The Video Game Thread: What are you Playing?

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Another example of crunch exploitation. Not sure I want to support this
To be fair, Crunch will ALWAYS happen in an job that can screw everything up if you misplace a colon or something similar. What worked a build ago may not. It's not something you can account for and prevent. You can mitigate it, sure. But it will ALWAYS happen in the coding industry (Games are not the ONLY part of the computer program building business that can go tits up and puke errors at the last possible minute...)

However, CDPR is the company that came out with a letter that read like they were proud of being able to handle their crunch and while those panby namby Western hires just weren't Polish enough to handle it. Several gaming sites have covered that bit.

I dunno, man. CDPR seems to get a lot of love by fans. I can understand why, I mean they do a lot of good things that are Pro-Customer, especially in an era where gaming companies are desperate to gouge their audience for more money. But personally, they're just another company, to me...
 
What did they reveal in the livestream? I don't watch such things as it's just PR for the most part
 
To be fair, Crunch will ALWAYS happen in an job that can screw everything up if you misplace a colon or something similar. What worked a build ago may not. It's not something you can account for and prevent. You can mitigate it, sure. But it will ALWAYS happen in the coding industry (Games are not the ONLY part of the computer program building business that can go tits up and puke errors at the last possible minute...)
It's worse in industries that people think are fun. Nobody's a fan of writing database software, nobody considers it an honour to work there, it's something you do because you're being paid to; but the games industry wants you to have passion for your work and to also remind you that you're expendable and there are people just waiting for your job. I have mad respect for the people in it, especially their QA teams, but I'm also very glad I work in database land.

You know Ladybird Ladybird you're not the first person to say that about Eternal. It's making me hesitate pulling the trigger (When I had the money.)
(For reference, I've done the first two campaign levels, but that seems enough to comment on the core "game loop".)

It's weird, because almost all the bits are there, but they're arranged just differently enough that they don't work any more.

Like, we all had fun with glory kills in 2016, right? They gave you a moment of respite and replenished your health and armour. We had fun with the chainsaw, which also gave you ammo. They felt like a neat bonus, a thing that was fun to do and rewarded you for doing it. But here... your resources are so small and disappear so quickly (Lots of hitscan and rapid projectile weapons, very agile enemies, and very low ammo caps) that you're obligated to keep on doing these things, so you're looking out for opportunities to use them, but they're also all on timers so you're more working out how to manage the arena (You have to treat the mook enemies almost as generic pickups to farm for resources), and your cool new combat tools stop being fun as a result. Like, you've got a shoulder mounted flamethrower! How could anyone ruin that? Maybe by making it a thing that you need to use as soon as it comes off cooldown. Remember chainsawing a Mancubus or something in 2016? Wasn't that fun? Wasn't the chainsaw just a brilliant equaliser for taking out the biggest motherfucker in a fight? Well, you've got one regenerating fuel pip this time around, and while you might find enough in an arena to get to three points, you'll probably have to use these on mooks just to stay stocked up (Don't try picking up a barrel by mistake though, because they look very similar at Doom combat speeds!). The difficulty settings even explicitly say "you need to understand the game loop", this is the way it wants you to fight.

If the game was a bit slower, like say the pace of Titanfall 2 or Destiny, these elements would work fine. But Eternal has the same pace as 2016 and it shouldn't. It's too much and it's not fun any more.

I'm almost dreading finding the BFG in a future level in case it's tied to some mechanic yet to come up. A Doom game, and I'm not looking forward to finding the Big Fucking Gun. That is how a developer should be able to tell they gone done fucked up.
 
What did they reveal in the livestream? I don't watch such things as it's just PR for the most part
Not much, it was admittedly about 25 minutes, but they showed a Braindance sequence, a new Story Trailer and some driving sequences.
(For reference, I've done the first two campaign levels, but that seems enough to comment on the core "game loop".)

It's weird, because almost all the bits are there, but they're arranged just differently enough that they don't work any more.

