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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.
I've been playing a lot of Skyrim lately. I've owned it since it came out on PC, but I've never been able to really get into it. I'll play a few hours, lose interest in the character, then take a break. Come back to it, start over, repeat the cycle. Most recently I tried again and just found the kb/mouse controls and the UI to be a huge pain in the ass.
But then I bought an Xbox Series S and Skyrim was available with GamePass. So I gave it a shot with a controller for the first time and I've put at least a dozen hours into it the last week. Everything just works better in the game with a controller.
I went with a 2H plate barbarian type of character. Joined the Companions, became a werewolf, and I've been having a blast. I'm kind of feeling the urge to reroll as a caster, but I think I may just do the main storyline with my melee character and then start fresh with the caster and focus on side quests.
I played a lot of Skyrim when it came out ten years ago (yikes!!!!). I started with a sneaky archer (as you do) and dabbled with all kinds of other characters. Tried a pure magic-user, and then tried a sword-and-shield paladin hybrid type, and an up-close dagger assassin. But my favourite was the two-handed barbarian, which I role-played as intentionally avoiding any non-shout magic or enchantments. As opposed to a sneaky or squishy character, it was fun to just barrel into situations fearlessly swinging a big-ass axe.
I believe the console versions support mods, so look into some popular gameplay mods that could augment a new character type. By this point in the game's life, people have played all kinds of characters and then have spent time identifying problems playing as them with the game's stock mechanics and created mods to better the experience.
There are many that simply seek to improve certain playstyles without making them overpowered, especially when it comes to magic. There's a lot of weird limitations in the base game that make some playstyles less ideal than they could be. People have modded those limitations out, like the ability to cast spells while holding up a shield. These aren't big mods that can cause instability either, just simple scripts.
Well.. I just learned Chex Quest got an HD remake... so... I'll be playing that, later!
I used to play the hell out of that game back in the day... naturally, got it in a box of Chex. Also, just answered a trivia question correctly based on the fact that Chex Quest was apparently the first video game packaged with a cereal.
If you want the characters, the codes are pretty generic and can be found anywhere. I didn't find the remake to be as enjoyable as the original, though.
Still playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance . Still considering it my personal Game of the Year, the best game I've played in the last 4 years or so. Not much new to say in terms of game review, but I can talk a bit about some in-game moments:
My character is nearing max (level 20) in several stats and skills, so I'm feeling a little cocky and brazen. I don't think there's any single non-boss NPC that can pose a challenge to my character in combat. On top of that, I've gotten pretty skilled (as a player) at archery from horseback. I can ride and keep multiple enemies at a distance while gunning them down (er, "bow-ing them down"?). Aforementioned poisoned arrows are good for one-hit kills for anyone not in plate armour. Money is also turning out not to be a problem, since I have nailed down a few repeat spawn points for bandit-type NPCs, so I can just farm for kills and sellable equipment. I can't help but think that they've designed an imbalance in the game that no hostile NPCs are on horseback. It gives the player a significant advantage.
(semi spoiler in this paragraph) One of the quests I'm on involves looking out for a suspected assassin who is targetting an allied NPC. So I set up near the target's residence at night, sitting in the shadows all ninja-like, and watching like a police stakeout. I wait for a while, and was about to give up looking (because some of the quest text suggested that I would not see anyone that particular night), but then at the edge of my vision, at a distance I see a crouched figure, creeping along. So, I circle around, and begin outsneaking the sneaker. I almost lose him in the shadows, but then I catch up, and then perform a knockout (i.e. non-lethal) move. As per my plan, I search the unconscious NPC and remove any found weapons, and then wait for the now-disarmed NPC to awaken so I can interrogate him. Well, it turns out, it's one of the town residents. Once I initiate the dialogue mode, he just talks to me like it's a normal interaction in town ("greetings; what can I do for you?"). I leave him be, and he just walks casually away. The following day, I find that I have a bounty on me in the town. :\ Either for the theft (of the weapon), or for the knockout, or both. So now I'm thinking it was mistaken identity, and I nailed an innocent person (though why was he sneaking around at night -- no other non-combatant NPC I've seen has done this). So I'm waiting around another day to see if the bounty will expire, but in the meantime, I am avoiding the populated areas of the town (i.e. avoiding the town militia/guards), and trying to see about encountering the actual assassin, if indeed the one I hit was not the real one.
I'm probably over 100 hours of gameplay in the new playthrough, and there's still more storyline to go through. Definitely tonnes of content in this game. Tremendous bang for buck, no question.
I finally started playing Civilization (Civ 6 to be specific) and it is every bit as addicting as all the memes would have you believe.
I love this game's capacity for emergent narrative. In my most recent game, I was peacefully working towards the science victory, until I realized Rome was very close to taking a culture victory. So I redirected all my Mars landing resources to building nukes and glassed most of eastern Europe and Asia. Everyone hated me after this, but it didn't stop me from going on to land a man on Mars.
I recently got Halo MCC and I have been playing quite a bit.
I never actually beat the Halo 2 campaign so I have been doing that and also playing through Reach with my brother just like old times. It's been great.
I have also been playing Disco Elysium for the last week or so, just finishing up the game a few nights ago. Had to go for a walk to clear my head afterwards - a fantastic experience.