What game are you playing?

[Vergil]

Playing Ghost Recon: Breakpoint with some friends has put me in the mood for Splintercel so I'm replaying Double Agent after years. Used to be a big favorite of mine on the 360 back in the day. I miss when these games fulfilled a "ghost" stealth style niche before becoming mark and execute press one button to win hell that ultimately killed the series and relegated Sam Fisher to a cameo character in other Ubislop games.

Breakpoint was such a disappointing sequel for me. I miss sniping vatos and calling in hordes of rebels to get mowed down on the other side of the base while I sneak in.

I really wish you could just lift the customization and some of the improved gameplay elements from Breakpoint and drop them into Wildlands. Wildlands had a far, far better setting with a much more living open world. Breakpoint is a boring sterile generic island with awful drone enemies that aren't cool looking or fun to fight. Apparently Bolivia chimped out about being portrayed as a failed state (to the point of protesting outside the French embassy, very funny considering like a year later the country had a massive government crisis where the President fled to Mexico ) that Ubisoft is sticking to fictional settings now. The next setting is rumored to be based on central asian countries like Mongolia or Kazakhstan which could be interesting but I'm afraid it's going to be the 999th ex cold war Russian style enemies.

[Oyster Sauce]

Playing Ghost Recon: Breakpoint with some friends has put me in the mood for Splintercel so I'm replaying Double Agent after years. Used to be a big favorite of mine on the 360 back in the day. I miss when these games fulfilled a "ghost" stealth style niche before becoming mark and execute press one button to win hell that ultimately killed the series and relegated Sam Fisher to a cameo character in other Ubislop games.

Breakpoint was such a disappointing sequel for me. I miss sniping vatos and calling in hordes of rebels to get mowed down on the other side of the base while I sneak in.

I really wish you could just lift the customization and some of the improved gameplay elements from Breakpoint and drop them into Wildlands. Wildlands had a far, far better setting with a much more living open world. Breakpoint is a boring sterile generic island with awful drone enemies that aren't cool looking or fun to fight. Apparently Bolivia chimped out about being portrayed as a failed state (to the point of protesting outside the French embassy, very funny considering like a year later the country had a massive government crisis where the President fled to Mexico ) that Ubisoft is sticking to fictional settings now. The next setting is rumored to be based on central asian countries like Mongolia or Kazakhstan which could be interesting but I'm afraid it's going to be the 999th ex cold war Russian style enemies.

Is a new game confirmed? I remember Breakpoint getting some well deserved negative reviews when it came out. Although, they very surprisingly did the right thing and fixed a lot with updates.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Granblue Fantasy Relink

I have beaten all of the Proud mode quests. Seems that's it until the new superboss is patched in.

If I had a complaint, it's that the postgame bosses are rather unimaginative. You get to fight the cool story bosses a couple of more times but otherwise you're mostly fighting generic enemies: more goblins riding wolves, more giant skeletons, more golems, more crocodiles, and more dragons, etc. The penultimate boss was the only thing new that I hadn't fought before. It's a shame, because the gacha has a wealth of fantastical monster designs but they're unused here.

[Pay Station]

I only played Granblue Versus (the fighting game) for about 10 hours. I was very impressed by the art and character design; the characters look nice, unique, and coherent. Then I played the Relink demo, but the gameplay did not hook me. (I like old God of War, Metal Gear Rising, Monster Hunter... generic action game stuff.) The demo's combat did not excite me, and I do not like action games where you control multiple characters at the same time.

[Cedric]

Digimon Survive
Subahibi
Totono
DotAge
sweet pool
Umineko

[Watser]

Finished STASIS: Bone Totem. Let this be a cautionary tale for the future of Britain and its citizens.

[Element]

Finished STASIS: Bone Totem. Let this be a cautionary tale for the future of Britain and its citizens.

Worth playing?

[Nammu Archag]

Still working on ATOM RPG. I can't tell if I'm just bad or what but the game is also kinda grindy right now and there's not many jobs to do anymore so I'm stuck just robbing bandits and selling their shit for a while. Companions are also worthless. Otherwise great game so far.

