What games are you playing now?

I need quality gameplay to enjoy a game. Books/movies/TV are better for emotional impact, IMO.

I still have one dlc to play in witcher 3; probably will later this summer but right now I'm playing alien isolation. Bit mixed on the game and do not esp like the save system.

As for witcher 3 it was well done but almost too much.

To be honest I think i enjoy the book i'm current reading more than the games.

I agree with Fluent. In general, most game writing is terribad (Witcher 3 being a rare exception). Gameplay is what differentiates games from non-interactive movies and written fiction. Even if it's OCD stuff…

And I personally am not a fan of interactive movie games too much, as I like to actually play with game systems and the RPG mechanics. My ideal RPG is really just a playground of game systems.

That's not to say that I would never play those, as I have in the past. But nowadays I'm more likely to play something with a heavy gameplay focus.

Still playing ESO and enjoying it quite a bit. Have been extremely busy with RL stuff lately - so it's been a while since I had a session that lasted more than 30-60 minutes.

Things are soon settled, though - so I'm looking for something to play until September, where D:OS2 comes out. We're three guys who're planning to play it for a week or so. I hope that works out - because I think it could be the most amazing coop experience.

Other than that, I've been looking at a few titles. I really should get back to Freelancer. Actually loved that - but got distracted.

Was hoping for some Andromeda DLCs or significant patches before getting back to that, but I guess that's not happening. Was quite far into it - but I'll probably start over next time. I suck at getting back to previous saves that happened more than a week ago.

Which most likely means I'm doomed to never finished Witcher 3

Not terribly tempted by the Steam sales, though. Any recommendations?

DArt, I suggested Gothic 3 in the other thread. Just make sure you play with AB/AAI turned on, and I'd also suggest Hard difficulty (which is really freaking hard, warning.)

I plan on playing D:OS2 co-op, too, but probably not as soon as it releases. I think ELEX is right around that time and that is my day 1 purchase and play.

Fluent said:

DArt, I suggested Gothic 3 in the other thread. Just make sure you play with AB/AAI turned on, and I'd also suggest Hard difficulty (which is really freaking hard, warning.)

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I'm talking about games I haven't already played and rejected

I plan on playing D:OS2 co-op, too, but probably not as soon as it releases. I think ELEX is right around that time and that is my day 1 purchase and play.

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Nah, ELEX is 1.5 months later.

Fluent said:

And I personally am not a fan of interactive movie games too much, as I like to actually play with game systems and the RPG mechanics. My ideal RPG is really just a playground of game systems.

That's not to say that I would never play those, as I have in the past. But nowadays I'm more likely to play something with a heavy gameplay focus.

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Im not asking for interactive movie game, Im asking to improve on what we have, to go forward, new ideas, make it better, more believable!
When there is story and it is stitched together from many small pieces which at some point are out of any logic, I think it is a poor job.

I believe games can be piece of art, but unfortunately 99% of them are mediocre products of entertainment. But, yeah, as long as we vote with our wallets and buy, I dont see any light ahead - the beginning was great and promising (BG2, Gothic etc), but it all stopped at some time and now stays there.

Sorry for offtopic.

Zogar Sag said:

I believe games can be a piece of art.

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More than art really. Interactive art.

I agree that games are art but I'm also cool with just a simple, fun game, and don't need a game to rewrite the world as we know it for it to be fun for me. It's just meant to be enjoyed as entertainment like anything else.

Ken Rolston had a good point about how people are demanding lately for video games and RPGs to provide an incredibly deep, emotional impact like that of a great novel. He said something like, think of games like a sonnet instead. They are art all the same but they are also light and not meant to be similar to a thousand page book, 3 hour movie and the like.

Not all games need to be artistic. Tetris is an example. But that's offtopic, right?

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Posted before I'm playing Styx 1. The game is superfun for the first 15-20 hours.
And then, after you solve first two chapters, it brings you back in the same area you need to clear with respawned trashmobs. You'd say, what's the problem, just go invisible/stealthy and rush towards the exit. Yea… Trinkets (collectibles) are also respawned, pots too and now there is another side objective for which you have to explore the whole map to find it.
I'm sick and tired of forced backtracking and grind. Uninstalled.

I bought this game for 5 bucks on sale and for that price if you find it somewhere now, grab it. With it's mechanics and plenty of humor, it's hilariously fun for 20ish hours and then feel free to flush it down the toilet.

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Being disappointed I didn't instantly move to Styx 2. Instead I "misclicked" on Berseria. A few early impressions:
- Game intro (visuals and music): 10/10 masterpiece
- Controls are borderline horrible, for example mushrooms are emulated with ijkl and not with wasd, god forbid the mouse
- Menus are one of the worst I've ever seen in a game, I'm aware this is a port from mushrooms, but it's atrocious
- Combat system is pathetically easy (playing on normal) and so far i died only on certain miniboss dunno even how (some direbat something, optional, nailed it immediately after), smells like FF13 where you don't even have to look what's going on the screen just click randomly and you win
- Combat being easy is not a bad thing in fact because trashmobs respawn on area transition, manaballs (katz whatnot) also respawn, some sellable junk respawns too
- You can quicksave anywhere and you can avoid fighting against most of respawned trashmobs, sometimes you'll have to clear a group or two but that's it
- Katz minigames suck (skill doesn't count, only your level)
- The story starts somewhat confusing (probably because I didn't play prequels Symphonia and Zestiria), but those things clear eventually, you're playing a girl who's brother got killed which from a dogooder turns her evil (bitch?) - so far I like it

Not sure what to think. Because I can avoid (at least for now) grinding, because of (a bit) intriguing story and most important, because I'm playing with japanese voiceover subtitled with english I'll continue with it.
Can't say it's not fun at all, on the other hand I can't possibly write this game is on par with Valkyria Chronicles level.