Like, we all had fun with glory kills in 2016, right? They gave you a moment of respite and replenished your health and armour. We had fun with the chainsaw, which also gave you ammo. They felt like a neat bonus, a thing that was fun to do and rewarded you for doing it. But here... your resources are so small and disappear so quickly (Lots of hitscan and rapid projectile weapons, very agile enemies, and very low ammo caps) that you're obligated to keep on doing these things, so you're looking out for opportunities to use them, but they're also all on timers so you're more working out how to manage the arena (You have to treat the mook enemies almost as generic pickups to farm for resources), and your cool new combat tools stop being fun as a result. Like, you've got a shoulder mounted flamethrower! How could anyone ruin that? Maybe by making it a thing that you need to use as soon as it comes off cooldown. Remember chainsawing a Mancubus or something in 2016? Wasn't that fun? Wasn't the chainsaw just a brilliant equaliser for taking out the biggest motherfucker in a fight? Well, you've got one regenerating fuel pip this time around, and while you might find enough in an arena to get to three points, you'll probably have to use these on mooks just to stay stocked up (Don't try picking up a barrel by mistake though, because they look very similar at Doom combat speeds!). The difficulty settings even explicitly say "you need to understand the game loop", this is the way it wants you to fight.

If the game was a bit slower, like say the pace of Titanfall 2 or Destiny, these elements would work fine. But Eternal has the same pace as 2016 and it shouldn't. It's too much and it's not fun any more.

I'm almost dreading finding the BFG in a future level in case it's tied to some mechanic yet to come up. A Doom game, and I'm not looking forward to finding the Big Fucking Gun. That is how a developer should be able to tell they gone done fucked up.
Thank you. You saved me 80CDN.
 
This is interesting, seems most here like DOOM Eternal less. I actually prefer it since I enjoyed the fast pace, having to time the resource use correctly and knowing the enemy weaknesses. In the later levels it became a frenetic dance of action. Of course this just depends on what you enjoy.
 
Thank you. You saved me 80CDN.
If you haven't already played it and are wanting a new FPS, Titanfall 2 was released on Steam recently and is currently on sale (As well as being cheap elsewhere because it's a few years old). Campaign is only about 8 hours long, but they're all good ones, and it goes through so many new ideas; every level had a section which made me think "what? what is this new bullshit the game wants from me?" but it's actually already given you the tools and abilities you need and it's just happy to see you have fun. Probably not for you if you suffer from vertigo or motion sickness - you do a lot of parkour very, very high up - but totsally recommended if not.

I completed it in a couple nights play, but that was because I didn't want to put it down.
 
This is interesting, seems most here like DOOM Eternal less. I actually prefer it since I enjoyed the fast pace, having to time the resource use correctly and knowing the enemy weaknesses. In the later levels it became a frenetic dance of action. Of course this just depends on what you enjoy.

I must admit, that even though I completely agree with Ladybird Ladybird, I still think DOOM Eternal is a good game and well worth buying if you're into FPS games. The game did become better, as I became bettter at playing it. I will probably replay it once all the campaign expanding dlc is out, but probably not at a higher difficulty than Hurt Me Plenty. I don't regret buying it at full price, unlike I do with Resident Evil 3: Remake.

Because it was mentioned in this thread, I've started replaying Hitman 2. Although I can get Silent Assassin rating, on some missions, it takes me forever. I usually get bored playing in that way. Much more fun to just play, and go with the flow of whatever mistakes you do and see where it takes you.
I really love the customizability of the HUD in this game. I remove must of it, both because I find it annoying, but also simply for immersion.
 
I must admit, that even though I completely agree with Ladybird Ladybird
I also think Ladybird sums up the game very well.

Because it was mentioned in this thread, I've started replaying Hitman 2. Although I can get Silent Assassin rating, on some missions, it takes me forever. I usually get bored playing in that way. Much more fun to just play, and go with the flow of whatever mistakes you do and see where it takes you.
I really love the customizability of the HUD in this game. I remove must of it, both because I find it annoying, but also simply for immersion.
Wow! I never even thought to turn off the HUD as dumb as that sounds. One thing I always do is turn off the waypoint stuff for the mission stories as I think it ruins the fun of figuring things out and exploring the level yourself. Some of the levels are so detailed and "lived in" e.g. Mumbai, Haven island, Sapienza
I also don't really bother with Silent Assassin most of the time. Like I'll try to not be noticed, but if I mess it up it's a laugh trying to contain the fallout.
 
The most recent version of Master of Orion is on sale; debating about picking it up
 
Mrs Savage bought us Raft, Remnants: From the Ashes and Strange Brigade. I also hooked up with an old friend who is out of state so we brought a third player into the mix.

Raft manages to be stressful and monotonous at the same time but the Mrs absolutely loves it. She has been begging me to play for months. Basically you are stuck on a small raft in the middle of the ocean and you try to hook debris floating past to build stuff that helps you survive. Once in a while you find a small island and denude it of resources. Oh and random shark attacks are a constant threat. You take ten seconds fiddling with the UI and next thing you know a shark is chewing up your raft. That's pretty much it so far but Bunny tells me there is more to it later.

