Topic: What are you playing?

[Khushrenada]

I wouldn't expect much of an answer. I'm pretty sure Shuford is a spambot / shill account. Not the first time a spambot account has come in here and praised a game (and pretty sure it's always a non-Nintendo game which shows you how the other companies try to promote their stuff) that's a high profile release. Unfortunately, I can't find definitive proof of it or I'd ban it. E-mail seems pretty sketchy to me but other sites don't have it coming up in their databases as spam. But it is on topic and a coherent post so, as nickmitch has posted in a previous comic, I guess we're winning in the spambot battle. Hoo-ray.

[broodwars]

Yeah...I really like God of War 2018. To me, it's what Breath of the Wild should have been, with its linear-yet-open world design & heavy focus on story. But it's not really boundary-pushing. In fact, it reminds me of a very polished Darksiders 2.

[segagamersteph]

Okay so I already had no life to begin with but I decided to get into Minecraft PC version. The odds of me ever going back to work and moving back out on my own are next to zero now. Why is this game allowed to exist?

[oohhboy]

Depending on what you are looking for there are much, much better games of that type than Minecraft out there. Most transcend being called a clone. When I last played MC on PC which I thankfully didn't have to pay for it was a buggy, unoptimised mess with no content. Go look for something that caters to your exact requirements then complain about having no life and crimes against humanity.

[segagamersteph]

I play the Sims also so there is that.

[Mop it up]

Depending on what you are looking for there are much, much better games of that type than Minecraft out there.

Out of curiosity, which ones do you have in mind?

[Evan_B]

I have been writing impressions of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, tweeting out pictures of Etrian Odyssey and videos of Heart and Slash, and praising The Alliance Alive on ththe forums, so it may surprise some of you to hear that I’ve been slowly chipping through Resident Evil Revelations 2 in my free time.

I’m not the biggest Resi fan, but I did thoroughly enjoy my playthroughs of the Story and Raid Modes for the first Resident Evil Revelations, which was oddly episodic but not really in comparison with this game, which is very much episodic and weird. I would absolutely love to play this game co-operatively, as I think the dichotomy between the attack and support characters is really fun and different, the only problem is that the support characters are mostly useless in the story mode. They are best utilized when fighting clumps of enemies, but their lack of viability is truly evident during boss fights. The gameplay does manage to be rather evenly split, however, which is neat and fun and justifies the differences between the two characters.

I am in the latter half of the game, now, and while the story hasn’t been as fun or interesting as the first Revelations, I’ve enjoyed the variety present in the campaign. It’s not the best Resi I’ve played, but it works well enough to get a solid thumbs up from me.

[oohhboy]

If you want an increasingly advanced military industrial complex which promotes you automating almost everything with an end goal of calling down a satellite strike while defending yourself from attack? Fortress Craft Evolved.

Build war machines with near complete AI control to manually running the vehicle limited by your imagination, computing power and engineering skills? From the Depths.

Space Engineers for a far less combat focus which leans towards making badass mining machines by how it plays. Hence engineers.

Terraia for a killing things as the only goal in a 2D block environment. All the crafting and digging if just so you can better kill things so you can harvest them to kill more things. Did I miss that you kill things?

Starbound. The above but far less killing and lots more exploration. Has serious slowdown issues if you automate your home base production and requires some mods to get the most out of it.

All of the above are multiplayer ready.

If you have more generous restrictions.

Rimworld. Overhead 2D block environment where you play overseer to a bunch of crash survivors rather than building anything directly. Has end goal of get your ass to Mars off the planet to anywhere else. Or not. You can stay fighting off larger raids. Essentially a far, far more easily playable Dwarf Fortress.

Infinifactory to build a crazy assembly line to solve puzzles with 3D blocks. I highly recommend this if you like puzzles. There are multiple solutions each with three scores you can pursue. As long as you can assemble the item you can optimise to the bare minimum or make it as inefficient as you like.
That's just the ones I have played, own and would recommend with a caveat or two as noted. I am pretty sure you can find one that will meet your needs.

Exception: Dwarf Fortress. Due to the extreme learning curve(wall) it requires serious dedication to get anything out of it. It is very hard to recommend to just anybody as you really need the mindset to deal with it. It's a good game but I am just not willing to put that much effort to learn how to play.

[segagamersteph]

None of that sounds like how I play Minecraft. Creative mode, I play god. I start with a blank world. Build mountains, brick by brick, then rivers, then forests. Then when I am in the mood, towns. After I get bored I destroy it all and start over. No online ever. I don't play any game online hate it, not skilled enough so never any fun. I hate dying a thousand times then being called noob for sucking. No thanks.

