So, what're you playing?

[Rendakor]

I've been playing Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel; it's a pretty good old-school RPG. It feels like a mix of FFVII/VIII and Persona. Some days you're clearing dungeons, others you're doing more mundane tasks and choosing which of your various party members to socialize with (and I'm assuming, eventually romance). The social stuff isn't as in-depth as in Persona but it's still pretty cool. I'm playing it on Vita, but it's also on PC and PS3. It's part one of a trilogy; part 2 is also out now for the same systems.

Google says it's Vita/PS3 only.

Oh, I see that now; Trails in the Sky is the one that came out for PC.

[Velorath]

Picked up "The Ulimate Nintendo Guide to the NES Library 1985-1995" by Pat Contri. Apparently this is something that was a Kickstarter project that was recently completed and they're now selling for $60. It's a pretty well put together hardback containing descriptions of every NES game including unlicensed ones that were released through 1995 (in other words no homebrew stuff that people have made since then). Each game has basic info listed, a description of the game, some personal impressions from the author or one of the other contributors, and a few small screen shots. There's a few other things towards the back as well like some exclusives from other regions, promo and test carts, an article about Tengen, and various other things.

I'm not familiar with Pat Contri at all (he apparently goes by Pat the NES Punk on his Youtube channel but I don't generally watch stuff like that), but its a pretty solid book, especially if you mess around with emulators and wonder out of the hundreds of games what might be worth playing that you missed as a kid.

[apocrypha]

I bought 3 new games on the Steam sale.

So I'm playing Rocket League.

I bought at least 5 new games. And I'm playing Minecraft. 

[Sky]

I bought a slew of Rocksmith DLC, so I'm playing SWTOR.

In my defense, my finger is still not right, so I can't play bass right now (I tried, though! Mistake.)

[MrHat]

I bought 3 new games on the Steam sale.

So I'm playing Rocket League.

I bought at least 5 new games. And I'm playing Minecraft. 

I just refunded one of them. 

[Druzil]

I bought 3 new games on the Steam sale.

So I'm playing Rocket League.

I bought at least 5 new games. And I'm playing Minecraft. 

I just refunded one of them. 

That's not the way it works, you have to amass a huge pile of unplayed games in your library!

Currently playing Brotrip Simulator XV.   Also just finished the 8th boss in Furi, I'm really liking it as basically a reflexes challenge.  Makes me feel like I'm not totally old yet     Also the music is pretty good.

[Rasix]

Man, why do I buy Capcom ports? BTW, if you have an ultrawidescreen, I'd avoid buying Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen. Even with a fan fix for the horrendous visual issues (worse than anything I've seen), you still get a fair amount of problems. I had a cut scene where my hair was at least 30 feet from my body.

That and the game so far is fairly underwhelming. Feels like a jank ass version of Dark Souls combined with something like Two Worlds, except very budget conscious. Doesn't give a great explanation of what to do, what things do, and the map is pretty god awful. Still, there's something here, and I'll probably keep playing it a bit more to see if it clicks with me. If I had bought it over Steam and not part of the Humble Monthly deal, I'd probably have returned it by now.

[Soulflame]

I've read that you should follow the story of Dragon's Dogma until you get your first pawn, then the pawns go out into the internets and bring you xp and loots.

I bought Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal during the Steam sale, and am playing through it.  Decent enough tower defense game with fluid mechanic creep.

I have Pokemon Moon on the 3DS, and it's very pretty.  And pokemon.  (I have kids, shut up.)

Still playing Overwatch for loot boxes, which eternally disappoint me with duplicates or sprays for characters I don't play.

[Maledict]

Man, why do I buy Capcom ports? BTW, if you have an ultrawidescreen, I'd avoid buying Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen. Even with a fan fix for the horrendous visual issues (worse than anything I've seen), you still get a fair amount of problems. I had a cut scene where my hair was at least 30 feet from my body.

That and the game so far is fairly underwhelming. Feels like a jank ass version of Dark Souls combined with something like Two Worlds, except very budget conscious. Doesn't give a great explanation of what to do, what things do, and the map is pretty god awful. Still, there's something here, and I'll probably keep playing it a bit more to see if it clicks with me. If I had bought it over Steam and not part of the Humble Monthly deal, I'd probably have returned it by now.

