The Video Game Thread: What are you Playing?

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In other news, I have been a bit underwhelmed by Elder Scrolls Online. Granted, I haven’t gotten very far (one character at level 9) but I expected multiplayer Skyrim and I’m getting some hackneyed MMO-isms in one hand that don’t mesh particularly well with the Elder Scrolls-isms e.g. the super complex crafting system vs. the limited banking space for non-premium subscribers.

Ah well. Vermintide 2 is still here for us (and continues to surprise me by having an unusually chill community).
I felt the same about Elder Scrolls Online. I never finished the tutorial. I couldn't get any elder scrolls feel from it much less Skyrim. I am a fan of Vermintide 2 though!
 
I felt the same about Elder Scrolls Online. I never finished the tutorial. I couldn't get any elder scrolls feel from it much less Skyrim. I am a fan of Vermintide 2 though!

It‘s a bit frustrating because it seems devoid of so much of the spontaneity and hands-free sandboxiness that made the series great. And don’t get me started on the combat system. I do dig the setting, though — the Dunmer are an absolute riot and the Lord Vivec quest wouldn’t look out of place in some corner of Glorantha.

I still hope against hope that the wife will come around but if she doesn’t — we still have Vermintide 2 (just got my Victor to level 35, working on gear, and trying Sienna and Bardin on the side) and Borderlands 3 (lots of Bounty of Blood side quests to wrap up, and we still haven’t done the Guardian raid).
 
Lol! that thing looks awesome. My son has been bugging me to check that series out.

You definitely should in my opinion. You can play the entire series in co-op mode.

I had some of the best co-op moments with my late girlfriend in Borderlands 1 & 2. The only other game that game close in fun factor co-op wise, is Saints Row 3.
 
I take it you haven't played TESIII: Morrowind yet! The in game books are some of the finest world building there is, "The 37 lessons of Vivec" in particular is just great!

I did not! But I am well acquainted with the game’s reputation. Unfortunately I don’t really do single player games these days, but ESO’s Morrowind area has been giving me a taste of that.
 
Just got Ghost of Tsushima delivered today. I love it. Wheeeeee!

I'm very interested in this game, but I have one question.

I know that there is subtitles if you choose japanese voices. But I have also read elsewhere that not all dialogue gets subtitles, especially some of the ambient dialogue in the world. Is this true?

If it is, that's a real bummer for me. Because I want to play with japanese voices, but it would get annoying if there isn't subtitles for everything.
Will not stop me from getting the game eventually though.
 
Just got Ghost of Tsushima delivered today. I love it. Wheeeeee!
My wife received her special edition a few days ago. It includes a cool samurai mouth mask.

She's currently playing void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium.
 
I've had a hankering to play Fallout 4 recently, but it's been thwarted by the fact that I can't play the game fro more than 10is minutes before it either CTD's or bizarrely restarts my computer.
 
I've had a hankering to play Fallout 4 recently, but it's been thwarted by the fact that I can't play the game fro more than 10is minutes before it either CTD's or bizarrely restarts my computer.
Do you use mods?
If so, try the unofficial patch and the 4k patch
 
I bought the Mrs a bunch of games off her Steam wishlist yesterday and there was one I had never heard of called Prey that looked interesting. At 70% off it was only $10 so not a big deal if I didn't like it. Long story short I was up until after 3am on a worknight playing this stupid game so yeah, it's pretty good.

The best way I could describe the gameplay is that it combines all the things I liked about the first Bioshock and Deus Ex. After the initial railroad to set up the story I ignored the main quest for a while to explore which was a tense in a fun way because your combat skills suck and you gotta get creative. Oh yeah the game rewards exploration and creative problem solving (with multiple solutions to problems) which is awesome.
 
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I bought the Mrs a bunch of games off her Steam wishlist yesterday and there was one I had never heard of called Prey that looked interesting. At 70% off it was only $10 so not a big deal if I didn't like it. Long story short I was up until after 3am on a worknight playing this stupid game so yeah, it's pretty good.

The best way I could describe the gameplay is that it combines all the things I liked about the first Bioshock and Deus Ex. After the initial railroad to set up the story I ignored the main quest for a while to explore which was a tense in a fun way because your combat skills suck and you gotta get creative. Oh yeah the game rewards exploration and creative problem solving (with multiple solutions to problems) which is awesome.
I haven't finished PREY but that opening level just had me in awe, it was so well done!
 
I cant find it anymore, It used to be called "fallout4k" patch. There was talk about rolling it into the official patch because it was originally a 4k textures patch but they expanded into a multi core patch as well.
That being said. you could be missing .dll files. Its been a while, but my installation was missing a few and once I added them most of my crashes stopped. If you are with Steam, try verifying your files.
 
