What game are you wasting time on?

[Darth Roxor]

That music and overall ambience tho.

sorry i cant hear you over the sound of a not even particularly high-level lightning killing half a week's growth of my top tier unit

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Where were you when I was arguing like a sperg with prestigious strategy experts claiming 500% difference in HP of top tier creatures of different factions is stellar design on the strategy board

 

[Max Damage]

HoMM2 looks and sounds great, actually playing it is another story.

 

[Abu Antar]

After beating Brigand, I have been been beating games left and right for my personal 52 games a year challenge.

TOEM, BattleZone 98 Redux, and Tomb Raider: Underworld all got end credits during the weekend. I started Dark Sector, which was given away for free on Steam. For some time, I wanted to try out Tunic. I'm not that far in. Both bells have been ringed, and I was allowed to move on to new areas. In Valheim, we are about to face off against the penultimate boss, if I understood it correctly. The Solasta DLCs might be next. The announcement of the sequel made me remember that I haven't played them, yet.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

HoMM2 looks and sounds great, actually playing it is another story.

It plays p great. Unless you're into muh serious multiplayer, cause yeah, the balance is completely fucked.

 

[Ezekiel]

Will keep a list next year, because it was hard to remember. Might have forgotten one or two.

Oh, I forgot Banjo Kazooie. Six months ago. First time since the '90s. Couldn't finish Banjo Tooie. Too big.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Aw, man, I didn't think A Link to the Past recorded my deaths.

How the fuck do you manage to die that often in ALttP?

Spend too much time raging about Link's muscle textures and musing on whether the colour palette of a red octorok is really red enough to be considered red or if that's just more lies from Nintendo and the next thing you know, you're dead again.

 

[NecroLord]

Daddy's ready to play some FALLOUT!
Fallout is not a long crpg and can be finished in a mere few hours.
Going to go with the old reliable Plasma Rifle, though I'm probably also gonna be using the Gatling Laser (the sound effect this weapon makes when firing is just great to listen to).
I'm always rather sad that the game ends, as is the case with those oldschool rpgs. The fact that the journey will end, as well as your adventures.
"You are a hero and you have to leave."


Going to follow it with Fallout 2.
Thankfully Fallout 2 has a lot more content.
BIG GUNS BUILD, BABY!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Going to go with the old reliable Plasma Rifle, though I'm probably also gonna be using the Gatling Laser (the sound effect this weapon makes when firing is just great to listen to).

.233 Pistol with its monstrous 'BOOM!'-sound, checking in.

(Sadly they changed the sound for Fallout 2.)

 

[NecroLord]

Going to go with the old reliable Plasma Rifle, though I'm probably also gonna be using the Gatling Laser (the sound effect this weapon makes when firing is just great to listen to).

.233 Pistol with its monstrous 'BOOM!'-sound, checking in.

(Sadly they changed the sound for Fallout 2.)

I agree, but I'm planning on giving it to Ian.
They definitely should've kept the original sound. Feels like firing a goddamn cannon.
In Fallout 2 they just replaced it with the normal 44. Magnum sound.

 

[Necrensha]

How many fucking block puzzles can you cram in one game? This is why I wanted a remake, not a remaster. Soul Reaver is more insufferable to play than fucking Pathologic.

 

[Darth Roxor]

How many fucking block puzzles can you cram in one game? This is why I wanted a remake, not a remaster. Soul Reaver is more insufferable to play than fucking Pathologic.

Weakling.

 

[Max Damage]

As someone who finished both Pathologic games, can confirm Soul Reaver games (and Defiance) are sleep inducing.

 

[Kabas]

A couple of games.

Goldenheart - a first person action/adventure that looks a bit prosperian. Completed it. Already mentioned in another thread but it made me think of Northern Journey. Nowhere near as good as the later though, late game puzzles and checkpoints were really annoying.

The Fall of Dungeon Guardians - a blobber that looks like a generic Legends of Grimrock clone but has a fun combat inspired by world of warcraft and practically no square dancing. Environments look very samey so i've been playing it in little bursts. My current party consists of Defender who is a generic tank, Paladin who deals damage and can off-tank a bit, Necromancer who drains enemy health and is my primary healer and Elementalist who smacks everyone with fireballs.

Darkenstein 3D demo - another retro shooter, this one is about hobo shooting nazis 'cause they stole his dog. Demo includes two levels with the second one being from way later in the game where you get access to what i assume is a full arsenal of guns. Pretty good variety of enemies including evil nazi dogs, nazi zombies, regular nazis, blond nazi witch-babes, nazi scientist with futuristic guns and ancient necromancer knight summoned through nazi magic. Guns feel pretty good to use and levels had a nice pacing to them so i wishlisted it.

Conquest Dark Demo - another one of those vampire survivors-type games, this one with Conan the Barbarian aesthetic and made by a single guy.
Various different small arenas, you start as naked dude with a huge dong or naked chick with a wide hips and you must survive for 10-15 minutes while accumulating levels/gear and defeating a couple of bosses. Not really big into survivor games but i actually ended up genuinely liking this one, wishlisted.
It also made me interested in trying other similar games, heard that Halls of Torment, Brotato and Holocure are pretty good.

