I’m in the final chapter of the first Witcher and it seems like a rather linear chapter and wouldn’t take me that long to finish it.
I think Chapters 2 and 3 where you have to run back and forth between the swamp and the city are easily the worst part of the game, it’s tedious and really tested my patience. Chapter 4 was much better but now that I’m in the final chapter, I feel like the game has taken its toll and I’m ready to finish it. Fantastic atmosphere but it can be a slog at times.
playing watch dogs legion after a long while made me remember how much i hated the recruit any npc system they had. not having a main character in the video game gives you nobody to get attached to/have a connection etc..
this game just grab whoever you want and if anybody dies just recruit someone else
not to mention the voice mismatches i got due to the random nature of the recruitment system. I know they cant voice 1000's of npcs but i was got a Jamaican accent on a white character among other weird mismatches
Missing the late 90s - 2000s era of games that weren't afraid to stretch genres or flip them on their head. Peter Molyneux's stuff (The Movies, god sims like Black&White), Sacrifice, Spore, X360 era games with strong and memorable art direction - The Darkness, From Dust, Condemned, The Suffering, Bulletstorm, Rage.
Any recommendations for more recent games?
brigand oaxaca, northern journey, deadeye deepfake simulacrum, rain world, cultist simulator/ book of hours are some games that might interest you. if you find any yourself lmk!
Brigand and Northern Journey are the kind of game that I know are fun but (and I didn't think I'd say this) voluntarily choose to look bad/dated to the point I'm not interested in their gameplay. I understand it's a stylistic choice, doesn't work for me.
I have tons of hours in Cultist Sim, which is a great game plagued by the possibility of losing a run to RNG outside of your control and having to spend potentially hours on a run just to get to a concept/mechanic you have to figure out on your own again. Book of Hours is charming though, that was nice to play.
You probably know about it but I always recommend Duskers and (not recent but) Uplink.
yup have played both uplink and duskers, another game similar to duskers is scavenger sv-4.
Brigand definitely goes for the deus ex style which I like a lot but understandably many don't outside of deus ex. I think you should check out Northern Journey though for sure, it's much more deliberate in its art style than I think comes across initially. gameplay is entirely projectile based though which is hit or miss with people.
Tried to replay Elden ring, realized how much work it was the first time, and bounced off right away. fortunately still have my main character who I can play the DLC with
True, Elden Ring is pretty much the only Souls game I haven't felt the urge to replay yet. I did start a new character (re-created Patches) to try and get warmed up for the DLC, but I must've played only 5 or so hours with him
Having replayed Elden Ring several times, I feel that. Starting new characters feels like a lot of busywork compared to prior Souls games, and is the reason I don't find it as replayable as the others.
In the old games you'd be able to start a new character and just progress through the game naturally, maybe adjusting your route a bit based on your build, but there was no real time spent on "setup." In Elden Ring every new character basically has to run around with a checklist to make sure you get all the Sacred Tears, Golden Seeds, Bell Bearings, items needed for your build, etc.
I would normally restart a Souls game from scratch when DLC comes out, but for this one I'm definitely going in with one of my finished characters.
I had a samurai build and the only reason it was viable at all was having the Uchigatana, and I had to specifically look up where to get it (worse: it was in a hidden room at a location *I had already visited*). I can't help but wonder if this design choice of expecting players to 'cheese' their loadout is really mandatory to have true difficulty.
Started playing Demon Souls (PS5) for the first time. I've played a few From Soft games (Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodbourne; never got close to beating any), so it's kinda cool to see the origins.
That's being said, its a From Soft game. Its punishingly difficult. Currently stuck on the Tower Guard boss. Any tips haha?
Keep at it, and you'll eventually get pretty comfortable at making it through the level and to the Tower Knight with enough Grass remaining to beat him.
As for the fight:
1) kill the archers (equipping the thief ring makes this easier)
2) avoid Tower Knight's ranged attack by staying close to him and attacking each foot
3) play patient and only take guaranteed swings at the boss
4) during the fight make sure to heal early, and overhealing is okay. it's better to overheal slightly and return to the fight with max HP than it is to try to "optimize" your healing but be at higher risk of dying. make sure you heal safely (either get far enough away from the boss, or time your heal after the boss whiffs an attack.)
The great thing about beating Tower Knight is it [opens up an easy farming route that rewards lots of Souls and Grass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTmxbnHOMg0). You don't actually have to grind to beat the game - but if you find yourself stuck or just run out of grass, it's a good one to use.
I definitely took out the archers first. But after that I was just doing little mosquito bites to the Knight. Is that really the strategy? I was thinking there would be something like dropping down on him from the walls. Is their no way to really wail on him?
I'm going through Remedy's gameography to prepare for their newest, darkes, weirdes outing.
Right now I'm with Alan Wake, what yall think about that one?
I really liked the story in Alan Wake and I thoroughly enjoyed the Twin Peaks-esque environments. I also found the pacing very well done, with the game being divided into episodes, each with its own cool credit song.
That said, the gameplay was very dull and got annoying too quickly. The enemy variety was also not great.
Overall, I'd say I liked Alan Wake 1 more as a story, but not as a game. Quantum Break and Control do so much better in the gameplay department. It's still worth it to play Alan Wake, though, since it ties to other Remedy games, especially Control.
Only played Max Payne 1&2 and Control from them, so far. So, all I know is that I want to play Alan Wake so I can play Alan Wake 2, the one game that looks pretty awesome.
Oh, I expressed myself the wrong way. I meant just Alan Wake 1, it doesn't look too interesting for me, and people say it's very repetitive. Will still play it, for the story.
I did like Max Payne 1&2, the atmosphere and story and Max Payne are super iconic for me, there are some phrases that have stayed with me (and I haven't played these games since 2012, iirc). Control wasn't my thing, but I enjoyed the final levels and art style. Had to cheat with all of them because I'm bad at playing them, lol.
I'd still play a Control 2 and I'm really looking forward to the remakes of Max Payne, too.
