Games you are currently playing - Part 7

[Unholy Diver]

Started Tears of the Kingdom tonight and instantly hooked, had contemplated waiting to play it, and glad I didn't put it off

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Via Game Boy Emulation:

 

[The Merchant]

Absolutely consumed by Honkai: Star Rail right now. Anyone else playing?

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Started playing Breath of the Wild for the first time.

Funny enough, it's the first LOZ game I've put time into despite owning like 5 other games in the series.

Not too far into it, but it seems to have the same problem as all open world games do. A lot of space with not much to do, unless you like doing the same kind of tasks over and over.

 

[That Habs Fan]

I know this game is old, especially for PC gamers, but I've been playing nothing but Valheim lately (which isn't saying too much as I only play about 6 hours a week).

Absolutely amazing game...I keep getting sidetracked from my main goals (trying to get to, and kill, the next boss) but love every single second of doing so. I've never built so much in a game, nor ran so far trying to kill one measly deer for some pelt/food. The level of detailing in the crafting is pretty wild, usually I'd find it too tedious but the game manages a good balance.

 

[Hoglander]

Been playing Meet Your Maker for the last couple weeks, and I've really liked it. Not sure how long I'll keep up with it, as it doesn't seem to have any kind of end-game to it, but I love building bases and watching replays of other people dying to my traps. It's also neat attacking other bases and seeing what other people come up with for bases/traps. Time absolutely flies while building stuff.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

I started playing Cyberpunk 2077. I'm about 5 hours in and just started Act 2. I would say like 80% of the game has been walking simulator and cutscenes. Does this game pick up? I think I went on one mission where I actually fired a gun and have just been focusing on the story missions.

 

[Andrei79]

I started playing Cyberpunk 2077. I'm about 5 hours in and just started Act 2. I would say like 80% of the game has been walking simulator and cutscenes. Does this game pick up? I think I went on one mission where I actually fired a gun and have just been focusing on the story missions.

Just my opinion, but I would say no. The game I was playing 30 hours in was the same I was playing 5 hours in. It's repetitive and often tedious. I'm not sure I'll ever finish it due to the reasons you're highlighting.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

The mission design also seems very linear. I was hoping for more of a Deus Ex style where you'd have multiple approaches but since it's an RPG, they take the "numbers go up" approach to weapons and you have to head shot someone like 6 times to kill them. You can't stealth as a result. The only stealth option is to sneak right up behind them but the rooms are so big and since there's no third person, you can't really tell when you can pop out of cover.

The missions also seem very linear. It's like every room is a hallway. You pass a checkpoint and enter another hallway. The game looks amazing and the music is great but it just doesn't feel very much like a game. It almost feels like a Telltale game with how linear it all is and focused on the story except they tease you with some neat ideas that you just can't execute very well.

 

[Mikeaveli]

To me Cyberpunk plays like a better looking Fallout 4 minus the settlement building. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and am looking forward to the DLC.

 

[Osprey]

Remember how I said that I started Grounded and found it a little frustrating and tedious? Well, that was a month ago and I'm still playing it. Actually, I finished the story last week, but I'm not ready to put it down. It grew on me. I got used to some things that I had issues with and worked around others. About halfway through, it dawned on me that mods might address some of my issues and they did. If you're on PC, look up the QoL and Remote Storage mods at Nexus Mods. The latter, especially, was a game changer because I could just explore without worrying at all about inventory.

Anyways, it's not perfect, but it's still a fantastic survival game, even solo. I'm not surprised, since Obsidian did Fallout: New Vegas (which, come to think of it, had its own frustrations, but was excellent in spite of them).

 

[flyingkiwi]

Picked up the FFVII Crisis Core remake for PC because I loved that game on PSP, and so far I'm really enjoying it. Although before I get too far in I'm thinking about grabbing it on Switch instead because I'll be away from my PC for most of the summer.

In the same vein, can anyone recommend me any similar games on Switch? Looking for something relatively linear or not too long, action or action RPG, without a lot of grinding or crafting.

 

[Jovavic]

In the same vein, can anyone recommend me any similar games on Switch? Looking for something relatively linear or not too long, action or action RPG, without a lot of grinding or crafting.

Collection of Mana, if you're ok with 16 bit graphics. The Secret of Mana HD remake is also good, though I found they lowered the difficulty in boss fights...don't know if this released on Switch or not

 

[flyersnorth]

The mission design also seems very linear. I was hoping for more of a Deus Ex style where you'd have multiple approaches but since it's an RPG, they take the "numbers go up" approach to weapons and you have to head shot someone like 6 times to kill them. You can't stealth as a result. The only stealth option is to sneak right up behind them but the rooms are so big and since there's no third person, you can't really tell when you can pop out of cover.

The missions also seem very linear. It's like every room is a hallway. You pass a checkpoint and enter another hallway. The game looks amazing and the music is great but it just doesn't feel very much like a game. It almost feels like a Telltale game with how linear it all is and focused on the story except they tease you with some neat ideas that you just can't execute very well.

It's been a few years since I finished it, but I do remember liking the main story missions and felt they had a decent amount of variety in terms of the type of mission. But yeah, they are a bit more of the missions-on-rails like the Naughty Dog or Jedi type games, and not like Dishonored/Prey.

The city events (like the fight club, NCPD, and assault-in-progress) were very repetitious and grindy. Side missions were uneven. The world felt empty and sterile.

The biggest annoyance, for me, was the bullet sponge enemies. I loathe that as an approach. It gets better by mid to late game once you have the right abilities and weapons, but a headshot should kill, no matter what.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Hopelessly addicted to Old School Runescape again...

