This is a topic I enjoyed seeing over at the other place, so I thought I’d try to get it going here if people are interested.
As usual, I managed to spend some time playing ZELDA:BotW on CEMU, for my little daughter.
She enjoys re-dressing the protagonist, having him gather edible stuff and cooking it Riding on horses, hiding before enemies, checking interesting places, or directing daddy to a black rock that hides Amber or Flint inside seems to be endless source of fun for her.
Recently, she asks to strip Link to his underpants, go to a beach and run around, picking up crabs, rocks, or climbing palm trees.
As for me, every second I can spend watching the grass bent by the virtual wind makes me forget about the reality around me. Which is more than welcome state of mind.
Started Oxenfree. Kinda a point and click mystery adventure. I’m not too far in yet but I’m enjoying the story and humor so far.
Finished Diablo 4 main story and I’m enjoying the sides quests more than the main!
I’m always playing Fallout 76. Having fun with the new quests and events.
Just got back into replaying Cyberpunk 2077 and I’m very glad a significant amount of the launch issues have been addressed. It’s taken a while but it’s finally playable. Still a bit upset they didn’t deliver on the futuristic GTA experience I was expecting, but I’m at least having a good time.
I’d hold off playing more then. Juicehead and others have a pretty hefty update on what the future holds for the Phantom Liberty update and revamp of core systems. Sounds like they’ll be bringing in a more living world akin to how people were expecting it to operate a la GTA.
Playing Halls of Torment. Super fun indie roguelite monster slashing game for 5 euros/dollars. It’s a bit like vampire survivor but with many cool differences.
Have more fun with it than with Diablo 4.
utterly awesome alpha game
I really like this one! Just waiting for them to put more in it, because I beat it with each class as of the last time I played.
Been playing Dragon’s Dogma, I never got past getting to the main city when it first came out. I just beat the boss and now the world has completely changed so I don’t think it’s over yet.
I haven’t even touched any of the Bitterblack Isle stuff yet so I’m sure there’s still some stuff left to do.
What do you think of it? I remember when I first tried it on PS3 and thought the movement was too clunky and I just could not figure the combat out. For some reason it just did not click with me, and I ended up dying to even the simplest of enemies.
For some reason I didn’t give up - the world seemed interesting I guess - and I’m glad I didn’t, as one day everything just sort of clicked and I was climbing giant enemies and actually defeating them. I was having a blast and the game just sucked me in after that. It really felt I had bested it, in a way, and was now able to enjoy what it had to offer. Never got around to doing much in Bitterblack Isle, and I remember stopping shortly after the world changed, due to some stuff going on in life back then.
After seeing the surprise (atleast it was to me) announcement of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and the anime, I rebought DD on Steam and am about to start it on my Steam Deck after years of not playing the game. Feels exciting!
By today’s standards, I’m sure there’s a lot that could be improved on in DD but I can wholeheartedly recommend trying it to anyone who hasn’t played it yet. The combat is engaging, the world is interesting and I felt that the game was a breath of fresh air back when it was released.
That was what happened to me too when I first played it on the PS3. I didn’t fully understand the vocation mechanic, I guess I didn’t realize the effectiveness of using certain magics against enemies.
I’ve been playing as a Mystic Knight and blowing up everything with Great Canon and am having so much more fun than I had when I was younger.
I’ve been playing the GBA Collection on Nintendo switch. I had emulators but this is finally a legal way to play fire emblem, Metroid and Mario kart super circuit on the switch without hassle.
It’s basically the best thing that could happen ever. Now if I can just figure out how to enable the multiplayer it would be a blast
Noita, the best game I can never recommend because of just how crazily deadly it is unless you know exactly what you’re doing and happen to get the right perks early on. I can’t say a roguelike where your 12-actual-hours-of-playing session ends with nothing to show for it just because you accidentally zapped the wrong thing out of frame that you couldn’t have known was there is well-designed as a game, especially when exploration/experimentation’s main reward is death. It’s a very good sandbox, though.
I also got back into Risk of Rain 2. First time playing the new DLC, and I very easily managed to finish off the new content. Honestly, a bit disappointed as my favorite part of RoR2 was the unlockable items/achievement hunting and the DLC had really none of that outside of unlocking a new character and unlocking the alternative abilities for a pre-unlocked character.
Satisfactory is something I’ve been playing on and off. I definitely prefer Factorio’s sense of danger over Satisfactory’s chill, but it’s still fun and has its own things going on. The more permanent bases and the fact the game is 3D makes for more fun, but I hope one day either a DLC or a mod will introduce base defense somehow.
I just finished off every achievement on Steam in Brotato. It was a fun, simple roguelike, took me a bit to grind through it. I might return to it someday, but for now it can rest.
+1 for Noita. I’m not enough of a masochist to play without the Dead isn’t Dead mod. Although lately it’s been freezing up on any deaths. Maybe one of these days I’ll start playing it as more than a glorified physics sandbox lol.
I’ve wanted Noita forever, but have been so hesitant due to the whole … dying thing!! That mod may be the answer to my fears ??
So far the mod works, but I need to sit down and confirm that mod is the one that freezes up the engine. I’m mostly playing with Fury’s mod collection, but maybe it’s the few extra ones that are tripping it up.
