What are you playing now? [Chat + Discussions]

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Feneant2

Golden Member
May 26, 2004
1,418
30
91
I picked up Xcom2's War of the Chosen expansion to get the new DLC that was free with it... I had been waiting on it falling in price but this gave me 2 for the price of 1 with a reasonable discount.

I haven't played the story DLC's much yet but holy frig does WoTC ever make the game better! There was a lot I didn't like in vanilla Xcom 2 and this fixes them while going even beyond and making the game a solid 9/10 now.
 

PrincessFrosty

Platinum Member
Feb 13, 2008
2,301
68
91
www.frostyhacks.blogspot.com
I had a really long gap from gaming, I just couldn't get enthusiastic about it. Recently 2 point hospital (the spiritual successor to Theme Hospital) was released and it's so good, so I've spent a large amount of time in that which has been really fun, and I've had this surge in wanting to play games. I seriously think these ups and downs that happen for me occur over periods of years, it's largely down to the massive amounts of rubbish that is released these days, and just waiting until there's a few really cool new games out, stuff that innovates and isn't built around corporate DLC and P2W greed.

I played a lot of Kingdom Come Deliverance, I waited for it to be patched before buying which turned out to be a very smart move, but as of right now it's a great game, but I burned out on that somewhat, I think too much side questing and not enough main story line, but after I've finished Tomb Raider I'll go back and finish that. Hopefully in 4k now I have my 2nd 1080.

I played this early access game called Breathedge which is very much like Subnautica but in space, it's kinda all there mechanics wise so far but just needs more areas introduced which are being built now so cannot wait for those to be released, that game is super funny and enjoyable to play. But that gave me the itch to try Subnautica again which I have not played since early beta. That was quite fun grinding for materials and building the base and exploring the environment, very rewarding progression and exploration, so I'm quite far through that now I think, one I'll try and finish soon.

I've been playing Shadow of the tomb raider a lot as well, I'm 100% that game as I go as I find that quite fun, it has a great balance of puzzles, exploration and combat which keeps me interested, the reboot has been really well made I think and I've 100% the previous 2 games. There's like a horror based tomb this time around which freaked me out last night, seriously intense. And it's a beautiful looking game in 4k ultra.

I still play those HoG (Hidden Object Games) on steam to relax, they're a few quid in steam deals and only take a few hours and keep my brain active solving puzzles, even thought they're not that hard.

I really want to be excited by the new Dishonored 2, I loved playing the original stealth style and ghosting the entire game but started doing that with the sequel recently and just couldn't bring myself to get very far, I think because ghosting it really take an astonishing amount of effort and patience, that's one I might come back to soon.

The only other thing was a small indie game called FAR: Lone sales, that was a nice relaxing game with some basic puzzles and a nice feeling of progression, very beautiful game with fairly simple mechanics, another great one to relax to.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,716
7,006
136
Just completed the single player campaign of Portal 2. It's been ages since I've played the first Portal, but I always remember it being a really fun core concept that was just long enough not to overstay it's welcome, oozing with a fun playful personality. Didn't think you could improve on the formula, but god damn if that's not what Portal 2 did. The game is sublime.

I really enjoyed the introduction of the different testing apparati (suspension beams, fluids, light bridges) and less reliance on excellent timing to solve puzzles (falling at terminal velocity then hitting just the right wall with the right Portal to shoot over a barrier or something) in favor of appropriately combining different tools in the environment to find the solution. The game had almost no punch the screen moments because you timed something wrong, but was loaded with "ah ha!" moments when you tease appart the solution to the puzzle, and that was just fantastic.

The story took some really fun turns and each of the characters played their roles convincingly and with gusto. Another game with just Glados insulting Chel would have gotten old quickly, and the manner in which Glados and Wheatley's character growth is handled is brilliant. JK Simmons as Cave Johnson stole the show, and was perhaps elevated because he made the weakest portion of the game so much damn fun with his recordings. "We're throwing Science at the wall here and seeing what sticks".

If you haven't had a chance to play either of the Portals, they cannot come recommended highly enough. You can probably pick up both in an upcoming steam sale for $5 or less at this point and it would be well advised.

The games really distill down what makes video games a similar but distinctly different form of media than something like the movies or television, and why video games are my preferred form of media entertainment.

