So, what're you playing?

[Yegolev]

It's a bit strange, I recently fired up the base XCOM and it is now crashing a lot.  Originally it would stay running for hours at a time.

[Miasma]

There's an xcom expansion?

Edit:  It doesn't look like that fps type thing they were thinking about months ago?

[calapine]

There's an xcom expansion?

Edit:  It doesn't look like that fps type thing they were thinking about months ago?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/225340/

[Jeff Kelly]

I've been playing a lot of Wind Waker HD. They've removed a lot of the stuff that aggravate me to no end on most Zelda titles which makes for a much more streamlined and more fun experience over all but they haven't gone far enough actually.

- Explanatory text/item hint text is only shown once when you first pick up an item and then never again not even after rebooting into the game
- The Baton of the Winds, Grappling hook and cannon are now permanently mapped to the d-pad so you won't have to constantly remap buttons for different items as you had to on the GC
- There's now a swift sail you can buy that makes sailing a lot faster and makes it so that the wind is always coming from behind you so you'll never have to use the baton to change the wind direction ever again while sailing.
- The animations and songs for the melodies is only played once after restarting a game and then skipped
- some fetch quest lines and side quest stuff has been streamlined
- some time limits on certain quests have been extended

Unfortunately you're still treated to too much text and dialogue repetition without a real ability to skip text and without the game offering you a shorter more streamlined way of doing stuff once you've done it a certain number of times. You know what I mean.

I'd also very much like to finally see one Zelda game that would offer you quick shortcuts to locations you've been to hundreds of times already. Unfortunately you'll always have to fight and grapple hook your way to the great deku tree for example which gets annoying quick.

I like the gamepad controller. It's much more comfortable to use than I thought and doesn't feel better or worse than a 360 Controller (apart from it being larger) and having certain game functions on it that you previously would have had to access via in game menus streamlines the game even more.

The battery life is pretty damn bad though. I usually only get 3 to 4 hours out of a single charge which is abysmal. Last weekend when I had enough time to play the whole day I had to plug the controller in several times because it ran out of juice.

[Ironwood]

After days of patching, Batman Origins decided to start again, trying to download all 18Gb.

I am entirely calm and serious when I say that I am considering just giving up gaming.

The disappointment on Elenas face is physically hurting here.

[rk47]

The game that keeps on giving.

[Jeff Kelly]

Before Super Mario 3D world comes out I've decided to play a few Wii games I've missed.

I started with Zelda: Skyward Sword . I'm on kind of a Zelda binge at the moment. I've replayed ALLTP, started a playthrough of OOT in emulation, have just finished WW HD and bought SW on a whim after watching a few hours of a let's play about it.

I actually like it quite a bit. Compared to WW HD the motion controls really stand out as something I mostly like. For weapon and device use I enjoy that I'm being able to simply aim at the screen and that I can use the sword and other devices similar to a real device. Compared to that, aiming with an analog stick was actually much more clumsy. I don't like the motion controls for movement and the shield though and with SW you really notice that the controls - even with a Motion Plus - aren't sufficiently accurate or precise. Sometimes the Wiimote registers a different movement than the one I intended and you have to recalibrate the gyroscope and motion sensors often.

It's the same fate I think the Kinect (1 or 2 doesn't really matter) will face, those motion controls are sometimes so close to the 'real' set of movement that it stands out when things simply only precisely and correectly happen 80% of time. Especially when the alternative and well knwon control scheme doesn't have that issue.

I don't like that the shield can break and they should have removed 'running' from consuming the stamina meter

Those who thought that Navi was a real annoyance will hate the SW assistant Fi though. I wish I could just simply make her shut up completely. A trend I dislike beginning with OOT and getting worse through the ages is the amount of hand holding and tutorializing being done in those games. I wouldn't mind if I could just skip it or turn it off entirely but having to always sit through a lecture of what I can or should do or a recap of the events that HAPPENED THIRTY SECONDS AGO and that I can't skip gets very annoying very quickly.

