Now Playing

[Shrinweck]

I'm playing Path of Exile right now. The latest expansion stripped the game of the dumb thing where you had to beat it three times to get high enough in level to do the end game. By getting rid of the higher level difficulties they've made the game much more enjoyable to play through. The new story and zones are generally extremely well done. The voice work for the character classes in the new acts isn't there yet... so it's real weird beating act four (of ten) and having your character suddenly become mute. There's also a quest giver in the last act that has literally zero voice work despite having voice work when you see her in act five. At least this quest giver has been acknowledged as being a priority fix for the immediate future.

I'm looking forward to them having more time to flesh out the story for the classes, but I'm very happy with what they did with the story despite a very vocal part of the community telling them it doesn't matter to them at all.

[Julius Seeker]

I'm playing mostly ARMS, Disgaea 5, and Fire Emblem 7: The Blazing Sword.
I am about to finish Breath of the Wild.

[Don]

Playing Alphabears on Steam right now. It's one of those word games where you spell stuff and you get 3 bears that modifies your score in the usual ways (certain letters count for more and so on). It's pretty grindy as when you get to a new chapter your existing bears usually aren't powerful enough to beat it but you don't have any of the new bears to use. There's a mobile version which is free but even more grindy to make up for it. I got lucky and got the legendary Robot bear (Rs double word value) on chapter 2 so on a hard mission I just keep on trying until 3 Rs show up to spell something like 'error'.

It seems like it's not that hard to convert a grindy F2P game to a one time fee deal. In the F2P version each time you use a bear it goes on a nap so it can't be used again for some time, which is basically an energy system, and being a F2P game there's already a lot of built-in grinding so just because you can use your best 3 bears each game, it still takes a while to level them up for the next chapter. I wonder if more games will go on the same model with a fixed price and get rid of the energy restrictions. You can still just treat new stuff as DLCs and whether someone need the new stuff is always an issue of whether it's worth it or not. I guess you can also do something like Capcom's SF5 where you could in theory grind for a long time for new characters though I think it'd be easier just to do something like Civilization's DLC though hopefully with better value.

[Shrinweck]

Cook Serve Delicious 2 came out and it is the kind of game that will eat up hours of life before you really know what hit you.

As far as the "Perform working class jobs as a game!" genre goes this is pretty fun.

[Julius Seeker]

I've been all over Golf Story since it released a couple of weeks ago, except for the last few days.

It's Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada, and Stardew Valley launched on Switch immediately before it... You can't have better timing than that. I played a disgusting amount of it... Maybe as much as 8-10 hours yesterday alone. For those unfamiliar - it's a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons style game except with heavier RPG elements, and less convoluted systems - mostly everything is straight forward to upgrade. It's essentially a more expansive and more cleanly/accessibly designed version of Harvest Moon.

Axiom Verge (the amped up Metroid clone) also launched, which I actually didn't get on the Wii U, and so I have that too, although I will likely hold off until after I complete the main story of Golf Story. But for value hunters: Golf Story, Stardew Valley, and Axiom Verge combined are cheaper than a retail priced game, and (combined) vastly exceed most of them in value. I find all three games are underpriced for what they are - and they're probably the most interesting new games on Switch until Mario Odyssey launches toward the end of the month.

It's worth noting, that like other Wii U ports, Axiom Verge seems to be finding the Switch to be a much better home in terms of sales as the developer reports. I am not sure the reason exactly, but it seems people are much more open to digital purchasing on Switch than they were on Wii U.

[kali o.]

Playing Middle Earth: Shadow of War. Solid game if you are into that sort of genre -- easy 8.5. If they fix the bugs and tweak a few things, 9.5. Do **not** purchase the microtransactions. You will lose them due to bugs/design in the online portion, or annoying betrayals in offline. It's a bad idea to sell shit in MTs you can so easily just lose...I have a feeling the dev will be getting tons of backlash and will be forced to change/patch the game significantly (or remove the Microtransactions....which likely will not happen).

PS - Four more days till Fractured But Whole.....finally.

[Shrinweck]

I've been enjoying Shadow of War, too. It's still an amazing orc murder simulator.

I'm probably going to wait for a sale on Fractured But Whole. With Destiny 2 (PC) and AssCreed Origins also coming out this month a South Park game for a AAA price doesn't really resonate with me.

