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Picked up Violet over the weekend. 2 gyms, 1 Star, 2 Titans. A little slow going since I'm playing it with my daughter. It's definitely got a good amount of that "ooo, piece of candy" exploration vibe that Nintendo gets so right with its open worlds. There's almost always a Pokemon or TM tucked away when you go exploring and it's just really, really rewarding. I had thought going back to the old catch mechanics would be disappointing after Arceus, but I think it's just having the Pokemon out on the world popping up as little surprises as you explore that makes the difference.

Seems to be a lot of hate among the haters but at the core of it it's FUN in a way that I didn't really feel in Gen 7 or Gen 8 (maybe a bit in the DLC). It helps that so much has been streamlined. You can disable so many text prompts and it flows really smoothly. The new Pokemon are all really fun and exciting to discover. Naming is really on point this gen. Haven't really felt this invested in the franchise since.... Gen 4 probably.

I just finished Persona 5 Royal on PC yesterday, with about 150 hours on the savefile. It was great, but I think I liked P4G more. At least, I liked the characters in 4 more. It probably makes a difference that I went into P4G totally blind when it released on PC, but I already knew a few things about P5R while waiting for it to come out on PC.

Now I'm finally getting around to playing Disco Elysium.

 LunarSol wrote:
Picked up Violet over the weekend. 2 gyms, 1 Star, 2 Titans. A little slow going since I'm playing it with my daughter. It's definitely got a good amount of that "ooo, piece of candy" exploration vibe that Nintendo gets so right with its open worlds. There's almost always a Pokemon or TM tucked away when you go exploring and it's just really, really rewarding. I had thought going back to the old catch mechanics would be disappointing after Arceus, but I think it's just having the Pokemon out on the world popping up as little surprises as you explore that makes the difference.

Seems to be a lot of hate among the haters but at the core of it it's FUN in a way that I didn't really feel in Gen 7 or Gen 8 (maybe a bit in the DLC). It helps that so much has been streamlined. You can disable so many text prompts and it flows really smoothly. The new Pokemon are all really fun and exciting to discover. Naming is really on point this gen. Haven't really felt this invested in the franchise since.... Gen 4 probably.

Many moons ago I had Pokémon Yellow, and other than Pokémon Go, this is my first foray into it since. It is as you say a lot of fun.

Spent most of Saturday just rampaging about. Today I finished off the last Titan, and another Star base. You definitely benefit from strategising, but it doesn’t feel compulsory, so definitely a very accessible game. I particularly enjoy hitting a new region or environment, and having that “and what are you? Get in the ball!” moment is still a treat.

Lots of very cool designs, but having seen Quaxly’s final evolution, bloody glad I didn’t choose that one, as it’s final form is bloody awful!

I am however struggling to find Fire type Pokémon. Though that sounds like tonight’s self appointed task!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

I am however struggling to find Fire type Pokémon. Though that sounds like tonight’s self appointed task!

Fletchling's are everywhere. They start as Normal/Flying but quickly involve into a solid Fire/Flying option. There're definitely others but it kind of depends which way you go.

Personally I think Quaquaval fits the Spanish region quite well. Not my favorite either, but I think all 3 starters have pretty strong designs (though personally I like Meowscarada's middle stage better)

Just discovered Sinistea. As a Brit, a Cup Of Tea Pokémon is right up my street!

But I must now put it down, for it is a school night. Gonna gather some Steel type then go duff up the Fairy Star base tomorrow. After that, raid my boxes for whatever counters Dark Type.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Just discovered Sinistea. As a Brit, a Cup Of Tea Pokémon is right up my street!

But I must now put it down, for it is a school night. Gonna gather some Steel type then go duff up the Fairy Star base tomorrow. After that, raid my boxes for whatever counters Dark Type.

Sinistea has one of the most bizarrely specific forms in the entire franchise for what it's worth. I don't think there's any way to see it in Gen 9, but in Gen 8 when Dynamaxed you can see if the teapot its evolution is in has a seal of authenticity or if it's a forgery.

Dark is weak to Bugs, Fighting, and Fairy.

Definitely getting to the grind stage now, as the next base is recommended for Level 56 Pokémon…

I’ve a bunch of Level 50, but man this is gonna take a day or two. Lucky the game is just that bloody charming!

Changing it up with some God of War Ragnarok.

