What games are you playing now?

Pladio said:

I've been playing Disco Elysium, but I'm getting tired of the clothing game.
Whenever I see a check in a dialogue, I have to change clothes to improve my chances before trying. I accept whatever result I'm given, but not whilst I'm wearing the specific item that gives me -2 to that dice roll.

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You don't have to do that. Unless you mean it's a personal compulsion you can't stop. If it's more aggravating to stop and change clothes every time you make a roll than it is to occasionally have suboptimal chances at that roll, stop changing clothes. Or at least save doing so for only the most important rolls.

Ohhh, garments have that much of an influence on skills? That just doesn't sound right, almost like a silly annoying game within a game.

Carnifex said:

Ohhh, garments have that much of an influence on skills? That just doesn't sound right, almost like a silly annoying game within a game.

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But why exactly is it silly? Any rpg has clothing/armor/whatever that has an influence on stats/skills or whatever. I really see no issue. If you really want to min-max a situation you're going to use any opportunity. If not, and you want to role-play you won't (probably). Anyways, I don't want to start a debate on this. It just felt weird people agreeing with this. Maybe I'm missing something.

Pladio said:

I've been playing Disco Elysium, but I'm getting tired of the clothing game.
Whenever I see a check in a dialogue, I have to change clothes to improve my chances before trying. I accept whatever result I'm given, but not whilst I'm wearing the specific item that gives me -2 to that dice roll.

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Nobody forces you into playing such kind of mini-game. I played Disco Elysium and never even had the idea to do something like this. Do you suffer from some kind of min-maxing obsession?

That's a solid point, about the garments being that decisive, since I do plan on playing the game at some time I'll just ignore that portion and let the dice fall where they may.

I've progressed quite far in very little time in my NG+ of Bloodborne. I think I'm really overpowered, and I can breeze most situations without even being careful. Which might make it dangerous for later on, if I lose even the little skills I developed in the initial run. But I breezed through Cleric Beast. Father Gascoigne only killed me twice, before finishing him off. And I did it without using the story item that debiliatates him 3 times throughout the fight. I was surprised at that. And I just cleared the whole of catherdral ward without even breaking a sweat. I take on the huge skeletons without even a worry. And throughout this whole run I switched my main weapon to the Chikage, which does damage over time to the wielder, when useed it in its transformed mode.

I wonder when it'll get hard again. But I'm gonna knock on wood, and milk this feeling of overpoweredness for all it's worth. It feels great to not really be stressed and worried all the time.

Fell Seal is still carrying me along merrily, I just had an epic battle on a boat, what a nail-biter that was! With only one opponent left, I noticed a sneakily hidden chest right before the scenario ended, thank goodness. That would have irked me to no end had I missed good loot, and since it was a melee maul, I'm doubly glad I nabbed it.

Bloodborne is still mostly a cakewalk in NG+. The only ones that are still somewhat of a challenge are the bosses. But for some of them, like the Bloodstarved Beast which I had a nightmare fighting last time, I've found out borderline exploitative strategies. Nothing outside the options of what the game provides in abilities and items. But it's surprising how much knowledge and tactics there are buried in the game, if you look closely.

Of course, most of these strategies I would be unable to try and do in my first run, since they presume the permanent consumption of items that are limited. So considering I was already weak and scared, there's no way I would have the ability to perform extra things during the fight, besides just dodging and slashing. And if I would, I'd probably still fail, but also lose those limited items. But with courage gained from seeing how much stronger I am from the get-go, I now have the reaction time to actually try and pull off these tactics.

It's funny how the game is designed like that. The weaker and the more you try to protect yourself, and less willing to take chance, the bigger the hurdle you have to overcome. The stronger you are and easier the game is, the even more easier you can make it.

This newfound overpoweredness also allowed me to explore areas I'd only be able to later on. And it's a joy to see them this early. And not fall on my face.

AC: Odyssey - when will this ever end?

I'm enjoying it, but the game is becoming a lifestyle. I'm still not bored, and the map is still opening up.

One day I'll be free

I think I'm going to make a pledge to play something else tomorrow, but no open-world or RPG games (Even tho i just installed Shadow of War, argh). I need to get an RTS going or something with hit-it-and-quit-it gameplay. We were talking Spellforce in another thread, that sounds like it may be the ticket as I havent really sunk my teeth into part 3 yet.

Run For Cover on Steam
Tried it. Weapon reload animations and the XCOM-style action is surprisingly good. Graphics is fitting for a one-man army developer. He should get sales with this one, then expand. Obviously he has the gameplay nailed down even in this alpha state its fun!!
I mistakenly uninstalled this game after I died on mission and it said: "You managed to progress 75 meters" - it sounded like some cringy one-shot roguelike auto-combater goal.. Anyway definitely worth to keep an eye on this one!
He is done such a splendid job with this alpha - which cannot be said about the Über-Boring gameplay of Colony Ship[!!!] - that he already received a company partnership request, which is a BIG THING!!

Ok….Fell Seal dropped a huge fight on my hands yesterday, one that I had to simply grit my teeth and weather the beat-down that I took. It was like some undead from a former battle decided to repopulate this battle field, so I must needs check it out.

