Patrick Bregger (302548) on 11/20/2017 9:27 PM · Permalink · Report

I strongly protest the typo in the thread title!

Simon Carless (1834) on 12/12/2017 8:49 AM · Permalink · Report

Since I've been traveling quite a lot, I've been playing Voez for Nintendo Switch on the road. It's a portable only (touchscreen) rhythm game from Taiwan, and the Switch version lacks some of the level progression of the original smartphone versions, but it does give you all 160 songs unlocked (!)

Having fun gradually completing them all - on Easy, I'm not a maniac - and really makes me want to make a Western rhythm game using electronic music, cos almost all rhythm games still use J-Pop, K-Pop & its derivatives...

Adzuken (836) on 12/13/2017 5:12 PM · Permalink · Report

I've been playing The Elder Scrolls Online... and that's my life now.

I appreciate all the ways that it plays like a bigger but shallower mainline Elder Scrolls. I could live without all the modern conveniences like fast travel networks and random dungeon finders, as well as the modern inconveniences like the class structure and microtransactions, but there's enough flexibility that I can generally play it how I like. Like all MMO's, it's a huge time sink, though.

I also appreciate returning to Vvardenfell in the Morrowind expansion. The area is roughly (or perhaps exactly?) the same size as it was in Elder Scrolls III, but it looks a lot nicer and more detailed now. It's great to be able to explore the familiar terrain with my boyfriend in tow. It just feels weird walking into a town and not hearing "Wealth beyond measure, outlander," every time I walk by someone.

vedder (70970) on 12/17/2017 4:01 PM · Permalink · Report

I got a new Xbox One controller to replace the 360 one that was slowly losing all rubber coating on the sticks. So I figured I'd pick a controller game to play after having finished the excellent (but same old) Dishonored 2.

My first choice was Blackhole. That didn't last long. An exercise in frustration and not really my thing. I didn't just regret, but actually loathed having selected story mode. My god what an annoying garbage! The actual gameplay is fine and well thought through, but just not my thing.

Now started on Tomb Raider (2013). Which I'm enjoying much more than I expected!

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 12/24/2017 11:34 PM · Permalink · Report

I'm still busy with my project (latest positive surprise: Frontlines: Fuel of War), but I'm also playing a lot of The Crew lately. I got it for free some time ago and almost did not bother to try it, but it directly hooked me. I like the story (yes, its cliché, but I need a story as motivation), how the cars handle, the smooth progression and the variety. I definitely could do without the huge map, the MMO elements and the micro transactions, but so far I don't have a reason to complain. Definitely much better than Need for Speed: Undercover, which is my only racing reference point.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 1/11/2018 2:10 PM · Permalink · Report

Initially I had some fun with Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1. It has silly dialogue/plot (I like silly) and fast, turn-based combat (similar to classic JRPGs, but with an additional movement component). However, I quit after ten hours because the dialogue became stale and it became clear its all about item grinding. This game also has the visually most boring and uninspired dungeons I have seen in a long time.

Afterwards I played Geneforge and became instantly hooked. The writing and worldbuilding is superb and exploring the island was very interesting. Unfortunately the combat is too limited and consists mostly of alternating blows and hoping the enemy dies first. After I reached the Northern part of the island, the enemies started to cause a lot of damage per turn, even on easy, and I spent more time quickloading than exploring. I quit today.

vedder (70970) on 1/11/2018 7:09 PM · Permalink · Report

After finishing Tomb Raider 2013, which I loved and is definitely my favourite in the series. I hunkered for Metroidvania action and started on Ori and the Blind Forest. Amazing so far. Audio-visual treat and great Metroidvania exploration. Had to switch to easy after a frustrating difficulty spike in the first chase scene, but managed to wrestle through with the additional checkpoint that gave me.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 1/15/2018 5:47 PM · Permalink · Report

I tried playing The Last of Us, but I can't get into it. It's not the game's fault - the beginning (except the uninspired tutorial) is one of the best. Unfortunately I can't get over the zombie scenario - I just can't stand it - and it also checks several of my other big turnoff boxes: survival elements, stealth without quicksave, etc. I'm not compatible to this game.

