Thirith on 25/9/2023 at 06:37
Having a phase of enjoying Assassin's Creed Valhalla much more than is warranted by the gameplay or the writing. There's a side adventure on the Isle of Skye, which features Kassandra from Origins, and she and Eivor are surprisingly delightful together. What I'm enjoying most, though, is the landscape; I've usually enjoyed the city-based games in the series more because I found the rural areas and the wilderness much less interesting, but AC Valhalla's Britain has a mystical wildness that reminds me of watching the cheesy old Robin of Sherwood series as a kid, though without the Clannad factor.
Next stop: Lunden, which apparently is the closest Valhalla gets to the cities of the older games. I'm really happy that I'm enjoying the game much better than expected, but I still keep waiting for Assassin's Creed ennui to set in.
qolelis on 25/9/2023 at 11:44
I just got started on Dishonored 2. I decided to play on Easy, because I wanted to just mostly relax and explore, but, as to not make it too easy (and to improve immersion), I completely disabled the HUD—including the crosshair—and also declined all supernatural powers, so now it's just pure exploration with old-fashioned climbing and navigation. My goal is low chaos and to explore every little corner of every mission location. I like trying to figure out how to climb everywhere, although some spots seem inaccessible without either the blink power or by possessing smaller creatures.
demagogue on 25/9/2023 at 14:05
Speaking of Assassin's Creed, I was trying to play the first game just to get into the series, but the required tutorial locks me in an endless loop because, as some dev on their forum explained, it wasn't made for computers capable of chugging it over 60 fps, and the solution is evidently going into the graphics card options and locking the fps to some low number for that game. But that's getting beyond my ability to care about the game to figure out how to do.
At least I got the opening cut scene for context, and I can start with the second game I guess.
Edit:
Aside from that, I'm back to Prey since, like Subnautica, I didn't completely finish it the first time around. It feels even more like a Bioshock and Dishonored reboot than it did then. I mean it's a second gen immersive sim where it's not exactly abandoning you in the setting like System Shock and parts of Thief did (which I liked), but it's more set-piece-y, which is fine. It's still a lot of fun, but it maybe doesn't hit as deeply.
And then there's Shadows of Doubt, which I think someone else was also propping recently.That's the procedural private investigator sim. It took me a good long while to solve the first crime, but I think it'll get easier once one gets the system (basically look into everyone you can link to the vic). It's buggy, and I read people think it needs more content, although there seems to be more than 10~15 hours on a first go which is respectable. But it's sandbox anyway. You can also play it as a thief trying to break into high security places, sneak in and out, and not get caught or fight your way out if you have to, and it's almost as fun doing that too.
Anyway at the level I'm playing it, just figuring out how this world works and figuring out whatever I'm asked to investigate, it's fun and unique. I don't know any other game that lets you game the social and economic life of the NPCs, and it basically does it right with a few hanging foibles. It's really something to see, so I recommend it. It's still in early access, so I think it'll keep getting better too.
Sulphur on 25/9/2023 at 14:10
Surely that's as simple as just turning vsync on. Failing that, if you have an nvidia card it's a control panel setting, easily accessed.
henke on 30/9/2023 at 09:19
Playing Resident Evil 4 remake and having a miserable time. Why oh why did I choose to play on Hardcore and why oh why doesn't the game let me switch down to an easier difficulty? I hate it here.
Sulphur on 30/9/2023 at 12:15
Panis?
henke on 30/9/2023 at 13:28
What a good way to start a new page.
Tomi on 5/10/2023 at 15:46
I've played a bunch of games lately!
Alan Wake Remastered: It's been a few years since I last played the original, so I have no idea how different the remastered version is. I'm happy to say that Alan Wake is still a great game though! The controls feel outdated and kind of clumsy, but it didn't really bother me at all. The delivery of the story is just masterful - Remedy really knows their stuff when it comes to storytelling. The two DLC episodes get a bit too weird for my liking (especially The Signal) though. I'm really looking forward to Alan Wake 2 after this.
Prey: I loved it at first, but it's so badly balanced that the latter half of the game wasn't very fun. Still, I think it's the best game by Arkane that I've played so far. The level design is fantastic, even though traveling in between the areas can get annoying. And there's a lot of backtracking. The hacking mini-game deserves a special mention - it's the worst hacking mini-game that I've ever seen in a game! :D
Loop Hero: I sort of like it, but after ten expeditions or so, I think I've had enough. It feels like I'm doing the same thing over and over again. Yeah I know, that's a loop alright, but it's just getting a bit tedious.
Bugsnax: Finally finished the game after starting it months ago. My 4-yo daughter loved watching me play this and she found some of the bugsnax creatures absolutely hilarious. It's a silly little game, but trying to catch all the different creatures is surprisingly fun... and challenging! The twist at the end of the game was quite unexpected...
Everspace 2: My favourite game at the moment! It's the best space shooter that I've played since Wing Commander 4, and I've really missed playing something like this. The space battles can be really intense and fun, and there's more depth to it than it seems at first. I just wish that there was a bit more variety in the events and quests - they start to get quite repetitive after a while. The gameplay is very grindy, but the galaxy is so beautiful that I enjoy just flying around.
WingedKagouti on 5/10/2023 at 17:45
Quote Posted by Tomi
Loop Hero: I sort of like it, but after ten expeditions or so, I think I've had enough. It feels like I'm doing the same thing over and over again. Yeah I know, that's a
loop alright, but it's just getting a bit tedious.
If you don't enjoy the core gameplay, then Loop Hero probably isn't something you'd want to complete. There is an ending, but it requires beating 4 bosses, and each of them is likely going to take a lot of attempts.
henke on 6/10/2023 at 18:11
Well, finished Resident Evil 4 Remake. Loved the remakes of 2 and 3, but with this one I was mostly just kinda glad it was over. Again, I fucked up by playing on Hardcore. These games are best when you're just on the edge of dying, barely scraping by with limited ammo, and the game gives you the experience just fine on STANDARD difficulty. All hardcore adds is frustrating BULLSHIT. Goddammit. I've also been playing Resident Evil 4, the original, on the office GameCube, at the same time. It's fun seeing what's different in the old and new versions.
What to play next?
Cyberpunk DLC? - maybe, that's a lot to bite off though.
El Paso, Elsewhere? - not on PS5!
Cocoon & Starfield? - y'know, I might be getting one of em new XBoxes soon. If so I'll get gamepass and play these.
Calisto Protocol? - this is in PS+ catalogue. Could be fun and spooky?
Chants of Sennaar? - guess I gotta play this too at some point?
Tears Of The Kingdom? - I've been meaning to get back to this for half a year now, but other games keep popping up.
American Truck Simulator? - ignore all the new games and just keep on truckin? That's a 10-4 good buddy, we gon be gettin on down the road fore smokey shows up, yeeeeee haw!
