. The loot system just means items are pointless except for components (which you quickly get more than enough of). The leveling system is full of mandatory picks to do basic things, and ridiculous imbalance. The dialog system is retarded. The plot is dumb. You've heard it before.

One under criticized about F4's factions is how everyone in a faction who isn't an outright traitor speaks with the exact same voice. I don't mean personality, but they all have the same exact goals and desires out of the faction: Everyone is a true believer in the cause for its own sake. The most you ever get is a couple of BoS members being distraught a traitor is a traitor, but nothing comes of it, and a couple mentions that the Railroad debates how far their saving machines should go, which again nothing comes of and is retarded for its own reasons I'll mention later. Ingram, Maxim, and Kells might as well be the same character for how they act exactly the same in practice (one line in her intro about Ingram's lack of legs being a sore spot for her aside). Contrast this with things in NV like how Moore and Hsu are both completely loyal to NCR, but have very different mindsets, subgoals, and personal feelings that often conflict, or even something as simple as John Nash and Deputy Beagle's conflicting views for Primm (where Nash is a bit passive and goes with anything, while Beagle is never satisfied with any of the options but unwilling to present an option himself) and it's quite clear what the problem is.

In theory removing karma was fine since it was such a vestigial mechanic in NV anyways. The problem is that removing karma and not including its replacement of faction rep meant Bethesda no longer felt like it needed any branches in quests. So many quests were so overly straightforward I had to look at a wiki to make sure I didn't miss critical branch option only to learn that, no, that quest really is just that straight forward and pointless.

The whole synth scare is retardedly written in general, but one weakness that needs to be pointed out more is how Bethesda didn't know what a Synth is. It feels like something was changed last minute, or the various writers weren't talking to each other, because you're shown and told that synths aren't robots, yet absolutely everyone, especially the three factions that are defined by their ideology about them, just kinda ignores it. Synths have human brains, and organs, need to breath, and can explicitly beat a DNA and metal detector test (and presumably can beat a blood test or x-ray since clutter shows those have to exist and be known): Synths are cyborgs grown in vats 3D printers, not robots. This should be an ironclad line between Gen 2 and Gen 3 synths for the Railroad, the most blasphemous thing the Institute does in the eyes of the Brotherhood, and the biggest show of the Institute's hubris. Instead everyone just ignores this, and quite conspicuously.

Should I even bother with Nukaworld or Far Harbor?

 

[soutaiseiriron]

Should I even bother with Nukaworld or Far Harbor?

Didn't do Nukaworld but Far Harbor is unique. Stronger exploration and characters than anything in the base game imo. It's not super long I think, just talk to Dima and see for yourself if you want to continue.

 

[Zero CHAR]

Played through all Left 4 Dead campaigns with friends. It was fun but I don't see myself getting obsessed with it and going full hardcore with it. After finishing it I was in the mood for more zombie stuff so I played Project Zomboid for around 20 hours, then I figured that it's a gimped version of CDDA.

Right now I'm playing Unicorn Overlord, which is the latest Vanillaware game. The game takes Ogre Battle games combat and tries to improve it by making it more complex and adding the gambit system of Final Fantasy XII.

 

[Zlaja]

Playing Stalker: Clear Sky and I just finished the old factory part with all the zombies. Good atmosphere (was there at night) and trying to get out of there on my own after everyone else died was a real hoot. Especially, since I was trying to nab all the loot stashes in there while exiting. Missed one in some safe, because I just couldn't get to it. The Psy anomaly there was draining my health too fast despite having the SEVA suit on and spamming the health kit button like a chimp on meth. Seeing double while inside the building didn't exactly help, either.

 

[Kabas]

Can't stop playing Doom lately now that i got a bit of free time.
I might have complained about how Heartland is too exhausting and slaughtery but after completing it Doom the Way id Did combined with Delta Doom mod feels way too easy. Not the type who craves nonstop ballbusting challenge but if the game is a cakewalk and doesn't have eyecandy or something else to compensate for it i loose my interest too. Will put it on hold for now.

Japanese Community Project still continues to amaze me with it's creativity. I especially like maps made by Nanka Kurashiki.
Kinda tired of the vanilla Doom gameplay so Final Doomer+ mod was a great help in keeping things fresh even if it's a bit overpowered. Like, your Katana that replaces your fist can deflect revenant missiles and your chaingun replacer slows down enemies(your bullet capacity is halved to balance things out). Nothing really crazy that would turn the game super easy provided you don't abuse certain weapons which is fine by me. Shame that the fullscreen HUD mod is not compatible with it.
Also started using Nashgore mod with this megawad. Makes the piles of dead demons look better and i like the new gibbing sound.

