What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

I want to buy Deathloop but am holding out for its inevitable appearance on Gamepass.

Probably? It was a Sony exclusive (signed before Microsoft bought Bethesda who publishes Deathloop) till late 2022 on console so I'm not sure how that translates into gamepass stuff.

Vampire Bloodlines surprised me again with another bonus from the 2018 Clan Quest mod. I was walking around Chinatown, pondering my next move, when I encountered a punk asian woman who was staring at me. We talked and it turned out that she was a kuei-jin, an asian vampire that is technically actually more like a tangible ghost, similar to the revenant anti-hero of The Crow comics and movies. She persuaded me to go out nightclubbing with her, starting at the strip club in Hollywood.

It felt like a date. We went to a couple of other familiar nightclubs in the game, in downtown and Santa Monica, and spent some time talking at each location. Her particular dharma compels her to hedonistic pursuits, so we were drinking and doing drugs and drinking blood through the night. There is also some action at times, but I won't go into spoilers. Finally, we close out the night with some quiet conversation on the iconic Santa Monica Pier, gazing out on the Pacific. At that point, she reveals a secret and then we fay our farewells. The subplot ends with the possibility for a tragic twist. The writing was even better than the baseline for the game, and there were multiple exit points if I wasn't enjoying this little adventure.

If anyone on playstation grabbed Deep Rock Galactic off ps+ shoot me a message, it seems great and we can do some missions together

Started Shadow of the Tomb Raider since it's free on Epic. Enjoying it so far. I wish it was all just tombs and no "story" or combat or crafting.

What I really want is a low stakes Phantom Abyss where I can take my time instead of constantly being chased by an invincible death god.

Back on my bullshit with BLOODBORNE. It's been long enough that I don't remember much, so that's been fun. I know to not doddle in certain areas so cosmic weirdos don't eat me and where I can safely navigate, but I'm still getting lost and jump scared right out of my seat.

HEARTHSTONE more out of habit than deep enjoyment. It passes the time and can still be fun, but it's a barren desert of strategy now. Lots of sharks out there netdecking for wins.

I started goofing off with APEX LEGENDS and I suuuuuuck so it is hilarious. I don't know how to get better but it's fun to hang out with a couple of randos and totally screw up even the easiest of fights.

The way to get better at Apex Legends is Arena mode. Just combat, no looting.

Finished Deathloop. About 20 hours? It dragged a little in the last hour or two for me but overall a good, succinct experience. Actually being able to actually use Dishonored powers without worrying about affecting my ending or whatever bullshit just shows you how well those games are made.

Definite recommend if you see it for 20-30 bucks.

I got it right before Christmas, it was like $22. Mostly worth it, I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so Bioshock-y which I generally like. Oddly, I’m kind of struggling with it…I feel like the game isn’t sure if it wants to be guns out action or more of a sneaker but it kind of doesn’t do either of those particularly well. The emergent storyline and the use of time as a gameplay element are really well done though. And wow, a black protagonist? Only took us how long to get there?

Getting the Series X kind of derailed playing it for now though. I’m almost exclusively playing Halo Infinite and Forza 5, both are outstanding and I’m having more fun with this console than I have with the PS5. I like almost everything about it better.

Coming back to Halo feels so good. It’s just such a fun design. I’m a BTB man, I love the vehicles and the general mayhem. Played 30 minutes of the campaign, it looks good so far.

We played a little It Takes Two over the holiday too. I hate it. Same old same old co op play former but with a Meaningful Story About Divorce. It’s like Little Big Planet meets Kramer vs. Kramer. The environments are neat but I’m like OK, I’ve seen all this shit in Little Big Planet. No idea how this was a GOTY thing, it’s just about the most also-ran game I’ve ever played.

The Demon Slayer game is cool but it’s pretty much the same anime fighter as the Naruto/Black Clover//JoJo games are that we also have. It looks amazing though.

re: Death Loop ending, I had such a funny disconnect from the internet. Might speak to my age and mindset.

