Community What are you currently playing?

[TheLetdown]

I'm embarrassed to say it, but I'm playing Kingdom Hearts 3. So far, I feel like doing this ->

It's an uneven game. Bizarre bullet-hell segments that don't control very well and aren't very fun at all. It's such a departure from what has been great about the game -- ever increasing big-time set-piece battles. Now, I'm at this little hub-like world where I have a bunch of menial shit to do!

But, it's been light and breezy enough (when there isn't a cutscene followed by another and two minutes of gameplay before the next) that I'll keep going. The game desperately needs to introduce some equipment or mechanic to change up the Disney characters. Feels like there's no growth to them at all. That's going to be a problem.

 

[Ser Spammalot]

Currently playing through BUTCHER. It's ridiculously fun but it can be stupid hard in some levels. I'm playing through the Volcano Research Station atm.

 

[LEANIJA]

Gears 5, love the campaign for the most part. I guess most of the criticism is aimed at the MP, which I could not care less about. I liked it so much in fact that I bought it on Steam after playing it via Gamepass.
Half-Life 2, actually never played this through. Still holds up today, I think! And now Im stoked for HL Alyx, obviously. Just sucks that I dont know whats going on. I havent played the first HL either, and my current playthrough of HL2 is with an old save file and I cannot remember what happened in those first few hours I played a few years ago.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Now playing:

 

[undu]

I'm playing Path of Exile right now: it's a world apart from the beta I played many years back and I find it so much better than Grim Dawn or any other ARPG I've pplayed in a very long, long time.

 

[Matimeo]

Still going thru my own season in Formula 1 2019. Been playing smaller things in my library like Luxor Evolved , and Jewel Match Solitaire.
Need to get back to Madden, at this rate I will probably start my seasons when the actual NFL season is over lol.

 

[Sygmaelle]

All about that Kingdom under Fire II life atm and holy smokes IT IS GLORIOUS

Can't believe they wasted 80 millions to do it tho

 

[Sygmaelle]

maaaan this game is straight up a KOREAN MOBILE MMO format with a coat of painting .. like good enough for pc

Seriously its so utterly jarring after you think about it like jesus christ. There's just a hub in a form of a town to make it look like a mmo and safe camps everywhere on a map, but I believe that Black Desert Online MOBILE will be better at being a mmo than this

They got rid off all the currencies tied to upgrade specific stuff and only kept two in (gold and some shit called cubics) which you get plenty of at basically all times

Other than that the basic loop is half "assed" mmo which leads you to the hybrid musou X rts missions or pure RTS missions but check that out :

Said missions lasting not even 5 mins ? checked

Specific "currency" you get to level up your troops inside ? checked

No energy to speak of to enter but only doable 3 times per day ? checked


Like I genuinely, genuinely believe that there was something akin to an awesome foundation but they couldn't figure out how to keep it coherent and it turned out as a complete disaster. Current game is good but yeah, cannot unsee

Dead in 6 months top. Its impossible that this game did cost 80 millions, I refuse to believe it. FF XIV ARR at release was bare minimum 3 times much more impressive and it ran on a fucking ps3

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I'm not sure what I'm playing. Hope I find something to play today.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

I feel like I have already seen all there is to see in Black Future 88 in less than 5 hours.

 

[CommodoreKong]

I redeemed my free month of Gamepass from Alienware and I'm working my way through the Outer Worlds right now. Hopefully I can get it done before the month expires.

 

[5taquitos]

Juggling too many games right now, need to focus on finishing my playthrough of The Outer Worlds and Inside but I keep just playing CS.

 

[Ge0force]

Yakuza 0. Promising game, but not telling the player that you need to save your game manually at phone cells after 3 hours of play is a huge d*ck move.

 

[Stevey]

Gears 5, just started Act 4

 

[deftonesrcool]

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is delightful, but maaaan this game wants to be Witcher 3 so badly. Even the music cues are similar. I can almost hear Geralt beckon "C'mon Roach" whenever Kassandra whistles for her horse.


