The Video Game Thread: What are you Playing?

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Horizon Zero Dawn is fantastic. The aesthetic and worldbuilding are fun, and the gameplay is IMO one of the best action mechanics ever. I like how much it focuses on understanding your enemies and picking the right tool for the job, rather than just plunking enemies a hundred times.

I was very not interested in yet another open world game but your praise has got me interested.
 
So there is a Lunar New Year sale going on at Steam. Of course, Green Man is doing it as well, and they're cheaper there. So I went and picked up some more DLC for Crusader Kings II (Jade Dragon, Horse Lords & Raja's of India). Now to take time to play it again soon
 
I ended up picking up Death Road to Canada for my PS4. It was on sale for $7.49 and I figured I'd give it a shot.

I like it, but not as much as I liked Riddled Corpses and Shakedown Hawaii. It just feels like I'm too much at the mercy of the random number generator. I'm ether doing really well, or having an absolutely miserable game. And a good game can switch to a bad one instantly with no sense that I have any input as to my fate. Still, it does have an addictive quality to it.

I know it's a reimagining of sorts of The Oregon Trail, but since that game wasn't part of my upbringing, I parallel it more to Roadwar 2000/Europa. It just doesn't have free world movement and the turn based tactical car combat is replaced by something vaguely resembling the old arcade game Gauntlet.

I've managed to get to Canada and win once. There's lots of stuff to upgrade and lots of character builds to try, so still tinkering with it.
 
I ended up picking up Death Road to Canada for my PS4. It was on sale for $7.49 and I figured I'd give it a shot.

I like it, but not as much as I liked Riddled Corpses and Shakedown Hawaii. It just feels like I'm too much at the mercy of the random number generator. I'm ether doing really well, or having an absolutely miserable game. And a good game can switch to a bad one instantly with no sense that I have any input as to my fate. Still, it does have an addictive quality to it.

I know it's a reimagining of sorts of The Oregon Trail, but since that game wasn't part of my upbringing, I parallel it more to Roadwar 2000/Europa. It just doesn't have free world movement and the turn based tactical car combat is replaced by something vaguely resembling the old arcade game Gauntlet.

I've managed to get to Canada and win once. There's lots of stuff to upgrade and lots of character builds to try, so still tinkering with it.
I'd completely forgotten Roadwar 2000. That takes me back.
 
I'd completely forgotten Roadwar 2000. That takes me back.
I looked that up and it looks a bit like a post-apocalyptic, car-based version of Odyssey the Compleat Apventure. Anyone recall that?
 
My Von Carstein campaign has floundered. It seems that Thorgrim Grudgebearer is set on killing me. I guess he took offense to all those Dwarf holds I looted and burned. Who knew he was so damn sensitive?

I don't think I can take him. He's got a ton of armies that don't seem to have anything better to do than to sit in Karak Kadrin and wait for me to leave Sylvania so they can burn it to the ground, and there's no way I can win a siege battle against them, even if I throw every army I've got into it.

Maybe he'll eventually get over it and agree to make peace? I mean, it's not like his name is... OH WAIT! :weep:

Time to start a new campaign, I think.
 
Playing Far Cry 5. Slowly. Not a huge gamer, but I enjoyed the hell out of Far Cry 4, and am having a similar amount of fun with 5.
 
I've been achievment hunting on Hearts of Iron 4 these past couple of weeks. By shear chance some submarines I had raiding convoys in the Atlantic sunk the HMS Hood. I only realized this after getting the achievment to sink the British Pride of the Fleet.
 
I'm getting pretty wrapped up in Groundhog Life again. Got to the point I'm using the Loop Trap Device every lifetime, and I'm nailing all of my skills (except QM) to at least 1,000... pushing for 1,200 and working towards 1-day promotions at Yugle and Dark Plateau.
 
I'm back into Deep Rock Galactic. I'm always impressed at the updates. Some nasty new monsters deep down in those mines.
 
Currently trying to work toward Cataclysm level with my group in Vermintide II.

Playing Civ 6!!!! I think it finally grew on me (once I figured out to play it like a videogame in warfare, not with realism. It's fun).
 
Civ VI is very much a game. I think I would absolutely love Civ VI if I were able to conceivably play it properly with human opponents rather than against the AI personalities.
 
Recently I found out that GOG had released one of the best adventure games ever.

The Blade Runner game from 1997, made by Westwood Studios.

