whatchu playing now

you know the drill. post what you are currently playing. add whatever else you goddamn please ;-)

bioshock inf 2nd dlc - a bit of a let down, elizabeth's story is so muddled and confusing.
orcs must die - this game is pretty fun!

I (and, ostensibly, my girlfriend, who mostly only plays the pinball stuff I bought for her) just bought a PS3 a couple of months ago, which I'm completely new to aside from crashing helicopters into gas stations in GTA IV at my brother's. So I've been excitedly hoarding games, since this seems to be the sweet spot between when previous-gen system come way down in price and when they go out of print and skyrocket. But I'm trying to be restrictive in my playing so that I don't play eight million things at once and fail to fully appreciate the varied experiences.

Althought I was completely put-off by it at first (complicated tutorials maybe shouldn't take place in the middle of combat under cover of darkness), probably 75% of my game playing time of late has been devoted to Just Cause 2. So much addictive fun, and great for brief, post-work mayhem sessions. Strangely haven't read or heard a whole lot about it outside of ILG threads, so thanks for that, y'all. Prior to that, I was mostly sucked into Skyrim, which initially impressed and then subsequently overwhelmed me with its breadth. I mean, I'm level 25-ish and realized recently that I'd completed somewhere pretty far south of 10% of the core game, so it feels like a thing that could just go on forever. I'll return to it someday when I'm ready to really dig in.

Other stuff in my current rotation:
Fez (not hugely into platformers but I'm really digging it; music and design and use of color are aces)
Minecraft (kinda don't know exactly what to do with it yet, but it's cool to mess around with)
Arkham Asylum (not crazy about the combat, but maybe I'm just not used to it yet; the beginning of the Scarecrow encounter was amazing)
Where Is My Heart? (cute, cool concept, good for short bursts)
Portal (just started this...the rest of the Orange Box is backburnered for the time being)
Deadly Premonition (not terribly far into it; definitely bizarre as hell but I'm undecided just yet as to whether it's my kind of bizarre)
Prototype (love it to bits; I think I'm near the end so I've been sitting on it for a little while to prolong the love...although I do already have the sequel)
Resident Evil 3 (revisiting after 15 years; controls are for shit but I'm building up anticipation to RE4)
Walking Dead (only played the first episode thus far but it was great and I'm looking forward to more)

I also have a ton of stuff that I've played <15 minutes of (The Saboteur, Tomb Raider reboot, Marvel Ultimate Alliance) that I'm looking forward to jumping into more fully soon.

Kinda want to make a (sadly & ridiculously long) list of the stuff I've acquired and get recommendations of what to tackle next.

MPQ and GTA5, exclusively, for ages now. Very very reluctant to start a new game atm

rotation of dark souls 2 on ps3 and might & magic X and magic online on the laptop. nearly done with mmx and think i am going to finally play monaco. nearly done with ds2 but just going to keep playing it anyway.

diablo 3 on pc! oh nooo

I thought of something else I played recently: WSOP Full House Pro poker on xbla.

I am in a bad place. ;-)

GTA5 in the evenings, still searching for those hidden items
Or Lego City Undercover on occasions.

Any other time I struggle to find time or energy to play anything else right now, I'm trying to design and develop my own games and I find that a struggle in itself.

Games that I *should* be playing anyway...

Pinball FX, really really should fire this up more often
Rayman, not even installed this yet
Red Dead Redemption (still not bothered to attempt the final mission)
Fallout3, embarrassingly never finished this either
Fuel, after having to purchase new PS3 I'll have to start all over again.
Just Cause 2, dropped off the radar a bit, dip into every now and again to get that 100% status
Minecraft/FTB, my only reason for not playing this more often is its just too daunting. In terms of time wasting goes this is the mother of all. FTB packs have basically kicked this game into mind blowing status imo.

