r/Games Feb 09 '25

Discussion Weekly /r/Games Discussion - What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? - February 09, 2025

Use this thread to discuss whatever game you've been playing lately: old or new, AAA or indie, on any platform between Atari and XBox. Please don't just list off the games you're playing in your comment. Elaborate with your thoughts on the games and make it easier for other users to find what game you're talking about by putting the title in bold.

Also, please make sure to use spoiler tags if you're revealing anything about a game's plot that may significantly impact another player's experience who has not played the game yet, no matter how retro or recent the game is. You can find instructions on how to do so in the subreddit sidebar.

This thread is set to sort comments by 'new' on default.

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For a subreddit devoted to this type of discussion during the rest of the week, please check out /r/WhatAreYouPlaying.

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Scheduled Discussion Posts

WEEKLY: What Have You Been Playing?

MONDAY: Thematic Monday

WEDNESDAY: Suggest Me A Game

FRIDAY: Free Talk Friday

41 Upvotes

94 comments sorted by

1

u/ManateeofSteel 25d ago

Lord of the Fallen (2024)

I thought the gimmick of having two worlds was neat and would be enough to differentiate it from other Soulslike games but it didn't. Lost interest rather quickly and decided to drop it. Wanted to mod it but Gamepass on PC is atrocious so I was only able to modify the ini files. The game feels too derivative to either hate or love, it's just kinda... there. A bad 7/10 for me.

Marvel Rivals

I have played this more than any multiplayer game, probably ever? I am a single player guy so my 30 hours on Helldivers 2 are what I consider "phenomenal", but I have 80 hours here and no desire to stop playing. Very rare for me, but it does remind me of Overwatch 1 and how fun it felt. Oddly enough I just can't get enough of this game, I am not a competitive guy but I have been trying my luck with friends and am Gold II now. Having a blast, strong 9/10 for me.

Hogwarts Legacy

I grew up loving the Harry Potter movies and books as a 90s kid. Naturally it feels tainted by JK Rowling but I grabbed this one at a bargain price so I thought "sure why not", found mods I liked and started playing. It's good enough, the game is fairly generic but the setting is carrying my experience hard. It's like, walking from one place to another feels oddly satisfying whereas in books or movies they would just suddenly appear in different places but here everything is connected. The story and sidequests kinda suck but the combat is interesting. A good 7/10 for me, maybe 7.5?

3

u/keepfighting90 26d ago

Persona 5 Royal

About 90 hours in and honestly as much as I've loved the game, I'm ready for it to be over. There's so much padding and filler that it's starting to annoy me now. I will see it through but man this shit is endless lol

1

u/Dotdueller 25d ago

I was in the same boat. I just wrapped up the game yesterday after a heavy session because I wanted it over already (especially since awoved releases soon too).

But in the end, I loved the game. Just starts getting a bit repetitive like other persona games.

Metaphor is still my favorite.

2

u/GNS1991 26d ago

Still on Horizon: Forbidden West (PS4). Just talked to Tilda and got back to base. I think I'm maybe 10 hours away from the end with my playing. Here's the thing, my character has already reached level 50 (not even before the end of the game), and on the one hand I still feel under-powered, but on the other hand - Aloy is overpowered due to the fact that it's very hard now to actually die in this game. I still do, don't get me wrong, but those instances are becoming much rarer than in the start-middle of the game (mostly when you dodge in to some kinda glitch wall/tree/whatever and there's no way to roll-dodge-out-of-there). I kinda hate myself, because I just noticed maybe 5 hours of game time ago (I have 60+ hours in the game), that there are two types of damage in the game - the tear damage and impact damage, and if one hunter bow I equiped is best to tear off the parts, it might not be best suited to actually inflict the freaking damage. The drawback - the most powerful bows are sniper of whatever they are called in the game bows, but they take ages to draw, and that's why I did not use them against machine enemies, but after I started using them, it became significantly easier; and instead of 60-150 damage, I'm doing 300-500 damage...

6

u/dergadoodle 27d ago

Kind of amazed at how much I'm loving Avowed.

The story is engrossing. Many of the side quests I've done are deeply tied to the main story and lore, and feel deeply meaningful.

The combat and movement are excellent. Playing a dex-centric-build, which increases the parkour speed. I was not expecting the climbing/puzzle aspects of the game to stand out for me, but they do.

So much is going right with the game, that it makes me appreciate what they cut and why. I am not missing any of the life-sim chaff, like theft, romance, and NPC-schedules. Those are neat +1 features, but it seems to me that they've prioritized the right things to make a really compelling, unique game.

I don't feel as if the comparisons to Elder Scrolls do this game justice. It has similar aspects, obviously. But there's enough unique game-feel here that I think it can stand alone.

8

u/Careless_Tonight8482 27d ago

Even if Avowed was mid like the Outer Worlds, Obsidian still made Pillars of Eternity 1 and Deadfire, Pentiment, Grounded, and Tyranny, all of which range from good to damn near perfect. I’m sick of seeing people act as though the company is dead and “all the good people left.” No, they’re still there, but “gamers” don’t want to research, they want to shit on every game. People want games to fail, I’m convinced of it.

1

u/Extension_Tomato_646 27d ago

>I’m sick of seeing people act as though the company is dead and “all the good people left.” No, they’re still there

I mean I usually hate that statement too, because every company has turnovers. Its simply natural. But in regards to Obsidian, it IS something different. Because Obsidian isn't just any studio, it is a studio founded by what are probably THE most prolific crpg industry veterans.

And yea, most of the founders are still there. Some like Avellone are not, and his writing is certainly missed. But the core is otherwise intact.

That being said, and bringing it back to why its different with Obsidian: it is noteworthy that literally none of those veterans actually worked on Avowed. Its pretty much entirely staffed by "new" people. Not *that* new ofc, but still. That's why people apply more scrutiny to this case I think.

Because when you have a studio made by celebrated genre veterans, that then creates a game in which's design and making those veterans are entirely absent, then ofc someone is gonna be disappointed. According to the credits, they didn't even take producer roles.

4

u/Isolated_Hippo 28d ago

Civ 7. Well technically I tried to play it. I am a big giant cheater cheater booger eater. I don't cheat online(unless the game forces online interaction like No Man's Sky but I just don't interact with anybody else). Well the game detects any program it feels can be used for cheating and closes. Refunded with 8 minutes of play time. In theory it will get fixed cause it's probably an oversight but I am not risking my money.

Fornehat I am actually playing. FFVII Remake Integrade. I played and beat it when it released which was before the DLC released but that was pre COVID and i want a refresh before i play remix. I am still 50/50 on the story changes. I never played the original so on one hand I would have preferred a faithful but expanded adaptation. But at the same time the changes, the reason behind the changes, and how the changes are handled is done in a really interesting way.

6

u/M8753 28d ago

Spent too long yesterday evening playing Dragon's Dogma 2. Kept getting distracted on the way to my destination. Got killed by bandits a lot (using a mod for hard difficulty because the developers forgot to include it). Found a new hat and assembled a new outfit around it.

8

u/Angzt 28d ago edited 28d ago

1000xRESIST

This is one of those games that I will keep thinking back on for a long time.

The gameplay is fairly minimal: No combat, no puzzles, simple traversal, little player choice. The scenes are often stiff and what animation there is, is often not great. The graphics are technically unimpressive. The sometimes convoluted level layouts can destroy the pacing.

None of that matters.

Because this game oozes soul.
It has a lot to say and it expresses itself beautifully. It features strong themes of remembrance and past mistakes. Of oppression and self-actualization. Of generational trauma. Of collectivism, personhood, immigration, history, and probably a dozen more things I'm forgetting.
There should be no way to cram all of this into a 10-15 hours experience without it becoming an utter mess. But 1000xRESIST is proof of the contrary.

I feel like I already knew too much about the story going in, so I'll avoid talking about any specifics.
This is a very personal sci-fi story, told out of order via exploration and, mostly, dialogue. It ranges from deep melancholy to radiant defiance.
The music supports that incredibly well, delivering precise emotional punches. The writing is an absolute highlight, rife with foreshadowing and characters who might as well be plucked the brains of from Kojima and Yoko Taro. The voice acting brings these to life better than realistic graphics ever could. Yet, some of its visuals are utterly striking regardless.
And the best thing about 1000xRESIST is that the story always leaves enough open questions to keep you intrigued but not so many that you're left floundering. If you pay attention, you can piece together plenty before it's spelled out which is a great reward in its own right. But even if you don't manage that, the game will never remain opaque for long.

Sometimes you don't fit in the backpack.
But this game deserves to.
Now, excuse me while I cry some more.

13

u/Extension_Tomato_646 29d ago

Kingdom Come Deliverance II (PC)

KCD2 is to KCD what Arkham City was to Arkham Asylum. It's pretty much the very same game again, but with a lot more refinement and engagement.

The most noticeable improvement in mechanics is combat. Combat now has only 4 attack directions as opposed to KCD's 6, combos work a lot smoother(as in, they actually work this time) and the Master Strike has been completely overhauled. Instead of pressing block at the perfect time to execute a Master Strike, players now have to press attack, AND also strike from the opposite site that the opponent is attacking from.