I've also been playing Divinity 2 which is one of the best experiences I've had with an RPG. The first act is easily the best and I can say that confidently without finishing the game yet. It's the act that they released in early access and the amount of iteration and effort that went into it is apparent. That you can't really even move from one full screen to another without tripping over at least one quest or encounter highlights this. It's just nonstop constant content. In a world where even the best RPGs have embraced this open world concept where there's so much emptiness (or a collectible, or "treasure") this act is a breath of fresh air. I'm going to guess there's four acts total in the game and I'm partially through the third. Two and three just aren't the same but the quality of what what is in the game is still there it just isn't as dense.

Another one of the interesting things they've done is that each act is its own instance. Once you load into the chapter you're done with loading screens (barring reloading a save). Each act has like 10+ hours of content. It's pretty cool that this is how it works. Later you're given transporter items that let you teleport anywhere you've dropped a pyramid and even jumping across the entire map is seamless with next to no graphical pop-in when you arrive.

TBH I didn't even really like the first Divinity: Original Sin game. It felt like there was a very forced route I was made to take in order to play the game and it felt very artificial and without an interesting story to rope me in I just couldn't get through even the first town. This game still does that - character levels are very meaningful and unless you're very good at taking advantage of environmental mechanics (or have no qualms with literally cheating said mechanics) then getting into a fight where you're even one level under the encounter can prove disastrous. The story, however, is much more drawn out and character-driven (especially if you pick a pre-made character which is highly recommended - you can still customize their class and whatnot).

[kali o.]

Yeah, I forgot about Original Sin 2 (calling it Divinity 2 makes me think of a different game). It is miles better than the first one and a remarkably good CRPG from Larian.

The Fractured But Whole was/is disappointing. Not to say its bad...really....just strangely plain. It starts of slow and, so far, never really gets going. The are no ridiculous plot twists or funny moments like the first game (ie. Abortion, Aliens, Canada). Given it got like an extra 2 years in development, I am pretty surprised.

[Oracle]

So I'm starting to notice a stark change in my gaming patterns. As it is with most people with busy lives, I'm focusing more on games that are just pick-up -and-play, where I can drop them at a moment's notice. This obviously lends well to the Switch, with its ability to seamlessly transition from console to mobile with its fast response sleep mode.

Right now I'm mindlessly plodding through Fire Emblem Warriors on the Switch. I like the IP and characters - if I didn't the game likely wouldn't have much appeal to me, it's not like I haven't played a 'warriors'-formula based game before. I'd likely be better served playing the new Shadows of War game, but then again, it's not on the Switch.

I've had Divinity: Original Sin 2 installed on my laptop since it launched, but haven't made it beyond the first 15 minutes yet, just haven't found the time to sit down in my office for a gaming session long enough to get into it.

I finished Golf Story a few weeks back. I found the game refreshing, a nice new spin on both the RPG/Golf game genres.

I was also playing through the Mario & Rabbids game. It's entertaining enough, I'm on world 4. I guess the appeal just wore off over time playing it - the game really doesn't have much of a challenging element once you know how everything works. I may or may not end up going back to it.

Don't know if I'll be picking up Mario Odyssey any time soon. A. I have too many games to play already and B. every time I've picked up a flagship Mario game after Mario 64, I've just never been able to get into it - Sunshine, Galaxy... fun to play around with for a bit, but just couldn't keep me interested - I just don't think platformers like that are my thing, not a knock against the games themselves or against the production quality in those games - production quality is obviously very high.

Fractured But Whole is on my radar, but based on Kali's somewhat negative impressions, considering he liked the first one so much, and accounts from others I know who have played the game, it's on my 'pick up when on sale' list.

[Julius Seeker]

I am really loving Super Mario Odyssey. My initial impressions of it are that it's landed right on with my really high expectations of what to expect from a Mario game in 2017. So to me, it's in good company with Super Mario World and Super Mario Galaxy 2 in that regard - both of which landed on par IMO. The only two Mario games I felt hit above my lofty expectations were Super Mario Bros 3 and Galaxy. In other words, if you always have huge expectations for the franchise, like I do, it's one of the few that doesn't disappoint.

