So, what're you playing?

[Hawkbit]

The mob density patch helped a bit for me.  There's times where the screen is full of mobs now and I'm often getting bonus XP for 20 kills at once, things like that.

Loot drops are better and I'm actually finding things my class can use now.  Yes, AH gear would allow me to optimize.  However, I'm playing casual with only self-found gear, though I sell unused gear on the AH for cash. 

I can't honestly say what's better, as I only played a few weeks before quitting in disgust, then a few plays over the last year.  It could entirely be my perception.  It's just more fun to me than it was at launch.   

The story is still bad and in the way of the game.  And the whole experience feels 'on rails' compared to the more open world of TL2.

[Cyrrex]

I decided to scrape the layers of dust off the Wii and actually give Skyward Sword an honest effort.  I had only originally played maybe 4 or 5 hours and had gotten turned off by one of the early areas in the game, and didn't care much for the motion-sensored sword fighting at all (even if it was an attractive idea in theory).  I thought I had finally played a Zelda game that I just wasn't going to care for on any level.  Well...mind changed.  Now about 17 hours in, and fuck if I don't think it isn't a fantastic game.  I know that I am supposed to have matured beyond this kind of game, but I love the whimsical bullshit, I fucking love the music and sounds, and every time I solve one of the clever little puzzles and here that little tune I get the same old chills of happiness crawling up my spine.  I am starting to appreciate the sword fighting, and even all the new crazy little gadgets that they somehow manage to invent and make interesting every goddamn time.  Is it all getting a bit redundant?  Maybe, maybe not...but it seems I will never get tired of this particular formula.

The problem here, see, is that now my faith has been restored that they can still make great Zelda games.  Whatever will I do when they release one for the WiiU?

Edit:  And now I just saw they are doing an HD remake of Wind Waker, due possibly this fall.  I have been meaning to give that another go, due to never completing to ocean traversing grind towards the end.  Fuck.

[Tannhauser]

Neverwinter and Star Trek Online.  I seem to be on a Cryptic kick. The new Romulan faction is more fun than it has any right to be. Eagerly awaiting Neverwinter's magic item polish;  right  now greens are vendor trash and I've only gotten one item that I was quite pleased to get, the Sword of Tyranny from a skirmish.

[Arinon]

Finally beat La Mulana with minimal outside help.  Game is seems almost impossible without using walkthroughs for certain parts.  Also bought Borderlands 2 when it was on sale. An ever-so-slightly refined BL1, which is good, but 99% of the humour falls flat so that's a bummer.

This Hex fever forced me to buy DoTP when it was cheap.  Amazing how quickly the rules come flooding back after being away for 15+ years.  That game is not so good though.

Don't Starve looks interesting but not at $15.  Will probably get Saint's Row 3 next time it's on sale in order to inoculate myself against GTA5.  The last few GTA-style games I played didn't hold my interest and were a waste of money.

[Sky]

You probably hate games.

SR3 is a great open world game, one of the very best in a rather silly way. I'd also recommend Sleeping Dogs and Just Cause 2.

[Cyrrex]

I know alot of people loved SR3, but I found that it was way too over-the-top for me.

Not sure if I will get GTA5 either.  They seem to not give a shit about making good driving mechanics, and I don't know if I can deal with that anymore.

[Hawkbit]

I picked up Sleeping Dogs over the weekend, and it's pretty good. 

I didn't care for the SR games because of the silliness, but they're fairly well put together.

[Arinon]

I'm hoping to enjoy SR3, seems to be the most fun of the bunch from the last couple of years. 

Sceptical because at one point I was looking forward to GTA4, which I thought was mediocre at best, and later on was looking forward to Red Dead, which lost my interest well before the narrative ran out.  Loved the earlier stuff in the genre but now I see the man behind the curtain pretty fast.

Maybe I do hate games, but I could learn to love again!  New console year means more time to plunder the back catalogue.  Never gave Civ 5 a chance because it wasn't a new FFH and it looks like Dungeon Crawl is two versions up from last I played.

[Tebonas]

The new Adom Beta, testing the fancy new tile graphics. I will likey get tired of them soon, but right new I like them.

[Rendakor]

Started playing TERA a bit again; it remains the best F2P MMO out there. I finally got past the questing bottleneck so I can start doing dungeons again, so my Slayer is 38 now and no longer wearing a purple leopard print jumpsuit.

[Paelos]

I tried to get into Deus Ex: HR, but after 6 hours I just can't get past the fact that it's trying to be a stealth game and/or a combat game, and it's mediocre at both mechanics compared to other games I've played.

[Lantyssa]

I know alot of people loved SR3, but I found that it was way too over-the-top for me.

Being so over-the-top is the only reason I could stand it.  I rarely got too crazy with it, but I like that it felt like a game rather than SimDetroit and that it definitely did not take itself seriously.

[murdoc]

Love Sleeping Dogs, but just could not get into SR3.

[Sky]

My favorite open world is still GTA:SA just for the setting, soundtrack and characters. They did so well with that one.