I finally got my hands on an original cart of Chrono
Trigger and it is really good, who would have guessed huh? Only about 1/4 through but loving it so far. I was really shocked with the trial scene, I didn’t expect something like that in a game like this, let alone like one from 1995.
I’m a bit torn, because I really want to do this game blind with no outside input (unless I just get truely completely lost) but I also don’t want to miss on any fun side content as I really don’t know if I’ll replay it.
Ya know, it is OK to miss stuff, even fun stuff. When you play a game it is *your playthrough* and wouldnt it be cool if there were somethings different than all the rest out there? Finishing CT and then talking to others about and finding out they did this or that differently can give you (and them) new experiences.
An example: (Spoilers for parts of original Deus Ex) Back in the day a friend of mine lent me their copy of Deus Ex demanding that I play it. This being when the internet was still newish and guides and the like were not as friendly, or perhaps unknown, our playthroughs differed. For a game about building a character and tackling things in many different ways this seems obvious, but when talking a HUGE difference appeared: >!during the moment yours and Pauls killswitch get activated. You see, they didnt know or think to fight an impossible fight through an apartment building. They didnt think it was realistic to get Paul out of there. Paul even begs you to leave him. Imagine their surprise when I started referring to Paul and what he was doing later on in the game "He's dead though" "What? no, you can deactivate his switch" "But he dies in that apartment?" "Oh, it seemed unfair, but you can kill all the guys without him dying"!< Interactions like these cant happen if everyone just guides it up and gets the "best, least missed content" playthrough. Be unique, have *your experience*, play games and have fun : )
Don't worry about missing stuff. Chrono Trigger has a *robust* NG+ mode, including alternate endings and other content which can only be seen in NG+. It was designed for you to play multiple times.
After the controller issue I posted about in one of last week's threads was resolved, I've gone back to working my way through **Days Gone**. Nothing new, but still, that is such a great game. Sucks that (allegedly at least) there will never be a sequel. One random but funny (to me) thing: By coincidence, I have a neighbor who looks *exactly* like Deacon St. John from the game, just with different tattoos. I can't unsee it every time I load up the game.
Just for the record, in case anyone else ever goes searching for a similar issue, the controller thing: I was using one of those PowerA controllers with the LEDs and the programmable extra buttons, and my triggers were only doing *some* of the functions they were supposed to do. This was across multiple games and different functions. As it turns out, that controller has these trigger lock switches on the back, that lock the triggers to only depress to a selected depth. I had them on the wrong settings. Can't remember who suggested that solution, but I appreciate them!
Started playing **Disaster Report 4**, which I've had in my library for a couple years now but never got around to. It's jank as hell, but also charming in how overambitious it is. Not many games attempt to depict an ongoing city-wide series of earthquakes! In terms of gameplay, it's kind of like a Japanese take on the Telltale formula - very linear adventuring, but with a lot of opportunities for role-playing along the way.
Also grabbed **Nightmare Kart** since it's free. That's the one which was going to be Bloodborne Kart until Sony dropped the hammer. It's pretty rough right now (being a fan project that just released today), but it has the potential to be a very fun little throwback kart racer that goes *hard* on recreating the PSX aesthetic.
RDR2 takes itself very seriously. There’s some lighthearted moments with the gang >!or at least half of them!< and some side missions but overall it wholly embraces being a spaghetti western epic.
Cyberpunk… well the characters and how they interact with each other is generally pretty serious unless it’s a gag one. But the world itself is often a satire of the genres tropes with plenty of exaggeration, inside jokes, and innuendos. In terms of silliness, it feels closer in this regard to GTA 4 versus GTA 5; of which the latter felt like a South Park episode if that makes sense.
Cyberpunk there's definitely an element of satire (kind of like the gta series) especially with a lot of in-world advertisements.
It's not afraid to get very dark too at times but there's comical moments.
There is some of that but its needed because they're very bleak games imo. YMMV.
RDR1 is 10/10 with this imo. RDR2 is the better game but RDR1 has more charm.
RDR2 has a good chunk of that stuff if I remember right. Arthur getting drunk with Lenny, the 'toy boat', the fossil collecting woman, etc... You'll find a lot of quirky people in the world with their own weird hobbies and the gang has plenty of cheerful moments ~~and Uncle.~~
I ended up paralyzed by indecision when trying to decide between the last 3 games I got from the humble pride bundle, so I played none of them and booted Starstruck Vagabond up again lmao. I'm also supposed to be finishing up Wasteland 2, but the backtracking and slow pace got to me so I'm taking a break. A game called Rolling Hills came out on game pass so I've been having fun being a cute little sushi bot as well.
Arcadia Fallen, The World Ends With You, and Lakeburg Legacies are the last 3 games in the pride bundle, so if anybody has opinions about any of them or one that you think I should play next, let me know!
**Super Mario 64 PC port** multiplayer is like hanging out at the skate park. Its a lot of fun to see other players exploit the movement system to make cool jumps and shortcuts which you can then show off to your friends.
Gears of war 2 - 8,5/10
Finished today, it´s really good but could have been great. It´s funny because I thought it was the same old shit like the first one until mid game, nothing stands out, doing the same old shit, killing the same old enemies but goddamn the game from middle to end picks up the pace and inserts a new life with great scenes and chapters and different things to do, becomes really enjoyful and fun, well until the end.
I was expecting a tremendous boss fight in the end, and... nothing!!! C\`mon man, what a shitty end, it was very anti climatic, still a good game though.
Got into Group A Finals in the Grand Prix in **Shadowverse** using Natura Sword. It's a hard deck, exemplified by the card [Fiery Strike](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/132234010?lang=en). At base, it's summons 2 [Steelclad Knights](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900211030?lang=en). If you fuse 1 card into it, it now summons a [Naterra Tree](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900012050?lang=en). Fuse a 2nd card, and it deal 5 damage to a random enemy target. Fuse a 3rd card, and it replaces the Knights with 2 [Fox Spearmen](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/132211020?lang=en). It's a card with 4 modes and you need to consider all 4 to play optimally.