I also play Sim City similarly but it's not as open ended as Minecfraft. I created a map once, populated it with villages, forest mansions, etc., then flooded the whole world, brick by brick Noah's arc style. Then I did he same thing, with lava. Yeah, I uh, have no life.

I do play Harvest Moon games too but I don't have access to any of my consoles for the near future.

[oohhboy]

If you want to paint with blocks in 3D MC is pretty much the OG choice. If you want more you need something other than MC or it's direct clones or available mods.

I don't like MC because it is so goalless. I am plenty imaginative just not in a directly artistically. Think more art from adversity and engineering needs. Doesn't help I can't draw a damn and don't find much pleasure in making art for the sake of it.

When I say multiplayer ready it mean you can do so, not that you should or must. They all play great on singleplayer. Some have creative modes. MC is multiplayer ready if you didn't know.

I forgot Factorio. Build a MIC is overhead 2D with the result functioning and looking like a computer chip.

[segagamersteph]

yeah cool sounds like we're playing it for different experiences. Cool suggestions, and yes I am well aware of Minecraft being multiplayer, it reminds me that every time I log in.

I could also point out that I don't really play the Sims. I just like creating new Sims and dressing them up in cute outfits. I usually do the same in RPG's with character customization. I spend all my time creating the perfect character, then play for a few minutes, usually a half an hour or so get bored and start over.

The only traditional video game I play regularly is Super Mario World, usually run through that twice a week.

[Soren]

Wizard of Legend feels pretty good in handheld more on Switch. I'm still pretty bad at the game, I've only gotten past the 1st world boss once in my 10 runs, but I'm still getting the hang of it and trying to optimize my loadout. But the combat feels pretty satisfying and the boss fights are very good. Also I'm still pretty wear overall so I still need to grind for better equipment

[segagamersteph]

I just reinstalled Fallout New Vegas. I bought it brand new when it came out and then never played it.  I also bought the Assasin's Creed collection but I lost the CD and can't for the life of me remember if it was tied to an account or not, if so which account. It clearly wasn't Steam or Origin because I would have found it in my library. I didn't have GoG.com back then and it's not showing up in my library there either. If I don't find the CD I might turn to shadier methods cuz I am not rebuying I game I already paid for.

I was playing New Vegas and it just closed on me no warning. I think it was because while I was playing I had Fortnite downloading in the background and it must have kicked me out.

I also finally redeemed my Windows 10 copy of Minecraft. Without sounding like I am too obsessed, I did like this version better than the Java version but honestly at this point they're all about the same experience. The only one I truly despise is Pocket Edition.

I also updated Pokemon Go for the first time since I moved. This town is so small they have 2 pokestops. Both are on opposite ends of the town. It's not a big deal, I don't mind walking to the post office most days (plus need the exercise) but it's a very big hill so most days I just drive. I know I need to start getting back in shape, it's just hard to get motivated to do anything these days.

[Luigi Dude]

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

So yeah, looks like IGA finally got to do the Castlevania 3 remake he always wanted to.  This is basically like Mega Man 9 for Castlevania, except under a different name so Konami can't sue.  The level design is exactly what you'd expect from a pre-SOTN Castlevania and in some cases almost feels like they copy and pasted from Dracula Curse.  The controls and gameplay for 3 of the characters is also nearly copy and pasted from Dracula's Curse as well.

But hey, I'm not complaining.  As a big fan of the pre-SOTN games, I'm really enjoying it since it's literally like playing a new version of Dracula's Curse so it's all good to me.  I beat the Normal mode and unlocked Nightmare and it looks like there's another mode to unlock as well, which I'm guessing I'll get after beating Nightmare.  So for 10 dollars I'd say it's certainly a great value for anyone that's a fan of the older pre-SOTN Castlevania games.

[Adrock]

I’m waiting for my Kickstarter code for Curse of the Moon on Switch. I gave the temporary Steam code to my brother. I’m glad to hear it’s good.

[Evan_B]

I'm a bit shocked there's no actual thread for this game, but I managed to snag Mario and Rabies: Kingdom BWAHtle physically for half price. While I am all about supporting the developers, I wasn't sure if I would love this one despite the very solid reviews so I wanted to be tentative with my purchase. As it turns out, I'll likely spend the difference picking up the DLC for this game.