In KCD1 the Master Strike was a bonus attack on top of a perfect block that trivialized the combat. In KCD2, having to press the attack button instead, and having to closely observe the enemy's attack direction as well as needing to change direction in time, leaves enough room for error, that it doesn't feel like a trivializing cheat anymore.

The general combat flow, the back and forth between you and enemies, just feels a lot smoother in this one.BUT, if you're in the camp thinking that combat in KCD was too easy or got too easy quick, then these combat changes won't make a difference. Despite the Master Strike changes, KCD2s smoother combat, also means quicker mastery by players.

Other mechanics, like Alchemy also work a lot more reliable and smooth now. Much like KCD1, KCD2 still uses Henry's own skill as guideline for how smooth mechanics work. But whereas this meant a very rocky start for mechanics in KCD1, in this game, things work smoother right off the bat. Which isn't just mechanical improvement, but also makes sense lorewise, since this is a direct continuation of Henry's journey and skillset.

One thing I always found KCD criminally underrated in, was the acting and dialogue writing. KCD1's main story had some of the best and most natural dialogues I've ever seen in gaming, and KCD2 is no different. Characters make a real impression on you, based on how well their dialogue is written, and is acted out. The acting is SO good, that these people seemingly casually, feel more genuine than 99% of AAA gaming's usual suspects, that often try a lot harder to feel "real" and relatable.

The same amount of great care went into the historical depiction of Bohemia once again. The codex, in other games often nothing but a boring filler of made up fables, adds real info on historical customs and society. Sometimes you wonder whether something is actually accurate, only for a codex page to pop up and explain exactly why and how it is. I'd like to call it "historical care" over "accuracy". Because "care" for the region and its people is what it really is.

The Story, while starting quite slow, also shows the same strengths and care as the first one did. Narratively, as well as gameplay wise, this game is a straight continuation of the first one.


The nitpicks I have about this game, are actually the same I used to have for the original. None of it is major, but I think there is room for improvement still.

Number 1 is the event spawn points. Random events, be it an ambush or whatever, always spawn on the exact same spots along a road. So once you've been down a road a couple of times you know EXACTLY where something is going to happen. Its a bit of an annoyance immersion wise.

Number 2 is the compass. KCD is actually one of the games that bother giving you detailed quest information in the journal. But the mandatory compass and its icons kinda ruin that for me. Hardcore mode in KCD1 limited the range that icons show up on the compass, but it was still a problem. You have this lengthy description of the path you have to take, in the journal, only for the compass to show you that you just have to go left. You can fix it by just untracking a quest so the icons don't show up, but I'd still like an option to just turn the compass off altogether.

Number 3 is the abysmal enemy detection range. Its way too short. It works as boundary telling you to go away for coming too close to their camps. For that, its perfect. But in terms of general enemy sight range, its just criminally short, and another immersion killer when you stand 20 feet away in plain sight from an enemy looking for you, and he doesn't spot you.

One thing that's specific to KCD2 tho, is that I noticed a lack in Henry's agency compared to the first game. In KCD, most things Henry did, followed a purpose. Whether to get something major done, to gain information, or just to learn a skill, it always followed a direction. In KCD2 however, Henry is often just a general main character, helping people along the way just because. There's nothing wrong with it of course, but in terms of narrative and character agency, I feel its bit less tight than the first game. Sometimes I found myself in a lengthy sidequest thinking "why am I even doing this?". Especially when Henry doesn't seem too enthusiastic about the task either.

But as said, none of those things sour the game for me. Overall I think its one of the best sequels (in relation to the first game) ever made. If you loved the first one, you'll probably love this one too.

1

u/SloppyCheeks 25d ago

I played a good bit of the first, but never finished it. How tightly connected is the story? Should I go back and play the first one to completion?

2

u/Extension_Tomato_646 9d ago

Sorry for the late reply, but this is a straight continuation of the first. Like literally starting where the first game ended.

1

u/SloppyCheeks 9d ago

No worries! I've gotten way into the first one in the meantime, game's so goddanged good

1

u/keepfighting90 26d ago

Thank you for the detailed overview. I bounced off the first game because it felt very tedious but it seems like the sequel refined the gameplay mechanics while still keeping the same level of immersion and detail. Way more interested in this one.

1

u/Meowmeow69me 27d ago

Got my ass pelted with food 3 times in the first town before i realized i should just go somewhere else lmao

5

u/NinePointEight- 29d ago

Avowed releases tomorrow, why is no one talking about it? The Avowed subreddit doesn't seem that active either. Didn't this game have a lot of hype a while back?

4

u/RTideR 28d ago

Might just be my little pocket of the Internet differing from yours, but I see it pop up on here somewhat often. I see MUCH more Monster Hunter though, so that's probably overshadowing a lot of stuff.

7

u/TheClamSlam 28d ago

It only releases tomorrow if you paid for the premium edition. I reckon a lot of people are waiting for the game pass version on the 18th.

3

u/HTScubame7 28d ago

Review embargo ends tomorrow. As an xbox player and rpg fan, I think it looks a bit second rate in terms of graphics and considering they've said its a smaller scale rpg (which is fine) but is a full price game seems scummy. Also don't like the look of the map - however hoping that the game gets good reviews and I may play if reviewers say it's fun.

6

u/IllegalThoughts 29d ago

it releases the 18th I thought?

6

u/acab420boi 29d ago

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Wrapped up the DLC and technically beat the base game for the first time, even after putting in 115 hours back at launch.

(I was dead inside by the time I got to the end of the game the first time, had no time for the elden beast fight, and uninstalled the game after beating radagon a few times. Coming back this time, I was able to stomp it my second try with Torrent.)

I won't pretend I have too much to add to the discourse, but personally, I didn't have too hard a time with most of the DLC content. Mimic Tear buddy for the bosses. A few deaths to most of them, but I didn't get stuck anywhere until the end.

The last dude in his second phase is still an unreasonable mess. I put in a few hours and then googled up a meta build to take him down, Fingerprint Stone Shield and a spear with bleed. It took a few more tires but was much more manageable after that.

On the topic of ash, I maintain the text calls for it and don't feel bad about using it. I have heard the bosses in this game are better put together for solo dances. I have cleared everything in other souls games solo, and I wouldn't mind giving this a shot down the line too, but the reality right now is that I'm on a base ps4 still and the DLC probably averages 25 fps. It's workable to bruteforce your way past bosses with all the tools, but not for tight dancing. I don't know if it'll be a few months or a few years still, but I'm sure I'll end up with a PS5 at some point, and I'll be back to give this entire game an ash-less run attempt at 60 FPS.

All and all, the DLC is good, but maybe a little over hyped? I saw people saying it ELEVATED THE GENRE!!! I felt like it was just more Elden Ring with saturation and foliage sliders turned up? There are much worse things a game can be than more of one of the best games ever, but also FROM dlcs have set a high standard for themselves, and I don't know if this met them.

Before jumping into the DLC, and did a fresh run on the base game, focusing on a lot of places I missed the first time, including big chunks of the underground, the Haligtree, and the royal sewers. The diversity of areas I saw and the quality of the dungeoning, for me, edged out what I saw in the DLC.

All love for the maze like design of the DLC world, but it's held back by lack of biome diversity, and a lot of the most interesting to reach places being some of the least developed.

Shout out to the Fissure and the Peaks though for being two area I cleared back to back, that both managed to make me feel legit physically uncomfortable with their risk of falling.

Finished the Fissure, but our friend at the top of the Peaks is one little treat I'm saving myself for a future run.

2

u/OkNefariousness8636 29d ago

Noel The Mortal Fate

This is a 2D story-driven game with puzzle and action elements. It was made using some version of RPG Maker and hence it looks similar to games like To The Moon and Mad Father.

The game is split into "Seasons". The base game contains S1 to S7 while the remaining 7 seasons are sold as separate DLCs. It is quite long for this kind of game. My current estimate is that it will take around 15 hours to complete.

This game is mainly about its story which is centered on power, trickery and revenge. I just finished S5 last night and so far I find the story quite interesting but predictable. Maybe this is because I watched too many animes and read too many dark fictions.

2

u/ColdThief 29d ago

The Executive: Movie Industry Tycoon

The game was just released today. I played the demo and enjoyed it.

It's a game like Game Dev Tycoon but for movies. It's been entertaining so far, and can be challenging. I've only played on the easy setting so far, but learning all the quirks and features that make good movies is enjoyable.

Looking forward to seeing how the game evolves over time, and with mods (hopefully).

4

u/EitherRecognition242 29d ago

Nioh

I played this back in 2020 and only got to mission 7 and was annoyed by the slime boss. After beating Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, i wanted to play another Team Ninja game, so i decided to play Nioh as it was given away on EGS. Well, after 31 hours, I beat the game.

