What Video Game Are You Currently Playing?

[HQDefault]

Far Cry 4

 

I'm genuinely shocked at how much I've been enjoying it.

I was expecting it to just be some open world schlock (since that's kinda the reputation Far Cry games have garnered post-3) but it has a really refined combat loop, and it's easily one of the best looking games of its time. Story is surprisingly good, too. It got me to make some decisions that aren't totally black and white and even nudged me into making a call that goes against my typical morals- it's just a really solid game. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's kind of just a better Far Cry 3. Would recommend.

Edited October 26, 2020 by HQDefault

[bobstremglav]

34 minutes ago, HQDefault said:

Far Cry 4

 

I'm genuinely shocked at how much I've been enjoying it.

I was expecting it to just be some open world schlock (since that's kinda the reputation Far Cry games have garnered post-3) but it has a really refined combat loop, and it's easily one of the best looking games of its time. Story is surprisingly good, too. It got me to make some decisions that aren't totally black and white and even nudged me into making a call that goes against my typical morals- it's just a really solid game. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's kind of just a better Far Cry 3. Would recommend.

Sadly, I played only first two games(

Far Cry 1 and Far Cry 2

[Lila Feuer]

@HQDefault FC3 pissed me off before I got far into the story because of the grindiness for having actual useful stuff, which makes me think I may not be a fan of the Ubisoft formula. I did enjoy what I played of FC2 however, and I think FC4's setting looks more interesting than FC3. FC5 being set out in the middle of nowhere in America is also more interesting to me, so maybe I'll try the other ones down the line.

[CBM]

tale of two wastelands

[Tony_Danza_the_boss]

Genshin Impact atm

[ReaperAA]

Playing Red Faction 1 using Dash Faction patch and also trying my hand at modding it.

[spd7693]

Maybe the weirdest entry here - Heroes Of Might And Magic IV, the extended DVD edition. This edition features both HOMM3 and HOMM4 with all expansions of course. Right now I'm almost at the end of A Pirate's Daughter. 

[seed]

8 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

Just wait til you find what they did to the hanging cocooned women lol. They figured since violence doesn't seem to be an issue, why not showcase the hypocrisy of that. It won't be until Dark Side tho.

Also wait, you can just play Duke 64 on PC now like the release of the PS1 version's exclusive fourth episode? Never tried Rednukem btw.

 

Perhaps, but honestly this censorship was mostly done right IMO, speaking as a very anti-censorship kind of person no less, and it actually changes the experience in a fun way for the most part. Not too fond of ALL the changes however - can't interact with strippers anymore? Really? I wonder what they did with the alien fetus in the abortion clinic too, but haven't gotten there yet. I've also noticed the more vulgar one-liners of Duke have gone missing - "I'm gonna put the smack dab on your ass" and "I'll rip your head off and shit down your neck" come to mind.

 

Yes, Rednukem added support for it a while ago, native support no less including its GL effect and renderer in general. You only need a Duke 64 ROM tossed into its directory to play, like the original Doom 64 EX used to work, and Calico.

Edited October 26, 2020 by seed

[Phobus]

I finished Dawn of War II last week at some point, and have split my time since then. I'm roughly halfway through the Doom Eternal DLC on UV, which was a hell of a challenge to reacclimatise to, but incredible otherwise. I did find myself raging rather hard at the left-hand trial in the Blood Swamps...

 

I also moved on to the Chaos Rising expansion for Dawn of War II! Finished that last night, which was a lot of fun, so I'll be continuing on with Retribution. I guess I'll play the campaign for every faction, but only if it doesn't take too long. I'm glad to report I got through on Sergeant difficulty with no real corruption and none of my team being the traitor (I gather that, canonically, that isn't the case, but never mind). I think I got all of the missions and got a pretty full experience. Only Jonah didn't make it to level 30, but then he started at a disadvantage, as I could carry over the rest of the team from my main game campaign.

 

The goal is also to get back to my Final Fantasy play through on my NES Classic Mini, with an eye to finishing that shortly.