Strange Brigade is a gorgeous 1930's pulp action shooter with some exploration and puzzle solving. Right now it is $16 for the game and all DLC on Steam which is a steal if you have friends to play with.

The belle of the ball is Remnants: From the Ashes. If I had to describe it I would say it's a post-Apocalyptic supernatural horror game. It's like the developers wrote a love letter Dark Souls without all the "kick you in the balls" elements and then added dedicated multiplayer co-op. We played up to the first boss and got our asses handed to us multiple times but it wasn't an exercise in frustration. In fact it was some of the most fun multiplayer gaming I have had in years. The gameplay videos and reviews do not do it justice; this one is a gem.
 
Steam sale!

Got myself Elder Scrolls Online, a game I've been wonderng about for years now, and at the prodding of a friend, Star Wars: Battlefront 2.

And that's while I go back and forth between Warhammer: Vermintide 2 with friends, the Bounty of Blood DLC for Borderlands 3 and (off videogames) the new season of Dark that just dropped on Netflix.
 
My wife has just started playing this. I'm not 100% certain but my guess is she finished Control.
Give Remants a try. Skulking through dangerous places with the wife and friend, hunting scary monsters, and looking for loot is a decent temporary replacement for dungeoncrawling. I am used to getting my fix on the regular for over 2 years and it has been tough not playing any tabletop for months!
 
Even the most C-list, middle-of-the-road to mediocre video game is a key part of someone's youth. The Addams Family on the SNES is one of those for me. I actually think it's pretty good, but it doesn't exactly top anyone else's list.


I had the AMIGA version, years since I thought of it.
 
Even the most C-list, middle-of-the-road to mediocre video game is a key part of someone's youth.

Chances are few if any of you know anything about Midway's Space Encounters. In 1980, it was the first video game I fell in love with. I had seen a couple of video games before (an arcade Tank machine and a Sears Telegames/Atari2600 running Target Fun/Air Sea Battle), but this was the first one that really seemed incredible to me.

And if you search for game footage, it really doesn't seem that spectacular. It's just a timed Galaxian style game. But it's a game where it's really about the experience. I found this video where the arcade cabinet is shown in operation and the presenter is explaining elements of the game. You may not be able to make out the gameplay in detail, but I think it gives a hint of what being in the presence of the cabinet was like. Imagine it being 1980, being 10 years old, and playing this game as only the third videogame you had ever played.

 
Installed Elder Scrolls Online (I really still think 90GB is a lot) and I’m really digging it. I created a Nord Sorcerer, going for a Stamina build, thinking of a grim and callous warlock-warrior from the frigid north and maybe even going werewolf later on, but then — fascinated by the look of Vvardenfell (now I see what the Morrowind fans were going on about!) decided to go with my original idea of a Dunmer Dragon Knight Magicka build i.e. a pyromancer. Fun, fun, fun.

Hopefully I can persuade Mrs. The Butcher to join me and roll my third character — a Stamina Nightblade, toss-up between Orc or Redguard (dig both races).

Yes, I’m like that with all games that involve minimally interesting character creation. I had ten PCs in a ton of WoW servers, most of which I never played.
 
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Hitman 2 is very expensive at $90. There isn't really a better stealth game at the moment in my opinion and you could replay some of the levels forever.
The Gold Edition normally costs $100 but is currently on sale for $30 until the 9th. The Standard Edition bundle, which normally goes for $60, is currently $18.

I notice that it supports co-op play. That could be quite interesting.
 
Seriously addictive browser game.

 
I've finished Shantae: Half-Genie Hero and now I'm working my way through Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.

There is something so soothing about an old-fashioned platformer. No intricate plotlines that try to tug your heartstrings every step of the way, no pages upon pages of worldbuilding that you have to plow through, no over-complicated game mechanics that you need a spreadsheet to master. Just a big, weird world full of cartoonish characters doing silly things and plenty of hungry monsters that you need to whip your hair at to make them explode. Balm for the soul, I tell you. 8)
 
So I splurged and got Persona 4 Golden. And uh... Um... I apparently put in 55 hours since I got it last Tuesday...

I think I may be addicted...
 
Hi, I'm The Butcher and I have a videogame problem.

It all started innocently enough. Now I am juggling four games (and I am lucky when I get to play one a day):

Borderlands 3. Playing through the Bounty of Blood DLC. Intriguing story and new NPCs. Interesting Western/chanbara aesthetic. Good loot too, though I'm mostly sticking to my really good level 57 stuff.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2. My main is a level 27 Viktor which I mostly play as Zealot, with a strong preference for flails and repeater pistols (though right now I'm feeling pirate-y with a falchion and a brace of pistols); wife plays Sienna. Sometimes we get to play with 1 or 2 other friends. Fun, casual game.

