What Video Game Are You Currently Playing?

[MrFroz]

Dead Island Definitive Edition. Killing zombies is quite therapeutic in this game.

[Daytime Waitress]

Taking a little Doom breakey break and sinking way too much time into American Truck Simulator/Euro Truck Simulator 2. Picked them up as a giggle because "lol meme games amirite" and subsequently found myself sinking dozens of hours into both over just a couple of weeks. So many people label them as "comfy" or "relaxing", but I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time screaming at the braindead AI when it forces me to slam on the brakes; so I think I'd rather categorise the two as "compelling" instead - successfully navigating a route and backing a trailer in snug just acts as a total dopamine switch *shrugs*.

 

But I needed a quickfire break from that this morning, so I opted to get my arse kicked all over the place by Jet Buster, which I acquired in a shmup binge earlier in the year. And when I finally cleared it, I spotted Doomworld in the credits, and so I guess I have to thank @Alter personally for this one! Furry stuff is really not my bag, and some of the art is a bit rough in places, but HeavyViper's soundtrack is killer and everything just exudes a vitality that so many "retro-inspired" games fail to deliver - I honestly feel like you could walk into any arcade in the 90's and see this blasting off of an MVS. Not sure why it feels SNK-y in particular, but those are the vibes I get from the whole package. Tonnes of fun.

 

Spoiler

 

[heliumlamb]

4 minutes ago, Daytime Waitress said:

Taking a little Doom breakey break and sinking way too much time into American Truck Simulator/Euro Truck Simulator 2. Picked them up as a giggle because "lol meme games amirite" and subsequently found myself sinking dozens of hours into both over just a couple of weeks. So many people label them as "comfy" or "relaxing", but I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time screaming at the braindead AI when it forces me to slam on the brakes; so I think I'd rather categorise the two as "compelling" instead - successfully navigating a route and backing a trailer in snug just acts as a total dopamine switch *shrugs*. 

i love the SCS software truck simulators. my friend i used to date called ETS2 "outrun for insomniacs" back when i was playing a lot of it. i think it's a soothing experience, but not a relaxing one. driving, both real and simulated, should always be something that demands undivided attention, and such attention isn't incredibly conducive to relaxation in my experience behind the wheel.

if you want to up the stress factor, try turning the air brakes simulation on. slammed brakes almost always lead to No Brakes with a dashboard beep screaming at you.

[MrFroz]

Grand Theft Auto V.

[Daytime Waitress]

1 hour ago, heliumlamb said:

 my friend i used to date called ETS2 "outrun for insomniacs" back when i was playing a lot of it.

 

 

Y'know, blasting Magical Sound Shower on a run across the Romanian border just didn't occur to me before now...

 

1 hour ago, heliumlamb said:

i think it's a soothing experience, but not a relaxing one. driving, both real and simulated, should always be something that demands undivided attention, and such attention isn't incredibly conducive to relaxation in my experience behind the wheel.

 

Soothing: that's a really good descriptor for it.

 

1 hour ago, heliumlamb said:

if you want to up the stress factor, try turning the air brakes simulation on. slammed brakes almost always lead to No Brakes with a dashboard beep screaming at you.

 

I love how it's always the same beep, whether you casually miss a weigh station or wipe out a family of four in a sedan because you totes didn't seem them merging onto the highway.

[TheSlipgateStudios]

Attempting to 100% Fallout 3 with all DLC's as well.

[Wavy]

Splatoon 3

 

Been grinding at it since launch. Currently have about 150 hours in it so far IIRC. It's way too addicting, hehe

[hybridial]

Honestly splitting my time between a lot of things. Playing Cultic again, started Ghost Song last night, Solasta: Lost Valley, still on Mario Maker 2 and Steamworld Heist, took my switch over to a friend's last night for some Mario Tennis and Mario Kart. I still have levels to do on Prodeus, I started Psychonauts 2 a while ago and should really get on that, same with Alwa's Awakening.

 

Tactics Ogre Reborn is out next week and I'm getting that.

 

Busiest I've been gaming wise in a long time and it will make the winter months easier to suffer through. 

[MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai]

18 hours ago, Rudolph said:

Oh my god, I got to meet Myron in Fallout 2. Now, why would the developers design a character like that?

 

  Hide contents

That twerp looks like the love child of Mark Zuckerberg and Brock Turner, and he has the personality and charm of Ben Shapiro. XD

 

Holy shit he does look like Zuck!!!!

 

Not to mention that he took dating advice from Jefrey Epstein.*

 

*Those who played Fallout 2 as female characters know what I'm talking about.