Played maybe three hours, and bloody loving it. Combat is still fun, and the learning curve fairly gentle.

I’d still prefer it be a bit more open world, but it’s still a bloody good game.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Really struggling on Breath of the Wild. Just not adapting to the boss level of combat.

I’ll get there though.

But for now? Pokémon Scarlett. A nice palette cleanser of a game. Something to while away hours on something not stressful or overly challenging.

Just got to grind out more heart containers.

Got back into Elden Ring. Just reached Miquellas Hailigtree. Absolutely love this zone. No one can make decay and rot quite as beautiful as fromsoft.

Fell into the rabbit hole that is Kenshi. I like it overall. Kinda like Rimworld, but less amin-y and more diablo. Slightly buggy here and there but overall a very interesting game. Having slight trouble making my own food, but my base gets raided by bandits every 2 minutes anyway, so I can sell their stuff to buy more food once I got my base back.

with 8+ people in the squad though it does get harder to keep control though.

Finished up No More Heroes 3. It's completely incoherent nonsense but a lot of fun. A couple bosses that were downright bad, but for the most part it was pretty great. Definitely got a chuckle out of the final fight.

Still enjoying planets nu. Childhood game I wanted to play but didn't really have ability(didn't have internet connection back then). Now taking back with vengeance.

One game ended up 3rd with rebel fleet crushing and colonies "mr no talk" not helping by deciding to steal from me couple planets rather than leave me alone so we could focus on the bigger threat of rebels. Facing 2 bigger fleets was just too much and colonies were crushed as well...Those 5 planets REALLY worth it eh? (seriously diplomacy is pretty big part of this game and he had no real reason to attack me if he was really interested in winning the game. I wasn't threat to him but he had no way in hell he could win alone vs rebels. Wouldn't be likely even WITH combining but any chance goes away if it's 3 way free for all fight...In that case my fleet just gets crushed super fast and rebels build fleet faster than colonies will be able to match up)

Other game managed to execute succesfull invasion and am now mobbing up after devastating crystalines. They are now in position to just harash with few remaining warships. No ability to build more. Then me and robots will focus on privateers.

One game it's experienced mentor vs multiple rookies. He's really showing how to build big empire Alone he's matching our combined numbers and he's certainly giving me headache on my side...Hopefully other new players can put pressure as well! I'm facing way too many battleships for my taste.

Plus several games on building stage. One game allied with romulans against privateers. I made some early minor stealing(empire stealing from thieves. The irony) but the romulans one upped it and basically ripped heart ouf of privateers. Now my fleet is trying to rush in trying to catch in fun It will be borgs after that we need to deal with...

I've been playing xcom 2 since i got bored of Terra Invicta.

Then i got a bit bored of xcom 2: lwotc mod and got a bit sick too so now i'm mostly resting.

Xcom really has a problem of late game fatigue and boredom.

Been back playing through Final Fantasy VII: Remake, and well...sometimes it just isn't fun for me. The combat can be frustrating, and after all the crap Square Enix have been pulling, I don't think I'll be buying any of their games in the future, to be honest.

 flamingkillamajig wrote:
I've been playing xcom 2 since i got bored of Terra Invicta.

Then i got a bit bored of xcom 2: lwotc mod and got a bit sick too so now i'm mostly resting.

Xcom really has a problem of late game fatigue and boredom.

...does it though? Are you sure that the fact this is your 218th playthrough isn't a factor?

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:

 flamingkillamajig wrote:
I've been playing xcom 2 since i got bored of Terra Invicta.

Then i got a bit bored of xcom 2: lwotc mod and got a bit sick too so now i'm mostly resting.

Xcom really has a problem of late game fatigue and boredom.

...does it though? Are you sure that the fact this is your 218th playthrough isn't a factor?

Lol that's very true. Maybe i need something to jazz it up a little. Long War mod is much well....Longer than the normal game. So usually the game is fun but somewhere around facing two to three avenger defenses in a row (sometimes chosen avenger defenses) it becomes really, really tedious and prevents progression at the worst time.

KamikazeCanuck would you or Not_Online be interested in playing a game or two together. Maybe that'll make things more interesting.

Depends on the game, doesn't it?

