What are you playing this weekend/these days?

[Djoga'Ro]

What I hated about Deponia is the fact that I had too many objects I knew already how and where to use before it was the time to do it... but never worked when I tried, and there was no clue that "it wasn't the right moment"... so when it was really the time to use them as I already guessed previously, I had already fixed in my mind that those were meant to do something else, or were just useless things...

I think the only instance of that, I had, was the funnel. When I wanted to give Goal her .. er.. medicine, Rufus said he wants to make sure not to spill a drop. So I tried to put the funnel into Goal, which he commented with "I keep that in mind for later". Which you could call a hint. ? Illogical though was that he needed to use the funnel for something else first. I mean you wouldn't expect the funnel to be gone after using it to pour sth, would you. Plus, that other use was something I'd call far fetched.

 

[PowerGod]

I think the only instance of that, I had, was the funnel. When I wanted to give Goal her .. er.. medicine, Rufus said he wants to make sure not to spill a drop. So I tried to put the funnel into Goal, which he commented with "I keep that in mind for later". Which you could call a hint. ? Illogical though was that he needed to use the funnel for something else first. I mean you wouldn't expect the funnel to be gone after using it to pour sth, would you. Plus, that other use was something I'd call far fetched.

I played all four Deponia, one after another... so in my mind I see them as one game... and I find difficult to remember in what occasions that thing happened, or in what of the four games... I just have impressed in my brain that it happened too many times for my patience...

 

[Null]

AI Shoujo. You wash up on an island and have to explore, gather food etc.

 

[Null]

Satan Summoning Simulator by alpha_rats

Global Game Jam 2016

alpha-rats.itch.io

 

[PowerGod]

Fight'N Rage

I wasn't really expecting it was so good... it's like a fusion between all the 90's beat'em ups, but with added stuff and made better.
It is really difficult !! For now I'm barely able to finish it on "Easy" difficulty !!

 

[ElPoco]

I've finished Transistor this week-end. I was surprised to see it end, I felt like I didn't play very long.

Just like with Bastion, it was enjoyable but feels like it felt short of the "masterpiece" it seems like it was supposed or could have been. It's pretty, the music is once again outstanding, the story and narration are theoretically good and there are some clever gameplay mechanisms... But it still falls a bit short.

First of all, I had trouble with the narrator's constant whispers. There's something with the voice that I didn't like, I don't know if it was the ASMR-like whispering, the way he seems constantly short of breath or trying to rush his lines... And since he's CONSTANTLY commenting everything ("let's move", "we can go left", "oh there's a terminal" : thank you I can see the obvious UI hints on these things...) it took me a while to settle into it.

The setting is quite original and the game is introduced in media res with very little context. While I generally appreciate this approach, I felt like it doesn't really help you empathize with the characters until you've reached far enough to understand them.

I had a similar problem with the gameplay. I expected it to be similar to Bastion but it turns out that it leans more into the tactical approach than the reflex/action one. You have various abilities (you start with a few and gain more as the game progresses, and you can mix and match them for interesting combos) and you can use them in real-time but the attack time and cooldown are a bit difficult to handle, especially with the way most enemies move and attack. Hopefully you can trigger a pause that let you plan your attacks, but then you have to wait for the "turn" to cooldown before you can use any attack (or another turn). It took me nearly all the game to realize that real-time could actually be an option and that the game wasn't about planning a turn and surviving for the cooldown. But while the planning gives you an estimate of what will happen, that estimation is very often off, especially late in the game: targets move slowly but move while you're executing the planned action, they can also be moved by some of your attacks and that's not really handled by the estimation. So you'll plan a clever turn and in the end you'll waste it shooting at something that isn't there...
Add to this the fact that there are so many abilities and combinations that you (or at least I) always feel like you've missed something and are not playing properly. And in the end, if the combat was tense you never know if it was because it was planned to be and you should be happy you beat it or if it's because you've been choosing and doing poorly. This is made even more clear with the "challenge" rooms where the imposed limits help you see if you're being clever/good or just flailing around. I enjoyed these more than the "story" battles, because I could shake that feeling of "I shouldn't be doing this at all".
As with the story, it was only near the end of the game that I was comfortable enough with the gameplay to really enjoy it.

So in the end we're left with this game that feel like it could be great... but doesn't quite manage it, and it's a bit frustrating. The OST is still excellent.

 

[PowerGod]

HELLTAKER

Oh man, what a funny trip and damn cool music (that now will resides permanently in my head) !!
It has a strong fan-base growing up too !!

