What games are you playing now?

I'm playing State of Decay 2. Not sure I'll last the distance, but for now it's a lot of fun.

I'm not enjoying the Windows Store/XBOX game pass shenanigans with this one, though. I've had the game corrupt itself twice in ~12 hours. The "Repair" option reinstalls the entire game. Lucky my internets is reasonably fast, but what a pain. Happens again, and I'm out (at least until I get it for cheap on some other DRM platform).
 
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Stronghold HD (2001), a Medieval RTS/city builder/economic sim.

Really enjoying it. Its the perfect balance between Original Computer Games Concept and Modern Interpretation of What A Computer Game Should Be. What a shame it's so difficult to maintain an evolution at one specific point in time!

maxresdefault.jpg
 
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Eh? How was the gameplay better?

I remember the shooting mechanics a lot better. It didn't feel as consoley, as Bioshock 1/2 felt. With oversized UI/gun models. I particularly remember finding and loving the "whip" sound ability that levitates everyone around you, and then taking them down at close range with the shotgun. The only fights that I hated in it were the oversized enemies that had a vulnerable point in the chest area, if I remember correctly.

I also liked the rails that you used as transportation around Columbia.

I remember playing it for the first time on the hardest difficulty, and some of the battles were just insanely hard. I even reached the final battle and could not for the life of me finish it. So I had to start over, since I couldn't scale down the difficulty. But aside from that boss battle on top of the airship, I liked the combat a lot.
 
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I remember the shooting mechanics a lot better. It didn't feel as consoley, as Bioshock 1/2 felt. With oversized UI/gun models. I particularly remember finding and loving the "whip" sound ability that levitates everyone around you, and then taking them down at close range with the shotgun. The only fights that I hated in it were the oversized enemies that had a vulnerable point in the chest area, if I remember correctly.

I also liked the rails that you used as transportation around Columbia.

I remember playing it for the first time on the hardest difficulty, and some of the battles were just insanely hard. I even reached the final battle and could not for the life of me finish it. So I had to start over, since I couldn't scale down the difficulty. But aside from that boss battle on top of the airship, I liked the combat a lot.

It felt almost exactly the same as Bioshock 1&2 to me. Not that that's a bad thing.

There are less special abilities (Vigors) compared to the Plasmids in Bioshock 1&2. Other than that, the tactics are very similar with the only significant difference being that there are more enemies with ranged weapons in Infinite.

Personally, I was a little burned out on that formula by time I played Infinite. I also liked the setting more in the first two games. I didn't find Columbia nearly as interesting as Rapture.

As a result, I enjoyed the gameplay more in Bioshock 1&2. Infinite had the superior story, although I didn't think it was as mind-blowing as some claim.
 
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So, Elex:

Exploration is awesome, I'm pretty sure I won't anymore be able to appreciate open world games that don't have a jet pack (and the superb vertical world design to compliment it).
It's just so simple and so good. Great idea there.
And so much better than in Andromeda…

Combats are lame and I don't understand this studio.
G1 and G2 had janky melee combats but Gothic 3 had good, simple combats and Risen 1 was even better in that regard.
Then it went downhill again with Risen 2 and 3, where your character takes so much time to strike you'd think the fight is in slowmo.
Elex, sadly, is in that last category.
Range combat is okay, but OP.

Story is dumb, the lore also is dumb, creature design is uninspired (as always with PB, you're fighting evil chickens), but some side quest and characters are well written.
Dialogs in general are too long and disjointed, with too many (lame) lore dumps to flow naturally.
The main character is okay.

Character system and progress is great, same as always.

I also appreciate the competence of those veteran devs in the technical department, the game is really well optimized. That's a big plus for cheap me and my middle range PC.

Good flawed game, I still prefer Gothic 2 and 3, or Risen 1.
 
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I've been playing My Time at Portia but I have to force myself to go back to it. The simple pastel graphic style doesn't appeal to me, but the real killer are the timers on everything: quests, crafting, dungeon access... game should be called Schedule Simulator. I hate leaving games unfinished so Ill push through to the end but it will take me a while as I play other things like
Gal Civ III: Awesome, so much depth. I've put in 100 hours and only played a couple of the 50 or so races and not even been exposed to half of the mechanics yet.
Deus Ex Revision: finished only the first act 20 years ago, this time I'm going all the way.
 