Have been playing it and it's just as good as I remember.

Here is a link if anyone i s interested: Blade Runner on GOG

Awesome added to my wishlist. Hope we'll see a legit reissue of Thomas Disch's Amnesia one day.
 
Finally started to play Assassin's Creed: Odyssey on PS4. Bought it last year in one of it's sales.

Picked Kassandra. Not expecting a historical accurate portrayal of ancient Greece, but hopefully it will be something fun in the vein of the Hercules/Xena shows I love so much.

I'm fully expecting, to get bored halfway through, as I usually do with these big open world Ubisoft games.
 
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I've been playing around with a game by Klei, called Oxygen Not Included. If you love strategy simulations akin to Dwarf Fortress, Civ, Prison Architect, The Sims, etc., you may like this one. (Full Retail on steam is $25).

Basically, you start with a team of 3 "dupes" (cloned humanoids) beamed into the middle of a planetoid in space, with just their native construction tools, a pack of food, a one-way teleport portal (for new arrivals), and beam into a safe location with an Oxygen generating mineral. Your goal is to slowly build up the base and technology until you eventually are able to reach the surface and then create a rocket to explore the solar system. You give orders to the dupes, but don't directly control them.

You start with figuring out to make use of the base resources you have, and slowly build up your technology tree (I think the dupes have limited IQ and learn over time). For instance, you start with the ability to make a power treadmill and batteries and wires, and you start with a basic Outhouse and manual water pump--but eventually you learn the ability to tap other resources for power, oxygen generation, refining minerals, and farming the native flora and fauna. As time goes on the portal will either provide a choice of another duplicant or maybe some supplies.

You also need to keep the dupes happy, as stress will build over time if you keep the place messy or build huge ugly things like Hi-Voltage power lines in the hallways. Stressed out dupes may end up throwing tantrums and busting equipment, or stress vomiting. As time goes on the morale needs increase--as their skills grow, you need to provide them with improved food, entertainment, comfort, etc.

This is real fun but also real complex. There's a layer for plumbing, power, ventilation, and even an automation grid. You'll spend a lot of time reading the rules and figuring stuff out. It's too easy if your not careful to end up using up a vital resource like water, or having trouble keeping away the buildup of pollution, other chemicals, or germs. It's all "man vs. environment", there's no real hostile creatures or people to fight.

The system to generate planetoids uses an integer seed, which allows you to re-use the same environment if you want to learn under the same conditions. Other options include harder starting environments. It saves about 10 autosaves going back one cycle (day), and allows one manual save, but you can't save more than that per game.

 
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I've been playing around with a game by Klei, called Oxygen Not Included. If you love strategy simulations akin to Dwarf Fortress, Civ, Prison Architect, The Sims, etc., you may like this one. (Full Retail on steam is $25).

Basically, you start with a team of 3 "dupes" (cloned humanoids) beamed into the middle of a planetoid in space, with just their native construction tools, a pack of food, a one-way teleport portal (for new arrivals), and beam into a safe location with an Oxygen generating mineral. Your goal is to slowly build up the base and technology until you eventually are able to reach the surface and then create a rocket to explore the solar system. You give orders to the dupes, but don't directly control them.

You start with figuring out to make use of the base resources you have, and slowly build up your technology tree (I think the dupes have limited IQ and learn over time). For instance, you start with the ability to make a power treadmill and batteries and wires, and you start with a basic Outhouse and manual water pump--but eventually you learn the ability to tap other resources for power, oxygen generation, refining minerals, and farming the native flora and fauna. As time goes on the portal will either provide a choice of another duplicant or maybe some supplies.

You also need to keep the dupes happy, as stress will build over time if you keep the place messy or build huge ugly things like Hi-Voltage power lines in the hallways. Stressed out dupes may end up throwing tantrums and busting equipment, or stress vomiting. As time goes on the morale needs increase--as their skills grow, you need to provide them with improved food, entertainment, comfort, etc.

This is real fun but also real complex. There's a layer for plumbing, power, ventilation, and even an automation grid. You'll spend a lot of time reading the rules and figuring stuff out. It's too easy if your not careful to end up using up a vital resource like water, or having trouble keeping away the buildup of pollution, other chemicals, or germs. It's all "man vs. environment", there's no real hostile creatures or people to fight.

