What Video Games Are You Currently Playing

Now I'm bummed I never played the DLC. If you haven't played Returnal, that is also worth it.

I just beat A Plague Tale: Requiem. Brutal story. Harder than the first game. 

I'm actually going to try Elden Ring, I think. I can never make it far in FromSoft games. The early bosses always pretty much instakill me. And I beat a lot of games on hard in the first go, so I don't just suck at video games. Something doesn't click for me with them, and I hate redoing everything just to get slaughtered again at the end. But too many accolades to not give it a try.

^ from what I've heard, Elden Ring is one From's harder games. but like anything, if you try enough you'll get there. I beat the entire Dark Souls series on PC with kb+m and a complete inability to parry. at worst you just keep grinding and leveling up your character until bosses become easier.

A Plague Tale also intrigues me, I own the first one and need to make time to give it a go soon.

noice.

Hate to say it but the first major boss fight in Elden Ring is easily the hardest first boss in the entirety of the souls series . 

Been playing High on Life which is a lot of fun. It's loose and weird, much like what you'd expect from a game made by the guys behind Rick & Morty. I'm no crazy Szechuan-sauce hunting R&M stan, but I like the show and what Roiland and Harmon do, so I figured this would be up my alley, and it very much is. It's basically a big(ger than most indie games)-budget metroidvania parodying overly serious fps stuff but with a really messed up sense of humor and a very dirty mouth. Don't play it around kids.

Also playing Signalis, though I haven't sat back down with it in over two weeks. Really cool game though, very much in the vein of old Resident Evil-style PSX games. The vibes are totally creepy and isolationist, with number stations and weird messages making everything feel very dire.

Reading what ambermonk and usagi said about Prey is making me want to go back to it. Really incredible game! I also want to play through Control again, though on no damage mode so I can enjoy the atmosphere and environment. I don't want to sound like a wuss, but I get tired of playing games where the goal is to beat the crap out me and have me redo boss battles or levels 20 to 30 times before I can move forward. Control is so good, but even on normal difficulty there were times when I was just like "isn't my character supposed to be some kind of crazy-strong metahuman of some sort? why do I keep getting my ass kicked then?"

  On 1/10/2023 at 12:47 PM, Dave3 said:

Also playing Signalis, though I haven't sat back down with it in over two weeks. Really cool game though, very much in the vein of old Resident Evil-style PSX games. The vibes are totally creepy and isolationist, with number stations and weird messages making everything feel very dire.

I'm super keen to play this exactly for those reasons.

  On 1/10/2023 at 12:47 PM, Dave3 said:

Control is so good, but even on normal difficulty there were times when I was just like "isn't my character supposed to be some kind of crazy-strong metahuman of some sort? why do I keep getting my ass kicked then?"

lol this is what I meant when I was expressing my disdain for some of Remedy's combat/character design choices earlier. Control has no fixed difficulty levels, any struggle with it (assuming a certain baseline competency with video games on the player's part) is largely a function of those design choices. I loved the game overall but one of the most irritating things about it is just how much you have to keep spamming dash to avoid damage. could've make the dash longer or added some kind of time slowdown or something so you're not constantly button-mashing, idk.

but hey, at least it isn't Alan bitchass running around in the woods with my little revolver looking for my annoying wife Wake.

  On 1/10/2023 at 11:13 AM, Hail Sagan said:

Hate to say it but the first major boss fight in Elden Ring is easily the hardest first boss in the entirety of the souls series . 

Prognosis does not look good then. What I hated most about Sekiro is making me redo like 10 minutes of clearing enemies to get to a boss that basically two shots me before I get a single hit. Giant fuck you to the player. And can't use any of the stealth skills against the bosses either. And respawning enemies on save too! The stealth parts were fun until you're doing it for the 30th time.

  On 1/10/2023 at 1:10 PM, usagi said:

lol this is what I meant when I was expressing my disdain for some of Remedy's combat/character design choices earlier. Control has no fixed difficulty levels, any struggle with it (assuming a certain baseline competency with video games on the player's part) is largely a function of those design choices. I loved the game overall but one of the most irritating things about it is just how much you have to keep spamming dash to avoid damage. could've make the dash longer or added some kind of time slowdown or something so you're not constantly button-mashing, idk.

