I don't think there's anything you could choose to be that wouldn't let you fill out a reasonably balanced team with companions. They've got a solid spread of different options between them, and the highest difficulty is the only one that really demands that you try to build optimal characters or teams. Obviously there are better and worse choices, but it really did feel like they balanced the game assuming that players wouldn't know what they were in for from the start.
Yeah, I've been somewhat reassured by you guys that I'm not it won't be a disaster - and after all, most modern games won't let you completely gimp yourself to the point of "'start over, this isn't viable" anymore the way old games did (hurray for Diablo/Fallout/etc).
It's just a bit weird/overwhelming to have no clue at all. It's a different experience.
It's just a bit weird/overwhelming to have no clue at all. It's a different experience.
figmentPez
Staff member
Nobody Saves the World
My sister got this for me for my birthday. It's an action RPG where you play as an amnesiac, shape-shifting wizard trying to save the world from a cliched calamity. Aside from the shape-shifting, the other main gameplay mechanic is that all the leveling is done by completing quests. It's like doing achievements to level up all the different shapes. Do damage with a certain attack, heal yourself with a specific ability, etc.
It's fun, but it's also very visually cluttered. It can be difficult to know what is going on when there are dozens of enemies onscreen, each of them with multiple status icons floating next to them, and projectiles, area effects, etc.
My sister got this for me for my birthday. It's an action RPG where you play as an amnesiac, shape-shifting wizard trying to save the world from a cliched calamity. Aside from the shape-shifting, the other main gameplay mechanic is that all the leveling is done by completing quests. It's like doing achievements to level up all the different shapes. Do damage with a certain attack, heal yourself with a specific ability, etc.
It's fun, but it's also very visually cluttered. It can be difficult to know what is going on when there are dozens of enemies onscreen, each of them with multiple status icons floating next to them, and projectiles, area effects, etc.
Legend of Zelda: echoes of wisdom
As said above, it's a puzzle game. Arguably an action puzzle game. It's taken me a bit to get into, but I am enjoying it. No comment yet on the quality of the main quest, as I've avoided it in favour of running around the overworld. I like the fast travel system, and have really liked looking for caves and secrets on the world.
Oh, and the companion isn't annoying.
As said above, it's a puzzle game. Arguably an action puzzle game. It's taken me a bit to get into, but I am enjoying it. No comment yet on the quality of the main quest, as I've avoided it in favour of running around the overworld. I like the fast travel system, and have really liked looking for caves and secrets on the world.
Oh, and the companion isn't annoying.
I didn't realize that W40k Rogue Trader actually used all the stats and skills and stuff from the W40k Dark Heresy role playing system. I may have to give this a try myself now. (Your character would be fine in the role play environment )
I figured as much. My Warhammer 40k group have a Dark Heresy campaign that's been going for years... role play in the grimdark is lots and lots of fun.
Me playing Hitman: World of Assassination
Game: "Agent 47 is a silent assassin of legend, in which he infiltrates a location, takes out his target by making it look like an accident or ensuring the crime will never be solved, and then leaves without anyone the wiser."
Me: "I hear you and acknowledge that Agent 47 is meant to be a stealthy and clean assassin. However, have you taken into account the fact that mass murder is really a lot of fun?"
Game: "Agent 47 is a silent assassin of legend, in which he infiltrates a location, takes out his target by making it look like an accident or ensuring the crime will never be solved, and then leaves without anyone the wiser."
Me: "I hear you and acknowledge that Agent 47 is meant to be a stealthy and clean assassin. However, have you taken into account the fact that mass murder is really a lot of fun?"
One of my favorite games from my youth!
Diablo 4. I’m loving the new class and the changes they’ve made to the game…and riding cats into battle of course!
I was in the mood for some Pokemon, so I decided to fire up Pokemon Sword again.
To keep things fresh, though, I decided to go for a pseudo-Nuzlocke run. Traditional Nuzlocke runs have two main rules: 1) If a Pokemon loses all its HP and faints, it is considered "dead" and must be released, and 2) You're only allowed to catch the first Pokemon you encounter every time you enter a new area. The second rule felt overly restrictive to me and not very fun, so I'm going with a variation of it: I will only catch one Pokemon from every new area, but I reserve the right to choose which one.
Also, players are highly encouraged to nickname every Pokemon they get in order to build a stronger emotional connection with them.
Thus far I've got my starter Sobble, which I've nicknamed Sniperino, and a Seedot, which I've nicknamed Kabuki.
To keep things fresh, though, I decided to go for a pseudo-Nuzlocke run. Traditional Nuzlocke runs have two main rules: 1) If a Pokemon loses all its HP and faints, it is considered "dead" and must be released, and 2) You're only allowed to catch the first Pokemon you encounter every time you enter a new area. The second rule felt overly restrictive to me and not very fun, so I'm going with a variation of it: I will only catch one Pokemon from every new area, but I reserve the right to choose which one.
Also, players are highly encouraged to nickname every Pokemon they get in order to build a stronger emotional connection with them.
Thus far I've got my starter Sobble, which I've nicknamed Sniperino, and a Seedot, which I've nicknamed Kabuki.