[Rudolph]

16 hours ago, MrFroz said:

Dead Island Definitive Edition. Killing zombies is quite therapeutic in this game.

Speaking of which, I meant to ask: how does it fare compared to Dying Light? If I were to get one of them, which one would you suggest I get?

 

1 hour ago, MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai said:

Holy shit he does look like Zuck!!!!

I usually do not like killing NPCs just for the sake of it, but I seriously had to fight an urge there. Kudos to the developers, I suppose, but still... ew.

 

Spoiler

Also, reading more about the character, I now realize that my Brock Turner comparison was actually more on point than I thought. EW.

 

I love you, Fallout 2, but just like with my issue with the slavery aspect, I must question your sense of priorities... :S

[Loud Silence]

Playing Fallout 3 for first time. Incredible game.

[MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai]

2 hours ago, Loud Silence said:

Playing Fallout 3 for first time. Incredible game.

Enjoy it man, it´s probably the most new guy friendly game in the series. What´s your build btw?

[Herr Dethnout]

A Windows PC version of the criminally underate Hydlide series, with remakes of the First and Third game (Well, is not a remake. More like a reskin since is the same game as PC-88 version but with enhanced graphics and music, in fact, the saves are compatible with the OG version)

I'm replaying the 3 game, compared with Super Hydlide, this one is just a hell on earth. :I

[Arrowhead]

13 hours ago, Rudolph said:

Speaking of which, I meant to ask: how does it fare compared to Dying Light? If I were to get one of them, which one would you suggest I get?

Having played both of them, they're actually VERY similar. Personally, though - I would choose Dying Light if I could only pick one. Graphics are better, not that that's the be-all-end-all - but it definitely helps -  the melee-dominated combat systems in both are also VERY similar.

 

Dying Light is quite awesome when it turns night time, and everything gets more hostile.

 

They honestly feel like the same game, just Dying Light feels a little more 'complete' - and the world size is bigger. I would pick Dying Light, but honestly, you should buy both at some point.   :)

[Herr Dethnout]

On 11/5/2022 at 10:55 PM, Daytime Waitress said:

Taking a little Doom breakey break and sinking way too much time into American Truck Simulator/Euro Truck Simulator 2. Picked them up as a giggle because "lol meme games amirite" and subsequently found myself sinking dozens of hours into both over just a couple of weeks. So many people label them as "comfy" or "relaxing", but I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time screaming at the braindead AI when it forces me to slam on the brakes; so I think I'd rather categorise the two as "compelling" instead - successfully navigating a route and backing a trailer in snug just acts as a total dopamine switch *shrugs*.

I played the first Euro Truck Simulator before youtubers giving his status as "Haha funny meme game". I was never expecting that a silly truck driving simulator would be so fun (aside the fact of the AI being a trainwreck). It remembers me the time when I put a Gasoline refill mod to the cars in GTA: SA and just doing nothing more than driving through the Map, enjoying the experience of the travel while refilling my car with gasoline.

heh

[Loud Silence]

13 hours ago, MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai said:

Enjoy it man, it´s probably the most new guy friendly game in the series. What´s your build btw?

Skills: Banter, Explosives, Medicine and Speech have most points. S.P.E.C.I.A.L: Strength - 7, Charisma - 7, Endurance - 6, all others - 5 each.

[Rudolph]

Well, since I could not figure out a way to salvage my Fallout 2 run after finding myself ill-equipped to fight my way through the Enclave Oil Rig without any option to leave and come back later, so I have decided to restart from scratch, this time with the Restoration Project installed, and it is amazing: not only am I able to actually help Sulik rescue his enslaved sister, but it restores cut areas, quests and encounters and it even improves some existing areas. Oh, and it now allows me to choose my character's race at the beginning; albeit limited (only three options available, weirdly enough), it makes it easier to tell them apart from the NPCs and playing as an Indian Chosen One means that I can basically roleplay as Turok! :P

 

EDIT: Oh my god, you can actually rape non-playable characters in Fallout 2. Or at least attempt to.

 

Goddamnit, Black Isle. -_-

Edited November 7, 2022 by Rudolph

[MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai]

10 hours ago, Loud Silence said:

Skills: Banter, Explosives, Medicine and Speech have most points. S.P.E.C.I.A.L: Strength - 7, Charisma - 7, Endurance - 6, all others - 5 each.

Pretty decent first build, I would reccomend putting some points into lockpicking or science in order to reach some restricted areas but other than that you should have no problem finishing the game.

How far are you in the main quest?