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man I just kept leveling up the launch ability and before long I was fucking up everything in my path. There were a few service gun forms that I rarely used (particularly Spin), but there was usually some fun to be had in switching between gun types. Pierce all day, Charge if I was feeling reckless/suicidal. I loved that game.

  On 1/10/2023 at 8:46 PM, luke viia said:

man I just kept leveling up the launch ability and before long I was fucking up everything in my path. There were a few service gun forms that I rarely used (particularly Spin), but there was usually some fun to be had in switching between gun types. Pierce all day, Charge if I was feeling reckless/suicidal. I loved that game.

yeah being able to chuck things was pretty essential. I found I couldn't use Pierce very well cos it meant slowing down in a fight rather than moving constantly to avoid damage, especially when levitating. I primarily used Spin and Charge, though if I was in an enclosed space I'd switch to the shotgun form cos the splash damage from Charge could easily kill you.

  On 1/10/2023 at 5:42 AM, onecaseman said:

I'm actually going to try Elden Ring, I think. I can never make it far in FromSoft games. The early bosses always pretty much instakill me. And I beat a lot of games on hard in the first go, so I don't just suck at video games. Something doesn't click for me with them, and I hate redoing everything just to get slaughtered again at the end. But too many accolades to not give it a try.

I always felt the same way - bounced off Dark Souls 1 and 3 after a few hours because they felt too repetitive and the combat didn't click for me. But I've been loving Elden Ring. The open world design makes it so much more welcoming - any time a boss or dungeon becomes a grind you can just fast travel to some other part of the map to explore and level up.

It's actually been reminding me of playing Morrowind back in the day, just because that's one of the only other open world games that's given me such a sense of mystery and wonder - exploring a bizarre world with great art design where so much of what you find seems unique and there aren't a bunch of map markers and quest arrows telling you what to do.

Well so far things are not going well in Elden Ring. It took me a dozen tries to beat the mini-boss in the cave, and now I'm stuck at Stormgate. I beat the Ogre once, but got sniped by the archers after.

  On 1/12/2023 at 7:58 PM, onecaseman said:

Well so far things are not going well in Elden Ring. It took me a dozen tries to beat the mini-boss in the cave, and now I'm stuck at Stormgate. I beat the Ogre once, but got sniped by the archers after.

Stormveil castle is completely optional Try exploring and leveling up a bit and come back later? And if you're stuck at the ogre and you want to go up there, just ride past everyone, ogre included. Might need some zig zagging but I remember that being pretty easy

  On 1/12/2023 at 8:03 PM, chronical said:

Stormveil castle is completely optional Try exploring and leveling up a bit and come back later? And if you're stuck at the ogre and you want to go up there, just ride past everyone, ogre included. Might need some zig zagging but I remember that being pretty easy

Whoa, optional? That's where the light of grace points to, and when I went south the bridge was blocked and I got instakilled by some fireball. So I thought this was definitely the place to be going. When I tried to ride into the castle on the horse, the horse disappeared, so I thought the game was telling me I couldn't use the horse in this section. I'm level 15 by the way.

  On 1/12/2023 at 7:58 PM, onecaseman said:

Well so far things are not going well in Elden Ring. It took me a dozen tries to beat the mini-boss in the cave, and now I'm stuck at Stormgate. I beat the Ogre once, but got sniped by the archers after.

yeah, roam around and level up, then come back. go find a cave or hang out on the beach

Anyone have any good recommendations for fun iPhone games that aren’t all about shooting people?

  On 1/12/2023 at 11:09 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

Anyone have any good recommendations for fun iPhone games that aren’t all about shooting people?

Tiny Bubbles is good

and Pocket-Run Pool

  On 1/12/2023 at 11:09 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

Anyone have any good recommendations for fun iPhone games that aren’t all about shooting people?

Limbo, Flow Free, Prune, Monument Valley I & II, Hook

  On 1/12/2023 at 11:09 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

Anyone have any good recommendations for fun iPhone games that aren’t all about shooting people?

