What game are you wasting time on?

[BruceVC]

I decided to play Arx Fatalis as my next game, I am using the Arx Libertis game overhaul mod

https://arx-libertatis.org/

And I installed Arx Extended and Arx Neuralis mods

I just reached Arx city and Im having a great time with the CRPG mechanics and design

 

[Abu Antar]

Been playing The Scroll of Taiwu and Yakuza 6 the most, these past few days.

Taiwu is basically a mix of rpg, and a simulation game. While the game is still in Early Access, I chose to play it. I've had my eye on it for the longest of time, and a full version release feels like a utopia for now. I'm going around fighting, in a very strange battle system, where range of attacks, and movement matter more than I though. All the while, I am losing money in my village, yet still managed to build some stuff, and expanding it (money situation is slowly getting better). I got married, got a kid, chased crickets (even did some cricket fighting!), beat up dozens of beggars, arranged marriages to get more workforce, I mean more friendly villagers, learned lots of martial arts, and other non-combat stuff, watched people die of old age or injuries (time passes monthly), and also chilling to the soundtrack. The game wasn't really what I expected, but I'm sort of digging it. Of course, this is being played with a fan translation, because an official English translation seems like a pipe dream.
EDIT: I looked up a couple of mods for convenience sake, like being able to save whenever I want, and some other stuff.

Yakuza 6 was supposed to be the last game for Kazuma Kiryu. This has been in my backlog for years. It's fun to be back, doing the brawling style combat. Currently, the goal is to beat the game, and do whatever stuff I find on my way. I will do the rest in premium adventure mode. Story is as usual batshit retarded, but in a way that I enjoy. There have been some cool characters, but I miss baseball guy from Yakuza 5. He would have been perfect for the baseball side stuff. There are some interesting mini games, like spear fishing, and heading your own gang (called clan). The clan stuff is a very, very simplified rts mode, but sometimes, when you have beaten certain bosses, they will fight you in regular combat. It's fun seeing your clan grow, and develop your characters. Overall a fun game, and will be way shorter than Y4 and Y5.

 

[samuraigaiden]

Every level in Max Payne 3 is the same. The game isn't horrible in small pills, but you have to be a glutton for boredom to play more than 30 minutes at a time.

 

[samuraigaiden]

Ion Fury is a very long game.

Was hoping I'd like it because Duke 3D is one of my all time favs. Level design, gunplay and enemies all feel way more like Marathon than any build engine game. Floaty, sparse, annoying.

 

[NecroLord]

Ion Fury is a very long game.

Was hoping I'd like it because Duke 3D is one of my all time favs. Level design, gunplay and enemies all feel way more like Marathon than any build engine game. Floaty, sparse, annoying.

Old-school revival shooters just feel odd to me.
Still, some are better than others.

 

[Kabas]

Was hoping I'd like it because Duke 3D is one of my all time favs. Level design, gunplay and enemies all feel way more like Marathon than any build engine game. Floaty, sparse, annoying.

Agree, partially. Never played Marathon and yet to play Duke.
Ion Fury does have a few gameplay issues. Like junky enemy hitboxes(on flying enemies especially), charged bowling bomb having trouble finding enemies during large arena fights, Loverboy secondary often doesn't work if you peek on enemy from a different room, enemies with no intelligence placed in an area that clearly doesn't account for it, etc.
None of that would be really noticeable if the game was shorter. But it's not and the game doesn't have varied enough enemy roster or gameplay to compensate for it.

Still, i intend to finish it. Won't be trying the DLC after this one tho, heard it belongs to the "more of the same" category.

 

[octavius]

Serious Sam 2.

Just like the first game it's too hard for me on Normal without save scumming, and a bit too easy on Easy. And like the first game there's a very good enemy variation, but unless I'm imagining things, smaller numbers at one time.

I like the visuals; nice and bright and with nice artwork. Got both Unreal and Hexen 2 vibes from certain parts of the game so far.

But I'm a bit worried at the amount jumping and avoid-being-crushed puzzles. These things are just not very fun.

 

[samuraigaiden]

I wonder if SS was balanced only with co-op in mind.

 

[Abu Antar]

The Scroll of Taiwu. I don't know how long my main character has left to live, but he's terrorizing the realm with his two sons. (Even robbing kids, while beating the crap out of them.) Abu Antar, Antar, and Batal are mean, lean, sex machines. All of them have developed good martial arts, both inner and outer. Abu deals a crapton of damage in combat, and the sons assist him. There's so much stuff I haven't even figured out yet. Antar will be the heir. Getting this far wasn't easy. I've had to restart more than once, and I have also had to exit/reload because I got my ass handed to me more than once.

Yakuza 6. It's good to be back and just pummel bad fucks in action combat. There's a certain charm to just going into places, and just bashing people's heads in, and other violent types of beatdowns. There's a certain hype level in story moments when a lot of grunts pop up, and Kiryu gets to do his thing. Story is batshit retarded like one can expect. There are minigames galore. I beat the baseball minigame, and almost done with the spearfishing minigame. There's also a clan management minigame that I am very far in. I will do that after the main story, though. I hope to have this beaten before I get Like A Dragon Gaiden in the mail (ordered the Asian English physical version).