Dunno what I'm going to play next. I've played through a couple shorter ~10 hour jaunts back to back, I'm feeling like a saga, what's a saga. I think I'm finally going to sit down and ride through The Witcher 2.
 

EXCellR8

Diamond Member
Sep 1, 2010
3,979
839
136
Portal 2 was certainly a pivotal game in displaying what puzzle games could be; was the last time Valve nailed it. I remember buying it for PS3 right around the time the network got hacked and I wasn't able to play with a buddy for awhile. It was just as fun solo however. Overall a highly enjoyable title and the co-op campaign is great also.

Took a brief break from PC gaming to jump into a few cheap console titles I had lying idle but I'm still playing Path of Exile, Max Max, and The New Colossus. I also completely forgot to finish the original Evil Within because I got stuck at this annoying gondola part and eventually put it down. I did finish the sequel when it was released last year however.
 

Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
11,074
995
126
Currently hooked on Overwatch.

It's not batcrazy addictive like Diablo or Starcraft, but I have good time with it.

I love the expected Blizzard polish and beautiful design of the art direction.

8/10
 

OCNewbie

Diamond Member
Jul 18, 2000
7,603
24
81
Playing RimWorld. Don't know what I'm doing much at this point (12 hours game time), and not sure how much I'm enjoying myself, but sticking with it for now. Seems very complex so far.
 

Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
3,494
470
126
I really want RimWorld but I've heard it's very hard to get into because of how in-depth it is. I'm not sure why so many developers are trying to overcomplicate their games these days, but I'm not entirely sure I like the trend.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
33,929
1,097
126
I really want RimWorld but I've heard it's very hard to get into because of how in-depth it is. I'm not sure why so many developers are trying to overcomplicate their games these days, but I'm not entirely sure I like the trend.
It's a massively-simplified Drawf Fortress. It's not that hard to get into, you just need to understand that it's supposed to be a story simulator. You're not supposed to beat it, you're supposed to have an interesting colony and get crapped on :p
 
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DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,443
2,084
126
Ive been PC-less since June .. starting to hallucinate.
I miss Angband and Quakelive; not missing anything else tbh.
 

Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
3,494
470
126
https://i.imgur.com/2II5gYm.jpg

They Are Billions is pretty challenging. This was my best run on the second survival map at only 60% difficulty. Guess my eastern defenses weren't strong enough to handle the horde and the extra enemies my towers pulled down. Army couldn't get there fast enough and I stupidly forgot my spike traps.
 

paperfist

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2000
6,517
280
126
www.the-teh.com
I never played Dwarf Fortress though.

8,000,000,000x harder to 'get' then Rimworld.

I haven't played it in a year since early access. I remember it was hard as heck trying to get more people to your colony so it started out as a survival game. Once I had a few people it then became a farming/mining/build stuff game. Then I build something or other that brought traders in and life was good. Good till imprisoned a pirate attacker and he escaped and blew up my food cooling unit and the hill started going down hill from there :D
 

iwajabitw

Senior member
Aug 19, 2014
828
138
106
Now that I am 45 and the kids are out on there own I have started playing again. I usually buy gpu's for distributed computing, but I recently got a RTX 2080, up from 2GTX980's and bought Wolfenstein 2 and Middle Earth: Shadow of War. I still have Doom I have been working through for a few years, as well as played Wolfenstein New World Order. Always like the keyboard and mouse for all games, but got a controller for SoW. I use my 65" flat screen in my living room, still need to convert my sons room into a music/computer studio, one day.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I've been playing Elex. I'm around 40 hours in. It's a pretty good game, in the same vein as Witcher 3, but probably not as good. The combat for the first 10 levels is probably the biggest issue with the game, and the fact it does not hold your hand at all. After that it isn't bad, and the story is pretty good - revolves around 3 warring factions who are also warring with a 4th, but no one can get their collective heads out of their anuses to fight the bigger threat and it is up to you to decide who you will help take everyone else out...more or less.
 

