What games are you playing currently?

[evilchumlee]

Mostly through 40k Rogue Trader. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I usually play Super Good Knight In Shining Armor in RPG's but that just didn't feel right in 40k. So I altered it a bit to play... mostly good as far as anyone in 40k can be good while still being devoutly loyal to the Emperor.

It boiled mostly down to "I'm cool with Xenos, i'm cool with questioning things, but if you betray the Emperor, the Imperium, Me or have anything to do with Chaos whatsoever, you're dead."

 

[USS Firefly]

Sorry to hear you having so much trouble with the game. Played it on PS4 and didn't have any such issues.

I don't think I am going to play RDR again

 

[Malicia]

NES game Ski or Die came in the mail earlier today which I bought the game off of ebay just last week.

played the halfpipe and the snowball fight minigames in the game for my Retro Duo console.

been a long long time since i played Ski or Die. completely forgot how to turn around in the snowball fight

I used to have Ski Or Die on the Amiga and installed it on my PC last year using the WinUAE emulator so I could make a video of me constantly falling over on the slope and send it to some friends. It was a cool game but careering off the slope and crashing was more fun than trying to get a high score. Those pixilated animations are so nostalgic they remind me of a Lemming tapping its foot.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I used to have Ski Or Die on the Amiga and installed it on my PC last year using the WinUAE emulator so I could make a video of me constantly falling over on the slope and send it to some friends. It was a cool game but careering off the slope and crashing was more fun than trying to get a high score. Those pixilated animations are so nostalgic they remind me of a Lemming tapping its foot.

Oh man, that brings back memories. Used to play that and Skate or Die back on our PC in the 80's and early 90's. Had killer soundtracks back in the day.

 

[urrutiap]

the snowball fight and the halfpipe mini games in Ski or Die for NES are the only ones that i still enjoy. its just that its been a long long time so i pretty much forgot how to turn around when throwing snowballs at the kids.

the inner tube and the in the air slalom whatever its called i cant stand them.

 

[Malicia]

the snowball fight and the halfpipe mini games in Ski or Die for NES are the only ones that i still enjoy. its just that its been a long long time so i pretty much forgot how to turn around when throwing snowballs at the kids.

the inner tube and the in the air slalom whatever its called i cant stand them.

I liked the halfpipe game and the graphics on the home screen and just discovered the ski-shop owner is based on Rodney Dangerfield.

 

[John Clark]

I might try The Guardians of The Galaxy game (Freebie on Epic at the moment)

 

[Kor]

I got Silent Hope. It's fun in a mindless kind of way, though it gets pretty repetitive especially as all the underground levels look the same. Well, so far. I've gotten down to the ninth out of ten.

Kor

 

[jenji120]

I'm playing BG3 on PS5 and since Dell finally sent me my Alienware replacement I started up Remnant 2 via game pass and installed RDR2 to test the machine. With RDR2 I turned up every graphical setting to ultra with no DLSS and my God - it's a whole new game. I've played this game on both PC and PS5 but seeing it full blast with an RTX 4060 card reminds me of why I was exclusively a PC gamer for so long. I stared at mud for a good 5 mins because it looked so gorgeous - mud!

I had turned on cloud saves so Rockstar put me in the middle of my last PC playthrough (which really wasn't my intention but oh well) and it was just so amazing looking that I wound up playing a quest with Lenny. So even though I have other games to get to I have a feeling I'll be playing RDR2 again soon. Also, I can't wait to do an ultra modded Skyrim with this machine. It's always fun to take something quite old and ugly at this point and make it mindblowingly beautiful.

This past year has been an interesting one in gaming for me.... I've expanded my horizons with addition of consoles and some of the absolute gems they have to offer and managed to get a slightly upgraded Alienware after having my leg burnt to a crisp (that still hasn't completely healed which tells you how bad the burn was). BTW, despite being a heftier machine with a bigger card this laptop doesn't run anywhere near as hot as the other one did. I'm fairly positive that the old one was flawed from the get go because out of the box it ran too hot. I put up with it when I should've sent it back but I was so excited to have an RTX card (they were impossible to get back then) that I overlooked it. I'm probably fortunate that I didn't get burned worse but as for machines it worked out well for me.

 

[BigFoot]

I'm now about 40 hours into Baldur's Gate 3 and I'm absolutely loving it. It's such an amazing game.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I bought BG3 just to be able to play it with friends, and it's the first purchase with my new PS5 Slim. I'm astounded at the level of detail they put into it. So many directions to explore in, and I love being able to take it all in with friends. We've barely scraped the surface, but I have to say I'm really looking forward to diving into it.

