whatchu playing now

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.

wish i could get into eu. each time i load it up there are like 300 tutorials

if it helps you still won't know what the fuck is going on if you sit thru the tutorials

Sadly not as into Mirror's Edge as I'd hoped (hinges way too much on barely-disguised quick time events, which fuck that). Surprisingly way more into the first Metal Gear Solid than I expected (tough but mostly fair, cutscenes and dialogue that are reasonably well-written and not totally perfunctory, generous with the game saving, and the controls and camera, while occasionally obnoxious, are better than those on a lot of the PS2 games I've played). I still haven't been able to get past the first boss yet, though, so we'll see how long my admiration lasts.

is there some kind of amazing online tutorial that will teach me how to play?

there is a lot of user and wiki content so possibly but i'm not aware of anything myself. i think you just need to start playing it with the expectation that you won't know what you're doing for a long time. start with france: raise a big army and start some beef. you can go a long way with them without having to worry about some of the more arcane stuff for a while and you will pick up a good foundation in manpower/supply, tech advancement, diplomacy, religion. you can dip your toe into trade and colonies if you want but you'll still be able to do plenty without. and you'll have the immediate objective of unifying france to get your teeth into, which definitely helps the transition into the sandbox. you'll always have something to do with them and that is certainly not always the case elsewhere.

have any of you played crusader kings 2 and can you take the same approach there? tried to get into it but get caught up on figuring out how levies work and what a demesne is and somehow the game had me entering into an affair with my own wife

ftl

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Aria of Sorrow is incredible. Are the GBA Metroids this good?

Harmony is cool too, if only because the lead character is dressed like anime Santa Claus.

I remember the GBA Metroid I played being awesome

this is gonna make me sound like a crazy person but i've gotten into watching lets-plays of EU4 and i don't even own a PC. they're weirdly soothing?

any you'd recommend? esp for newbs?

there's a youtuber by the name of shenryyr2 who i gather is some kind of god at it. he doesn't really do tutorials but a lot of the rhythm of it comes out via osmosis.

my general sense is it's just not a 'for newbs' game, you just kind of have to keep jumping in at the deep end until it clicks

jeez, just had a click around that guy's YT, he is nutso. if i had infinite hours i would watch the lot. but yeah, as a learning experience you probably already need a foundation to get anything from someone like this.

Aria of Sorrow is incredible. Are the GBA Metroids this good?

yeah he's also endearingly/annoyingly ignorant of actual history & geography

i just wanted some cool flowing graphics of a map shifting slowly over time while i did other shit.

xp

*checks england ca. 1650* "a republic? england went republic? wtf, that makes no sense"

was that cromwell? idk I'm too lazy to wiki at the minute

metro: last light
had no idea the wolfenstein remake is more then just "lol nostalgia", preview trailer got me intersted

xp yeah

just finished back to the future telltale game, it was pretty fun, but if it hadn't been for walking dead s1 i dunno if i would've had the patience. now i am trying to play sam & max penal zone and it is next-level inscrutable adv game :(

Did any of you happen to see this week's Steven Universe where Steven gets obssessed with this epic Pokemon/Final Fantasy-style Mini Golf RPG? Man, I would love for that to actually exist.

no but that sounds great. i also love the SU where garnet becomes transfixed with the meat beat mania arcade game

hah, that was great too!

ftl

Played a little "Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia" yesterday and holy crap am I addicted to these Castlevania games...

I got stuck on the second DS game and never moved onto that one

Fuckin' boulder, I hate you

been playing the tomb raider game from last year and goddamn, this is the metal gear solid game i wanted instead of guns of the patriots

solo castle crashers insane mode, the endless air comboing has a meditative appeal despite zero margin for error

Risk of Rain

In what I'm sure is news to no one, Portal 2 is an absolute delight. We'll see if my GF agrees if I manage to convince her to try out co-op mode.

yeah the second act of portal 2 where you're climbing your way out of the old laboratory is one of the best gaming experiences ever imo

Warning: the co-op puzzles are a little harder (and generally, way better) than the single player story puzzles. Also lacks most of the charm that story has, but that's an easily forgivable sin.

Ya know what, I forgot about the robot hi-fives. Maybe not.

That is, it's still pretty damn charming.

Ooh this sounds good, might have to pick it up.

I initially decided not to buy it based on reviews indicating how simplified the football ruleset is, but Brendan's review on RPS convinced me to take the plunge and I'm glad I did, even if my whole weekend has now somehow evaporated

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/rematch-review

I'm 8.5 hours into Citizen Sleeper 2 and it's taken nearly that long to feel a engrossing as the first game. It adds some new mechanics that you get access to pretty early on that are interesting but the UI isn't always the clearest (I incurred a permanent disadvantage because of it). But I'm hopeful that it's finally hitting its stride where I'm at.

Decided to restart Vice City, ps2 version, all over again. for full 1oo percent.

threw my dummy out over some of the very early mission already, so fuck knows how bad it's going to be later on.

but had to laugh at my remembering how chaotic it can get with simple missions if you just accidentally run over one cop and it all just goes batshit and hilarious.

i've opened up the full islands so now i'm going to focus on finding all 100 hidden packages before any more missions.

continuing my trend of not playing AAA games until they're at least five years old, i've been playing god of war (2018). very fun game, the continuous action/story with no breaks makes it addictive.

I really liked that one, good execution. This morning I finished 2016 Doom, that was fun.

That last big spider in 2016 Doom got a "YES!" when I finally beat it. Doom Eternal still unplayed, which leaves me room to jump right into Dark Ages afterwards.

On the last two chapters of Dead Space 3, finally. Next, maybe Alan Wake 2?

Weirdly, I thought the spider boss in Doom was ... easy? That is, it took me a couple of times to beat it, then the game more or less crashed during the final cut scene, and when I booted it up again it made me fight the spider again. I thought, shit, this sucks, what if I got lucky the first time? But I beat it again pretty quickly, on normal mode.

I, too, have but 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.

I actually ended up starting Nine Sols, lol. It's hard!

picked up Metaphor again and played another chunk of it. i still like it a lot more than Persona but i already want to take another break to play some shorter games. i'll finish it eventually, someday

Still playin' Nightreign

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.