My first AC game, and I must say the digital simulation aspect is jarring. Maybe it fit better in the other titles but it makes little sense here so far. They should've committed to the period setting in earnest. I dont even understand... I'm a modern assassin and Kassandra is my avatar - why?

 

[5taquitos]

Oh yeah, I'm also playing American Fugitive right now, which I'll write a few words about:

American Fugitive is a top-down action game in the vein of the old GTA games. That alone is enough for me to recommend it, though it definitely has more than its share of jank.

Graphics are serviceable for the budget, but the half-rate animations for people take a bit getting used to. Gunplay is punchy though, and that's all that really matters.

Driving feels good, though I've had a few odd collision issues. Generally, though, driving from place to place is enjoyable. At least until you hit someone, and that's where my biggest gripe comes in.

It's so fucking easy to get the cops on your ass. They are roaming everywhere, and it's impossible to tell when bumping any car's fender will result in getting a wanted star and when they'll just let it slide. Anyone can report something, which means you can't ever let your guard down. Maybe that's part of the design, but for me it just leads to less fun. Losing wanted stars is easy enough, but it still leads to a tedious loop of restraint.

Other aspects are enjoyable so far, such as the house-robbing minigame, which is surprisingly compelling, at least at this early stage. I wish there was a safehouse, but you can unlock supply drops for when you respawn, and ordering a car or weapon on the go is cheap enough.

The story is pretty weak so far, but tbf I'm only in the first area still. However, the initial hook is you trying to clear your name for a murder you didn't commit, but the story missions have already forced me to kill about two dozen people, so even if you are extra careful and don't kill any pedestrians, you're still murdering multiple people on your path to clear your name of murder, which is super lame writing.

Still, all said and done, it's more old-school GTA, so I have to recommend it on that merit alone. It's fun if you turn your brain off and lower your standards. The real crime is that there aren't more games in this genre.

So that was more than I planned to write. Maybe I'll convert this to a Steam review once I beat it.

 

[Dandy]

Last night I finished Life is Strange 2's final episode!

Some general thoughts and my ending:

See more

I got Parting Ways. Despite teaching Daniel to follow the rules and be a good kid, I felt like we were so close to lose it all now so we made a run for it. I regretted it almost immediately, especially when Daniel talked about not wanting to hurt anyone(thankfully, it looks like he doesn't in this version) and bailed at the last moment. Daniel ends up with his grandparents(albeit under house arrest), but he seems happy throughout it. And Sean(and Finn!!!) get to live free in Puerto Lobos.

Despite that, I replayed it to see the Redemption ending(they both surrender). Wow... What a depressing end to the story. Daniel has a great life, and Sean goes to prison and looks broken. I was in tears the whole time -- Layla coming to pick him up when he was released was nice, but re-tracing their journey in the woods, seeing Sean lose it, and them parting ways was heart-breaking. I'm a Bay>BAE person, and this ending was too bleak for me.

David was a nice touch, and it's great that they managed to redeem him. I actually found what he said really insightful, and he was right! Sean and Daniel shouldn't have ran. Their lives would be MUCH better if they hadn't.

Anyways... I loved LiS2. Daniel was frustrating at times, but I adore Sean and their journey. It wasn't perfect, but it resonated with me more than LiS1(which I loved and plan to re-play soon).

 

[lashman]

Anyways... I loved LiS2. Daniel was frustrating at times, but I adore Sean and their journey. It wasn't perfect, but it resonated with me more than LiS1(which I loved and plan to re-play soon).

i got Blood Brothers - definitely the best ending you can get (and i don't care what the "official" requirements are marked as ... "low morality" my ass!!!)

and i love that game to death ... i sooooo hope they get to make LiS3 (with new characters and story, of course) because the jump in quality of pretty much everything between LiS and LiS2 is incredible ... so i REALLY want to see what they do for a third one

 

[Dandy]

i got Blood Brothers - definitely the best ending you can get (and i don't care what the "official" requirements are marked as ... "low morality" my ass!!!)

and i love that game to death ... i sooooo hope they get to make LiS3 (with new characters and story, of course) because the jump in quality of pretty much everything between LiS and LiS2 is incredible ... so i REALLY want to see what they do for a third one

I watched Blood Brothers(and the others) on Youtube and it is really good.