Elder Scrolls Online. As mentioned above, I've been curious about this one for years and got the standard edition (core + Morrowind) on the Steam sale. Trying to persuade Mrs. The Butcher to play with me.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Another Steam sale acquisition. Installing right now. May God have mercy on my soul.
 
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New fucking videogame term : Bossteasing. Where they string you along for half a level of BIG DOORS and ROOMS FULL OF POWERUPS but behind each door there's just a couple of mooks and a stupid jumping puzzle.

Edit: After being bossteased for so long, I then got a threesome. So I guess it was worth it in the end.
 
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Hi, I'm The Butcher and I have a videogame problem.

It all started innocently enough. Now I am juggling four games (and I am lucky when I get to play one a day):

Borderlands 3. Playing through the Bounty of Blood DLC. Intriguing story and new NPCs. Interesting Western/chanbara aesthetic. Good loot too, though I'm mostly sticking to my really good level 57 stuff.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2. My main is a level 27 Viktor which I mostly play as Zealot, with a strong preference for flails and repeater pistols (though right now I'm feeling pirate-y with a falchion and a brace of pistols); wife plays Sienna. Sometimes we get to play with 1 or 2 other friends. Fun, casual game.

Elder Scrolls Online. As mentioned above, I've been curious about this one for years and got the standard edition (core + Morrowind) on the Steam sale. Trying to persuade Mrs. The Butcher to play with me.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Another Steam sale acquisition. Installing right now. May God have mercy on my soul.
This reminds me of the old saw:

I have a drinking problem - only one mouth and two hands.
 
Taking a break from Remnants, my wife is giving Valfaris a go, which looks rather brilliant.

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It just arrived in the mail today, together with Children of Morta.

Slain: Back From Hell, by the same creator, is also on her shelves, but hasn't been played yet. Sort of in the same vein, she's also on the lookout for a physical copy of Blasphemous, which is apparently very difficult to get a hold of.
 
Those games will make you rip your hair out. I love them, but damn if they're not cheap. :hehe:
 
@ 3rik 3rik Your wife has good taste in games. How are you liking Remnants? We should play sometime. I was starting to think I was getting pretty good until I discovered I can't even beat a single boss on Survival mode unless I start on Earth.
 
I just finished Assassin's Creed. Die, Assassins' Creed! Die, Assassin's Creed! :argh:

God, I hate this game so much. I hate all the fiddly mechanical bits that you might as well not bother with because it's almost always more efficient to just hackety-chop your way through anything that stands in your way. I hate how smug it is about portraying a REALISTIC HISTORICAL MILIEU while reducing every historical character to a cardboard cutout. I hate its sophomoric, nihilistic philosophy that reminds me unpleasantly of the one I held when I was about nineteen and thought I was just SO FUCKING DEEP for not believing in any of that stupid God stuff and being depressed all the time. I hate how the controls manage to be at once too helpful and too unhelpful, so that you get neither the satisfaction of controlling every motion your character makes or the satisfaction of being able to just press X to be awesome, while getting all the bad parts of both. I hate the weird mix of over-the-top action and gritty realism that makes both feel unconvincing. I hate, especially, the fact that it's so inexplicably popular that I've spent the last ten years having to hear about it all the freaking time.

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it, hate it, hate it. I hate every nerd-pandering, poorly designed, up-its-own-ass moment of it. Hate. HATE.

Now to install Assassin's Creed: Rogue to see if I hate that just as much.

...

... YES, I HAVE ISSUES, OKAY? I'M AWARE OF IT! :weep:
 
I afraid that I don't like video games anymore ... They're all so damn LONG. How does anyone ever finish these things?! And then all the super frustrating bits that I have to force myself to play through in order to get to the good stuff. Plus more and more seem like they're built for online multiplayer gaming, which I have zero interest in. I can't remember the last time I finished a new (to me) game, and I find myself more likely to replay an old game I like, or just not play at all, and read RPGs instead ... :sad:
 
Afghanistan '11 has been my recent strategy title itch. It is far more about logistics and planning than shooty shooty given the insurgent enemy and desire to win 'hearts and minds'. Quite interesting but it could have done with a larger pass at quality of life and enrichment for the Users. It definitely ends up being a 'one more turn' kind of title for me though, I have easily lost hours playing it!
 