Reviewers seem to have had lower expectations than me, because Gamerankings has it sitting in the all-time number 1 spot by quite a large margin (yes, 1.15% means a great deal when you are this close to 100%... It's about 50% of the way to 100% from Galaxy's score!). Haha, honestly though, reviews are reviews, and reviewing a game has so many more factors that effect the experience than say, a book or a film.

1 Super Mario Odyssey 2017 Nintendo Nintendo Switch 98.79%
2 Super Mario Galaxy 2007 Nintendo Wii 97.64%
3 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 1998 Nintendo Nintendo 64 97.54%
4 Super Mario Galaxy 2 2010 Nintendo Wii 97.35%
5 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2017 Nintendo Nintendo Switch, Wii U 97.28%

[Shrinweck]

My gaming time is consumed by Destiny 2 now that the PC version is out. I bought AssCreed Origins too but I maybe have 1.5 hours in it. I'm having a lot of fun with Origins but when I can sit down to game I just never feel like playing it in comparison to Destiny 2.


God I feel like shit that I haven't finished Divinity 2 yet.... and at this point it's been so long that I should probably start over again when I do.

I've watched some Odyssey gameplay on Twitch... and Mario and Nintendo just... really REALLY aren't my thing... but that city level with the Donkey Kong reference is just... magical. And I say that with like 0 nostalgia in Donkey Kong and Mario. Nice job, devs.

[Julius Seeker]

I've been oddly getting back into Super Mario Kart 8 lately. It's one of those games I suppose I will be picking up at a reasonably infrequent pace through the course of the next five years, or until they release the next iteration.

I must have played a lot of Mario Kart 64 in the day because whenever one of those tracks comes up, I tend to get 1st place, or second. But I am typically a 3rd to 8th place racer; which is the hot spot. There are LOTS of red shells and constant hits from bullets and stars from the lower end... who tend to come up into the hot spot temporarily before falling back. So constantly bouncing around. Although, once every 10-15 races or so (MK64 aside), I pull into a first-place finish, and it's awesome! On the flip side, if I get less than first place on Yoshi's Valley, it is about the most disappointing thing ever, even more so than being 1st for 2.75 laps and then getting shelled to 11th or 12th in that final little bit.

My main game at the moment is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I am discussing that in another thread though. It's a longer game. Although, built to be more enjoyable in the long term than the first game. As much as I liked Xenoblade Chronicles, in the three times I played (on Wii, then 3DS, then Wii U) I had to take anywhere between a 1 and 6-month break in the middle. XCX was a lot better feeling as a long-paced game, as I played through it without any significant breaks; at 140 hours, it's around twice the length of XC.

To expand a bit. XCX can be doable in 90 hours, but it's an open world game, and rushing means you're likely missing a lot of fascinating development; since much of the best stuff is not on the critical path. It is one of the games that is divisive for this reason, the players who play it for longer like it a whole lot more. Both people are technically right when they say "XCX has a worse story than XC" or "XCX has a much better story than XC" because they played the same game, but they played different stories. Another factor is that some players compare only one plot thread (the one primarily dealing with Elma) from XCX to XC, rather than the combination of plot threads from all around NLA, many of which converge on the major plot points dealing with the full civilization. It's how you view the game; I found much more value in Xenoblade Chronicles X's story due to digging into more of it than others did; it's like watching Lord of the Rings in some 3 hours abridged version, versus watching the full 12 hours of the extended cuts - and I would say my play of XCX would be one that only dabbled in the "extra features" or appendices.

[Shrinweck]

Subnautica is by far the most fun I've ever had with an exploration/survival game. Without giving anything away, it has one of the cooler sci-fi premises and really delivered a lot more than I was expecting. Excited for the final release in a week that seems to imply an ending that's better than "You make it home in one piece"

The game is like one part No Mans Sky (the good stuff exploration in diverse biomes and fun mobility that improves and changes as you tech up) and one part Stardew Valley. I'm not really the sandbox base builder type but getting self-suficient and going from a scrub in an escape pod to someone with a sick fucking seabase felt good.

[kali o.]

I'm all about base builders/defenders; always have been. Stick RPG progression/elements/exploration in there and I'm sold. I'll look into Subnautica more, thanks.

[kali o.]