 

As I feared might happen, NaNoWADMo has fallen by the wayside. I don't mind too much, though, as I'm having a lot of fun with the games.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Phobus

[CBM]

2 hours ago, spd7693 said:

Maybe the weirdest entry here - Heroes Of Might And Magic IV, the extended DVD edition. This edition features both HOMM3 and HOMM4 with all expansions of course. Right now I'm almost at the end of A Pirate's Daughter. 

heroes of might and magic IV is a great game

 

[DooM Bear]

Am playing “Conkers Bad Fur Day” on my laptop (best N64 game... ever!!!) and am playing through “The Ancient Gods Pt 1” on my PC :-) 

[Denim Destroyer]

Recently I have started playing SWAT 4 which has quickly become my current newest obsession. I have played quite a few milsims in the past but have never touched the singleplayer ones such as Rainbow Six or Ghost Reacon. SWAT 4 is definitely making me consider trying those out since while the law enforcement angle in an fps is nice what isn't nice is worrying about your teammates shooting suspects after they surrender. The game awards less points for incapacitated/neutralized suspects than you would if they were arrested.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Denim Destroyer

[MarsHappyNation]

I know I'm years behind, but recently I finished RDR2 and on impulse I picked up GTA V while it was on sale. Never touched a GTA game in my life before now and it's really been something else. I love how vast the world feels and the dialogue is so absurdly obscene sometimes that it warrants a giggle. So many colorful characters.

 

3 hours ago, Denim Destroyer said:

Recently I have started playing SWAT 4 which has quickly become my current newest obsession. I have played quite a few milsims in the past but have never touched the singleplayer ones such as Rainbow Six or Ghost Reacon. SWAT 4 is definitely making me consider trying those out since while the law enforcement angle in an fps is nice what isn't nice is worrying about your teammates shooting suspects after they surrender. The game awards get less points for incapacitated/neutralized suspects than you would if they were arrested.

 

SWAT 4 is amazing. If you haven't looked into mods for it yet, I highly recommend you check out SSF Realism. It improves the already impressive AI even more with a bunch of other really neat tweaks.

[Denim Destroyer]

Actually I am using that mod at the moment, one of my friends heavily recommended I tried it out.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Denim Destroyer

[Phobus]

I did indeed pick up Final Fantasy yesterday. Took me about 20 minutes to work out where I was, where I wanted to be, what I was doing and what to do next. I then spent all of my money and found out I needed 50 grand for a bottle with a fairy in it, from an unmarked shop in the overworld. Some grinding later, I got what I wanted... Then ground some more for some more wonga to go and buy a spell with. I've worked out that I probably need another 155 grand to finishing buying things I currently have access to and want. Not necessarily a terrible thing, though, as I'm about to take on the castle under the sea (accessed by submarine!) and happen to know there's a shit ton of treasure there to pillage. I suspect the enemies will be paying out pretty handsomely, too, and that I'll need to take a couple of passes to gather everything up, so I may be minted enough before I know it. Maybe before I even go take on the boss for the third orb, as well!

[Doominator2]

I've been mostly playing Left 4 Dead 2 and Elite Dangerous recently, and also a bit of Touhou Subterranean Animism whenever I have 30 minutes to myself.

[Percy T]

The Old PixelJunk games like Pixeljunk Eden, Shooter and Monsters. Awesome games form my childhood that I played all the time on ps3, thankfully they're also on Steam :) too bad the old call of duty games still cost an arm and a leg.

[Kokoro Hane]

Finally started playing "The Adventures of Square". Finished 2 levels so far, and ohmygosh is this game fun! It's fun, colorful, and full of character... I love me some cheesy puns and one-liners hahaha. 

[seed]

The original Kotor, moved to it now and patched (hacked) widescreen in. The non-scaling interface is pretty crap but at least it doesn't render the game unplayable.

 

Playing... LS this time around since I know nothing about going DS in this game, regrettably, and supposedly the DS choice on Manaan kicks you out. Seems influence was a TSL idea so far, I'm yet to see any gain or losses, so I assume it doesn't exist here at all. It's rather fascinating to see how much content and assets were recycled for TSL though, it was built quite strongly on top of this game. Models, textures, graphics, animations, lots of them are re-used in the sequel, not to mention Dantooine so far, which was almost fully recycled. I think I have a good idea about which building gets re-used and becomes Khoonda in TSL.