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So, Elex:

Exploration is awesome, I'm pretty sure I won't anymore be able to appreciate open world games that don't have a jet pack (and the superb vertical world design to compliment it).
It's just so simple and so good. Great idea there.
And so much better than in Andromeda…

Combats are lame and I don't understand this studio.
G1 and G2 had janky melee combats but Gothic 3 had good, simple combats and Risen 1 was even better in that regard.
Then it went downhill again with Risen 2 and 3, where your character takes so much time to strike you'd think the fight is in slowmo.
Elex, sadly, is in that last category.
Range combat is okay, but OP.

Story is dumb, the lore also is dumb, creature design is uninspired (as always with PB, you're fighting evil chickens), but some side quest and characters are well written.
Dialogs in general are too long and disjointed, with too many (lame) lore dumps to flow naturally.
The main character is okay.

Character system and progress is great, same as always.

I also appreciate the competence of those veteran devs in the technical department, the game is really well optimized. That's a big plus for cheap me and my middle range PC.

Good flawed game, I still prefer Gothic 2 and 3, or Risen 1.

Agree with most of that, but you really think Gothic 3 has good combat? Gothic 3, imo, has terrible combat. Very floaty with no feeling of impact whatsoever. Even with the community patch, it's still inferior to most of PB's other games. Risen 1 had the best melee combat, and everything else is a mixed bag.

Regarding the creature design, I'm not sure how much of it you've seen so far in your current playthrough, but I thought it was one of the game's strong points. The early-game creatures are fairly generic, but some of the mutants you start to encounter later on are pretty cool and unique as far as these games go.

Overall, I thought Elex was significantly better than Gothic 3 and the Risen games. Gothic 1&2 are still king though.
 
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Haven't played any of their games since gothic 2 which stayed in my memory mostly for horrible controls.
I also agree that the Melee Combat in Elex was horrible and I just stayed range most of the time. If I remember that switches a bit later on, where melee is still working terrible but does tons of damage. But I liked most of the story quite a lot.
 
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Agree with most of that, but you really think Gothic 3 has good combat? Gothic 3, imo, has terrible combat. Very floaty with no feeling of impact whatsoever. Even with the community patch, it's still inferior to most of PB's other games. Risen 1 had the best melee combat, and everything else is a mixed bag.
To be honest, last time I played G3 was ten years ago and I don't remember the floatiness. I'll trust you on that.
In my memory it was some serviceable, regular hacking and slashing.

Regarding the creature design, I'm not sure how much of it you've seen so far in your current playthrough, but I thought it was one of the game's strong points. The early-game creatures are fairly generic, but some of the mutants you start to encounter later on are pretty cool and unique as far as these games go.
I visited most of the Berserkers forest and I'm currently in the desert, questing for the Outlaws, a faction I will rejoin for the sole reason they're concise (they want profit and they want it quick, no blablah).
I saw a few ogres, cyclops, and a ton of chickens, raptors… Some humanoid mutants too, they kicked my ass.
Everything looks… Doom-ized? I'm not a fan.

Haven't played any of their games since gothic 2 which stayed in my memory mostly for horrible controls.
I also agree that the Melee Combat in Elex was horrible and I just stayed range most of the time. If I remember that switches a bit later on, where melee is still working terrible but does tons of damage. But I liked most of the story quite a lot.
Well I didn't quite finished the game yet, so maybe something in the story will grab me before the end.
For now, meh.
 
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I visited most of the Berserkers forest and I'm currently in the desert, questing for the Outlaws, a faction I will rejoin for the sole reason they're concise (they want profit and they want it quick, no blablah).
I saw a few ogres, cyclops, and a ton of chickens, raptors… Some humanoid mutants too, they kicked my ass.
Everything looks… Doom-ized? I'm not a fan.

Sounds like you're just not a fan of the style/theme to be honest. Post-apoc is one of my favorite settings so that might have a lot to do with my opinion, but I found the monster variety and style to be better than most comparable open-world RPGs.
 
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Hey, I love post-apoc!
I'm a little bored by all the Fallout clones right now, but the genre is one of my favourite and most of my favourite games are post-apoc.
I even love a few mediocre games just because they're in that genre (like Mad Max and its stunning wasted landscape, or Last Day of Gaia and it's… nothing).
In elex, I like the world design but I find creature designs insipide.

