What game are you playing?

[Tweed]

2

[rusty_shackleford]

King's Field

2

[Tweed]

King's Field

2

King's Field II is a 1995 action role-playing game developed and published by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. It is the second entry in the King's Field series and the first one to be released internationally; it was released as simply King's Field as the previous game was never released outside Japan.

[rusty_shackleford]

2

King's Field II is a 1995 action role-playing game developed and published by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. It is the second entry in the King's Field series and the first one to be released internationally; it was released as simply King's Field as the previous game was never released outside Japan.

Right, but I'm playing the US version.

[Fitz]

Finished up with my Dota2 grind the other day, and have moved on to more single player games now. I've returned to my BG3 monk playthrough, which is progressing neatly, played some Deadfire too with a vanishing rogue as my main toon and a party of Eder, Aloth, Xoti and a rotating 5th member.

BG3 - my party is a monk, assassin, fighter and cleric.The idea here is that I have 2 highly mobile light armor units and 2 heavy armoured ones. I'm achieving a neat balance, tho I can also see how I'd benefit greatly from a spellcaster. Might multi class soon or make it so that my monk takes up all of the functions of the assassin (lock picking, downing archers and caster faster by ignoring the frontline).

Deadfire - it's been grand playing this from time to time. I'm hit by waves of relaxation and beauty every time I boot the game and spend more than a few hours with it. I wanted my main to be a rogue here that goes invisible, disengages and is able to run around the battlefield with minimum penalties and so far the game seems to allow me to do exactly that.

Haven't had that much time to spend on The Evil Within, but I'll get to it sooner or later.
Oh, also - I've played KCD for a few hours and thought it was a really great looking game. I really wish I had a better GPU for it. Especially, for the immersion/hardcore mode where you have to guide yourself using the stars and there are no quest markers. Still might end up playing it, but a system upgrade would def make my experience with the game much much better. Exploration in Deadfire and BG3 is fun, but getting lost in a forest with no markers or idea where you have to go to (other than the quest journal) sounds like a very next level gaming experience. Especially when you can play in first person camera.

I tried out KOTOR1 too. It's not bad, so far it's a cozy Star Wars adventure and I always try to fit one of those in my year. Be it a book, a game, or a tv series. Based on the gameplay I've seen so far it eludes me how people can call this a goated game, but maybe I'll change my mind once I start unweaving the plot a bit more.

[rusty_shackleford]

King's Field

It's hard to know what is an actual design choice vs publisher demand from this era, but I'm pretty sure the lack of any map(at least, at the start) was intended to sell strategy guides. An automap would have been great.

Also, the slowdowns are quite atrocious.

[rusty_shackleford]

Now you might argue that you should draw your own map, but I push back on this:
It's not grid-based
It's highly vertical with constant changing elevation

Mapping this by hand would suck

[aweigh]

just started Demon Tides, sequel to Demon Turf.

Demon Tides - Official Launch Trailer

[rusty_shackleford]

King's Field

It's hard to know what is an actual design choice vs publisher demand from this era, but I'm pretty sure the lack of any map(at least, at the start) was intended to sell strategy guides. An automap would have been great.

Also, the slowdowns are quite atrocious.

I can only play this for about an hour at a time before I lose interest. I keep going over the same areas that look nearly identical(there's maybe 3 wall textures total) trying to progress to a specific area that I can't remember how to get to.

automap with notes would have helped a lot

Yes, I know there's maps, but I only have one so far and tbh they're not all _that_ helpful. Inability to put notes means I frequently forget where anything is on them.

[mynameismortis]

I finished my Sith Warrior playthrough, got myself to level 55, and stopped for now. The story is nice and felt interesting, but the idea of a LS Sith just seems too far-fetched. Don't they sense the other Force users? Like there were jedi who felt my presence and commented about it. Also, here are a few photos of the zones I visited. The most interesting part of this journey was the expansive zones that were deserted from the players. Wondering if also to make republic run, is trooper a good story or should i just make jedi knight?

[Roguey]

It is pretty saddening to get further into TOR and notice the player count in your planet dropping.

