What game(s) are you playing now?

[dirty_score]

For 2022 I'm gonna do a reversal challenge for myself based on Filmspotting's The Next Picture Show which consists in playing a modern or similar themed videogame of an older videogame that I used to play or wanted to play.

1. Doom (2016-1993)
2. Resident Evil 0 (2016 Remaster-2002)
3. X-COM Enemy Unknown (2012 - XCOM UFO Defense 1994)

4. Rayman Origins (2011-1995)

[3eyes]

I don't think youse really wanna know, but I'm addicted to cross sums/kakuro (pencil & paper game).

[Minkin]

I don't think youse really wanna know, but I'm addicted to cross sums/kakuro (pencil & paper game).

I got quite into kakuro for awhile in early 2021 - both paper (variety puzzle book) and online ones as well. They can get quite challenging quickly though and its more difficult online - when you can't write in your options for squares (though I usually open it in paint and work on them that way).

Are they in the newspaper or do you go with those printed books of just Kakuro puzzles?

[mightysparks]

I was also into Kakuro for a while. Had a nice app on my phone that I used. Lately I’ve gotten into pixel puzzles again and have been playing PictoPix on Steam.

[3eyes]

minkin, I get books. I've tried them online, but certain types of puzzles are better on paper (and others, such as double-crostics, are better online).
Anyway, glad to know this thread isn't just for video games (my daughter has a Netflix-like game subscription).

[mightysparks]

Been playing a few things recently. Banjo Kazooie came out on Switch a couple of days and I’ve been loving that. Haven’t played in over 20 years after my N64 got stolen so I’m so excited to play it again. I’m up to the desert and haunted mansion levels at the moment. The camera controls are just as frustrating as I remember.

Last night I grabbed Timberborn, Megaquarium and Subnautica. Mega is a fairly typical and relaxed tycoon game where you run an aquarium. Nothing super special here but it’s pretty chill. Timberborn is still in early access but is a city builder with beavers as the new humans and is quite enjoyable. Mostly resource management and transfer as the only ‘enemy’ of the game are droughts but keen to see this one develop because it’s already pretty good. Subnautica was the main one I wanted and was pretty suitable after my recent snorkeling holiday. An exploration/survival game taking place mostly under the sea on a strange planet and you collect materials and craft stuff and explore further etc. really beautiful game, a lot of fun and I’m loving it.

[dirty_score]

Subnautica was the main one I wanted and was pretty suitable after my recent snorkeling holiday. An exploration/survival game taking place mostly under the sea on a strange planet and you collect materials and craft stuff and explore further etc. really beautiful game, a lot of fun and I’m loving it.

I've heard a lot about that one and it spiked my interest but I never got around to start playing it.

For 2022 I'm gonna do a reversal challenge for myself based on Filmspotting's The Next Picture Show which consists in playing a modern or similar themed videogame of an older videogame that I used to play or wanted to play.

1. Doom (2016-1993)
2. Resident Evil 0 (2016 Remaster-2002)
3. X-COM Enemy Unknown (2012-1994)
4. Rayman Origins (2011-1995)

Been playing God of War since it came out on PC. Can't say much about the story yet but the relationship between Kratos and Atreus is funny and the combat is so satisfying.

[outdoorcats]

Been playing a few things recently. Banjo Kazooie came out on Switch a couple of days and I’ve been loving that. Haven’t played in over 20 years after my N64 got stolen so I’m so excited to play it again. I’m up to the desert and haunted mansion levels at the moment. The camera controls are just as frustrating as I remember.

Last night I grabbed Timberborn, Megaquarium and Subnautica. Mega is a fairly typical and relaxed tycoon game where you run an aquarium. Nothing super special here but it’s pretty chill. Timberborn is still in early access but is a city builder with beavers as the new humans and is quite enjoyable. Mostly resource management and transfer as the only ‘enemy’ of the game are droughts but keen to see this one develop because it’s already pretty good. Subnautica was the main one I wanted and was pretty suitable after my recent snorkeling holiday. An exploration/survival game taking place mostly under the sea on a strange planet and you collect materials and craft stuff and explore further etc. really beautiful game, a lot of fun and I’m loving it.

