What Video Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Phobus]

@Chewyninja69 I have to admit that I've not and I'm unlikely to any time soon. My not-yet-played games library is apparently about 160 strong, so I'm reluctant to buy anything new.

[Chewyninja69]

12 hours ago, Phobus said:

@Chewyninja69 I have to admit that I've not and I'm unlikely to any time soon. My not-yet-played games library is apparently about 160 strong, so I'm reluctant to buy anything new.

I definitely feel you there; I have quite a few myself (thankfully nowhere near 160), but seeing as how I played Tomb Raider and it's sequel, and how Shadow of the Tomb Raider is supposedly the last one, I couldn't pass it up. Not only is it a gorgeous game, it's immersive as hell. Highly recommend it, even with the million game backlog you have.

[Phobus]

I would like to keep up-to-date with a few series and Shadow of the Tomb Raider would definitely be one of them. Maybe I'll find an excuse to get it when it's a bit cheaper later next year.

 

I've done a lot of documenting and working stuff out the last couple of days (I have a lot of time on my hands as of late). If you count all the games and expansions/DLC I've not played/beaten yet, I'm at exactly 180 to go. I own (as in, could play right now, or after a download) 387 games and expansions/DLC. The good news is that the expansions and DLC are inflating the numbers a fair bit, though. Especially Batman: Arkham Knight Premium Edition, which is, on my list, 8 "games". Chuck in the outstanding 29 Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection and 15 SNES Classic Mini games and the sheer size of things doesn't look so bad. In fact, counting it a certain way, I have 96 "games and game collections" to beat. Still a huge number, but likewise, almost half of what it was.

 

The only sobering thought, even then, is that whilst some of these games will be pretty short, there are also plenty of RPGs in there, which tend to be nearer the 50-hour mark than the 10-20 I'd expect from most games. Maybe I'll be done with this lot in the next 5 years or so.

 

EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, the number I "own" is probably about 30 higher than that, counting old versions of games that give you remasters for free on Steam or whatever, plus freebies from GoG that I'm not interested in and games that my brother bought that I don't want to play. I wonder how much my library is actually worth... And how much I paid, as I know I've got a lot of these for free or massive discounts.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Phobus

[riderr3]

50 hours played at Final Fantasy Dissidia 012, and still go on.

[[McD] James]

I've finished Shining Force. It's a good game, but horribly unbalanced. Some characters in my party were unstoppable wrecking balls, whereas others were useless. Without looking at a strategy guide (which I probably should have beforehand), it's impossible to know how your characters will progress. Enemy evasion rates are also obnoxiously high, and the user interface is painfully clunky. From what I've read online, Shining Force 2 addresses these issues. 

 

I'm gonna try out Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead right now.

[Hitscanning_scumbag]

ive been playing seven dyas to die like, nonstop in whatever free time i can find. i love the challenge, i love the balance, the crafting, the monsters, trying to build a stable base, and fix things while being mauled by the horde.

 

[Phobus]

17 hours ago, Ajora said:

I've finished Shining Force. It's a good game, but horribly unbalanced. Some characters in my party were unstoppable wrecking balls, whereas others were useless. Without looking at a strategy guide (which I probably should have beforehand), it's impossible to know how your characters will progress. Enemy evasion rates are also obnoxiously high, and the user interface is painfully clunky. From what I've read online, Shining Force 2 addresses these issues. 

Interesting to read this, as that's on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection and therefore will be something I get round to at some point. I've noticed a lot of RPGs back then seem to require a walk-through or strategy guide in some way. With Phantasy Star (and it's immediate sequel) it was progression that was obfusticated and opaque... Well, that and the requirement to grind just to leave the starting area. I'll try and keep your lesson in mind when I get round to it.

[Vermil]

Battle arena Toshinden for PS1.

As fun as always.

[Chopkinsca]

I finished off Geneforge yesterday. Great game, but a bit dated. It took me time to warm up to it, but I ended up hooked at one point. It started to feel like a slog towards the end though.

 

Now on to Avernum 5. 

[Fulgrim]

Grim Dawn. I have been on a top down ARPG kick lately. So Titans Quest is going to be next. I'll probably run through Diablo 1 and 2 as well. 

[[McD] James]

9 hours ago, Phobus said:

Interesting to read this, as that's on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection and therefore will be something I get round to at some point. I've noticed a lot of RPGs back then seem to require a walk-through or strategy guide in some way. With Phantasy Star (and it's immediate sequel) it was progression that was obfusticated and opaque... Well, that and the requirement to grind just to leave the starting area. I'll try and keep your lesson in mind when I get round to it.

