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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.
Darkest Dungeon - Started this, enjoyed the setting, enjoyed the voice acting, enjoyed the artwork, I like turn based combat games, I hate the interface/controls. I shouldn't have to select a room to go to the next one if there's only one option (and there's nearly never a reason to go backwards, so it should progress forward unless you select you want to go back to a previous room). If I get to the end of a corridor I shouldn't have to click on the door to go through it. If I get to the end of a corridor and I go too far so that my characters are blocking the door, I shouldn't have to back them up (which is incredibly slow) in order to be able to click on the door. I could argue that you shouldn't have to "walk" through the corridors at all, but that'd also require figuring out a way to incorporate the various interactions in corridors (not a hard thing to resolve). The near constant "barks" in town wouldn't be so bad if they didn't also come with a sound effect.
All that said, I enjoyed what I played of the game before uninstalling it, but was drawn back to it when I found out that it has controller support. So I'm giving it another go. It takes a bit of work to use an xbox controller as the button prompts are hard-coded to a playstation controller layout, but it's less of a drag to play with a controller so far.
Also, based on some brief looking around it seems that most of the complaints above were addressed in the upcoming sequel.
Endless Space - Not a bad 4x strategy game, but there are really only three races as most are variants on the same theme, one is completely incapable of diplomacy, and another is a sentient rock species that doesn't use the main form of currency.
I have exactly the same issues with Darkest Dungeon and I'd be so relieved if these are fixed in Darkest Dungeon 2. I've got it on my PS4 and I do enjoy the game, there are issues that you mention which makes me frown.
I started playing Hoplite, which is sort of a tiny roguelike that’s also a little bit like chess. There are four types of enemy pieces that move in specific ways on a hex grid, and as you get to deeper levels you need to deal with increasing numbers of them.
I’m playing it on an iPad mini, which seems like a nice size screen for it. It’s also nice that there are no paid upgrades or ads. I’m wondering if there is a good way to find more games like this?
Check out Plunge (PC only afaik, sadly), it's in the same genre of puzzle roguelike.
I feel odd about the model, but I’ve found a number of games that meet this criteria in Apple Arcade.
Do you remember any that you particularly like?
None that are similar to what you’re mentioning here to be honest! But: Alto’s Odyssey Lost City, Good Sudoku+, Mini Motorways.
Forza Horizon 5
I hopped on this train thanks to several different users here who have all spoken fondly of it. The game is a gigantic car playground, and it's delightful. Initially I was put off by the seemingly EVERYTHING that the game tries to throw at you: skill points, wheelspins, accolades, etc. It felt like the game was afraid to let me just play and that if it wasn't constantly rewarding me I might turn away. I've now played enough that the noise of all that has dialed down a bit, and I now am more used to it and understand better what the devs are going for. The game is a checklister's dream, and I'm going to spend dozens of hours doing just that and loving every minute of it.
That said, I also just love cruising the map. This past weekend I indulged in a few adult beverages and then just drove around the world for an hour or so, looking for XP boards and filling in the roads on the map. They did a fantastic job with the environment, and while it's not nearly the size of FUEL, I love it all the same.
The only downside I have for the game is that it's still a little stuttery for me. The audio stuttering actually got really bad to the point that the game was unplayable with the sound on, but I was able to fix that by changing my audio refresh rate for Windows, but I still get the occasional graphical lag, as well as the occasional internet hiccup (one of which killed a 400,000+ skill chain I had going during a skill song -- I'm still mad about it!).
Final Fantasy VII Remake
I'm ~15 hours in -- currently in Wall Market and (I think) almost done with everything there. I'm now used to the battle system in a way that I wasn't at the beginning of the game. I'm not gonna lie, I went in knowing next to nothing about the remake itself, so I had no idea it wasn't the standard menu crawler that the original FFVII was, and seeing that it was more active kinda bummed me out.
Now that I'm used to it though, I see how well-designed it is, and I like the variety it adds to the battles. The original tended to get samey, where you just go Attack > Attack > Attack > Attack until your opponent dies. In this game, there's a lot more you can do, and I like that Aerith is actually combat-viable this time. I play her more than I play Cloud!
Also, I really appreciate that the game is a mix of familiar and new. There are so many recognizable elements, some of which are nearly identical to the original, and some which the game changes up with almost a nudge and a wink at players who are familiar with the original.
