What games are you playing now?

I think I wasn't too far from the end in D:OS1, but I'm not going back there. I don't think I will ever finish D:OS2 either, I liked it but it's just so damn long.
How long has it been since you stopped playing? I took several long breaks from D:OS before eventually finishing it, but it's normally very hard for me to get back into an RPG if I go more than a few weeks without playing it.
 
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How long has it been since you stopped playing? I took several long breaks from D:OS before eventually finishing it, but it's normally very hard for me to get back into an RPG if I go more than a few weeks without playing it.
About 1.5 year, it would be very hard for me too. I could manage to continue PoE2 after several months of break but it took me a while to get reacquainted with the plot and the character builds. It's not ideal. :)
 
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While Anachronox has a very particular style, quirky sense of humor, and nice atmosphere, it also seems to like to make you go through loads of filler fights, where you absolutely do the same thing every time. And I really don't like the active turn-based system they're using. I never liked it, even back when it came out. It's also quite clunky.

But the rest is pretty great. I mean, in what other game do you have a companie who's special ability is to yammer on, onto poor NPCs, trying to get them to do what you want.

I was also caught a bit offguard by the old-school design. I was just about to leave Anachronox, for Sender, and you have to buy tickets. Well, being used to only use Boots as the main character, I kept getting the message that I can't buy tickets due to his debt that must be paid (which is also a great little nod as to what our capitalist system will likely evolve into). Well, I kept running around trying to figure what the hell does it want me to do. And then it dawn on me, that I should try the ticket console with a different character. And indeed, it worked.
 
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Man, am I rusty from playing old-school games that require you to pay a little more attention to things. I'm on second or third time where I had to check on a walkthrough, while playing Anachronox.

It seems to even have some point-and-click adventure game elements to it. I just left the airport on Sunder, and had to disable the 3 lasers. And it said clearly that I have to lower the frequency, which I did, and also interupt the laser beams with some playing cards, which I obtained. But I didn't notice that the laser frequency UI also has the place where you put the cards to block the beam. I just glanced over that screen, seeing that you input numbers, and never gave it another thought. I really think modern games have made me less attentive and I'm just used to things just going very smoothly.

But the game is also very obtuse in some ways. A lot of the secondary missions don't even get any logs in the quest log. They're mentioned in dialogue, and if you miss them or forget them, you're out of luck.

Or the mission just before reaching Sunder. I was inside the brain train, and spent 5 mins in a 10m2 capsule trying to figure out why I couldn't progress the story further. Apparently you had to talk with every NPC there, and one of them was stuck behind another NPC, for which you had to trigger them going for some peanuts. It wasn't anything difficult to do, but the game never mentions this. There's very much experimentation that you had to do in these games. Modern games are streamlined to a fault.

Being used to having everything so easy that you can do with your brain on autopilot, is a bit of pain. But then again you can make the case that anything that doesn't contribute to a better game should be streamlined? But then you lose all the quirky things that make certain games memorable? But I guess the game should be more memorable, for more significant things, than just being a thorn in the side for small things. I don't know, I'm kind of torn. I just wonder how much I'd be wasting time, running around, trying to figure out exactly what the game wants from me. It's sort of similar to those types of games where someone wants you to figure out what they're thinking about.
 
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Yes, you already mentioned that.

I was just saying that, for me, it would be an indication that I wasn't getting very immersed in one game. I'm not saying the same is true for you. I've talked to people who play 3-4 (or more) RPGs at the same time and are able to enjoy them that way. I've never been able to do that.
I'm the same. I thought that with my current free time i would "waste" on video games..but i just feel silly playing it(i'm 47). I think they are all good games..really a shame..i even bought some in advance.
at least you can enjoy.
 
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I'm the same. I thought that with my current free time i would "waste" on video games..but i just feel silly playing it(i'm 47). I think they are all good games..really a shame..i even bought some in advance.
at least you can enjoy.
Sometimes I have video game burnout for a while. Then it helps to do other things instead for a few weeks...
 
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I loved Anachronox back in the day but I suspect I would find it frustratingly slow in 2022. I liked the story telling and the quirkiness. I didn't ever finish it as it broke, constantly crashing to black screens at a certain point. Enjoying your posts on it @danutz_plusplus

I'm on a real nostalgia trip at the moment, spent 3 weeks in Skyrim and now playing through Dishonoured 1&2. Me and stealth just don't get on though, I try to tip-toe gently but then just turn into a murderous maniac.
 
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Brigandine - The Fantasy XCOM

I like the close similarity to XCOM, where I could train soldiers to send them to their dramatic deaths. To hear them scream and die at the hands & claws & maws of alien monsters. The system is better in Brigandine as I can train my soldiers, which are monsters - and I love tamed monsters - and send them to their deaths. Dead hero monsters can be brought back to life in Brigandine.

Particle effects are exceptional! Monsters look really good and cute. And there are lots of BOOBs, very doable female priest / girl ninjas / female knights / sorceresses, etc.. High level art with attractive females!

