The Video Game Thread: What are you Playing?

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So, as mentioned up-thread I decided to take a chance on Phoenix Point. I don’t personally have strong opinions on the Epic Store, so buying it from there was fine.

My machine is a Mac Mini 2018 with i7 and 16GB RAM. Out of the box it has Intel UHD 630 graphics card, which isn’t especially powerful, but does the basics fine. It would run XCOM: War of the Chosen quite comfortably. It struggled with Phoenix Point, running really slow even on the lowest graphics settings. I had already planned to get an eGPU for my Mini so this brought that forward on my schedule. It now has a Radeon RX 580 GTS XXX card in an external case... That did the trick, and now it runs as snappy as you like with high video settings! And it looks lovely... It is somewhat unstable on the Mac, however, crashing pretty much every time I quit the application, though it has only crashed mid-game once so far and that was some time ago, now.

So, putting the tech stuff to one side what is the game like, especially in comparison to XCOM2?

It really is a spiritual successor to the original UFO: Enemy Unknown, feeling more true to that legacy than the modern XCOM games from Firaxis, in my opinion. The game is much more nuanced, with more equipment options and an action point system which, while less granular than the original UFO, Laser Squad or Rebelstar is still more flexible than the move / attack system which is basically used in XCOM.

The basic premise of the game is the same as the other games - you command a paramilitary organisation with one or more bases and you fend off xeno threats to try to save human kind. The story is a little different here, with the threat coming from the sea and thought to be based on a virus(!) released from the arctic ice, mutating humans and other creatures into xenomorphs of different kinds.

A big difference to any of the previous games is that there are competing factions to interact with, here. So far I have met four of them, though only three are mentioned in the background, so who can say where there may be even more to come? It’s certainly possible that an additional faction was added as a DLC (currently three sets of DLC have been released and there are two more planned). Here is the big twist: each faction has unique tech and unique character classes. And you can trade, steal, research and recruit In relation to these factions. When you make contact with a base run by another faction you can trade with them and recruit people from their settlements. You can reverse engineer their technology, either acquired through a recruit or picked up from the battlefield... And you can raid their settlements, too, to steal assets or research. The factions have competing strategies, too, and you can choose to back one over another, and they may ask you to raid their competitors! There is a diplomacy system which tracks how the factions feel about you and each other; it’s still early days for me and I’m working out the implications of this.

One of the criticisms of the game is that the the enemy AI is not too hard. So far (playing on the standard ‘Veteran’ level) I would say it has been a mixed bag. The enemies haven’t been following highly complex strategies but they do use their powers, seek cover and do things like throwing grenades so I would say, at this point, that it is comparable to XCOM2. Perhaps not as difficult as XCOM2: WotC, but still tricky enough to be fun.

I would give it a solid 7 or 8 out of 10 at the moment and there is possibility to up that rating as I learn more about the game.
 
It seems we found our co-op fantasy game: Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

Didin't play the first but having a blast with the second (and taking a break from Borderlands 3 while the new expansion doesn't come out).

We joined a couple of friends who were playing already; took the Witch Hunter (now playing as the Bounty Hunter) and my wife took the Battle Wizard.

I think the game would be miles better if it was open world, more RPG-y and if we could ctreate our characters. But I'm having a blast nevertheless.
 
Yesterday I started playing Oriental Empires. I picked it and the two add-ons while they were on sale for about 20 bucks total. It leans more towards Crusader Kings II than Total War, so I'm bummed I can't run battles (as that's part of the fun of the Total War series). The first game I quit because I screwed up royally as the Chu. I started a second game as The Han, and doing much better. I realized from the first game that making settlers over soldiers to make a few more settlements helped me from going broke. But when war breaks out, it's easy to go broke. Had a war with the Chu, and I was able to force peace (and then my leader married the daughter of their leader). Somehow I'm more powerful, but they have a larger army. My main issue is a lack of characters. I've had a few die, and replacements are way too slow to come by. Given there is a lot of battles, not having enough generals is a hindrance. That's another thing Total War has over games like this: In TW, you can eventually build/recruit generals and in armies with no general that win multiple battles, the commander of the leader unit can be promoted to a general for his actions. This game sorely needs something along those lines. Getting a reminder I don't have a position filled because I have no one to fill it with every turn is annoying.

Anyway, it's an ok game. Once I get the regular game down, I'm going to give the Genghis Khan add on a try
 
The Butcher said:
It seems we found our co-op fantasy game: Warhammer: Vermintide 2.
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How different is is from part 1? Also do you have any newbies tips because I am absolutely terrible at it. The Mrs. really enjoyed it but I found it tough to the point of frustration. This is a bitter pill to swallow for someone who owns a few old school Warhammer armies including a Skaven one!
 
