What Are You Playing 8 (2023 Reboot)

[Mechalich]

Gave Valheim a game pass download, very early on in progression you need to have a roofed house over your crafting station.
Now either a whole lot of experience is needed with the ark/rust stuff or the snap grids just don't work in combination of the terrain making things impossible.

But hey a tree I knocked down broke into two logs one of which assassinated me

not a good impression

You might try Conan Exiles, which has significant similarities to Ark/Rust but can be played single-player and is extensively moddable allowing for a variety of play styles.

[Erloas]

I've only seen Valheim on Twitch and it looked good. Granted the people I saw that played it for very long were well versed in the survival/builder types of games. It looked like all of the building went well, that was quite a while ago so I guess it would only have improved since then. I'm not sure if that was early acccess or just after release.


Continuing on my BTA 3062, its been good so far. The 35T dual missions are either really easy or hard just randomly depending on what the enemy shows up with (which seems to change one reload to the next). I was going to head to join the Draconis Combine, but one or two jumps in and the flashpoint that popped up is taking me right back to where I started.
Early on there actually seems to be almost too much different gear, so finding what I need to upgrade my mechs the way I want is proving to be tricky.

[tonberrian]

Finishing up in Wrath of the Righteous with my Angel Oracle. Only one more level and two more mythic ranks until i'm capped out. Gunning for the secret ending, lots of puzzles in my future.

[Wookieetank]

Gave Valheim a game pass download, very early on in progression you need to have a roofed house over your crafting station.
Now either a whole lot of experience is needed with the ark/rust stuff or the snap grids just don't work in combination of the terrain making things impossible.

But hey a tree I knocked down broke into two logs one of which assassinated me

not a good impression

For the Snap grids, its more along the lines of how ARK does things. Your initial placement can be any sort of orientation, but then things can snap to already built structures.

Yeah, there's a lot of ways to get yourself hilariously and unintentionally killed. Helps to go in with a Dwarf Fortress sort of mindset of Losing is Fun. Food is also pretty mandatory to provide health and stamina bonuses.

[Taevyr]

Finishing up in Wrath of the Righteous with my Angel Oracle. Only one more level and two more mythic ranks until i'm capped out. Gunning for the secret ending, lots of puzzles in my future.

Oh god, the puzzles. I don't remember what the quest in the pyramid-thing was called, but I remember being so completely done with the puzzle-fighting slog after 5 minutes that I just put it on story difficulty and looked up the solutions. Final fight there's one of the best in the game though.

[Cygnia]

Dipping back into Iratus: Lord of the Dead (Darkest Dungeon roguelike where you're a necromancer trying to take over the kingdom with your minions). Managed to finish up the 2nd hardest difficulty setting; trying now the last hardest.

[LibraryOgre]

Finished Fallout 4. That was dumb.

[GloatingSwine]

I refuse to finish Fallout 4.

In fact on such occasions as I play it when a mod looks interesting I aggressively ignore the main quest and/or the word Shaun.

[MCerberus]

Shaun.

the who now? That doesn't seem anything like the main plot, which is to funnel wealth through a web of trade routes to your amazing museum of unique weaponry

WoT:Console is making me mad again. They released another super expensive tank that's completely toxic for its matchmaker band. And guess what it's another crossover tank (this time 40k). 80. freaking bucks. and the user base IS PAYING IT

[Batcathat]

My relationship to Fallout 4 is basically the same as to Dragon Age: Inquisition, in that it's an entry in a series I love that I still haven't played despite being out for years, probably out of some half-conscious desire to avoid disappointment due to its divisive reputation.

[Lord Raziere]

My relationship to Fallout 4 is basically the same as to Dragon Age: Inquisition, in that it's an entry in a series I love that I still haven't played despite being out for years, probably out of some half-conscious desire to avoid disappointment due to its divisive reputation.

....yeah thats a wise decision. if your like me and like the writing of FNV, its a serious downgrade and the only time you get a serious sandbox choice is in Nuka world where you can just.....kill all the raider gangs there instead of indulging in their stupid politics, thus freeing the traders there to just live their lives in peace. it has cool weapons I guess but I got so frustrated trying to do the main storyline while the game started to crash that I just quit and uninstalled, never finished it and not really worth finishing in my eyes.

meanwhile I'm getting close to finishing my second playthrough of the Outer Worlds

Spoiler: Peril on Gorgon DLC (also Murder of Eridanos spoilers)