I'm still trying to find exactly what I'm in the mood for.

I've already moved on from State of Decay. It has its moments, but I found the constant zombie attacks tiresome. I would have preferred the zombies be less numerous but harder to kill as opposed to the constantly spawning fodder. Dying Light is still the best game in that genre by far.

So I started playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided today. I've only done the prologue, but so far it seems very solid if somewhat soulless.

You're in the mood for 7 Days to Die You just don't know it yet.

Played a little Get Even - which is a very unique sort of shooter/stealth game with an emphasis on story. It's a little rough and while I don't know the developer - it certainly has a euro feel to it, like Stalker.

It's promising so far, actually.

NewDArt said:

Played a little Get Even - which is a very unique sort of shooter/stealth game with an emphasis on story. It's a little rough and while I don't know the developer - it certainly has a euro feel to it, like Stalker.

It's promising so far, actually.

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It's from the same (Polish) developer that did the Painkiller reboot. I wasn't impressed by Painkiller, but Get Even looks interesting. Let us know if it gets better/worse.

What did you think of DX:MD? I'm assuming you played it.

Moriendor said:

I fully agree. The two main areas where modern video games are in massive need of improvement are AI and story (writing). With better AI and better writing, the end result should be a more intelligent game, a more reactive game and a game that has a deeper emotional impact on the player.
All of this is regretfully being neglected a lot in most games. They focus on visuals and gameplay (combat especially) but everything else is an afterthought. Shame really…

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AI ( as I understand it) is tricky to get right…there are plenty of stories where devs tried for realism and ended up with a game really not fun to play( Halo, for example).
It's more a matter of "tricking" the player to not notice he cheats, but without feeling too obvious.

And general rule is the more complex it is, the buggier it gets…Alien Isolation's AI is one of most sophisticated but it uses cheats for sake of intensity.

What I'd like to see more is difficulty designed more around incremental AI tweaks, like in Ninja Gaiden games.

BoboTheMighty said:

AI ( as I understand it) is tricky to get right…there are plenty of stories where devs tried for realism and ended up with a game really not fun to play( Halo, for example).
It's more a matter of "tricking" the player to not notice he cheats, but without feeling too obvious.

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That is quite true but we are currently at a point where I have the impression that absolutely ZERO effort gets put into AI.
The original Gothic from 2001(!) still stands out in many positive ways and even PB themselves have never reached that level again (because they consider it "nice to have" and not essential).

This starts with simple combat AI. In most RPGs/games nowadays mobs just stand there, fight back a little and let themselves be killed. Where is at least some basic AI like fleeing when the player is clearly more powerful? It's a rare sight these days. Let alone advanced AI where enemies work together or move from cover to cover etc. -
It's sad to think that a game like F.E.A.R did a pretty good job in that regard all the way back in 2005(!) and in spite of magnitudes more processing power today --> nothing.

Or how about some decent gameplay AI like NPCs defending their property? In most games in the last 30 years you can still pillage and loot at will right under the nose of a "guard". What are they "guarding" in most games anyway? They are just deco usually.
Or how about reactive NPCs so if you are a strong high level guy with decent gear then a NPC might be auto-intimidated without the need to click a dialogue line that says "[intimidate]". Move it from text to gameplay. Make it natural and a part of the gaming experience. That kind of thing. That's what I would like to see.

Well, and as far as story is concerned, I would just like to see more intelligent and emerging plots. Don't pull a Xardas and tell me in the first 30 seconds of the game that I have to find the Sword of Innos and defeat the dragons. That's kinda boring.

Or don't pull an Elex where you tell me within the first minute of the game who the traitor is or do silly shit like having an Alb elite execution squad that does bother to check whether I survived the glider crash but then totally fails to check whether I survived their shots and falling off that cliff (why are TWO elite Albs incapable of delivering fatal shots at nearly point blank range anyway?).

Instead let's do more stories that are like an onion where you slowly unravel the plot layer by layer. Let's have some mystery and keep some secrets until the very end.

A positive example again: Gothic 1 which gave you only a very basic premise and very humble goals at first like finding your place within the penal colony. Only bit by bit did the greater story and the breakout opportunity reveal itself subsequently. That's the way I like it.

Or Mass Effect 2: Great foreshadowing in that one. You knew that Cerberus was using Shepard for their goals. You knew exactly you were being played. But what for? What purpose? What the hell was the Illusive Man up to? This is the kind of mystery in a game that is very motivating. It makes you want to keep pushing and get to the bottom of things.

Well, that's what I would like to see in terms of AI and story advancements anyway but I know that, realistically, we ain't gonna get any of that in a world where Overwatch, Destiny, LoL, GTA Online, Dota 2 and CSGO reign supreme because barely anyone, and especially not those with the funds to make a real difference, give a crap about single player games anymore, let alone story-driven ones with decent AI (too hard, too much work).

/sadpanda

What is your basis for claiming that Alien isolation has sophisticated ai. It might but so far I haven't seen anything that resembles such so I'm curious how you came to this conclusion….

you said:

What is your basis for claiming that Alien isolation has sophisticated ai. It might but so far I haven't seen anything that resembles such so I'm curious how you came to this conclusion….

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You should just accept that most people have a different opinion than you on this subject.

you said:

What is your basis for claiming that Alien isolation has sophisticated ai. It might but so far I haven't seen anything that resembles such so I'm curious how you came to this conclusion….

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This cuts down to the core:

https://youtu.be/Nt1XmiDwxhY?t=300

By "cheating", it's not a bad thing as it sounds...it is leashed to the player, but the game requires it.

Only thing they could have toned down, is when player transitions between levels and it right away follows.