To each his own, for example I like that mutant from Fallout:
iu


But I don't like that mutant From Elex:
Wuehler_Screenshot2.jpg

I find this design uninspired, and they're kind of all like that in the game (maybe the endgame is better IDK).
 
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Eh? They're definitely not all like that. You picked an example of one of the less interesting monsters.

In fact, I'd say Elex has one of the more varied bestiaries I've seen. At least among recent open-world games. When you put together all the different human enemies + the monsters + the cyborg/robots, I'm hard pressed to think of another game that has that kind of variety. Well, maybe Fallout.

https://elex.gamepedia.com/Creatures (Maybe a bit spoilerish so I'm not sure if you actually want to look through that.)

Also, that monster from Fallout you show as an example isn't even in the game. Iirc, that's cut content. Still pretty cool though. I do like a lot of the creatures from Fallout, and it's one of my favorite series as far as monster design goes. Some of the mutants in Elex look like they would fit perfectly in a Fallout game.
 
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But we're talking about tastes here, not what game will win the best monster design award… Who cares if the example is in the game?
It's just here to show a style of design I like.

The cyber-boars, mutant toads and chickens of Elex, I don't like.
That's all.
 
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I don't care, I was just pointing it out. You're the one who said "that mutant from Fallout" and then posted a picture of a mutant that's not in Fallout. ;)

No big deal bro. Like you said, to each his own.
 
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Allright.

I go back at it.
 
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Hey, I love post-apoc!
I'm a little bored by all the Fallout clones right now, but the genre is one of my favourite and most of my favourite games are post-apoc.
I even love a few mediocre games just because they're in that genre (like Mad Max and its stunning wasted landscape, or Last Day of Gaia and it's… nothing).
In elex, I like the world design but I find creature designs insipide.

To each his own, for example I like that mutant from Fallout:
iu


But I don't like that mutant From Elex:
Wuehler_Screenshot2.jpg

I find this design uninspired, and they're kind of all like that in the game (maybe the endgame is better IDK).
It's funny, I thought you were going to say the elex one was one example you liked better.

I much prefer that one than the swirly fallout one. I can't understand it and it looks too otherworldly to me.

Anyway
Les goûts et les couleurs ne se discutent pas as the francophones would say.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
 
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I'm about five hours into Dragon Age Inquisition, still wandering around the Hinterlands killing stuff and getting lost. It's really a very good looking game, I'm impressed how smoothly it runs on my potato pc. I like the characters, but not the combat particularly so far. I'm playing a dual wield rogue. I'm hoping there are some good opportunities to play him as a bit of a bastard as the game goes on rather than just as a hero or a sarcastic hero. I have fond memories of my dwarf noble in Origins, who was thoroughly unpleasant and great fun to play. :)
 
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Playing The Outer Worlds on Switch ...

I have only played a few hours so far, all of the reviews are factually correct in their assertions regarding graphics and frame rates ... the actual question is whether or not you should play it. And that is where I disagree with the reviews I have seen.

I played the game at the beginning of this year on a high-end gaming laptop so I had everything pretty much set to Max. And last week I played a few hours again just to get a feel again before the Switch port released.

A few quick thoughts on the Switch version:
- Our release version is 1.01, so we get the reported 'Day One Patch'.
- The graphics are pretty clearly inferior (much more so than Witcher PC/Switch or Bioshock Infinite PC/Switch comparisons). Oh - I *only* play handheld ... if I wanted to play bigger screen I would play on the PC.
- Biggest issues have been redraw and pop-in - for example, you have to get close to a sign for it to become readable, but this is nowhere as bad as what I saw in some videos. Pop-in happened a few times where you enter an area that is nearly empty but suddenly have enemies appear around you. Again, not nearly as bad as some videos. I put both of those things as likely part of the patch.
- Frame-rate drop is real. If make you feel like everything is lagging for a short bit - your turn speed slows, aiming lags, movement slows, and so on. That is the most annoying thing to me and hopefully the next patch will address this.

So ... while I agree with the factual nature of the reviews, but I *love* the game ... and that was not diminished by these issues. I bought the game for full-price (more than I paid for PC), and so far have no regrets.

But ... if you have the option, play on PC (or a XBOX One or PS4)
 
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Anyway
Les goûts et les couleurs ne se discutent pas as the francophones would say.
Immers, over smaak valt niet te twisten.

But actually I think it can be discussed, but not disputed.



Edit: smaak is such a fun word!
 
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