[Mentalist]

Hmm, so I guess I'm expected to revisit areas in Hi-Fi Rush later on in the story.

There's definitely a mention of that. Maybe eventually I'll find a way to get into those rooms on fire.

3 of the main 6 bosses down. Pretty varied stuff so far. Kinds wish there was a description for the different enemy types. Also, the game needs a "skip cutscene" button.

EDIT: finished main story on Normal. 15 hours to credits.

Now I can revisit previous stages and try to get more bonus stuff.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 21 March 2023 - 06:04 AM

[Maark Abbott]

Slogging on with Dread. Decided to give it back to the guy who passed me the copy after I finish. I hate the melee counter system, I dislike the EMMI and overall it feels like such a huge letdown, the only part I am really enjoying is the movement/traversal.

Twenty years waiting, and we got... THIS.

[Mentalist]

I was eyeing "Submerged: Hidden Depths" in the Steam Sale.

So decided to check out the original game first.

played 3 hours last night, it's a pretty chill, but neat game. explore a sunken city on a boat, look for buildings with red wines on them you can climb, collect either "secrets" (pictograms that tell the city's story", or supplies to help your sick brother (main objectives, which propel the story forward).

Pretty neat game, I cleared about 2/3s of the map in that session. I do think I'll grab the sequel once I finish this game.

[Maark Abbott]

Abandoned Metroid Dread. I am gutted at how bad this game is considering I waited twenty fucking years for it; it feels like a part of me died.

Things I liked about it: Traversal and movement

Things I didn't like about it: The map design

Things I hated about it: Combat, the EMMI, the fact the devs think what a game like this needs to be is masochistically punishing with no tangible reward for soldiering onwards, the fact that combat is balanced around a fundamentally broken parry system

This feels like the video game equivalent of Stormlight Archive - a game that is almost universally lauded and beloved but turned out to be one of the worst things I've touched in my life. Twenty years. Gutted.

[Mentalist]

Playing "Ultra Age". It's a basic hack'n'slash that gives me some "Enslaved" vibes. Mostly because half the enemies are robots, and the backdrop is dilapidated post-apoc buildings and facilities overgrown by wildlife plants.

Basic combo system, same combos for each weapon type, but you need to juggle blades based on enemy types, as diff weapons do bonus damage t diff enemy types. Weapons are all 3d printed from "crystals" and wear out, so you need to keep absorbing crystal energy of different types to re-fashion these blades. When a weapon "charge" starts wearing out, you have teh option to "break it" (doing a bonus damage attack), and then keep hitting with a new "charge"it's an interesting dynamic.

Oh, there's also a grapple that you can use to grab small enemies towards yourself, or to launch yourself at bigger enemies. Which is also a neat tool.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 24 March 2023 - 04:16 PM

[Aptorian]

141 minutes in the queue for the Diablo 4 beta...

[champ]

Aptorian, on 24 March 2023 - 06:36 PM, said:

141 minutes in the queue for the Diablo 4 beta...

My queue said 77 minutes, got to the end and it failed to login, was back to the end of the queue with another 55 minute wait, eventually got logged in after nearly 2 hour wait.

[Aptorian]

I fell asleep before I got in.

But I've been playing today. Made it to Kyovashad with Lorath Nahr. So far I've really enjoyed it.

I'm playing as a sorcerer instead of Barbarian, which I normally like playing as. I've heard the balance is a bit off and that close range combat is hard, while long range is easy. It's certainly been easy pickings with a sorcerer using chain lightning. Think I'll bump the difficulty up to World Tier 2.

Really love the atmosphere. I can see what they mean by the game being more like Diablo 1 and 2 in tone and bleakness. Everything is so dark and dirty.

[Maark Abbott]

Considering how unabashedly, Stormlight level awful Dread was (I shall not acknowledge that it even exists henceforth), I am going to play the classic SOTN later. I hope it washes the sour taste of one of my favourite franchises not having an update since 2001 off of my tongue.

[Mentalist]

Played 2 more zones/levels of Ultra Age.

The Railyard was pretty meh, as basically all i did was key hunts, and the cards were usually dropped by souped-up versions on basic robots. The final level boss was neat, though.

The Desert was a lot cooler, with 4 boss fights and some neat setpieces using the newest weapon. The one boss fight that changed perspective to be more 2.5D was annoying, but that's because I can't do WASD in 2D. (the game can also be controlled by arrow keys, but dodge is only on left Shift, and it's kind crucial in combat). But other than that, it was a really nice level, with a lot of different stuff to do, which is surprising given the level's drab look.

Also, the story remains confusing. The game could really use a Codex.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 25 March 2023 - 04:56 PM

[Aptorian]

Just ran into The Butcher mini-boss in the Diablo beta. Didn't stand a chance.

FRESH MEAT

[Serenity]

Saw a trailer for The Last Spell and immediately bought it. Kind of like a medieval XCOM with magic and zombies and rogue-lite elements. Only played it for a couple of hours so far but I can tell it's going to be an enormous time sink and hard as nails.