I cant find it anymore, It used to be called "fallout4k" patch. There was talk about rolling it into the official patch because it was originally a 4k textures patch but they expanded into a multi core patch as well.
That being said. you could be missing .dll files. Its been a while, but my installation was missing a few and once I added them most of my crashes stopped. If you are with Steam, try verifying your files.
I uninstalled all mods, then did a fresh reinstall of the game, still get the weird rebooting. It's weird, I got through the intro and got about 10 minutes of gameplay in before it did it this time. Usually it happens 10 minutes after I launch the game. I've been unable to find anything helpful online.
 
I uninstalled all mods, then did a fresh reinstall of the game, still get the weird rebooting. It's weird, I got through the intro and got about 10 minutes of gameplay in before it did it this time. Usually it happens 10 minutes after I launch the game. I've been unable to find anything helpful online.
Yeah. Its a Bethesda game, so they are buggy as hell. Fallout 3 was near unplayable for me.
I'd recommend completely fresh install that includes your ini files.
I ended up deleting my copy a few months back because I lost a bunch of textures and things were... blue. I haven't the heart to try again anytime soon.
 
Yeah. Its a Bethesda game, so they are buggy as hell. Fallout 3 was near unplayable for me.
I'd recommend completely fresh install that includes your ini files.
I ended up deleting my copy a few months back because I lost a bunch of textures and things were... blue. I haven't the heart to try again anytime soon.
Ah screw it I'm going back to Morrowind! At least it's had 18 years to have modders fix any bugs!
 
I'm very interested in this game, but I have one question.

I know that there is subtitles if you choose japanese voices. But I have also read elsewhere that not all dialogue gets subtitles, especially some of the ambient dialogue in the world. Is this true?

If it is, that's a real bummer for me. Because I want to play with japanese voices, but it would get annoying if there isn't subtitles for everything.
Will not stop me from getting the game eventually though.
I'm not playing with subs, so I'm not sure. I checked them out, but I cant manage one more thing to pay attention to.
 
Ok, so I'm playing Morrowind, and I've made it a goal to Save Tarhiel, the wizard that falls from the sky and dies outside of Seyda Neen. I read that you can do it with a custom made slowfall spell. So I set out to level up, and get enough resources to make this spell, all while avoiding the area that Tarhiel falls from. Finally I feel that I'm ready and journey to the swampland that is Tarhiels grave in so many games. Tarhiel falls from the sky, and I fail to cast the slowfall spell. Thinking I've failed, I get distracted and look away from the screen. When I look back, Tarhiel's alive!!! Some random bug or something must have caused him to not die from the fall damage.
This is why I like Morrowind, a minor character that is intended to die in a one-off goof, can be saved if the player makes a custom spell, or if the engine bugs out. Most people don't even know they could save Tarhiel, and those that do probably don't go through all the effort. The engine is buggy, and there are several game breaking elements that most would consider cheaty, but it allows such absurd stories like this.
Also I'm playing an unarmored hand-to-hand character, because I've never used those skills in previous playthroughs.
 
Ok, so I'm playing Morrowind, and I've made it a goal to Save Tarhiel, the wizard that falls from the sky and dies outside of Seyda Neen. I read that you can do it with a custom made slowfall spell. So I set out to level up, and get enough resources to make this spell, all while avoiding the area that Tarhiel falls from. Finally I feel that I'm ready and journey to the swampland that is Tarhiels grave in so many games. Tarhiel falls from the sky, and I fail to cast the slowfall spell. Thinking I've failed, I get distracted and look away from the screen. When I look back, Tarhiel's alive!!! Some random bug or something must have caused him to not die from the fall damage.
This is why I like Morrowind, a minor character that is intended to die in a one-off goof, can be saved if the player makes a custom spell, or if the engine bugs out. Most people don't even know they could save Tarhiel, and those that do probably don't go through all the effort. The engine is buggy, and there are several game breaking elements that most would consider cheaty, but it allows such absurd stories like this.
Also I'm playing an unarmored hand-to-hand character, because I've never used those skills in previous playthroughs.
The first time I played, I thought I heard a scream and then found his body. I didn't realize how he died, so I used one of the jump scrolls he had on him. As I began to rapidly descend from the enormous jump, it all clicked. I must have laughed for about five minutes. It is still one of my favorite parts of a video game. I had no idea he could be saved, which makes me love it even more.
 