Its legitimately one of my favourite games of the last generation. It starts off really janky and bad, and then the world opens up and you have these insane crazy fights against giant monsters, and your sorcerer starts summoning tornadoes and you realise life is empty without it.

[Rasix]

Well, I started off hating MGSV and ended up loving it (and would recommend it to anyone), so there's a decent chance I'll end up liking this as well. Is it more fun as magic? I picked sword/board, but that's mostly because I play melee in these sorts of games.  Well, except Elder Scrolls, where I'm a stealth archer. 

[HaemishM]

Well, except Elder Scrolls, where I'm a stealth archer. 

There is no other archtype in Elder Scrolls games. 

[Merusk]

Well of course there are. There's

Stealth Archer Thief
Stealth Archer Enchanter
Stealth Archer Blacksmith
Stealth Archer Trader
and the less-known but always fun
Stealth Archer Conjuror

[Teleku]

Yeah.  Even when I start an Elder Scrolls game with the intention of not being a stealth archer, somehow I suddenly realize I became one anyways and keep playing that way.

I bought Dragon's Dogma and played through the first few hours of it (got to the major city and started doing quests around it), but it just didn't grab me.  Maybe I'll try to go back and give it a go again, but wasn't to big a fan of the game play or controls as I recall.

[Tale]

After a while of console-only gaming, I bought a second-hand Alienware Alpha i5 with 12Gb RAM and then there was a Steam sale and now I have games to play like Witcher 3, oh and Witcher 2 (for $3), Elite Dangerous, Arma 3, Skyrim again, Shogun 2 Total War, and um, Mount and Blade Warband.

But always there is Battlefront's Combat Mission strategy series, which satisfies my mind despite its wonky camera. And they have a new one called Final Blitzkrieg, with a free demo. And that is what is distracting me.

[Shannow]

I always like the idea of the CM series but the interface and camera killed it for me.


Giving Mount & Blade WB Prophecy of Pendor another shot, gonna do it right this time (ie start my kingdom with a CRAPload of cash).

[01101010]

Picked up Witcher 3 complete edition for $25 for my PS4 over the black friday thing. I think I made a terrible mistake... 

[Sky]

Whenever I see a fantasy RPG on sale, I think to myself 'Have I finished Witcher 3 yet?'

If the answer is no, the correct course of action is to play Witcher 3.

[Khaldun]

I've been on a renewed WoW kick in the last three weeks, which makes me feel complicated--there's a kind of undercurrent of self-loathing that I feel sometimes as I do essentially dull dailies for the umpteenth time or get stuck in a pug with a bunch of incompetent 14-year olds making dick jokes, but to some extent the familiarity lets me zone out a bit more than a game which is requiring really active mental engagement. The peak experiences, whether it's with my small guild of professional friends or even in a really good PUG, also feel like better 'highs' than anything but the best solo games. I did a keystone pug last night where everybody was just totally on, and it wasn't because they had the best gear or anything, they were just good at their role, good at knowing the ins and outs of the dungeon, good at adapting to something unfamiliar (one person accidentally pulled stuff at one point by running in the wrong direction, but everybody saw it and was on it quickly, without any recriminations). That felt like fun--it felt like winning, in some sense, which I think a lot of my otherwise-favorite solo games never quite let me think. A good MMO feels in that sense like sports; a good solo RPG feels more like reading or watching something, even when it has a lot of rich interactivity like a good combat system, etc.

[Sky]

As someone who mostly ran in pugs, those moments where you had a competent team are definitely the high point of the experience. Not just that they're competent, but that you stumble across the experience like a magical clover in a field of cow patties. I had that happen a lot in Rift, actually.

[Shannow]

I'm actually surprised 14 year olds play WoW.

[Sky]

I'm actually surprised 14 year olds play WoW.

Possibly not chronologically 14.

[Khaldun]

I am guessing not. Psychologically definitely so.


I did end up finishing Dragon's Dogma, by the way, and I'd also say to keep plugging away until you get fairly deep into it. It suddenly grabbed hold of me despite being really weird and kind of stupid in some respects. It's kind of like poutine: it's a mess, it's kind of disgusting looking, but suddenly you're like "damn, this tastes good" even though actually it's making you feel sort of sick.

[MrHat]

It's kind of like poutine: it's a mess, it's kind of disgusting looking, but suddenly you're like "damn, this tastes good" even though actually it's making you feel sort of sick.