As someone who couldn't give a crap about cars, the Forza Horizon series has done a great job at educating me about cars and actually has made me care about cars - and not just the muscle cars, but the mundane and even the little weirdo ones.
I will personally say that as a FH4 fan, FH5 feels a little too much like FH4, from the theme (it's in Mexico, but some areas kind of feel a bit like UK - not sure if that's me noticing the same assets, me being overly judgemental, or what) to the way events are dished out. An anecdote, but my friend says using a steering wheel in FH5 is just as bad as it was in FH4 which is disappointing. But then FH4 was pretty great, so I can't really complain too much.
You're not alone! After a couple of hours of play, my husband, who wasn't paying attention to the game directly but was in the room for most of the time I was playing it, asked "Isn't this set in Mexico? Why does everyone sound like they're from the UK?" I don't know enough about Forza Horizon lore(?) and just assumed the Horizon events were a UK thing and that the organizers went to Mexico for this round of them.
I've been playing Potion Craft. It's an interesting game, and definitely has unique core gameplay mechanics. However, if I'm being honest, I have mixed feelings about it. Some aspects I like, but there's something about it that makes me feel like it doesn't quite hook me to enjoy long-term play. It's Early Access still, so maybe that's it.
I enjoyed Inscryption and now I'm playing Monster Train. Which is really nice because usually I get bored by video games.
I booted Amazing Cultivation Simulator up again and definitely fell down a rabbit hole. If you haven't heard of it, it got a similar foundation to RimWorld, but once you get past the "build base with dudes, manage their jobs, slowly tech up and face random events" the similarities stop. I've heard it described as Taoist DBZ RimWorld and yeah, that checks out.
Anyway ACS is heavily influenced by Wuxia and your goal is to develop your disciples into immortal gods through the process of cultivation, which in this game involves lots of meditating, chugging magic pills, performing miracles and reincarnating. And using and abusing Feng Shui and the five elements. And flying around doing battle with enchanted handkerchiefs. I don't know if you can tell by now, but there are a lot of interacting systems and the learning curve is a bit like running into a wall. You'll probably have to restart a few times after finding out you horribly fucked your run somehow. But each time you learn a bit more and get a bit further. And there's a pretty useful wiki and some good guides out there. Of course there are also bad guides that will give you the sort of advice that sounds good at first, but ends up accidentally cooking or freezing your strongest cultivator.
Anyway, I'm mostly ignoring the story because the conversation mechanics are some of the worst I've ever seen in a game, but other than that I'm having a great time. This game is absolutely absurd and I love it
In my experience, Project Zomboid is an entirely different experience when comparing single and multiplayer. Single player, it's a grim experience trying to survive, and multiplayer it's a comedy. Once you have a friend to adventure with, nothing is as threatening. That said, just two people might be the most middle of the road experience. You don't get the benefits of working as a group, but you also don't get the lonely "last survivor" feeling either.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance: After sitting in my library for 2 or so years, I'm giving this game an honest shot. I'm only 6 hours in and am at the point where I think the game is going to open up and let me free roam, but this point thus far has been pretty linear. I don't know what I expected, but I have been pleasantly surprised each time that I have booted up. I was pretty unclear of the save system until recently, trying to understand when to use Saviour Shnapps or a bed or if the game would randomly save for me, or go to the menu to save if it was available. I'm excited to progress but the biggest thing holding me back is the time commitment for each session I want to play.
Pokemon Volt White: Still slowly progressing through this romhack on my 3DS. My party's average level is at ~40 and I just took out the 4th gym leader. I'm using a randomizer so all the wild Pokemon available to catch can vary wildly. I'm looking for better options to swap out my Swellow and Rapidash from the party. It seems many of the Pokemon that I catch are those that only have one other evolution stage. Also trying to find a Thunderstone to evolve my Pikachu so I can compare the stats to my Luxray. My Swampert is incredibly limited as well with Water Gun being the only Water type move that it knows. Overall, it is a slow grind because every trainer battle that I encounter can have any Pokemon type and has boosted levels. This leads me to using all members of my party in a match and needing to heal more frequently than I would like.
