Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of August 27th
New thread! Whatch'a all playing!
I have been playing Blasphemous 2! Its really good so far. I think if you're a fan of the first there's nothing to dislike here (so far)
Trying not to commit to anything too strenious with Lies of P and Starfield on the horizon, but I have found the time to start two games over the last few days. Those games are:
XCOM: Chimera Squad
It's an XCOM game. I'll probably play a it until I inevitably make a mess of the base management stuff and find my city in ruins, you know, like every other XCOM game that's come out over the last decade.
The Life And Sufferings of Sir Brante
I started this today and I'm kind of blown away by it in all honesty. It's a story heavy RPG where you play the role a child born into a semi-noble family. During the game you'll do an awful lot of reading and then make decisions and judgements based on the character your playing. I'm maybe 2 hours in so far and it's unlike anything I've ever played.
are you going to buy starfield at launch?
I'm not a massive Bethesda fan, but I've absolutely got the preload done on my series X. Gamepass is perfect for that sort of thing.
Vampire Survivors co-op!
The game has co-op???
couch co-op. i don't think it has online co-op
Yeah local coop came out about a week or two ago! You can do remote play together on steam, but performance has been pretty shitty. It's still been a lot of fun though!
I'm dealing with thumb injuries, so I've mostly been playing Vampire Survivors for the last few weeks. WASD and no mouse is perfect to let my thumbs heal.
I only just bought it recently. I'm still working through unlocking everything and just beat my first Inverted level, which took me quite a few attempts. I also realize that I probably shouldn't be trying to kill Death on Inverted mode, but I've been building around that goal each game...
Really fun game. I prefer Soulstone Survivors, but I can't play it with my thumbs rn!
Like many, I’ve been playing a lot of Baldur’s Gate 3. I love the game, but part of me is already longingly looking at the Pillar of Eternity or Pathfinder games for a bit less complicated level design.
The 3d worlds are nice, but I always have the feeling like I’m a little lost.
The Pillars and Pathfinder games are both relatively daunting in terms of world size and, at least for Pathfinder, the rules are much more gritty... remember Pathfinder is a spin-off of DnD 3.5e and sticks relatively closely to that. While BG3 is based on the much more "friendly" DnD 5e rules. Pathfinder is much closer to BG2 than BG3 is, gameplay wise.
The big differences between BG3 and the other modern CRPGs is that BG3 does an exceptional job at presenting unprecedented player choice in traversal and combat. Other games have dialogue skill checks and all that but traversing the world is flat, literally practically menu driven and combat is all measurements and numbers. BG3 has free-form qualities that, in the world of video games, have so far only been utilized in immersive sims like Deus Ex and, oddly enough, I'd say the modern 3D Zeldas.
Oh, I agree on all those points. The rules are definitely easier to understand, especially compared to Pathfinder. And I do like that you are more free in how to resolve a conflict.
The thing I meant was that for me, personally, interacting with the world is daunting. Having a 3rd person view of a fully 3d world filled with tons of items to interact with and with different elevations makes it hard for me to make a mental map of the game world. It's not such a big deal for Deus Ex (where it's in 1st person and you can get really up close to things) or with Zelda (where the amount of stuff to interact with is a lot more sparse). In BG3 I just constantly feel like I'm lost and missing out on things that might have been hidden from view because I looked at it from the wrong angle.
It's just me. I miss the overview of the flatter maps in those other games. It allows me to focus more on the story and the exploration funny enough.
Again, I agree with everything else. I still love the game and the design, I just realize what I'm missing from my other favorite games.
I have been playing Subnautica exclusively for over a month now and I can't stop. Halp!
Edit: I got to the ice worm part in Below Zero, and now I feel ready to quit.
That was the game that totally sold me on the Steam Deck Experience. I played a lot of the handheld perfect games on the switch already.