SR3 was really good, but I think Sleeping Dogs was able to creep into my #2 slot with the melee/combo aspect. Also, the characters were pretty well done.

I liked GTA4 more than pretty much everyone, but I do hope they can recapture a bit of San Andreas with the new one. I also hope they bring back Sudeikis and Hader for the talk radio.

[Ingmar]

I know alot of people loved SR3, but I found that it was way too over-the-top for me.

Being so over-the-top is the only reason I could stand it.  I rarely got too crazy with it, but I like that it felt like a game rather than SimDetroit and that it definitely did not take itself seriously.

This is me as well, and even then some things pushed me right to my limit of stuff I will put up with in a game. The stuff that *wasn't* enslaving imported whores from a container ship was so funny that I held my nose through all the Zimos stuff.

[HaemishM]

How can you not like Zimos? I mean, other than the outright blatant misogyny which is inherent in the genre itself.

[Ingmar]

Right, that's the problem. And one of the main reasons I pretty much have never really enjoyed another game in this style (other than RDR). I don't especially care for the random mayhem and cop killing and such in other games like it, either, but in SR3 they turn that stuff so far over the top and silly that it doesn't bug me.

[Paelos]

I'm not big into cop killing either, but SR3 was so silly you couldn't honestly take anything that happened in that game remotely seriously. I mean you're attacking masked wrestler gangs with a dildo bat.

[Zetor]

Also, pony cart ride. But yeah, I didn't particularly enjoy that part of SR3 either. The text adventure and the wrestling match made up for it, though.

Anyway -- my brief foray into Neverwinter made me want to play GW2 again, and I've found that the game is kinda-sorta awesome with all the new stuff they added; it's still missing some sort of ingame LFD system followed by nerfing some of the 'dodge within 0.5sec or die' things in dungeons (HPBs are people too!). Other than that, I finished playing through the fan translation of Generation XTH: Code Hazard (an awesome Wizardry-like for the PC), and am currently converting my gaming group's SR4 campaign for Shadowrun:Returns. End of June can't come soon enough!

[Bzalthek]

SR2 had the better story, there was some serious shit that went down.  SR3 was pretty damn solid mechanics wise.  And mayhem and cop killing wasn't serious in SR# at all.  Even the cops were asking for autographs while slamming the assault hammer down on your ass in the very beginning.

[Tarami]

Just started The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing.

I've played for about 20 minutes (waiting for a friend to join me tomorrow night) but it's a really shameless rip-off of Diablo 3 in some superficial ways. It even has treasure goblins.

I have to say it's really snappy and responsive though, almost on par with D3. Much too early to say anything about gameplay systems, but atleast there are lots of things to upgrade and loot is plentiful already. I don't think it's a grinder à la Diablo though, it's more like a campaign hack'n'slash like Dungeon Siege.

Oh, and judging by the number of enemies you encounter ten seconds into the game (more than five at once) and videos I've seen, you'll be murdering fucking THRONGS of shit.

Also, it's made by Neocore. I like Neocore, because they make slightly odd/janky but very charming games. Even the (intentionally?) campy dialogue between you and your ghost companion is kind of endearing, compared to the SRSBZNZ of D3.

[Quinton]

Just started The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing.

I grabbed this last night and played for an hour or two.  It's not as crazy-polished as D3, but it's an enjoyable ARPG so far, the setting is pretty nicely done, the banter between the protagonist and his ghost sidekick is enjoyable, and the critter design is pretty imaginative so far.

I'm not sure if there are any random level elements (besides the loot).

[Tarami]

No, it's not nearly as polished as D3 (duh?), or even TL2. It -is- a budget game, but at the same time the UI is actually really efficient and has lots of features for comparison and trade and such that more expensive games don't. And no, I don't think anything is random. Like I mentioned, it feels more like Dungeon Siege in terms of world design than a roguelike.

That said, I've played for about five hours now and it's good fun. The combat lacks a bit of oomph, but it's servicable. It looks good and plays well.

Multiplayer is very, very buggy though. It's workable if you learn the tricks, but it doesn't feel stable at all. For example, my friend always has to change zone before I do, so that the map is loaded for him when I enter. If we do it the other way around, he'll get stuck at the entrance and we'll have to restart the entire game. Hopefully this and some minor synchronization issues will get fixed soon.

[jakonovski]

I succumbed to my inner furry and bought Dust: an Elysian Tail. Seems pretty ace so far, great graphics and an engaging anime story. Cheesy as all hell, but is such a breath of fresh air after all the grimdark.

[Sjofn]

A lot of SWTOR PvP (mostly in the baby bracket, which is hilarious),  but that's on hold while I CK2 my little heart out.

[murdoc]

Just started The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing.

I've played for about 20 minutes (waiting for a friend to join me tomorrow night) but it's a really shameless rip-off of Diablo 3 in some superficial ways. It even has treasure goblins.

