What are you playing right now?

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Rocket-fueled Wheelchair said:
the first game.
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The first RDR is great. It's a little less slow and emotional, and also a little less lolrandumb in its main story, but it's still a bit of a slow burn. The strangers in RDR1 are a little more lolrandumb at times.
The horseplay is IMO better in the first, and the horses in general look a lot better even when you compare the higher fidelity of the second game.
The gunslinging is more fun in 2 but you don't get to have as many awesome shoot outs as in the first. Heavy spoilers Man, the mexico missions are fucking BANGER. even when you compare the ending shoot out before Arthur's end.

Overall, RDR2 is a more polished, realistic stylised game with a heavier focus on setting up the story for RDR1, but there's a lot of little neat things you'll notice if you played the first game before RDR2, which is technically a prequel to RDR1 so it's kinda messy.
RDR2 is also a lot longer, sometimes too long and it doesn't always feel like it respects your time because it's too busy fellating itself over the writing. RDR2 is also a lot more "woke", personally I don't think it's annoyingly preachy-woke just because you can interact with suffragettes, but it does have a lot of needlessly girlboss characters and characters of race who don't seem to experience nearly as much heartbreak as the rest of the gang.

It HAS been a hot minute since I played RDR1 so I'm forgetting a lot, and I also don't want to spoil the great things I do remember. I highly encourage you to get it on console if you can, I've heard the PC port isn't very good. Alternatively, emulate it. If not for a more classic R* writing style, do it for the horse gameplay. You're allowed to be an outlaw gunslinger from the second you get free control of your character, the only thing you can't do is cross into Mexico.
I prefer RDR1 John Marston to RDR2 Marston, but my best boah will always be high honour Arthur.
 
Terra Invicta, made by the team who made the Long War mods for Xcom and published by Hooded Horse. Pure map game autism, surprisingly good writing for events and the fuck huge tech tree. Though the counselor mechanic makes it kindave a turn based game than pure 4x. I'm only about 1/6th through the long campaign, which is purportedly 100 hours long, and the number and management of stellar assets is becoming a real drag. Playing the Humanity First faction ofc, suffer not the xeno or the heretic to live.
 
Pale Empress said:
Just started Still Wakes the Deep, a survival horror in the vein of (old) Amnesia and Outlast, developed by The Chinese Room. It's an atypical setting, an oil rig off the coast of Scotland during the mid 70s.
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Honestly some of the better dialogue I've heard in a game in recent history. It's refreshing to have characters actually have reactions to stuff instead of just being mute the whole game. Plus the Scottish accents are funny to my American brain and it made me practice a Scottish accent to annoy my friends.
Rocket-fueled Wheelchair said:
Is this that Lovecraft-ian style horror game?
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Yes, plus it does it objectively correctly by not really explaining anything about "The Shape" or what it actually does to people besides turn them into thing monsters.

I've been replaying through the Dishonored games and I think the first game is probably my favorite. Honorable mention for DoTO because I honestly expected it to play like a DLC but I probably had more fun playing that one than I did playing Dishonored 2.
 
Mike and Eichs said:
Honorable mention for DoTO because I honestly expected it to play like a DLC but I probably had more fun playing that one than I did playing Dishonored 2.
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did they ruin the Outsider between the first game and the rest of the series? I've been hesitant to pick up the first title again and replay it, so I could go into 2 and DOTO, because I don't think I trust 2 to not fuck up Corvo.
 
PetiteFeet said:
did they ruin the Outsider between the first game and the rest of the series? I've been hesitant to pick up the first title again and replay it, so I could go into 2 and DOTO, because I don't think I trust 2 to not fuck up Corvo.
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He keeps some of his mystique in 2, and you can even deny his powers. Corvo actually gets a little better characterization in the second IMO because he gets voiced lines by Stephen Russel (AKA Garrett from Thief). He definitely gets shafted if you pick Emily to play as since the character you don't pick gets turned to stone for most of the game. DoTO makes the Outsider into a bit of a petulant child but it fits the games narrative TBH.