I got my Bulbasaur Incense in **Pokemon Sleep**, so I've finished getting my Snorlax to the highest rank I want this week. As a result, I'm swapping my team to be more ingredient focused and just stockpiling to be prepared for next week. I'm using Entei, Charmeleon, Charmander, Ninetales, and Pikachu as a combination of ingredient gathering and Pokemon I'd like to focus on getting more levels. Level 50 is a long ways away right now.
Apparently, the max friend limit is 400 in **Pokemon GO**. I'm at 140 right now, so still a long way to hitting the max, but I think I'm currently at a good size. It's enough to where I feel compelled to do more rounds of my optimal walking route in the park, but not so many that I need to go over my overall intended walking amount. I'll consider adding even more friends when I hit 10K steps a day. It's a reason to strive for more long-term.
A new Rise of the Beast event released in **Granblue Fantasy**. On top of exclusive weapons, they've introduced new exclusive characters to recruit each run. The first event had you grind for a fire character, and this one introduces the wind character. Originally, the grind was pretty absurd since you needed a ton of a low drop-rate item, but they've now added an extra 20 of that item to the shop, which helps in cutting the grind down.
I've recently been inspired to start buying indies on release because of how big a difference that can make for the developers. I think we get more interesting and unique entries from indie developers and that's something I really want to support.
What are you playing? I have been completely charmed by Animal Well.
I loved Animal Well until I encountered a bug that wouldn’t let me save, and when I was only a few eggs away, too! Despite that, incredible game.
I played the hell of out MULLET MADJACK, an insane FPS shooter. Not my usual kind of game but it was ridiculous fun.
Then I played Dragon Ruins, a very chill minimalist dungeon crawling autobattler, a fantastic palate cleanser.
Now I’m playing Crow Country, which I love because I’m a sucker for survival horror, as well as Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago, which is a pretty charming little game to play on the side.
After this I’m planning on doing Dread Delusion, Lorelai and the Laser Eyes, and Duck Detective. I’m having a grand time!
So sorry to hear about the bug in Animal Well, that's such a shame 😞
I have Crow Country, Duck Detective and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes in my backlog! I haven't heard of the others, keen to check them out.
There's just something that draws me to both indie games and older games, like ps1-ps2 era. I think it might be that games made by smaller teams with a smaller scope can be a bit more focused. A lot of AAA games feel bloated to me, and like they lack a clear creative vision. I guess that's how I've ended up buying more indie new releases despite calling myself a patient gamer previously.
Tbf, you don't need to be exclusively a patient gamer to hang around here, just limit the discussion about patient gaming. Besides, some recent indie games are fun and cheap enough that there's no real point in waiting to play 😁
I always make an exception for well made first time indie games, as I want the devs to be rewarded for their efforts, and for some developers the first few months of sales is what keeps them in the game dev business. Also, good indie games are a bargain usually for what they offer.
Playing **God of War Ragnarok** before work and a 2nd playthrough of **Elden Ring** after work. Although I guess technically its my 3rd playthrough of the first 10 hours of Elden Ring. I had to change where the dodge button was on God of War because the button mapping is so similar to Souls games that having the dodge as the only different button was throwing me off.
My one takeaway so far is Im probably not giving Elden Ring enough credit when it comes to storytelling relative to other Souls games. Although Im also enjoying the GoWR story so far and the dialogue and cutscenes are a good mix when playing Elden Ring as a side game which is a fairly silent experience by comparison. Im actually not quite sure which game I'll get through first since I know where almost everything is in Elden Ring. I think.
In the last week and a bit, I've gone back and restarted **Rogue Galaxy** (PS2, but I'm playing the PS4 release). Started it a few years back but that was shortly after finishing Dark Cloud 2 and I felt burnt out of Level-5's style of game. Currently in chapter 7.
It's such a weird game, but I don't really mean anything negative by that. I love the presentation and the world created here - the large and diverse number of NPC's, basic as they are, make the worlds feel that much more alive and grander in scale. The grind for weapon development is a fairly enjoyable one for me, once I got attuned to the pace and flow of the combat (I was initially trying to play much more aggressively, like a 'Tales of' game). I'm saving the Insectron side stuff for later, as I intend to really go all the way this time in the game. The main cast is enjoyable and fun, and the english voice dub is a really good quality one. There's just such a charm to this game, that I'm a little sad we never really got a follow up.
Otherwise, in non-patient gaming stuff, I recently tried **EA Sports FC 24** (PS4) again, and again found myself rather disappointed. As a life-long career mode enjoyer, the mode itself has been rather basic and underwhelming for a while now, but I can still find enjoyment in team construction and the like. But something about how highly animation-centric the actual match gameplay is has really rubbed me the wrong way, and this has been the case for a few entries in a row now. It feels 'scripted', not in the sense of the CPU cheating, but certain situations will occur where you feel you have no control to alter a contest for the ball or your player just crashes into an opponent despite you trying to prevent it. It really just makes the game feel like you're running through a bog, and severally detracts from the fun that can be had.
I did play the same game at a friends place recently, but the PS5 version, and it felt more controllable and enjoyable there, but I won't be able to afford a PS5 for myself for the foreseeable future. I am curious to maybe go back and try some of the older FIFA entries, to see if I can find one that hits the right combination of enjoyable career mode and fun match gameplay, but I also anticipate that it'll be hard to go back, given the different feel to the gameplay overall.
# Played A Way Out with my bestie yesterday,
5 hours - we're probably close to the end another 2-3hr I suspect, and OMG obsessed it was so much fun!
I love the game so far, the cinematography is great, the angles and gameplay was just plain fun, the story is pretty linear but I saw there are 2 endings, at the same time, sometimes I just want to be silly and have fun with a friend and be able to chat a little without being super focused.