[mynameismortis]

The first zone - Korriban was most populated , after that the Imperial Fleet which i presume is the capital hub of the players. Also found out that the second zone (Dromund Kaas) is major degen hub, there were furries talking about ERP in general and organising party in a cantina

[flecktarn]

Started a Silent Storm campaign. Found a mod that removes the Panzerkleins (heavily disliked them when I played it way back when), so giving it another go. The combat is very fun; in terms of environmental destructibility it is, I believe, unsurpassed in the tactical RPG genre.

[Roguey]

The first zone - Korriban was most populated , after that the Imperial Fleet which i presume is the capital hub of the players. Also found out that the second zone (Dromund Kaas) is major degen hub, there were furries talking about ERP in general and organising party in a cantina

I have no idea where to see other people talking, I just go through it in complete player-silence.

[Algol]

About to play Slay the Spire 2. I'm sure it will be ****.

[rusty_shackleford]

Also, the slowdowns are quite atrocious.

Overclocking the CPU to 200% seemed to fix (most) of it. I'm pretty sure the game limits itself to something like 20FPS(?) so it never runs faster than 'intended'.

[DecadeRiptide]

I'm really enjoying marathon. It's a beautiful game, great characters, engaging combat, really recommend it's good

[rusty_shackleford]

Ragequit king's field after I got hit by an arrow while in a minecart which causes you to leave the minecart and fall to your death (there's no active block so it's not like you can stop it, you just have to guess when to take the minecart and hope it doesn't sync up with the enemy's)

[Tweed]

Ragequit king's field after I got hit by an arrow while in a minecart which causes you to leave the minecart and fall to your death (there's no active block so it's not like you can stop it, you just have to guess when to take the minecart and hope it doesn't sync up with the enemy's)

Maybe cawwadooty is more your style, kid.

[rusty_shackleford]

Ragequit king's field after I got hit by an arrow while in a minecart which causes you to leave the minecart and fall to your death (there's no active block so it's not like you can stop it, you just have to guess when to take the minecart and hope it doesn't sync up with the enemy's)

Maybe cawwadooty is more your style, kid.

But you never beat King's Field

[Tweed]

Ragequit king's field after I got hit by an arrow while in a minecart which causes you to leave the minecart and fall to your death (there's no active block so it's not like you can stop it, you just have to guess when to take the minecart and hope it doesn't sync up with the enemy's)

Maybe cawwadooty is more your style, kid.

But you never beat King's Field

Yes I did.

[rusty_shackleford]

Maybe cawwadooty is more your style, kid.

But you never beat King's Field

Yes I did.

Then why don't you have a badge for it?

[Tweed]

But you never beat King's Field

Yes I did.

Then why don't you have a badge for it?

Because that's not a JAG game.

[rusty_shackleford]

Yes I did.

Then why don't you have a badge for it?

Because that's not a JAG game.

So you have no evidence of beating it, yet make claims anyways....

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Utawarerumono 5: Past and Present Rediscovered aka Monochrome Mobius 2

The game picks up right where the previous one left off. It is disappointing that in the four years since Monorhome Mobius released in 2022 that the 3D visuals have not been improved. Apparently Aquaplus only has a net worth of $5 million USD, and the Utawarerumono gacha game Lost Flag shut down recently, so I guess they can't afford to hire a lot of talented modellers and animators. Still, it is baffling how the Monochrome Mobius games are a visual downgrade from the ZAN spinoffs.

I do like how the upper body bust of the current party member will now display on the left side of the screen, similar to Fire Emblem where the portraits of characters will display.

► Screenshots

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Utawarerumono 5: Past and Present Rediscovered

The new Keshin forms are cool. You can still see the character, and they are framed by the cool rims of the monster surrounding him. I think I might prefer these to the kaiju forms. Too bad that the Keshin armor do not always appear as long as you are in Zeal mode. They only appear for a few seconds when you press the Keshin attack ability.

► Screenshots

Are you serious? You are delevelling us?!?! After all of the grinding on those giant turtles in the mines I had to do in the previous game!?!?