The system to generate planetoids uses an integer seed, which allows you to re-use the same environment if you want to learn under the same conditions. Other options include harder starting environments. It saves about 10 autosaves going back one cycle (day), and allows one manual save, but you can't save more than that per game.


The same folks who made the excellent Don't Starve! that my wife loves. i bought her this for Xmas.

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I'll have to check this out.
 
The same folks who made the excellent Don't Starve! ... I'll have to check this out.

If you have the Don't Starve games on Steam, look for either the Klei Survival Bundle or Best of Klei bundle. I had added a few DLC to Don't Starve back in 2018 during a sale and Oxygen Not Included was part of that, so you can save that way. I apparently picked this up in 2018 during a sale but only decided to try it a month ago.

I like Klei's formula of being able to create some sophisticated gameplay loops wrapped in a cartoon-like front-end.

Oxygen Not Included does a good job of representing inter dependencies among systems, as the base's systems become more complex you can be vulnerable to systems collapse. I made two mistakes in two gameplays. The first, I was running out of water so I tried to tap a geyser (which gives renewable resources), but I had leaked the water into the base, and the heat caused issues with my farms as plants stopped growing and I didn't have cooling available. I got a lot farther with a better planned game, but I ended up overextending my power system and had too many fried circuits, and it was proving difficult to re-do the infrastructure while also needed the constant power to run things.
 
Finished the Borderlands 3 story campaign.

We spent most of the game several levels above quest level on account of being a crazy completist, and was shocked to realize that the few side quests I’d left open leveled up to match our current level.

We are also completely taken aback at the increase in both quantity and quality of the loot with Mayhem Mode. It’s become quite the embarrassment of richesas we spend much of our play time sorting through loot.

Still, it’s crazy fun that the game has leveled up to our current level (46) and we still mow down hordes of foes with our improved gear, even though Mayhem Mode buffs them a bit.

Next playthrough (probably with the same characters, in True Vault Hunter Mode) we intend to save the side quests for after the story campaign, so we can do them in Mayhem Mode.
 
So I have a conundrum with Borderlands 3. The characters are better defined, but the story itself has gotten pretty poor in comparison. The fact that the player was left out of the cutscenes also bothered me. And one or two story choices that confused the fish outta me...

Other than that, I like the game. I love the new weapon mechanics, especially Jakobs. Can't tell ya how good it was to crit two targets with a single bullet from a basic Ranger revolver, fan firing. That feels GOOOOOOD.
 
So I have a conundrum with Borderlands 3. The characters are better defined, but the story itself has gotten pretty poor in comparison. The fact that the player was left out of the cutscenes also bothered me. And one or two story choices that confused the fish outta me...

Other than that, I like the game. I love the new weapon mechanics, especially Jakobs. Can't tell ya how good it was to crit two targets with a single bullet from a basic Ranger revolver, fan firing. That feels GOOOOOOD.

Yeah, the writing gets real spotty. The Calypso Twins had so much potential as social media influenced caricatures that feels underused.

And 100% with you on PCs being left out of cutscenes. The Lilith ex machina ending felt only slightly less infuriating than the WoW WotLK Lich King fight (the one where, after several phases of combat, the Lich King freezes the PCs, gloat, then a NPC comes by and slays him with a single blow of the plot device sword).

Also, handling Crimson Raider leadership to Ava? The annoying teen Siren? Gaah

That being said, the new PCs are great; I’ve been playing Zane and my wife is playing Amara and I dig their lines. I also dig Zane’s ability to rock two action skills (going drone/barrier but thinking of trying drone/clone or clone/barrier just for a change). Looking forward to trying FL4K and Moze.

Of the new weapon mechanics, I liked Atlas best — shoot a tracker, hide behind cover and let ‘er rip. Also the wrist-mounted pistols look great. Too bad their guns don’t usually compete well in terms of damage.

Jakobs I haven’t really used much outside sniper rifles; I was a big fan of their revolvers in other games but now they felt underpowered to me. Maliwan felt clumsy at first with the charging delay but now I’m a fan, especially of toggling elemental damage modes — cuts down on “golf bag” syndrome. And I remain a big fan of Vladof and (full-auto) Dahl pistols, SMGs and ARs.

I am also a tad melancholy, wondering if this is how the franchise ends.
 
Yeah, the writing gets real spotty. The Calypso Twins had so much potential as social media influenced caricatures that feels underused.

Agreed. There was the beginning of a conflict between them, which could have been interesting, but...