 

[jenji120]

I bought BG3 just to be able to play it with friends, and it's the first purchase with my new PS5 Slim. I'm astounded at the level of detail they put into it. So many directions to explore in, and I love being able to take it all in with friends. We've barely scraped the surface, but I have to say I'm really looking forward to diving into it.

I haven't tried the online feature but I don't really have any console friends. I got my PS5 the back in March but hadn't owned a console since the WII. I've read where some players don't like the game but love it in online mode though and that doesn't surprise me at all. MMO's are at their best when you have a group doing cooperative play.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It's not a game I would necessarily play by myself, as I don't particularly enjoy turn-based games very much, but it's fun to strategize with friends, and that's where I feel the game really opens up. I think the multiplayer is brilliant in this game, and not just from a gameplay standpoint. Once invited to the game, the host is able to reload saves and other players don't need to do anything. We were thinking we'd have to be reinvited, but it wasn't the case, so even those mechanics end up feeling like the host is the gamemaster or dungeonmaster.

 

[jenji120]

It's not a game I would necessarily play by myself, as I don't particularly enjoy turn-based games very much, but it's fun to strategize with friends, and that's where I feel the game really opens up. I think the multiplayer is brilliant in this game, and not just from a gameplay standpoint. Once invited to the game, the host is able to reload saves and other players don't need to do anything. We were thinking we'd have to be reinvited, but it wasn't the case, so even those mechanics end up feeling like the host is the gamemaster or dungeonmaster.

Yeah I'm not big on turn based combat or isometric/top down views either but I played 2 this year (more than I've played in a long time) with Diablo and Baldur's Gate. Those were two games that I'd missed the first time around and felt like I needed to play this time around and while I will never like the camera view in BG3, it at least does a great job of not keeping it completely isometric or stuck in a turn based view when you're out of combat. It feels like a very good compromise between views although they really do need to allow us to zoom in further when we're walking around an area.

I guess what I'm saying is BG3 doesn't feel as turn based as most turn based games because it doesn't stick you with that view point all game. You can play 3rd person most of the game and there's a PC mod to make it even more zoomed in.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, it does do a very good job, I agree. It actually helps to be able to spin the camera around to see where everything is, something I feel isometric games were at a disadvantage. Isometric games have always had the effect of making it feel claustrophobic for me, IMHO. I dunno why that is, maybe it's the constrained viewpoints. Which is why I've bounced off most early isometric rpgs. Modern ones don't seem to be nearly as bad, perhaps because you can move the camera more freely than the early ones.

Btw, speaking of isometric rpgs, have you played Tyranny? I found that one pretty fun. It's where you play as a villain under an Orwellian authority, meting out justice to the places you visit . I've also played Pillars of Eternity, and I had just started the sequel, but had to stop because my computer wasn't up to it. Getting a new one soon, so I'll be looking forward to getting back into it.

 

[jenji120]

Yeah, it does do a very good job, I agree. It actually helps to be able to spin the camera around to see where everything is, something I feel isometric games were at a disadvantage. Isometric games have always had the effect of making it feel claustrophobic for me, IMHO. I dunno why that is, maybe it's the constrained viewpoints. Which is why I've bounced off most early isometric rpgs. Modern ones don't seem to be nearly as bad, perhaps because you can move the camera more freely than the early ones.

Btw, speaking of isometric rpgs, have you played Tyranny? I found that one pretty fun. It's where you play as a villain under an Orwellian authority, meting out justice to the places you visit . I've also played Pillars of Eternity, and I had just started the sequel, but had to stop because my computer wasn't up to it. Getting a new one soon, so I'll be looking forward to getting back into it.

Speaking of BG3, I'm in Act 3 and it really does drag, especially in comparison to Act 1 and 2. It feels very aimless. I've read people complain that there are too many side quests but honestly I'm having a hard time finding anything to do other than the companion quests . And the way battles have scaled up in the number of enemies really starts to bog the combat down and make it boring for those of us who really don't care for turn based play -- who wants to watch the computer take 20 turns before you can do anything? I don't think the problem with Act 3 is too much content or even its length rather it's that you're really given no narrative direction like you were in the first two acts and instead of feeling like you're more powerful and your characters have progressed, battles become lengthy grinds. And searching the city to find unmarked npcs just isn't very fun. Some of the quests are great but overall it feels like all that tension that was built up in prior acts fades away the more time you spend in the city. We'll see how it goes though.

And no, I haven't played Pillars or Tyranny. I remember Tyranny looking very interesting back when it came out though. Is it good? What you're describing sounds very interesting.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, I quite enjoyed Tyranny. I really liked the concept and setting, which made it feel different than most. It's shorter than most rpgs of its type, but it's quite satisfying. You can be either benevolent and cross the ruler, or you can be rigid and bring the hammer down on the people.

