Wot are you playing (video games)

Hmm thought I’d resurrect this thread. We may want to migrate it/create a different section than “not games”, but I’ll leave that with the mods.

So I’ve been diving into XCOM Chimera Squad and rather enjoying it. It’s no XCOM 3 but I don’t think it’s really supposed to be. The twists are interesting, and futuristic cop TBS is a fairly unexplored niche (at least as far as I’m aware) I initially disliked the new initiative system, but it has grown on me, particularly with the faster pace on the whole. And despite some fairly harsh criticism of the writing, I’ve found it decent - has a kind of buddy cop movie vibe, bit cheesy but kind of self-aware.

I’ve also played Gone Home for the first time after nabbing it free on Epic. I must say, playing it after What Remains of Edith Finch may not have been ideal, as Edith seems a more compelling story (with a much more interesting house to explore). Not that Gone Home was bad or anything - though I am a little tired of same-sex narratives always having sad or bittersweet endings - where are the happily ever afters?! Though on this occasion, it isn’t too bad I suppose but still, grinds my gears…

4 Likes

I have basically very little interest in video games but I have no objection to there being a section for them if there’s enough posting to justify it.

3 Likes

HELLO I’M PLAYING SLAY THE SPIRE.

I don’t imagine that’s news to literally anybody, though.

4 Likes

Still slowly making my way through Witcher 3, but loving the breadth and variety of the quests.

Also playing Super Mario Odyssey when my kid lets me and my wife isn’t playing Animal Crossing. Just got over 500 power moons, so I’ve unlocked the Darker Side of the Moon now. Need to actually do the Dark Side of the Moon first though.

3 Likes

Did you know that people play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim? I know, it’s so obscure.

I finally decided to take the Special Edition for a spin a while back and modded it up with a generally much more stable and lighter set of mods than I still have installed on the older edition, but including massive megamod Legacy of the Dragonborn (which creates a museum with displays for all the various things you can collect in the base game and several major quest mods, adds a bunch more such things and an archaeology system, questlines, an “Explorer’s Guild” you found, followers, a player home with a ton of convenience features and storage… it’s nuts.

The thing I most feel like vanilla Skyrim is lacking is a real reason to visit the 200-odd dungeons and caves and such that don’t have quests (radiant questing aside) associated with them. You don’t need to do it to level, that’s trivially easy anyway. You don’t need to do it for loot, because the random loot is boring, and most of the unique loot isn’t actually necessary or even useful for whatever your current character is doing. Occasionally there’s something interesting to see, but not often enough to necessarily be compelling. You can’t even permanently clear them out. I found myself poking around in them anyway, because I tend towards completionism, and you never know, maybe there’s actually a quest inside the dungeon (it does happen a few times), but it’s an area where the game lacks. Legacy of the Dragonborn is, in my opinion, the perfect antidote to this. There are still probably redundant dungeons, but most contain at least one unique or nearly unique piece of loot, which you can display if you don’t want to use it (and even if you do, there’s a system for making unpowered replicas for display), and three types have archaeology dig sites to plunder. It’s great.

3 Likes

There’s been a coop programme giving NHS staff free video games. It’s mostly small indie titles, but I was really surprised to see Disco Elysium among everything else. I have been wanting it since release, but didn’t buy it for fear it wouldn’t run on my ancient laptop. So I got a free copy - and it runs fine! Never laughed so hard at a video game, the writing is great! It almost reads like a comedy improv show in the way you can stretch out the most ludicrous conversations or nip them right in the bud with wreckless abandon.

Also got Murder by Numbers with my secondary work account (is that naughty? I feel a tiny bit bad). It’s okay, but I was expecting a lot more from a “Phoenix Wright meets Nonogram” game. The puzzles get in the way of the conversations, and the conversations get in the way of the puzzles. I find myself doing all the puzzles I can in one go, then all the conversation beats . There’s no cohesion! And they’ve used a terrible gimmick to force the puzzles in AND made an entire boring side story around that gimmick that has no relation to anything elee. No no no no no.

5 Likes

One of my friends has been raving about this for weeks! Might have to add it to my wishlist.

3 Likes

I’ve struggled to focus on any video games over the last five months.

Untitled Goose Game is the most recent item I’ve worked through and enjoyed.

I recently took up Borderlands as something utterly mindless to do with my hands while listening to podcasts.

DragonQuest 11 is the franchise offering I’m still interested in pursuing to completion. It’s going to take me some time to get back to it though. I started with DQ3 back on the NES and the franchise still inspires irrational loyalty.

3 Likes

Enjoy, you’re in for a treat. I thought Skyrim was going to be at the top for many more years, but Witcher 3 really smashed it. One of my favourite games of all times.

1 Like

Playing death stranding. I can’t remember who highlighted the disturbing true predictive nature of the game where everyone is scared to leave their homes and the most important people in the world are delivery people.

Not sure what to make of it yet. It’s an odd mix of relaxing and stressful. Nothing much happens. And the story is so exposition heavy.

That is to say I don’t hate it.