Halo: Infinite Multiplayer: This is the first week that I completed all the weekly challenges. I spent two days trying to get into Capture The Flag matches to close out one challenge alone. I swear this game's matchmaking priorities know what challenges and modes I need to focus on and will do the exact opposite so that I keep on playing. It can be incredibly infuriating and I suspect that I will one day Alt+F4 out of the game and uninstall it on the spot on or before closing out the battle pass.
Honorable mentions (I started to play but didn't progress meaningfully):
It doesn't take long before the game stops being linear. Hang in there, but enjoy that early story line. Some cut scenes are long (personally, I enjoyed them despite that), but long cut scenes become rarer in the mid- and late game.
Feel free to ask me questions. You can save at will by consuming one Saviour Schnapps, but note that it is an alcoholic beverage, and so it will have alcohol's effects. Specifically, since your character is so low-level, he won't have built up the ability to imbibe alcohol without getting a bit tipsy. It doesn't take long for that to wear off, though. It also auto-saves whenever you go to sleep for the night in the right kind of bed. Not all beds afford game saving, but there are many that do scattered around the game world.
Some people dislike it, but, personally, I liked how saving was rarer, because it made you value your character's life more, and it heightens the thrill of dangerous situations and makes key decisions more important. You don't just toss your life around recklessly because "ah, I'll just reload from the save point I created 5 seconds ago", or "hm, let me try this side of the decision fork, and I'll just reload and go back if it doesn't work out". It makes it a lot more "gosh, I better make the right decision here", which, again, I found exciting and enjoyable.
Thanks! And I have enjoyed the cut scenes quite a bit. I feel the story is definitely above-par as far as video game stories go and so far I have felt the world and conflict to be very believable. I appreciate the opportunity to ask questions; I certainly will as they come up! And the only one that I can think of right now is early game money making? I'm concerned all my equipment that I have now will deteriorate before I have enough money to replace it all. Is this something I shouldn't concern myself with right now and money will eventually come through playing the story?
As I understand it, the game region's towns and cities are almost all real (some still exist even today, and can be visited), and the major war/destruction events (which I am trying not to spoil for you in writing this ;) ) were also real, historical events that actually happened.
re: money making: it is challenging in the early levels, but by mid-late to late game, it's fairly easy to make money with the right strategies. re: deterioration: in the early game, it'll often just be more economical to acquire replacements than try to pay for repairs. Scavenge and keep whatever you can at this stage, because pawning things off is more or less the better way to make money.
I started playing Control on PS5. I’m really enjoying it overall. I like the setting but I honestly wish they would ease off on the creepy noises all of the time. I feel like there’s no place to feel comfortable in the game and as a result I enjoy it a little bit less.
However, the story is rewarding. I’m looking forward to continuing it.
That's very much intentional and a matter of the their choice of theming. The setting is supposed to be this unknowable thing that has a mind of it's own. Honestly I really liked it.
I do recommend you play the game slowly and try to do all the side bits as much as you can; the game kind of ends abruptly and it's really the journey that matters in this game. Also try to talk to your brother as much as you can when you get the chance; they put a lot of creepy/interesting conversations in the game but you won't find yourself in that area enough times later to be able to visit and hear what he has to say.
Psychonauts 2
Started playing the new psychonauts early in December. It’s honestly not a fantastic platformer: the controls are gluey, it’s really easy to over or undershoot landings, even for rails and trapeze that the developers clearly designed to land you on the right spot. But, looking back, platforming wasn’t the strength of the original either.
The level design is original, the humor and writing are spot on, and the new powers are fun to play with.
Overall it’s been enjoyable
Oh man, if it weren't for the fact that The Outer Worlds was cheaper and I was holding off on it longer, I would have bought this game instead. I've been hearing a lot of really good things about it, so I look forward to playing it eventually.
If the issue is cost, it's worth noting that both those games are on Xbox Game Pass for PC, which is currently $1 for the first 3 months (which you can immediately cancel recurring payments for so you never get charged full price).
I have regularly resubscribed to it whenever they have such deals going on but have always cancelled the recurring payments too, so I don't think I have ever paid the full $12/mo for it. ;)
Nah, I could easily afford it; I'm just being miserly.
Beyond that, if I have too many good choices, the best case scenario is that I get obsessed with one and the others get lost in the pile. That's actually happening right now; I was gifted a copy of Far Cry 6 this Christmas, which is a game I was genuinely interested in playing, but it's still in the shrinkwrap.