Played so much over the weekend that I had a dream last night that I was getting an expensive drop (Hydra Claw), but could never pick it up so it kept de-spawning.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

I think I'm going to give up on Cyberpunk reading other people's thoughts on it. I asked here and elsewhere and the general opinion I get is if I'm not liking it after 5-6 hours, then I'm probably not going to like the game and I have too many other games I'd rather play.

I did start the System Shock remake. I backed it on Kickstarter years ago so I already had a key. I remember playing the alpha years ago and thinking it felt REALLY rough. The final product certainly feels a lot better. I'm only about a half hour in but I'm enjoying it so far.

 

[aleshemsky83]

it hurts to admit this as a notorious sonic hater, but sonic frontiers is good.

 

[Shareefruck]

Not playing, but watched about an hour of Planet of Lana and it seems pretty lame so far. Feels like a very colorful/visually pretty but sanitized and less compelling/less thoughtfully conceived Inside rip-off, with some Ori-style cuteness and surface-level emotional manipulation thrown in, which I'm not a fan of. It also does this really weird loading thing where when gameplay switches in/out of cutscenes, instead of transitioning seamlessly, it'll randomly fade to black only to return at the same spot for the cutscene.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I think I'm going to give up on Cyberpunk reading other people's thoughts on it. I asked here and elsewhere and the general opinion I get is if I'm not liking it after 5-6 hours, then I'm probably not going to like the game and I have too many other games I'd rather play.

I did start the System Shock remake. I backed it on Kickstarter years ago so I already had a key. I remember playing the alpha years ago and thinking it felt REALLY rough. The final product certainly feels a lot better. I'm only about a half hour in but I'm enjoying it so far.

I bought it when it was $30 after all the alleged improvements and I regret it. After playing Witcher 3, Cyberpunk is so dissimilar I can't believe it's from the same studio. Not in the obvious FPS vs RPG way, but in terms of how much love and care the developers wanted the gamer to experience. I couldn't get very invested, the driving was awful, and the world feels so limited. Cyberpunk got about halfway to where it should have been.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Not playing, but watched about an hour of Planet of Lana and it seems pretty lame so far. Feels like a very colorful/visually pretty but sanitized and less compelling/less thoughtfully conceived Inside rip-off, with some Ori-style cuteness and surface-level emotional manipulation thrown in, which I'm not a fan of. It also does this really weird loading thing where when gameplay switches in/out of cutscenes, instead of transitioning seamlessly, it'll randomly fade to black only to return at the same spot for the cutscene.

I played it, it's a glorified walking simulator. The puzzles are super simple and the story is incredibly minimal. It's more one of those "game as an art" kind of games than anything else because it's kind of pretty with an artsy aesthetic. I wouldn't recommend it at all. Games like Inside are way better.

 

[Shareefruck]

I played it, it's a glorified walking simulator. The puzzles are super simple and the story is incredibly minimal. It's more one of those "game as an art" kind of games than anything else because it's kind of pretty with an artsy aesthetic. I wouldn't recommend it at all. Games like Inside are way better.

From what I saw, I doubt it even comes close to succeeding as "games as an art."

 

[flyersnorth]

Have about 50 hours into Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Really enjoying the story (moreso than DOS:II) and the fact that there are a lot of battles. I play in turn-based mode, and at Level 7-ish it's starting to get more fun because there are more options.

Biggest challenge is Camellia at this point. She just doesn't do anything other than unlock doors and chests. Her damage output is so low and her casting is just meh.

Should I respec her into something else, or keep up the Shaman route? What's the best way to use her, especially for non-magic damage output? The rapier is awful so far.

If it makes a difference, my main character is a crossblooded Sorcerer, so I really only have Regill and Seelah as my melee characters so far.

 

[Andrei79]

I've been playing Tears of the Kingdom and Diablo IV. Really, really enjoying both of them. This year has been one of the best for new releases (and one of the worst). There's still FF16, BG3 and Armored Core as well. I don't remember the last time I had 4-5 amazing games in a single year. Maybe Warhammer Rogue trader too, but I'm hoping Owlcat takes their time as they have a ton of bugs on release. BG3 I will likely wait until the definitive version though, as they really improved DOS2 with it, especially the last act.

Have about 50 hours into Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Really enjoying the story (moreso than DOS:II) and the fact that there are a lot of battles. I play in turn-based mode, and at Level 7-ish it's starting to get more fun because there are more options.

Biggest challenge is Camellia at this point. She just doesn't do anything other than unlock doors and chests. Her damage output is so low and her casting is just meh.

Should I respec her into something else, or keep up the Shaman route? What's the best way to use her, especially for non-magic damage output? The rapier is awful so far.

If it makes a difference, my main character is a crossblooded Sorcerer, so I really only have Regill and Seelah as my melee characters so far.

Camellia is a powerhouse. She pretty much did everything for me for a while, until a certain point in the story. She can tank, she has hexes, she can cast spells and buffs, on top of taking care of locks. You can check cRPGbros channel for build ideas for her, but she can be really powerful.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

@Frankie Spankie

Pavlov has a 30GB update and is now going to Unreal Engine 5 and will have cross play with PSVR2 players. Holy shit.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Yup, I'm still playing Pavlov daily, haven't stopped in years.

After 2000 hours, it took me exactly 2 rounds in SND to already be accused of hacking by a PSVR player.

"How the hell did that guy turn the corner 90 degrees, snap his gun up, and instantly head shot me?! There's no way this guy's legit!"

"Play the game for 2000 hours, you'll be able to pull it off pretty frequently too." lol

On a side note, I just gave up after about 4 hours of Atom RPG. The combat is just terrible IMO and the story has not been gripping enough for me to continue. I've been in the mood for a turn based RPG similar to Wasteland lately but this isn't it. I'm going to give Encased a shot pretty soon. I was able to grab it for cheap during Steam's weekly sale last week. Hopefully this one will be better.