I like the idea of more adult versions of Link and Zelda and that the story seems to be less infantile. The soundtrack is probably the best I've ever heard in a Zelda game and some of the dungeon designs are simply gorgeous and amazing.

All in all it would be a great game if it weren't for the mandatory explanations and the level of 'nagging' the game deems to be necessary. Also for the love of god NIntendo to what deity do I have to sacrifice a goat that you will someday let me speed up or skip text? Text scrolls at a glacial pace in that game and it seems that the game would feel much more dynamic if cut scenes, exposition and the huge amount of 'let me explain what just happened/what you have to do' text wouldn't take so fucking long.

It's still a pretty good Zelda but since it's the 25th anniversary edition it sometimes feels like a Zelda 'best-of' and some of the ideosyncracies of that game series have actually gotten worse over the years.

[jakonovski]

I'm an idiot so I bought BF4. Anyone playing on EU servers who wants to squad up with me some time?

[koro]

The game that keeps on giving.

I love that belt bag mod.

[satael]

I'm an idiot so I bought BF4. Anyone playing on EU servers who wants to squad up with me some time?

I play BF4 a bit (on EU servers) though I tend to stick to vehicles (and not the aerial ones) since my reflexes are too slow for anything else most of the time 

(and I'm satael on origin if you want to send a friend invite)

[Hawkbit]

Finally got around to buying Shin Megami Tensei IV; went to my local shop and they actually had an unopened collectors edition at no extra charge.  Hope the price tag was worth it!  $50 for a 3DS game is a bit much, but gaming times are tough.

[Rendakor]

It is, SMTIV is easily the best game I've played on the 3DS.

[Signe]

I dl'd Marvel Heroes and will eventually start that but right now I'm playing The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot.  I love loot. 

[Sky]

Been fooling around a little bit in TOR with my Assassin. 

[Ironwood]

I dl'd Marvel Heroes and will eventually start that but right now I'm playing The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot.  I love loot. 

Marvel Heroes was awful.

[Sky]

I was ready to love it. Needed more X-Men Legends and less Diablo.

[Jeff Kelly]

Still playing Zelda Skyward Sword. The game is good and easily 50 hours long and somewhere in there is a great 30 hour long game.

It has a great soundtrack and a few really great dungeons and connects this by making you endlessly travel back and frorth between the same three regions and by reusing those regions to the brink of ridiculousness. They even make you fight two of the bosses multiple times to further stretch the game.

The game is also a great showcase for the limits of the Wii motion controls and how aggravating even great technology can be and how that can overshadow everything else if it only works 80% of the time. To an extend where I wish that more games and other consoles offered a similar way of 'aiming' at and hitting stuff like the way you do it with the Wiimote and also where I wish that Nintendo would just use a standard controller for pretty much everything else.

[Paelos]

I'm working my way through the bargain bin Assassin's Creed Titles I bought, and I'm on Brotherhood.

Ezio looks fatter in this one for some reason. Hell, everyone looks fatter.

[Ironwood]

I was ready to love it. Needed more X-Men Legends and less Diablo.

Yeah.

[Ingmar]

Been fooling around a little bit in TOR with my Assassin. 

Did you get your names back?

[Sky]

Nope, lost one or two more, actually.

[Rendakor]

I picked up Guided Fate Paradox a while ago, and finally started playing it. It's a roguelike from NIS, complete with their quirky Japanese humor and I'm having a blast with it so far. It's a sequel of sorts to Zettai Hero Project: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman, but for the PS3 instead of a handheld. I wish there was more gameplay and less story, but once I get further in I'm sure the random/endless dungeons will open up.

I'm also working on Shizune's route in the Android port of Katawa Shoujo, which has gotten me some weird looks at work, but whatever.

[Khaldun]

I am feeling sort of vaguely tempted in that ask-for-an-Xmas-gift kind of way for the new Assassin's Creed since I really like the setting. But I got really bored with some of Assassin's Creed's minigames by the time I said arrevederci to Ezio (I didn't bother with the American Revolution one). I suspect this one will annoy me too.