I also played Final Fantasy IV (PC version), but had to abandon it after ten hours or so. I don't care about the generic plot or the characters, the graphics are completely ugly (in hindsight, I should have emulated the SNES version instead) and five characters are too many for the ATB system.

I finished Dark Heritage: Guardians of Hope, a hidden object game. I have a weakness for those things, even if this one was average. I am sick right now, and this is the perfect light gaming for those times.

I also just finished System Rift, a DLC for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It does not bring anything revolutionary on the table, but it's a good Deus Ex level. I probably would have been bored with it after finishing the main game first, but one year later it strikes my exploration sense perfectly.

Adzuken (836) on 1/15/2018 8:32 PM · Permalink · Report

Still stuck on Elder Scrolls Online. My attention span should be waning any time now, but then, I predicted I'd have moved on a couple weeks ago.

It did inspire me to give Elder Scrolls: Arena another shot. I've given it a couple false starts in the past, but I'm determined to get through it this time. I've only got two parts of the staff left to get, so I can't see myself dropping it at this point. Afterwards, I'll likely give Daggerfall another go.

I've also been giving The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild another playthrough, this time on master difficulty. The increased challenge isn't an improvement. Success depends on preparedness, and it's still possible to get to the point where you're unstoppable. Only now it takes longer to kill enemies, and if you let up on attacks, they regenerate their health. It kind of weighs things down. Bleh. Still a great game, though.

vedder (70970) on 1/26/2018 10:17 PM · Permalink · Report

Playing Prey (2017). I like it, but it's not resonating as much as I'd expected it would. Given my love for System Shock 2, Dishonored and the Metroidvania genre, this game should be some kind of dream come true. But so far, while great, I can't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Primary reason for this is probably the crafting mechanics in the game. The whole crafting part takes way too much focus. It's inventory management hell, boring to pick each room clean of junk items, but the rewards are too big to ignore so feel forced in this loop. Especially now I found a blueprint for neuromods.

Exploring the space ship is great though, the enemies have their moments, but can get repetitive. There's some quirky humour here and there which I appreciate. And generally the game is full of little discoveries you can make yourself without being force fed it through tutorials and hand holding which might be its biggest merit. The zero gravity parts are a nice diversion as well.

In spite of borrowing many elements from Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Metroid Prime, Dead Space, Dishonored, and many others it does feel like it tries to do something new and I definitely admire the game for it.

The Fabulous King (1332) on 2/10/2018 5:35 PM · Permalink · Report

So this is how Jorunal dies. Not with a bang, but a whimper.

...

Anyway, been playing a lot of games lately. For example.

Saints Row 4. This is my first Saints game. I really don't know what to say about this game. It's completely ridiculous. And the character customization is just amazing. Other than than it doesn't capture my interest for long. It also feels repetitive. But, eh... it's enjoyable.

Tomb Raider. This is also quite a ridiculous game. It's like Lara can't take a break from traumatic experiences - she survives one, she falls into another, all bloody and bruised up. It's so over-the-top, but unintentionally I guess. I often find myself laughing during dramatic situations, just because the set up is sometimes too much. Other than that. I think I quite like it.

Betrayal at Krondor. I think it has been over 10 years since I last played it. Damn. This game is good. I had forgotten how good the design and gameplay actually were. Here I am, amazed by a 25 year old game with its just ugly, blocky 3D. But I'm not seeing ugly 3D blocks, I'm seeing the world of Krondor. And it's a marvelous place.

vedder (70970) on 3/6/2018 8:45 PM · Permalink · Report

Playing Horizon: Zero Dawn. It took a while to get into it, but now it's quite fun. Probably not Shadow of Mordor fun, or Far Cry 3 fun, but different and close enough to continue going.