That made me chuckle.  Also, I'll give it a grab on that monthly Humble thingy.  Thanks for the recommendation.

[satael]

I always like the idea of the CM series but the interface and camera killed it for me.


Giving Mount & Blade WB Prophecy of Pendor another shot, gonna do it right this time (ie start my kingdom with a CRAPload of cash).

I also want to take another stab at M&B WB but every mod I like (Prophecy of Pendor, Perisno, GoT:Clash of Kings) is just a "short) while away from a big update so I kind of want to wait until one of them is released. 

[jakonovski]

Still Hitman all the way. There's so many ways to assassinate. Sometimes I'm dressing up as a supermodel to be alone with the target. Or replacing the target's golf ball with an explosive one. Or sabotaging a Tuktuk the target wants to drive. Or maybe just plain shoot them.

[Viin]

You are much more patient then me. I sneak around and get all disguised up and then some jack ass gets suspicious and then I have to whip out my knife and knife a bitch. Then it's all down hill from there .. (I try to avoid restarts!)

[jakonovski]

Oh I save scum like an asshole. The preparations are often far too elaborate to redo all the way from the start. That way is darkeness and speed runs.

On elusive targets, where you can't save, I mostly revert to simple things like stalking the target from a rooftop and gunning them down as they go past. Which is why I really want some of those unlockable exotic rifles and smgs.



 

 

[Yegolev]

I didn't want to like FFXV but I do and so I'm playing that.

[ghost]

Anyone play the Last Guardian?

Edit-  sorry, meant to put this in the "What are you playing" thread.  If a mod is around and is capable of moving this, that would be super.

[Ard]

My wife loves it, but Shadows of the Colossus is one of her favorite games.  I've heard the controls are pretty bad, even by Team Ico game standards though.  It's closer to Ico than Shadows of the Colossus in gameplay.

[HaemishM]

I have finally figured out The Witcher 1. Damn, this combat is jank as fuck and almost gets in the way of playing the game. It also makes me remember what tends to stop me dead about MMO's these days. Hey I got a quest done. Run across the zone to the quest giver - wait, what? You want me to run back across the zone to ask for permission to bury this fucker in a church? OOOOOOKKKKKK. Done. Run back across the zone to get my reward.

Where the fuck did the quest giver go?

MOTHERFUCKER. AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THIS.

Still, I am liking it now that the combat is working. Crafting/alchemy? UGGGG.

[Draegan]

Started playing POE, first game in over a month and ended up putting in a 10 hour day/night.

About to clear act 3 and that's as far as I ever got.

Ranger with chaos and dot damage.

[Rendakor]

Are you playing Standard or Breach?

[apocrypha]

I have finally figured out The Witcher 1. Damn, this combat is jank as fuck and almost gets in the way of playing the game. It also makes me remember what tends to stop me dead about MMO's these days. Hey I got a quest done. Run across the zone to the quest giver - wait, what? You want me to run back across the zone to ask for permission to bury this fucker in a church? OOOOOOKKKKKK. Done. Run back across the zone to get my reward.

Where the fuck did the quest giver go?

MOTHERFUCKER. AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THIS.

Still, I am liking it now that the combat is working. Crafting/alchemy? UGGGG.

Yeah I gave up on The Witcher 1 and 2 because of advanced jankiness. 2 wasn't as bad as 1 but they really only got it right in 3. It's a testament to the willingness of 1000s of people to put up with the bullshit in order to get to the good stories in 1 and 2, otherwise 3 would never have existed. And I know it's considered heresy to criticise it in any way but I don't think that the combat in 3 is completely jankless either.

Anyway, I got Grim Dawn in a recent Humble Bundle and started it the other day. It's really good! Scratches the Diabloesque itch nicely. I'd put it somewhere between POE and Diablo 2 in how it plays. The loot isn't very inspiring so far but the uniques don't start dropping until level 50 apparently and I'm only 36 or something.

[Yegolev]

Final Fantasy Fifteen, mostly.

When the wife is unavailable, mostly PS4-Skyrim.  I also dusted off my ESO character and wasted some time there.  It's not terrible but is rather toy-like compared to the other games in my rotation.

I did start a new game of Vice City while waiting for something to patch.  It looks crappy but the driving still holds up.  Also soundtrack.