Give me a shout when you find the magic hobo.
More Diablo 4 after a short break for a farming game. I beat Lilith solo which I hadn’t been able to do since the campaign.
I’m farming runes and may be able to make my first purple item soon. Hopefully
Spiritborn is so much fun!
I’m farming runes and may be able to make my first purple item soon. Hopefully
Spiritborn is so much fun!
I'd pretty much played through everything that Hitman: World of Assassination has to offer (main campaign, bonus campaigns, Freelancer mode etc). The only thing I hadn't tried yet was Sniper Assassin mode, which is basically a mini-game that was released with Hitman 2 involving just sniping. So, for example, instead of being able to walk through levels to find inventive ways to kill your targets, instead Agent 47 just parks himself in one spot with a sniper rifle, and you're tasked with taking out specific targets. There are just 3 levels, and each level has a time limit of 15 minutes, so it's a much faster and more casual game experience than the base game.
And y'know what? I love this game mode so much.
I actually rather enjoy sniping in video games, so a game mode involving nothing but sniping is right up my wheelhouse. The levels are well-designed and interesting to play, with there being lots of options for cleverly sniping your targets in unobtrusive ways. There are also quite a few Easter eggs for players to find, as well as whimsical challenges to mix things up a bit (eg. "snipe all the birds in the sky" or "shoot this guy's beer bottle to make him throw a tantrum" or "shoot out a photographer's camera so that he can't take a picture of a couple at a wedding, which means one of your targets will take the picture instead, which he will then show to another target thus giving you the opportunity to take them both out at once").
I wish there were more than 3 levels because I really, really enjoy this game mode.
And y'know what? I love this game mode so much.
I actually rather enjoy sniping in video games, so a game mode involving nothing but sniping is right up my wheelhouse. The levels are well-designed and interesting to play, with there being lots of options for cleverly sniping your targets in unobtrusive ways. There are also quite a few Easter eggs for players to find, as well as whimsical challenges to mix things up a bit (eg. "snipe all the birds in the sky" or "shoot this guy's beer bottle to make him throw a tantrum" or "shoot out a photographer's camera so that he can't take a picture of a couple at a wedding, which means one of your targets will take the picture instead, which he will then show to another target thus giving you the opportunity to take them both out at once").
I wish there were more than 3 levels because I really, really enjoy this game mode.
figmentPez
Staff member
I've been without a gaming PC for nearly a month now. All I've had for gaming is my phone and a Switch Lite with Super Smash Bros Ultimate. I'm getting very tired of small screen gaming, especially since I'm not very good at fighting games so I'm kinda limited in what modes of SSBU I enjoy.
Paper Trail
This is a puzzle game where the protagonist can fold over the edges of the screen to use an alternate version of the page on the other side. I started out enjoying it, but it dragged on way past what I found interesting. It introduced too few new concepts, and it just felt like I was just trial-and-erroring my way through the same kind of puzzle over and over. Maybe if the mechanic had clicked more I would have enjoyed it, I dunno. I didn't finish the game.
MineSweeper (Netflix games)
This is a decent version of MineSweeper, with just one small twist. The playing fields are irregularly shaped and not rectangles. The irregular borders and islands seem to reduce the number of times there's potential for being stuck on a 50/50 guess at the end of a board (though I also suspect the game is programmed to avoid generating such boards, as well). It's nothing special, but it helps pass the time.
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The last couple of days I've been experimenting with Luna game streaming to my phone, which I didn't expect to work very well since it was going to be a WiFi connection, though WiFi mesh networking, and in a somewhat remote suburb. Surprisingly the latency was not unplayable, better than I experienced at some points in my previous apartment.
Cat Quest 2
This one is in my GOG library, and I figured it wouldn't be super sensitive to latency. Dodging took a little anticipation, and everything feels really tiny on my phone screen, but this was surprisingly playable.
Saints Row the Third Remastered
This one is part of the monthly free titles, and I played it just to test the playability of a shooter. Suprisingly the driving is what felt horrible, and the shooting mostly felt bad because I was playing with a controller. Definitely won't be continuing with this one via cloud.
Hopefully my new computer will arrive tomorrow, and I won't have to experiment anymore, but there's some other games that might be worth trying. Whispering Willows, being a point-and-click adventure game, would be well suited to cloud gaming, but I'm not sure it will be well suited to my phone's screen and my middle-aged eyes.
Paper Trail
This is a puzzle game where the protagonist can fold over the edges of the screen to use an alternate version of the page on the other side. I started out enjoying it, but it dragged on way past what I found interesting. It introduced too few new concepts, and it just felt like I was just trial-and-erroring my way through the same kind of puzzle over and over. Maybe if the mechanic had clicked more I would have enjoyed it, I dunno. I didn't finish the game.
MineSweeper (Netflix games)
This is a decent version of MineSweeper, with just one small twist. The playing fields are irregularly shaped and not rectangles. The irregular borders and islands seem to reduce the number of times there's potential for being stuck on a 50/50 guess at the end of a board (though I also suspect the game is programmed to avoid generating such boards, as well). It's nothing special, but it helps pass the time.
