Discussion What are you currently playing? (Week 38 of 2024)

[Cacher]

New week, new thread! What are you playing?

I am playing Dragon Quest V, the PS2 version. I had an itch to play a DQ game so I dug out the physical copy from the closet. I played the NDS version but dropped it at the beginning of the third arc (forgot why I did...), so I know the main framework of the story. Already 10 hours deep into the game and I just love it. DQ has its unique charm which can't be found in other franchise, and it feels great to go on a life-long adventure (wink wink) in a DQ world.

Btw, Bianca best girl.

Also playing Ace Attorney Investigations 1 from the collection. Third case done. Honestly? I am not feeling it. And this is totally expected because this is a replay and I remember not liking the game. The pacing is very rushed and the game just does not give you that "ah ha I see" feeling because it keeps throwing new ideas at the players, and the villains/opponents are honestly not that bright compared with Edgeworth. Anyway I will stick with it.

 

[Arc]

Just got 100% in Astro Bot. Awesome, awesome game.

Gonna start Space Marine 2 this afternoon.

 

[curi0usBystander]

Bravely default II, finished chapters 4,5 and 6 i don't know how to feel about getting to bad endings bad to back in order to proceed the story. Wrapping up any side content that seems worth doing before finishing the game. Overall I've enjoyed the game and once you understand that is FFV on steroids ( and the right combination of classes can break the game) it feels great.

 

[Ascheroth]

New Star Rail patch dropped, so I did that mainly starting from the middle of the week, outside of that I started Re:Chain of Memories. Thought about dropping it and moving on to the next Kingdom Hearts since the combat didn't really gel with me, but figured I'd give it a proper chance before that and read up a bit on how to properly construct a deck for combat (it's a card-based ARPG) and now I think I'm gonna stick with it.

 

[curi0usBystander]

I started Re:Chain of Memories. Thought about dropping it and moving on to the next Kingdom Hearts since the combat didn't really gel with me, but figured I'd give it a proper chance before that and read up a bit on how to properly construct a deck for combat (it's a card-based ARPG) and now I think I'm gonna stick with it

One of the problems that RE:CoM has is that they kept the combat system of the GBA version but added a third dimension and didn't adjust for it, so regular battles take longer.

 

[Alexandros]

I've been playing Valkyria Chronicles. To be honest it didn't make a great first impression but I am warming up to it gradually.

 

[Nabs]

I might break and set Nine Sol to story mode for this final boss. Give me strength.

 

[Ibuki]

I've picked up Persona 5 Royal again because I wanted to make progress and possibly wrap it up before Metaphor releases. I finished the Space palace last night after a super frustrating boss fight.

 

[einstellung]

I have been dabbling in-between bouts of Deadlock ruling my free time.

Plank Builders: It's a student project the graduates decided to finish and release. The programming is fundamentally flawed and the game likely can't be totally fixed or finished. Although I liked the demo, I expected not to pick it up at launch because of its major flaws exhibited by the demo. But the devs have self-awareness and they priced it well at $12. So, I grabbed it at launch. It's a chill podcast game. I like it a lot, but wouldn't recommend it as it has major bugs like soft-locking, your CPU allies' pathfinding completely breaking down mid-game, thus becoming useless and deletion of saves. If you're a tinkerer type, you can mitigate its problems, and might even view its fundamental flaws as challenges to be overcome in and of themselves. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the game is never patched. The devs have been radio silent for months before it even released.

Deadlock: this is heroin.

Prodeus: played this because, from Game Pass, I remembed it being very pretty. It is! However, I just don't like the vast majority of boomer shooters. I get bored very quickly. I only really like multi-player shooters, rogue-lite shooters, immersive sims and DOOM Eternal. Seems great if you like the genre though. Uninstalled.

Risk of Rain 2: Like the original, I don't understand this game. At least the sequel seems to contain an element of skill; what little I played of the original, it came off as complete RNG and nothing more. It has that critical flaw other rogue-lites I don't enjoy have: a very easy open followed by a massive difficulty spike. So, you have to sleep-walk through a 20 minute opener every single run, hoping you get a set of items that don't suck along the way. If only you could start your run much further along. I think the game's good, but it rubs me the wrong way. Uninstalled.

