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What are you playing?

Discussion in 'Gaming Forum' started by Desides, Aug 19, 2013.

  1. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I decided to buy Elex when it went down to $14.99 on Amazon. It is....worth that price, lol.

    Its an ambitious game by a small studio in Germany that tries to cram every possible RPG genre into one game. I knew what I was getting into, and had realistic expectations, but the game is still pretty rough. The graphics are similar to early to mid life PS3 games. At its best, the game can look something akin to the original release of Skyrim, or Dragon Age Origins. But its often less polished than even that. The gameplay is similar to games of that era, or Fallout 4, and the voice acting is....there.

    You can't choose anything about how your character looks or sounds, and play as a rough, bald guy with a gravel voice. Think Vin Desiel cast as a terminator. The player menu and map are equally rough, and frustrating to use, and the game doesn't give you enough of a prompt for anything whatsoever. Most frustrating is that you have to level up, and choose where to put your points, to use any weapons beyond the lead pipe that you find at the very start, and even the lowest level enemies just outside of the first town will kill you almost instantly if you don't run away effectively. Its a slog. However, after about ten hours of play, I'm to a point where, with a companion, I can hold my own against lesser enemies and have a set of low level equipment.

    I'm glad that I didn't spend more on it than I did, but I'm also going to keep going. I've read reviews that if you can tough it out for the first 20 hours or so, the game really opens up and gets better. Thats **** poor game design, but it is what it is. The map is fairly large, and there's clearly a lot to be discovered beyond the very start of the game.
     
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  2. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I decided I want to collect some classic hardware since I've lost all my old stuff.

    I just bought a Sega Genesis, Sonic 1 and 2 start the collection. So I'll be playing these soon.

    I'm even considering starting up a YouTube channel, kind of like a "Let's Play" channel, but focusing on analyzing classic games. The level design, graphics, difficulty curve and so on as I play. I'm kind of shy with groups of people so I think it might be good for me.
     
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  3. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Sega was always something almost foreign to me. I was a Nintendo kid and teen, and then moved to Sony when I was in college. I never had a Sega system, and none of my close friends, relatives or neighbors did either, so I've never played one.
     
  4. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    Ahhhhhh man you missed out. I had both, but I played the Sega Systems into the ground. The Nintendo systems got played got played a lot too no doubt, but I loved the Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast more than probably any other systems.

    Sega had really bad management though and ran the company into the ground. They were actually offered the technology for the N64, PS1 and XBox before their respective companies and turned them down. It's a crazy story.
     
  5. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    I never had a Genisis growing up, but our first system (after Atari) was a Sega Master system, and later on I had a Saturn. That thing was amazing. Virtual On and Nights: Into Dreams were great.
     
  6. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    Saturn was great. I'm not even a fan of racing games and I'd spend all day playing Daytona on it lol apparantly the thing was just really hard to develop for even though it's technically more powerful than a PS1 =[

    I was a lucky enough kid that as long as my grades were good my family wasnt strict about gaming and would buy me whatever even though we werent rich by any stretch. Youth was awesome.
     
  7. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    During those years, I was finishing high school and starting college. My parents grudgingly allowed me to ask for cold hard cash for my birthday starting when I was in HS, so I'd use that, the money I got for cutting grass, and then later my part time job to buy games. And even though I was transitioning to being a young adult and it was my own money, my parents still didn't like me buying games!

    A few months ago, I was talking with my brother in law about the new MLB The Show, and my mom (who I love with all my heart) looked at us and shook her head and said she couldn't believe we still played with "kids toys". :001_rolleyes: So....I've rarely gotten support for my hobby on that end, lol.
     
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  8. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    How good is The Show this year btw? 18 was fun but The Road To The Show lost its luster with me after a season or two as my pitcher.
     
  9. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I didn't buy it. My Brother in Law did, though, and I messed around with it a little. Really, both on the field and franchise mode, which are all that I care about, are essentially the same from the previous year. SDS had gotten a mandate to cram the online stuff into the game as the main item now, and sadly thats almost all of the focus. I couldn't tell you how any of that is as I have zero desire to do it.
     
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  10. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I bought Madden 95 for my Genesis for a few bucks. It's hilarious but still actually pretty fun. The games stay relatively close so far for me and it's fun to play as Marino.

    It feels nice making a user interception or throwing a nice slant route for a TD.
     
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  11. ToddPhin

    ToddPhin Premium Member Luxury Box Club Member

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    Never played Minecraft nor ever had an interest in it. Downloaded it on Game Pass for my 6 yr old granddaughter..... and now I can’t put the damn thing down!! :tantrum:

    Started playing at like 3pm yesterday and then magically it’s 4am. F*** YOU VERY MUCH MINECRAFT! :pity:
     
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  12. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I beat The Revenge Of Shinobi on Genesis today, hardest difficulty with the good ending.

    Never played it as a kid but it's a hell of a game with some great music.
     