Card-En-Ciel - card game roguelike/roguelite that i tried during the october Steam Fest and enjoyed it, bought the full version and currently playing it in short bursts too. Plot is very... anime otaku-centric.
Card game mechanics allow you to do some pretty fun combo stuff.

Awaria - a new game from vanripper, same polack who made Helltaker. This one is a pure bullet hell game where your goal is to repair generators while avoiding attacks from ghost girls.

A bit meh honestly. It's not bad but i feel like compared to previous demon girls the dev didn't quite nail the ghost girl designs or their personalities. The only designs i like are Yaga and Usterka.
I also must confess that i didn't really beat the game. Level 11 completely filtered me and made me switch to easy

 

[ferratilis]

Today I learned that there is a reverse engineered source port for two Oddworld games, Abe's Odyssee and Abe's Exodus, so I started a playthrough. The port itself doesn't do anything spectacular, just fixes some old bugs and makes them run well on modern resolutions, which is enough for me. Odyssee is still a fun game.

https://aliveteam.github.io/

 

[turbo elephant]

Is it good ?

It promises good fun, then makes it a chore. The first few hours you're given a ton of mechanics to explore, by the midgame none of them are conducting to anything and you're doing busywork to advance the main quest.

Agree I'm midgame I guess and they have added a farm and also the underwater village looks a bit meh, I'm now stuck at some annoying boss you can't skip so stopped playing and probably won't finish. It's OK for 10 hours so, the diving being the fun part.

 

[NecroLord]

Playing Fallout and having a blast as always.
Ian is a monster with the .223 Pistol, while I have Tycho using a Sniper Rifle.
Katja has a 14mm Pistol.
The Glow has always been one of my favorite areas in Fallout (New Reno and Redding are also close). That atmosphere complemented by "Radiation Storm" playing in the background while exploring this creepy West Tek research facility...
Getting ready to storm the Military base and waste those FEV super mutants.
Going to do it solo though, as keeping my companions alive will be very difficult.

 

[Spukrian]

Playing Fallout and having a blast as always.
Ian is a monster with the .223 Pistol, while I have Tycho using a Sniper Rifle.
Katja has a 14mm Pistol.
The Glow has always been one of my favorite areas in Fallout (New Reno and Redding are also close). That atmosphere complemented by "Radiation Storm" playing in the background while exploring this creepy West Tek research facility...
Getting ready to storm the Military base and waste those FEV super mutants.
Going to do it solo though, as keeping my companions alive will be very difficult.

I fondly remember a playthrough where I maxed Sneak and sniped Super Mutants with the .223 Pistol in the Military Base... I would OHK a Super Mutant and the other Super Mutants around him wouldn't react.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Going to do it solo though, as keeping my companions alive will be very difficult.

You mean Dogmeat, right?

 

[NecroLord]

Going to do it solo though, as keeping my companions alive will be very difficult.

You mean Dogmeat, right?

I forgot to mention the doggy.
YES, he is also not going to be brought with me on my infiltration of the Military Base, for obvious reasons...
He is going to be turned into dogmeat (literally so) if you bring him with you.

 

[Shuruga]

I beat Shadows over Silesia, which I gave a mini review partway through in a different thread:

Here it is

Shadows over Silesia is more of an adventure than an RPG: there is no character progression, little by way of inventory, and C&C (so far) has been minimal. The graphics are cartoony, the combat is basic (the camera is the toughest enemy), and the voice acting is OK at best. Gameplay features straight combat, some stealth, some basic puzzles, and dialogue.

That being said, I give it an enthusiastic recommendation for people interested in dark fantasy. The story is grounded in real history with believable characters; it'd be historical fiction except for the fact that the main plot revolves around the occult. There isn't anything excessively graphic, but you've got demons fornicating with humans, human sacrifice, corrupted religious, and the unquestioned reality of the devil existing. I have a hard time imagining this plot being the central focus of a AAA game. As I've gotten drawn into the story and gotten used to the controls, my enjoyment factor has improved immensely.

Some of you will take this as a "stay away!" review, which is fine, but if this seems like your cup of tea I encourage you to try it out. It is pretty short (I think I'll wrap in about 15 hours total) and $20 on Steam (on sale for $7 as of now).

My opinion didn't change after finishing it: the controls, graphics, and voice acting are clunky and the game is very linear, but the story is quite good and the conclusion is top notch:

Context of the last level

The demons of hell are invading Earth, and you literally fight in to hell (through a mountain tunnel) to face the devil and the treacherous demoness Lilith. The graphics are too cartoony to be disturbing, but for what it is the ambiance is very well done. You fight through a (literal) hellscape surrounded by people being flayed/burned/boiled/impaled for all eternity. I won't spoil the ending but I thought it was very well done.

Judging by Steam achievement completion rates, a lot of people gave up after the first few levels, when the story is just heating up, which I think is a shame.