 

But now, back to influence, well I'm glad it doesn't exist here if true, because I'd bring my influence down to 0 with Bastila in moments... Truly a textbook example of what I hate about Jedi and their filthy "Order" in general... this woman truly speaks like a brainwashed cultist...

 

Which brings me to my next point - overall, TSL definitely is the superior game in terms of writing, there is no doubt about it whatsoever. The plot, the characters, everything related to this and in-between is better in TSL, and although I like TSL's characters more, those don't seem too bad either, but the sequel was definitely the superior material - save for Bastila. Interesting who Revan bonded with, there's no point in any comparison here as that would be outright insulting. The Kreia & Exile duo is far better than Revan & Bastila, the former was a lot more dynamic and complex while this one is unlikely to have much depth to it, if at all. You can't have depth with a one-dimensional zombie who kisses the Order's ass and acts like a spoiled, arrogant brat nonstop...

 

Too bad I can't kill the Order here :D , it would've been a pleasure, especially Vrook. Cunty old man as always.

Edited October 31, 2020 by seed

[hybridial]

2 hours ago, seed said:

But now, back to influence, well I'm glad it doesn't exist here if true, because I'd bring my influence down to 0 with Bastila in moments... Truly a textbook example of what I hate about Jedi and their filthy "Order" in general... this woman truly speaks like a brainwashed cultist...

 

I sold my soul to the Dark Side and killed everybody I liked in my party... just so I could kill Bastila Shan.

 

I would do it again. I would do it every fucking time XD

 

Eh, actually, looking back, I definitely hated her but I also think part of why I did it was just a rebellion *ba dum tish* against what I saw as shitty bland writing in terms of where the story generally goes. I am completely certain you will be disappointed by the game's story because it does nothing that doesn't fall under the bland simplistic dichotomy that Star Wars is most known for. And I am generally someone who wants to be good and plays good in such games, like I don't see me ever committing to an evil playthrough in Baldur's Gate. But you can have nuance, you can have questions about just what is good and what is evil, you can have thoughtfully written, conflicted characters. None of those things are in KOTOR. 

Edited October 31, 2020 by hybridial

[seed]

1 hour ago, hybridial said:

I sold my soul to the Dark Side and killed everybody I liked in my party... just so I could kill Bastila Shan.

 

I would do it again. I would do it every fucking time XD

 

Eh, actually, looking back, I definitely hated her but I also think part of why I did it was just a rebellion *ba dum tish* against what I saw as shitty bland writing in terms of where the story generally goes. I am completely certain you will be disappointed by the game's story because it does nothing that doesn't fall under the bland simplistic dichotomy that Star Wars is most known for. And I am generally someone who wants to be good and plays good in such games, like I don't see me ever committing to an evil playthrough in Baldur's Gate. But you can have nuance, you can have questions about just what is good and what is evil, you can have thoughtfully written, conflicted characters. None of those things are in KOTOR. 

 

About time, I was waiting for you, you know 😉.

 

Well,yeah,the characters in this game are definitely not as well written as they are in TSL. Mechanically wise, it may not have been groundbreaking, and not even technologically, actually, I've already spotted some differences in terms of visual fidelity versus the original from the walkthrough videos I was and still am watching, specifically various reflections, worse lighting, and shaders. The biggest giveaway was probably Dantooine's lighting here, and HK has reflections that are completely missing in TSL.

 

But TSL was a step up from all the other points of view, that game was way better written than the first. So yeah, I guess I'll just play along this time around and turn my brain off, it's better that way since the one-dimensional nature of Bastila gives me creeps. It just amazes me what a huge downgrade she is from Kreia... and the other characters, while not particularly ultra complex in TSL, were at least way more interesting. These guys... well I guess they... exist, lol. At least we have Canderous around for his war stories, heh.

 

HK joins later on, on Tatooine, and Jolee on Kashyyk, at least him and the old man was more interesting than the others. As for me, well, it's not that I am not willing to be the "good guy" when I can, but, let's say I'm pretty neutral in general. Generally speaking I have a... quite flexible moral compass.

