The 2023 Games Thread - What Will You Play This Year?

[GodisanAtheist]

Beat Scarlet Nexus.
Beat Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters a 2nd time (w/ Duty Eternal DLC)

Not sure what to tackle next. I played MGSV a little but the game really wants you to be stealthy, rather than kill-everyone-stealthy.

Here's what's currently on my list:
View attachment 83495



And on my GOG List:

Iron Danger
Lords of the Fallen (2014)
My Friend Pedro (started but never beat)
Pyre (started but never beat)
Sang Froid
Seven
WarTile
Control
Farenheit/Indigo Prophecy

Can't speak to all of them but Senua, Ori, and Pyre are all incredible.

Pyre and Senua are pretty quick bites, 10-15 hours to beat. Ori is wonderful but is a pretty full fledged Metroidvania that will take you a decent amount of time to complete.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Completed Journey. Pretty, gentle little walking sim. No combat, some evasion sections but no big consequences for failing them.

Nice gentle 3 hour game that's basically the polar opposite of The Witcher and a great little pallet cleanser afterward.

 

[aigomorla]

Dead Island 2 was MEH...
I really do not think its even worth 50% off.
Dead Island 1 and Riptide was so much better, and lets not even get into Dying light series, which completely blows away the Dead Island Franchise.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Dead Island 2 was MEH...
I really do not think its even worth 50% off.
Dead Island 1 and Riptide was so much better, and lets not even get into Dying light series, which completely blows away the Dead Island Franchise.

So was it worse than Dying Light 2? That was easily the most disappointing game of the last 10 years for me after how much I loved Dying Light 1.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

In a weird spot right now.

Played a bit of Blasphemous, Just Cause 2, and Quake but after Witcher 3 nothing is really grabbing me.

Think it's time for a short gaming break, might go back in on something like Grim Dawn or DoW 3. We'll see.

 

[DigDog]

i just bought a PS5 controller (and THEN realized my PC doesnt have bluetooth) on sale, so probably BallisticNG and Elden Ring.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

i just bought a PS5 controller (and THEN realized my PC doesnt have bluetooth) on sale, so probably BallisticNG and Elden Ring.

Will still run great wired over USB. That's how I use mine on PC since Bluetooth sucks so hard, especially with controllers.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Ok, played a little Prey (2017) and I'm just not feeling it at the moment. Have gotten to the lobby and trying to explore the Trauma center but the game is just brutal. I appreciate Arkane's adherence to design principals but I feel like the game needs a shallower ramp. I'm no stranger to Shock-likes and I know I will enjoy Prey eventually but it just feels too damn unforgiving at the start.

Also chipping away at the OG Quake. Played and beat Quake 2 & 4 (and was always a UT guy, not a Q3 guy) but OG Quake hit before I really had my head wrapped around PCs and it was just too damn lo-fi vs something like Doom for me to ever get into it. Giving it a go now, and while it's fast and fun, you can feel the hardware limitations of the era all the way through the game design.

Fired up Dawn of War 3 and played a couple missions in. This might be my jam for the next couple weeks. Dislike that the old ARPG loot system from DoW 2 and Chaos Rising is gone for the campaign, but still looks like a classic 40K campaign.

 

[you2]

Ok, played a little Prey (2017) and I'm just not feeling it at the moment. Have gotten to the lobby and trying to explore the Trauma center but the game is just brutal. I appreciate Arkane's adherence to design principals but I feel like the game needs a shallower ramp. I'm no stranger to Shock-likes and I know I will enjoy Prey eventually but it just feels too damn unforgiving at the start.

Also chipping away at the OG Quake. Played and beat Quake 2 & 4 (and was always a UT guy, not a Q3 guy) but OG Quake hit before I really had my head wrapped around PCs and it was just too damn lo-fi vs something like Doom for me to ever get into it. Giving it a go now, and while it's fast and fun, you can feel the hardware limitations of the era all the way through the game design.

Fired up Dawn of War 3 and played a couple missions in. This might be my jam for the next couple weeks. Dislike that the old ARPG loot system from DoW 2 and Chaos Rising is gone for the campaign, but still looks like a classic 40K campaign.

Prey 2017 was decent; i think under-rated; not sure how it has aged but enjoyed it at the time.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I played MGSV a little but the game really wants you to be stealthy, rather than kill-everyone-stealthy.

Did you get past the island in Ground Zeroes? GZ is really hard for anyone coming from the previous games in the series. Phantom Pain after GZ ends is more an open world game which turned me off (open world games usually have too much to do without enough story and plot as a motivation to why we should be doing the side quests).

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Prey 2017 was decent; i think under-rated; not sure how it has aged but enjoyed it at the time.

-Yeah, it looks like the kind of game I can have fun with, I'm just not in the right space at the moment.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Did you get past the island in Ground Zeroes? GZ is really hard for anyone coming from the previous games in the series. Phantom Pain after GZ ends is more an open world game which turned me off (open world games usually have too much to do without enough story and plot as a motivation to why we should be doing the side quests).

The island as in the prologue, or the island as in the starting of your own paramilitary organization with an oil rig as a base of operations? Cause I'm on the latter.

 

[igor_kavinski]

The island as in the prologue, or the island as in the starting of your own paramilitary organization with an oil rig as a base of operations? Cause I'm on the latter.