 

Yeah, definitely plan out ahead of time who you want in your party. A lot of people seem to really like Bleu the dragon, but I found him to be pathetically weak. And the less damage your characters do, the harder it is to level them up, as they gain experience based on the amount of damage they deal. Supposedly, Bleu becomes a god of death if you get him to level 20, promote him, and then level him up a lot more, but I don't see the point. It's a fairly short and easy game and there isn't any end game content. 

 

There's also a lot of fun little collectibles that you'll need a guide in order to find. They're hidden in completely random and innocuous areas that you need to search, and it's virtually impossible to find any of them without a guide.

[yakfak]

got a 360 to myself, drooling about the idea of just being able to play rock band drums whenever i feel like it lol
at times i think of the rock band series as the best possible video game
and others i wanna mess around in arcane old DOS rpgs or whatever

[Chezza]

Started playing Warhammer Total War. Enjoying it so far although I don't understand all the mechanics. I'm playing Vampire counts and can't seem to prevent my Undead minions from crumbling after a long fight. Also I'm just shooting spells randomly unsure of their real effects.

[Phobus]

I've beaten Dead Space already. I landed right in the middle of my expected 10-12 hour time frame in the end, at about 11 hours. The "twist" was absolutely obvious and cliche, but I enjoyed the game. It's quite fatiguing to play something that's constantly trying to startle you or make you tense by turns over a whole day, but that didn't stop me...

 

I'm going to tackle the next two in alternation. Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on the SNES Classic Mini is only meant to take 6 hours or so, which should make it good for unwinding in the evenings (assuming it's not frustrating as hell due to being an early 90s platformer), whilst F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon will be my main focus. A classic FPS that I missed out on at the time. HLTB reckons about 8-10 hours for the main game and then another 4-5 for each expansion. Might take a week or so to do it all, but I'm sure it'll be good!

[Varis Alpha]

On 10/13/2018 at 5:29 PM, Ajora said:

I've finished Shining Force. It's a good game, but horribly unbalanced. Some characters in my party were unstoppable wrecking balls, whereas others were useless. Without looking at a strategy guide (which I probably should have beforehand), it's impossible to know how your characters will progress. Enemy evasion rates are also obnoxiously high, and the user interface is painfully clunky. From what I've read online, Shining Force 2 addresses these issues. 

the GBA version of the game fixes a couple of balance issues. the most notable one is the implementation of a proper turn-based system: the game now works on fixed turns in which the turn-order is based on the agility of units. you can also bring down a menu to see which units goes at what time. this makes it a lot easier to judge where to position certain characters, and makes it so that the enemy doesn't seem to automagically know where to position themselves to kill your squishy units, as they no doubt know the turn order internally, being AI and such.

 

hitting enemies seems to be much less of a gamble too, except for flying units, which IIRC has a 25% chance of being able to dodge any attack regardless, and it feels more fair to play. the translation is also better and puts back in parts in which the original translation cut out. it's not a flawless remake though, cuz the new gameplay elements shoehorned in kind of stick out and doesn't mesh well with the original game, and some units are just inherently better than others (hint: if a unit is of the same class as ones you have previously, then the later characters are almost always superior to the ones you get earlier in the game. this doesn't hold true for all of them, as i think Vankar is considered better than Earnest (and Arthur is just a straight-up gimmick with bad stats), and Alef is obtained so late in the game it can be a chore to train her up).

 

overall though, i was able to finish the original two Genesis games without much problem back in the day, so they're definitely playable. the sequel does have a difficulty selection, which can ease things up for you, though there's a couple of encounters in the game that are incredibly unfair, the latter of which makes you trapped in an area until you can beat it. it's not impossible to do, but you could get stuck in a loop of constantly dying and being unable to resurrect your units. but on the plus side, Shining Force 2's music is really, really good.

[[McD] James]

@Viscra Maelstrom I am familiar with the GBA remake. Apparently, nearly everyone on the Shining Force forums strongly dislikes it. The balance changes sound good, but I absolutely loathe the way the game looks. The colors are very washed out, and the sprites don't have the same charm as they did on the Genesis. I'll probably skip it.

 

There's also Shining Force CD for the Sega CD, as well as Dark Wizard, also for the Sega CD. Not many people have heard about Dark Wizard, but it looks like something fans of Shining Force would highly enjoy. 

[obake]

Twisted Metal 2 for the PS1. A great game, the only problem is the controls stink (it was made before the era of twin joystick controllers).