First sign that warned me was allowing my side seven participants. That's only happened once or twice before out of thirty plus engagements, so I knew right then that this was likely to be a tough fight. And I wasn't disappointed. I lined my guys up in our usual formation, started moving towards the opposition, and then….boom. Two of my opponents have capabilities that permit them to basically nuke the entire map, hitting my entire squad no matter where they were! Now, I eschew mage types, I simply avoid them, only playing them if need be, so this caused me to rethink things a bit. I played the battle through, noting the opposition and how they comported themselves, accepted my defeat, and then started over.

So, what to do. Four of my guys can wield the evade magic skill, so I applied that to all that could use it. Next I made sure several were protected from dark magic, as I noticed the undead used this often. My plan was simple: I'm a melee guy. I must needs hustle my squad straight at my opponents, as fast as possible, and see how tough they'd be face to face!!

Round two, ding ding!! I deploy my squad, and I usually get four buffs going during the battle at some point, yet this time around I made those a priority. Fleet of foot, regeneration, haste and attack focus were all applied in round one, and we set off at a dead run straight at the forces of evil. Again they striated the battle field with their magicks, yet this time half missed and with the regeneration going, the others were fine, at least for now. Their five melee were just as formidable as the three casters, as I'd learned to my detriment earlier.

In the end we were victorious, yet still lost two of my squad. The randomness can be a blessing or curse in this game, yet I adore that element so I must needs weather it and not complain when I get backstabbed for three times my full health, lol. I did win, the mage opponents died within three rounds, and today I'll see what battles are next. All magi must DIE!!~

sci-fi, top-down, space simulator, adventure, 2D combat, great story

Gaia Beyond
An absolute gem! I managed to find a large & fitting accessibility font for this one that gives amazing readability without straining the eye. From a German developer, but the writing is still superb!!
These types of games always brought true joy to me:
1. Starcom: Nexus : An absolute MustPlay™ Perfect story, very nice upgrades and great combat!
2. 3030 Deathwar Redux This is more like a tiny 2D Privateer from a top-down view and an amazing classic. It is an obligatory play, if you like these starlancer-style 2D sci-fi adventure simulation games. It is also surprisingly like Beneath a Steel Sky and has some taste from Anachronox.

There might have been more like this - Fractal Space I-II - but those don't have the absolutely breathtaking atmosphere and excellent writing as the above three!!!

Finally managed to squeeze enough time in to finish up Might and Magic 6, so now I'm starting a run on 7. KMCD for a change. Managed to drop the dragon in Emerald Isle, which was way harder than I remembered. It maybe the Grayface patch though, since I never actually used it before. TBH, I may hit pause on this one, since I did just go through 6, and play something different. I don't know yet though.

This morning I thought I'd play through one battle in Fell Seal before lunch time, yet the game had other plans for me. I entered some mountain area, had a rather tough bout with some nasty monsters there, survived and....morphed straight into another fight, with no chance to rest or ponder skill sets between battles.

The second fight was a real doozy, with two characters that I've been pursuing for most of the game. I didn't lose any characters during this two round battle frenzy, yet it was a near thing on at least three occasions. Man, I simply adore a game that makes you ponder so much, and seems to have just enough of the random number flux to keep you on edge. It's like the best of FFT and Xcom(the classic ones, not the lesser versions that are out nowadays).

I checked out Mafia: Definitive Edition last night. I played through the first 3 missions to get an idea of how it compares to the original Mafia.

I liked it more than I was expecting. I've seen a lot of complaints from fans of the original about certain changes, but I didn't feel like anything was a major step back. The visuals are excellent, and I think it feels tighter compared to the first game. I like the new cover system which, oddly enough, a lot of old fans don't seem to like. I also think the driving has been greatly improved.

Working my way through AC: odyssey but needed a break from the repetition so I gave god of war a chance. It was ok but wasn’t really grabbing me so I started up the last of us remastered and am totally entranced with the first couple hours. I don’t typically get to emotionally invested in video game stories but this one punched me in the stomach straight away. If the rest of it is as good as the first 2 hours I’ll be finishing this before going back to the other 2 games.

Imo. said:

Working my way through AC: odyssey but needed a break from the repetition so I gave god of war a chance. It was ok but wasn’t really grabbing me so I started up the last of us remastered and am totally entranced with the first couple hours. I don’t typically get to emotionally invested in video game stories but this one punched me in the stomach straight away. If the rest of it is as good as the first 2 hours I’ll be finishing this before going back to the other 2 games.

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It is. In 2 hours you may not have even met Ellie yet. (do some abdominal workouts cause there is gonna be more punchin')

Started playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla and yeah I'm not liking it. Seems some idiot in Ubisoift decided to combine elements of the older games to please older fans.

Bottom-line it feels like two steps back from everything I loved about Odyssey.

And now it's time for some solid oldies: SaGa Frontier Remastered (Switch, also on PC/PS)

This game is a total curio: originally a PSOne jRPG from SquareSoft, but oh so different from the Final Fantasies and other jRPGs, it feels very progressive to this very day.

The game is full of non-linear storytelling: choices and consequences are everywhere. There are no random encounters. The rpg character progression is outlandish. The battles are hard. The grind is inevitable but fun. The replay value is high. The remastered user interface is all right. Oh, and the music is world class.

If you want something different, be sure to try this one out.

Binged on Gaia Beyond, until the story abruptly stopped. Turns out they are still adding chapters. AAAAAAAAARRGHH!! Hate unfinished games!!