What are you playing nowadays? Share yo' thoughts.

[Stg-Flame]

If you don't notice or are not bothered by screen tearing then G-Sync isn't going to offer you much.

I definitely notice it but I figured that's what V-Sync was for. Don't see much tearing in any games so I guess it's working just fine.

Nerds say no matter the build, always pump Vigor early to 40 pts. This goes for mages, warriors, and dexterity fighters.

Also pump faith to 12 to take advantage of tons of incantations that open for warrior class fighters.

I'm currently stuck on killing that stupid grafted human spider dude at the first castle.

I have a love/hate relationship with Souls games. I loved the original Demon's Souls and played it countless times but I tried to get into Dark Souls several times but it just never clicked for some reason. I want to start Elden Ring but it's difficult to get over that bland feeling I got from Dark Souls. I might knock out a few other games from my list before delving into that one.

 

[Zeze]

I hate this game.

 

[Sulaco]

I hate this game.

*digital hand on shoulder*

Wanna talk about it?

 

[Zeze]

NO.

We know Elden Ring / Souls are meant to be frustrating. I just lost last 90 minutes worth of runes...

 

[nakedfrog]

NO.

We know Elden Ring / Souls are meant to be frustrating. I just lost last 90 minutes worth of runes...

And that's why I don't play them, only took a few hours of Demon's Souls for me to decide this wasn't how I wanted to spend my gaming time. I don't need my games to be a cakewalk, but I don't want to feel punished either.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Think I'm done after getting about halfway through Control, game just hasn't hooked me in at all. Which surprised me because I enjoyed Quantum Break but Control was supposed to be Remedy's best. All the RT reflections and all look nice but I get the same feeling playing it that I did Crysis 3: that after seeing the eye candy for a bit there wasn't much else interesting there. Maybe I shouldn't have played it after Elden Ring. That game was like shooting heroin into my veins. Makes me question why I dropped $400 on a gpu when the kind of games I like most are usually easy to run FromSoft games, easy to run JRPG, easy to run Japanese games like Yakuza, etc. I guess there is the occasional RDR2 kind of game that makes having a nice gpu worth it. Hopefully Starfield will really shine on the 6700 XT.

 

[Zeze]

And that's why I don't play them, only took a few hours of Demon's Souls for me to decide this wasn't how I wanted to spend my gaming time. I don't need my games to be a cakewalk, but I don't want to feel punished either.

Yes, which is why I quit the first time around.

The game is so widely praised, I didn't want to miss out. Yes the game is frustrating, but I'm having fun too.

Since I don't want to deal with all that frustration, I'm cheesing the game a bit by playing the overpowered Int/Dex spellcaster build. Man when someone said mages in this game trivialize the game, I agree. Just shoot glintstone pebble at enemies and they fall down one by one.

I'm glad I'm giving it a second try. The game is gorgeous looking and I actually said wow out loud few times. That hasn't happened to me since Skyrim (10+ yrs ago) when it first came out with a beautiful open world.

I also love the creepy art direction and quirkiness of the Japanese title- big bosses, cryptic storytelling, and just awesomely gruesome/cray cutscenes.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I loved the original Demon's Souls and played it countless times but I tried to get into Dark Souls several times but it just never clicked for some reason.

Strange. What did you like in Demon's Souls vs not liking in Dark Souls? To me Dark Souls was a far superior game because the boss battles were so much better. The Demon's Souls bosses seemed to usually have a gimmick to make them nearly trivial.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Strange. What did you like in Demon's Souls vs not liking in Dark Souls? To me Dark Souls was a far superior game because the boss battles were so much better. The Demon's Souls bosses seemed to usually have a gimmick to make them nearly trivial.

I honestly can't put my finger on it but I do recall getting frustrated because I was never sure if I was going "the right way". I love open world games and I love them even more if I can sequence-break by going into an area I'm not supposed to be in (ie. enemies much higher level) if it means I can find a way through and get out with something powerful, but it felt like I was aimlessly wandering around only to end up at a boss that would just one-shot me. So I'd go back and pick a different path and end up at another boss that would just one-shot me. I remember in Demon's Souls each boss in each hub world felt appropriate for where I was in the game with my equipment and level but in Dark Souls it seemed like I was just running headfirst into a wall over and over again. I was also at two very different times in my life between Demon and Dark Souls and I do recall when I tried Dark Souls I was working on average about 140 hours every week (oilfield) so I honestly didn't have that much spare time to devote hours upon hours on a single boss. I'd put my money on that being the biggest reason why I never could get into it with such a limited amount of time I had to play, I just wanted to wind down and relax.

