What Videogame(s) Are You Playing?

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3947

I played Amnesia The Bunker. Crazy, intense game.

I loved the atmosphere of the WW1 bunker and figuring out the story through lots of notes. It’s very scary and borderline stressful lol.
You are constantly presented with choices. Do you blast a door down with a grenade or try to find some quieter way to gain entry. Maybe there’s a hatch you can enter once you find the right tool to remove the metal grate.
Do you want to spend fuel on keeping the lights on (which makes the monster mostly stay away) or do you use the fuel to burn bodies (bodies attract dangerous rats). You can also make molotovs and use meat to lure the rats away, but then you’d have to sacrifice cloth which you use to make health items with.

It’s great. Unfortunately it’s way too short. My completion time was 5 hours and 37 minutes on the first run. It does offer some level of randomisation for repeat playthroughs, but still, I wish there was more.

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3948
Far Cry New Dawn

@Silvereyes and I played through and finished Far Cry New Dawn over the past few weeks.

It was… ehhh, gosh, not great? I can see the bones of something good, I like the post-apocalyptic angle it went for and continuation of FC5, it’s just the story feels incredibly rushed and disjointed and the halfway-RPG levelling/tier system for enemies vs. weapons is annoyingly tacked on.

We enjoyed 5, at least mostly due to it’s ridiculous villains trying to convert or brainwash the main character throughout the game (the problem is, the MC is a silent protagonist, a total blank slate, something that really annoyed me) and had a bonkers wild twist ending that I also thought was silly.
(Which is actually set-up earlier in the game through entirely missable flavour-audio on some radios.)

Thing is, the worldbuilding is pretty great, as it usually is for Ubisoft titles. It’s just a shame that all of that is hidden in easy to overlook details or piles of text documents you’ll read once and never return to (and isn’t conducive to always-moving co-op gameplay)

Rhythm Doctor

I’ve started to play Rhythm Doctor on my Steam Deck. It’s really really good and cute and oh my gosh I love it. (Plus there’s a chicken on the cover which I think is GREAT)

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Nice pixel-art rhythm game, has a great story so far in early access about healing patient’s wacky heartbeats with a rhythm machine, while also learning about the understaffed department heads and blossoming romances of folks (I mean, its a game about hearts).
It got me grinning ear to ear (and probably blushing a few times) already in a few levels as story content overlays the rhythm gameplay.

It can be quite tough, I’d say, but for me, it’s been a fun experience picking up the beat and trying to get the best score (or at least an almost-perfect A+).
What really WOWED me is the “Boss” stages of each act so far. They act as special ‘remix gimmick’ type stages, with a unique song, but it skips and repeats and adds in visual distractions to both mess with the rhythm and also provide a cool beat.

Surprisingly, On PC, the second Boss level shrinks the window down on your actual desktop and moves the game around on its own as the special “gimmick”. Neat!
While on Steam Deck, it actually uses its own in-game desktop simulation to recreate it. Which I thought was cool, but that was before I learned the experience is even more unique on PC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poSaj8aLL-k

(Also look! The music dude is running through the hospital to get to the coffee barista! Awww gosh its so sweet aaaaaa​:two_hearts: :sparkling_heart::white_heart:)

I also really love this cafe rhythm/speed level daaaang it’s too real :face_with_spiral_eyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmbEhi1mxU0

Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate

I have also started Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate too, and boy oh boy, this is cool!

The original Arkham Asylum game I’d say was a stellar 3D Metroidvania, with an interconnected map and various upgrades/backtracking to do.

Origins Blackgate is actually a return to this it seems, but in a 2.5D format! Even closer to the genre it started in. Side-scrolling combat, exploration, bat-tools. It’s a neat adaptation of the original’s typical gameplay format in a new angle.
This was originally some handheld game (3DS? Vita?) But the textures in this PC remaster are nice! Looks a little low-rez but still retains the same arkham style. Also has lots of cool grappling into the background/foreground which is neat.

Also its apparently a sequel to Arkham Origins which I really love, and having more of that plus Roger Craig Smith as Batman is great! :grin:
Boy, I’m having fun lately.

7 Likes
3949

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound

I also prepurchased the Shinobi game that’s out in 1 month. How nice of them to (likely) agree to have their games come out that far apart so they don’t really compete… People can get one now then the other later. :people_hugging:

Seems not too tough for a 1st time playthrough (then again, I had a lot of practice with the demo), but if I have enough time to dedicate to it (like I did in my younger days) it would/will be a breeze, even on the higher difficulty settings (if available).

