What are you playing? (2024 Edition)

WingedKagouti on 12/8/2024 at 17:25

Quote Posted by Tomi

Now that I've finished the game I have no desire to get back to it, but I may be interested to try one of the older Shadow Warrior games some time.

SW1 is a reasonably long single player game (with NG+ available), about twice as long as SW3. Gameplay wise it's the least complex of the three, but it can still be fast paced at times during combat.

SW2 leans more towards being a roguelite looter-shooter, with randomized level layouts and weapon/armor upgrades being random drops, though it's not quite as random as most roguelites. Combat is more frantic than SW1. It also has 4 player coop.

Compared to those two, SW3 feels more like the devs attempt at doing their own version of DOOM: Eternal.

Lo Wang being a total idiot is a constant in all three, though he does get some decent character moments in each game. I would wager it's harder to figure out which parts are meaningful to Lo Wang in 3 if you haven't played 1 or 2, simply because he yammers on in a way that makes obvious his ego is "a tiny bit" inflated.

nicked on 13/8/2024 at 05:32

And if you're a fan of casual racism, there's always the original Shadow Warrior on the build engine.

vurt on 14/8/2024 at 05:34

Terminus Zombie Survivors.

Eh. It's ok. I think i might like it better than Project Zomboid, graphically it's definitely worse though. 20 euro is also too much for what it is.
I'll refund, maybe i'll finally buy Dwarf Fortress, been planning to play it for years lol

Malf on 14/8/2024 at 05:52

If DF clicks with you, it'll literally provide years of great gaming.
Just make sure to install DFHack alongside it.
DFHack is now a free download from the Steam store, so auto-updates alongside the game and launches with it, requiring zero installation faff.

As for myself, I've had to change my gaming habits, potentially for the next 6-8 weeks, as I got a Mallet Finger injury while changing bedding over the weekend (apparently a common enough cause of the injury for it to be noted on the NHS website).
Basically, while tucking in a sheet, my left middle finger-tip went !POP!, and now won't straighten on it's own, as the tendon has come away from the bone.
So my W/S finger is splinted and restricted in movement, making games that rely on WASD style controls mostly out of the question.
Gamepads work mostly fine, and things with comprehensive mouse control, so I'm back to playing Streets of Rogue and Baldur's Gate 3, where I'm going to try and finally complete a Dark Urge Honour Mode run.

So yeah, PSA: take care when changing the bedsheets!

vurt on 15/8/2024 at 08:15

Quote Posted by Malf

Nice! The mods is where those games are at! I love Rimworld, but MUCH of that is because of the mods that makes it go from a good game to a really great game.

Malf on 15/8/2024 at 09:26

Well DFHack is more a massive suite of quality-of-life tools. It's so big, it's got its own (https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/index.html) wiki-style knowledgebase
For example, it adds the ability to queue up build orders for furnishings; the base game doesn't have that feature, which can be quite disconcerting after having played things like Rimworld or Oxygen Not Included.

Briareos H on 16/8/2024 at 14:03

Quick roundup of the summer gaming binge, limited to games I completed:

The Talos Principle 2: Strongly recommended if you liked the original or if you are not afraid of a first-person puzzle game being a narrative walking sim at the same time. I thought it took the first game's plot in a brilliant direction, this series might well be my favourite sci-fi story in video gaming.

The Talos Principle 2 - Road to Elysium: Strongly recommended if you liked the main game and want more. Lots of new puzzles, some of them seriously difficult (Road to Gehenna levels of difficult), some of them that take you off the beaten track. There is something for everyone.

Untitled Goose Game: Recommended if you like a bit of stealth and a bit of puzzle in your short & silly animal mayhem simulator. It was both more and less fun than it sounded initially. More because I just can't put into words how cathartic and consistently hilarious it feels to be a realistic asshole goose. Less because the actual stealth gameplay is a lot more frustrating that what it looks like on screen.

Ashes: Hard Reset: Recommended if you liked the previous titles, but if you haven't played Ashes or Ashes 2063 then play those instead. A more linear spin-off to the Ashes TC series, I felt it was more often unfair and unbalanced but it still has some pretty cool maps.

Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate: Strong badly recommended if you're a fan and miss the gang. 3(+1) single-screen point & click adventures with the classic H*R humor.

Minds Beneath Us: Strongly recommended if you like East Asian cyberpunk and don't mind visual novels. Fantastic style, interesting themes tackled in meaningful ways (one of those being workplace dynamics, which I feel isn't represented enough in gaming) and solid characters. Lots of GITS influence. My only negative is that it runs out of steam and stretches its final chapters a bit much.

World of Goo 2: Not particularly recommended. Apart from one Frog Fractions-esque chapter that is a welcome departure from the rest of the game and if you'll pardon a crass comparison, World of Goo 2 is to World of Goo as The Force Awakens is to A New Hope.

Ori and the Blind Forest: Recommended if you want a light Metroidvania and can focus on gorgeous execution that hides somewhat bland style, story and mechanics.

Sheepy: A Short Adventure: Strongly recommended if you want a light Metroidvania and can focus on gorgeous execution that hides a bite-sized game that would deserve to be way longer.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake: Not recommended. I only got this edition for the possibility of co-op play. As a signature Josef Fares adventure it has obvious teething problems, being far too predictable and heavy-footed. As a remake (more a remaster, really), it's surprisingly buggy and the new style isn't very inspired. As a couch co-op game, it's tepid.

salass00 on 21/8/2024 at 17:02

I beat the final confession/chapter of Darkest Dungeon 2 about a week ago. The final boss took me just over half an hour to defeat but wasn't all that difficult (I had a good team). IIRC it was: (from front to back) hellion, flagellant, grave robber, vestal.

Not long after I decided I would try to get the grand slam trophy for beating all five confessions using the same four characters without any of them dying. The team I chose for this was: leper, flagellant, grave robber, plague doctor. I started by doing the two by far most difficult confessions (3rd and 2nd) to get them out of the way early. I made it through them relatively easily with maybe a few lucky deathblow resists. Then I did the easier 4th and 5th chapters, leaving the easiest for last.

Starting the 1st confession again with my team of four champions who have defeated all the other four confessions the first region I pick to go to is Tangle. The region goal is to visit an oasis for two mastery points (easy peasy). My first cross road I have a choice between three unknown/quesion mark locations. I pick what seems like the most convenient one that will allow me to visit the oasis next. Turns out that the first node I get to is a shambler altar, and the only choice I get is between the plague doctor and the flagellant and they both want to fight the shambler. I really don't want to fight the shambler because it's an unnecessary risk and the rewards may not be worth it but as I don't have a choice I pick the flagellant's option as it at least gives a crit token on combat start for him. Well, what happened was that this team killed the shambler easily enough, only for the plague doctor to take a big crit just as they're cleaning up the remaining clapper jaws that brings her down to death's door from almost full health. As this is very early in the run I don't have any healing combat items and I didn't think to equip deathless on the flagellant, so the only option for me is to hope that she can survive the first deathblow proc from the DOT and heal herself with battle medicine. Guess what happened :nono:...

Tomi on 22/8/2024 at 16:44

Quote Posted by Malf

So I've headed back to one of my comfort games, Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

I still absolutely adore this game, even after all these years. And its first few levels, the escape from the titular castle, are still incredibly well-paced; it's still one of the best starts to a first-person shooter ever as far as I'm concerned, right up there with Half Life... although (whisper it), maybe even better for narrative economy.

As usual, I've lost impetus since reaching the tombs, with the zombies and their poor reactivity to being shot. But I'm going to push through this time, as there's still a lot of the game I want to revisit.

RtCW is awesome, and I agree with pretty much everything that you said. I haven't played it for years though, and I probably never will anymore, because I don't want the game to lose its magic.

The zombie levels were very atmospheric and I loved them for that, but as video game enemies the zombies just weren't too much fun. In general, all Wolfenstein games seem to have the same problem. They start off well and everything feels relatively "normal" in the beginning of the game, but then you get all sorts of occult stuff and crazy futuristic technology and super weapons thrown in, and suddenly everything goes way over the top.

The Old Blood is quite easily my favourite game in the series.

Neb on 22/8/2024 at 18:04

Is RtCW really that good? I heard that the VR mod is fantastic, so I was always going to get around to trying it out.