And 100% with you on PCs being left out of cutscenes. The Lilith ex machina ending felt only slightly less infuriating than the WoW WotLK Lich King fight (the one where, after several phases of combat, the Lich King freezes the PCs, gloat, then a NPC comes by and slays him with a single blow of the plot device sword).

That's always been an issue MMO's, but especially WoW. You're the spectator in the story, despite being the one who does all the work. It's why I'm still playing SWTOR, they give you choices to say to give an illusion of having an effect on the story, but it does show how YOU the player affect the main story. Which is nice.

Back to BL3, if they wanted a running gag, they could have had the player character get conveniently K.O'ed by the cutscene. Just a yep and see the model fall over. The tech has been used by older games, would it really been so hard?

Also, handling Crimson Raider leadership to Ava? The annoying teen Siren? Gaah

Can we spoil stuff? Cuz, if yes:
The murder of Maya didn't feel right. We didn't get enough interaction with her to make it feel impactful, not like Roland's in the previous game. Hell, one of the DLC's was about how Tiny Tina had to deal with his loss. Not to mention Ava's antagonism towards Lilith felt very forced.

That being said, the new PCs are great; I’ve been playing Zane and my wife is playing Amara and I dig their lines. I also dig Zane’s ability to rock two action skills (going drone/barrier but thinking of trying drone/clone or clone/barrier just for a change). Looking forward to trying FL4K and Moze.

I have issues with Zane and Fl4k. A lot of Fl4k's Hunter tree would work better for Zane's Hitman tree. Namely the crit boosting stuff. You could easily swap a couple of things like the more damage the faster you move bits to Fl4k's tree as he would be about tracking down prey. But I am liking the classes.

Of the new weapon mechanics, I liked Atlas best — shoot a tracker, hide behind cover and let ‘er rip. Also the wrist-mounted pistols look great. Too bad their guns don’t usually compete well in terms of damage.

That's part of the reason I don't use Atlas, I want to do the aiming, not have the game do it for me. Now, admittedly, they are cool weapons, both in design and mechanics. My Moze rocks a Carrier.

Jakobs I haven’t really used much outside sniper rifles; I was a big fan of their revolvers in other games but now they felt underpowered to me. Maliwan felt clumsy at first with the charging delay but now I’m a fan, especially of toggling elemental damage modes — cuts down on “golf bag” syndrome. And I remain a big fan of Vladof and (full-auto) Dahl pistols, SMGs and ARs.

They actually had to tone Jakobs weapons down, they were too good. My Zane is a Jakobs boy, armed with a Maggie (Although I'm looking for a Wagon Wheel and/or Companion), Gatlin' Gun AR, Hellwalker shotty (LOVE THAT THING!) and I recently got the Wedding Invitation from the Valentine event. If you can't kill it with one shot, you weren't using a Jakobs.

But for full auto weaponry, I admit I'm torn between Dahl or Hyperion SMGs, I hated Hyperion's stuff in BL2, especially the more you shoot the more stable it became, which only worked with items with a LOT of rounds, but in BL3 the addition of a shield is great. But Dahl has amazing recoil compensation, a switch fire mode... Heaven with bullets. I can't decide half the time.

I am also a tad melancholy, wondering if this is how the franchise ends.
I hope not. I want more. They really nailed the gameplay this time for me.
 
My wife is currently playing Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online offline.

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Can we spoil stuff? Cuz, if yes:
The murder of Maya didn't feel right. We didn't get enough interaction with her to make it feel impactful, not like Roland's in the previous game. Hell, one of the DLC's was about how Tiny Tina had to deal with his loss. Not to mention Ava's antagonism towards Lilith felt very forced.

I too was really peeved at how this was handled. BL3 Maya had a great scholarly streak and should have stuck around for longer. Hell, Athenas really should have more than one map.

I have issues with Zane and Fl4k. A lot of Fl4k's Hunter tree would work better for Zane's Hitman tree. Namely the crit boosting stuff. You could easily swap a couple of things like the more damage the faster you move bits to Fl4k's tree as he would be about tracking down prey. But I am liking the classes.

Hitman does take a while to really get going, and the demand for constant mobility doesn’t really gel with the barrier. But when it all comes together it’s really fun.