There seems to be some extra challenging versions of stages.

There’s a shop to buy… various things. Things that help, or hinder (to up the challenge).

Getting good enough to speedrun the stages will be… er, would be fun. But like I said, as long as I can dedicate that much time to it. Not sure if I’ll be able to.

Gotta say… I’m loving the music!

Watched a livestream the morning of the release date on YouTube. People in chat asking “what’s this game?”

Ninja Garden: Rakebound
Ninja Farten: Toiletbound

:joy:

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3950

Ooh! Just found out that Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has a demo. :smiley:

Downloading now…

Edit: Oh man! Poor Ninja Gaiden. :cry: I dunno. If you want simple go with NG. Shinobi seems pretty deep mechanics-wise and with way more moves/techniques. I was a bit confused with so many things available… I suppose more in regards to combos and what moves can be used when fighting.

I’m getting a strong sense of metroid-vania vibes in how you can fast travel to checkpoints, and unlock moves/techniques like a downward attack that breaks special floors (just as an example). If you play this you’ll see areas you can’t get to even with your current abilities.

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3951

Got access to the BF6 Early Access, playing a bit of Domination now. Getting familiar with the Recon calls. In BF1 I was among top 5% with SMLE sniper Rifle and 2% with the m1911 pistol. Time to see if this old dog can get back in the game again.

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3952

My wife sometimes see me playing every other games where I try to play as Hitmanish way in gameplay and ofcourse as the game character visuals wherever possible :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I feel proud and sometimes feel funny of myself being playing as obsessive character of Agent 47 and trying to fit the Silent Assassin gameplay :zany_face:

Here in Street Fighter 6, I may have found a somewhat stealth way to get behind the opponent with an element of surprise. This trick was derived from Hitman games where Agent 47 does pacification of targets by positioning behind the target/npc.

This technique works almost 95% of the game opponent. Hope the developers don’t fix this or maybe it is put intentionally to use Yoga Teleport.

Like Hitman releasing Elusive targets, SF4 releases new fighters, this time it is Sagat from the Thiland map.

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3953

Black Ops 6 Zombies Narratively has concluded and all roads point towards the past.

The Reckoning released on Thursday and it took a little over eight hours to crack it. Which is a nice sweet spot for any CoD ZM EE. What we got out of it was binary options with one major and one minor change.

Major being bosses, minor being how the first part of the ending cutscene pays off for the feat.

But it’s what comes after that sets a specific expectation for BO7 ZM. The original four crew returns, atleast they do through a new variant. But that means Requiem and these variants will be working in tandem with each other.

Fortunately with the Actors strike being resolved this shouldn’t effect the V.O process like it did in BO6 ZM where we would get literal cutscenes where they stood there in silence.

I have cautious optimism towards what happens next in this years game. Simply because the Corky Era of Zombies is over, and Kevin Drew is taking over. It’s a make or break moment. While I like that the old crew is back and I’m sure they will monetize the ever living crap out of it by giving us their old designs. It does undermine the ending and sacrifice made during Tag which fixed the multiverse and created the Dark Aether.

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3954

Now I had a couple of days to play BF6 and already with the limited time I had with the game. It’s already far superior to BF2042 at it’s best. I only played Domination a mix between Assault and Recon. I managed to get a 18/1 K/D as a Recon. It seems like I haven’t lost my touch.

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3955

Currently now starting chapter 5 on Mafia the old country and thoroughly enjoying it. Graphically it looks incredible and the story has been so good so far.

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3956

I have, of course, been playing Alien: Isolation. It’s funny, I’ve long since gotten desensitized enough that the Xeno (mostly) doesn’t scare me anymore (mostly), but my body still has that sense-memory of the first couple of times I played and tenses the hell up whenever I play. I love it. :grin:

Playing on Hard this time. I really enjoyed the challenge of Nightmare difficulty the first time, but when I played through it again a couple of years ago, it got a bit tedious, especially in some of the more cramped areas toward the end. Hard is a nice balance, with the Xeno still pretty aggressive, but not (usually) constantly on your ass. Plus it’s nice having enough items to beat the hell out of some Working Joes.