(With the exceptions of Pinball and Rayman you might notice a distinct pattern in the games I like)

picked up gta 5 again just to round off the epsilon missions. i was convinced there would be a big heist at the end of all of it, because ripping off the scientologists seemed to make sense and how else would i ever get the cash to buy the golf course etc. so the only one getting ripped off was me :( officially done with this game.

also just finished xcom enemy unknown which i loved to bits. besides it was just long enough to keep my interest through the whole thing.

not really sure what to go with next. ps+ gave me lots of options. i'll probably get going on tomb raider, as soon as i stop struggling to like pes2014.

dayZ and nothing but dayZ. the slow small little updates that come out every couple of weeks just make it that little bit more appealing every day. i try not to think that's there's no real goal or 'end' to it.

Dude, FRACT OSC is out. It's fun, but giving me a lot of flashbacks to Myst, due to heavy puzzles with occasional symbolic language hints. You're exploring this long abandoned machine world and you restoring operation to a giant synthesizer that you wander around in.

SMT4, the soundtrack for this game is so good, running around a post-apocalyptic Tokyo to synthy krautrock <3 http://youtu.be/SG_gB4kb2oA

Oh, FRACT sounds great, might have to grab that.

The only thing I'm playing at the moment is Letter Quest on my ipod. It's quite good but nothing mindblowing.

portal 2 (3rd time), ni no kuni, assassins creed 4, dork souls

FTL and could be on this for a while now that I feel like I finally understand how to play it

im obsessed

so many ships still to unlock and haven't even touched advanced mode...

I've been playing Kingdom Of Amalur, a game that apparently lost the taxpayers of Rhode Island $75m, recently. I kind of hate myself as it's another massive Skyrim-style time sink, but it's quite good fun.

what IS advanced mode

i havent even begun boarding as a tactic yet

sorry "advanced edition"

As a reminder, FTL: Advanced Edition is a free content expansion for FTL. All current (and future) customers will receive this update regardless of where they purchased it. Prior to release, we will post detailed instructions on how to get the update from whatever digital vendor you originally purchased FTL.

http://www.ftlgame.com/?page_id=106

New systems (clone bay??), new race, new ships, just lots more stuff, and it was released as a free sort of patch. It's a toggle option when you start a game, you can choose standard or advanced.

I've been playing Kingdom Of Amalur, a game that apparently lost the taxpayers of Rhode Island $75m
― Yuri Bashment (ShariVari), Thursday, April 24, 2014 3:45 PM

ah yes the curt schilling rpg

oh yeah i'm playing dragon's dogma. i've given up on it twice before so i'm determined to finish it this time. the controls are lacking but it has some of the best gfx i've seen in an rpg. makes dark souls 2 look like shit by comparison anyway.

http://cdn.destructoid.com//ul/266639-curt-shilling.jpg

dragon's dogma was good fun, at its best early before everything becomes too easy, so i encourage you to not progress the story at all until you have been everywhere. one of the best and most unique things it has are the giant wandering monsters that really felt like epic fights, at least until my gang quickly got OP'd. helps if you resist the temptation of the broken pawns that are available early.

infinity wars + starbound

helps if you resist the temptation of the broken pawns that are available early.
― Roberto Spiralli, Thursday, April 24, 2014 4:29 PM

what are the broken pawns. i've just been using the free low level ones and trading them in every so often. groups of bandits on the roads are still kicking my butt

i got one real early with an ordinary woman's name, Karen i am fairly sure, and her owner had limited her level but she had maxed-out, late game rare gear and was a total powerhouse

whatever the fighter class is. i got another midway thru with a more forgettable fantasyish name, also a female fighter.

Dammit, Fract really _is_ like myst. I can't find the symbolic to detangle the tune I'm supposed to play to solve the final puzzle in one of the areas.

Final Fantasy - NES
Assassin's Creed IV - PC
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX - PC
Castlevania: Rond of Blood - T16
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - PSX
Metal Gear Solid - PSX
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance - PC
Metal Gear Solid 2 - PC

you livin' the life, Adam, respect

finished saints row 4
tried diablo 3 again - meh so spammy
maybe back to metro 2033

"Finished" Portal and Fez, loved both. Seems like there's still aftergame stuff for me to do, which is cool.