I have to say it's really snappy and responsive though, almost on par with D3. Much too early to say anything about gameplay systems, but atleast there are lots of things to upgrade and loot is plentiful already. I don't think it's a grinder à la Diablo though, it's more like a campaign hack'n'slash like Dungeon Siege.

Oh, and judging by the number of enemies you encounter ten seconds into the game (more than five at once) and videos I've seen, you'll be murdering fucking THRONGS of shit.

Also, it's made by Neocore. I like Neocore, because they make slightly odd/janky but very charming games. Even the (intentionally?) campy dialogue between you and your ghost companion is kind of endearing, compared to the SRSBZNZ of D3.

Whatwhatwhat is THIS? I know what I'll be trying out tonight.

[Jeff Kelly]

I've just finished a last replay of the Mass Effect Trilogy - on Insanity to get the last achievements.

As the gaming goes, ME2 is the best. Insanity is a challenge but no chore and the character classes and powers are rather well balanced. ME1 still offers the best atmosphere and is the best 'space exploration' and 'space opera' feel.

ME 3 is just 'meh'. More powers but less balanced and Insanity is a lot easier.

After that I started Knights of the Old Republic, which debuted on iOS this week. Interesting that they went with the 'Star Wars: Saga Edition' ruleset from TSR/Wizards of the Coast and that it is more in the vein of Baldurs Gate/Icewind Dale structurally. I never played it before and I have avoided all spoilers so far so let's see how it goes.

The iOS port seems decent so far.

I also went and downloaded 'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney' for my iPad. which also came out this week. All of my friends really recommended it but I didn't know that this series existed so far. I'll see how it goes. Game itself is free, but later episodes cost money.

I also nearly downloaded Chrono Trigger but it only seems to be available for iPhones, not iPads which is a shame, really.

[Quinton]

No, it's not nearly as polished as D3 (duh?), or even TL2. It -is- a budget game, but at the same time the UI is actually really efficient and has lots of features for comparison and trade and such that more expensive games don't. And no, I don't think anything is random. Like I mentioned, it feels more like Dungeon Siege in terms of world design than a roguelike.

My D3 mention was maybe a bit incomplete -- I think the visuals and the art style are a lot nicer than Path of Exile for example, and I've never been into the Blizzard Cartoony look that Torchlight / Torchlight II pursue.  The UI is definitely quite solid for a budget game -- reasonably clean and functional and not (as is too often the case) hideously broken.

[Cyrrex]

After that I started Knights of the Old Republic, which debuted on iOS this week. Interesting that they went with the 'Star Wars: Saga Edition' ruleset from TSR/Wizards of the Coast and that it is more in the vein of Baldurs Gate/Icewind Dale structurally. I never played it before and I have avoided all spoilers so far so let's see how it goes.

The iOS port seems decent so far.

I don't exactly keep close tabs on what is coming out on iOS, but this went totally under my radar.  I am rather surprised by this for some reason.  Interesting.

[Ingmar]

I've just finished a last replay of the Mass Effect Trilogy - on Insanity to get the last achievements.

As the gaming goes, ME2 is the best. Insanity is a challenge but no chore and the character classes and powers are rather well balanced. ME1 still offers the best atmosphere and is the best 'space exploration' and 'space opera' feel.

ME 3 is just 'meh'. More powers but less balanced and Insanity is a lot easier.

After that I started Knights of the Old Republic, which debuted on iOS this week. Interesting that they went with the 'Star Wars: Saga Edition' ruleset from TSR/Wizards of the Coast and that it is more in the vein of Baldurs Gate/Icewind Dale structurally. I never played it before and I have avoided all spoilers so far so let's see how it goes.

The iOS port seems decent so far.

I also went and downloaded 'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney' for my iPad. which also came out this week. All of my friends really recommended it but I didn't know that this series existed so far. I'll see how it goes. Game itself is free, but later episodes cost money.

I also nearly downloaded Chrono Trigger but it only seems to be available for iPhones, not iPads which is a shame, really.

It isn't Saga Edition IIRC, it's the prior d20 SW ruleset. (Not that they're very different.)

[Nightblade]

Playing(ed): Undertale
Listening to: Undertale Soundtrack
Reading: Undertale alternate endings

[rk47]

Onii-chan, kissu~~
Vassals go moeeeee~

 

[satael]

Playing Last Remnant. It might be the Steam Big Picture but something has fixed it so that it works with a wireless xbox controller without needing to uninstall belkin n52te drivers like you had to before.

[Xanthippe]

Played Diablo 3 yesterday after quitting last July because I could get nowhere. My witch doctor is splodey frog goodness. Played through Inferno Acts I & II after picking up some terrific (for me) gear for 20k ish each piece on the AH.

It seems they fixed whatever shittasticJayWilsondumbfuckery that took all the fun out. Vases have surprises in them again! Advancement is possible! My pets are beefy and don't die in 1 hit! My witchdoctor still has the best voice ever! The scoundrel has the best comments still!

It only took them a year to fix it but they put the fun back in it.

[Sky]

Just not feeling anything right now. Time to paint more.