[Obdigore]

Traveller, on 14 September 2021 - 11:01 AM, said:

Obdigore, on 13 September 2021 - 03:33 PM, said:

Traveller, on 12 September 2021 - 07:38 AM, said:

Ok I got Rebel Galaxy Outlaw.

At first I suddenly thought I'd made a mistake, as I already have Rebel Galaxy and it's so similar (pretty much swapping out capital for a single seater) so I was thinking I should've just put that on.
But thankfully it's made some significant changes, enough to make it a new game in the same universe.

I was initially having trouble getting any cash for anything at all without having to use any gains for repairs, but then I saved up for a mining laser and mineral radar and now the money is rolling in.

My starter ship looks like a lunchbox but floating through asteroids mining deposits with the radio on, returning to cash it in and then getting beaten at pool in the bar back at the station is kind of just what I was looking for.

I really wished they hadn't changed to single seater ships.

It just isn't what I was looking for - Avorion is doing a big QoL update.

Well to be fair it is a different game - not Rebel Galaxy 2. I really enjoy the broadside on brawls between capital ships in Rebel Galaxy, with the fighters zipping around like gnats while you slug it out with other massive ships.

At the moment though I'm enjoying Outlaw as a different approach in the same space - dog fighting in 3d space from a cockpit view is also good, just different.

Got myself an upgraded ship now, better hold space, going to outfit it up to take on some decent combat missions now.

No, I understand it's a different game, not a sequel.

I'm just saying I really really enjoyed the first one and didn't want another dogfighting sim.

I'd like a big star wars game where you command a single large ship for whoever - something close to homeworld. Perhaps set in the KOTOR time frame and you have to try to fight off Revan's fleets or something?

[Mentalist]

Did some more Viking stuff in AoK. The Harald Hardrada campaign starts out pretty good as well. It's by a Chinese designer who's got like 5 other campaigns that are only in Chinese. Wanna play this one soon to give them some feedback so that hopefully they'd translate more of their works.

But yesterday I went back to an Arabian conquests campaign by a Russian designer, who publishes his stuff in English, but with pretty terrible translation. The campaign itself is pretty fun, even though Mamelukes aren't exactly the greatest unique unit to try to make a deathball with. The maps do emphasize pretty early aggression to avoid being overrun by multiple sizeable armies, though, so that certainly spices things up.

[Serenity]

Currently dividing my time between Ys IX, Nier Automata and Tales of Arise. They're all so incredibly good.

[Malankazooie]

Finished the Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, Iki Island DLC. It wasn't as long as I thought it would be, which I was fine by. It doesn't disappoint. Really cool story and new game mechanics. I guess we need to begin the discussion about when Ghost of Tsushima 2 will be coming.

[Morgoth]

jumped into Death Loop, and that's an incredible game.

[Morgoth]

The voice acting in Death Loop might be the best I've ever experienced in a game. It is so good, and the writing is excellent too. Colt and Julianna's dialogues are fantastic.

[Maark Abbott]

Mentalist, on 13 September 2021 - 06:45 PM, said:

For whatever reason, the original Saladin campaign is giving the most trouble, lol. Took a full evening to beat Scen 2, and it really should not have been that difficult.

Then I played the Japanese Historical battle scenario, Kurikara, which ended up being a lot more forgiving; And instead of going back to Saladin, I played the first 2 scenarios in the Jarls of Jelling custom campaign made by one of the Forgotten Empires devs. Uniting Denmark, and then sending a Viking fleet to conquer Norway was good fun. Scenario 3 has me do a rescue mission, but I've only got 3 villagers to start with, so it's a painfully slow start.

We shall call you AskjeCHAD

[Aptorian]

I enjoyed Deathloop immensely for the first couple hours I was playing it but then it began making my PC hard-crash. It's specifically in the afternoon of the day, on the Wenjie map, every time I go into Wenjies research area the computer switches off. Only game that has happened with and my PC is brand new.

It really highlights the issue with making a game that doesn't autosave or have manual saves in the modern era. Losing 30+ minutes of game time is infuriating.

Hopefully some performance and optimization patches come out in the coming months solves the issue, because the game is basically the chaos version of Dishonored made for my playstyle.

Instead I tried out Boomerang X. It got a lot a positive buzz when it was released but I don't really see the charm. Played around half-way through the game and put it down when I lost interest. It's just wave based challenge rooms where you use a basic set of abilities to jump/boost around a room and throw a glaive at shadow creatures. It's okay but it doesn't click with me.

Also been playing Eastward. Love the presentation and artstyle, unfortunately the actual gameplay feels underwhelming. Sorta boring combat and lots of go back and forth quest design. I made it out of the under-town and started discovering the top world but I put the game down for another time, because honestly I'd rather be playing Destiny 2.