I had intended to go back and knock out Dark Souls Remastered while I was working on my backlog, but I never had the itch for a souls game until I saw Elden Ring come out.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I honestly can't put my finger on it but I do recall getting frustrated because I was never sure if I was going "the right way". I love open world games and I love them even more if I can sequence-break by going into an area I'm not supposed to be in (ie. enemies much higher level) if it means I can find a way through and get out with something powerful, but it felt like I was aimlessly wandering around only to end up at a boss that would just one-shot me. So I'd go back and pick a different path and end up at another boss that would just one-shot me. I remember in Demon's Souls each boss in each hub world felt appropriate for where I was in the game with my equipment and level but in Dark Souls it seemed like I was just running headfirst into a wall over and over again. I was also at two very different times in my life between Demon and Dark Souls and I do recall when I tried Dark Souls I was working on average about 140 hours every week (oilfield) so I honestly didn't have that much spare time to devote hours upon hours on a single boss. I'd put my money on that being the biggest reason why I never could get into it with such a limited amount of time I had to play, I just wanted to wind down and relax.

I had intended to go back and knock out Dark Souls Remastered while I was working on my backlog, but I never had the itch for a souls game until I saw Elden Ring come out.

Dark Souls is definitely not an open world game but you can find hidden ways to do areas out of order, which is something I always look for in games too. Elden Ring will definitely be a better fit for you then, as you can rush into the story, you can go into easier areas in one part of the map to build your guy up, or you can walk off into a really hard area in another direction. I love Souls games so I spent a ton of the early game in the hard area taking bosses down instead of doing the main quest so was pretty overleveled by the time I went back to the main quest and the easy area haha.

Elden Ring absolutely is an open world and you can do a huge amount of the map without doing anything but the very first story quest.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Also this Elden Ring video kills me

 

[sze5003]

I honestly can't put my finger on it but I do recall getting frustrated because I was never sure if I was going "the right way". I love open world games and I love them even more if I can sequence-break by going into an area I'm not supposed to be in (ie. enemies much higher level) if it means I can find a way through and get out with something powerful, but it felt like I was aimlessly wandering around only to end up at a boss that would just one-shot me. So I'd go back and pick a different path and end up at another boss that would just one-shot me. I remember in Demon's Souls each boss in each hub world felt appropriate for where I was in the game with my equipment and level but in Dark Souls it seemed like I was just running headfirst into a wall over and over again. I was also at two very different times in my life between Demon and Dark Souls and I do recall when I tried Dark Souls I was working on average about 140 hours every week (oilfield) so I honestly didn't have that much spare time to devote hours upon hours on a single boss. I'd put my money on that being the biggest reason why I never could get into it with such a limited amount of time I had to play, I just wanted to wind down and relax.

I had intended to go back and knock out Dark Souls Remastered while I was working on my backlog, but I never had the itch for a souls game until I saw Elden Ring come out.

This is how I felt in elden ring too so much that I just started following fightin cowboy's walkthrough series on YouTube to help me understand where to go and what to look out for. If it wasn't for his guide I would have stopped playing it a long time ago. I never finished elden ring but one day when I get the time, I'll get back to it.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Like a Dragon Ishin just got a demo on Steam, can't wait to check it out later. Loved the PS4 original (Japan only though) so eager to see what the remaster looks like.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! on Steam

Don the clothes and weaponry of the elite to become the samurai of legend, Sakamoto Ryoma. Draw your blade and join the revolution in this heated historical adventure.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Fenixgoon]

Just beat Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.

A solid game in its own right, but a bit more fun if you are into the LoL universe since all the characters will feel familiar. The dialogue at rest points is nice if you want more character flavor, but it's entirely optional if you want to skip it (I enjoyed the inter-party conversations).
Gameplay is fairly straightforward turn-based party RPG, with each character having skills directly pulled from or flavorfully related to LoL in-game mechanics. And at ~35 hours, it's probably the perfect length for me right now. I don't want to slog through another 100+ hr game.

 

[Sulaco]

And that's why I don't play them, only took a few hours of Demon's Souls for me to decide this wasn't how I wanted to spend my gaming time. I don't need my games to be a cakewalk, but I don't want to feel punished either.

Everybody always talks about the difficulty of Elden Ring (and Souls games in general), but I haven't felt that at all. There are parts/enemies that are very difficult, out of your league usually, but I just don't find all that much that's "unfair" about it. So much of what you explore is totally optional, which means you're free to adjust your strategy, level up, improve equipment, wander off, etc before trying again at some point. And often by then, you can adjust and move past whatever it, or wait until you're more capable.

I'm not saying it's always fair or straightforward. There are plenty of "Oh my God, are you SERIOUS?!?!" moments, usually when losing a ton of runes. But honestly, I've found just remembering to level/purchase stuff when my rune count gets really high so if I die and lose them and can't recover them it doesn't feel like a total waste.