Final Fantasy 16 - I haven’t had a lot of time to play it lately, but really enjoying it. Story and world feel like classic SNES era Final Fantasy, but darker, a little more adult. Graphics are great, it’s a beautiful game and looks next gen. And the gameplay is fine… It’s just button mashing, casting spells from range over and over till you finally stagger a powerful enemy, or a quick time event. But it does feel like an action beat-em-up taking place within a Final Fantasy world. Would love if it were more turn based, or at least party based like FF7 Remake, but it’s fine. Good game so far 👍
The game has the highest high points in any game in recent memory for me. The only thing that makes it a 9/10 in my eyes is the slower sidequest-esque missions sometimes inserted into the main quest, and the lack of any real RPG elements
There is a method to the madness in the game wants you to think of your abilities like a DPS MMO rotation.
Also your damage from the helm splitter scales with height.
For example, the thunder ball + will of wisps creates just a constantly pulsing ball of damage. Then add on any other moves done. Don’t forget your dog can jump in on the last hit of your base attack string.
Slay the Spire - damn fucking addicting game, sometimes infuriating and sometimes a dopamine rush, it’s just feels so good when you play your cards right
CrossCode - I’m still at the beginning (just got my first party member) and I fell in love with it almost instantly. The dialogue is funny and the combat is chef’s kiss. Shout out to Lea’s legendary face reactions
Finishing Final Fantasy 16 as we speak. Enjoying the story, reminiscent of the stories from the 2D games. Game play feels like hack n slash meets fighting game, which can be repetitive but engaging.
Edit: realized I made it sound like I didn’t like. It’s far from the classic game play but that’s to be expected. I think they nailed the game play for this. It made it feel more cinematic and epic.
The gameplay is almost there. If they added a pause string and a few more moves to Clive’s base it would be perfect.
Hardspace Shipbreaker. I play open shift mode because I’m old and slow and have nothing to prove. I love the music and just taking my time and getting into the flow zone with it. There’s a half-decent story about worker exploitation, etc., going on with it but I pay little attention to the story in games. I’m here to play not watch a streaming series. Fortunately you can do other stuff during a lot of it, though they do have some unskippable cut scenes, which I am never a fan of.
Haven’t played recently but it’s a great game. In also play in open shift mode, it’s nice to just chill out and disassemble some spaceships
Bought Star Citizen and my god is it really good. Initially I assumed it wouldn’t due to everything I read but man those articles are usually out the date. The recent update added a lot and seemed to have fixed a lot. There are still quite a few bugs, but most you run into will not prevent you from playing the game.
Playing bits and pieces of a lot of stuff and nothing’s really sticking. It’s frustrating, haha.
Replaying Control because I never got around to the DLC back in the day, and I want to play it before Alan Wake 2 comes out. This is my main game right now, but I’m just slowly picking away at it.
Diablo IV - omnipresent side-game for me. It’s grindy, and repetitive, and the end game and itemization need work, but I enjoy the combat so it’s been a good podcast game.
Dave the Diver - Great game, but where I’m at currently it’s become more mission-focused than I’d prefer. Still liking it, but my progress has slowed quite a bit.
The Rift Breaker - Picked this up in the Steam sale. It’s fun, if a little confusing sometimes. The UI could use some work.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors - Despite the terrible name, this one’s actually pretty fun. I’ve played an absolute ton of these things and some are more interesting than others… being able to add 2 members to your squad, as well as some of the abilities and stuff, make this one stand apart a bit. At least for a couple hours of mindless fun.
Voidigo, Revita, Crab Champions, Dropsy, and Going Under (among others, honestly) are some more that are rotating in and out as I try to find something that I’ll stick with for a bit, but nothing’s scratching the itch so far.
+1 for Control. Finished it and the DLC not too long ago, awesome game and Remedy is one of the more exciting studios in gaming right now
Finished Yakuza: Like a Dragon a few weeks ago, really liked the vibe. The whole Yakuza collection came up for sale on GOG right after I finished, so I’m going through the whole series now. Almost done with Yakuza 0, and it hasn’t disappointed. The graphics and UI are dated, but it’s easy to get past that. The storytelling is what’s so great about these games. They’re long, complex, and surprisingly thoughtful. Sure there’s a good amount of trite cringeworthy tropes, but that’s part of the fun. Oh and the minigames! Business management is almost as fun as the main game…and I love that you can play classic sega arcade games in-game!
You have a long and wonderful journey ahead of you!
In my opinion Y0 looks better than LAD, at least on PS5
Yeah, I can totally see what you mean. I was definitely underwhelmed by Like a Dragon’s graphics. Lately I’ve been a lot more forgiving of old/crappy graphics though, especially with how gripping these stories are.
I’ve been rotating between Tears of the Kingdom, which I’ve been greatly enjoying in short bursts for its exploration and how easy it is to change scenery or style as I play, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which I’ve been playing again after getting my wife in to the game, and Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on an emulator while I’m out and about.
Each game has definitely been scratching a different itch, and it’s been a great improvement in my long term enjoyment of each to rotate between them. I used to no-life a game until I finished it or burned out. Now I’m loving three games and don’t feel like garbage when I set them down to live my life.
I beat Planet of Lana. Fun indie game with wonderful art style and music. Gameplay could’ve been a bit more complex especially with puzzles but still very enjoyable.
I enjoyed it as well (and it’s on Game Pass)! Reminded me of Inside, FAR Lone Sails, etc. Didn’t quite live up to those, but still solid!