Brock Savage said:
How different is is from part 1? Also do you have any newbies tips because I am absolutely terrible at it. The Mrs. really enjoyed it but I found it tough to the point of frustration. This is a bitter pill to swallow for someone who owns a few old school Warhammer armies including a Skaven one!
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Never played Vermintide 1.

The newbie tips I have been given are:
  • Try out weapons on the courtyard practice dummy so you can see which works best for you (and don’t forget the armored dummies on the courtyard battlement).
  • Make sure at least one of your weapons is effective against armored foes. (This one makes me sad that I seldom pack a Zweihänder. Have been sticking to flails, cutlasses, rapiers and axes so far.)
  • Save some reward chests for higher levels.
  • Block, dodge and push to your heart’s content. Melee is all about mobility.
Just unlocked the Zealot. Curious to see how he performs in combat but I really enjoyed the Bounty Hunter.

I really want to try the Mercenary and the (Dwarf) Ranger when I get the chance.
 
I'm now 99 turns into my Han game of Oriental Empires. I've been able to enter the Warring States Era (had to pass an edict to do so). I now have a good amount of generals, and my wife has been a baby machine. My first born is now of age, and I have 4 more kids (2 girls, 2 boys). I haven't had a battle in some time, but my income is low, so building troops is risky right now. Disbanding some older units to prep for when I have newer ones (that I'm researching).

Crusader Kings II is more fun than this, but this has been fairly challenging
 
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Been playing Sinking City, which is a Lovecraftian detective game. Just started it, but already I'm digging the approach to investigation. The detective's a psychic, and you use his abilities to look into the past in order to figure out who committed crimes, and how. And there are already numerous allusions, including a nod to Innsmouth. Digging it so far!
 
Brock Savage said:
Playing Cultist Simulator and Age of Barbarian. Both are punishingly difficult on the front end and I hesitate to recommend either unless you are really into Twin Peaks-style occult mysteries or Howardian barbarians. If either of those are your jam, sheer enthusiasm will carry you through initial frustrations.

Edit:
Yea World of Horror is cool and it scratches my Arkham Horror/Eldritch Horror itch. That said, it is much like Cultist Simulator as I imagine a sizeable minority of players will ragequit before they get to the good stuff.

If anyone could link me to some more vidya or roleplaying games akin to Age of Barbarian I would be appreciative. In other words, I'm looking for a game with loincloth barbarians, microkini heroines, savage landscapes, Lovecraftian horrors, and lurid action-driven gameplay that is a little salacious. Dinosaurs and robots are good too but not mandatory.

Please don't recommend Primeval Thule, it somehow managed to screw it up what should have been an easy formula to execute. I already own Barbarians of Lemuria as well.
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How does Primeval Thule screw up? I usually hear good things, it will be interesting to hear a different opinion.
 
After 3 years, I've restarted playing Bayonetta. When I originally played it, I got 49 out of 50 achievements and "full platinumed" the normal difficulty.
The one achievement missing is completing the game at non-stop infinite climax difficulty, and I'm going to do it in full platinum mode...
 
CRKrueger said:
How does Primeval Thule screw up? I usually hear good things, it will be interesting to hear a different opinion.
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Hi CRKrueger CRKrueger That's a good question. Their core design principles should have been a perfect formula. In fact I am using those principles for my own Sword and Sorcery project.

The writers crammed every conceivable S&S trope into the setting. Every. Single. One. On the heels of that, they also shoehorned elves, halfings, and dwarves along with other standard fantasy fare. The end result feels like a typical crowded kitchen sink fantasy setting wearing Sword & Sorcery clothing.

The world feels crowded with disparate supernatural elements, none of it related to each other in a satisfying way. I am not one of those people who insist that S&S is "low magic" by any means but the supernatural shouldn't feel banal, either.

The book is written in a narrative style, as if it were a report to a king delivered by a sage. Unfortunately it reads like a person with jarringly modern sensibilities who occasionally punctuates their speech with "oh king" once in a while.

In a setting where the authors crammed every S&S trope they can think of, Amazons are conspicuously absent. That's like forgetting to include barbarians.

Little genre emulation crunch beyond some expanded setting specific backgrounds and XP for gold. Classes, spells, abilities etc are all the same with the exception of the paladin who has been removed.