Oh btw - been playing a shit load of Town of Salem lately. Steep curve, but fun and works your brain. Easy to play and realize its suddenly 3am.

[Don]

Playing Onmyoji on mobile but it'll be on Steam soon too. It's basically a better version of Summoner's War though it replaces luck with grinding. iOS version should be out today and Android version next week and Steam early access should be the same time too.

[Shrinweck]

The Subnautica ending added maybe five minutes of play time presuming you had a surplus of resources but I still think the game was rather solid... Seems kind of silly to keep what they did under wraps for so long but I thought it tied the game up nicely. I 100% understand the people waiting for it for all these months being let down though. I only had to wait like a week.

[Don]

Onmyoji is launched for Steam on early access for $5 if you want to play it on PC. The package deal is actually not that bad but doesn't count for the 'spend any amount of money' launch promotion which is good for spending the minimum $5 too. For some reason the PC version has a playing limit that doesn't actually work and you're not going to hit it without spending $100 a day on stamina refills to play 15 hours continously which gets people angry for no reason. If you played Summoner's War you know what this game is like, but notably it's got decent grouping mechanisms and there's a better progression between units versus runes such that you're not just easily maxed out units and waiting for the right stuff to drop.

The only drawback of this game is if you ever have to talk to anyone in the Chinese server they're literally the worst guys I've ever talked to. Their advice is akin to you playing WoW vanilla looking for advice and they told you to roll a Demon Hunter. It's somehow even worse than the 'git gud' advice you'd be accustomed to since you technically could 'git gud' but you sure don't have access to any of the nonexistent units that are available in the Chinese server but not the global one since it's roughly an year behind. Also, this game has a period of 1 hour where you do live PvP to funnel them into a time where you can actually find matches, and again the 'Chinese server guys' will tell you these advice that revolves around stalling fights to 30 minutes so your opponent will quit in frustration even if they can win. Well, the reason why this even works is because even most Chinese guys don't like to win 2 games a day against teams that take 30 minutes to kill and thus surrender even when they could've beaten your team. Obviously it's a very small portion of players doing this because otherwise every match will take at least 30 minutes and nobody will ever win more than 10 games in a week, but this doesn't stop them from telling people to build such teams.

Of course, if you don't talk to people or just don't talk any of the 'back in my days' guys, it's no different than any other game out there in terms of community.

[kali o.]

Kingdom Come Deliverance....I have no idea how to explain this game, nor am I even sure how I feel about it yet. Super buggy and rough around the edges...but surprisingly charming and deep, for a low tech/no magic indie RPG.

The combat, which initially struck me as clunky and simplistic, becomes extraordinarily addicting as you progress and understand the actual mechanics. The story casts you as a peripheral player to grander events -- you are really just a peasant...that was kind of refreshing even though some people may not like it.

I have a feeling I will really end up liking this game. Worth checking out for sure.

[kali o.]

Finally got around to playing Dreamfall Chapters. I say "finally" because Dreamfall: TLJ was pretty amazing and I remember loving it...it was one of the reasons I supported Funcom so much years ago with Conan (they've squandered all that goodwill though). That it took me 3+ years to finally try Chapters is surprising. But the truth is I just forgot about it until it showed up on a PS4 sale.

Chapters is actually a better "choice/story" game than either Life is Strange or Telltale's many entries. Things you do in Chapters actually matter -- they have serious consequences in how the story plays out. Sometimes immediately...sometimes hours later. And lengthwise...I have to look at my playtime but it was pretty long. At least 30 hours spent on my initial playthrough.

Well worth it if you skipped this game like I did. The only thing I wish I did differently was replay Dreamfall TLJ before playing Chapters -- there is a lot I forgot from nearly 10 years ago and Chapters is solidly built upon what came before...it relies a lot on knowing the story so far.

Next on the list: Starbound...after that, Subnautica (already bought) or maybe revisit Crusader Kings 2 with new DLC.

[Julius Seeker]

The Jade Dragon is was released a few months back for CK2, waiting for the summer sale because I’m unlikely to play it before then.

They add some more tributary features.
Off map: add the heart of Chinese Empire, and Emperor - you can interact with them
On map: added Tibet and the Western Protectorate of China.
The Western protectorate can deal with the Empire for support in exchange for artifacts and gold: I am unsure of all the details.
Some QOL stuff: Rally points, CB against enemies who attack and kidnap people in your realm, updating Silk road (more routes, no longer cut off completely if it passes through a war zone), etc...