I really hope they make a LiS3 as well. It's one of my favourite series ever. From what they've said, Square Enix calls the shots though, and I don't think 2 had the sales that 1 did, which is a shame. Hopefully Square still has faith in the series.

Tell Me Why seems like it will have a lot in common with LiS, though I don't think it will have a supernatural element. Still, it's something to look forward to!

 

[lashman]

I watched Blood Brothers(and the others) on Youtube and it is really good.

it really is ... like i said - in my eyes that's the best ending out of all the 7

ACTUAL SPOILER

who the hell thought Sean going to jail for 15 years, or them getting separated at the border is a "good ending"?! like HOW?!

I really hope they make a LiS3 as well. It's one of my favourite series ever. From what they've said, Square Enix calls the shots though for the series, and I don't think 2 had the sales that 1 did, which is a shame. Hopefully Square still has faith in the series.

yeah ... i'll be so INCREDIBLY sad if LiS3 never happens ... and i hate the fact that people won't even give 2 a chance just because it's new characters ... aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!

Tell Me Why seems like it will have a lot in common with LiS, though I don't think it will have a supernatural element. Still, it's something to look forward to!

yeah, definitely looking forward to that one as well

but still - i really want LiS3 to happen ... 2 is the absolute best game i've EVER played (and i'm not saying that lightly)

 

[Dandy]

yeah ... i'll be so INCREDIBLY sad if LiS3 never happens ... and i hate the fact that people won't even give 2 a chance just because it's new characters ... aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!

I know. For me, using Chloe and Max in LiS2 would've cheapened their whole story. I love that it was envisioned as an anthology series with loose connections.

yeah, definitely looking forward to that one as well

but still - i really want LiS3 to happen ... 2 is the absolute best game i've EVER played (and i'm not saying that lightly)

It's definitely the one that has affected me the most emotionally and is easily my GOTY for 2019.

 

[lashman]

I know. For me, using Chloe and Max in LiS2 would've cheapened their whole story. I love that it was envisioned as an anthology series with loose connections.

yeah, exactly ... it's a finished story (as is the one in LiS2) ... there is absolutely no need to drag it out longer than that (which i guess they did with Before The Storm ... but even that is a prequel)

It's definitely the one that has affected me the most emotionally and is easily my GOTY for 2019.

yes, absolutely ... same

i have NEVER cared about the story in a game this much before (and i actually mostly play games for their stories ... no joke)

 

[Dandy]

(and i actually mostly play games for their stories ... no joke)

Me too!

 

[lashman]

Me too!

nice! good to know i'm not alone then, haha

 

[deftonesrcool]

Assassins creed odyssey is so good holy cannoli

 

[Kylac]

whoops wrong thread

 

[sk2k]

Terminator: SkyNET

One of the games i LOVE. It's unbelieveable how buggy this and it's predecessor Future Shock are. I can count how many times i got stuck on the level geometry or an enemy spawned inside me. There are also moments where my shots just go trough enemies without hurting them. This may be a DOSbox or a unofficial patch problem because i can not remember this problem from the original release.

 

[Dandy]

I'm re-playing the original Life is Strange. I've only played through it once and that was 4 years ago? LiS2 left me craving more.

I'm only in the beginning of the first Episode, and the foreshadowing is crazy.

Major Spoiler of LiS 1

In the first 5 minutes Jefferson says "Seriously though, I could frame any one of you in a dark corner, and capture you in a moment of desperation."

I just realized there is Director's Commentary so I need to turn that on.

 

[Stevey]

Halo: MCC

 

[xxr]

I'm currently enjoying my time with the campaign as well, but I absolutely despise this segment on Legendary solo. It's so frustrating with millions of ships shooting at you at the same time while you can't move any quicker than a snail, with a FOV close to zero.

 

[deftonesrcool]

Halo: MCC

Which Halo is that?

 

[xxr]

Which Halo is that?

Reach!

 

[Durante]

I also played Reach with some friends, one of whom is a huge Halo fan. (Personally I only tried the first, got bored of it and never played another)

I have to say I like it a lot more than what I remember playing. Of course, coop with friends always helps massively, and most missions weren't that great.