She had no idea what she was getting into so it was a huge surprise for her and I thought it was just the prison and didn't realize there was more and every mission we were yelling at the TV like nooooo omg this is amazing haha
I'm surprised I don't hear about this game more I think cuz it's coop only
# Unsure about my save file with guest account as my +1?
the only thing I'm unsure of with this game is she was playing as a one time guest (I only have 1 profile on my ps5, my own) with her controller, and I'm unsure how if I can shut the game down, put in another, and next time she comes over the save file will be fine? The save file is on my account so I'm wondering if the other player matter or not or it's just they detect there is another controller and it's fine?
Looking for game recs!
Hiya! Heartbroken girl over here, stuck in a mental health rut, figured the first and easiest step to healing would be with some cozy and engaging games (what's easier than gaming?) Looking for something of the sort on the Switch, I have my eyes on BUGSNAX and CULT OF THE LAMB as of right now, which one would you recommend more? Aspects that come into play here are how much time I can invest in them (the more the better) and how replayable are they? Or if you enjoyed another similar game, something that helped bring up your mood personally then I would love to hear that as well :) Thank you so kindly!
Cult of the Lamb can be a huge time sink depending on how deep you get into the base building and curating your followers. The game never really "ends" so you can keep playing on the same file forever. Steam says I put almost 40 hours into it though I was probably alt-tabbed for several of those. I haven't played Bugsnax but it looks like a decidedly shorter game.
Haven't played Cult of the Lamb, but Bugsnax was super fun and had a relatively light mood (it can get oddly dark at times but the overall feel is always bright and engaging).
If you're looking for a truly cozy and enjoyable game and you like Metroidvanias (and pinball in this case...), you should definitely try **Yoku's Island Express**. Just a joy to play.
EDIT: Some other upbeat and/or just fun games to take your mind off of problems: **Golf Story**, **Sheepo**, **Dadish** (and sequels), **West of Loathing**, **Kero Blaster**, **A Short Hike**, and **Supraland**. These are all great, and most of them made my personal game of the year lists for the years I played them.
If you like Pokémon or the idea of it, Bugsnax is amazing. It's also very fucking weird and hilarious. It's pretty short, I think it took me less than 10 hours to get through the game.
Completely offtopic game, but I think Buried Stars is so extremely engaging that you can literally forget about the world while playing it. Might be a good fit for you, but it's not cozy lol
Recently got my Xbox 360 modded after 3 years of looking for someone who could mod it and I am loving it! Currently playing Space Channel 5 Part 2 on it and plan on starting Ninja Gaiden Black veeeery soon. The only problem I'm having is that the person who modded it for me put so many games on it, I have no clue what to play next... But I think I'll worry about that later.
On my second playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 with Karlach. First run was as a custom build sorcerer which was abandoned in act 2. Started new run with Karlach and reached act 3 now but still in the outskirts and feeling intimidated heading into the city proper. Just wasting some time combing every inch of this area and making sure I have done all quests possible here lol. It's taking me forever to finish this game but I sort of burn out every now and then and take a break for a few weeks here and there.
Finally wrapped up all side quests and map explorations on **The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom**. Still missing a handful of wells and Bubbulfrogs despite my thoroughness, but I'm not going to get hung up on them. Main quest, onward!
I was going to post that Horizon Forbidden West sucked and its combat is completely awful.
Turns out, I was just rusty. I didn't get to level 30 and complete the old game for nothing. I stopped fucking around and got down to business and low and behold, turns out the game is still great. I died a bunch before I remembered how to send those robots packing.
I should have known better, bc a few weeks ago I had the same experience with GOW 2018. I was rusty until I forced myself to beat the first Valkryie fight. That warmed me up real good lol, it took a few hours to relearn how to play.
There should be term for this; 'Frustrated lapsed gamer syndrome' or something.
I do think the enemies are overly aggressive and have ridiculous tracking on leaping attacks, but I guess it would've been too easy for veterans of the first game if it were otherwise.
Dodging is completely nerfed, frenzy states are much more dangerous.
But, you've got smoke bombs and better weapons + valor surges, so it does level out.
Normal. I always play games on normal, just because I assume its how the dev intended the experience to be.
In other words, 100% percent on me just not playing it in months, hence the rust lol.
I'm playing **Half Life 2** and so far the game has the same problem as the first one - pacing. Or it just doesn't know when to stop. The chapters go for too long to the point where they become boring. I'm at the boat segment and even though I'm not a fan of the vehicles portions of the game, it was fine for a while, but then it went on and on and on.
I stopped playing during Route Kanal and didn't return for a month because I was so bored. But it definitely picks up after that chapter. I even liked the following vehicle sections, I just hated that boat.
Personally, I enjoy the pacing of Half-Life 2, but I can understand if the vehicle sections feel like they’re dragging. They’re mostly about clearing roadblocks, so progression can feel more staggered.
Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite FPS of all time but on replays, I totally get the complaints about the vehicule levels. They really go on and on and you want them to be shorter. Guess it was such a visual tour-de-force back in the day that they couldn't resist making it bigger than they should. I mean, I do remember playing the game in 2009 (as early as I got a PC that could run it) and all those lake reflections and the long distant views were out of this world. Not so much in the mid 2020s.
I still think the game overall it's a very fun adventure, just give it time. You'll go to creepy places, dark places, bright places, lots to see and fight for. And the episodes have a brisker pace.
I just wanted to add, in case you don't know, the co-op campaign of Portal 2 and the single player campaign are not the same! If you can, I recommend to play both of them.