Other than that, my only "complaint" is what you guys said before. Just not really knowing what you're supposed to be doing, where you're going, any real cohesive narrative. It's like you're dropped into the middle of Chapter 24 of a fantasy book, and haven't even looked at the title yet. I don't know what/who any of these places or stuff is but I'm suddenly battling the to the death. It's definitely an adjustment and you can't approach the game like an RPG or even other adventure games without feeling totally lost.

 

[Zeze]

I think the cryptic approach makes the game so special.

They couldve made the exact same Elden Ring game but with flooding markers, waypoints, and quest logs.

It would've destroyed the game.

 

[sze5003]

Stated playing wild hearts on pc but then I wasn't really getting into it. I'm keeping it installed but decided.to give monster hunter world a try now.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I think the cryptic approach makes the game so special.

They couldve made the exact same Elden Ring game but with flooding markers, waypoints, and quest logs.

It would've destroyed the game.

They should give a choice at the beginning.

Do you like to wander around aimlessly, looking to be surprised by what you discover?

OR

Do you want us to hold your F'ing hand?

Then present the gameplay of choice.

 

[Sulaco]

They should give a choice at the beginning.

Do you like to wander around aimlessly, looking to be surprised by what you discover?

OR

Do you want us to hold your F'ing hand?

Then present the gameplay of choice.

So..I'm 55 hours in. Level 79 Samurai.

I literally JUST finished Margitt or whatever his name is, went through Stormveil and beat Godrick the Grafted like 2 levels ago. Needless to say, after being so incredibly over leveled, both were defeated in one try with maybe 2 health flasks used.

Why? Because this game just begs to be explored. So I just pick a direction and wander off. 14 hours later, if I'm bumping up against nasties that I don't stand a chance against, I wander the other direction, and get lost for 12 more. It really has been a blast. And ER being so light on "story" or narrative structure, I just find that the most enjoyable way to play.

However, my biggest complaint with this style though is that there are SO MANY triggers and presets that you can or cannot begin or end without even realizing it. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've come across a dungeon or castle tower where an NPC should be, but they aren't, because I haven't started 'X" quest. Or because I started "Y" quest. And the only way to know that is to freakin' Google it or jump on a guide and find out why I can't access Castle ThusNSuch. Or why NPC "Whoziz Face" won't talk to me. Or I can't get sacred item XYZ because I was at the Holy Temple of the ClusterFuq way before I should have been and now the I started the "Quest of the Holy HELL is That?!" too early so I need to finish this before I can go do that.
I mean, I like wandering. I love it. But I also hate feeling like I could be breaking/messing up the game by going a direction the game is perfectly fine with letting me go.

 

[igor_kavinski]

That's a really complicated game progression design. Does the game feel like every part of it has been designed with care or is it something they generated procedurally to save time? Coz the scope of the game seems massive!

 

[Zeze]

So..I'm 55 hours in. Level 79 Samurai.

I literally JUST finished Margitt or whatever his name is, went through Stormveil and beat Godrick the Grafted like 2 levels ago. Needless to say, after being so incredibly over leveled, both were defeated in one try with maybe 2 health flasks used.

Why? Because this game just begs to be explored. So I just pick a direction and wander off. 14 hours later, if I'm bumping up against nasties that I don't stand a chance against, I wander the other direction, and get lost for 12 more. It really has been a blast. And ER being so light on "story" or narrative structure, I just find that the most enjoyable way to play.

However, my biggest complaint with this style though is that there are SO MANY triggers and presets that you can or cannot begin or end without even realizing it. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've come across a dungeon or castle tower where an NPC should be, but they aren't, because I haven't started 'X" quest. Or because I started "Y" quest. And the only way to know that is to freakin' Google it or jump on a guide and find out why I can't access Castle ThusNSuch. Or why NPC "Whoziz Face" won't talk to me. Or I can't get sacred item XYZ because I was at the Holy Temple of the ClusterFuq way before I should have been and now the I started the "Quest of the Holy HELL is That?!" too early so I need to finish this before I can go do that.
I mean, I like wandering. I love it. But I also hate feeling like I could be breaking/messing up the game by going a direction the game is perfectly fine with letting me go.

I'm level 53 and am finishing up the lakes zone after defeating Godrick. Man, the cut scenes of this game is absolutely epic. I haven't said 'wow' out loud during gaming in years. The Japanese sure do know how to design awesome monsters with their theatrical entrances.

Gameplay:
So, I had a very very tough time learning Elden Ring the first time a year ago and just as much today this second time around. It took my stupid ass 60 hours in last few weeks until controls and their mechanics FINALLY clicked. Now when I see enemies, I can straight-up dash towards them and bully to kill or parry-kill.

1. So the first 60 hours was with Vagabond, following the classic sword & armor approach. Then it was just so hard as I mentioned above struggling in those 60 hours. There's this one section in Stormveil Castle I got sick of, so I paused this character at level 23. It was very frustrating. I don't mind dying even 20 times tackling one run to the next Site of Grace, but it was just becoming a torture at 40-50+++.