The main difference between the first game and the rest is the stealth gets harder to execute. I find myself fully assaulting levels in 2 and DoTO because I'm just too used to the first game's AI and I'm not going for perfect runs. Can't remember if 2 does, but DoTO has a "Custom" difficulty setting where you can pick specific things from each difficulty. Like having super alert guards while having more effective potions and more ammo laying around. Worth checking them out.
 
Mike and Eichs said:
DoTO makes the Outsider into a bit of a petulant child but it fits the games narrative TBH.
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NGL he was already a petulant child in the first game.
I can't decide if I like or hate the idea of Corvo having a voice. It gives him more personality and allows him to react to the world around him, but it also means some lazy writer can fuck up what little personality he had in the first game.
I'll put them on my To Play list, thanks friend.
 
I'm getting around to playing Federation Day on the pirated copy of Call of Duty Ghosts I have after work now, especially after the IRL version of events happened
 
I’ve started Horizon Zero Dawn. I wanted to try it because the HZD level in Astro Bot was really cool. The idea of humanity fucking up so bad that we had to go back to being primitive again, and fearing technology is very interesting. I’ve been waiting for it to go on sale so I got really excited when it did this weekend.
So far I don’t really like it. The dialogue is so wooden and odd. I’m not really sure I like where the story is going either but I’m not giving up on it just yet (mainly because I can’t refund it :'()
 
PetiteFeet said:
I'm sure if you give Steam a fib a la "my machine crashes at random and I can't find a fix for it" they might.
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Steam has great refund policies from what I’ve heard. You played for less than 2h and didn’t like it? No problem here’s your money. Sony: You downloaded the game onto your console? No takesies backsies!!

Jokes aside, they did let me refund a game that made me extremely motion sick and where you for some reason couldn’t disable head bobbing so I can’t be too mad at them.
 
Gravityqueen4life said:
People loved it back in the day but so far, its average.
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It's a weird middle ground between SD and HD. I played till I finished the Mexico arc, but it was solely to watch cutscenes - I felt RDR1's gameplay was bizarrely janky and arcadey, much more than the San Andreas/Vice City generation. Constantly took me out of it, made it hard to be invested, ultimately why I stopped playing.


On Topic:
Still working through the games for my next video, the Sequel Strike Quadrilogy (Soviet Strike, Nuclear Strike, Future Cop LAPD, and the SNES Battletech/Mechwarrior)

Soviet and Nuclear Strike are fucking ROUGH, althought I do enjoy the way they retconned the series story into being this retarded over-the-top "90s cool" edgy spy thriller version of Team America.

Unfortunately, both games run like absolute shit - 20fps at rest, down to 10fps or worse when anything happens on screen.
Gameplay is acceptable at best but often feels like complete bullshit. The variable-but-always-bad framerate makes controlling your chopper a nightmare. Auto Aim can be a fickle bitch, made worse by height variations. Hit detection sucks ass, and even fucks with you by making it appear your bullets/missiles are hitting when they aren't (tested by using save states and literally counting ordnance used).

There's an attempt at a dynamic music system that absolutely doesn't work and sounds like an ADHD mess. Soviet Strike especially feels like it needs about half a dozen muscle relaxants or some off-script Tramadol, because the entire game is fucking loud and annoying. Enemies, friendlies, and your advisors will all randomly shout voice lines, some of which will be cut off by checking your map, and some of which will launch into full screen FMVs by doing the same.

These games also have an addiction to FMVs with schizophrenic editing that can make them hard to watch:
The main menu has a separate tab for 3 collections of FMVs, explaining STRIKE's formation and members. Every mission has an FMV at the start, which is sorta expected, but then every single objective, enemy unit, resource, and even the INTEL section of the map with the what/why/how/where/who of your mission ALL HAVE DEDICATED FMVs you can play at any time by double-pressing square on the Map screen. FMVs will also interrupt gameplay without warning, or constantly pester you with onscreen notifications until you press START to watch them. Many of these fullscreen FMVs could have been substituted with small GIFs (which would still be a weird solution) since they are FMVs of the normal idle mapscreen with some dots on the map being in different places until the FMV ends.