I played most of Cat Quest 2 only to reach the difficulty cliff that is Lioner. For the most part the game was quite easy then bam! multi-phase boss that's immune to one of the game's two damage types. Multi-phase bosses and total immunity to damage types are bullshit. The quest that involves killing Lioner is a level 80 quest and I first tried it at level 92 and failed. I grinded up to level 97 but I haven't had the... passion? to fight him again. I'm seriously considering using something like Cheat Engine to lock my health at max. And apparently there's a second difficulty spike.
I played a couple of hours Borderlands GOTY Enhanced and I'm sure the XP gain has been changed. In the OG Borderlands I'd get to Nine Toes around level 5, maybe level 6 if I grind a little bit but in GOTY I was level 7 when fighting him with no grinding at all. The graphics don't seem to have changed much although it's been a while.
I tried playing Baldur's Gate 3 but I just could not get into it. It's kind of odd though because I was able to get much further into DOS2 (I got bored early in the third act). It didn't help that my GPU fans were going full brrrr the entire time.
I played a little bit of Holocure after watching Kronii Ouro play it but what she played and what I played seemed to be completely different games gameplay-wise, reverse bullet hell isn't really my jam.
I bought Dwarf Journey and Shakedown Hawaii for a trip I'm taking this week so hopefully they're good.
Finished Baldur's Gate 3, Act 3 was much buggier than I thought. Still had a great time and want to do another playthrough in a year or two, once most of the bugs are fixed.
Started Quake 2, the recently released Enhanced version. It's fun, I like the weapons more than in Quake 1, the Super Shotgun can actually kill stuff now. I also prefer the sci-fi environments more than the medieval ones in the first game.
Lastly, I randomly decided to give Baldur's Gate 1 a shot, after I finished the third one. I never really played it or any of the other old Infinity Engine games before, although I got all the Steam releases years ago. I'm playing as a Half-Orc Fighter, named Big Stick, who goes around whacking stuff with a big stick (a quarterstaff). The game is ok so far, nothing spectacular. I'm still really early, only chapter 2, and I'm just travelling around everywhere I can, bonking stuff until it explodes, and helping people in need.
Trying to get into Baldurs Gate 3. Never played the original games, never played D&D, and this is the first hardcore RPG of this sort I've played in awhile.
It is a bit of a struggle - the game is intimidatingly big and deep. I am also having troubles wrapping my head around the battle systems, and the random skill checks really don't make much sense to me (am I expected to save scam in this game?)
But all that seems to be a question of habit. I went into the game for the joy of exploration and discovery, and I hope to lose myself in it very soon.
Nice! I'm not too far off that, but I have a touch of experience with DnD and played the first Divinity game for a few hours (before losing interest). REALLY enjoying BG3 so far. It's miles beyond that first game, which was a bit jenky and not as well written.
Save scumming required? no not at all. It's a DnD style game, so the way the quests play out will change but barring a full party wipe you shouldn't need to reload much. But do I save scum to get better roles so I can loot the chest? absolutely.
I finished Baldur's Gate 2 and moved on to Baldur's Gate 3.
Baldur's Gate 2 still has, or possibly invented, a lot of common RPG trappings that carry through to this day, but it's still very dated in some key ways that sucked the air out of the room, which was a shame, because the bones are solid. Sometimes there are just obscure knowledge checks against the rules of D&D or the monsters therein that make the game unsolvable unless you know the specific answer. Sometimes it's a monster that can only be defeated by +3 weapons or better; sometimes it's magic that can only be countered by specific counter spells. At the start of combat, enemy spells seemingly cast nearly instantly, but the defense spells to beat them take several combat rounds to cast, can be interrupted, or otherwise are ineffective unless you've already cast them before combat started, which means you're save scumming a lot as a necessity. Not only that, but the game throws so much combat at you. I ran out of patience for its combat, after playing through BG1 the month prior, sometime around chapter 4 or 5 out of 7 and just threw it on "Story" mode, which is basically god mode. I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the decision making. I just wish the designers had more restraint when it came to combat encounters and that they properly signaled these countermeasures, but perhaps they were trying to sell strategy guides.