Adzuken (836) on 3/8/2018 6:25 PM · Permalink · Report

After my stint with the Elder Scrolls, (which seems to have died before I finished any of Morrowind's expansions, which is so like me) I've moved on to focus on shorter games. In particular, I've been feeling some cyberpunk and decided to play through Shadowrun on both the SNES and Genesis. For the SNES, I've played through Shadowrun before, but this is the first time I slogged through the Genesis version.

I did like the Genesis version, but holy crap, it is such a grind. It feels like the only way to avoid running the same missions ad absurdum is to know how to game the system. If I had to do it all again, I'd save up to hire the best decker in the game, then have them farm saleable data files until I could purchase all the best equipment. Does that sound like a fun thing to do? The alternative is to just grind.

On the other hand, the narrative progression was pretty great. Tracking down and following up on leads without any objective markers or hand holding; it makes it worth all that grinding.

Havoc Crow (29904) on 3/25/2018 11:04 PM · Permalink · Report

I've completed the time-management game Cook, Serve, Delicious! recently, and the surprising thing was that this was the first time in a long time when I've been truly satisfied and exhilarated by finishing a game. Odd, because its ending is technically nothing that spectacular, the game basically congratulates you enthusiastically. But it feels a lot more warm and pleasant than say, the ending of the game completed before that (Dead Space), which (as typical for horror games) is basically "HA HA JOKE'S ON YOU, THINGS ARE STILL GONNA SUCK."

I've been stuck in the middle of The Last Express for a few months now. I originally wanted real bad to complete the whole game by myself, and spend some free time to think extra hard on puzzles and plan out of my moves and so on. But right now, I don't know if I shouldn't just give up and glance at a walkthrough to get past this tricky part.

I do love the game's emergent structure, and the way all its puzzles feel like "natural" things to do -- you don't think like a gamer, you think like a character of an adventure story, and it's fantastic.

I'm playing Doki Doki Literature Club, or more precisely, not playing it. Horror games like these just require me to be in a specific mood. So far the game deserves credit for being genuinely scary and disturbing, but on the other hand, after completing the first part damn near gave me nightmares, I've been putting off playing it, again and again.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 3/31/2018 9:36 PM · Permalink · Report

Currently I'm playing Beyond: Two Souls. Honestly, its a huge step back from Heavy Rain. I'm not really into mystery stories, but I liked the first few chapters well enough. But now it starts to jump from one trashy short story to the next. It feels like David Cage just threw in all genres he liked ("I wanna make a mystery! And a western! And a social drama! And horror! And a agent thriller!) without any regard to the overall narrative. I would not be surprised if the only reason for the non-chronological storytelling is to hide how little sense it makes. I just finished the western part and I wonder if I should continue to see with what stupid shit they come up next. Maybe a war sequence or some science-fiction? The sky is the limit!

Cavalary (11445) on 4/1/2018 5:51 PM · Permalink · Report

Technically the first game finished this year was, embarrassingly, a casual mobile game back in January, Block Breaker 3 Unlimited (don't think we have it) on the Nokia 230 I got then to replace my venerable 15 y/o Alcatel OT 512. (Speaking of MobyGames having it, would it be filed under J2ME or Series 30+ stuff doesn't count as that? Definitely way different from what I gathered was its IOS/Android version.) Anyway, was just poking around and also played that to the end during the first week or so.

Now today I just finished Her Story. Had won it at the end of September, not one of the games I was actually interested in out of the potential prizes but not one I was clearly not interested in either, so was saying I'll go through it someday, when I'll just want to add a game finished quickly. But kept putting it off till somebody spoiled it for me in this year's games finished thread on the GOG forum. Apparently wasn't even a spoiler warning at first, was added before I got there to read it, but with me reading quickly and taking in chunks of text at once, took the spoiler in along with the warning. And then I said might as well just get through it, discover all the videos and call it finished. So started it two days ago, yesterday it considered I had seen enough of the key videos to get the possibility to "finish" it, but I said no and kept at it till I could unlock every last one, today.
Calling it a game is questionable though, and so is saying that you "finished" it. There is an end state, when you say so, but with that being all there is and the player being left to draw their own conclusions... Like I said, questionable. And I have a hard time deciding on my conclusion. Watching the whole thing in order from the game files, see if that settles things, but...
May try to write a review for it, but... It'll be hard.