Poinpy - it's free with a Netflix sub. Made by the same guy who made Downwell, also great.

Ugh 

Dragon Quest 11. Almost beat the final boss, he's got like 100/1000000 HP left.

But I lose. Why do those jrpgs always have that first battle and then the boss evolves to this super fabulous OP boss, and you die. Then you have to go through the first battle again and it pisses you off so you toss the game aside (i probably won't though dq11 is pretty nice)

  On 1/14/2023 at 1:40 PM, Berk said:

Ugh 

Dragon Quest 11. Almost beat the final boss, he's got like 100/1000000 HP left.

But I lose. Why do those jrpgs always have that first battle and then the boss evolves to this super fabulous OP boss, and you die. Then you have to go through the first battle again and it pisses you off so you toss the game aside (i probably won't though dq11 is pretty nice)

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They all do it but none of them comes close to fighting Lavos in Chrono Trigger

  On 1/12/2023 at 9:01 PM, onecaseman said:

Whoa, optional? That's where the light of grace points to, and when I went south the bridge was blocked and I got instakilled by some fireball. So I thought this was definitely the place to be going. When I tried to ride into the castle on the horse, the horse disappeared, so I thought the game was telling me I couldn't use the horse in this section. I'm level 15 by the way.

Yeah it's optional. You can find a path up north somewhere around the castle without having to kill Margit or that grafted weirdo at all. It's a good dungeon to get used to the game though! I'd say stick with it but try some different approaches, if you're having trouble with fireballs you might want to practise rolling for a bit, check that you're not wearing armor that's too heavy, try out some other weapons if you don't vibe with the one you have

  On 1/14/2023 at 2:34 PM, chronical said:

They all do it but none of them comes close to fighting Lavos in Chrono Trigger

Yeah it's optional. You can find a path up north somewhere around the castle without having to kill Margit or that grafted weirdo at all. It's a good dungeon to get used to the game though! I'd say stick with it but try some different approaches, if you're having trouble with fireballs you might want to practise rolling for a bit, check that you're not wearing armor that's too heavy, try out some other weapons if you don't vibe with the one you have

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I beat some more caves in Limgrave, found the big sword, then rode past the ogre on the horse like it was suggested. I beat Margit with the help of a cooperator (I died a lot) and am now in the middle of Stormveil Castle. That knight in the dark room fucked me up many times.

I still can't use incantations, so wondering when that unlocks.

Civilization VI.

I've now hit 1000 Steam hours in Fallout 4, after doing a huge mod shuffle and starting a new playthrough (since saves can get corrupted with mod changes). Without getting into my full load order, some of the major mods I've installed include more environmental foliage, variety and apparel overhauls to Raiders, Gunners, Feral Ghouls, and Super Mutants, and the addition of certain WWII-era/vintage and Russian weapons. So Raiders are much more dangerous and juiced up now. Super Mutants now have the Nightkin from FO2 & NV with them. And blasting Ferals almost feels like L4D. Now the game is starting to feel more like a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game in terms of challenge and aesthetics.

I love mods.

  On 1/15/2023 at 11:30 PM, onecaseman said:

That knight in the dark room fucked me up many times.

That guy was a real menace for me as well. Not a boss fight but I knew things were going to be bad when I got hit with a cut scene. Good job sticking with the game. It’s stressful but I’m sure you’re doing quite a bit better already and it’s an immense and amazing world to explore. 

https://github.com/Immorpher/Bandither

A nice shader to add dithering to any game and give it that "Obra Dinn" aesthetic. I had the desire to play an Arena shooter and Quake live still holds up but the graphics are kind of ugly on a 4k monitor. I'd upload screenshots but I'm at work at the moment.

I was also feeling nostalgic of the Road Rash series, which somehow led me to discovering GP Bikes / MX Bikes and playing that with Soundgarden's Rusty Cage in the background. The game lacks AI but makes up for it with the physics engine. BeamNG.drive is my favorite driving sim because of its soft-body physics, but this is probably one of the better motorcycle sims available. Now I wish there was a game that could rival Wave Race in regards to water dynamics. I love when games get these things right (or as close as possible).