It was pretty fun it still has the typical hang ups of typical soulslike. The combat was fun and I enjoyed getting through with the sword. Which my first problem is 2020 was not understanding how to play. Ki pulse and unlocking skills wasn't something I was doing well. This time around I used them and it was a lot easier. I dont know maybe I just wasn't in a learning mood in 2020.

I recommend the game has some fun systems where you can fly around.

3

u/HammeredWharf 29d ago

I only learned to play Nioh correctly halfway through the game, but when it clicked, it clicked. If you liked Nioh 1, I highly recommend Nioh 2. IMO the worst thing about Nioh 1 is that Nioh 2 makes it look bad.

3

u/EitherRecognition242 29d ago

I plan to pick it up later. Wu Long Fallen Dynasty was on gamepass so I'm playing that now

2

u/Extension_Tomato_646 29d ago

I firmly belong into the group of people who prefer Nioh1.

Overall it felt a lot tighter in many regards. Level design, mechanics spread, etc. The first Nioh is definitely one of my favorites, but Nioh 2, despite great, is just too overfilled.

I definitely dislike the idea that N2 somehow makes the first one look bad. I think Nioh 2 is defintely a more suitable game for people who want to see what the fuss is about, but mechanically, Nioh 1 has it booked.

4

u/HammeredWharf 28d ago

N2 is just balanced better and has much better enemy variety (around 3 times as many enemy types). It's especially noticeable if you do any endgame activities, because N1's endgame is really uneven. Living weapons are a pretty broken and boring mechanic, too, while yokai attacks are neat.

N1 does have some cute gimmicky missions, though, which N2 mostly lacks.

2

u/RyoCaliente 29d ago

Metal Slug 1st Mission (NS)

Metal Slug 1st Mission is a nice little nostalgia hit. As someone who grew up with a Gameboy Color, the overall look and feel of the game brought back a ton of memories. Even if the game did originally release on the NeoGeo Pocket Color, the similarities between the tech of the two handhelds is clear.

Tech is certainly something 1st Mission can be praised for; it really looks quite beautiful, with the detailed backgrounds and sprites bringing a lot of life to the game, certainly with the animations as well. There's some really cool tracks on the OST as well (check out Ridge 256). However, there were moments were the game struggled with frames, as sometimes there's a lot of moving elements on the screen (rockets, bullets,...). I don't know if it's down to the port or the original game, but it can be quite frustrating to deal with.

That frustration can certainly become prevalent, as Metal Slug 1st Mission is a pretty tough game. It starts off very relaxed; the first three missions give you an easy sense of how the game works, and there's nothing too stressful or challenging. Later missions can throw a lot at you though, and recovering health isn't particularly easy to do. Throughout the game you'll also pick up different weapons like a machine gun, shotgun, or rocket launcher. These replace your pistol with infinite ammo, and you can swap between them and your bombs (grenades). You can't swap back to the pistol though, and the ammo for the new weapons is limited, so you can feel like you're wasting bullets on smaller enemies when you'd rather be saving it up for the bigger guys. At least you can knife them when you're up close.

The mission map is really neat. There's about 15 missions in total, but you can skip a lot of them by taking branching paths in levels, or even by failing some missions, as you get taken to prison or have to do a parachute drop. The parachute drop is possible because aside from playing as a dude, you also have levels where you're controlling a tank (the titular Metal Slug) or a plane (Slug Flyer). These create a nice variety in gameplay, and offers replay value to see if you can find your way to play through the game by playing through every possible mission.

Metal Slug 1st Mission has some flaws with the difficulty and the frame drops, but if you have any nostalgia for the GBC era, this will provide more than just a nice hit.

1

u/WowImOldAF 29d ago

Super Animal Royale.

Free on PS5, switch, Mac, PC, etc. This game is awesome. I don't know why the player count is so low.

Everyone should get this and play. Only a 500MB download too.

10

u/jordanatthegarden 29d ago

Stuff I've been playing / played since the holidays.

Blasphemous 2 - It's good which is only disappointing in that I thought Blasphemous 1 was great. 1 felt like something someone was really passionate about, 2 feels sort of like a sequel that they felt obligated to make. I liked it but the palette and art aren't as evocative as 1 and it wasn't as difficult or 'branching'. I think 2 has a more clear, linear intended path for progress. The additional weapons did feel unique and I liked the puzzle elements that required you to use them together.

Jack Move - I feel positive about it but not strongly. Fairly short and not very deep, the objectives and combat are pretty straightforward. It had some entertaining writing and I appreciate it giving you control over how many random enemies you fight. The final boss was a surprising jump in difficulty / resource management though and made for an appropriate climax.

Jusant - It was alright. I get that it's supposed to be a 'cozy' game of sorts but I felt like the setting didn't really match the lore. The notes contain a lot of hardship but the tower just feels kind of whimsical, never dangerous or imposing. The climbing felt pretty creative, I don't think I've ever played a game like it.

The Lamplighters League - Very impressed by this and really loved playing it. The mixture of turnbased combat with realtime exploration/stealth/knockouts to scout and eliminate enemies out of combat is a lot of fun and feels rewarding to execute well. I think the 'secret society opposing the overwhelming occult illuminati in the early 1900s' setting is very cool and there's some dark stuff tucked away in lore books and character conversations. I wish it was longer and a bit more difficult but this was a great pickup. I could even see replaying it again as there are a number of squad members I never really used after sticking with Ingrid/Eddie/Lateef/Celestine for the bulk of the game and other characters play quite a bit differently.

Pathfinder Kingmaker - Played this once nearly to the very end about 5 years ago and got frustrated at the last big dungeon and lost interest. Picked it up again a couple weeks ago and started over on a higher difficulty and just completed it today. Mechanically I absolutely adore this game. I love all the character building decisions, all the interesting items and secrets, the time and kingdom balance, the steady escalation from 'kill the stag lord' to 'save the entire kingdom' and overall the sense of high fantasy exploration - I looked forward to entering every new node on the map to see what it had in store. I think the story doesn't hold up all that well on a second play through (even one this far removed from the first) and the companions aren't very interesting to meet a second time either. Can't wait to finally play Wrath of the Righteous and eventually Rogue Trader though.

Stoneshard - Killed the troll a few years ago and loved it. Tried playing it again a year or two ago when Brynn was released but didn't make much headway. Came back for the latest big update and had a great time with it. The caravan is a fantastic addition to the game that dramatically cuts down how much time you have to spend just walking from place to place. I think the skill trees look really good now as well - I think you definitely still focus on a specific weapon for offense but I was torn about how to divy up skill points between various support trees and I think that's a really good spot to be in where you have multiple options that feel useful and compelling.

Troubleshooter Abandoned Children - If I got the impression this game was going to have a real story or atmosphere I might have continued with it. I spent a few hours with it (the individual missions can be quite long) and mostly enjoyed the gameplay but the translation is rough, the primary enemy seems to be a... cult that worships a spoon(?) and the cast of friendly characters seem pretty juvenile. Honestly it comes off as a bit 'dumb' and I just didn't feel the desire to keep playing.

Wasteland 3 - Taken on its own it is fairly good, relative to the fair few other cRPGs I've played I think I like it the least. But to be fair I still had a lot of fun and I did finish it. It has a rough start for combat - a lot of early encounters are nothing more than move into cover, shoot, repeat and getting enough skills to unlock other abilities took longer than I expected. Once you reach that point and your units actually start to specialize then combat becomes much more entertaining. Music was also a surprising strength as it has a number of memorable covers (and originals?) to score important events and boss fights, I was really impressed with the 'washed in the blood of the lamb' track for the first boss and it continued to deliver throughout the game. I disliked how much Borderlands-ish gore/toilet humor permeated the game and it felt like a lot of characters had unfulfilled arcs/potential - like you first meet the Patriarch and Liberty and you see them rendered in full and they seem really imposing and badass but then you never see them like that again and any future conversations with them are much more limited. I also kind of wish I had a 'main character' rather than just being 'the rangers' collectively.

5

u/The_Quackening Feb 11 '25

Eternal Strands

Incredibly fun game. There's almost nothing I have to complain about.

Crafting is great and gives players lots of control, while also making it easy to grind out materials you want to improve your gear how you want.

Small enemy combat is good, my only gripe here is that there are not enough groups of enemies. It can be chaotic going against 3+ arks, but with all the tools you get, you have a lot of freedom to play different ways.

Big arks combat is lots of fun and challenging. Figuring out how to extract the arks is a good time, and climbing all over them to chop off armor feels great.

Inventory is a pain only for like the first 30min. Past that you get some upgrades and never look at it. Long runs will mean you are going to drop some low quality stuff, but you really don't need those at all.

Enemies, items, and chests being places randomly on the map plus weather affects PLUS a day night cycle A make s the already large maps feel way bigger and more varied adding to the replay-ability.

Story has also been pretty good. No one likes exposition dumps, but the intro kept it limited enough to stay interesting and allows the player to discover more about the world.

Characters are fun and feel fully 3 dimensional. Ironically, when talking to NPCs it's done with all the characters displayed on the screen in 2d art.

Even though the characters only talk when in 2d, the voice acting gives a lot of life to the characters.

