This is a topic I enjoyed seeing over at the other place, so I thought I’d try to get it going here if people are interested.
I’ve been playing the GBA Collection on Nintendo switch. I had emulators but this is finally a legal way to play fire emblem, Metroid and Mario kart super circuit on the switch without hassle.
It’s basically the best thing that could happen ever. Now if I can just figure out how to enable the multiplayer it would be a blast
I bought Elden Ring during the last Steam sale.
The world is intriguing, but there is a real plot hook missing. I still don’t know the real motivation of my character after 40 hours of gameplay. The reason why I am there and why I care. It was never explained why I want to become an elden lord and what that really means. Some of the stuff will be probably explained at some point, but as I said I don’t understand the motivation or why my character started the journey in the first place.
There really is not much story so far. There is probably a lot of lore hidden, but most places, events, bosses, quests etc feel disconnected or shallow. I really would love to pick up some of the books in all the places, but that’s not possible. As I said the world is intriguing, but it is probably all just cryptic stuff with many blanks left. Lore wise it can’t be all a big mystery and it doesn’t feel like most of it is, but it is never conveyed to the player.
The world is beautiful, there are many weird places. Having the big glowing tree in the background is an amazing set piece in an otherwise grim dark world.
Gameplay wise the progression feels really slow and it is hard to change the playstyle due to limited resources early on. I am unsure if I like that yet. It doesn’t invite the player to try out some of the new toys you find though which is a bummer.
Besides that it is the first real Souls like I got into and the difficulty seems reasonable. The lack of quick saves is an interesting design choice. Every failure hits a bit harder, but it also inhibits experimentation.
I can’t really explain why I like this game, but so far I am having fun. The world looks and feels great, the gameplay is fun. It’s just the story or storytelling aspect of the game which could be so much better.
@Swiggles @HollowNotion the story will come! Enjoy being lost and ignorant to what’s unfolding in The Lands Between, because there’s no going back. ;)
Also doing Elden Ring, but I’ve also done every souls game up to it. This game is Dark Souls through and through, but with the open world and a few slight mechanical additions. Otherwise it’s the same.
The thing with souls games is the world kind of tells the story, and gives you bits and pieces to puzzle together along the way. The idea is to just do the damn thing and soak it all in along the way.
I’m about 60hrs in and also don’t totally know what’s going on, but can see more pieces coming together. But remember, souls games are very much journey over destination.
If you want to see a master class in environmental storytelling, though; play Bloodborne.
I don’t know. All I am thinking is that games like Fallout do a much better job with environmental story telling. Also many blanks are filled by diary entries, manifests, dialog etc. You can learn a lot about most locations and the people that lived or worked there. Literally nothing even close to that was to be found in any of the locations I visited in Elden Ring.
Same for the Witcher where you figure things out and learn about the monsters. Every enemy feels so much more impactful than random monster 164 in Elden Ring.
I have a feeling that it is partly a very intended different style, but it is also an excuse to skip writing much lore. Just hint at some stuff and people will fill the blanks for you in hour long explanation videos. The world does not feel alive though or real. It is hollow.
Otherwise it seems to be a great game, it is just the storytelling aspect which is pretty bad for RPG standards. The world is interesting, but my curiosity is never rewarded.
Not trying to be funny, but the characters motivation feels the same as Pokemon Red/Blue. Just become the very best just for the sake of it. I really really hope I am wrong, because that would be an absolutely disappointing conclusion or rather lack of it.
Fair assessment. Though I’m not all the way through yet, I do know there is a massive amount of lore in the game, and a lot I’ve already personally read through in game. One big place a lot of people seem to miss with Souls games as far as the lore is item descriptions. Each item has a basic description, then a way more detailed description on a separate menu (PS5 you hit the square button to get the detailed description). The items you get along the way are a huge part of the lore.
Between that and talking to Gideon and a few others, I feel like I have a good baseline. I expect a lot more to come in the areas I’m about to tackle.
All that said: I’m a huge RPG fan and love a story-driven game. But that is not at all my motivation for playing any Souls game. It’s all about the gameplay; that super rewarding game loop that they have mastered.