The prologue one. I never could get myself invested in Phantom Pain (especially since I keep thinking that Sony will acquire the whole shebang from Konami and then Kojima will finish it, the way he intended to).

 

[Fenixgoon]

The prologue one. I never could get myself invested in Phantom Pain (especially since I keep thinking that Sony will acquire the whole shebang from Konami and then Kojima will finish it, the way he intended to).

Yeah I got past that prologue and then the first mission. Which now puts me at MGS:V: Sealand

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Just beat Shub-Niggurath in Quake. Solid game, much more enjoyable and less vomit inducing as a remaster with some QOL stuff and sharpened up graphics than when I first attempted it way back in 1996.

Thanks to the hardware that was contemporary to the game's release, the level design and enemy encounters do feel somewhat dated (game is very heavy on a small number of spongier enemies rather than something like Doom's legions of fodder) and its much darker color pallet just makes the game feel blander than its predecessor, but the speed and intensity of combat is still there and it is very playable today.

Those little jumping blob enemies in the Elder World though, those guys could go screw themselves.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Fired up Dawn of War 3 and played a couple missions in. This might be my jam for the next couple weeks.

Let me know if you beat the final mission. I feel like I gave away enough spoilers in my review in one of the old backlog threads but the game was a blast up until that final level so I just assumed the game ended before that level starts and I'm happier for it.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Let me know if you beat the final mission. I feel like I gave away enough spoilers in my review in one of the old backlog threads but the game was a blast up until that final level so I just assumed the game ended before that level starts and I'm happier for it.

-About 6 missions in (got derailed by Quake and some other stuff).

Definitely a fun game and like all the DOW games it really captures the Grimdark feel of the 40K universe.

It is weird though, after DOW2 which was excellent but somewhat controversial at the time for it's lack of base building, I am less on board with the classic RTS campaign than I thought I would be.

DOW2 campaign both taught me how to play the game and kept things really tight with only 4 squads to manage. The ARPG-esq inventory system was also a stroke of genius that I would have liked to see expanded upon.

DOW 3 is back to having blobs of infantry and vehicles who really primarily act as a meat shield for the hero unit, which is the one that really matters.

 

[DigDog]

Also chipping away at the OG Quake.

Have you seen Q2 in the news?

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Have you seen Q2 in the news?

-I made a topic on the Q2 remaster in this very forum...

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Decided to fire up Sleeping Dogs to see if the game was something appropriate for kids that I could play on the TV.

It's 100% not child appropriate at all, but it's got me hooked after that first hour. Solid "GTA Clone" with a proto-Batman free flow combat and a really fun and unfortunately unique Hong Kong gangster flick setting and story.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Just completed Sleeping Dogs.

Despite the fact that I've always bounced off of the GTA games and their ilk, Sleeping Dogs really caught my interest thanks to the fantastic story and solid combat.

It has its rough edges for sure and its very much a mid 10's open world game, but it still feels fresh thanks in large part to its unique setting, strong writing, and acting.

If you've (ahem) slept on this one, its absolutely worth checking out. ~17 hours to complete the story and do a decent portion of the side content.

 

[balloonshark]

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition is on sale on Steam for $3 if anyone was inspired by GodisanAtheist's post above.

Steam Store

Steam is the ultimate destination for playing, discussing, and creating games.

store.steampowered.com

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Hard time motivating myself to pick-up or stick with a game.

2/3 of the way through DOW3, but not really feeling the RTS thing right now.

Played first level of Darksider's Genesis and it's definitely fun and would be more fun co-op with one of the kiddos, but would have been a great 4 player co-op game with each of the horsemen dont know what they were thinking here. As it is one of the kids will have to sit out, which makes it tough to pick up and co-op.

Its October so it feels like it's time for my annual "don't be a wuss and play one of your horror games" season. I'm thinking Alien Isolation, even though I know I'm going to regret it. Will probably have to play through the game up to my eyeballs in liquid courage.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Playing more Darksiders Genesis with The Boy. Very fun co-op game, does a vertical splitscreen split for couch co-op which isn't something you see all that much, but it does allow each player to wander the entire level more or less independently which can be an asset.

The Boy really likes the horseman "War" so the other day while putting him to bed he says "Dad, I really love War" and I had to do a triple take before I realized he meant the character from the game.

Also giving OG Alan Wake another shot with the sequel being in the news and me being too much of a wuss to play Alien Isolation for long stretches. While nothing terribly unique from a gameplay perspective, the game has a strong identity and presence that makes it a ton of fun. Been playing while the kids watch and it might be a bit too spooky at some times but they seem to generally be into it. Good stuff.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I beat Alan Wake 1. Kids and wife actually watched me play a good portion which really says something.

It's a great game for $5 and I implore anyone who has not picked it up to do so. As a game its perfectly competent, decent third person horror shooter. That's not its real appeal though.

Thing is the game has such a strong sense of itself. It really commits to its narrative and themes and it is unabashedly hokey, putting down very strong Twin Peaks and X-files vibes. Its got a kind of "Stephen King novel that only Stephen King fans like" tone. It's hard to put into words, but if you're looking for OK gameplay with a really fun, strong narrative, you could do a lot worse than Alan Wake.

Its not for everyone, Remedy certainly has a style, but it has convinced me to pick up Quantum Break and Control at my earliest convenience. I also have AW: American Nightmare waiting for me in my library as well as the "Specials" from the original game. Fully plan on enjoying those.