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What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
Disco Elysium
Simply incredible. I heard it was good, but I didn't expect it to be this good. Beautiful graphics. Well-written. Great voice acting. Great characters with so much personality. It strikes a wonderful balance between serious seriousness and plain zaniness. It's basically Bojack Horseman as a detective video game.
My main complaint about it already is a common one: the game world is tiny. While it's packed with meticulous detail, you don't really feel like you're a detective in a major city. The smallness of the game world left me feeling claustrophobic. Instead of feeling like I was in a world of endless possibilities, I felt confined.
One of my favourite games of all time. It created a devilishly addictive and deep world. I just wish I didn't binge it so hard! I played before the voice acting and am just waiting out until I can forget the game enough to play again.
I've been waiting all week for this:
Against the Storm
This is the best game I've played in several years. If the notion of a "roguelite city-builder" is even somewhat palatable to you, this game is a revelation. The premise - greatly simplified - begins with something you'd see in a city builder: there is a "reputation bar" that wins the scenario that increases when you fulfill certain conditions like keeping your citizens happy and well-fed. Working against that is a "timing pressure" element in the form of a far-off Monarch's "impatience" and if that bar fills up first, you lose. And you have all the basic resources you'd probably expect to see in a game of that type: clay for making pottery, leather to make cloth, metal to mine and smelt into bars... To then be crafted into tools. But here's where it gets super clever: you won't get to use them all. In place of a "tech tree" you get mechanics similar to what you'd see in a roguelite like Hades or FTL: but instead of weapons you choose blueprints for what buildings you get to build. If you end up trying to produce ale, for example, you'll need to look at the "recipe" (which is another delightful system where a lot of the fun options present themselves) and try to pick the blueprints that produce the ingredients... And then hope you get a building that serves ale (and you hopefully have Beaver People and Humans in your city who both drink ale). But if you're doing all that you probably had to pass up buildings for other things you might want like a Clothier to make cloaks or a brickyard so you'll have to either figure out another way to get those things or do without.
Even for recipes you "have" in one building already, you might get tempted later to choose a building that makes that same thing more efficiently: you could keep baking bricks in your bakery for 10 clay each, but there's a kiln that makes them for 2 clay each. No two runs will have the same buildings, and even if they did the best choices for one map might be terrible on another.
Every choice manages to feel interesting without feeling forced. The balance and execution are incredible, which is all the more impressive because it's in "early release" but it feels incredibly polished.
2016's Doom.
I tried... three times to get into it before this latest time? I've now put it on the easiest difficulty and it's a cathartic, silly blast. It feels like an exaggeration of what a conservative parent would think their kids are playing; just hyper-violent, heavy metal, gravely-voiced shooting of everything. Solving all problems with violence. I also appreciate that you can just play in small chunks and it goes by pretty fast. I don't think I'll go back for completion, but it's just what I needed for now. Mindless entertainment. Just wanted some space horror before Callisto Protocol.
Also pairs very well with Hue light sync and I especially enjoy its Razer sync. I'm a sucker for light shows.
God of War Ragnarok when I can, but honestly Marvel Snap has owned my life right lately.
Ragnarok has been great. They really iterated and refined on the combat in a lot of subtle ways. Everything feels smoother and less clunky but in ways where you don't even realize much is wrong. I've been playing Elden Ring so long my muscle memory still tries to dodge on the wrong button, but other than that the combat system feels really good. Just challenging enough without feeling button mashy. In the 2018 game I felt like some of the enemies just soaked too much damage and I felt like I was mashing a lot.
Marvel Snap, though, is a great F2P game. I burned out on MTG Arena because WOTC has really started to feel like they've transitioned into looting my pocket in ways I find manipulative. But this game almost actively doesn't want your money. It's really just a way to speed up progression, but the pool system makes sure you can play without missing much except 1 special card a month.
I've been playing "what's wrong with this PC" first on my son's computer and then on mine. As a game, it's lousy, frustrating, and expensive. I don't recommend it. I haven't finished the game on either PC yet.
I have been trying to entice my family into playing a board game that is not Catan, with very little success, though we did play some Wavelength and some Coup this past weekend, since Catan thankfully isn't good with more than 4 players.
I've been playing with Simon Tatham's Puzzles (Android) which are, generally, quite nice to work through. If you like little puzzle games, I definitely recommend checking it out, and there are no ads or anything.