So... there's only one thing I could say...

"GLORIOUS SUCCESS" !!

 

[kuru]

Just finished Unforeseen Incidents. Story is topical, virus stuff. I like the visual style., but too little work went into animations. *Terrible* German voice-over, the English one was competent. First third of game was fun, middle had some very annoying puzzles. Ending was just bland.

Edit: And finished Observation. That was a cool trip. Perfect for Sci-Fi & space nuts like me. Highly recommended.

Edit: Finished The Blind Prophet. Nicely drawn, comic style, adult/religious themed point-and-click. While there's close to no animations, like in Unforeseen Incidents, you get quite a number of stills in comic panels. I like that. Game's not too hard. Pretty straight forward puzzles, except for a few instances. Also having to construct a grappling hook from a rope and some random item for a total of three times is a bit silly. What I hated about this game is the English translation. It's the worst I have seen up to date. And they even named a guy for proof reading in the credits. Shame.

Next: VirtuaVerse

 

[matzesu]

Spintires Snowrunner, (XBOX ONEX)
Played a lot Missions in the USA Maps, im now on "Harbor Delifery", where i have to bring a big Container to a Harbor, but its on a new Map where the Map is still undiscovered so i think i will couple my Trailer off somewhere, and make a Journy to the Alaska Map to make some other Missions so maybe i can afford me a new Truck.., also its now maybe time for a bit more Snow and less Mudd .. , im using now a normal American Truck whit some Upgrades so its not that bad anymore..

Farmers Dynasty (Switch Lite),
Just looked a bit on the first few minutes as i ditnt had that much time, but it looks not that bad, its a bit like the Farming Simulator, but whit Harvest Moon and Bob the Builder Components: you can still work on your Fields whit your Traktor, but you can also repair your Farm whit Hand Tools and Materials, make Social Contacts, get Respect of your Neightbors by making some Quests and at the End your can also marry..
Its ditnt have that much Traktors as the Farming Simulator, but i think its could make fun some hours..

 

[Null]

Its part of.

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality by itch.io and 1391 others

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality: 1741 items for $5.00

itch.io

 

[Djoga'Ro]

Diablo III on Switch. I played it through on "normal" difficulty. Don't fall in the same trap. It's not normal. It felt like cutting butter with a glowing hot knive.
However, I wasn't prepaired for its addictiveness. Now I'm testing how far I can crank up the difficulty on the greater rifts and try to get my hands on certain equipment to be able to try certain builds, I thought of. Damn you, Blizzard!
And again, I wish I could use a mouse with the Switch.

 

[kuru]

Gave VirtuVerse a break to finish Outer Wilds. Awesome game. I'm right at home with its SciFi-Space-Mystery theme. It has the vibes of 2001 A Space Oddysey, and Rendezvous with Rama. Maneuvering your dinky space ship is a lot of fun. And so is unraveling the secrets behind what's happening. They could also easily have padded this out, I am glad they haven't.
I was stumped three times, basically knowing where and how to progress, missing the final "click". I feel dumb now for looking those things up since they were relatively obvious except for one.

Outer Wilds is the best modern space exploration game.
I might go back and try landing on the station in sun's orbit...

 

[ElPoco]

I've been playing Her Story recently. A FMV movie where you've got access to interviews of a woman about a murder case, except that you can only access videos by looking up for words and can only get 5 videos per search. So you try to find the relevant keywords so that you can "unlock" more videos and get to the bottom of the case. The concept is interesting and the acting is really good, so it's a nice experience.

I really enjoyed the beginning, you try to think ahead, look for keywords that would confirm your suspicions and you feel clever when you uncover a video that shows you're onto something. The problem I had is that I don't know if I found a shortcut or if everyone's experience is the same, but I got the "big picture" pretty early on. It's not that much of a problem because there are still doubts and things to investigate, but the problem is that from then on you have less of this "find keywords, feel clever" mechanics and more of a combing of videos to look for details that would support one theory or another... without being able to get a firm answer. I understand that the ambiguity and differing interpretations could be part of the appeal, but to me it feels more like a cop-out. I mean, how can you feel clever when half of your interpretation is based on pure conjecture?

 

[Null]

Pikuniku by Devolver Digital

devolverdigital.itch.io

 

[Gren]

Diablo III on Switch. I played it through on "normal" difficulty. Don't fall in the same trap. It's not normal. It felt like cutting butter with a glowing hot knive.
However, I wasn't prepaired for its addictiveness. Now I'm testing how far I can crank up the difficulty on the greater rifts and try to get my hands on certain equipment to be able to try certain builds, I thought of. Damn you, Blizzard!
And again, I wish I could use a mouse with the Switch.