Anyway, I'm now just about done with Alpha Protocol. Probably most of you have played it (or know enough to have decided for/against it) but in case anyone is curious, here are my thoughts:

• Gameplay is mostly sneaking, shooting, and some lockpick/hacking minigames. There are lots of skill bars to level up, broadly under weapons, gadgets, and stealth categories. The balance is pretty wonky, in that I can use a special ability to instantly headshot 5 people, but while that ability is cooling down I need several seconds to line up a single shot and if I am in a close range firefight I will always lose (granted, I played on the hardest difficulty). It is also pretty unrealistic: I emphasized the "spy" skills and at high levels you can literally turn invisible for 10+ seconds. (It also became clear fairly early on that I couldn't lean too hard into the sneaky spy archetype because the game frequently throws you in to unavoidable firefights.)
  
  
• The level structure reminds me of Jedi Academy. In JA you work through a tier of missions, then have a main mission, then go through another tier of missions; each mission is self-contained and mostly linear. In AP you go to an area (Rome, Moscow, etc.) and work through a series of missions culminating in a main mission, then go to another area and do another series of missions.
  
  
• The narrative agency is handled pretty well for a fairly goofy spy thriller action RPG. Often at the end of a mission you confront someone and have to choose the tone/intent of your response, and there are some nontrivial (and delayed) consequences to who you ally with, who you kill, what kind of personality you adopt, etc. A few missions are entirely made up of these conversation cutscenes; there is some narrative branching.
  
  
• The story is fine for what it is -- an over the top espionage thriller that puts you in the role of a James Bond type. You can't take it too seriously; every area has one (or more!) stereotypical waifus and there are some hard-to-suspend-disbelief narrative beats. For instance, in one boss mission the villain leaves two gates open, taunting you to choose one (get the girl or defuse the bomb!), then closes off the other. Tropey buy maybe OK... except I don't recall even a token explanation for why the villain couldn't, you know, just close both of the gates before you go through either. So it is pretty campy.

All that said, I'm glad I played it and I think the official Codex review and AP's inclusion "on the list, but not very high" on the Codex's list of top RPGs is justified... though I've hardly played everything on that list.

Anyway, my backlog is mostly clear (!) and I have to decide what to pick up next. I've beaten most of the top games on the Codex's list... in the top 10 I am just missing Morrowind and Planescape: Torment. So maybe one of those, or maybe Oblivion as the other Elder Scrolls some folks seem to really like...

 

[Necrensha]

-AntonBlast-
It's like somebody tried to combine Pizza Tower and Cruelty Squad.
The visuals? It tries to be cartoony, but everything is shades of green/brown/gray giving it a vomitive feel.
Sewers, trash, empty bottles, bathrooms, the game has an overabundance of those.
Anton himself is a complete joke compared to Peppino. Unlike in Pizza Tower, here there's plenty of dialogue and voice acting and ALL of it is millennial writing:
''So uh, like, and then uh, I was gonna...'' every character sounds like that, didn't laugh at any of the jokes.
The controls are abysmal. The entire game is controlled with just 2 buttons + directional input. This makes Anton extremely slippery, on top of many actions being automated which means that I can hold my hands up and press nothing, and Anton will start jumping and sliding and bouncing all over the place by himself.
The platforming makes no sense because at one point they were clearly making a slower game but changed their mind mid-development. You'll see many instances where you're going at 500 km/hr only to suddenly do a drastic switch and have to think every single jump down to pixel perfect precision to not fuck up, and viceversa.
A charmless and frustrating game, would not recommend.

 

[Ezekiel]

Beat Everything or Nothing again last night, first time since I was a kid. Highest difficulty, of course. Back then I had platinum medals in all levels. It's okay. 3/5. Normally would shit on auto-aim, but, with the hand-to-hand fighting added, manual aim probably would have been too much. Last level was pretty twitchy. Didn't remember the layout at all, so had to look out for bulletproof vests.

 

[NecroLord]

Fallout is finished and now doing Fallout 2.
The Den is pretty cool, and by the way, some of the Jet junkies you see here can actually attack you during some of their drug fuelled psychoses!
A genuine hive of scum and villainy.
I'm not paying a thousand grand for Vic. Gonna be back with some more firepower (namely Cassidy) and gear to deal with Metzger and free Vic through force.


Also started a VTMB run on the side as a Toreador, my favorite clan in the Vampire: The Masquerade setting from the World of Darkness.

Celerity is bonkers (level 3 and above).
Presence works as a area debuff and can make you hit stronger while your enemy is weakened (and can even become mesmerized and pacified).
When that Santa Monica theme hits...

 

[jackofshadows]

Playing this now. I'm feeling like a codex old-timer who wants to grumble at constant, endless interruptions to gameplay. Be that fucking cutscenes (yes, in a 2d "pixel art" cheap game) or tutorial pieces or *install this app on your phone* or even in the main thing, while being underwater there're these dolphins so you're suppose to just look at them and unable to do anything. Jesus. Just let me play the damn game.