Massive military strategy features, like attack routes, incoming invasions, battle planning, army set-up, massive sacrifices, weakening the enemy, destroying "supply lines" / supply-capability. You can summon monsters and there is a rare event, called Mana Miracle - which gives a super-monster with enhanced abilities. In itself this feature is amazing. But during summoning of rare & strong monsters, like dragons and demons, this Mana Miracle event happens waaaaay too rarely.
I had to press the summon key a million times to summon like 30-100 monsters, of which large groups only a handful were Mana Miracles... So instead of destroying my keyboard with repeated press-stress...

Currently I'm using the "All Summons are Mana Miracle" hack in CE and I also set the money(mana) to max, so I can summon many of these exceptional monsters. We are talking about championship level athletes here
versus
the fat and unfit General Population fed on Taco's and Pizza's = general random summonable monsters in Brigandine.

So I take this freshly summoned exceptionally able Mana Miracle Monster Army and I select the very best of the best of them. If I need more monsters of the same type, then I take the two highest ranking of these supreme 1st level beasts.

Now I'm slowly building my Mana Miracle Monster Army, by leveling them up in combat, making them kill a high level enemy, so these super-monsters of mine level up faster.

The best-ever feature in this game I like the most are the VETERAN GENERAL MONSTERS, who are high level and have high stats, but only thanks to their high level! I love the fact that I can make them charge the enemy front-line and take the bullets / soak up hits by the enemy - and also I let them die - so my mana-miracle super-monsters can take their place. Much drama, since the death animations and particle effects in Brigandine are top notch! So these Veteran Great Monster Martyr Soldiers of mine die glorious deaths with Maximum Honor!!

Another supremely amazing feature of this game is
PERSISTENT FORTRESSES

I nagged poor OpenXCOM developers to create the feature of Persistent Fortresses, where you can do incremental damage to fortresses, then FLEE. Then rest, go back and the damage - their army losses - are still there. More or less.. depending on how much recover-time you allow the enemy, while you rest.. :D

So I noticed in Brigandine, when I started to storm their persistent fortresses, which gloriously retained damage after a combat, that their monster force gradually diminished!
??
Well I took my aim during battle to KILL OFF their monster army first. Only then massacred their Knight Kommanders, if they were still there and did not flee the battle. :D

Since I'm also conquering their realm - taking their castles - so each additional turn they have less and less military support / resources to summon / boost / renew / refresh their own monster army, their army gets less and less.

UNTIL NOW, when the best of this 'Persistent Fortresses'-feature happened. Their Capital City / castle / has only their high level knight heroes left!! They have no more monsters! Its like the best movies and books, how only the hand-to-hand duel of selected champions from opposing armies decided the outcome of the battle.

BUT of course, thanks to the Money and Revival Stone cheats, I can summon back my fallen HEROIC MANA MIRACLE MONSTERS!! And make them storm the enemy castle over and over again!!

The drama increased, since I was so stupid to storm their capital city with low level knights-commanders, who couldn't really hurt their very high level Knight-Commanders! Only their heroes are left now. And with reloading-savescum I could even defeat one of their knights, who was the weakest physically - a spellcaster.

Now the enemy faction gathered all its knights to the castle - in the Capital City and they have no monster army left!

So I use the very same lame idiot low level knight commanders of mine, who now with the one victory - gained some levels. BUT I also will summon back all the fallen martyr Mana Miracle Exceptional Best Elect Monsters of mine, who heroically gave their lives, to win the last tactical battle!

Also the game has the option to Revive fallen comrades as Zombies, but only for the current battle..

Now I'm in the military organization phase, and I'll re-assemble the army. I'll give a better equipment to that horribly lame, low-level knight, who because of the EXP gained in the last battle also gained 7-8 levels [!!] so I can elevate him into a new, stronger knight class...

So with better equipment and now stronger newbie knights, I'll see, what the enemy's highest level Champion Knight Commanders will be able to do with my army.. :D

Its like the movie Seven Samurai, where only the heroes are stepping forward to face the enemy army. Now only the enemy hero knights remain and we'll see what kind of fight they'll be able to put up.

I killed their Priest / Caster / Healer Knight buddy in the last battle.. Will they also field another healer hero to support them this time?

Also another AI feature in this game activated: the game correctly estimated that by the 'end of battle' only two of the enemies highest level Knight Champions remained

Facing them was the remainder of my low level monster army, with whom the enemy knights played ping-pong or football, kicking / hitting my army where ever they wanted... This weak army was led by my similarly newbie 3 knights, who could never really hurt those two mighty enemy Warrior Champions.. So the game decided its enough. Exactly at the right moment.. and completely without my input - my army commander, a (IIRC) level 9 sorcerer suddenly announced - its time to retreat from battle and he ordered a full army withdrawal. :D

For the enemy:

THE END IS NIGH!!!

The WAR DRAMA is set to MAX!!

:D


This is why I call this game: Colossal Amazing Brigandine!

Often you have to hack a game, while playing on hardest difficulty, to bring out massive monster mobs and Maximum Drama!