In short, with the Mongol expansion, the China expansion, the East is now actually interesting to play. I tried India before, but it felt very lonely compared to Western Europe, Africa, Turkey, and the Levant.


Right now, I am jumping back and forth between Skyrim and Xenoblade Chronicles New Game+ Like Chrono Trigger, a similar main path, but a lot of differences: and unlike Chrono Trigger, mostly not just ending stuff: there are new features and content available - also, paths that weren’t accessible before are now open: for example, there was a locked door in the Chapter 4 factory at the beginning. It took me 3-4 hours to get through the level the first time: then on New Game+ I had the ability to open the door, it led directly to the end boss fight; so about 40 seconds to finish it.

[Oracle]

So picked up Fractured But Whole on sale (as per my October 2017 post, heh) 50% off. Finished it a couple nights ago. Haven't finished all the collection quests yet, and not sure that I will. I didn't enjoy it as much as the Stick of Truth, but I still enjoyed the game. I really like South Park in general, which could have made me a bit blind to some shortcomings.

Casually playing Lost Sphear now on the Switch, which came down a bit in price in the Nintendo Store so I grabbed it - no way I was paying $70 CND for that game. Game is decent enough, but I haven't really been sucked in like I had hoped I would be. Combat is a bit overly simplistic, and the story is a bit, well... just not great. The main overall premise is a good one, it just feels like it's being used clumsily. I'm not (I don't think) deep into the game yet, so I'm hoping it picks up and becomes more interesting.

And Divinity: Original Sin II still sits on my gaming laptop. I fired it up the other day after installing a bunch of mods from Steam Workshop, played it for about 30 minutes, and haven't been back since. Not that first impressions were bad, I just have another game to play, and don't find much time to slink off to the office. I suppose I could just game with my laptop on my... lap... but that's just not how I enjoy PC gaming :p

[Julius Seeker]

How does it compare to I Am Setsuna?

I intend to play I Am Setsuna at some point. My issue with it is that it was promised to be like Chrono Trigger - but I found it about as similar to CT as FF Mystic Quest was to FF4. I can’t comment on the story since I didn’t play far; but, it completely lacked the great scripted battle sequences. Also, something about the towns seemed kind of Grandia-ish bland. While Chrono Trigger was a bunch of buildings accessed from the world map, each of the locations had a lot of spirit and contributed to various sub-plots and/or the main plot.

Is Lost Sphear more down that route, or is it a lot bigger and better?

[Shrinweck]

Edit: Playing this game has convinced me to try reinstalling Pillars of Eternity. This will be the fourth time. The last two times I didn't even launch it lol

So 13 months later I finally went back a fifth time and beat it. All the patching, the DLC (which I bought discounted during the backing process before I'd played the game), and my potential foolishness of backing the sequel that releases next month finally motivated me to play it. I would say it was a fairly positive experience. I found a few moments in the story to be absolutely stellar while other parts were.... a 6/10 at best. I read a preview of the sequel that further motivated me to play - basically all of my gripes with the original game were being seen to. I'm not going back to the preview to go into this further, but the main thing being fixed that I remember are the MASSIVE AMOUNT OF COMBAT ENCOUNTERS that add literally no value or fun to the game.

I searched for the Pillars of Eternity thread to see if it was more worth posting here or there and saw some posts of ours, namely one by me about playing on hard because normal was too easy. Fuck. That. Noise. After enough hours with this games combat system I was happy that most normal encounters involved me pile-driving the competition. They increased the level cap for the DLCs and kept telling me upon entering a new act that I was overleveled and I should scale stuff up - something I ignored lol.

In the FF15 thread (a game that I may be ignoring for up to a year since apparently they're doing an alternate ending due next year) I complained that a game that doesn't have a proper scaling system for if you want to do side quests is flawed. I would also argue that a game that doesn't let you get overleveled as fuck and let you mess shit up is also flawed. Both have their merit and should be options made by the player. I was glad Pillars let me choose.