I'm a good way into the first God of War, and I can't be sure but I think I might kinda hate it. The brutal waves of super tough enemies are awesome, and some of the puzzles are pretty good, but creating Indiana Jones-esque deathtraps with a shitty camera and sketchy controls was the fucking worst idea ever. I've wasted so much of my playtime on failing to kill everything onscreen within a set time before falling to my death or being crushed or sliced up by shit that I can barely see in front of me that it's kinda become a chore for me to continue. I might just be hating the PS2-ness of it, though.

I've been surprisingly digging a lot of arcade-y stuff that I've gotten cheap from PSN recently. Super Stardust and Wipeout took me a little while to get used to but they're amazing once I'm in the zone. Just got Retro/Grade, which I haven't played much but which has an awesome conceit (basically a rhythm game disguised as a shooter that runs in reverse). The Space Invaders update also seems like good value.

This weekend, I hit 50% completion and the 100 hour mark near-simultaneously on Just Cause 2. Clearing a few areas in the game has become such a reliably perfect way to decompress at the end of the day.

kotor + bg2

getting myself psyched + ready for pillars of eternity i guess

xps I played GoW 1 for the first time... a year ago? Maybe two? Felt some of the same frustrations as you, but I'm still planning to truck on through to the others at some point. I can see how it all would've been far more impressive back in 2006, but some of those levels and dungeons are awfully designed.

What build you going for in KOTOR, Mordy?

i guess soldier guardian. tbh i'm kinda more interested in my bg2 half-elf cleric/ranger build (so OP apparently it's ppl's fave for soloing the game). (thought about playing a wild mage too.)

Streets of Rage 3
Bare Knuckle III

So BKIII is the Japanese version of SOR3 and it is WAY easier. This does not mean it is easy though, it only means it is possible to get through stage 1 without using a continue. American version of Streets of Rage 3 is one of the more difficult games I've ever played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VWsJPJ19DA

That level with the bulldozer is all-time unfair.

all that and he's beat by a girder

i love the energy meter for 'wall'.

i guess i only played Streets of Rage 1 & 2.

man why doesn't axel just jump over the damn walls

sor3 is weird. it seems like it admits to tactics then it doesn't really.

I think after you get past the stage where you are fighting kangaroos and evil dominatrix clowns they just figured they could get away w that.

Played 2-player Hyperstone Heist for the Genesis last night. Got to Super Shredder and then we died and we were out of continues! The music in that game is incredible. Orchestrated speed metal.

i'm still playing bg2.

eu4 always with the eu4. genovese colonial empire.

have not played Eternal (I think i got it for $10?). It looks wrong to me, but Dark Ages looks kind cool.

I, also too, may hit Alan Wake 2 next, though I have so much else that intrigues me, from indies to AAA. I'm kinda glad there hasn't been anything to catch my eye for a while.

Eternal rips, but it is a different beast. One for the “git gud” folks. LOT of mechanics that you have to operate at a 100 mph. It’s amazing imo, probably the most intense shit you’ll ever play if you stick with it and find the flow, but don’t expect simple run n gun like 2016. More cartoonish aesthetic too, which is probably why it “looks wrong”.

Dark Ages dials it back and finds a nice middle ground between the two. Much more approachable. Fun fucking time and probably the one I’d recommend to play 2nd if you can.

And basically everyone needs to play Alan Wake 2. There is some gleefully wild shit in that game that needs to be witnessed first hand.

I can imagine. Like that bit in "Control" where, when it starts up, your jaw just drops as it instantly accords so much goodwill that the rest of the game could be or do anything and the developers get a free pass forever.

I've given up on AW2. The big moment fell flat for me, and I found the Alan puzzles frustratingly opaque. I think I only like Remedyv when they give me cool telekinetic powers.

I loved both AW games, but bounced off of Control. Each their own.

AW2 was more than a Big Moment for me, just a cool ~moodz~ game above all that consistently surprised. And it managed to pull so much Twin Peaks into it in a way that was actually charming. My zone.