[DynamiteKaitorn]

I'm way too addicted to Starbound OwO

 

[Phobus]

F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon (a cumbersome title) is turning out to be pretty reasonable. I'm playing on "Moderately Difficult" and am aware of my fragility even with such powerful weapons, 10 50hp-restoring medkits (starting to find it difficult to keep my health up that high, now), 180 base health (which will probably still rise) and the ability to enter bullet time for an increasingly long time. Armour seems to be the real factor in longevity, as it absorbs a lot of damage and can be in

ready supply sometimes, whilst being scarce at others, making me much more vulnerable. The enemy behaviour is a curious case of "clever" whilst being limited by pretty plain level design (both in terms of layout and environment design). In 4k with everything maxed out, the HUD is hilariously small, but everything else is pretty nice to look at (although, as mentioned, the actual level design is uninspiring, consisting mostly of concrete corridors), albeit dated. I found I had to adjust the sound balance to make voices much louder as the subtitles (now left off) were a little too small to read easily at this resolution (even with the text set to "large").

 

I find the way that the game handles levels a bit weird, as there are "intervals", which seem to be something of a plot progression and then there's clearly levels, which I have to assume are a product of the limitations of 2005 PCs. Interval 3 seemed to be about 5 levels long, whilst about 4 intervals all took place in the same urban office complex. I'm in interval 8 at the moment, which is level design that wouldn't feel out of place in Condemned, being a run-down, ruined shitty apartment complex with low lighting.

 

What is stranger than the level demarcation, though, is the way this is an "action horror". Unlike Dead Space, which was constantly out to startle against a general background of creepiness, FEAR seems to switch very obviously between horror segments (which are quite creepy at points - particularly with Alma) and action sections. The replica soldiers are noisy, often in areas lit up well and tend to turn up in groups... The ninja enemies with cloaking devices being the main exception to that, although they had no qualms about diving through windows frequently to give themselves away and regularly attacked from the front. There was a brief section with some flying robots that felt kind of incongruous, and I've fought off a few heavy soldiers (they're coming more often) and some mechs of some description, who do strangely little damage with their rockets.

 

I've written a lot here, so obviously the game has a fair bit going on and is quite interesting, but I suspect a lot of that is due to how inconsistent it is in tone and game play. There's a lot of mentally switching gears. I suspect it'll only take another couple of sittings for me to beat, at this point, so it'll probably be done by next week. Can't say I've started on Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts yet, but it'll happen.

[Manuel-K]

2 hours ago, Phobus said:

I found I had to adjust the sound balance to make voices much louder as the subtitles (now left off) were a little too small to read easily at this resolution (even with the text set to "large").

There are mods that increase the font size. The default is ridiculous even at 1920x1200.

[ETTiNGRiNDER]

Legacy of Kain: Defiance, the final chapter in my current marathon run of the Legacy of Kain series (of which I'd only ever had experience with the original Blood Omen before).  For every entry in the series there's at least one grievance I could level against it that keeps me from rating any of them as entirely great, but the series as a whole has been a worthily enjoyable experience, regardless.

[Chow Yun Thin]

Apparently I wrote a post about the Summer update for KF2 but didn't post it and the forum software saved it anyway. Spoilered for old news.

Spoiler

The new robot enemies are pretty tanky given their size, and they dodge an annoying amount of firepower headed their way. Their heads are not considered a weak spot, though shooting it off can reduce their accuracy. Their weak spot is a glowing core in their chest, which you can get to once you blast off the heavy armor covering it. Tactics-wise, they're little different from the fireball-shooting enemy, unless 'letting melee enemies run interference while shooting the distracted player' counts. They're supposed to be a third party in the conflict between the clone enemies and the player mercenaries, but at the moment they seem to be just robot hostiles. I don't get why people were bitching about how they don't fit in the game when the previous update added the robot as a player character.

 

The weapon upgrade system is barebones for the first iteration, increasing damage at the cost of lots of dosh and increased weapon weight. All of the weapons were nerfed to accommodate for this, so the player can spend lots of otherwise-unused dosh to upgrade the weapons back to their previous level. I don't mind that the more OP weapons were brought back into line with the rest of the arsenal. Unfortunately, it seems this change has people becoming a lot more selfish in multiplayer, not giving even a bit of dosh to new or respawned players who badly need it.

 

The new Airship map has a few new optional objectives (weld this, activate that), no doubt to be added to the rest of the maps in a future update. I'm certain that there will be an Objective mode in the next update.