[Margalis]

Finally beat Fire Emblem for 3DS and started Ace Attorney. I have Zelda but haven't played it yet, I'm going to be traveling soon, saving it for then. Might pick up SMTIV to play on the plane - I don't like playing certain types of games on plane rides as I'm the type of person who finds it very hard to concentrate while flying - like I'll read a book on a plane and the next day barely remember anything about it.

[Rendakor]

SMTIV deserves better than distracted plane-ride playing.

[rk47]

Eh, two hours of trying out the XCOM multiplayer and I realized it's not worth it.
Not gonna bother with ex-pack since I didn't even finish the campaign.
At least I unlocked all five cards before uninstalling.

[Margalis]

I find that multiplayer in tactics games is almost never satisfying.

[rk47]

I find that multiplayer in tactics games is almost never satisfying.

There are better games for that tactical gameplay IMO.
Even Bloodbowl with smaller maps still delivers better gameplay than XCOM:EU ever will.

[Hawkbit]

SMTIV deserves better than distracted plane-ride playing.

After playing it for the last week, yeah.  It does.  I'm only scraping the surface of the game and I can tell there's quality here. 

[Surlyboi]

Nope, lost one or two more, actually.

I got one back, lost three.

As for what's on my docket:

GTA Online, TSW, Firefall, COD Ghosts.

[Tarami]

I'm playing LotR: War in the North cooperatively with a friend and...

You know, the UI is atrocious, the voice-overs are terrible and the console port is palpable, yet I'm enjoying it. It's janky (*) but essentially a well-intended game that sort of works. It's remarkably balanced, the loot is decent enough and it's actually quite flavourful; each character class has quirks (the dwarf can mine gold, the elf can brew potions, the dunedain can track et c.) and monsters have distinct strengths and weaknesses. Some parts feel a little badly paced but overall it doesn't feel too short nor does it overstay its welcome. I'm very terrible at any kind of fighting game (never seem to get a hang of the timing) and our first playthrough took about 10 hours. I would not call it a hard game but it's occasionally challenging.

I'm not going to suggest anyone should go spend $50 on it but if you got it cheap from the WB Humble Bundle, it might be worth taking a look at together with one or two friends.


(*) If you're unfamiliar with my taste in games, let it be known that I have a certain fondness for jank.

[Quinton]

Resogun on PS4 and Hearthstone on PC. 

[lamaros]

Xcom multiplayer was ok, but they had a very poor regional server system, and no attention was paid to balancing it (or addressing a few clear anti-social flaws in the system), so it died before it ever got going. Pity.

It's still heaps of fun between friends, though. Just need to play best of 5 and the like.

[satael]

Tried Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny once more but it's still a buggy piece of crap (the 2013 remake, not the original). It's definitely the worst mistake in buying a game I've made in a long time 

[koro]

Been playing Pinball FX2 (thanks, Humble Bundle), FFXIV, dipping into Saint's Row 3 co-op once or twice a week, and I just got Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on my 3DS.

Pinball FX2 is amazingly fun, and if you have even a passing interest in pinball, get it during the Humble Weekly deal while it still lasts. It's a ridiculously good value, and I love nearly all of the tables in the pack.

I still enjoy FFXIV, and I'm mostly just leveling jobs and doing crafting while I get my main geared for end-game stuff.

Saint's Row 3 is pretty great, but I only really enjoy it co-op. Hoping to do SR4 the same way some time.

A Link Between Worlds is really really enjoyable. It's chock full of A Link to the Past nostalgia (which makes sense, as it's a sequel), from the music to the sound effects to Link's character design and the overworld layout. My only real problem with it so far is that Link moves so fast that the circle pad is kind of fiddly to control him. I can't count the number of times I've tried to face an enemy to fire an arrow only to have swung around in the opposite direction. Other than that, I'm loving it, and enjoying the item renting mechanic.