If you need any help trying to figure out what's wrong the PCs, feel free to make a post about it. There are quite a few IT and tech support people here on Tildes (myself included).
Thanks! I have actually figured out what's wrong with my son's computer - the motherboard is borked (it had a good run, and probably got unkindly jostled during our move in the summer). I had to make the call whether I wanted to pick up a new motherboard that worked with his processor, a relatively old Ryzen, or buy a processor that worked with an extra motherboard that I had kicking around. I ended up getting a new processor (he's getting a middle-of-the-road current gen i7) and I picked up a new case because I found a good sale, but the rest was saved by the big box o' computer stuff.
My own PC has been harder to diagnose. It's freezing and not recording any crash event in the log. I've tested all the components individually and have ruled a lot of things out. I'm pretty sure it's not the motherboard, memory, ssds or hdds, or processor. It could be a power problem - since I'm swapping parts around in another PC, I might take the power supply out of my son's - I left him with my nice 1000W PSU - and give him my 800W PSU. It's also possible that the pump isn't functioning properly, but the temperature on crash seems really low (45 - 55C). Another thing that I'm considering is just straight-up driver problems, and also there might be some issues with where the boot manager is, because of some lazy (bad) decisions when changing the SSD that had windows on it back in the summer. There are two SSDs - a samsung 860 and a 970 - and I originally had the OS on the 860 (and the 970 was in a box). Then I installed the 970, moved the OS, and neglected to move the boot manager because I'm lazy / stupid.
So the plan right now is:
But... I'm in no particular rush to get my own computer done. I definitely want to get my son's computer working, because he has been a very patient boy, and his sister has been a very gracious girl and let him use her computer, but they've started butting heads after school about who gets to use the computer. I guess I'm somewhat interested in the next WoW expansion, so I'll try to get things working before then.
Ah, okay. Still a PITA, no doubt, but it sounds like you know what you're doing and have solving the issue well underway already. Good luck! But if you get stuck, don't hesitate to reach out. :)
It's a trick, I just write and speak confidently. ;)
Heh. Well you're doing all the right things in roughly the same order that I also probably would have to try to diagnose the issue. I would consider swapping out the some of the suspected hardware before all that reformatting work though, just to quickly eliminate some of the variables... starting with the power supply (if you have a known good spare one lying around) since IME that's often the cause of hard to diagnose crashes not involving overheating.
I think figuring out the PSU is next on my list. I've tested both of them and they both appear to work by any test I have done, but it just makes sense to have the bigger PSU in the machine that draws a lot more power. I did test a bunch of hardware.
I want to finish working on my son's machine first though. He's been a very patient boy.
I finally got Animal Crossing's DLC recently, and I've been really enjoying it. I didn't quite realize from the base game, but I really like the gameplay loop of having a concrete theme and making a house design. My favorites so far have been making a "Restroom Refuge" for Lionel, and a sci-fi ship's bridge for Cephalobot (a super cute robot octopus).
Still playing Guild Wars 2. Still haven't paid ($) for any additional content or unlocks yet. Still enjoying it.
My character's armor is better now, and I can roam in and survive certain high level areas that I couldn't before. I've also tried some PvP (technically, so-called "WvW", World versus World), and I'm able to at least avoid getting stomped too quickly now. Also some co-op PvE ("Fractals"). The progression system has become more grindy, but not in a really bad way, so far. Using the in-game marketplace system has helped save me some farming time.
Honestly, I would pay for some DLC at this point, but the current prices (30 USD) are beyond what I think they're worth to me. Despite being a 10-year-old game, it was only recently released on Steam a few months ago, so I guess not enough time has gone by for them to consider putting a sale on the DLCs in Steam. I'm waiting for that.
In fairness, it's laudable for any game to be running for this long and still have an active playerbase, and still be fun to play and not feel or look really dated.
Satisfactory
Wow! I am not a factory game person; I am easily discouraged by gameplay that boils down to "craft items to unlock other craftable items." But this game has looks and mechanics that overcome that feeling. It's still early access but seems to have massive potential. It feels like a (less developed) Subnautica or Astroneer but with more optimizable (yet rigid) progression trees. I think most people will easily get 20 hours of fun from this game, and lots will get more. In addition, they were the headline title for the Humble Ukraine relief bundle, which makes me very happy to support the devs.