Adzuken (836) on 5/17/2018 4:50 PM · Permalink · Report

Haven't really had much to write about on here, because I've been playing a mash of different games. I played a few LucasArts adventure games, specifically Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken, and Sam & Max Hit the Road. Sam & Max definitely connected with me better this time around than it did when I first attempted it. The puzzles really aren't anywhere near as obtuse as I had initially thought.

I also finally managed to get around to completing Yakuza 0 and started into Yakuza Kiwami. Very entertaining games, even if they're a series of distractions occasionally interrupted by a narrative.

Aside from that, I've gotten back into Splatoon 2 and My Summer Car. I've also been playing an assortment of old PC games, and we'll see if that goes anywhere.

vedder (70970) on 5/18/2018 3:46 PM · Permalink · Report

Currently playing Divinity Original Sin. Mixed feelings, but in the end it's more than the sum of its parts. The setting I don't really care about, just as with earlier games in the series. Crafting is never my thing. The slightly comedic style doesn't resonate with me, but I could almost hear designer Farhang's chuckle in some situations. Definitely his style of humour. The combat is nice, specially how all the elements combine. The high point of the game probably, but pales in comparison to XCOM. The voice acting and characters are horrible. The main quest is actually kind of interesting. Since I'm playing single player having arguments with myself is kind of weird, but I can see the value for coop! I like that content is gated by the fact that areas feature higher level monsters and you just don't want to go there yet. RPG progression is very nice as well.

In conclusion having lots of fun, but will probably skip the sequel in favour of something new.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 5/27/2018 5:25 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire: This game is very good, but I'm not sure how to rate it in comparison to its predecessor. I loved the combat (as soon as I deactivated the AI); reducing the party members to five was exactly the correct decision. The new character progression is better because actually choosing the new abilities makes you think about them, although I thought the levelling was too fast in the beginning and the end. I hit the level cap only shortly before the endgame and I did all quests I could find. The difficulty curve was exactly right for me.

I liked the writing, but it was hurt by two things: 1) voice acting and 2) Neketaka. I really don't get the point of voice acting in games like this, especially when it is only mediocre (side characters) to good (companions). Voice acting is good when something happens on the screen, but narrating static text boxes? I don't get it. Also Neketaka is too big and you spend too much time just talking, talking, talking (which is strange because I love Baldur's Gate II's Amn and Planescape in general). I think the approach of Pillars 1 with two smaller cities was better. The companions were good, but the relationship system between companions seems to have absolutely no impact. The romances should have been scrapped. The new companions were a bit underwhelming - there is no one with the impact of Durance, but fortunately also no Grieving Mother.

As you probably know, I'm not the biggest fan of open worlds. This is one of the better ones, but still suffers from too long boring movement (well, boating) phases, but it at least had some interesting stuff to find. For example there was a island with a multiple-hour quest which, as far as I know, can only be found by exploring. What I missed where a few bigger dungeons, something like the endless paths, the most dungeons you find during exploration where only one small map.

What I liked were the reactivity (including choices from Pillars 1, even if the importing is a bit off: it somehow imported white march choices which I did not play with the import save) and the factions. It works very similar to New Vegas (one of my favorite games): you can freelance for all of them until the quests start to directly contradict each other. I never came to the point when one faction hated me, however, because I chose to stay independent in the end. Fuck those idiots.

Overall I think the good and bad additions balance each other out and I'd say it is just as good as Pillars 1. However, it took its sweet time to grow on me - if it was any other game, I probably would have abandoned it after ten hours.

The Fabulous King (1332) on 6/12/2018 12:42 PM · Permalink · Report

So I was on my way to Skara Brae to learn the answers to the questions of Life and Death, when Dupre suddenly exclaimed that he's hungry. Since we had no food at that moment, I decided we'll go hunt some meat, cause it's going to be a long night in Skara Brae.