Baldur's Gate 3 is difficult to put down compared to its predecessors; not just because 5e is easier to understand; not just because the game goes to great lengths to explain its entire rule set; not just because I can avoid repetitive strain on my wrist by using a controller. Though separated by 20 years of game design paradigms, they're remarkably similar games, as they should be, but this one just excels in every area it should. The presentation is phenomenal, all the way through the narrator that infuses some Planescape: Torment DNA into the game that wasn't so much of a thing in the past two BG games. The combat encounters have more restraint; I took on a goblin camp from the inside out and basically faced wave after wave of goblin patrols, and still it felt less taxing than the typical BG2 dungeon, with more systemic ways to interact with the environment and just find clever solutions to things. I just feel like a damn genius and a sense of exhilaration when I get through a combat encounter, as opposed to having a sigh of relief that it's over like I did in the last two games.
Yes. I just have a compulsion that most people don't where I feel like I need to see the earlier games in a series in order to get the proper perspective on the later ones. For instance, with returning characters, winks and nods, etc. It's orders of magnitude more approachable than BG1 and 2, which were harder to get into than Planescape: Torment, IMO. And at least right out of the gate, they don't expect you to have any foreknowledge of what came earlier. I'll bet they'll drop that lore as I get closer to the in-game location, Baldur's Gate, because you do not start there, and I understand that, like the first game, you don't see that city until toward the end.
Wife absolutely loves BG3 to the point she ordered some 5e books to better understand the systems. She went in knowing nothing about the lore, the systems, or anything and it quickly became her favorite game of all time.
I have yet to jump in though. Played about an hour, but I feel like I need a good block of time I can dedicate to getting acquainted with the game before I can really start to enjoy it.
Neither of us have played any prior BG games.
BG2 is one of those games I wish the gameplay would let me recommend. The story is brilliant and Jon Irenicus is an amazing villain, capped by David Warner's performance, still to this day one of my favorite voice acting performances in a game.
I think the initial premise might have been flawed from the start on the gameplay front anyway. Vincke's already talked about how difficult it would be to tack on a sequel expansion/DLC to BG3 because of how crazy D&D gets at high levels, and Bioware was still pioneering the artificial DM concept back in 2000 to begin with.
Every time Irenicus spoke, I just wanted him to keep talking.
I have no idea what level 12 magic looks like in 5e and why it gets so challenging, other than what little I know of Wish, which is in BG2, but magic was a menace in the under level 12 area of BG1 and 2 also. Just frequent spells that would AoE stun your entire party for the next 10 rounds, which may as well have been an instant kill.
After finishing up BG3 I decided to replay kotor 2 with the restored content mod. I originally played it as a kid on Xbox, it's been a trip down memory lane.
Finally got the time to play Timberborn. Made some suboptimal decisions so can't wait for playing on a new map.
Recently I've been having a bad habit of switching between multiple different games, getting bored and stopping/switching again.
Past 2 weeks I've been playing Disco Elysium and Crusader Kings 2. Still have the halfway-done games of Marvel's Midnight Suns, Empire TV Tycoon, and Hotline Miami from the 2 weeks prior to that.
Picked up bloon td6 after long. Midway through disco elysium on the switch.
I've been getting a shiny pokemon team ready for Black/White remakes that will come out one day ~ (shiny-egg-trading on the 3DS)
also swap-doodle on the 3DS - though I've been carrying it in my pocket for a few weeks in Sydney, Australia and haven't street-pass'd anyone since 5 years ago (one person) the rest, 6 years ago @_@
Add me and trade hand-drawn postcards n__n 33/M/Australia name: Pushka Friend-code: 1822-1028-6857 (reply with your FC
Getting back into Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. I'm about at the end of the game and I've really enjoyed playing a portable full on stealth game. Its scope is quite limited, what with it being a PSP game, but it actually serves to breed a pretty easygoing stealth game with not too much of a cost for getting caught and pretty limited sound and sight ranges to match the small level sections.