I had heard such good things about Nine Sols, but I'm finding it kinda boring and also really difficult. It's another game that emphasizes (well, demands) parrying, and if you don't like that or are no good at that, it's just no fun. (And I played Sekiro.) But also it's weirdly slow, imo, and the combat feels clunky (as opposed to super-tight a la Sekiro), and not intuitive. None of the buttons or actions are sticking with me, so it might be time to move on.

hades owns

recently

golden idol dlc - the latest is good. i like it when they throw a completely unexpected scenario at the player -- the museum chapter in rise is a favorite of mine. this dlc manages to do that a few times.

hauntii - casual overhead action/puzzle game with a ghost who possesses things. very polished look, but the game gets repetitive.

lenna's inception - heavily influenced by link's awakening including some of its bugs. i didn't like the randomly generated map.

duck detective 2 - very short and some of the deducktions were more annoying that fun.

Isles of Sea and Sky got a big update that is doing my brain in. Cryptic messages all over the place. It currently crashes a lot so most people should wait for a patch.

wrapped up god of war and moved right into god of war ragnarok. felt a little weird at first (the teenage atreus is odd-looking) but now that i'm into the game proper i love it. the level designs are so cool just in the first realm (the dwarf city! the steaming pools and geysers!).

one thing both of the games do really well is play with the sense of scale - they both have creatures (the world serpent and the frozen giant in the first game, the chained-up whale) that are huge compared to the main characters, and they really feel huge in an impressive way.

so far the second game feels a little more puzzle-oriented, which is fine with me. the enemies are mostly weird animal-things, not undead warriors, and most of the big battles have been against large hordes of creatures as opposed to a proper boss. i'm sure this will change but it's been a refreshing change of pace so far.

Dipped my toe into the new 2d Ninja Gaiden game, it's really good, although I hate the guitar music soundtrack. Just give me some nice clean retro synths please.

It didn't necessarily look that appealing from videos, but I loved Blasphemous 2 and similarly it feels really good to play once you get your hands on it.

Started "Miles Morales." Looks great, seems fun, that's more than half the battle right there.

hi, i'm not really a video game person but i sort of used to be. i recently downloaded a few emulators and got back into the cliche stuff from ages ago. i always wanted to see princess zelda in a blue dress, so i got the zelda redux `fantasy of hyrule` game file and here we are:
https://i.imgur.com/Rol3uU5.jpeg

the playthrough was about as difficult as i could endure. ganon alone took at least 10 attempts. i also got metroid zero mission and a link to the past on my emulator but have reached points in both of them that are too difficult for me to progress any further. putting in plenty of time on tetris, nba jam, and dr mario though!

i've been on a similarly vintage trip, v obsessed with smash tennis (screw you mike!) and super picross

I’m on the usual CoDM and War Robots. Games I can play on my phone basically. Boring I know.

So is there somewhere we can discuss the incredible preponderance of creepy Nazi number names in these games right now? They are really out in force at the moment.

And I mean I’ve actively tried searching for multi-player games that don’t suffer from this infestation but it legit seems to be in every single game. I’ve even tried bringing it to the notice of parties who may be interested ie the companies platforming this shit and the few groups devoted to watching hate speech etc online. No one seems to care at all. Even when it rises to literally the worst hate speech (and I’ve got screenshots to prove it) the response is just *crickets*.

Although I've put my PS5 away for the summer, I haven't quite managed to give up gaming.

Right now I'm in the middle of a playthrough of Chrono Trigger. While the first part of the story feels very fresh in my mind, everything from going back to the Dark Ages / Cloud World and Schala seems to have gone from my memory entirely. That said, I don't feel the story is quite as strong or compelling in this part of the game. There are some scenes where stuff gets explained so quickly and elusively I only have a basic grasp of what's going on. I also seem to have failed at getting Magus to join my party - something I didn't realise could happen. Anyway, last time I played my game crashed during a complicated dungeon area and I've put it down for a while.

