What's everyone playing?

[DevilDancer]

Trying that weird rubber duck game @OneBigClam apparently bought a 10 pack of.

What the hell is this?

Edit: Damn I lost propeller head, he was a real one.

 

[rastaban75]

It took me a while to wrap up the epilogue in Baldur's Gate 3 since there are so many unique party interactions with the end-form of my origin character, Gale. So many little details that brought me many little smiles. I'm very pleased with this ending overall, even though it wasn't "perfect" for some party members, but I made the decision early on in the playthrough to stick with some unfortunate outcomes - and I didn't regret it. I won't be spoiling anything in the remote case someone wants to try specific game paths. But I do have to say, even though I was never a fan of playing origin characters in Larian's games, this playthrough felt more than worthwhile.

Later I downloaded the demo of Shadow of the Road which is a turn-based tactical party-based RPG set in an alternate version of 19th century Japan. The game caught my eye earlier in the year and seems something I might enjoy. It's promising so far.

 

[DeadLazy]

Downloading a 7.8 gig patch for 2077 on GoG right now. Might be the full 2.3 or a pre patch?

*It’s got some new stuff. Not a huge deal unless you’re on an ATI card and it’s now on Mac. I bet high end Mac’s have a good experience.

 

[DevilDancer]

I'm consistently surprised at how limited the Mac gaming options are. It seems like every time I look to see if something is on Mac it isn't.

They have one big name that I'm aware of: Civ launched day and date with the Windows version.

 

[DeadLazy]

I'm consistently surprised at how limited the Mac gaming options are. It seems like every time I look to see if something is on Mac it isn't.

They have one big name that I'm aware of: Civ launched day and date with the Windows version.

Diablo always launched on Mac. Blizzard games as a rule, including WoW? I think it launched on Mac.

But 2077 is the GOAT so at least they got that.

2.3 adds autopilot to vehicles and for me, it’s fun to just take in the scenery. I am enjoying that as I play today. On this character I’ve used no fast travel but rarely did anyway. You can do that in CP.

 

[-Troopa-]

Started on Roboquest tonight. Has "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on Steam. Gameplay is really good so far.

 

[DeadLazy]

Fallen Feathers off GP on PC. Yeah this is a solid, if unremarkable game so far. I’m actually having a bit of fun. It’s not the tightest gameplay in the genre but it’s solid and has a few twists. It’s got some cheap deaths to traps and that’s annoying but true to soulslikes.

Runs really well for me and has some cool level design and environments. Art direction over all is good.

It’s as established in its genre as a you’d expect a turn based JRPG to be. It’s gonna have its fans for the souls genre. I’ll probably pick it up on discount one day off MS store assuming it’s play anywhere. I’d probably stick to the high frame rates on PC unless console holds 60 though. I’ll test it on console later. It’s consistently in the 80’s for me. Never going below 60. X2 frame gen so usually 160+. It dips for cut scenes but it’s not jarring.

 

[DeadLazy]

Yeah, I’m really enjoying Fallen Feathers so far. It’s not the most innovative game nor the best looking. It has interesting environments that are really detailed and a lot of cool gear. The twists on the weapon system do set it apart a shade or two and mainly I just find it fun. So far, anyway.

Wukong was always bad ass but not always that fun. So far this is the my favorite soulslike this far in. Lies of P was cool but never grabbed me. If this keeps it up I might prefer this to Wukong.

It does look great though. It is a modern UE5 title that runs really well. And it’s got better level design than Wukong. Even though it’s got some cheap ass deaths.

 

[DeadLazy]

The conversation and scene between V and Takamura at the construction site, as they scout the Arasaka facility, is so damn good because of the cat. 2077 won’t be topped for a long time. The game doesn’t feel small to me yet.

Fallen Feathers is a lot of fun. Don’t know if I’ll finish because I’m not a huge souls fan, but of all the games since Dark Souls, I think I like it the most. That includes BB. I can’t say it’s the most balanced game, but the various weapons have a ton of variety and the level design has that Metroidvenia exploration. I just don’t give a shit. Learning boss patterns and enemy placement just isn’t something that will keep me engaged for 40 hours. I’d take the 10 hour Ninja Gaiden 2 Black any day.

 

[rastaban75]

Started Darkest Dungeon II, will see how far I'll go with this one because I never finished the first. It feels familiar but it also has its own twists compared to the formula of the previous game.

I also played the demo for Shadow of the Road, definitely liking it but needs plenty of work to be done. You start the game with two characters, a melee fighter and a ranged one (both ronins), and two more added along the way, a badass-looking samurai and a witch sort of character. These are all specific, named characters, not random one. Most of the dialogue is not voiced, but those lines that are spoken are in Japanese, and that's a good thing.

 

[IgglooV2]

I finished Lies of P. I thought that was one of the best souls clones to date.