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
31,492
9,817
136
started up destiny 2. played For Honor, and i haven't played in a couple of weeks..and jesus i'm bad again. ahhhh fighting games, with your ridiculous skill requirements
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,716
7,006
136
Now that I am 45 and the kids are out on there own I have started playing again. I usually buy gpu's for distributed computing, but I recently got a RTX 2080, up from 2GTX980's and bought Wolfenstein 2 and Middle Earth: Shadow of War. I still have Doom I have been working through for a few years, as well as played Wolfenstein New World Order. Always like the keyboard and mouse for all games, but got a controller for SoW. I use my 65" flat screen in my living room, still need to convert my sons room into a music/computer studio, one day.

- :hushed:wow I want to grow up to be you one day! Got two kids 6 & 2 and the computer room got pushed into the guest room and I get about 2-5 hours a week to play (which still involves sacrificing some responsibilities, to my wife's chagrin).

Loving the experience but also cannot wait for these kids to strike out on their own so I can reclaim my house!

Also, do your kids game and do you game with them? Another dream of mine (Daughter plays castle crashers with me and I'm working on getting a few more child friendly co-op games).
 

iwajabitw

Senior member
Aug 19, 2014
828
138
106
- :hushed:wow I want to grow up to be you one day! Got two kids 6 & 2 and the computer room got pushed into the guest room and I get about 2-5 hours a week to play (which still involves sacrificing some responsibilities, to my wife's chagrin).

Loving the experience but also cannot wait for these kids to strike out on their own so I can reclaim my house!

Also, do your kids game and do you game with them? Another dream of mine (Daughter plays castle crashers with me and I'm working on getting a few more child friendly co-op games).
Daughter is 23 and RN and never gamed. My son 21, plays on Xbox, he did start out PUBG on PC, but since the console release, hasn't come back. When he was 12 or so we played COD and some race games together,but he is way too good for me. I prefer the longer story based games.
 
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local

Golden Member
Jun 28, 2011
1,850
511
136
OpenXcom mod XPiratez, basically a real XCom sequel set several hundred years after the bad ending in the original XCom. You start out as a group of escaped supermutant girls who find an old XCom base and decide to start pirating to get rich. The Earth is now a run down backwater planet in the galaxy ruled by the Star Gods who pay it little attention. You start out raiding civilian ships with muskets and black powder bombs and work your way up. Absolutely ridiculous amount of weapons, items and lore. Warning though, there is tons and tons of boobs.

RDR 2, because why not? I got it for my birthday otherwise I might have waited for the PC release. Either way I'm loving it right now.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,066
1,550
126
Ehh, been messing with Project Hospital, Sim Airport, Grim Dawn, and Destiny 2. Been playing Diablo 3 as well. Destiny 2 I just started since it was free and several friends are playing around with it.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,716
7,006
136
OK, so in my last post I said I'd do Witcher 2. Well yeah no, the combat is just so astoundingly bad that I couldn't make it past the initial castle siege... so I went for Fallout: New Vegas instead (aka the real Fallout 3).

I normally steer clear of Bethesda games but almost always steer into Obsidian games, so this one was a little tricky for me, but having beaten it (sided with the NCR at the 2nd Battle of Hoover Dam) I have to say aside from gameplay mechanics (which really were not bad, I was basically in VATS for virtually all combat), it was Fallout through and through.

Tons of locations, fun stuff to stumble across in the wasteland, three (four, kinda) primary factions and oodles of secondary factions recognizable from the first two games in the series. Well written, with all of the factions having functional goals and reasons for being.The SPECIAL system is great and I really enjoyed how perks modified gameplay. Oh, and Obsidian basically brought back the color pallet of brown, grey, and black from the first two games.

I appreciate MCA's writing style and insistence on the player character being a blank slate, it really draws you into the world. You're not Commander Shepherd on the HMS Daddy Issues, your past is irrelevant, only your future molded by the choices you make is important. I also really enjoyed the light touch on the call backs to characters or elements from the first two games.

I've had a couple false starts on Fallout 3 (the Bethsoft one) but New Vegas was such a good reintroduction to Fallout and cap to the Mojave Wasteland saga that I feel obligated to give FO3 another shot again in the future. If its anything like FNV, it will likely be the best game Bethesda has ever made.

That was a saga, now I'm ready for something quick with a totally different style and pace. Might give Firewatch, Brutal Legend, or The Stanley Parable a shot.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,066
1,550
126
The Stanley Parable is good fun as well, and it's quite short.
Never tried any of those 'walking simulator' type games, but, have heard enough people talking about firewatch I might give it a try some time, it's tempting me.