Other than these two, I got Star Ocean Second Story R a day early in the mail, so I've been messing around with that. I also reinstalled most of the games that I had an active playthrough on before my old PC died. DQ11, ELEX 2, Wasteland 3, Ho Tu Lo Shu, Troubleshooter, Romancing Saga 3 and Path of Wuxia. Ghostwire Tokyo, Baldur's Gate III, Jagged Alliance 3, Solasta (for the DLC) and Forspoken are also installed.

 

[gabel]

Currently replaying Landstalker, one of my childhood favourites. Stuck in greenmaze at the moment (again!).
Also playing Subnautica for the first time. Great atmosphere, but I hate the crafting and survival mechanics. Pretty sure I'll drop it soon.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Abu Antar, Antar, and Batal are mean, lean, sex machines.

Batal?!? Should've named the other son Abu.

 

[Abu Antar]

Abu Antar, Antar, and Batal are mean, lean, sex machines.

Batal?!? Should've named the other son Abu.

I know that would be what one expects, but Abu means "the father of". Meanwhile Batal means Hero/Champion.

 

[ferratilis]

yet to play Duke

You're playing Ion Fury first without having played Duke, that's absolutely haram. You need to rectify that.

Please don't tell me you've never played Blood, either.

 

[Kabas]

You're playing Ion Fury first without having played Duke, that's absolutely haram. You need to rectify that.

Duke Nukem 3D is next on my list.

Blood

Played it, it was great. Want to try Death Wish some other time.

 

[gabel]

Duke is the best of the bunch imo.
Ages like fine wine as well.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Serious Sam 2.

Just like the first game it's too hard for me on Normal without save scumming, and a bit too easy on Easy. And like the first game there's a very good enemy variation, but unless I'm imagining things, smaller numbers at one time.

I like the visuals; nice and bright and with nice artwork. Got both Unreal and Hexen 2 vibes from certain parts of the game so far.

But I'm a bit worried at the amount jumping and avoid-being-crushed puzzles. These things are just not very fun.

Coincidentally, I've been going through Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD - and nostalgia-tinted glasses are tinted.

The way this game solves the 'monster closet'-dilemma by just endlessly teleporting in monsters instead... is not exactly the best solution. Doubly so when it becomes so predictable, that I looked for ways to avoid triggering more enemies from spawning.

Cross this line in the level? Monsters spawn in.
Grab a pickup? Monsters spawn in.
Grab the pickup next to it? More monsters spawn in.
Push this important button? Monsters spawn in.
Monsters spawned in? More monsters spawn in.

It gets real tiresome, real quick. So tiresome, in fact, that I tried a couple of time to cheese the fights by rocket-jumping on top of walls so that the baddies can't reach me. "Nope!" cries out the game, and I watch as the Kleers and the Werebulls ignore the Z-axis completely as they come for me... :facepalm:

Then I got to the final level, and I'm just burned out from all the cheese the game has thrown at me... and I know the game still has a pyramid-shaped mountain of cheese left to throw at me.

For the first time I figured out how to beat the first arena fight fair and square (I've always cheesed it up to this point)... it's just the solution is bad: Memorizing when and where the werebulls come in, lining them all up and then flatten 'em with the cannon. Otherwise I get overrun. This is the only instance in all the SSam-games I've played where I have to resort to this level of micromanagement to clear a section. This is "shooting-stupid-monkeys-off-of-pillars"-levels of unfun.

The worst part is, if I was to pick any of the levels in TFE and say "This one is good, I recommend playing this one"... I would kinda be at a loss. The first level is notable for various reasons, but it's not exactly fun. None of them are. Most of them have fun and/or notable sections, at best... but overall none of them make the cut. The 'Sacred Yards'-secret level is the closest thing, as it has weird and silly things in it that kinda catch people off-guard. (This time round I actually beat it using the Geek-secret, but the timing on that is brutal and it takes away ALL the enjoyment of the level.)

So, for both new and seasoned SSam-players I'd suggest finding a "Best of TFE"-video and watching that instead of trying to play the actual game. Jump straight into Serious Sam: The Second Encounter instead.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The First Encounter isn't very good frankly. I finished it only once and it felt like a chore. Second Encounter is where all the real fun is.

 

[ferratilis]

Sounds like skill issue.

 

[octavius]

Sounds more like overANALyzing a rather abstract shooter that doesn't take itself too seriously, and which you should play for fun. I certainly enjoyed the first SS game, and I'm enjoying the second on so far (except the jumping puzzles). But I play on Easy and for fun, not for the challenge (I leave that to TBS game and CRPGs).

 

[ferratilis]

Ok, even Croteam said long time ago that easy diff in SS is what normal diff in other games is supposed to be, but still, I like normal and above for how they test your composure in later levels. There's very little room for error, some people are attracted to that kind of gameplay.