In any case, my problem with the battle system aside I still had a decent experience in the final fight. Half my party died and I only lived by chugging potions. Feels good to have a satisfying conclusion. It sounded like they were focusing on the strengths and fixing the weaknesses, so I'm excited for the sequel. A more genuine focus on the companions you can have can make or break a game like this, and I think that was the biggest failing of Pillars story-wise. The companion quests were meager, but offered some of the best writing in the game.

The multi-class character system also interests me in the sequel. I can't imagine making anything other than a cipher monk. Or a cipher paladin. Oh god I'm fucked. Well... a cipher something I guess. The classes also have specializations. Who doesn't like class specializations?

[Julius Seeker]

So, they released one of my favourite indie games on Switch; Don't Starve.

25 friggin dollars! =D
Are they mad, this is an old game that's on every console including the Wii U, and I think the last version I bought was the far above competent mobile version, which - for the single player mode, had become my favourite method to play it due to the mobility of mobile devices.

I'm on the fence about buying it. Spending $25 just so I can use buttons and analog sticks instead of a touchscreen. Chances are I'd play the game 1-2 hours for the novelty, and then put it down for months before I have the motivation to play it again... in that time, it's likely at least a 33% off sale would have occurred so I would have just pissed away 10 bucks for no reason

If it were the multiplayer version, and I knew others who were getting it, no question; but it's not, it's just classic Don't Starve.

Don't Starve Together with 4+ players is a wonderful experience, and I recommend it to anyone. Although, I warn you, probably best not to play with me, I am a bit of an asshole when it comes to online games - I don't mean it personally, it's that I love to get into character

[kali o.]

Yeah...I used to tell myself that too. I'm just "roleplaying" an asshole.... No, I'm just an asshole.

Playing Monster Hunter World the last few weeks. This one was really hard to get into (I've never been able to get into the other MH games either). But around the 40 hour mark....it just kinda "clicked". Now I am addicted and everything else is on hold.

[Julius Seeker]

I just bought the whole current Paradox Games grand strategy library, updated my DLC. AQlso got Civ 6 and all the DLC.

After playing a bit of Civ 6... it's kind of like Civ 4 in the way of how it is strangely addictive but not very fun. Whereas Civ 5 was less addictive but more fun. It seems very well balanced compared to Civ 5 though, or perhaps the exploitable imbalances are not as obvious (Songhai Mandekalu cavalry).

[Julius Seeker]

Finished my first game of Civ 6 over the weekend. I must say, fairly underwhelmed, but I can see it being fun for a strategy game to turn your brain off and play.

Outside of Civilization 5, the whole franchise hasn't evolved a great deal in meaningful ways since Civ 2 - most of the advancement is cosmetic. Some of the new stuff to do is interesting in theory, but it more or less amounts to just more or different stuff to do; I don't think the franchise has advanced to the point it was at with the Civ 2 mods from nearly 20 years ago.

I put on Stellaris for a bit, another 4X game, and immediately started having WAAAY more fun.

[Eric]

I'm late to the party on this one, but holy shit Hollow Knight is so good

Far and away the best Metroidvania game I've ever played.

[Shrinweck]

Hollow Knight is amazing. It speaks to how great 2017 was for game releases that I came out of it not thinking Hollow Knight was the best game I played that year. Value-wise ($15 at release) it's probably one of the best games I've ever played. I'm excited for them to release the playable Hornet game.

I've been playing a fair amount of Warframe. I played it at release and was not into it at all but after so many years of good reputation I thought I'd finally give it a go.

[Oracle]

Hollow Knight is amazing. It speaks to how great 2017 was for game releases that I came out of it not thinking Hollow Knight was the best game I played that year. Value-wise ($15 at release) it's probably one of the best games I've ever played. I'm excited for them to release the playable Hornet game.

I hate you.

So I read this, said fuck it time to buy the game, and it's consumed my life for a week.

C:SotN is basically a masterpiece - one of the only things missing is the challenging gameplay of Hollow Knight. I've had my ass handed to me so many times by certain bosses that it's almost maddening - which is why it actually feels like an accomplishment when I beat such bosses. I think I fought some of the harder bosses before I should have, though, because some of the other bosses I encountered I WTF-stomped on my first try.