I'm about three-fourths of the way through the main story, with only Yoshi left to unlock, and I'm very pleased with the game, so far. The maps are very varied and have great vertical structure, the enemy types are well-established and build upon themselves in new and meaningful ways. The variety in mission objectives is nice too, and can often shed light on what sort of team makeup the player needs to consider utilizing. The only aspect I wasn't too keen on were boss fights, as several of them either introduce new mechanics or have very gimmicky abilities not seen elsewhere, and never truly display their health bar in full. The movement mechanics are great, but I was hoping more characters would utilize the stomp jump ability more, as that has very clear ties to the Mario universe. The differences in weaponry and ability make both Mario and Luigi stand out, however, while some other characters get a bit lost in the shuffle. The character archetypes are quite unique.

That being said, I'm not at the end yet, but depending on what kind of battle I face, my teams are:
Distance/Raw Damage/Long Battles: Mario/Luigi/Rabbid Luigi
Escorts: Mario/Peach/Rabbid Mario
Bosses: Mario/Luigi/Rabbid Peach

Wizard of Legend feels pretty good in handheld more on Switch. I'm still pretty bad at the game, I've only gotten past the 1st world boss once in my 10 runs, but I'm still getting the hang of it and trying to optimize my loadout. But the combat feels pretty satisfying and the boss fights are very good. Also I'm still pretty wear overall so I still need to grind for better equipment

I've reached, but never defeated, the third tier boss several times. If you're looking to get far, I recommend Aegis Shield very strongly, as well as a basic or Signature AoE. I often run Relic discount as my starting equipment in order to pick up as much equipment as possible, though for a while I was rocking the Grit Cloak and defense boosting relic.

[broodwars]

I've rolled credits on Detroit: Become Human, and...wow, that was actually pretty exceptional. I've had a mixed history with David Cage's games. I liked Heavy Rain, but it had some pretty terrible writing & that plot twist at the ending makes no sense whatsoever. Beyond: 2 Souls had some spectacular setpieces, but the way it told the story out of order meant that your choices never actually meant anything since the devs couldn't guarantee a linear progression of events. It also had some really stupid QTE design.

Detroit feels like a refinement on Heavy Rain, both in terms of controls & pacing. The game flips between protagonists every chapter, and it does a great job of keeping the momentum going. It also helps that...outside of one critical plot element that is never explained, the 3 plot lines are well-written despite falling back on cliche from time to time. The game has countless branching points that I could see leading to a great deal of replayability. The game will often stick you in a situation where it presents you with 4-5 things to do, and it only allows you time to select 2 or 3 of them, and the game keeps track of that. It also tell you it keeps track of that via the in-game flow chart.
Aside from a bit at the end where one of my earlier choices doomed a few of my characters to die that felt really cheap (I certainly rectified that once I rolled credits), I came away from this game quite satisfied. Highly recommended.

[lolmonade]

I've rolled credits on Detroit: Become Human, and...wow, that was actually pretty exceptional. I've had a mixed history with David Cage's games. I liked Heavy Rain, but it had some pretty terrible writing & that plot twist at the ending makes no sense whatsoever. Beyond: 2 Souls had some spectacular setpieces, but the way it told the story out of order meant that your choices never actually meant anything since the devs couldn't guarantee a linear progression of events. It also had some really stupid QTE design.

Detroit feels like a refinement on Heavy Rain, both in terms of controls & pacing. The game flips between protagonists every chapter, and it does a great job of keeping the momentum going. It also helps that...outside of one critical plot element that is never explained, the 3 plot lines are well-written despite falling back on cliche from time to time. The game has countless branching points that I could see leading to a great deal of replayability. The game will often stick you in a situation where it presents you with 4-5 things to do, and it only allows you time to select 2 or 3 of them, and the game keeps track of that. It also tell you it keeps track of that via the in-game flow chart.
Aside from a bit at the end where one of my earlier choices doomed a few of my characters to die that felt really cheap (I certainly rectified that once I rolled credits), I came away from this game quite satisfied. Highly recommended.

Awesome.  I'm not rushing out the door to get this game, but if you're saying it's more in-line with Heavy Rain than other David Cage games, I'm in. 


Twitter sure loved raking this game over the coals at release, but I can overlook some cringe-worthy dialogue and heavy-handedness in story telling if the overall narrative is engaging enough in these kinds of games.