[wndrbr]

Playing through The Last of Us Part 2, nearing the end of the story.

It's a fascinating game. I've heard all those horror stories about how bad it is, but in reality it's somehow both so much worse and somewhat better.

The story is just something else. It has literally everything - lesbians, polyamory love triangles, inane dialogues about ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends, ****, synagogues, racemixing, caricature Mexican who watches shonen anime, eats burritos and says "pendejo" all the time, hamfisted attempts at manipulating your emotions, a literal 13 years old Chinese female-to-male transsexual armed with a bow who kills people left and right like the girl from Hunger Games, and black Netanyahoo who says "we have only one shot at it, we must gather all our resources and kill those freaks once and for all while we still can". Every hour the game just throws another goofy curveball at you, and it's kinda unexpected every single time - the roided out woman beating Joel to death at the beginning of the story is like one of the least weird things about TLOU2.

The main plot is also a very unsubtle 'Israel vs Palestine' allegory, with two factions (militaristic US government remnants vs a primitive religious cult) stuck in a unwinnable war to take over the ruins of Seattle. The IDF stand-in dehumanises the cultists and wages a total war on them, and they even have deserters suffering from ptsd who don't know what they are fighting for anymore. And their enemy, the Hamas stand-in, practices child marriages and kills gay people.

Also the game is super nihilistic and mean spirited. All of the characters are unlikeable hateful dickheads (especially the protagonists), the events that happen throughout the story are super dark and upsetting (you get to kill a pregnant woman in a cutscene, complete with a "mash a button to stab" QTE). This also applies to the gameplay presentation - all of the combat animations are so violent and realistic they make Manhunt feel like Mario Sunshine. And because this is a gay californian all-inclusive project, 50% of enemies are women. So you gut and dismember women, and they all gargle blood and cry for help and call their mommies while hugging their bloodied stumps and trying to put their intestines back into their bellies.

As for why I said it's 'better' than expected - I'm unironically enjoying the gameplay. There's not a lot of it in this "game" (like 20% of it is cutscenes, 30% - walking simulator segments, and only 50% is reserved for gameplay), but it's unironically good. The guns feel good and punchy, they are difficult to use but feel great and also always kill enemies in one shot if you hit them in a head (unless they are wearing helmets). You also have a lot of different tools at your disposal - from the standard postapoc stuff like pipebombs and molotovs, to mines, smoke bombs, alternate ammo types like incendiary shells or explosive arrows, to limited-times-use improsived suppressors made out of alluminium cans that break after a couple of shots.

The enemy AI is also very good - they don't just sit behind covers being easy targets like in the other pop-a-mole shooters - they communicate with each other like the replica soldiers from FEAR, they distract you, flank you, do pincer moves to attack you from both sides at the same time and deny you a way to escape, they search the area in a smart way if you manage to get caught and then re-stealth, they chuck pipebombs and molotovs to flush you out of the cover, etc etc, and the arena levels are designed in such way to accommodate for all these situations. The enemy roster is also pretty solid and covers most of the combat niches, and the designers mix and match these enemy types in different ways to keep the encounters fresh.

The movement is surprisingly good - I thought it was a typical modern sluggish movement like in the recent Resident Evil games, but after playing for a while I got used to it and now it feels very fluid and responsive. You can jump, duck and even go prone, have multiple speed modes depending on what type of enemy you're facing. The game also has one of the best implementations of inverse kinematics and animation blending that i've ever seen, with seamless transitions between the different states working for gameplay instead of just being there to look pretty (you can pick up items while moving and randomly change directions while sprinting, and the playable character actually does what you want her to do instead of waddling like a sack of potatoes).

Too bad all this stuff is used on a such a downer of a game. Somebody should free naughtydog gameplay designers from this prison and let them develop a normal gameplay-driven project instead of a jewish interactive movie.

[aweigh]

Playing through The Last of Us Part 2, nearing the end of the story.

It's a fascinating game. I've heard all those horror stories about how bad it is, but in reality it's somehow both so much worse and somewhat better.