Considering the length of JPCP i also played a few other shorter WADs and gameplay mods in order to avoid the burnout.
Already mentioned Lullaby, Waterlab and Slime on Earth in the screenshot thread but i also finally gave a spin to Project Brutality.

Playing using the Final Carnage level pack that claims to be inspired by Half-Life and stuff. It's nice when a gameplay mod has WAD designed specifically for it, most of them don't have those and i am always worried if the particular mod will ruin the experience or whatnot.
Can also see why this and Brutal Doom are so popular. Going full RIP and TEAR does feel oddly relaxing.
Never played Doom Eternal or Doom 2016 by the way.

 

[Gostak]

Still the awesome Unexplored (1).
I had another ascension with the amulet by now and unlocked the barbarian (still missing the cleric and musketeer for the non DLC runs, the latter I nearly got bit was too cocky there for no good reason and messed with the wrong boss shooting for a firearm killblow apparently ...).
A new Linux build has been uploaded which allows me to play desolate runs with a bug-fixed version if I'd like to, but shorter challenging daily "make-shift" ones are what I'm enjoying currently.

Had a half-assed attempt at a Mithril/"Moryondor" run as well in between. Quite thematic.

I'm kinda hyped for the Dark Ritual DLC runs which I never tried one of, though.

I'll leave you with these now:

• Again gushing on the dungeon generator, this time in detailed writing https://www.boristhebrave.com/2021/04/10/dungeon-generation-in-unexplored/
• A proper AAR because I cannot be arsed myself(, yet?): https://www.pressplaygaming.net/articles/2020/1/19/unexplored-a-dungeon-diving-journal
• A short non-descript blurb of "quality" journalism from shoddy rps on the Dark Ritual DLC, just because I can :p https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/unexplored-free-dark-ritual-expansion

 

[cpmartins]

Should I even bother with Nukaworld or Far Harbor?

Didn't do Nukaworld but Far Harbor is unique. Stronger exploration and characters than anything in the base game imo. It's not super long I think, just talk to Dima and see for yourself if you want to continue.

Same horridly shit writing and plot from the main game. Emil cannot fucking write.

 

[Borelli]

Space Funeral a free RPG Maker 1-hour game that goes for purposefully bad/weird graphics and weird dialogue and nonsensical story.
These types of games are hit or miss for me, because no one can know beforehand if they would enjoy watching another man's stream of consciousness
but for some reason i got into this, every single line of dialogue is absurd, and the music is so good. Like, you will spend at most 15 seconds driving a boat in this game, but the
soundtrack for it is 4 minutes long, only a crazy person could put something like this in a game.

Underrated gem of a game. I replayed it a couple of months ago and it was really fun.

If you're interested in strange atmospheric games, I wholeheartedly recommend Off. You can read my quick review here.

Started playing it yesterday, like it for the same reasons you wrote in your review, length makes it feel more like a complete game even though random encounters are the main culprit, why do post Chrono Trigger jrpgs keep doing this?

 

[Spike]

What game am I wasting time on? The game of love, baby.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Returning to Fallout 3 after...about 16 years I guess? I wanted to see how it holds up today.
It...kind of does? The game play is pretty clunky, especially compared to 4, but I prefer its more muted color pallet to 4's (although it does give me a weird optical illusion where everything has a purple tinge after closing the game), you have actual dialogue options and the world is a little more interesting.
The writing is still pretty bad though. Better than 4's but that's not saying much.
Especially the whole Megaton bomb quest and bloody Victoria Watts, who actually interrupted the Bomb detonation cutscene. At Tenpenny Tower. You know, the place where people like her wouldn't be allowed in. What's funny is that I guess the devs knew how bloody obnoxious she is and you don't get a karma penalty for whacking the sanctimonious twat.
Apparently it's Emilio was a head writer, so I guess it checks out?

It's also really easy? Like, early game you can still use guns and melee weapons somewhat effectively, even with crap stats. I'm running a strength 4 nerd who specializes in energy weapons and I can still beat things to death with a sledgehammer pretty effectively. Character builds don't seem to matter that much, so I guess Fallout 4's absolute lack of it is just a natural course of evolution for Bethesda.

Overall it's fine. Still would play it over 4 and definitely over 76.

I should try it with Tale of Two Wastelands. Apparently its FNV's gameplay with Fallout 3's world, which is great because FNV does have slightly better gameplay to F03's and actual resource management.