In the meantime, I've just picked up Breath Of The Wild, which I'd never played before. I dunno if I love it yet. I'm still in the first few hours / tutorial area. Maybe in a post-Elden Ring world this game isn't quite as impressive. The opening plateau feels huge but it's pretty empty, and I've been running around trying to find the four Shrines for ages, often going round and round in circles while the Old Man insists that I learn a bunch of boring crafting techniques. The combat is annoying, and I find Link hard to control. Plus equipment breaks constantly, so even if I get a cool weapon it barely lasts a fight. Once I find the Shrines, I enjoy the puzzles a lot, but they're really short.

Mind you it's hard to judge a game by its opening area. When it comes to open world games I think Elden Ring has spoiled me.

Wuchang Fallen Feathers is a very good soulslike. Real emphasis on exploration and interconnected paths etc. lots of cool build variety and unlimited respeccing.

Good to hear. Every year there are a couple of new Soulslikes, and they all seem to come *this close* to the real thing. Nioh, Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen (none of which I've played yet, two of which I own, lol)

what is even going on with that one, sounds like they broke the game in capitulation to weird nationalists?

https://bsky.app/profile/theswweet.bsky.social/post/3lwewummhzs2w

I mean, I know literally zero about the actual history or what the objections to its depiction are, or whether or not those objections are valid. Maybe they aren’t. But those dozens of western gamer boys shouting “waaah how dare you tamper with my video games, you Chinese people don’t understand Chinese history like we do”? Let’s just say they don’t seem to be a particularly trustworthy source of actual objective truth.

Finally playing Signalis, got snookered by the ending

well, I wasn't able to take a break from gaming for very long. I just can't leave the damn things alone. Currently on deck: UFO 50 on Switch. What an incredible thing to exist, I've barely scratched the surface. Current favorite in the collection is Bug Hunter. Also dug Rail Heist. Anything plan-oriented and thinky is For Me.

I've also been continuing a playthrough of Final Fantasy VI, which is mainly out of historical interest. I frankly don't like the combat very much. It feels like too much trial and error rather than actual strategizing? Like JRPG combat still wasn't finished being baked when this was made. Aforementioned Chrono Trigger does a much better job with it, IMO.

FFVI takes a while to get going story-wise IIRC but once it's going, hoo boy. Can't remember much about the combat mechanics though

i don't really like any of the FF4 thru 9 combat systems (or chrono trigger), ATB actually makes the game feel slower than regular turn-based games even if it's attempting to simulate action, since you have to wait a few seconds for your turn all the time. plus without a timeline you get occasionally forced into tactical errors e.g. trying to heal a low health character but the enemy acts again and kills them before the heal comes out

fortunately all of those games nail the story and presentation so hard that they're still good

oh I'm enjoying the story quite a bit (just got to the World of Ruin). The combat is sort of like CT but without the spatial elements or the team-up attacks. Also encounters are fully random which I always kinda struggle with

Trails in the Sky remake demo just dropped. I am such a sap for this ridiculous series.

it's a really nice looking remake but i am still anti-remake and also several games behind on the new ones so maybe I'll play it in like 2030

the original has one of the best presentation styles in jrpgs. sprites in cute low poly 3d environments, dialogue boxes with expressive portraits. it's aged really well, hopefully this doesn't overwrite it in the pantheon

I'm torn whether to play thru the whole series again as they drop these but who knows where it ends? Crossbell remakes? By the time they've done all that is some bright spark gonna decide that Cold Steel needs an upgrade? I've not played the Liberl games tho because I don't really game on the PC any more so this is a godsend tbh

xp

gah

I’m on the usual CoDM and War Robots. Games I can play on my phone basically. Boring I know.

So is there somewhere we can discuss the incredible preponderance of creepy Nazi number names in these games right now? They are really out in force at the moment.

― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Monday, 11 August 2025 06:42

It genuinely does seem like there’s a real toxic push from CoD in particular, eg. they have bots with the (numbers) that are frequently deployed. My belief is that they actually changed their rules for reporting other players due to my activity, for a brief while at least, to ping hateful names. But then they quickly loosened the rule and they clearly have an issue with these numbers, their bots use them and they aren’t diligent enough about hate speech in general but seem to have no problem filtering out the more conservative conception of “offensive” language in names. With WR on the other hand there is zero reporting system I’m aware of and for awhile they really had the most toxic content platformed that way. Guess they’ve cracked down on the literal speech now but the numbers are frequently recurring and tbh seem to often be associated with russian names. So my new rule is no russians and I’ve stopped playing any CoD game with bots named in that language too. I have in heated moments deleted both games repeatedly but it is like an abusive relationship since I have no where else to go, I inevitably come back. I just deleted CoD again because get this, I quit a game with a rus bot then the bot left, and then was replaced by a name with that one (number).

As I said if there’s somewhere better to spew this crap please let me know. And I’m wide open to suggestions for better mobile games but it has to be addictive.

*But then they quickly loosened the rule and they clearly DON’T have an issue with these numbers

I think the solution is to get into Balatro.

I'm really enjoying Trails in the Sky, it looks and sounds lovely of course but more importantly I was very unsure about the action/turn-based combat hybrid that I assume they've retro-fitted from the Calvard games (bought the first Daybreak) months back but haven't opened it yet, but in fact it works beautifully and is more or less intuitive

Closing bracket was misplaced there

Played A Space for the Unbound last week which also sounded lovely but damn it probably isn't the level of emo I ought to revel in

The John Mitchinson boss fight in that game is insane.

original ps2 vice city on pc emu, currently i'm at 98 percent. with Fire truck and shooting range missions left to do. Particularly difficult on pc with xbox gamepad as it's ultra sensitive and both these missions require the second thumb stick to be used accurately. so full hundred percent may never happen, sad face.

xp lol I had to Google that, but it's a beautiful game, albeit firmly in VN/walking sim territory

Finished Dead Space 3 after an extended break due to first Snow Beast battle. Had to restart the last chapter since my assembled weapons were close range and def needed a machine gun type setup for the final fight. More a reader than a gamer, so have a handful of bought games to consider next. Like what I’m seeing of Silent Hill f, which looks to be as creepy as Fatal Frame. I own two versions of Wolfenstein: The New Order, so maybe that, to drop the pile by two.

xp to myself, well I nailed it anyway

i've been doing a lot of "rule discovery" games lately, a lot of which are just images.

everything mentioned in this page
https://thinkygames.com/news/newly-added-to-the-database-a-big-batch-of-cryptic-rule-discovery-puzzles-you-solve-without-the-help-of-instructions

mentioned by one of those puzzles: bilattice
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2486430/Bilattice

also marty sears's new sudoku series
https://sudokupad.app/8opgiv0h40

Just finished dark souls 1!!!

this feels a bit andy mcnab-reader gaming but has anyone played elite sniper: resistance?

have to say i'm really enjoying the calm slow feeling of watching nazis from afar via binoculars, then shooting them all one by one with a sniper rifle.

hopefully i've sold it sufficiently. it has a very graphic cut scene if you get a headshot. but remember, they are nazis.

xp congratulations dEXter!

I bought a soft-modded PS2 recently for a steal; been playing Dragon Quest VIII and OutRun 2006 via SSD on that and having a ball. Sure, I could just emulate, but this is much more fun & interesting IMO. It's also a bit of a project because the optical drive isn't working, so I am going to take it apart and attempt repair (I have no idea what I'm doing but I've watched a few YT guides)

xp

I haven't played Resistance, but have played some Sniper Elite 4 & 5. Which seemed pretty similar. But good stealth games tbh! Had fun with them.

the sniper game where you could infiltrate other people’s games and countersnipe them (while they played single player, I think) looked fun

really enjoying the impeccable old school side-scroll arcade feeling of shinobi: art of vengeance. it's a lot of fun and a joy to play.

I started that game Evil West. It feels like a janky pre PS4 throwback, for better or for worse, but so far it is relatively enjoyable and definitely straightforward dumb fun.