What games are you playing now?

lackblogger · June 17, 2015

Lev said:
- Everquest 2
- King's Bounty: Dark Side
- The Witcher 3
- Demise: Revelation

I stopped following King's Bounty after Armoured Princess, mainly because I heard from every quarter just how bad the third one was (Warriors of the North). Is the fourth, Dark Side good? As in, really good like the first two? Or does it feel like unfinished business like the third?

Hexprone · June 17, 2015

I have been playing the heck out of Might and Magic VI.

This is an old school series that I had never touched until last fall when I got MMX out of curiosity. I liked that game enough to spend a few bucks for the 1993-looking version fo the same thing, and I have to say I'm enjoying the older game even more. I miss the class and race variety, but the mix of free movement and turn-based combat works really well (making the rigid grid of MMX seem like an even odder choice, as it's more old-fashioned than the twenty-year-old version of itself).

I'm already looking forward to moving on to VII, which I understand uses the same system but gets a fuller race and class list.

JDR13 · June 17, 2015

DArtagnan said:
It runs fine in Win 8.1 - though I believe you need to tweak a bit to get it to run properly in widescreen resolutions.

There are many mods out there, but I recommend just sticking with the vanilla version.

I downloaded a repacked version so I wouldn't have to mess with the disc. It seems to be working in widescreen mode, so I suspect it might have already included some tweaks.

I had an issue with the UI not displaying properly though. Specifically, it wasn't displaying the numbers for speed and thruster reserves. It turned out to be a missing font that Microsoft hasn't included since Win 7. It wasn't hard to find and install though.

DArtagnan said:
But Privateer remains my favorite space game.

You'd probably find it too old and quaint now, but it was made during those magical mid-90s, where some of the best games came out.

It was a tremendously successful mix of story and freeform gameplay. Great atmosphere too.

Yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about WC: Privateer 1&2. I thought about grabbing them from GOG, but I'm pretty sure most of the magic would be lost on me without the nostalgia factor. It's too bad I missed those back in the day.

Lev · June 17, 2015

lackblogger said:
I stopped following King's Bounty after Armoured Princess, mainly because I heard from every quarter just how bad the third one was (Warriors of the North). Is the fourth, Dark Side good? As in, really good like the first two? Or does it feel like unfinished business like the third?

The first games were fresh and funny. The last games are still funny and with twists and improvements of course, but they are certainly not fresh anymore. The basics of gameplay were not changed. In general, there's nothing wrong with each KB game in my opinion, as long as player is looking for fun. A bit too long maybe? I would suggest to take a looooooong pause between each game. Otherwise it is way too much of the same.

crpgnut · June 17, 2015

I stopped my Witcher 3 playthrough and have been trying several games: Serpent in the Staglands, Elminage Gothic, Paper Sorcerer and the Bard's Tale. I'm most just playing Paper Sorcerer now though. Elminage stole Wizardry 5's character creation but the dungeon design of 10' squares just bores me to death. SitS has blurry graphics that give me a headache after just a short time, but it looks promising. Paper Sorcerer is also very light graphically but has a very interesting, albeit brief, set of skills and character upgrades. Even though the game is all black and white and extremely simplistic, the gameplay has been addictive for me. I'll probably finish this, then dabble in BT, then go back to the other two after that. I also need to see if I can find the gumption to carry on in W3.

lackblogger · June 18, 2015

Lev said:
The first games were fresh and funny. The last games are still funny and with twists and improvements of course, but they are certainly not fresh anymore. The basics of gameplay were not changed. In general, there's nothing wrong with each KB game in my opinion, as long as player is looking for fun. A bit too long maybe? I would suggest to take a looooooong pause between each game. Otherwise it is way too much of the same.