 

I'm not fond of the M99 AMR, even though it is a heavier, more expensive version of the Railgun which was nerfed to make room for it. I dislike how it was voted into the game through a community poll, and I don't like how its inclusion as a so-called Tier 5 weapon has set a precedent for the community to clamor for more Tier 5 weapons for their chosen Perk (Gatling gun seems to be a favorite for Commando and M32 Multiple Grenade Launcher for Demolitions).

 

The quad-barrelled Doomstick takes over the big game hunter role from the double-barrelled Boomstick, albeit in a heavier, more expensive package with less overall ammo. Yeah, this one really needs to be saved for the big ones.

 

The biggest issue for a lot of veteran players (aside from the upheaval of the metagame brought on by the weapon upgrades) is the removal of a certain animation cancelling technique called Reload Cancel. Start a reload and once the ammo counter updates, do a melee bash to interrupt that, then interrupt the bash with gunfire. Apparently, the implemented fix ignores attack commands from the player until the bash animation completes. A similar fix also makes melee weapons unable to block until the melee animation was completed. The protesting veterans contend that Reload Cancel is a skill-based mechanic that is high-risk high-reward, and that its removal is effectively a skill ceiling that makes the game feel clunky and unresponsive. The complaints have escalated to the point where people are removing their maps from Steam Workshop and have stopped making videos and guides on KF2. (edit: Reload Cancel was restored, reloading akimbo Pistols takes longer, veterans did not return to game)

 

There was a content update at the beginning of October and it's a Halloween event, naturally. All of the specimen enemies are reskinned as classic movie monsters and a new map is set in a castle decorated with string lights, bat cutouts, cakes and refreshments, and even a dance hall complete with lasers and a vampire DJ. Shooting any of the numerous balloons around the estate releases confetti, bats or ghosts. A cute touch, and a roundabout advertisment for a cosmetic headshot FX pack that's being sold. There are also traps of various kinds that you can activate to kill some of the weaker enemies (and one of the objectives requires you to do so).

 

I tackled the hardest objective first (survive 25 waves in Endless mode) as a lvl 22 Gunslinger because he has high-damage weapons, faster movement speed and headshots slow down enemies, all very useful when kiting the largest enemies and bosses. Even so, I had several close calls in the tight hallways. One was in a dark corner that I didn't realize I was running into until it was almost too late. The most memorable one was getting gangbanged by several of the biggest non-boss enemy on a narrow walkway overlooking the most metal of fireplaces.

Spoiler

If I hadn't kept jumping and getting knocked over the enemies, I would have been finished for sure. That, and there was a mutator that made everyone's head gigantic which meant I was landing headshots like crazy.

 

The last boss fight before completing the Endless objective was another close call. This time was King Shit, now able to poop out even more nasty turd minions. I really hate fighting that guy because the exploding turds make the screen shake and throw off my aim. It's kinda strange; up until that point I considered the boss waves the least difficult and a given pass.

 

I'm not a fan of Endless mode, and I had been at it for a little over an hour. I stopped after wave 27 and left the game. I'll just grind out the last objective on the lowest difficulty, bodies are bodies regardless of difficulty.

 

Three new weapons were added for Halloween, all assault rifles for Commando.

• The FN FAL makes a return appearance from the first game, and the Right Arm of the Free World serves as a longer-ranged option thanks to its combat sight. It does fairly well in a Sharpshooter's hands, but it's just straight-up OP when used by a Commando.
• The Medic Grenade Rifle is a fairly good assault rifle with an underslung launcher that fires a canister of healing gas. Real expensive for what it does, though.
• The MKb42 is unlocked for in-game purchase when all of the Halloween objectives are completed. By accounts of those who got it, it's subpar for its price and acts like any other assault rifle. It's a pity the devs didn't add a bayonet to it to make it different, as one of the bosses dual-wields the weapon and there aren't many weapons with a thrust attack.

The Killing Floor devs run a poll for what weapon in the first game the community wants to return. This time for the upcoming winter, they decide to just add the next three weapons since they were not picked in previous polls and I think they want to head off a bigger shitstorm of bitching about 'muh choice!'.

