What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

I was well-leveled by the time I got to Blighttown, where the poison swamp is. It was basically impossible to die to Poison. Toxin was a concern, those stupid little dart guys had to go, but I could just shrug off the slow tick of Poison by then. (Contrast to a race back to bonfire when some rats ganged up on me under the Undead Burg Bridge). The item that helped me most there was the Rusty Iron Ring so I could actually move and didn't have to slog through the muck.

Wended my way through the ghosts, opting for a maybe-I-just-keep-jogging-they-will-go-away model. (worked) Drained the Ruins, got owned by some shieldness knight or something that walked through a wall and pulled my face off. Oh DARK SOULS, never change.

Seriously, never change, I am counting on it.

It's like, who enjoyed the berserk mechanic from these games or like curse where you automatically die. It's horseshit.

And I looooove these games and have platinumed several of them.

The line between "hard" and "unfair" is thin, and sometimes they miss. Curse is unfair. Making me never miss a jump a half-mile from a bonfire in a zone with enemies that can hide in and hit through walls is unfair.

All that said, I feel like I am improved when playing this game. Forged. It's demanding, and I want to do well. I love it, despite its flaws, as do you. Can't wait to go back to BLOODBORNE after my lessons here. That crazy church screamer stopped me last time.

I just got the Overcooked 2 DLC on PS4 and we've played through the first several of the carnival levels, as well as a couple of Hangry Horde (Halloween-themed, set in a castle). I like that two stars is generally achievable for casual play with my seven year-old, though I prefer levels where things are hectic rather than fighting the layout when there are gimmicks like moving platforms, etc.

I agree with that--we can play four in OVERCOOKED on the Switch, and utterly bomb when there are rats or moving platforms. It's tough when we just have to make some soup and clean some dishes, adding all the craziness doesn't make it a better game here.

I gotta get KILLER QUEEN BLACK.

/edit: I just ordered KILLER QUEEN BLACK

I started playing Into the Breach. Late to the party, I know. I've only done a few missions but so far I like it a lot! I'm still getting the hang of properly determining the order in which to do things, figuring out if I can hurt my own units, etc.

I'm on PC but would like to get it on Switch at some point.

jeb wrote: I gotta get KILLER QUEEN BLACK.

/edit: I just ordered KILLER QUEEN BLACK

It’s got cross-play, so we could play if you are interested.

hotseatgames wrote: I started playing Into the Breach. Late to the party, I know. I've only done a few missions but so far I like it a lot! I'm still getting the hang of properly determining the order in which to do things, figuring out if I can hurt my own units, etc.

I'm on PC but would like to get it on Switch at some point.

My favorite way to play that one was to go in hard with one squad and get a lot of the achievements. I feel like flitting between the squads could hinder my learning curve on just one of them, which is part of the fun. Starting from the fire starting team and being like "how the fuck do I win anything with this?" to them being my favorite squad was super rewarding.

I wish they made more Into the Breach swag besides what was on fangamer, honestly. I'd buy pins or toys of a couple of the non-base squads, I think the art design is really tight in that game.

DARK SOULS here. I couldn't handle the Four Kings--just too strong, I can't deal enough damage. I tried tanking with Havel's armor, I tried being nimble and dodging, but it doesn't matter if I can't deal enough damage to win. So! Off to some other place. The Catacombs/Tomb of the Giants seems fun. It's crazy dark, there are skeletons that resurrect, and I killed an NPC, which counts as a sin, so some Hammerdin named Leeroy invaded every time I turned human.

I downgraded my Occult Club into Divine Club+5, so I can actually kill Skeletons for good (they don't rez if killed by a Divine weapon.) I poked my way around all kinds of nooks and crannies, just obliterated Pinwheel (weird three faced necromancer boss), and got rolled by Gravelord Nito about 15 times. But it was a fight, so, I kept going in. An equipment change put me over. I swapped to Dragon Crest shield for 8o% Magic defense to keep his purple decay blasts from lopping off 15% of my life (better shield shrunk it to 5%), and swapping Chaos Furysword+4 in for Raw Uchigatana+5 let me get a lot more hits, as his cloak and bony legs were keeping the Uchigatana strikes away, but the swingy slashes of Furysword were landing every time.

Subtle moveset differences are such an underappreciated source of differentiation in the soulsbourne games.

I think so much of the late-stage game is about setting up Ripostes and Backstabs, actually figuring out if you are a poker or a swinger loses some importance.

My whole middle game was me switching out of Drake Sword to Uchigatana in hallways because the Drake Sword hits the sidewall every damn time. Same thing still applies, except it's me switching to Chaos Furysword now. It's little Kick attack is unique too, a low knee-high swipe followed by a backroll.

SUBNAUTICA - so much fun. I spent a solid 1.5 hours progressing the actual storyline of the game, followed by an equal amount of time building and decorating my bedroom.

I think I finally understand the appeal of Minecraft.

I bought Goblin Sword on Switch for $3. This is a WonderBoy-esque platformer with lots of secrets, usually behind false walls.

It's well done and certainly under-priced, but if you want the level of combat and fidelity of Dead Cells, look elsewhere. They also don't let you jump DOWN to a lower platform, which seems like a cardinal sin to me.

XEODRIFTER is one to tag, hotseatgames, if you haven't already. Quick little Metroidvania, good music, retro feel. Others are larger in scope, but XEO has a cool bite-sized vibe.

@birdman37, looking fly and having cool little in-game spaces is immensely satisfying. I have some better armor stats wise in DARK SOULS, but I look like a sweet-ass monk in my Xanthous kit.

Yes, Four Kings is where I stopped for exactly the same reason. I tried everything as well, even the NPC Witch for help, all to no avail. I'm sure there is a way round it but I can't see it.