2017 VIDEO GAME CATCH-ALL THREAD

[Death From Above]

Games I've played on that top 100 list

Shadowrun: Dragonfall is an excellent RPG and being a Euro made one it has a very different vibe than the Japanese or American style. I honestly don't think the fantasy elves and orcs and whatever actually add anything to the cyberpunk world, but it's a very well done game that I enjoyed a lot. It also has a full level editor and there are some pretty cool fan made campaigns.

Nuclear Throne is honestly a game at the very edge of being too fast for me in my mid-30's but it's the best game of its kind that I can imagine. I logged 90+ hours in it and I regret nothing. It's hard as shit and I loved it.

KoToR II. as I said in my review, getting to play it on Steam with the community patch was a sort of cathartic experience. So nice to play the game much closer to the true intended form. It's great.

Kentucky Route Zero, it's not really a game, it's a visual novel. The weirdest possible visual novel. I STILL don't know what to make of it months later, but if you play it and never think about it agian, I'd be shocked. It's one of those things that worms into your imagination.

Terraria is outstanding. Also for a game with such a large online multiplayer community, it's surprisingly non-toxic in my experience. For whatever reason it seems to be a game that attracts a lot of honestly nice people. The game itself rules. What it does so well is that both the building/crafting/minecraft side, and the Metroidvania side, would both be great games. Yet they are merged totally successfully here. It is a game that, like many in the 2010's, is almost made to be played with the webpage FAQ at times, but that's the only real fault.

Darkest Dungeon I loved pre-expansion. I still love it post-expansion with the Crimson Court Module turned off. It's a turn based RPG for people that have played turn based RPGs for decades and don't need their hand held. Loved it. Tue expansion being shit didn't do enough to change that.

Doom II... uh, sure. I guess? This is flat out not a better game than Doom 1, nor is it better than any of the other stuff I've played before it on the list. It's not a bad game though, but if I am revisting an old Doom, the original's level designs are flat out better.

VVVVVV at first glance, is easy to dismiss as just another in the endless wave of retro platformers. THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD. It's one of those old adventure platformers where every room has an individual name like something off a Commodore 64, but it does a bunch of stuff you would never see in those games in places. Some mind bending gravity tricks and areas. Very fun to play game that can probably be beaten in an afternoon.  It also has an amazing 8-bit style soundtrack to go with it.

Fallout 2 I only played years after the fact. Fallout 1 is fine. Fallout 2 is basically better in every possible way that means anything, and if someone that played it back in the day told me it was their favourite game of all time, I would understand why. Everyone should play it at least once.

Bastion is fine, but massively overrated. It innovates literally nothing, the soundtrack for all the praise it receives is mildly above average in the context of how much crazy good soundtrack work is happening in the industry now, and the game isn't very hard. It's basically Torchlight for dummies. I still enjoyed my one playthrough, but I have no idea why it is hailed as an all time great. It's a slightly above average "press left mouse to kill skeletons" game with some interesting art that doesn't change style or tone once in the entire time you play it. I'm not saying don't play Bastion, but it's not an all time great. It's fine.

I tried Fez briefly years ago but ran into hardware problems on my laptop at the time. I should try it again now to evaluate it properly. It's really not fair for your lasting memory of a game to be a technical issue.

Plants vs Zombies is really not very tough, but I admit it was fun to play, and it's the kind of game pretty much anyone can pick up and enjoy. It's fine.

Morrowind is the most broken thing I've ever played that I still think is clearly an all-time great game. No doubt about it this game is seriously buggy, the Mournhold expansion is particularly awful for freezes. Save often. The thing is, it's the last real salvo of the text-based RPG. And there's an incredible amount of real, quality long-form fantasy writing in this game that has a depth nothing else can even get close to, and literally isn't even possible in a totally voiced over game. Skyrim is dope, yes. But if I'm truly forced to choose, my heart is still in Morrowind. This felt like a true open world and it was incredible. I don't even want to guess my hours played.