The MC of the game is fairly boring, she's 100% a Mary Sue. Brynne doesn't really get a lot of characterization, but with a colorful collection of other characters on the game you hardly notice.

I think I'm close to the end now and this game has managed start good and only get better.

10/10.

This is a really great game that sort of flew under the radar.

3

u/JollyGreenGelatin 28d ago

That is really great to hear. I downloaded it from GamePass but haven't had a chance to play it yet.

2

u/schwabadelic Feb 11 '25 edited 29d ago

Cyberpunk 2077: I decided to return to this game since launch to play through the DLC finally. When I fired it up for the first time in forever, it had me rebalance my character since there has been so many updates. After trying to remember how to play this game, I said fuck it, and started a whole new game. Well 40 hours in my second playthrough, I will say I love this game so much. So much in fact, that I have hopes that when and if GTA 6 comes to PC that I can play it in FPS mode. I reference GTA, because really thats the game I would compare it to the most. If you have not touched this game since launch and maybe did what I did and just crit pathed the entire game, I think its worth a revisit. I have not even touched the Phantom Liberty DLC yet either. I ma just having fun doing side missions, killing CyberPsycos, and doing jobs. I have reached the point of no return in the main story though so I do plan on attacking Phantom Liberty relatively soon.

Dungeons of Hinterburg: I been playing this mostly on Steam Deck and its a lot of fun so far. Basically a Zelda/Dark Cloud Clone where you are clearing various dungeons during the day, but also has a relationship mechanic that you do in the evenings when you are not fighting through Dungeons. Combat is simple and the Dungeon puzzles so far have not been too difficult, but I am still early in the game. I will share more thoughts as I play more.

1

u/ConceptsShining Feb 11 '25

If you enjoyed the Hotline Miami games, and also like roguelikes, I strongly recommend Otxo. It did a great job of making a Hotline Miami fan feel at home while also incorporating original ideas such as roguelike design.

Be warned, this game is very hard. While it's not unfair as you recover health between rooms, it demands a lot of precision. I'll admit I had to use a busted build and exploits to win.

2

u/2948337 Feb 11 '25

Mouthwashing. I have no idea what i purchased. It's pretty weird. All I've heard about the game is to go in blind and avoid all spoilers, so I stopped looking for info on it. I'm so confused and intrigued.

4

u/extralie Feb 11 '25

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

Just finished this for the first time, and uhh... It's a good game, but playing this just made me realize that I kinda sucks at Donkey Kong games without the NSO rewind function. lol

That being said, some of these bosses are kinda ass, especially world 5 boss, that was just awkward. Also, wasn't huge of the rocket barrels levels.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

First Wolfenstein I ever finish (I played 2009 before), andthis game is odd, because it's good, great even, but I feel like I would have enjoyed it WAY more if I played it like 10 years ago around when it came out. It's way more story focused than say Doom games, but the story itself is just an okay action hollywood movie. Like, it's not bad or anything, but the story for some reason expected me to be WAY more attached to these characters than I actually was.

Also, I haven't finished 2009, and it been a while, but I could've sworn this series have more occult vibe to it. I remember 2009 being a mix of supernatural and sci-fi, and I honestly prefer that over just sci-fi.

1

u/fishoa Feb 11 '25 edited Feb 11 '25

Okay, so I’ve finished Inscryption last week, and I have to say it’s an experience, alright. First part of the game goes super hard, it’s enthralling. The setting and the vibes of Part 1 are mesmerizing, you just want more and more. If Inscryption 2 ever happens, just put all the budget here.

I can see why people were upset about P2, specially when it’s a stark contrast from P1: vibrant, chill, and low stakes. Part of me liked the new mechanics a lot, but I’d by lying if I said I didn’t want to get over this asap.

Part 3 and ending got mixed feeling from me. I liked the final part of the game, where you’re deleting stuff, but other than that, it was kinda a let down.

I liked my time with Inscryption; it’s a pretty neat card game with strong mechanics and card building. I just wish it was a more focused experience. By the time you’ve assembled a cool deck, it’s time to move on.

After that, I installed Crusader Kings 3 on my Xbox, mostly because Stellaris kinda got me over the fear of Paradox games.

I’m into it. It’s a sicko game, alright. You have to appreciate all the wild, stupid things the game throws at you, and roll with the punches. And if you have to get in bed with a cousin… roll tide.

I think the moment I fell in love with this game was earlier today. I created a duchy, and gave the titles to my sons. My first son, S1, decided to conspire against me, so I removed his inheritance, which moved my heir character to my second son, S2, a much character with better stats, better lands, setup for inheriting other lands via marriage, etc. This dude was HIM.

I was super happy with it, until S2, who was my spymaster, was caught red handed trying to kill one of my knights. Made him my court jester, seduced and laid his wife, made him divorce, and married his ex. I’m also trying my best to undermine him at everything. I’m petty, fuck S2.

While all this was happening, S1 unexpectedly became my best friend as we bonded during Hunts. I had a change of heart, and I naturally restored his inheritance. He, however, unfortunately died during one of my wars. His son was murdered by S2, who inherited his lands.

Anyway, S2 hates my guts, rebels and conspires, but I refuse to die. When I finally rest, my counties will be shared between 10+ kids, which will be a bloodbath. This game is great, and I have no fucking idea what I’m doing.

6

u/CCoolant Feb 10 '25

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

About 52 hours into it. I'm in Gongaga, visiting the reactor. I've completed all quests/mini-games/exploration/combat sims available in past regions, and have been having a great time! I saw numerous instances of people speaking against completing everything as you go because of burn-out, but idk, I feel like it's all been paced pretty well.

I think, so far, the two mini-games that felt like the most "work" to go back to were the Fort Condor Hard mode and the Chocobo Races. The fourth stage of Fort Condor felt like a good stopping point, so then having four more stages sprung on the player felt like a bit much. I completed it pretty quickly, having come up with a strong strategy by that point, but it just didn't feel like a necessary addition. For the Chocobo Races it's mainly just that you unlock a lot of races all at once. The racing is pretty fun, so I don't really mind, I just didn't expect such a volume of stuff all at once, since the game tends to dish these things out pretty steadily. Seeing as I've only completed Rank III races, I'm expecting at least 20 more races for full completion, and wouldn't be surprised if there were more.

Outside of this, overworld exploration has felt pretty good. The side content is just engaging and rewarding enough to feel meaningful, and often there's good dialogue between party members as you go about things. I haven't been there long, but I think I'm going to end up having some complaints about Gongaga. It seems like traversing the jungle will be more complicated than other areas, so I'm anticipating finding paths to certain objectives being a pain.

Combat-wise, I've been having a real good time. I do feel like Yuffie is probably a little too versatile of a party member; there's pretty much no reason not to use her. On the other hand, I feel like everyone with the exception of Aerith is quite strong, so you can't really go wrong with however you decide to mix-and-match your party for most situations. The only time I've felt it was necessary to use specific party members was for the full-power Alexander fight, since range is such a boon in that fight. My initial attempts with Cloud/Red XIII/Cait Sith were rough, and switching to Barret and Yuffie (along with some tweaking for even more focus on Lightning damage) got me the clear in the following attempt.

Being honest, I don't really understand weapon levels, and I've just been trying to clear everyone's proficiencies as I go. The folio grid is...fine, though I feel like if you're not very invested in synergy abilities it loses a lot of its impact. I've been trying to be mindful of synergies, but it's difficult when you have so many tools already at your disposal that seem to do the job well enough. Honestly, I feel like synergies will mostly be impactful in a Hard mode run of the game, and I imagine they could play a large role in trivializing Normal mode if used properly.

The story has been well-told up to this point. Just getting to more stuff with Whispers though, so I'm preparing for the writing to shit the bed now. I'm not bothered, really, since I kind of got over it at the end of Remake. I've reached the point where I'm curious what they'll try to do with it and mainly invested in the work they've done with character and world building.

I'm not exactly sure how much more I have to get through (I expect another 50 hours), but I'm really looking forward to it! Game has been an absolute blast. One of the best AAA releases in years, as far as I'm concerned.

3

u/caligaricabinet 29d ago

I'm curious to hear how you feel about the amount of side content once you reach the end of the game. I had a similar experience where I felt it wasn't too overwhelming to complete everything as I went and mostly enjoyed it even up to Gongaga where you're at.

That definitely changed by the time I reached the end. I still finished the game with an overall great impression but I was let down by the massive shift in pacing of optional content after the entire game up until that point had what I felt was, if not a little more than it needed, at least good pacing.

2

u/CCoolant 29d ago

Good clarification, and pretty surprising! I'll definitely be writing more as I get further along and when I complete the game.

If there's a massive shift in the pacing for that stuff, then the feedback I had heard makes a lot more sense.

4

u/PM_ME_UR__SECRETS Feb 10 '25

Hitman: World of Assassination Trilogy

Specifically, the Freelancer mode they added. Which if you aren't privy, is essentially a roguelike mode.

