What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?

Webbed: It's not a long game, but it feels really good. Both the swinging and the web building are excellent, and while you die instantly to any threat, you reappear on the last flat surface you stood on, generally no more than a second or two away. Highly recommend. Also, you're a peacock spider, and there's a dedicated dance button.

Disco Elysium

A difficult game to describe - part RPG, part text adventure, part interactive fiction. Nearly all interactions in the game are completed via multiple-choice text prompts; the isometric world map serves as little more than a backdrop to set the mood, and a place to move from one text-based encounter to the next. It has obviously been designed to discourage min-maxing and instead pushes you to pick a type of person for the player character via the dialogue options you choose. You can roleplay a free-market capitalist, an ardent communist, a nihilist, a party animal. The writing is excellent, the humor cynical, and the voice acting (most of the dialog and narration is voiced) is mostly good enough but varies from excellent to poor. In more than a few ways it's a throwback to the old Sierra SCI games, especially of course Police Quest.

It's fun, quirky, and very different to anything I've played in a long, long time. I would definitely recommend, but don't expect an RPG in any modern sense of the term.

DEATH STRANDING

I somehow managed to avoid learning anything about the game, so all I really knew about it was the "Norman Reedus and his magical fetus" meme (or whatever the exact wording is). Thus, I went in with as few expectations as one can have for a game like this.

I'm only about five hours in, and the game has thus far felt like a well-executed, slow-trickle tutorial of a rather robust and complex world and gaming system that I still don't feel like I have a complete picture of. It's rather unlike anything I've ever played, and I'm quite taken with it.

Morrowind: I'm progressing (fourth Nerevarine trial), and did some small cheats (turned down the difficulty to kill a strong mage character), but am constantly surprised at how I can be so immersed in a game like this. I triggered the cutscene at the Cavern of the Incarnate and had goosebumps from it.

I also put in a mod that adds houses because, while I know most containers in the game are safe, I'm much more comfortable knowing I've got exclusive containers for my unique gear.

"SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell" is one I just downloaded, but bought on sale a while ago. If you liked stuff like Action Hank, this may be up your alley, as it's just short runs down puzzly courses to get the fastest time. Exactly what it says on the tin, but it's a blast.

Addition: After watching a bunch of streamers and talking to my brother, I finally got No Man's Sky. I'm only on my second planet, but it scratches a lot of the same itch Astroneer had, but with a constant randomness, and intensity (that first planet is apparently always a real doozy). I know some of the major plot points, because I'd been talking to my brother with no intent to buy the game.

STREETS OF RAGE 4

I am hooked on this game. Classic beat em up with some fresh paint and new mechanics. It is a lot of fun and it looks great.

The story is pretty basic and ripped straight from the 80s/90s. The new characters are amazing but they also include the older SOR characters. I think survival mode is my favorite so far and it includes unlocking new moves as well as items. The DLC is well worth it for 8 bucks.

Celeste

I've beat the main story+chapter 8, so I'm collecting all the blue hearts and completing the B-sides so I can finish the final chapter. I didn't think the controls would be that great on keyboard, but I haven't had too much keyboard-based difficulties so far. The music is great, though I really like the remixes in the B-sides. The lava bouncy blocks in chapter 8 were a bit annoying, but I got the timing down eventually. I might try to 100% all the achievements, but some of the harder achievements may be beyond my abilities.

A lot of online chess. Haven't played for at least ten years. I tried lichess first. It is fine, and the interface and app are pleasant. But it doesn't have as many people as chess.com, which is where I settled. Chesscom has great lessons (mostly paid), databases, bots to play with, and friendly game analysis in plain English -- no need to understand the ins and outs of the engine. Besides, due to the larger player pool, the rating you get on chess.com is closer to "reality". On lichess I'm about 900 (rapid), while on chess.com I'm at merely 456. Both use a rating system that is similar to the ELO used by FIDE but is supposed to be better.

At my current rating, there are lots of annoying players trying to win at every cost. I call them "Queen Kamikazes" because they put the queen out early in the game trying to cause havoc. If I'm patient and well-rested, there's a great chance that I'll capture the queen, but sometimes I get angry and end up resigning or getting checkmated.

My rating is extra low because when I started I played without much effort just to pass the time, and now I'm stuck with the equivalent to FPS campers :P

Traditionally, I always play e4, following either Ruy Lopez or Giuoco Piano. Those are solid openings that are played by both beginners and professional players. But the thing is, I play those since I was little. They bring results, but I can't stand them anymore. Every day I say to myself that I will set aside some time to learn another opening, but playing is easy and studying is boring. So I'm using the Scotch Game, which I don't consider an entirely different opening, just a variation from what I usually do.