 

[DevilDancer]

Avowed.

It's not hard, but it's also not as easy as everyone seems to think it should be. Turns out there's a reason for that - I've been pumping the wrong statistic.

35+ years of RPG gaming taught me that intellect is the primary statistic that determines spell effectiveness, but that's not the case here. I learned today, now that I'm on the last big zone, that might, of all things, determines spell damage.

It was right there in the statistic description in the game, but it never occurred to me to read it closely for spell effectiveness. I can respec for a nominal fee, but I think I won't just to see how this plays out.

 

[rastaban75]

I think it was the same way in Pillars of Eternity. Might for more powerful spells, intelligence for wider area of effect or some other such things.

 

[DeadLazy]

Avowed.

It's not hard, but it's also not as easy as everyone seems to think it should be. Turns out there's a reason for that - I've been pumping the wrong statistic.

35+ years of RPG gaming taught me that intellect is the primary statistic that determines spell effectiveness, but that's not the case here. I learned today, now that I'm on the last big zone, that might, of all things, determines spell damage.

It was right there in the statistic description in the game, but it never occurred to me to read it closely for spell effectiveness. I can respec for a nominal fee, but I think I won't just to see how this plays out.

I guess they were well intentioned, so you could switch weapons and combat styles more easily? In any case, Obsidian has to Obsidian.

 

[IgglooV2]

I was very OP in Avowed by the end. I smoked everyone. My build was very vanilla, a weapon on one hand and grimoire on another, but very effective. I liked the fire and frost effects best and had some good area of effect weapons and spells using the grimoire that I would switch back and forth from, frost and fire, depending on opponents. Freezing enemies to stun and then shatter them is a great mechanic.

I've been messing with Fallen Feathers a bit this morning, don't really have a judgment yet, but it is a pretty predictable title early for anyone who has played a souls game.

It does seem to have some janky performance issues and needs polishing. It uses the Unreal Engine as Deadlazy noted, and I think it looks pretty good on higher settings, but the frame rate seems uneven for me. Hopefully it gets some optimization.

I am going to try Abiotic Factor as well. That might appeal to the Half Life fans out there since it's basically a survival game in that first game's setting.

 

[IgglooV2]

Fallen Feathers is pretty good. Not original as people said, but pretty good.

It leans into the T and A aspect of things, for better or worse. Note the pearly sweat beads on the voluptuous boobs on the protagonist.

 

[BOP_G_A_Pster]

Breast sweat, that seems like something they could sell in vending machines in Japan, lol.

 

[IgglooV2]

I'm just picturing some developer working his tail off for like 40 hours, trying to get that super-detailed boob sheen just right.

 

[-Troopa-]

It’s a hard job but somebody’s gotta do it.

 

[DeadLazy]

I really like Xenoblade X and the Xeno games on Switch are some of my all time favorite. I’m never going to pirate them so it’s a real bummer to be stuck on switch playing them. If I get a switch 2, it’ll be for those games. For now I’m just playing on switch.

Outside of Like a Dragon and FFX, they’re my favorite in the genre. Infinite Wealth I still haven’t finished and I’ll have to start over when I’m ready.

 

[east1226]

I beat My Friendly Neighborhood. It is a very strange game. Wasn't bad. Just strange. It was a little buggy at times and I think the aiming for the pistol was bugged. I beat it, though.

 

[BOP_G_A_Pster]

I'm just picturing some developer working his tail off for like 40 hours, trying to get that super-detailed boob sheen just right.

That's a lot funner than working on the pooping horses in Red Dead 2.

 

[IgglooV2]

Fallen Feathers is a wholly unoriginal soulslike, but pretty well done once you get past that fact. It has some balancing issues in addition to the graphics optimization stuff, but it does have a few small but interesting wrinkles to the Souls/Nioh formula, namely a death mechanic that has a bit of bite if you die repeatedly at the same spot. I suspect it's not going to be popular but it kind of makes sense.

Like Dark Souls, it kind of has a hub system and multiple paths to advance at some points, which nearly led me to miss a third boss. In any case I think I took them out of order. These shrines are the equivalent of finding a bonfire in Dark Souls--the save points. They're more like Nioh's shrines.

 

[DeadLazy]

Despite any issues I’d still take Wukong.

But I’d rather ditch souls and take NG or even FF16. 16 really isn’t bad.

Shinobi lands next month and I’ll take that too.

 

[east1226]

He Is Coming... It is a meh auto battler. Quick uninstall.

 

[docSpock]

I treated myself to The Room VR for my birthday. Like the three other Room games I’ve played it is excellent.

 

[rastaban75]

My mental image of the word "Room" has forever been ruined by

That would be amazing in VR.