Divinity: Original Sin 2, Grounded, and the first Plants Vs. Zombies game. I think they’re all fantastic games. Divinity is D&D the video game essentially, I’ve been playing with my other half and we’re both having a blast. We completed the first game a couple of years ago and it was great so the sequel was an easy pick. Grounded is Honey, I Shrunk the Kids the video game, also really good multiplayer, but it does kick players pretty often regardless of internet connection. PVZ, it was cheap on Steam and it’s got a surprsing amount of content for the price. Very fun little time waster.
A while ago, i would have agreed about Divinity. Now? I think Baldur’s Gate 3 makes Divinity look like D&D The Video Game: The Alpha
I’ve been playing my way through and enjoying Pokemon Unbound, one of the most amazing Pokemon rom hacks to have been created. It’s a rom hack with a custom region, custom story, and amazing customization in settings. It even manages to have a difficult mode that is challenging without being grindy bullshit.
I’m doing a “soft nuzlocke” of the game, where I can only capture one Pokemon a route, and my Pokemon don’t die- instead, when I wipe, the entire run ends. It’s a lot more forgiving and fun way to play Pokemon while making it a little bit more challenging. Would recommend trying any Pokemon game this way, and would especially recommend Pokemon Unbound whether you’re a casual or experienced Pokemon player.
Been playing Dragon’s Dogma, I never got past getting to the main city when it first came out. I just beat the boss and now the world has completely changed so I don’t think it’s over yet.
I haven’t even touched any of the Bitterblack Isle stuff yet so I’m sure there’s still some stuff left to do.
What do you think of it? I remember when I first tried it on PS3 and thought the movement was too clunky and I just could not figure the combat out. For some reason it just did not click with me, and I ended up dying to even the simplest of enemies.
For some reason I didn’t give up - the world seemed interesting I guess - and I’m glad I didn’t, as one day everything just sort of clicked and I was climbing giant enemies and actually defeating them. I was having a blast and the game just sucked me in after that. It really felt I had bested it, in a way, and was now able to enjoy what it had to offer. Never got around to doing much in Bitterblack Isle, and I remember stopping shortly after the world changed, due to some stuff going on in life back then.
After seeing the surprise (atleast it was to me) announcement of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and the anime, I rebought DD on Steam and am about to start it on my Steam Deck after years of not playing the game. Feels exciting!
By today’s standards, I’m sure there’s a lot that could be improved on in DD but I can wholeheartedly recommend trying it to anyone who hasn’t played it yet. The combat is engaging, the world is interesting and I felt that the game was a breath of fresh air back when it was released.
That was what happened to me too when I first played it on the PS3. I didn’t fully understand the vocation mechanic, I guess I didn’t realize the effectiveness of using certain magics against enemies.
I’ve been playing as a Mystic Knight and blowing up everything with Great Canon and am having so much more fun than I had when I was younger.
Death Stranding on Game Pass. I’m about 60 hrs in and it’s really different, the good kind
Dave the diver is main game right now. Just started chapter 2.
I never played botw as i went pc gaming back then. So i got botw and totk setup on my deck. They are next
Dave the diver creative strategy meeting:
Okay what if we also…
As usual, I managed to spend some time playing ZELDA:BotW on CEMU, for my little daughter.
She enjoys re-dressing the protagonist, having him gather edible stuff and cooking it Riding on horses, hiding before enemies, checking interesting places, or directing daddy to a black rock that hides Amber or Flint inside seems to be endless source of fun for her.
Recently, she asks to strip Link to his underpants, go to a beach and run around, picking up crabs, rocks, or climbing palm trees.
As for me, every second I can spend watching the grass bent by the virtual wind makes me forget about the reality around me. Which is more than welcome state of mind.
Started Oxenfree. Kinda a point and click mystery adventure. I’m not too far in yet but I’m enjoying the story and humor so far.
Finished Diablo 4 main story and I’m enjoying the sides quests more than the main!
I’m always playing Fallout 76. Having fun with the new quests and events.
I can’t recommend Ender Lillies on steam enough, it’s a 1-2 years old overall great (although very melancholic) Metroidvania with an interesting story, nice music and pretty good combat. Really got me for a few days, even went to 100 procent the playthrough which i rarely do
I’m playing through Phantasy Star II. I like it well enough, but it feels overly long for what it is. I knew getting into it that it wasn’t the best in the series, but I wanted to play the original 4 games. I’m definitely looking forward to III and IV!