DOTA 2 is fine. If I actually wanted to play an ultra popular multiplayer game, you could do a lot worse. I really can't imagine why you'd want to pick it up and suffer as a new player in 2017 though with how many vets are in that community.

Tales From the Boderlands was shockingly good. I get it, if you hate "visual novels where your choices don't really matter", you will hate this. That's fair. But this story ruled, these characters ruled. Rhys and Fiona had fucking better show up as quest givers in Borderlands 3 or there will be blood. This ruled.

Crusader Kings II was amazing, but the devs should have moved on to a third game several major expansions ago and the base game has been changed so much it's hard to say which version of CK II people are saying is amazing when they say it at this point. Also, they are a toxic company milking their players like cattle. Fuck them. This game is still very good, and it does something truly unique in how it builds a whole game around political intruige, backstabbing, and people bullshitting to the max in truly amazing ways, but I am happy to never touch it again.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is everything wrong with PC gaming in a neat, dog-dicked shaped package. I hate everything about this community, with no shame or remorse.

Hollow Knight I recently tried to play. It seems amazing. The art, style, music, atmosphere, they are all A+. But, at least for me, the controls feel terribly laggy and unresponsive, especially for a game that wants to be a metroidvania Dark Souls. This seems to be a rare technical issue with some hardware no one really understands why. It sadly ruined my experience and I dumped the game after about 13 hours. I still say, if it does work well for you, you should probably play this.

Skyrim is great. I will never play it again because the mod rabbit hole is so addictive that it legit borders on that sort of MMO-obsession levels of personal destruction, and I've seen more than enough to never really need to go back. I get some people say including mods in the evaluation isn't fair. My counter point would be that when a game comes, out of the box, with an official mod making suite, and connects to an officially supported mod server, mods are clearly an intended feature and should count in the evaluation. Without them, I think Morrowind is probably better. With them, honestly, there's never really been anything quite like it.

The original Deus Ex is the single worst stealh game ever made and I doubt anyone claiming it's great has played it in the last decade. Literally every single full game in the series is better.

Stardew Valley. I tried it. I see why people love it. It does literally nothing wrong. But it didn't hook me, and I felt no actual motivation to keep playing it. 99% this is a me thing, not a Stardew Valley thing. I can't name a single actual fault I saw in it with the time I spent there. I just wasn't engaged by what it wants to do.

FTL: Faster Than Light is an awesome place to start if you're curious about rogue-like gaming but don't want something so hardcore you'll hate your life. It's a very strong game, very easy to pick up and learn, very hard to master. Absolutely worth everyone's time. Good mod community as well though I never actually delved into that personally.

I kind of feel similarly about Spelunky as I do about Stardew Valley. It's clearly a good game. I actually enjoyed this one a bit more and put more time into it. It doesn't do anything wrong. But it never truly got the hooks into me the way I hoped for. Still, there's nothing wrong with this game. It's fun. Short, but fun.

Mass Effect 2 has exactly one flaw: It ends. Everything else is pretty close to perfect.

[Travis Sheldon]

Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition is currently $6 on XBLive Gold.

I've been trying to chip away at backlog and have not played this game.

Is it worth picking up?

 

[BurningBeard]

So anyway Marc Laidlaw has released some "fan-fiction" on his blog, detailing what would have been the plot of Half-Life 2: Episode 3, had he got to make it. It's everything I assumed it was going to be, and I'm still gutted I never got to play it. Valve are the worst... https://www.pcgamesn.com/half-life-3/half-life-2-episode-3-plot-marc-laidlaw 

[JLSigman]

On 8/5/2017 at 8:18 AM, JLSigman said:

For those who may be interested, Path of Exile, an actual, honest to god free to play Diablo clone by Grinding Gear Games, has made the huge leap to 3.0. 5 new Acts, new leagues, new stuff, etc. If you've been away for a long while (like I have) or want to try it out, now's a great time.