That sounds about right, I've never played any of them back-to-back. Another thing that put me off Dark Side was... the Dark Side, lol. As you say, the main charm of the Bountys is the whole fresh and funny aspect, also, for me, combined with an extremely cheesy premise of an over-the-top knight in shining armour good-guy character that goes even beyond simple parody, which was like a beacon of originality and freshness amidst a sea of grim-dark RPGs. For them to go grim-dark seems like an anachronism somehow.

wolfing · June 18, 2015

lackblogger said:
That sounds about right, I've never played any of them back-to-back. Another thing that put me off Dark Side was… the Dark Side, lol. As you say, the main charm of the Bountys is the whole fresh and funny aspect, also, for me, combined with an extremely cheesy premise of an over-the-top knight in shining armour good-guy character that goes even beyond simple parody, which was like a beacon of originality and freshness amidst a sea of grim-dark RPGs. For them to go grim-dark seems like an anachronism somehow.

Oh no, Dark Side is still as funny. Just because you're a vampire doesn't mean you don't have a sense of humor. I'd say it's ever more funny but I don't remember well.
One problem all these games have is that they're too long for my taste. Warriors of the North and this one too feel like they have 2 islands too many.

wiretripped · June 18, 2015

joxer said:
Is the game better than FC3 remains to be seen, the story start looks promising, I just hope there won't be vehicleracing sidemissions idiocy in this sequel - the only part of FC3 I hated and never completed.

Let us know how it compares? I liked FC3 well enough: the world was really well done, and missions interesting. Just the enemy spawns were sometimes a little immersion breaking, and the economy was a joke.
FC4's been on my wishlist for a while now, but I'll hold out for a GOTY edition.

Arhu · June 19, 2015

To the Moon

I was briefly trying out low-end spec games before going to sleep yesterday and the last one I tried was To The Moon. *blink* Suddenly it was high past bedtime. Where did the time go?

Incidentally, time plays a role in this "story-driven experience about two doctors traversing backwards through a dying man's memories, in order to artificially fulfill his last wish." It's very charming, slightly eerie and mysterious, and beautiful in all areas. Beautiful graphics, which remind me of Zelda 3, Chrono Trigger and the like, although gameplay seems to be very story-focused without fighting. (Except for one small "fight" with a squirrel that had me laugh out loud in delight.) Beautiful music, which was done by Laura Shigihara, the girl who did the Plants vs Zombies soundtrack. Beautiful story, which unfolds slowly but steadily, funny dialogues, lots of little choices to make (I can already see myself trying out other paths).

And that's only my impression after playing for an hour. All in all, so far the game is bloody fantastic. And it's on the Summer Sale right now for 2 bucks.

wolfing · June 19, 2015

Playing several games ATM:
- King's Bounty Dark Side: About to finish it, surprisingly haven't found any bugs, oh, except for using the spell 'Last Hero' which I think has been bugged since the first King's Bounty. Liking it a lot, but suffers from a problem I felt too in the previous game (Warriors of the North)… too freaking long! Both games feel like would have been better removing a full island or two.
- Victoria 2: This is for my Spanish "Let's Play as Argentina" youtube channel. I like this game but I really wish Paradox started making V3 already, they've spent sooo much time in Hearts of Iron 4 which is a game I'm not really that interested in.
- EU4 - Common Sense: Just dabbled a bit with it, but waiting for the final patch before I dive into it fully.
- Child of Light: Was recommended to me. It's ok. The art is beautiful but the combat system would have been much better IMHO if it had 3 characters instead of 2.

purpleblob · June 19, 2015

I've given up on PoE. I'm just not having fun with this at all. Played for 20 hours, on the way to Twin Elm. This and DA:I really just proved I'm not having much fun with recent titles, with the exception of D:OS.