[Tweed]

Finished Dude Sex, low tech is a horrible way to play, get shot in the face too much.

Might just keep playing imsims for now, maybe Bioshit next or something.

[KnightoftheWind]

An update for my take on Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Although impressions were initially very positive, I didn't think the game would drag on for this long. The gameplay, although fast paced and pretty fun, does not have enough staying power to carry an RPG for dozens of hours. The previous Ys games I've played didn't take nearly as long, and I figured Ys VIII would be similar, but it definitely isn't. I checked and apparently I am only at the halfway point, despite playing for quite a while. I can also say that the game eventually degenerates into spamming your most powerful skills every chance you get, and the rock-paper-scissors party system wears out it's welcome. Some enemies can only really be harmed by certain party members, so you'll be switching almost constantly to maximise your damage output. The sense of progression is also missing, in that you never truly feel powerful. You are never really given a reason to explore previous areas, which means most of the enemies you'll be fighting are always scaled to your approximate level. It has that vanilla Oblivion-like effect in a way, which puts a serious damper on the whole thing.

The storyline also stalls quite heavily, and I have lost any interest in seeing how it ends. At this point I've chosen to put the game down. It's unlikely I'll ever pick it back up because I've seen everything there is to see from a gameplay perspective. The first half is still a 7 or an 8/10 for me, but as a whole, I'm downgrading it to a 5/10. Strictly average, given the sheer length and lack of production values to carry it. Had they cut the fat, this would've been a much better game.

[aweigh]

finished Like A Dragon 8: Infinite Wealth. had a great time with it, ended up with 70 hours clocked.

next up i've decided I will play through the "definitive edition" of Dragon Quest 11, as I only ever played/finished the original release for that game, and the extra content for the DE is excuse enough to finally play it a 2nd time.

already downloaded and installed the Project Rebuild mods that restore the fidelity of the assets for the DE, and in some ways it looks even better now than the original release.

[BobT]

Interesting, I have the ys games and will get round to playing them at some point. Got them super cheap so thought they'd be shit.

Also @maidenhaver Did you manage to get Panzer Dragoon Saga working, mate? Give me a shout if you're struggling.

[KnightoftheWind]

I can recommend Ys Origin (as the male character at least), and I have heard good things about The Oath in Felghana and Ark of Naphistim. I might try one of those at a later date. Those three in particular are considered the best ones in the series (apparently). Ys IX is apparently very similar to VIII, so I know I'll be skipping that one.

[BobT]

I can recommend Ys Origin (as the male character at least), and I have heard good things about The Oath in Felghana and Ark of Naphistim. I might try one of those at a later date. Those three in particular are considered the best ones in the series (apparently). Ys IX is apparently very similar to VIII, so I know I'll be skipping that one.

Cheers. I have these:


And these on wishlist:
Ys Seven
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
Ys: Memories of Celceta

[Rand]

Finished Geneforge 1 yesterday. Playing Geneforge 2 today.

I'll probably play Mutagen after Vogel releases the second game. 1 and 2 were the very best and Vogel's best work.

I still say Exile III was his best game. Exile II was also excellent (especially the Avernum 2 remake of it). Exile was good, but basic and a bit disjointed.
Geneforge was pretty good, but I was not impressed with Geneforge 2 being Geneforge, but start all over again in a less interesting area.
That's not to say Geneforge 2 is a bad game. It's as good as the first, because it basically is the first again except the location is less interesting than exploring a lost island of mystery.

[Rand]

During sleepless nights I play a variety of games to pass the time, this one is one I would recommend for mindless carnage and shooting.


The soundtrack is also something I truly love


Main Menu Soundtrack

► Show Spoiler

There are destructible objects, increasingly huge hordes to maul, big guns, upgrades, scripted events and "goddamnit!" situations Alien movies style, detonations, secret destructible walls with upgrades and equipment stashed in, and no dialogue. There is a story in the form of written text, but aside from the character's screams when he (or she, as one can choose a female player as well) dies, there is only gameplay.