I got to a scary part in Subnautica and...uh...stopped. Of course, I'll get back to it someday.

[mightysparks]

Been playing a few things recently. Banjo Kazooie came out on Switch a couple of days and I’ve been loving that. Haven’t played in over 20 years after my N64 got stolen so I’m so excited to play it again. I’m up to the desert and haunted mansion levels at the moment. The camera controls are just as frustrating as I remember.

Last night I grabbed Timberborn, Megaquarium and Subnautica. Mega is a fairly typical and relaxed tycoon game where you run an aquarium. Nothing super special here but it’s pretty chill. Timberborn is still in early access but is a city builder with beavers as the new humans and is quite enjoyable. Mostly resource management and transfer as the only ‘enemy’ of the game are droughts but keen to see this one develop because it’s already pretty good. Subnautica was the main one I wanted and was pretty suitable after my recent snorkeling holiday. An exploration/survival game taking place mostly under the sea on a strange planet and you collect materials and craft stuff and explore further etc. really beautiful game, a lot of fun and I’m loving it.

I got to a scary part in Subnautica and...uh...stopped. Of course, I'll get back to it someday.

I’m worried about that happening but I’ll do my best. Most games like this I would’ve already gotten too scared but I’ve enjoyed just jumping in to all the new things it throws at me.

[Pretentious Hipster]

This game deserves to be more well-known, simply because of how cursed it is. I can see it becoming infamous. Here's an early preview for you

[mightysparks]

Still super into Subnautica. Got my boyfriend onto it too and he’s hooked. Had a few scary events happen which took me a while to recover from but I’m always so excited to jump back into the game. It just keeps expanding with things to build, environments to explore, new creatures, story elements etc. it’s paced really nicely too, you start to expand and go further just when you’re getting used to certain areas and equipment and it always feels awesome to progress and discover something new. I also watched my bf play for a bit and it was interesting to see his different play style and also he has explored areas I hadn’t and had things happen to him earlier than me etc.

I also like that I can stay in the safer familiar areas as much as I need to, gathering basic supplies etc and you can take your time going to scarier places and dipping your toes in and then running back to safety for a while. I’d normally just get too scared with games like this but it has such a chill vibe. There was one creature that scared me, it attacked but I escaped and then had to keep making my way around the wreck to get to safety and I kept getting scared by my fingerprint marks on my monitor thinking it was the creature’s shadow

[flavo5000]

This game deserves to be more well-known, simply because of how cursed it is. I can see it becoming infamous. Here's an early preview for you

Is "sexiest Christian game" something to actually brag about?

[flavo5000]

I played through Brothers recently and while it was really good, it kinda broke my brain at times having to control two people at the same time. It was also super depressing....

I'm playing Return of the Obra Dinn now. Very good first-person mystery that requires a lot of logic and reasoning skills to sort out what happened to everyone on board a ship that shows up unmanned (hint: a lot of bad things happened to them...).

[outdoorcats]

I played through Brothers recently and while it was really good, it kinda broke my brain at times having to control two people at the same time. It was also super depressing....

I'm playing Return of the Obra Dinn now. Very good first-person mystery that requires a lot of logic and reasoning skills to sort out what happened to everyone on board a ship that shows up unmanned (hint: a lot of bad things happened to them...).

Return of the Obra Dinn is a lot of fun. Incredibly unique gameplay and art style and just a fun, challenging investigative/logic puzzle game.

In the past few months I played and beat:

-Uncharted 4, which is by far the best of the series and the only one I really loved. Neil Druckmann does know how to make great games.