This post has been edited by Serenity: 25 March 2023 - 05:07 PM

[Dolmen 2.0]

Games you can play with a potato:

I have a famously lousy rig. I want to get a better system but I can't at the moment. Thus I have collected a ton of really low-spec games. If you're in the same position I thought I'd share my top 10 low-spec recommendations

1. Hades. Game of the year for a reason. I've enjoyed it for years since its release. It delivers a reward for skill, tactics, and strategy in equal parts plus we get a ton of investment from both the protagonist and sundry antagonists, Very good.
2.Wildermyth. A rich story teller. I have sunk hours into this and still play regularly.
3.Solasta. The closest thing you can ever get to a DnD game session, holds both the best and worst aspects of 5E rules. more TTRPG than it is RPG.
4.Pathfinder. Wrath of righteousness. Still working through it. Alot of stuff to work with. alot like Solasta but I guess better scripted. more RPG than it is TTRPG.
5.Journey. Just a lovely experience. the less we say about it the better the first playthrough is.
6.Oxygen not included. If you like to base build, I cant think of a better challenge. super low on the resource, super high on investment.
7.Stardew Valley. AKA harvest moon recreated by a single dev. solid game based on farmer slice of life, very low expectations, extremely cozy.
8.Darkest Dungeon. The opposite of cozy.
9. Faster than light. Space. Its big, and full of choices.
10. Rimworld. Crash landing on an unexplored planet is a b****.

[champ]

Aptorian, on 25 March 2023 - 02:02 PM, said:

I fell asleep before I got in.

But I've been playing today. Made it to Kyovashad with Lorath Nahr. So far I've really enjoyed it.

I'm playing as a sorcerer instead of Barbarian, which I normally like playing as. I've heard the balance is a bit off and that close range combat is hard, while long range is easy. It's certainly been easy pickings with a sorcerer using chain lightning. Think I'll bump the difficulty up to World Tier 2.

Really love the atmosphere. I can see what they mean by the game being more like Diablo 1 and 2 in tone and bleakness. Everything is so dark and dirty.

I am doing the same thing. I was a Barbarian in D3 and trying out a Sorcerer here. Fire Hydra is OP.

Aptorian, on 25 March 2023 - 04:58 PM, said:

Just ran into The Butcher mini-boss in the Diablo beta. Didn't stand a chance.

FRESH MEAT

Oh, I am glad it wasn't just me that this dude absolutely wrecked. Just stun-locked me and when I tried to run away he was too quick ha.

Serenity, on 25 March 2023 - 05:06 PM, said:

Saw a trailer for The Last Spell and immediately bought it. Kind of like a medieval XCOM with magic and zombies and rogue-lite elements. Only played it for a couple of hours so far but I can tell it's going to be an enormous time sink and hard as nails.

I am loving the game... first run through I thought I was doing well until I got to the first boss and got absolutely wrecked.

[Mentalist]

Maark Abbott, on 25 March 2023 - 04:51 PM, said:

Considering how unabashedly, Stormlight level awful Dread was (I shall not acknowledge that it even exists henceforth), I am going to play the classic SOTN later. I hope it washes the sour taste of one of my favourite franchises not having an update since 2001 off of my tongue.

Iga made a (legally distinct) Castlevania game in 2019 tho

[Maark Abbott]

Darkest Dungeon is excellent, as is Stardew.

FTL is excellent but occasionally bad for the heart.


Ment - that looks kiiiiinda bad, like some sort of horde rush game. Anyway SOTN is still excellent.

[Mentalist]

Finished "Ultra Age". Stage 4 had me repeat 2 bosses first (made super-easy since I got most of the weapon upgrades by this point), but then culminated in a really decent fight. Unfortunately, since they didn't put a checkpoint before it, I had to keep trudging through the maze to get to it-- which let me rack up the currency where i was left with 100 k extra and nothing to spend it on.

The final boss is pretty neat, but nothing super-special.

Overall, the game is lightweight (11 hours to credits, and I got all the achievements except the 3 from an arena-style DLC), but fun. The combat system is basic, but it works.

Not sure what to play now, but I'm thinking a shooter. Probably gonna give Vanquish a shot.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Maark Abbott, on 25 March 2023 - 09:12 PM, said:

Darkest Dungeon is excellent, as is Stardew.

FTL is excellent but occasionally bad for the heart.

(...)

Hehe yeah very occasionally bad for the heart as is darkest dungeon really. I'm Playing the blood court DLC and its all chaos. I have never beeeeen more afraid of a mosquito! Blood nobles forced me to have an occultist in every run which I've never felt the need for before.

[Maark Abbott]

Darkest Dungeon seems brutally unfair but my guitarist had a particularly good outlook on it - it's the essential D&D experience where a bad dice roll for you can make all the difference in an encounter. Approaching it like that made any bad situations a lot more tolerable.

Also if you position your occultist in the back I will frown at you, we stan frontline occultist round these parts. Actually, one comp I've used to smack on bosses that need backline damage is 3 crusaders and then an occultist up front - holy lance dance is surprisingly good at destroying stuff, especially in the Ruins / the Hag, and the best bit is every party member has a heal spell to throw out as well.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Maark Abbott, on 26 March 2023 - 12:47 PM, said:

Darkest Dungeon seems brutally unfair but my guitarist had a particularly good outlook on it - it's the essential D&D experience where a bad dice roll for you can make all the difference in an encounter. Approaching it like that made any bad situations a lot more tolerable.

Also if you position your occultist in the back I will frown at you, we stan frontline occultist round these parts. Actually, one comp I've used to smack on bosses that need backline damage is 3 crusaders and then an occultist up front - holy lance dance is surprisingly good at destroying stuff, especially in the Ruins / the Hag, and the best bit is every party member has a heal spell to throw out as well.

Very good analogy there.I enjoy the fact no run is certain. Its a punishing game, strategies matter but luck is a factor aswell.

Well I think my strongest teams have been highwayman and shieldbreaker upfront with occultists in a fluid position depending on how the other two interplay.

I like to shift in Hellion, man-at-arms or Leper as a fourth for damage, defence and tankiness respectively but i'm always ready with a plague doctor if CC is more important or someone is having an existential crisis.

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 26 March 2023 - 05:06 PM