This game is fantastic. I love it's style, it's story (another major improvement over SotN... sorry, SotN is the measuring stick for all Metroidvania games), and the charm system for customization. Not a big fan of some of the platforming obstacle courses (fuck fuck fuck the White Palace), but I got through them.

Haven't quite beaten the game yet, focusing on tying up some loose ends (Ritual, Grubs, Arena, etc.), but I have explored the entire world and have all the major abilities - think I have all charms but 4. Looking forward to sitting down with it again some tonight.

Oh, and I bought it on the Switch. I'm sure the PC version is great, but this game truly is meant to be on the Switch. One of the games that really has no drawback to playing in hand-held mode vs. on-screen (unlike a game like Xenoblade Chronicles 2).



Ok. Maybe I don't hate you.

[Eric]

Where's my hate?! I bumped the thread with my love of the game

[Oracle]

After all these years, I still have to tell you?

Spoiler: show

I beat Radiance. I beat Nightmare Grimm (!!!). I still can't do that stupid flower quest, or the last battle arena stage...

Sitting at 105%

[Oracle]

How does it compare to I Am Setsuna?

...

Is Lost Sphear more down that route, or is it a lot bigger and better?

Didn't mean to ignore this. I'll be honest, I don't remember I am Setsuna that well, at least not the details. I just remember it being very similar to Lost Sphear, where Lost Sphear feels a bit more mature with respect to the game formula. Lost Sphear definitely has a few parts where the difficulty jumps a bit, don't necessarily remember that with I am Setsuna. The battles in Lost Sphear are a little more immersive, with the Spritnite/Momentum system and the Vulcosuits (mechs).

[Oracle]

After all these years, I still have to tell you?

Spoiler: show

I beat Radiance. I beat Nightmare Grimm (!!!). I still can't do that stupid flower quest, or the last battle arena stage...

Sitting at 105%

Spoiler: show

And I finished the flower quest and arena last night. 107%

[Shrinweck]

I wasn't going to bother until more episodes were released but I heard really good things about the new final Walking Dead game from Telltale, so I bought it. This was probably the most engaging Walking Dead episode in a very long time. Even season one fumbled around from time to time, but this was a return to some of the stronger storytelling and they at least gave the impression that more thought had gone into the consequences of actions and split story telling then they did in the prior seasons. Now that they're working with an ending in sight it could be the best Telltale entry to date since they seem so crazy about being a sequel mill.

[kali o.]

Ill definitely try the last installment once all the eps are out (I kinda have to, since Ive followed Clem this far). But ill wait till its on sale or free.

I am assuming Clem dies but maybe they will surprise me.

[Shrinweck]

I'm guessing there will be multiple outcomes, but yeah probably incoming death for most/all of them. I'm just glad Javi is done. I didn't hate his story but I'm just confused why it was necessary. God only knows why they thought a new protagonist would be met with anything but hatred by the audience. Telltale has enough fucking irons in the coals without another side story delaying the sequels we actually want to see. They've finally refined the engine to the point where it doesn't feel like a shitty adventure game to move through the world, which is a plus. The combat is... better, but still not enjoyable.

[Julius Seeker]

I’ve been playing Hollow Knight as well. SOOOO good, very addictive. This sort of game is made for our generation... unlike, say, Fortnite which I actually feel too old to be playing despite being a guilty pleasure until everyone got way better than me - because I can’t dedicate that kind of time to a game that has no real progress and that none of my friends/family play.

Anyway, Hollow Knight... the game is 34% off right now on Switch although the game at full price already feels like a total steal.

Symphony of the Night is Metroidvania.

[Shrinweck]

I played through Hollow Knight and loved it, but I'm not sure I feel like 100%ing it again. It was cool to get the "Beat the game in under 10 hours" achievement

[Oracle]

Your first playthrough was under 10 hours?

[Shrinweck]

It was my second. My 100% playthrough took 40 hours before the DLC was released and made it 123% or whatever it is now.

[Julius Seeker]

Hollow Knight is how to do Metroidvania.

After more a few hours of play, it hits on several levels - first, it's constant progress in multiple directions - gathering money, exploring new areas, finding people and treasure, and skill improvement in platforming and combat timing. Unlike the original Metroidvania series, this game doesn't sacrifice the original Castlevania feeling. Removing the setting/characters - as a gaming experience, Hollow Knight feels much more like a merger of Castlevania and Metroid than the Metroidvania series ever did; and on top of that, it is a whole lot more with stuff like the hub town repopulation.