Afghanistan '11 has been my recent strategy title itch. It is far more about logistics and planning than shooty shooty given the insurgent enemy and desire to win 'hearts and minds'. Quite interesting but it could have done with a larger pass at quality of life and enrichment for the Users. It definitely ends up being a 'one more turn' kind of title for me though, I have easily lost hours playing it!
Interesting, I've been wanting a asymmetrical warfare strategy game, but never found one. How's the learning curve?
 
Interesting, I've been wanting a asymmetrical warfare strategy game, but never found one. How's the learning curve?
The Tutorials are lengthy but worthwhile in teaching you the game - a big downside is the lack of a glossary/reference to read back some information (i.e. the range limitation between building FOBs). So the information is spread out between 4(?) tutorials and is less of an 'infodump' and more a handholding so it is great at teaching not only the mechanics of the game, but how to win and what to do to win.

I had to restart the first campaign mission a couple of times until I figured out a system, as you need 'political points' (the currency you spend to move/do stuff/recruit new US units) in reserve, or otherwise need to be effective in combatting the enemy (clearing mines, clearing opium farms, killing insurgents) to get more PP. I ended up blowing all my points early collecting an army to field but they were so slow finding the enemy that I bled myself dry just moving into the enemy positions. I am on the second scenario now.
 
I afraid that I don't like video games anymore ... They're all so damn LONG. How does anyone ever finish these things?! And then all the super frustrating bits that I have to force myself to play through in order to get to the good stuff. Plus more and more seem like they're built for online multiplayer gaming, which I have zero interest in. I can't remember the last time I finished a new (to me) game, and I find myself more likely to replay an old game I like, or just not play at all, and read RPGs instead ... :sad:
Check out this site before playing a game: Here

I found it really helpful for selecting games. I tend to play very little of the >50 hour monsters these days and I've shifted more toward adventure games and games around the 15-20 hour mark. These make gaming feel more like it was in my teens than it was in my 20s. I'm not very into CRPGs which helps.
 
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Check out this site before playing a game: Here

I found it really helpful for selecting games. I tend to play very little of the >50 hour monsters these days and I've shifted more toward adventure games and games around the 15-20 hour mark. These makes gaming feel more like it was in my teens than it was in my 20s. I'm not very into CRPGs which helps.
Cool, thanks!
 
I afraid that I don't like video games anymore ... They're all so damn LONG. How does anyone ever finish these things?! And then all the super frustrating bits that I have to force myself to play through in order to get to the good stuff. Plus more and more seem like they're built for online multiplayer gaming, which I have zero interest in. I can't remember the last time I finished a new (to me) game, and I find myself more likely to replay an old game I like, or just not play at all, and read RPGs instead ... :sad:

I'm feeling ya. That is why I feel myself drawn more and more to arcade-style games intended for short bursts of play.

I think Downwell may be the best game I've played in the past few years and it is a direct call back to the glory days of arcade play.



The trailer may not give one a sense of how the feel of this game is second to none.
 
That does look fun. I have some classic arcade games on my Xbox 360, but I have trouble playing them with the little thumbsticks. I need a big-ass joystick to navigate them properly ...
 
I can recommend a game called Maria the Witch, which I bought just to check that my new credit card information was working and it was cheap. You play a pre-teen witch who flies on a broomstick to deliver the mail. You have one button that makes you accelerate left, and one button that makes you accelerate right. The longer you hold in a button, the more the broom also start tilting upward, while if you go too long without pressing a button it starts heading into a nosedive, so going straight requires carefully timed button presses, and going through narrow passages forces you to develop a feel for just how when you should start accelerating and turning.

You unlock new worlds by collecting stars. Each level gives you one star for completing it, one for finding all the letters in it and getting them to a mailbox, and one for making it through the whole level without crashing. You also get randomised extras at the start of some levels, like the ability to hold your breath under water indefinitely or invincibility to enemies.

It's... oddly addictive. It's the sort of game you can sit down with for ten minutes when you need to restart your brain.
 
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SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE came out yesterday, and I've been happily working my way through it. SUPERHOT's core gimmick - time only moves when you do - still works, so I would have been happy with just a level pack, but the core structure of MCD is a vaguely roguelike set of shorter levels, which you have to complete in one go, picking up new perks along the way which change the way you approach situations in clever little ways; completing a level set unlocks MORE.

The storyline also continues and, er, it's just as much of a headfuck as the first game was.

I love it. Making Red Guys explode is just as much fun as it always was.

I got it for free as I already had SUPERHOT, but if I didn't, I'd happily have paid for it.
 
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