But a far more likely scenario is that I'll play each of them in pieces so I never get too involved in any one and then I lose interest in all of them.
I knew that The Outer Worlds is part of Game Pass and it almost made me sign up when it first came out, but I really don't want to pay subscriptions for games in general. The only game subscription I really like is Humble Choice, and that has been giving me so many meh games lately that I'm thinking of dropping the subscription. Now that I think of it, last year had me depressed for so long that I didn't even get a chance to play a lot of the genuinely interesting games I wanted to play.
I don't play a lot of videogames, but today my 5-year-old nephew who lives abroad was here after almost 2 years without seeing him!
According to my sister he was dying to come to my house, asking about it every second. They interpreted this as some kind of emotional connection, and that's certainly partially true, but I'm pretty sure that what he missed the most was my Xbox :P
He told me in advance he wanted to play car games, so I downloaded every racing game I could in the meantime. Sadly, he's terrible at videogames in general, and racing games are no exception. He was happy but visibly frustrated. His hands are too small for the controller anyway. And most games are just not meant for 5 year olds, even simpler ones.
He did like Unravel 2. We didn't go very far, so there was no real need for complicated co-op. The graphics are cute, inviting, and uncluttered. This seems to please him a lot more than something busier like Battletoads. Interesting. He was happy he was able to do two things: run and jump. Felt like an achievement. The game has a mechanic which allows me to carry him in my back. It's really cute. My nephew enjoyed it. He later said it was his favorite game.
My sister wanna buy him a videogame, but she wants "one of those that make him move". I'm not even sure there is such a console. I don't think my sister understand why most people play videogames anyway :P
I don't think I've ever sweat more playing a videogame than I did with Beat Saber. The Just Dance series and the older Dance Dance Revolution series are pretty great too (not sure how easy it is to get DDR dance pads these days; some friends of mine went all out for the nice metal ones, but the soft ones work well enough). How much she'll have to pay to get things going will depend on what consoles and/or computer hardware they currently have.
Perhaps she means a VR system, but also possible that she's referring to something like Ring Fit, for the Switch. That's an RPG where you move and fight battles by exercising.
I know my sister, she's not a gamer and couldn't care less about technology. She most likely don't know of the existence of VR and is probably thinking of the Wii, so yeah, the Switch is an aproximation. But any videogame will be about pressing buttons most of the time. She'll likely feel frustrated with any purchase she makes.
I'm telling you, Ring Fit only progresses with exercise.
Is that Switch game? Seems great. I was just referring to the fact that most games are not like that.
Yeah, I recommend it. But you're right, it's a rare breed.
On the Switch I greatly enjoy ARMS - it's Nintendo's own 3D fighting game, where if you use motion controls, you punch to punch and lean to move. It is one of those super-easy to grasp and hard to master games. Where a lot of joy can be had by just flailing around, but if you want to get good, there is a lot of technical depth (ranked online is brutal).
There is also Just Dance, where you, well, dance.
Oh, and how could I forget about Fight Crab …it’s similar to ARMS, but with (giant) photo-realistic crabs and the fighting is very physics-based (and optional weapons). Mad fun, and well … quite mad in general, TBH.
I got a bit overwhelmed with visual novels last week, so this week I went out of my way to find something else. The holiday sales everywhere finally got to me and I broke down and got The Outer Worlds.
I've been wanting the game for a long time because I had thought of the game as what I really wanted Fallout 4 to be - a bigger, better Fallout: New Vegas. But this game is so much better than Fallout. I love the setting, I love the far-out but believable crazyness of the society they've built out there, and I love just about every character I've met. I especially love ADA; she's the Marvin for a new generation. I also find myself really loving all the tiny gameplay tweaks that make the game more involving. I'm surprised to say that I really enjoy combat in this game; it's surprisingly tactical but needs you to think quickly; you do have a button to slow down time to give yourself time to think, but it's a very limited resource.
Whenever I play an Obsidian RPG, I am impressed at how many ways you can play them, and this game seems to take it to the next level. It's amazing how much freedom you have to create your character; I feel like I should be checking to make sure there's no DM somewhere telling me this story. When I chose my character's attributes, I put some points into weapons skills because most games punish you if you don't. For the first time, I feel like I didn't actually need to do that. I chose to be a charismatic smooth-talking person with just a bit above-average intelligence, and it's just amazing how many fights and disagreements I have been able to simply talk through.