2. Reddit nerds said the mage or the spell-blade route was the most easiest way to coast through the game, so I went that route. So I started with Prisoner class. Oh my god, slinging those twirling glintstone pebbles to 2-3 shot all enemies completely trivialized the game... right from the first hour. It actually got boring quickly but I was able to absorb and enjoy the game's lore, scenes, and finally making progress. So despite playing mage, I got bored and started to use lots of melee magic blades. They do fierce damage and I also get to enjoy the melee gameplay of Elden Ring.

So I want to maximize all weapons/playstyles of Elden Ring rather efficiently. This is my plan:
1. Beat the game for the first time using that Prisoner spell-blade / magic hybrid. This int/dex build suits perfectly with the famous Moonveil Katana + all the mage spells in the game.

2.Go back to the Vagabond character (lvl 23) and continue playing him exploring full heavy armor set and using colossal weapons. Along the way, I'll also check out dual-wielding + bleed, and classic shield + weapon. This is a good strategy for me since I have learned how to play from step 1. and can kill enemies doing melee using my spell-blade / mage class. So when I do this full strength build, I will be better experienced to enjoy it better.

This game is a 10/10. I've been reading nonstop about mechanics, breakpoints, and softcaps (these two are important). I've been avoiding spoilers so much. I can't wait to find out what happens after the Raya Castle is defeated.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Why? Because this game just begs to be explored. So I just pick a direction and wander off. 14 hours later, if I'm bumping up against nasties that I don't stand a chance against, I wander the other direction, and get lost for 12 more. It really has been a blast. And ER being so light on "story" or narrative structure, I just find that the most enjoyable way to play.

Does Elden Ring give you the ability to make notes on your map in case you enter an area you can't beat and have to come back 20 hours later? I love wandering and exploring every nook and cranny, but from what I've heard about how massive the map is, if I go to an area and can't complete it, it'll be almost impossible for me (without taking notes) to remember if I left something unfinished. I've played games with a notepad open before and it was a staple of my household growing up with my dad drawing maps and keeping literal notebooks filled with notes on secrets and other things for older NES/SNES games, but I don't exactly have that kind of time these days nor do I think I would want to.

 

[Sulaco]

Does Elden Ring give you the ability to make notes on your map in case you enter an area you can't beat and have to come back 20 hours later? I love wandering and exploring every nook and cranny, but from what I've heard about how massive the map is, if I go to an area and can't complete it, it'll be almost impossible for me (without taking notes) to remember if I left something unfinished. I've played games with a notepad open before and it was a staple of my household growing up with my dad drawing maps and keeping literal notebooks filled with notes on secrets and other things for older NES/SNES games, but I don't exactly have that kind of time these days nor do I think I would want to.

Nope, that would be way too helpful. You can place custom markers on the map that shine neatly like far off beacons in the game world to follow or keep track of locations, but no notations.

Seriously, I've started doing the "Alt+Tab" and check out bookmarked places like HERE and HERE when I started second guessing myself or something seems off or I'm bumping up against too many brick walls. I love the game, but I simply don't think I'll have the time to replay the game multiple times to see a bunch of stuff I missed that I could have gotten the first go around. I can easily see myself putting in 100-150 hours this play through alone. Just not enough hours in the day to risk missing some good stuff.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Still playing Witcher 3 (and I suppose I will be for a good long while).

30 Hours in and I think I'm starting to wrap up the level appropriate stuff in Novigrad with all signs pointing to Skellige being my next destination.

 

[sactoking]

I've been playing God of War (2018) and having a great time. Overall the game is so much better than something like Elden Ring, which I put over 100 hours into but never finished because the last boss essentially invalidated my build. Controls and combat are so much better in God of War. Looking forward to New Game+... and then I got to Sigrun.

Only 1 trophy away from Platinum and this fight is terrible. I'm level 8, my runics are maxed out, gear is maxed out except for the upgrades I get from this fight, and I do essentially no damage. And she has twice the health of other ones of her kind. It turns the fight into a 10 minute slog where you have to be perfect because missing one block or dodge means she chains her attacks and essentially one shots you. It's worse than the "don't take any damage" trials in Muspelheim.

And now I've started having control issues! Sometimes when I use my heavy runic (L1+R2) the game stutters between block (L1) and heavy attack (R2). Never happened before Sigrun and didn't happen after I left to grind some more mist echoes and flame crests. But when I returned it started again.

And sometimes she's 'immune' to attacks (not the wing shield she does) but she doesn't get effected by attacks and just moves into her next sequence while I'm locked into an animation and I take the full damage and she takes none.

Was looking forward to New Game+ but now I think I'll get the Platinum (eventually) and walk away. Shame that devs do this to otherwise great games.