Wasteland 3. I like it a lot more than Divinity Original Sin 2 so far. The DOS2 plot just doesn’t resonate with me. But I do miss the battle initiative order of DOS.
Galactic Ruler. May be more complicated than Distant Worlds 2 or X4 Foundations. It seems to do more stuff (like having planet maps and gameplay) but the UI is challenging. Even just selecting a ship to give orders takes too many clicks IMO.
Days Gone. Great blend of open world exploration, stories, and combat. Very well done game, if you like Far Cry 5 you’d probably like this too.
Borderlands 3, got this for free, enjoyable enough but if you played the other Borderlands this is more of the same. Too many gun choices and too much looting, but some of the guns are pretty amusing, like one that when you reload you throw the mag and it deploys into a turret.
Been loving Tears of the Kingdom lately. It has great exploration and traversal but some of the dungeons have been really weak compared to the previous games.
I never played BotW and one of the big reasons why is the weapon breaking mechanic. I thought I would really hate it but the fuse ability gives you an infinite supply of good weapons so it pretty much cancels it out.
I’ve been finally playing Divinity: Original Sin 2 while I’m waiting for Baldur’s Gate 3 to come out and I’ve been having an absolute blast. ATM I’m scraping the last nooks and crannies of Reaper’s Coast before continuing forward.
Noita, the best game I can never recommend because of just how crazily deadly it is unless you know exactly what you’re doing and happen to get the right perks early on. I can’t say a roguelike where your 12-actual-hours-of-playing session ends with nothing to show for it just because you accidentally zapped the wrong thing out of frame that you couldn’t have known was there is well-designed as a game, especially when exploration/experimentation’s main reward is death. It’s a very good sandbox, though.
I also got back into Risk of Rain 2. First time playing the new DLC, and I very easily managed to finish off the new content. Honestly, a bit disappointed as my favorite part of RoR2 was the unlockable items/achievement hunting and the DLC had really none of that outside of unlocking a new character and unlocking the alternative abilities for a pre-unlocked character.
Satisfactory is something I’ve been playing on and off. I definitely prefer Factorio’s sense of danger over Satisfactory’s chill, but it’s still fun and has its own things going on. The more permanent bases and the fact the game is 3D makes for more fun, but I hope one day either a DLC or a mod will introduce base defense somehow.
I just finished off every achievement on Steam in Brotato. It was a fun, simple roguelike, took me a bit to grind through it. I might return to it someday, but for now it can rest.
+1 for Noita. I’m not enough of a masochist to play without the Dead isn’t Dead mod. Although lately it’s been freezing up on any deaths. Maybe one of these days I’ll start playing it as more than a glorified physics sandbox lol.
I’ve wanted Noita forever, but have been so hesitant due to the whole … dying thing!! That mod may be the answer to my fears ??
So far the mod works, but I need to sit down and confirm that mod is the one that freezes up the engine. I’m mostly playing with Fury’s mod collection, but maybe it’s the few extra ones that are tripping it up.
Dying can definitely be pretty painful in Noita, but the game’s real joy is in exploiting all the knowledge you’ve gained for subsequent attempts. It’s actually a fairly short game when just making an attempt on the boss without going for any extra content, so it’s not difficult to get back to where you were once you know how to get there. There’s also no meta-progression (with very limited exceptions) besides the knowledge you gain, which is how I prefer my roguelikes. Going in blind without any knowledge of what to expect or how the spells interact with each other and the environment is definitely going to take longer to get the first clear, but if that’s not your style you can learn a lot from just watching and learning from streams of the game. DunkOrSlam was the one who really sold me on it.
My own advice would be to seriously consider running the game vanilla until you get at least your first win. But ultimately its your own experience! Do whatever you need in order to make it enjoyable. :)
Bought Star Citizen and my god is it really good. Initially I assumed it wouldn’t due to everything I read but man those articles are usually out the date. The recent update added a lot and seemed to have fixed a lot. There are still quite a few bugs, but most you run into will not prevent you from playing the game.