While it's totally limited it's actually a bit refreshing compared to how tight being stealthy can be in even the home console MGS games.
I started a second run of Baldur's Gate 3 this week. I don't know the last time I've ever finished a game like this just to go right back into it. It's certainly been 20+ years since I've done it with an RPG. Part of why I wanted to do it might have been how much more polish there is in the first act, so it's a cozier experience. I also skipped a full zone and a half on the first play, so that's all going to be new, and I want to see the other side of a big decision point in Act 2. Probably going to end this run around that point and maybe actually play a different game for once.
I'm realizing now that this game fixes all of my problems with Divinity: Original Sin 2, and that was an excellent game. There are very few steps back here, mostly just the lack of polish.
BG3 is still a triumph despite the (many) rough edges. I'm sure I'm going to go back to it yet again down the road after a few patches and some of the cut/unfinished content is in the game, especially around the ending.
I don’t know the last time I’ve ever finished a game like this just to go right back into it.
Elden Ring is this game for a lot of people, myself included. I'm early in BG3, but just like with Elden Ring, I'm already thinking about other things I'd like to try on subsequent playthroughs.
Those underwater scenes in Inside created a sense of awe and dread I haven't felt in years tbh
I'm mostly waiting for Sea of Stars to come out, and in the meantime I've been attempting to P-rank P-2 in Ultrakill (unsuccessfully).
Woah I didn't know that game was about to be released 😮. It's been on my wish list for a long time. Well, I know what I'll play tomorrow now that I completed Blasphemous 2!
quake and quake II remasters
I was playing BG3 but I hopped back onto Tarkov now since the recent wipe. I've been doing mostly night time raids and they've been very fruitful. Rats rule.
Armored Core 6.
I was going to play Wrath of the Righteous finally but then my sister gets me this randomly and I can't put it down.
Also still playing Armored Core 6. I am really enjoying the game, and even spent a couple hours last night trying 3v3 PvP and had a lot of fun with that. Part of me wishes they did a proper support for PvP with queueing and some sort of map rotation, or that someone basically makes Armored Core 6 PvP as a separate game but functionally the same, because it honestly is a lot of fun.
Broke out the old stick and started playing blazblue centralfiction again
Still playing Dysmantle, which I originally started intending it to be my background game that I'd turn on when I had only a short window to play or got bored or frustrated with my "main" game.
~40 hours later I think I'm nearing the end and dreading it because I don't want to not have Dysmantle in my life. Ever since a played Subnautica a few years back, I've been looking for another game that scratches the same survival/crafting itch but with the critical components of an overall objective and calculated progression. Dysmantle is different in almost every way but it does hit those check boxes perfectly.
The gameplay loop is repetitive, but amusing enough on its own to be fun until your next upgrade, which are granted to you at just the right pace and open up new abilities to better dismantle your surroundings.
I think it's flaws will probably hit harder for some people, but for me it strikes exactly the right chord. Luckily I still have the DLCs, and they have a spiritual sequel coming out next year that looks even more promising.
I started back up the first Blasphemous after finally getting around to figuring out cloud saves on the steam deck (I just forced the windows build). I'd definitely like to get through it and into 2, but I feel like I'm bombarded with huge games I need to play this fall. It might work as a game I can play while watching TV. I started back up while watching 24 (I loved it when I was younger, but watching back I really didn't recognize just how great the writing was.)
I'm still hooked hard on BG3, though. A fucking lot of hours in and I'm still on act 1.
Endgame of Devil tickled me for a bunch of hours this week. It's a neat little auto-battler / deck-builder. You are the devil and need to protect your treasure from adventurers. To do so you fill up your dungeon and your deck with lots of evil minions and set off insane combos. Slime deck! Rat deck! Ghost pirate deck! Burst worm toxic fog death loop deck!
I love these types of casual experiences in this genre.
Also check out:
Got Peglin on my tablet and bought it on Steam as well. A really fun time killer, although advancing and unlocking new characters is a bit of a chore.
