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Tag game recommendations with [rec]. Tag your critique or commentary threads with [discussion]. Both table-top and video game content is welcome! Original content or indie/DRM free material is encouraged!
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Finished FF7 a while ago and another called Cathedral. Started Blasphemous (españita mentioned), good little game
My favorite has changed over the years. When I was younger I used to like FPS but for the last 2-3 years I've been playing JRPGs almost exclusively. I really like Stalker, I should play Clear Sky again and choose the side of the bandits
I just started Horizon Forbidden West. I actually loved the first game, but trouble is I finished it about 6 years ago. So I'm struggling to remember the characters and game echanics.
Yeah, the second game tries to get you up to speed, but doesn't succeed very well, I would argue.
Funny thing, actually! So a buddy showed me this website that allows one to buy games on steam despite the sanctions (steam currently prohibits purchases from Russia, for the record). If anyone is wondering "why not just pirate" - I wanted some specific games and their pirated versions had compatibility issues.
Anyway, bought myself Sleeping Dogs. Apparently (I didn't know it originally) it's part of the True Crime series, which features undercover cops infiltrating gangs and such. I suppose this premise alone might turn many comrades off.
This specific title is set in Hong Kong. There's some western chauvinism sprinkled here and there (for example, in the club location there's an ad for "Gulag vodka"). A good amount of characters are westernised, having western names (Jackie Ma, Winston Chu, etc). Protagonist's boss is white even. That said I feel it's doing a decent-ish job of not whitewashing either the gangs or police. Aforementioned boss for example is shown faking evidence at least once so far in my progression and is generally a cold git. Gangs talk a lot about loyalty and family, but also murder and steal with no regards to anyone but themselves.
Anyway, regardless of the plot, gameplay is quite pleasant. It's an open world TPS, similar to GTA and Mafia series, but with less emphasis on shooting ("guns are rare in Hong Kong", as one character says) and more emphasis on hand to hand fighting. There's mechanics for grappling, throwing, blocks, kicks and punches. Fun stuff, if you're into this kind of games.
Overall, it's obviously striving to envoke action movie feel. Something from John Woo, or perhaps those Van Damme flicks. Not bad to unwind after work.
Question of the week
Admittedly I don't even know what is coming out this year, and most of it would likely melt my wee potato laptop anyway. I was kinda looking forward to Smuta, which is a Russian game, set in 1600's. It had a prominent (online) and openly Marxist historian as a consultant. Unfortunately, the game is apparently shit. Mechanically, plot-wise, just in general. Folks are now mocking said historian in comments to his videos.
What video games have you played recently?
Last time I think I said I was playing Lies of P, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Hollow Knight and Dark Souls III. Out of these I have finished Lies of P and started NG+, my plan is to get all achievements, but I haven't played in a week, I hope to get back to it soon. For the others same thing, but more like 2 weeks without playing.
Other than that I got the platinum in Die in the Dungeon: Origins. Also, I started a new Bloodborne run and it's the second time I actually play for real, I basically finished everything in the main game but the final boss. Right now I'm doing the DLC for the first time since on my first run, 4 years ago, I didn't do it because I heard it was hard and waited until the end to do it, found out the worst way that killing the last boss throws you into NG+ automatically like DS1.
I'm also giving Chalice Dungeons a proper chance this time, since on my first playthrough I didn't care about them. I gotta say, they are fun, albeit a bit repetitive, and the worst part is how separate it is from the rest of the game. The way Elden Ring tackled this is infinitely better by having it integrated into the world, it feels like just a detour for exploration instead of a chore like in BB.
Unfortunately I'm dumb and thought there was 6 depths instead of 5 and ended overleveling because of that, doesn't help that the dungeons give you a shit ton of echoes, making you think that you need to keep leveling up. Right now I'm Blood Level 112 still on NG and while Dungeons get tough sometimes, the DLC is challenging, but the bosses are too easy at this level, I just beat Lady Maria first try and felt disappointed because of it. :(
I'll have to play again to get the last ending for the platinum, so I'll probably just stop leveling up and do NG+ on this level and see how hard the DLC is supposed to be since I should be around a good level already for doing it there.
What games coming out in 2024 are you most anticipating? Or games that are coming out sometime in the future?
Cuban indie game, Saviorless, that launched recently looks interesting, I want to give it a try sometime in the future. Other than that, Hades II, No Rest for the Wicked and Elden Ring's DLC.
Learning to drift in Mario Kart 8 200cc. I like platformers, so been switching to Mario World 2 when too many 12th places finishes in MK gets me down.
Still waiting for Odyssey 2. Yea nintendo is evil but even the bad marios are better than most of the best AAA
And the good Zeldas, tbh.
Playing GTA IV as my main title at the moment. Really appreciate how down to earth it is in comparison to the next game.
Other than that I'm also playing Orna on my phone when I'm out for a walk. GPS game based on classic RPG mechanics of grinding out monsters n' shit. Petty good time.
I have been playing the Anomaly DLC of Rimworld (which remains my favourite game of all time).
It's pretty good, it captures the "Cabin in the Woods" / SPC vibe very well. However, I think Rimworld DLCs are the best when they provide frameworks that let modders go crazy. Anomaly seems more like a content dlc that I will sometimes use and sometimes disable. I could definitely see myself disabling Anomaly after I do a couple games with it turned on.
Favourite Genres: JRPGs, Factory/Automation Games, Colony Builders.
I am pretty excited on the factory game front for this year. We have the expansion for Factorio, v 1.0 release of Satisfactory, and there are pretty good odds we get another big Dyson Sphere Program update this year. Of those, Dyson Sphere Program remains my favourite by far.
I'm looking forward to Stellar Blade next week and I think I'm like ~80% done with FF7 Rebirth so I should be finished by then. I still need to finish Dragon's Dogma 2 and try the FF16 DLC that just recently came out as well... I wish there were more hours in the day.
Other than that the main thing I'm looking forward to is the "totally not E3" announcement shows this summer to see what's coming out later this year.
Is FF16 worth it? Story-wise it didn’t seem like they learned their lesson (just going by the pre-release summary) so I checked out eaaaarly.
I really enjoyed it. The best parts of the game are the characters and the spectacle of fighting the different eikons (summons). It's not really much of an RPG though, more like an action adventure game. The combat is alright albeit pretty button-mashy (but I'm an old cranky boomer who prefers turn-based FF games so ymmv).
As for the story, I know it's kinda polarizing among fans but I thought it was pretty good. It was more coherent than 15, at least. IMO the main draw is the eikon fights, some of which actually made my jaw drop. It feels like they took inspiration from games like Asura's Wrath, if you've ever played that.
I'm playing a lot of Stardew Valley right now. It's been a rough year, and the new patch is exactly the kind of thing I want in my life right now.
For the upcoming year, I'm very much looking forward to Frostpunk 2 (I played the beta last week, and it was great), and the upcoming Victoria 3 DLCs/patches.