 

And in a SW context, I've said before that I am tired of the one-dimensional portrayal of the Sith and Jedi, so I will admit that my personal bias likely plays a role in this too.

[hybridial]

23 minutes ago, seed said:

And in a SW context, I've said before that I am tired of the one-dimensional portrayal of the Sith and Jedi, so I will admit that my personal bias likely plays a role in this too.

 

You really should hate all the movies then. All of them. Only outside of the movies did some writers try exploring more nuanced approaches to morality in this universe but, even given that, it's a fairly limited universe. KOTOR II is built pretty much on critiquing those limitations, which is fine but then what is there to do that it hasn't?

 

A big problem with media properties in general is that most of them only have a finite amount of interesting things to say, that are often said in the very first iteration and if enough people liked that iteration, they desire more, but attempts to fulfil that desire just leads to worse versions of the same. 

 

Even as the big Devilman fanboy I am, I would acknowledge that the original manga & OVAs and the Devilman Lady anime are really the only ones that feel like they had a core idea that brings something new. Crybaby didn't really add much new but I suppose it does demonstrate that sometimes ideas do have to be reiterated to bring them to a new audience, and I guess it did that well because it did not feel like a horribly simplified version of it, and it hit the important points. 

 

But that felt like it came from a genuine place, when Disney are shitting out Star Wars movies we all know they don't care about saying anything other than "give us your fucking money." 

[seed]

1 hour ago, hybridial said:

You really should hate all the movies then. All of them. Only outside of the movies did some writers try exploring more nuanced approaches to morality in this universe but, even given that, it's a fairly limited universe. KOTOR II is built pretty much on critiquing those limitations, which is fine but then what is there to do that it hasn't?

 

A big problem with media properties in general is that most of them only have a finite amount of interesting things to say, that are often said in the very first iteration and if enough people liked that iteration, they desire more, but attempts to fulfil that desire just leads to worse versions of the same. 

 

Even as the big Devilman fanboy I am, I would acknowledge that the original manga & OVAs and the Devilman Lady anime are really the only ones that feel like they had a core idea that brings something new. Crybaby didn't really add much new but I suppose it does demonstrate that sometimes ideas do have to be reiterated to bring them to a new audience, and I guess it did that well because it did not feel like a horribly simplified version of it, and it hit the important points. 

 

But that felt like it came from a genuine place, when Disney are shitting out Star Wars movies we all know they don't care about saying anything other than "give us your fucking money." 

 

Eh, that black/view view kinda bothers me in the movies nowadays, but then I watch those for something else entirely, not their story as they're all just simple metaphors :p .

 

I don't have a problem with repeating stuff as long as it's done right, if it exists just to exist, or because it worked once and creative bankruptcy hit hard in the meantime, then yes, that tends to suck, but it is what it is.

 

As for Disney and SW, well, that depends I guess. The new trilogy sure wasn't great, but then I'm not exactly sure I'm in a position to criticize them since I'm one of the few to enjoy the prequels in an unironic way in the first place, so whatever. But I'm hearing The Mandalorian is pretty good so far, and it's definitely on my watch list.

Edited October 31, 2020 by seed

[hybridial]

1 hour ago, seed said:

As for Disney and SW, well, that depends I guess. The new trilogy sure wasn't great, but then I'm not exactly sure I'm in a position to criticize them since I'm one of the few to enjoy the prequels in an unironic way in the first place

 

I'd say with the Prequels some of the ideas had potential and it wasn't really a carbon copy of the OT, but Lucas became a terrible film maker (... he may have always been a terrible film maker), the issue being the prequel was 100% his by creative control and no one willingly challenged his ideas. I wouldn't want to create that way, even when I'm writing something which is a far smaller scale of project, getting feedback to then improve it is greatly important to me, and I think the importance of that only becomes exponential with greater scale of production.

 

The Disney movies are completely soulless. There are flatline. They were made by a committee. I think that does make them much worse than the others and we should really be insulted at how Disney treats their audience based on the quality of their material. The Mandalorian seems more like there's a desire to do something different. That's fine, good for the fans who still latch on, I definitely don't care anymore and I wouldn't be paid to watch Disney Plus. 