I don't own f.e. Xcom

CSGO, COD, Darktide

Just finished a 2nd playthrough of Cyberpunk and a 3rd run at Disco Elysium. Both of these games I didn't like my characters build the first time through

 flamingkillamajig wrote:

Lol that's very true. Maybe i need something to jazz it up a little. Long War mod is much well....Longer than the normal game. So usually the game is fun but somewhere around facing two to three avenger defenses in a row (sometimes chosen avenger defenses) it becomes really, really tedious and prevents progression at the worst time.

KamikazeCanuck would you or Not_Online be interested in playing a game or two together. Maybe that'll make things more interesting.

You could take a look at the new Marvel game, Midnight Suns. It's also by Firaxis, and like XCom, it's a turn-based tactical combat game. Unlike XCom, though, it uses a card-based combat system. Given how much time you spend with XCom, it might be worth at least checking out some gameplay videos on YouTube.

Not Online!!! wrote:
Depends on the game, doesn't it?

I don't own f.e. Xcom

I already know you don't want to play Xcom but maybe wh40k: gladius, wh40k: darktide, dawn of war 1 or 2 or barotrauma or Wargame or Total war warhammer 1 or 2 or even Hearts of Iron 4.

@Eumerin: I already know of this game but this time of year is extremely unlucky for me this time as i'm about to lose my job due to being unable to get rides to work anymore very soon. I'm banking on what i already have. Midnight Suns looks a bit cool but i'm a little fatigued on Marvel's entertainment these days. Blade looks really cool though. I always thought he was a much cooler character than Black Panther esp. with aesthetics. I'm a bit unsure about Xcom's never iterations after i played chimera squad. I get they were trying new things but many of them i did not like (except specialty weapons on the black market, breaching and a couple other things).

To be honest i might just play Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden finally. I haven't played that game ever despite even eventually buying it late and adding it to my steam library. There's something about a post apocalyptic future with a foul mouthed Duck Man that appeals to me. I wonder if they'll ever make a sequel. It definitely sounded like it has interesting lore and aesthetics from what i watched.

The Valheim update just dropped, after about 1.5 years of wait. Honestly it seems huge. Put 3 hours into it yesterday and it almost feels more like a paid dlc then it does a content update. Although the game is in early access as a whole so who knows where to draw any lines. Anyway I’ll put a spoiler below for those that want to experience it with no prior knowledge.

The two spoiler free things is that there’s a new biome and fishing is now it’s own skill. The biome spawns in existing servers, but only in unexplored locations. Concerning fish it seems like different biomes now attract different types of fish. You make different types of bait with a caught fish and various trophies. Honestly I found this all kinds of awesome. I think I’ll get deep into the fishing haha. It’s a fun addition to the game.

As for the new biome I strongly recommend going in blind. Otherwise:


Overall I’d say it’s as good of an update as we could hope for. It doesn’t make up for the fact that the game should probably have been out of early access already. But at least they really seem to have given this biome and update their all. I think I’ll spend a lot of time with the new fishing systems.

Cool, I might give Valheim another go then if I can mobilize any friends. I kinda adore Valheim. Not only because I'm a viking with a vast carrots-n-turnip field, not only because we built a huge cathedral, not only because seafaring is GREAT, but also because I realy like the graphics. What a clever way they found to deal with wide areas. Close-up everything looks like on a PS1, or Tomb Raider 2 without a 3d accellerator, but the landscapes look so pretty (and run smooth). Invites ye to go explore the world. Only thing I dislike is that huge effin tree, darkening the sky all the time. I like a good, wide firmament. Anyway, it's a great coop game.


Right, I'm playing AoE4. Now that Team Ranked is a thing we switched to that. I also switched from HRE to Malians, and I'm having a good time. Well, 50% of the time. The other 50% we get beaten by some internet low-lives with bs, basic do-or-die tricks and I get very aggrevated.

I also painted a bunch of Dark Souls boardgame figures again, which means that I have to play Dark Souls (3, this time) on the computer again once the figures were done. Servers are up again! And how much that adds to Dark Souls is really astounding. I mean it's a complete single-player game, but the spirit dudes running around, either making you smile because there's this weird sense of community half the time and the other half of the time making you freak out because you saw a movement at the corner of your eye, thinking it's some nasty enemy. Then there's the messages in this weird, insane language, but some people do really funny things with it, and of course there's invaders. But those are just a minor factor really. Anyway, what a game.