So I went back to older games. Currently, I'm playing BG1 and HotU again. Will fire up D:OS again soon as well. In a mood to play old games again. Perhaps when I'm done with these 3, I will go back to DA:O, IWD1 and BG2. I've been kind of avoiding playing IWD1 and BG2 - ever since I've got new wide screen monitor, I became somewhat hesitant to play old IE games due to resolution issue. I might have to think of using widescreen mod I guess

EDIT: Finally defeated Baeloth in the Black Pits!! Felt so good

crpgnut · June 19, 2015

@purpleblob, have you played the Drakensang games? If not, those might be acceptable to you too. They have the party banter thing going on, maybe not as dark as the Baldur's Gate series.

joxer · June 19, 2015

While Drakensang is a mustplay, when overwhelmed with one game style, it's best to invest some time into another.
In this particular case, I suggest a hybrid with enough RPG elements to enjoy it but with supereasy TPS part and driving without mandatory carracing. That'd be ME series, ME1 to be precise.

txa1265 · June 19, 2015

Started playing Venetica on the new laptop, still a nice fun game

And as I keep playing through FEAR I am reminded of just how good it is ... oh, and how much I miss LEAN.

Menigal · June 19, 2015

purpleblob said:
, I became somewhat hesitant to play old IE games due to resolution issue. I might have to think of using widescreen mod I guess

There's always the new versions. They're much easier on the eyes when running on modern systems.

purpleblob · June 21, 2015

crpgnut said:
@purpleblob, have you played the Drakensang games? If not, those might be acceptable to you too. They have the party banter thing going on, maybe not as dark as the Baldur's Gate series.

I tried to play Drakensang... but I found it too confusing and gave up

I'm not as hardcore as some of you guys!

Pessimeister · June 21, 2015

I can't seem to focus on the one game at the moment, which is a little unusual for me. Just before my second term holidays I'm finding myself dipping and delving into:

- The Banner Saga (Quite beautifully envisioned game in an irregularly used quasi-Viking setting, sometimes harsh and unexpectedly heavy on consequences, I'm enjoying this a good deal and trying not to play it out all at once. Losing characters you've built up without a reload available can be full-on, but not unwelcome. C&C!)
- Joe Dever's Lone Wolf (The QTE combat does get tiresome after awhile, but I do enjoy the interactive style in short doses. )
- Dark Souls (Third character, dex-heavy thief build. Up to Anor Londo/Catacombs. Doing boss fights with a mate, so much fun! )
- Icewind Dale II with Gibberling3 NPC mod. (Second time through, I wanted to try the characters I didn't use the first time. Sir Nord's dialogue is very amusing.)
- Arx Fatalis (Testing out Arx Libertatis; got as far as the kidnapping quest...)

Pessimeister · June 21, 2015

purpleblob said:
I tried to play Drakensang… but I found it too confusing and gave up I'm not as hardcore as some of you guys!

Spend some time with the manual and you'll Drakensanging it up with Alrik in no time!

Also feel free to ask questions, there's a few of us around who enjoy the game quite a bit.

Alrik Fassbauer · June 21, 2015

Still playing "Keepsake". It's still nice, but has 2 major drawbacks : Long running paths and it needs a LOT of time until the story kicks in ... But the story isn't that bad, imho ... It's a tale about Friendship, too ...
It's set in an Fantasy setting, so it might be worth a try for those who like Fantasy settings ...

Menigal · June 23, 2015

I've been playing around in some recent sale purchases for the most part.

Oceanhorn - Monster of Uncharted Seas is a fun little Zelda-like, good for some console-style action/adventure.

War for the Overworld is… well, I think the RPS review said it was like they made it more for the DK2 multiplayer crowd, and I can see what they meant. It feels less like a dungeon simulator, where you spend as much time building your dungeon and watching your minions interact with stuff as anything else, and more like a Dungeon Keeper themed real-time strategy game. So far the missions have been quite fast-paced and all about attacking. The DK charm just isn't there. It's also buggy as hell, but at least it seems to be getting constant updates.

Finally, since I've been in more of an action mood, I reinstalled Borderlands. I always forget how long it takes to get enough skills unlocked to really get crazy, but it's getting there.

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