But for full auto weaponry, I admit I'm torn between Dahl or Hyperion SMGs, I hated Hyperion's stuff in BL2, especially the more you shoot the more stable it became, which only worked with items with a LOT of rounds, but in BL3 the addition of a shield is great. But Dahl has amazing recoil compensation, a switch fire mode... Heaven with bullets. I can't decide half the time.

Dahl full-auto > Vladof for me and by God Hyperion has some amazing SMGs. Though I miss BL2/tPS full-auto shotguns.

And speaking of manufacturers, how fun is it to get guns for free in your mailbox?

I hope not. I want more. They really nailed the gameplay this time for me.

My wife and I were ground zero target audience for this game — suckers for BL2 and tPS. And by God did it deliver. If the writing were a little better it would be perfect.
 
I like running Moze with full auto's because its not like I run out of ammo anyway.

Moze with all the customization options looks crazy fun. And piloting a mech is probably my #2 sci-fi fantasy (#1 is being a cyborg and I got that in spades with Wilhelm in tPS). Sorry I was brain damaged by Rifts®️ (Mega-Damaged™️, even).
 
I have Borderlands 3, but haven't played it yet. I'm currently playing Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, and don't like playing multiple games at once. Also the Borderlands games are much more fun in coop.

Have a lot of great memories, of playing Borderlands 2 with my late girlfriend. We finished the game twice. First time when it came out, and once with all the dlcs.
First time she played Maya and I played Axton. Second time she played Gaige and I played Maya.
 
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I played 2 with my older son. He played Zer0 and I played Maya. Mostly so I could play support healer. I'm better at FPS games than he is still. He had never played an FPS when we played it (he is a much bigger fan of RPGs/Tactical RPGs), but he wanted to play it with me after watching my Krieg playthrough. Took him a bit to get used to it, but he got competent enough that I could sit back and play sniper while throwing healing his way occasionally when he got in over his head.

Had so much fun.
 
WANT! WANT SO HARD! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Brawlers.


It's supposed to be out in "Spring." So, I'd imagine around May. It's also going to be available DRM-free on GOG.com, so I know where I'm buying it.
 
I also want this game, but 80CDN says not my wallet.

Hey Chris. Just put the game on your wishlist. When you can buy the game in a sale.
Games go on sale or drop in price pretty quick, these days.
I almost never buy games full price anymore.

Lunar Ronin Apparition thanks for telling about Streets of Rage 4. Didn't know it was coming out.
Don't follow videogame news anymore.
 
Hey Chris. Just put the game on your wishlist. When you can buy the game in a sale.
Games go on sale or drop in price pretty quick, these days.
I almost never buy games full price anymore.

Lunar Ronin Apparition thanks for telling about Streets of Rage 4. Didn't know it was coming out.
Don't follow videogame news anymore.
I have, the last time it was on sale, it was still over 60 bucks CDN. ;) It just means I have a few more years to wait until it's down to something reasonable for me, like $40.
 
More on Borderlands 3: halfway through the Handsome Jackpot expansion, at level 51, did a re-spec on my Zane, from drone/barrier to drone/clone, and my DPS frickin’ skyrocketed. Also the clone switcheroo is crazy fun.

WHY HAVEN’T I BEEN PLAYING LIKE THIS SINCE STARTING THE GAME. GAAH

Also equipped a sick Torgue assault rifle. Fires almost like a shotgun but does a ton of damage, and splashes. Fun, fun, fun.

Wife did a respec too on her Amara and I’m not sure what she did but it’s probably working, and fights have become way shorter.
 
I also want this game, but 80CDN says not my wallet.

I noticed last night that it was on sale in the North Am PSN store.

I had some money set aside for a new doll to add to my collection, but I didn't win the lottery to be able to purchase it, so I decided to splurge and buy other stuff. Some video games were among that other stuff on sale on PSN.

I picked up the bundle with Atelier Rorona, Totori, and Meruru. I also got Demon Gaze II and Earth Defense Force Iron Rain. I also picked up Metal Max Xeno for the convenience of having the DLC version as opposed to having to use the disc.

I played a little bit of Atelier Rorona, but I stopped because constant tutorials and I was clearly supposed to go around and talk to all the townspeople. Meanwhile, I was already tired of tutorials and cutscenes and just wanted to go whomp some monsters. I might get back to it later this week, or I might give Demon Gaze a shot.
 
I picked up the bundle with Atelier Rorona, Totori, and Meruru.

My wife owns Rorona and Totori for PS Vita. The Atelier games are fun, but you don't need to own all of them.
 
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