@Stevefamine: Aw, CS:GO. I spent quite some time with that game between its release (fall of 2012, right?) and ...er... 2017 I think? Sometimes I miss being shouted at by men from the balkans.

Been playing the new Warcraft expansion. Its probably the best one they've done in quite a while. It has its downsides (dragon riding is meh- it can be made to not actually suck with all the upgrades, but I'd rather just have normal flying. The centaur zone storyline suffers from multiple JRPG story conventions- in each confrontation when you start to win too much, it jumps to a cutscene where you get forced to 'fail' and set up the next stage of confrontation. Up to the final one, where the main enemy falls over like a chump)

Over all, however, its good, the story is much more coherent and the new crafting system is so much better.

-----
But... the biggest weakness of Dragon Flight is its release window. Partly I've got a lot of other stuff going on, but the big update and Steam release of Dwarf Fortress just happened and the remake of Master of Magic is next week, and sorry, but WoW's linear theme park just doesn't compare.

Only had a couple hours to delve last night, but I'm loving the new look and interface. They even fixed some of the problems with quantum bins and zones vs locations. Not perfect, but better. And lots and lots of fun.
Made it through my first year, still need to get a temple and tavern established, but just don't have enough hands to do the work required (half my migrants were children, and one adult was missing a leg on arrival- she's been in a hospital bed ever since). Need a crypt as well, though I haven't lost anyone (yet). And I really need to find metals, though I have tons of coal.

A clifftop farm and pasture is my next big plan, carving away at the lower slopes and topping it with a wall, but I definitely need more bodies. And then more yet for a military squad. And a well, which might involve diverting the small stream on the surface. And bedrooms rather than a dormitory. So much to do.

Fine tuning jobs in the new interface is a learning experience, but I'm getting there.

Eumerin wrote:

 flamingkillamajig wrote:

Lol that's very true. Maybe i need something to jazz it up a little. Long War mod is much well....Longer than the normal game. So usually the game is fun but somewhere around facing two to three avenger defenses in a row (sometimes chosen avenger defenses) it becomes really, really tedious and prevents progression at the worst time.

KamikazeCanuck would you or Not_Online be interested in playing a game or two together. Maybe that'll make things more interesting.

You could take a look at the new Marvel game, Midnight Suns. It's also by Firaxis, and like XCom, it's a turn-based tactical combat game. Unlike XCom, though, it uses a card-based combat system. Given how much time you spend with XCom, it might be worth at least checking out some gameplay videos on YouTube.

Yes, I really want to play Midnight Suns but will wait for it to come down in price.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@flamingkillamajig. I tend to spend my video game time playing single player games that go on forever. On the Blood and Wine expansion for Witcher right now that will take like another year to finish…

I've been playing Ixion. Heard it described as Frostpunk (which I haven't played) with a Homeworld plot, and sci-fi survival horror space station management. At an indeterminant point in the not too distant future, you've been put in charge of the Tiqqun (pronounced "tycoon") space station, which was built and owned by Dolos AEC. Tiqqun is equipped with the world's first hyperspace jump drive, and Vanir Dolos, the owner of the company, wants to use Tiqqun to help mankind colonize other worlds. The game opens with you taking command of the station, performing some basic construction of facilities in the interior of one of the station segments (aka the tutorial), and then triggering the drive for it's inaugural test jump to Proxima Centauri.

And if you've seen that one trailer video for the game that's put together like a live broadcast, then you already know what happens.

Oops.

I won't say more to avoid spoiling (even though - again - it's pretty much revealed in a trailer), but the goal of the game is to manage and develop your space station while jumping through various star systems looking for an exoplanet to settle on.

I'm mostly enjoying it. There are some gameplay elements that I find frustrating (particularly the mental stability rating for the population). The accidents mechanic appears to be very bugged right now (and not in a good way). And oddly, the game doesn't have any way to adjust the difficulty. If it were a relatively laid back game, this wouldn't be that big of a concern. But the game generally tries to keep the pressure on throughout. This isn't a game that you're going to chill to. Finally, there were some very important things that the game didn't really say much about, and so I didn't realize they were a thing until it was too late. But the game generally tries to keep the pressure on throughout. The replay value is questionable, though. Not only are there no difficulty levels, but the game is very linear. This game doesn't have any rogue-like elements in it. Once you beat it, you'll have seen everything that it has to offer.