I was almost in Yew, when I saw my first deer, killed it and was about to gather the meat when our party was ambushed by wisps. After a frantic battle I discovered that Julia was dead. Oh well, back to Lord British then. But... I couldn't pick up the body. Turns out she somehow managed to die on top of a tree and was now inaccessible.

Shit, when was my last save? To far behind. What do I do? This is Ultima 7, think creatively. Let's build a stair! So we hiked back to Iolo's, picked up some planks and went back to Julia. In the meantime, Dupre managed to get killed by wolves, I just left him there.

Build a stair, took some creative angles, managed to pick Julia's body up, teleported to Lord British, resurrected my party members. "I'm hungry!" Shit! I had forgotten all about that.

So in the end we bought food from Farmer's market. Should have done that in the first place.

Cavalary (11445) on 6/17/2018 9:39 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Started Ember, after using a code for a GOG game that I won back in 2013 and hadn't used (and since the system isn't designed to account for the fact that such codes may still be active, that sure was tricky... anything with a base price of $9.99 or less, 15 / page, 104 pages, can only access 1000 entries, up to page 67, past that it's an error if you try to pull the JSON, and it'd be impossible to actually reach anyway, since there are anti-bot measures that lock you out if you flip through pages too quickly and it times out if you put in the code and don't check out within 1h... and Ember was on page 59, so first pull the data past where I could reach normally to see that, then took me several tries over a couple of days to figure out a workable middle ground between being locked out and timing out, and sat here for 57-58 min timing page flips very carefully to get to page 59 just in time and redeem).

Combat controls are iffy, game otherwise seems all right so far, and plenty of books to read, mix of a decent backstory and stuff intended to be funny and usually succeeding. But engine is a concern. Constant reading off HDD (saw discussions on the Steam page, somebody complaining of constant 3 Mb/s reading and concerned of wear, devs saying they can't help it, what I saw was some 600kb/s constant, but I was standing then, assume that while walking it'd spike badly) and graphics taking a toll on my poor comp with just the integrated ones. Saw CPU frequency go down even to 1/3 while playing, probably due to diverting all the power it could to the integrated GPU. And I seem to smell smoke, though reported temps are fine, and even low when the CPU speed drops a lot. Not sure if it's wise to keep playing it, especially now in summer.

Oh, and saw a review with the reviewer saying she finished it in 11h and did most side quests... In game timer now puts me at 8h, not counting reloads, and I'm level 4 and just recently got to Radiance (and now returned to explore the Northern Forest some more, since I didn't go quite everywhere yet). So very early stages.

Adzuken (836) on 6/22/2018 5:41 PM · Permalink · Report

I finally picked up an HDMI adapter for my GameCube. To make use of it, I've been playing... The Sims console ports? They don't even support progressive scan, so I have no idea what I'm doing with my life anymore.

I've also been playing some 007: Everything or Nothing, which progresses like a game made by someone who once saw a James Bond movie, but it was when they were coming off of sedatives.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 7/2/2018 3:55 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Time for another update:

Space Pilgrim Academy: I did not like this one although the writing is on the same level as the predecessor. Maybe it was fatigue because I played all of them in a row, but I abandoned it during the first school sequence. I'm too old for memorizing planet names, thank you very much.

Cibele: A very short game which is about a teenage romance. One one hand I appreciate how very mundane the shown romance is, but it hurts my suspension of disbelief if the game the protagonists are supposed to be addicted to is such a boring, buggy peace of shit no normal person would play more than two minutes before returning to League of Legends or whatever the young people play nowadays.

Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble: I enjoyed this a lot less than the free predecessor. I can't put my finger on something it did wrong, but I felt the charm was gone.

DOOM 3 (2012 BFG version): This is the very definition of a one-trick pony. The shooting and movement feels great. However, the level design with the repetitive environments and the constant jump scares became tiring very quickly. Its not very surprising when you exactly know that a monster will spawn if you enter the next room. Despite this, I enjoyed the game and even its story until the end. I don't plan to play the add-ons though.