• The Fireaxe hails from the UT2004 mod version of KF and returns in the first retail game. From what I remember, people used it to flinchlock the strongest enemy to death. I don't know if this incarnation will bring back this weapon mechanism.
• The Tommygun was 3 DLC weapons (box mag, drum mag, steampunk skin) in the first game. As far as I'm concerned, it's a third (maybe fourth?) .45 cal SMG, one with a drum mag for even more dakka. It's getting real samey, though not to CoD levels.
• The M32 MGL was introduced with the Demolition perk in the first game, and I'm not very fond of its upcoming inclusion. That thing was obnoxious as hell, spamming smoke screens and screen shaking everywhere. Even other Perks were using it without bonuses because it was that damn good. I never liked how the Rocket Launcher in the first KF was replaced by it, and I'd hate to see the similar RPG in KF2 be made obsolete. The Seeker Six is going to be made even more useless since it occupies a similar niche but is passed over in favor of the RPG's raw damage.

Man, ever since the M99 AMR was put into the game, the Steam forums are getting more requests for even more outlandish weapons that threaten to remove any challenge in the game. Miniguns, multi-shot explosive launchers not named Seeker Six, sentry guns, land mines, more AMRs. Some fuck even requested Cable's weapon from Deadpool 2 just now, saying it's the perfect gun to do it all. At that point, you're not looking for a horde shooter, you're looking for a shooting gallery. Almost as bad are the ones who get off on posting lists of samey firearms from Battlefield or Call of Duty without elaborating on where they fit in a Perk's loadout without being OP.

[Mr. Freeze]

8 hours ago, Chow Yun Thin said:

Man, ever since the M99 AMR was put into the game, the Steam forums are getting more requests for even more outlandish weapons that threaten to remove any challenge in the game. 

 

As a KF2 fan myself, I laugh when I see people using the M99 because Railgun out-DPSes it. 

[Phobus]

Just did the last 5 levels (Interval 8 part 3 through to 12) of FEAR now. Those flying laser robots came back, which wasn't great, but again only briefly. The way the game ends is certainly quite cinematic and the overall experience was pretty good. In keeping with all of my plans, I've got 9 days to finish at least one expansion for FEAR or Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts. I'll start on the latter this evening, I think.

[[McD] James]

I'm playing Blood Omen. It's pretty metal. 

[vinnie245]

22 minutes ago, Ajora said:

I'm playing Blood Omen. It's pretty metal. 

My favorite Legacy of Kain game, the atmosphere is unreal and the story is at its darkest and best in my opinion.

 

[Chopkinsca]

I'm kind of hooked on Avernum 5. Hopefully this means it won't take as long to get through as Avernum 4 did.

[[McD] James]

4 hours ago, vinnie245 said:

My favorite Legacy of Kain game, the atmosphere is unreal and the story is at its darkest and best in my opinion.

 

 

The story really is quite brilliant, although I have found it a little hard to follow at times. I've found that reading sections of the wikia as I go along helps. Just an overall amazing, and macabre experience. Perfect for Halloween. 

[Bucket]

Once again trying to play through Dragon Age: Origins. This time on Easy, because the ridiculous spikes in difficulty made other playthroughs a chore.

I'll probably pick up Inquisition right after that.

[Phobus]

Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts has indeed turned out to be very difficult. I'm playing on Normal (with one easier difficulty and two harder available) and resorted to save states very quickly. The game reminds me of Altered Beast in a way, what with the horror theme, relentless waves of enemies, fragility of the player character and time spent not wearing much. Hell, now that I've got the Goddess Bracelet, my attacks even look a bit like the Werewolf projectile punches.

 

Speaking of the Goddess Bracelet, the fact that you have to play through everything but the final boss once, before being told to go through the game again in order to collect it is very annoying. They literally just add it into the rotation of random chest drops and you then need to cling to it, despite other weapons having more situational advantage. Likewise, at no point does the game tell you that you need the golden armour to gain the bracelet in the first place. Golden armour that you won't get unless you can avoid taking a hit for two armour upgrades from random chests in a row (hence the save state abuse). Maybe the instruction manual that the SNES Classic Mini doesn't have would've filled me in on some of this.

 

Difficulty isn't helped by slow player speed and no air control. Particularly after the double jump, which has regularly led to me flinging myself into the void. It probably doesn't help that Arthur (the player character) runs and jumps like QWOP, either. The worst thing is the damn gargoyles that pursue you for ages in the levels they show up on and have a range of attacks, plus they dodge yours. You're alright if you've got golden armour and a crossbow, as you fire three homing bolts at once (although can't fire again until all three have hit or left the screen, annoyingly), but I need to keep the Goddess Bracelet to access the final boss, so I'll have to very riskily try and get near melee range for full damage whilst the gargoyle is in an attack and therefore won't dodge.

 

Still, I'm nearly done with it. Probably about 15 minutes of gameplay left (courtesy of the five minute time limit), which will probably take over an hour...