[Wyrmwood]

Inspired by the Fallout thread I decided to try Outer Worlds again on my Switch. I got through the first area this time but my eyes can't take any more that ports way too blurry. The actual game seems good, not as close to Fallout as you might think. It's far more video-gamey and less a life simulation, you can only pick up or interact with things that are actually relevant and the maps are much smaller than a Bethesda game. There seems to be quite a few though, you travel to different planets and locations so their more varied too. Characters seem well written, there's always multiple ways to solve quests and most of the quests were varied and involved though there was a couple of bandit bounties. The setting is actually much closer to Borderlands or even TV show Firefly and despite many and obvious nods to the Fallout series, it seems to have as much in common with Knights of the Old Republic 2 a far older Obsidian game.

 

Anyway my eyes hurt so I'm going to wait until I pick up the PC version, from the screen shots it looks so much better but I definitely want to return to it. Even on Switchs blurry screen (this game anyway, most games it's pin sharp) I can see the beauty behind it and I love the vibrant color's. In the mean time it's back to Doom, half way through Harmony and loving it.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Wyrmwood

[Rudolph]

1 hour ago, Wyrmwood said:

The setting is actually much closer to Borderlands

Yeah, I thought so too: playing an adventurer exploring wacky alien planets colonized by uncaring corporations... It sounds all too familiar.

 

I am still planning on getting The Outer Worlds eventually. Oh, and coincidentally, I rewatched Noah Gervais' video essay on the game last night.

 

1 hour ago, Wyrmwood said:

it seems to have as much in common with Knights of the Old Republic 2

In what sense, may I ask?

[Wyrmwood]

1 hour ago, Rudolph said:

 

In what sense, may I ask?

 

Far more linear but also more focused storyline that branches out somewhat in the middle. Companions that chime in all the time about whatever going on, even when talking to npcs. They seem affected by your actions and there's lots of getting to know them on your ship and related quests. The jumping from planet to planet through many smaller maps but with plenty to do on each. The focus on showing you and making you feel the consequences of the many morally grey choices your faced with. The Mass Effect games followed a similar approach too, think they were more modern spiritual sequels although I could never quite get into those.

 

Edit : thanks for fixing my spelling by the way who knows what a rebulic is, damn predictive text!

Edited November 8, 2022 by Wyrmwood

[Rudolph]

25 minutes ago, Wyrmwood said:

The Mass Effect games followed a similar approach too, think they were more modern spiritual sequels although I could never quite get into those.

Yeah, the whole promise of having your choices carry on from one game to another ultimately did not pay off as well as the developers would have loved to. And Mass Effect 1 is quite objectively a terrible game: the combat is atrocious due to poor level design and inept squadmate AI and over half the game's content is optional quests taking place on planets that all use basically the same couple of terrains over and over again. Mass Effect 2 was a massive improvement, but unfortunately, it is the middle chapter of the trilogy, which makes it harder to get into, as it references the first game a lot and expects you to be familiar with it.

[Wyrmwood]

Yeah, totally agree with everything you said. I did play some of the second one and it did seem a big improvement but I made the mistake of 100%ing the first game and it left a bit of a sour taste. Also for reasons I can't quite remember but suspect may have been switching from playing on a 360 to a  ps3, I had to re-choose stuff from a comic and lots of choices were skipped. Guess that was my own fault but I'd had it with the "Red light of death".

 

I enjoyed the space station part but once you'd done all the stuff there, all that was left was 3 or 4 pretty OKish 1hr story missions and whole bunch of that tedious driving in circles, what felt like 20hrs of it. No, I'm afraid the old Bioware magic had started to fade by this point.

[Rudolph]

The "old Bioware magic"? You mean Bioware used to make better games than that?

 

I am asking, because the only pre-Mass Effect game I have played is Knights of the Old Republic 1, which I understand is considered a classic, but I just could not stand it. At least, at the time... much like Fallout 1, it has been a while since I have last played it, so who knows? I remember not liking the combat system at all nor the few characters I got to meet and thinking it did not look very good on a (at the time) modern system. Plus I am not a fan of Star Wars outside of the Original Trilogy (especially when it is content with merely rehashing it), so a game that tries to out-prequel the Prequels (while still looking like it is set around the same time, given the way technology looks) is not much of a draw to me.

[Loud Silence]

14 hours ago, MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai said:

Pretty decent first build, I would reccomend putting some points into lockpicking or science in order to reach some restricted areas but other than that you should have no problem finishing the game.

How far are you in the main quest?

Need to find Galaxy radio station, but currently doing side quests. Already got powerful suit for finishing simulation, disarmed bomb and in return got house in Megaton.

[PKr]

On 10/12/2022 at 3:40 PM, PKr said:

King's Field which is actually King's Field II. That game.

Finished this game for the first time.