HITMAN: I have 2 and 3 at 100% achievements. I decided to go back to the first and 100% it too, so I have a full set. I had a lot of fun returning. HITMAN is one of my favorite game series of all time. Even if I was brainlessly 100%ing it, I still had a lot of fun. Fatigue did set in, but that was my fault for grinding achievements, not the game. I should stop 100%ing games; it's a stupid thing to do. I rarely do it, but when I do I tend to destroy my life temporarily. HITMAN is so intricate; I found stuff I hadn't found before even with several hundred hours in this series.

Tomb Raider: I have bounced off this game like 8 times. I bounced off it again. I returned because it has a Spanish dub. Wasn't a strong enough incentive. It's just so boring, and how they physically abuse Lara to the point of it coming off as a fetish is very unpleasant, borderline revolting. I played the Crystal Dynamics remake of the original Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, earlier this year, and that was great.

Prodigal: Only two, large, secret "post-game" dungeons left I think. This is one of my favorites of the year. Going to play the two same-world "sequels" the dev has put out. If the other two hit, Colorgrave is going on my indie dev darlings list.

 

[Parsnip]

I just finished Doors: Paradox, and yesterday I started Observation.

I'm digging the vibes in Observation, but what little gameplay there is has been a bit eh.

 

[Arulan]

I'm still playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

 

[Stevey]

Just started Space Marine 2 which is excellent.
Also fighting Messmer in Elden Ring

 

[Cacher]

Ace Attorney Investigations 1 Case 4 was so much better than the previous cases. Good balance of character interaction, twist and main story development. Really enjoyed it.

 

[didamangi]

Just started The Lost Crown - Mask of Darkness DLC. Pretty challenging on Immortal difficulty. I want a TLC sequel in the works pls.
Also continuing Detroit, Stranglehold, Kunitsu-Gami and Midnight Suns.

 

[Durante]

I've started playing Devil Summoners 2. Initial impressions:

• Story and characters are decent
• Really needs better AA
• Sadly, it seems to suffer from the common Atlus malaise regarding the battle system

What I mean by the last point is that every standard battle just boils down to either (i) trying every skill you have if you don't know the enemies' weakness or (ii) using that weakness and easily winning. This is the same with negligible changes across the vast majority of Atlus games I've played, and the reason I simply don't get the praise for their battle systems.

 

[Parsnip]

Finished Observation.
It's alright.

Started Slider. It's a delightful little thing. It's also actually a bit longer than I expected.

Did I mention it's free?

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Yesterday I got done with Starstruck: Hands of Time and I had a great time with it

 

[KingKrouch]

Recently got a modded Original Xbox. Played through and finished Conker's Bad Fur Day on it for the first time. I'm either thinking on playing Jet Set Radio Future or Brute Force next.

My main complaints with Bad Fur Day come down to the controls, the rather poor framerate (That's not even fully solved by emulation yet), and in the case of the Live and Reloaded version, some of the contentious art direction changes. The language being toned down in that release was a given, but despite those things, I had a pretty good time with the game.

Seeing Microsoft not continue the Project Spark Conker game, and having areas that have a distinct lack of polish, never fails to disappoint me.

 

[Kvik]

Sadly, it seems to suffer from the common Atlus malaise regarding the battle system

The first Soul Hackers actually have party formation to take into consideration — Physical attackers on front row for tanking DMG, casters on the back; like a proper DRPG. Sadly Soul Hackers 2 has completely eliminated this aspect.

There are other mechanics like moon phases affecting fusion that could make the game more interesting, but practically non-existent in SH2.

As much as I loved Ringo and Figue, I wish Atlus had given it a proper budget.

 

[Ascheroth]

Dropped Re:Chain of Memories and watched the remaining cutscenes on Youtube.
Two much of the game was just the same as KH1 and I just never really clicked with the combat system. I completed the 5th floor but found myself asking/googling "can I skip/does it get better" too often so I figured I might as well call it a day.
The story via Youtube was cool though.