I started playing the PS4 version a couple of months back with 2 mates I used to work with (both now "retired" like me!).

Never played a Diablo game before, and not normally my thing - but I'm absolutely loving it
We utterly cruised through the story on normal mode, and then started learning about the real game of bounties/rifts and levelling up / build customisation.

Now we're all Level 70 Paragon 400+ players, and just finished a Level 68 grift!! I'm trying to finesse my monk rainment shenlong build, and even though some elites are now causing us much grief, we're all still really enjoying playing it

 

[TrashyMG]

@Gren, I own both the PC and PS4 version of Diablo III and have to say I love the console controls for it on PS4, it's pretty fun couch game. As someone suffering from Carpal tunnel, I'm not enjoying long stints with mouse games like I used to.

 

[ElPoco]

I've finished Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney on my Pandora. It's more or less the same thing as the previous Ace Attorney games. The characters have changed but they've got more or less the same roles and archetypes so you don't see much difference. However I felt like compared to the other games they were many instances where I had a pretty good idea of what happened and felt like I had to find how to prove it, rather than just go blindly and pretend to know where I'm going to uncover the truth.
On one hand you've got the satisfaction of figuring it out on your own without having to wait for someone to spill it out for you, on the other hand it leaves less room to the "last minute revelation" the series got me used to. I found it particularly disturbing in the last case, where you've got everything (that you had already more or less guessed) explained to you before the trial.

 

[Gren]

@Gren, I own both the PC and PS4 version of Diablo III and have to say I love the console controls for it on PS4, it's pretty fun couch game. As someone suffering from Carpal tunnel, I'm not enjoying long stints with mouse games like I used to.

Just looked up Carpal Tunnel syndrome - ouchie. Think I've had a mild/temporary form of that when sleeping weirdly on a hand; not pleasant at all

I primarily game on PC, so I was surprised how good the controls on PS4 are. Can't imagine playing it on KB/mouse now; although I believe there are benefits from more keys for skills etc...

 

[Djoga'Ro]

I started playing the PS4 version a couple of months back with 2 mates I used to work with (both now "retired" like me!).

Never played a Diablo game before, and not normally my thing - but I'm absolutely loving it
We utterly cruised through the story on normal mode, and then started learning about the real game of bounties/rifts and levelling up / build customisation.

Now we're all Level 70 Paragon 400+ players, and just finished a Level 68 grift!! I'm trying to finesse my monk rainment shenlong build, and even though some elites are now causing us much grief, we're all still really enjoying playing it

I'm all on my own. My wizard's 70(360+). I use that electric Arcane Barrage thingy proccing lightning Meteors with +400%+ dmg and +600% dmg, I have a gem that gives me +97% dmg per legendary equipment piece and +40% lightning dmg and in a lvl 60 grift that's not enough anymore to onehit everybody. I'm looking for The Ess of Jordan - some amulet that makes hit monsters pull in the other monsters, but Blizzard hasn't granted it to me yet.

@Gren, I own both the PC and PS4 version of Diablo III and have to say I love the console controls for it on PS4, it's pretty fun couch game. As someone suffering from Carpal tunnel, I'm not enjoying long stints with mouse games like I used to.

Just looked up Carpal Tunnel syndrome - ouchie. Think I've had a mild/temporary form of that when sleeping weirdly on a hand; not pleasant at all

I primarily game on PC, so I was surprised how good the controls on PS4 are. Can't imagine playing it on KB/mouse now; although I believe there are benefits from more keys for skills etc...

The controls on the Switch version are decent, but I can't place AE in the middle of a group - only on the edge facing me. And having my main skill on button A often makes me not attack, when I absolutely have to act, because of some container to open or crap to collect. I don't want an expensive skill or one with cooldown on A, since sometimes the skill fires, when I do mean to open or to collect something. No major gripes, but still ... it hightens the danger level unnecessarily - and my wizard is a glass cannon. I'm often dead from one moment to the other and have no idea what happened.

 

[PowerGod]

Diablo 3...
And thinking that I also bought the necromancer, and still never used it... with my first character I was already bored like hell and pushed forward just to reach the ending cinematic... I tried with a second different character too, but everything was excessively too repetitive to me, and uninstalled everything...
Seems to me that every class has a supreme skill that makes all the others not useful... so in the end you'll use that one over and over... Diablo 1 and 2 didn't had this issue in my point of view.