The thing is, all enemies in SS are predictable and have a specific way to deal with them, so it comes down to awareness, reaction time, and composure rather than map knowledge, like in some older shooters.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Sounds more like overANALyzing a rather abstract shooter that doesn't take itself too seriously, and which you should play for fun. I certainly enjoyed the first SS game, and I'm enjoying the second on so far (except the jumping puzzles). But I play on Easy and for fun, not for the challenge (I leave that to TBS game and CRPGs).

I've been playing the SSam-games since the beginning, so I have time now to be anal about them. Ironically the first game takes itself very seriously, compared to its sequels.

One question that I'm gonna leave out there though, is how much of the pain is due to the fact that I'm playing the HD-version, and not the original. IIRC there's a notable difference between those two versions, with the originals coming out on top. One glaringly obvious problem I'm having are the Autosave-points - in the final level they're just off.

The problem with TFE actually has a name because it's become so common-place: The Wall of Difficulty. You take a game, it starts and progresses along an acceptable difficulty-curve (but usually one that is lenient) until it's time for the final level - and that's where you hit the Wall. All of a sudden it's gloves-off, balls-deep, back-breaking, dick-crushing, soul-sucking, liberal-listening levels of difficulty - at least compared to what's come before in the game. Veteran gamers are likely to adapt quickly, other gamers are not so fortunate.

TFE is like that, and so are the first Trine- and Psychonauts-games, off the top of my head.

 

[octavius]

The problem with TFE actually has a name because it's become so common-place: The Wall of Difficulty. You take a game, it starts and progresses along an acceptable difficulty-curve (but usually one that is lenient) until it's time for the final level - and that's where you hit the Wall. All of a sudden it's gloves-off, balls-deep, back-breaking, dick-crushing, soul-sucking, liberal-listening levels of difficulty - at least compared to what's come before in the game. Veteran gamers are likely to adapt quickly, other gamers are not so fortunate.

What difficulty do you play on?

TFE is like that, and so are the first Trine- and Psychonauts-games, off the top of my head.

The first Dark Sun game was a bit like that.

Ok, even Croteam said long time ago that easy diff in SS is what normal diff in other games is supposed to be, but still, I like normal and above for how they test your composure in later levels. There's very little room for error, some people are attracted to that kind of gameplay.

The thing is, all enemies in SS are predictable and have a specific way to deal with them, so it comes down to awareness, reaction time, and composure rather than map knowledge, like in some older shooters.

Alas, I've become too old to play fast paced shooters for the challenge.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

What difficulty do you play on?

For this run I was playing on Normal. I can (could?) beat SS2 and SS3 on Serious, but the First Encounter-games always kicked my ass on that difficulty, unless I had my friend along. He doesn't have time for Serious Sam anymore, he's too busy raising a family.

Alas, I've become too old to play fast paced shooters for the challenge.

Kinda the same here - but it's mostly that I've ran there, shot that, rather that I'm getting old and don't have the reflexes anymore.

Small update regarding TFE - I beat the final level. The key secret is simple: Learn the spawn patterns of the werebulls, and greet them with cannonballs. This applies both before and after Ugh-Zan spawns in.

Started on the first level of TSE - and it's like coming home. That level instantly gets a recommendation from me - and may be one of the few levels that's better in HD than in the original.

 

[samuraigaiden]

I got the spider-man game for my kid. He plays on a living room PC with a 1050 ti. The game is OK, not my cup of tea but people who like this kind of thing will think it's good, not my point reviewing it anyway.

What I'm here to say is, fucking hell, the port is absolutely amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a PC game so well optimized. It's running on a 1050 ti. It should not run this good and look this good. Hats off to Sony or whomever they hired to port it. I've played some of these games with dynamic resolution and they all look like shit, but this one just doesn't. It looks and runs great, at no moment do have I found myself thinking I need to adjust the settings or anything. It's running on default. It's that good of a port. Absolutely zero tinkering.

 

[ferratilis]

I got the spider-man game for my kid. He plays on a living room PC with a 1050 ti. The game is OK, not my cup of tea but people who like this kind of thing will think it's good, not my point reviewing it anyway.

What I'm here to say is, fucking hell, the port is absolutely amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a PC game so well optimized. It's running on a 1050 ti. It should not run this good and look this good. Hats off to Sony or whomever they hired to port it. I've played some of these games with dynamic resolution and they all look like shit, but this one just doesn't. It looks and runs great, at no moment do have I found myself thinking I need to adjust the settings or anything. It's running on default. It's that good of a port. Absolutely zero tinkering.

The port was done by Nixxes, a reputable Dutch studio with a lot of experience in PC ports. It's rather ironic that Sony went from not being on PC at all to releasing the best ports in the business. And DRM-free, to boot. Days Gone, in particular, stands as an example of how a PC port should be done, and how a settings menu should look like in all games.

However, this doesn't change the fact that all their games are utter tripe, without any substance, akin to Marvel movies. Exactly what the goyim like.