2 Likes

All this talk of XCOM Chimera Squad makes me think I won’t enjoy it, but it has encouraged me to take a look at the possibility of using Steam Link to play XCOM 2 on my phone… and it works! I need to tweak the brightness so I can see what I’m doing on my lower-contrast screen, but now I have another way to kill time when I should be giving all my attention to the toddlers. Unfortunately I can’t get my last heavily modded run to work, so I’m back to starting an un-modded legend run from scratch.

2 Likes

Currently playing three games all on PC, NBA 2k19 (I’m tired of giving them money for the buggy messes they release so haven’t bought 2k20), but only in MyGM mode. I love the franchise mode in these games, they’re my “I want to play games but not have to think” game. I generally put about 200 hours into each release.

Remnant: From the Ashes a fun Souls-like, but with guns. It’s got a cool world, but not great storytelling. It’s a little buggy. But it’s super fun. I really like it. Technically multiplayer, I play exclusively solo.

Dauntless. Monster-killing game in the vein of Monster Hunter, but with faster-paced combat. I prefer Monster Hunter World, but this is much more pick up and play, which fits my life better. Pretty much exclusively play this with my friend.

Been feeling the itch to pick up Subnautica again, just trying to decide if I start over, or continue my game from probably close to two years ago now, where I’m about 50% through. Leaning towards starting over. I don’t like survival games, and the game legitimately scares me at times, but I love the ocean (well, more I love ocean creatures. I don’t like swimming) and I love underwater levels, and that’s 95% of this game.

2 Likes

I bought this recently and really want to play it, but just, not in the mood for reading right now. Too much energy. Haha. I’ll eventually get to it, I’ve heard nothing but good things.

I admit that I have been enjoying the Google Doodle games. After playing countless games of Loteria on May the 5th, I am now playing PacMan after a fair few days playing cricket (which, by playing, has taught me more about cricket than 16 years living in the UK did)

1 Like

A few friends bought an old Diablo (3) and logged on so we could just spend some time monster bashing while we drank beer and talked shit. Its been fun.

2 Likes

I’m currently very slowly working my way through Divinity: Original Sin 2 (very, very good but immense and tough combats - to my shame I’ve taken to reducing the difficulty in signficant boss fights as I just don’t have the time to invest playing them over and over again), XCom: Chimaera Squad (really enjoying this one, but haven’t got too deep into it just yet), Stellaris (with the new ‘Federations’ expansion - I love love love this game but just don’t have enough time to play it). Also Alien: Isolation was £1.50 on Steam recently, damn them, and it’s really good.

Next on my list to play, all of which look great but, y’know, hours in the day grrr, are: Frostpunk, Return of the Obra Dinn, Darkest Dungeon, RimWorld (shut up @BigJackBrass), Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider, Hitman

Recently completed/stopped playing to play new games, all of which were BRILLIANT are: Prey, Surviving Mars, Battletech, Monster Hunter World, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Subnautica, Slay the Spire and Into the Breach (these last two obsessed me and were amazing given my limited playing schedule).

Mainly playing with my 5-year old Minecraft, Stardew Valley and every frikkin’ LEGO game ever

Sadly, I keep bouncing off Kerbal Space Program even though I can see it’s an amazing game.

Also in constant play with friends online are Left4Dead2, Vermintide 2 and Tabletop Simulator.

I really need to stop looking at Steam sales.

4 Likes

This reminds me that I also have Dishonored: Death of the Outsider to play, and I would like to replay 2 has Corvo. Not that I have the time for such things. I have the FF7 remake to play. I have Nier:Automata that I got for Christmas in 2018 that I have not played yet. The Last of Us 2 is coming in June, and I would like to replay the first one of that again before diving into it. And I have just a couple of hours a week, on average, that I manage to play video games.

So long story short, I could not buy a game for the next 5 years and still not finish what I currently have on deck

2 Likes

I’ve been playing loads and loads of Age of Mythology. Pretty much my all-time favorite game. It came out when I was five years old, in 2001. First saw it at a friend’s house a bit later and bought the Titans version myself. I played that for days and days and was very sad when one day the online servers shut down.
I was super happy when they released the Extended Edition, bought it, but couldn’t play cause of having horrible computers for years…
Now I finally have a good laptop for games and been playing it all the time. Partly for the childhood memories, but also because it’s a bloody brilliant game.

Also recently bought and played some No Man’s Sky. Really like it, but just can’t find the time to play it enough sadly.

I think you have great taste @Lordof1! I’m currently playing Divinity 2 on PS4. Love it. Have you tried the Lone wolf talent/perk? Makes the game much much easier and you can still have a party of 2. Make sure both take the talent/perk and you’re golden.

A mate just bought me Stellaris on pc so we can do a 4 way multiplayer. I have it on PS4 so this was a big jump but so much fun!

2 Likes

Xcom 2 - I’VE GOT THE PLASMA RIFLE! Between my corporal ranger and super hacker, I’m unstoppable!

EDIT: Oh, my hubris… Had to protect a computer with lost around. Mission summary had 61 enemies killed. It was painful.

3 Likes