Even with all of this, the thing I find myself enjoying the most is the companionship system. I can't believe how incredibly cool and interesting these characters are! They also have unique sidequests associated with them so you can learn even more about them. They're also an important part that enables you to build those non-combat specialized character builds.
Do you mean The Outer Worlds ? I am a little bit confused here.
Indeed. I’ve corrected it now to reduce confusion.
I think the confusion is unavoidable, lol. Every time I read about The Outer Worlds and The Outer Wilds it takes a non-negligible amount of thinking to figure out which one is which! I don't know that I'll ever reach instantaneous recognition with them like I do with most other games.
I played it a year ago and it was very good indeed. I will be getting the expansion soon for a second playthrough. I always find it difficult to play a "dark side" character so to speak. I'll try next time :) Parvati was my favorite companion (found her shyness so cute) but you are right that most possible choices are interesting. Have fun!
I love Pavarti so much! Playing as her matchmaker has been my personal high playing this game so far because of how adorable the whole situation is.
The sales also got to me for this game, and I picked it up after eyeing it for a long, long time.
I haven't started playing it yet, but I'm really happy to hear you're enjoying it. Many other people had a lukewarm take on the game, but you're someone whose gaming opinions I trust and that seem to largely line up with mine, so this bodes well for when I do get going with it!
Also, which visual novels have you been falling into? I have a couple in my queue, but I'm waiting until I get my Steam Deck to dive into them.
So my last dip into Visual Novels is kinda demi-academic in nature; I'm playing through a lot of them to see if I can find a very specific mix of things, and as such I find myself digging through the dregs of indie productions. For some reason that also means that almost all of them that I have read have been furry, and most of them are being funded through patreon which means they're in a semi-permanant incomplete state.
Of the roughly half-dozen VNs I went through, I only found two of them to be worthwhile, and one of them I'm probably not going to discuss in public because of it's content. I was thinking about writing a long-form piece on my findings where I'd cover it and I'll let you know if I ever go through with it. The one I will recommend you read is Echo, which I talked about last week.
Because it's terribly un-googleable, here's where you can get it. They also have an Android build if you want to be able to play it on the go. Do be warned if you want to play it that way that it does have brief descriptions of sexual acts, but since it doesn't visually show anything sexual you can probably get away with reading it in public. You might not want to bring it to school though.
Man, I really loved playing this game until I... didn't? I'm not quite sure what happened, but there was a point where I stopped and I didn't bother continuing on with the story. I think I became a bit fatigued with the general gameplay-story loop. The game is great, but I think I was playing it non-stop and got a bit bored.
Might have to dig that one back out just to see where I got to and see if I want to continue.
Not A Hero: Ok, but not really doing it for me. The humor is kind of lame and dated.
Going Under: Cute game, pretty fun. Had to take a breather after the first half. Ready to go back and finish after not a hero.
Enter The Gungeon: Love it, but I have a personal hard time committing to rogue likes. I am getting old and don't like super hard games or grinding.
Truth be told, Not A Hero's humour was pretty lame and dated even when it came out. The gameplay is great if you're into that sort of thing, but after playing several Devolver Digital games for me it got a bit tiring.
Also with Enter the Gungeon - I 100% feel you. For me, ETG became much more enjoyable as a game on the side that I would come back to every month or so, chip away at it a little, and then leave it alone for another month. I went from not even completing the first level to somehow making my way to second and I think in one case a third level. Also - once you managed to kill a boss, upgrade! Before you enter the gungeon, there is a door to the left, that is the upgrade shop. That way, you're always getting better and not just failing miserably each time. I hope that helps!
That is how I have been playing ETG for the most part. Just playing it like I do most rogue likes. For a round or two then going back to Dark Souls or something new. Thanks for your input.
I recently started playing Slay the Spire for the first time. I just got these three achievements in the same run, which I think is neat. The Transient seemed unkillable the first time I saw it so it was cool to casually destroy it in the same run that I beat a new end-game boss with a character that I had never beaten an end-game boss with before.
I absolutely love Slay the Spire - I own it on my PC, Switch, PS4, and iPhone/iPad. And this is coming from someone who has little to no desire in card or turn-based games.