The first time I played, I thought I heard a scream and then found his body. I didn't realize how he died, so I used one of the jump scrolls he had on him. As I began to rapidly descend from the enormous jump, it all clicked. I must have laughed for about five minutes. It is still one of my favorite parts of a video game. I had no idea he could be saved, which makes me love it even more.
I read a really good Polygon article that interviewed the developers about developing Morrowind, apparently vary close to release, a developer was fiddling with a script for invisible platforms and just started making and dropping NPC's from high up. He eventually made Tarhiel and added a book, and a couple scrolls as an explanation and left it in the game.
Here's that article I mentioned, it's a real eye opener to just how close Bethesda came to going under: https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda
 
I read a really good Polygon article that interviewed the developers about developing Morrowind, apparently vary close to release, a developer was fiddling with a script for invisible platforms and just started making and dropping NPC's from high up. He eventually made Tarhiel and added a book, and a couple scrolls as an explanation and left it in the game.
Here's that article I mentioned, it's a real eye opener to just how close Bethesda came to going under: https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda

I forgot Ken Rolston was Lead Designer in Morrowind. I've never played it but have it and keep intending to give it a go, I found Skyrim a bit of a bore despite the ecstatic talk around it but the stranger world of Morrowind sounded more up my alley.
 
My disappointment with ESO — which I’ve been playing in short bursts, given Mrs. The Butcher’s non-adherence — made me consider reinstalling Skyrim and giving it a new try, but you fine gentlemen are tempting me to get Morrowind. Not the least because I really warmed up to the area in ESO.

In other news, I more or less took a break from Vermintide 2 this week to play Borderlands 3 (they’re having enhanced loot drops from bosses this week) and I thought I was going to get my ass kicked but damn, I’ve been finding the game so easy I even cranked up Mayhem a notch.

Not sure if this is because I have hundred of hours played in BL3 (and probably over a thousand in the whole franchise) or because Vermintide 2 (where I still struggle with the middle tier Champion difficulty) is really, really challenging.

I love Borderlands 3 but I do kind of miss Vermintide 2. Especially my “main”, Victor. There’s a visceral satisfaction to melee combat with hordes that BL3 doesn’t quite cut.
 
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I felt like I needed a new fighting game. Not sure why. I haven't been putting much of any play into the ones I already have.

Decided to get Blaz Blue Cross Tag Battle since it was on sale. Not really a fan of Blaz Blue, but it has Persona, Under Night, and RWBY characters, so I figured there'd be someone fun to play.

I have no skill. I'm just button mashing. Fortunately the game is moderately fun to play that way. I'll never progress past that level of play anyway.
 
My disappointment with ESO — which I’ve been playing in short bursts, given Mrs. The Butcher’s non-adherence — made me consider reinstalling Skyrim and giving it a new try, but you fine gentlemen are tempting me to get Morrowind. Not the least because I really warmed up to the area in ESO.
I recommend getting Morrowind on GOG, as that one has all the extra mini DLC's that most collections don't have.
Mods wise I always recommend the Unofficial Morrowind Patch, even for a no mods play through.
The Delayed Dark Brotherhood attacks mod is also a good one. Basically the Tribunal Expansion to the game starts with a assassin trying to kill you when you rest. This can happen everytime you rest, whether you're level 1 or level 20, and often times the assassin npc will be too much of a challenge for early on characters. It also makes more sense lorewise as Tribunal is intended to be set after the Main Quest of Morrowind.
While not essential, I'm really digging the Less Generic NPC's mod, which has slowly been giving all the NPC's in the main game better dialouge, instead ofthe same cookie cutter stuff that the game originally had.

I also recommend reading up on the combat a little bit, as it can be quite confusing to players of other Elder Scrolls games. Basically when you click the attack button, a die is rolled behind the scenes that determines whether or not you hit your target.
 
My wife finished void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium.

She just started Ghosts of Tsushima, which looks pretty awesome.
 
Am I a bad person because I couldn't get into Skyrim? I've tried on multiple occasions and it just doesn't give me a hard on even though literally every other person I know who has tried it loves the game.

Also I am looking for a cool browser game to fuck around with while working. Send me your favorites!
 
Troy Total War free on the Epic game store for the next few hours.

thanks for the reminder, and thank $deity that the store lets you buy things via the browser and show up in your box at home

Am I a bad person because I couldn't get into Skyrim? I've tried on multiple occasions and it just doesn't give me a hard on even though literally every other person I know who has tried it loves the game.

yes, just like not liking 2d20 and fate makes you a bad person

/s ;)

of course not.
 