-and Outer Wilds, which was unique, often beautiful, often incredibly frustrating (some of the level design and gameplay is incredibly flawed), but with one of the best endings of any video game, ever. On the whole, I really loved the package, even if there were points playing it where I was not having fun. The physics were great; I think they found just the right balance between realistic (it's just realistic enough to be fresh and interesting) and playable. Most will tell you it's a game you should play as blind as possible, so all I'll post is this promotional image.



-Finally, what I've been currently playing is Sekiro, which I hope to finish before Elden Ring comes out. I'm past halfway so far and I love it. (I have beaten

Spoiler

Lady Butterfly, Genichiro, Folding Screen Monkeys and am currently working on O'rin, who is tough!

Just another amazing work of art from post-Miyazaki FromSoftware. It does take a while as a Souls veteran to unlearn dodge-rolling instincts - I still catch myself doing it on instinct now and again - but when it clicks, it's very satisfying.

Having a named, non-customizable main character who speaks and is part of an on-going story helps make the game also not just feel like another Souls game, while the game also has so many of the qualities of those games I love as well as probably the most refined and clean combat. Both the stealth and vertical movement elements are done incredibly well considering they've never attempted them before on this generation of consoles. Using the grappling hook to jump from roof to roof makes you feel like Spiderman. It feels so good.

Japanese voice acting is also top notch. FromSoft always finds the best-sounding voices.

So far this game is amazing. I love it so much.



I don't know, at this point, FromSoftware games could have 4 of my top 10 favorite games (Dark Souls III, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and now Sekiro?!) as well as another 2 of my top 100 (Dark Souls 2 and Demon's Souls PS3). It's ridiculous. All hail Hidetaka Miyazaki.

[tirefeet]

I am currently playing Return of the Obra Dinn too. Lot of deduction going on, can get bit frustating when all you could do is clicking on names and tying them to their fates; especially with

Spoiler

Chinese and Russian crew members

[outdoorcats]

I am currently playing Return of the Obra Dinn too. Lot of deduction going on, can get bit frustating when all you could do is clicking on names and tying them to their fates; especially with

Spoiler

Chinese and Russian crew members

If you need a hint that opens up the game a bit, all I'll say is:

Spoiler

Hammocks.

They'll help to identify a lot of tough-to-identify crew members.

[hurluberlu]

-Uncharted 4, which is by far the best of the series and the only one I really loved. Neil Druckmann does know how to make great games.

Uncharted 2 has stayed the best for me although I played 3 and 4: I found it had the best back story, characters and balance between fights and enigmas. The magic of the Nepalese setting is unmatched in the later ones, even if they had graphical improvements.

-and Outer Wilds, which was unique, often beautiful, often incredibly frustrating (some of the level design and gameplay is incredibly flawed), but with one of the best endings of any video game, ever. On the whole, I really loved the package, even if there were points playing it where I was not having fun. The physics were great; I think they found just the right balance between realistic (it's just realistic enough to be fresh and interesting) and playable. Most will tell you it's a game you should play as blind as possible, so all I'll post is this promotional image.

I enjoyed discovering planets but not the infamous, repetitive mechanic and as they say it is the journey that matters so I found the end a bit anecdotal. It is a game with the most inventive concept of these past years though, so a must try.

I will certainly give a try to Return of the Obra Dinn !

[outdoorcats]

-Uncharted 4, which is by far the best of the series and the only one I really loved. Neil Druckmann does know how to make great games.

Uncharted 2 has stayed the best for me although I played 3 and 4: I found it had the best back story, characters and balance between fights and enigmas. The magic of the Nepalese setting is unmatched in the later ones, even if they had graphical improvements.

Because I first played the Uncharted series way after the fact, I went into Uncharted 2 with high expectations, which is probably why I didn't enjoy it as much than if I had played it back when it came out. And I had also played The Last of Us before any of them, which is a game that arguably perfectly blends its storytelling and gameplay into one beautiful whole. Where on the other hand, I often found that in the first 3 Uncharted games, it felt like (to me, anyway) that the story and gameplay were often at odds with one another?

