What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

Nice. I need to pick up a new video card one of these days, but I might be at the point where I need a new mobo and everything else too.

Gary Sax wrote: Nice. I need to pick up a new video card one of these days, but I might be at the point where I need a new mobo and everything else too.

Yeah, I got to the point where I just started from scratch on everything, case included.

Elite: Dangerous. on sale on XBL. I'm addicted.

I wish there was a XB1 game with the flying mechanics / customization of this game, with more plot. a freespace or X-wing/Tie Fighter remake.

Still addicted to space trucking, bounty hunting, and seeing pretty things.

I would just want to dock and undock from space stations. It's so much fun

yeah, docking and undocking is not difficult. despite everywhere you read complaining about how hard it is.

Figured I'd put this on the radar for those who enjoy Elite: Dangerous

House of the Dying Sun:

store.steampowered.com/app/283160/

It's more on the Colony Wars spectrum but is shaping up very nicely.

On an unrelated note, not sure it's been mentioned in this thread yet but Rimworld is amazing:

store.steampowered.com/app/294100/

It's a Dwarf Fortress style simulation with a contemporary UI, a SF setting, and selectable "storytelling" AIs to throw events at the player. The other Dwarf Fortress-inspired project Prison Architect is in a good state now too:

store.steampowered.com/app/233450/

Really like Rimworld. Better IMHO than DF. More directed. And graphics, of course, but...

I played a bit of the new free xb1 game today, EarthLock or something like that. Its name is very forgettable. But I enjoyed it. It has a strong JRPG feel. I will likely play more of it.

I played a couple games of Armello today. I'm still enjoying the hell out of that title.

lj1983 wrote: yeah, docking and undocking is not difficult. despite everywhere you read complaining about how hard it is.

wait, they remade Elite but kept that stupid docking nonsense?

In the demo, it was the best part. You either make a sim or you don't

I found myself with a code for Dead by Daylight on PC, so I gave it a shot yesterday. Many times. Here's the setup: one player is a supernatural killer ala Jason Voorhees. Four other people are survivors trapped in his killing ground, tasked with escaping. The killer has to hunt each player down and sacrifice them to some unseen force by sticking them on meat hooks. This bit of "story" is just a contrivance to balance the game since it would be far too easy for the killer to just kill people outright. This way they have a chance to either be rescued or rescue themselves.

The survivors can't speak to each other, but they can help each other. They have to repair up to 5 generators within the randomized level, which then allows them to open escape doors. I personally found this to be quite difficult, since repairing the generators takes a long time and you have to respond to QTE button prompts every now and then. If you fail, which I always do, the generator loudly backfires. This tends to get you unwanted attention.

I am terrible at the game and despite getting several people up on hooks, I never once managed to actually get anyone sacrificed. If survivors are clever, they have a decent shot. However, the feeling of power when you are chasing someone, and he thinks he has escaped you, only to have you cut him off and knock him to the ground, is pretty exhilarating.

One final story, that only this game could provide... there are closets strewn about the level. Survivors can hide in them and look out through louvers, just like in the movies. The killer can fling them open, of course. As a survivor, I had just been put up on a meat hook in some dilapidated basement. The killer took off back upstairs after one of my compatriots. I managed to wriggle off of the hook, thanks to a perk I had earned that makes it easier for me to do that. But before I could get out of there, I heard the killer coming back. (As a survivor, you hear a heartbeat that intensifies as the killer approaches)

My only choice was to hide in a closet that was by the basement stairs. I nervously watched as the killer came down the stairs. Just as he reached the floor, another player made a noise upstairs and he took off back upstairs. Once the heartbeat dissipated, I got the hell out of there.

Will I stick with this game? I don't know, but after a few plays, I'm still enjoying it, despite being awful at it.

Over the last few weeks I have played through the campaign of SteamWorld Heist a couple of times because I was hankering for a squad-level, turn-based, tactical game and for some reason I forgot until just this very moment that I never played XCOM 2. SteamWorld Heist is a 2D, side-scrolling game where your units board spaceships and space stations in order to recover loot, rescue the odd prisoner, and achieve other worthy objectives.

For the most part the mechanics are quite familiar: each character receives two actions per turn, but certain actions like attacking will consume the whole turn; every character has a class and receives bonuses as they level up; you progress from starter equipment through ever improving tiers of gear as you complete missions; and cover and crossfire are important tactical considerations. So far so XCOM, right? There are some differences though. First of all, while the action is turn-based, player aim is important because it is the only thing that determines whether an attack hits. Even after you select an attack angle your character's aim will waver a bit as they hold out their arm, and you have to pick just the right moment to fire. For close targets this isn't much of a problem unless you're trying to get off a trick shot like blowing their hat off or squeezing a shot past their cover, but for longer range targets it can become an issue. Another big difference versus games like XCOM is that the action is more arcade-like. For example, most shots will ricochet and in fact these ricochets are important tools for hitting targets behind cover. Another example is that some of the weapons are almost shoot-em-up style weapons: ejecting glowing balls that slowly arc through the environment while penetrating multiple targets, or throwing out multiple, huge spreads of non-ricocheting shots, and so forth. Finally, the characters themselves are visually quite distinctive and not randomized. They have individual skill progressions and set names, you acquire them according to plot-based events, and they have some personality. So they're a bit more like RPG NPCs than like the XCOM cyphers.

Stylistically the game has a great look to it: a sort of cartoony retro-future steampunk robot esthetic. I mean, Steam Powered Giraffe provides the soundtrack and appears in the game, for crying out loud. The environments and enemies reflect very well the three main phases of the plot. When you travel from the outlands, where your enemies are decidedly low-tech but still dangerous "scrapper" robots, to the core areas you really feel the danger and opportunity pick up.

I have definitely enjoyed the game and recommend it to anyone looking for a game that you can pick up and play in 15 minute chunks. It hasn't sunk its hooks into me the way, say, Invisible Inc. did (60 hours played versus, holy cow, 278 hours), but it's solid, attractive, fun, and simple.

PICROSS 3D 2 has its hooks in me but good. Me and the 12yo--it's pretty much all we do. Deep, deep satisifaction for the folks that are into it.

Hohokum on PS4 is a great game for my almost 7-yr old daughter. Fun, creative, explory, great goofy graphics. No "death". We've also had fun solving The Witness together as a family and she loves roaming the landscape cause it's beautiful. I have to show her I figured out the boat, she'll be excited.

Anyone play Adzu? I was thinking about getting it to play with her but I dunno as she is super duper ooper sensitive and I read there was a jump scare early.

Going to pick up Undercooked sometime soon thanks to the raving about it here, so thanks and excited about that. Dunno if daughter will be into it but wife and I will be.