Been playing The Outer Worlds on PC via GamePass. It's . . . good? Decent? It's nice graphically, and the world-building itself (no pun intended) is pretty good. The combat . . . I still haven't really figured out how it works, even after many hours. It seems to be stuck somewhere between real-time and turn based, and it doesn't really seem to matter much what I do in terms of targeting, positioning, etc. My companions more or less run up to everything anyway, and, for the most part, the difficulty isn't such that I'd want this more clearly tactical, but overall it's kind of dull and repetitive. I like the story enough, I guess, but I forget who's who after a while (despite the rather fabulous journal system), and I don't feel attached to any of my crew except for Kaylee . . . erm, Parvati, the engineer.

I have been playing Slipways for PC, a little puzzle empire builder. It's incredible, I recommend it without reservation.

jpat wrote: Been playing The Outer Worlds on PC via GamePass. It's . . . good? Decent? It's nice graphically, and the world-building itself (no pun intended) is pretty good.

I played that with combat on super easy. It was fine, but nothing special. I'll probably replay it at some point.

I confuse it with Outer Wilds which is an indie game that everyone looooooooves. I asked for recs for a chill, easygoing game and got a lot of suggestions for it, so I bought it. What none of these fuckers mentioned is that (a) a good 75% of the game is trying to use a real physics flight sim and (b) the shit is timed. "Chill" my ass. Waste of my fucking time and money. But I read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia and it turns out friendship is magic.

I uh would not say the message of Outer Wilds is that friendship is magic.

Continuing to unlock achievements in Payday 2, like a boss/lemming. FINALLY unlocked the Mayhem Skull mask (It's a mask you get for completing all heists at a particular skill level) after finishing the last uncompleted heist: Safe House Nightmare.

For the uninitiated, SHN is WORST heist in the game, hands down. It is anti-fun with a pain chaser. It's the Kobayashi Maru of heists. Why does it suck? Let me count the ways.

1) You have to start a drill to your vault to retrieve four bags of loot. Sounds easy so far? SUCKER. The drill goes down a LOT due to randomness or because an enemy fucks with it.

2) You also have to deal with several obstacles. First off, the environment. Sometimes the heist will start and will randomly cause your vision to go completely dark (similar to blinking). I just restart the heist because that's too much of a distraction. Sometimes, the heist will teleport in pumpkins that EXPLODE. So, yeah, real fun. Then you have EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE environment. Doesn't hurt you, but does make things hard to see. Lastly, is the Meth Maker Race. Guys in meth making suits will appear and run towards the metal detector in the main room. They don't respond to threats and you get penalized for killing them. Luckily, I have more money than God, so paying the wereguild isn't an issue.

3) THE ENEMIES. Two of the most dangerous/annoying enemies are on display here - The headless LMG Dozer and the &^T!@)(#$#$! Cloaker. The Dozers are extremely slow moving, but more than make up for it with their arsenal. The Cloaker fuckers have the ability to jump kick you down and begin to wail on your ass. You can't even fight back, you have to wait for someone else to help you up.

So, you're probably telling yourself, "Rliyen, JUST KILL THE ENEMIES!" Oh, my sweet summer child, if it only was that easy. You certainly can kill the aforementioned enemies, but all that does is make the heist generate more. One down usually ends up with two being generated to replace the loss, on top of the regular generation. Cloakers are in the same boat. I can't tell you how many times I've rage quit the heist.

How did I beat it? Simple. Dodge build. I've tried every different combination, but it turns out this is the only way to run the heist at higher difficulties. I then maxed out the skills for reducing drilling time and to maximize that the drill will restart on its own, as opposed to me having to fix it. Lastly, I gave all the bots shotguns and I aced the Inspire skill, so if they get knocked down I can yell at them to get up.

It was the most harrowing 10 minutes of my life I will not get back. And I praise the Powers That Be for just being attacked by LMG dozers, no Cloakers made an appearance.

Now, I have to do it 3 more times...On harder difficulty levels.

Pray for me.