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so yeah, this plot like the Eridanos plot is basically someone wanting to make some science thing to change the colony to be more happy and productive, unlike Eridanos (where the thing is drink to infect people with brain slugs trying to mind control everyone as parasites) is through its a drug to make people more productive and happy....but is essentially just super caffeine? it causes crashes which is even reflected mechanically in game: the crash is just forever until you sleep, but more important its incredibly addictive, degenerates your brain, and eventually turns you into a psychotic marauder that you see across the game. the villain thinks that because the project to make it was rushed and had many problems that a new version of it could get rid of the bad side effects if the project was done well but....I dunno. thats a lot of money and time to spend on something that might not even be possible- the whole research using better methods might just conclude "this drug is just very destructive to people's health, and there is nothing we can really do to change that, so its best not to make it" so I just destroyed the machine that makes it so the drug won't be made anymore. I don't think I got the golden ending on this one. hopefully by handing the research of a possible cure for the marauders to Olivia allows her to do something about that. sure it sucks everyone in the colony is exhausted from living and working in a corporate capitalist dystopia, but I think that can be better solved by.....making it not a corporate capitalist dystopia. I know, galaxy brain thought there, real hot take, so genius.

think I liked Eridanos better, but Eridanos had a much more dramatic ending and its conflict was a lot less ambiguous because it was just "do you support a CEO literally using a brown-colored drink to infect people with euphoria inducing parasites and is obeying the will of a parasite queen as their servant, or fight with the awesome pulp heroine that everyone loves to stop him?" and was just this fun space pulp story. say what you will about anything else, Outer Worlds really does that old pulp feel well and kind of updates it to the modern day a bit

[Zevox]

So today I started on a game I've been sitting on for a long time: Shin Megami Tensei 5.

I'm, uh, hoping that the Hydra was the game's Matador. (Anybody's who's played SMT3 knows what I mean.) Thank goodness I had Mermaid to do massive damage to it.

[MCerberus]

So not finding something new I want to play around with I'm trying to get Long War of the Chosen running, because the only thing that beats the "too much xcom" of WotC is "much, MUCH too much xcom". Having a problem getting it working though... wait that's odd, something keeps telling me that I'm under-strength. surely that *recruit more troops appears on the fog on my window* isn't an omen

[Triaxx]

I don't know. I've done all three endings of Fallout 4. Railroads kind of the least satisfying of the three since you've freed the synths but also put them on the path to extinction since no more will be made. And it always leaves me wanting to rush off to Nuka-world to finish it because the ending is so much more satisfying.

Brotherhood certainly takes the style award. After all what's more stylish than a giant robot? Not too much I'll tell you.

Minutemen, as frustratingly annoying as they can be, truly nail down their 'we the people' vibe. Plus we get not one, not two but three entire storm the castle moments. Two of which Ibadmit are the same castle but eh.

[GloatingSwine]

Spoiler: Peril on Gorgon DLC (also Murder of Eridanos spoilers)

Show

I don't think I got the golden ending on this one. hopefully by handing the research of a possible cure for the marauders to Olivia allows her to do something about that. sure it sucks everyone in the colony is exhausted from living and working in a corporate capitalist dystopia, but I think that can be better solved by.....making it not a corporate capitalist dystopia. I know, galaxy brain thought there, real hot take, so genius.

Spoiler

Show

To get the golden ending on Gorgon you have to convince Olivia and Minnie to work together on the cure. And then obviously not side with the board.

[Anonymouswizard]

I refuse to finish Fallout 4.

In fact on such occasions as I play it when a mod looks interesting I aggressively ignore the main quest and/or the word Shaun.

I finally dropped Fallout 4 after meeting detective boy. I think I was having instability issues and this Shaun sidequest was dragging on.

So today I started on a game I've been sitting on for a long time: Shin Megami Tensei 5.

I'm, uh, hoping that the Hydra was the game's Matador. (Anybody's who's played SMT3 knows what I mean.) Thank goodness I had Mermaid to do massive damage to it.

I really need to get back to it, but my understanding is yes. I had a lot of issue with it, but I also wasn't using the Guard command whenever it telegraphed it's super skill. It actually took until the next boss to crack that.

I haven't really played beyond the second boss though, physical skills eating MP instead of HP was just too much (especially as physical demons also tended to have the bloody buffs). Unlike the Demifiend the Nahobino should really focus on magic.

There's also a trick to the second boss, but I'll be shocked if you don't work it out easily.

[Wookieetank]

So today I started on a game I've been sitting on for a long time: Shin Megami Tensei 5.

I'm, uh, hoping that the Hydra was the game's Matador. (Anybody's who's played SMT3 knows what I mean.) Thank goodness I had Mermaid to do massive damage to it.

