Merry Christmas!! 🎄 What have you all been playing!!
I finished Octopath Traveler. Same as last week, it’s really mediocre, most of the stories are boring and some are really bad, because your party basically doesn’t exist anymore, once you’ve started a chapter with a character. I just played through the character stories and didn’t do the omega secret true final boss whatever.
Edit: no ultrawide support, but there is a patch / trainer, but it messes up the UI a bit (not an issue 90% of the time). It runs perfectly on an OLED Steam Deck, locked 60fps, at highest settings.
Then I started Tunic a few days ago. You know about that story, how FromSoftware’s Miyazaki apparently made the Souls games the way they are, because he’d play games as a kid without understanding the language, so he had to just figure stuff out? That’s Tunic. The game is mainly Zelda, of course some Souls-like elements (can’t miss those in modern games) and in the end it’s also The Witness. I just beat the game and got the normal ending (maybe bad ending), but you also get a game over screen and are told you can try again for another path. I did find a lot of stuff, but I don’t know if I have it in me to go for the true ending or something all by myself. This means I’ll probably look stuff up, so I’m not sitting around for hours.
Edit: like Octopath, no ultrawide, but I haven’t looked for patches. Runs well on the Steam Deck, but needed to turn down settings a notch, otherwise it felt a bit choppy, even at 60fps.
I played thru Octopath Traveler, and the story doesn’t tie everyone together until that secret last boss. Nothing much interesting in the writing until that part, I guess.
I read that Octopath Traveler 2 rectified that, and it’s one of the best JRPG of this year. I bought that on sale, but haven’t touched it yet.
I dropped Tunic halfway thru, the combat just doesn’t gel with me.
I played both Octopath Travellers games. The second is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of cohesion. There’s also now a piss easy final boss, as well as an impossible-if-you don’t-follow-a-cheese-strategy-online secret final final boss. Merely being level 99 doesn’t cut it. Ugh. Octopath Travellers games are so charming but the devs still haven’t figured out how to end them in my humble opinion.
I think two or three stories briefly mention that last boss, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out that something is there, but the game just makes it so unappealing and uninteresting to actually look for it, that I just can’t be bothered.
I’ll probably eventually get the sequel. Like you said, I’ve basically only heard praises of the game, but it’s gonna be some time before I do.
Got a few on the go because I recently got a Switch.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder: just about 100%.
Metroid Dread: awesome.
Moonlighter: great for a few minutes here and there.
Axiom Verge: for when I get stuck in Dread.
The to play pile is growing, so I better finish one of those soon. Hades and Iconoclasts will have to wait a bit.
I was so impressed with Metroid Dread, like seriously. As a long time fan of the series I was going to buy the game anyway but it’s just such an impressively polished and put together piece of art. I was deeply impressed with it. I’m also a big fan of the direction it’s taking the lore into.
Edit: can’t get the spoiler tag to work so I just removed the second half of my comment sorry
Dread was great, but the EMMI sections were not fun at all. Especially since you could walk into the room and immediately die with no way to stop it.
I didn’t mind them that much, I viewed them more as a puzzle than a combat. It helped break up some of the run and gun of the rest of the game and you always knew you were getting a cool ability when you got through it.
That said though I’ll admit the last couple EMMIs did give me a really hard time with many, many resets. But I did get through them. And once I even managed to get the perfect parry and escape after getting got by the EMMI and it was extremely hype.
I was worried I would hate them. I find myself looking forward to them. It is always a great feeling to finish one of them off.
I didn’t see it so nothing was spoiled. I’m trying not to read the guides but I do want to know when the last PNR is in case I need to explore a little.
I’m coming up on the end of Wargroove 2. It’s a solid iteration on the first game, with a few new units and mechanics. It’s some solid Advance Wars gameplay, and arguably better.
I started playing The Outer Worlds basically right after Starfield, and it’s hard to come up with anything that Starfield did better, honestly. This is just a better version of that, for the most part, and with a good sense of humor on top of that.
I’ve been trying to get to Master rank in Street Fighter 6, and I’m in Diamond 3, inching closer. I’ll get there in due time. This game is great for a first version, but it sure would be nice if the input reader was more consistent and if Zangief’s lariat hit behind him.
I started playing The Outer Worlds basically right after Starfield, and it’s hard to come up with anything that Starfield did better, honestly. This is just a better version of that, for the most part, and with a good sense of humor on top of that.