Don't take if personally, babe, it's just not your story: Christina Love is a great writer. This is a short but engaging visual novel. The name of the game is true, your choices only have a minimal impact, but I'm fine with this.

Silver Creek Falls Chapter 1 - 3: A interactive mystery story. I enjoyed a demo chapter a lot and the second was still good (even if it felt the need to introduce stupid puzzle elements including a mace. No, it does not make it better if your characters joke about your stupid maze, especially if you have to backtrack through it. Sigh.). I really disliked the third, though. The story quickly entered bullshit territory and the puzzles became more stupid. I can't recommend it.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony I'm a big fan of the two predecessors and I could not pass this up during the Steam sale. I'm very surprised it took longer than the second which I criticized because of too chatty dialogue sequences. Overall I thought it was very engaging and the final twist was mindfuck territory.

Firewatch I was very disappointed in this game. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but totally overrated. While the writing and dialogue is good, the plot and character development goes nowhere. In the end my question is: what was the point? There is absolutely no integration between plot and gameplay and not even the mystery plotline has a satisfying resolution. It has no ending, it just ends. Don't get me started on the backtracking.
I do not regret playing this, but its certainly not the salvation of gaming or something. It was released in a time when both Gone Home and Stanley Parable already existed, which did everything better.

Unicorn Lynx (181771) on 8/13/2018 4:04 PM · Permalink · Report

Playing "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided". Liking it more than "Human Revolution" so far. A bigger city, more open. But... absolutely horrendous load times. Any thoughts?

Adzuken (836) on 8/14/2018 2:01 PM · Permalink · Report

I've been playing the Mega Man X Legacy Collection on Switch. I had previously played up to X4, but capped out because I felt that X4 lacked a certain something that I appreciated with the SNES trilogy.

I'm now on X7. X6 was such pure torture, that I think my standards have been lowered into the gutter. Even X7 feels like a breath of fresh air after the aggressively frustrating X6.

Unicorn Lynx (181771) on 8/17/2018 1:12 PM · Permalink · Report

Playing Final Fantasy XV. It's so different from the rest of the series, being an open-world action RPG... and I think it's really more interesting.

Cavalary (11445) on 8/19/2018 8:38 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Finally considering Disciples finished. Started it last July, finished the campaigns in a month, but then considered that "Divine Empire" series of scenarios as basically an expansion, so poked at them on and off, since it gets tedious to have to start over each time, being separate scenarios and nothing carrying over. So now considering it finished since I finally finished that series as well. Will write a full review, hopefully in no more than a few days, but until then leaving the messy notes I made over time about it:

Annoying undead sounds, banshee maybe worst. Animations feel way too long after a while, and there's also that move to capital at start of turn, plus summons dying. Notification for each item taken on map instead of list. No way to take all or all stack or split stack. Bug losing level up choice if leveling at end of scenario and reloading starting save in next (wonder if same happens on autosave load, don't think I checked). Noticed autosave bug when some AI advances (summons, exp/upgrade at least) made after my end of turn existed when reloading autosave from said end of turn. AI definitely knows my armies without spies. Weird to need to avoid winning too soon those campaign scenarios requiring transforming a certain percentage. Would want at least a grid, to see how far armies can go. Oddly high number of misses at times, and in general chances can still make things odd, like definitely statistically possible to have 4-5 misses in a row at 75% chance to hit, but doesn't feel right. Quite liked final Legions scenario, seemed to stand out, and some more planning seems to have been put in it. Odd choice to have area controlled on top but toggle for resources. Human archers are more accurate than elven ones? See MobyGames forum entry for race comparison. Divine Empire scenarios seem rather silly in some ways, and what's with the all caps shop descriptions? Then basically same map for multiple DE scenarios, though last ones have different and actually interesting maps (very last is a joke though, AI can't quite get past that dragon, doesn't dare though it should have little trouble). AI not winning prizes, though of course game'd be awfully difficult if it was good, but seeing it consider wards and immunities as the same and waste attacks randomly attacking units with either is messed up, and it doesn't even keep track of which wards were used up, also spreading casting and summon attacks among different targets and summoning in wrong places, needing to go around to reach target or not reach at all. Usually crashes after about one hour, so need to quit and get back in. Remember the connection attempt and freeze if it can't. Initiative is listed +/- 5, damage listed to listed+5. Diplomacy rather tacked on, and having lord descriptions there means they'll rarely even be noticed. No saved guard stance. Would want a turn count in combat since attacker flees automatically on turn 11.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 8/25/2018 5:11 PM · Permalink · Report