 

[rastaban75]

In any case, I had this idea over the weekend. I unistalled (after 5 years) Baldur's Gate 3 from my main SSD so I freed enough space to install Starfield which has been rotting in my to-play list over a year ever since I last tried to play it and couldn't because of technical issues. I did that because I had the hunch that maybe it was the external SSD that acted some sort of bottleneck.

Turns out, Starfield seems to be running fine now. Which is great, because this is like I'm having a new game and of a type I'd like to play right now.

How or why the external SSD didn't work right I can't say. My last playtrhough of CP2077 was from there and there were no problems at all in that case. Though, the whole thing I filed under "whatever" in my mind.

Other than that, I played Darkest Dungeon II quite a bit. As expected, it's a miserable experience overall. I feel helpless in many situations because there seems to be an over-reliance on party member relations and many of those seem random. There is some simplification/streamlining compared to the first game, not sure if I like it. For example, the "stress" system seems more simple and straightforward but overstressing seems to be leading to one of just two results. On the positive side, this game embraces the rogue-like thing much more than the first one, with permanent benefits getting unlocked after each run completion (usually unsuccessful). I've beaten only the first boss, once.

Also a few hours of Age of Wonders 4, always coming back to this every few months.

 

[docSpock]

Avowed.

It's not hard, but it's also not as easy as everyone seems to think it should be. Turns out there's a reason for that - I've been pumping the wrong statistic.

I played Avowed on storyteller mode and was PISSED at how challenging it was. I eventually reached a point where I was OP but I resent having had to fight my way there when I specifically told the game I was just interested in the story. I think they knew the best part of the game is its combat and the story is kinda weak. Obsidian is going down the Bioware path and I don’t think I like it.

 

[JoeStunna25]

I’ve been sinking a surprising amount of time into Donkey Kong Bananza. Honestly, I didn’t expect much going in; but man, it’s growing on me fast. The gameplay’s got that secret sauce that just clicks. I wasn’t a huge fan of Super Mario Odyssey when it dropped. I felt it didn’t hit quite like the older 3D Marios. But now, after getting hooked on Bananza (shoutout to the same dev team), I’m thinking it’s time to dust Odyssey off and give it a proper second chance.

 

[DeadLazy]

Xenoblade Chronicles X has the worst sound track and some of the worst sound design over all. I’ve never played the original Wii U version but it’s bad. It feels like a really lazy port to me but I don’t know for sure.

I really like the gameplay and world but the sound is almost a deal breaker. I’ll have to listen to final fantasy music while I play.

 

[IgglooV2]

Just spent a frustrating hour playing Fallen Feathers on a weeknight after a long day at the office, and...not advancing my character or game at all. Actually losing rare items on bosses.

This is the downside to soulslikes. They're hard. Hopefully I get my revenge this weekend. I did learn some things.

 

[DeadLazy]

I have to trudge X because it’s obvious they’ve now tied it into the narrative of 1-3. Obviously they were either going to do it or I think just make it explicit. So I’d like to see precisely how they do it, but fans are acting shocked.

Come on now. Obviously….

 

[IgglooV2]

I wound up beating the Fallen Feathers boss I was stuck on this morning before work. I had the move set down by last night, but I kept making mistakes, probably because I was tired.

All in all, it's a pretty good soulsborne action title. I'll try to stick with it to the end. I generally like the spear as a weapon in this game, but don't love some of the special moves it has early on. It looks like you unlock better ones later.

 

[DevilDancer]

Found a reddit thread on the disastrous Avowed patch, updated my video drivers and all is good now.

This last major zone (I think?) is much bigger than I expected.

Still annoyed that my Nvidia drivers don't update automatically. What's the point of their app then?

 

[-Troopa-]

Still annoyed that my Nvidia drivers don't update automatically. What's the point of their app then?

Yeah, I've got this setting enabled:

I don't recall ever seeing notifications that a new driver is available, and I don't see any options to make it automatically install. So, either way, I have to go in occasionally and check for new drivers to install.

They also have a place where they have "Optimal Settings" for specific games based on your hardware. In my experience, these recommended settings are not good. I've seen cases where it's way lower than it should be, and also cases where it's stupidly high and you'll get garbage framerates. The best bet is to look up recommended settings on YouTube and/or Reddit.

 

[Andyster]

Neverwinter Nights 2 Enhanced Edition: So the OG version of this game was like a super broken mess for me. It's technically playable but has this weird stuttered animation and it's one of those things where you look it up and there's 100 rain dance like explanations. Restart your computer, get some sort of framerate limiter etc.
Before I couldn't play it now I can play it, I call that a good EE.

Also we were talking about Kroger brand CRPGs a month ago when i replayed DA and NWN2 is so much more the Kroger brand. Dr. K but it's kind of a charming little RPG. Oh look it's a grumpy dwarf and an aloof Druid and a sassy Rogue.