I remember hacking the release from the original early 2000s publisher that I got on a demo disk, allowing me to play the full game. It was pretty fun.

[Rand]

I think I'm gonna give Deus Ex Human Revolution another go.
I never finished it. I got sidetracked at the end of the first mission when I felt cheated out of XP by not playing the way the devs want you to by rewarding the maximum for only one playstyle.
That is, a highly degenerate playstyle involving cheesing maximum XP by hand-to-hand slamming two enemies' heads together every possible chance you can manipulate the game into allowing you to set up the move.

So I'm going to use the mod that gives you the same XP no matter how you play.

https://www.nexusmods.com/deusexhumanrevolution/mods/9
(Disclosure: I helped this guy a (very little) bit with an earlier version of the mod)

[Vergil]

I think I'm gonna give Deus Ex Human Revolution another go.
I never finished it. I got sidetracked at the end of the first mission when I felt cheated out of XP by not playing the way the devs want you to by rewarding the maximum for only one playstyle.
That is, a highly degenerate playstyle involving cheesing maximum XP by hand-to-hand slamming two enemies' heads together every possible chance you can manipulate the game into allowing you to.

So I'm going to use the mod that gives you the same XP no matter how you play.

https://www.nexusmods.com/deusexhumanrevolution/mods/9
(Disclosure: I helped this guy a (very little) bit with an earlier version of the mod)

I should try this mod because I always get burnt out with HR because I will play RPGs in a very degenerate way to maximize XP gain because if I don't I feel like I'm missing out and doing things wrong.

[maidenhaver]

Interesting, I have the ys games and will get round to playing them at some point. Got them super cheap so thought they'd be shit.

Also @maidenhaver Did you manage to get Panzer Dragoon Saga working, mate? Give me a shout if you're struggling.

No.

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According to emudeck, my Saturn bios are good, so maybe I'm missing a step mounting the disks?

[BobT]

I think I'm gonna give Deus Ex Human Revolution another go.
I never finished it. I got sidetracked at the end of the first mission when I felt cheated out of XP by not playing the way the devs want you to by rewarding the maximum for only one playstyle.
That is, a highly degenerate playstyle involving cheesing maximum XP by hand-to-hand slamming two enemies' heads together every possible chance you can manipulate the game into allowing you to.

So I'm going to use the mod that gives you the same XP no matter how you play.

https://www.nexusmods.com/deusexhumanrevolution/mods/9
(Disclosure: I helped this guy a (very little) bit with an earlier version of the mod)

I should try this mod because I always get burnt out with HR because I will play RPGs in a very degenerate way to maximize XP gain because if I don't I feel like I'm missing out and doing things wrong.

I remember getting annoyed at that, too.
Sure I generally play sneaky / non lethal, but sometimes you just gotta impale some gangsta fags or blow their heads off. Why should I get less XP for that considering that's actually the "harder" playstyle? (Due to noise).

I'm getting irritated with this "play the way the dev wants you to" with Doom Eternal, too. On one hand it's a big love letter to Doom, but on the other its just Simon Says, which is not what Doom was about. Give me guns and ammo and just fuck off, and let me decide how I want to use them.

Interesting, I have the ys games and will get round to playing them at some point. Got them super cheap so thought they'd be shit.

Also @maidenhaver Did you manage to get Panzer Dragoon Saga working, mate? Give me a shout if you're struggling.

No.

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According to emudeck, my Saturn bios are good, so maybe I'm missing a step mounting the disks?

I can't remember what discs I used as I got them years ago. I'll try some new ones later and let you know what works. Make sure you're using the emu version I mentioned in the PM.

[Kalarion]

I still say Exile III was his best game.

Best poster on the site, I take back everything I've ever sai-

Exile II was also excellent (especially the Avernum 2 remake of it).

Burn in hell.

[Rand]

Exile II was also excellent (especially the Avernum 2 remake of it).

Burn in hell.