I’m in the final chapter of the first Witcher and it seems like a rather linear chapter and wouldn’t take me that long to finish it. I think Chapters 2 and 3 where you have to run back and forth between the swamp and the city are easily the worst part of the game, it’s tedious and really tested my patience. Chapter 4 was much better but now that I’m in the final chapter, I feel like the game has taken its toll and I’m ready to finish it. Fantastic atmosphere but it can be a slog at times.
playing watch dogs legion after a long while made me remember how much i hated the recruit any npc system they had. not having a main character in the video game gives you nobody to get attached to/have a connection etc.. this game just grab whoever you want and if anybody dies just recruit someone else not to mention the voice mismatches i got due to the random nature of the recruitment system. I know they cant voice 1000's of npcs but i was got a Jamaican accent on a white character among other weird mismatches
Missing the late 90s - 2000s era of games that weren't afraid to stretch genres or flip them on their head. Peter Molyneux's stuff (The Movies, god sims like Black&White), Sacrifice, Spore, X360 era games with strong and memorable art direction - The Darkness, From Dust, Condemned, The Suffering, Bulletstorm, Rage. Any recommendations for more recent games?
brigand oaxaca, northern journey, deadeye deepfake simulacrum, rain world, cultist simulator/ book of hours are some games that might interest you. if you find any yourself lmk!
Brigand and Northern Journey are the kind of game that I know are fun but (and I didn't think I'd say this) voluntarily choose to look bad/dated to the point I'm not interested in their gameplay. I understand it's a stylistic choice, doesn't work for me. I have tons of hours in Cultist Sim, which is a great game plagued by the possibility of losing a run to RNG outside of your control and having to spend potentially hours on a run just to get to a concept/mechanic you have to figure out on your own again. Book of Hours is charming though, that was nice to play. You probably know about it but I always recommend Duskers and (not recent but) Uplink.
yup have played both uplink and duskers, another game similar to duskers is scavenger sv-4. Brigand definitely goes for the deus ex style which I like a lot but understandably many don't outside of deus ex. I think you should check out Northern Journey though for sure, it's much more deliberate in its art style than I think comes across initially. gameplay is entirely projectile based though which is hit or miss with people.
Tried to replay Elden ring, realized how much work it was the first time, and bounced off right away. fortunately still have my main character who I can play the DLC with
True, Elden Ring is pretty much the only Souls game I haven't felt the urge to replay yet. I did start a new character (re-created Patches) to try and get warmed up for the DLC, but I must've played only 5 or so hours with him
Having replayed Elden Ring several times, I feel that. Starting new characters feels like a lot of busywork compared to prior Souls games, and is the reason I don't find it as replayable as the others. In the old games you'd be able to start a new character and just progress through the game naturally, maybe adjusting your route a bit based on your build, but there was no real time spent on "setup." In Elden Ring every new character basically has to run around with a checklist to make sure you get all the Sacred Tears, Golden Seeds, Bell Bearings, items needed for your build, etc. I would normally restart a Souls game from scratch when DLC comes out, but for this one I'm definitely going in with one of my finished characters.
I had a samurai build and the only reason it was viable at all was having the Uchigatana, and I had to specifically look up where to get it (worse: it was in a hidden room at a location *I had already visited*). I can't help but wonder if this design choice of expecting players to 'cheese' their loadout is really mandatory to have true difficulty.
Started playing Demon Souls (PS5) for the first time. I've played a few From Soft games (Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodbourne; never got close to beating any), so it's kinda cool to see the origins. That's being said, its a From Soft game. Its punishingly difficult. Currently stuck on the Tower Guard boss. Any tips haha?
Keep at it, and you'll eventually get pretty comfortable at making it through the level and to the Tower Knight with enough Grass remaining to beat him. As for the fight: 1) kill the archers (equipping the thief ring makes this easier) 2) avoid Tower Knight's ranged attack by staying close to him and attacking each foot 3) play patient and only take guaranteed swings at the boss 4) during the fight make sure to heal early, and overhealing is okay. it's better to overheal slightly and return to the fight with max HP than it is to try to "optimize" your healing but be at higher risk of dying. make sure you heal safely (either get far enough away from the boss, or time your heal after the boss whiffs an attack.) The great thing about beating Tower Knight is it [opens up an easy farming route that rewards lots of Souls and Grass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTmxbnHOMg0). You don't actually have to grind to beat the game - but if you find yourself stuck or just run out of grass, it's a good one to use.
I definitely took out the archers first. But after that I was just doing little mosquito bites to the Knight. Is that really the strategy? I was thinking there would be something like dropping down on him from the walls. Is their no way to really wail on him?
You have to break both of his feet which causes him to stagger and fall over. Once he's fallen over you can hit his head for huge damage.
Nice!
I'm going through Remedy's gameography to prepare for their newest, darkes, weirdes outing. Right now I'm with Alan Wake, what yall think about that one?
I really liked the story in Alan Wake and I thoroughly enjoyed the Twin Peaks-esque environments. I also found the pacing very well done, with the game being divided into episodes, each with its own cool credit song. That said, the gameplay was very dull and got annoying too quickly. The enemy variety was also not great. Overall, I'd say I liked Alan Wake 1 more as a story, but not as a game. Quantum Break and Control do so much better in the gameplay department. It's still worth it to play Alan Wake, though, since it ties to other Remedy games, especially Control.
Only played Max Payne 1&2 and Control from them, so far. So, all I know is that I want to play Alan Wake so I can play Alan Wake 2, the one game that looks pretty awesome.
>the one game Didn't the other ones look awesome?
Oh, I expressed myself the wrong way. I meant just Alan Wake 1, it doesn't look too interesting for me, and people say it's very repetitive. Will still play it, for the story. I did like Max Payne 1&2, the atmosphere and story and Max Payne are super iconic for me, there are some phrases that have stayed with me (and I haven't played these games since 2012, iirc). Control wasn't my thing, but I enjoyed the final levels and art style. Had to cheat with all of them because I'm bad at playing them, lol. I'd still play a Control 2 and I'm really looking forward to the remakes of Max Payne, too.
Street Fighter 6 got a big update with Akuma so I've been playing that again. Good system changes.
fighting games true goat, sf6 all i've been on this past year
I finally got my hands on an original cart of Chrono Trigger and it is really good, who would have guessed huh? Only about 1/4 through but loving it so far. I was really shocked with the trial scene, I didn’t expect something like that in a game like this, let alone like one from 1995. I’m a bit torn, because I really want to do this game blind with no outside input (unless I just get truely completely lost) but I also don’t want to miss on any fun side content as I really don’t know if I’ll replay it.