I loved the most recent one we did though, it's the one where you fly around in this city and have to deactivate some jammers or something like that. It has some great variety between the flight sections and the on-foot sections, and also really varied architecture between the towers you visit. It's neat.

 

[Ge0force]

Finished the story of My time at Portia today. It was a long time for me, I've been spending over a 100 hours in that game.

 

[Stevey]

Black Mesa

 

[deftonesrcool]

Mainly:

Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Mass Effect 1 (plugging away in bed before I sleep every night)

In short bursts:

NHL 20
Gears of War Ultimate Edition
Devil May Cry HD

I don't leave the house much these days apart from work.

Thanks Xbox

 

[low-G]

Boneworks: It really is a lot like Trespasser (which I enjoyed in the day...). I spent 45 minutes trying to solve a puzzle. I don't think I solved it, but I got past... The combat when the creepy synth music swells is transcendent. Honestly, if the game story took itself more seriously the game could be incredibly creepy in a Half Life combine-ish way. The game really has me surpassing obsticles like I would in real life, which is more than I can say most games. The game is very interesting.

Star Wars Fallen Order: It's a great adventure game is the style of old combing mechanics of Uncharted, Dark Souls lite, and Metroid Prime very seamlessly.

Blaster Master Zero 2: Really surprising. Grabbed me a lot more than Blaster Master Zero 1. It feels like a legit sequel to original Blaster Master somehow, even though there was the Genesis one, the PS1 one,... etc

Dragon Quest Builders 2: I've been eyeing the Builders series since the original's PS4 launch, but I finally got this one. It has really grabbed me. The game does a great job pacing objectives and making the world compelling enough that you want to build. This works better for me than a sandbox, because in a sandbox I do a few cool things I want to do them I'm 'done'. Love the quirky story stuff.

Half Life Blue Shift: Never played it before. It's actually very good. Did Gearbox actually dev this? Now of course Halo 1 was about to come out when this dropped, so it wasn't impressive for the time, but it's quite fun.

Wrath: It's very good. Recommended if you want a Quake 1-style game. But maybe play Arcane Dimensions (mod) first.

Mechwarrior 5 Mercs: I like the missions so far. Feels Mechwarriory. Love seeing the mechs really vividly again, and the landscapes from the mech cockpits. The intro mission and story cutscenes were F-tier, though. Seems good but not spectacular.

Shovel Knight King of Cards: My fav of the free expansion characters yet -- although Treasure Trove is just an incredible package.

Gloomhaven: Seems like a great tactical / board game game. I need to play more.

Mario Maker 2: The Link powerup really is fantastic. Wish Nintendo did more creative stuff like this, but this one is so well made I can tell it took a while.

Unavowed: Really excellent adventure game. Starts off with a bang, introducing very interesting lore and worldbuilding.

Paradigm: Made some more progress in this excellent adventure game recently too. Game has legit moods. Exceptional.

Battletech: Replaying in that mode that doesn't have a story. It's pretty tough!

Replaying because of VRR display:
Devil Daggers, Max Payne, Blood, Downward, Shadow Warrior, Forza Horizon 4 (uh who knew you could max this and still get 144Hz?)

 

[sk2k]

Paradigm: Made some more progress in this excellent adventure game recently too. Game has legit moods. Exceptional.

This game is really underrrated.

 

[Ascheroth]

There's about a dozen or so games I currently consider myself playing (which means it could be that I don't play them for some time, but continue to have them in the back of my mind and plan to get back once I'm done with some others, or those others get shifted back).

But for now here are 2 I feel I'm currently priorizing:

Hand of Fate
About halfway through the game and having a great time. I think I'm reaching the end of some specific quest-lines. I'm really enjoying how successfully clearing event cards will unlock new follow-up event-cards and equipment cards and such. I always just use recommended decks but make sure to modify the encounter deck to include all my new or unfinished encounters.