That was three bad gaming experiences in a row so I jumped back to the comfort food.

Been playing a lot of Destiny 2. Starting to get my light level back up to the good stuff. Been grinding Strikes and Gambit in between doing Europa story missions. I feel like the introduction of Darkness and Stasis powers is very flimsy. Oh no, bad aliens are using the dreaded Darkness powers to attack us! Lets also commune with Darkness so we can fight fire with fire! ... This is absurd. It's like a Holy Knight making a pact with Hell the first time he has to fight a Demon.

Considering that Darkness is antithetic to everything we've been fighting for the past 7 years, this is just lazy writing. You'd think they'd think up a more desperate scenario to motivate the player to take up the power of darkness.

In between Destiny I played through Superliminal on Gamepass. It's a Portal/Antichamber like game where you're in a dream simulation, using perspective to manipulate your environment - When something goes wrong with your program. The idea isn't new but the new game mechanic is interesting. Unfortunately it's a bit clumsy in transitions and explanations for why you're doing what you're doing. Sometimes when you get stuck, it doesn't feel like you're the one who is at fault. Really mind bending sometimes though.

Finally I tried out Sable this morning. That is a very cool, very chill game. Love the crazy wireframe comic album like art style and the open and mysterious nature of the game world. I really want to play more of this later but right now Destiny is too seductive.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 23 September 2021 - 03:03 PM

[Mentalist]

Been running through a "princes of Russia" custom campaign that's dealing primarily with the early rulers of the Kyivan Rus'. Latest scenario had me playing as Svyatoslav, wrecking the Khazar Khaganate and Volga Bulgars. Taking away the Slav's greatest advantage (quicker farming), but letting me capture settlements by sniping enemy Khans is an interesting trade-off. It's a 4 v 1 situation, and you need to get aggressive and expand quickly, b/c if your enemies get in gear, it's impossible to hold them all off. Took most of the evening to get this done; Scen 5 has me and a Pecheneg ally taking on Byzantine and Bulgarian armies. Should be a fun fight.

[Malankazooie]

After putzin' around in Hollow Knight and back off to play other games, I've jumped back in and have opened up some more areas - A green area, a foggy area, a fungal one I think, I also got to that area that is at the top that is unavailable until you get that wall slide deal. Speaking of that wall slide skill, the wall jump back and forth to avoid thorns is frustrating. I've gotten better at it, but there are still times when it screws me up. I'm working on getting more soul slots (or whatever they are called) because I think I need to get more skills and powers to continue on. Is the light/lamp/lantern thing worth mining geo for? I know there are some dark paths that I'm guessing that is where it is used, but it is very expensive. Also, I'm trying to figure out a spider lava boss. So far it's been futile. I think he requires a lot of damage, so I probably need to upgrade my nail.

[Mentalist]

Onto the last (seventh) scenario in "Princes of Russia". 5 was, indeed, a slugfest, since I was facing a staunch Byz defence. I was taking their production buildings down with my trebs and Siege Rams, but they made it difficult, rebuilding ever more compact towards the corner. Eventually I ended up pinning them in the corner with a castle inside their base and forced a resignation. Once I did, my Pecheneg allies tried to backstab me; but since I had 2 castles in their base from when I was trying to make sure they wouldn't get killed, beating them was easy, once my main army got there. Mopping up the Bulgarians afterwards was an afterthought, even though on paper they've got a bigger, more sprawling base.

Scen 6 is a 3 v 2, where you can flip the allegiance of Polotsk if you build a town centre inside city walls. Basically, break the back gate with a ram push, then quickly get 30 vills to put up the building just inside the walls. The Pechenegs have another camp from where they spawn their unit waves, but this is way more manageable with post-imp army. Taking Kyiv itself is more tricky, since the city is split by 2 bridges and Prince Yaropolk whom Vladimir is trying to kill is on the opposite bank- there's also a navy on the river that can be problematic. But at that point all it takes is persistence.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 28 September 2021 - 07:47 PM

[Aptorian]

Oh dear, oh dear, I bought the season pack for Destiny's last 3 seasons. I feel like a heroin addict, saying just a little bit more and then OD'ing on content.

For those not in the know, Destiny's seasons usually consists of some new character or crisis being introduced, at which point you're tasked with levelling up some McGuffin or aid a war effort, that entails you collecting stuff through activities and quests, that unlocks even more stuff.

I am now doing 4 seasons worth of content at once. Everything I'm doing is feeding into other stuff, that's unlocking more ways to do stuff better. The feedback loop is overwhelming.

