What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

Am playing Heroes of the Storm again because a couple friends got back on it. It's very casual, as we mostly just tool around with dudes in our collection against the AI. I had enough gems laying around from the last time I was on (well over a year ago) that when I hit a level bonus, I had enough to buy one of the more recent types: Anduin (He's the leader of the Alliance, for those of you that know WoW.) He's a healer, which is what I did while playing WoW for a long time and he plays basically like a Holy Priest (I vastly preferred Disc, but whatevs.) I got the hang of him after a couple games and it was actually the closest HotS has come to feeling like a WoW healer. It was really like putting on an old glove.

Then I wandered off and tried some of my old favorites: Chen, Murky, Falstad. The game is still a lot of fun and I got to try the one battleground that I hadn't been on when I left: Alterac (a lot of WoW memories there, too.) If you ever want to try it out/again, I'm Jackwraith#1816.

Of course, I'd love to try some more TTS, be it Root or Pax Pamir or other things, too.

Yeah, I need to find some more TTS time too.

Journey to the Savage Planet on gamepass -

it's a First Person Platformer? It feels very much like Slime Rancher in art style and humor. Basically the story goes: crash-land on an alien planet. explore and get upgrades.

Has some slight Metroid-vania elements, in that you have to get upgrades to go back and open secrets (as well as gates based on those upgrades), but overall it's pretty linear. most of the upgrades are movement based, so you are jumping and grappling all over the place. It really encourages vertical movement and exploration. so much so that it's pretty jarring when you run into a invisible wall. There's some minor combat...and it's pretty weak. Initially you are using your (upgradable) gun to interact with the environment and kill space-chickens. but pretty quickly you are using it to target weak spots on creatures (glowing bulbs on their tails?). So far all the more dangerous creatures you run into are very pattern based, including the 'bosses' again, very much like a platformer.

Still, overall it's pretty chill, exploring and bouncing on top of giant mushrooms.

also, managed to find a deal on some neon green joycons, so we've been playing a lot of Just Dance. I'm turning into a pro at "Into the Unknown"

Rliyen wrote: For the past week, I've been playing Destiny on my PS4, (yes, I know it's old. Shut up. I got it when I bought the PS4 off my co-worker's boyfriend) and LOVING IT.

It has the Fragged Empire vibe, along with throwbacks to STALKER.

I bit the bullet and bought a year of PSN+ and the Taken King.

I'm already at level 39 as a Hunter without breaking a sweat. People say it's GRINDY. To me, I don't even notice it. Certain games become grindy when it stops being fun (i.e. Path of Exile in certain instances). When this stops being fun, I'll just play Monster Hunter World. I got it last October, and haven't really delved in it. Until such time....

*whisper* Take me with you.... I hate this job.

I haven't played DESTINY in about five years, but I am willing to bet the Hung Jury Scout Rifle is still amazing in THE TAKEN KING. I think they added stuff after? But up til that point, there was nothing better. You get it from leveling up the creepy Death cult guys. Totally worth it. And do yourself a favor and see if the ISHTAR COMMANDER app still exists for iOS. It's a gear management device that is tied in to the DESTINY API and makes swapping things so much smoother.

New Mario maker update adding all kinds of insane stuff tomorrow. Very excited.

jeb wrote:

Rliyen wrote: For the past week, I've been playing Destiny on my PS4, (yes, I know it's old. Shut up. I got it when I bought the PS4 off my co-worker's boyfriend) and LOVING IT.

It has the Fragged Empire vibe, along with throwbacks to STALKER.

I bit the bullet and bought a year of PSN+ and the Taken King.

I'm already at level 39 as a Hunter without breaking a sweat. People say it's GRINDY. To me, I don't even notice it. Certain games become grindy when it stops being fun (i.e. Path of Exile in certain instances). When this stops being fun, I'll just play Monster Hunter World. I got it last October, and haven't really delved in it. Until such time....

*whisper* Take me with you.... I hate this job.

I haven't played DESTINY in about five years, but I am willing to bet the Hung Jury Scout Rifle is still amazing in THE TAKEN KING. I think they added stuff after? But up til that point, there was nothing better. You get it from leveling up the creepy Death cult guys. Totally worth it. And do yourself a favor and see if the ISHTAR COMMANDER app still exists for iOS. It's a gear management device that is tied in to the DESTINY API and makes swapping things so much smoother.

I will look into it.

And the faction you're thinking of is Dead Orbit. They were the only faction I picked when I first started the game and I haven't left them.

It sounds like they made Rise of Iron for the PS4 and Xbone editions.

Currently, I'm trying to improve my exotic sniper rifle Time and Patience. I've unlocked 3rd Eye, which keeps the radar up on your HUD while you're aiming. Very helpful.