I'm the same way! Mostly, anyway. I'm not a fan of turn-based combat and although I love card games like Magic: the Gathering, until I finally gave StS a shot I thought I hated deckbuilding games. Too often in those games, it feels like the deck I'm building is just starting to get good right as the game ends, and it's not fun to play with jank for the first 80% of a game.
With StS, the roguelike elements do a lot to shift my focus away from how janky my deck is and more towards surviving the upcoming elite and boss fights. So my thought process while playing is less "how can I make my sucky deck good" and more "how can I make my deck good enough to overcome the challenges ahead". I think that does a lot to make the game fun for me.
And it also helps that all the cool loot and weird enemies are fun to explore early on. If it weren't for being drawn in by that, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it long enough to have my current appreciation for the game. Maybe at some point I should revisit some of the deckbuilders I bounced off of and give them a second shot.
Anyway sorry for rambling, I think a lot about why I like some games and dislike others that are similar.
It was a good ramble 👍
I never thought of it, but yes that's exactly why I love StS - I have a good enough deck, but I'm trying to make it really good for Elite bosses. That, and the experimentation with cards, relics, potions, buffs/debuffs - all adds for an exciting playthrough each round, even if some rounds I barely make it past the first stage!
Elite Dangerous (cc ~aphoenix , whom I heard about this game from)
So I just started playing this a couple days ago, and I'm quite impressed. Definitely worth the deep sale price I got it for. I can totally see how this game can become repetitive and grindy, but, so far, I'm not feeling that yet. Just casually travelling around the newbie region, doing some basic trading and delivery missions.
I have masochistically decided to do launches and landings with Flight Assist off! I practiced in the training mode several times, and have done it a few times now in the actual game. This was very challenging to do at first, but I think I have the hang of it, and am enjoying the challenge. To explain, for those that don't know the impact of FA-off: With FA on, the ship computer (i.e. game AI) automatically balances and stops your ship. That means all 3 axes of straight motion (x, y, z), and rotation(al momentum) around all 3 axes. So, the controls are very arcadey: after you hold down a button to, say, thrust forward, when you let go, the AI auto slows you so that your velocity goes back to zero. If you hold a key to roll your ship (left side goes up, right side goes down, nose stays pointing the same direction), when you let go, the AI stops your rolling. But, with FA off, the physics are much more realistic: if you activate thrusters to start pitching your nose up, it will keep pitching up because you have introduced angular momentum. You have to manually counter that momentum with thrust to pitch the nose down in order to stop pitching -- and it has to be the right amount in order to even approach zero rotation. It's easy to over- or undershoot with these compensatory thrusts. Because of the way this all works, it's possible for you to be travelling/drifting in a direction that's different than where your ship's nose is pointing, unlike what happens with FA on, which is that you're always travelling where the nose is pointing, kind of like a car.
Overall, it's providing great challenge, because the space stations and landing areas have some very tight quarters that you have to maneouver through, especially the main entrances -- which are more like mail slots. Only two ships can cleanly pass through at a time, and it's already stressful enough trying to go through this with FA off. Just today, I was trying to make my way through, and some ******* (AI) decided he would go through at the same time as me (passing me), and we ended up colliding, and I got stuck with the fine. So, 1 millenium into the future, and humans still find ways to give each other reasons to roll down the car window and shake fists at each other.
Anyway, I'm having fun with this, and look forward to more.
Fallout 4: Minutemen run, because I shot Father for stealing my son the moment he said "Let me explain..." (I know the real story, don't worry). "Defend the Castle" felt extremely unfair, but I also hadn't done any serious settlement development outside of Sanctuary and got rocked about four times, before turning it to Easy, grabbing my power armor, and quick-saving constantly. The Power Armor mod I was using made the game feel cheap, so I'm planning a more fleshed-out run that will be done as a more serious run, not a "How does this stack to FNV?" run where I try to adapt to a new game without carrying a previous game's baggage. I want that run to be a full Power Armor run, but I have no clue how people get fusion cores or make in the game, as I spend every cap on ammo and stimpaks. I assume it's due to my habit of powering through games.