On BG3's latter part feeling aimless, I have to say as a player playing with friends, and still in the early parts of the game, I can see what you mean even now, as I don't really get much of a sense on its story. You get bits via the companions, but not much else. I see the quest marker pointing in a general direction and that's about it. I hate to say it, that the world overall feels devoid of life. I don't know of the Baldur's Gate series have always been that way. Maybe it changes once it opens up more?

But again, this why I like it more with friends. Dunno if this game would be up my alley if I were playing alone.

 

[jenji120]

Yeah, I quite enjoyed Tyranny. I really liked the concept and setting, which made it feel different than most. It's shorter than most rpgs of its type, but it's quite satisfying. You can be either benevolent and cross the ruler, or you can be rigid and bring the hammer down on the people.

On BG3's latter part feeling aimless, I have to say as a player playing with friends, and still in the early parts of the game, I can see what you mean even now, as I don't really get much of a sense on its story. You get bits via the companions, but not much else. I see the quest marker pointing in a general direction and that's about it. I hate to say it, that the world overall feels devoid of life. I don't know of the Baldur's Gate series have always been that way. Maybe it changes once it opens up more?

But again, this why I like it more with friends. Dunno if this game would be up my alley if I were playing alone.

I think the take away may be that I need to make friends to get through Act 3!

There is a bit of a drag early in Act 1 now that you remind me of it but it starts to pick up as you find your way and Act 2 feels much more directed. You get several epic fights to end it and it almost feels like they intended to end the whole thing there at one point and actually there is an option to end the game in Act 2 but very few would use it. By the time you defeat the big bad in Act 2 you feel pretty focused. You know you've got to take the Absolute/cult down, get the tadpole out of your head, and free the city. But once you're in Rivington (a city outside the city walls) it's like not much is really happening and it takes a while to find quests to pick up the thread of hunting the cult/Absolute. And a few quests that you really should do to gain admittance to the city. (Yeah, you can't just walk into Baldur's Gate without some creativity and/or completing a few quests that will help).

Once you're finally in you do get some immediately satisfying quests, imo, but after those you realize that the fights you just had in Act 2 aren't going to immediately be followed up and that bogs the story down a bit as you kinda have to feel your way through on what to do next. I have to say though one of the first things you should do in Act 3 (when you're in Rivington) is go to the Circus. That alone was worth the price of admission (it's not earth shattering but IDK, I just loved that first time inside and I won't spoil it because that would take away from it but def. go inside even if you all wait to do the follow-up quest).

For the crpg genre Baldur's Gate 3 is a masterpiece game but for those of us who are more ARPG and even Bethesda style full on 1st-3rd person emphasis on the action part RPG it has flaws. One of the things that makes Beth games and games like RDR2 is environmental storytelling and exploration that is always rewarded. BG3 doesn't really do that very well. You're not going to find a church in the middle of nowhere packed with an Easter Egg referencing the real life Heaven's Gate Cult complete with a UFO flying overhead if you go at the right time during in the evening like in RDR2 or find a random cave with some interesting encounter and great loot like in Skyrim or just an incredible mystery of 'what the heck happened in this spot?' as you wander around and some interesting find catches your eye that you find in both.

To me RPGs are best when you're role playing a character without many rules and the only limit your imagination of what you want your character to be. Give me a big truly open world that I can explore and have fun in and I'm happy. I'll even take more on the rails big world like RDR2, The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk, and even Elden Ring and be more than happy. To a lot of crpg fans RPG = character progression, dice rolls, and has a very strict set of rules. To me crpg's can often come across more as a math problem than as role playing but that's because I didn't come from a tabletop background and so those rules aren't embedded in me. I come from more of an acting/drama and OG video gaming background.

And I may have to check out Tyranny based on what you've said. Seems like I might like it. What about Pillars? Are both worth playing?

 

[Owain Taggart]

Oh, I've only ever played the first Pillars, and only just started the second (and had to take a break from it due to it crashing in a certain spot, ie due to me having an older computer). But I liked the first one. Your base of operations ends up being an old castle that you renovate that also has an underground dungeon that progressively gets more difficult. But most of the game takes place in the overworld. The sequel as far as I can tell, puts your base of operation on a seafaring vessel that allows you to travel all over and also do ship combat, and it tries to combine the popular aspect of pirate games within the aspect of a crpg.

 

[BigFoot]

So about a week ago I finished Baldur's Gate 3. Man, what a game. I definitely plan to replay it at some point.

After that I started playing Robocop: Rogue City and I finished that today. I'm not sure what to play next.