Oh, and now it's available for all you XBox people. 

[Zimbra]

I'm still holding out hope for a PS4 version of PoE.  I'm giving it another try and it finally feels like it's clicking with me, but my poor laptop really chugs trying to run it.

[Death From Above]

Half Life 3 cannot exist because since Duke Nukem Forever happened, and Shenmue III is happening, something has to hold onto the crown of decade-plus Does-Not-Exist meme.

[RIPPA]

19 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

Half Life 3 cannot exist because since Duke Nukem Forever happened, and Shenmue III is happening, something has to hold onto the crown of decade-plus Does-Not-Exist meme.

And Last Guardian

God - I am trying to remember what else besides Half Life 3 is still on the "development hell" list

I guess Beyond Good & Evil 2 but that is in the Shenmue III category of theoretically happening

[Lamp, broken circa 1988]

Speaking of Valve, I have some games to talk about. Lets just start with the lime juice on that wound there.

DOTA 2 [4] - now that I have finally played multiple games of Dota 2 with teams of five people, I can now firmly say that I very much like Dota 2. It is a game that controls almost comically easy, because all the complexity is packed into everything surrounding the gameplay. I dig that a lot. I can't see myself getting super hardcore into it but as like a weekly game to play with the group I have, I'm going to enjoy my time with it quite a bit.

For anyone that has played other Mobas and not Dota: The difference is, aside from the destructable terrain thing, that only very few characters have linear skillshots, so the execution barrier is not at the same place it is for League. However, there is a LOT more to keep straight as far as team comps and such. Other Mobas do a really good job of explaining who goes where. Dota doesn't give a fuck. Dota expects you to just kinda know, or look it up elsewhere. That's not ideal, but it's a game that got its start as a weird Warcraft mod, and so it's still true to that side of things. So be ready for a lot of the answer to "what the fuck just happened" to be "idk google it."

DOUBLE DRIBBLE: THE PLAYOFF EDITION [4] - so i got a raspberry pi and made a fun game where my friends and I would pick a letter and pick some random roms and play them to see if we find gems. Unfortunately since I played so much dang genesis I already had a pretty good idea of what games good and what games were amiga ports. I mean, what games were bad. Anyways, after we did that, I went back and grabbed all my favorite genesis games and DOUBLE DRIBBLE PLAYOFF EDITION IS THE BEST BASKETBALL GAME EVER MADE I WILL FIGHT YOU. For all the times I went back to old games and my memory did them no favors, Double Dribble is somehow twice as good as I remember it being. Just ban Cleveland. Cleveland are fuckers.

PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS [4] - Something about this game that doesn't get enough credit- the control layout is pretty easy to figure out. I mean, the inventory management stuff is the one exception here, but I installed the game, and within a minute of my first game I got how to use everything. The highest I've gotten so far is 19th place but it wasn't like a success. See, one of my friends described me as being "god-tier paranoid." This manifests in two ways in PUBG.
1) I am a genius at ambushes. I can look at a room and know where someone will check first, and where they wont, because I know how I'd check it.
2) I don't get going for the target area fast enough, and as a result most of my deaths so far have been "you're way far outside the zone."
I can see myself putting a lot of time into this.

[RIPPA]

For some reason I have watched a lot of PlayerUnknown let's plays

I so would suck at that game and feel like the only time I would make the Top 1/3 would be because of dumb luck

[odessasteps]

Picked up Assassins Creed Syndicate from the library. Aurevoir, ME:A.

[Travis Sheldon]

Path of Exile is playing smoothly on the XB1.

So far, I see no difference between it and the PC version.

Of course, I was only a few levels in on PC.

 

[J.T.]

You learn something new and useless every day. 

Watched the Metroid short form video with Jessica Chobot as Samus Aran for the billionth time (still bummed that they were not able to license the theme from Metroid Prime for the project) and decided to look online to see if there were any persistent rumors still active about a live action Metroid movie.