This is probably nitpicky but the tone is inconsistent. It advertises itself as grim and brutal but the tone is slightly more edgy that your standard Tolkien derivative fantasy.

Edit: On the other hand, if you want to play bog-standard 5e with a S&S facelift and XP for gold it does the job.
 
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I am now playing Destroy All Humans (the original, not the remake). It's a surprisingly fun switch-off-your-brain kind of game. I am somewhat ashamed of myself for enjoying it, because it's very much a Grand Theft Auto style "rampage around and have juvenile giggles at how completely you're wrecking everyone's day," thing but... I dunno, it's strangely therapeutic. :tongue: And it's just hard enough to offer a bit of resistance but not so much that I bog down.
 
Revisiting Doom 2016. I am not a shooter guy by any means but this game is great! I haven't bought Doom: Eternal because I am still enjoying this one.

  • Excellent pacing. It's a nice cycle of action and exploration punctuated by tidbits of exposition. I wish I could bring its pacing to the tabletop for an action-based game
  • Rewards upgrades at just the right pace to keep the dopamine trickling and keeps you playing for a while.
  • Enjoyable to replay levels to find all secrets or at higher difficulty (rare for me)
  • A variety of equally good* yet distinct weapons keeps things fresh.
I am also enjoying Iratus: Lord of the Dead. Some dismiss it as Darkest Dungeon from the enemy POV but having played 272 hours of DD thru Early Access I am confident telling there are key differences that make Iratus enjoyable in its own right. Perhaps the most important difference is that Iratus is more casual-friendly than DD and I mean this in a good way.
  • Iratus does not have a grind to replace a lost team; it's more like a loss of finite resources that brings you closer to losing the game if that makes sense. I feel the no-grind approach encourages experimentation and risk-taking. Anyone who has played DD will recall the grind needed to replace a veteran team; multiple times I would quit for weeks when faced with a massive grind to replace a team or adjust to changing meta.
  • It's easy to determine what traits, abilities, and items do along with how they interact with each other.
  • Player skill tree and minion building is fun without any obvious "trap choices" that I can see thus far.

*more or less
 
RafaelChandler said:
Agreed, Brock, Doom 2016 is great stuff. While I never got around to experimenting with the level editor, I have downloaded other players' creations, and some of them are absolutely fantastic!
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I haven't downloaded any player levels, if it is not too much trouble please post or PM me some recommendations.

RafaelChandler said:
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Been playing Sinking City, which is a Lovecraftian detective game. Just started it, but already I'm digging the approach to investigation. The detective's a psychic, and you use his abilities to look into the past in order to figure out who committed crimes, and how. And there are already numerous allusions, including a nod to Innsmouth. Digging it so far!
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Once you get some hours under your belt I would appreciate hearing what you think so far of Sinking City
 
Been playing a ton of Phantasy Star Online 2 since it came out in NA for PC finally. My son decided he wanted to play too, so I started up an alt.

I'm playing the 6'5" Robot cowboy named Sterling Cannon (He also wears glasses. My son goes "why would a robot need glasses" to which I responded "Cause his eyes aren't that good". "But why wouldn't he just go get them fixed?"), and he made a 5'3" manlet named Quetz that uses fuck off huge swords.

It is stupid and I love it. We spent 5 minutes coordinating the "Big Laugh" emote when we got done playing today.

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Now that I'm in the Warring States era (not sure if all the AI factions are) in Oriental Empires, things are picking up steam. Certain tech gives you bonuses on future tech research, so I'm gaining new tech faster. My military units seem kind of limited though; as i can no longer make long spear units, just peasant spear militia and Nobles on horseback. On the other hand, I've got plenty of generals now. One faction, the White Di (who appear to be nomads) kept fighting my ally The Chu on my turf. They pillaged farmland near one of my cities, so I sent the army from that city to smack them around. I won, but they captured my general (I captured two of theirs). They wanted a prisoner exchanged that I refused. I then was able to persuade the two prisoners to join my side, and then paid for my general back. I gained 3 generals this way. Both my sons are adults, so that helped too. We're not at war though, because they were on my territory, so you can attack forces that pillage without declaring war

I'm not the strongest faction any more, but I do seem to have more cities (as I've expanded and built a few more, and bought one from a rival faction). Many are still developing, but those are away from where the fighting is, so they can develop without being attacked.

I still feel Crusader Kings II is a better game, as the challenge here was in the beginning, where as Crusader Kings II stays challenging. Being able to attack an enemy force that is on your turf pillaging without going to war with that faction is probably the one thing Oriental Empires has over CK.
 