I'll try to explain - so the Uncharted games are basically trying to create this experience of what it'd be like to interactively play a blockbuster action/adventure movie in the vein of Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone. So there will often be points where Nathan uses his historical/archeological knowledge to solve these incredibly complex puzzles it's implied many have tried and failed to solve before to find hidden chambers that will lead to buried treasure. It's always this cool story beat, "wow, we actually solved it!" -- then you enter the super secret hidden chamber and it's inexplicably filled with gun-toting goons working for the dumb beefcake badguys. This was less of a problem in 2 than it was in 1 and 3, but still there.

Also, it was hard for me to be engaged in the story as this action/adventure movie when certain "boss" enemies follow video game rules. For example, certain enemies that can be riddled with bullets to no effect. Or the helicopter you spend about 5 minutes straight shooting with a massive machine gun on the train until it finally goes down.

Finally, and this one is likely just because I'm bad at video games, but at Normal difficulty I'd find myself having to play little sections over and over, sometimes dozens of times, and always at the most high-octane moments. Unfortunately the result is that it interrupts any excitement or momentum and turns what should be a fun sequence into a bore. In hindsight, "Easy" mode may have been the way to go.


Wanted to like this part so much more than I did.

[Pretentious Hipster]

Is "sexiest Christian game" something to actually brag about?

Haha yea I got no idea what the hell the developers were thinking. At least it made an entertaining video

[outdoorcats]

Is "sexiest Christian game" something to actually brag about?

Haha yea I got no idea what the hell the developers were thinking. At least it made an entertaining video

Wait, are you telling me heaven isn't filled with psychedelic '90s Playboy models (with hellish empty eyes) in polygonal 3D???

[hurluberlu]

-Uncharted 4, which is by far the best of the series and the only one I really loved. Neil Druckmann does know how to make great games.

Uncharted 2 has stayed the best for me although I played 3 and 4: I found it had the best back story, characters and balance between fights and enigmas. The magic of the Nepalese setting is unmatched in the later ones, even if they had graphical improvements.

Because I first played the Uncharted series way after the fact, I went into Uncharted 2 with high expectations, which is probably why I didn't enjoy it as much than if I had played it back when it came out. And I had also played The Last of Us before any of them, which is a game that arguably perfectly blends its storytelling and gameplay into one beautiful whole. Where on the other hand, I often found that in the first 3 Uncharted games, it felt like (to me, anyway) that the story and gameplay were often at odds with one another?

I'll try to explain

Spoiler

- so the Uncharted games are basically trying to create this experience of what it'd be like to interactively play a blockbuster action/adventure movie in the vein of Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone. So there will often be points where Nathan uses his historical/archeological knowledge to solve these incredibly complex puzzles it's implied many have tried and failed to solve before to find hidden chambers that will lead to buried treasure. It's always this cool story beat, "wow, we actually solved it!" -- then you enter the super secret hidden chamber and it's inexplicably filled with gun-toting goons working for the dumb beefcake badguys. This was less of a problem in 2 than it was in 1 and 3, but still there.

Also, it was hard for me to be engaged in the story as this action/adventure movie when certain "boss" enemies follow video game rules. For example, certain enemies that can be riddled with bullets to no effect. Or the helicopter you spend about 5 minutes straight shooting with a massive machine gun on the train until it finally goes down.

Finally, and this one is likely just because I'm bad at video games, but at Normal difficulty I'd find myself having to play little sections over and over, sometimes dozens of times, and always at the most high-octane moments. Unfortunately the result is that it interrupts any excitement or momentum and turns what should be a fun sequence into a bore. In hindsight, "Easy" mode may have been the way to go.


Wanted to like this part so much more than I did.