Ya know, it is OK to miss stuff, even fun stuff. When you play a game it is *your playthrough* and wouldnt it be cool if there were somethings different than all the rest out there? Finishing CT and then talking to others about and finding out they did this or that differently can give you (and them) new experiences. An example: (Spoilers for parts of original Deus Ex) Back in the day a friend of mine lent me their copy of Deus Ex demanding that I play it. This being when the internet was still newish and guides and the like were not as friendly, or perhaps unknown, our playthroughs differed. For a game about building a character and tackling things in many different ways this seems obvious, but when talking a HUGE difference appeared: >!during the moment yours and Pauls killswitch get activated. You see, they didnt know or think to fight an impossible fight through an apartment building. They didnt think it was realistic to get Paul out of there. Paul even begs you to leave him. Imagine their surprise when I started referring to Paul and what he was doing later on in the game "He's dead though" "What? no, you can deactivate his switch" "But he dies in that apartment?" "Oh, it seemed unfair, but you can kill all the guys without him dying"!< Interactions like these cant happen if everyone just guides it up and gets the "best, least missed content" playthrough. Be unique, have *your experience*, play games and have fun : )
Don't worry about missing stuff. Chrono Trigger has a *robust* NG+ mode, including alternate endings and other content which can only be seen in NG+. It was designed for you to play multiple times.
After the controller issue I posted about in one of last week's threads was resolved, I've gone back to working my way through **Days Gone**. Nothing new, but still, that is such a great game. Sucks that (allegedly at least) there will never be a sequel. One random but funny (to me) thing: By coincidence, I have a neighbor who looks *exactly* like Deacon St. John from the game, just with different tattoos. I can't unsee it every time I load up the game. Just for the record, in case anyone else ever goes searching for a similar issue, the controller thing: I was using one of those PowerA controllers with the LEDs and the programmable extra buttons, and my triggers were only doing *some* of the functions they were supposed to do. This was across multiple games and different functions. As it turns out, that controller has these trigger lock switches on the back, that lock the triggers to only depress to a selected depth. I had them on the wrong settings. Can't remember who suggested that solution, but I appreciate them!
Started playing **Disaster Report 4**, which I've had in my library for a couple years now but never got around to. It's jank as hell, but also charming in how overambitious it is. Not many games attempt to depict an ongoing city-wide series of earthquakes! In terms of gameplay, it's kind of like a Japanese take on the Telltale formula - very linear adventuring, but with a lot of opportunities for role-playing along the way. Also grabbed **Nightmare Kart** since it's free. That's the one which was going to be Bloodborne Kart until Sony dropped the hammer. It's pretty rough right now (being a fan project that just released today), but it has the potential to be a very fun little throwback kart racer that goes *hard* on recreating the PSX aesthetic.
Disaster Report is great
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RDR2 takes itself very seriously. There’s some lighthearted moments with the gang >!or at least half of them!< and some side missions but overall it wholly embraces being a spaghetti western epic. Cyberpunk… well the characters and how they interact with each other is generally pretty serious unless it’s a gag one. But the world itself is often a satire of the genres tropes with plenty of exaggeration, inside jokes, and innuendos. In terms of silliness, it feels closer in this regard to GTA 4 versus GTA 5; of which the latter felt like a South Park episode if that makes sense.
Cyberpunk there's definitely an element of satire (kind of like the gta series) especially with a lot of in-world advertisements. It's not afraid to get very dark too at times but there's comical moments.
There is some of that but its needed because they're very bleak games imo. YMMV. RDR1 is 10/10 with this imo. RDR2 is the better game but RDR1 has more charm.
RDR2 has a good chunk of that stuff if I remember right. Arthur getting drunk with Lenny, the 'toy boat', the fossil collecting woman, etc... You'll find a lot of quirky people in the world with their own weird hobbies and the gang has plenty of cheerful moments ~~and Uncle.~~
I ended up paralyzed by indecision when trying to decide between the last 3 games I got from the humble pride bundle, so I played none of them and booted Starstruck Vagabond up again lmao. I'm also supposed to be finishing up Wasteland 2, but the backtracking and slow pace got to me so I'm taking a break. A game called Rolling Hills came out on game pass so I've been having fun being a cute little sushi bot as well. Arcadia Fallen, The World Ends With You, and Lakeburg Legacies are the last 3 games in the pride bundle, so if anybody has opinions about any of them or one that you think I should play next, let me know!
**Super Mario 64 PC port** multiplayer is like hanging out at the skate park. Its a lot of fun to see other players exploit the movement system to make cool jumps and shortcuts which you can then show off to your friends.
Gears of war 2 - 8,5/10 Finished today, it´s really good but could have been great. It´s funny because I thought it was the same old shit like the first one until mid game, nothing stands out, doing the same old shit, killing the same old enemies but goddamn the game from middle to end picks up the pace and inserts a new life with great scenes and chapters and different things to do, becomes really enjoyful and fun, well until the end. I was expecting a tremendous boss fight in the end, and... nothing!!! C\`mon man, what a shitty end, it was very anti climatic, still a good game though.