For me, it was the end boss of the 2nd zone that was my wakeup call boss. Overall the bosses are pretty challenging, and most I had to fight at least twice (once to find out who not to bring with me). Even at max level (all the sidequests and stupid minman hunting) final boss was a decent fight.

And now I'm wanting to do my 2nd playthrough of Nocturne and SMT5, must resist urge and finish Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Danganronpa 2.

[Rynjin]

My relationship to Fallout 4 is basically the same as to Dragon Age: Inquisition, in that it's an entry in a series I love that I still haven't played despite being out for years, probably out of some half-conscious desire to avoid disappointment due to its divisive reputation.

Fallout 4 is fine for exactly one (1) playthrough, because you're just going to do whatever you feel like and have a good time with it.

It's playthroughs 2+ that start to show the cracks, as you're like "Well I'll try a different character build!" (all builds feel pretty much identical to play across "gameplay type"; guns vs energy is meaningless, melee vs unarmed is meaningless) or "I'll make different choices in this quest!" (inexplicably the identical outcome despite it making no sense) or "I'll join a different faction" (they are shockingly similar when you really boil it down and the only ones that really have any meat to them are the two evil factions, the Brotherhood and the Institute).

[GloatingSwine]

I dunno you could play stealth archer sniper for a change...

[warty goblin]

Is a game being good for a single 40+ hour playthrough bad? I'm not saying Fallout 4 is good (haven't played it, have no desire to play it) but that's a lot of game.

I feel sometimes that replayability and length get used in really weird, not very productive ways when talking about games. By and large games aren't meant to last forever, and I think are better if they lean into being finite.

[Batcathat]

Is a game being good for a single 40+ hour playthrough bad? I'm not saying Fallout 4 is good (haven't played it, have no desire to play it) but that's a lot of game.

I feel sometimes that replayability and length get used in really weird, not very productive ways when talking about games. By and large games aren't meant to last forever, and I think are better if they lean into being finite.

True, but it doesn't sound like Fallout 4 is leaning into it, but rather that it's trying to lean the opposite way and failing. I'm alright if a restaurant only serves burgers and are really good at it, but if they also offer pizza, kebab and hot dogs but everything comes back tasting like burgers, I'd probably be disappointed.

[Rynjin]

Is a game being good for a single 40+ hour playthrough bad?

In general? No.

For an entry in a series where player choice, exploration, and replayability is the primary draw/selling point? Yes.

[Wookieetank]

I feel sometimes that replayability and length get used in really weird, not very productive ways when talking about games. By and large games aren't meant to last forever, and I think are better if they lean into being finite.

So much this. I've gotten to where I'll only have one RPG/open world type game going at a time these days because there's just so much in them anymore.

[GloatingSwine]

Is a game being good for a single 40+ hour playthrough bad? I'm not saying Fallout 4 is good (haven't played it, have no desire to play it) but that's a lot of game.

Depends what type of game it is and how it's trying to sell itself.

If a game wants to be a big open world with lots of player freedom then you'd hope you could get more than one go out of it if only to see how different approaches work mechanically or narratively, or to use knowledge you gained on your first go around to open up your second.

[warty goblin]

True, but it doesn't sound like Fallout 4 is leaning into it, but rather that it's trying to lean the opposite way and failing. I'm alright if a restaurant only serves burgers and are really good at it, but if they also offer pizza, kebab and hot dogs but everything comes back tasting like burgers, I'd probably be disappointed.

Eh, assuming Fallout 4 is structurally like Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Oblivion, I'm not sure I'd say they're aiming for replayability, at least in the sense of having a lot of content locked behind specific choices or anything. They're aiming to give the player a whole ton of stuff to do. You know, if you feel like it. If you don't, that's cool. The games just aren't set up around exclusive choices, they're a playground. Messing around on the monkeybars doesn't preclude you from the swings later, so if you spend long enough there you're going to do all the stuff.

[Rynjin]

Part of the replayability of the other games is that there's always some new little thing to discover. A weird little interaction, a quest path or conclusion you weren't expecting, some new dialogue, whatever.

The issue is that Fallout 4 doesn' really have most of that. If you've done a quest in the game...you've done a quest. Some are a bi different, but in the grand scheme you only have 1-2 valid dialogue options at each juncture and it doesn' really matter how you complete a quest because not only did your choice not matter (as in Skyrim) the NPCs often don't even react differently or acknowledge that you even did anything different.

It's such a bizarre issue for the game to have. It just feels a lot more artificial than other Bethesda games on subsequent playthroughs because you'll often get these complete almost nonsequitur responses to watch you're doing.

Mark Hall's post from earlier really does encapsulate the experience. "Sorry I'm late, I have killed the entire leadership of the faction we've been fighting against!"