I see what you mean and I think you are right with saying 4 had the best narration integration but it is probably what made it less fun for me as well as some fatigue with the franchise.
And yeah now youmention it, I think that train sequence was infamous for its difficulty on the finale, taking down the helicopter, might have had to reduce difficulty myself to pass it the first time

[tirefeet]

Came across an academic article on Obra Dinn, leaving it here for those interested: https://www.gamejournal.it/wp-content/u ... CKEOWN.pdf

I only got to learn about the significance of

Spoiler

hammocks

after I was through with the game and it is fascinating. thanks outdoorcats

[Pretentious Hipster]

Is "sexiest Christian game" something to actually brag about?

Haha yea I got no idea what the hell the developers were thinking. At least it made an entertaining video

Wait, are you telling me heaven isn't filled with psychedelic '90s Playboy models (with hellish empty eyes) in polygonal 3D???

You might have skipped the "Oh god this is cursed" part of the video. It's A LOT more than just how she looks like.

[sebby]

Having fun digging into modern retro games. Shovel Knight and Streets of Rage 4 being the last two. So many of these games take the good from the past and iron out the bad. They're also a nice palate cleanser in between AA and AAA titles.

[tirefeet]

Saw a comment about how likely it is that Pathologic's developers have been inspired by Sokurov's Days of Eclipse. What could be some other inspirations the game writers took from films that are not so obvious such as Red Dead Redemption from westerns, Stalker series from Stalker (both book and film), GTA from various heist films, Fallout from Mad Max?

[outdoorcats]

Saw a comment about how likely it is that Pathologic's developers have been inspired by Sokurov's Days of Eclipse. What could be some other inspirations the game writers took from films that are not so obvious such as Red Dead Redemption from westerns, Stalker series from Stalker (both book and film), GTA from various heist films, Fallout from Mad Max?

Obviously, David Lynch is a huge influence on the game industry. Alan Wake, Deadly Premonition, Earthbound, the Silent Hill series and Hideo Kojima games in general being examples. But there are less obvious ones as well...

From The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening's Wiki:

Tezuka intended the game's world to have a similar feeling to the American television series Twin Peaks, which, like Link's Awakening, features characters in a small town.[16] He suggested that the characters of Link's Awakening be written as "suspicious types", akin to those in Twin Peaks—a theme which carried over into later Zelda titles.

I believe the Velvet Room in the Persona series is also a Twin Peaks nod.

[tirefeet]

Lynch's influence knows no leaps and bounds, his style finds a place even in professional wrestling

Spoiler

If I manage to make a considerable progress with the games already there in my Steam library, I am keen on getting savvy with Retroarch to play 90's Nintendo games along with MGS 1, 2, 3 and Silent Hill 2 if possible.

One of the most mind-boggling things about game industry for me is how the source code of Silent Hill 2 is allegedly lost. If you want to play on SH2 on PC, you can obtain it from abandonware sites. Konami could not preserve the codebase internally during the time id Software were making the source code of their early games available for general use.

MGS 1 and 2 is available on GOG but not Steam though I'm not sure if those ports provide the same quality as PS would.

[Pretentious Hipster]

Lynch's influence knows no leaps and bounds, his style finds a place even in professional wrestling

There's no sarcasm

[tirefeet]

That's amazing

Bloodborne is now on PC. As expected, in an improved form...

https://b0tster.itch.io/bbpsx

[outdoorcats]

That's amazing

Bloodborne is now on PC. As expected, in an improved form...

https://b0tster.itch.io/bbpsx

Not to nitpick, as they did an AMAZING job, but if it were meant to truly evoke the PS1 era, shouldn't there be fixed camera angles (like the Resident Evil games?).

Can't believe I paid like 40 dollars for a used copy of Silent Hill 2 for PC back in the day. Could have waited till it was free.

[outdoorcats]

Demon of Hatred down. That was up there with the harder ones in the Souls-Borne-ekiro games. It was my least favorite so far, but I still didn't mind him too much (and of course, he's also completely optional). So unless the final boss turns out to be an absolute disaster, the overall quality of the bosses in this game is fantastic - there's no "that one boss that sucks and is just unfair BS" like Micolash in Bloodborne or Bed of Chaos in Dark Souls. This despite the fact that the game attempts some risky puzzle / set-piece bosses like Demon's Souls, but done 1000x better.