Found the developer notes for the original game posted online on a Reddit page..

The original plan for Metroid was to have the transition screens show Samus crawling through tunnels to get to other areas of the map, but the animators found that process too difficult so ta da her spacesuit was given the ability to morph into a ball.

[jstout]

On 8/20/2017 at 9:24 PM, Shane said:

I dumped almost 15 hours into Slime Rancher this weekend. I was certainly not expecting that. Game is peaceful, relaxing, and utterly charming.

My ranch is a nonsensically laid out mess right now. Pretty much going to trash everything and start over with a bit more efficiency and logic. I certainly have enough cash rolling in to do so!

I just downloaded this and I'm enthralled so far.

I highly recommend the XBoxers here give this one a spin - the price is right (free on Games with Gold) and it's not a huge download (slightly less than one gig). This game is a sneaky little charmer and a great fun, light play. 

[RIPPA]

I spent far too long this afternoon yelling at fucking tar

I blame Stout

[Shane]

There's so much going on in Path of Exile. May have to take a break from playing it to read up on how some of the various systems work.

As a fan of the FFX Sphere Grid, the first time I went to spend an upgrade point, I was left a bit slackjawed. So many nodes to fill. 

At any rate, so far it's a good Diablo-like. I'm a sucker for a good loot game, so I'm likely to pump a lot more time into this. 

[jstout]

22 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I spent far too long this afternoon yelling at fucking tar

I blame Stout

Phil:

You're welcome.

Stout

[RIPPA]

I am getting to the point where the fuckers deserve their tar fate. I mean they see what fucking happens when their eyes are bigger than their stomachs.

Does that stop them? Noooooo

[jstout]

I just figured out how to beat the tar guys today. 

My mind is spinning with the 1,000 things I need to do when I get home.

Little tip you may know (I learned the hard way): When you get into collecting rock slimes, don't put a whole whole lot into one corral or they attack the shit out of you when you're getting their plorts.

[Shane]

Auto-collectors will save you there, unless you're growing free range slimes (which is apparently a valid play style?). 

I finished "Adventure Mode" but still have a bunch to do. Haven't messed with the 5-day challenge mode at all. 

[jstout]

I'm gonna get auto collectors, but I got a few things ahead of them in line. Need more gardens, specced out.

I usually give my free-range food to the free-range slimes because I've got better things to carry with the vacuum.

[Cliff Hanger]

DARIUS Burst is finally a not-obscene price on PSN, so that's what I'm playing next.

[Andrew POE!]

5 trophies away from a Platinum in Guacamelee.

I spent about 10 hours over the weekend trying to get King's Fall raid done on heroic with some real douchebags on a trophy hunting site I frequent. I needed to stop because I was getting really mad, but the main one couldn't be online Sunday. I leave to take a mental health break, then they finished about 11 pm last night of course. I ask if there's a way to go back through the raid at the part I left but I get told "find another group to help." And I get blamed and I get told "we had to carry you through it." Well, f*ck them too. 

[Ryan]

This is why you never do things with other people...in any facet of life...

[RIPPA]

I bought the cave expansion and that free roam area so that has helped. I'm also trying to not put more than like 10 slimes in a pen.

The rock slimes need to slow their God Damn roll

[JLSigman]

19 hours ago, Shane said:

There's so much going on in Path of Exile. May have to take a break from playing it to read up on how some of the various systems work.

As a fan of the FFX Sphere Grid, the first time I went to spend an upgrade point, I was left a bit slackjawed. So many nodes to fill. 

At any rate, so far it's a good Diablo-like. I'm a sucker for a good loot game, so I'm likely to pump a lot more time into this. 

I hear ya. I've hit a wall in Act 5 where my Caustic Arrow Ranger is getting murdered by bosses. I need to see where I went wrong. :-p