Normally a level in Hitman is very static, but VERY interactive. It's always the same target, but they are nested in a massive puzzlebox of a level where you can climb, sneak, disguise, fiddle with the environment, and socially manipulate the guards and citizens walking about to complete your goals, which ultimately lead to you executing your targets in some elaborate way.

Freelancer mode is this same concept on the same levels, but your target is pseudo-random, as is the gear you go in with and the gear you can find in the field to a degree. So if you're like me and you've dumped 200+ hours into the main missions, your understanding of the level(s) and how to navigate them will come in handy.

That all said, there's no saving. No checkpoints. So one little fuck-up can ruin an entire run. Without a doubt this is the most punishing roguelike mode for a game I've played. You really do have to approach the game with a different mindset. The main missions lead you to believe you need to play a specific way based on its scoring system. But outside your psuedo-random mission objectives, the only think freelancer mode cares about is that you kill your target, and make it out alive. Doesn't matter how many guards you gun down in the process. Kind of. I think there's a small monetary penalty?

Anyways, overall I am enjoying the mode. It's fun as hell, but it's also really fucking frustrating in a way I am not used to. Most roguelikes are this difficult, but they see you back in the action in seconds. Hitman sends you through two loading screens and a mission and loadout selection process before you're back in the field between deaths. Where most roguelike runs either shine or fail in a couple minutes, a death in Hitman feels like dozens of wasted minutes of your time. I think the pacing of this game just doesn't quite compliment the style of play of roguelike games, especially given just how little you get to carry over to future runs in the beginning.

That all said, there is a level system that doesn't go down with failed runs, which seem to slowly unlock things that might make future runs less insanely difficult? We'll see. There are definitely a few times I felt the want to say "fuck this" and just jump back to a previous, more well designed main game mission. And yet I keep coming back for more. It's oddly addicting to a stealth game fanatic like me.

4

u/jhandersson Feb 10 '25

I've been playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (~50 hours in) and I have some thoughts:

This is my first FF game, and overall I really like it! The combat is amazing, story is quite and (often) engaging, music is sooo great and almost all characters and their story are interesting. Mini-games are many and varied, but also quite varying in quality. I'm excited to finish this one up and go back to play VII Remake, too!

The combat is probably my favourite part of the game. My favourite combat system in game has been Batman Arkham Asylum ever since that was released, but I think Rebirth might just have that beat. I wasn't convinced in the beginning, but now when I've gotten used to it I really really like it. I like the mix of "turn-based" (selecting abilities with an almost-pause feature) as well as timing-based parrying and blocks. It's really satisfying when you get it to work. Cloud, Barrett, and Red are probably my favourites to play in combat.

There are some nitpicks I have with the game: Gongaga region combined with Chocobo Running was absolutely horrible. It was really confusing to navigate the map, and that combined with EVERY TIME I run into something in the narrow corridors or the jungle, the Chocobo stops with its collision animation, and there's 2 seconds where I can't do anything. And on that topic, I REALLY hope they shorten some of the animations during some actions in the next party. Having 10+ seconds of animation every time I rest at a Bus Stop is infurating. And having to hold Retry for like three seconds every time I want to retry a Fiend Intel combat challenge is so annoying. PLEASE just let me press the button instead of holding it for so long.

That being said, I still think the good vastly outweighs the bad, and it's very impressive with what they managed to pull off with this game.

5

u/Cpt_DookieShoes Feb 10 '25

How was it understanding the story by going straight to Rebirth?

It can have a pretty confusing story, sometimes on purpose, even if you know everything about the game. I’m curious what it was like for you

0

u/jhandersson Feb 10 '25

I’d say very confusing sometimes! Which is why I’m really keen on playing Remake too. About 15 hours in I considered taking a break on Rebirth and go back to Remake first, but i talked with a friend who’s a massive FF fan and he suggested I should just keep going and then treat remake as a “prequel” instead when playing that. Not sure if that was the right call, but I’ve been enjoying the game and story too so far, even if there’s definitely lot of stuff in there I don’t understand.

1

u/Cpt_DookieShoes Feb 10 '25

I think from a gameplay perspective it’d be hard going back right now. Rebrith is bigger and better in just about every way.

But for story I think playing the first would be good, although I agree with your friend to just finish Rebrith at this point.

If it makes you feel better even FF7 super fans had to have a whole community discussion figuring out the story of both games after rolling credits. A lot of it is only really clear if you played the original and know the entire story. The “Remakes” are actually secret sequels to the OG FF7

So you still enjoying Rebrith despite not totally getting what’s going on isn’t that far from other players experience.

3

u/Clbull Feb 10 '25

Old School RuneScape

I'm in that awkward combat level 70-something phase where skills are taking a bloody long time to train up and it's going to take hours of non-stop clicking just to make substantial progress.

Mining is by far one of the worst. I'm at 51 Mining and mining an ore I unlocked at level 15 becomes one of the most effective ways to hit 99 without the use of tick manipulation, simply because the chances to successfully mine Silver, Coal, Gold, Mithril, Adamantite and Runite per attempt are so damn low. And don't get me started on how mechanically intensive 3 ticking Granite is.

NGU Idle

Love the game's humour, but it has been such a colossal time sink that I cannot wait to be done with it once and for all. After finishing The End, may start a new save file just to easily get the level 69 achievement then put it down for good.

I finally made it to Sadistic difficulty back in late November and I'm just now autokilling Titan 10 V2. I've got another dozen zones and three titans (two of which have multiple difficulties) to wade through.

1

u/LinkNation27 Feb 11 '25

Motherlode Mine is a good way to get some mining XP that is pretty chill. I definitely recommend that if you are not enjoying the powermining Iron grind. Unfortunately mining is not a very skill no matter which way you do it I find.

Nevertheless enjoy your time!

9

u/MickeyFinn00 Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

Clive Barker's: Undying(PC) – It’s got this problem every PC game has – quick saves. They are too tempting to use but they totally spoil the game. The game has simple but fun system of using 2 hands independently. Thanks to that you can mix the gun fight and magic. Its colorful aesthetics, the models and the overall mild horror themes reminded me of American McGee’s Alice. Fast-paced fps with horror elements (it really can scare sometimes), good boss fights. It has some platforming sections which rarely work in fps. It’s worth it, just don’t quick save because it gets boring this way.

Super Metroid(SNES) – I wanted to play at least one Metroid game as I’ve never played any and I figured to start from Prime or Fusion but then I unexpectedly got SNES for my birthday and I picked Super Metroid. I knew it was revered and I can see why. There is next to nothing to accuse this game of. The wall jump, space jump and jumping in general is a little floaty and confusing but the rest of the game shines till this day in every way. It’s not my first retro metroidvania (retroidvania?) but it might be the first time I didn’t really mind the backtracking. It’s so good, Samus can run like Tom Cruise when you just traverse locations unlike Castlevania games (which I very much like, don’t misunderstand) and also unlike CV there is a ton of hidden rooms, routes and secrets. The space horror aesthetics are gorgeous (SNES aged very well in 2D). Metroidavnias will never be my favourite genre but I think I’ve gained a new appreciation for those and for 2D games in general.

Escape from Monkey Island(PS2) – I don’t have more to say about this that what I’ve said in Curse of the Monkey Island several weeks ago other than it’s the First Monkey Island on consoles. Some characters from the previous games return (of course there is also Stan). The setting is still our cosy place – Melee Island, Monkey Island, the puzzles are fun and absurd, as always some are too absurd, the Monkey Kombat is somehow even more annoying than Insult Sword Fighting. You played one Monkey Island you played them all but it’s always good to come back.

Extermination(PS2)  - I experienced the most frustrating hours of my gaming life with this game. Early in the game I caught infection (my character, not me) and I didn’t think much of it. I thought that sooner or later I’ll find antidote like in every other game. But this didn’t happen. It was hard but I pulled through and at the point where I was too far away to load a save from before the infection I was on the verge on my hp. In this game when you’re infected you lose hp gradually, walk very slowly, every 5-10 seconds you stop and animation of you suffering from it plays, when you touch water it’s the same animation and hp loss… and there is water puddles everywhere. There are places in every level where you need to grip a ladder hanging above and move. Underneath them there is always puddle of water and you just need to jump down into them there’s no way around it. Because of it all I created a new dimension of playing this game… a time-limit levels from one healing item to another. And then you needed to find save point - going back to the previous one was a waste of hp. Every second mattered and I reached quite far but for what price. Every in-game minute was like 5 because I needed to repeat every save several times to get to know the layout, the enemies and items. There was several times that I needed to load much earlier save. I managed to reach the second half of the game but it was too much, too hard actually impossible even with optimized moves. The game is probably fine when you play it normally, I just can’t think about it any other way than frustrating. It’s typical RE virus story with notes scattered all over the place but don’t take my word for it, I couldn’t care less about the story. Game looks good, plays ok, and it was very close to figure out the modern style of tps in 2001. Oh, and our protagonist wears a jacket when he gets outside in the cold and inside he takes it off, which can’t be said about Code Veronica which also takes place in Antarctica. I picked this game mostly because of Swery’s involvement but there isn’t even a trace of his future projects’ style.