Operation Abyss
I've shelved my Knight after I unlocked the Monk class in the spirit of "Offense is the best Defense" and because I wanted to give it a try. Haven't missed it yet tbh. My party (except Monk) are about to hit the level cap for the first half of the game (15), so things are going pretty good. I'm also thinking of training an Archer after my Assassin reaches levelcap, just to give it a try. I'll probably also train my Knight until the level cap as well, just for good measure.

My other party members are pretty fixed. Samurai, because they turned out to have some insane AOE output and mine just learned Shura Frontstyle which basically could solo a boss if their evasion is high enough (it causes the Samurai and target to attack in turns until the Samurai is hit). Tbh the most efficient front line up would probably be just 3 Samurais, but that would be a bit boring.
Mage for the Float spell, which is a necessity, though their damage output isn't that great, some debuffs are nice I gues.
Priest for the obvious reasons of healing and buffing, pretty indispensable.
Academic for finding hidden doors, unlocking locked doors, identifying loot, return gate spell and debuffing. Pretty much indispensable as well.

I'm having a lot of fun with the game, even though some design decisions are... weird.

 

[Stevey]

Finished Black Mesa.

Interloper kind of killed it for me, went on far too long and too many puzzles/platforming sections.

 

[Ser Spammalot]

Currently playing through Outlaws for the very first time and it's real fucking good. I'd be down for a HD remake, it would be killer to see those cutscenes in a higher resolution!

 

[Sygmaelle]

Managed to find what didn't work for my achievement

All done now ! onto Darksiders 2 o/

 

[Stevey]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

 

[jim2point0]

Nothing. Nothing at all.

I recently finished Star Wars Fallen Order and Arise. But now I'm kinda looking for something to play and I can't find anything. I've used Steam's deep dive and the interactive recommended but just can't find anything I'm interested in.

The only thing I'm slightly considering is Darksiders Genesis. It's very positive on Steam....

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin is also a thing. It's very positive on Steam as well.

shrug

 

[Ser Spammalot]

Way of the Passive Fist is dope as hell.

 

[Dandy]

Weirdly, I am playing No Man's Sky. I refunded it the last time I bought it after 25 minutes. For whatever reason, I am finding it very compelling now. I wish my framerate was better.

 

[Stevey]

Remnant: From The Ashes.
This is pretty neat so far, just playing it solo.

 

[didamangi]

Played some really beautiful games this past month.

Jedi Fallen Order is a great single player experience, worth the $15 I spent on Origin Access Premier.

Also played A Plague's Tale with my Origin Access Premier month, a really bleak and beautiful game. Nice little stealth game with an interesting story that gets a little over the top at the end. Laughing my ass off at the final boss really although it is a pretty cool fight.

After that Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is just a fun and gorgeous platformer.

Hades is out on steam, it's pretty great and also a very pretty game.

RDR2. Took 5 hours to finished the tutorial chapter. don't know if it's that long or I'm just juggling every setting after watching the Digital Foundry videos to get a good 60 fps on my PC.

 

[Ge0force]

X-Morph Defense. Surprisingly good hybrid between tower defense and a twin stick shooter. Bought the DLC as well after a few hours of play.

 

[C-Dub]

I just played Boneworks and Disco Elysium, and I refunded both.

Boneworks is just, well, meh. See the VR thread for my more detailed thoughts on that. The long and short is that the controls are really bad, the campaign is a giant ball of meh and it's an all-around disappointing experience. I don't think this game does VR justice beyond a few solid technical proofs of concept, and that people are holding this up as some watershed VR moment really perplexes me because it's, well, not good.

Disco Elysium, however, is amazing, but I hubristically thought the game would work well with the Steam Controller and, well, it doesn't. My reaction times are just not good enough to click the health/mental top-up icon in time, and I find myself getting a Game Over needlessly after a bad roll. I will definitely be re-buying it in the future once the developer implements the promised controller patch (hopefully making good use of Steam Input too, as I love my Steam Controller and want to use it more), as the whole concept intrigues me while the writing is top notch. But I really just need a button on my gamepad to press rather than trying to move my cursor over a portion of the UI that is clearly not designed for the Steam Controller. At any rate I'd recommend it if you're playing with a KB/M setup - but if you're like me just wait for the controller patch.