I bought Maneater just to have something silly to play outside of BF4.

What a blast. I got 100% completion - all objectives, all challenges in like 20hrs over the last week. The only downside was the price... at $40 it's not worth it. But I had a $15 dollar coupon. Which made it totally worth it. I'd blow $30 on it and have a good time. Who doesn't like being a baby shark and evolving into a full on Megalodon and fighting sperm whales and killer whales while the military is hunting you down?

Good times. I hope the devs make more content. I wanna play as a Kraken now.
 
My wife is thrilled they're going to remaster Demon's Souls for the PS5, one of her all-time favourites.
 
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3rik said:
She's Best Girl?
By the way, the PS4 Tifa Theme is currently free.
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Yes she is, although they're all sweet. One of the bad guys also constantly hits on Cloud, so I guess there's someone for everyone in this game.
Thanks for telling about the Tifa Theme, am downloading it now.

I've also been interested in Phoenix Point, but I'm waiting to get it until it is out on Steam. Not that I have anything in particular against the Epic Store, I'm just fed up with the number of game launcers I already have. Have five game launchers already.

I've played both Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal. My favorite of the two is Doom 2016. Doom 2016 has much better combat flow for me. Doom Eternal has too many things going on at once, that you have to keep track off during combat. After some of the combats in Doom Eternal I literally had to take a break, because they were so exhausting to play through. Never had to do that in Doom 2016.

I also have Sinking City on my PS4. Bought it one of times is was on sale. Haven't played it though.

Nice to know about the Demon Souls remaster. It's the second best FromSoftware after Bloodborne for me. Although I'm not sure I'll ever get a PS5.
For various personal reasons, I'm trying to limit the amount of time I spend on videogames. Also have a large backlog of games on various platforms I haven't played.

I'm almost done with Dak Souls Remastered. I just need to play through the DLCs, and when it's on to the final boss.
 
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Voros said:
Yeah amazing news my favourite FromSoft game along with Bloodborne.
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We looked at some videos comparing available footage from the new version of Demon's Souls with the original and while the quality of the new graphics is obviously better and more advanced, in many instances we prefer the atmosphere, color palette and imagery of the original. The original was done in a more surreal, dream-like and Romanesque style, the remake is more Gothic, epic and detailed. Still exciting and interesting to see a new version but a "simple" remaster of the original, instead of a remake from-the-ground-up, would possibly have met with more approval from fans.

 
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Brock Savage said:
I haven't downloaded any player levels, if it is not too much trouble please post or PM me some recommendations.
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I love The Core. It's like a mini-expansion with new missions and really well-designed levels. I can't find the code for it, but the first chapter's called "Lights Out," the second one is "Heat," and I'm playing the third one, "A New Threat." Next up, I'm going to play Harvest Doom, which lets you grow crops. The code for that one is G3KDDG5E.
 
3rik said:
We looked at some videos comparing available footage from the new version of Demon's Souls with the original and while the quality of the new graphics is obviously better and more advanced, in many instances we prefer the atmosphere, color palette and imagery of the original. The original was done in a more surreal, dream-like and Romanesque style, the remake is more Gothic, epic and detailed. Still exciting and interesting to see a new version but a "simple" remaster of the original, instead of a remake from-the-ground-up, would possibly have met with more approval from fans.

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Yeah it's a shame I won't be able to get a PS5 for a while since I'd like to play it mostly for the PvP but that may be pretty sedate by the time I get to it.
 
Haven't played it yet, but just bought it...apparently Torchlight III has been released to Early Access on Steam.

store.steampowered.com

Torchlight III on Steam

In Torchlight III, Novastraia is again under threat of invasion and it’s up to you to defend against the Netherim and its allies. Gather your wits and brave the frontier to find fame, glory, and new adventures!
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com
 
Chris Brady said:
I'm trying to play GTA5. God damn are the characters unlikable. Whiny, stupid, nothing redeeming about any of them. At least Saints Row went over the top stupid and silly with their setting.
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I liked GTA4 better, including the Gay Tony and biker gang DLCs. I gave GTA5 one try and did not enjoy it at all.
 
Chris Brady said:
I'm trying to play GTA5. God damn are the characters unlikable. Whiny, stupid, nothing redeeming about any of them. At least Saints Row went over the top stupid and silly with their setting.
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This is an interesting one. I think GTA IV tried to have an actual story with character growth etc. It's clear in GTA IV that what you do in sandbox/play mode is not what "Cutscene Niko" actually did in the story.