I just finished Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - 20th Anniversary Edition and it reminded me why the original is my least favorite of the series. It has a good plot (the only complaint I have is that the romance between Gabriel and Malia is too sudden), great dialogue and godawful puzzles. Forget about the cat moustache, almost all puzzles are either "guess where the next plot point happens" or overly complicated shit like the drum codes or the clock puzzle (even after looking it up, I don't get how I was supposed to get this). Oh, and an unmotivated sliding puzzle which probably was not in the original.

My feelings while playing: low (how many hot spots do you want me to look at in Gabriel's store?), middle (oh, I remember that awful mime puzzle, I hope that's the low point), high (I love this dialogue and the theme!), middle (you want me to do what? Let me Google this), high (still love the dialogue), low (I hate the last two days, let's not even pretend to not follow a walkthrough).

It has been a very long time since I played the original, so I can't comment much on the differences of this remake. The bonus content is poorly implemented, the voice acting is surprisingly good and the tech is bad.

The Talos Principle: A fantastic puzzle game, but I did not care much about the philosophical stuff. It has been about a month and I already forgot most of it.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky: This game was a huge surprise hit for me. It has some problems: boring dungeons (at least they are mostly short) and the main plot is very slow (it practically only starts in chapter 4 of 5). But it still hits all my buttons: I love the writing (a good mix between serious and some humor; there is a lot of dialogue without the JRPG-typical babbling) and the combat. I'm not the biggest fan of round-based combat (I usually get bored or it's too complicated), but this game hits the perfect balance - it is fast and has, even with the low enemy variability, enough variety. Directly after finishing, I bought the successor and I am playing Trails in the Sky SC now.

Cavalary (11445) on 8/25/2018 5:19 PM · Permalink · Report

With the review for Disciples also out of the way, back to AoW: SM (though in truth I first poked at it again 2 days ago for a bit and wrote that yesterday, so that's not quite accurate). Last save was from December, but knew what I was trying to prevent from happening and managed it. Didn't really have a feel of my heroes though, and of how to use them properly to keep them alive despite the odds, so there were I think 3 reloads over the first few turns after losing some. But seem to be getting back into it now, so let's see about finishing that scenario, and then what's next.

If I'll also finish this by the end of the year, it'll be 5 games this year, if you also count that mobile one at first, so the typical target. Meaning I may even have a shot at more, depending on a lot of things. Now let's see.

vedder (70970) on 8/27/2018 11:53 AM · Permalink · Report

Playing Frostpunk. So far it's been amazing. It's very much a numbers optimising game like so many management/ construction games, but with the emotional layer on top of it it really feels like something new. The setting fits the mechanics perfectly as well.

I wonder if I'll be able to keep my people alive. I'm doing well with food and coal, but hope is fading. They almost disposed me, but I just barely managed to retain power.

The addition of exploration is nice as well, even though I wish it was more than just glorified timers.

vedder (70970) on 9/13/2018 9:17 PM · Permalink · Report

Playing Warhammer: Vermintide 2. Started with some friends during the free weeked and continued playing since. It's pretty much a carbon copy of Left 4 Dead 2 with a different setting. So nothing very original, but then again maybe after all this time that's exactly what we wanted?

Neither of us cares much for the loot/crafting system though. It feels completely irrelevant and the game would've been stronger without it so that completing increased difficulty levels actually reflect on player skill rather than an element of grinding XP, as it was in the original Left 4 Dead games.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 10/26/2018 7:51 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Wow, already two months since my lost post. I was not playing much specific, though.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd: Unfortunately this would could not hold my attention. I'm sure some of it can be attributed to playing all three consecutively, but I did not like the new format either. This game is more a dungeon crawler (and dungeons certainly are not the strength of the series) intersected with optional doors which lead to too long (almost) non-interactive cutscenes. I'm not writing this one off completely, but I need a long break.