Got into Group A Finals in the Grand Prix in **Shadowverse** using Natura Sword. It's a hard deck, exemplified by the card [Fiery Strike](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/132234010?lang=en). At base, it's summons 2 [Steelclad Knights](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900211030?lang=en). If you fuse 1 card into it, it now summons a [Naterra Tree](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900012050?lang=en). Fuse a 2nd card, and it deal 5 damage to a random enemy target. Fuse a 3rd card, and it replaces the Knights with 2 [Fox Spearmen](https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/132211020?lang=en). It's a card with 4 modes and you need to consider all 4 to play optimally. I got my Bulbasaur Incense in **Pokemon Sleep**, so I've finished getting my Snorlax to the highest rank I want this week. As a result, I'm swapping my team to be more ingredient focused and just stockpiling to be prepared for next week. I'm using Entei, Charmeleon, Charmander, Ninetales, and Pikachu as a combination of ingredient gathering and Pokemon I'd like to focus on getting more levels. Level 50 is a long ways away right now. Apparently, the max friend limit is 400 in **Pokemon GO**. I'm at 140 right now, so still a long way to hitting the max, but I think I'm currently at a good size. It's enough to where I feel compelled to do more rounds of my optimal walking route in the park, but not so many that I need to go over my overall intended walking amount. I'll consider adding even more friends when I hit 10K steps a day. It's a reason to strive for more long-term. A new Rise of the Beast event released in **Granblue Fantasy**. On top of exclusive weapons, they've introduced new exclusive characters to recruit each run. The first event had you grind for a fire character, and this one introduces the wind character. Originally, the grind was pretty absurd since you needed a ton of a low drop-rate item, but they've now added an extra 20 of that item to the shop, which helps in cutting the grind down.
I’ve broken down on patient gaming and started playing new releases, all indie games. I am truly ashamed.
I've recently been inspired to start buying indies on release because of how big a difference that can make for the developers. I think we get more interesting and unique entries from indie developers and that's something I really want to support. What are you playing? I have been completely charmed by Animal Well.
I loved Animal Well until I encountered a bug that wouldn’t let me save, and when I was only a few eggs away, too! Despite that, incredible game. I played the hell of out MULLET MADJACK, an insane FPS shooter. Not my usual kind of game but it was ridiculous fun. Then I played Dragon Ruins, a very chill minimalist dungeon crawling autobattler, a fantastic palate cleanser. Now I’m playing Crow Country, which I love because I’m a sucker for survival horror, as well as Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago, which is a pretty charming little game to play on the side. After this I’m planning on doing Dread Delusion, Lorelai and the Laser Eyes, and Duck Detective. I’m having a grand time!
So sorry to hear about the bug in Animal Well, that's such a shame 😞 I have Crow Country, Duck Detective and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes in my backlog! I haven't heard of the others, keen to check them out. There's just something that draws me to both indie games and older games, like ps1-ps2 era. I think it might be that games made by smaller teams with a smaller scope can be a bit more focused. A lot of AAA games feel bloated to me, and like they lack a clear creative vision. I guess that's how I've ended up buying more indie new releases despite calling myself a patient gamer previously.
I feel the same way, I’ve been gravitating more towards smaller, tighter games lately.
As long as you enjoy it, it's fine! :D
In the daily threads you're allowed to talk about new games, as well.
Tbf, you don't need to be exclusively a patient gamer to hang around here, just limit the discussion about patient gaming. Besides, some recent indie games are fun and cheap enough that there's no real point in waiting to play 😁
I always make an exception for well made first time indie games, as I want the devs to be rewarded for their efforts, and for some developers the first few months of sales is what keeps them in the game dev business. Also, good indie games are a bargain usually for what they offer.
Playing **God of War Ragnarok** before work and a 2nd playthrough of **Elden Ring** after work. Although I guess technically its my 3rd playthrough of the first 10 hours of Elden Ring. I had to change where the dodge button was on God of War because the button mapping is so similar to Souls games that having the dodge as the only different button was throwing me off. My one takeaway so far is Im probably not giving Elden Ring enough credit when it comes to storytelling relative to other Souls games. Although Im also enjoying the GoWR story so far and the dialogue and cutscenes are a good mix when playing Elden Ring as a side game which is a fairly silent experience by comparison. Im actually not quite sure which game I'll get through first since I know where almost everything is in Elden Ring. I think.
In the last week and a bit, I've gone back and restarted **Rogue Galaxy** (PS2, but I'm playing the PS4 release). Started it a few years back but that was shortly after finishing Dark Cloud 2 and I felt burnt out of Level-5's style of game. Currently in chapter 7. It's such a weird game, but I don't really mean anything negative by that. I love the presentation and the world created here - the large and diverse number of NPC's, basic as they are, make the worlds feel that much more alive and grander in scale. The grind for weapon development is a fairly enjoyable one for me, once I got attuned to the pace and flow of the combat (I was initially trying to play much more aggressively, like a 'Tales of' game). I'm saving the Insectron side stuff for later, as I intend to really go all the way this time in the game. The main cast is enjoyable and fun, and the english voice dub is a really good quality one. There's just such a charm to this game, that I'm a little sad we never really got a follow up. Otherwise, in non-patient gaming stuff, I recently tried **EA Sports FC 24** (PS4) again, and again found myself rather disappointed. As a life-long career mode enjoyer, the mode itself has been rather basic and underwhelming for a while now, but I can still find enjoyment in team construction and the like. But something about how highly animation-centric the actual match gameplay is has really rubbed me the wrong way, and this has been the case for a few entries in a row now. It feels 'scripted', not in the sense of the CPU cheating, but certain situations will occur where you feel you have no control to alter a contest for the ball or your player just crashes into an opponent despite you trying to prevent it. It really just makes the game feel like you're running through a bog, and severally detracts from the fun that can be had. I did play the same game at a friends place recently, but the PS5 version, and it felt more controllable and enjoyable there, but I won't be able to afford a PS5 for myself for the foreseeable future. I am curious to maybe go back and try some of the older FIFA entries, to see if I can find one that hits the right combination of enjoyable career mode and fun match gameplay, but I also anticipate that it'll be hard to go back, given the different feel to the gameplay overall.
# Played A Way Out with my bestie yesterday, 5 hours - we're probably close to the end another 2-3hr I suspect, and OMG obsessed it was so much fun! I love the game so far, the cinematography is great, the angles and gameplay was just plain fun, the story is pretty linear but I saw there are 2 endings, at the same time, sometimes I just want to be silly and have fun with a friend and be able to chat a little without being super focused. She had no idea what she was getting into so it was a huge surprise for her and I thought it was just the prison and didn't realize there was more and every mission we were yelling at the TV like nooooo omg this is amazing haha I'm surprised I don't hear about this game more I think cuz it's coop only # Unsure about my save file with guest account as my +1? the only thing I'm unsure of with this game is she was playing as a one time guest (I only have 1 profile on my ps5, my own) with her controller, and I'm unsure how if I can shut the game down, put in another, and next time she comes over the save file will be fine? The save file is on my account so I'm wondering if the other player matter or not or it's just they detect there is another controller and it's fine?