More Ixion. I've made it to Chapter 3. When I jumped in-system, I thought I was in decent shape. I didn't really have a choice at that point since I was running out of materials to harvest in the previous system. But I still felt like I was in decent shape.

And then I belatedly discovered that I wasn't producing as much food as I needed. Oops. That's been taken care of for the moment. Unfortunately, one of my current tasks is to open an additional 2000 cryo pods, so...

Each chapter so far also throws new curveballs at me. The Prologue introduced me to the basics of the game. Chapter 1 is where I actually started playing. Chapter 2 introduced me to system terrain. There was a storm in an out of the way corner of the system that was hazardous to my utility vessels (it will also damage Tiqqun if you travel through it), and a massive cold zone radiating out from one side of the system's primary. The utility vessels don't care about that, but it can freeze Tiqqun's solar panels if you spend too much time in it. And guess where you need to go for one of your objectives...? Chapter 3's curveball is a bit of a surprise, so I won't mention it.

The game has some really glaring but unadvertised "No-brainer decision" sorts of things. The first involves the Tech Lab. When you start the game, the Tech Lab is primarily used for research projects. It can create research points on its own, but the rate is extremely slow (1 point every thirty cycles (days), and you typically need between 30-60 points for a project). Your research is effectively going to rely on what your science ship recovers for you. However, the first lab upgrade changes this to 3 points every five cycles. Then 5/5. And then, after a string of other lab upgrades, 5/3. For the non-math-inclined, those are increases of 1800%, 3000%, and 5000%. You can perform the first upgrade at the end of Chapter 1 (I didn't spot it until the end of Chapter 2, unfortunately), and it makes things *much* easier.

The second is something that I've sort of been aware of, but haven't tried yet. Players have confirmed that it works, though, and I'm pretty sure at this point that it's something that the devs didn't properly think through. The primary way that the game puts a "ticking clock" on you is via hull repairs. You're forced to spend a steady stream of alloys (the metal resource) to keep your hull repaired. In this way, you can't stay in a system forever. You can only stay until the Iron (the mined resource that's refined into Alloys) runs out, and then you're forced to jump to the next system in order to find more iron. However, a number of your buildings generate waste. Early in the game, your buildings that generate waste shut down periodically to jettison it. But after building a specific facility, you can implement a Recycling policy that allows you to gather the waste, instead. The waste can then be used to create other resources - for instance, growing mushrooms. Or turning it into refined resources such as alloys. Further, there are research projects that will cause certain buildings to generate significantly more waste than they otherwise would (or just generate waste period). One of these is the standard residence. With a large enough population, you can turn enough waste into enough alloys to cover all of your hull repair needs. This removes the "ticking time clock" function of hull repairs, and allows you to stay in systems for as long as you want.

Rescued the Dreadnaught in Chaos Gate : Demonhunters.

After about 5 restarts of the mission, I overcame the game bug that makes the Dreadnaught not activate like it should...

Once I got it rolling, it was pretty devastating, but also pretty soft but that's just how this game balances the scales of encounters. That's the first part of the 15$ DLC and it was pretty frustrating because of the bug that's supposed to be fixed this week. I haven't encountered the other parts of the DLC like the additional ship that allows you to go on multiple missions at a time.

I then had the opportunity to recruit a Techmarine but didn't have enough space in my Barracks... Not mad about that, as I knew I chose poorly on my ship building priorities but it sucked as I was looking forward to testing his abilities out. Off to start a new campaign to make the correct choices, and save my game much more frequently! Luckily this game is pretty damn fun.

Just not getting into God of War Ragnarok.

The plot and visuals are solid, as is the voice acting. But it’s so bloody plodding, and the fights are super repetitive - but also few and far between.

There’s no lock on that I’ve found, so enemies just sort of run past you.

One to watch a play through of, rather than actually, y’know….play through.

I felt that way about the original. It took a very long time to get to where the game clicked for me. Worth it, but definitely lacking an immediate hook. Fairly common problem with modern games sadly. It's on my Christmas list so I'll be giving it a shot in a couple weeks.

Taking a break from Violet after putting a ton of time into it. Probably my favorite Pokemon game at this point, but now I've got a couple weeks to decide what to pick up off my backlog. Funny enough, Witcher 3 has been sitting there, and I keep considering starting it. Might have to give it a try tomorrow once the update launches.