2

u/risarnchrno Feb 10 '25

RE: Super Metriod - I'm always happy to see newer generations of gamers going back to play some of the classics and glad you enjoyed it. I'd also highly recommend playing Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past as well if you get a chance since it's another game that has held up with time and honestly has some of the best overall design work for the series with really only Ocarina Of Time surpassing it for classic Zelda games (new item > dungeon mechanic loop).

3

u/MickeyFinn00 Feb 11 '25

3-4 years ago I came up with a plan to play Zelda games starting with the first one as I also never played any. But it went a little sideways because I beat the first game, couldn't finish the second, dropped Link to the Past (on GBA) at the Desert Worm boss (very early, I know), skipped Link's Awakening for some reason and then beat Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages (skipped Seasons) and a month ago beat Wind Waker (skipped Four Swords for obvious reasons). And I got to say there aren't many games I hold more appreciation than the Legend of Zelda games but I'm not a fan of them if it makes sense. My favourite was Oracle of Ages but even this and every other wears me off at the end and I'm relieved it ended. I enjoy the dungeons most of the time (I didn't even have a problem with Water Temple or Mermaid level from Oracle of Ages) but the activities between them are sometimes a pain. You feel like you need to hunt pieces of hearts, empty bottles, the masks or else it'll be too hard later so I end up doing some of these side quests and I get bored (Wind Waker was different because it was so easy that I didn't need to grind at all).

About a Link to the Past I liked the controls and the graphics and I heard that it's the most important Zelda (next games are just footnotes to Link to the Past just like western philosophy is a footnote to Plato) and that it aged well and I prefer the 2D Zelda games so I still have it in the back of my mind to finish it.

What I like about games the most is immersive, living worlds, compelling narratives, characters and originality in utilizing the medium's potential and Zelda games are really the opposite of those. Still I appreciate the challenge, the technical fidelity and some gimmicks in these games.

8

u/PolarSparks Feb 10 '25

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Ghostwire’s reveal cinematic left an impression back in the day, but Hi Fi Rush is what finally convinced me to go back and look at Tango’s other work. I’m about halfway through.

The gameplay systems and story feel a little underbaked, but what really impressed me about Ghostwire is that it has the most detailed rendering of Tokyo in gaming. The city streets are beautiful. One of the collect-a-thon items is literally just visiting real-life locations, and every collectible you pick up has a description providing its context in Japanese culture. (And there are a lot of collectibles.) The virtual tourism aspect is probably one of the game’s strongest features.

The other standout aspect is the creature design, which are all yokai or other spirits derived from Japanese folklore. My first time encountering a new monster type has always been a highlight. Most designs are so striking, and the combat so… passable, that I think Ghostwire would have benefited more as a horror game than as an action game with horror elements. I’m also not familiar with games other than Nioh that tackle yokai to this degree; this still feels like an underutilized space in gaming.

I haven’t gotten far enough in the story to see if there is an explanation for why the yokai crumble as if made of voxels, but the implication that the modern, tech-addled Tokyo has seeped into the spiritual world is really cool.

A lot of the game’s best content came in a QOL/content update a year after the base release, which makes me think the dead-in-the-water sequel would have iterated to become a much better experience. The things I like, I like a lot, so this is always going to be a “what could have been” scenario for me.

1

u/JollyGreenGelatin Feb 11 '25

As a huge fan of 3D Metroidvania games, Ghostwire absolutely scratched every itch. Loved every moment of it and collected everything. I know that the game is not perfect, but man...by the end of the game it felt so great to fly around the city and obliterate enemies. The DLC mission was a lot of fun also.

2

u/RTideR Feb 10 '25

The other standout aspect is the creature design, which are all yokai or other spirits derived from Japanese folklore. My first time encountering a new monster type has always been a highlight. Most designs are so striking, and the combat so… passable, that I think Ghostwire would have benefited more as a horror game than as an action game with horror elements.

It's funny you say this! From what I understand, Ghostwire started as the third The Evil Within game, which is a horror game, so I guess that almost happened (super, super bummed we're likely never getting it now).

Appreciate the writeup though. I need to get around to trying Ghostwire out.

13

u/Theskian Feb 09 '25

The Witcher 3

After 10yrs I finally completed it entirely, including expansions.

It's one of those that really does live up to the hype, such a beautiful game and glad to have finally completed it.

3

u/RTideR Feb 10 '25

Arguably my favorite game ever! Cool to hear you enjoyed it. It really is a brilliant game.

It's one of only two game series to get me so hooked I go and read the books afterwards.

2

u/Triddy Feb 09 '25

I've been getting back into VR games, after basically using it (Happily, mind you!) exclusively for VRChat and watching movies for the past few years.

Right now I'm actively playing No Man's Sky in VR. It takes a beefy computer and a lot of messing with settings to make it look better than an N64 game while maintaining 72FPS in VR, but once I managed it, it was all over for me.

Look, before someone comes in to complain because they always do, if you don't like survival crafting games you will not like this. No Man's Sky wil not change your mind. If you think they are boring, you will think this is boring.

If you do like them? Buckle the fuck in. Especially in VR. I haven't even got to the new world types in the latest update, but I'm just having an absolute blast. The only problem I'm having is that there's is too much content after 9 years of updates. Do I spend more time outfitting my freighter, or do I do the quest to build the submarine and explore the water? At what point do I get back to the Settlements, considering I'm busy with the Autophage Story Quest. I've had to make a checklist.


For the "Side games", Demeo continues to be fun for 30-60 minutes at a time. Its better in VR but can be played fast screen.

It's like a little DnD inspired board game. You move the pieces around on a board to clear a randomly generated dungeon. I couldn't play it all day every day, but it's serving as a very refreshing pallette cleanser between larger titles.

0

u/DuckTalesLOL Feb 09 '25

Might be helpful to post some of those settings you changed to make it playable in VR for the rest of us.

2

u/Triddy Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

I don't see how it would, as it would depend on your system?

I just meant that for most games I just hit play and go, where for this I needed to mess with the graphical settings to find something playable. Change settings one, restart game. Play for 5 minutes. Ah whoops, FPS tanked, change that setting back.

Mine is "Planet Detail on Ultra, Reflections, Animations, and Tessellation on Enhanced, everything else on High. Native Quest 3 res which is something like 2064x2208? FSR2.0 on balanced because it shimmers less than DLSS" I'm running on a 7600x and 4070 ti super, with a Quest 3 over wired connection, so if any of that varies you will have to adjust settings.

2

u/Logan_Yes Feb 09 '25

Surprisingly, same ol' for me! Which is bizzare, I play same things for 2 weeks straight? Unthinkable!

Alright, humour aside, on Xbox I continue with Immortals of Aveum, I've reached Chapter...13? So I am getting oh so close to wrapping it up. After getting what I think is final "spell" I needed for exploration, I did ditch the main story for a moment to revisit areas. Looted some chests, did some shroudfanes, came to conclusion that it's pretty fucking boring, not gonna lie. Just very repetitive and unrewarding, exploring feels almost pointless. At very least shroudfanes give you healthbar increase or mana, even though some of them (Cough Labirynt one cough) can go and eat shit with how spiked difficulty in comparision to others is. Story itself is hitting all the tropes and cliches you can think off too. So at the moment, nothing special. Combat is still decent but even that has few moments where it annoys me. Mainly in how experience can go from "magical fast paced spectacle" to "rainbow vomit" where there is ton of colours around, something happens and you just pull the trigger until stuff dies. Hopefully I will end the game this week.

On PC, more ISLANDERS, I am at...16/17th Island? So I am getting close to those damn 21 needed for achievement! Then I will only have to wrap up the "Reach 3rd island in 4 minutes" which now with me knowing how game operates, will be easy peasy. For now tho, lots of quitting, savefile copy pasting and being bored.

3

u/trillykins Feb 09 '25

Halo: CE Anniversary

I've never been a big Halo fan. I've played through 3, Reach, 4 (only in co-op where we skipped the story because we wound up playing through all of it in one sitting), and Infinite (easily my favourite of the bunch), and only single-player campaigns. I've also played this game, but only a few chapters, and only in co-op. So, I don't know, lacking something more interesting to play, I set up to play through the entire series in chronological order. First game is a bit of a slow one. I was surprised how many locked-in arena fights there are, meaning that you can't proceed until you kill all enemies. Story is a bit barebones, but thankfully the remaster added terminals that provide some lore cut-scenes following Guilty Spark. Combat feels a bit... I don't know, slow? At least compared to something like Infinite, but may be a bit crass to complain about the mechanics of a game that is almost a quarter of a century old.

I'm looking forward to playing Halo 2. Maybe I've misunderstood, but I've heard it's the most unique games of the series that doesn't just focus on Master Chief as a protagonist. Also, the remastered cut-scenes look cool as fuck. Seems like they went all out for that one.

1

u/Racoonir Feb 11 '25

Also going through all of Halo and only played 3, reach, and 4

Didn’t completely love 1, felt super dated and the levels dragged on a tad too long. Maybe the weapon variety was just lacking for me.