----
The last couple of days I've been experimenting with Luna game streaming to my phone, which I didn't expect to work very well since it was going to be a WiFi connection, though WiFi mesh networking, and in a somewhat remote suburb. Surprisingly the latency was not unplayable, better than I experienced at some points in my previous apartment.
Cat Quest 2
This one is in my GOG library, and I figured it wouldn't be super sensitive to latency. Dodging took a little anticipation, and everything feels really tiny on my phone screen, but this was surprisingly playable.
Saints Row the Third Remastered
This one is part of the monthly free titles, and I played it just to test the playability of a shooter. Suprisingly the driving is what felt horrible, and the shooting mostly felt bad because I was playing with a controller. Definitely won't be continuing with this one via cloud.
Hopefully my new computer will arrive tomorrow, and I won't have to experiment anymore, but there's some other games that might be worth trying. Whispering Willows, being a point-and-click adventure game, would be well suited to cloud gaming, but I'm not sure it will be well suited to my phone's screen and my middle-aged eyes.
140 hours and 40 minutes later and the credits roll. Phew. Looking back at those starting stats, oof, what a baby I was :-D
Anyway, having now looked up a bunch more online about alternative endings and so on:
- I didn't get any of the "secret" companions, but
- I did actually apparently end up with the "secret" ending on my first playthrough
- A mix of Iconoclast (for Xenos and heresy) and Dogmatic (for Chaos and anything touched by it) still seems to be the most Good you can be in 40K, and it was fun.
- I'll have to agree with some of the comments online that act 4 and 5 feel more rushed than the beginning, but for me it all worked and wasn't too bug-filled
- Overall most of my ending slides felt pretty "right" to me and I think I managed relatively good outcomes for most of my companions and associates.
It's not a perfect game (or a perfect 40K representation) by a longshot, and I'd have enjoyed meeting some other races (There's...5 types of Xenos in the game, I guess?), but I had a LOT of fun playing this, arguably more than with many of the more stereotypical fantasy fare we've seen in recent years as far as this game type goes (haven't played BG3 yet, but I was more invested in this than I was with Tyranny or PoE or D:OS2). If you like this type of game - long-form RPGs with turn based combat, somewhat story heavy - I would definitely recommend it. But it's not for those who want a short quick game experience.
Convergence: A League of Legends story
All the fun lore of League of Legends, but with none of the actual PLAYING League of Legends...as that game...god dammit, its so frustrating, I shouldn't have to go through WEB FAQs just to START a game! Download game, then play, THAT is how easy it should be!
All the fun lore of League of Legends, but with none of the actual PLAYING League of Legends...as that game...god dammit, its so frustrating, I shouldn't have to go through WEB FAQs just to START a game! Download game, then play, THAT is how easy it should be!
figmentPez
Staff member
The Gunk
There's something to be said for a game that knows what it wants to be, does just that, and doesn't overstay it's welcome. The Gunk isn't a great game, but it's definitely a good game that could have easily gone bad by trying too hard to be longer, or more difficult, or more complex. It's a cliched story but the characters are fun, the world is beautiful, and the basic mechanics work well most of the time. It's an enjoyable puzzle platformer and I enjoyed the 5 hours I spent with it.
The Gunk reminds me a lot of Journey to the Savage Planet, it's like two games tried to make the same assignment but with wildly different focus. Both games revolve around exploring an alien planet, collecting resources, upgrading equipment, and tell stories about pollution / environmental harm. JttSP was about combat, movement mechanics, and satirical world building, with a mute main character. The Gunk focuses more on a story about characters, and puzzle solving, with arguably too much Mario Sunshine-esque cleaning of gunk to progress.
Overall, it was fun, and definitely worth the price of "included with Prime".
There's something to be said for a game that knows what it wants to be, does just that, and doesn't overstay it's welcome. The Gunk isn't a great game, but it's definitely a good game that could have easily gone bad by trying too hard to be longer, or more difficult, or more complex. It's a cliched story but the characters are fun, the world is beautiful, and the basic mechanics work well most of the time. It's an enjoyable puzzle platformer and I enjoyed the 5 hours I spent with it.
The Gunk reminds me a lot of Journey to the Savage Planet, it's like two games tried to make the same assignment but with wildly different focus. Both games revolve around exploring an alien planet, collecting resources, upgrading equipment, and tell stories about pollution / environmental harm. JttSP was about combat, movement mechanics, and satirical world building, with a mute main character. The Gunk focuses more on a story about characters, and puzzle solving, with arguably too much Mario Sunshine-esque cleaning of gunk to progress.
Overall, it was fun, and definitely worth the price of "included with Prime".
Psychonauts
Or at least nine tenths of it, because I can't fucking finish the Meat Circus level. There's a part with this netting you have to jump across, but it's on a curve, so it's impossible to figure out how to properly jump. Worse, the double jump only works once in a while.
Fuck it. I give up.
Or at least nine tenths of it, because I can't fucking finish the Meat Circus level. There's a part with this netting you have to jump across, but it's on a curve, so it's impossible to figure out how to properly jump. Worse, the double jump only works once in a while.
Fuck it. I give up.