What game are you wasting time on?

[CrustyBot]

Started playing Roma Surrectum (2.1a) again, a Rome: Total War mod.

I found it really disappointing. Played as the Gauls and easily unified France, fended off the Romans, got bored and quit. I just had way more money than I knew what too do with. Same case with the Greek City States. The enemy campaign AI seemed much too passive. Plus I don't trust any TW mod that expects you too play on Hard for battles (yeah 'cuse having my elite legionaries downgraded too have the same stats as shitty tier 1 enemy spearmen is fun because the AI is too retarded to beat you in a fair fight is fun). The graphics were pretty but I had no idea what the AI was spending it's money on, because it definitely wasn't on building stacks.

By comparison had much more fun with the TROM3 mod for Shogun 2, where I had to think carefully about every move and the AI gave me damn hard fights at 1:1 odds WITHOUT cheating (the mod even removes the AI's ability to cheat in the campaign). Don't think I'd be able to go back to Rome/Empire AI now. But for Rome I had the most fun with the Call of Warhammer mod. Tough campaign and beautiful unit models and custom maps.

Really? I've found that one of the complaints about Roma Surrectum is that the enemy spawns too many stacks (because of the background script) and that there aren't many decisive battles, especially once you factor in the emergency or garrison scripts. It's not SPQR, but enemy stack spam is not supposed to be uncommon. So, you'd fight a 3v3 stack battle, win a massive victory and then get to sieging a previously empty city only to have it spawn a full stack next turn. Did you play 0 turn or 1 turn campaign?

In either case, it's a shame it didn't work out for you. TROM looks pretty cool though.

 

[oscar]

One turn I think. Yeah TROM has been a great improvement over vanilla (which is probably the best we can hope for given the sadly limited nature of the game's moddibility). I've given a bit more in-depth impressions of it in this thread: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/shogun-2-mods.68948/

 

[Metro]

Finished Derp Island. Delivers a good amount of content -- around 25-30ish hours if you do most of the side quests. Unfortunately most of it is repetitive and towards the end it has a lot of padding. The combat is good and I think this game would have been better off as a smaller indie project with arena based/smaller maps. The leveling system is fairly pointless as is the glut of itemization. There's really no point to the 'open world' given level scaling and most of the content in the maps look the same and there aren't any hidden secrets exploration is moot. Never really had a desire to search an area not designated by a quest.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone is eating away my spare time currently. It's a really cool and challenging sidescroller RPG/platformer hybrid. I normally don't enjoy platformers, but this one has me fully engrossed. As a poster on another forum put it,

It's kind of an odd game since the "aww that's adorable" graphics and characters constrast pretty strongly with its curse-inducing gameplay that I think is on par with old NES platformers, the Ghouls 'n' Ghosts series, and Demon's/Dark Souls games.

It's a lot like the Souls games in the respect that if you go in weapons-a-swingin' then the enemies will tear you up, and the game regularly puts you in scenarios where you're at a marked disadvantage. My biggest gripe with the game would be that the enemies are brutally fast. Your character animations are comparatively slow, but the enemies move like they just hopped out of a Gradius or Street Fighter game. It's actually easier to have the computer AI control the more combat-heavy characters since I can't react fast enough. Of course, this doesn't work during times you're forced to use one character.

Also, the demo covers only the first chapter which is fairly easy compared to the ones that follow so don't let that fool you into thinking the game is easy.

Here's a more verbose review: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/02/05/fortune-summoners-playtest-looks-can-be-deceiving/

 

[DwarvenFood]

Been playing a lot of Binding of Isaac, and finally beat It Lives! with ??? and a pretty good item stack (Whore of Babylon, Transcendence, Chocolate Milk, Radioactive Spider, Little Gish, Battery, Unicorn Horn) and stat upgrades even though I couldn't find a key on the first floor and a couple items I turned up were worthless for ??? (Little chubbs, the guy that gives you half a heart every 4 rooms or whatever). Sheol chewed me up and spit me out, however. If it had been any other character I think it would have been a Satan kill easily. For Sheol, I need a little bit more luck (or a lot more skill), like a Emperor card or Compass. Picking up the Relic and/or the Book of Revelations would also make life a lot easier.

Finished a couple of times but have not beaten Sheol yet, did not even get to him. Taking a break from Isaac for a bit now, playing SPAZ and grinding in Devil Survivor.

 

[felipepepe]

Got inspired by the Games with That One Exceptional Level? thread and started playing Psychonauts again...man, this is a great, fun game and it looks so good on 1920x1080. It's funny to see how the pre-rendered cutscenes look like shit next to the rest of the game.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone is eating away my spare time currently. It's a really cool and challenging sidescroller RPG/platformer hybrid. I normally don't enjoy platformers, but this one has me fully engrossed. As a poster on another forum put it,

It's kind of an odd game since the "aww that's adorable" graphics and characters constrast pretty strongly with its curse-inducing gameplay that I think is on par with old NES platformers, the Ghouls 'n' Ghosts series, and Demon's/Dark Souls games.