Lol, I’ve actually been thinking of replaying it at some point because as soon as I started becoming frustrated with Starfield, I remembered that we already have a way better “Fallout in space” game.
Also, Parvati is my fellow ace BFF. So fucking happy I got to connect with a character, help her find romance, and not be the fucking center of attention for once. Wish RPGs did that more.
Decided to finish up my Mimimi collection now that they’re shutting down and I’m now in full stealth tactics mode.
I’ve been playing Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew and man, I never realized how much I miss tactical stealth games. Having so much fun.
Immediately made a beeline for the Yuki (from Shadow Tactics) DLC as soon as the option opened up.
Love that rascal and her having adopted Kuma is just perfect.
It has a super varied cast of characters as well, and I haven’t unlocked them all yet, but enjoying the ones I have so far.
I also find it kind of funny how “save-scumming” is treated as an integral mechanic in the game. Like, you don’t have to do it at all, but if you want to, the game encourages you to enjoy it and not feel bad about it as long as you’re having fun.
Booted the old Warframe and Path of Exile accounts back up. It’s been a hot minute.
Those two old games are still fantastic. And they just keep getting bigger! There’s always new content coming out.
I’m also trying out a new build in Baldurs Gate 3, which is always fun.
I have three games on the go at the moment. Gotta enjoy those few weeks off from university, when I actually have some time.
Empyrion: playing this with my partner. This really feels like a game that could be amazing if the devs gave it a bit of polish, cleaned up the bugs, and updated the in-game information with the current game mechanics. There’s something deeply frustrating about not knowing how to do something, and every post on Steam community and Reddit has a different answer, and very few of those answers are correct in the current version of the game. It’s a shame, because I’m really loving the actual gameplay. I spent most of today rebuilding my ship: suffice to say, the NPC faction that blasted holes in the previous version of the ship are going to rue the day they blasted holes in my ship. I have shields and a lot more guns. 😈
Earthlock: still enjoying this. Delightful RPG in the style of 90s Final Fantasy games. The storyline isn’t wowing me. It’s fine, very standard fantasy, but it doesn’t stand out as anything really amazing. But it’s a nice, easy-playing game with a lot of nice elements. It’s cute, the gameplay mechanics are interesting, and the puzzles are just the right balance between too easy and too hard. And I can plant trees that, for some reason, spawn frogs around them. I have no idea why, but I’m not complaining. 🐸
Maneater: I really had no idea how much I needed this game in my life until I started playing it. It’s been a rough couple of months, and something about being a shark on a quest for vengeance is incredibly cathartic. Those people in that fancy yacht totally had it coming. My glee definitely did escalate once I moved into an area with lots of rich people. More golf courses should have electric sharks sliding through them, chomping on the golfers. 🦈
nier automata on the deck, a friend gifted it to me for my birthday
Pokémon mystery dungeon red rescue team. I’m going to work my way up through the mystery dungeons.
Diablo 4: Season 2 - Still working on farming for Midwinter Blight. But I finally hit level 100 in doing so, so I’m pretty happy about that.
Slender: The Arrival - Apparently I got around to this just in time for the 10th year anniversary update, and I must say I was super impressed with the overhauled graphics. There were a few areas that I wished hadn’t been very chase heavy, because I would have loved to explore the surroundings more. I guess they also added a chapter or two. It wasn’t a bad play overall, and there was some great tension and scares, even if a few of them were cheap jumpscares. I’ve read that the devs will be expanding on it over the next year with new DLCs and multiplayer (of all things, after ten years lol), so I’ll have to keep my eye out for whenever those drop.
Today for Christmas I finally got an Xbox Series X, so I have a nice little line up of games that I’ve been nearly dying to play. Right now I’m trying to decide between playing Alan Wake 2 or the Dead Space remake first. Dead Space is one of my favorite franchises, but I also adore the first Alan Wake game. Either way, I think I’ll be looking at a good time this week.
I just finished The Invincible. Runs like dogshit on my system (i5-9600 16Gb/RX6650XT 8Gb), but very engaging for a walking simulator. About ten hours long and very little replay value unless you’re a completionist. Recommended if that sounds like your cup of tea, but don’t pay full price.