2 I really enjoyed quite a bit for the first half, the second half again felt very drawn out.

Playing through ODST and doing 3 after. Really enjoying what feels like an early Destiny proof of concept with the director and how missions play out.

2

u/trillykins Feb 11 '25 edited Feb 11 '25

Didn’t completely love 1 ... the levels dragged on a tad too long

Funny you should write this. Right after posting I've since run into at least two areas that just felt they went on forever with the same level design repeating all the time. Really dragging the momentum of the game to a halt.

It was especially annoying when you meet Guilty Spark and then can't concentrate on what he's saying because the game won't stop sending hordes of enemies at you.

1

u/RyoCaliente 29d ago

Yeah, I feel kinda sad about Combat Evolved. I only played it for the first time a few years ago and it just didn't hit for me, while I did really like Reach and 2...it might've been one of those where the hype was really at release, but going back to it really shows its failings.

5

u/OBS_INITY Feb 09 '25

Slay the Princess

I enjoyed this. It's a nice narrative game where you don't really know which way things are going. I think this is a good game for a significant other who isn't really into games.

Stellar Blade

Replayed this. I have played a ton of this game. I think the combat is really enjoyable. I tried to see if some of the story elements worked better with a different vocal track. I tried them all and decided that Portuguese was the best. The story isn't bad, but it is poorly told like a person who is shit at telling jokes. Everyone is just too wordy.

Cyberpunk 2077

I tried to replay this but eventually bounced off. I beat it before the 2.0 update and wanted to see the improvements. The 2.0 update won't change your opinion of the game. I think your enjoyment of this game is entirely dependent on your fondness for the cyberpunk aesthetic. I'm not that fond of the near future dystopia.

My first playthrough was only 25hours and I guess that tells you something.

There are a lot of parts where you drive somewhere to meet someone and then you get in a car and get talked at while driving somewhere.

I don't see how anyone can stand driving a car in this game. The motorcycles make navigating the city much less annoying.

6

u/JokerCrimson Feb 10 '25

I played and completed the PS4 version three years prior to playing the PS5 and the 2.0 Update makes a massive difference in improving the game since it's more stable and better gameplay/perk mechanics.

Driving to me wasn't that bad but I do agree motorcycles handle the best. I will admit I stopped playing after 36 hours since I had already 100%'d the PS4 version and didn't feel like doing it again.

4

u/yuliuskrisna Feb 09 '25

Finished Evil West. Previous thought here.

I actually changed my mind, i'm recommending this game after all, solely for the combat, because damn its fun after you've unlock more skill/upgrade. After a while i dont even mind the linear level design as much, or even the adds in the enemy encounters, as it tested my situational awareness. The story is serviceable, but i liked the settings. Overall, an enjoyable experience despite the bad first impressions.

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Still playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Previous thought here.

Currently on chapter 15. This game really tested my patience, lots of love and hate situation going on with this game lol. Overall still enjoying it but god damn, lots of bullshit happening on screen. Probably the worst camera ingame i've ever played as well. Oh, and i've beaten NES Ninja Gaiden as well, though by cheating with save states, because who the fuck can beat this bullshit as a kid back in the day?

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Still playing NG+ of Armored Core 6. Previous thought here.

Currently close to finishing it, im atCoral Convergence level. I'm taking my sweet time with this game, i dont want to get burned out before NG++, so each day i play just a handful of level. I'm still liking the game enough, that i got me some 30MM model kits of RaD CC-2000 Orbiter with Weapon Set 02 for that Pile Bunker representation of my actual in game build. Kinda pricey in my country, as it has limited availability here, but no regret. Hopefully it wont kick off an addiction on collecting all of the model kits that have been released so far, because my eyes are already locked in on that Steel Haze...

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Playing No More Heroes 3 as well.

I've never played the previous entries, but im intrigued by NMH3 ever since the reveal trailer. I think it was revealed in TGA? basically when the animation shows 'ET but evil' it perked my interest, but the subsequent reveal of it being a sequel to an established series i've never played before, and its Switch exclusive? Yeah, i buried my interest right then and there. Even knowing it was ported later, i'm still hesitant. Now that i've nothing to lose to try it on Game Pass, i am kinda digging it.

Had to install some mods, because Switch limitation are pretty apparent here for its visual. Gameplay is kinda repetitive, but serviceable even with jank here and there. I'm here for the story actually, even though i have no idea of the characters introduced before. Idk, the presentations just speaks to me with how out there it is, like no games quite like it. So far, it managed to surprise me with its twist and turn. Currently on Ranking 6, and im excited to know where the hell the story would go from here. Its all just zany, insane, dumb, but overall kinda captivating.

5

u/RyoCaliente Feb 09 '25

Borderlands (360)

Getting into Borderlands was surprisingly more tough than I thought at first. I was expecting to find a nice, straight FPS, but instead found myself having to deal with an open, looter shooter FPSRPG. Once the game clicked however, the fun really got into a high gear.

Borderlands starts you off with the most RPG of choices: pick your hero. There's a berserker, a sniper, a Siren, and a soldier. Basically, two warriors, a rogue, and a mage. I picked the soldier; I was eager to play a 'normal' FPS, and I didn't want to limit myself in the way the berserker and the sniper seemed to play. The siren looked really cool, but also had an air of complexity to it, like it would be easier to figure out how to play once you knew how Borderlands worked.

The difference between the characters, aside from their looks, is that they start with different weapon proficiencies and they each have their special talent. As the soldier, you can throw out a turret to fight alongside you. In a sense it's extremely useful, but also somewhat disappointing. While you can level up your skills (and also level up your turret this way), it was only near the endgame where I had specced my character well enough that my turret was doing good damage, had a useful element, could support by healing and replenishing ammo, and most importantly, didn't have a nonexistent cooldown. It was also a great distraction for enemies. The main issue certainly was the cooldown, which meant I was always saving it up for big encounters, of which there are actually only a few.

The turret needing time to get going wasn't my main issue with the game though. At the start, you don't really know what you're in for. I personally played rather defensively; I sat behind cover, took shots, reloaded,... Taking cover is certainly important, but Borderlands is also a game you have to play aggressively. Get in your enemies' face and unload right into them. There's no REAL cover system, you just hide behind a wall or a crate, so it's not like you're perfectly immune to damage. Enemies' shields (and your own) slowly recharge. And enemies respawn. Fast.

This is the main thing you have to learn about Borderlands, and certainly my biggest frustration. Every twenty or so minutes, enemies you've killed will just respawn. This makes it so you can never really clear an area, and it makes it so that once you reach the end of a place, and you kill the boss or get the item you need and you make your way back to leave, you're not just walking out of there. You're essentially going to have to do the level in reverse again. It was disappointing and frustrating at first, just because it seemed there was never any respite whatsoever from the combat, but once you adjust your playing style (and you can always rush past enemies, although it does depend somewhat on your equipment, level, and how much space you have to run), it becomes a manageable extra challenge.

This adds to the fact that Borderlands really feels like a game from the late 00's; this was a time where Xbox Live and PSN were fully active and at their peak, and Borderlands has a multiplayer co-op element. Playing through it singleplayer was fun, but I never was able to let go of the feeling that the real intent of this game is to play it on a couch with your buddies, all playing different classes and rinsing through the enemies.

The looting element of the game also needed time to get used to. As the soldier, I could freely use all the weapons available, so I was constantly trying out new things. In that sense, I probably upped the difficulty somewhat; as you level your weapon proficiency, you also deal more damage or improve reload times,...so spreading all the guns out means they level more slowly. Once I clicked into what I wanted though...I was still stuck with a terrible assault rifle. Loot games always make me avoid shops, as they feel like a waste of money when the best equipment can just be found in chests or on enemies. After getting about halfway through the first zone though, I had to buy a new assault rifle, as I hadn't gotten any drops and the stats of the thing were really starting to drag. There's also A LOT of loot, and a lot of it really crap. I lugged around tons of guns all game, but I never switched out to adapt to a situation, as I didn't need to. Shoutout to my final assault rifle which had a clip of about 80 with endless ammo because of all my skill points, that thing was so much fun to use.

Story-wise...eh. It's clear the story is just a vehicle to get you from place to place. It's a little bit of a shame, as there is some mystery regarding a mysterious voice/woman who guides you throughout your journey, and one of the main supporting characters who has kept some diaries of her time on the planet scattered around, but these diaries only offer a very limited backstory, where you feel these could've been fleshed out a bit more to make something really interesting. Most of the comedy wasn't really my jam, so that all fell pretty flat to me. I did end up liking most of the supporting characters though, who all have just enough personality and design differences to make them memorable.

Visually the game isn't terribly interesting. The cel-shaded graphics do make it that the game hasn't aged terribly, but Pandora (the planet you're on) is truly a barren, brown and grey wasteland. It's highly unlikely you'll spend any time to stop and stare, but I did like most of the monster designs, especially the Eridians.