Ugh. Still have half an hour to kill until it’s time to fire up Hulu. :weary_face:

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3957

lucky… :tired_face:

I tried replaying the game a few years ago and decided to quit halfway through the game, since it was giving me too much stress and anxiety.
One run is good enough thanks!

(I have heard the game is quite good on Steam Deck, which I have, plus can get some very good anti-aliasing with mods so everything looks crisp… But… I haven’t attempted it yet on there. I’d guess that the smaller handheld screen would make for a less spooky experience than TV+speakers)

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3958

The Xeno was never the scary part for me, it’s the working Joes :grimacing:

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3959

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

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A late post, since I (appropriately) finished it July 14th.
I don’t have a lot to add to the usual praise the game receives.

The music

Beautiful.
No notes.

Writing is excellent.

A highlight for me is Maelle. It’s one of the best written “immature” character I’ve seen in a while.
It’s a fair immaturity of being 16, and having to try and process extreme events and emotions for the first time.
It also plays well in dialogues with other characters.
An example is a dialogue between her and Gustave, where Maelle comes to him with her worries, Gustave first makes a gentle playful parallel (because that’s how he processes his worries), before seeing her still worried, and immediately shifting to a brotherly serious approach.
It’s good.

The weakest part of the writing is Act 3 if you do the optional content.
The ending, and endings choices are built on a character having kept informations to himself, and rushing in to act on his fear.
Those informations and fear are explored in the Act 3 side content. In the previous two acts it would be the kind of things talked in the party at their camp and integrated to their character development.
Act 3 doesn’t. So the endings only makes sense if you rush it and deny the glimpse of this non-realised potential of character development.

Combat is interesting.

Personally I’m rubbish at reflex games. I’m more of a planner.
But the game is turned based, the combat is hard, but structured and breathable. And it worked very well for me.

I appreciate the progression of the combat incentives during the acts:

  • in Act 1, you are incentives to build a single hit large damage attack, by building buffs.
  • in Act 2, you are incentives to go for multi-hit and AOE attacks
    • in act 2 you go to the 9,999 per hit maximum easily, making single hit wasteful
    • AP generation is building up
    • shields are more present
    • the second tier of skills are mostly made for it
  • in Act 3, you are incentives to see which is appropriate to the situation and enemy roster, and mix and match
    • the damage limit is removed, making all attack types worthwhile
    • the third tier of skills are “improved but more costly in AP” version of the first tier

Also it’s french. :france:

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3960

Since playing a Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, I got to looking at other ‘Ninja’ games I haven’t completed yet. So I got back into

Strider (2014)

I got to Meio’s tower the last time I played it, now (from a fresh start) I’ve beaten it just the other day, and I’m working my way through Hard Mode. I still have to get that achievement, the ‘beat the game in under 4 hours’ one, no falling on the Balrog stage, and collecting all the health canisters (I believe I missed just 1 somehow).

So after I finish hard mode, I’ll get back into and finish NG. Then by that time (maybe try for the S++ ranks) the Shinobi game will be ready to play.

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3961

I would recommend Mark of the Ninja if you haven’t played it, it’s a favourite of mine which I have completed several times.

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3962

Oh yeah! :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: Got that one… The “remastered” version (I think it was a free upgrade on Steam).

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3963

I also recommend The Messenger by Sabotage. It’s a love letter to classic Ninja Gaiden, which halfway through turns into a full blown metroidvania.

I never played the Ninja Gaidens and I’m not even particularly good at that kind of game, but The Messenger had me hooked. It’s fluid, frustrating, and funny. Really a gem.

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3964

I’ve got that one too. :laughing: I even have the DLC extra levels, but… I think it’s a hover or surfboard level… An homage to (I believe) a similar level from the NES Battletoads that is (also) super annoying. I kept dying on that and losing shards or whatever, and I believe I’d have to grind some other/previous levels -if that’s even possible. Whatever it was, it seemed like it was too much trouble, and I haven’t played it again since.

3965

I’m playing Mafia The Old Country in Sicilian language, with italian subtitles. I’m liking it very much

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3966

Okay, on a random whim since @Silvereyes and I talked about it tonight, I just started Cult of the Lamb…

And the first follower you have to save has gotta be randomly generated, right?

Because if so, then DEMON GOD is my new favourite God, omg, you’re telling me my first little guy I save is… A FUCKING CHICKEN??!

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IS THIS A SIGN OR WHAT :exploding_head::flushed_face::sparkling_heart:
:two_hearts:

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