Conversely, I've decided to drop the fantasy of re-playing New Vegas, and even given up on getting serious on 3 because while they're great games, they remain borderline unplayable for me. I've resolved some of the issues (radiophobia, in the context of this game, and the anxiety of something bad happening at any moment), which enabled me to have a blast with FO4, but I'm done with the other two because there is too much in them that is horrifying to me, like they freak my lizard brain out, while similar environments/situations in FO4 are creepy but still fun. FO4's creepy spots make me anxious in a fun "My character's going to die" way, whereas FNV's environments, and similar FO3 environments make me physically feel like I have just escaped death. I beat FNV, I'm happy with that.
Polybridge 2: I'm still chipping away at it, because the last two worlds are incredibly difficult. I completed a level today over budget, and may look at the gallery for some inspiration but I really like my cheeky solution (I built a bridge that is resting on a truck for a sandrail to jump off of). It's a blast to play, especially the daily challenges, when they aren't so far over my head I can't do them.
I played and completed Disco Elysium last night! And... hmm...
Up until the end, I was having an absolute blast being a detective and figuring out clues, helping out people, all that good stuff. I got my gun and my badge back as well, so I felt like I was making progress.
Then I got to a pretty big event. Here comes the spoilers so ignore the following if you don't want to be spoiled.
Here be spoils
So I got to the point where I confront Ruby and in doing so, I learn Klassje is not wholly honest about her intentions - or is she being honest and is Ruby the one lying? It's a pretty big step and would help me figure out who the killer is.So I go back to the cafe to find the mercs are standing off against the Hardy Boys. I intervene and shoot one (or possibly) both the mercs and save Kim from being shot from behind. I wake up to find I'm alive, Kim is alive, and a great chunk of the Hardy Boys gang is dead.
So I'm given one more mission to do, and I'm aware it's the ending and because I want to see how it ends I just go forward without wrapping a lot of stuff up. I end up going to a random shore that was inaccessible up until this point and long story short it was some random communist guy who killed the merc for various reasons that quite frankly have nothing to do with all of the great detective stuff I did so far.
I go back to the island before where I'm confronted by my crew and it's the part where I'm bragging about what I've accomplished - and luckily up until this point I accomplished quite a fair bit so my guy accepts me and I even offer Kim a chance to come work with us. But this is the only bit where what I've done has any real consequence. We all get in the car, game over, credits roll for years.
I get the best ending, including the Hardy Boys dying, Kim living (thank goodness) and the mysterious rando dude on another island not being mentioned once and just appearing to wrap the game's story up.
Spoiler free - the choices I made didn't seem to have much of an impact on the main ongoing story in the end. All it really accounted for was some decisions right at the end, and I feel pretty let down by that, truth be told. I've seen articles commenting that it was intentional as part of a bigger point with the game, but I felt like the game innovated so much and so hard with the dialogue system and the skill tree system - only to give the most bog standard video-gamey ending I've seen.
Half of me would like to replay Disco Elysium, but the other half is well aware that all that changes is a few bits of text and quite possibly the ending animation.
Trying to be spoiler-free: I think I played a bit differently and made different decisions than you did, because I got hints and narrative tie-ins leading up to the bit that you felt came out of left field. But I played it as much more of a free-wheeling mystic to get those explanations. It's possible that none of us can truly know the totality of it?
That said, I've replayed Disco Elysium five times, and it changes more than a few bits of text. The whole tone of the game changes when you're a different person within it.
It is possible I missed/skipped parts - it was late last night and I was pretty much rushing at the end.
I have to say, that's honestly great to hear. I know there was different builds which allowed different skills to speak up, and by the end of it I had unlocked quite a lot of skills, but I am tempted to give it another spin - although this time I might get it on my PS4 Pro (just so I can keep my work/gaming life separate as I work from home).
I will second what @MimicSquid has said. I have also replayed Disco Elysium several times too, and while the overall main story arc doesn't change dramatically, each time I have played it, depending on my chosen playstyle, character stats, choices, and roll outcomes, the game changed far more than just the flavor text. As spoiler free as possible; beyond just the tone change, a bunch of unique sidequests, pathways for "solving" the various cases/mysteries, and outcomes for minor and major events are completely locked behind certain conditions (some of which even require failing previous quests/rolls). And because of that, it's one of the few RPGs where savescumming is almost pointless, unless you're trying to get a very particular outcome and know well ahead of time what you need to do to get it.