[kali o.]

Finally went back to play through Pillars of Eternity (complete edition) before I tackle PoE2 sometime soon, as its sitting in my queue. I still have complaints (lack of innovation, shallow combat and bugs), but the complete edition w/ white march was more enjoyable than the early build I played. Worth playing, but still gets a mostly forgettable thumbs up from me.

I'll probably try to get through Dragon Warrior (er, Quest) 11 next, then PoE2 after -- hopefully Fallout 76 beta rolls out when I am done.

[Shrinweck]

The White March DLC is definitely a step up from the main story. I really wasn't crazy about the experience of the game as a whole. I was actively not looking forward to PoE2 despite backing it on their fundraiser site until I read an article where they listed all the shit they felt they'd done wrong in PoE1 and what they did in PoE2 to improve it.

In any case, I liked PoE2 enough to play it a second time immediately after beating it. And I'll probably play it a third and fourth time with all the DLC they'll be putting out.

Most of my current gaming time is going into Monster Hunter World. It's not really worth going into here since I could fill a thread with ongoing thoughts about the game but I do like it. It will probably tide me over another couple week until the new Tomb Raider is released.

I've also been playing Two Point Hospital, the game that unabashedly copied Theme Hospital. It's fun for what it is. I remember loving Theme Hospital.

[kali o.]

Ya, MHW is addicting but if you dont have a solid group, it can get tedious playing with randoms. Thats why I havent bothered coming back to try out behemoth - Kulve and the whole mechanic behind that (when it came back for the spring festival) really burned me out on groups.

PS - I am finding DQ11 extremely tedious. So far at least (10hrs in).

[Julius Seeker]

I'm a fairly big Dragon Quest fan, but IMO they have not been able to make well paced full-3D games. DQ8 - their first full-3D game - was really good at the time of its release, but it has aged the poorest of all the original 9 DQ games.

Dragon Quest has its niche.


You're right on Monster Hunter, the games feel a little like chore-collections without a tight-knit group, as they are fairly slow. I also find that it's one of those franchises that once you've played it once, no matter how much they advance on the formula, the enjoyment is never as high as it was the first time around... of course, if you can get a more enjoyable group of friends, that might change... Think of it like Street Fighter, while Street Fighter Alpha 3 was clearly WAY better than the older ones, Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior was probably the one you enjoyed the most growing up... or Turbo, or Super Street Fighter, whichever one is the first one you played a lot of.

[Anarky]

Picked up 'It Lurks Below'

https://store.steampowered.com/app/6975 ... rks_Below/

Game is in early access and being made only by David Brevik. The man behind Diablo 1 and 2. Game is basically a mash up of Terria, Minecraft and Diablo. Still in early access, but it has potential.

[Julius Seeker]

I'm back onto Xenoblade Chronicles 2... largely because in my current playthrough I am trying to collect a lot more stuff, flesh out the story of certain areas and characters. I am trying to finish all the side content I didn't do my first time around. The main reason I am playing now is because Torna: The Golden Country is coming out soon, and I couldn't wait to play.

[kali o.]

Finished DQ11 - actually, platinumed, so you can imagine how unproductive I was lately.

Extremely boring start (which lasts like 20+ hours -- basically until you enter the proverbial dark world), then gets slightly better. Then ends at around the 60hr mark. Then starts again - which adds another ~40 hours or so.

That latter part ("starting" again) is probably the only interesting thing DQ11 does and is a genuinely neat gameplay/plot mechanic. Everything else about DQ11 is decidedly mediocre... I can't say it's bad -- because that would be dishonest. It isn't. It's high quality. It is just....meh... At times it was a chore to play through -- the story wasn't very engaging and the combat is boring (in fact, the Auto AI functions are there just to cut down the tediousness and probably best to use, since outside piss poor healing AI, the AI always chooses the most appropriate attacks).

You can up the difficulty but that would basically be masochistic in a game like this.

Unless you are desperate for a new JRPG or very into DQ story/lore (which I believe is more fleshed out and connected for the Japanese), you wouldn't be missing much skipping it.

I'm on the fence and considering buying Spiderman.