  13. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    Kid Chameleon is next up. Supposedly over a hundred levels you can play through and no save system. Yay lol
     
  14. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    Bubsy in Claws Encounters on Sega Genesis. This game is addicting fun but also hard.

    I started a YouTube channel that is basically guides to older games I figured since I'm playing anyway I might as well record.
     
  15. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I bought Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Sunday and have been enjoying it so far. There's some things that don't make sense in it- I don't think it leverages some of its RPG elements strong enough. I'm hoping with feedback and decent sales we get a much more refined follow-up. It could also use some better art direction. Some of the monster designs feel like they're not fully realized and often clash with each other in a given setting within the castle. Environmental design could use some next-level treatment as well. All that said, I could not put it down on Sunday and have been looking forward to playing it tonight when I get home.
     
  16. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Forza Horizon 4 at the moment, specifically Lego Speed Champs or whatever it's called, and replaying Borderlands 2 since they came out with free DLC.

    Going to be starting Witcher 3 soon thanks to Steam Summer Sale.
     
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  17. vmarcilfan75

    vmarcilfan75 blah...blah...blah... Club Member

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    City Of Angels
    i was so bored a month ago i started playing NCAA 2011. i actually never opened it.


    i said was because my fat PS3 just died while playing ....:jump:
     
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  18. Deus ex dolphin

    Deus ex dolphin Well-Known Member

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    It's No Mans' Sky in VR which is both cool and frustrating. I'm struggling with the Move controls at the moment, there is a significant graphic downgrade and blurriness, and yet I've had some really cool moments flying my ship and just experiencing things in VR. With a PS4 Pro patch I think the graphic issues could be mostly mitigated.

    I also picked up a copy of Generation Zero. Set in1980's Sweden you are a teenager trying to find out what happened to everybody and survive an robotic invasion. Meant as an online co-op shooter, it's tougher than most games I've played recently. Stealth is difficult as the robots seem to sense you despite sneaking and being in cover. This makes it harder to set up ambushes (dropping a propane tank for example and blowing it up when they get close).

    I've seen some earlier videos of gameplay and they seem to have cut way down on the medical stim shots you can find that revive you during combat. Most fight comes down to shooting it out with the robots and being able to used medical packs and stim shots to stay alive until you can damage the machines enough. Some people complained about it being too easy to revive yourself time and again, so maybe they went too far the other way (I've only found three stim shots and that was at the beginning of the game).

    Even worse, the robots respawn in areas you cleared out, but resources like ammo, flares, medical packs and such get harder to find. You'll always be low on ammo, except for the rounds for your crappy pistol. I love the atmosphere and tension of wandering around looking for clues and resources, but I'm getting more frustrated with what feels like an imbalance in favor of the machines.

    **********************************************************
    Feeling better now. I cleared a new area and got a shotgun and a military rifle, along with figuring out that cars can sometimes be used as improvised bombs. Watching a big robot blow itself up by firing through a car was very satisfying.

    I also found two stim shots, and a new safehouse that had a half dozen medical packs. You also level up and get points to spend, so I've added to my Stamina and reload speed. Still tough, but not feeling impossible now.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2019
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  19. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Turns out the FF8 remaster is being released in just a few weeks, on September 9th! Speculation had been it would be released around Black Friday. Looks like I'll be picking that up on release day, and waiting on Greedfall a little bit. Better to let the devs work out the kinks and put out a few patches on the new title anyways.
     
  20. finfansince72

    finfansince72 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Anyone going to get Borderlands 3 when it comes out? On PS4.
     
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  21. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I got the Final Fantasy 8 remaster this morning when it became available. I always understood that the graphics would be what they are, and that's ok. Its a PS1 game. But I was stuck with disappointment when I realized that the game is only in 4:3 aspect ratio, and not 16:9. The PS2 era ones were all full screen HD, so I was expecting that this one would be as well. Maybe that's why they only charged $19.99 and didn't make a retail version.
     
  22. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Not me man. Shooters aren't my thing. In fact, every single game I get through the end of the PS4's lifespan from here on out might be a RPG or action RPG.
     
  23. finfansince72

    finfansince72 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Not usually mine either, just love the Borderlands stories and missions and the artwork. The rare shooter I really love.
     
  24. JDelenne

    JDelenne Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Cant wait to get it for my PC
     
  25. finsincebirth

    finsincebirth Well-Known Member

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    Anyone playing WOW Classic? I missed it the first time around, and I've been having a blast with the re-release
     
  26. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I finally made the decision to just buck up and learn Stellaris. Fun game. So many things to consider.
     
  27. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I really enjoyed playing the remasters of Final Fantasy X, X-2 and XII. All three games both lived up to my expectations and were a fun experience down memory lane. Top marks.

    Sadly, the same isn't true for the remaster of FF VIII. The game just hasn't aged well, both in design, story, script, and a lack of player assistance. I liked it a lot twenty years ago when it was new, but sometimes things just aren't as good when you go back to them. Its true for movies and TV shows, and its the same for video games.