Creatively, visually, Sekiro is staggering. Gameplay-wise it's perfect for me, the ideal balance of "just challenging enough" while staying super fun. Because it has frequent crossroads with many different paths at certain points, it will punish players who aren't flexible and willing to back up and try different paths when things get too hard (or try different methods...it really helps to use all of the tools at your disposal). It's not actually a super hard game, just one that really rewards flexibility, curiosity, and exploration (and punishes players who don't care). I imagine just trying to rush through the game would be a pretty frustrating experience.

[mightysparks]

Just completed Subnautica. I'm actually pretty sad now that I have to leave the world and that I can't experience it for the first time ever again. Easily a 10/10 game and experience. Loved every second of it, even when I was scared it was so welcoming that it pushed me to keep going further and further. Don't think I've ever been sucked into a game so completely. I had a couple of frustrating bugs towards the end and there's a few visual glitches (fish clipping through walls etc) but otherwise flawless. I found the endgame stuff not quite as exciting as all the other stuff because the game's magic really comes from exploring and discovering and learning how the world and its tools work and once you get to the end stuff you already know how to do everything.

Took about 2 weeks to finish (and around 50-odd hours of gameplay) so I'm looking forward to putting my time into Pokemon Arceus and Banjo Kazooie again because I haven't been able to pull myself away. My boyfriend hasn't finished it yet but aside from the last couple of days every night conversations would be 'so what adventures did you get up to in Subnautica' and in the morning 'I dreamt about Subnautica/can't wait to play Subnautica/what are your goals for Subnautica today' whilst trying not to spoil anything for the other person. We plan on giving the game a break for a few months before playing the sequel so it feels more fresh.

[mjf314]

I tried a few puzzle games in the last few days: Room to Grow, Snakebird, Stephen's Sausage Roll, Understand

Room to Grow is my favorite of those 4. It kept me entertained for several hours. The other 3, I got bored within 1 hour.

[Onderhond]

Well, I'm playing Paper Mario now, but I know what I'll be playing September 22nd, 2022. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 freshly announced for this year

[mjf314]

I tried two more games, CrossCode and Katana Zero. I played each for about an hour before getting bored.

Despite being two different genres, I have the same complaint about both games. I'm not a fan of these games where you have to use both the mouse and the keyboard simultaneously. It feels awkward. Maybe it would be better with a controller, but I don't have one.

I also don't like how in Katana Zero you die in 1 hit.

[mjf314]

I just made a list of games that I've played: https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=mjf314 ... &retired=1

I probably forgot some games that I played a long time, but I added as many as I could remember.

[flavo5000]

I just made a list of games that I've played: https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=mjf314 ... &retired=1

I probably forgot some games that I played a long time, but I added as many as I could remember.

I've been keeping a similar list on the same site:
https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=flavo5000&s=games

Although I usually only log games that I actually finish. Like Manifold Garden I played recently for about an hour or two but got annoyed with it and abandoned it.

[mjf314]

I just made a list of games that I've played: https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=mjf314 ... &retired=1

I probably forgot some games that I played a long time, but I added as many as I could remember.

I've been keeping a similar list on the same site:
https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=flavo5000&s=games

Although I usually only log games that I actually finish. Like Manifold Garden I played recently for about an hour or two but got annoyed with it and abandoned it.

Are you planning to play more SNES games in the future? I only noticed 1 on your list.

[outdoorcats]

Fun idea. Here's mine. Recommendations are always welcome!

https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=outdoo ... ompleted=1

[toromash]

Fun idea. Here's mine. Recommendations are always welcome!

https://howlongtobeat.com/user?n=outdoo ... ompleted=1

The most obvious ones i could think of is Bioshock Infinite, MGS 4 and Silent Hill 3. More Final Fantasy woudln't hurt, L.A Noire and God of War series if you haven't tried it.