Nuclear Strike has less of the ADHD schizo-edited FMVs interrupting gameplay, but it still has the other gameplay issues that make it unfun to play.

Also, these games are just fucking ugly. Ugly like they're an intentional parody of early PS1 games and their shitty textures and muddy colors and other fucked visual elements. Even THPS4's PS1 version doesn't look this shit.

I also ran into what I think is an Anti-Piracy measure with Soviet Strike until I got a rom with the additional data layer in it, which I'll mention in the vid.

Otherwise,
I'm about 30% through Future Cop LAPD. Its WAAAAAY fucking better than those last 2 Strike games. Control layout is mostly better, mostly more responsive, unlockable weapons for 3 weapon slots (light, heavy, special) and some-fucking-how I enjoy LAPD's linear level design more than Soviet/Nuclear's sandbox maps. Music is all really fucking good, sounds are distinct and punchy, and EXPLOSIONS ARE GREAT. So much shit explodes in balls of fire and artillery-style heavy weapons are really cathartic to use with their insanely high travel arcs and insane damage.

It even has actual boss fights at the end of levels. You wouldn't believe my surprise when the Cult of the Worm living in the LA River channels not only actually had giant freaky worms with frickin' laser beams on their frickin' heads, but the level ends with fighting an eldritch Worm deity and the leader of the Cult as a sacrifice dangles chained above the sacrificial pit!

Feels kind of unfair on the Battletech game, I dunno how the fuck that is gonna follow the act that is LAPD.
 
Rocket-fueled Wheelchair said:
I’ve started Horizon Zero Dawn. I wanted to try it because the HZD level in Astro Bot was really cool. The idea of humanity fucking up so bad that we had to go back to being primitive again, and fearing technology is very interesting. I’ve been waiting for it to go on sale so I got really excited when it did this weekend.
So far I don’t really like it. The dialogue is so wooden and odd. I’m not really sure I like where the story is going either but I’m not giving up on it just yet (mainly because I can’t refund it :'()
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It's not a bad game but yeah I don't know why the dialogue was delivered that way. Also I didn't like the combat, I always felt underpowered compared to the robots and other people no matter how much I levelled up. Which is probably the point but I feel like with an RPG you're supposed to eventually get to a point where the enemies are barely worth your notice, otherwise what's the point in levelling up. Could just be because I powered my way through the game to get to the ending.

Never bought the DLC or Forbidden West. Anyone here play them? How were they compared to the original?
 
Arthur Morgan said:
It's not a bad game but yeah I don't know why the dialogue was delivered that way. Also I didn't like the combat, I always felt underpowered compared to the robots and other people no matter how much I levelled up. Which is probably the point but I feel like with an RPG you're supposed to eventually get to a point where the enemies are barely worth your notice, otherwise what's the point in levelling up. Could just be because I powered my way through the game to get to the ending.
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The most powerful machines can drop some extremely nasty coils. I don't remember how each of the weapons worked well enough to adequately describe how to deal with the larger enemies (thunderjaw, stormbird, etc.) but it wasn't quite as straightforward as using the same three weapons for every situation.
It sucks because I think a lot of the machine design is really cool and the amount of work that went into them shows, but the game should have been an answer to monster hunter with tracking, prolonged fights that challenged the player's understanding of the game, and actually mechanically complex weapons instead of what we got.

Arthur Morgan said:
Never bought the DLC or Forbidden West. Anyone here play them? How were they compared to the original?
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Didn't play FW because I learned my lesson but I played the DLC. It's more of the same - in other words, not worth your time. If God forbid you're interested in the story, just read a synopsis or watch a lets play. The big machine in the dlc (fireclaw) is a massive sponge and nowhere near as well made as the thunderjaw.
 