It's a lot like the Souls games in the respect that if you go in weapons-a-swingin' then the enemies will tear you up, and the game regularly puts you in scenarios where you're at a marked disadvantage. My biggest gripe with the game would be that the enemies are brutally fast. Your character animations are comparatively slow, but the enemies move like they just hopped out of a Gradius or Street Fighter game. It's actually easier to have the computer AI control the more combat-heavy characters since I can't react fast enough. Of course, this doesn't work during times you're forced to use one character.

Also, the demo covers only the first chapter which is fairly easy compared to the ones that follow so don't let that fool you into thinking the game is easy.

Here's a more verbose review: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/02/05/fortune-summoners-playtest-looks-can-be-deceiving/

Tried this out last night. Holy fuck I was not expecting that level of detail to the controls. 4 different types of sword slash, a slide, roll, and backflip, running, jumping, blocking, and some dropkick attack. If anything it's Arche that seems like she hopped out of a street fighter game.

Granted I was getting my ass kicked anyways, but there's huge potential there for really skilled play compared to pretty much any other platformer I've ever seen.

I've been hankering for more dungeon crawling and decided to replay Labyrinth of Touhou. Contemplating doing a minor LP of it (Not detailed, just showing off the more interesting fights/mechanics and the maps from hell.)

 

[Crooked Bee]

Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone is eating away my spare time currently. It's a really cool and challenging sidescroller RPG/platformer hybrid. I normally don't enjoy platformers, but this one has me fully engrossed. As a poster on another forum put it,

It's kind of an odd game since the "aww that's adorable" graphics and characters constrast pretty strongly with its curse-inducing gameplay that I think is on par with old NES platformers, the Ghouls 'n' Ghosts series, and Demon's/Dark Souls games.

It's a lot like the Souls games in the respect that if you go in weapons-a-swingin' then the enemies will tear you up, and the game regularly puts you in scenarios where you're at a marked disadvantage. My biggest gripe with the game would be that the enemies are brutally fast. Your character animations are comparatively slow, but the enemies move like they just hopped out of a Gradius or Street Fighter game. It's actually easier to have the computer AI control the more combat-heavy characters since I can't react fast enough. Of course, this doesn't work during times you're forced to use one character.

Also, the demo covers only the first chapter which is fairly easy compared to the ones that follow so don't let that fool you into thinking the game is easy.

Here's a more verbose review: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/02/05/fortune-summoners-playtest-looks-can-be-deceiving/

Tried this out last night. Holy fuck I was not expecting that level of detail to the controls. 4 different types of sword slash, a slide, roll, and backflip, running, jumping, blocking, and some dropkick attack. If anything it's Arche that seems like she hopped out of a street fighter game.

Granted I was getting my ass kicked anyways, but there's huge potential there for really skilled play compared to pretty much any other platformer I've ever seen.

You also learn additional kinds of attacks as you level up! And you also get to play other, magic-oriented girls, who are quite varied themselves. And good equipments gets really crucial later on. And you get to fine-tune the companion AI by telling them which abilities to use, etc. I've already invested 11 (!) hours into the game, and it just keeps getting better. It helps that I'm playing on Normal - it's already frustrating enough for my first playthrough. Otherwise I just wouldn't have been able to get past many (too many) enemies. I already plan on replaying it on Hard, though, so addictive it is.

I've been hankering for more dungeon crawling and decided to replay Labyrinth of Touhou. Contemplating doing a minor LP of it (Not detailed, just showing off the more interesting fights/mechanics and the maps from hell.)

That'd be really, really cool.

 

[Jasede]

I'm installing and uninstalling Call of Pripyat five times a day to get the perfect mod combination working. Yeah...

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Finished a couple of times but have not beaten Sheol yet, did not even get to him. Taking a break from Isaac for a bit now, playing SPAZ and grinding in Devil Survivor.

The first couple of times I didn't make it very far in Sheol, until I picked up a Compass and Treasure map, but then of course Satan took me out fairly quickly. Now I can get to him fairly reliably (1/3 of the time maybe), but only if I've done really well in terms of avoiding damage and am carrying a good item stack (like Mom's knife) can I actually explore all of Sheol. I know a lot of people seem to swear by Brimstone as being the ultimate item to get, but I've tried it with limited success. The charge->enter a room->massive damage sequence is very nice, but for certain rooms it just gets me killed because of the charge time. Also, I tend to whiff my shots pretty hard with it (same thing with Mah Lazer or whatever). Might be better with it now, and I do have to grind some deaths for The Shears, so if I see it again I'll probably give it a shot.