[broodwars]

I've rolled credits on Detroit: Become Human, and...wow, that was actually pretty exceptional. I've had a mixed history with David Cage's games. I liked Heavy Rain, but it had some pretty terrible writing & that plot twist at the ending makes no sense whatsoever. Beyond: 2 Souls had some spectacular setpieces, but the way it told the story out of order meant that your choices never actually meant anything since the devs couldn't guarantee a linear progression of events. It also had some really stupid QTE design.

Detroit feels like a refinement on Heavy Rain, both in terms of controls & pacing. The game flips between protagonists every chapter, and it does a great job of keeping the momentum going. It also helps that...outside of one critical plot element that is never explained, the 3 plot lines are well-written despite falling back on cliche from time to time. The game has countless branching points that I could see leading to a great deal of replayability. The game will often stick you in a situation where it presents you with 4-5 things to do, and it only allows you time to select 2 or 3 of them, and the game keeps track of that. It also tell you it keeps track of that via the in-game flow chart.
Aside from a bit at the end where one of my earlier choices doomed a few of my characters to die that felt really cheap (I certainly rectified that once I rolled credits), I came away from this game quite satisfied. Highly recommended.

Awesome.  I'm not rushing out the door to get this game, but if you're saying it's more in-line with Heavy Rain than other David Cage games, I'm in. 


Twitter sure loved raking this game over the coals at release, but I can overlook some cringe-worthy dialogue and heavy-handedness in story telling if the overall narrative is engaging enough in these kinds of games.

I feel like the gaming community just finds it hip to hate on David Cage, but I've always enjoyed the earnestness of his work. I will say that the majority of the cast being androids is particularly conducive to Cage's odd writing style. It makes it easier to excuse when you run into an awkward line of dialogue or voice acting that's just a little "off".

Jim Sterling hated on the mundanity of your tasks in the early chapters, but he seems to forget that those are not only there to establish tone & setting, but also to get the player used to the controls & different types of QTE inputs in a stress-free scenario.

In general, though, I thought the racial & domestic abuse elements in the story were handled well, and there aren't any out of nowhere moments like the sex scene in Heavy Rain or the Native American demon exorcism (yes, really) in Beyond. It's just consistently good.

[lolmonade]

I've rolled credits on Detroit: Become Human, and...wow, that was actually pretty exceptional. I've had a mixed history with David Cage's games. I liked Heavy Rain, but it had some pretty terrible writing & that plot twist at the ending makes no sense whatsoever. Beyond: 2 Souls had some spectacular setpieces, but the way it told the story out of order meant that your choices never actually meant anything since the devs couldn't guarantee a linear progression of events. It also had some really stupid QTE design.

Detroit feels like a refinement on Heavy Rain, both in terms of controls & pacing. The game flips between protagonists every chapter, and it does a great job of keeping the momentum going. It also helps that...outside of one critical plot element that is never explained, the 3 plot lines are well-written despite falling back on cliche from time to time. The game has countless branching points that I could see leading to a great deal of replayability. The game will often stick you in a situation where it presents you with 4-5 things to do, and it only allows you time to select 2 or 3 of them, and the game keeps track of that. It also tell you it keeps track of that via the in-game flow chart.
Aside from a bit at the end where one of my earlier choices doomed a few of my characters to die that felt really cheap (I certainly rectified that once I rolled credits), I came away from this game quite satisfied. Highly recommended.

Awesome.  I'm not rushing out the door to get this game, but if you're saying it's more in-line with Heavy Rain than other David Cage games, I'm in. 


Twitter sure loved raking this game over the coals at release, but I can overlook some cringe-worthy dialogue and heavy-handedness in story telling if the overall narrative is engaging enough in these kinds of games.

I feel like the gaming community just finds it hip to hate on David Cage, but I've always enjoyed the earnestness of his work. I will say that the majority of the cast being androids is particularly conducive to Cage's odd writing style. It makes it easier to excuse when you run into an awkward line of dialogue or voice acting that's just a little "off".

Jim Sterling hated on the mundanity of your tasks in the early chapters, but he seems to forget that those are not only there to establish tone & setting, but also to get the player used to the controls & different types of QTE inputs in a stress-free scenario.

In general, though, I thought the racial & domestic abuse elements in the story were handled well, and there aren't any out of nowhere moments like the sex scene in Heavy Rain or the Native American demon exorcism (yes, really) in Beyond. It's just consistently good.

I would say generally I find David Cage's work a little heavy handed, but not every game needs to be so subtle with their message that you have to search for it.


I think the mundane tasks are important for these games, much like in the way when you're playing Life is Strange, you may go through a chain of actions that don't have much value other than to ground you in the character. 