[seed]

1 minute ago, hybridial said:

I'd say with the Prequels some of the ideas had potential and it wasn't really a carbon copy of the OT, but Lucas became a terrible film maker (... he may have always been a terrible film maker), the issue being the prequel was 100% his by creative control and no one willingly challenged his ideas. I wouldn't want to create that way, even when I'm writing something which is a far smaller scale of project, getting feedback to then improve it is greatly important to me, and I think the importance of that only becomes exponential with greater scale of production.

 

The Disney movies are completely soulless. There are flatline. They were made by a committee. I think that does make them much worse than the others and we should really be insulted at how Disney treats their audience based on the quality of their material. The Mandalorian seems more like there's a desire to do something different. That's fine, good for the fans who still latch on, I definitely don't care anymore and I wouldn't be paid to watch Disney Plus. 

 

I will, once it becomes available in my region, they simply have stuff that interests me, but I will draw the line there, I can't afford more streaming services. I'm pirating The Mandorian for the time being because of its unavailability anyway.

 

My main issue with the sequels first and foremost is that they are just too convoluted and there was never a unified vision between the various installments. It started well and I had high hopes, especially after Rogue One, but they failed ultimately and it ended on a low note for a variety of reasons. But because of this, I actually support the fact that Lucas had full creative control over the prequels, in hindsight we see the result of not having it in the sequels.

[The Bug]

slade 3

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by The Bug

[Smouths]

Finally played through Blood- started out with Fresh Supply, but switched over to Raze after experiencing a few script-breaks making areas inescapable. Generally had a decent time (once I learned to avoid getting instagibbed by swinging doors.) I think it's the only one of the old Build games in which the humor didn't fall completely flat on me.

 

Also played through Epochs of Enmity- an excellent new episode for Quake https://www.quaddicted.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=797

 

And picked up a game called Post Void, which is my current obsession. It's a short roguelike fps, and might be the most 'fun' I've had with a game in years. Super cheap on Steam right now too. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1285670/Post_Void/

Edited November 1, 2020 by Smouths

[Fonze]

Finally took the plunge and bought phasmophobia for Halloween; was fun times I crapped myself in a panic. Would recommend. The sound design also is amazingly immersive.

[Jello]

On 10/25/2020 at 6:42 PM, Ajora said:

Ducktales: Remastered. It's fantastic. 

Thanks for mentioning that, actually. I bought the remaster shortly after it came out, but never really played much of it. I remember renting the original for NES once or twice when I was but a wee kid, and I never got anywhere in it. I was maybe 8, and that game was fucking hard. It's possible my motor-skills weren't developed, or it was the clunky NES controller and the fact that it had slow input, so switching from down + B to pogo jump to up to climb a rope, A to jump off while holding right or left, then to a down + B to pogo jump, then releasing early so you didn't hit the spikes above you. I always found it to be a hard fucking game. I could just about beat Megaman 2 without any issues, Ducktales just kicked my ass. Well, and then there's the constant flickering and slowdown we all love about the NES.

 

Anyway, I bought the remaster years ago, forgot about it. Your post reminded me that I should try it again. Blazed through it last night, and it was very charming and endearing. Good gameplay, I enjoyed it, and now it's done. But it is far easier than the original version was. But... at some point I'll probably try the NES version again, just to see if it was as hard as I remember, or if I just really sucked at videogames.

 

As far as games I'm playing right now, I'm having a hard time finding something to grab my attention. I look at all the games I've bought and only half, or a quarter finished, it's hard to figure out where to start. I just picked up Outer Worlds again, never got very far, but life distracted me a few months ago so it was put on the backburner. And I still don't really feel like getting involved in an RPG "waste my time but oh it's so cool" kind of game right now. I mean, I love the dialogue options, and it's a really enjoyable game... I just don't think it's the best use of my time. 

 

I do really need to go back and finish Bloodstained. I think I'll start there, get that done.

[HLRaven]

I also started playing Blood after finishing Duke Nukem 3D, and I am just simply overrun with how much fun I am having with these old shooters

 

I just love chucking a dynamite at some cultist who has no idea what will happen to him