Doom 2016. Legit copy from Steam, vanilla experience... 3 CTD and 1 Crash out of windows.
Bethesda strikes again. :/
 
Doom 2016. Legit copy from Steam, vanilla experience... 3 CTD and 1 Crash out of windows.
Bethesda strikes again. :/
You have my honest sympathies, it's AN AWESOME game, and shouldn't have to deal with bugs four years later.
 
That's too bad, it's an incredible game with almost perfect pacing and I don't even care for shooters.
It was genuinely good. Despite the crashes. TBH it only ever crashed at the beginning of a new chapter and I used the BFG or Gauss Gun right away. I started to just run instead of nuke the enemies straight off, and give the game a longer time to render in and it seemed to help.
 
My goal for the day: Come up the ideal controller configuration for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
ACtC-3c7v2SLmuEjqKKO8pt3uuAzJ7duHPHLFRuY3Kr9QwKdxJ1-aq0ENwvvkG42GnYKIar45SNMyddvX-VcSasRkymweZTLCotyrQbzEiMbmqeC7B2ND-j1zjd8qklT5e2vqBEJ87Icy9PKV2xN8R8H0Lyj2A=w982-h1308-no
 
Since Fall Guys was free this month on PS Plus I thought I'd give it a go ( some Call of Duty game is the other free option and I dislike that series a lot).

It is great, colourful, mindless fun. I'm sure a lot of 'hardcore gamers' hate it because their hearts are two sizes too small.



Cuphead is now available on PS4, my wife really wants to play it but we decided to not get it yet because we need to focus on prepping our upcoming move and instead we'll spend way too many hours playing it.

 
Finished the new Dragonball RPG "Kakarot", the 2017 40K game "Deathwing" and "Beyond a Steel Sky" the sequel to the classical point and click "Beneath a Steel Sky".

"Kakarot" is not really that great a game, just fun if you grew up with Dragonball for a bit of nostalgia. The Japanese subbed versions were a big enough thing in the mid 90s with the Anime Labs bootleg VHS tapes, so it was fun flying around to all that J-pop music with Masako Nozawa's voice. I didn't like when the series became about screaming for ten hours, but the earlier parts based around wuxia, tournaments and Chinese myth are some of my favourite manga and anime moments.



Deathwing sees you playing out the old board game Space Hulk in the form of an FPS. It's extremely easy as the two AI space marines with you are basically gods when kitted out with midgame gear. It was clearly half-finished as the plot sort of suddenly stops with a "Forget all that Horus Heresy stuff, let's just blow the place". I wouldn't recommend.

Finally "Beyond a Steel Sky". It's hard to know exactly what to say here. I was a major fan of Revolution Software growing up, the Broken Sword being basically my favourite game of my teenage years and I got to meet Charles Cecile when I was in London over a decade ago on a research contract. The Broken Sword sequels are not very good as they flanderise the main character, are less historically grounded and are far too self-aware and tongue-in-cheek.

"Beyond a Steel Sky" was not as bad a sequel and I have to say has some very good puzzle designs in places. The characters do feel like the same people a decade later, the old duo is good fun to be around and the world has progressed in a natural way.

Sometimes areas feel a bit empty compared to Revolution in their heyday, as most characters are there to solve a puzzle with little flavour. Also the original had a dark grimy weird SciFi feel which this one doesn't have at all. Of course there's no problem with a different feel, but it's just that it's more generic post-apocalyptic.

Overall I liked it, but I could easily see people finding the plot a bit predictable and tired.

If you've played the first game you do meet up with Joey and Ken once again. For those who haven't and don't care about spoilers Joey was your robot companion in the first game and Ken was a mental clone of him uploaded into a perfect android body. The city was being governed by a computer LINK that due to fusing with a human had become a sociopath obsessed with power and control. Its organic components had become a swollen tentacled mass living in the lower section literally choking the city. At the end of the game you defeat LINK and leave Ken as its replacement to manage the city.

In this game you recover the original Joey and he's the same wisecracking funny little dude he was in the first game, so I liked that part. However it turns out that Ken who you left to run the city has essentially performed one of the most cliche SciFi AI tropes ever:

"Bzzzt, you said maximise happiness in the city, bleep blorp, so I killed other cities to obtain their resources so this city had no wants, mentally brainwash the citizens yadda yadda, bzzzt now the happiness metric is maximised Robert"
"But don't you see Ken...humans need Freedom and what you did was immoral! Is that true happiness?"
"Bzzzt, logic error. I am not making them happy. Now I die!"

They even have to insert an unseen meeting between the main character Robert Foster and Ken in order to set this up.

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