The story is just something else. It has literally everything - lesbians, polyamory love triangles, inane dialogues about ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends, ****, synagogues, racemixing, caricature Mexican who watches shonen anime, eats burritos and says "pendejo" all the time, hamfisted attempts at manipulating your emotions, a literal 13 years old Chinese female-to-male transsexual armed with a bow who kills people left and right like the girl from Hunger Games, and black Netanyahoo who says "we have only one shot at it, we must gather all our resources and kill those freaks once and for all while we still can". Every hour the game just throws another goofy curveball at you, and it's kinda unexpected every single time - the roided out woman beating Joel to death at the beginning of the story is like one of the least weird things about TLOU2.

The main plot is also a very unsubtle 'Israel vs Palestine' allegory, with two factions (militaristic US government remnants vs a primitive religious cult) stuck in a unwinnable war to take over the ruins of Seattle. The IDF stand-in dehumanises the cultists and wages a total war on them, and they even have deserters suffering from ptsd who don't know what they are fighting for anymore. And their enemy, the Hamas stand-in, practices child marriages and kills gay people.

Also the game is super nihilistic and mean spirited. All of the characters are unlikeable hateful dickheads (especially the protagonists), the events that happen throughout the story are super dark and upsetting (you get to kill a pregnant woman in a cutscene, complete with a "mash a button to stab" QTE). This also applies to the gameplay presentation - all of the combat animations are so violent and realistic they make Manhunt feel like Mario Sunshine. And because this is a gay californian all-inclusive project, 50% of enemies are women. So you gut and dismember women, and they all gargle blood and cry for help and call their mommies while hugging their bloodied stumps and trying to put their intestines back into their bellies.

As for why I said it's 'better' than expected - I'm unironically enjoying the gameplay. There's not a lot of it in this "game" (like 20% of it is cutscenes, 30% - walking simulator segments, and only 50% is reserved for gameplay), but it's unironically good. The guns feel good and punchy, they are difficult to use but feel great and also always kill enemies in one shot if you hit them in a head (unless they are wearing helmets). You also have a lot of different tools at your disposal - from the standard postapoc stuff like pipebombs and molotovs, to mines, smoke bombs, alternate ammo types like incendiary shells or explosive arrows, to limited-times-use improsived suppressors made out of alluminium cans that break after a couple of shots.

The enemy AI is also very good - they don't just sit behind covers being easy targets like in the other pop-a-mole shooters - they communicate with each other like the replica soldiers from FEAR, they distract you, flank you, do pincer moves to attack you from both sides at the same time and deny you a way to escape, they search the area in a smart way if you manage to get caught and then re-stealth, they chuck pipebombs and molotovs to flush you out of the cover, etc etc, and the arena levels are designed in such way to accommodate for all these situations. The enemy roster is also pretty solid and covers most of the combat niches, and the designers mix and match these enemy types in different ways to keep the encounters fresh.

The movement is surprisingly good - I thought it was a typical modern sluggish movement like in the recent Resident Evil games, but after playing for a while I got used to it and now it feels very fluid and responsive. You can jump, duck and even go prone, have multiple speed modes depending on what type of enemy you're facing. The game also has one of the best implementations of inverse kinematics and animation blending that i've ever seen, with seamless transitions between the different states working for gameplay instead of just being there to look pretty (you can pick up items while moving and randomly change directions while sprinting, and the playable character actually does what you want her to do instead of waddling like a sack of potatoes).

Too bad all this stuff is used on a such a downer of a game. Somebody should free naughtydog gameplay designers from this prison and let them develop a normal gameplay-driven project instead of a jewish interactive movie.

dunno if you have or not, but Uncharted 4 on PC is a fun ride with fun shooting. The DLC missteps and ratchets up the woke stuff, but still fun to play.

[wndrbr]

@aweigh I didn't want to play it because it's the fourth installment in a series. I think Sony should've ported the 1-2-3 collection instead of Uncharted 4.

[rusty_shackleford]

@aweigh I didn't want to play it because it's the fourth installment in a series. I think Sony should've ported the 1-2-3 collection instead of Uncharted 4.

FWIW, I had no issue doing PS3 emulation recently if you wanted to play those first.