[Evan_B]

The Adventure genre (in its traditional definition) is the best method of creating interactive storytelling that exists in the medium because it has the ability to focus on mundane elements of life in ways that other genres and fans of said genres don't wish to engage with. It is often utilized to enforce a sense of context and place. That being said, just because the genre has had many successful narratives and provides some of the strongest foundations for creating strong narratives doesn't mean the quality of storytelling is exceptional by any means. Saying Cage's writing benefits from Detroit's subject material is more potent an insult than any of the controversy the man has created with his comments on subtext and meaning.

The truth is, very few video games have truly compelling narratives. Many are elevated by the way their gameplay enhances the narrative. If you want a good story, watch a movie, read a book. If you're willing to acknowledge that video game narratives are inherently mediocre, you'll likely be able to enjoy them and forgive them for their flaws far more.

[Order.RSS]

Who here played Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit? I saw it for original Xbox recently, was kinda tempted to pick it up? I remember the podcast having some nice things to say about it, while also ridiculing everything after the first two hours haha.

The truth is, very few video games have truly compelling narratives. Many are elevated by the way their gameplay enhances the narrative. If you want a good story, watch a movie, read a book. If you're willing to acknowledge that video game narratives are inherently mediocre, you'll likely be able to enjoy them and forgive them for their flaws far more.

Yeah I think I agree with this. Had hopes for the medium for a long time, but honestly the best stories in games just leave a lot up to suggestion, really. Super Metroid and Prime leave a lot of room for people to fill in the blanks if they want. There's some RPG stories that are good, Chrono Trigger's sidestories at the end come to mind, but a lot of RPGs are also just drivel.
The adventure game genre was at least committed to humour if nothing else. Beneath A Steel Sky's plot is truly kind of dumb, but there's enough jokes to carry it. I know you hate Mario Colour Splash, but isn't that also an adventure game of sorts? The dialogue is on that level at least.

On the other end, one of my favourite things about games is the truly bizarre stories they do attempt. I had to read an explanation after Sin & Punishment N64 as it was just so baffling, for example. A while ago I finished Final Fantasy VIII and it was so laughably incoherent by the end it was really quite perplexing. Sure there's tons of bad movies, but not often this convoluted.

[oohhboy]

There is no reason why video games can't have a good story and have it told well. Some genres are easier than others like adventure games which have much in common with CYOA books or Comics/Visual novels. Others need not story or has it as an excuse/window dressing plot.
There are obvious changes that need to be accounted for like player agency and the inability to control pacing with the story only moving as fast as the player. It also presents new opportunities like improved immersion or author less stories or the unreal because it's a game.

Videogame stories have much to learn from the old arts and is an immature art still under going great changes. However there are things that transcend mediums both positive and negative which gets dismissed because it's a videogame and the acceptance of mediocrity.

[Evan_B]

Just because all of those aspects can potentially be utilized in order to create compelling video game narratives doesn't mean they actually are on a consistent basis.

The independent scene is known for pushing narrative and gameplay concepts to their extremes in order to create memorable experiences. A fine example of this would be the recent What Remains of Edith Finch, which has a fine narrative that is a bit convoluted but is enhanced to an extremely impressive degree by its gameplay. Like I said, it's best to accept that a sizable portion of movies and even literature have mixed narratives, but they've been around for far longer than video games.

Like Steef mentioned, games also benefit from their absurdity and fantasy. I'd argue the majority of video games focus on fantastic themes and concepts because of their nature, and despite the fantasy genre being quite rich, few games strive to grasp at grand themes, preferring instead to just be compelling adventures. Sin and Punishment and its sequel are enjoyable because they are so bizarre, and that aspect is enhanced by the cuh-razy cabal shooter mechanics and set pieces. The games journalism sphere would argue that new and innovative stories are being told via the medium every year in big budget gaming, but this is quite obviously a marketing strategy.

[segagamersteph]

I don't want story in my video games. FF7 made me cry like a baby. I still choke up every time I replay it. (And I had already read the spoiler in the strategy guide while I watched my sister play through the game before me.)
I prefer my games to be happy, colorful and easy to pick up. That is why I come back to Kirby, Mario, Sonic, Minecraft, Tetris and TMNT games. Those are happy games.

The only time I enjoyed the story in a video game and it didn't leave a gaping hole in my heart when it was over was Toe Jam and Earl 2 Panic on Funkotron, the ending in that game made me feel just groovy.