I finally picked up Subnautica Below Zero. For some reason I had it in my head that it was an expansion or 1.5 type release rather than a full sequel, so I had put it off longer than I would have otherwise.
I’ve played a handful of survival/crafting games since completing the first Subnautica a couple years ago, and nothing I’ve seen or played does what Subnautica does so well: the progression path is perfectly tuned and focused to keep you obtaining new things at just the right pace while enabling further and further exploration. There’s a really addictive feeling of empowerment that comes with each accomplishment, going from bare swimming to zooming with the seaglide, to building a better tank to stay underwater longer, to eventually having massive vehicles and scanning equipment and defensive weapons. Mix it all together with the excitement from finally reaching and exploring new spaces you could only glimpse before, finding new supplies and equipment, and it’s just an incredibly fun and rewarding time.
I think a common complaint with Below Zero was that it didn’t do enough differently, but that doesn’t bother me at all. I think the biggest problem I have with other survival/crafting games is that they all seem designed for perpetual play (e.g., No Man’s Sky). Both Subnautica games are single-player at their core, with the attendant intentional elegance, and Below Zero strikes that near-perfect balance as well as its predecessor (so far).
Picked up Lies of P yesterday. I am enjoying it a lot, and a lot more than I thought I would. I saw some pre-release playthroughs that left me hesitant, but it is on GamePass, so I figured why not.
It is a great mix of FromSoft concepts, pulling a lot from Bloodbourne and a little from all of them. Highly recommend if anyone wants a soulslike but don’t want to play Elden Ring again.
Right now I’m playing Begin Again: Tale of Two Wastelands, it’s a mod for New Vegas that let’s you play through FO3 and NV like they’re two halves of a whole game.
I’m rounding off the year with The Last of Us Part I and so far it lives up to my expectations (and even more).
I’ve also been playing some PSVR2 recently, I recently completed Moss and just started RE: Village (and it seems I’ve almost got my “VR legs”, I wasn’t really feeling nauseated after the first session).
Did you watch the show before playing? I did, and I’m wondering if it is worth it to play once you know the whole story
No, I didn’t want to spoil myself at all, so I’m not sure how the two compare tbh. I would imagine there are still some slight differences and/or you might want to play on a more challenging difficulty if that’s your thing?
Do you like stealth?
The story is fine, and they do a good job mixing it into the gameplay, but it’s not one of my favorite games for the story. (On higher difficulties) It’s an excellent stealth game that has really well designed encounters with very believable AI and uses resource scarcity to make every action have weight.
Kinda, might try it tonight
Been putting a lot of hours recently into Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a really high quality 40k game. Most of the popular (and good) Warhammer games take place in Age of Sigmar and not 40k. (Boltgun being a notable recent exception here)
But damn, Rogue Trader really hits the nail right on the head so far. I’ve never played Dark Heresy tabletop so the ruleset takes a little getting used to for someone primarily familiar with Pathfinder rules, but once you understand the basics the rest of the game falls right into place. The lore is spot on and the adventure is fun and interesting. Highly recommend to tabletop fans and Warhammer fans each separately, and if you’re both like I am, it’s a must buy.
I know very little about 40k or Warhammer in general, but want to give Rogue Trader a shot. I’ve read a bunch of positive comments about the game, but since it’s Owlcat, I’ll wait some months for patches to fix the game.
I’ve only just recently gotten into Act 2 but so far I haven’t come across a single bug, actually. Seems very polished. It does require a bit of a Warhammer primer before coming in if you want to know what’s going on though. The game does a good enough job of explaining things that are important within the game but a lot of the context and fine details will escape you if you don’t know at least a little about the 40k setting at large.
I was recently “burned” with Pathfinder: Kingmaker, which is still in rough shape, after all this time (I think there’s some fuckery going on with the publisher, where Owlcat can’t update the game anymore), so I’ll definitely give it some time. Rogue Trader might also be in a similar boat as BG3, where the later Acts have more bugs, since those weren’t in any playtests or betas, but that’s just what I read.
I’m also fine with not getting everything, so that isn’t an issue. All I know of 40k is basically through various memes on the internet, throughout the years, so basically nothing.
Yeah, I’m not sure what’s up with Kingmaker. It got dropped like a hot potato in favor of Wrath of The Righteous, which is to this day still receiving updates and is, in my opinion, a stellar game. Kingmaker for sure got the short end of the stick though.