I wish the soundtrack were 10x bigger. But since I modded Sanctus Reach, so its soundtrack increased in size by at least 8x, I'll have to do the same with Brignandine as well. Yeah, this game is that good!
 
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I just bought Brigandine (on PS4) - I played the demo, and i agree, was pretty awesome.
I figured it would be a solid purchase, made a pretty big turn based haul on there, as there was a lot on sale (Othercide, Fantasy General II, X-com2, Civ 6) and I'm liking just kicking my feet up on the couch and rockin the Ps4 lately.
 
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Oct 18, 2006
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San Diego, Ca
After all these years, finally, Mass Effect 3. Good fun. Gameplay is more focused than it was in ME2, although I enjoyed the storyline in ME2 more.

I'm also still playing Wolves on the Westwind when I want to relax (~1/4 left), and Dark Quest 2 in Co Op multiplayer.
 
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Aug 30, 2006
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Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Overall I like it, but I was a little disappointed by the poor integration of strategic and RPG elements.
 
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Aug 1, 2022
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For some reason I keep playing GTA4, since I never actually finished it, and man some things really did not age properly. The car handling is generally awful. Very few cars handle decently. This might be more on the realistic side, but it's kind of annoying in chases.

Then you have the way the main character controls. Especially in tight corners where you need precision, to climb a ladder, or take a correct turn during a sprint, etc. Niko controls like a tank. I had a mission chase on some building, and fell off the roof due to this. He controls similarly to how cars control. RDR2 seems to have a similar movement control, but that feels much better. The character has more weight, and doesn't have as much inertia, I would think.

And finally, the shooting, at least with the pistol, feels so bad. It's like you're firing a squirt gun. Enemies take a lot of bullets. I'll see how I feel about the other weapons.
 
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Jul 31, 2007
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I'm in chapter 2 of Quantum Break which is a game I've been waiting for new hardware to properly try. It's a bit of a mixed bag so far. I like the story, at least the one in-game. The parts that are shown in the parallel tv-series really feel like just filler.

And then there's the gameplay. Somehow they managed to not provide any time abilities that I really like to use. So I've been abusing the hell out of the time-sprint, which is, I guess, closest to a bullet time. For a few short seconds anyway. But I constantly expose myself needlessly due to it, and get put down. The other ability that should be a bullet-time like ability unfortunately only affects a spherical volume that you have to somehow manage to get the enemy in, in order to take advantage of it. Really shitty implementation. I want a bloody global slow time ability. How hard was it to implement. I feel, out of an artificial need to not implement it the way they did it in Max Payne, they implemented it in a different way shittier way.
 
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Ok, I'm really starting to get the hang of the new time abilities in Quantum Break, and I have to say they're pretty cool. Especially when fighting the time-bending enemies, that zip around just like I do. So, it's funny as we're trying to get one up on the other, while flashing around. And regular enemies are added to the mix to keep me from standing still too much. Pretty fun stuff.
 
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Replaying Spellforce 3, really good game from the gameplay mechanics to the story. And its incredible how it looks, in my opinion its the best looking isometric game, everything looks insanely detailed even from high above.
 
Now that I'm done with Quantum Break, I want my next game to be Control, but since it ties into Alan Wake, I want to get a refresher on that. So that's what I'm enjoying now. Such a great and atmospheric game. And I remember loving the story, the weirdness of it, the twin peaks meets lovecraft style. I'm gonna enjoy this.
 
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Just finished the 4th chapter (of 6) in Alan Wake, on Nightmare difficulty, since there are manuscript pages that only show up on nightmare. It's been a consistent challenge, mostly manageable throughout, with the occasional fight that seems to take me a lot more tries.

The gameplay is decent, but most of the time I can't wait for it to be done, and to advance the story. It's interesting how much I forgot since I played it initially. It's still as fun as I remember it. And yes, consistenly better than Quantum Break. Of course, the genre, since it's not "hard sci-fi", does allow it a lot more freedom. But it's much more enjoyable since it's more imaginative.

Worst thing about the game are the encounters that keep spawning enemies (or at least the shifting mist keeps acting up, and you can't tell for sure if more will respawn if you wait around). Of coure, it's still as tense as I remember it. Even though I really got used to it, I still get stressed out during combat.
 
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Started my replay of Pathfinder WotR, will go bonkers evil asshole this time and gonna try to get the secret ending :biggrin:
 
I finished the base Alan Wake game, but lost a bit of steam right after that, and put the 2 DLCs on hold for now. And now that Spider-man is out, I think I'll swing around for a bit of goofy fun. It sure does look pretty, and I love the swinging around. It's funny, the first few minutes I constantly got a bit of vertigo and hair-raising on my arm while swinging. I'm sure it took a lot of work to get the animations to blend so nicely between swinging and pulling yourself from points.

As far as the regular gameplay is concerned, it's alright, but apparently I'm not too good. I'm not much of a Spiderman fan, and since the gameplay seems rather flashy actiony, without much diversity, I hope I won't get tired of it. We'll see. Because as far as story is concerned, I'm very meh for super-hero stories. At least the one-liners sometimes got a smile out of me. I hope it's at least serviceable in that regard.
 
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