Afterwards I did another round of trying out all unplayed games I gathered during the last years, but aside from a few RPG maker games I did not hate instantly there were no big surprises. I probably need to stop buying all Artifex Mundi bundles I see because both hidden object games I finished last week, Eventide: Slavic Fable and Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren's Call, were meh.

This week I started to play Thronebreakers and Uncharted 3 but I'm not far enough for any judgments.

In another display of my superior impulse control I ordered a PS4 plus some games (no, not RDR2). My system seller is Spider-Man.

vedder (70970) on 11/16/2018 9:28 AM · Permalink · Report

I skipped Mass Effect 3 when it came out, because I didn't have the time to play it and couuldn't find a good price. Finally bought it now only to realize it's apparently been 6 years since release! :O And I even managed to avoid the ending spoilers all these years apart from hearing how it apparently sucks.

The game shows its age. It feels clunky and past its prime. I found the whole linear intro bit pretty terrible, but after it opens up it becomes better. Although I hate story lines about "oh no they are going to destroy the earth/planet/star/universe", the whole gathering resources to fight the Reapers is a nice over arching goal.

Combat feels a bit clunky, the quality of conversations and cutscenes is mixed bag. The story is at times decent and at others cringe-worthily cheesy. The underlying themes are nice, but feel a little bit like a rehash from earlier titles in the series. But in the end it's all more than the sum of its parts and still addictive and entertaining. Probably won't rate it as high as Mass Effect 2.

Patrick Bregger (302548) on 12/16/2018 6:46 PM · Permalink · Report

I was sick for some time so I did not play much since my last post. The big one was Kingdom Hearts (PS4 version) which commits one of my worst gaming sins: being piss easy until the final boss and then raise the difficulty sky high. Sorry, game, you are too mediocre for me to grind levels and collect items - I just watched the ending on Youtube.

There are so many bad things about this game: awful camera, bad platforming, too much backtracking in some worlds, etc. However, I still enjoyed it because I like Disney characters and the visual world design was nice. I think I'll give the other games in the collection a try despite not finishing the first.

I also played Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry which is a classic point & click adventure. Its main feature is a lot of groanworthy jokes which was right up my alley. The puzzles were fine but had a bit too much mandatory backtracking for my taste.

Florence is a cool mobile game which shows a relationship.

Cavalary (11445) on 12/31/2018 9:37 PM · Permalink · Report

Oh yes, forgot to mention, on Dec 24 I finally finished Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. Started a bit after midnight on Feb 22 2017... Review written too since it had just 2 here, submitted yesterday.

Despite generally liking the added races, units and skills, and also thinking the item forges can be a good thing overall, though the cost and build time of anything decent made me ignore them after the novelty wore off, I do still prefer Wizard's Throne. Heroes were way stronger, much more suited to be played as an RPG with an added strategy element instead of the other way around, use of some abilities, like breath attacks, wasn't limited, healing ability could be targeted outside combat too, the story was just forgettable instead of making a joke of itself constantly during scenarios, literally, always trying desperately to be funny though that doesn't fit the setting at all, I could play it normally and whenever, not getting increasingly choppy, then sometimes start just existing, and eventually refuse to start at all the longer time passed since last reboot (big issue for a computer that's on 24/7 and only gets rebooted when truly necessary, usually just for the monthly Win updates), and armies didn't automatically surrender if they seemed to have no chance in a straight fight, ignoring what magic and tactics could do or a harrassment strategy, among others.
Remains all right, and the potential for large battles, the fact that heroes are units like any others, not needing to hide behind others nor being required for other units to be able to move, and even just the number of races and creatures and abilities, may still make it stand out. But, of course, bar a handful of races, units and abilities, all of the positive traits apply to Wizard's Throne as well, and that doesn't have these negative changes.