    I'm not going to abandon it. I'd say I'm about 2/3 of the way through the story. But I also wouldn't highly recommend it.
     
  28. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    8 remains the stepchild of the franchise. I didn't enjoy my playthrough when it was originally released. They redeemed themselves with 9, which I've played through 3 times. Classic FF game with amazing art direction, music, everything. An underrated entry.
     
  29. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Lol, you and a million other people. But I hated 9 and gave up halfway through. 2, 3, 7 and 8 were all this cool mix of high fantasy and science fi, and then 9 comes along and its basically the precursor to kingdom hearts, with monkey boy as the lead. As a early 20 something, it really offended me, lol.
     
  30. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I also loved 9. One of the best stories in the series.

    8 was just not fun. Plus I hated the fakeout with the villain.
     
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  31. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I'm playing Rust on PC...but I pretty much think I hate it. Fun game, really cool concept, and then someone steals everything you own because you're a dumb noob.
     
  32. finsincebirth

    finsincebirth Well-Known Member

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    Got my wife to get me a Raspberry Pi 4 for my birthday, so I'll finally be able to build my Retro Pi system.
     
  33. JDelenne

    JDelenne Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm playing, I've played WoW since release through TBC and only dabbled in it after that.. I've forgotton how much of a grind it is compared to retail lol.
    Horde on Pagle.
     
  34. finsincebirth

    finsincebirth Well-Known Member

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    We were gonna play Pagle but it was so full we switched to Westfall. I started playing retail right before BFA, and yea classic is definitely a different experience.
     
  35. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I remember when WoW came out. I had no idea what it was or why it was such a big deal, but I worked at a store that sold video games as a minor part of our business back then, and we had people lined up outside the door to buy it the day it was released. By the time I became interested in it myself, I'd moved to an area that didn't have broadband, and lived there until last year, so playing online games was totally off the menu. I likely would have been really into them for a while, had I been able to play.
     
  36. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I was on team FF11 when WoW came out so I only played it a little (I think I played it til level 43 or something). I kind of just stopped playing and went back to 11, no way did I think we'd be talking about it 15 years later.
     
  37. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I'm playing Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master

    This has to be one of the best games I've ever played, new or old.
     
  38. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I've put 10 hours into Greedfall over the last few days, and am having fun digging into it. Given the smaller studio, its not surprising that the game is not really a AAA title. The graphics pale in comparrison to most big RPGs that have come out on this console generation, even games from five years ago like DA4. I'd put them more in line with the Remaster of Skyrim. Beyond that, in controls and interface, its a lot more like a PS3.5 game than a PS4 generation.

    However! The game has a lot going for it. The devs are clearly inspired by Bioware, and in a lot of details and broad strokes, picks up where the first two Dragon Age games left off and builds on that and improves it. Its not to where Inquisition was, but its kind of a like a cousin to the game. Much of how its set up borrows from those ideas.

    It checks off a ton of my boxes

    Single Player
    Offline
    Third Person
    A number of companions
    Large numbers of equipment
    crafting
    deep character development tree
    Large Map to explore
    Good voice acting
    Branching dialogue
    The ability to choose diplomacy or violence

    And the game clearly rewards the player for being cautious, taking your time, and exploring every avenue before rushing ahead, and that's very much my style.

    I'm expecting that I'll end up putting over 50 hours of gameplay into it, and from what I've seen so far, I'm hoping that it sells really well and the dev team can spend time making a lot of improvements for a sequel on the next generation of consoles, because this is a really good start.
     
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  39. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I finished my playthrough of Greedfall. Checked in at about 60 hours of gameplay, and I'd say that only about 5-10% of that was grinding/leveling up. The game is a clear love letter to classic Bioware titles. Its obviously heavily inspired by the first two Dragon Age games, and takes cues from the Mass Effect games as well. Broadly speaking, its clearly a case where a group of game designers wanted to make their own game like the ones that they enjoyed, and made it happen. And they clearly cared about details and did the best that a small studio with a limited budget could do. Its a great effort, and I'm thankful that someone out there is making these types of games.

    That said, its not a AAA title, but its not priced as one either. Its a C+ kind of game that's missing a lot of the elements that newer games of the genre usually have these days. And while there is a considerable amount of player choice, its almost all of the right/wrong nature, and pretty easy to see through, rather than a case where the player might be given a few different choices that all have their appeal and risks. But I did appreciate the game and their hard work, and I very much hope that it sells well and they're able to create another bigger title for the next console generation.
     
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  40. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Their publisher releases tons of niche mid-market games that always sate a certain strain of gamer. The Surge, Greedfall, the new HP Lovecraft game. I'm assuming they're turning a profit. I think it's great for the industry. Give a AAA publisher an inch and 9/10 they're going to take a mile. I only buy games on sale anymore and I play more Switch than anything else nowadays, because it's just so nice to not be flooded with Super Ultimate Collector's Editions and 17 forms of in-game microtransaction currencies.
     
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