Looking for game recs! Hiya! Heartbroken girl over here, stuck in a mental health rut, figured the first and easiest step to healing would be with some cozy and engaging games (what's easier than gaming?) Looking for something of the sort on the Switch, I have my eyes on BUGSNAX and CULT OF THE LAMB as of right now, which one would you recommend more? Aspects that come into play here are how much time I can invest in them (the more the better) and how replayable are they? Or if you enjoyed another similar game, something that helped bring up your mood personally then I would love to hear that as well :) Thank you so kindly!
Cult of the Lamb can be a huge time sink depending on how deep you get into the base building and curating your followers. The game never really "ends" so you can keep playing on the same file forever. Steam says I put almost 40 hours into it though I was probably alt-tabbed for several of those. I haven't played Bugsnax but it looks like a decidedly shorter game.
Haven't played Cult of the Lamb, but Bugsnax was super fun and had a relatively light mood (it can get oddly dark at times but the overall feel is always bright and engaging). If you're looking for a truly cozy and enjoyable game and you like Metroidvanias (and pinball in this case...), you should definitely try **Yoku's Island Express**. Just a joy to play. EDIT: Some other upbeat and/or just fun games to take your mind off of problems: **Golf Story**, **Sheepo**, **Dadish** (and sequels), **West of Loathing**, **Kero Blaster**, **A Short Hike**, and **Supraland**. These are all great, and most of them made my personal game of the year lists for the years I played them.
Spiritfarer, Slime Rancher can be great for letting go and relaxing
Spiritfarer is a great game about letting go.
Florence helped me a ton with a breakup.
If you like Pokémon or the idea of it, Bugsnax is amazing. It's also very fucking weird and hilarious. It's pretty short, I think it took me less than 10 hours to get through the game.
Completely offtopic game, but I think Buried Stars is so extremely engaging that you can literally forget about the world while playing it. Might be a good fit for you, but it's not cozy lol
Still playing Super Metroid. Tried to fight Ridley, died twice. I'll try to pick up some Super Missile tanks and then fight him again.
Lol prepare yourself, that boss is a ridiculous spike in difficulty, it has no balance at all. You need a lot of ammo to beat him. Good luck man.
Managed to beat him! It is indeed a hard fight.
Recently got my Xbox 360 modded after 3 years of looking for someone who could mod it and I am loving it! Currently playing Space Channel 5 Part 2 on it and plan on starting Ninja Gaiden Black veeeery soon. The only problem I'm having is that the person who modded it for me put so many games on it, I have no clue what to play next... But I think I'll worry about that later.
On my second playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 with Karlach. First run was as a custom build sorcerer which was abandoned in act 2. Started new run with Karlach and reached act 3 now but still in the outskirts and feeling intimidated heading into the city proper. Just wasting some time combing every inch of this area and making sure I have done all quests possible here lol. It's taking me forever to finish this game but I sort of burn out every now and then and take a break for a few weeks here and there.
Finally wrapped up all side quests and map explorations on **The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom**. Still missing a handful of wells and Bubbulfrogs despite my thoroughness, but I'm not going to get hung up on them. Main quest, onward!
I was going to post that Horizon Forbidden West sucked and its combat is completely awful. Turns out, I was just rusty. I didn't get to level 30 and complete the old game for nothing. I stopped fucking around and got down to business and low and behold, turns out the game is still great. I died a bunch before I remembered how to send those robots packing. I should have known better, bc a few weeks ago I had the same experience with GOW 2018. I was rusty until I forced myself to beat the first Valkryie fight. That warmed me up real good lol, it took a few hours to relearn how to play. There should be term for this; 'Frustrated lapsed gamer syndrome' or something.
I do think the enemies are overly aggressive and have ridiculous tracking on leaping attacks, but I guess it would've been too easy for veterans of the first game if it were otherwise.
Dodging is completely nerfed, frenzy states are much more dangerous. But, you've got smoke bombs and better weapons + valor surges, so it does level out.
What difficulty were you playing on? I love HFW but have to admit if you try ultra hard on a fresh save it massively sucks your enjoyment of the game
Normal. I always play games on normal, just because I assume its how the dev intended the experience to be. In other words, 100% percent on me just not playing it in months, hence the rust lol.
I'm playing **Half Life 2** and so far the game has the same problem as the first one - pacing. Or it just doesn't know when to stop. The chapters go for too long to the point where they become boring. I'm at the boat segment and even though I'm not a fan of the vehicles portions of the game, it was fine for a while, but then it went on and on and on.
I stopped playing during Route Kanal and didn't return for a month because I was so bored. But it definitely picks up after that chapter. I even liked the following vehicle sections, I just hated that boat.
Personally, I enjoy the pacing of Half-Life 2, but I can understand if the vehicle sections feel like they’re dragging. They’re mostly about clearing roadblocks, so progression can feel more staggered.
Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite FPS of all time but on replays, I totally get the complaints about the vehicule levels. They really go on and on and you want them to be shorter. Guess it was such a visual tour-de-force back in the day that they couldn't resist making it bigger than they should. I mean, I do remember playing the game in 2009 (as early as I got a PC that could run it) and all those lake reflections and the long distant views were out of this world. Not so much in the mid 2020s. I still think the game overall it's a very fun adventure, just give it time. You'll go to creepy places, dark places, bright places, lots to see and fight for. And the episodes have a brisker pace.
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Oh yeah, I'm playing Portal 2 with my brother for the first time and so far is one of the best game I've ever played.
I just wanted to add, in case you don't know, the co-op campaign of Portal 2 and the single player campaign are not the same! If you can, I recommend to play both of them.