 

What struck me the most about King's Field is how it is much closer to Dark Souls than Dark Souls sequels themselves or other From Software games. King's Field's world is mysterious; the game is full of secrets; the levels are interconnected and complex; you stumble upon very intriguing npcs/items/environments that kept me engaged for the whole ride. Other than extremely terrible graphics even for ps1 days and unplayable framerates (thankfully I wasn't playing it on my real PS1) this turned out to be a very good game. I didn't expect that.

 

Now, I bet there are a lot of people here who are no strangers to King's Field, so I have one question (since I don't want to refer to guides): can you somehow restore mana other than by using moon stones and dragon crystals?

[Wyrmwood]

9 hours ago, Rudolph said:

The "old Bioware magic"? You mean Bioware used to make better games than that?

 

Yeah of course, Baldurs Gate series, Icewind Dale series, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire and Knights of the Old Republic. The first Dragon Age game still feels a lot like a classic title too. Most of Bioware's founders left and formed Obsidian. As Obsidian they still made Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 for Bioware.

[Rudolph]

20 minutes ago, Wyrmwood said:

Icewind Dale series, Planescape Torment

Wait, I thought those were made by Black Isle.

 

In any case, what do you mean by "old BioWare magic"?

[Wyrmwood]

42 minutes ago, Rudolph said:

Wait, I thought those were made by Black Isle.

 

In any case, what do you mean by "old BioWare magic"?

 

Just that, the older games have loads of flaws and maybe it's nostalgia, though I still play them all the time, but those older games I listed (with the exception on Neverwinter which has a OK campaign but is all about community modules) have a magical something I can't quite put my finger on. I certainly prefer the control the whole party like an RTS with pause combat style.

 

My favorites are the Infinity Engine games, the games seems to lessen with the transition to 3d but stuff like KotR and Neverwinter Nights 2 were still damn good. Move to more modern times and Dragon Age 3 was awful and sure their last game was a looter/shooter in the style of Destiny but I've never tried that.

 

Pretty sure at least some of the Black Isle guys moved to Bioware after they shut doors way back.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Wyrmwood

[hybridial]

50 minutes ago, Rudolph said:

Wait, I thought those were made by Black Isle.

 

Whilst that line of games was generally a collaboration and it's hard to get into the specifics now really, but generally speaking, Bioware made BG1 and 2, Black Isle made Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment. Bioware themselves did make the engine, intended for RTS games but ultimately ending up on a different road. 

 

And well, "old Bioware magic"

 

I just really like BG1 and BG2 a (and IWD too) lot, even though I recently decided I've had enough of them for a long time. BG1 as modest as it is is probably still the most interesting game they made for me. Dragon Age I just found boring, to a point I even liked DA2 more than Origins. For all it's faults DA2 didn't bore me to death. 

 

KOTOR was fine... I guess. Mass Effect is... ah, I like the setting, some of the characters, the cover shooting thing is horribly dated now, they'd hold up better if Bioware made them turn based RPGs but that just wasn't in fashion at the time. And also if they didn't create such a good setting only to destroy it in 3. 

 

I never get decisions like that. 

 

In terms of the modern CRPG boom, I've found in insanely disappointing. Pillars of Eternity was okay as a dry, slightly less interesting hybrid of BG1 and BG2. PoE 2 was a worse game in every regard with the worst thing being the borderline unplayability of it because of the complete lack of any optimisation. The turn based mode they patched in was the only thing that made battles playable on my PC and that's just stupid. Tyranny and Numenera are just blagh really. I hate the Divinity Original Sin games in a way I rarely do, where I think every aspect of their design is the wrong choice and the end result is anti-fun and I wouldn't even criticise Dark Souls that harshly. And no, I'm not interested on any debate on this, I'm just stating my thoughts and moving on mainly to get the point I intend to. The Pathfinder games are kind of the same only the combat system is solid but everything else falls into ruining the experience, plus also the optimisation of them is very poor. It's basically a map, trash mob and loading screen simulator. I kinda realise probably this was a mostly rookie developer but the issue is they had the chance to improve with the second game and they just doubled down on their design philosophy and made an even more unoptimised game. This brings me to the one good thing I have to say. 

 

Solasta, a very indy game made by clearly rookie developers, is the light, it's not amazing but it's solid, it's competent. It's more fun to play than the likes of Dragon Age even if comes off like a B movie version of that. It's the only one I recommend but mainly if you're looking for the D&D combat experience, it's more akin to Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights than Dragon Age or Baldur's Gate. I think it's a game you appreciate more if you actually play tabletop D&D and want a videogame to reflect an easygoing campaign.