They're also a favourite of let's game it out if you are so inclined.
Have you played Factorio and how does it compare?
I've played a fair amount of both (65 hours of Satisfactory and 670 hours of Factorio according to Steam). I think they're both fun in their unique ways.
Satisfactory is definitely the lighter of the two: the production chains are simpler, space is pretty much never a constraint (as you can always just build higher), and there's no persistent threat like the biters. Though it is still strategically interesting, and while simpler there's definitely plenty of thinking required to get stuff done. Is also looks really good, from the environment to machine animations.
Factorio is definitely more complex, especially if you want it to be. The precise 2D grid allows you some very calculated use of space that Satisfactory's freeform-ish system doesn't support as well (I literally spent 2 hours yesterday just designing a new of type of railway intersection). It also supports creating blueprints and has construction robots that can build them for you, which on top of being amazingly well optimised allows for the creation of ridiculously big factories.
I haven't played around with Satisfactory's mods; I know that a few do exist, but seem anywhere near the scope of Factorio's Krastorio, Seablock or Space Exploration, which can completely reshape the game and provide hundreds of hours of more content.
Overall I do like the strategic complexities of Factorio (and modded Factorio) more, as evident my my hour count, but I certainly enjoyed my time with Satisfactory too.
Fair question! I haven't. It's one of few on my isthereanydeal list but I haven't bought it on sale because sometimes factory games don't click. Best I can compare it to are management games like Tropico, Frostpunk, or tycoon-like titles. Feels like it scratches that itch but with a new take.
factorio will never be on sale. at least that was comunicated by the devs multiple times a couple of years ago.
Factorio has probably the best game dev culture I've ever seen. They go very slowly with a focus on code quality and documentation. The game is virtually bug-free — I don't recall the game ever crashing on me in my hundreds of hours of gameplay — and extremely performant and optimized to the gills.
It's no wonder why they don't put Factorio on sale: they're not here to make a quick buck and move on to pillage the next game concept, they're here to make a timeless game that'll hold up for 5, 10, 50 years.
yes they talked about in some FFFs i think, but i can bot find it atm. i recall that they argued more about threating fair of their customers, especially their EA - base. as they should not be punished for buying the game early as well as making some business sence.
obviously their immense success alowed them to make some brave/uncommon decisions
In FFF #140 they mention why:
I’m honestly cycling between a number of games lately. The most recent addition to that list is Valkyria Chronicles 4.
I learned a long time ago that any game that breaks itself into pieces and frequently offers chances to manually save it discourages me from playing it in long streaks. So even though I have owned this game for a while I haven’t actually finished it. I bought it originally for PS4 and a while back I got a “free” copy for PC thanks to being part of a bundle. And now I am finding it is perfect for the pick-up-and-go nature of the Steam Deck.
There used to be a puzzle game called Alcazar. The developer stopped having enough time to maintain it, and it just died over time.
Someone on itch made a generator for the puzzles and recreated the look and feel quite well. https://rndmcnlly.itch.io/alcazar-hack
So I've been playing that a lot.
I had to reinstall Windows and lamented the loss of my saves from Skyrim and Fallout (my Mod Organizer profiles were lost). I took the opportunity to rebuild Skyrim, which I'm playing in duplicate.
First: Skyrim LE with Requiem. Somebody here mentioned it to somebody else recently and I was curious, plus it's still updated for LE, so I set it up. I'll mod LE as it wont change soon, and I don't want for much beyond SkyUI anyway.
Requiem doesn't feel artificially hard, like tweaking damage ratios, and from the beginning to Whiterun it was definitely different, especially since I wanted a heavy armor sword and board Nord for that run, getting that initial Heavy Armor perk was immensely helpful. It feels better than the vanilla SE survival mode, and I actually look forward to being frustrated by it.
My vanilla Skyrim SE run is interesting as I wanted to go with a Khajit for melee, and use Heavy Armor to boost unarmed, as there's a perk for a boost to unarmed attacks equal to the defense value of one's gauntlets. It'll take a while to finish the build as I'll need the Gloves of the Pugilist's enchantment, Heavy Armor for a perk that lets me do unarmed damage with an addition equal to my heavy gauntlet defense rating, and Smithing to build better armor and upgrade it. I hope to cheese some Boots of Muffle for that enchantment, but may just work the Illusion tree for the Muffle spell and some perks. I also intend this character to be a thief type, so I took that guide stone to train those skills. I also used the command line to set my base Unarmed to equal the 25 the "Claws" perk claims to have.