However GTA V is more like a deconstruction of GTA, i.e. imagine people who really did what you tend to do in missions. Trevor being the clearest example.

I liked GTA V's gameplay more, but yeah GTA IV had a nicer story.
 
I got GTAV pretty late in its life because I am completely fatigued on the style of those games. The play is pretty rudimentary, like a second-rate shooter grafted on to a third-rate driving game. The only one with a good story was Red Dead Redemption (the first; haven't played the second, yet). GTA's attempts to create a "living city" are kind of pathetic, with a bunch of ancillary activities that are way more fun in real life and faceless brainless bystanders.

I enjoyed GTAIV, but the love was already wearing very thin, and about halfway through the game I was kind of upset that the game made me kill a pretty nice person just to move the story forward. Usually, all GTA characters are either terrible people or walking parodies, so it was a bit of a jolt to have to murder what seemed to be a genuinely good person.

Red Dead Redemption was my favorite Rockstar game. It follows the formula, but it did everything right, and the Western setting was a nice change of pace. Also, the story was truly incredible. My favorite GTA was San Andreas. That one just felt really big and varied - you could break into a secret alien containment facility in the desert or fight harrier jets with the Navy. There was a jetpack. It almost felt like a Saints Row game.

GTAV is just more of the same. And Trevor almost seems like a parody of the series within the series - he's just a gross murderhobo, plain and simple.
 
I am unfamiliar with San Andres and have only watched Saints Row being played, but I enjoyed what I saw. With GTA, fooling around in the sandbox is a big part of the fun.

I absolutely loved Red Dead Redemption, though I did feel bad about siding with the Federales at one point and some of the Trophies involved actions that felt out-of-character and pointless.
 
3rik said:
...and some of the Trophies involved actions that felt out-of-character and pointless.
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Those 100% things are always a bit arbitrary; it's just a way for them to easily extend the content.
 
Edgewise said:
I got GTAV pretty late in its life because I am completely fatigued on the style of those games. The play is pretty rudimentary, like a second-rate shooter grafted on to a third-rate driving game. The only one with a good story was Red Dead Redemption (the first; haven't played the second, yet). GTA's attempts to create a "living city" are kind of pathetic, with a bunch of ancillary activities that are way more fun in real life and faceless brainless bystanders.

I enjoyed GTAIV, but the love was already wearing very thin, and about halfway through the game I was kind of upset that the game made me kill a pretty nice person just to move the story forward. Usually, all GTA characters are either terrible people or walking parodies, so it was a bit of a jolt to have to murder what seemed to be a genuinely good person.

Red Dead Redemption was my favorite Rockstar game. It follows the formula, but it did everything right, and the Western setting was a nice change of pace. Also, the story was truly incredible. My favorite GTA was San Andreas. That one just felt really big and varied - you could break into a secret alien containment facility in the desert or fight harrier jets with the Navy. There was a jetpack. It almost felt like a Saints Row game.

GTAV is just more of the same. And Trevor almost seems like a parody of the series within the series - he's just a gross murderhobo, plain and simple.
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Honestly, the city of Los Santos feels 'alive', which is the only good part of this game, but calling it a second rate shooter in a third rate driving game is pretty spot on.

The last GTA I played was 3, I skipped 4, because I didn't care for Niko.

But yeah, the characters in 5, the hook for me in a game, I don't like them and I don't want to know anymore about them.

But damn if the city ain't pretty!
 
Yeah the last GTA I really enjoyed was Vice City. I liked RDD but found like most Rockstar games the writing was not my thing so having to sit through the dialogue scenes was pretty painful and the play became repetitive and often aimless since the 'main story' was failing to engage me.

It has been a long time since I bothered to complete one of their games and the entire playstyle they popularized is probably my least favourite at this point.

The most fun I had in GTAV's huge world was driving my car into the sea, swimming to an islet, back to shore and sitting near some railway tracks and watching the sunset. I think I OD'ed on shooting cops and causing havoc back in Vice City.
 
San Andreas is still the best GTA from a character/story standpoint. I haven't enjoyed any GTA after that.
 
In the mean time, my wife finished Nioh 2 and just started playing Control on the PS4.

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She got a new big-ass 4K TV so games look even better now. She has been using a PS4 Pro but still has her old PS4, which is now connected the old, smaller TV. We installed some games on it that I might enjoy playing so we can game at the same time now.
 
May want to hold off on Torchlight 3...it's early access, so I expect rough stuff, but the big problem it requires Online access and their servers haven't been stable. :quiet:
 
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