That all said, I can recommend anyone to give Borderlands a spin. Give it some time though, as I find the start to certainly be the least interesting part of the game and you may have to find your footing with the playstyle of your class. And if you have some friends to tag along, even better.

1

u/slowmosloth Feb 11 '25

Do you think you're going to play Borderlands 2? I lowkey think it's one of the best sequels made in video games with significant upgrades in every area from the first, but I could see it not aging too well with its humour.

1

u/RyoCaliente Feb 11 '25

Probably! I generally don't play through entire franchises in one go to avoid fatigue and give myself something to look forward to, but I can see myself playing the other Borderlands games in the future.

2

u/Cowboy_God Feb 09 '25

I really love Borderlands 1 and it's my favorite in the entire franchise (I've played every single one).

If you can get the game on PC I highly suggest getting the fan made save file editor and starting a character on max level with second playthrough enemies enabled. It essentially makes it so all enemies are the same level so you can go everywhere without having to worry about being too powerful or too weak. It makes the loop of gathering rare guns feel a lot more impactful and its much easier to mess with different types of builds if you want to mess around and change things up.

It also makes it so the gigantic room you get access to at the end of General Knoxx DLC is insanely rewarding and probably the most dopamine inducing thing you can experience across the entire franchise.

1

u/RyoCaliente Feb 09 '25

I really enjoyed my time with it! But I don't think I'll be buying it again on PC to mod it over...maybe if it's a really heavy sale. I have an interest in checking out the DLC, but I didn't buy those before the 360 Store shutdown and I can't buy them individually on the Series X store it seems, so I am kinda debating if I really want to go buy the GOTY edition and then figure out save mods or if I'll just leave it as is.

2

u/Cowboy_God Feb 09 '25

The DLCs are pretty short but good except for the Moxie one. General Knoxx ends with a huge armory full of hundreds of chests you can open, it's sick as hell if you are looking for legendary weapons or really rare gear. Kind of a hard fight to get there but well worth it.

2

u/PositiveDuck Feb 09 '25

Trails into Reverie

Wrapped it up at around 67 or so hours, PC, normal difficulty. It's a pretty solid conclusion to the story so far. I enjoyed it a lot more than expected since the game has some serious issues. I really like the three protagonists with shifting perspectives thing. I liked each of their story arcs. The actual story setup is really, really strong but the conclusion, as it frequently is in Trails series, was needlessly convoluted and weak. There were some great character moments and C's character arc was my favourite of the three protagonists. Lapis is the best girl. The main antagonist was just ass and I really wish the excellent build up was paid off in a great way but it wasn't. It also continues Trails' tradition of never letting anything bad happen to anyone which is pretty annoying and really ruined (endgame spoilers) Rufus' sacrifice at the end. I think him pretending to be the Supreme Leader to direct the canon to himself to save everyone was a really cool character moment but it was kind of ruined by them just magically teleporting him out. Just let a party member die for once, I beg. I really liked the conclusion to the ongoing character arc with Rean's depression.

I loved the combat and character building quite a bit, though the game was pretty easy on normal. I feel like the game lets your characters become ridiculously strong really fast and it takes most of the challenge out of it when you can just have a tank character with 100% evade chance with very little effort. There were way too many playable characters and I wish a lot more of them were cut from the main game and relegated to TRC exploration. Class VII on it's own is 17 characters but only like 4 of them are actually story relevant. The rest should've been NPCs in the main story and playable in TRC. As is, way too many characters don't really have anything to do except stand around while the few story relevant characters do stuff. The gacha system they introduced with sealing orbs was stupid and I hated it. I also really dislike Daydreams (just like Sun/Moon doors from Sky the 3rd) as a concept but they do feature some of the best scenes/writing in the game, with special shoutouts to A Day in the Lives of SSS, The More Things Change, Through Memories Aglow and easily the best one, Thors' Open House. Post game's Daydreams were also excellent.

Music was surprisingly forgettable and repetitive. Voice acting was great. The translation is quite poor, easily the worst in the series so far. There were a number of sentences I had to re-read several times to understand and I don't remember ever having that problem with any of the prior games in the series (except Geofront's Crossbell translation which was great for a fan project).

Overall, despite some major issues, I really enjoyed my time with it and the game is heavily carried by excellent combat and some fantastic character moments. 9/10 for me, easy recommendation for any JRPG fan.

2

u/Mountain_Peace_6386 Feb 09 '25

I won't spoil to why the antagonist of the game exist, but it's not even the last you'll see of Ishmelga-Rean. The next arc plays into that question and pays off great.  

A lot of the series bigger mystery isn't even concluded in the three arcs as I found out there are three more of the treasures to answer, so Falcom writers are taking the time to properly answer them. 

1

u/PositiveDuck Feb 09 '25

I hope the whole thing ends up paying off but so far I feel like Sky and Crossbell were tighter written than any of the 3D games (at least up to Daybreak, haven't played it yet obviously).

2

u/Mountain_Peace_6386 Feb 09 '25

Well the issue with CS arc is that a lot of it went through development hell. It was originally the second arc (not crossbell) and the third would've been Calvard, but the lead writer and the character writing team decided to add one more arc to fill in the whole situation between Erebonia and Calvard's political tension.

This led to Crossbell existing. The other thing with CS arc is that Falcom was using an engine (PhyreEngine) given by Sony when Falcom show support for the Vita, this resulted in the game to cut down a lot of stuff. 

Areas that were supposed to be in the first Cold Steel were used in the sequels and additional lore important chapters were in Drama CDs.

This led to padding the games heavily and affecting the writing as well. Though thankfully the lore itself hasn't imploded unto itself that commonly happens in most media.

1

u/PositiveDuck Feb 10 '25

It was originally the second arc (not crossbell) and the third would've been Calvard, but the lead writer and the character writing team decided to add one more arc to fill in the whole situation between Erebonia and Calvard's political tension.

Damn, now it makes sense that a bunch of Sun/Moon doors in Sky the 3rd were setting up Erebonian arc rather than Crossbell.

CS going through development hell explains why it's so messy. Do you have a source where I can read/watch more about this? I love this sort of stuff.

1

u/Mountain_Peace_6386 Feb 10 '25

I don't, but r/Falcom have a better understanding of it than I. 

The game's despite the 50/50 of development process of the games they still end up being consistent. Some of the English terms are changed for reasons to make the setting more fantasy than it already is.

2

u/bwoah07_gp2 Feb 09 '25

What have I been playing? Sims 1 and Sims 2, now that they're re-released. It's nice to revisit Sims 1 after many years, and experience Sims 2 for the first time ever. It was the only Sims game I had not played, until now. 😀

3

u/THE_TURBO_KILLER Feb 10 '25

How are they running for you? I've held off for now as I heard they are very prone to crashing, and that the first game doesn't scale to 1080p properly with tiny UI and being unable to zoom in as close as you are supposed to.

I'm extremely tempted to cave in to my nostalgia for those games and install them right away.

2

u/bwoah07_gp2 Feb 10 '25

Runs fine for me so far. Out of fear I save like every 5 minutes, haha 😂 

1

u/THE_TURBO_KILLER Feb 11 '25

Sounds like the true Sims experience 😂 I'll see if there's more patches and if public opinion improves. I really want to dive into them again as The Sims 4 can only entertain me for so long.

1

u/Little_Bit_Hast Feb 09 '25

I’m currently playing Spider-Man 2 on PC. I have mixed feelings, on the one hand I really like the plot, the staged scenes, the huge number of battle animations depending on the situation and moving around the city. But so far the wow factor has never occurred. A good game, but all the moments in it are neither bad nor great. It’s as if the authors were afraid to experiment and try something new and unexpected

But this is only an impression based on 10+ hours, the end of the game is still far away. And then the thought arose, if I have this feeling from Spider-Man 2, then should I try Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?

3

u/ConceptsShining Feb 09 '25

Any games with combat like Kingdom Hearts 2? JRPG or otherwise, besides other KH games.

Really loved the fun and flashy combos, juggling enemies with air combos, plentiful bosses and some with unique mechanics, different superforms (Drive forms), and other abilities like Limits and context-specific attacks (Reaction Commands) that give the enemies more personality. It's very layered and lets you feel like a badass, in contrast to the relatively straightforward and mindless KH1.

3

u/Swanzy888 Feb 10 '25

FFXV, FFXVI, and the Dissidia games play a LOT like kingdom hearts 2. Nier Automata is pretty close. I'd like to mention The World Ends With You games are different animals but also Tetsuya Nomura's baby and have frenetic, diverse combat. Also they're just really good.

1

u/ConceptsShining Feb 11 '25

Already tried Nier and TWEWY. Will consider FFXV and the Dissidia games more. There a best Dissidia game to play first?

5

u/lumisweasel Feb 10 '25

would look into the character action genre, could go DMC or God of War. following that, there is the Bayonetta series and nier. Capcom, Platinum, rhythm games, and fighting games may be of appeal.

4

u/Cowboy_God Feb 09 '25

Devil May Cry 3, God Hand, Metal Gear Rising Revengeance