"You're finally back? What took you so long? Now let's get back to destroying the Institute."

???

Essentially their only focus was on the critical path. It seems very clear what the game expects the average player to do: you play a male, you follow the main quest, you join either the Brotherhood or the Institute, you finish main quest.

Deviating from that AT ALL, even with something that should be as blindingly obvious to account for as you playing the female PC is going to result in oddities.

[LibraryOgre]

Is a game being good for a single 40+ hour playthrough bad? I'm not saying Fallout 4 is good (haven't played it, have no desire to play it) but that's a lot of game.

I feel sometimes that replayability and length get used in really weird, not very productive ways when talking about games. By and large games aren't meant to last forever, and I think are better if they lean into being finite.

Except for the main story, I like the game. I think Far Harbor is kind of weak, story-wise, but it's not as actively brainless as the main quest. I like running around the Commonwealth, exploring, and building up settlements. I even think some of the combat is fun, though I'm sure there are aficionados of combat games that will tell me all the reasons they hate FO4's combat... I just like to make heads go splodeysplodey with a truly unreasonable sniper rifle, then spray the area with exploding rounds from my submachinegun.

Some day, I'll probably get a hankering to do some of this again... but the main story is just a railroad, with the illusion of choice, and the endings are lackluster.

Here's an ASCII representation of the storyline: <|>| See how you have three different ways you can go, but they all wind up in the same place? And there's another straight line off to the side? That is LITERALLY how the main story goes... Brotherhood, Railroad, or Minutemen, you're going to be standing on top of a building blowing up the Institute.


----

And back to Wrath of the Righteous! Because I was having Wrath of the Righteous dreams!

So, I've been thinking about how to build characters. I ALMOST played a Skald, but I simply could not bring myself to pass up the Archaeologist. I'm gonna try to do Trickery this time, instead of Azata. But here's some build thoughts:

1) MC is going to be my Archaeologist/Dragon Disciple... but instead of putting a feat into martial weapons, I put a whole class level into Rowdy. I get martial weapons, and if I can work out some Vital Strikes, it'll be good damage boost.

2) Woljiff, once he can level, is going Sword Saint. I see it as a pretty good combo; his Int bonus gets used a lot, and if his weapon of choice is daggers, he'll have some good damage.

3) For me, the big trouble Seelah has is speed... with all her armor, by the time she gets to the fight, it's over. For 5th-11th level, she's going regular fighter... specialization in long sword, and getting Armor Training. I was tempted by a few other options (Steelblood Bloodrager), but I could not figure out how Armor Training WORKED for them.

4) I don't care too much about Camelia, but she also got a level of Rowdy. I used to have her do a few levels of Master of All (5), but a single level of Rowdy seems good.

5) Lann: 3 levels of Zen Archer, then I'm not sure. I've usually gone with Sacred Huntmaster (giving him an animal companion and Bane) or Drovier Druid, but I'm also considering Demonslayer Ranger

6) Ember: I've always done pure with for her, but maybe throw in Crossblooded sorcerer?

7) Daeran: Straight oracle has been my way.

8) Sosiel: Pure cleric? Haven't found a good alternative for him.

9) Arueshalae: Pure Ranger? Any other suggestions?

10) Regill: I've mostly alternated Armiger and Hellknight, working on making him very frightening... with Corungun's Smash, Dreadful Carnage, and so on, and the Fearsomeness Discipline, he rips through opponents and scatters them about.

11) Greybor: I've been using pure slayer, but I see a guide suggesting some Archaeologist, Dragon Disciple, and fighter.

12) Nenio: Who cares?

[Anonymouswizard]

So much this. I've gotten to where I'll only have one RPG/open world type game going at a time these days because there's just so much in them anymore.

There's a reason my favourite RPGs of the last ~4 years were Night Road and Out For Blood, which don't even have graphics, let alone open worlds

Deviating from that AT ALL, even with something that should be as blindingly obvious to account for as you playing the female PC is going to result in oddities.

That explains why it felt so weird. I started the game and smashed the sex change option ASAP.

[GloatingSwine]

Here's an ASCII representation of the storyline: <|>| See how you have three different ways you can go, but they all wind up in the same place? And there's another straight line off to the side? That is LITERALLY how the main story goes... Brotherhood, Railroad, or Minutemen, you're going to be standing on top of a building blowing up the Institute.

And there's less of an epilogue for what you did than your toaster got in New Vegas.

[LibraryOgre]

And there's less of an epilogue for what you did than your toaster got in New Vegas.

Maybe because the toaster was a more credible threat than the Institute.