I've also maxed out a rare scout rife, while not very powerful, I can now get reloads at a distance simply by shooting them and added explosive rounds so that has splash damage and staggers Phalanxes.

I find that shotguns are worthless in the game, unless you play GET IN THEIR GRILL style. I have The Comedian shotgun in my trunk. When I finish mastering the hunter, I will try a new character type and HOPEFULLY it may be useful.

Ah_Pook wrote: New Mario maker update adding all kinds of insane stuff tomorrow. Very excited.

This thing looks fucking wild. It's my hope that it will spur more visible "new mario games" built around good level design. I don't give a fuck about this kaizo and autolevel shit that dominated the first game on the wii u.

Goddamn these SUPER MARIO MAKER things are amazing.

My plan is to build some nice "have a stroll" levels where you win by just walking and crazy shit happens all around you. There is an amazing Rube Goldberg element to this game. Need to wrest some time with it from my kids though!

Rliyen wrote: I find that shotguns are worthless in the game, unless you play GET IN THEIR GRILL style. I have The Comedian shotgun in my trunk. When I finish mastering the hunter, I will try a new character type and HOPEFULLY it may be useful.

In my day, shotties were basically PVP weapons. Jump, shoot, slide, and shotty, BLADOW. Crucible was filled with them. In PvE I would sometimes have on with Corrosive for armored enemies that could close on me. But yeah, pretty limited utility. It was tough to make them good enough for PvE without ruining PvP.

Gary Sax wrote: This thing looks fucking wild. It's my hope that it will spur more visible "new mario games" built around good level design. I don't give a fuck about this kaizo and autolevel shit that dominated the first game on the wii u.

you dont want to play my new shell level?



realistically, its going to be 99% hot garbage, like all the rest of SMM1 and 2. just now itll be 8 back to back levels of hot garbage. im personally most excited about the SMB2 mushroom, that looks like itll have all kinds of wild/fun interactions.

If Switches were only in stock. My kids still enjoy creating goofy stuff on MM1. I don’t know that I was ever wow’d by anyone’s levels though. The first little big planet - that user content could be decent...

So the levels people post for MM2 aren’t very good, ya? That’s a shame - if Nintendo would take the time to add some decent professionally done levels along with the package that would be a great thing.

There are tons of great levels, amid an ocean of bad levels. Curating a list of creators you like helps, and you can search by popularity/difficulty which will feed you lists of good levels. But if you just play the endless modes or whatever you're going to play lots of bad shit.



Speaking of which I made a level with the new mechakoopas, they're a fun kaizo item.

Here's one you haven't thought about in a while. I bought the Enhanced Edition of Icewind Dale for PC and have been playing that. I have it cranked down to easy and it's still hard as balls, largely because while any individual monster might be no problem they never throw them at you in numbers less than a thousand at a time.

It's also hard for me to return to D&D 2e after playing CRPGs that make a lot more sense. The magic system is just awful and irritating, and of course none of the combat related numbers they throw at you make any sense.

What was the infinity engine game that came out not long ago that people liked? Is it also based on old school D&D or is it actually fun to play?

I think the game you are thinking of is Pillars of Eternity. I played a bit of the first one and fell off. I enjoyed my time with the recent Torment: Tides of Numenera more, but I also fell off of that one, so take that for what it's worth.

I think in general I prefer my party-based RPGs to be true turn-based.

As for my own game playing, I have completed a few missions of the new XCOM Chimera Squad. It is a lot of fun, and I really appreciate how it is essentially bite-sized. Missions are short and plentiful. You could complete some of them in 10 minutes. I never played XCOM 2, and only played a bit of the first one, actually, due to its expansion never running on my old PC. For the next couple of days, Chimera Squad is half off, at only $10. There is no way you can go wrong for that price if you like turn based games. I was sold the moment I saw it had what they call Breach mode. Every encounter starts with breaching one or more points, and it is great.

My current board game design features breaching, so I had to buy this. For research.

I'm also making good progress with Claire Redfield in Resident Evil 2. It's neat seeing how they changed things up from Leon's campaign. This game is really great and it's safe to say it's the most fun I've ever had with a Resident Evil game.

A friend of mine wanted to play some Street Fighter of some kind online, so I redownloaded SFV, which was the reason I bought a PS4 in the first place. But then it had some serious issues at launch and I haven't played it in like 4 years. Long story short, it's pretty fun these days. I'm not sure how long I'll stick with it this time around, but at least the game feels feels like it's in a good place now, unlike the last time I played it. I've been playing G, who is a lot of fun.

I played a lot of SFIV and really miss playing a fighting game. I don’t have a PS4 so I never got into SFV. I know it’s on PC now but it’s been out for years and with no friends to play, it doesn't seem like the best purchase. I was looking at Gran Blue Fantasy Versus, as it has a similar pace as Street Fighter, but again, seems less fun without friends to play with.