Doing all this at once is also very weird because I'm playibg story content in reverse order, starting with the latest stuff, because it's the most urgent - That 7 meter tall demon statue is up to no good I tell you - and then doing sort of flash backs out of order because I'm playing quests that talks about stuff I haven't seen yet on top of each other.

This is a mess but I'm loving it all.

[Aptorian]

I can quit when ever I want!

[Malankazooie]

Be sure to visit Xur. He's become kind of an afterthought, but I went by some advice that he now is offering some quality items with god roll perks. I forget the names of them but I picked up an exotic Warlock helmet and a legendary hand cannon that together wrecks in PvE. I'm not a big fan of hand cannons, but this combo doesn't disappoint. There were some other items suggested to grab, but I couldn't because I don't have the Forsaken expansion.

Also, the seasons and each story tied to it and the continuity with how it all is threading together and converging has been really cool to follow. It does Star Wars space opera waaaaay better than Star Wars.

[Traveller]

Playing Kena; Bridge of Spirits, and I've got to say I'm enjoying it.

Got it for my daughter, despite the critic's general view that it plays like a ps2 game, also because I wanted to see if it really was as pretty as the trailer.

Both of these are true so far, but I wouldn't say the comparisons with a ps2 game have been a bad thing. I think after playing so many open world games it's weird to be channelled down a linear path quite so directly, and initially it was frustrationg to find those invisible walls that prevent exploration (which i guess is what the reviews were on about) but after a couple of boss fights that had me diving and managing the use of the rot mid-battle I've had to excuse it.

It could maybe benefit from not being quite so cutesie, the rot spirits especially could be toned down from Minion to Sootballs, or be more like those spirits from Princess Monoke, but the actual lost souls in the forest are violent and sad and creepy enough to make up.

I had to take over from my daughter to help in a boss battle, but I'm definitely going to start my own playthrough.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 27 September 2021 - 06:02 AM

[Maark Abbott]

Picked up a pretty looking open world survival game. Pottered about, enjoyed the scenery, caught some food, made some stuff, went over to a new areOH JESUS FUCK WHAT MADE THAT NOISE CHRIST WHAT IN THE SAM HELL IS THAT THING RUN AWAY RUN AWAY

[Mentalist]

Wrapped up "Princes of Russia" n and then also beat the entire "Harald Hardrada" custom campaign. Man, that Viking sure travelled a lot.
The last scenario gives you the option to not die at Stamford Bridge, and instead finish the invasion of England, and even kick William of Normandy's teeth in. Amazing work from this Chinese designer, hopefully they translate more of their stuff in English- there's like 5 other campaigns in the mod manager, but they're all in Chinese.

I also beat the 3rd Reconquista scenario. This is by the same guy who did "Princes of Russia" , but it's an earlier work. After accomplishing a few initial goals, I'm tasked to go face an invading army. The only way to beat that is by basically littering the approaches with Castles ahead of time. Once I do that, the enemy takes over a neutral base to start attacking me; also 2 other factions that were just chilling earlier decide it's time to gang up on me.

Took 2 evenings to beat that without excessive cheese. And scen 4 requires me to convert myself a base from some of the SIX (!!!) Enemies on the map, which feels a bit overkill. Gave it a quick go, and I was too slow at grabbing villagers ( I decided to convert the enemy buildings first), so the first enemy army that showed up started to basically wreck me.
Instead of trying again I decided to revisit the Alaric and Attila campaigns before playing the Theodoric the Goth custom one. Some update bug wiped my campaign progress medals, and replaying them is a chance to grab a couple more achievements.

Alaric 1-3 has been a breeze, b/c the AI is amazingly passive; plus, I get allies to draw aggro.

Trying to blitz taking Rome in 30 min might be tricky though.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Still playing hades. I’m not good at it, highest heat I have beat is 25, but damn I love this game. Most runs at this heat level end in disaster, but when it clicks and you get that perfect build…

[Mentalist]

Since tomorrow is a federal holiday, someand the agency we're working with/against is off due to a collective agreement thing, my manager is giving us the day off.

That can only mean one thing: VAE VICTUS time!

[Morgoth]

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on 29 September 2021 - 09:47 PM, said:

Still playing hades. I'm not good at it, highest heat I have beat is 25, but damn I love this game. Most runs at this heat level end in disaster, but when it clicks and you get that perfect build…

It feels incredible when it all comes together. I had a round with the fists, with dodging and speed. I got the crit upgrade for the main attack, lots of dodging and movement speed, and then the upgrade that increases attack speed (or is it damage?) in sync with your move speed. In combination I had Athena's call that made me invulnerable for a short time, and the Zevs (?) upgrade that increased the call meter by attacking. So when I met Hades in his upgraded I spent 90 % of the fight invulnerable. It was crazy and awesome.