Octopath Traveler
This JRPG exudes charm, with enjoyable turn-based combat and many quality-of-life improvements. Combat is quick, and the rate of random encounters is right on the money. Not too much, not too little. Unlike most JRPGs, the game does not waste your time and energy with minor annoyances. The music is engrossing, and the pixel art is superb. The story is not great, though.
Ni no Kuni
This game got all that Ghibli magic and it really feels like watching an animated movie. I'm not sure exactly why, but I wasn't as engaged as I "should". I kept thinking "this is beautiful, why am I not moved by this?". It is possible that whatever makes it look like a movie also makes it less compelling as a video game. We'll see.
MUDs
I'm still playing the Starmourn MUD, and it's been good for the most part. Piloting a spaceship with text is surprisingly appropriate, it feels more like a submarine or a naval ship. The Nexus Client bugged hard on me, I had to request assistance from admins, and, ultimately, was put in contact with the developers. The problem was eventually solved but after so many attempts and the stress of possibly losing my character, I was a little worn out.
One thing about MUDs is that you're expected to ask for help, and many things will require external assistance. That can be both good or bad depending on how you're feeling at the moment. Sometimes I just wanna do my quests, and communicating with human beings is draining. Having access to helpers and admins around the clock to resolve issues is great, but can also serve as a crutch that prevents fixing issues in the first place.
I've been thinking a lot about MUDs, and things that I believe prevent them to be more popular. MUDs will never be as popular as games with graphics, but my impression is that, over the years, they catered more and more to a hardcore audience that expects things the general public avoids like the plague.
For instance, MUDs are skewed towards complexity and simulation. In an interview, a developer bragged about the fact that, in their game, you can open a cabinet that is fully described, and then you can open a jar that is also fully described, and then look at its contents, which are fully described as well. "That's not something you'll find in a graphical game", he said. To which I mentally replied, "who the fuck would wanna know what's in a jar that is inconsequential to both plot and gameplay?". The answer would be hardcore MUDers.
Most of these games were created in the 1980s and 1990s, and since then their audience was greatly reduced. So the choice seems to be: (1) try to appeal to a larger audience that will probably never come, or (2) cater to an audience that wants their games progressively larger, more complex, and (needlessly?) specialized.
Almost every MUD chooses the second, and I can't really blame them. But I still wonder what would happen if someone made a MUD that is to MUDs what WoW was to MMORPGs. A highly accessible product that follows current trends in game design, free from artificial obstacles and ultra-old-school expectations.
I would love to play a MUD that, while large and complex, presents its systems in a more modern way, without an explicit tutorial section full of text dumps and recommendations to read help articles during gameplay. A MUD in which, like a lot of modern games, the tutorial never really ends, slowly introducing the player to the systems and the world around them in digestible portions, interspersed with a relevant and engaging narrative, throughout the entire leveling process. There's nothing inherently clumsy or unintuitive about text, a lack of graphics is not the problem. The problem is an unwillingness to take risks that might make their games more accessible. It is also important to notice that most MUD developers started as players in the games they contribute to, so the reason they cater to the hardcore crowd may be that they're part of it. But more accessible and modern projects are definitely viable, and Written Realms main game is proof of that.
I should notice that, if MUDs were more accessible, I would be able to play more than one MUD without frying my brain. Trying to go from Starmourn to Aardwolf is extremely taxing, like learning two Emacs at the same time.
A comment on Xbox Cloud gaming: I am now a believer in cloud gaming. Downloaded games have better image but for the most part Cloud is good enough and any defects are minor enough for me to ignore. I'm using it on my Xbox linked to my 55" TV and it looks and play fine. My Xbox Series S has less than 500GB available for games on the SSD, and game streaming changed my relationship with my library completely. I no longer need to make an strategic decision on what I think I'll wanna play in the future. I just hit play and keep playing if I like the game. From now on I will probably only download games with an online component, as well as those that don't work well on the Cloud, those that are not part of Xbox Cloud, and those that are extremely latency sensitive such as fighting games.