Trying to finish FF7R and Intergrade in time for BG3.
Had a really good run, probably the best since I was a kid. Elden Ring into Hifi rush into RE4 remake, Tears of the Kingdom and the Rift Apart.
Probably never gonna match this again for the next decade, but not sure what to play next
I've mostly been playing Hogwarts Legacy, a not very well known game called Reshaping Mars that I really enjoy, and I am aching to go back to Satisfactory but haven't had the time.
I game on Linux using Steam. If those three other people who do this and are trying to play Hogwarts Legacy: go back to proton 7, something broke with HL's latest update and proton 8.
I just came back to Baldur’s Gate 3 after doing all the new stuff in Genshin. The break was good, because now that giant patch for BG3 is out, and it apparently fixes problems running Act 3, which I got to last night.
I managed to get turned into a cheese wheel by an angry djinn, so everything’s going great in Act 3 so far!
finally got sunbreak for monster hunter rise a couple weeks ago! tmrw is my friday so im pumped to get into it.
AEW Fight Forever still! The new stadium stampede mode is fun!
Hatefully trying to finish Elden Ring
I've been playing kenshi again. I start a new game every so often when i get the need.
However, I also installed baldurs gate 3 and i have only looked at the beginning. I am a fool though and I also pre ordered starfield. My next few weeks are going to be busy.
Black Skylands. A friend gifted me a copy on steam after he had a transaction error and got two copies. Thought it might be fun for a few hours but I've been obsessed.
It's an open world exploring game where you've got an airship and go from island to island, and it's a top down twin stick shooter. The mobility is really enjoyable with the grappling hook, the combat is fun with interesting weapons, tech and upgrades and you have an airship!
Bouncing between BlazBlue Central Fiction and Fatal Frame 4
(finally) Finished Midnight Suns. About 80h towards it and while I did enjoy it immensely, I'm glad it's over and time to move on to other things.
I started and finished the first Frog Detective game last night. I figured it would be short but not 1.5h short! Quirky and it got a couple of legit laughs out of me. I'm definitely interested in playing the other two episodes.
And I decided to play Overwatch 2 now that it's on Steam. I stopped playing OW1 years ago and this seemed a good excuse to try it again. I am starting from the ground up since I apparently deleted my old Battle.net account, which is frustrating to not have all the heroes/skins available but it's also easing me back in. The monetization at least seems to be an improvement over loot boxes. I'm really just playing with whatever I've managed to unlock and not paying for the BP until I know how far a super casual player like myself can get. The core game is luckily still solid and since I don't have the bad blood of the scrapped PvE mode or anything, I'm just enjoying playing more Overwatch again.
Midnight Suns is great, I was super addicted to playing that for a couple weeks. Put it down when I got stuck repeatedly losing a certain randomized mission and haven't resumed yet. Shout-out to dread maidens punishing my bad squad selection. Maybe I should go back now...
Yep. I hit a wall with a couple of the final battles in the DLC missions (Morbius and Storm) that I finally ratcheted down my difficulty level back to "normal" just to get through and not sour my experience with the game.
It did mean I annihilated the final boss of the campaign but I didn't mind. It was still fun :)
It's been mostly comfort foods: Slay the Spire and Binding of Isaac.
I'm playing Palia. It's a cozy single/multiplayer survival-ish game. I love that it has very low friction. So far I'm having a great time playing while I listen to podcasts or YouTube
Been playing Smash Bros Ultimate on Switch. On the PC side of things, GOG has a YUGE sale and I bought whole a lot of old games: Tomb Raider Underworld, Pandemonium 2, Lords of The Fallen, Runaway, Disney's Hercules and a lot more. I played Pandemonium on PC as a kid but never touched the sequel. As a kid Disney's Hercules movie was my favorite and my siblings told how I was obsessed about it, and I played the game a little bit back then. Lords of the Fallen seems to be a Dark Souls clone but with a smaller budget.