Secret of the Mimic not bad for a FNAF game. Reminds me of Alien Isolation and a game I played on my PC recently Routine. I was expecting something way way worse because of how bad Security Breach was. It's a shame because I liked the style of the game.

I’ve started Horizon Zero Dawn. I wanted to try it because the HZD level in Astro Bot was really cool. The idea of humanity fucking up so bad that we had to go back to being primitive again, and fearing technology is very interesting. I’ve been waiting for it to go on sale so I got really excited when it did this weekend.
So far I don’t really like it. The dialogue is so wooden and odd. I’m not really sure I like where the story is going either but I’m not giving up on it just yet (mainly because I can’t refund it :'()
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The first one was good, the second one was woke trash. Nobody cares you're gay Aloy.
 
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Quijibo69 said:
Secret of the Mimic not bad for a FNAF game.
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It's not bad, except the Mimic AI is fucking stupid. Like, really stupid. I watched a streamer, who is infamous for breaking games in hilarious ways, have the mimic chase him around in the lobby where you need to enter the elevator and the area is like two rooms separated by a set of stairs with mascot suits everywhere. He threw a wind-up rat directly after the mimic clearly saw him, the "you've been spotted" stinger played and then the stupid thing ran after the rat noise.
In the same area, he was distracting the mimic as intended and somehow the thing still saw him after he had hidden in a locker, where it grabbed him through the locker and did its jumpscare animation.

The story is a lot more coherent and interesting than the early FNAF games (1-4) and it isn't hidden in minigames where you have to speculate about it. I like the gameplay compared to the originals where you only have to lock the doors and check the cameras, but it's become very by-the-book for mascot horror. It plays like Poppy Playtime, which isn't a bad thing and I felt more entertained by areas like the Big Top ticket guy because it wasn't constantly a chase sequence unlike Poppy Playtime.
I did really enjoy the recreation of FNAF 1 where you had to basically take over the role of the antagonist and make the system drain its power. It was a cute homage that felt very respectful to its roots.

My GOAT FNAF game is still Into the Pit. It feels very polished for a FNAF game and the story itself reminded me of good ol' Goosebumps, which I guess the FNAF books can be considered the 2010-2020's version of.

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I'm currently getting back into Darksiders. I purchased the four games during the steam winter sale and I have to say, Darksiders 1 still holds up.
Visually, it's still very gorgeous even when I compare it to playing it on my ps3 back when it originally released and playing it today on my PC. The cutscenes are still very beautiful considering the age of the game. The gameplay is a DMC combo based combat system that still feels good and the further you get into the game, the more weapons you get. The first time I played it I preferred the scythe with the standard sword, and the second time I played it a few years ago I preferred the gauntlet as my secondary weapon.
The combo system feels good and it stays relatively simple even when you add more weapons to your arsenal. In true DMC fashion you also get a gun, further enabling you to keep your combo going.
You are encouraged to juggle your enemies when possible, especially on Apocalypse difficulty if you play it in NG rather than NG+.

It's a mix of a metroidvania and a DMC spectacle action RPG, so you can do a lot of backtracking if you want to collect everything. There are points in the game where it actively encourages you to go back to the beginning to collect an upgraded armour set, as well as some legendary trinkets that upgrade your skills and weapon talents.
You're only forced to backtrack a tiny bit for the plot, but honestly the game as a whole feels worth backtracking through once you get to that point because you get your horse back, making backtracking suck less.

I am playing the Warmastered edition on PC rather than the original release, but honestly I can't tell much of a difference. It might be because my monitor isn't very big compared to the TV I used to play my consoles on.
A minor sour note, which isn't the game's fault but purely a skill issue on my part, is my 8bitdo controller still feels alien in my hands and I haven't gotten used the button mapping, my muscle memory from ps and xbox controllers rule my sad life.
 
Just finished Death Stranding 2. The plot managed to be less idiotic this time (not saying much). Gameplay felt way better aside from the BT bosses which are still too spongy and hard to see their wind up attack when you're zoomed in shooting a million bullets at them. Hopefully PHYSINT is a return to form for Kojima.
 
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