Also been playing HoN again. Got in the Dota 2 beta, but still prefer HoN, as the Dota 2 is still kind of missing some things I employ (like a center on hero button, for one thing). The thing that concerns me about HoN at the moment is S2 is shoving out heroes, and the pool is kind of getting bloated. I'd rather have less heroes with more balance. Unfortunately, their business model appears similar to LoL where they just get people to pay for the new heroes that are constantly coming out.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Vicky 2 AHD until CK2 comes out, in which case it will be that until Magna Mundi comes out ad infinitum

 

[hoopy]

I've been playing through Space Marine and just reached the mission where you gotta get to the research facility in the desert. I'm not sure I'll continue because after you've played the game for 10 minutes you've already done everything there is to do. Orcs come and you shoot at them, and that's it. It's too monotonous, and even on hard there are only a few places where you have to retry once or twice. Doesn't help that the levels are all exceptionally generic and samey (yes, even the sewer one).

What constantly bugged me was that it's really unclear how some enemies should be optimally disposed of. Those minibosses you frequently encounter seem nearly impervious to bullets and grenades (meltagun seems to be the only thing that works), but going hand to hand will take away a very large chunk of your health and probably kill you. So it's like neither approach is really good. It also sucks that you can still take damage when you're doing an execution, because you're required to do them to regain health and keep fighting. The combat system doesn't work all that well.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Thanks to GOG for reminding me, I have dug out my copies of Thief 2 and Deus Ex.

That Dragon Age "perfect save file play-through" is feeling pretty fucking distant.

 

[Trash]

Achtung Panzer: Operation Star is pretty much eating away most of my gaming time. It has probably taken over from Close Combat: Cross of Iron as my all-time beer and pretzels wargaming timewaster. Amazing game that combines big maps, passable AI, good graphics and decent game mechanics with the frozen hell that was the eastern front. Amazing to see a burning tank roll on while the crew bails out, tracer fire to light the night sky or to see Sturmoviks swoop down on a column of halftracks. The lack on pr for this title is almost criminal but fuck it, I'm loving it.

Playing Starcraft II when I don't feel like spending an hour on a single battle. Never played through the entire campaign and plan on rectifying that. It's neat to play something as extremely polished as this and I can't help myself from digging it.

 

[lightbane]

Rayman Origins is the game I'm playing these days. Against all odds, it's just an old-school platforming game with no DLCs, no health regen, no epic story or anything like that, it's simply fun as hell. Probably the last Ubisoft game that's worth something.

 

[Kitako]

Playing Vampire Bloodlines for the first time, I'm excited!

 

[Phelot]

Was playing JA2 with the latest 1.13 patch, but I got bored with the endless enemy squads and the lack of any counter attacks triggering.

I might take up playing ToEE again with the latest patch. I was playing that, but stopped for some reason. I haven't really been in a gaming mood lately. Hope that passes soon.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Picked up Binding of Issac again. New items and shit are pretty cool. Though the game keeps fucking me over in stupid ways whenever I try to get a no damage achievement.

 

[Gregz]

Mud and Blood 2.6, fullscreen version

Detailed tactical squad-based combat with RPG elements (ranks, medals, etc.).

Far and away the best flash game I've ever seen, more fun than most PC titles released lately.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Done with Isaac for now. Got all the achievements except Golden God, and I don't feel like dicking around for umpteen runs hoping to find the few items I never bothered to pick up/come across on previous runs.

Finally beat Mountain of Faith. Honestly expected it to be one of the last ones I ever beat, I fucking HATE the chaining mechanic, because it pretty much requires rote memorization to avoid losing half your score, which is how you get extra lives , which I ALSO hate, since if you're scoring well, you obviously don't need the lives anyways. Bleh. 12 or 8 are probably next, since I routinely get to the last boss on them. I don't think I've ever reached the stage 6 boss in TH11.

 

[Pegultagol]

Thanks to the Lets Play forum, I'm sampling Fall from Heaven II mod for Civ IV, and just started playing CKII to see what the fuss is all about.
Still slogging through to the end of Skyrim, it is a grueling task, but salvaged somewhat with the hilarious shield charge.

 

[villain of the story]

Playing Starcraft II when I don't feel like spending an hour on a single battle. Never played through the entire campaign and plan on rectifying that. It's neat to play something as extremely polished as this and I can't help myself from digging it.

What I liked best about SC2 is that it's still as pure a game as if it's still the 90s. Pure gameplay at its heart with nice extras that don't interfere with that. And it's good.

 

[The Vault Dweller]

I felt SC2 was worth it for the campaign alone however given Blizzards excellent multiplayer support I've been playing it competitive online. Of the seven leagues for players I qualified for the second (Silver) from the beginning and in two months I'm currently in the fourth league (Platinum). I'm also at the top of my division so come the next season I'll probably be promoted to diamond. If I could manage two more promotions (highly unlikely given the huge time and effort investment the pros give to their game) I can start playing to earn money by being a streamcaster.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

 

[Kitako]

Finished Bloodlines (good game, horrible last 2 hours of hack and slash).

Now I feel like doing some stealth-action game. I've both Alpha Protocol and Velvet Assassin installed from the Steam xmas offers. But I may replay Deus Ex HR instead (got also the DLC, didn't try it yet).

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Everyone not saying CK2 is a faggot. There, I said it.