I thought the expedition to the Vahnatai lands after spending the first act skirmishing with the Empire was cool, and an interesting change of gameplay. So I can't imagine what your issue is with Exile II.
If it's for the Avernum 2 remake, Well it's better in most ways graphically and gameplay. It also fixes a couple of things that were not so great in the original. Combat is way better, and a lot of status stuff, such as poison, is much improved.
But I didn't like the 4 character party instead of 6, and the more limited spells, so there's that.

[rusty_shackleford]

I've never been able to get into Vogel's games. Especially his later ones that are clearly just him doing it for the money with zero passion left.

[Rand]

I've never been able to get into Vogel's games. Especially his later ones that are clearly just him doing it for the money with zero passion left.

I would say his passions changed. And dimmed somewhat with age and the market leaving him behind, true.
He became more interested in alternative game mechanics and programming than storytelling. And so the stories suffered.
But that's all authors. Few get better with age. I can think of zero that got better after middle age.

I would have preferred he perfected the Exile gameplay by adding in Avernum improvements.
I was less fond of the real time with pause of Geneforge, tbh.
And some of his newer mechanics are not to my taste, either.

[Rand]

I should try this mod because I always get burnt out with HR because I will play RPGs in a very degenerate way to maximize XP gain because if I don't I feel like I'm missing out and doing things wrong.

@Vergil @BobT
The mod makes one controversial change (that I immediately reverted).
At the beginning of the second mission where you have to get to the chopper, you have 209 seconds to get on it or the hostages die.
Why 209? Modder didn't quite understand floating point values in hexcode, despite my posts on how it worked. Should have used 00 00 F0 42 for 120 seconds and 00 00 70 42 for 60 seconds, giving a full 2 minutes.

If you wish to fix it yourself, I can provide the fixed file and the process to make a new mod file.
I would have some difficulty providing the 621MB mod file directly.

[Kalarion]

I thought the expedition to the Vahnatai lands after spending the first act skirmishing with the Empire was cool, and an interesting change of gameplay.

Agreed. I adore Exile II.

If it's for the Avernum 2 remake, Well it's better in most ways graphically and gameplay.

Heavily disagree. I suppose an argument could be made for the original non-Mac graphics (as the first two Exiles were developed back when Vogel was still militantly favoring Mac as his platform of choice), but not once they were given parity with Mac, starting with Exile III (and back-ported to non-Mac Exile I and II, I might add).

In every way - art direction, fidelity, aesthetics, clarity - the Exiles blow the Avernums out of the water. Changing from top-down to isometric at the drop of a hat was a huge mistake as well. It made things like navigating and reading the automap much more of a pain. Switching view like that can be done, and done well, don't get me wrong. But Jeff didn't.

I mean, do you honestly think this:


Looks better than this?


As to gameplay? Total number of spells reduced, 4 man party from 6 man, itemization genericized and simplified, game economy turned to shit, the game's flagship spells (Capture Soul and Simulacrum) heavily nerfed... none of that was a positive change.

Combat is way better, and a lot of status stuff, such as poison, is much improved.

Combat way better? From a top-down grid to an eyesore isometric grid that makes positioning and targeting harder is better?! Status stuff was not improved overall, although I agree poison was far more relevant, in the early game, than in Exile II. By late game Avernum's poison is dogshit and acid is mediocre due to sky-high scaling resistances, while Exile II is still useful, with Major Blessing's heavy envenoming of all party weapons and Killer Poison.

Other statuses in Avernum are absolute dogshit compared to Exile II. No nausea, stun is weak, no curse...

I'm not buying any of your arguments so far.

[rusty_shackleford]

I mean, do you honestly think this:


Looks better than this?

yes

also looks significantly better with the mod to make it look like it's actually underground

[aweigh]

[Vergil]

I have a new theory on the George Floyd case...

[Rand]

I mean, do you honestly think this:


Looks better than this?

Wrong Avernum 2 remake. I don't really like the second remake. I prefer the first one.

Where there's nothing wrong with the items available (and archery is improved actually) and capture soul/simulacrum is almost identical to the original.
Poison is still powerful in that version as well.