 

[docSpock]

Also we were talking about Kroger brand CRPGs a month ago when i replayed DA and NWN2 is so much more the Kroger brand. Dr. K but it's kind of a charming little RPG. Oh look it's a grumpy dwarf and an aloof Druid and a sassy Rogue.

Nah NWN2 wishes it were Kroger brand. It’s more like the No Frills brand at C-Town.

 

[OneBigClam]

 

[IgglooV2]

Still annoyed that my Nvidia drivers don't update automatically. What's the point of their app then?

I am having this same issue now. My Nvidia app is no longer automatically downloading updates like it's supposed to. There was a new driver patch yesterday for example and I had to manually do it. I think it's related to Microsoft to be honest and the interplay between windows patches and nvidia driver patches.

 

[DevilDancer]

Obsidian is still a trash developer, after all these years.

Avowed: crash crash crash.

It's bad enough that their last patch tanked performance, the newest one has it crashing like crazy. Takes me back to the early days of New Vegas.

 

[east1226]

I cancelled my GP account. It was due to start monthly paying 9/5. It wanted to charge me $20 a month. No thanks. I have been slowly stockpiling other games for years now. I will simply play them. Main game left to play from GP is Indie.

 

[rastaban75]

Obsidian is still a trash developer, after all these years.

Avowed: crash crash crash.

It's bad enough that their last patch tanked performance, the newest one has it crashing like crazy. Takes me back to the early days of New Vegas.

This is troubling, I was planning to play Avowed this year (hence I replayed Pillars of Eternity 2) but I think I'll leave it for much later. My wishlist is crowded as it is. In general, I'm conflicted about Obsidian as a developer in general. There are games they made which I love, but some are misses. Many feel that they needed a bigger budget.

Speaking of my wishlist, I saw that Titan Quest 2 has now entered early access. That's probably good news, although no idea how long it'll stay in there.

I think I'm stuck with long games, once again. Both Darkest Dungeon 2 and Starfield seem like games I could reach 100 hours with. I don't know if I will, and I very much doubt I'll complete DD2, but I get enjoyment out of them for the time being and I suspect I will for plenty more hours.

Then there's Hades 2 which will take priority of my gaming time when it gets its full release.

 

[IgglooV2]

That’s unfortunate. My performance was totally fine overall. It sounds like they somehow made it worse.

 

[DeadLazy]

I am probably going to wait on Titan Quest 2 for more content but I’ll jump in for early access at some point. That was a pleasant surprise to see it available.

Shinobi Demo is outstanding and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound looks good. I might get that today.

 

[DevilDancer]

That’s unfortunate. My performance was totally fine overall. It sounds like they somehow made it worse.

My performance was great through the first two zones, but then we had a windows patch and a big Avowed patch and they did not play nice together.

I still haven't tried the console version, so it might be fine.

I think I'm close to the end.

Spoiler

Lodwyn is dead and I'm headed to the garden.

I know all about my god and her transgressions.

 

[IgglooV2]

I am still playing Fallen Feathers, but am thinking of trying one of the new survival games, either Grounded 2 or Abiotic Factor.

@east1226 I still get a ton of use out of Game Pass, but I could see cancelling for say six months and then coming back to sample more of the new stuff in the library, then cancelling again six months later etc. That might be a good strategy with that service over time.

 

[DeadLazy]

For 24$ I grabbed Titan Quest 2 early access. At least after an hour it runs perfectly. The recommended spec is a 4070. It looks good. Not the finest UE5 I’ve seen for sure but it looks good.

WASD movement feels good; it’s fun. Nothing special but I always loved TQ and at least initially it is what I wanted.

I needed a reason to play my PC more, honestly. So I picked a UE5, currently PC exclusive game over NG Ragebound.

My game spending has fallen off a cliff. I saw statistics someplace that suggest I’m not the only one spending far less on games this year. But 24$ and the game is really solid so far; feels like a good deal for me. I always kinda liked TQ more than Diablo 1&2 back in the day. There was something about it and initially 2 does a good job in capturing it.

As far as performance if you’re at the recommended specs I can’t see how it’ll be an issue and the visuals auto detected to cranked for me.

 

[DeadLazy]

Considering I haven’t been buying games I finish on GP it’s actually saved me money. One day I’ll buy Indy and maybe a few others but I’ve finished a lot of full priced games and given the free time I received and some discounts, haven’t spent much money to do it.

 

[east1226]

I am still playing Fallen Feathers, but am thinking of trying one of the new survival games, either Grounded 2 or Abiotic Factor.

east1226 I still get a ton of use out of Game Pass, but I could see cancelling for say six months and then coming back to sample more of the new stuff in the library, then cancelling again six months later etc. That might be a good strategy with that service over time.

That is the plan. I can also more easily take advantage of deals. However, at $20 a month, I would have to game more than I do for it to be worth it. I still have tons of other games/deals to enjoy.